A/N: I've had several things being cooked up at the moment, but this is the most finished. Despite the fact that I have this listed in the "Forthcoming" Section of my profile, I am not entirely sure I am going to continue with this.

As always, let me know what you think.

Good, Bad, Ugly...?

Ultimate Naruto: Iron Shinobi

Chapter 1 (Proposed): Iron Shinobi

"Rasengan!" shouted Naruto as he sped towards his target. As all the machines around them activated, the light that was shining down on them reacted with the mass of spinning chakra in Naruto's hand, causing a prism effect.

Just as Naruto's Seven Colored Rasengan was about to hit Dotou, Koyuki shouted words of encouragement, telling Naruto that she believed in him. She gave him acknowledgment, something he always wanted from those he considered his precious people, while he had given her the one thing that had been missing since that fateful night Kakashi took her out of Snow Country, hope.

And thus Naruto was able to finish what Sasuke had started. He had ripped completely through Dotou's Advanced Chakra Armor and sent the treacherous man flying towards his death as he was flung into one of the special solar mirrors that was being used to change the entire landscape of Snow Country.

"You did it Naruto-kun!" shouted Koyuki excitedly.

Naruto, who was panting heavily, simply gave her a large vulpine grin before replying, "Was there ever any doubt."

Koyuki shook her head, though if she were honest, she had doubted him every step of the way, even when they were in parallel cells from one another- though she was beginning to warm up to the loud, blonde shinobi's presence. It wasn't until Naruto's head on, juggernaut like assault on Dotou, after he had merely shrugged off the effects of her uncle's Souryuu Boufuusetsu that she had truly begun to believe in Naruto's greatness.

Sure, the kid might not look like much- even less when he opens his mouth sometimes, but there was one thing that Kazahana Koyuki was absolutely assured of, Uzumaki Naruto was the real deal.

Naruto and Koyuki gazed all around them as the landscape practically began to terraform itself. It appeared as if Snow Country was an inadequate name for the new temperate climate.

"Sugoi..." Naruto gasped.

"Beautiful, isn't it Naruto-kun?" asked Koyuki who smile at the awestruck expression on Naruto's face. Despite her initial conceptions of what Naruto was like, she saw beneath the mask to the still innocent, childlike wonder and naivety that he still possessed. 'It's hard to believe he is actually a shinobi sometimes...'

Unfortunately, the moment was not meant to last.

The snow began to melt off of the now energized solar mirrors, and began to turn to mush and water as it fell to the ground. Unfortunately, the machinery was so old and, over the years under Dotou's reign, poorly maintained. Thus there had been some exposed panels and wiring.

A half melted clump of snow fell into a broken panel and onto some exposed circuitry and wiring causing a short. Naruto and Koyuki were oblivious to what was happening until sparks and arcs of pure electricity began to surge from the damaged machine.

When the popping of the electronics shorting out started, both turned to the source of the noise. Koyuki's eyes widened in horror as she saw an arc of electricity come towards her, as did Naruto. Koyuki stood rooted in place, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, for her, Naruto simply reacted, pushing her to the ground. The arc of electricity struck Naruto in the shoulder, burning through his coat, shirt and skin, as it shot right through him.

"Naruto!" shouted Koyuki.

Without second thought, he made his trademark seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two clones appeared, and immediately grabbed Koyuki and dragged her off the dias as the panel exploded. Naruto positioned himself between the retreating clones and Koyuki and the explosion, hoping to shield them as the moved away from the explosion. Shrapnel still struck one of the clones and instantly dispelled it, nearly causing the other one to drop Snow Countries' new daimyou.

Koyuki took advantage and went to run towards Naruto. "Naruto!" However, the clone held her back.

"Stop! You don't know if it's safe!" shouted the Bunshin.

"B-but... You could be dying!" she shouted at the doppleganger, as she gestured towards the burnt and bloodied body of the original.

"I'm still alive, and I have to make sure you don't get hurt. As long as I'm here, we still have time," the Bunshin assured her. "Let's get Kakashi-sensei, he'll know what to do."

"B-but..."

