Naruto: An Alternative Canon

A Naruto fanfiction by Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Shonen Jump. I am not writing this for profit.

Author's Note: I am a big fan of the steampunk genre, as well as other alternate history genres of scifi, so when I began to give attention to the Alt-Canon Narutoverse I decided that one of the first things I'd fix would be the anachronistic tech level. Now, you can do a lot of things with chakra sealing (carry loads of weapons in a piece of paper, seal an all-powerful demon into a child, summon creatures or even yourself from long distances), and yet Kishimoto never expanded on this. There are a few examples of chakra being used with technology in the Naruto movies, but there are quite literally thousands of possible uses of chakra in the Naruto-verse. Ergo, the Alt-Canon Narutoverse is a kind of combination of steampunk and what you could call "chakrapunk" in terms of technology. Here's a brief snippet to illustrate how Haruno Sakura, whom I have modded into the resident mad scientist of the Rookie Nine, applies this technology for a whole new mode of transportation:

- - - - - -

"So, you took two wheels off a wagon, made a fire extinguisher the boiler, and combined it with lots of gears and... Things, and now you've got a... What do you call this thing?" Kakashi asked his student, narrowing his visible eye at the latest contraption to come out of Sakura's garage. The pink-haired genius stood with the rest of her team, giddily bouncing up and down on her heels. Naruto was grinning, and Sasuke, well... He looked like he always did.

Annoyed.

"Well, I haven't come up with a name just yet... Since it's layout is that of a bicycle, and it's mode of operation is similar, I was thinking of calling it... The Saku-Steam-Cycle!" Sakura grinned. "Catchy, isn't it?"

"Probably the first thing of hers that does have a catchy name," Naruto mumbled to Sasuke. Sakura scowled at him. Naruto smiled innocently in return as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, basically all you do is power up the sealing system on the dashboard, here," Sakura said, sitting on the seat of the vehicle and pointing out the intricate sealwork on a wooden panel between the handlebars. "Which jumpstarts the heating coils for the boiler..." She did just that, and the device began to make a low whistle.

"Engage the piston, release the brake," Sakura went on, turning the vehicle around to point out of the garage. A sound Kakashi likened to the pumping of a steam boat's engine emerged, only at a far higher pitch and greater speed.

"And here we goooooOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The "Saku-Steam-Cycle" sprang from the garage as Sakura screamed, zooming on it's wheels as though happy to finally be free. Gripping the handlebars Sakura circled the large field surrounding her workshop, her screams of fear and shock turning to delight as she made a lap back in front of the garage. The rest of Team 7 was now outside, watching Sakura's invention propel it's inventor at high speed.

"... Okay. Now that is cool," Naruto grinned. "I GET TO RIDE IT NEXT!" He yelled as Sakura made another lap. She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out.

"NO WAY! SASUKE DOES! WOOHOO!"

"WHAT?! He didn't do squat except piss and moan about having to help you with another project!" Naruto shouted back indignantly. Sasuke grunted.

"... If she'd told me what it was going to be, I might have helped more..."

"You snooze you lose, bastard! I already called the next time!"

Kakashi stood silently as the argument continued, and Sakura continued to squeal in delight as she drove her latest invention around the field. He then chuckled and shook his head.

"Never a dull moment with you guys, huh?" He asked. Naruto blinked at Kakashi, then grinned broadly.

"Damn right! That's what makes us special!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, though his scowl was a bit lessened. Kakashi chuckled again.

- - - - -

And another example:

- - - - -

Training duels were used for the benefit of all the students to see how their peers fought. Analysis of an opponent's fighting style and tactics were vital for missions when combat was experienced-Hence why Umino Iruka held as many training duels as he could alongside team exercises. Getting the future defenders and breadwinners of Konoha out of the classroom and into actual, practical exercises was definitely preferable to sitting around for long lectures.

It didn't hurt that Naruto actually paid attention when it came to doing things.

Iruka stood at the head of the class in the training field, smiling at his students as he held out a bowl.

"Now, you've all written your names on scraps of paper, so I am going to shuffle through and pick out some sparring pairs. First up is... Inuzuka Kiba, and..." Iruka set aside Kiba's name and pulled out another. He raised an eyebrow at his selection, and looked over at a certain pink-haired girl in the front row.

