Foreword: The ship you are about to board, the story you are about to read, will take you into a dark sea, a dismal tale full of cycles, humanity and the lack thereof, puppets both figurative and literal. You may leave at any time, of course. But should you decide to stay with the vessel toward the end, perhaps you will take away something from it. A mental souvenir on the nature of our existence on this world. A figurative trinket that will remind you to think deeply on occasion. That souvenir, that trinket, is the purpose of this tale. For while every story is meant to entertain, to occupy one's time and fill one's head with ideas, this one wants to teach you something, or else get you thinking. Because we are not human without thought, and if we are not human, what is the alternative?


Sakura punched through the now unsealed wall that blocked the entrance to the Akatsuki meeting chamber, and Naruto was prepared for the worst as he walked inside alongside Kakashi, Chiyo, and Sakura. But the jinchuuriki felt a chill before he even saw the contents of the cave. A strange feeling of calm washed over him, a feeling he recognized as the calm before the storm. If Gaara was dead… he knew he would explode. He couldn't lose another friend, not like this. Not to these bastards. Gaara… Gaara had been just like Naruto. The two had felt a sense of kinship upon their last parting, and Naruto couldn't help but feel that Gaara was a part of himself. He was interrupted from his musing by the sight of the inside of the cave.

Two Akatsuki members stood inside the large, dripping chamber hall. One was a very odd, hunched over figure, and the other was a young, blonde man with some sort of device over his eye. Both were dressed in the traditional Akatsuki robes. What interested Naruto far more than them, though, was the corpse lying beside them. It was Gaara, in his Kazekage robes- representing everything that Naruto wanted to be. A better Naruto. And he was lying there, dead. It felt like the Akatsuki had just killed not only a friend, but Naruto himself- his future, his dreams.

The process began with a cold feeling of metal sliding in his veins. He knew that his party members and the two Akatsuki members were talking about something, but he couldn't hear them over an increasing buzzing in his ear. It was the voice of the Kyuubi, whispering madly into his ear about blood and death. He honestly couldn't even make out the words of the Tailed Beast speaking directly in his head, because his anger was growing too quickly out of control. He fell to all fours by instinct, feeling tails of chakra develop behind him along with his cloak.

He could feel nothing but rage, now. He didn't hear the cry of Kakashi, imploring him to wait, or Sakura's cry of "Naruto" as he leapt forward. All he saw was the blonde douchebag grab Gaara's body and get on some sort of bird- he made a chakra enhanced jump at it, and nearly managed to snag its head before the Akatsuki member dodged backward. Unfortunately for him, at the same time the other Akatsuki member grabbed the bird with his metallic tail and brought it crashing down to the ground. The blonde man cried out something, and tossed the corpse to the man that was low to the ground, who caught it with the same tail he used to bring down the bird.

Then the man with the bird left, but not before throwing a couple of clay figures in Naruto's direction. Deftly moving out of the way, Naruto was about to leap at the hunched over figure before a hand managed to slap him in the back with a chakra-restraining seal. Naruto suddenly felt himself calm down against his will, and his senses activated once more as he was brought to reality.

"…I'll take the corpse, and fight them. You fly on off on your "art"."

That was a very deep voice. In response came the voice of the young blonde man:

"Fine, Sasori, if you want to fight the jinchuuriki so badly, I guess I'm in no position to stop you, yeah? Still, I'm not going away without a little action of my own."

Naruto saw the blonde man head away on another clay bird, throwing bombs at his teammates. They managed to dodge in time, however. Kakashi began speaking quickly.

"Me and Naruto will head off toward Deidara. Chiyo, you and Sakura can handle Sasori, yes?"

Naruo cried out:

"I'll fight Sasori, sensei. I want Gaara back."

Naruto saw his teacher look into his determined face and only nod at his request. Naruto realized that he acquiesced only because it was easier than arguing when the blonde man, apparently Deidara, was already getting away.

"Very well, me and Sakura will go after Deidara. Come, Sakura."

With that, Kakashi and Sakura left after Sakura gave a quick thumbs up and confidence-inspiring nod to Naruto. Feeling himself slightly bolstered by that display, Naruto created a few clones and was about to rush at Sasori, but was stopped by Chiyo's voice.

"Naruto… wait. My grandson is not an enemy you can just blindly attack."

However, it was already too late. Naruto had taken to attacking his enemy head on with a Rasengan in hand, and all of his clones were quickly popped by a barrage of needles from Sasori's mouth. Chiyo shook her head as Naruto, injured from the poison, jumped back to Chiyo.

"I hope that beast inside of you can heal that poison, child, because I don't know how to. It seems… it seems as though my grandson is inside that puppet."

Naruto looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean… inside that puppet? That's not him?"

Chiyo nearly slapped him, but had to dodge a barrage of kunai from Sasori's tail. Sasori spoke up in his deep voice:

"You're a slow one, aren't you, boy? You would not have survived this long without the Kyuubi inside of you."

He had hit a nerve. Naruto barked out:

"Shut up! I can handle myself without the Kyuubi. I'm gonna shove that puppet where the sun don't shine, you bastard! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Sasori easily disposed of the numerous Shadow Clones that Naruto made with a cloud of poison. Naruto fell to the ground coughing.

"Come on, boy, show me some of the power of the Tailed Beast inside of you, or this is going to be a very short fight."

Naruto got up and wiped away the blood that was starting to come out of his mouth. He shouted back in return:

"Give back GAARA!"

