Demon on Puppet Strings
By
Ragnorokrising
--
I don't own Naruto, or anything involving it, except for the things I make up. Just thought you should know.
--
Chapter Six: Mark of the Demon
The hall was massive, with a large set of wooden hands forming a ram hand sign and a balcony lining the wall. The remaining teams all waited patiently. Naruto and his team had finished on the first day, but they had decided to go hunt down animals Naruto could use to make security puppets or armor. They had just returned back from one of said trips when they were told that it was time for the preliminaries to start. Only a few team shad made it through.
Team Hokage, as Naruto, Gaara, and Haku were officially called, the team from Sound, Kuma and Suna, the rookie nine, Team Nine, a group of Genin that had waited a year before taking the Chuunin Exams, and a group of four year failures, who's leader, a boy named Kabuto, quit soon after the prelims started.
"Alright," the proctor, a sickly looking man named Hayate, said, "We have put your names into a system and they will be randomly shuffled on the board behind me." He told them as a section of the wall slid away to reveal a large screen. "Begin the shuffling process!" he yelled, before going into a couching spasm.
The names shuffled through, flashing at a speed that made them impossible to make out individually. Finally, the first two names slowed, revealing the first two fighters.
Choji Akimichi
VS
Jin Kyuuketsuki
Choji begrudgingly walked down the steps to the center of the hall, where he met his opponent, the male member of the Kuma team. The boy was tall, almost six foot, dressed entirely in gray. He had on a grey cloak that was tattered around the edge, and he had his headband covering his face. "Fighters ready? BEGIN!"
Choji performed a jutsu that turned him in a massive ball and shot towards Jin. Jin reached up and tore off the headband, letting loose with a blood curdling roar. Inside of his mouth was a nasty, dead looking tongue, and two sharp looking rows of venom drenched teeth. His eyes were cold and gray, and his fingers were ragged claws. Wind chakra turned the ragged cloak into a set of wings that lifted the boy of the ground. Several of the ninja screamed as he let loose with a poisonous cloud of yellow fog.
"Yugito, what exactly is Jin?" Naruto asked the blonde who was only a few feet away from him. She smiled brightly at the question.
"Well, a few years back, we found him outside of the village. He told us his name and wrote it down for us. When it's written in kanji, Kyuuketsuki means vampire. And the reason for that is because of the missing-nin, Orochimaru." Several sets of ears perked up at the name. "He used Jin in one of his experiments to retain his youth, just because he had a fear of liver spots."
Across the room, the Sound Jounin, actually Orochimaru in disguise had to use all of his self control to stop himself from ripping Yugito apart.
"He turned Jin into a creature that had to feed off of his opponent's blood and chakra to grow powerful. He has several abilities granted to him by the experiment but look at him. It was not worth it."
Naruto stared down at the fight. Jin had his fist pulled back and let loose with a punch that sent Choji spiraling backwards into the way. The vampire ninja shot forward, and bit into Choji's arm. He began to suck on the blood from the wound, but Killer Bee appeared and pulled him back. He took a deep breath before spitting on the wound. The spit sizzled and the wound closed up, not even leaving a scar.
"Winner of the first round, Jin Kyuuketsuki!" Hayate declared as the medics took Choji away. "Roll the names again!"
The shuffling sequence ran through again. Finally, it stopped, and a collective gasp filled the room.
Naruto Uzumaki
VS
Neji Hyuuga.
Both of the Genin jumped down to the floor and stared at each other.
"I will not hold back Naruto. Even if I am living with you."
"I don't expect you to Neji." Naruto snapped and the friction made a flame appeared on the end of each finger. "Besides, I wanted to try out this technique."
"BEGIN!"
Neji jumped into the air as Naruto punched the ground. A massive slab of rock flew into the air as the flames encased Naruto's entire arm. He punched the slab, sending it up towards Neji, while at the same time igniting it. Neji's eyes widened but he quickly used a mid-air Rotation to stop the attack.
When he landed, Naruto was summoning one of the animal puppets from the forest. In a massive blast of smoke, a giant snake curled around Naruto. It was bigger than the entire room, circling the edge twice. Orochimaru's eyes widened. 'How did that brat turn one of my summons into a puppet?! Does that mean he has the others as puppets as well?'
The snake lunged out at Neji, who simply ducked underneath it and jumped onto the ceiling. He flashed through hand signs as chakra began to form on his hands. The snake curled around and several of its scales opened up. Hundreds of kunai launched into the air as a massive disk of spinning chakra that oddly resembled a power saw blade formed above/beneath Neji, blocking the attack. As the snake hissed, Neji fell, flipping over as he did.
"Destructo Disc!" the brunette yelled, letting loose with the disk of chakra that had shrunken down considerably. Naruto pulled the snake back as quickly as possible, barely dodging the attack, which obliterated the floor where it landed. Naruto pulled the snake back, sealing it up as he did. He unrolled a second scroll and looked for a particular kanji that meant Stinger.
A massive scorpion, the largest one they had found, in the center of a massive colony of them, appeared. It had been near impossible to kill, until Gaara had wrapped it up in sand, Haku had frozen it, and Naruto had stabbed it with its own tail. But the thing still struggled. Even as Naruto sliced it open it and began to remove the organs, it kept fighting, until he had ripped out the monsters heart, lungs, and brain. He had hollowed it out, added several reinforcement seals, and put in several powerful weapons. Part of the back opened up, and Naruto jumped in.
Instantly, the tail rushed through the air and almost impaled Neji. The Hyuuga dodged strikes just like this, nearly getting grazed several times, backing up as he went. The scorpion had to move forward to attack him, and as Neji hit wall, he smirked. The tail came back to lunge… and the Destructo Disc shot up, removing the tail. Naruto exited the puppet and sealed it away, intending to repair it later.
"Time to end this Neji." Naruto said. Before Neji could reply, the blonde started to form something around itself. It was a massive silhouette, animal like, crouching behind Naruto, with two slitted eyes, and nine waving tails. The Chakra Kyuubi jumped forward, slamming Neji against the wall, knocking him out in the process.