"Haruno Sakura. Ready to go?"

"Always, Iruka-sensei!" Kiba grinned, Akamaru on his head barking happily. Sakura nodded, looking determined, and the two ninja walked out and faced eachother within the boundaries of a chalk-drawn ring. Kiba smirked as his dog jumped down and stood alongside him, barking in confidence.

"Che... Exactly what is a little girl like you going to do against me?" Kiba said, assuming a fighting stance. Sakura grinned back, a manic glint in her eyes as she pulled her goggles down over them.

"You'll see, Kiba, you'll see," Sakura laughed. Naruto winced, as did Ino.

"She finished a new invention, didn't she?" Ino muttered. Naruto nodded solemnly.

"Yep..."

"Begin!" Iruka cried, and stepped out of the chalk ring. Kiba moved forward fast, Akamaru flanking him and jumping towards Sakura's arm. It was a classic Inuzuka tactic-The dog got in and dealt a quick blow to an opponent while it's human partner followed up. Sakura bit her thumb and pressed it against a seal drawn onto her glove.

"Kai!" She cried, and she was suddenly obscured in a large burst of smoke.

"You can't hide from me!" Kiba shouted, as Akamaru lunged for where he presumed Sakura's arm would be. Kiba dove through the smoke, just as Akamaru yelped loudly.

"ARRROOOOOOWWW!"

"What the-?"

The smoke cleared. Kiba had missed Sakura through the smoke, veering off out of instinct when Akamaru yelped. He saw his beloved dog lying on the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth. And then his eyes settled on Sakura.

"Sorry, I don't think this arm is very tasty," Sakura stated with a grin, holding up her metal-covered left arm. Kiba realized what had happened-Sakura had released armor from her seal to cover her whole arm, and Akamaru's teeth had met hard metal instead of flesh.

"Oh yeah? It'll take more than armor to stop me!" Kiba shouted, moving forward with canine agility and feinting a punch, slamming a kick into Sakura's thigh. The pink-haired girl grunted loudly in pain as she was slammed into the ground, and Kiba held a kunai to her throat. He smirked.

"Yield..."

Sakura coughed, and slowly raised her metal-covered arm, as though to admit defeat... And lightly brushed her fingers against Kiba's forearm. He shook as his body spasmed, feeling a burning sensation running through his body.

"YAAAUUUGHHH!" Kiba yelled, getting off of Sakura quickly and skidding back, still twitching. "Oh you stupid bitch, what the hell?!"

Sakura got back to her feet, catching her breath. She smirked at the furious Kiba, and held up her metal-covered arm again. Kiba immediately noticed something he had missed before-The metal itself was pretty thin. It had only looked bulkier than it was because of the thin rubber arm-glove the metal was anchored to.

"Just a simple application of an electric conversation seal, and some conductive metal," Sakura stated with a smirk. She held up her metal-covered arm triumphantly. "It's what allows me to do-THIS!"

Sakura vanished, and Kiba immediately smelled her from behind. He cursed and dodged, Sakura's metal-covered fingers barely missing him.

Shit! Shunshin no jutsu!

"SAKU LIGHTENING PUNCH!" Sakura cried out as she punched for Kiba again, the metal arm moving surprisingly quickly. Kiba dodged again, gritting his teeth. He couldn't block her strikes without getting shocked... But, her reliance on that one arm also made her vulnerable.

Okay, okay... NOW! Kiba ducked under one of Sakura's punches, feeling the buzz of electricity from the metal fingers passing over his scalp, and slammed a kick into Sakura's stomach. The pink-haired girl's eyes bugged out, and she fell forward, arms coming around Kiba.

"GYYAAHHHHH!" Kiba shouted as the arm touched him again. He foamed at the mouth and fell back with Sakura, the shock stopping when Sakura passed out, unable to focus any more chakra into the electric conversion seal.

"..." Iruka blinked. He then sighed. "Call the nurse's office... Again."

They always had to do this whenever Sakura brought a new "toy" in for training...

- - - - -

As to why Sakura is like this, well, a future snippet will probably reveal this. Additional ideas for chakra-based technologies in the Alt-Canon Narutoverse are welcome, as well as attempts to write for it. Just ask me for details and write away!