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 7: Naruto – Heroic Adventurer of the West
Any single piece of land or any one continent, no matter how large or even how important, is ultimately just one part of the larger world, a world which, if not fully explored, can contain mysteries which may surprise even the most knowledgeable of people. For example, the Elemental Nations, a land famous for its ninjas, a class of warriors who utilize the fusion of physical and spiritual energy known as chakra. Although the Elemental Nations is a place of great importance to the world, not least of which is the fact that use of chakra originated from the teachings of one man known as the Sage of the Six Paths, the saviour of the world who vanquished a powerful demon known as the Juubi, that does not mean that it is the only place of importance let alone the most important. Combined with the fact that almost no one knows about the age before the Sage of the Six Paths, and at least some of the events that occurred after he defeated the Juubi, is it really any surprise that the world beyond the Elemental Nations can contain some unique surprises of its own? Surprises which a certain group of children might just discover by traversing through the one barrier which no ninja of the current age would ever consider even trespassing?
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The Great Wall of the West, a barrier supposedly created by the Sage of the Six Paths himself during the rampage of a terrible demon which nearly destroyed the Ninja World, the one place which no ninjas would dare enter as it is one of the very few places in the Elemental Nations where ordinary ninjutsu is rendered useless. Yet, ironically enough, it was exactly where a certain boy with spiky sun-blond hair, cerulean-blue eyes, and three whisker-like marks on each cheek known as Uzumaki Naruto, had decided to go to. Joining him was a shy girl with dark-blue hair and pale lavender eyes which lacked pupils known as Hyuuga Hinata. Looking at the massive cliffs which make up the barrier, Naruto sighed as he recalled why he was even at the very edges of the Elemental Nations in the first place…
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Uzumaki Naruto, the unwitting vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko, a massive nine-tailed demon fox which attacked his home village, Konohagakure, on the very same day he was born, was hated by the majority of the people in that village. Growing up mostly alone and unloved, the boy nevertheless persevered thanks to the support of the few people who cared for him, including the Third Hokage, the elderly leader of the village and arguably the most powerful ninja from the hidden ninja village at the time. Wanting to gain the recognition of others, Naruto became a prankster who claimed that he would one day become the next Hokage of the village by first becoming a powerful ninja in his own right. Against all odds, the boy was able to become a ninja, albeit a low ranking one known as a genin who still needed to be taught by a higher-ranking ninja known as a jounin alongside with two other genin teammates. The team which Naruto was a part of, known as Team Seven, included a grey-haired man named Hatake Kakashi as the jounin teacher, and two more genin students which were known as Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura.
When Naruto was able to become a genin, he honestly thought that his life was finally starting to get better. However, life can be cruel at times and it was certainly harsh on Naruto as he was banished not long after he "failed" in a mission which involved retrieving Uchiha Sasuke. To put a long story short, the dark-haired and dark-eyed Uchiha boy defected from Konohagakure to join an infamous traitor of the village known as Orochimaru, all for the sake of power to avenge his clan by killing its murderer, only to be stopped by a ninja team which included Naruto who stopped him by almost crippling him. As the Uchiha clan was one of the founding clans that formed Konohagakure, it can be said that Sasuke, the last known member of his clan other than his traitorous brother who was responsible for slaughtering the rest of the clan, was akin to royalty for the village in a way. Combined with Naruto's status as the despised pariah of the village, it did not take much for the people that hated Naruto to demand his punishment, preferably execution. While Naruto was barely able to avoid execution, mostly thanks to the people that started to acknowledge him including Fifth Hokage who replaced the Third Hokage after his death, he was unfortunately still punished for his "crimes" by being banished from the village. Combined with the fact that he was despised by his other teammate and former crush, a pink-haired girl with green eyes known as Haruno Sakura, for harming Sasuke whom the girl herself had a crush on, Naruto was downright heartbroken. Still, he was fortunate enough to gain sympathy from people that actually cared for him, and refused to let him face banishment without at least providing him moral support. One of them was Hyuuga Hinata, a shy girl who looked up to him as a source of inspiration and decided that she was better off joining him than letting him face banishment alone. With the unexpected blessings of her father, which was even more astonishing in actual sincerity as he used to look down upon her for being a weak heiress of the Hyuuga ninja clan, Hinata was able to join with Naruto without having to fear being labelled as a missing-nin. The young girl never realized that she had just avoided a worse fate which her father had tried to protect her from due to being pressured by the elders of the Hyuuga Clan who were emboldened by their recent victory in banishing Naruto.
