Demon on Puppet Strings
By
Ragnorokrising
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Chapter Four: Waves of Blood
Naruto loved this feeling, the calm that came through him as he worked with his puppets. The silent sound of his puppets clicking filled the compound as he removed the tanks containing elements and poison from the other puppets before adding them to Retribution and Genocide. He felt the compound shudder and made another mental note to make several more basic battle puppets. He had made a custom puppet hand that controlled several puppets at once and placed it in the dojo that was the basement. He made several basic battle puppets and let Gaara train with them.
He finished changing out the tanks and began to tinker with the three constructs, fine tuning the internal mechanisms. Then he pulled out Quick Silver and his four human puppets. He stared at the eight puppets, and began to wonder how he was going to be able to control them and any other puppets he obtains later on and still fight himself. That was always the greatest weakness of a puppet master.
He resealed them quickly and opened up a book entitled A History of Summoning Contracts and began to read. He finished the book a few hours later and threw it randomly onto the bookshelf. He realized that soon they would need to by a new one if they didn't want to start leaving the scrolls and books on the floor. As Naruto was walking down the hallway to his room, he spotted his reflection in the full length mirror hanging from the wall. He still had the annoying orange jumpsuit he always wore, and it was beginning to get to small.
He moved over to the wall where an intercom was waiting to be used. He pressed the button that activated the link between this intercom and the one below him in the dojo where Gaara was training. "Gaara, this is Naruto. I'm going out to buy some new outfits from the shop. I'll be back in a few hours."
He jumped out of the window and through the air. Seeing a chance to try a new jutsu, Naruto flashed through hand seals and watched in satisfaction as the air around his feet condensed and hardened, forming a board beneath him. He began to steer it towards the center of the village. He took note of the adrenaline coursing through his veins, the feel of the wind on his face, the yell of excitement he couldn't hold back, as he flipped in the air several times. He dove down into the village streets, shocking the villagers and shinobi that saw him. He came to a halt in front of the biggest ninja store in Konoha, the Wolf Claw, which he and Gaara had owned for the past two years. The jutsu faded away and he fell to the ground, landing in a slight crouch.
The bell above the door rang once as he entered. The shop owner, a man named Tenshi, who had short black hair and brown eyes, smiled at him and yelled into the back, "Tenten, Izuma, Mr. Uzumaki is here to see us! Bring out his order from the back!" before waving Naruto over. "What can I help you with today Naruto?"
"I was looking in the mirror earlier, and I realized that I need new clothes. I figured I may as well come pick up my order from you as long as I need to do some shopping. It didn't cost you too much I hope." He said as he pulled out three large wads of bills and put them on the counter.
"Not too much. The main cost came from transportation. If someone had got a hold of these items, they could destroy an entire army. So naturally we had to hire a large amount of samurai and ninja to guard it. And we had to pay them extra so they would willingly stay in the dark. Of course, considering the amount of pieces, it's no surprise. But this should cover it." He said as he took the three wads. Naruto sighed and gave him two more wads.
"That sounds like a lot of work on your part. And use the extra to upgrade your house and the store." Naruto said as Tenshi smiled happily and slipped the two wads in with the three others. A few moments later, a woman stepped out from the back. She had long black hair, green eyes, and was dressed in ANBU gear. She wrapped her arms around Tenshi's neck and kissed him on the cheek. Tenshi smiled as a blush crept up on his face.
"Izuma, so good to see you. As beautiful as ever I see." Naruto said. The woman smiled and let go of her husband.
"It's good to see you too Naruto. Did I hear you say you needed some new clothes?" Naruto nodded and her face lit up. "Well then, allow me to help you." Before she came around the counter, she leaned into the doorway and yelled, "TENTEN, HURRY IT UP IN THERE!"
Naruto rubbed his temples as he and Izuma walked towards the clothes section, while Tenshi went in the back to help his daughter. For the next forty minutes, Izuma made him try on outfit after outfit while making two piles, one for clothes he would buy, one for clothes she rejected. At the end of the forty minutes, Naruto was smiling slightly at his reflection in the mirror. The orange jumpsuit had been taken by Izuma into the back where she said she was going to make a modification to it. Naruto made sure he took the swirl symbol off of the jacket first though.
Now, he was wearing a short sleeved gray with a trench coat the color of dried blood that had several pockets and places for scrolls. Since it was designed for ninja, it had a storage seal sewn into the inside on either side, large enough for one weapon, so a ninja could put a sword or ax or scythe inside of it and if they got in a jam they could summon it and surprise their enemy. He also had on a pair of loose ninja pants that didn't cling to his legs, and instead of the traditional ninja sandals, Izuma had gotten him a pair of steel toed boots. On his arms were two metal bracers with his signature symbol carved into them, courtesy of Izuma's special chakra affinity to metal.
"Well, don't you look handsome?" Izuma said from behind him. Naruto turned, and a massive sweat drop appeared on the back of his head when he saw she had put the jump suit on a cross made from two thin branches and painted a bulls-eye on the front and back. She smiled when she saw him looking at it. "You have no idea how many people hate this thing. So I'm gonna put it in the middle of the village and you're gonna set it on fire." Naruto's sweat drop had disappeared, but quickly reappeared at the explanation.
"Is my order ready yet Izuma?" he asked, hoping she would put the thing down. She nodded and carried it with her, much to Naruto's chagrin, to the front counter on her shoulder. Waiting for Naruto were three neatly arranged pyramids of scrolls, ten in each. Naruto pull out a scroll, unrolled it, and swung it as he channeled chakra through the paper. The storage scroll on the end of the paper swallowed the pyramids as soon as it came in contacted with them. Naruto re-rolled the scroll and put it away.
"Now, let's head to the village center and burn this thing!" Izuma yelled, while Naruto slapped his face.
He followed Izuma to the center of the village where hundreds of civilians were watching them as she dug the cross into the ground. Naruto sighed as she announced what was about to happen and a crowd formed. Well, if they wanted a show, Naruto would just have to give them one.
He flashed through hand signs and took a huge breathe. "Fire Style," his voice sounded from everywhere, but nowhere, "Grand Phoenix Assault Jutsu!" the jutsu was high level, and took a lot of chakra, but by doing this, Naruto was gaining the favor of the villagers. He didn't really want it, but if they liked him, they wouldn't attack his compound and interrupt his puppet construction.
