A/N: This was originally going to be a full story but... nope. Since it's here, it's just going to be another drabble. I may, however continue it some time in the future once I'm able to clear up things in this and another story I'm working on.

Summary: Naruto leaves with the Hokage to Suna as the Sandaime renews the alliance between the two hidden villages. He learns puppetry accidentally from an old, run-down clan district while exploring Suna. When he returns back to Konoha he learns that the Ichiraku's were killed for being 'friendly' toward him.

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Naruto stared at his favorite place in Konoha, the one place he loved and there were people who cared about him... and it was burnt to a crisp. Ichiraku Ramen was nothing but burnt wood and metal. He was speechless as he stared at it, he just couldn't believe it was burnt down of all things. "Look at that," he heard someone nearby say, "The demon found out its demon-loving playmates have got their just dues."

'J-just because it's burnt down doesn't mean that Nee-chan and oji-san are hurt,' thought Naruto wondering if the two were okay, he hoped they were, 'Maybe I can ask jiji if he knows where they live so I can see if their okay or if he knows they're okay,' he added mentally before running off to find the Hokage to do just that. Teuchi and Ayame were basically family to him, they even celebrated his birthday when no one else did. It was his top concern to know if they were okay or not.

XxxxxX

"Hey Jiji, do you know what happened to Teuchi-oji and Ayame-nee?" asked Naruto barging into the Hokage's office, of which the Anbu guarding the door and the secretary were quite used to by know and simply didn't bother yelling at the boy. Especially since the boy was about to hear some bad news.

The Sandaime looked up from the scroll he was reading, it was regarding the very same topic the young blond just brought up. 'How... do I break this to him?' thought Hiruzen not really sure how to break it to the young boy easily. '...well this is Naruto, he won't believe it's true unless he sees it for himself,' he added mentally before standing up, "Come with me Naruto... I'll show you to the Ichiraku's," he said as he picked up his hat and put it on before walking out of his office with the blond.

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Hiruzen stood silently in front of two freshly dug graves, "I'm sorry Naruto..." muttered Hiruzen quietly as the ten year old fell to his knees in shock after reading the tombstones. He didn't know what to say to Naruto, he wanted to say something, but he knew nothing he said was going to make it easier on the young boy who found out that the only two people aside from himself that Naruto considered family were killed only days earlier.

Hiruzen put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I know, Naruto-kun. It's pretty hard when it happens. You think 'If only I had done it differently.' Your head is filled with all the regrets. There is only one thing that we who are left behind have to do. Never forget them and remember them always," he said firmly, but kindly to the boy, "There's no need to hold back. Go ahead and cry, Naruto-kun. Tears we shed for those we love is never something to be ashamed about," he added quietly and almost as if he opened a valve on a pipe Naruto started crying on the two graves and screaming as he continued to cry.

Hiruzen took a few steps back before turning around and walking out of the graveyard. Naruto needed time alone and some space. He'd deal with the academy so they wouldn't punish him for missing out on any days.

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Two days later

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"A grave robber?" questioned Hiruzen looking at a chunin who just reported the incident, it was a serious concern, especially if it was anyone with a bloodline or jounin and Anbu rank. And even, he did not appreciate anyone digging up and disturbing the deceased for whatever reason. Even in some criminal cases, he was extremely loathe to exhume any corpses that were already formally buried. He was not going to tolerate anyone who would commit such a heinous act, "What graves and what... or who is missing?" he asked staring straight into the chunin's eyes if only to scare the man half to death to tell the truth.

"Two graves, Hokage-sama," stated the chunin quickly, "As for what was taken... from one of the graves there is nothing missing. The other grave is completely empty aside from the coffin. It was... the Ichiraku family graves, Hokage-sama. The young girl, Ayame's body is gone."

"Put an alert out in the village. I want to find out who would dare desecrate someone's grave and when they are found. Bring them straight to me. Alive," growled Hiruzen furious that someone in the village, possibly even the person or people who killed the family would go so far as to dig them up to further abuse them. '...Oh Kami... What's Naruto going to do when he finds out someone decided to dig up the two?' he asked knowing that it was not going to be a happy Naruto he saw when the blond found out about it. Whoever dug up the family and stole the young girl's corpse had better hope that they were brought before him instead of being found out by Naruto.

While the boy was only ten, he did hold the Kyubi no Kitsune and given that the blond's anger would reach its peak at the news, he could only guess that the Kyubi's chakra would be come about from it and that spelled bad news for everyone.

XxxxxX

Hiruzen stood atop of the the Hokage Tower staring at the village as if the grave-robber would just pop up in front of him. It had been almost an entire day and nothing. The Police Force and even his Anbu came up with squat. 'I swear I won't rest until I find you, you son of a bitch. The poor girl died before her time, was abused before being killed and now you... whoever you are dares to continue this horrible chain of abuse by stealing her body.' he thought growing more furious by the minute. There were few things that he, the Hokage, the Kami no Shinobi was emotional about... messing with the dead was one of them and he was not ashamed to admit it.

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Two weeks Later

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Hiruzen grumbled under his breath as the grave robber had not been caught and it irked him to no end. He honestly could believe that the person was somewhere laughing their ass off while he was seething. Along with the grave-robber, the police force was next to useless in finding the killer of the two and there had been a spring of murders almost everyday in the last two weeks of various people that even he had to give his attention to them instead of leaving it to the police force.

He was becoming more worried about Naruto since the blond had yet to come out of his apartment. He wondered if the boy even knew about the Ichiraku girl's body being taken. He supposed he should check up on Naruto and at least make sure he was going okay. He sighed as he used shunshin to arrive in front of Naruto's apartment door.

