Hello all,
This is my second ever story, so all reviews are welcome.

I have always enjoyed Puppet Naruto stories so I thought I would take a shot at it. Also anyone with puppet ideas are encouraged to send then to me via review. All ideas and suggestions will be taken into consideration and I'll try and include as many as I can.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything related to it, except for MY puppets!

Chapter 1- Birth Of A Legend

4 year old Naruto Uzumaki was happy, no he was beyond happy, he was ecstatic. Why was he in such a good mood? Simple; the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi or as he liked to call him old man, had told him that he was going on vacation to Suna with him. Currently Naruto was running circles around the Hokage and the Anbu that would be escorting them. They all smiled at the blondes antics; even if you couldn't tell with the Anbu. Sarutobi chuckled as the little blonde bundle of energy kept asking question after question about Suna, and anything else under the sun, he answered all of these and more while they walked along the path to Suna. Night came soon after they reached the border between Fire and Wind Country.

"Alright Naruto, we're going to camp here for the night," called Sarutobi to the blonde that had run up ahead of them.

"Ahhhhh, come on old man we can still go on," whined Naruto as he grudgingly made his way back the Hokage and Anbu.

"True, but as a wise man once said; early to bed, early to rise," said Hiruzen in a wise voice.

"Huh?" said Naruto with his head tilted to the side. The Anbu had to stifle chuckles as they saw the Hokage's massive sweat drop from the Naruto's response. Sighing, Sarutobi tried another tactic to get the endless ball of energy to rest.

"It means Naruto that the sooner we get to bed, the sooner we can get up and make it Suna with more time to explore," said Sarutobi as he mentally patted himself on the back when he saw Naruto almost sprint to get ready for bed. The Anbu this time couldn't stop the chuckles that escaped their lips before setting up for patrol and watch duties for the night.

Like the old man said Naruto woke up early the next morning and noticed that his travelling companions were already up and clearing away the camp site. Packing up his sleeping bag, he waited for the others to finish with the rest of the camp. Once everything was secure and there was no trace of a camp ever being there, they set off through the deserts of Wind Country. It was a little after midday when the gates of the village could be seen over the dunes; excited at the site of another village Naruto was anxious to explore it. The Hokage noticed his littlest companion was bouncing on the balls of his feet with every step he was so excited. Once they reached the gates of the village they were greeted by the Kazekage and his children.

"Ah welcome Hokage-dono, I hope your journey was pleasant these deserts can be quite dangerous," said the Kazekage.

"Not at all Kazekage-dono, allow me to introduce Naruto Uzumaki," said the Hokage as he gestured to Naruto who bowed in respect to the Kazekage. 'WHAT! I never thought I'd live to see the day that Naruto Uzumaki would show anyone respect!' thought the Hokage and the Anbu as they discreetly tried to release whatever genjutsu had been placed on them.

"These are my children, my eldest daughter Temari, my middle son Kankuro, and my youngest child Gaara," said the Kazekage as he gestured to each of his children as he introduced them. Nodding to all of them, Sarutobi spoke in a business like tone.

"Now shall we begin the negotiations Kazekage-dono?" Nodding the affirmative the Kazekage led them into the village.

"Yes we shall, let's go to council chambers and get started," said the Kazekage as the two kages walked off to the tower in the center of the village. The Anbu decided to let Naruto play with the other children for a while but keep an eye on him from a distance.

It was well into the night before Naruto and the Kazekage's children decided to rest for the night. Naruto noticed the Anbu off in the distance and waved to them shouting that he was ready to go to the hotel. The Anbu were surprised that a 4 year old noticed them, even when some of Suna's jounin couldn't sense their presence. Getting over their shock they led him to the hotel were they would be staying during their time in Suna.

Sleep alluded Naruto that night, he was just too excited to sleep so being the curious child he was he decided to sneak out and explore the village. Arriving at the village wall he walked along it comparing the village's size to Konoha. While he was walking he noticed something drawn on the wall, it was a small faded red scorpion. Brushing his hands over the drawing, Naruto watched in awe as a black circle appeared around the scorpion but let out a surprised yelp when a trap door suddenly opened below him and he fell onto an old mattress. He looked up in surprise as the trap door closed again and lights came on revealing the room be filled with wooden body parts, tools, and piles of scrolls. He noticed two other doors on the far side of the room, opening the first one he noticed that it had jars of strange liquids lining the walls. The second room was full of almost every kind of weapon there is, from kunai to zanbato's. Going back to the scroll and parts room, Naruto noticed a single scroll setting in the middle of a work bench. Curious he opened it and read what it said.