A massive stream of fire flowed through the air like water, wrapping itself around the jumpsuit. It spiraled up above the orange article and suddenly turned into a large bird. The crowd cheered with excitement as the creature turned and hit the jumpsuit. The thing began to burn slowly, feeding the crowd's excitement as each string was turned to ash. Suddenly, the phoenix reappeared and swallowed the jumpsuit whole with a mighty screech. The crowd cheered as Naruto bowed to each.
He formed the hand signs and was lifted upwards into the air by the wind board. The civilians gawked as he turned to leave. However, before he could, a girl he recognized came running through the crowd towards him. She wore traditional ninja pants, with a pink Chinese shirt and her black hair tied into two buns on her head. In her hand was a bag. She ran over to Naruto and lifted it up to him. "You forgot to get your clothes Naruto."
"Thanks Tenten. I'll see you later." He said, before he shot off towards the compound, not noticing the blush that formed on her face. Her mother stepped up behind her and smiled.
"Tenten, you're no longer aloud to see Naruto. I don't want to be a grandma early in life."
"MOM!"
When Naruto arrived, he found Gaara, the owners of Ichiraku Ramen and the Hokage drinking tea while sitting on the couch.
"Ah, Naruto, just who we wanted to see." The Hokage said as he set down his cup. "Could I see your headband for a moment please?" he asked. Naruto untied the headband from his forehead, slightly confused, and handed it to the old man, who pulled out a sealing scroll. "Gaara, could I see yours too please?"
The red head handed the headband over quietly. The Hokage put both of them on the storage seal and in a puff of smoke they were gone. "Those headbands can go to some Genin next year." As soon as the words left his mouth, Gaara and Naruto stood up and began to yell in outrage.
"What the hell old man?! I save the Forbidden Scroll from a traitor and the village takes away my ninja status?! And what has Gaara done to anyone to deserve this?!"
"Would you both please just sit down for half a damn second?" the Hokage yelled back. The two Jinchuuriki did as they were asked with a few words grumbled under their breath. "Now, as I tried to say, after considering everything I've seen from you two, your abilities, your strength, your knowledge, your control over your demons, and also considering your potential, I have decided to invoke an old law."
The Jinchuuriki prepared for the worse as the Hokage reached into his pocket. "I'm making you two my personal ninja." And he pulled out two completely different headbands. One had a long orange clothe that when tied would reach down to the person's shoulders. On the plate was the Konoha symbol inside of Naruto's signature swirl pattern with nine tail-like indentions circling it. The other had a shorter, brown piece of clothe that went to the bottom of the person's head and a Konoha symbol about to be swallowed by a Shukaku paw.
He handed the brown one to Gaara, and the orange one to Naruto. "From this point on, you two only take orders from me, not from anyone else. You are above the rules as long as you wear these headbands. No one can stop you as long as you aren't committing treason."
"Lord Hokage," Gaara put in, "won't making the two of us your personal ninja make the graduating class uneven and cause a two man team?"
"Yes, it would, normally, but a young girl named Hanabi Hyuuga is one year behind you, and she is quite good. So good that she has graduated early, and will be taking the spot Gaara would have taken." Satisfied with the answer, Naruto and Gaara put the headbands on and sat back down on the couch.
"As for us," the old ramen chief said, "we came to tell you that we have to leave the village for a month to go to the annual Land of Fire Ramen Super Cook-off. We have a good chance of winning this year. We would bring you along, but now that you're a ninja, you'll have missions to do."
"So, the shop is going to be closed for a month?" Naruto asked. The Hokage was surprised to hear the sadness in the boy's voice. It may seem dumb, if you think that he's only sad because he won't get ramen, but the Sandaime knew the man and his daughter were one of Naruto's five precious people, himself, Gaara, and Iruka being the others. To him it was like losing his uncle and sister. The Sandaime smiled sadly at the fact Naruto still had enough emotion to care.
"Well, yes, but I got you this." He said, pulling out a box of Pocky. "A very good friend of mine makes Pocky and I asked him to make you a special 'Ramen Flavor' box. He made you thirty boxes, and it should taste exactly like my ramen." He said, throwing Naruto a box and a scroll his friend had so generously sealed the others into. Naruto pulled out one of the biscuit sticks and took a bite. He finished it off in seconds. Before he could grab another, Gaara's sand flew forward and wrapped around his hand.
"Save them Naruto. They'll be for special occasions." Naruto nodded and the sand withdrew. Instantly, the blonde was stuffing his face with the candy. Gaara jumped on him, trying to wrestle the box from his hands, only for Naruto to kick him off. He unsealed all of his puppets and ordered all nearby security puppets to attack, while yelling out, "YOU WILL NO TOUCH THE PRECIOUS!!!!"
The Sandaime jumped up and hit both of them in pressure points, blocking off their chakras from their control. Naruto's puppets clattered to the ground useless, and the Earth Style jutsu Gaara was about to use was dispelled.
"Naruto, no more Pocky for a while okay? You aren't getting any more of this stuff." Naruto reluctantly handed over the sweet to the Hokage. The old man then handed it to Gaara, who hid it away in his pocket which he then sealed with several layers of sand. Naruto stared longingly at it as the taste of the first stick lingered in his mouth.
"Now then," he said as the Ichiraku family left, "the two of you are to report to my office tomorrow for your first mission."
"Yes Lord Hokage." They said, bowing to the leader of the village. As soon as the man left, Naruto jumped on the redhead again.
(Scene Change)
Across town, two Chuunin rank ninja were sitting in a bar, each with a cup of sake in his hand. Both of them were trying to drink away the memories, the memories of the night they attacked the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto, and watched him slaughter all the civilians with them. He was brutal yet at the same time effective and quick. For some reason though, he had spared them, and every since, they would go back to that night every time they closed their eyes for more than a second.
"Hey, Koketsu, you know what we should do?" asked one of them, a man with long black hair. His headband was opened, covering the top part of his head. He gulped down the sake with the zealous of a man that had been in the desert for weeks.
