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: Owing to the more tech-oriented nature of the Alt-Canon verse, a few stories lifted from classic science fiction would work quite well. Among them, the concept of the amnesia disease, most recently featured in "Tabula Rasa", a Stargate: Atlantis episode. This Alt-Canon Naruto take on the story begins in a very similar way, with a character waking up in the middle of a village gone mad, while outside, Naruto, the only person immune to the disease, tries to find a potential cure while the Fire Republic Army has Konoha surrounded…
- - - - - - - - - -
She woke up, dizzy, confused...
She looked around. She was tied to some kind of desk, in a room. Books and scrolls lined the shelves and in front of her was a camera and television.
She blinked, and tugged at the rope holding her. A wave of panic rose up inside of her, and the woman began crying out.
"HELP! IS ANYONE THERE? HELP! HELP!"
There was no answer. Frantically she looked out the window, only seeing broad, swaying trees and an empty city block. No one was around.
No one...
She turned back to the desk, eyes spotting a small note on the TV. She picked it up with her free hand.
"Turn... it on," she muttered. With a mental shrug, she did. The screen flickered to life, and the woman was surprised to see the face of another woman with short black hair, dark brown eyes, fair skin and a nervous look in her eyes. She adjusted the collar of her dark kimono, and the woman felt her free hand instinctively reaching up to adjust her own.
"All right, I know that right now you're probably scared and confused, and I don't blame you. But this is vitally important. You will find a picture and a note on the desk in front of you. Pick it up, and turn it over."
The woman did so, and she frowned at the picture of a blonde, tanned boy with whiskers, grinning at the camera.
"This," the woman on the video said, pointing the camera at the same picture she was holding right now, "is Naruto. You need to find him. On the note are instructions for what to do when you find him. Now you NEED TO FIND HIM. Hundreds of people's lives depend on you finding him. No matter what it takes you need to find him or hundreds of people will DIE, understand? Good. Now get going." The woman paused and strained herself, thinking hard.
"And just so you know... Your name is Shizune. It's less important than finding Naruto but... But it'll give me some comfort. Now get going, you have a kunai in your side pocket."
The video ended, and Shizune reached to her pocket. She found the kunai and cut the rope, standing up out of her chair and gathering the note and the picture to her bosom. She turned to head out the door, only to freeze and step backwards. She stared into her reflection in the door.
"It'll give me some comfort..." Shizune repeated, staring into the face of the woman on the tape.
- - - - - -
Naruto grimaced as he peered through the branches. The Fire Country Army patrol was still there. Tsunade had told him to avoid them where possible-The image of him escaping might lead them to conclude that more ninja were leaving the village, and that would lead to very bad things, in his baa-chan's own words.
"Um..."
He turned to look over his shoulder at Ino. He still couldn't get over how timid she was after... The whatever-it-was began to really affect her.
"Naruto," he quietly reminded her. Ino nodded, clasping her hands together tightly.
"Okay, Naruto... What are we doing here again?" She asked. Naruto managed to restrain a sigh.
"Well, we're trying to get past the Fire Country Army, because apparently there's a rare plant that can cure this memory... Virus thing. I'm here because it's not effecting me, you're here because you can identify the plant, and we're supposed to get it and bring it back to Konoha so Baa-chan can create a cure."
Ino blinked, and nodded slowly. "O-Okay..."
Naruto grimaced and looked back at the patrol. They were starting away, but he was going to have to move fast... And he needed a decent alibi if he was caught.
"Okay, Ino? Do you remember how to henge?" Naruto asked. Ino nodded slowly.
"I-I think so..."
"Okay, just... Henge yourself into an outfit, the kind you might wear when you're out hiking or something," Naruto told her, as he proceeded to do the same. Ino nodded and did so.
"Anything else?" She asked. Naruto sighed, and shrugged. He took her arm.
"Just remember how much you love me?" He suggested, to which Ino blushed furiously.
- - - - - - - -
Shizune had written her name on her arm using a... She struggled to remember the word.
"Pen," she nodded to herself, walking out of the... Hokage Tower, it said on the entrance. She frowned, struggling to recall something... Anything.
Hokage? Why does that...? Feel important?
She shook her head. It didn't matter right now. What did matter was that she needed to find Naruto. She looked at the picture again, trying to memorize the features of the boy. She knew it was highly unlikely she could recall them for long, but it was better than nothing, she supposed.
She examined the note. Much of it described directions to get to someplace called a "hospital". It also warned her that a few S-Class missing nin had been sighted near the village just before she lost her memories. She gulped. She didn't know what S-class ninja meant but she was sure they didn't bode well.
"Okay... Hospital," she nodded to herself. She searched for a street sign, feeling nervous about how deserted everything was. In her haste, she didn't see the large hole in the Tower above her, nor the debris littering the street as though from a furious battle.
- - - - - - -
"Stay where you are!"
The girl turned around, raising her hands in the air. She gulped at the sight of the two masked men, raising strange devices on their arms at her.
"H-Hello? Can you tell me... Can you tell me where I am? What this place is?" She asked desperately. The nearest masked man shook his head.
