Chapter I – Cold Hard Steel
Sasori's return was not at all what Naruto had expected. No acknowledgements of time passed, no reaction to the obvious changes in his student's appearance, not even a bland "how do you do?". The only greeting Sasori had given his disciple was a demonstration of his art, which, as always, included a fair amount of bloodshed.
As he did every day, Naruto was sitting in a lotus position on the wooden, cold floors of the Dojo. His eyes closed, he concentrated. Not gathering chakra, not accessing his mindscape, just concentrating. The trio of other students were meditating as well, their weapons laid on the ground before them, forming along with the seated Naruto a semi-circle in front of their master. A harsh, middle-aged and respectable Samurai.
Yes, a Samurai. Before leaving Naruto and Kabuto and withdrawing to who knows where, the Scorpion had stashed them both in the Land of Iron. A neutral nation, usually hostile towards foreign Shinobi, the country made for a promising hideout. At least, that was what Naruto thought was his master's motivation. As it turns out, there were quite the number of them.
Sasori had arranged for his disciple to start training at a remote Samurai Dojo, were only clan members of the local master (two nephews and a grandson) were allowed to train. At first, Naruto was surprised. Reluctant, even. Yet mastery of the Samurai arts proved crucial for the blonde's schooling as a puppeteer.
Firstly, Samurai were experts in chakra shape manipulation, forming swords, deflecting throwing weapons, and blocking ninja blades with their inner energy. This allowed Naruto to create and recreate chakra strings with ease, as well as have better control of their length and density.
Secondly, mastering the Katana had worked wonders on Naruto's fingers. The core muscles were strengthened, their flexibility enhanced, and a certain stability took over them… a calm sturdiness that could not be achieved through dexterity alone.
And lastly, there were some intellectual benefits. Samurai operated in squads, so basic unit tactics were covered and discussed in the Dojo. Naruto quickly understood how some of these, at least theoretically, could be used in combat with multiple puppets. The most basic ones were already shown to him by Sasori himself, back in Konoha.
Naruto came to appreciate his Samurai master and fellow students, and also the added values of discipline and focus that they shared with him. In combat, a single Samurai was almost always outmatched by a skilled Shinobi, and therefore many of them died, frequently. This has resulted in a philosophy that was at best passive or accepting towards death, and at worst celebrating it. Odd, but serene.
The Uzumaki however could not truly connect with his Samurai peers, as he had to hide not only his past from them, but also his present. The training he had done with his puppets, the modifications he attempted to add to them, the constant reading of the materials his true master had left for him… and of course, his sessions with Kabuto.
Ah, Kabuto. His reaction to Sasori's departure was levelled to say the least. Naruto could not, for the life of him, tell whether Kabuto was already accustomed to such interactions, or whether he genuinely didn't care. The spy's demeanor was so slick, so smooth, that it seemed as though any emotional hardship just brushed against him, sliding off his polished psyche like raindrops over leather.
During their stay in the Land of Iron, Kabuto situated himself within a shrine for the dead, located atop a hill a few miles from the Dojo. Whenever Naruto came by to see him, he was poking around some corpse or another dug up from the cemetery. One of the graves, undoubtedly belonging to some wealthy individual, had a stone mausoleum adjacent to it. Kabuto was inside, most of the time, keeping the heavy marble door shut and focusing on his work… whatever it was.
Naruto would go to the shrine, supposedly to pray, every couple of days. Once there he continued his medical nin training, but also took to studying spycraft and deception, the only things Naruto had no doubt that Kabuto was better at than Sasori.
Those lessons were tiresome and immensely intriguing. At their first year in that snowy land, Kabuto showed him the ropes on basic spying skills. Reading and controlling facial expressions, fundamental interrogation tactics, setting up dead drops and avoiding unnecessary attention. But when the fourteenth month had passed and Kabuto deemed his student ready, he let go of the technical parts of the training and focused on what he explained was the main idea behind Shinobi psychology.
Metacognition.
Thinking about thinking. Understanding thinking. Strategizing thinking. Weaponizing thinking.
The idea was present in Naruto's life before, Sasori himself taught him how to lie using a kernel of truth, as to appear truthful not by acting out honest behavior perfectly, but by letting one's subconscious guide his body accordingly. Naruto at the time, however, was not aware that this was what he was doing. And when dealing with metacognition, awareness is the entire point.
