The Shinobi Line

IS, Infinite Stratos, A machine that changed the world. They were first developed for space exploration. Designed by Tabane Shinonono, they possess technology and combat capabilities far more advanced than any other weapon system, thus threatening to destabilize the world. So they world created the Alaska Treaty to solve that problem, all existing IS technology was distributed around the world and even became a much watched sport. The most surprising thing about IS was that it could only be piloted by women.

Since the development and release of IS, many other weapon systems had been abandoned for this new technology, causing many businesses to end. Many other companies adapted to IS research and development to survive the change in the world. Yet one company would not be changed and that was Konoha Industries. They were one of the world's leading weapons manufactures and developers before the release of the IS. Their founder Minato Namikaze stated that no matter what changes come, Konoha would provide the tools for protection for those whom cannot protect themselves. They continued to sell conventional weapons to many countries but the main focus of their research became anti-IS technology. So they had become the leading and only manufacturer of Anti-IS weaponry

It had been over ten years since the release of the IS and Konoha had made many weapons to fight the IS. They called it the Shinobi line: first in this line was Genin small one-manned mechs that had great mobility and simple controls, they were lightly armored and easy to produce, their weapons hard mounted to the arms. A group of three Genin mechs could take on one IS and wins. Next was the Chunin line, this was a more powerful version on the Genin mechs they were designed to be more balanced then the Genin. They had a more humanoid shape their arms able to move in full range of motion allowing for multi-directional shots. Two Chunin mechs could beat an IS. After Chunin was the Jonin, these were mostly custom machines, they are human shaped and have the most power out of the three. The Jonin has flight capabilities to match the IS in the air, the Chunin and Genin were only able to make hops in the air for a short period of time. Two to one Jonin, depending on the pilot could take out and IS. Finally there was the Kage, it was said to be a command unit over all the mechs, only five Kages have been built and are able to fight IS on mostly even ground. Each one was based on a different element they were, the Hokage, Kazekage,Mizukage,Raikage, and the Tsuchikage. They were assigned to employees of Konoha to protect their facilities from attack. The Kage and the rest of the Shinobi line had one flaw in their design. They had limited power supplies and recharging is constantly needed. The more powerful the mech the less time it can run. Since IS had a constant power and would only shut down when the shield fails they could outlast many of the shinobi line in power.

Still with this flaw many countries that could not afford the ability to have and IS bought the Shinobi mechs from Konoha to help protect their people. Konoha knew that they had to keep up with each new advancement with the IS or they would soon be left in the dust. Their main goal currently was developing an engine that could power their machines for days or indefinitely without recharging. So that had become their main focus of their research for the past several years.

Many of the scientist and researchers worked night and day on this problem. One person in particular worked hard to find the solution to this problem every day without fail. He had blond hair that was kept short so it wouldn't get in his way, striking blue eyes that seemed to hold knowledge and a glint of mischievousness, six whiskers like marks adorned his cheeks giving him a somewhat feral look. This is the Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, the founders of Konoha Industries. Since his parents death when he was younger he had been raised by the current CEO of the company Kakashi. When he was younger he was known to pull pranks all over the company, but as he grew he became more focused on his work and bringing peace to the world around him.

He sat at his work station looking over the current reports from the other researchers and sighed. They had developed the Chakra ball, which were a ball of compressed gas that could be installed in the units. They could hold lots of energy but it seems that over time the ball leaks, so some energy is lost. So he was trying to figure out how to stop the leaking and make the Chakra ball more stable, so that the energy would not be lost allowing the units to continue to fight longer.

He let out another sigh and stood up, setting the reports down on his desk. He needed to refocus on something else before his brain exploded. "What are we missing?" he thought to himself as he headed into the main lab area where the other workers were going about their day. As he walked he looked around and saw the different units of the Shinobi line being modified and improved. He let a small smile grace his face as he looked over each unit, the specs and weapons for each coming to his mind.

"Yo Naruto!" a voice called from across the lab. Naruto turned and saw a man walking toward him. He had silver hair that defied gravity, a mask that covered his lower face, his left eye was covered by his headband with the Konoha logo on it.

"Hey Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said with a smile as he looked at the man before him. "What's up?"

Kakashi just smiled, "Just checking on how the works going?" he stated in a flat tone as he looked around the lab with his uncovered eye. "How goes the chakra ball problem?"

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh, "It stuck," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "No matter how much I compress the chakra gas it still leaks. Even if we put a new container over the ball it still will leak."

Kakashi just nodded, "I see," he replied as he processed the information, several ideas coming to mind but most wouldn't help the problem. "Well we will keep working, and by the looks of it you are at the end of your rope for the day."