"No Izumo, I don't know, and I don't want to know." Koketsu, a man with spiky black hair with a bandage over his nose, replied. He grabbed the bottle and downed the contents quickly.
"Well too bad, because you're going to find out." Izumo told him. "I think we should go apologize to the Uzumaki kid for what we did."
Koketsu stopped with his cup of sake half-way to his mouth. "And what makes you think he won't kill us on sight?"
"I don't know if he will or not. But I do know that it's the right thing to do, and I'm going over there whether you decide to come with me or stay here and get stone drunk as usual." The Chuunin said before standing up and leaving the bar. Koketsu sighed before getting up and following him. They jumped from rooftop to rooftop, until finally they arrived at the compound. As soon as they were within a hundred feet of the building, puppets came pouring out of the building. They surrounded the two Chuunin, who simply stood and waited for the blonde Jinchuuriki who was walking through the crowd of puppets.
"I remember you two." Naruto said once he and Gaara arrived. "Quick Silver's attack missed the day I began making human puppets and I used you to spread the word about my compound. What could you possibly want here?"
"We want to apologize for that night." Izumo said. "We got caught up in the villager's propaganda because of how drunk we got. We're sorry for what we did. We just thought you should know that."
Naruto and Gaara stared at each other, digesting the news. Naruto snapped and the puppets disappeared back into the compound. Koketsu and Izumo relaxed when he did this. "Get off of this property. What's done is done." The two Jinchuuriki walked back into the compound, leaving two shocked Chuunin. Said Chuunin both turned and moved back to the bar.
(Scene Change)
Naruto and Gaara stood before the council and the Hokage, awaiting their orders. "Naruto, Gaara," the Hokage said, "We have been experiencing several problems of late with the Kaguya clan. They tried to destroy Kirigakure, the Village hidden in the Mist, a few years back. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, they failed, but they weren't wiped out. Orochimaru came and took their strongest warrior, a boy named Kimimaro, with him, but twenty male members and sixty female members of the clan still live, and they are now in the Land of Fire, only ten miles from here. We don't want to take the chance of them trying the same thing with us."
"You're mission is to go wipe out the Kaguya and dispose of their bodies in the most beneficial way possible. Leave the females alive if you can help it. This is a mid B-rank mission. Do you except?" the Hokage asked, holding out the mission scroll for them. In reply, Naruto took the scroll, and they disappeared in a blast of wind, sand, and leaves.
"Sarutobi, how dare you?!" yelled his female teammate, Koharu. "You know the boy is going to turn the corpses into his puppets!"
"Yes, I do know that." I told them. "But I missed his birthday last year, so I owned him a present." He enjoyed the shocked looks on the council members' faces as he left the room.
(Scene Change)
Sasuke held his arm as he limped down the street, pain rushing through him with each step. His new sensei was brutal, some man named Kakashi Hatake, and he had just given them a test to see if they were worthy or not. He had beaten the crap out of him, Sakura Haruno, and Hanabi Hyuuga, who, even though their clans were rivals, he instantly decided he didn't hate when she knocked out Sakura when she almost gave away their position.
He smiled when he saw Naruto, the stupid blonde kid who had just showed up and outclassed him in the academy, walking down the street, holding a scroll open while scanning it. Sasuke dashed forward and stole it quickly. "Hey Uzumaki, what you got here? Drawings for your new dolls?" he laughed at his own joke before looking down at the scroll. His eyes widened and he stared at Naruto and Gaara in amazement.
Naruto took the scroll and rolled it back up. "Is something wrong Sasuke Uchiha?" Naruto asked, sliding the scroll into his pocket.
"The council is sending you two to wipe out the Kaguya Clan? Even the Uchiha have trouble with them!" Sasuke yelled, much to his own chagrin when he realized he had just insulted his clan and himself.
"Well, the Hokage is. We get all our assignments from him and answer no one but him. Now if you would excuse us," Naruto said, pushing Sasuke out of their way, "we need to get supplies for this mission."
Sasuke's hands turned to fist and his knuckles turned white. He jumped on the rooftops, rushing towards his home. His father would want to hear of this new development.
(Scene Change)
Naruto and Gaara rushed through the trees towards the Kaguya camp. Naruto had a book opened which detailed the clan's abilities. "It seems that the Kekkei Genkai only appears in certain people, so kill anyone who doesn't exhibit the ability."
"Calm down Naruto. I know what to do." Gaara said. Naruto nodded before spinning in the air, unsealing Desolation, Retribution and Genocide from their seals. The puppets followed them through the woods for another three minutes before they found a large clearing. Gaara and Naruto could hear the moans of woman being forced to have sex. Both their eyes narrowed as Naruto sent Genocide into the air and had him set one of the buildings on fire. Retribution changed into the second form Naruto had designed into it, a massive lion, with two snake tails, a wolf head on the chest, and two wings of fire sprouting from the back. From each of its leg, a cannon sprouted and fired bursts of super hot steam, melting anything in its path. Desolation rushed through the camp, his gears spinning as lightning flew off of them.
It didn't take long for the man to come out to investigate. Gaara turned to Naruto as he withdrew his puppets with a questioning gaze. "Something just dawned on me Naruto. How are you supposed to turn them into puppets when the bodies of puppets are wooden and any bones sprouting would destroy the body?"
"There is three ways to make a Human Puppet. I just have to implore a different one from usual." He said right before they jumped into the center of the camp, drawing all the attention. Naruto pulled his three puppets in close to him. "Alright, who here possesses the Dead Bone Pulse ability?"
Two men stepped forwards, twins dressed in foreign armor with short green hair. "I am Yen." One said.
"And I am Yong." The other told them.
"We were in a foreign country at the time of the attack, or we would have helped destroy the Mist." Yen explained. Naruto noticed Yen had blue eyes while Yong had brown eyes. This would make them easier to tell apart when he used them. Naruto smirked as his five other puppets appeared.
"Gaara, crush the useless ones. I've got these two." Gaara's sand flew past Yen and Yong before they could say anything and swallowed the other men. Gaara clenched his hand for a second and blood exploded from the eighteen sand cocoons of sand that had started to levitate in the air behind them. Before either of the shocked men could say anything, Retribution shot forward and opened its lion mouth, exhaling a massive blast of poison gas into their faces. They both inhaled the poison by accident. Instantly they began to sway back and forth, and they started to feel lightheaded.
