Naruto stared into the fatigued eyes that where staring right back at him. He, Uzumaki Naruto had just done what he thought to be the impossible. He has just taken down Garaa at his top strength. He summoned the boss of all toads and with his help took down Garaa and Shukaku. How ever he wasn't' done yet, if Garaa wasn't taken out quick, the girl he could honestly say he loved was about to die.
"Sakura-chan" he said to himself, hoping to get the motivation that he needed.
"You look tired" I said across a 20 foot wide gap between him and Garaa. He gave no reply
"Looks like we'll have to end this with one blow" Garaa didn't' answer, but Naruto could tell that he agreed. They launched forward at each other, arms raised, desperately hoping that this blow would be the last.
When they met mid air they struggled and tumbled, trying to over power the other. Garaa got the upper hand and forced Naruto back. While they where freefalling Garaa pushed Naruto into the blade of Gamabunta, which had yet to disperse. Almost instantly the left limb of the Kyuubi vessel was severed clean off. Naruto let out a howl of pain as his hand and 1/2 his for arm fell to the floor right beside him. Put despite this, he managed to grab Garaa by the collar and kneed him in the stomach. Continuing to kick Garaa all the way down their decent. When they landed Naruto landed all but 15 feet away. Garaa was exhausted, he couldn't move even if he wanted to. But then he witnessed something that he couldn't help but fear.
Armless, bloody, bruised, and beaten. Uzumaki Naruto continued to crawl towards Garaa.
"STAY AWAY!!!" Garaa yelled "STAY AWAY OR I'LL KILL YOU"
he looked into the eyes of the blond only to see something he didn't' expect, he was crying, in the midst of battle he was crying, poring his heart out for the world to see and he didn't show any signs of caring
"I can't let you kill them" said Naruto, "I know what it's like to be living in that hell of loneliness. But I've found people, people who acknowledge me, and people who care about me. And until I beat u, she can't be safe, so I'll have to kill you so that she can live"
"You can stop Naruto" said the last Uchiha, appearing as of nowhere "Sakura is safe, the sand let go of her as soon as that big sand monster disappeared"
"That's great" said Naruto with the warmest smile anyone present had ever seen. He then continues to drift into a deep sleep that only massive blood loss could cause.
"I have to hurry or he'll die" though Sauske as he looked back at the sound trio one last time before heading towards Sakura. After he picked her up, he ran as fast as his legs could take him to Konoha.
Konoha infirmary
Naruto opened his eyes only to immediately shut them. The room was bright as hell; he pulled up the sheets only to see that only 1/2 his face got covered. Then he remembered "... I lost my arm didn't I" he opened his eyes to see that he wasn't dreaming. He lost his arm and he'd probably never get it back. He then looks at the side of his bed to find Kakashi looking very worriedly at him. They where silent for several minutes before Naruto broke it
"How is she?"
"Who?" asked Kakashi knowing full well who he spoke of.
"Sakura...how is she?" asked Naruto full of worry for his comrade
"She suffered a broken arm and a fractured rib...but she's be just fine" said Kakashi forcing a smile to comfort Naruto
Naruto audio ably sighed "that's great" he sank in his bed." at least my sacrifice wont' go to waste" he smiled a sad smile as he looked upon his Arm." Kakashi sensei?" Naruto asked in a pleading yet questioning voice
"What is it Naruto?" asked Kakashi knowing what was going to be asked of him
"Does this mean I can't be a shinobi anymore?" Naruto looked still sporting his sad smile
"Honestly Naruto...I don't know" Kakashi said in a sad tone. "Unless you train in tai-jutsu like lee, because without that arm, you can't do nin-jutsu or gen-jutsu"
"I no" said Naruto, "but if I can still be a shinobi...I won't give up...I'll keep getting stronger and I'll protect those who are important to me! And then I'll become the first one armed Hokage!" Naruto said with an enthusiastic smile upon his face
Kakashi was taken back, how could someone who just lost his arm and would probably have to quite being a shinobi, be so positive. "That's the spirit Naruto" he said with an eye smile "if anyone can do it, it'll be you" he said as he started leaving Naruto's hospital room. "At least I hope you do" he said to himself
After 3 more days in the hospital and no other visitors, Naruto was released from the hospital, because he was hospitalized, he missed the 3rd's funeral ceremonies. After going to his small apartment and dropping off his things, he decided to go to the 3rd's grave site to pay his respects.
