This one-shot was inspired by a DS9 marathon followed by the film Terminator 2.
The basic idea amused me, but I have no clue where or how to go with this.
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Metal Maelstrom
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Naruto grumped as hecrawled through the bushes at the base of the Hokage monoment, searching for a spot out of the cold drizzling rain.
He growled as he thought about the bully who had destroyed his room and the matron who had blamed him and thrown him out.
How was a six-year-old meant to…
Naruto's thoughts cut off as he found himself looking at a small cave one barely waist high to him, but it was shelter and without hesitation, he wriggled into it.
The inside of the cave seemed very smooth. A ninja would have recognised it immediately as artificial, the walls and roof formed by Doton techniques.
A paranoid ninja would have noticed the security seals.
A prepared ninja would have anchored a rope to one of the trees outside and had team-mates ready to pull him out at an instant's notice.
Naruto wasn't a ninja, despite his desire to be one.
As such, it was a total shock to him when the ground beneath him suddenly opened, dropping him down a long chute and into a large vat, half-filled with unidentifiable bubbling liquids and fragments of chakra metal.
Fortunately for Naruto, being bounced off the sides of the chute sent him into unconsciousness and thus he felt no pain as his body began to dissolve.
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Naruto blinked and sat up, looking round him in confusion. Although the room was dark, he could see everything clearly. The room was filled with equipment he had never come across before, but it was all covered in a thick layer of dust and spider webs.
Pulling himself to his feet, Naruto looked down and frowned. Although he had been lying on the floor, there was no dust in a circular area around the spot he had been lying, although there were a couple of small puddles of an odd liquid.
And he seemed to be missing his clothes.
Shrugging, Naruto made his way to the metal door at the far end of the room. Reaching out, he pushed against it, then he grabbed the snake-shaped handle and pulled.
Stepping back, he took another look, then crouched. There was a small gap between the bottom of the door and the floor and to his young mind, any gap was a possible way through. Lying down, he lowered his head and pushed against the gap.
For a long moment, nothing happened, then he felt himself flatten and stretch in a way that he couldn't explain. The feeling travelled down his body and when he rolled over, it was to find himself on the other side of the door.
"Huh. Cool." Naruto said after a long introspective moment. Standing up, he paused, looking at the trio of Kunai that had suddenly thunked into his chest. Reaching up, he tapped them, marvelling at how they were vanishing into his body. As his skin rippled back to smoothness, Naruto restarted his journey, puzzling over why he suddenly felt as if he'd eaten a snack or something.
And why his thoughts were flowing easier than before.
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Naruto stepped out of the underground complex, having managed to find some new clothes in one of the rooms. Although the trousers and the sleeves of his new jacket had needed to be shortened by means of his kunai (and how he managed to extend one from his palm, he didn't know, but it was cool), he actually had clothes that didn't have holes in them or dirt and stains so ingrained that the original colour couldn't be seen.
He'd also absorbed another dozen kunai and a box of Senbon.
Blinking against the bright sun, Naruto looked round, then at the door behind him as it swung closed. Pushing against it, he smirked as the concealed door re-opened and then he let it close again.
It was a secret place and now it was his secret place.
"Uzumaki-san!"
Naruto spun round as a masked individual with silver hair landed just in front of him.
"There you are." The ANBU said in a relieved voice. "The Hokage was worried about you."
Naruto blinked. "Who?"
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Naruto smiled as he looked round. He would never have to go back to the Orphanage, he had his own apartment!
His own apartment and his own secret hideout for storing all his cool ninja stuff in!
Life was looking up.
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Graduation
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"You fail."
Iruka tried to remain professional as Naruto sagged in disappointment.
"But… Iruka-sensei…"
"I know." Iruka sighed. "Naruto, apart from your problem with the Bunshin, you're one of the best students in the Academy…"
Naruto nodded, keeping quiet (once again) about the veritable library of research materials (including advanced chakra-control exercises) that resided in his secret base.
Yet he still overpowered his Bunshins.
"…but the Bunshin is a required technique. Until you can perform it…"
"I get it, Iruka-sensei." Naruto sighed. "More chakra-control exercises."
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"You know, there's another way to graduate."
Naruto blinked, then looked round to where Mizuki was standing.
"It seems a real shame to have you fail again when you could be doing so much as a ninja." Mizuki continued. "Given how you're equal first overall, except for the Bunshin, I secured permission to give you the alternate test."
Naruto raised a querying eyebrow.
"I have placed this scroll in the Hokage's tower." Mizuki said, handing over a picture of the scroll in question. "All you have to do is infiltrate the tower and retrieve the scroll. Reaching the rendez-vous point with it will secure your graduation as Genin, but there is a time limit involved."
Naruto grinned.