Naruto just gave him a sheepish smile, "Is it that obvious?" he stated.

Kakashi just shook his head, "You wear your emotions on your sleeve, so yes you are easy to read." he stated in a treachery tone and put an arm around Naruto. "But that is what makes you Naruto. So how about we go do some training?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the mentioning on training. "Let's go!" he stated and started to leave the lab area to the hanger area, Kakashi following close behind. Naruto loved to train, he had started since he was little and enjoyed being in the controls of a shinobi mech. He soon found himself in front of his personal Jonin unit.

It was a good Five meters tall, its arms were slim small thrusters on the back on it shoulders, on the back was the flight unit and the weapons pack. He entered in his personal code and the unit opened in the chest area. He stepped in, his arms sliding into the control frame as well as his legs. Once he was securely in the unit he gave the command to close the cockpit. It was dark inside for a few moments as the targeting systems and computer systems came online. Once he got the all green from the systems he took a step forward and the unit began to move.

He maneuvered his machine out of the hanger and into the training area, many other units were out on the field doing exercises or tests of new weapons. Naruto looks around and finds Kakashi in his own jonin unit waiting for him. It was of similar build to Naruto's unit except it had several swords on its back and two near its legs.

"Shall we get started then?" Kakashi stated in a level tone as he looked over at Naruto's unit. Naruto needed no invitation and charged, as he activated his thrusters and comes down at Kakashi with a large haymaker to the face.

Kakashi simply redirected the punch and Naruto drives him into the ground. He brings one of his blades out and strikes Naruto from behind. Naruto rolls out of the way of the blade and get back up on his feet. Naruto looks at Kakashi and activated his plasma generator, it allowed him to make a ball of plasma he can throw and use like a grenade, and he could also keep it in his hand and use it to make his hand to hand attacks more explosive.

"Take this Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he threw a ball of plasma at him. Kakashi dodged to the side when suddenly Naruto appeared in front of him, his hand filled with a plasma ball and thrust it toward Kakashi shoulder. Kakashi dodged to the side and tried to kick Naruto away but Naruto had created another plasma ball to block the attack and damage Kakashi's suit.

Kakashi hopped away from Naruto with a small damage to his leg. He looked at Naruto, a small smile on his face that couldn't be seen through his mask. "Good counter," He replied as he pulled out another blade, lighting starting to gather around the blade. "Now let's see how you deal with this."

Kakashi charged toward Naruto at a fast pace, using his boosters to add to his speed. Naruto prepped for Kakashi's attack and waited till the last moment to dodge out of the way of the blade, throwing a plasma ball at him. Kakashi blocked it with his blade and slashes toward Naruto sending a blade of lighting at him. Naruto dodges the attack only to be hit by a follow up attack he didn't see. He gets knocked back and looks for Kakashi. He sees a shadow descending toward him and Naruto dodged to the side as a blade came down where he was just standing.

Naruto created more distance between them and stared down at Kakashi. His chakra levels were low and he knew he only had enough for one last attack. Kakashi was probably in better shape because it was easier to generate lighting then converting chakra into plasma.

"What should I do?" Naruto thought as he watched his opponent. Suddenly and idea came to his mind, a smile spreading across his face. He rotated his feet and slowly primed his thrusters.

Kakashi watched Naruto with interest, knowing that Naruto was known to do crazy things at times like these. "What are you up to Naruto." he said to himself as he lifted his sword at the ready. Naruto seeing this took the moment to attack. He shot forward charging a large plasma ball in his hand. Kakashi lifted his sword to block the incoming attack when he noticed that Naruto started to spin rapidly. Naruto's plasma ball hit Kakashi's blade and began to crake it as Naruto drilled his body forward. Kakashi watched in awe as Naruto broke his blade and pushed into his chest. As the Plasma ball made contact it exploded sending Kakashi flying back and he landed several hundred yards away. Everyone had stopped and watched the fight and was in awe at what Naruto had just done.

Naruto stood there panting from the attack, also very dizzy. He expected to be out of power but was surprised that he had some left, suddenly an idea came to mind as Naruto began to process what had just occurred.

"I got it!" he shouted as he jumped in the air in happiness, not noticing Kakashi walking over to him. Kakashi, who is out of his unit taps on Naruto's leg.

"Naruto what was that attack and what have you got?" he asked in a curious tone, still surprised by the creativity of his charge and student.

Naruto opened his Jonin unit and hopped out landing in a crouch. He slowly stood up a fox like smile adorning his face. "That attack was just me thinking on the fly," he stated in an excited tone, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Thanks to that I think I solved our energy problem."