Naruto sealed the puppets away before slicing the two men's throats. He sealed them away and began to explore the camp. He found several crude weapons, as well as a massive scroll containing the clan library. They found several large attack dogs that for some reason took a liking to the two Jinchuuriki, so they decided to let them come live at the compound. And then they found the women.
There were sixty of them, just like the Hokage had said. Each was dressed either in rags or nude. All of them had obedience seals painted around their necks, binding them to the Kaguya clan. Fortunately for them, the seals would be easy to break for a person of Naruto's level.
"Ladies," Naruto said, getting their attention, "the Kaguya clan is no more. You are free to go." The girls looked at him in amazement. He squinted, and realized they also had muting seals on their tongues, so they couldn't speak. "Oh, I see. Please, hold still."
Gaara watched in interest as Naruto painted a large diagram on the ground around the slave girls. He drew several lines leading to a circle around them. When it was finished, he flashed through hand seals and punched the ground. The seal lit up the surrounding area, and the girls grasped their throats. Then they scratched at their necks. At finally, they doubled over as if punched in the stomach.
"W-w-what have you done?" a woman, the obvious leader, asked.
"I removed the two seals and terminated your pregnancies. If that was what you wanted. The seal looked inside of you and made the choice for you off of the information it gleamed from your subconscious." He said as they began to leave.
"Please, wait just one moment." The leader said. Naruto sighed before turning around and looking her up and down. She was dressed in shinobi clothes, ripped between her legs and chest showing her privates. But Naruto was looking her in the face, at her full red lips, he beautiful blonde hair, her cerulean eyes. "My name is Hato Karei. I'm also the only girl here to never had been violated because of my strong will, and the elected leader of these girls."
Naruto stared at her for a moment. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is my friend Gaara. We are ninja of the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, come to wipe out the Kaguya clan so they won't grow powerful again and try to destroy Konoha. That is where we will be going once we have finished looking through the camp." He said, forming a hand sign. Instantly, thirty solid, substantial Naruto's appeared and ran off in different directions.
"Please," Hato begged, "let us come with you. Most of us are shinobi who have had our chakra sealed away. All we need is some Kaguya blood and we'll be ninja again. We can't go back to our families, the Kaguya killed them all. Please, let us come with you."
Naruto sighed before nodding. "Come on then. And here," he said, throwing them two scrolls that rolled open and let out two piles of clothes. "These are some clothes that should fit you. Put them on while Gaara and I get enough blood to wipe away all of your seals." The women thanked Naruto before they quickly put the clothes on.
(Scene Change)
Fugaku tapped his fingers on the desk. His son Sasuke had brought him some very interesting information. He would have to figure out a way to kill they two Jinchuuriki without the Hokage realizing that it was the Uchiha clan. A smile split over the head of the Uchiha Clan as an idea formed in his head.
"Itachi, please come in here." He said, loud enough for the people on the other side of the sliding door to hear.
"Yes father, what do you need?"Itachi asked as he entered, garbed in his ANBU armor.
"I need you to do me a favor. Go to the Village Hidden in the Mist, Kirigakure, and tell the Mizukage, Yagura, that I want to hire two assassins to kill Naruto Uzumaki for us, and that they are to not reveal who hired them under any circumstance."
"Would you like me to request any particular assassins father?"
Fugaku's smile grew wider. "Yes, if you would, ask for Mei and Fuubi Terumi."
(Scene Change)
Naruto, Gaara, and the group of women arrived at the gates of Konoha, where Izumo and Koketsu were stationed. When the two Chuunin saw Naruto, their faces fell. As they were stamping their papers, Naruto sighed, and said, "Fine, I forgive. If it came down to it, I would have bought into that propaganda to after hearing it for so long."
The two Chuunin smiled and finished stamping the papers. "I'll take the girls to the compound Naruto. You turn in the mission okay?" Naruto nodded before disappearing in a swirl of golden flames. "Show off." Gaara mumbled as the girls squealed in amazement.
Naruto appeared in the middle of a council meeting. He handed the Hokage the mission scroll and momentarily unsealed the bodies of Yen and Yong for them. "Good job Naruto." The old man said, handing Naruto a scroll full of money. "But I'm sorry to say we have another mission for you. Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Hanabi Hyuuga, and Kakashi Hatake are in trouble. They took what was considered a C-rank mission, only to be attacked by an A-rank criminal, Zabuza Momochi. They drove him off, but Kakashi has chakra exhaustion. We need you and Gaara to travel to Wave Country to help them guard the bridge builder Tazuna until his bridge is done."
Naruto took the mission scroll from him and nodded. "Just let me drop off some of my puppets and begin the process of turning these two into puppets. I, ah, also need sixty headbands." Sarutobi's eyebrow flew up. "Well, turns out all the Kaguya women were slaves who were once shinobi. They're living at the compound now, and I need headbands for them."
A smile split over Sarutobi's face. "I'll have them sent over for you. But please hurry Naruto."
The blonde nodded before being engulfed in the golden flames.
(Scene Change)
Naruto landed in his living room. He threw the scroll to Gaara while he went over to the puppet compound to begin the transformation on Yen and Yong. Four hours later, he was ready to go. He and Gaara shot out of the window and dashed through the village. They didn't stop to open the gate, instead opting to jump straight over it. They shot down the road before Gaara surrounded them in an orb of sand that sent them shooting through the sky like a cannon ball.
They landed at a small town a few hours later, where they rented a small boat to take them to Wave. They stared at the massive bridge spanning the water towards the town. "So that's Tazuna's bridge huh?"
"Yes it is. If Tazuna manages to finish that bridge, Wave's economy will start to boom again, and Gato's choke hold on the country will be destroyed." The boat driver explained to them. Once they got across the water, they paid him ten times his normal fee to thank him, and ran to the large three story house where the others were waiting for them.
Naruto knocked on the door, and a beautiful looking woman answered the door. Naruto put on a fake smile. "Hello there Mrs. I'm Naruto and this is Gaara. We're here to assist the ninja here in protecting your father."