To my pupil,

First off allow me to introduce myself, I am Sasori of the Red Sand, and I am the greatest puppeteer to ever come from Suna. I have abandoned this village and left this room with all my knowledge to mock this pathetic village that no one will ever be able to match me as a puppeteer. If you study from these scrolls you will either become a puppet master or die trying.

'I'll show you, I'll become the best puppet master there is and then I'll kick your butt Sasori,' thought Naruto as he looked through the piles of scrolls, finding one labeled 'Basics of Puppet Jutsu' he opened it and began reading through it. About half way through it he was confused, 'What's chakra?' he thought. Looking through the scrolls he found one labeled 'Basics of Chakra' and began reading through it.

It had been two weeks since the negotiation began, and the village's council had stopped the two kages from reaching an agreement at least 10 times in that time. But Sarutobi wasn't worried about the council or the alliance at the moment; no he was worried because Naruto has been missing for the past two weeks. He sent his Anbu in search of the boy in hopes that they would be able to find him out exploring the villages. When they reported that they couldn't find him, the Kazekage had sent his own Anbu out in search of Naruto as well. Walking into his hotel room the Hokage let out a sad sigh, 'Naruto, where are you?'

-With Naruto-

If Sasori himself was there training the boy he would be in for a shock. Naruto soaked up everything that he learned and in a matter of hours could have it mastered and maybe even found a way to improve on it. He was a genius when it came to the ninja arts, during his first week training from Sasori's scrolls he had managed to create chakra strings, attach them to an object and control it for a good period of time. His second week there he focused mainly on chakra control; he mastered the wall walking technique and was working on kunai balancing.

At the end of his second week Naruto had at least mid chuunin chakra control and it was still increasing. Looking for another scroll to begin training from he found one that was labeled 'Poison's,' interested he opened it and continued his training in the art of puppetry.

-With The Hokage-

Two months, two months since the negotiations for an alliance with Suna started and they were just about finished. Two months since young Naruto had vanished, and in those two months no one had been able to find him. Sarutobi sighed again as he sat on his bed in his hotel room, he had just returned from another day of finishing the negotiations and looking for Naruto. He was about to go to sleep when there was a knock on the door. Curious he went to answer it, he found an Anbu and the boy he considered a grandson with him, Naruto.

"Naruto, where have you been?" asked the kage as he brought Naruto into a hug. The Anbu silently left feeling he was intruding on a private moment.

"Training," was the short reply from the blonde. Surprised, Sarutobi brought Naruto into the room and silenced it for privacy.

"What kind of training, Naruto?" asked the old kage. So Naruto told him about falling into the room, his training in the puppet arts, and anything else he learned. He of course left out certain aspects of the training, such as Human Puppets and some of the nastier poisons he knew. To say Sarutobi was impressed would be an understatement; he was happy for his surrogate grandson and knew that the boy would be a powerful ninja when he was older. It was the next day when the negotiations finally ended, with the Kazekage threating to disband the council if they tried to stop another agreement. Needless to say that shut them up. Sarutobi was currently at the gates of the village with his companions ready to leave, the Kazekage and his children were there to see them off. Once goodbyes were exchanged and Naruto promised to keep in touch with the Sand Siblings, they set off.

Sarutobi watched as Naruto was checking their surroundings for possible enemies or threats. He was sad that his grandson's childhood was all but over, but proud that he had become so strong. 'Maybe now he'll be able to protect himself from those idiotic villagers,' thought Sarutobi as the gates of the village could be seen on the horizon. The aged kage had one last thought as they reached the gates of the village, 'Things should be interesting from now on.'

Well there's the first chapter hope you all liked it, REVIEW PLEASE!
And don't forget to send in puppet ideas.

Tell next time

BSW