With the support given to him, and having a companion who actually cared for him regardless of his status as a demon vessel even before he was able to impress people as a ninja, Naruto was somehow able to overcome his grief and move on with his life. However, with the threat of a certain organization known as Akatsuki after him for the Kyuubi no Youko sealed within him, Naruto knew that he would not be safe for long after his banishment. As such, rather than go to the few places which he was accepted as a person if not a hero, Naruto instead decided to travel to the one place which ninjas would not willingly go near to let alone enter, the Great Wall of the West. If there was any place which would allow him to escape from the Akatsuki which is made out of S-ranked missing-nin, the realm which lies beyond the barrier might just be the place. Without any powerful ninjas to teach him and Hinata or to watch over them, due to the demands of the people that banished him, it seemed to be an obvious choice at the time. What both children did not know was that they were under watch from a certain perverted toad sage who cared for Naruto and had regretted his inability to prevent his banishment, never mind the years he had spent away from the boy when he was still young and desperate for love. The middle-aged man never needed the order of the Fifth Hokage to keep watch over them…
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Looking at the intimidating barrier, Naruto turned his attention to Hinata and asked, "Are you sure that you want to follow me to the other side, Hinata-chan?"
Well aware of the fact that the use of ninjutsu would be disabled once they start climbing over the barrier, Hinata nodded and said, "I came this far by your side, Naruto-kun. I won't let myself fall behind without at least trying."
Smiling at Hinata's determination, Naruto turned his attention towards the barrier and was about to proclaim that the both of them will make it past the barrier when a voice suddenly spoke, "Are you two youngsters planning to climb over the great wall?"
Surprised, both children turned their gaze towards an elderly woman who had a prominent nose and a strong jaw in spite of her age. Staring at the elderly woman for a moment, Naruto decided to lie, "Not really, we just want to take a closer look at it." As naïve as he may be, he was still a ninja and knew that he could not risk letting anyone know where he and Hinata were going to hide from the Akatsuki.
Snorting, the elderly woman smirked after she heard the obvious lie and asked, "And why would you two want to get closer to the place? Don't you know that walls are built for a reason?"
Curious, Naruto asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"Like I said, walls are built for a reason, especially a wall created by the Sage of the Six Paths himself," replied the elderly woman.
Now interested in what the elderly women had to say, especially since it is about the famous God of Ninjas himself who is also known as the Saviour of the Ninja World, Naruto wasted no time in asking, "Really, it was created by the sage himself?"
Nodding, the elderly woman explained, "Indeed, it was. According to some legends, he created that wall to protect his disciples from the terrors that lived at the other side of it. Others claim that he created it to help him contain the rampages of the Juubi, a terrible demon which tried to destroy this world before it was vanquished by the great sage. Yet others claim that he did it to protect the world beyond the wall from the Juubi, or even his own disciples and descendants who were waging war upon one another at the time."
Impressed by the claims, Naruto had to ask, "So, which one do you believe, Obaa-chan?"
Amused by the boy's impressed expression and his innocent question, the woman presently known as Obaa-chan chuckled as she replied, "Personally, I'd like to take a good look at the realm beyond that barrier and decide for myself. Then again, I doubt that an old lady like me can hope to climb over such a tall mountain without breaking something in me." Grinning, Obaa-chan added, "Putting that aside, care to buy some goods from this old lady before you both set off to your adventure? You two are both growing youngsters and it won't do to have you two getting hungry and cold anytime soon."
Seeing no reason to distrust Obaa-chan, both Naruto and Hinata agreed to buy her surprisingly cheap goods before setting off to climb the Great Wall of the West, promising her that they would light up a flare to show her that they had succeeded in climbing to the top of the wall.
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After Naruto and Hinata left to begin their journey, Obaa-chan smirked as she spoke, "You don't need to hide yourself from me, youngster."
Suddenly appearing by her side out of seemingly nowhere was Jiraiya, the toad sage of Konohagakure and one of the few people who cared for Naruto. Smiling, Jiraiya asked, "Of all the places that brat could have went to, he just had to choose the one place that not even Kage-level ninjas would willingly enter."