Hiruzen knocked on the door and tried opening the door as he usually did, but it was locked, which was odd. Naruto usually never locked the door, "Naruto, are you okay?" he asked raising his voice a little loud so it would get through the door. A few seconds later he heard movement, the lock on the door slide and the door open all the way to reveal a white haired girl looking annoyed, "What?" she asked glaring at him. The girl was wearing a black kimono with red petals looking like they were falling down decorating it. It make her hair, being white stand out immensely. He noticed her hair was clipped with a hairpin and made to give it a wild look, it looked fitting in his opinion. Though he could do without her purple eyes digging into him.

"Who are you?" asked Hiruzen not knowing anyone in the village with white hair or even a girl like this being friends with Naruto. Though the girl in front of him did look vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it."And where's Naruto," he added looking over her shoulder into the apartment... until she moved in his way.

"Shizu and Naruto is taking a nap. Bye," she said before closing the door without hesitation in his face.

'This is the first time that someone has shut the door in my face and it wasn't Biwa,' thought the Sandaime not too bothered by the act, mostly surprised. "Okay, we'll do this the hard way," he said as he pulled a key out of his robe and unlocked the door. He opened and walked in, "No locked door is going to stop me... especially when I own the spare key," he added a little smug as he put the key in a pocket on his robe and walked further into the apartment but stopped when he stepped into the living room which was just past a shutter for the main entrance of the apartment. What he saw in the living was a skeleton, various metal, wooden and other materials he wasn't sure of what they were made of lying all over the ground. 'Naruto. W-what the hell have you been doing here?' thought Hiruzen as he was very concerned about what he was seeing.

"Is it common to enter another's house without permission?" questioned a voice calmly causing Hiruzen to turn around and see a girl with long white hair wearing a white kimono decorated with light pink flowers, her blue eyes staring at him in what appeared to be boredom. The most important thing he noticed was that the girl's face was eerily similar to Shizu's.

"Considering I know the young man who lives here and I run the village here. Yes, it's quite common for me to just enter a house if I want to," he stated calmly which was only half true, but he hoped she didn't know that. "And you are?" he asked wondering about her name.

"Reika," answered the girl before turning on her heel and walking down the hallway to the only bedroom in the apartment. "Come along, old man. Naruto should be awake by now if Shizu had anything to say about it."

Hiruzen frowned as he followed the girl. He had a lot of questions for Naruto, the least of which being the skeleton and the other things in the living room.

Reika opened the door and Hiruzen had to stop himself from getting a nosebleed from seeing seven girls lying next to and even on the blond ten year old who was waking up.

All the girls mostly had white hair, though two had blond hair and aside from Reika, another had black hair. And... again, they're faces were almost similar that it scared the crap out of him, "Naruto, you've been your apartment for two weeks and when I come to check on you... There's not only a bunch of odd girls here, but a skeleton lying in your living room. I'd like you to start explaining," he said seriously as he narrowed his eyes on the awakening blond.

"I'll put Nee-chan back jiji," said Naruto quietly, avoiding looking the Hokage in the eyes, "I just... needed her for something."

"And what is this something," questioned Hiruzen wanting a very good explanation from him. Now he saw why no one could find the grave robber, because it was the one person, the only person in Konoha that could not only outrun Konoha Anbu, but outwit them as well. Something the entire Anbu Corps was embarrassed to admit to anyone. Hiruzen watched as Naruto fidgetted then looked at the girls around him, "Naruto, tell me," he added sternly, deciding to coax the blond into talking.

"I used the stuff I learned in Suna to make Shizu, Reika, Noa, Miko, Seka, Maaya, Hachi and Anzu. They're from Nee-chan... and in a way, they are Nee-chan but they're also themselves," stated Naruto staring down at the bed since it was in the way of the floor, "I... didn't want to lose Nee-chan and now I have a lot of Nee-chan's and no one will take them away from me," he said firmly as he looked up and stared straight into the Hokage's eyes with determination.

Hiruzen inwardly sighed, he didn't think that the death of the Ichiraku family would have caused Naruto to lose a few marbles. To go as far as to create Suna's forbidden human puppets from the girl's remains. The better question was how he learned such a technique as it was even forbidden to Suna shinobi and if he was being honest, the girls were being controlled by any chakra string, so it had to be an advanced technique. "Naruto, I take grave-robbing as a very serious offense, no matter the reason. And as much as I'd like not to say it, but you desecrated the young girl's body by creating these... things. You realize you're in a lot of trouble, correct?"

"Aw, we're doomed," stated Shizu cutting into the conversation as she was mirking, "The Hokage is going to get rid of us." She paused for a moment as she licked Naruto's cheek then giggled as she looked at the Sandaime, "Oh wait... silly me. You don't get to tell us shit," she added as the other girl's adopted a similar smirk to hers. "Because we aren't here," she added as they all vanished from his sight, "Sorry old timer, you fell to an old trick."

Hiruzen formed a handseal and said, "Kai!" he looked around and indeed, he did fall for an old trick, a simple genjutsu. One where it probably activated when he knocked on the door and thus made him none the wiser until it told he was in one. The apartment didn't look like it had been touched in... a long time. He left the room and looking at the living room to see that it was normal and the previous skeleton was no longer there. "I was outdone by an academy student and a simple genjutsu... I'm getting too old if this is any indication, but where is Naruto and where would he go if he isn't here? ...Did he leave the village?" muttered Hiruzen confused about where Naruto would have gone, especially if he hadn't been sleeping in his own bed.

Puppet names and abilities;

Anzu – hands (Claws and super strength)

Hachi – eyes (hypnosis)

Maaya – Tongue (cheat code)

Seka – ears (super hearing)

Miko – blood (blades of blood)

Noa – hair (weapon hair)

Reika – Brain (Ability to make Kikai)

Shizu – Liver (poison/venom)