Origami - 折り紙

"Character Speaking"

Character Thinking

Chapter One: Origin

"Naruto, how do you feel about joining the ninja academy?" The question was directed towards a small red-haired boy who had looked no older than 7 or 8. He had an emotionless face and cold eyes, the eyes of someone who'd seen too much too soon. The man asking the question was none other than the Third Hokage of Konohagakure No Sato. He had been given many names - "Kami No Shinobi," "The professor," and more that didn't immediately come to mind.

He was said to have strength that rivaled the first Hokage himself and rumored to have knowledge of every jutsu in Konoha save for individual clan techniques. All of this knowledge and strength had made him famous, or in some cases, infamous. And yet the Kami No Shinobi had no clue what to do with the 8 year old in front of himself.

The boy standing in front of him with cold cerulean eyes was Uzumaki Naruto, a boy whos family genes ran deep - that of the Uzumaki clan. The clan that was once feared by every nation and hidden village and by every Kage in those villages. A clan whos name made the hairs on the back of any shinobi worth their salt stand in anticipation, or in most cases, fear. The red hair that was the trademark of the clan, the tight facial features and the cold blue eyes that so closely resembled stone; he was the living embodiment of the clan he came from; and yet, no shinobi in Konoha that was still alive save a certain few knew of that monsterous clan.

They were wiped from the face of the Earth long before the shinobi of today's age were born; long before he was an old man seeking to finally retire again, to pass on the heavy burden his job title carried. He had failed many times over again and the boy infront of him was only a reminder of one of his biggest failures. He had let this young boy who was once a bright and happy child become depressed and unstable - a boy who was cold towards most people - a boy filled with rage.

"Why should I, old man?" Naruto's voice sounded raspy as if it hadn't been used in some time. The Hokage for all his might flinched at the words. "Isn't it what you always wanted to be?" Naruto scoffed at the question, shutting his eyes in what seemed to be deep thought. "It was what I always wanted to be. That was before the shinobi I thought were so awesome beat me to an inch of my life. So badly the nurses thought my hair was red simply because there was no part of my body that wasn't."

The Hokage grimmaced, remembering the sickening sight of the boy lying in the bed of the hospital - a four year old boy who's innocense had still been intact . "But not all-" He tried to get out but was cut off, "'But not all shinobi are like that' is what you wete going to say, isn't it." Naruto said, not even attempting to hide the annoyance and anger in his voice. "Everyone in this damned village - every shinobi, every civilian and even the nurses in the hospital hates me. They beat me, they curse at me, they ignore me, then tell me it's all my fault!" The red-head's tone heated up and tears formed in his eyes. The Hokage had tears of his own at being reminded of one of his biggest failures yet - his failure to keep a promise to the man who was his successor.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I wish I could protect you better." Said the aged man with a hushed tone. "But I need you to do this; if not for me, than for yourself."

Naruto closed his eyes once more trying to stop the tears from falling down his cheek. "If you really wanted to protect me, you'd give me something to protect myself with. But since you're going to make me join anyway, I'll just go. So please, just leave already!" Exclaimed the emotionally unstable boy. The Hokage sighed, got up and wiped his face of regret filled tears. "I'll see you soon, my boy." Said the aged man as he walked out of the one bedroom apartment he'd given to the boy.

If he had been less distracted and were paying more attention to his surroundings, he would notice the fleeting chakra signature that was on his left flank. Such is the life of the Third Hokage, too distracted by an 8 year old child to notice the fleeting precense of a mere anbu.

"Report." It was a cold authoritative voice that spoke, one that wouldn't tolerate disobedience - one that forced you to comply to its will. The voice of a shadow who'd dirtied his hands for the sake of his village. This was the voice of Shimura Danzo. He was the leader of a secret organization that he had named root. This organization handled the jobs the Hokage wouldn't assign to his own ninja, the neccesary jobs that would be considered horror stories by most and a daily occurence for his operatives.