"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki!" Hayate yelled, the first to snap out of the stupor. It was amazing what Naruto could do with those puppets of his. As he began to move towards the stairs, it happened. The Sound Jounin jumped over the railing, tearing off his face as he did, revealing Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin extended his neck outwards, straight towards Naruto, who was too shocked to react. He bit into Naruto's neck, and the blonde yelled in pain. The Snake Sannin began to retreat as a mark formed. It was a miniature version of the complex Shiki Fuuin seal keeping the Kyuubi sealed. The Snake Sannin took advantage of the shock in the room to exit building, Naruto trailing after him.
He unsealed his three most powerful puppets, the three Ginta puppets. Hakku, who was dressed in all red, red shirt, red pants, red jacket, with his red hair cut short, was surrounded by flames that danced and conformed to Naruto's will. Yuuku was dressed entirely in blue, with his blue hair spike up, as three pillars of water danced around him. Zansatsu, the final Ginta, was dressed in a pair of white pants, a gray shirt, and a long cloak with a massive tornado swirling around it. He rode a massive tornado like it was nothing. Naruto and the three puppets rushed after the Sannin, followed by the Hokage and several ANBU, as Hayate tried to continue the contest.
(Scene Change)
Naruto rushed after Orochimaru, funneling the Kyuubi's chakra into the seal, trying as hard as he could to neutralize it. That was when the message came in.
"Boy, that snake bastard put part of his soul in that seal. I'm fighting it, but I will need help to destroy it! DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH! WAIT, KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM LITTLE KYUUBI! AHHHHH!"
Naruto sped up after the snake ninja, who was beginning to slow. He turned, smiling evilly, only to see Naruto with the three Ginta puppets rushing through the air towards him. Hakku sent a massive pillar of fire towards Orochimaru, while Yuuku sent out three dragons of water to intercept him. Zansatsu jumped through the air and summoned a cyclone that reached over the tree tops. The three attacks raced towards the Sannin, each trying to destroy the man.
Orochimaru flashed through hand signs and jumped down, sinking into the earth and out of the forests as the three attacks collided and exploded. Naruto fell to his knees, breathing heavily as he sealed up the three puppets. He arched his back and fell on his hands as the seal began pulse and slitted eye pattern flowed out from it, covering his upper body. He howled in pain as he was drawn into his mindscape.
(Scene Change)
Naruto charged down the sewer hallways towards the massive red light. When he arrived in the center chamber, he saw Orochimaru jumping around, dodging blasts from the Kyuubi as the demon fired chakra from the tips of its tails. Naruto brought his hand up and began to concentrate. Being inside his mindscape, he should be able to control the surrounding.
There was a massive explosion of smoke as the Kyuubi was released from its cage, a collar around his throat. All of Naruto's puppets, as well as the finished version of the construct beneath the apartment, appeared, and rushed towards the snake, reforming if they were destroyed. And finally, Naruto let out a mighty roar as he turned himself into a massive golden Kyuubi. The piece of Orochimaru's soul never stood a chance. It lasted for hours, as the soul was able to dodge most of their strikes, but eventually, Naruto speared him through the chest with one of his tails and slammed the body into the ground until it disintegrated.
(Scene Change)
Naruto gasped as he resurfaced from his mindscape. Jiraiya was next to him, watching as the seals shrunk back into Naruto's neck. "What happened kid?"
"Orochimaru put a piece of his soul inside of the seal, and the Kyuubi and I managed to hold it off, even remove it for a short amount of time, so for a while I should have control over the seal, but if I'm not careful, the snake could take control again. Mind putting a suppression seal on it for me?"
Jiraiya smirked and knocked Naruto out. The blonde slumped to the side as the Sannin Shunshinned away with him to a chamber large enough for the procedure. He made several Shadow Clones and had them paint a seal array as he began to paint the necessary seals on Naruto's body. Thirty minutes later, Jiraiya crossed his hands into a seal, and yelled, "SEAL!!" a massive pulse of light expelled from Naruto as the ink around them shot across the floor and up Naruto's body, to the seal on his neck.
"Will it hold Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked as he stepped out of the shadows.
"I believe so Sensei. It will block the seal only as long as the boy chooses not to rely on it, and he doesn't seem like the kind to rely on others to give him strength when he could gain it himself." Sarutobi nodded before looking at the boy he cared about, his adopted grandson.
He groaned and sat up, much to the shock of the two adults. "Hey, where am I?" he asked as pulled his clothes over to him with chakra strings.
"You are two floors below the preliminaries. If you hurry you can make it in time to pick a number and find out who you are facing." Sarutobi explained. Naruto nodded before exploding into flames and disappearing. "I knew he had high reserves, but to be able to wake up moments after having an A-level seal put on him is a testament to him and the seal Minato designed." The old Kage said.
The two men stared off into space, remembering the boy who had given up his life, wishing that his son would be considered a hero. Too bad no one honored that wish, or things would have ended differently.
(Scene Change)
Naruto landed at the end of the line of Genin, much to the shock of the other contestants. The blonde stared down the line, counting, and figuring out who was a problem.
Counting him, twelve people had made it. Gaara, Haku, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Gaara's siblings, Yugito Nii, a boy named Rock Lee, Hanabi, and finally, Jin. Each of them would draw a number from a hat to decide who would face who. As they took their number, they called it out for all to hear.
"Eight." Gaara said.
"Three." Said Shikamaru.
"Seven." Said Sakura.
"One." Yugito called.
"Eleven." Hanabi said.
"Four." Said, Temari, Gaara's sister.
"Twelve." Said Kankuro, Gaara's brother.
"Two." Naruto informed them.
"Five." Haku said.
"Nine." Sasuke said.
"Six." Jin hissed.
"Ten my youthful companions!" Lee yelled, pumping his fists in the air.
Ibiki, the first proctor, appeared and wrote down the numbers as each was called, before writing them name down on a board.