Two puppets controlled by Chiyo suddenly dashed toward Sasori, and he had to swat them aside with his tail. However, as he did this, the puppets circled around and came back. He prepared to strike them down with his tail again before Naruto made another round of clones and charged at Sasori. Ignoring the clones coming down, Sasori chose to deal with the puppets that Chiyo had sent at him- that turned out to be a mistake as a Rasengan bore through his puppet armor, shattering it.

Out of it jumped the real Sasori, a man who looked much too young for his age. He had red hair and was dressed in an Akatsuki robe. Chiyo cried out from behind Naruto:

"Sasori..! What have you done..?"

Sasori replied in an amused tone:

"Seems I have underestimated the little jinchuuriki, haven't I? And for that I paid with Hiroko. Oh, well. As for your question, grandma, I turned myself into a puppet. I thought that would be obvious. Look at you, age deteriorating your body and your ninja skills. You know you're going to die soon, right? You have an imperfect human body, while… I have ascended."

Sasori tossed aside his robe for dramatic effect, revealing the puppet underneath. He easily deflected Naruto's rush at him, sending the teenager flying into a wall.

"You're even using my old puppets- Mother and Father. What, did you hope that would have some effect on me? That those tokens of my past- the puppets I built to fight the loneliness when my parents died- would actually get me to mellow and reflect? You're more foolish than I remember you being, Chiyo, for you to use my own puppets on me. I thought I taught that lesson effectively enough against the first ninja from your village that tried to stop me from taking your Kazekage."

Chiyo shook her head.

"You've become a monster, Sasori. These puppets are not quite the way you remember them- you are not the only one who is adept at puppeteering, grandson."

Sasori laughed and threw a scroll on the ground.

"I have another surprise for you, grandma."

With that, he unsealed the Third Kazekage puppet that was contained within the scroll. Chiyo nearly crumpled to her knees, and Naruto, recovering, saw her reaction.

"What's wrong, Grannie?"

Chiyo turned her head, mouth slightly open, toward Naruto.

"He… that's the Third Kazekage. The one who went missing during the war. The one… we never knew what happened to him."

In a sadistic tone, Sasori replied.

"Now you know, don't you? I especially prize this puppet, because of the effort it took to subdue him."

Naruto got up. His head was still spinning from the blow that sent him crashing into the cave wall- a blow, he suspected, that would have killed most other ninja. He really didn't want to admit it, but he did rely on the Kyuubi a lot. Dismissing that dismal thought from his head, he suddenly realized the implication of Sasori using the Third Kazekage. He saw red, and a single tail formed behind him.

"You bastard! You turn people into puppets?! What kind of monster are you?! Is that what you were planning to do with Gaara?!"

The master puppeteer turned to the jinchuuriki, and in Sasori's tone crept a note of satisfaction.

"Finally using the power of the Kyuubi, are we? Let's see what you can do, shall we?"

Metallic sand poured out of the mouth of the puppet of the Third Kazekage, and formed several lances before launching at Naruto. Naruto dodged out of them using his enhanced speed, and nearly hit Sasori in the face with a Rasengan- unfortunately for the Leaf genin, Sasori ducked and impaled Naruto through the stomach with a blade from underneath. Turning on his flamethrower, he fried the jinchuuriki alive, and tossed aside the body as he turned to face Chiyo in time for him to get hit by a combination attack from the Mother and Father puppets. The upper half of the puppet body was torn apart, and the construction fell to the ground.

Naruto regained consciousness, and opened his red slitted eyes to Chiyo standing over him, attempting to heal the damage to his body. He croaked:

"Granny, get out of the way..!"

Obediently, she jumped back, just as a burst of chakra exited Naruto's body and formed another two tails behind him. His burns visibly healed under the chakra cloak. However, his reasoning ability left him completely, and all he could see was a newly unsealed Sasori standing over the broken body of the old puppet. He dashed to the puppeteer at speeds far faster than the ones before. As he entered taijutsu combat with his enemy, he quickly began to overwhelm him until he was forced to dodge a wall of iron sand crashing down onto him.

He watched as the Mother and Father puppets engaged the Third Kazekage puppet wielded by Sasori, and dashed to Sasori again. The puppeteer, ready this time, lifted his arm and coated the area with a powerful flamethrower. Naruto hit the ground again, and the Third Kazekage puppet dashed over to the Konoha ninja's body before Chiyo could stop him. The sand poured out of his mouth and began impaling Naruto's prone but healing body. He felt each and every single stab of poisoned sand into his body until he lost consciousness.

Chiyo wasted no time in unsealing her ten puppets, and sending them at the Third Kazekage puppet in a vain attempt to save Naruto's life. Sasori smirked.

"You can't save him, Grandma. He is going to be my puppet now- I've never had a jinchuuriki puppet before. I really want to try. The Akatsuki do not matter to me as much as this."

With those words, the final lance of iron sand stopped mangling Naruto's body and cut off his head. Chiyo reminded herself to feel nothing at the foolish boy's death as she sent her puppets to try and kill Sasori.


Naruto felt himself adrift in some sort of river as his consciousness was returned to him. What awoke him was a general din of desperate voices from all around him- up and down as well. In fact, looking around him, he was adrift in some sort of cloud tunnel along with countless other people. All of them were grey and naked, and looking at his own hands, Naruto found that he was grey and naked as well. They were the cause of the uproar that awoke him. It took him a long moment to realize he was dead. He was actually dead. All of his hopes and dreams- his plans of becoming Hokage, his goal of getting Sasuke back- all of that was dead. He couldn't comprehend it. His mind absolutely refused to believe in it. It was… just… He couldn't accept it.