When he arrived he saw some one who he didn't' expect. "Hey ero sennin" said Naruto sounding as enthusiastic as ever
"Don't call me that you brat, especially when I'm morning my sensei's death" said Jiraiya in an annoyed voice not even bothering to look back
"Here, sorry. I was hospitalized so I missed the funeral ceremonies" stated Naruto in a nonchalant voice
"After all I taught you, you still got beaten so badly you had to be hospitalized for 3 days?? You really do stink as a shinobi don't you?" said Jiraiya and it was just then that he caught his 1st glimpse of the boy
Their was a silence between the two, it lasted so long that both missed breakfast and where about to miss lunch
Jiraiya broke the silence by asking a simple question " are you gonna quite?"
"Why should I?" asked Naruto " what is set in front of me is only what I can handle, I'll over come this ordeal and surpass everyone else, even without nin-jutsu or gen-jutsu. The more I say it, the more I think I'll become like lee"
"Just don't' wear the spandex, or you wont' get anywhere fast." said Jiraiya trying to get a laugh out of Naruto
After a few chuckles Jiraiya offered Naruto some ramen and Naruto just looked at the sannin and just said, "I'll eat enough to grow my arm back if your serious" Jiraiya reluctantly held his own and went with Naruto to Ichiraku's
"You know, you eat pretty well even without an Arm." said Jiraiya amassed at Naruto's prowess
"Thanks, I learnt to eat like this when I broke my arm a few years ago during an...Altercation" said Naruto as he continued slurping his noodles
"Naruto..." Jiraiya said in a serious voice
"What?" Naruto asked
"Come with me on a mission, I need help finding an old teammate and I have an idea on how you can resume being a shinobi. You'll still have a hard time but, you might be able to do Nin and gen-jutsu" Jiraiya told the hyper genic blond in a stern voice, never separating eyes
Naruto just stared at Jiraiya for a few minutes "...how?" he asked mostly himself
"That is for you to find out once you accept the mission" he said with a smile
Naruto was beaming "I ACCEPT!!!!!!" he yelled at the top of his voice "so when do we start!"
"We leave in an hour, so go home, pack your things and get ready" Naruto started teary eyed at his 1/2 finished bowl of ramen. Jiraiya sighed and said "hurry up with that" Naruto then smiled and continued slurping on his noodles (I had a very...very wrong image in my head just now)
One hour later in the northern gate of konoha
"So what exactly are we doing?" ask Naruto as soon as they headed off
"I'm going to find an old friend of mine, the council wants her to come back to konoha to reinstate as a ninja" said Jiraiya while eyeing a pretty brunette that passed them by
"Is she any good?" ask Naruto
"She's one of the legendary 3 like me, and she is a medical expert, 2nd to none" he said with a smug look on his face
"Is that so" Naruto said in a disbelieving voice "she doesn't seem all that great so she can heal anything, but that doesn't' mean she's a good fighter." stated Naruto
"Don't' let that detail fool you." said Jiraiya in a warning tone "although she is a medical specialist, doesn't mean she can't throw a good right. Her physical strength is also 2nd to none, and she knows as many nin-jutsu as me."
"So she's better than you?" asked Naruto is a teasing voice
"No, she is my equal at best. I still have a lot more chakra than she does" he said smugly
"Ok ero-sennin. Enough about the mission, what about me?" asked Naruto with curiosity
"What about you?" asked the toad sage with eyes of confusion. Naruto just stared at his arm and the light bulb went on in Jiraiya's head. "Oh right, hehe forgot about that for a minute. Well it's a theory more than anything. Well...I know it's possible. It's just that no1 has ever done it before" said the hermit. "you notice how many jounnins can use basic skills, and even not so basic skills with out hand signs right?" Naruto nodded dumbly at the statement." it usually takes a shinobi months if not years to do this, and they also have to perform the jutsu hundreds if not thousands of times for them to be able to do it seal less." Naruto continued nodding but more intently now." well I figure that you can learn to do jutsu seal less" Naruto was in shock?