"No buts," said Naruto sternly, "I'll be fine. It's my job to protect you, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Kakashi-sensei!" "Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi, who was searching for his wayward genin, turned to find the only member of his troupe that he had yet to locate.

"What is it Naruto, Koyuki-hime?" asked Kakashi lazily, though intrigued by what they thought was so important. Sakura and Sasuke were both curious as well, especially with as distraught as Koyuki seemed to be, considering the changes that Snow Country had just underwent.

"Naruto-kun! He's hurt!" shouted Koyuki hysterically.

"What are you talking about, Naruto's right there!" replied Sakura, confused.

If it was anyone but Naruto, given his reputation as a prankster, Kakashi would have thought Koyuki was under a genjutsu. As outstanding Naruto could be with ninjutsu, if the Rasengan and Kage Bunshin were any indication, Naruto's skill with genjutsu was absolutely abysmal. Naruto still hadn't managed to dispel even some of the simplest genjutsu, let alone be able to cast one on another person. Koyuki's distress and Naruto's underlying desperation was setting off alarms in Kakashi's mind.

"Oh no..." Naruto said with wide eyes. Suddenly, he disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"A Kage Bunshin..." said Kakashi his singular eye widening as he put the details together.

"NARUTO!" Koyuki dropped to her knees sobbing hysterically. For someone who had not shed a single tear in ten years, she seemed to be making up for lost time.

"Ugh..."

He definitely needed to find who managed to hit him with that train, because he felt as if he had been hammered with it multiple times.

"He's waking up!" he heard, though everything was still black. That probablly had something to do with his eyes being closed.

"Urgh..."

He tried to open his eyes, but all he saw was bright white lights. He quickly slammed them shut. He felt a throbbing in his head and slowly brought his hand to his head as he carefully tried to open his eyes.

"Naruto-kun!" gasped a feminine voice, "How are you feeling!?"

"Ugh... W- Wa-Water..." Naruto hoarsely gasped out.

"S-sure! Just a minute!" exclaimed woman. He heard the sound of a faucet running and a glass being filled. Another set of hands began to help him sit up.

"Careful..." said a familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone. The glass of water was brought to his lips. "Just sip it," cautioned the second voice.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see both Koyuki-hime and Sakura-chan with him.

"Yuki-hime? Sakura-chan...?" he said hoarsely. Both were listening intently to him.

"You're looking much better," said another person, who sounded very much relieved.

"Baa-chan..." said Naruto in a weak voice. "What are you doing here?"

Though it irked her to hear him call her that, she refrained from bashing his skull in due to his current condition.

"Because of you, you brave, stupid, little boy..." Tsunade said with a slight smile on her face. Though it contained none of the happiness that usually came with a smile. Naruto took in the sight of her slightly puffy eyes and realized they weren't from a hang over. "It was touch and go for a while... I thought I lost you too..."

"Sorry, Baa-chan..." said Naruto uncharacteristically grim. Suddenly his emotions completely changed. "But I'm getting better already. I almost feel strong enough to take that seat away from you!"

"You still have some time to go before that happens, but at least you're feeling better," said Tsunade, with a smile. "Everyone was pretty worried about you."

"Really?" asked a hopeful Naruto, before glancing at Sakura.

"Of course we were all worried. It just wouldn't be the same without you. But don't get any ideas Naruto-baka!" Sakura sternly replied.

"Ah! Why do you have to be so mean..." Naruto whined and pouted. He then looked down and saw a mechanism sticking out of his chest. "B-Baa-chan... What is this?"

Tsunade looked uneasy. "It's a piece of Snow Country technology that is keeping you alive right now."

"Wh-what?" asked Naruto.

"We had to send word to Yukigakure as soon as Sakura-san and Kakashi-san restarted your heart and got you breathing again, Naruto-kun, so you could get immediate medical attention," explained Koyuki.

"We also sent word to Hokage-sama immediately, just in case," added Sakura. "But we weren't sure if you'd make it..."

