Naruto: The Fanfiction Saga
MAJOR Disclaimer: This will be a series of Naruto fanfiction one-shots or drabbles with possible crossover with other stories. As such, each "chapter" will represent a different fanfiction idea of the Naruto series and can be readily adopted by anyone who is interested to convert them into full stories. I may also add "chapters" of my earlier Naruto fanfiction works as drabbles to this "Saga". May these ideas become good contributions to the fanfiction community and act as inspirations for aspiring writers.
Chapter 2: Naruto – Path of Wrath
The Uzumaki clan, related to the Senju clan which is supposedly the descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths, are renowned for their longevity and skill with the sealing arts. However, what if the fact that they are descended from the Sage of the Six Path allows at least one member of their clan to use one of his "paths", such as the "Path of Asura"…?
Scene Change
"Lay a finger on Iruka-sensei and I'll kill you, Mizuki-teme!" growled Naruto, a whiskered blond boy who was currently glared at Mizuki with crimson-red eyes in places of his usual cerulean-blue eyes.
Iruka stared in shock as Naruto's body somehow changed to become more muscular with a machine-like appearance. What was more, the boy was obviously tapping into the demonic power of the Kyuubi no Youko, a giant nine-tailed fox which attacked Konohagakure on the day Naruto was born and was currently sealed into the boy. Tragically, the majority of the people in Konohagakure despised the boy for having the demon sealed into him, thus forcing him to live a lonely life while receiving nothing but scorn from them. In an attempt to receive attention and recognition even from the people that hated him for reasons that he never realized before, the boy became a prankster who would wear a mask of a happy fool, hiding his loneliness and suffering from others. However, with the secret of Naruto's burden now revealed to the blond boy, as well as Iruka's admission that he does care for him in spite of the fact that he had lost his parents on the day that the Kyuubi no Youko attacked the village, Iruka could not help but wonder if Naruto's mask was finally breaking, revealing the rage and hurt he must have held in for years.
Equally shocked, Mizuki, a traitor of Konohagakure who deemed the boy to be the same individual as the fox, was convinced that he must have learnt a new technique from the Forbidden Scroll that he had "instructed" the boy to steal for him. Frowning, Mizuki knew that he could not risk underestimating the boy despite the fact that he is the dead-last of his class. After all, even a worthless "wannabe ninja" can become dangerous if they manage to somehow successfully use a powerful technique and Naruto's new ability was definitely not on his list of admittedly low expectations from the boy.
Still, in spite of the fact that Naruto was currently using a new technique to alter his body, a technique which Mizuki had never even heard about let alone witnessed, and was obviously using the Kyuubi's demonic power, Mizuki was confident that he could defeat the boy due to knowing his "many weaknesses" after years of "educating" the boy. As such, Mizuki did not bother to even consider retreat as he quickly attacked the boy in an attempt to kill him before he can strike back, "No, the one who will do the killing will be me!"
Mizuki never saw the punch which nearly obliterated his face, almost killing him as a result…
Scene Change
Hatake Kakashi, a jounin-ranked ninja of Konohagakure with grey hair and one of his eyes hidden beneath his forehead-protestor, was more than a little worried when he realized that Naruto was selected to become one of his three genin students, assuming that he does not fail the team during their upcoming test. It was no secret that the boy had changed ever since the "Forbidden Scroll Incident" with Mizuki which also almost got the traitorous ninja killed by only a single punch. No longer an ever-smiling foolish prankster, the boy had acquired quite a temper although he had thankfully not attacked anyone, at least not with physical violence, and had acquired a preference of training by himself in the more isolated places in the village for most of the time. If that was not worrying enough, the ninjas of Konohagakure had noted that Naruto had been "practicing" his new technique, officially dubbed as the "Fury Release", quite frequently which would often result in many broken trees, training posts and even boulders. It was not difficult to realize that Naruto was not only mastering his new ability but was also expressing his years of frustration and anger towards not only the people who hated him but even some of the people who cared for him and yet had lied to him from the very start, especially the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Thinking about the aged Hokage, Kakashi sighed as the elderly leader of the village had been feeling depressed ever since Naruto basically proclaimed that he can no longer trust him because he had lying to him even if it was for the boy's own safety. Granted, the boy had every right to be angry that he had been lied to by people whom he thought that he could trust, not only about the Kyuubi no Youko but also about his parentage which the boy now suspects that the Third Hokage knew but had refused to reveal. The fact that not even to the general adult population of Konohagakure knew their identities with only a few exceptions was little consolation for the boy who had desperately wanted to know about his parentage for years. Although the secrets about his status as a vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko and his parentage were meant to keep him safe and give him a chance of some semblance of a normal childhood, it can be said that the secrecy and lies had been mostly in vain when it came to giving Naruto a chance to bond with the younger generation that still did not know about his status as a vessel. The older generation that knew about Naruto's status as a vessel and hated him for it made sure that the younger generation stayed away from him for the most part while they themselves abused him by any means they could get away with.