"Is that even possible?" he asked
"Was this idiot not listening to me just now?" said Jiraiya mentally "I believe so" he said aloud. Hand seals pretty much mold chakra a certain way, it is possible to mold chakra on your own, but it is very presses. And also, each new hand seal acts upon the previous chain of hand seals and they don't' always follow a predictable pattern. So you must do research on each hand seal and how they effect each other" Naruto mental yelled "SHIT!" but let Jiraiya continue undisturbed. "Also any minor disfiguration while making the seals could have catastrophic effects. For example if you made a kage bunshin but you messed up, the kage bunshin could explode violently and hurt you, or someone you don't' want to hurt, pretty badly" Naruto herd all of this and was taken back
"So it might be vary dangerous doing jutsu this way huh?" he asked
Jiraiya responded with a simple answer "yes. So I advice you to train nin-jutsu away from everyone. And to be extra careful not to get careless while making seals."
Naruto had a look of indifference in his eyes, they brightened right away and he said to Jiraiya "even if I loose another limb, I won't give up, I'll get strong and protect those who matter to me" he said with a huge grin
Jiraiya grinned back and decided to give him a bit more bad news in a not so bad way." but with that arm missing, you might be at a disadvantage. In any fighting stance their will be a huge opening and they will have a 'safe zone' when they fight you."
Naruto looked at the floor and asked "what should I do about it?"
Jiraiya smiled at Naruto and asked "are you familiar with the work of a puppeteer?"
At a carpenters shop near the boarder of suna and fire country
"Here you go Naruto" said Jiraiya with a smile
Jiraiya handed Naruto a wooden for arms and hand. It was a very simple design. All the joints and the hand where spheres, while the for arms and every section of all the fingers where cylinders. Naruto looked at the arm with a sad face
"Is this a sick joke?" he looked at the arm placed near him with a questionable eye.
"It might not look like much, but many of men would trade this over their own arms if it wasn't' for the fact that it must be puppeteer" said the shop owner "let me give you a demonstration of what this baby can do" after this was said Naruto looked at the carpenter curiously
"This is a grade a puppet arms, only people in the entire shinobi world that could out due me are the puppet shinobi's of the sand, and even then, they are only superior in appearance. My puppets are just as durable and strong as theirs are. The way you move it is juts like any over puppet, chakra strings."
"I don't' know how to use chakra strings" Naruto interrupted
"I do, and I'll teach you if you just shut up and let him finish" Jiraiya countered Naruto's interruption with his own
"Thank you, now if you would please let me continue uninterrupted" he eyed Naruto waiting for a few seconds
"Sorry" Naruto mumble "please continue"
"Almighty then" said the shop owner. "like I was saying, you move it around with chakra strings, like this" he continued to show Naruto that his hand could move as much as any normal hand could." but what is a shinobi arm if it just moves like a normal arm, you must add on a bunch of stuff to give yourself an edge of your opponents. Said the carpenter. He then took the hand and made it point with its pointer finger and thumb out and the other 3 fingers retract into a fist, making the classic imitation gun gesture. Almost right away very small needles shot out of the finger, fast, strong and best of all...silently. "This is my special, I call it 1000 needles. It shoots 1000 needles in a minute. That's and these needles are just plain, ordinary needles, you could apply poisons and other fun concoctions on them so they could have varying effects."
Naruto stared wide eyed at the arm "coooooool!!" he stated simply
"I knew you'd like it, but that's not all, it fires from every finger, in multiple directions" he proceeded to give a demonstration. At once hundreds of needles fired out of the arms and flew across the air.
"Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!" said Naruto practically gleaming at the arms
"But wait! There's more!!!!" said the carpenter, causing Naruto to be ecstatic. "He made the puppet hand turn into a fist and a very small dagger came out of what would have been, the back of the hand, where it an actual appendage. It was 5 inches and 3 inches wide and the base, it made a constant decline into a point 3 inches in front of the knuckles" this is a short knife I've installed into the arms. It is used in case you run out of needles. And like the needles, if you want you can apply a poison or any other narcotic or hallucinogens to give you an edge.