Yugito Nii Vs Naruto Uzumaki
Shikamaru Nara Vs Temari
Haku Vs Jin Kyuuketsuki
Sakura Haruno Vs Gaara
Sasuke Vs Rock Lee
Hanabi Hyuuga Vs Kankuro
The Hokage appeared and cleared his throats.
"My young friends, allow me to tell you the true purpose of the Chuunin Exams. Long ago, the ninja villages were in a constant war, so they came up with a test that showed who had the strongest Genin, and thus the strongest future ninja. This kept war from breaking out and at the same time, flooded the village with the most winners with missions. Very important people, such as Kages, village leaders, and Daimyo, come to see the Exams. And to give them time to get here, we are giving each of you a one month training period. Take this time to get strong and study your opponent. You are dismissed."
(Scene Change)
Naruto nodded, retracting the chakra strings from the piece of the construct, and let his clones move it back into position. He moved over to where Lady Chiyo was standing, pulling clones out of dangerous situations and calling out instructions.
"Lady Chiyo, its time I tell you a secret I have kept from you for the past three days I have been back from the second part of the exams. While I was going through the test, I received a letter from Sasori of the Red Sand, warning me of an invasion by Orochimaru and Kuma, and recently, I got a second letter, saying Kuma had pulled out and now Orochimaru was allying them with Mist." Chiyo's eyes widened with each word as Naruto reached into his hip pouch and put the notes on the desk. "I am sorry." Was all he said before he disappeared.
(Scene Change)
Naruto pushed the final mechanism into a puppet series. He smiled as a pulse of sound filled the room. He lifted each puppet up, before beginning to work on them. They were the Sound Spectrum series, and each used an instrument to cause damage physically, or by casting a Genjutsu. There was a violin, a guitar, a flute, a clarinet, a drum, a trumpet, a harp, a piano, a trombone, and a saxophone. After a few hours he got them to work together, and moved to the roof. "Orchestra Style: Ghosts of Love." He whispered while forming hand seals and moving the puppets together, causing them to begin playing together.
The bustling sounds of Konoha ceased as the haunting melody flowed through the air, filling the head of each person with thoughts of loved ones long gone, even from when they were a baby and didn't remember. Laughter, tears, fights, conversations, precious moments, betrayals, the jutsu brought them all to the top of the person's mind. The song floated out through the village for a full ten minutes before Naruto finally ended it. He had done it for a reason.
Locked behind his eyes, set permanently into his head, was the image of his mother, the famed Kushina Uzumaki, rocking him and a girl in her arms, with his father, the fourth Hokage, leaning over next to them with another girl in his arms.
(Scene Change)
The Hokage stared at the Genin before him with admiration. Each of them dropped the jutsu they were working on as the Hokage nodded to them. "Well, the three of you are doing very well, so I've decided that each of you should get a special reward." The old man pulled out three scrolls and threw them to Haku. "After several long hours of searching through the memories of ninja who had fought your kinsmen, I have compiled a list of jutsu your clan has."
Jiraiya of the Sannin appeared, grinning, with several pots of ink and brushes. "For Gaara, I will have Jiraiya here fix your seal so the Shukaku has no hold over you any longer. If you will just go with him." The red head nodded before following Jiraiya out of the clearing.
"And for Naruto, I have something special." He said, pulling out five manila envelopes stacked on top of each other. He handed them to Naruto, who opened them up and stared at the information within. "I thought it was time you had this."
The blonde nodded solemnly as the Hokage Shunshinned away. "What's in the envelopes?" Haku asked, putting away the scrolls. He wanted to pour over them, to learn every jutsu within, but he couldn't, because Naruto had a contemplating, confused face on his face.
Naruto was never confused.
"It's information on me, my parents, and my two sisters." He said, walking off into the forest. He jumped into a tree, and pulled out the papers within the first folder, labeled 'Kushina Uzumaki' and began to read to himself.
Name: Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, Konoha's Bloody Whirlpool
Status: Retired, in hiding
Facts: Last surviving member of the famed clan from Whirlpool Country, which is currently a piece of Earth Country. Wife of the late Minato Namikaze. Mother of Tayuya (Missing), Karin (Missing), and Naruto (Deceased (Hokage's Note: Still alive, file writer fired after this file was finished)) Uzumaki-Namikaze. Under the protection of Jiraiya of the Sannin. Famed for her Hydra Summoning contract, as well as the Whirlpool of Blood sword style. She opted to leave Naruto and the village so she could raise Karin and Tayuya correctly. Below is a list of her abilities and her current hiding place.
Naruto shifted to the next page, studying the map of how to get to her, memorizing the traps, the security routes, the blue prints of the house. He put the folders away for later, and pulled out the next set of files.
Name: Tayuya Uzumaki-Namikaze
Status: Missing, kidnapped, Orochimaru suspected
Facts: Little is known about this child, except that she seemed to have a love of the music produced by flutes, and an aptitude for Genjutsu. She had the green eyes of her mother, as well as the red hair. At the age of three, she was kidnapped between movements of safe houses, presumably by Orochimaru of the Sannin, A-rank missing-nin of Konoha. A report detailing the capture of the child as well as her sister Karin follows this. See picture of child below.
Naruto slid the files away once again, and pulled the file on Karin.
Name: Karin Uzumaki-Namikaze
Status: Missing, kidnapped, Orochimaru suspected
Facts: Little is known about this child, except that she was said to have the Kekkei Genkai of the Namikaze clan, which allows whoever bit her to suck on her chakra and heal them, and she was a suspected chakra sensor. She had the red hair of her mother, as well as red eyes of her grandfather on her father's side. At the age of three, she was kidnapped between movements of safe houses, presumably by Orochimaru of the Sannin, A-rank missing-nin of Konoha. A report detailing the capture of the child as well as her sister Tayuya follows this. See picture of child below.
Naruto opened the next envelope, the one containing the information on his father, Minato Namikaze.
