Naruto: Alternate Beginning of a Legend
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of the names related to any characters in any anime series.
SUMMARY: Seven-year old Naruto, on a visit to Suna with Sandaime Hokage finds Sasori's old bedroom, and begins to learn the puppet technique. Naru/Rin. Alternate Universe.
Chapter 1: Puppet Master
Sarutobi Sasuke, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure was a seasoned warrior. He had many experiences in battle and had killed many men in his fifty-six years as serving as a ninja. But for the sight that he saw before his eyes was heartbreaking to him. Of all of the blood and gore he had to deal with through his years of reign, nothing prepared him for the sight before him.
'How could they do this to a young child?' Sarutobi thought as he saw the boy.
Naruto was in a hospital bed, covered in bandages that were stained red from all the blood he had lost in the extreme torture the Uchiha Clan put him through. Uchiha Itachi had done the damage, admitted to doing it even. The stoic Uchiha claimed that Uchiha Fugaku, his father, was the one to force him. That wasn't so far from the truth.
Sarutobi had just gotten back from an audience with Hanzo, the Amegakure leader. Hanzo was falling farther into insanity every minute. Apparently, Pein, a former Amegakure jounin, and the current Ame rebellion force leader had tried to assassinate Hanzo, and had halfway succeeded. Now the Ame leader was falling into a coma.
"Hokage-sama, how is Naruto doing?" a voice asked from behind Sarutobi.
"Naruto is fine, Ibiki-san," Sarutobi answered, his voice wavering slightly. "I will be leaving the village to attend an audience with the Yondaime Kazekage soon. I wish to take Naruto-kun with me. As Jounin Shirei, you are responsible for the village. I will be leaving with Naruto tomorrow morning when he is released."
"Hai, Sandaime-sama," Ibiki managed to stutter out. He had waited months for the position of Jounin Shirei to the Hokage. The Jounin Shirei was the leader of the Jounin forces. They were second-in-command to the ANBU Shirei and took over when the Hokage left the village for a short period of time.
A nurse then entered the small, dimly lit room. "Forgive me Sandaime-sama, Ibiki-sama, but visiting hours are over."
The two powerful men exited the room and made their way to their separate homes, where they would sleep in preparation for the tomorrow.
The following day, Ibiki had been sworn in as the Rokudaime Jounin Shirei by Sarutobi, and went to his new office. Sarutobi wished him luck for the next two weeks and left the Hokage Tower to release the hyperactive blond child from the hospital.
"Hikari-san, I am here to pick up Uzumaki Naruto," the Sandaime said to the secretary at the desk.
"The de- I mean...child is ready to leave, Hokage-sama," she muttered and pointed to the paperwork on her desk.
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and stared at her with a piercing gaze. "You will be out of a job in about ten seconds if you call him that ever again."
Just then, a blonde boy came out of the lobby and into the waiting room. "Hokage-sama," he said formally.
Sarutobi widened his eyes at the formality that he just heard from the boy. "Na-Naruto...are you feeling well?"
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Of course I am not feeling well, Hokage-sama...I just got out of the hospital," he answered curtly.
Sarutobi guided Naruto out of the hospital waiting room and out into the streets of Konoha. "Naruto, you are to gather your things. You and I are leaving on a diplomatic mission to Sunagakure. I will collect you from your house tomorrow morning...are we clear?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Naruto said, dipping his head. Then he turned around and walked towards his house in the slums of Konoha.
The next day, Sarutobi picked Naruto up at dawn and together, they made their way to Sunagakure. Naruto was still being distant and formal with him, even going as far to call him Sarutobi-sama. Needless to say, the elderly Kage was getting tired of it.
"Naruto-kun, what is the matter with you? You are acting so formal lately..."
Naruto looked up at him with hostility. "How come you never told me, huh?"
Sarutobi looked down in shock, his eyes widening. "What are you talking about?"
"One of the chuunin that beat me up said that I was the Kyuubi and that I deserved to die! I think I have a right to know if I was a demon!" Naruto yelled in Sarutobi's face.
Sarutobi sighed and rubbed his forehead. He would have to tell the boy the truth sometime. "Naruto, no matter what the villagers say, you are not a demon. Listen to me, and I shall tell you their reasons."
Naruto glared at the old man and crossed his arms over his chest. "Go ahead," he spoke.