"Considering that he has S-ranked missing-nin after him, I cannot really fault his logic," replied Obaa-chan who then added, "I'm surprised that you would let them go to that place which is supposed to be a bane among ninjas though."
"Well, let's just say that I had some information which implies that there is more to the barrier than what most people would think," replied Jiraiya who recalled his last conversation with his toad summons, assuring him that both Naruto and Hinata are on the right track and that their journey would lead them to a place where they will be safe from the Akatsuki and receive the training that they will need to become strong before their return to the Elemental Nations. Looking at where the two children had gone to, Jiraiya silently prayed for them, "Stay safe you two…"
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It had been more than two long years ever since Naruto's banishment, ever since Naruto and Hinata somehow managed to climb to the top of the Great Wall of the West and lighted a flare for everyone nearby to witness. Needless to say, everyone that cared for the two were glad that they had somehow made it while those that hated them, or at least just one of them, were displeased by the fact. However, not even the people who cared for Naruto and Hinata would have expected what happened upon their return…
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"Oi, Itachi, just how long we are going to keep patrolling around that damn place?" asked a certain blue-skinned shark-like man who was carrying a large sword-like bundle on his back.
Resisting the urge to sigh at the man's increasingly impatient questions, a young man with dark hair and red eyes with three tomoe around its pupils known as Uchiha Itachi replied, "We are to patrol near the Great Wall of the West until we have at least confirmed the return of the vessel of the Kyuubi no Youko, as per ordered by our leader."
Gritting his sharp teeth with an obvious twitch in one of his eyebrows, the shark-like man known as Kisame yelled, "I know that! But it has been two years. TWO. WHOLE. BLOODY. %#& ING. YEARS!"
Hearing Kisame's angry reply, Itachi had to admit that his partner had a point. Two years of hardly doing anything other than waiting for the return of a boy who had somehow managed to travel across a barrier which can cancel the use of ninjutsu is certainly boring if nothing else. Granted, they could try to cross the barrier themselves but not even their leader dares to go near it let alone go across it. The fact that the boy and his companion had even managed to get to the top of the barrier was an impossibly incredible feat by itself.
"I swear if nothing exciting happens within the next few minutes, I'm going to go on a damned killing spree!" shouted Kisame.
As if to answer Kisame's demands, a gigantic winged reptilian beast with bat-like wings for arms, clawed bird-like feet, and rough crocodilian scales, flew over the barrier and over the two ninjas with a mighty roar. Gaping at the sight of the intimidating-looking green-scaled beast with horns on his head, Itachi was the first to recover as he deadpanned at Kisame, "You were saying?"
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Gaara, a red-haired teenager with raccoon-like dark rings around his eyes, was actually gaping at the sight of a massive scaled beast which flew over his home village, Sunagakure, and quickly attacked the Akatsuki intruders known as Sasori and Deidara. Breathing out explosive balls of fire, the creature was able to prevent the two Akatsuki members from accomplishing their mission of kidnapping Gaara, the current jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku. Although the two enemy ninjas managed to escape, they did not escape unscathed as Sasori, a ninja puppet master, was forced to sacrifice at least one of his wooden puppets while Deidara nearly lost one of his arms when the explosive flames ignited his explosive clay prematurely. The fact that the scaled beast had two riders, one who was apparently healing its injuries while the other used wind-based ninjutsu to amplify the attack power of the fireballs, certainly made things more difficult for the two Akatsuki members.
After the battle concluded, the beast flew towards Sunagakure and landed just outside of its walls. Relatively certain that the creature and its two riders meant no harm, Gaara cautiously approached them alongside with his siblings, Kankuro and Temari.
Once they stood before the imposing beast, Gaara spoke, "While I appreciate the unexpected help, I would suggest that you two state your names and your reasons for coming here." Although some may consider Gaara's statement to be rude, in a land filled with ninjas that often rely of deceit, it never hurts to be cautious towards strangers, especially strangers which possess animal-like tails.
Unexpectedly, one of the riders who possessed a fluffy fox tail with orange fur and a white tip cheerfully spoke, "I'm hurt. Don't you recognize an old friend?"
Shocked, Gaara asked, "Naruto…?"