Name: Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash
Status: Deceased, sacrificed himself to seal away Kyuubi
Facts: The Fourth Hokage, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi no Kitsune into his first born son, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, but the sealing failed, and the Kyuubi took over Naruto's body. (Edit; the Kyuubi didn't take over Naruto's body, but was sealed inside the boy. File writer executed.) He grew famous in the Third Shinobi War when he created a technique that allowed him to teleport to a seal, which he placed on a kunai and gave to ninja to throw into battle, where he would appear and cause massive damage.
He created a technique called the Rasengan, which is a spinning sphere of chakra, which can cause damage on a molecular level. The technique took him two-and-a-half years to complete, and requires three steps to be mastered first. High A-rank jutsu. Minato was the first shinobi to ever get a Flee on Sight order in the Bingo Book. More detailed report on following files.
Naruto put the file away and sealed it away with the first three to look over later. He opened the final folder. Inside were two versions of the opening report.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki/ Uzumaki-Namikaze
Status: Deceased, possessed
Facts: Naruto's father, who he looked like, sacrificed his life to seal the nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, into him, but his seal was flawed. The Kyuubi possessed him and now he terrorizes the village, biding his time until he can become a ninja and learn to remove the seal and destroy the village.
Foot note: Report invalid, writer executed
Name: Naruto Uzumaki/ Uzumaki-Namikaze
Status: Ninja, Genin
Facts: Naruto is feared around the village for his ability to turn humans into puppets and have them protect his compound. He is powerful, and is expected to either become the leader of the village one day, or destroy it completely. He is the personal ninja of the Hokage, and has several powerful human and non-human puppets. His two sisters, Tayuya and Karin, were abducted by Orochimaru. His mother is Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, Konoha's Bloody Whirlpool, and his father is Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash.
The report went on to detail his puppets, his abilities, his grades, and several other facts that were far too sensitive for Naruto to let exist, so he ripped them up, burned them, sealed the ashes away, sealed away those ashes, dropped that scroll into a lake, before using a jutsu to boil the lake away. He walked away as, not realizing a Root ANBU was cursing under his breath at the loss of such information.
(Scene Change)
Yugito swung her leg around and jumped back as the tree toppled to the ground. She panted for a second, before she straightened up and flipped backwards, dodging an electrified pencil. She landed on the ground and sent out a massive wave of black fire around them, while at the same time summoning up a legion of samurai soldiers. She used an Earth Style Jutsu to dive into the ground and move through the soil to find her teammate for this exercise, Jin. Her other teammate, Yuuri, the teams Genjutsu effort, would be working with Killer Bee.
She surfaced besides Jin, who was finishing up a set of seals. From his mouth flowed a river of darkness that blotted out the sunlight. Over the rush of the dark, she heard him mumble. "Forbidden Juts: Anti-matter Jutsu." The anti-matter flowed through the forest, cutting off the light, forming a dome of darkness. Jin pulled off covering off his face, and his eyes glowed slightly, letting him see through the darkness. The edge of Yugito's eyes glowed with black flames, giving her the same ability. As the two ninja crept through the darkness, a bolt of lightning exploded, temporarily illuminating the dome through the anti-matter. Yugito morphed into the flaming cat as her sensei flew at her in his two tailed form.
(Scene Change)
Sasuke's eyes widened at what his father was saying. He wanted them to rise up against the village and kill the Hokage after an invasion by the S-rank missing-nin Orochimaru. Instead of reporting the invasion to the Hokage, or even the council, they are going to use it to better themselves!
Sasuke was repulsed by the idea, but nodded his head enthusiastically as his father explained it to him. As soon as the meeting was over, Sasuke bolted out of the compound, heading towards the Hokage tower. He ran past the secretary and kicked the door down. The Hokage had opened his mouth to beginning speaking to Naruto, Gaara, and Haku, who had just arrived, when Sasuke ran in.
"Lord Hokage, I have terrible news."
"I'm sorry Sasuke, this is rather important. Could you please just wait outside?"
"The village is going to be invaded in the Chuunin Exam Finale! And after that, my clan is going to try a coup to take control of the village!"
Naruto, Haku, and Gaara all stared at him in shock, while the Hokage simply shook his head.
"I was just about to tell Team Hokage here the same thing. Your older brother warned us during the second exam." Sasuke's eyes widened and he fell back into a chair. "Now, as I was saying before Sasuke came in." the Hokage said, unrolling a map in front of them. "We knew about this for a while now. And we've come up with a plan. Naruto, we will need your help though. Marked on this map are hundreds of different bandit camps, each of which holds at least a hundred bandits. The village needs you; I need you, to go and kill each of these bandits, and turn them into human puppets. Then we want you to set up arrays like in your compound around the village to control these puppets."
"No doubt Orochimaru will try to attack me during the exams, so I need you to get to me as soon as possible and help drive him off. Once we've done that, we'll have to deal with the bigger threat: the summoning he intends to use to get through the wall, and of course the Jinchuuriki of Kiri and the Mizukage, Yagura. He holds within him the three tailed turtle-shark. You can handle him with your main construct if it comes out as planned."
"Haku, your roll in this is at the front lines, where you will help neutralize the attacks of the Mist ninja. Gaara, we need you in your final form, fighting off Yagura until Orochimaru is neutralized for good. Do you understand?"
"YES LORD HOKAGE!" they yelled, before disappearing.
Sarutobi turned and smiled. "Now, as for your part in all of this Sasuke."
(Scene Change)
Naruto stared at the construct before him. He was so close to being finished, he could taste it. But he wanted it done soon, so he could test out the different functions and master them. So he took a deep breath and began to draw on the chakra of the Kyuubi. The fox begrudgingly let it go, since Naruto had given him freedom from the cage, as well as made the mindscape a massive place for him to roam as he wanted.