Naruto was not one to despair, usually. The few times he did within the last few years, Jiraiya was there to pull him out of it. But Jiraiya was not dead, Naruto was. And Naruto couldn't believe it. In his mind, he had built up a sort of illusion for himself- a belief in his own invincibility, partially because of the Kyuubi, that kept him going and taking the unnecessary risks that he did. Jiraiya warned him that that would be his downfall, even though he had not told Jiraiya any of it. Now, it seemed that his teacher was right.

What would become of him now that he was dead? He had the distinct impression that he was moving, despite having no point of reference- everything appeared to be moving at the same rate he was. Where was his destination? What would happen to him? Heck, more importantly, what would happen to his friends, his loved ones, the ones he had formed bonds with? What would become of Konoha without the power of the Nine Tails? Without… him?

Although that last thought was incredibly conceited of Naruto and he would have quickly reprimanded himself for it had he been in any rational frame of mind, it slipped by unnoticed as truth in his mind. As such, his desperation to somehow reverse his death only increased- there had to be a way out, didn't there? All his life, Naruto had encountered barriers that seemed insurmountable, with people all around him tell him that there was no way he could possibly broach them. But one by one, those barriers had fallen. Although he hadn't recovered Sasuke yet, he still felt like he could. Death, then, had to be no different.

Naruto comforted himself with this thought, but after a few hours of nothing changing around him, despair silently crept into his mind again. There was no chance- there could be no more chances. After all, death was final. All he could do now was await his fate, await the judgment that was waiting for him on the other side. As if out of nowhere, a gigantic black hand grabbed out at him from the sides of the stream, and pulled him in. Naruto did not have time to scream or react in any way before he was pulled into blackness.

Naruto suddenly found himself in an endless wasteland- a dark, ravaged land where the very ground was blackened. Above him shined a wane moon in a starless sky. All around him was the blackened earth in the shape of waves- it was as if he was standing in a literal ocean of dirt. As far as the eye could see, disassembled skeletons were strewn about. He was still naked- the dirt squelched beneath his feet, as worms, the only living thing to be seen in this desolate landscape, weaved their way through his toes.

He didn't know where he was or why he was there, but he decided to start moving. Slowly, carefully, Naruto picked his way across the landscape, careful not to trip and get a mouthful of dirt and worms. It was tedious work, because some of the "waves" in his way- in fact, a lot of the "waves" in his way- were rather high, and Naruto had to actually pick his way around them. He could not use chakra, probably because he was dead and chakra was the privilege of the living. Suddenly curious, he looked down at his stomach- it seemed the seal was still there. Had the mixed blessing of the Kyuubi followed him into the afterlife?

Hours of walking brought him to what seemed to be the edge of the world, a place where skeletons fell off and logic ended. Because the wasteland ceased to be abruptly at the edge, and skeletons were cut off cleanly where the edge began. It was as if someone cut the world with a great knife, and threw away the other half of it. Beyond the edge there was white nothingness. Just absolutely nothing. Naruto waved his hand over it, and found that there was no air there, either, and no gravity. Just endless nothing.

In this nothing, beyond the edge of the world that Naruto stood on, appeared a figure all of a sudden. Naruto, in surprise, landed on his rear end on a small wave, and continued sitting there as he observed the figure, and the figure observed him.

It looked like the Grim Reaper. It was huge, significantly larger than any human; if Naruto had to guess, it would be about fifteen to twenty feet tall. It had a black robe on that cloaked most of its humanoid body, but there did not seem to be any legs- just arms, and gloves that were limp in such a way that implied that the hands underneath were nothing but bone. In its gloved hands it held a large scythe, an instrument that was black except for the metal ending, which was a pale, reflective red. Its hood was on, and the only thing visible above the shoulder besides the robe was a mask. It was an odd mask, one that looked as if it had been entirely a blank white before someone took a crayon to it and drew a red grinning face on it. It unnerved Naruto in a manner that he had never felt before. In a voice that painted a picture of blood with every word, the figure began to speak

"Hello… Naruto. You seem to have died a good deal before any one of the gods on their foolish "pantheon" intended you to."

The figure laughed, a rasping laugh that sounded like a last breath.

"Too bad that even they cannot control the proceedings of the mortal world… Well, you had a good life, did you not? Are you ready to die, Naruto?"

Naruto practically jumped up.

"No, no, no! I'm not ready to die! I have hopes and dreams and I want to protect my loved ones and help everyone and become great. I don't want to die like this- forgotten by everyone, never achieving any greatness or goals like the Fourth Hokage. This isn't how it was supposed to be!"

The figure laughed again.

"Of course it wasn't. The pantheon had high hopes for you, after all. Allow me to introduce myself, Naruto. My name is Jashin. I am a god, and I can bring you back to the mortal realm."

Naruto's eyes grew wide and he fell to his knees.

"You can?! That's… that's incredible. Can you please?"

Jashin shook his head.

"Did you learn nothing in that world of mortals of yours? Everything has a price. I can bring you back in direct violation of the set of rules that the pantheon imposes on itself. But, I would need to deal with the backlash. I can't just deal with the consequences for free, can I?"

Naruto bowed his head.

"What do you want? My soul? Worship? Maybe starting a cult for you in the Elemental Nations?"

"No, no. I want you to perform a certain ritual… a ritual that I will contact you at the right time so you can perform it. I don't need your worship; you don't have the stomach for it."

Naruto looked up at the god before him.

"You're a god that doesn't mind violating rules; what could you possibly gain from a simple ritual performed by a mortal?"

Jashin almost seemed to smile, judging by the tone of his voice.

