A/N: I've had this idea brewing in my head for a while now…ever since I started seeing the fights in the "Fate" series. To be honest, it was a toss-up as to what I wanted to do with this story, especially regarding how execute this. Until I get enough reviews to know what I will do with the original story, you can consider this an alternate version of the original "Hero of the Elemental Nations". Aside from that, do read and review; and if you sincerely like this experimental chapter, would you kindly advertise it to your friends?


{Play: "Sakura" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"}

[Konohagakure no Sato Orphanage─nighttime…]

It was a very nice night; clear indigo skies serving as a backdrop for the Hokage Monument that looked down upon the village of Konohagakure no Sato, with the light of the full moon illuminating it. Were one to look with binoculars upon the sight, they would see that there was an orphanage near the foot of the mountain range where the hand-carved faces of Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, Sarutobi Hiromi, and Namikaze Minako seemed to hold vigil in protecting the orphans that lived in the building underneath.

The sound of the orphans gathering together served to increase the joy of the atmosphere in the room. It should be energetic; it was story night after all. Every child was excited to listen to the orphanage matron, Unohana; she was a stunning woman at age 34 with a sort of appearance that seemed to scream 'motherly' in many different languages, with her black hair divided queued up in a braid in front of her, indigo eyes that seemed to make people feel good, and had a singing voice that the matriarch of the Haruno merchant clan would sell her soul to have…a voice that she was trying to calm the children down with: "All right children, settle down or you won't get story night tonight…and that means you too, Naruto-kun!"

Everyone in the room settled down so that the matron could tell the story…even the whisker-marked little boy named Naruto with sun-kissed golden hair and cerulean eyes. He didn't like when she looked at him in a mean way for making trouble (not that anybody who knew her well could blame him), but he loved her all the same just like any of the other orphans. "Okay then, for tonight's story, I will tell you all about the two Nio!" As she said this, she dramatically held out a book depicting two large, half-naked, and burly men with top knots on their bald heads and angry looks on their faces. One of the men had a closed mouth, and was wielding a weird-looking sword, while the other man had his mouth open and his teeth gnashing. Both seemed to be in a pose that seemed to drive people away.

"Now then," she said, opening the book and showing the picture of the two men standing guard over a baby, "the Nio are a pair of guardians who have sworn to protect the baby Buddha, and work to help him do his work. But who are these guardians? Where did they come from? And how did they come to protect the Buddha?"

At that, Unohana turned the page, revealing the picture of the open-mouthed Nio, with what looked like evil spirits fleeing from him. "And now we will start with the open-mouthed Nio."

The next page showed the open-mouthed Nio looking triumphant─the teeth on his face seemed to tell Naruto that he was very happy at the time. "The open-mouthed Nio was once a great warrior, and a strong man that was said to have been half-god. He mastered the art of fighting, and was known as a hero."

What he saw of the next page seemed to make him feel bad: the open-mouthed Nio was hunched over and looked like he was crying over a woman and children lying around. "But unfortunately, his happiness was not to last; one night, he was driven mad by a goddess, and made to kill his wife and children."

"But why did the goddess do that to him?" asked a little girl with a bowl cut, her wide and adorable eyes in shock at what the goddess did.

"Nobody knows, Lin-chan," answered Unohana, trying to placate the young girl, "but what is known is that the open-mouthed Nio felt bad about what happened; even though it wasn't really his fault, he still felt like it was. And so he went on a journey." As she said this, she turned a page to show twelve square pictures where the open-mouthed Nio was doing things in each one. "He went on a quest to do twelve impossible tasks to make up for what he did…tasks that the world would know as the 'Twelve Labors'."

Unohana turned the page, revealing the Nio triumphant once again. "When he was done with all twelve things he had to do, the open-mouthed Nio was free…he'd made up for what he'd done! He was free!"

"Unohana-san, what about the close-mouthed Nio?" asked a girl with buns in her dark brown hair.

"I'll be getting to that now, Tenten-chan." said Unohana, turning the page to show the close-mouthed Nio, being surrounded by a veritable paradise of flowers and rivers. "This is the tale of the close-mouthed Nio."

She turned the picture, showing the close-mouthed Nio, with his sword in hand, kneeling before a man with a crown on his head and an intricate-looking sword in his hands along with armored men. "The close-mouthed Nio was a hero that served a mortal king along with other warriors. This one however, was well-known because he was handsome enough to attract any woman he wanted, and could use any weapon he wished as though he'd used it all his life."

The next page showed the close-mouthed Nio with a beautiful woman in his arms. "The close-mouthed Nio, like his snarling friend, was a hero; however, his tragedy came when he fell in love with a woman married to his king. Because of people saying bad things about him and the woman he loved, he eventually wound up doing bad things like killing his fellow warriors."

Naruto wondered what the close-mouthed Nio was doing, because he was standing in what looked like a body of water with another beautiful woman before him. "The close-mouthed Nio felt so bad about what he did, betraying his fellow warriors and his king that he went to the lake to see his foster-mother, the lake spirit, about what to do."

The next page showed that the close-mouthed Nio was walking away dejectedly from his fellow warriors. "When he heard that his fellow warriors were going to war, the close-mouthed Nio offered to join them…but the warrior in command at the time refused, as the close-mouthed Nio killed his brother and two of his sons. He begged, and pleaded to come along, but was refused at every turn."

"But that didn't stop him from seeking penance for his misdeeds," said Unohana, turning the page, "he went on many adventures, doing things to try and redeem himself for what he did. But he would be unable to forgive himself for the rest of his life. It is said that even after his death, he seeks penance."

The next page showed the picture of the two Nio meeting and fighting. "It would be a long time until the two Nio would cross paths, and by that time, both had already died. As soon as they met, they fought each other, and the fight they had shook the foundations of the world.

"Until Buddha came before them, and pacified both of them," said Unohana, showing the picture of a peaceful looking man standing between the two Nio. "After speaking with both of them and befriending them, he granted them a mission: the open-mouthed Nio would protect the baby Buddha by frightening away evil spirits, while the close-mouthed Nio would keep the good teachings from escaping."

The final page showed the two Nio standing guard at a temple door. "And that is why today, we have Nio guarding temple doors…and why children should be going to bed now."

Groaning was heard in the crowd of children as they made their displeasure known. They really wanted to stay up longer to hear the rest of the story. "I've kept you all up long enough!" she said, half-seriously and half-playfully, "it's time for bed!"

Seeing no other alternative, and not wanting to be subject to another of Unohana-san's ice-cold glares, the children slowly got up and started making for the bedrooms. Teeth were being brushed and mouths gargled in preparation for sleep. As Naruto slid into his futon in between Tenten and Lin, he could not help but wonder. Could he meet the Nio one day? Would they tell him about their lives?

As he looked on at both Tenten and Lin, he promised himself that if he should meet either of the Nio, he would ask for the power to protect the both of them, no matter what!


A/N: A bit short, but then again, this is an experimental chapter. If more of you think I should delete the original Hero of Elemental Nations, and make this the definitive one, I will keep that in mind even here on this story. If you want me to keep this a separate story and give the original a separate title to differentiate it, I want to hear it too. Either way, I'd like opinions.


Vocabulary

Nio─these are actual stone Buddha Guardians that are also known as Kongorikishi. They come in pairs; one with a closed mouth and the other with an open one. The Nio with the open mouth scares off evil and sin, while the Nio with the closed mouth keeps good teachings in. Rumor has it that they are both based on Buddhist Indians hearing the tales of Heracles from Alexander the Great's forces.