"Oh, you're the reinforcements the ninja called for. Please, come right on in." they came inside the house, examining it. There were holes in the walls and the paint was peeling. The food used to make the dinner was basic stuff, and the carpeting was old. Naruto sighed and pulled out a brush, ink pot, and some spare puppets.
"Gaara check out the house. I'm going to set up some security puppets." He said as he jumped into two of the corners of the room. He painted the same seals he had in his compound and attached a spare puppet hand while setting his puppet in the corner and casting a minor Genjutsu on it. He repeated this five teams on the next two floors, and put three on the top of the roof of the house. Then he jumped back down to the first floor and sent out a pulse of chakra to activate the puppets.
"Ah, Naruto, so good of you to join us." Kakashi called out. Naruto nodded and sat down next to Gaara. He ate a small plate before turning to the one eyed Jounin.
"So what do you're students know thus far?"
"Well, Sakura Haruno is our weakest member, with great chakra control, but little chakra. Sasuke Uchiha, well, his skills are no secret from the Konoha populace. And Hanabi Hyuuga has great skill with Gentle Fist Fighting Style." Naruto tapped his fingers on the table a few times.
"Hanabi," he said, addressing the thirteen year old, "I know a lot about the Gentle Fist Style, thanks to you and your sister. Would you like to train with me?"
"Um, yeah, I guess." She said, eating a spoonful of rice.
"Gaara, can you train the Haruno girl?" Gaara nodded and he turned to Kakashi. "You train the Uchiha Kakashi. We'll begin tomorrow." He said, and with that, he stood up and went up to the room he and Gaara were sharing and fell asleep.
(The Next Day)
Naruto sat on a tree branch, meditating. He'd been at it for hours, going over the Hyuuga fighting style and thinking of ways to improve it, when Hanabi finally arrived.
"Okay, look," she said. "I know you're a good ninja and all, but you won't be able to teach me anything new."
"I can teach you the technique used by the original Hyuuga clan head. It wasn't that hard to master really, but for some reason your clan thinks by learning the technique they are disgracing his memory or something." Naruto smiled internally at the hungry look in Hanabi's eyes. He dropped to the ground by her and bit his thumb. "Allow me to demonstrate with my puppet Senna."
In a blast of smoke the Hyuuga puppet appeared Naruto connected his strings to her, mainly so he could funnel more chakra through her. "Turn on your Byakugan so you can see the way the chakra is funneled." He ordered. Hanabi complied, turning her eyes from a lovely shade of lavender to an off-white color with veins bulging around them. She stared in interest as the chakra began to funnel into the puppets arm.
It twisted and bent, forming into a ball behind the chakra point in the puppets hand. She palmed the air and the chakra shot out in a small beam that twisted outwards into a tempest of energy and curved back around the puppets arm, forming a massive spinning drill. The same thing happened with the other arm, only instead of a drill, it was a sword. The puppet dashed forward, destroying two trees in the process.
"You see, you expel the chakra out of the chakra point on whatever limb you want to use the technique on and shift it into that shape. Then you harden it with your mind, forcing it to stay in the shape you choose until you let it go. You can also form it into beams or use it to create weapons while using Eight Trigrams Rotation and send them flying outwards, dealing damage in a larger area. You give it a try. Start with forming the chakra." Naruto ordered as he pulled his headband down over one eye.
"Why are you doing that?" Hanabi asked, noticing the veins that suddenly rippled out from Senna's eyes.
"There is a seal on the headband that lets me see out of her eyes. This way I can monitor your chakra and tell you how to mold it correctly. Otherwise your arm will explode." Hanabi gulped and began to focus the chakra to her palm.
(Scene Change)
Gaara stared at Sakura in contemplation. Then he nodded and grabbed her shoulder. His sand engulfed them and began to move. A moment later, they landed in a field covered in cherry blossoms. "Alright Haruno, this is the best thing I could think of for you. All around you are cherry blossoms. But, much like you, they have a hidden potential you just need to tap into." He bent down and picked up a single blossom. Chakra raced through it and cut it into several pieces, which then rolled up into tiny sand-like particles. "I'm going to teach you to do this with every blossom in the field."
"Why Gaara-sensei?"
"Because," he said as he unsealed a large hourglass, a spare container for his sand, "This is a great chakra control and building exercise. And when we are done, you'll be able to control the blossom sand like I control mine. With a few advanced seals you'll be able to turn it into an advance self-activated armor as well."
Sakura picked up a cheery blossom and focused her charka into it. It split into ten pieces like Gaara's, and then she used her chakra to roll them up and compact them in grains of sand. As soon as this was done, she started to pant.
Gaara pulled out a pot of ink and a brush and painted a storage seal on her arm. He sealed the few grains she had into it. "Eventually we'll put the sand into this container." He said, tapping the hourglass before sealing it into his seal. "But for now we'll keep it sealed in there okay?"
Sakura nodded before continuing with the process.
(Scene Change)
Kakashi had his face buried in his book, giggling every now and then. Sasuke was leaning against a tree, wondering when they finally would get to training. Then he remembered his father always told him. "We are Uchiha boy! We make the first move and we win!"
So Sasuke flashed through a set of hand seals and let loose with a massive fireball. Kakashi simply jumped over it, landing on the tree behind Sasuke, as the fireball demolished the tree he had just been on. Sighing, the one eyes Jounin put the book in his kunai holder before dropping to the ground.
"Sasuke, it's not smart to attack a superior opponent without knowing their skills."
"Superior?" Sasuke said in disbelief. "I am an Uchiha. As soon as I unlock my Sharingan I will be much stronger than you."
Kakashi tilted his head to the side. "Sasuke, your older brother, Itachi, does he use his Sharingan every second of every day?"
"Well," Sasuke said, rubbing the back of his head in confusion, "no, he doesn't. In fact I rarely see him use it."
"Exactly. Yet he's still the strongest person in your clan. The Sharingan isn't what makes Itachi strong. It's the fact that he works harder than anyone else. And you know Naruto?" Sasuke nodded, his hands balling into fists at the thought of the blonde. "I saw him beat the shit out of Itachi a few weeks ago."
Sasuke's anger hit a new high, and he rushed Kakashi, intent on killing him, maiming him, or destroying that stupid book. He threw a punch at Kakashi, who bent to the side and slammed a kick into Sasuke's side. A moment later, he landed a fist in his gut. Sasuke yelped as the metal of Kakashi's glove, which barely touched him, sent a wave of heat over his skin, burning him.