Once he had three tails, Naruto made a hand seal and poured all of the fox's chakra into the Shadow Clone Jutsu. He fell to the ground, panting, and feeling tired. He stared at his hands in confusion. "So this is chakra exhaustion huh? He pulled out a stick of Pocky and began to chew as the ten thousand clones, all feral from the red chakra, shot through the air and began to work, moving the construction along quicker.
(Scene Change)
Kankuro finished training with his puppets, and sealed two of them away, while keeping out Crow. Temari folded up her fan and strapped it to her back. Together they walked away from the carnage they had caused. Senbon littered the ground, gouges were ripped in the earth, trees were toppled, and several black spots dotted the ground.
Kankuro pulled away from Temari though, as they got to the center of village. While Temari went to the hotel room, Kankuro went to the slums. He stared at the massive buildings, linked together by tunnels, with a large wall with several ballista and puppets dancing over the top. Several cameras swung back and forth, watched by one of the former slaves Naruto had freed. The only way in was to climb the wall, go through the door, or dig underneath.
Kankuro couldn't go through the door. Naruto would never let him in once he realized that Kankuro wanted to spy on his puppets. He couldn't dig under, since none of his puppets were designed for digging through dirt, so he would have to climb over the wall. In a blast of smoke, Salamander appeared, and Kabuto climbed inside. Instantly, the puppet started to climb up the wall and onto the top. It slammed down, causing a security puppet to be destroyed, activating the seals which caused all other puppets to rush to the destroyed puppets location. The salamander rushed down the wall and across the grounds, deploying its shield to deflect the attacks of puppets and the ballista.
Kankuro was almost at the entrance, when a massive pillar of sand shot up beneath him. A wave of water swallowed his puppet, and froze, trapping him within. Then the orb of ice was punched or kicked, Kankuro couldn't tell, and slammed into the wall. If it hadn't been for the shield, the puppet user would be dead.
The latch above him opened up and he was fiercely pulled out. A snake puppet slithered out of his capturer's, Naruto, sleeve and swirled up to him, hissing. Venom dripped from the teeth as the snake lunged, stopping an inch from the Sand Genin. Instead, the snake redirected its course and bit into a tree close to Kankuro. The tree instantly wilted, before catching on fire and blowing away in the wind.
The blonde pulled him closer and glared at him. "Listen to me amateur. Using a puppet created by someone else makes you weak. Only be creating your own puppet can you truly become a great puppeteer." And with that, the blonde swung the chakra strings around in a circle above his head, sending the makeup wearing boy over the wall and onto the edge of the slums.
(Scene Change)
Naruto, Hanabi, Neji, and Hinata spared together, slamming charka pulses into each other. Naruto and Hanabi were at an advantage, mainly because they could use the Chakra Ray Pulse variation, but Neji could use the Eight Trigrams One-Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms and Hinata had a technique she called Protection of the Eight Trigrams she was working on. Together, the four of them were causing the towers to rock back and forth just from the blasts of stray chakra.
Naruto pulled his fist back and punched the floor. Hundreds of spikes of chakra shot into the air, forcing the Hyuuga to attach to the ceiling. Naruto pulled all of his chakra into the center of his body, nearly blinding the Hyuuga. "It's time I show you the ultimate technique of the Chakra Ray Pulse." He said as he expelled the chakra and began to shift it into a new form.
Instantly, a massive demon appeared around him. It had samurai armor, with a skeletal left arm, which held its sword. The mouth was filled with fourteen sharp, triangle shaped teeth. Attacked to its back were two skeletal wings. Naruto floated in the center of the giant samurai, his eyes glowing with chakra. He swung his left arm, and the samurai swung his sword arm, and stabbed the ground, causing snakes of chakra to dive in and out of the floor, flying towards the three Hyuuga.
The cousins, grabbed onto each other wrists, with Neji in the center of them, and Hanabi and Hinata on the edge. As the girls jumped in the air, Neji began to spin, and as all three expelled their chakra, they yelled "Eight Trigrams: Tri-Hyuuga Rotation!"
The snakes collided with a massive Rotation and dispersed. Naruto flapped the skeletal wings, and several crescents of chakra slammed into the dome, sending the three Hyuuga flying backwards.
Naruto dropped to the ground, drawing the chakra back into himself. He walked over and smiled superiorly at the three other ninja. "That's why this is my compound."
(Scene Change)
Naruto walked into the Hokage tower one morning, when there was only eighteen days left to train. He had gotten a note from a Shadow Clone of the Hokage, telling him to come to the tower at a particular time. And here he was, marching up the stairs towards the office. As reached the top floor, the secretary glared at him. "Go away Demon Brat. The Hokage will not see you today. He has people who actually matter in there."
She probably would have kept on ranting if Naruto hadn't planted a kunai in between her eyes. The corpse slumped back as Naruto opened the door, to find the Hokage talking to a blonde woman, with large breasts and pig tails, and a second woman with short black hair holding a pig.
"And speaking of Naruto." Sarutobi said, standing up. "This is your next patient."
The blonde looked him over carefully, with what was known as the 'medic's eye', circling him, checking muscle mass, running a hand through his hair, and several other annoying things.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked. Naruto's mind finally put the facts together, and he realized he was talking to Tsunade of the Sannin.
"Nothing is wrong with me, as much as the village." Naruto said, interrupting the Sandaime. "Orochimaru tends to attack and destroy it with the help of Kiri during the Chuunin exam finales. And I need you to install this so I can stop him." He pulled out the notebook containing the details on the operation and handed it to her. She scanned each page intently, flipping through them slowly, memorizing every word and picture on the pages. She nodded and handed the pad back to Naruto.
"Fuck you brat." She said, before turning to leave the office.
"What a pathetic excuse for a ninja." Naruto said. Tsunade froze in place. "I know about Dan and Nawaki. They died protecting the village, fighting for you and everyone else they loved. I just know they would be ashamed to here you openly scorning the village they gave their lives for."