Still, not all hope was lost as Naruto was willing to open himself to a few people, including the two owners of Ichiraku Ramen and Umino Iruka. Kakashi could only hope that Naruto would eventually learn to open himself to more people, including Hiruzen, just as he fervently prayed that the general populace of Konohagakure could finally realize the truth about the boy…
Scene Change
Haruno Sakura, a pink-haired girl with green eyes, was for once unsure on what to make of Naruto.
Her confusion was understandable as Naruto had always been an overly cheerful annoying fool who would often ask her out for dates, only to be yelled or beaten by her, or challenge Uchiha Sasuke, the top student of the class, only to lose to him miserably. She most certainly did not remember Naruto actually being angry at her to the point that he could actually scare her, or that he would threaten to hurt her if she dares to hit him ever again.
Sakura was hardly the only one to be shocked by the changes in Naruto. After all, the boy was supposed to have a massive crush on her and never once retaliated against her abuse towards him. To have that same every-grinning boy suddenly threaten to hit her back and wear a glare with enough furious rage to make even the usually stoic Sasuke flinch was certainly not on their list of expected responses towards her usual abuse. Having Naruto acting gruffly when people asked him how he had managed to become a genin despite failing the official test was also unusual, not to mention oddly vexing since the boy would have normally boasted about passing under normal circumstances, but seeing him actually turn against the very girl he used to have a crush on could be described as a freakishly unnatural phenomenon.
After Sakura shakily backed away from a still-furious Naruto, the class was deathly quiet as Iruka entered the classroom and announced the teams…
Scene Change
After their apparently tardy jounin sensei, Hatake Kakashi, finally arrived and told them where to meet, a rather aggravated Naruto alongside with his assigned teammates, Sakura and Sasuke, quickly went to the meeting place where their apparently tardy teacher was waiting for them. There, Kakashi asked them to introduce themselves after giving them his own introduction which honestly gave them little to no information other than his name. Naruto was the first to give his introduction.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like a few things like ramen, people who actually care about me, and, something which I found out recently, breaking hard things by punching them. I don't like a number of things, like the time it takes for ramen to be cooked, assholes who think that they know all about me when they don't even try to get to know me, and people who would lie to me, even if they have a good reason to since they could just tell me that they are keeping an important secret from me instead of lying to me. My hobbies are gardening and training myself to become stronger. As for my dreams…" Naruto sighed as he pondered for a moment before he admitted, "I used to think that becoming a Hokage would allow me to get what I truly wanted in life but now I'm no longer that interested."
Curious, Kakashi asked, "If you're no longer interested in becoming a Hokage, what is your new dream then?" Even Sakura and Sasuke were curious if only because they were once again shocked that Naruto, who had always boasted that he would become a Hokage, was actually no longer interested in achieving that dream.
Shrugging, Naruto said, "I don't really know, but I guess you can say dying with a happy smile on my face that says, "I had lived a life well-lived" is a start. I mean, you can't die with a happy smile one your face if you don't have anything to be truly happy or proud about with your life, right?"
If hearing Naruto's loss of interest in his original dream was surprising, then hearing his unusual new dream which seemed so vague and basic, not to mention almost pessimistic given Naruto's tone of voice, was certainly shocking to Sakura and even Sasuke. Unable to contain herself, Sakura had to ask, "Is this some kind of sick joke? It's not funny Naruto-baka!"
Frowning at Sakura's obviously loud demand for a "satisfactory answer", Naruto turned his attention to her and simply said, "No, I'm not."
Stunned by his curt reply, Sakura then asked, "B-but what about getting everyone to acknowledge you as someone important by becoming Hokage?"