Naruto liked the methods Kabuto had to offer, as they reminded him of the mindset he used to have when pulling pranks in the old village. But Kabuto kept remarking how Naruto was not able to generalize what he was taught, and how he probably didn't get it.
Naruto objected profusely. He was allowed to dispute his teacher every once in a while by raising his hand and explaining his concerns. To avoid a long, tedious debate, Kabuto usually put on one of his placid smiles and moved forward with the material.
This time, however, he didn't. He merely replied "we'll see", and moved to the anatomy portion of their session. Several months later, Kabuto was waiting for Naruto in the shrine itself, outside the mausoleum. Leaning against one of the poles holding the temple's bells, he smirked sheepishly when Naruto arrived. Instead of heading back to the graveyard and starting the lesson with his usual questions: how does Naruto feel, what happened in the Dojo today, had Naruto had any thoughts on the previous lesson… Kabuto merely gave the Jinchuriki a small scroll to examine.
The scroll contained ample data organized into a few elongated charts. It counted something that had to do with their sessions against some other variable. After Naruto appeared puzzled for a while, Kabuto broke the silence. "The numbers represent the quantity of objections you gave me each session, counted by the number of times you raised your hand."
"-And the other thing?" the blonde replied with annoyance. Kabuto grinned again. "It marks whether or not your Samurai tutor gave you a speech that day". Naruto was taken aback. Every once in a while, the old master would attempt to inspire his students by reminding them of some Samurai values, and of the honors and merits of straight-forward discipline and hard work. The notions were always very dogmatic, but they also made a lot of sense. However, if this document was correct…
"You see, Naruto-kun? The more eager you were listening to that aging Samurai, the more he got through to you, and the less flexible your thoughts had become. Whenever we talked of metacognition, you were biased against uncertainty or the fluid lack of backbone my methods have to offer. I suspect that your closed-minded colleagues may have rubbed off on you."
At first, Naruto wanted to object again, his hand rising almost reflexively as he pouted. But then he understood that this sentiment, the one that just flew through his brain, was a case resting example. Kabuto was right, he was biased. From then on, Naruto made a habit of turning off his focus seal whenever the honored Sensei started preaching Bushido again.
But more than that, Naruto got the point: one had to keep scrutinizing one's thoughts, one's thoughts on one's thoughts, and so on and so on. Thus gaining a deeper understanding of the workings of his mind, and minds in general. That was what made for effective metacognition, which could be translated into effective techniques. Like gathering intel before a fight, one cannot truly battle in the field of human interaction without a fair amount of situational awareness. And that idea was embodied in everything Kabuto taught.
All of this was mentally exhausting work. Naruto began spending more and more time in his mindscape just so he could arrange his thoughts properly, not to mention make sense of the mind games Kabuto was playing with him. Kabuto always won, though. As a treat however, the spy worked with Naruto on more enjoyable stuff as well. They modified anti-Shinobi techniques the Samurai used with their knowledge of anatomy, and even managed to develop a new, powerful Jutsu together. Naruto had no idea that nerdy-old-Kabuto could be excited by such ventures.
And Naruto needed to enjoy himself. To nurture his passion again. As time went by, the Uzumaki was ground to dust. Not only because of his harsh training, but also because he came across a dreadfully daunting obstacle: the learning curve.
Back in Konoha, Naruto's skills practically exploded. He was getting better so fast, there was almost no one around him who did not notice. In fact, his meteoric rise drew too much attention, which lead the whole situation with the Third to deteriorate. But now, he had reached an impasse of sorts. He was getting undoubtedly better, but not unbeatable, as he would have been were he to advance at the same pace as before.
This was obvious in retrospect, of course, but the blonde did not think of such trifles back then. At the present, he was able to fully manipulate only four puppets at once. The depth of dexterity and attention advanced puppeteering required was nothing like what he had to do before. Inspired by his training with the Bokken, Naruto developed a technique that enabled him to have greater focus on a single puppet at a time, while the others operated on a more-than-acceptable level. His thumb leading the way, he used it in conjunction with one of his other fingers to control the chosen doll with extreme precision, while the remaining digits took care of the other puppets like they normally would.
His chakra control wasn't growing as fast as it used to either, and medical nin training had come to have more to do with anatomy and maintaining medical chakra than anything else. This was harsh on the teen, as even if he knew for a fact it will all be worthwhile eventually, he had to feel there was a reason he chose Sasori. And he had to feel it now.