"You're smarter than you're given credit for, Naruto. I would not expect you to ask such a question. Suffice to say that this ritual will… allow me certain powers over the other gods. It will allow me to eliminate this rule set that constrains me from doing what I wish. It is a massive ritual, and instead of explaining it to you now and having you forget all of the important details by the time it needs to be done, I will implant the instructions in your head at the time it needs to be performed. Timing, in fact, is everything; should it be done early, it could have… negative repercussions. That's another reason why I won't tell you yet."

Naruto nodded his head.

"What choice do I have? Do you have any more terms?"

"No, the ritual is all I require of you. The nature of your profession, as well as your resurrection by my hand, will ensure that you meet a certain… sacrifice quota. Now, prepare to be awakened back into the mortal world."


Naruto awoke, and immediately felt that he was not himself. His body felt… odd. He felt its presence, but could not derive sensation from it… he would be hard-pressed to truly describe the feeling. But as his vision returned to him, he detected a much more immediate problem. He could not move a muscle- he couldn't even blink. In fact, he was not sure he could even feel his eyelids anymore. He could not move his eyes to look around, but above him was a ceiling- he knew that much. He was being bathed in what registered to Naruto as a cold light. He stared at the single light bulb above him; his vision, oddly, was not blocked off by sun spots despite staring directly at the bright bulb.

What… what had happened to him? Jashin promised to return him to life, but… this hardly felt like life. He didn't even know whether he was in his own body anymore. He was aware of but could not feel the foreign hands touch his body- as if his nerves had been altered from their original biological functions to merely informative ones. He could not tell what happened to him, and honestly, the more he thought about it, the more he wished he were- No. He did not wish he was dead; he just wanted his regular body back. He still had a lot to accomplish in this life. But for now, all he could do was watch and wait.

A humming broke through his thoughts. It was in a voice he recognized… in fact, it was definitely familiar to him. It was just at the edge of his thoughts…

"Yes, it seems the Kyuubi has been retained in the body… it is a good thing I turned you into a puppet when I did, my boy, else you would have just been another puppet in my collection. Now… now you can be something a little… greater. You can be art, Naruto. You are art, now."

Naruto heard Sasori step back to observe his work.

"Isn't this just much better, child? Yes, I think it is…"

He resumed humming and Naruto's thoughts went directly into despair. He was turned into a puppet. THIS was the resurrection that Jashin had promised? To have his conscious thrust back directly into what remained of his body, to be controlled by this monster as a weapon for the rest of eternity? How did he expect him to perform any ritual when he did not have the autonomy of his body?

Even if he did possess that, he hardly wanted to be a puppet. This wasn't any sort of life- he wasn't even human any more. What could he possibly do as a puppet? Would his friends even accept him anymore? Would the Hidden Leaf? Was he to be nothing more than a blind instrument of murder in the hands of a monster?

But then again, how different was that than being a ninja? Naruto wasn't usually a cynic or a pessimist- he had been accused of excess of the opposite of both many times in his life- but the situation just entirely crushed his spirits. There was literally nothing he could do- no benchmark to reach, no obstacle to climb over. For the first time in his life since he was a child, he was truly helpless. That broke him. He didn't even notice how differently he was thinking.

Ninja were tools. That's what Haku told him, wasn't it? That he was a tool of the government, one of the many kunai thrown in a massive, constant battle between the Hidden Leaf and its enemies. And now, he was a kunai taken by the enemy, reshaped for the twisted adversary's own purposes. He didn't want to be thrown against Konoha. He didn't want to be used against his friends, the people who had shown him kindness. If he was to be a tool, he could at least be given the courtesy of deciding whom would use him. But he was literally an inanimate object now. What choice could he have?

Darkness enveloped Naruto once more.

The next time that Naruto awoke, as his eyes came into focus, he realized he was outside. The air was cool and he was surrounded by a small village populated by old wooden buildings. The sun was shining brightly above his head, and beyond the village, at the edge of his vision, he could see trees. He knew where he was- he was in a small village in Fire Country. Why was he in Fire Country? What was Sasori doing here?

These were all the thoughts of a half-second as he realized whom he was facing. In plain view stood Team Eight in combat positions and with shocked expressions on their faces- Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai. Naruto felt an immense amount of pain and regret as he heard Sasori's voice behind him.

"Were you friends with this one? He wasn't very strong. It wasn't a lot of trouble to simply cut off his head in order to kill him, and then turn him into a puppet. And you know what? The Kyuubi is still inside of him, and I know how to access it. I'll demonstrate… once you earn it."

Naruto gauged the reactions of his former friends even as he was sent flying at them, several other puppets in tow. Kiba was openly devastated, his mouth hanging wide open and tears beginning to form in his eyes. With a cry of "you BASTARD!" he leapt into combat against the puppets with Akamaru. Kurenai displayed a stony face- she was clearly suppressing her emotions. But she grabbed her kunai and began casting mid-level ninjutsu in order to stave off the puppets. Shino was visibly shaken- for an Aburame, anyway. His mouth opened slightly for a brief moment, then closed. With an ever-so-slightly shaking hand, he summoned the bugs from his sleeve, and they descended upon the puppet that was going for him.

Hinata… Naruto could not tell what was happening to her. She was very red in the face, and tears were openly streaming down her face. Was she… was she getting angry? She activated the Byakugan and Naruto realized she was the target he was hurtling toward. She dodged the blade coming out of Naruto's hand and performed a spin in order to deflect the toxic gas that came out of his mouth. She closed the distance, and Naruto felt himself performing the hand seals for Shadow Clones. One by one, she disposed of them all. She spun once more when she felt herself getting overwhelmed, then when only Naruto himself remained, she attempted to 64 palms technique- Sasori pulled Naruto back before the attack connected.