Naruto's frown deepened into a glare as he growled, "And why would you care? I don't remember having you, or almost everyone else for that matter, giving any support to me or my old dream. In fact, you all made it clear that I can never become a Hokage no matter how hard I try and that I would become a useless one if I ever became one!"
Hearing Naruto's harsh response, even Sakura with her infamous temper could not deny the truth in his words. Still, to have the lively and optimistic fool suddenly change into someone who is expressing so much anger, not to mention losing interest in his old dream which he had literally clung onto for years, was disturbing to say the least. Though Sakura had yet to realize it, she along with many others who had realized the changes in Naruto would all be unnerved at the idea that a reassuring constant in their lives had radically, and most likely irrevocably, changed.
Seeing Naruto's exchange of words with Sakura, Kakashi internally sighed as he knew that teamwork within that particular group of genin students would not come easily…
Scene Change
Hiruzen, along with the other jounin ninjas who had given their prospective genin students a second test, were all waiting for Kakashi to arrive. Used to the man's infamous tardiness, they were shocked when the man finally arrived with one of his arms in a sling and was limping with the aid of a crutch. Concerned, Hiruzen asked, "Kakashi, what happened to you?"
Groaning as he sat down onto an offered chair, Kakashi replied, "To put a long story short, Naruto's punches are nothing to sneeze at and I swear to Kami that I will never piss him off ever again."
Kakashi later explained in further detail that Naruto could not only punch with enough force to break boulders and create craters but could also punch rapidly enough that even a jounin like Kakashi had a hard time keeping track of his fists despite holding back. Granted, the rapid punches were not as damaging as the slower but more solid punches but they can still cause an impressive amount of damage. That was not even counting Naruto's increase in speed and strength when angry enough to tap into the Kyuubi no Youko's power, as Naruto had done after suffering from Kakashi's infamous Thousand Years of Pain. Had Kakashi not desperately avoided Naruto's enraged attacks while in that state, he would have been hospitalized for sure. Needless to say, everyone was shocked by the revelation and made a mental note to never make Naruto angry if possible. Kakashi may have been holding back at the time but to push a jounin ninja to that degree of desperation was no small feat.
Speaking about Naruto, Kakashi was forced to allow the team to pass if only because one of them actually managed to harm him…
Scene Change
Sakura sighed as she went towards the meeting place of her new team, known as Team Seven. It seemed like a lifetime ago when Naruto was a complete fool of a prankster who loves the attention of others and would gladly offer his affections to her in spite of her harsh refusals. Not only was Naruto no longer interested in her, or in giving her support like before for that matter, he was also not interested in getting attention or praise from most of the people in Konohagakure.
"Well, he does still love ramen and seems more like his old self with Teuchi and Ayame," thought Sakura as she recalled about the two owners from Naruto's favourite ramen stand, Ichiraku Ramen. Indeed, she saw Naruto eating at the ramen stand by coincidence one day and could hear his boisterous voice which sounded more like the person he once was before his graduation. The thought about Naruto's change in personality after his third failure to graduate, and probably after obtaining his "Fury Release", made Sakura wonder if the events that occurred after the third failure had anything to do with it. Determined to find out, Sakura decided to call upon the assistance of Yamanaka Ino, her former best friend before they became bitter rivals over getting the affection of Uchiha Sasuke and the current "Gossip Princess" of Konohagakure…
Scene Change
Sasuke was honestly confused and even a little disturbed when it came to Naruto. Before their graduation, Naruto was the epitome of cheerful optimism in spite of being the mocked dead-last of the class. As of the present, Naruto now had a short temper and a rage which disturbed even the Uchiha boy since it reminded him of his own issues. As the sole survivor of a tragic event known as the Uchiha Massacre, a terrible event caused by his once-loved traitor of an older brother, Sasuke honestly thought that no one could ever possibly understand his desire for vengeance. However, after seeing Naruto attacking their jounin sensei with such ferocity that he was more like a demon than a person, Sasuke could no longer be so sure. After all, that kind of rage could not be born without at least some kind of horrible trauma, if not a series of painful unresolved experiences which caused Naruto to suffer just as badly. Although well aware that Naruto was an orphan and had probably suffered before, Sasuke never bothered to try and understand the other boy better as Sasuke was certain that Naruto had not suffered as badly as him. After all, it was not like Naruto lost his loved ones by a once-beloved traitor of a brother since he had been an orphan from the very start.