But his doubts were cut short when the puppet master returned. On that fateful morning, the Students were sitting at the Dojo, waiting for their Sensei to speak. The wind blew harshly outside the building, smashing snowflakes against the wooden walls. As the old Samurai drew a short breath and attempted to begin his lecture, the slidedoors opened swiftly, letting snowy gusts of air barge violently into the arena.
In the doorway, a short silhouette stood, its back turned against the rising sun. A boy, striking red hair, minimal coats to his skin, and the empty expression of glazed apathy slung upon his face. All the students were startled. The three clan members feared the unsettling nature of the boy's approach, and Naruto was alarmed as well, since he quickly understood that if Sasori had shown these strangers his true form, this will surely end badly.
The elder nephew rose, lifting his Dai-Katana from the floor as he marched. Before even taking the third step, a sharp, elongated blade rose from beneath him, splitting a creaking floorboard into splinters. The blade went through the trainee's abdomen, then retracted. The nephew let go of his sword and fell to his knees, black blood spilling from his wounded stomach. The two other students quickly rose to action, but the Scorpion had already flung a kunai at each of them. They blocked, the second nephew with the scabbard of his own sword, and the grandson with the dull end of his Naginata. Unfortunately, the two kunai were explosive ones, of Naruto's old design. As soon as the knives were intercepted, they blew up, tearing through wood and flesh like old, crumbling newspaper.
Naruto was pushed back and rolled to his feet, too shocked to react properly. The Samurai master (who witnessed the entire ordeal with remarkable patience) did not reach for any weapon, but instead rushed to climb the wooden stairs, leading to the second-floor dais which allowed visitors to observe the main arena from above. He knew full well he was outmatched.
As the old warrior ran along the dais, one of the paper windows was torn open, and a clinking wooden puppet peered through the fresh hole to intercept him. The Sensei reacted, again, with amazing focus. Paying no regard to the disturbing humanoid head and the jittering of its teeth, he dodged the incoming arm, which opened to reveal a kunai-sized blade. The Samurai then proceeded to grab the sharp blade with his bare hands, tearing it off the puppet as it wounded his own palm. He turned to gain momentum, and stuck the stolen blade into one of the puppet's joints, skewering it against the wall. With an artful spring, he then jumped through the torn window, escaping the Dojo.
Sasori did not even bother to pursue. The blade the elder Samurai has touched was obviously poisoned. Surely enough, after a moment of silence had passed between the Scorpion and his disciple, a loud cough was heard, carried in by the wind. Then a slip, and a thump, the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the snowy earth.
"Hello" Sasori said. His voice the same as ever.
At that particular moment, Naruto was angry. He came to be fond of these people, and his true master, who had disappeared on him for the better part of three years, has marred his return with this… bloodshed. Naruto chose Sasori for a reason. He is, or at least was, Naruto's closest friend. As he peered at the artist's face, Naruto tried his best not to convey any resentment. He could feel the Kyubi in the back of his mind, fanning his emotional flames. "It's about time we tell him off, kid" the fox growled. "This has gone on long enough."
For a second, Naruto agreed, and this fleeting shot of confirmation was enough for the Nine Tails' Youki to start flowing through his veins. "Stop it fox!" Naruto called in his thoughts, yet the ire kept glowing. "Kyubi, enough!" … no reply but a rising sense of wrath. Naruto was a coat of chakra away from tearing into his beloved master. "Kurama!"
The anger subsided.
The Jinchuriki and his prisoner were on different terms, nowadays. As the years went by, Naruto was placed in several life-threatening situations. Some of them already in Konoha, some here in the frozen Iron. And the Nine Tails had saved him, time and time again. The official party line was that the fox was trying to establish a mutually beneficial relationship, and so assisted his jailer… but why?
If Naruto were to die, the Kyubi will dissipate, his chakra no longer contained and the seal preventing him from being released in his foxy form. But after some time, months, years, even decades, the essence of the Kyubi will coalesce into a physical being yet again, and the immortal demon shall be free. Why not let his host die, then?
Because he needed something done, Naruto realized, and he needed it done soon. Kurama had an agenda, and it was of a time sensitive nature. Sensitive, it would seem, to the point that the fox couldn't risk his Youki scattering and himself returning only in a few decades or so.
After many talks the two shared inside Naruto's mindscape, regarding chakra, techniques, or other people, the fox somehow deduced Naruto understood this… notion about his goals. And gradually, a friendlier relationship had flowered. Although warmer, it was still painted by that dark undertone that accompanied ulterior motives, but it was friendlier nevertheless.