Naruto felt himself making Shadow Clones again, and all of them (but not Naruto himself- Sasori was evidently conserving fuel) opened their stomachs to reveal what turned out to be flamethrowers- several powerful cones of flame flew at Hinata. She performed the spin again, and was evidently getting tired because although it barely managed to stave off the flames, the spin was visible slower than before. She had never had an enormous chakra supply- Naruto was surprised that she was capable of three spins altogether.

To her aid came a feral Kiba- he crashed into Naruto's side before Sasori could pull him back and began ripping into the wood. However, Naruto's mouth opened to send a toxic bomb at Kiba at point blank, who was quickly taken out of the action. Naruto tried not to think of what happened to him as he felt the wounds in the wood inflicted by Kiba actually begin to heal as Kyuubi's chakra flooded his body. He felt a chakra cloak cover him and three tails form behind him.

"I think that display was worthy of the Kyuubi's chakra, don't you think?"

Naruto hated Sasori's voice now; the mocking tone was absolutely loathsome. Kurenai and Shino seemed to have shut off the puppets that were sent against them; Sasori seemed to have intentionally sent weaker puppets against them so he would get to show off Naruto. Naruto saw Kurenai attempt a genjutsu, which entirely failed against Sasori. Shino rushed to engage Naruto in close range combat, but Sasori made his puppet create Shadow Clones (all of which showed the signs of Kyuubi's influence- looking at them, it seemed that Kyuubi's chakra changed him in the same way that it changed him when he was alive) and they emitted toxic gas from their mouths, covering a huge area. Then, right into the cloud, they opened up their flame throwers. The gas was set ablaze, setting alight the entire village.

Shino had apparently made a bug clone, and Kurenai seemed to have grabbed Hinata in order to get away, because all three of them were there when Naruto was spun around to face them. Naruto felt himself rush at the three with several Shadow Clones, Rasengans in their hands. Shino covered the first few with insects, popping them before they reached him. However, judging by the cough, he had been hit somewhat by the poisonous gas cloud- Naruto doubted he would survive without immediate medical treatment. Hinata fought the first few clones off, but had to be bailed out by Kurenai when she made a move too slow and a Rasengan nearly made contact. The cost of that was Kurenai getting hit by a Rasengan through the heart. She fell lifeless to the ground.

Naruto cursed his very existence. He did not want to kill his friends- this was much, much worse than being dead. The immediate wave of grief would have made him collapse if he weren't fully under Sasori's control. He only got a glimpse of Kurenai's lifeless eyes as she fell. That image, along with the one of Kiba's body, would haunt him forever.

Sasori did not pause for Naruto's grief. Shino signaled for Hinata to retreat, and sent out what seemed to be his entire colony from his sleeves.

"You think that you can cover her escape? You've got the same martyr complex as every other Konoha ninja, don't you, Aburame? I don't think I'm going to allow witnesses, though."

Faster than Shino could track, Naruto Body Flickered right behind Hinata and impaled her through the heart with his arm blade. As he removed her from the blade, she managed to turn around for one last look at Naruto with blood leaking out of her mouth. She fell with a strangely calm look on her face, staring right at Naruto the entire time. As if she knew he was there. As if… she was alright with dying at his hands.

Naruto's mind blanked out from grief after that.


He found himself in a sewer, easily recognizing it for where the Kyuubi's cage was located. However, while the shape was familiar, everything else was… wrong. Everything was wooden- the walls, the floor. There was no liquid down the sewer's center line. It was a dark wood, Naruto absentmindedly identified it as mahogany before automatically turning and going toward where he knew the Kyuubi's cage would be. It seemed he had autonomy here, though he was still a puppet.

While he walked, he examined the body's capabilities. He had a flamethrower in his stomach- a function he dared not activate among the wooden walls of the interior. From his mouth he could spit balls of poison. From his hands he could extend blades, and he could make his neck spin around to send a wave of needles all around- the needles were probably poisoned. His shoulders had built in kunai launchers. His knees had extendable blades, and his feet had small senbon launchers that could be lifted on command in order to fire. He was quite… filled with weaponry. It was odd that Naruto did not feel any weight in walking, though upon reflection, he realized it was because his strength had greatly increased, as well.

As soon as he finished examining his body, the thoughts of the battle he had just had- or was still having, either or- haunted him. The shocked look on Kiba's face as the poison hit, the determined look on Kurenai's face as she passed away… and the peaceful look on Hinata's face, as if it was alright that Naruto killed her. That last part absolutely destroyed him. How could such a timid soul be so angry for him, to exhaust herself attempting to fight his shell, and to be just so… peaceful on dying… it was inconceivable for him. He just… he was wracked with guilt to a degree that he had not ever been before. He wanted to dash himself against a sharp object, to end his own life- something he would have done, if he thought that it would do anything inside his mind.

Finally, Naruto arrived at the Kyuubi's cage. The seal was wooden, the cage was wooden- the Kyuubi, as it thrust its face against the cage, was still its own self. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief at that (or would have, if he could still breathe), though he did not know why he had such an urge. The Kyuubi examined its surroundings, then roared at Naruto:

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Naruto bowed his head before the Tailed Beast in front of him.