As Sasuke fell to the ground, Kakashi cracked his knuckles. "That was a taste of the style I'm about to begin to teach you. Think you can handle it?" Sasuke spit out a glob of blood and nodded.
(Scene Change)
That Night, Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari, Tsunami's son, stared in shock as the ninja arrived back from training. Naruto, Gaara, and Kakashi were all the same, but the Genin were different. Hanabi's hand was bleeding slightly, and she had several shallow cuts running up her arms. Her sleeve had been completely torn off and her hair was crazy. Sakura crushed a cherry blossom that had stuck to the bottom of her shoe with every step, and looked like she'd never had a good nights worth of sleep. Sasuke had several burn marks and patches, and was drenched head to toe.
"Well then," Naruto said as they sat down, "Let's eat shall we?" and with that they dug in. For the rest of the week, they returned tired, but each time, they weren't as worse for wear, and they had a large smile on their face. Five days after Naruto and Gaara arrived, they were talking about their training, when the kid, Inari, slammed his fist into the table.
"What's wrong with you people?! You can't beat Gato, no matter how hard you try! You all act so strong, but you don't know anything about what we've been through! None of you have had a life as bad as mine." He didn't last long.
A wave of sand swarmed forward and wrapped around him, throwing him against the wall and pinning him them, and Naruto was in front of him, his arm up to his elbow wrapped in sand, and his fingers around the boy's throat. "Gaara," he ordered, "Let me go so I can kill him! You know you want to do the same! He doesn't know anything about us!" the anger in his voice scared everyone in the room.
"Naruto, he doesn't know. Just let him go." Gaara said. Naruto growled and ripped his arm out of the sand. Red chakra was dancing over his arm, and his nails were long claws. His eyes had become slitted and red, and his canine's had lengthened. Her jumped through the window, and dashed out into the forest. Gaara released Inari, setting him down on the floor.
"I'm sorry, but Inari, you know nothing of what Naruto and I have gone through. Naruto never had a family, and the villagers always hated him and beat him because the Kyuubi is sealed within him. Until he learned how to turn humans into puppets, he was beaten regularly. And while I knew my family, they all hated me, and hundreds of assassination attempts have been made on me. However, when my uncle, the one true person I thought loved me, tried to do the same, I went blood crazy, because of my demon, the Shukaku, until Naruto and I met. He calmed me done. I don't know what you went through, but it's not as bad as that."
And with that, Gaara disappeared in a tornado of sand.
(Scene Change)
Naruto was having one of those rare moments when he let his emotions loose. He was flashing through hand signs, using jutsu to obliterate the surrounding area. Trees flew through the air then exploded in a shower of splinters; rocks were ripped up from over a hundred feet beneath the surface and obliterated. Several times, Gaara had to guard himself after he arrived. To finish the destructive fit of rage, Naruto focused all of his chakra into his fist, like the move he was teaching Hanabi, and punched the ground. A massive explosive cyclone of chakra ripped apart the ground, leaving a massive crater.
"Well, that technique is coming along very well." Gaara said. Naruto turned to him, his eyes still red. The Kyuubi's influence disappeared, and Naruto calmly pushed the dirt and dust off of him with a pulse of chakra.
"That little brat needs to learn there are always people off worse then you." Naruto said as he and Gaara began to walk back to the house.
"Naruto, give him a break. He never knew his real father and his stepfather was murdered before everyone in town. He's traumatized." Naruto snorted before veering off.
"I'm going to go work on some puppet designs. I'll be back in the morning." Gaara nodded before disappearing into the sand twister.
Naruto went to a clearing full of healing herbs, where he climbed up a tree and stared up at the sky, looking for inspiration for new puppets.
(Scene Change)
Naruto awoke to the sound of birds chirping, the wind blowing, and the sun shining in his eyes. In one hand was a sketch pad full of puppet designs and sketches, and in the other, a bag full of pencils to draw with. He started reaching above him, where a set of puppets arms were forming a hand seal, causing a shield that blocked Naruto from sight to appear around him, when he heard a crunch of dried leaves.
Looking down into the clearing, he saw a girl dressed in a pink kimono with her hair down, picking up herbs. Naruto stared at the herbs, categorizing each on into what they can make. While he preferred poison, he had to learn what plants can make what healing ointments, so he could make antidotes for said poison. And the plants the girl had, combined with the ones she was picking, could make several things, including chakra boosters, muscle relaxants, muscle strengtheners, reflexes increaser, and a medley of others.
Naruto wiped blood on a seal and the puppet arms disappeared. He jumped down, landing behind the girl, and drew a katana handle. The blade shot out of the handle and gleamed in the morning sun. The girl jumped back, pulling out senbon as she did. Naruto stared at her, before sniffing the air. He relaxed and began to laugh, a blood chilling sound that sent chills down the girl's back.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Naruto asked as he hit a secret button on the handle. The blade collapsed and folded in on itself, leaving only the handle, which Naruto shoved into his kunai pouch, along with the sketch pad and pencils.
"This is what girl's wear." The girl answered, her grip on the senbon lessening slightly.
"Exactly. But you are a guy. And if I'm right," he said, taking a few more sniffs in his/her direction, "you have a Kekkei Genkai that can control ice."
"H-how did you know?" the now revealed boy asked, dropping his senbon.
"Well, you smell like Zabuza for one. You also smell like ice, testosterone, and mist." Naruto explained as he began to leave.
"Wait… aren't you going to fight me?" the boy asked in confusion.
"No, I have to squabble with you. Besides, I have to go spy out the floor plan of Gato's compound. I'm Naruto Uzumaki by the way." He told the boy as he unsealed three things. A pair of sun glasses with X-ray seals, power level detection seals, recording seals, seals to tell what's inside a scroll, and the optical seal that allows Naruto to see out of the puppet's eyes on each lenses, a straw hat that had storage seals painted on the edge which had some nasty surprises built in, and a cloak that covered most of his body that had a picture of the Kyuubi exploding out of hell-fire.
"I'm Haku." The boy answered.
