While the arm Naruto stole from the doll was stiff and real light, the one she planned on making would be real movable, slightly heavier and skeletal, for now. It would be real simple and easy to forge, though even after watching and memorizing that guy she still didn't have much experience with the application. She decided that the arm would be pretty much two metal poles linked together sort of like a chain, and the hand would have to be stolen off her previous fake arm.
This is what she reminded herself as she lifted the window open to the forge open. Naruto's heart is racing and her face is heating up despite not being anywhere close to the forge. When the young Uzumaki had the window hoisted open with a stick she dropped the drawing of what she wanted in then slipped in herself. She rubbed her behind as she stood up, having fallen on it after losing her grip.
The forge was extremely hot and Naruto could already feel it's effects. She took a glance around the room to find where the blacksmith guy put his gear, if it was even still there. Luck was on her side and she couldn't help but smile as she ran over to the gear meant for a grown adult. She made due with what would fit and not make her trip, to cover anything that wouldn't she came prepared with her own cloth armor. It was really just a bunch of clothes wrapped around herself, nothing too special.
She walked around to find the needed materials and the correct devices to measure with. Yes, this was stealing, but these metals were the ones left over from other forges. Naruto didn't think they would be missed too much. The six year old laid out her crudely drawn plans out on a table and then got ready to work for a few hours. The youngest blacksmith in the forge measured her left arm and measured out how much steel would be needed to make her right arm the same length. The hardest part was next, cutting and welding when her knowledge on how to do it was , the Uzumaki had to get a feel for the weight of the hammer used to mold the still glowing hot metal, and then how much the metal would be dented in or out on each of her strikes.
It was long and tiring, and her clothes under all her armor is soaked in sweat. Finally, after hours of trial and error, she finished her first blacksmithing project. She stood as proud as she could of her new fake arm and couldn't wait to use it. The blonde yawned as she folded up the two arm pieces and grabbed the arm plans. She is about to leave when she remembers she is still wearing the blacksmiths armor.
"Alright son, let's open up and show you around!" Naruto froze when she heard a big gruff voice in the front room. She hurried to get the armor off.
"Crap! Crap, crap," she threw the final piece off and ran with her items to the hoisted up window.
Just as she dropped out of the window the door to the forge opened and a teen's voice shouted, "This is so awesome dad!"
Naruto let out a relieved sigh as she leaned back against the wall. "That was too close," she whispered to herself, glad she made it out without being spotted.
It was way later then she had expected to get out and the morning sun was already coming up. Naruto sat there for a few minutes more before getting up and running to her apartment. She had to hide her metal arm inside her jacket and duck behind obstacles in the road to avoid people, no one should be suspicious of her if this was going to work. When she got back to her home, instead of finishing her arm like planned, she laid down to take a short nap before school started.
The academy introduced a change of pace, before they were learning about the body, now they were learning about the various ninja weapons. The anatomy lessons aren't over, but just had less time spent on it. Naruto was glad that the day turned out less boring than usual and paid rapt attention to all of the different tools being introduced.
While for the next few months Naruto would not have to use her arm in class, it was good to start exercising so she could get used to one arm push ups. So after school the first thing she did was attach the fake arm to a vest and start doing the various workouts she would have to do in the academy. And when she took breaks, she started to come up with ways to add what she was learning about ninja weapons right now and apply them to her fighting. There are a lot of weapons and items that could be hidden in sleeves and pockets, so the Uzumaki wanted to try that and see if it worked.
If this was going to work, she had to solve a problem with the Hokage. He was intelligent and she realized that he would find out sooner or later. She wanted to make it later, when she already had a working arm, but that was a slim chance. Other shinobi wouldn't be much of a problem, she didn't spend much time around any, except her teacher. That wasn't really a problem at the moment, she usually just ignored Naruto anyways and therefore wouldn't see anything wrong.
It is getting late and Naruto is tired from the very long day she had. Before she goes to bed, she decided to go out and find a shop that sells cameras. The one the old man has interested her and she wanted to learn how it worked soon. She decided that something like that would help, even if just a little, make her arm. There was a problem though, cameras are rare and only one shop she walked into has one, and only one.
"This place sells cameras right?" Naruto asked the store owner. He glanced down at her and went back to reading his newspaper the moment he realized who it was.
"Get lost," he snarled. Naruto frowned and turned as if to leave.