"I… I died and-"

"I REALIZE THAT, FOOL. I WAS THERE WHEN YOU DIED, AND I EXPECTED TO CEASE EXISTING, TO BE REPLACED BY A KYUUBI WITH A DIFFERENT MIND IN SEVERAL YEARS, WHEN YOUR EMPTY HEAD WAS SEPARATED FROM YOUR PUNY BODY. BUT NOW I AM AWAKE AGAIN, AND EVERYTHING IS WOODEN. AND MY HOST IS A FILTHY AUTOMATON. NOT THAT I AM COMPLAINING THAT I AM STILL ALIVE… BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"I… I was floating down some sort of river, and a hand grabbed me out of nowhere. I was taken to a black wasteland, and talked to a god called Jashin. He… he gave me a second chance. I was to be reborn, and to perform some sort of ritual at some point in my life. But I awoke to find that I had been turned into a puppet. Can you help me, Kyuubi? I don't want to spend my life killing my friends…"

The Kyuubi laughed, a great, malicious laugh that rang in Naruto's head long after the conversation was over.

"YOU DID WHAT? I MAY NOT KNOW MUCH OF THE FATE OF MORTALS AFTER THEIR INSIGNIFICANT DEATHS, BUT JASHIN IS ANOTHER STORY. YOU MADE A DEAL WITH HIM? YOU'RE A FOOL. YOU DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE STOMACH NECESSARY FOR ONE OF HIS "DEALS." BUT IF IT IS DEATH YOU SEEK, JUST PULL OFF THE SEAL."

Naruto mulled over this for a moment, then with trembling hands, he went to pull off the seal. His wrist was suddenly grabbed by a human hand. He looked up and saw the Fourth Hokage.

"Naruto, my son, is that you? What… what happened to you? Who did this to you?!"

Naruto stepped back a few steps in shock. Although he was unable to express himself with his face, his voice tone was more than adequate for conveying his immense surprise.

"You're… you're my father?"

Minato smiled sadly and nodded.

"I'm your father, Naruto. It was my hope that I would never have to use this function of the seal, that you would never lose hope to the point where you thought of releasing the Kyuubi. I never expected it to be when you are so young. I care deeply for you, Naruto, and I had hoped the village would treat you as a hero when I sacrificed my life to seal the Kyuubi inside of you. Why are you… how are you a puppet? What happened to you, son?"

Naruto expected to feel anger at having the knowledge that his own father sealed the Kyuubi inside of him, but given the circumstances, he felt nothing. He had lots of questions for his father, but he decided to explain his situation first. He did so very briefly, repeating what he told the Kyuubi after explaining his mission to save Gaara and mentioning the battle that he had just participated in. Minato was in shock, it was obvious from his expression.

"Jashin… you made a pact with Jashin? That… I can't believe you did that, Naruto. Jashin is a god of death, of mass murder- his followers slaughter innocent civilians and ninja alike as sacrifices. Whatever ritual he asked you to perform… just know what you're getting into, alright? I'm glad you're alive, you're destined for greater things, Naruto. I know you'll find a way to regain your humanity. Your mother always found a way, and you seem to be just like her. Don't feel guilty for the deaths of the people that Sasori makes you kill. Just make the bastard pay when you regain your autonomy… goodbye, son, my time is up. Your mother is coming, though."

With that, Minato faded away. Naruto spun around to find that a gorgeous red-haired woman approached him. This… this was his mother. Naruto could only watch as she approached him with tears in her eyes. She approached him and hugged his wooden body, breaking down in tears.

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto… what happened to you?"

Naruto repeated what he told Minato, along with what Minato had told him. Kushina listened intently, then ended the hug and got up.

"My first instinct was to smack you for trying to tear away the seal… but I couldn't do anything but cry upon seeing you. I'm so sorry, Naruto, I never wanted anything like this for you. I wanted you to be hailed as a hero by the village, to live a long and fulfilling life, to accomplish what you wanted to and save the world every time it was threatened. Even before you were born, I felt that you were special, you know. But… the world is harsh, and it killed you. Now you're in a deal with Jashin, of all beings, and you're a puppet, of all things. I know you can pull through this. I feel it in my heart. Call it mother's pride, but I know you can still put your life in order… you can still accomplish great things. Just don't give up, Naruto. Never give up."

Naruto would have cried if he could still cry. He embraced his mother, even as she faded away. He fell to his knees after she was gone, feeling more empty than he ever had before. The sewer faded to black, and so did his consciousness.


The next time Naruto regained consciousness, he was alongside the Third Kazekage puppet- the puppet's green robe filled his vision as soon as he regained it. Soon, he was pointed toward the enemy. Before examining the enemy, though, Naruto quickly took in his surroundings.

He was on a road in a forest of some kind, and this time it was during the night. The road itself was old and cracked, and the forest around it seemed forbidding and ominous. A half-moon shined above in the starry night sky. Upon determining that he could not determine where he was from his surroundings, Naruto took to examining his adversaries.

The two men were in Akatsuki robes. One was a very tanned, tall man with green eyes that had a veil covering his mouth. With him stood five very odd creatures, a solid black except for the masks that covered their… faces? They looked fairly intimidating. Sharp threads extended both from the man and the creatures, apparently used as weaponry. The other was a silver-haired young man with a large scythe-like weapon in his hands. Other than the weapon, there seemed to be nothing unusual about him. The tanned man spoke.

"You turned the jinchuuriki into a puppet? You fool, what use is he without the Kyuubi? Was that worth betraying the most powerful organization in the world?"

In response, Naruto felt Kyuubi's chakra course through him. He felt the familiar three tails extend behind him, and the chakra cloak cover him.

"Impressive. We will be collecting that puppet, now, after we kill you."

Sasori spoke in an even voice.

"I'd like to see you try."