"Just come with us. We won't hurt you," he said. Sakura backed away, finding herself quickly analyzing the situation.
She didn't know what these men could do, but the devices they held seemed... Strangely familiar. Still, she didn't know who they were. She didn't know who she was.
"Why should I trust you?" She asked flatly. The nearest masked man cocked his device and fired a glowing needle out of it, which she barely dodged. The weapon grazed her arm, sending tingle up and down her nervous system.
"A-AHH! Wait! Please! Don't-!" She shouted, but the masked man just fired another shot. Before it could reach her, a figure in a dark cloak just appeared in front of her, deflecting the shot.
"Stop where you are or we'll-AUGH!" The masked man was punched by the man in the cloak. The girl's eyes widened as he just vanished and reappeared in front of the other man, punching him before he could fire his weapon. He turned around, looking at the girl curiously.
"Uh..." Sakura fidgeted and blushed under the scrutiny. The cloaked man had black hair, bangs hanging in his face with the rest in a ponytail behind him. His dark eyes had odd lines under them, making him appear older than he looked.
Though, if the girl was honest with herself, she didn't have any way of knowing just how old he might be.
"Thank you," she said earnestly. The man nodded and walked up to her.
"We can't stay here. C'mon," he said, gently wrapping an arm around her waist and taking off at high speed. The girl squeaked, trying to catch everything as it blurred...
And suddenly they were somewhere else altogether, hidden in trees. She sighed in relief and smiled up at the cloaked man.
"Thank you again," she said. The man shrugged.
"Do... Do you know what's going on?" She asked. The cloaked man sighed and shook his head.
"No... I've been seeing those soldiers shooting people and taking them away somewhere ever since I woke up. I'm guessing you don't know much more than I do?"
"No," the girl said, staring curiously at the headband the man wore. She reached up and felt that she was wearing a similar one, though the metal plate he wore had a scar cut deeply into the metal. The man saw this and shrugged.
"Wherever we are... We're wearing the same symbol. That must mean we're on the same side, correct?"
The girl nodded, smiling happily. The soldiers all wore masks but didn't have the same odd symbol that they had!
"Maybe this is our village, and we're under attack by the masked men?" Sakura suggested. The man nodded, scanning their surroundings.
"Yes... Neither of us is dressed for combat," he noted. Sakura nodded again.
"We need to find more people with symbols like ours, maybe organize some kind of counter attack..."
"Counter attack?" The man asked. Sakura nodded.
"I'm thinking that they did something to our memories, something to let us be conquered more easily. It makes sense. Without our memories we don't know how to fight back against them."
"They might be suffering from the same problem," the cloaked man suggested. "They would need people of similar abilities to mine to attack this village. Since they haven't been using those abilities, it's possible they were caught in the... Whatever happened."
"Of course," Sakura said. She looked at him closely.
"How did you remember you could go that fast?"
The cloaked man shrugged. "I don't know... I just... Could."
"In any event, this gives us the advantage," she said. "So c'mon! Let's see who else we can find!"
- - - - - - - - -
The laboratory seemed almost familiar to Sakura. She frowned as she walked in between the tables, various pieces of machinery strewn about on several tables. The Cloaked Man followed, looking around in interest.
"This seems... Familiar," Sakura said quietly. Her eyes landed on a familiar gauntlet device, and picked it up.
"The same thing the soldiers were using," Sakura said. The Cloaked Man frowned behind his collar.
"..."
Sakura's eyes caught a paper filled with blueprints for the very weapon she was holding. She read the name on it.
"Stinger... A non-lethal weapon designed, created and built by Haruno Sakura."
"So this was made here," the Cloaked Man mused. Sakura nodded, turning the device over in her hands. It felt strange, it was almost as though the weapon was trying to tell her something.
"It looks like... It uses a Raiton conversion seal to charge senbon designed to retain the charge in flight, delivering it to an enemy. There's a limiter on the seal to prevent the charge from becoming lethal..."
"Ingenious... I think." The Cloaked Man shrugged at Sakura's curious look. She shrugged with a small smile.
"Guess we wouldn't know... Still, this is good. It means they're not killing anyone."
"Not unless they fire too many senbon into a single person," the Cloaked Man countered. Sakura shrugged.
"Maybe this Sakura Haruno didn't think about that..." She mumbled. She pulled the gauntlet on and grabbed two extra cylinders of senbon for reloads. She slammed them into her belt.
"You seem familiar with this weapon," the Cloaked Man said. Sakura shrugged.
"It seems common enough," she said. She looked around the lab. "See if you can find anything else of use..."
The Cloaked Man proceeded through, keen eyes searching methodically. Sakura in turn gathered up some strange, rocket-shaped kunai that accompanying blueprints described as "Saku-Bombs"-Highly accurate thrown explosive kunai. Unlike regular explosive notes the yield could be adjusted and their blast focus could be altered.
"Still, naming them after herself... Kind of egotistical," Sakura snorted, clipping them to her belt and slamming more into her pouches.