"The conversation between the Jinchuriki and the Hokage went as we expected. The Jinchuriki is opposed to joining the academy but eventually did accept the invitation the Hokage extended. He's showing signs of unstableness and has been seen being cold towards even the Hokage himself. He spoke the words 'if you really wanted wanted to protect me, you'd give me something to protect myself with.' That is all I have to report, Danzo Sama."

His operative went silent, remaining in the kneeled position he had appeared in. Danzo smirked, realizing what type of opportunity this presented. "You are dismissed. Return to headquarters and rest until you recieve your next mission." The operative disappeared without a trace of chakra.

Danzo got up, using his cane as support for his old and ragged body. He would use this opportunity to finally have the weapon he'd wished for. He'd be sure to use the boy's genes to his advantage - something Hiruzen failed to do.'

He hobbled into his personal library. To say it was large would be an understatement - it was huge and filled to the brim with information. Techniques, hisory, bingo books past and present. There was anything you could think of concerning ninja.

He went through scroll after scroll, attempting to find the technique that would most aid the boy into becoming a true monster . Naruto was an Uzumaki and Uzumaki were known for their monsterous prowess with sealing techniques and almost too-large chakra reserves. He glanced over a technique, reading its contents. "This. This is it. The perfect technique for an Uzumaki - the technique our weapon needs. He seeks protection and with this, he will have it." He chuckled to himself. Hiruzen had avoided the conclusion he'd long come to - Jinchurki were made to be weapons of mass destruction. Weapons that were loyal to a fault and could destory whole armies if need be.

Yes, he would assure that this village was safe long after his own demise.

Umino Iruka had been teaching in the academy for about a year now and had an innate ability to work with children. Scores that were, before his arrival, at an all time low had been raised by a flabbergasting 35%. He was named sensei of the year and had offered a promotion to be vice principal of the academy. While he was honored, he had declined the position. He enjoyed working with the children of the academy and wouldn't trade it for the world. His assistent teacher and long time friend, Mizuki, walked in his office with a slight smirk gracing his face. Mizuki was an average height standing at five foot nine with straight baby blue hair that fell down to reach his chin. He wore his forehead protector bandana style and sported a chunin flack jacket.

"Here's the list of incoming students starting next monday. I heard it's a bunch of clan heads this year. The most of any class before." He said, his smirk increading ever so slightly to show his excitement. He was the taijutsu and weapons teacher while Iruka was the theory teacher. He loved showing children the proper way to handle a weapon and throw a punch, there was nothing better than taijutsu in his opinion and to teach it gave him a fullfillment he couldn't get doing anything else. "Thanks, Mizu." Mizuki nodded at the teacher and walked out in the same fashion that he'd came in.

Iruka scanned the list of names finding that the rumors about all the clan heads being in one class had been true. It must've been set up by the clans and the Hokage - giving the class of clan heads to the best teacher the academt had. There was a Hyuga, a Nara, an Akimichi, an Inuzuka, a Yamanaka, and Auburame, and the last loyal Uchiha. He smirked, what a class!

He continued reading the list of names and suddenly stopped. He stared at the paper incrediously as if hed made a mistake. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be possible. "U-U-Uzumaki Naruto." He said alloud, feeling the hate in his heart for the boy. They really did it now making that thing a shinobi! Iruka frowned, the news of the demon brat ruining his good mood.

Uzumaki Naruto sneezed. I wonder who's thinking about me he thought to himself whilst walking the streets of Konoha. He had crimson hair that was longer than that of most boys his age, reaching down to his chin. It was more straight than it was spiky and smooth as silk sheets. As he walked, he recieved comments such as "demon brat" "fox brat" and other comments that didn't make sense to his 8 year old mind. What had he done to recieve such hateful comments and for civilians to enact in such hateful actions againsr him? As he pondered that question, a rotten grape had been thrown at the boy. It collided with his face and dropped to the ground.

When it dropped, Naruto picked it up and stuck it in his mouth. He rarely ate thanks to the money he had, or lack thereof. Often times, he'd get just enough money to pay for rent and sometimes, he'd get enough to actually get some cup ramen. He prayed for more days like that, days he could buy just a simple yet fullfilling cup of ramen. Eventually he ended up walking near a dango and tea shop. I've never seen this here before. I wonder who owns it. He thought, contemplating whether he wanted to go and see or not.