-Five months later-

Naruto stood in front of the entire company of Konoha, after the fight with Kakashi he had locked himself in a private lab and worked on his new idea for a long time. It had taken him three months to prove that it could work and then another two months to make a working model to use. Now he was ready to present it to the company and show the world a new way. Kakashi watched as Naruto prepared himself for this presentation, he knew that this would change how things worked for the company. He trusted Naruto and was excited to see where this new change would lead them.

Naruto looked out on everyone, the workers and his friends looking back at him. "Good Morning everyone," he began in a level tone as a diagram of the chakra ball appeared behind him. "As you know with our current power source, the chakra ball, we can use the shinobi line to fight the IS, yet it has a flaw that we have been working to address over the last several years." He pressed a button and the next slide began to show, it was on the chakra ball but it color was different, the current chakra ball was orange, the one on the screen was blue and seemed to be spinning in multiple directions. "This is the new chakra ball, I call it the Resengan. With this new design we solve the problem of the leaking energy but also the problem of needing multiple recharges. This will revolutionize the Shinobi line and put us on par with the IS!"

Everyone watched in awe at the new revelation, and soon a cheer erupted from the crowd. Naruto watched with happiness as the crowd whooped and cheered. He still had more to reveal to them. "Now everyone," he said as everyone quieted down. "There is still more to this. Along with the Reasengan I have another announcement."

Kakashi looked at his student with surprise, Naruto had told him about the Rasengan but this next announcement was new to him. Naruto turned and gave a large smile to his teacher before he continued. "To go along with the Rasengan I would like to announce the latest addition to the Shinobi line." Everyone watched as the slide changed and nine new models appeared on the screen. "Everyone meet the Bijuu, these machines are based on the legend of the Tailed Beast. One of the features of the Rasengan is the ability to infuse the chakra with an element, not just the main elements but all the sub-elements and things. With this we have the advantage over the IS in versatility, with this new innovation the Shinobi line will push the IS from the top weapon of the world. Each Bijuu is infused with special chakra that makes them highly dangerous to all their opponents. First we have the one tail, its power is over sand, allowing the user to chakra infused sand to attack and create weapons" the one tailed appeared on the screen and was shown to the company. "It was taken from the Kazekage frame and is now piloted by Gaara!"

Suddenly the one tail unit appeared beside Naruto, it had a large bottle of sand on its back, the features of a Raccoon Dog evident on its head. The helmet flips open showing Gaara, who nods to the crowd. "I will use it for the good of Konoha!"

Everyone cheered as the next Machine appeared on the screen. "Next we have the two tailed cat!" Naruto stated as his excitement grew. "It has been infused with special fire Chakra that burns so hot that it burns cold!. The Pilot is Yugito!"

Everyone cheers as Nibi the two tailed cat machine appeared next to the one tail. Soon Naruto had revealed all but the last new unit, the Nine Tails. Naruto stared out into the crowd his smile turning into a foxlike grin. "Now let me introduce the last Unit." he said in a surpassingly calm tone. "The unit appeared on the screen, it looked like a fox, and it was all red in color with several markings going along the side. Nine tails flowed from the back of the machine forming blades at the end. The legs were like that of a foxes if it was standing on it back legs. "This is the Kyuubi no Yoko. This is the most powerful machine of the nine, it can release bits from it tails that float around and shoot plasma bots and can form together to make a giant attack. Two of the tails double as blades. With this machine as well as the other Bijuu we will crush the competition. These machines will be for the exclusive use of Konoha only along with the Kages. All models of the Jonin, Chunin , and Genin will be equipped with the new chakra drive and sold. Now some of may be wondering why we do not mass produce the Bijuu line. Simply it would cost too much money to make these units. These units will be use to display the power of Kooha as well as protect our properties from attack. The unit pilot is me"

Everyone watched as The Kyuubi no Yoko formed around Naruto, till he was standing tall. All Nine new units stood together in one group, a very menacing and imposing group. The Kyuubi's head unit opened and revealed Naruto to the crowd. "Now then the next part of this announcement is this. We of Konoha have issued a challenge to IS academy. I will be entering the Academy and personally defeating all personal IS units to show the power we now have!"

Another cheer erupted from the crowd and Kakashi looked at Naruto stunned. He never expected something like this to occur and wondered what was going to happen in the future.

-At IS Academy-

Chifuyu Orimura stood with the other teachers as they waited for the principle to enter the room. She had called an emergency meeting and everyone was wondering what was going on. The last time they had an emergency meeting was when Chifuyu's younger brother, Ichika, had activated an IS and would be coming to the Academy. That was at the beginning of the year. So for the Principle to call another meeting was unusual.