Naruto jumped into one of the lower branches after putting on the three items. He turned to Haku and said, "It was nice meeting you, but be warned, cross my path or attack my precious people, and you will die." And with that, he jumped up onto the air, floating away on what he now called his Air Board Jutsu.
He shot across the island, eventually off of it, until he found his way to an island almost the same size as Wave, with a huge castle wall around the perimeter. Guards patrolled the outer wall and inner fortifications, as well as the lower levels of the island. On the bottom floor were two doors, one leading to Gato, the other leading to the jackpot of all jack pots. It was a massive storage room that was almost completely full that covered over three fourths of the island. Scrolls containing the bodies of prominent ninja to hold as ransom or to turn in as bounties, hundreds of different weapons, massive scrolls containing jutsus, as well several summoning scrolls.
Naruto spent the rest of the night memorizing the guard shift patterns, the way each guard acted, which guards were where at what times, where Gato went at each second. And of course, searching for the vault of the compound. When he finally returned, he told Kakashi to let him sleep in and dropped onto his bed, fully clothed, and covered himself up and falling asleep.
(Scene Change)
At nine thirty, Gaara, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Hanabi all exited the house. Hanabi now had a pair of metal bracers on her arms to protect herself from the backlash of chakra the technique caused. Sasuke now wore gloves like Kakashi's, only with spikes on each knuckle instead of a metal place across. Sakura now had a giant hourglass tied to her back, filled with pink sand. Together, the group began to head towards the bridge with Tazuna.
"Sensei," Hanabi asked, "where is Naruto?"
"He was spying on Gato's compound most of the night, so I let him sleep." Kakashi answered, for once without his little orange book. They took their time getting to the bridge, finally arriving at ten o'clock. When they did arrive, they found all the workers collapsed on the ground, covered in large but shallow cuts, or filled with senbon.
"Kakashi Hatake." A disembodied voice rang out as a thick mist flew in on an invisible wind. "It's so good to see you again." Suddenly, Zabuza was in the middle of their formation. His blade was poised to slit Tazuna's throat, until two waves of sand, one brown, one pink, exploded from either side, and threw Zabuza back through the mist.
"That was a new one." The missing-nin said, wiping some blood from his mouth. Hanabi stepped forward and began to focus chakra into her hand.
"Eat this Zabuza!" she yelled, her Byakugan flaring."Forbidden Hyuuga Style: Chakra Ray Pulse!" a sonic blast of chakra sent the mist and Zabuza reeling backwards. However, Zabuza's assistant dropped down behind him and grabbed him, steadying his master.
"Haku, destroy these brats!" Zabuza hissed. The assistant, dressed as a hunter-nin, nodded, before beginning a set of hand seals. However, Sasuke couldn't have that, and shot forward. He threw a punch, but Haku dodged it by leaning his head to the side. The fist slammed into a stack of wood, and when Sasuke pulled his spikes out, the pile exploded into flames. The Uchiha smiled at the hunter-nin, before beginning a barrage of attacks that blurred in and out of focus. Yet somehow, Haku managed to dodge the attacks. He jumped in the air and flashed through hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he yelled. A dragon of water flew upwards and dove down towards Sasuke, who jumped into the air, dodging the massive explosion of water that almost had him. Haku smiled underneath his mask, flashing through a set of one handed hand signs. "Secret Technique: Demon Ice Mirrors!" the water on the ground swirled up into the air, forming shining mirrors. The mirrors formed a tight dome around Sasuke, and as Haku stepped into one and drew several senbon, his reflection appeared in all the others at the same time.
Sasuke gulped. Uchiha or not, this wasn't going to end well at all.
(Scene Change)
Naruto woke up to the sound of something breaking. Instantly, he had Quick Silver out and was rushing down the stairs. His four puppets were fighting off against two obviously expert Samurai. They had already destroyed the two rooftop puppets, and their swords were flying at amazing speeds as they battled these four. Naruto noted with slight surprise that someone had painted chakra enhancing seals on the blades of the men's swords that increased the force and sharpness of the two weapons. Naruto smiled and sent Quick Silver flying forward.
The puppet landed behind the two men and drew two of its four katana, slitting the two men's throats. Naruto sealed them away while at the same time deactivating the puppets and sliding their swords into his cloak. He nodded to Inari, who had two large kitchen knives in his hand, about to attack the two men himself, before disappearing. Obviously, Gato was making his move so Naruto had to do the same.
(Ten Minutes Later)
Naruto smiled as his army of Shadow clones rushed the compound. Alarms went off as the first few clones jumped the walls, killing any and all samurai they found. Naruto himself was more patient. He knew that it would be a long time before all the samurai were killed. If he didn't want to use their bodies, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, just a Giant Fireball Jutsu combined with a Giant Great Breakthrough Jutsu, and they would all be dead. But not this time unfortunately.
Instead, Naruto had his clones round up five hundred of Gato's remaining troops, using his glasses to figure out that Gato himself had disappeared already. He summoned his three newest combat puppets, Mizuki, Yen and Yong. Mizuki was still part nature demon, and Naruto realized that he could have the demon part spread over his body with pulses of chakra. Yen and Yong had been difficult. He ended up putting holes in the bodies of the two Kaguya at random points that would open up and allow the bones to extend.
The clones disappeared up onto the wall as the real Naruto appeared. He had the largest holes on the two Kaguya's, the ones on their backs, open up, and large bones shot into the ground. They spread out underground, sending bone spikes up into the air beneath the men. Mizuki was transformed into his full demon form, and hundreds of small, thin vines, tipped with poisonous thorns and stingers, shot out and stabbed the men through the eyes, or nicked them with the stingers, killing them with the poison.
The samurai dropped to the ground and the clones rushed forward, collecting all the bodies and sealing them up. Naruto however sealed up the twins while riding on Mizuki's back. He used Mizuki's largest vines, twisting them together to form a drill, and burrowing into the ground. He and the puppet dropped down to the bottom floor, where twenty startled samurai stared at them in shock. Naruto grabbed his hat and threw it. With a loud clink(!) the storage seals lit up and hooked blades appeared out of the rim. They sliced through the samurai, taking off their heads quickly, brutally, and effectively.