Naruto relaxed, and the artist approached him carefully. "How have you been?" he asked. Even this fake show of compassion was a great offering when it came to Sasori. So in return, Naruto smiled and let his resentment float away, slowly disappearing from his memory.
– Break –
Every three days or so, a villager came by the remote Dojo, carrying food and general supplies. Though he was just there the night before Sasori's arrival, if they were to err on the side of caution the three Shinobi had two days to clean the area of their presence and leave.
The plan was simple. Sasori brought with him a storage scroll containing the body of an adolescent similar to his disciple. He was tall and well built, with sharp features and bright blonde hair. Kabuto will prepare the cadaver, performing modifying surgery to make it appear as identical to Naruto as possible, even cutting its hair to match the disciple's hairdo. They will then burn down the Dojo with the bodies inside, and will stage the event to look like a band of local Shinobi had engaged in some practical axe-grinding during the Dojo's training hours. Nobody knew who Naruto was around here, and with Kabuto going as far as shaping the corpse's hair correctly as not to allow for suspicious burn patterns, no one will be the wiser.
These preparations have taken most of the first day, and by the second morning Naruto had grown more and more curious as to the reason behind his master's return. When the Dojo was almost ready to be lit, Sasori spoke.
"I came here to give you something, Naruto." He said, cocking his head nonchalantly.
"Give me something?" Naruto asked with a hint of giddiness in his voice.
Sasori pulled out a tightly rolled scroll and handed it to his student. As Naruto read the report, his heart started racing, and it took him great amounts of self-control to sooth his inner turmoil. It was about Neji.
Apparently, the genius Hyuga had fled captivity, and was heading towards the Fire Land's border with the Land of Grass.
Shit. Naruto never imagined it would happen so quickly. "C-can I go?" he whispered, looking up at the young form of his red headed master. "You must", answered the Scorpion.
After a few moments of deep thought and some encouragement from Kurama, Naruto was resolute to leave this land. He was ready to get up when Sasori motioned him to halt. "Kabuto, would you please survey the surroundings one more time before we set this place aflame?" asked the master. "Of course" Kabuto replied.
Left alone, Sasori gazed sternly at his disciple before opening his mouth to speak again. "There's a reason I gave you this information, Naruto."
"So I can fulfill my promise" said the blonde decisively.
"No, not this time." Sasori answered. His body was unnaturally still, and without any motion, Naruto could hear a compartment click open in his master's chest. The Scorpion moved his arm mechanically, and whatever was in that mysterious compartment slowly slipped out and fell onto his wooden palm. Naruto could see the convoluted network of chakra strings emanating from the tubular object, slightly protruding from Sasori's garments.
"This" the artist of the red sands declared, "is me."
Naruto looked perplexed.
"I'm a puppet Naruto, yet I have no puppeteer. I control myself, and therefore I must live somewhere within this wooden coil."
"-But I thought…" Naruto said in his characteristically confused voice, "that you were sealed to your body, and that's why you know so much about sealing."
Sasori nearly smiled. "If I were sealed inside it" he continued with a reprimanding tone, "on the event it were to be destroyed, so would I, and I would not be able to transfer my mind to a different host."
It made sense to Naruto, but to think that Sasori's self was somehow preserved it this tube of bulging biomass was… too surreal. "Why are you showing me this?" asked the Uzumaki, "not to be rude, but it seems to be a very important secret." Sasori had divulged much to his student over the years, including some sensitive information about his puppets, or about how the center of his body's mechanisms laid within his stomach, but this…
"Indeed." The Scorpion replied, "not even Kabuto knows about this."
"I am showing it to you so you'll understand, Naruto. Eventually, you too must cut your mortal cords, and give birth to a true form of art."
Sasori then explained a bit about the process of creating that tube, and how he basically killed himself so he could gain such an "elegant variant of immortality". Naruto was confused. He wanted to inquire more about the mechanisms of that… thing, and to get a better grasp of his teacher's vague statement. There were so many questions… Did Sasori wish to make him a puppet as well?
"Don't be an idiot" Kurama called inside his head. "If he kills you, I'll be gone, and that's a very big waste. He can't turn you into some stupid toy like that."
Before he could tell Kyubi off or ask Sasori anything, Kabuto was already back at the door.
This could wait, I presume, Naruto thought as he got up to his feet. Neji's death couldn't.