"Seven years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konohagakure. The ninja sent to fight it were decimated one by one. Eventually, we grew desperate. The only man capable of defeating the Kyuubi, Yondaime Hokage, sealed the beast into a child. That child was you, Naruto. But the jutsu Yondaime-san used was a double-edged sword. It killed him, and sealed the Kyuubi inside a newborn baby. He needed a newborn because an adult could not stand the changes, and the Kyuubi would easily break free of the seal. That, Naruto is why the villagers act this way," Sarutobi finished, his Hokage ceremonial robes fluttering in the soft breeze as they made their way to Sunagakure.
"So Yondaime wanted this?" Naruto asked questioningly.
"No, Naruto. The truth is that he didn't just use any child. He used his own son for the ritual. You are his son," Sarutobi whispered in his ear.
Naruto's eyes grew wide. Then he began to growl dangerously. "Why did he do this to me then?"
Sarutobi sighed for the millionth time. "Yondaime didn't want to ask someone else to give their child. He knew that you were special...that you could take whatever the village threw at you and still stand. He couldn't ask someone else to do something that he could do himself."
Naruto looked down. "Oh...sorry old man..."
Sarutobi ruffled Naruto's hair. "Don't apologize, Naruto-kun."
As they neared Sunagakure, Sarutobi swore that he could feel someone watching them.
Naruto was amazed. He had never seen so much sand before in his entire seven years! In fact, he had never seen sand...ever...and as they approached the Kazekage Tower, he became curious as to what this strange soft substance was.
"Hey, Sarutobi-jiji, what is this weird stuff?" Naruto asked curiously, holding up some sand in his left hand.
"That is sand, Naruto. It is a very interesting thing is it not? We do not have it back in Konoha," Sarutobi replied, smiling at the boy's large smile. "Oh look...here comes the Kazekage."
Sarutobi was right. A man wearing the traditional Kage ceremonial robes pushed the doors open, and out followed three children behind him.
The Kazekage's robes were dark blue and white colored. He had his Kage headdress pulled down so far over his face that you were surprised he could see to even acknowledge that they were there.
"Hokage-dono, welcome to Sunagakure. Behind me are my children, Temari, Kankorou, and my youngest...Gaara." The Kazekage gestured to the children...one who had a large fan strapped to her back, one who had makeup, and one who...had the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead...normal children...
Sarutobi pushed Naruto forward and introduced him. "Kazekage-dono, this is Uzumaki Naruto."
The Kazekage grinned at him ever so slightly and said hello. Naruto bowed and paid the proper respect, however, Kazekage just waved it off, saying he didn't need to be so formal.
The Sandaime then kneeled down beside Naruto and began to talk in a whisper.
"Naruto, I am going to see the Kazekage...you may walk around the village as you see fit...I will see you at the hotel tonight..." With that, the Sandaime Hokage got up and walked back inside with the Kazekage and his kids.
Naruto took his time walking around the village, taking in the sights, until a certain building caught his attention. The top third floor was demolished, and there seemed to be a glow coming from one of the rooms. Naruto slowly walked up the creaking stairs and reached the carpeted floor.
Now let's just say that floor wasn't very sturdy, because at that moment Uzumaki Naruto fell through the building and into one of the rooms below. When he came to, he got up and took in the room's sights...the tattered drapery...and the various jars and wooden parts around the room. But what really caught his eye...was a wooden statue...in the middle of the room...or at least he perceived it as a statue. It was a puppet.
On the wall beside the creepy puppet was a note that was taped to the wall.
Dear Visitor,
It appears that I have either died in battle, or I have left this hellhole known as Sunagakure, and walked on my own. You must have been particularly skilled to have found this place...or you must have had a death wish. Anyways, if you wish to, I have scattered about the room various scrolls that you can read. They contain instructions for the Kugutsu technique (puppet technique). My wish is that you find this letter and follow me as a puppet master. I have left behind a duplication of my favorite puppet, Hiruko, which you may use in battle. He has a space inside of him that can be operated from within that can be used to perform daily tasks, however it is recommended that you drape him in a black cloak and hat before use, so as to not draw suspicion.
Carry on my work,
Akasuna no Sasori, Jounin of Sunagakure
In fact, Naruto was quite fascinated with the art of puppetry. He inspected 'Hiruko' closely. The puppet (which is exactly like Sasori's) did have a space for someone to climb inside and control with chakra strings. It had a large, metallic scorpion tail that was laced with a deadly poison.