Next, he sealed up Mizuki and entered the first door, the storage room. He made more clones, and had them seal up the bodies and everything in that room, while he went into the second room, Gato's office. Behind a large painting of Gato was a safe. He stuck an explosive note on it and backed a few feet away. Then he opened up the now unlocked safe and took everything within. Then he pulled out four bundles of his most powerful explosive notes. He stuck them to the walls as he ascended through the levels of the compound, putting one on the wall every sixty feet or so, connecting them with chakra strings.
As he exited the compound, a clone handed him a scroll containing the bodies of the samurai. Another clone came out and gave him a scroll containing two larger scrolls that had everything in the storage room, as well as the bodies. The clones dispersed and he lifted into the air on the Air Board Jutsu, until he was fifty feet above the wall. Then he summoned his newest puppet series, a group of non-combat puppets used to create seals. He controlled each of these ten puppets with one finger as he ran around, painting seals on the walls. Thirty minutes later, he unrolled a scroll slightly and made a hand seal. The castle wall exploded into white smoke, which snaked its way up to scroll and attached itself to the paper. He then rolled it up and snapped his fingers, turned, and could be seen shooting off towards the bridge as the entire island imploded and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
(Scene Change)
The battle at the bridge was not going as well as they had hoped. Sasuke was still trapped inside the dome, and now so was Hanabi, who had tried to rescue him. Sakura had herself and Tazuna wrapped in a sphere of pink sand, and Gaara and Kakashi were using their individual abilities to attack Zabuza. Haku was throwing senbon after senbon, and Hanabi was already two thirds of the way empty of her chakra reserves after using the chakra pulse so many times to deflect his attacks. Sakura's sand was getting wet from the now three times heavier mist, and she had to reinforce it with more chakra. Sasuke's Sharingan had finally activated, but it did him little good at the moment. Gaara and Kakashi were both losing their offensive edge as the fight wore on. All five of them realized this must end soon or it would end badly.
Without warning, there was a sound like a chain saw and all of Haku's ice mirrors were destroyed except for the one he stood in by a straw hat with sharp blades extending from its rim. The hat circled around and was caught by its owner, Naruto, who rose up from the end of the bridge on the air and landed on the very edge. With a simple finger movement, Zabuza's blade was stopped mid-slice by a chakra string, and Haku was pulled from his mirror and dragged across the bridge. The two ninja stared in shock as Naruto snapped his fingers and a set of armor made of pure chakra wrapped around him. He turned to the Hyuuga, and spoke in an altered voice.
"This is how the technique is used Hanabi. Watch and learn from the master." Zabuza and Haku both lunged towards him, but he punched the bridge, and a slab of stone lifted up, hitting Zabuza in the stomach, while the crane swung its hook around and caught Haku's kimono, throwing him across the bridge. Naruto began punching, chopping, and kicking the air, sending waves of chakra outwards towards the two ninja. He delivered strike after strike, until they both fell to the ground, covered in shallow wounds.
Naruto dissipated the armor and walked over to Zabuza, intent on talking him out of attacking them any longer. However, the Demon of the Bloody Mist jumped to his feet and stabbed his sword. Naruto flipped over the blade, shaking his head as he did so, and stabbed the two samurai swords upwards, charging them with lightning chakra… straight into Haku's heart and stomach. Zabuza laughed as the boy crumbled to the ground.
"That's a good tool Haku." He chuckled. Naruto scowled and stabbed both of the blades into Zabuza's ears and into his brain, killing him instantly. Naruto had just enough time to seal the corpse away before someone at the end of the bridge began to clap as the mist cleared away.
"Very good, very good." Gato said as he and his fifty samurai stepped forward. "Now I don't have to waste time killing that fool." The small man moved to the back of the group and snapped. "Kill them all quickly."
The samurai rushed forward, only for a dome of ice mirrors to appear around them. Haku, holding his left side, appeared in the mirrors and began to rain down kunai and shuriken. The samurai were slaughtered. The mirrors fell apart, and Naruto barely caught Haku in time as he fell backwards, unconscious. He tsked at the sight of the massacred bodies, but pushed the disappointment away with the thought of the other samurai he had in his possession.
"Kakashi, Gaara," he called out as Gato was wrapped in a cocoon of sand. "I'm going to heal this boy okay? Here," he said, throwing a scroll containing the deeds to Wave and all the companies Gato owned to Tazuna, "use this to bring back your country, okay?" he never waited for an answer, instead opting to Shunshin away to the house, where he began to pour his chakra into Haku for the next three hours none stop. At the end of the third hour, Haku's eyes opened up and he stared back at Naruto.
"Naruto… is that you?" he asked in a weak voice. Fear suddenly gripped him as he watched Naruto's hand snake inside his cloak to his waist. There was a click and Haku closed his eyes as the arm flew back out.
CRUCNH!
Haku opened his eyes in disbelief as Naruto began to chew on the Pocky. "You should be okay. Just rest here a few hours will you?" Haku nodded as Naruto continued to chew on the Pocky stick. "I'll have to sneak you out of this place inside one of my puppets to get you into Konoha. Once we're there I can finish up your healing and you can be on your merry way." Naruto said as he wrapped the wounds in bandages.
"Why are you healing me?" Haku asked as Naruto bit into the bandage, tearing it.
"Because you shouldn't be killed so pointlessly Haku. You have great potential you could give to someone."
"You mean be a tool again, this time for you?" Haku asked in a hollow voice. Naruto shook his head.
"No, you only become my tool if you die by my hand. I meant as a friend Haku." And with that, Naruto got up and left.
(Time Skip)
Two days later, Naruto finished healing Haku in Konoha. As Haku leaned up, Naruto came into his room with a box. "I have a choice for you Haku. You can either leave Konoha, go explore, get stronger, or you can stay here with me and Gaara and become a personal ninja to the Hokage." He said, opening up the box. Inside was a leaf headband with pale blue cloth and the Konoha symbol inside of a snow flake, with icicles hanging from it.
"You mean, I can stay here with you?" Naruto nodded his head. Haku's answer was to reach forward and take the headband. He tied it around his forehead and fell backwards onto the pillow.
--
Well that's the end of chapter four. I hope you liked it. I wasn't sure how to do this whole thing really. But I did the best I could without copying someone else's ideas.