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The Scroll
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The inside of the Hokage Tower was silent, until the cover popped off an air-vent. The hand-sized piece of metal dropped towards the floor, only to be caught by a metallic tendril that lashed out for the vent. The tentacle retracted, angling the cover so that it cold be drawn into the vent itself, then the tendril extended once again, its end swelling into a sphere that resoved into an eye that looked round, finally focusing on the large scroll in a glass display case.
A noise caused the tendril to retract flush with the ceiling, changing to form a copy of the cover even as the door opened. Sarutobi Hiruzen walked in, grumbling to himself and collected several sheets of paper from his desk before turning round, then pausing for a moment before shrugging and leaving. Several more minutes passed before the vent cover reverted and flowed down in a long stream of metal that shifted and warped until Naruto was stood before the scroll.
"Let's see if this works." Naruto whispered, pushing one hand against the bottom of the display case. His hand flattened and slid through the small gap at the bottom of the case before spreading out into a puddle of metal with a raised pattern on it.
"Seal!"
The scroll vanished in a puff of smoke and Naruto smirked as he reclaimed his hand. Stepping back underneath the vent, Naruto seemed to melt before leaping back into the vent, pausing only to replace the cover, leaving no sign that he had been there.
A few minutes passed, then the door opened again and Hiruzen walked in, moving to the filing cabinets. Opening one of the drawers, he glanced up and froze, staring in horror at the empty display case.
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Naruto looked round the clearing, then sighed.
"Heh, five hours to go. Well, let's see if there's anything in this scroll.
Holding out his hands, Naruto caused the Scroll to reappear and unrolled the start of it.
"Kage Bunshin? How does this differ from the original… oh, cool! Oh, and linked Jutsu as well… exploding clones!"
Naruto settled down and started to read the instructions with an almost gleeful intensity.
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The hissing of metal going through the air at high speed was his only warning and Naruto looked up just in time for a Fuma Shuriken to pin him through the heart to the tree he was leaning against.
Mizuki landed in front of him and chuckled as he reached for the scroll at Naruto's feet.
"That was too damned easy. I killed the demon and got the scroll for Orochimaru. Soon, power will be mine!"
As Mizuki reached for the scroll, it vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"What?"
"You think I'm a demon, huh?" Naruto asked and Mizuki turned white.
"You… how are you still alive?"
"I know about the Kyuubi." Naruto shrugged as he stepped sideways, his skin and clothes rippling and flowing to leave the shuriken embedded in the tree. "I know about my parents too. They were in one of the files I found in my secret base. I'm the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."
Mizuki stared at him and Naruto smirked.
"Of course, I think that you now know too much, traitor. Goodbye."
A trio of Kunai erupted from Naruto's hand and slammed into the shocked Chunin. Even as the impact knocked him backwards, the kunai exploded, killing him. Naruto stared at the mangled corpse for a moment.
"Dammit." He muttered. "I kill a traitor and if I tell anyone, I'm the one who'll be accused of a crime. Damn you, Mizuki."
"Actually, I arrived just in time to hear what was going on." A new voice said and Naruto blinked as Hiruzen stepped out from behind a tree. "Do you still have the scroll?"
"Storage seal on my sandal." Naruto shrugged as the Scroll appeared in a burst of chakra smoke. "Figured that no-one looks at footwear."
"Very true." Hiruzen said, glancing at the body of the traitorous chunin. "How did you do that?"
"Exploding clone henged as a Kunai." Naruto explained and Hiruzen whistled.
"Well, I would be a fool not to allow you to pass after this." The Hokage finally said. "ANBU! Dispose of this… trash. Naruto, show me this secret base."
Naruto sagged. "But… It's my secret base!"
Hiruzen shook his head. "Naruto…"
"Fine." Naruto grumped.
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The Test
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Kakashi sighed as he stared at the lone genin who hadn't vanished into the bushes.
"Any reason that you decided not to hide?"
Naruto grinned as he strolled forwards. "Well, I just thought I'd use something that I've never shown anyone before. My Kekkei Genkai."
"Wait." Kakashi said slowly. "You… have a bloodlimit?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes."
"Chakra chains." Kakashi deduced and Naruto shook his head.
"Nope. What makes you think that?"
Kakashi blinked. "Than… what?"
Naruto smirked, then lunged forwards. In a reflex move, Kakashi thrust out his hand to stop him…
…and it went straight through Naruto!
"Gotcha." Naruto laughed as his right arm seemed to erupt into metal tendrils that snagged the bells from Kakashi's belt even as Kakashi tried to pull his arm out of Naruto's torso. The tendrils vanished, as did the pressure holding Kakashi's hand in place and the Jonin staggered backwards.
"What the hell?!"
"Give me the bells!" Sasuke shouted as he leapt out of the bushes, hands flickering as he prepared his technique. An instant later, Naruto was engulfed in a fireball which faded to reveal…
A small puddle of metal in the middle of a scorched circle of grass.