Naruto stared dumbfound at his new "arms" and any and all doubts about it where immediately eradicated. "Can I try it out?" asked Naruto
"it's your isn't it?" said Jiraiya "but you'll have to master it on your own that you can be proficient with it, all I can do is teach you how to use chakra strings, I can't teach you how to be any good with the arms" said Jiraiya, hoping Naruto wouldn't' be to bummed out about it
"I no ero-sennin" this caused the shop keeper to snicker and Jiraiya to sulk. "But if I could learn how to use this, it'll be like if I never lost my arms in the 1ts place!"
"Not true" said the shop keeper. Although it is more durable than your actual arms, the fact that you can only move it via chakra strings means that you must put a conscious effort into it" Naruto had a confused look on his face. "Geez what an idiot" he said to himself "what I'm trying to say is. since it isn't' your real arm, if something take you by surprise, it's wont do what you want it to do. You will have to make it do what you want it to do with chakra strings; it's not capable of impulse reactions."
"I don't' quite understand, but pretty much what you're saying is it just won't move on its own, I have to make it move" said Naruto
"Something tells me that as much as I try and explain he wont' get it" the carpenter, and Jiraiya thought. So they both just answered "yes"
"Alright then. Put this bad boy on my arms and teach me how to se chakra strings so I can shoot needles!!" said Naruto with allot of enthusiasm
"it's gonna hurt a bit just so you know, I have to use a jutsu to pretty much fuse the base of it onto your skin. And I suggest you don't' use it until the skin and wood fuse properly which should take just a few days. You know their finished when you don't feel any pain any more" stated the carpenter
"Iku-san" Jiraiya addressed the carpenter "Naruto heals pretty quick, we could be back by 2morow morning the latest" stated Jiraiya and Naruto looks a little smug at the comment
"Is that so? You got some kinda blood limit?" asked Iku the carpenter
"Not really a blood limit, just something that nobody else has" stated Jiraiya
"is' at so?" well alright then, come back after you get use to using chakra strings to move your hand around so that I can teach you how to shoot the needles and extent the blade alright?" said Iku
Naruto just nodded while Jiraiya gave a toothy smile
Naruto then followed Iku to the back and you herd a window shattering scream of pain as Iku mended the wood and arms together.
"I thought you said it was going to hurt a BIT" yelled Naruto at Iku
"It did hurt a bit hurt me a bit, take a bit of chakra to do that and I'm tired now" said Iku with a smile on his face
"That hurt me like hell!" Naruto yelled
"Not my problem" stated Iku
Jiraiya intervened and stopped their bickering and he told Iku, "we'll be back 2morow afternoon, I'll teach him how to use chakra strings in the morning and it'll be around afternoon till he learns it enough to use them."
"Alright Jiraiya, see you then my friend" he said waving them off as Jiraiya and Naruto walked off
"Crazy kid, can't believe Jiraiya convinced me to give him my best puppet arms for free at that" sighed Iku after they left "hope he could use it properly
On the outskirts of town
Naruto was staring at his new arm and had a intrigued look on his face
"Well let's get started" said Jiraiya
"Started with what?" asked Naruto
"With the chakra strings jutsu" said Jiraiya
"But Iku said not to mess around with the arm until I'm fully recovered" stated Naruto
"we wont' be messing around with the arm, we'll be learning how to mess around with the arm" said Jiraiya "to make chakra strings you need to do hand seals, what I want you to do is to mold your chakra as though you made the hand seals. This jutsu would normally take a few minutes to master, but since you have to fish everything out from memory you will probably be done with it by 2morow after noon."