Tsunade turned around, letting out a terrifying roar, and threw one of her legendary punches. Naruto raised a finger and caught the punch. The shockwave however, ripped up the floor boards. Naruto grabbed her wrist and spun around, pinning the arm behind her back. He pushed her to the ground and painted a seal on her palm. As soon as he touched it, her chakra began to flow into him, and her true form was revealed, a wrinkly old woman. The transformation spread up to her arm, before he apprentice shot forward, knocking him off and erasing the seal.
Naruto flipped across the office and in a blast of smoke unsealed the massive scorpion and snake as well as a giant tiger he had gotten from the Forest of Death. The puppets pushed up against the sealing, causing the wood to begin to crack. Naruto flashed through hand signs and stomped. The wall behind him exploded and he pulled the puppets out with him, yelling as he went, "Come on you miserable excuse for a wrinkled up version of a shinobi!"
Tsunade popped a soldier pill in her mouth and launched out after him. They dashed across town, each of them throwing an attack n at every chance. Naruto led her across the rooftops to the slums, where he jumped on top of a wall. He sealed away the puppets quickly and jumped up into the puppet tower. Tsunade followed him, her blind rage, stopping her from where she was going. Naruto landed on the elevator and activated it as Tsunade dove in. He dodged her attacks until the door opened up. He rolled backwards and she followed him, into the room full of thousands of Shadow Clones and the main construct.
She gazed up at the creation before her, her eyes wide in amazement.
"This is what I need the surgery for. I'll use the component to control this thing. I theorize I should have just enough time to recover and have a week to train with the construct. If we so it tomorrow."
"You're going to train with… that, in Konoha?" she asked, pointing at the hundreds of lifts, seals, compartments, clones, weapons, and internal gears.
"No, I intend to go to Suna to train. The Kazekage has already given me permission to do so. But I need that component, or else this will have all been for nothing."
Tsunade couldn't help but let the memories of her lover and little brother flood her mind. They would have wanted her to do it. "Okay kid, I'll do it. I just need to get the materials and prepare."
"I have the material you just need to prep the room. While you are doing that, I'm going to find that white haired 'super pervert' and get him to set up the last few seals. And of course I need to go get some new puppets I've been waiting weeks to get my hands on."
(Scene Change: Operating Room, Konoha Hospital, Next Day)
Naruto breathed in the gas, and felt himself slipping away. Tsunade waited until he was completely out, and the anesthesia had taken effect, before she formed a chakra scalpel and slit the skin covering his spinal column open. She picked up the component carefully. The top was a circular metal piece, with hollow tubes that let into the other piece Naruto's clones and Jiraiya were finishing. The bottom had needles that connected to the spinal column and allowed the device to run on Naruto's bioelectricity. Tubes extended from the seal, each with several seals painted into it by a very small puppet. On the end of each was a needle as well.
She carefully took the hoses and pushed the needles into the chakra circulatory system. The seals within the tubes glowed brightly before dying down and she moved onto to attaching the device to Naruto's spinal membrane. But it was easy enough. She positioned it over the small of his back and the needles extended into the bone. She attached the other tubes to his spine and chakra circulatory system. She had to do each step incredibly slowly, so as not to make even the tiniest mistake.
Four hours later, she backed away and watched in awe as the red chakra flowed over the skin and healed in seamlessly. The only reminder that something was there were the five hollow tubes extending out of the skin. Jiraiya came in a moment later holding the second piece. It was circular, with several storage seals on the edge, with who knows what inside. The center seal held a simple storage seal that contained a scroll with several advanced seals that Naruto, Jiraiya, the Hokage, and Kakashi had spent several hours placing.
The piece of armor fit perfectly into place and the two teammates smiled at each other. An hour later, Naruto awoke. He went outside, much to Tsunade's chagrin and anger, and summoned every puppet in the compound, as well as unsealing all his normal puppets. The piece of miniature armor glowed and thousands of chakra strings shot out. Each of the puppets moved into a combat ready stance, before Naruto smiled and sent them back from where they came from.
He turned to Jiraiya with a serious look on his face. "Alright, time for the final step of this process. The use of the ultimate poison that no medic can heal."
"Oh," Tsunade asked, prepared to take on a challenge. "And what might that be?"
Naruto smiled to himself. "The youki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."
(Scene Change)
The month was finally up and hundreds of dignitaries from different lands as well as the Land of Fire had come to see the finale. Since the exams were an open event, if a Kage wanted to go watch them, he was more than welcome to. But when the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage appeared unexpectedly, marking the first time in years since the five Kages had come together outside of a war council or summit.
"Well Sarutobi, it seems everyone is here except for your Jinchuuriki." The Mizukage, a Jinchuuriki himself, said matter-of-factly.
"Yes Yagura, I noticed. But you will soon come to find out that young Naruto has a flare for the dramatics. Ah, here he comes now."
Off in the distance, a star twinkled. Suddenly, a giant bird came streaking through the sky, propelled by what was obviously a huge amount of Wind chakra. The bird was twenty feet wide and bigger then a Hummer. And riding on the back of it was none other than Naruto.
The bird dive-bombed the massive dome where the exams were going to be held. As it reached the floor, it leveled out, just barely not crashing, and something slid off the back. As the monster flew higher in the air, the crowd stared in awe at Naruto, who was maneuvering the giant bird with chakra strings extending from his backs. The bird flew upwards, before doing a flip and rushing Naruto again. An inch from the blonde's face, it exploded into a cloud of smoke that obscured the field.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto was spinning a kunai on his fingers. He was dressed in a pair of baggy white pants, an orange shirt, and a dark orange cloak with black flames dancing around the bottom. Strapped diagonally across his back were two katana, and his scrolls containing his puppets were hanging from his waist.
The crowd stared at Naruto in shock, before exploding into cheers at the entrance. Naruto smiled slightly to himself as the proctor rolled his eyes. "Alright everybody, wave to the crowd, make them cheer, keep them occupied until Lord Hokage starts the exams."
Haku leaned in closer to Naruto. "Was that your main construct?"
Naruto smiled. "Nowhere near it."