She let that thought drop as the Principle walked into the room, taking her place at the head of the conference room. She gave all the teachers present a serious look. "Good Evening everyone." she stated in a business like tone as she rested her arms against the table. "You all may be wondering why I have called you here." Many of the other teachers nodded at this, Chifuyu included.

A girl with green hair and large glasses raised her hand, "Has another male who can pilot an IS been found?" she asked in a curious tone. Many of the other teachers thought the same thing but did not voice their thoughts.

The Principle shook her head, "No that is not it at all." She stated as she opened a file on her Holo computer. "It has to do with this."

Everyone looked at the image became large enough for the entire room to read. It stated the following.

"Dear Facility and Staff of IS Academy,

We of Konoha Industries would like to issue a challenge to you and your students. We want to see which one of our technologies is better, the IS or the Shinobi line. We propose that we have one of our pilots and units join your school and fight in your tournaments. At the end of the year we will have a battle against your best students and our pilot to see which machine is better. We hope that this proposal find you well and await your response.

Sincerely

Konoha Industries CEO Kakashi Hatake"

The staff looked at the letter in shock. Everyone knew of Konoha Industries and of the Shinobi line. It was the only direct competition with the IS, if you would call it a competition. Their machines were good and could fight the IS, but they had limited power and couldn't be in use for long periods of time. So for the company to openly challenge the IS was something unexpected.

Chifuyu looked at the Principle, "Are you thinking of taking the challenge?" she asked in a level tone, as she crossed her arms under her chest.

The Principle was silent for a moment, "We have talked it over with the school board and they feel it is best for us to accept the challenge." she stated, much to the shock of the teachers.

"Why are they doing that?" one of the other teachers asked in an angered tone. "This challenge gains us nothing, it idiotic to take it"

"I agree," the Principle stated in a level tone as she stood up from her chair. "But the board thinks that if we defeat the pilot we will show the world that IS technology is the best technology to go with and stop Konoha Industries once and for all. So we have accepted the challenge and the pilot and unit will be here by the end of the week. Now Chifuyu he will be in your class is that clear."

Chifuyu nodded, "I understand," she stated in a business like tone as she unfolded her arms. "Who is the pilot I may ask."

The Principle gave her a serious look. "The pilot is Naruto Uzumaki." At the sound of his name the entire room gasps. He is the son of the dead founders of Konoha and the heir to the company. So for him to come to their school meant that Konoha meant business. Chifuyu processed the information as the Principle ended the meeting.

She walked out of the room and pulled out her phone, she dialed a special number and waited for the person on the other end to answer. She heard the other end be picked up and held the phone away from her hears. "CHI-CHAN!" an excited voice shouted on the other end of the phone.

"Stop yelling Tabane" Chifuyu stated in an annoyed tone as she held the phone back to her ear. "I have something important to tell you."

She heard a giggle of glee on the other side of the phone. "What the news Chi-chan." Tabane asked in a curious tone.

"Konoha Industries has issued a challenge to the Academy." Chifuyu said in a level tone as she walked down the hall. "They want to prove that the Shinobi line is better than the IS"

Chifuyu listened and heard the sound of typing. "Do you know why they issued the challenge." Tabane asked in a serious tone, the playfulness in her voice completely gone.

"I have no idea," Chifuyu replied as she heard more typing from the other end.

"I am currently accessing the files of Konoha Industries but its all things I already know." Tabane stated as she searched the computer. "Whatever they have up their sleeve is not on their main servers."

Chifuyu listened to the seriousness in her friend's voice, her brow formed into a worry look. "Do you believe that this change would challenge the IS?"

Tabane was silent for a moment, "You do not underestimate the power of the Uzumaki and Namikaze family." she replied in a low tone, "Whatever this is we have to take it seriously. Send me all the data from each battle fought against this machine, ok."

Chifuyu nodded, "I will," she replied, "You just finish Houki's IS, ok."

"I will Chi-chan!" Tabane replied in her usual playful voice and hung up the phone. Chifuyu closed her phone and sighed. If Tabane was serious about what was coming she knew that it was going to be a very interesting year.

Hello everyone, this is my new story. The Shinobi Line. I have looked over IS Naruto's Freedom and I felt that I could have done a better job with it. Make it more interesting and so this story was born. I feel that the conflict it has will be better and Naruto will be more like Naruto, well older Naruto. This story will be a single pairing. That is my new thought, I feel I can focus more on one pairing then making multiple. Please read and tell me how you feel. For those who love IS Naruto Freedom, thank you for all you for reading my stories. I hope this new story will be one you will enjoy as well.