He weighed his options - there was a good choice he went in and the man or woman who owned the shop would kick him out. If it was a newcomer, he wouldn't get get kicked out but he didn't have money either, so he wouldn't be able to eat. Maybe, just maybe it was a civilian who didn't hate him. He slowed his steps towards the shop at and stopped at the entrance.

When he steeled his resolve and went in, he was greeted to the sweet smell of dango and tea. His mouth watered and his stomach growled and before he knew it, he was led by the enticing smell of food he hadn't tasted before. When he walked to the cashier directly in the back of the restaurant, he stared up at an old man he had never seen before. The man was an impressive six foot tall, towering over the young Uzumaki. Half of his body was bandaged and the other half had little scars riddled accros the stranger's face. The old man had smiled at him, something Naruto wasn't used to and it snapped the red-haired boy out of his daze.

"I'm-I'm sorry Mister." Naruto said, fear suddenly appearing in his voice. Naruto assumed this man was an ex shinobi based solely on his appearnce and was frightened by the sight of the big man. "No need to apologize, my boy. Are you hungry?" Naruto took a step back, putting his hands in a "no thank you" gesture. "I'm not that hun-" Before he could finish, his stomach contradicted the upspoken words as it grumbled and growled.

"Hmm, it seems as if your stomach disagrees with you. How about you have a seat and we'll get that taken care of."

Naruto nodded allbeit hesitantly and turned to sit down at a seat. Danzo hid the anger that threatened to overflow out of him. A weapon should never have such emotions as fear, let alone be so pathetic looking. What have you been doing all this time, Hiruzen? Finishing his musings, an unmasked root operative came from the kitchen. She was a smaller woman, standing at only five foot two and had a beautiful face with the assets to match. She approached Naruto who'd been looking nervous the entire time he'd been sitting there.

He had wondered who this old man was. Surely, he knew who he was? He was Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who no one loved, the boy who everyone despised despite him being only a child.

"What would you like to eat?" A soft almost soothing voice asked Naruto. He turned to the lady and blushed at the pretty face he saw and warm voice he heard. He looked at the menu and saw that all of the items were conviently in hirigana, the only writing system he had knew how to read and write. "Um." He said awkwardly, trying to decide what to order or if it was really okay to do so, "Red bean soup and green tea. Also, chocolate dango, please."

Naruto spoke with barely a whisper but the pretty lady understood him and told him to sit tight. When she walked away, the seemingly crippled old man walked over to sit accros from him. "You do know who I am, right?" Asked Naruto, lowering his head to look at the table infront of him. "Of course I know who you are. I know of your status and treatment. However, I'm not blinded by ignorance like the civilians of this village. I'm a scholar of the truth and take pride in my abilities as a shinobi. I know the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sealed in."

"What does that mean, Mister?"

The old man chuckled grandfatherly and smiled softly, "Call me Shimura San. However, you will learn that for yourself hopefully sooner than later." Naruto blinked, once again looking down at the table. He began fidgeting in a nervous manner which, again, angered Danzo. Such a pathetic child indeed.

"Have you joined the ninja academy, young one?" Naruto looked up again, this time with a cold gaze. Danzo raised an eyebrow at the quick switch of emotions and waited for a response. "Yes sir, I start next monday." The boy said with little to no excitement. For the first time since he met the boy, Danzo was satisfied with the answer he recieved.

"I see. Well, the academy can be good for many things. Use your time wisely and grow strong. I'm sure you have potential that not even you yourself know you have." As Danzo finished his statement, the lady came out once again bringing the food Naruto ordered. "This will be on the house today. In turn, I want you to take this. I want you to use it to become strong. Use it to protect yourself and those around you - use it to serve your village. Do this, and you'll be welcomed to my shop anytime that you are hungry."

Danzo reached in his robes and pulled out a scroll that read "Origami." "I will, Mister Shimura. I'll use it to be strong and to protect myself and those around me." With that, the boy ate his food and drunk his tea in silence. Danzo lowered the bandage that had previously been covering his right eye.