"Over here," the Cloaked Man said. Sakura turned and caught a pair of glasses. The Cloaked Man was already wearing a pair.
"They let you see behind yourself and infrared-signatures. She may be egotistical, but this Sakura Haruno is a genius," the Cloaked Man said. Sakura grinned and pulled them on, feeling inordinately pleased with herself. She didn't know why, but decided to work it out later.
"All right, anything else...?"
"One thing," the Cloaked Man said. He pointed to an odd, person-shaped frame composed of plastic, metal and covered in seals. Sakura frowned and walked over to it, examining the device.
"Haruno Strength and speed-enhancing Exoskeleton Mark III," she read aloud. The Cloaked Man shrugged.
"Too small for me..."
"Then I guess it's mine," Sakura decided, stepping into the device, strapping herself in with belts and velcro. It linked with her chakra, and as she moved the attachments around she couldn't help her grin.
"I feel like I could take on an army!" Sakura said brightly. The Cloaked Man smirked.
"So fortunate we have one right here..."
- - - - - - - - -
"So, you and your wife have been married how long?" The inn owner asked. Naruto gave him a charming smile as he led the veiled Ino to the inn room.
"Only recently. Still on our honeymoon, and all that," he said with a wink. The inn owner chuckled.
"Well then, enjoy yourselves," he said with a leer. Naruto restrained himself from beating the hell out of the pervert, and instead focused on getting In out of sight and out of contact with others. The mask she wore underneath her veil would keep her from spreading the infection, but he didn't want to take any chances.
Once they were inside their room, and Naruto had closed the door behind them, Ino turned to him, expression unreadable thanks to the veil.
"So... I am your wife?" She asked quietly. Naruto groaned, and slammed a palm to his forehead.
"No Ino-chan, you're my friend. We're on a mission to get some plants to cure our village, Konoha, from a memory... Disease thing."
"I don't remember Konoha..." She mused quietly. Naruto frowned, and, due to a lack of any other ideas, reached out and hugged her.
"It's okay, Ino. You've got your notes and you've told me what to look for... We'll get through this, okay?"
"Okay," Ino said quietly. "Can... Can we go to bed?"
"... Um..." Naruto blinked. Sexual innuendos with Ino was par for course when she had her memories, but in this case he felt it was unintentional. "Sure...?"
"Can... Can you stay with me? I mean... If I wake up alone," she trailed off. Naruto nodded and smiled at her, tightening his hug.
"It's no problem Ino, no problem at all."
About an hour later, Naruto groaned happily. Sure, he didn't like to be considered a pervert, but dreams where a hot girl was happily giving him head were not to be cursed.
Strange, it almost felt real... So sticky and wet and...
Wait a minute...
He opened his eyes and tossed the covers back. His eyes widened at the sight of a very naked Ino finishing her cleanup with her tongue. She smiled up at him.
"Hello husband," she purred, crawling over him and giving him a deep, passionate kiss. "Since we are still on our honeymoon and all, shouldn't we be having some... Fun?"
"Oh... Uh... Um... Ino... We're, uh... That isssss! Ohhh shit!"
I really hope she doesn't remember any of this, he thought, as he gave into his hormones.
The next morning Ino was exhausted, sore but couldn't stop smiling. She hadn't the slightest idea why, and when she asked Naruto he just began coughing very, very loudly.
- - - - - - - -
And now, a few omakes written by others on TFF.
By Cypher3au
Personally, I'd like to see some people freaking out over their bloodlines or natural abilities, or abusing them in ways they'd never think of doing when in their right mind.
Like Hinata and Hanabi sitting up on a rooftop, perving on cute guys with their freaky x-ray vision, or Shino running down the street, screaming like an idiot about their being bugs in his brain. Maybe the bugs in Shino's Dad have him convinced that he's just their minion, and they keep goading him into breaking into vending machines for the sugar-loaded softdrinks and snacks...
*BBBBZZBBZZBZBZZZBBZZZZ!*
"I live to obey, Masters!"
Maybe Tsume alternates between freaking out over the talking dog and drinking herself into a stupor, and partying over the talking dog that's gonna make her freaking rich once she hits the show circuit. And Kakashi and that eye...
"Okay uh..." He checks his nametag. "Bakashi, don't panic. Yes, your eye has gone all...weird...but I'm sure there's a cream or something that'll fix it right up."
- - - - - - - -
By drakensis
"So... anyone else get any notes to tell them who they are and what they should be doing?" asked the man whose note had declared him to be the Godaime Hokage.
There were a number of hands in the air.
"I think whoever wrote these was lying!"
Ichiraku frowned. "Why do you say that... whoever you are?"
The one-armed man he had addressed held up a plunger. "As a plumber I would be required to use this while flushing the toilet with my other hand. Besides, Danzo is a dorky name. No one would really be called that."
"Try using your teeth to hold it," Ichiraku advised, remembering that he'd seen Danzo's face on a list of 'know troublemakers' that had been left conveniently on his desk. Along with his wife's photo.
If someone was lying about him being married to someone that stacked then vive la deception!
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