"But how do I do that you remember how each individual seal molds chakra right?" asked Jiraiya
"Yeah"
"Well then what you have to do is practice making the seals on your own, and then doing them in sequence. If not then you will never get that arm to move"
"Ok" said Naruto "what the seals are?" he asked
"Dragon, sheep, hen" stated Jiraiya it's called chakra string no jutsu (obvious...no?) "Don't try and do the jutsu now, only try and get familiar with how to mold your chakra into what the seals would look like." I'll be back in a few hours
"Where are you going?" asked Naruto
"Research" said Jiraiya as he walked away
"You fucking perv!!" yelled Naruto at the top of his lungs
"I know, but you should really keep practicing that chakra molding, me being here wont' make a difference" Jiraiya continued to walk off and Naruto scolded him
The next morning
Jiraiya was walking towards the clearing he left Naruto in; since Naruto never returned that night he obviously stood out all night training. Jiraiya spots Naruto on his back dead asleep. He walks up to Naruto and reaches out to shake him. When suddenly Naruto's wooden arm reaches forward and grabs Jiraiya's arm that was reached out. Jiraiya was taken back when Naruto said one thing.
"Chakra strings accomplished ero sennin" and Naruto smiled his foxy grin
"Now this is a surprise." said Jiraiya with a smile on his face. "I thought I told you to practice on molding the chakra, not trying to do the jutsu"
"I know, but after I kept molding the chakra I realized something." Naruto said with much enthusiasm.
"And what would that be" said Jiraiya curiously
"Hand seals pretty much tell the just and chakra what to do, so what I decided to do, was to just, make chakra strings" said Naruto
"I don't get it" stated Jiraiya confused
"Ok, think of it like this." said Naruto, grabbing Jiraiya's attention. "If chakra is a flute, then hand seals are like your fingers that cover the holes, every time you cover a hole or a set of holes it makes a different sound, and after every set of hand seals you make a new chain of notes that sound differently. So what I did was I just blew on the flute, and sort of forced the notes to come out how I wanted them to" there was a silence between the two "I guess that wasn't a very good way to describe it now was it" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.
"No it wasn't" said Jiraiya causing Naruto's head to tip over. "But I do think I no what you are trying to say. What you mean is you pretty much make your chakra do the jutsu you want." said Jiraiya in disbelief
"Yes...in a way I guess" said Naruto thinking it over
"what an interesting guy" thought Jiraiya "well, who cares on how you did it as long as in the end you got what you want right?" said Jiraiya with a smile
"YEAH!" said Naruto
"Let me see how you can work your hand" said Jiraiya, focusing on Naruto's hand
Naruto was having a hard time controlling all of the strings at once, all of the movements his hands made where sloppy and jumpy, but he did do everything that was asked so Jiraiya couldn't' complain.
"to make strings and not control them is something that any armature would go through, but his chakra strings where self made, something that should take months of training accomplished in mere hours. He also controls them like an amateur does, an armature using a masters technique and still doing as well as he should be at his state, what a guy" Jiraiya was dumb found
"Well brat, keep practicing, in the afternoon we'll go to Iku's place and he'll teach you how to shoot needles and extent the blade." said Jiraiya walking off
"Where are you going now? More researchyouperv??" said Naruto with a hint of hatred in his voice
"Actually I'm going to get some break fast" said Jiraiya, causing Naruto's stomach to rumble
"Wait!" he said holding is prosthetic limb up "I'll go with you" he got up and walked with Jiraiya to get breakfast
One hour later
After Naruto ate breakfast, he walked around the town practicing how to move his arm. The conversation he had with Jiraiya had him thinking.
"the way you make the chakra strings leaves them allot weaker than normal, and they take a hell of allot more chakra than needed, you'll have to work to get some serious chakra control before you can do any other jutsu, the chakra strings is one of the easiest jutsu to perform, but later on you won't even have to tug at he strings to get you hand to move if you become proficient enough with them."
His thoughts lingered on what Jiraiya told him earlier. If I have to work on my control then I'll work on that after I get comfortable with this hand.
After about 3 more hours of messing around with his new arms, he found himself able to do fairly simple tasks, but nothing extraordinary. He could write and lift forks, and even sport a set of chopsticks, but he couldn't' do any real heavy lifting, and he hasn't learnt to make his hand stay still with out a conscious effort.