Suddenly, one of the beasts opened its mouth, sending a wave of fire at Sasori. Another opened its mouth and sent wind out, greatly increasing the size of the wave of fire. Iron sand poured out of the mouth of the puppet of the Third Kazekage, and made a shield around Sasori and his puppets. As soon as the wall was down, a scythe was sent flying at Sasori; Sasori swatted it aside. The scythe wielder pulled it back, and charged. He was met with a flamethrower that incinerated him, but despite burns on the man's body, he kept going. Naruto was sent at him with a Rasengan and several Shadow Clones in tow. Naruto could only assume that the Third Kazekage puppet and the Iron Sand was busy fighting the tanned man.

The silver-haired man was quite skilled with his scythe in close combat, keeping Naruto at a range where the puppet could not reach him with the Rasengan or even the extendable blade. He had to wonder why Sasori did not have him use his poisonous gas or weaponry, but he got his answer when Sasori through Naruto managed to nick the enemy scythe user. The man did not even stumble at the poison- he kept fighting. The venom seemed to have no effect on him.

Eventually, though, the man began to get overwhelmed by Naruto's superior speed. Naruto's extendable arm blade cut off the enemy's hand that was holding the scythe, and the silver-haired man cursed vehemently. He took a Kyuubi-empowered Rasengan to the face in the next moment, his head separating from his body from the extreme force. He screamed:

"Kakuzu, you bastard, make yourself useful and PUT MY HEAD BACK ON!"

The reply came instantaneously:

"Silence, fool. I'm busy fighting. Maybe you should have taken your fight a little more seriously."

As the silver-haired man busied himself cursing out his partner, Naruto was sent off to fight the man apparently called Kakuzu, and quickly found that it was a much more difficult fight than the one against the scythe-wielder. The tanned Akatsuki member, along with his creatures, wielded a variety of elemental ninjutsu that easily wiped out Shadow Clones and would have easily destroyed Naruto through attrition if he did not have the healing factor from the Kyuubi and the defense from the chakra cloak. The Third Kazekage puppet, for its part, was already badly damaged; a moment later, Sasori pulled it back behind him to use it purely for personal defense. He opened up a slot on his chest, and pulled out a scroll from which a veritable stream of puppets came out.

"You came this far, Kakuzu. Perhaps I should show you my ultimate technique."

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed, even as he prepared another fire technique to try and wipe out many of the puppets at once. Naruto, for his part, felt Sasori drawing upon more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra. In fact, he felt another tail forming behind him, and the chakra cloak intensified to the point where it covered him in a thick red layer. He had no idea what he looked like, but what he did know was that Sasori was having trouble controlling him; apparently, he could only make very small movements. His body parts only twitched in response. He watched Kakuzu's threads quickly stitch together the silver-haired man:

"Hidan, go all out. Our survival is at stake now."

The silver haired man drew a circle with his foot on the ground, and purple flames burned in the area where he traced. Kakuzu's creatures barely staved off Sasori's puppets with a constant ninjutsu barrage while Hidan did this. Naruto felt a pressure forming in his mouth; just as a strange design appeared over Hidan's skin, making his skin completely white with a black skeleton design on his face and chest, he opened his mouth against his will and sent out a huge green and red ball of energy.

Kakuzu and his creatures attempted to jump out of the way, but three of the creatures were not so lucky as the ensuing green explosion enveloped them. Kakuzu uncharacteristically cursed as he landed. Hidan, for his part, swung his scythe in a broad pattern in midair, each swing leaving some sort of dark energy that hung in the air for a few seconds. He thus protected himself from the explosion, absorbing the blow with whatever substance his scythe left behind. The Tailed Beast Ball seemed to have mixed somehow with the poisonous gas in his throat, leaving behind a residue that ate away at everything in the location. Hidan remained unfazed in his circle, however. Naruto felt the strings as they attempted to make him move, but it was to no avail. Regardless, however, he felt the same buildup of energy in his mouth.

Before Sasori could get it off, though, an Earth Dragon crashed into Naruto directly; it did not pierce through his chakra cloak. Several piercing winds followed, slicing through many of Sasori's other puppets but failing to harm Naruto. Kakuzu decided to evacuate post haste as he saw another ball of energy escape Naruto's mouth, burrowing deep underground with the help of one of the creatures. Hidan, on the other hand, was busy fighting off the vast majority of Sasori's other puppets; he felled each in one stroke, easily disposing of the majority. Even explosive tags barely harmed him, leaving but small cuts in his skin. He did not step out of the circle, however. Hidan made a fist and pointed it directly toward Sasori- a giant black hand, similar to the one that grabbed Naruto in the afterlife, extended toward him. Sasori managed to dodge, but the hand followed him. However, it was then that Naruto's second Tailed Beast Ball escaped his mouth.

Hidan had to cancel his Hand of Jashin technique and build up the protective layer of black energy again as the explosive ball reached him. Kakuzu popped out of the ground next to Sasori and nearly stabbed the cylinder at the center of Sasori's stomach with his threads, but Sasori jumped up in a pseudo flight. Unfortunately for him, Kakuzu was prepared for that. He sent slicing winds from one of his creatures toward Sasori, and the cylinder quickly popped out and switched into a new Sasori puppet from one of the scrolls as the old one was destroyed.