"The explosion sent large amounts of shrapnel into your body," Tsunade continued, "A lot of the pieces were taken care of by your preexisting condition, but it couldn't get them all. The Yukigakure med-nins and surgeons did all they could for you and kept you alive until I got here, but there wasn't much I could do either. Too many of the pieces of shrapnel were too close to your heart. We couldn't take them out with chakra because our jutsu only drove the pieces closer to your heart and surgery was just out of the question considering the location. The device we imbedded into your chest is an experimental piece of technology and is powered solely by your chakra. It creates a localized magnetic field that is keeping the pieces away from your heart. Luckily for us you have so much chakra, anyone else would have died from chakra exhaustion within a day or so if they were lucky."

"Wow..." was all Naruto could bring himself to say.

"You need to be really careful, Naruto," warned Sakura. "That device is a prototype and somewhat fragile. If anything happens to the device..."

Anticipating Sakura's reticence to finish her sentence, Tsunade opted to finish for the young girl. "You will die."

Naruto got an uncharacteristic frown on his face. It had been as if all happiness had been drained away from his entire being, both body and soul. It was something Sakura never wished to see again. Naruto, in many ways, was an irresistible force, a being of sheer will power that could not be stopped. To see him so broken was disheartening.

"So it's over, huh?" asked Naruto glumly.

"What's over?" asked Tsunade, though she had was pretty sure she knew where this was going.

"Everything," said Naruto with a tone of finality. "Being a shinobi is all I have... It's all I've ever wanted to do... And now... And now it's all gone..."

"Giving up already, Naruto-kun?" asked Tsunade.

"What else do I have left?" said Naruto. "I can't let this thing get broken and who knows what could happen in a fight?"

"We've already anticipated this gaki," said Tsunade reassuringly and then looked at Yuki.

"Our technicians are looking into modifying the Chakra Armor used by my uncle and the Yukigakure shinobi to protect you and the device," Koyuki explained. "Unfortunately, they're having problems adapting the power source to not interfere with the device in your chest and vice versa."

Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration. "Why not have it power my armor?"

"We had already considered it," said Tsunade, "Unfortunately, even with your chakra reserves, there would be a lot of pressure put on your chakra circulatory system to maintain your life force and power the device so you won't die. Adding the chakra armor would only add more stress to your body and you would likely not be able to use ninjutsu."

"But Bushy Brow only uses Taijutsu and he's awesome!" said Naruto in confusion.

"He has also had much more training in that field than you have, gaki," said Tsunade sardonically. "There's also the fact that the power supply of the device is terribly inefficient as it is. Your armor would likely hinder you more than help you as you wouldn't be able to utilize the benefits that usually come with having the Chakra Armor equipped."

"I don't need any of that stuff anyways," said Naruto defiantly, "I'll just have to train even harder."

"If you're sure..." Tsunade began, but then saw the smile on Naruto's face. "Alright, but it's going to be a long difficult road for you for quite some time and you'll be incapable of going on missions while you are getting acclimated to the 'new you'."

"Awww.... No missions..." Naruto whined and Sakura couldn't help but giggle at Naruto's childish and sometimes annoying behavior. Even Koyuki looked amused by Naruto's actions, though she also looked relieved at how well he was taking it.

Naruto would have complained further, but gulped in fear when he saw Tsunade's glare. Koyuki began to fidget a bit, so Tsunade turned to Sakura. "Come Sakura, I've got more training exercises for you to work on."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Sakura said as she began to follow Tsunade out.

"Wow, Sakura-chan! You're training under Baa-chan now!" he said excitedly, "You're going to be awesome!"

Sakura blushed prettily at his compliment, but gave him a menacing glare anyway. "Naruto-baka, you should be more respectful of Hokage-sama!" With that she spun around and stomped out of the room leaving a pouting Naruto and a nervous Koyuki behind.

There was a moment of silence when Koyuki finally spoke up, "I'm sorry..."

"Why?" asked Naruto in genuine confusion. Koyuki sighed, the boy was really dense sometimes, but it was also a relief because he didn't hold a grudge against her. Even so, she felt it was right to apologize and explain why. She felt she owed him that much.

"If... If it wasn't for me... you..."

Naruto grinned at her reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. I didn't do it because I had to. I made a promise to protect you and I did. There was no way I'd let you get hurt."

Koyuki turned away from him as she felt her cheeks burning. "Naruto-kun... Thank you..." she said softly as she left the room.