"Well let's go to Iku's" said Jiraiya as he appeared right behind Naruto. "It's about time we get you to learn how to shoot those needles"
"I learnt how to bring the blade out" Naruto said "it was by mistake but I learnt how to bring it out"
"How so?" said Jiraiya a little curious
"It comes out when ever I make a fist. I thought that the needles would come out if I made a L shape with my finger and thumb but it's not the case" said Naruto looking at his wooden appendage
"Hmm...Maybe there's a trigger inside" said Jiraiya "oh well, we'll find out soon enough" he said leading Naruto towards the carpenter's shop
At Iku's shop
"Hello there Jiraiya" Iku stated enthused at his guests "where's Naruto?"
"He's coming here right now with the real me" said Jiraiya
"So the you now in front of me is a kage bunshin I presume." Stated Iku
"Yeah, well. Why are you so happy?" asked Jiraiya
"Well I am, I just found out that my son Aoki is going to have a son or daughter" said the grandfather to be in a proud voice.
"Well congratulations Iku!" said Jiraiya now you will be an old man
"Say what you Jiraiya, but my legacy will continue, something you cant' say." Said Iku smugly, who immediately shut his mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up" said Iku apologizing
"Just don't' let it happen again" said Jiraiya warningly I've lost two people who I wanted to succeed me, and both died young. I'm planning on trying one more time. But it will be difficult for him. He has a huge handicap."
"And my arm is going to remove it, if not lighten it for him" stated Iku
"No, your arm is just to give him back his confidence; later down the line I think he will abandon the arm." Stated Jiraiya seriously
"I have to disperse, I have something important to tell you but we got side tracked, I'll tell you later" said the fake Jiraiya dispersing himself
"OYE! Iku! Show me how to shoot needles!!" said Naruto
BONK!
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR Ero-Sennin?!" yelled Naruto
"SHOW HIM RESPECT BRAT! HE'S DOING YOU A FAVOR!" yelled back Jiraiya
"………sorry……" apologized Naruto
Iku chuckled and said "it's quite alright you too. Now, let's get down to business, I'm a busy man and I don't' have all day" said Iku
"Well I learned how to extend the blade on my own so you don't have to worry about it." Said Naruto smugly
"Is that so?" said Iku, "Wellyousaved me about 10 minutes, shooting needles is a bit trickier. You have to extend a chakra string into the arms and wrap it around a small trigger that shoot out the needles. Their is a very small hole right in the middle of the palm, if you look closely you should be able to see it"
Naruto looked at the palm of his puppet hand and indeed saw a very small hole right in the middle." I see it" he stated
"You have to take a chakra string a maneuver it in their and you should feel 4 strings. Each string releasing needles from their designated 'finger'. But you have to make the fingers straight or else they won't come out" stated Iku
"Alright!" said Naruto. He weaved a chakra string into the small hole and indeed felt 4 small triggers. He wormed a chakra string around a string inside the hand and tried to tug on it. "it's kind of hard. It moves a bit but not all that much" said Naruto struggling
"They're a bit hard I'll admit, but just keep trying, since your strings are weaker than normal string you'll have to learn how to make them stronger, this would be a good way to learn some more control. You will have to find the right amount of chakra to put into the chakra strings. To much and it becomes too thick to fit into the hole, to little and you won't be able to tug at the string. You're gonna have to learn to make the strings stronger, and not make it thicker. The key to this is compression and concentration." Said Iku in a firm tone
"Naruto" Jiraiya called out to the demon vessel. "I have the perfect exercise for you to learn this, and you'll pick up a new jutsu with it."
"Really?" asked Naruto
"Yeah, but it's a really difficult technique to learn. It took me a whole year to learn it, and the 4th 3 years to invent it." Said Jiraiya
"The 4th invented it?" asked Naruto a little amazed
"Yes, it's a grade-A difficulty. And if you can learn it then you could do the chakra strings no problem" said Jiraiya encouragingly
"Is it stronger than Sasuke's Chidori?" asked Naruto
"A lot stronger than Sasuke's Chidori." Stated Jiraiya
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Naruto
"We can start right away!" said Jiraiya
-END-
This is the 2nd fan fic that I've posted on this site but it's the 1st I've actually corrected the spelling for.
Anyways no commentaries this time please read and review and tell me what you think.
Flames are unwelcome but constructive criticism is encouraged
If I have any fact fixed up or if I did something wrong please let me know
Enjoy!