Kakuzu smirked as he realized his assumption about Sasori's weakness was correct. He made a spear of Earth and sent it hurtling toward Sasori's cylinder. Sasori lessened Naruto's flow of Nine-Tails chakra to three tails, and made him jump to absorb the blow- which he did, at the cost of it partially piercing his stomach. Drawing on his other puppets, Kakuzu was soon once again occupied with keeping them back. As Naruto's stomach healed, he was sent to attack Hidan, who had once again recovered and had just sent out the Hand of Jashin. Naruto was grabbed midair by the hand, which squeezed him and smashed him into the ground. Retracting the hand, Hidan threw out his scythe, impaling Naruto through the throat. Naruto was suddenly very grateful that he could not feel any pain.

Dragging the puppet to himself despite Sasori's best efforts, Hidan did not count on the huge block of iron sand descending upon him from behind. It hit him directly, knocking him out of his circle. His transformation faded, leaving him with his natural skin tone. Hidan rushed to get back into the circle, but was interrupted by Sasori sending Naruto out to intercept him. A repeat of the earlier skirmish almost happened, but Hidan, wiser to Naruto's speed and strength this time, knocked him away with the flat of his scythe, and quickly drew another circle on the ground. His transformation repeated, Hidan was about to grab the Naruto puppet again, before the chakra strings around it were finally cut.

At the cost of his final creature, Kakuzu had managed to sneak a kunai into the cylinder that apparently had contained Sasori's internal organs, and as soon as Sasori paused from that, delivered a cutting blade of wind to follow up into the cylinder. It exploded in gore, and the Sasori puppet fell to the ground lifeless.

Naruto suddenly found himself able to move. Slowly, at first, twitching a few fingers only, then gaining autonomy of his arms and feet and head, Naruto gingerly picked himself up from the ground. Hidan, who had gone over to see if he could salvage any components for a sacrifice from Sasori, did not notice at first. But Kakuzu saw him immediately, and looked over in confusion at the defeated Sasori. Finding him definitely quite dead, Kakuzu absorbed the heart from his creature and cautiously moved toward Naruto.

Naruto, facing him, saw this. He spoke in a croaking voice, still getting used to his own autonomous bodily functions as a puppet:

"You… you bastards will never get the Kyuubi. Not while I still li- stand."

Kakuzu, clearly injured from the battle, laughed painfully.

"What in the world is going on? One of Sasori's puppets, walking and talking on its own. Are any of the other puppets doing this? Hidan?"

Hidan slowly turned around, and noticed something very odd and new about Naruto immediately. On his forehead was engraved the symbol of Jashin, where it clearly was not before. A lot of thoughts went through Hidan's head at once, and coming to a sudden conclusion, he cocked his head slightly to the right and smiled.

"Say, Kakuzu… do you see that symbol on that talking puppet's head?"

Kakuzu spun around at the almost playful tone of voice of his detested "partner."

"What is that supposed to mean."

"Well, it means," said Hidan as he knelt to the ground, picked up some blood with his finger, and licked it, "that you need to die."

Drawing a circle with his feet again, Hidan's skin turned black with a white skeletal pattern before Kakuzu could react. Kakuzu's eyes widened considerably.

"Hidan, you idiot, what are you do-"

Here his question was stopped, as Hidan drop a small metal spike through his own heart, killing Kakuzu instantly. As Kakuzu's lifeless body fell to the ground, Hidan confidently cancelled the transformation and stepped out of the circle, heading toward Naruto with his hand outstretched.

Naruto's head spun and he did not know what to do. He stood frozen for the fifteen seconds it took Hidan to reach him, and just stared at the outstretched hand.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Brother? Jashin clearly has some greater will for you. I think it is only right that I ditch that Akatsuki crap and travel with you in your murderous sprees."

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it. Then he uttered:

"I'm… I'm not a murderer, I'm just a ninja of the Hidden Leaf."

Hidan understood immediately.

"Ahh… I see how it is."

With a wink and a nod, Hidan passed Naruto and patted him on the back, leaving him to his own devices. Naruto didn't know what to think. That Akatsuki member helped him because of his association with Jashin; more importantly and surprisingly, Naruto didn't attack him. For whatever reason, whether it was gratitude or confusion, Naruto did not try to rip the Akatsuki member limb from limb- then again, it seemed like the man had just betrayed Akatsuki. Of course, he had also mentioned "murderous sprees," so perhaps it was wrong of Naruto nonetheless.

Confused morally, Naruto was about to head in a random direction away from Hidan's path when he realized that Sasori's corpse- along with all of his sealing scrolls- was lying on the ground only a short distance away. Naruto hurriedly walked over, and picked the scrolls over for their contents. Two of them contained another hundred human puppets, so the living puppet had to spend the next twenty minutes sealing them back inside after finding this out. Another scrolls contained a plethora of notes on the subject of puppeteering, and especially on human puppets. He hoped that there would be some sort of clue in there for how he could regain his humanity- his state of mind was such that he did not stop to think about how unlikely that was. Another scroll contained more Sasori puppets; that was the only one that Naruto even contemplated discarding, but decided that salvaging them for parts was more prudent.

The last scroll Naruto found himself unable to open using his blood. Thinking for a few minutes, he realized that Sasori's blood was still on the ground; scooping some up with his finger, he tried again using Sasori's blood. It worked. The scroll opened, and out fell another assortment of notes. Briefly looking over them, Naruto soon found that these notes were not like the others. In them was described a number of theoretical procedures related to puppeteering- including, he noticed, some conjectures of what a living puppet would need to function, and the transplant of a human mind into a puppet. Beyond those pages was a detailed procedure for how Sasori turned himself into a puppet, borrowing some of the elements from both theories described before. Flipping back over the notes one last time, Naruto sealed them back up.

Thoughts and plans relating to regaining his humanity whirling in his head, Naruto used an enclosed map and compass to determine his position and head in the direction of Konoha.