He was surprised the boy hadn't realized the strange eye that Danzo revealed to him. It mattered not, however, because he had accomplished his goal. One would think he wasted his limited use ability on such a useless command - "use this to get strong and to protect." However, it was just the tip of the iceburg, the start of something that'd blossom like a flower in early spring. Uzumaki Naruto would be a monster of a shinobi and he'd make sure of it.

Hiruzen sat at his desk; his mind blank with piles paperwork that nearly reached the ceiling. He thought about the crimson haired boy that was Uzumaki Naruto. For some reason, when he thought about the boy he felt a drop in his stomach. He recognized this as his sixth sense for danger - for threats to come. He ignored such feelings in place for a drag of his newly lit pipe.

Often times he'd think of his successor and the wife of said successor. How would they feel about the life of their child? The offspring of two monsters in their own rights, two shinobi feared by most shinobi and respected by those who didn't fear them.

He was the Jinchurikin to the Bijuu that nearly destroyed Konoha - a hero in his own right and yet the very same village he protected is the same that called for his blood. The village the boy's father and Hiruzen's own senseis faught so hard to protect.

Minato, I've failed and I am afraid to see how my failure will affect your precious son and the village you fought so hard to protect. Hiruzen sighed and stood up. He put his hands in a cross, making the single handsign for the jutsucreated and made famous by the Second Hokage: The Shadow Clone Technique. He made one singular shadow clone and left his office, heading towards the Sarutobi residence. He felt it. Something was coming; something he coulnd't prevent.

When Naruto got home, he was for the first time full off of a homemade meal. It was the best food he had ever eaten and the nice old man at the shop had given him a gift to boot. He wasn't sure why, but he felt an innate attraction to the scroll he held in his possession. He sat on his floor and immediately unraveled the scroll that revealed multiple other scrolls inside.

He began reading what he could only assume was the first scroll. Again, everything was written in hirigana and he was grateful for that.

"Origami is a form of art often utilized by creative children and adults. More often than not, it is used to create unsual shapes or animals such as flamingos, cranes, etc. While this is true, Origami can be used as much more than a nice party trick or fancy piece of art. It can be utilized by shinobi who dedicate their time to learning it. Origami is an ordinary technique where one simply learns a jutsu and uses it in a battle. It is the complete control and manipulation of one's chakra to control a physical element - paper."

"While it may seem useless in the eyes of a normal civilian, you will soon find out why it is so deadly and takes so much time to master."

Naruto read the scroll with an interest he'd never shown before. Old man Hokage had often brung him books and short stories to read in order for him to not fall behind his peers and he found reading fun and interesting, however it was something about the scroll he was currently reading that intrigued him.

"Though the Origami technique requires chakra control beyond that of a normal shinobi, we will start with the basics of Origami - the art of paper. First, you must understand the capabilities and possbilities a simple piece of paper has. In order to thoroughly learn such a thing, you'll be required to do things with mere pieces of paper until doing such things are second nature - until you can create figures of your own with little to no thought. The first figure we will make is a simple yet graceful crane. While used often times as decoration or toys for the near by pond, it's simple enough to attach paper bombs to such figures to destroy an enemy or area."

"As mentioned, however, we will start at the very beginnings."

"Directions -"

Naruto read the directions and formed his first, although crooked, paper crane. The scroll told him to do the same thing until making the crane became so easy he could do it blindfolded and he threw himself at the simple exercise. He found this exercise to more fun than he did a training technique; therefore, when he'd ran out of paper he was annoyed, not knowing exactly what to do. He had made, in the span of 30 minutes, around 100 paper cranes. Most of them had been the inproper proportions, and others were perfect.

Naruto decided he'd ask the nice old man at the shop for more paper. Besides, he was the one who gave him the weridly enticing scroll in the first place. If Naruto was older, he'd had realized that something was slightly off with his chakra system in that it wasn't just his chakra there. In fact, there were three chakra signatures. There were 2 massive pools of chakra and then there was a droplet that somehow overpowered the will of the larger signatures.