Thinking about Naruto, Sasuke sighed as he wondered why he was getting so worked up over the other boy's changed personality. True, Naruto was no longer an overly-cheerful fool but at least he was no longer a dead-weight of a teammate that would drag him down. Why, Naruto was actually superior to Sasuke in terms of taijutsu when he uses his "Fury Release", a fact which bothered the Uchiha boy but not to an unmanageable level as Sasuke was convinced that he would become Naruto's better once his unique clan ability, the Sharingan, was awakened. Still, try as he might, Sasuke could not fully ignore the small voice in his heart which spoke, "Because his rage and pain reminds you of yourself."
Scene Change
Zabuza had expected many things when he was given the job of assassinating an elderly bridge builder named Tazuna. Meeting a boy who could literally punch him from a distance with near-invisible "air punches" was not on his list of expectations.
Although a deadly jounin-ranked missing-nin from Kirigakure, Zabuza could not kill the bridge builder during his first encounter due to the unexpected ability from one of the genin students who kept on attacking him with punches of compressed air. Although not too damaging, the "air punches" were painful fast-flying nuisances which Zabuza could not ignore. Combined with the fact that he was also dealing with the infamous Hatake Kakashi of Konohagakure who was taking advantage of every distraction his blond student was providing him with, Zabuza knew that his chances of winning were not very good as he quickly retreated from the battle. Besides, he was not paid enough by his current employer to deal with dangerously unpredictable variables.
Scene Change
Haku, a missing-nin who is Zabuza's subordinate, was fighting against Sasuke when a powerful punch suddenly collided against one of his ice mirrors. Shocked by the attack which actually caused the ice to crack, Haku turned his attention towards Naruto who was using his Fury Release which gave him a more mechanical appearance and was already preparing to break the ice mirrors by punching them, furiously.
Caught between the Uchiha boy who, while trapped in Haku's dome of ice mirrors, had awakened his Sharingan and the Uzumaki boy who was using his Fury Release from outside the dome, Haku knew that he was in a dangerous situation as he would be forced to fight them off all by himself while his master dealt with Kakashi. Although not too smart, Naruto had enough sense to try and break the dome of ice mirrors from the outside while Sasuke used the chance and try to break the damaged mirrors by using fire techniques. Realizing that he cannot deal with them both at once, Haku quickly made his decision of incapacitating the Uchiha boy with his needle-like icicles. Haku then quickly turned his attention towards Naruto as he threw volleys of icicles at him.
Unable to avoid all of the attacks in spite of his efforts to avoid and deflect them, Naruto was impaled in the legs to immobilize him followed by his arms to disable his ability to attack and finally his torso. Feeling the chilling pain of being impaled by the icicles, Naruto coughed out some blood as he thought, "Am I… going to die…?" As Naruto's body started to become numbly limp and his vision started to fade, Naruto thought about his life up until that point. Gritting his teeth, as his life still felt so unfulfilled, Naruto thought, "Like hell… I'm going to let myself die like this… without even trying to fight back!"
Somehow able to keep himself from falling, which shocked the ice-wielding missing-nin, Naruto wore an expression of fury as he roared to the heavens while calling forth the power of the Kyuubi no Youko sealed within him. As the icicles started to melt and Naruto's wounds mended themselves, two extra pairs of mechanical arms appeared on Naruto's back. After Naruto fully recovered from Haku's attack, he slammed his foot onto the ground with enough force to make the concrete floor crack with all six fists clenched tightly as he glared at his enemy. Seeing Naruto's new form, Haku quickly tried to defend himself from whatever counterattack Naruto had in mind. However, Haku's efforts were in vain as Naruto quickly smashed through Haku's ice mirrors with air-punches which were not only powerful, but were also rapid enough to prevent Haku's recovery thanks to the added number of arms.
Receiving a number of such punches, Haku quickly passed and was thus unable to protect Zabuza from being killed by Kakashi. After Haku's defeat and Zabuza's death, their employer, Gatou, tried to kill off the surviving ninjas through superior numbers. Neither Gatou nor his men had expected to face Naruto's six-armed form, or the downright ruthless pummelling they all received from the said blond boy who fought like a furious six-armed demon. Had Zabuza been alive to see Naruto's fury, he would have been truly impressed by him.