Kakashi turned to transfix Sasuke with a fierce glare. "Do you know what you just… what the hell?!"
Sasuke's jaw dropped as the puddle of metal suddenly extended upwards and then bulged outwards, turning back into Naruto.
"That wasn't nice, teme." He growled. "Just for that, this bell is going to Sakura."
Sasuke stared at him in shock, jaw slack with disbelief.
"What the hell?!" Kakashi asked for the third time.
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"Team 7… I don't know."
The office fell silent as everyone turned to stare at Kakashi, who gave an embarrassed shrug.
"Really. I don't know. Naruto has a really weird bloodlimit that lets him turn into liquid metal and he used it to get the bells from me. Sasuke hit him with a fireball in an attempt to claim one of the bells, but it didn't affect him and he gave the second bell to Sakura just before the alarm went off, then pulled her out of the way of a kunai barrage from Sasuke. I can't take Sasuke because he tried to kill or injure both team-mates, but…"
Hiruzen stared at him. "Liquid metal?"
"I've never seen anything like it before." Kakashi confirmed. "I'm not sure what to do about it."
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"…So, welcome to your first training… session?"
Kakashi stared as Sakura walked back down the side of the tree and nodded to Naruto, who smiled back at her.
"Erm…"
"We didn't see any reason to waste time, so when you didn't show up, Naruto-kun offered to show me some chakra-control exercises." Sakura explained.
"She got it right first time." Naruto shrugged. "We'll start water-walking tomorrow."
"…oh." Kakashi managed. "That's… good."
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Wave
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The puddle erupted as the ninja duo burst into action, wrapping the shuriken chain around Kakashi and tightening it to slice through him. Even as the chain tightened, though, Naruto and Sakura were moving.
Kakashi watched in shock from the edge of the forest as Naruto seemed to melt into a spray of metal that wrapped around Sakura, reforming into armour in less than a second. The Demon Brothers screeched to a halt at the new and unexpected threat and Sakura squared off against them, her Naruto-armour forming blades on her arms and six blade-tipped tentacles extending from her backplate.
"What the…" The larger of the two attacking ninjas managed to ask before a single senbon nailed him between the eyes. A second senbon hit the other ninja at the same instant and both of them collapsed, although their continued breathing showed that they were still alive.
"What the hell?" Kakashi mumbled to himself. "When could they do that?"
Naruto re-formed as Sakura stepped towards the two ninja.
"Here." She said, pulling out the senbon and passing them to Naruto. "Good work on the paralytic. Sensei, you can come out now!"
Kakashi glanced to where the shattered log lay on the road, the genjutsu having worn off, then stepped out of the underbrush.
"Good work." He smiled. "But… when did you learn to do that?"
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"Down!" Kakashi yelled as he grabbed Tazuna and dropped to the floor. Instead of following his order, Naruto instead turned into Sakura's armour and she caught the flying sword.
"What the fuck?"
Kakashi rose to his feet, looking first at the blade that Sakura was experimantally swinging, then at the surrounding forest.
"Momochi Zabuza, I assume."
"Yeah." Said the man in question as he dropped out of the trees, staring at Sakura. "Kakashi… how?"
"Really weird bloodlimit." Kakashi sighed. "So, you after the old man?"
"Hey!" Tazuna protested and Zabuza nodded, still staring at Sakura.
"Yeah… look, can I have my sword back?"
"No."
"Give me my sword back!"
"No."
A pair of senbon bounced off Sakura's neck and she turned to look at where they had been thrown from, raising her arm, which swelled out to form six tubes.
"Sakura…" Kakashi started, then a veritable barrage of kunai erupted from the tubes, kunai that exploded in the trees, sending a masked figure to the ground.
"Haku!" Zabuza shouted, lunging forwards, then he collapsed as a trio of senbon hit him.
"Well." Kakashi sighed, looking down at the unconscious ninja. "That was… unexpected. How did you do that?"
Naruto finished reforming, the zanbatou still in his hand and a grin on his face. "Oh, I've learned how to make my Kage Kunai Bunshin into explosive Kage Kunai Bunshin."
"Oh crap." Kakashi whispered, looking at the smoking debris that had once been a section of forest.
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The Report
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"So, let me see if I have this right." Hiruzen finally said. "Naruto can turn himself into armour for Sakura and between them, they captured the Demon Brothers, the Bloody Demon of the Mist and Zabuza's apprentice, the last of the Yuki Clan with a highly-valuable bloodlimit."
Kakashi nodded.
"They also killed Gato and several hundred of his mercenaries using explosive Kage Kunai Bunshin."
Kakashi nodded and Hiruzen frowned.
"Kakashi… what have you been teaching them?"