Naruto then inspected the mouth of the puppet. Inside were thousands of senbon needles that were ready to fire rapidly at an enemy at the pull of a chakra string. Also, the puppet's arms were filled with shells that held even more senbon needles. Naruto knew that he would be one step closer to Hokage. Plus...he could strike fear into anyone that tried to attack him. With that thought, he went off to learn the puppet technique.
The first scroll he found was a scroll on chakra control. It was a tree-climbing exercise, but it could work on normal walls as well. So Naruto set off to doing that. Eventually, after five hours of working at it, he finally got the hang of it.
Opening the second scroll was the trick to operating chakra strings to operate his puppets. Realizing that Sarutobi would be wondering where he was, he headed for the door.
He stopped when he grasped the door handle. 'Maybe a little bit longer,' he thought to himself. He turned back to the scroll and set to work on controlling his chakra.
He worked through the
night, and eventually managed to move Hiruko's tail from inside it
with all five of his chakra strings. The scroll stated that the
better he got the less chakra strings he would need to control a
puppet. Naruto was still working at it...and never giving up. He
spent the entire two weeks in Suna working in the room during the
daytime. He had gotten the chakra strings down, and had just
finished his first puppet. He had learned to fully manipulate Hiruko
from the inside, and had learned from a scroll how to create and
repair his puppets.
Naruto named his first puppet 'Onikasai'
(Demon Fire) for the flamethrower that he held in his mouth. The
flamethrower had the fire to cause enough damage as an A-rank Katon
jutsu. He also learned a sealing method that consisted of drawing a
deal on one's forearm or upper arm to seal a puppet. He sealed
Onikasai in one of those. He also didn't want to scare Sarutobi,
so he sealed Hiruko as well.
He saw the last scroll on the dresser beside the lamp, so he pocketed that as well. Contented, he took Sasori's letter and sealed it inside a small scroll.
Just before the day he had to leave, he went to the shinobi wear store in Suna to buy clothing for his puppets. He bought a black cloth to dress Hiruko, along with the long black cloak and the traveler's hat (same as Akatsuki hats). He bought some black cloth to dress Onikasai in as well. Before he left, he bought himself three pairs of black Shinobi style pants, a black cloak and traveler's hat, and several black shirts.
Naruto went back to the hotel, carrying all of the clothes, and ran into Sarutobi on the way there. Literally.
"Naruto, what are you doing with all those clothes?" Sarutobi asked, surprised the boy even had money, let alone enough to buy clothes with.
Naruto led him into
the room, put his clothes down and unsealed his two puppets. He
demonstrated his technique on two Kage Bunshin of Sarutobi's. Needless to say, Sarutobi was very impressed, but angry at the same
time, as Naruto had ran off and done something like this without his
permission.
Next, Naruto got inside Hiruko and used the tail
against Sarutobi's bunshin. Sarutobi didn't even know any of
that could happen.
Sarutobi looked down. "Naruto-kun, where did you learn this?"
Naruto sat down and looked at Sarutobi before answering. "I was exploring and fell through to a room in an old apartment building. In the room was Hiruko, and several scrolls on the Puppet technique."
Sarutobi's eyes widened. "W-whose room did you say it was?"
"Akasuna no Sasori's room, I think...why?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Akasuna no Sasori is an S-class nukenin that specializes in the art of human puppetry," Sarutobi said, his voice wavering as he spoke.
"I did read a scroll on how to make human puppets..." Naruto spoke softly.
"What?" Sarutobi exclaimed.
"I-I thought it could make me a strong ninja incase the villagers attack me again," Naruto whispered.
Sarutobi sighed heavily. "I guess you can keep the puppets and further learn the technique."
"Yay! Thank you, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto exclaimed, sealing his puppets.
"Yes, but no word of this to the Kazekage or any Sunagakure ninja, ever!" Sarutobi warned.
"Yes, sir!" Naruto yelled.
Together, they said their farewells to the Kazekage and crossed the desert back to Konohagakure.
'But', Sarutobi thought silently. 'The council will not be happy...'
A/N: Anyways, so how was it. This is my first time working with a puppeteer Naruto fic, so please don't flame me...it is my first time...so please read and review, and give me suggestions. I can tell you that next chapter is where Naruto learns about his heritage and gets his mother's scrolls.
I would like to give credit to Froggy-Slice, RavenShantor, and SerpentSannin for inspiring me to write this story.
Please feel free to give suggestions or what not, meh?
Ja ne!
-Shodai Fuzeikage-sama