Scene Change
Hiruzen sighed as he read the latest edition of the Bingo Book, a book published to list down missing-nin as well as powerful ninjas. As for why the elderly Hokage was sighing, Naruto's deeds in the Land of Waves, the place where he and his team had their first C-ranked mission to protect an aged bridge builder before the mission became considerably more complicated due to the involvement of missing-nin, had caused the blond boy to earn a B-rank and was called the "Furious Asura of the Leaf". Not surprisingly, those that hated Naruto quickly demanded a "satisfactory explanation" about the boy's rise in ranking. Granted, every adult in Konoha already knew that Naruto would use the Kyuubi no Youko's power when pushing the limits of his Fury Release, but most people that hated Naruto would be quite resistant to the idea that Naruto would become a powerful ninja who is still loyal to Konohagakure, with or without the involvement of that demonic power.
That was not even counting the other major issue which was caused by that mission at the Land of Waves, namely Naruto claiming Haku as his companion. As much as Hiruzen sympathized with the ice-wielding missing-nin, who was thankfully not officially recorded as such by his former home village, Kirigakure, Hiruzen knew that accepting Haku would be difficult, never mind finding a way to keep the two boys together as Haku apparent cared for Naruto and vice-versa due to having painful pasts which were quite similar. Still, if Hiruzen could somehow succeed in having Haku accepted as a ninja of Konohagakure and made sure that he and Naruto could still be together as friends, the elderly Hokage was hopefully confident that Naruto would be more willing to forgive him for his past mistakes.
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Gaara, a red-headed boy with racoon-like dark rings around his eyes, was actually quizzical as he gazed at Naruto who had just threatened to beat up his brother, Kankuro, and asked, "You're like me, so full of hate and rage, and yet you did not even try to kill my brother. Why?" Hearing Gaara's query, which clearly implied that the blond boy is somehow similar to the psychotic red-haired boy, Kankuro paled and quickly moved closer to Temari, a blond girl carrying a huge paper fan who was also Kankuro's and Gaara's elder sister.
Staring at Gaara, Naruto replied, "Because if I let myself attack and kill everyone that pisses me off, I'd be proving to the people that I hate for hating me without ever even trying to actually know me that they are right. Besides, if I let my rage take over me, I'd be no better than them."
Hearing Naruto's words, Gaara then asked, "But you would kill anyone that actually tries to harm you, yes?"
Shrugging, Naruto replied, "Personally, I'd rather just punch them really hard first then decide if they're actually worth killing if they're still breathing by then."
Smirking, which scared his siblings to the point of almost voiding their bowels, Gaara said, "You interest me, Uzumaki Naruto."
Scene Change
Orochimaru, the infamous traitor of Konohagakure, swore as he just got punched in the face by Naruto just as he was about to attack Sakura and Sasuke, a punch which reminded him of a certain former teammate of his who could pulverise boulders with her fists alone. Forced to use his ability to shed away his damaged body, Orochimaru was about to attack Naruto when the enraged boy proceeded to pummel him repeatedly with his six fists. Barely able to avoid getting pummelled to death, Orochimaru decided that caution was the better course of action as he summoned a snake to distract Naruto and flee after quickly marking Sasuke with the Cursed Seal. After all, Orochimaru knew that Sasuke would not be able to proceed to the next stage of the Chuunin Exams if he killed any of Sasuke's teammates, including the infuriatingly powerful blond brat…
Scene Change
It was during the last part of the Chuunin Exams when two ninja villages, Otogakure and Sunagakure, invaded Konohagakure to destroy the invaded village. Although injured during his fight, and victory over Hyuuga Neji, Naruto was still able to fight and was thus fighting against Gaara whose form had been changing into that of a giant sand-tanuki. Looking up at the gigantic sand-tanuki, known as Shukaku the Ichibi no Tanuki, Naruto clenched his six fists and yelled as the sand-tanuki's fist was about to hit him, "Bring it!"
-Chapter Fin-
Note: After knowing about Asura's Wrath, and knowing that Pein uses the Asura Path which uses mechanical weapons, I couldn't resist making this version of a crossover story.