Naruto: The Plot-Bunny Chronicles
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Inspiration: Catch 22 by The Sh33p
Author's Note: This is mainly to get over my long period of non-writing. If anyone wants to use one of these to start up a story, just ask. I will almost certainly allow you to use one of these if you are sure to credit me. Also, these are unrelated little drabble bits, and obviously are AU. They can, and will, disagree with canonical events, so don't bitch at me about that.
Plot Bunny the First:
The Hatake clan had a strange bloodline. Very few people knew about it, as it rarely manifested, and was not easy to recognize when it did. This is the real reason that Hatake Kakashi is absolutely terrified of his students' desire to remove his mask. He fears that the truth is something that they are not ready to handle, and he may very well be correct. The unsettling truth of the matter is that Kakashi does not wear any masks. When he previously showed them his 'second mask', he was actually peeling off a layer of his own face… painfully.
Plot Bunny the Second:
If the Sandaime Hokage had not succeeded in stopping Orochimaru's third coffin from rising, things would have been very different. In trying to summon Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, Orochimaru was going against the contract made by the Shinigami with the Shiki Fuuin. In sealing the Kyuubi, Minato had put a failsafe against Naruto removing the seal, which would allow him to temporarily reappear in Naruto's mindscape.
What neither Minato nor Orochimaru had anticipated was the exact sequence of events that would take place. Naruto, having just defeated Gaara, would be summoned into the coffin. Minato would be inside of the seal, not in control of his body. The energy of the sacrifice would be given to Naruto, temporarily rejuvenating him.
Naruto, recognizing Orochimaru from the Forest of Death, would become angry, drawing out a full tail of the Kyuubi's chakra, but would be incapable of outdoing the two undead Hokage. Instead, he would use the energy of both the sacrifice and the Kyuubi to smash clear through the barrier before passing out from total exertion. The ANBU would immediately flood the area, slaughtering the Sound Four, before coming to the Hokage's aid. Naruto would be the only one that would later recover from the incident, as everyone else involved in the battle would be dead.
Minato's spirit, still linked by Edo Tensei, would remain inside of Naruto. During Naruto's training with Jiraiya, Minato would greatly assist in the mastery of the Rasengan. Under the training of the Toad Sage and Yondaime Hokage, Naruto would grow strong.
With Orochimaru dead, Sasuke would see no path to strength better than staying with the ones who had destroyed him, in Konoha. Team Seven would stay together, and when Akatsuki reared its ugly head, it would stand no chance against their power.
Plot Bunny the Third:
When Kisame siphoned away the Kyuubi's chakra with Samehada in an attempt to stop Naruto, he failed to realize that what had been called upon was essentially nothing. Naruto kept drawing on that foul chakra, and Kisame simply siphoned it away again. He failed to notice the faint groan from Samehada as he did this. Naruto tried again, and Kisame swiped again. A fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth, and even a seventh time he succeeded in absorbing that power, but Naruto still had more to call upon. On the eighth swipe, however, it became too much for Samehada to contain.
The resulting explosion killed Hoshigake Kisame and over a hundred civilians. Uchiha Itachi managed to evade the worst of the blast, but was forced to flee from his still severe injuries, so Sasuke never encountered him. Naruto was immune to the demonic pulse for the most part, but was nonetheless injured. This did not stop him from going on his trip to retrieve Tsunade, however.
When Sasuke was approached by the Sound Four, he was not unstable enough to go willingly. They abducted him, and Haruno Sakura was the only witness.
On the retrieval mission, when Jiroubu used his chakra eating technique upon the group sent to rescue Sasuke, Naruto remembered Kisame. He flared the chakra of the Kyuubi, and in a gruesome turn of events, Jiroubu exploded.
The chakra web used by the next member of the Sound Four would prove to be an excellent conduit for demonic chakra as well, and Naruto would detonate him, as well.
With the group still fully intact, the remaining members of the Sound Four would prove insufficient to stop the group.
Though Kimmimaro had a distinct advantage even against the larger group, he was under the impression that Sasuke had gone willingly, and thusly did not expect the Chidori to the back of the head when Sasuke's transformation was completed.