XCX

It was the day Uzumaki Naruto finally entered the four year course that was the ninja academy. He had to admit, he wasn't excited but he was no longer upset by the prospect of becoming a shinobi. He had realized, with the help of Shimura san, that not all shinobi were as evil as the ones he met or had gotten beaten by.

Therefore, he decided that becoming a shinobi wouldn't be such a horrid reality. He'd be able to protect himself and more importantly, protect himself from the civilians Shimura san often called ignorant, whatever that meant. He'd have to ask the aged man what he'd meant by ignorant. That's what he always did when he found things confusing - he asked Shimura san and Shimura san always had an answer. He used to ask old man Hokage but the fossil never had a straight foward answer - he often avoided the questions asked to him. Naruto had finally managed to master the first three shapes and figures of the scroll he'd been reading. It started with cranes then moved onto paper planes and jets, and his most recent - boats. The scroll not only had him perfect the shapes but to make them as big and as small as he could.

The next step would be to make ninja items such as shuriken, kunai, senbon, etc. This is so the user could get used to the shapes and formation of said items. It had said that unless you knew how to physically construct an item, you could not construct it with chakra due to the lack of knowledge of the item you would attempt to form. Therefore, learning to construct the items from basic paper was Naruto's priority.

Naruto approached the open doors of the classroom he was to learn the things required of a ninja. When he finally reached the door, he entered, attempting to be as quiet as he could as to not be bothered by his teacher or new classmates. It was in vain, however, because when he walked in he was greeted with a glare from his very own teacher. He looked at the teacher with an icy glare of his own, one he'd worked on for situations just like this one.

"Would you care to introduce yourself to the class, boy?" Asked the teacher with barely contained contempt and Naruto's glare intensified. "I would care a lot, actually. I'd prefer to just sit down and do what I came here to do - learn."

The teacher grew a tic mark in frustration. "Fine. Go and sit wherever you'd like." Naruto did as told with little to no hesitation as to quickly get away from the teacher that clearly had something against him. But that was normal, everyone had something against him. It seemed as if the world itself had something against him.

Naruto arrived at a seat that was directly next to a raven haired boy with eyes dark as his hair was. They were cold eyes, like his was. His was fulled with hate and distrust as Naruto's was filled with anger and rage. He sat down next to the boy and removed his backpack from his back and sat it on the ground next to himself.

When he had sat down, his teacher began talking when the first bell wrung.

"My name is Umino Iruka, your theory teacher. In this class you will learn about chakra, the manipulation of chakra, three basic jutsu, and basic mathematics, history, science, and other subjects needed to pass this four year course."

The teacher now identified as Iruka called for who Naruto assumed was a man named "Mizuki."

When the man entered, his eyes scanned the room and when his eyes landed on Naruto, his turned cold. Just like everyone else in this damned village, Naruto thought to himself.

"My name is Mizuki and I'll be your physical education teacher. That means you'll learn how to throw your first kunai, shuriken and proper punch with me."

Naruto just knew that the next four years were going to be hell oh Earth. No, he thought, it'll be hell for them, not me. I'm sick of their shit. All of their yells and all of their comments. I'm sick of being in this hell. All of the near death beatings, I'm done with it all. As Naruto had this conversation in his head, Iruka had started speaking about the theory of chakra. Naruto decided he'd need such knowledge in order to unlock his chakra and progress further into his technique given by Shimura San.

"While usually we'd stay in the classroom for theory, we'll be unlocking your chakra today so we have to go to the training field. Please exit the class and walk towards your right." The students in the classroom got up, following their instructor to the training field he had spoke of. Naruto walked with his class attempting to ignore the precense of those around him. When he appeared outside, he saw a big training ground with trees, patches of tall grass and many training stumps and dummies which he assumed was for kunai and shuriken practice.

"Chakra is the combination of spirtual energy - which you gain through meditation and physical energy - which you gain through hard days of physical labor. Today, we'll work on spiritual portion by meditating until you feel the warm energy inside your body. But, before that, can I get a show of hands of who already has access to their chakra?" When asked this, several kids raised their hand.

"Say your name come to the front of the class and stand infront of me." Said the teacher.