The store owner did not notice her duck behind a shelf because he was too busy ignoring her. The young girl took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She wanted to get a camera so she could take it apart, and the store owner would not give her the time of day. While Naruto had stolen food before, she only did that to eat. She had never stolen anything else, so she is nervous as she stuffs the large camera in her puffy jacket. No other customers are in the same area as her so she looks around a little more and finds a little rectangle with buttons and a screen. It looked like it could be just like a camera but the blonde had a feeling it wasn't. She left the store with two items hidden inside her jacket and shaky hands.
As soon as she got home the stolen camera and other device are gently put on the table and Naruto starts to mess around with them. She took multiple pictures with the camera and messed with the lens a lot. The other thing is a movie of some sort, but the buttons control what actions are taken. Naruto had a lot of fun with both of them, but ended up taking them apart to find out how they worked. Every single piece confused her when she looked at them, she didn't know what did what or what went where. Taking them apart and not being able to figure it all out almost made her cry, almost.
Naruto wiped any forming tears away and steeled her resolve, 'I need a new arm for my career, so I will make one!'
The next day in class her head is on the table and the students next to her noticed small snores escaping her mouth. The teacher noticed but did not do anything to wake her up for the important lesson on ninja tools and their uses. Shino, who sat behind her, wondered what she had been up to to keep her from sleeping at night.
Since the beginning of school the blonde known as Naruto Uzumaki interested him. She had a personality that should attract people to her everywhere she went, but it seemed to be the complete opposite. He didn't know why that was, it is just a constant that he does not understand. His further observations have not yielded any real results other than the adults aren't allowed to talk about it. That means the Hokage is in on why no likes her. Maybe even she knew? No, she seemed just as confused as him about it.
For now the one that everyone in class calls 'bugboy' recalled one of his Kikaichu that he had stuck to the blonde. It relayed information that made the usually stoic Shino lift up an eyebrow. Considering the situation, the Aburame decided it best to keep quiet for now and confront her later when she is alone. It might not be his business but he knows now so Naruto deserves to know that he knows her secret.
There was one problem he ran into when trying to get her alone. During lunch he simply did not know where to find her, when the teacher let them outside to spar she was lost in the crowd before he could get a peep out of his mouth. At the end of the day he sighed and gave up, as he walked home he decided that tomorrow he would inform Naruto that he wanted to speak with her instead of looking everywhere for her.
'I wonder why she would do that though...no use wondering, I'll find out when I ask her,' Shino pushed up his glasses and a movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention. In the park he is passing a girl in an orange outfit with blonde hair is running around with a bag of clanking metal.
Before she could run from his sights he intercepts her path of travel with a child sized glared, "Wait, I have a question for you Naruto!"
Naruto looked at the stoic boy with confusion and a tilt of her head. On the inside she was nervous and ready to dash at any moment. "Yes...um, Shino was it?"
"Yes Shino is my name...but introductions aside I would like to know-" Shino's sentence was cut off when a loud shout came from the other side of the park.
Shino witnessed Naruto's eyes widening and a brief flash of fear before a yellow blur darted past him. His shoulders slumped and he let a sigh escape. The stoic Aburame child stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking back home again. Looks like his question is never going to get answered at this rate.
Naruto turned a corner after leaving the park. That run in with Shino had slowed her down a bit but she still managed to throw off her pursuer. The Uzumaki grinned at her price, some scrap metal from a construction site in the village. It was laying innocently on the ground and telling her to take it. Maybe Shino's question was about the metal? The blonde did not want to deal with him telling on her, or worse blackmailing her. She would have to keep him from truly knowing what she did by avoiding him until he forgets about it.
"Did ya hear? There was a robbery at the Shashin Shop," Naruto's ears caught wind of the civilian talking about it. Her eyes darted around the crowd as she froze stiff where she was.
"What? Really? That shop owner usually has hawk eyes on any customer who walks in," another said. The little blonde thief darted off into an alley to calm her nerves.
'I didn't think anything would be missed, how...am I a bad person?' the little girl slumped against the wall and restrained from letting tears form.
Was it any good? Which parts need improvement and which were okay? Anyway thanks for following/favoriting/reviwing!
For any wondering why any of the villagers who took her arm haven't said anything, that will be briefly explained next chapter but I'm sure most of you could figure it out.