(Kage Box)
"Well Yagura, I will make you a deal. I bet you my Monkey Summoning contract that Naruto will come out on top today, and by the time he is finished, even you will fear him." Sarutobi said calmly, sitting back down. He and Yagura had been standing a few inches away from each other, electricity arching between them. Now Sarutobi was seated, his arms crossed over his chest, and Yagura was staring at him in shock. The Jinchuuriki Kage smiled, showing his fang-like teeth.
"And if I lose?"
"Simply put, you will step down from your position and train my personal ninja in Water Style technique." The other Kages stared at Yagura waiting for his answer. The Mizukage stuck his hand out, and he and Sarutobi shook.
"I always did enjoy the taste of monkey, but they are so rare in Kiri." Yagura said, sitting back down.
"A, Onoki, Teigai (means air scythe just randomly made it up)," Sarutobi said, addressing the Raikage, the Tsuchikage, and the Kazekage by their first names. "Would you like in on this?"
The Kazekage, Teigai, nodded and pulled out a scroll. "I bet this scroll, which contains a very powerful Wind Style jutsu I created myself, that Naruto will be the hero of the day."
A, the Raikage, pulled out a scroll. "This contains a set of swords made from a special chakra conducting metal, three of them to be precise. I'm betting that Team Hokage as well as my own two Genin make Chuunin."
Onoki rubbed his mustache. "I bet this." He said, pulling a deed. "It's the deed to the country once known as Whirlpool. I bet that the blonde ninja will be revealed to be a flashy weakling."
Sarutobi smiled too himself. Looks like Naruto would be getting his own country. He already made it very clear he didn't want to stay in Konoha. This way he could keep a link to Konoha and Sarutobi.
The five Kages shook hands before the Hokage stood up and went to the edge of the Kage Box. "People of Konoha, feudal lords, daimyo, ninja, it's time. The contestants have had a month to train themselves up for this day. So, LET THE SEVENTY THIRD ANNUAL CHUUNIN EXMAS BEGIN!!"
The crowd exploded into cheers as the Hokage sat back in his chair. Near him, under the disguise of one of the Mizukage's guards, Orochimaru glared at the old man. Oh how he would enjoy watching the life leave that body as he drove his sword into the man's heart.
The proctor nodded and turned to Yugito and Naruto. "You two stay down here. The rest of you, go up to the stands." Once the other contestants had reached the viewing box, the proctor turned to the crowd. Naruto mentally smacked himself for not noticing it earlier. This was a new proctor. His name was Genma, and he was known for chewing a senbon. Something must have happened to Hayate during the month. "Alright, listen up, since both of you are Jinchuuriki, we ask that you not release your demon. If you can control its power, you may use it, but any releasing of the beast and you shall be disqualified and removed from the village."
Naruto and Yugito nodded and Genma jumped backwards onto the railing of the viewing box, which the two Genin took as a signal to begin. Naruto rushed forwards and tried to deliver a Gentle Fist strike, but Yugito spun over it and swung a kick out. Naruto ducked and swung his leg, taking Yugito's legs from out underneath her. She landed on her hands and did a reverse roll, dodging a katana stab. Flowing around the two blades were red chakra. Yugito's eyes widened as Naruto began to laugh evilly.
"Taste the power of the King of Demons, the most powerful of the Bijuu, FLUFFERS!"
Everyone in the crowd dead panned as a fox head formed between the two swords. "I told you not to call me that you little brat!"
"What's wrong with your name Fluffers? Don't you like it?"
"If our life forces weren't linked I'd rip you to shreds you blonde moron!"
"Would you prefer Fluffy? How about Precious? Or maybe Princess? Yeah, your new name is Princess."
"I'D RATHER BE FLUFFERS!!!"
Sarutobi was laughing harder than he'd ever laughed before in the Kage box. "Well, I knew Naruto is a lot of things," he said between laughs, "But a comedian is a new one to me."
As the demon and the blonde continued to argue, the crowd began to smile and laugh as well. Here was the boy they had hurt and cursed, pissing off the demon they feared and caused those things to happen to him. It was a sobering thought really. As they laughed, they realized how bad they had hurt Naruto for something completely out of his control, and they had made an assumption that was completely wrong about him.
Finally, Naruto pulled the two swords apart, dissipating the fox head with a yell of, "Talk to you later Fluffers!" and swung the blades. Two crescents of red energy slashed through the ground heading for Yugito, who punched the ground, causing a massive wall of skeletal bones to rise upwards into the air. "That is an interesting ability. The Nibi give it to you?"
As the wall lowered, Yugito smiled. "Yep, the Nibi has control over the dead." Naruto grimaced. This meant he couldn't use his once living puppets on her. Oh well, he had the newest ones he could use. And they would cause plenty of damage.
Naruto sheathed the swords, their purpose of finding out Yugito's defenses fulfilled, and began to flash through hand signs. He took a deep breath before yelling, "Wind Style: Dragon's Wings Jutsu!" A massive torrent of wind expelled itself from Naruto's mouth, forming in a dragon around him. It roared and flew straight at Yugito. She brought the wall of bone back up with a smirk, and began a chain of seals herself.
CRACK!
Yugito froze as the sound echoed around the stadium. Suddenly, the wall of bone exploded and she began to draw on the chakra of the Nibi to save herself. She gasped as the dragon slammed her into the wall. He amount of chakra behind the juts was massive, but Naruto looked no worse for wear. Of course, when you have the Kyuubi as a prisoner within you, this is to be expected.
Yugito tugged herself out of the wall and began raining down kunai. Naruto side stepped each kunai, or deflected it. When Yugito had only one kunai left, she jumped into the air and threw it with as much strength as she could pull from the Nibi behind it.
Naruto barely had time to pull up his own kunai, but Yugito's sailed through it and embedded itself in his arm. He tried pulling it out but it wouldn't budge. "Don't even try." The other blonde said. "It's embedded and fused with your bone."
"One kunai doesn't win a battle." Naruto stated as he reached for the katana.