"Inuzuka Kiba!" Said a loud boy.

"Nara Shikamaru." Said another boy who sounded almost as bored as he looked.

"Hyuga Hinata," "Yamanaka Ino," "Auburame Shino," "Alimichi Chouji."

The boy he had just been sitting next to raised his hand, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto had never been one to socialize with the civilians of Konoha, but everyone in the village knew what happened to the Uchiha clan. The massacre had been on newspaper days after it had already happened.

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement of the boy, So that's why his eyes are so cold, he said to himself.

No one else raised their hands and the teacher Naruto knew to be Mizuki led the students who'd raised their hand to a different direction perhaps to teach them a thing or two about kunai and shuriken.

"Now for the remainder of the students here, follow this step-by-step explanation and your chakra will be released. Don't be discouraged if you find that you don't have much chakra, it's normal for civilians such as yourselves to have extremely low reserves- even more so at your fragile age. Now, sit down and cross your legs."

Naruto sat down and watched his classmates do the same. "Now, i want you to meditate and look for a warm pool of energy. When you're sure you have a firm grasp on it, pull it out."

All of the students nodded and many closed their eyes. Naruto, however, did not close his eyes and instead watched the students do as they were told. After 5 minutes had past, 3 other children had released their chakra, faint glows of blue flowing off of their body. After another 5 minutes, 5 more students released their inner energy. Some of the students had brighter glows than the others but still faint nonetheless. Naruto decided it was his turn after 10 minutes of waiting and observing. Naruto closed his eyes, feeing around for a warm pool of energy.

When he looked on the inside, he felt two large pools of energy. One felt malicious and vicious - something that made him uncomfortable. The other pool of energy was calm like the river - flowing in waves with smooth efficiency. He decided that he'd avoid the vicious energy and pull on the calm one instead. When he did so, he was filled with the strange and foreign energy. He pulled on it more and more until it was flowing into him in large waves. On the outside, the students and teachers stared at the red headed boy in shock and awe.

The precense of the chakra the boy was releasing was nearly unbearable to some. Waves of blue energy was emitting off of the boy, reaching nearly 5 feet from the body of the young Uzumaki. It kept getting stronger and stronger - it was as if the boy had an unlimited amount of energy.

Is this the chakra of the demon? No, it can't be! That chakra was vile and vicious. This is just the boy's natural chakra. What a monster! Thought one Umino Iruka to himself.

"What the hell is going on with him!" Said Yamanaka Ino in a high pitched voice that made a few children cringe. "His chakra, empty-headed woman." Said the Nara boy with an irrtated tone of voice, covering his ears in preperation for another bout of screaming from the blond.

Shikamaru, though annoyed by the Yamanaka, was shocked. He'd never seen this much chakra be released besides when his dad flexed his chakra and even it wasn't so strong. This boy was a moster - a monster with more chakra than he'd ever seen.

Iruka moved towards the boy in slow controlled steps. He needed to stop the outpour of chakra before the boy killed himself; and though the idea of the brat dying didn't upset him, he was a teacher first and foremost.

Before Iruka got within 25 feet of tbe boy, the boy's eyes shot open, his cerulean orbs staring at him with the steelness most adults would coward under. As quickly as it had appeared, the chakra disappeared and Naruto breathed a little heavier than he had been before starting the exercise.

"Was that alright, sensei?" Naruto asked displaying a smirk that screamed "I'm better than all of you."

Welcome to the end of the first chapter! I was inspired to write this story by Konan - the character in the Naruto series who uses "paper release." I gave it a name as you can tell by the title, "Origami."

If you've enjoyed, or haven't enjoyed the read thus far, leave a review. This Naruto is quite hard to write because of his everchanging emotions. One minute he may be sad and another, angry. Often times, he has cold eyes, others, arrogant eyes.

Danzo did use the Kotoamtsukami in order to spark a tinge of determination in the Uzumaki boy. Was it worth it? Well, we'll see. Naruto doesn't like the civilians, so don't expect him to kiss up to them like the original.

I need a beta ASAP, so please hit me up for that! PS, I don't own Naruto. Peace n love.

よろしく