Grinning, the stranger took off his helmet to reveal that he was indeed Naruto, with fox ears in place of human ears and slits for pupils on his cerulean-blue eyes, as he replied, "In the flesh, believe it!" Naruto's companion, who was none other than Hyuuga Hinata, had floppy rabbit ears in place of human ears and a fluffy rabbit tail.
Staring at the pair, Gaara had to ask, "What happened to you two?"
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Jiraiya, after receiving the joyous news that Naruto and Hinata had returned to the Elemental Nations, was gaping dumbly before asking, "So let me get this straight, there was once a war which raged between the people on this side of the world with another group of people who are the ancestors of the people that are now living in the lands beyond the Great Wall of the West, and that a princess on our side ate a fruit from what they called a World Tree which gave her the power to use chakra to defeat her enemies. But, because eating the fruit was forbidden, the World Tree got pissed and became a ten-tailed demon that tried to destroy the world, or at least the part of the world that uses chakra, only for the princess' son, who is a powerful sage, to defeat the monster by sealing one half of it into himself while sealing the rest of it into what would later become the moon. However, to prevent a war from happening between his disciples who has gained chakra themselves, and the people beyond the wall who do not have chakra of their own, the son created the wall to keep the two realms separate until a time when a chosen one will finally put an end to the curse of the ten-tailed demon and bring a lasting peace upon the land. Oh, and before I forget, it seems that the people that live in the lands beyond that wall had somehow acquired the ability to use "Mana", which is the natural energy that exist around us, and had become sages, shamans, wizards, and so forth as a result, some of whom gained unusual traits like horns, hooves for feet, animal ears and tails, and even wings for arms. That is not even counting the fact that you are now friends with the Kyuubi no Youko, whose real name is Kurama. Did I get all of that right?"
Nodding, Naruto replied, "Yup, that's right, Ero-Sennin."
A moment of awkward silence passed before Jiraiya slapped his hand onto his face and sighed as he muttered, "Naruto, do you even realize the implications of what you had just said?" Not getting any replies, Jiraiya explained, "What you're implying is that living beyond that wall is an entire nation of people who used to wage war against our ancestors before chakra was discovered, and had somehow learnt senjutsu at some point between the past and the present which means that the majority of their warriors can use imperfect versions of senjutsu at the very least. If that is not crazy enough, it turns out that chakra was first discovered by, not the Sage of the Six Paths himself, but his mother who ate a forbidden fruit that caused the rampage of the Juubi that almost destroyed the Elemental Nations if not the entire world itself. Oh, and let us not forget that due to usage of imperfect senjutsu, the people on the other side of the wall include demi-humans, beast-men, daemons, feys, and god knows what else. I swear, if these facts to not alter the entire definition of being ninjas, and sages for that matter, I honestly do not want to know what would!"
Shrugging, Naruto replied, "If it makes you feel any better, they have no real grudge against us as long as we don't do anything to piss them off."
Nodding, Hinata explained, "Most of them were friendly and helpful towards us even after discovering that we came from the Elemental Nations and about Naruto's status as Kurama's jinchuuriki."
Peering at the pair who is presently most certainly a couple, as they were holding hands in a rather intimate manner, and hearing the Kyuubi no Youko's true name, Kurama, Jiraiya finally said, "Well, at least I know that my next meeting with Tsunade-hime won't be boring."
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As predicted, Jiraiya's next meeting with Tsunade was most certainly not boring, especially when Tsunade immediately demanded the strongest bottle of sake the office had. The fact that Shizune actually needed a drink herself showed just how crazy Naruto and Hinata's discoveries in the lands beyond the Great Wall of the West had been. After a few drinks, Jiraiya had to ask, "So, how are we going to explain this to the council?"
Scowling at the mere mention about the council, especially the half that hated Naruto, Tsunade, replied, "Simple, we don't unless we can't keep it a…"
"Tsunade-sama, we have received reports of a massive flying beast appearing near our borders with the Land of Wind that is heading to Takigakure!"
Hearing the sudden report from one of her ninjas, Tsunade rubbed her temples and groaned, "…secret…!"
-Chapter Fin-
Note: I have read stories of Naruto becoming the emperor of a western realm but I have never read a story of Naruto becoming a "Dragon Quest Style" hero instead so I decided to write this story down. I would have liked to write more but I decided to just post it as it is as I have not posted anything Naruto-related for a while. Also, I do have more "Fanfiction Saga" stories to work on so hopefully I can get them done soon.