"It doesn't have to. Look at the way the kunai landed around you."
Naruto looked around, and his eyes grew twice their size. "It's an jutsu amplifier seal!"
"Yep." Yugito said, just as she finished the hand seals for one of her most powerful jutsu. She grabbed her right wrist with her left hand as an orb of lightning began to take form inside of it. The tiny sphere electrified the air, making the girl's hair stand on end. The orb finished forming, and she brought it above her head. "Lightning Style: Infinite Storm Jutsu!" the orb of lightning fired into the air and exploded. Instantly, thunderclouds began to form. Naruto started to jump out of the seal array, when a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and split, hitting every kunai in the array. As the electricity was amplified, it raced around the array faster, until it reached its destination: Naruto.
The blonde boy screamed in pain as the electricity raced through his body. He pulled out every bit of Kyuubi's chakra he could, trying to lessen the pain, but it did very little. Finally, Yugito ended the jutsu, and Naruto was revealed. The kunai still had electricity dancing over it, the top part of his hair was smoking, and his skin was burned badly.
Naruto pulled on three tails, letting the chakra form around him, healing him ad protecting him. He picked up the katana he had dropped and pointed it at Yugito. "Don't ever do that again."
The older blonde smirked. "I can do it all I want. As long as the array is in place or you have that kunai in your arm, you can't do anything about─"
In one quick move, Naruto yanked the sword down, severing the arm from his body. He funneled all of the chakra into the spot, and watched in mild satisfaction as the bone slowly began to grow back. "Okay, try to do it now." Yugito growled.
"I still have the array. I just have to throw a kunai at you to get it to work."
Naruto smirked in satisfaction as Yugito activated the jutsu again, then threw three spare kunai at him. The bold to lightning exploded into the metal, racing through the array and into the three kunai, creating a web of electricity which raced straight towards him.
There was a massive explosion of smoke, and Yugito smiled and began to walk away. "Where are you going?" Naruto asked from the smoke.
"You lost Naruto. Give it up."
The blonde laughed as the smoke began to clear. "Your attack didn't hit Yugito. The smoke is from me summoning my ten newest puppets all together."
Yugito's eyes widened as the smoke completely cleared. Standing in front of her were ten giant dragons, each with a symbol for a specific element on its chest. Two of them were activated, which was shown by their eyes glowing brightly.
One was a giant black dragon, with spikes on its shoulders, back and head. Its stomach and the bottom of the neck were both yellow. Set into the center of its chest was a purple jewel. Its wings were medium sized, with a leathery composition. The four claws on each paw were long and ivory colored. Set in the center of its head was the symbol for Lightning.
The second dragon was larger, standing on its two back feet. It was gold plated, with a long tail that had spikes running down it. The plating covering the body was heavy, and instead of the normal type of wings, it had two sets of giant, wicked looking blades attached to it. Set in the center of its forehead was the symbol for Metal.
The dragons around it ranged in different shapes and sizes, and each controlled one of the ten elements.
The dragon for Earth was a massive, heavily built creature, with stone colored plating, and golden spikes shooting out of its back. Each claw was the same golden color as the spikes shooting from its back. Leaking from the puppet's mouth and three holes on each side of its neck was magma, which stirred around, ready to be used. A tree was growing out of its back, adding a strange touch of serenity to the monstrous creation.
The Fire dragon was on all fours as well, but smaller than the Earth dragon. It was completely red, the color of fire, and had spikes shooting out of its head. The underbelly was white, and instead of normal wings, the dragon's were made of actual flames. As it spread its wings, fire spread down its back, neck, and tail and a stream flowed out of its mouth into the air.
The Ice dragon was made the color of ice. It had a nasty looking head, and its wings looked like bats. Its tail had a large spike on the end of it, and spikes raced up from the bottom of the neck to the tip of the tail. It snorted, and a blast of liquid nitrogen froze the grass beneath it.
The Lava dragon looked like it was made of stone, with each piece of its tail segmented and spikes covering part of its neck. Lava seeped from within its body, and as the eyes began to glow, the molten rock flowed around the dragon, at Naruto's whim.
The Sand dragon was brown, with a gold underbelly. Its wings had spikes segmenting the golden leathery pieces, and blades extended from the bottom of these. Each of the teeth, claws, and blades, unlike on the other dragons, looked like metal. Spikes decorated its neck and spear head-like columns of scales decorated the arch of each wing.
The Water dragon was the color of the ocean. Instead of spikes, it had fins coming down from the arms and a protrusion at the back of its head. Its tail was the longest of them all, and had tiny fins on it. In its hand was a wicked looking sword, and each of its claws was carved from a rock the same color as the ocean.
The Wind dragon was bright green, with long flaps for wings. It had a set of vicious claws and teeth, and was heavily plated. White spikes covered its tail on the top and slightly on the bottom. Wind Chakra danced over its purple claws, creating miniature tornadoes.
The Wood dragon was the most terrifying. It was tethered by chains, with its wings spread out. Spikes covered it at random areas, and it was obvious by the roots shooting up around it that it wanted loose. It had two claws on each paw, and they were covered in blood.
Naruto smirked at all the shocked looks from around the area. "This is my construct that I have been working on with massive amounts of clones to create. I went through several fortunes to get the parts and seals and paper for the construction and design. I fell asleep with chakra exhaustion many nights after summoning clones to work on it. But this is only one of its two forms. The other is a combination of these ten puppets. But enough of this."
Chakra strings shot out from his back, connecting to each puppet and bringing them to life. He withdrew the strings from his fingers that were attached to his Metal and Lightning dragons as new one attached.
"IT'S TIME TO FINSIH THIS! DRAGON SERIES, COMMENSE ATTACK!"
(Cliff Hanger Jutsu! Aka authors notes)
So now you know one piece of the puzzle. Next chapter, Orochimaru make his move, and we finally see what the combined form of the Dragon Series is. The pictures of each dragon are on my photobucket. I'm putting a link to it on my profile, near the top.