Within a baren land, dozens of abandoned buildings stretched across, with hardly any life in it. All except for the sound of a few barks, and the footsteps of one person.
"Yo Kakashi, there isn't anyone nearby, or in fact, in the village" One of the hounds relayed to the man behind him.
"No one? How troublesome" Kakashi muttered as he looked around
"Over here" Another hound barked to him
When Kakashi arrived, he furrowed his brows. Where what used to be a grave, is now a pit...
"To have dug out the grave, who could have done this" Kakashi observed the scene, but found no further clues about this matter.
"Let's hope this isn't anything major" He sighed
-Sunagakure-
"When are you going back?" Kankuro was seated on his bed, while Naruto was leaning against it on the floor, reading a book.
"Until my sis gives up trying to offload her work onto me, I bailed on Shiki, who was caught, sis is ruthless in that regard, she directly handed him half her paperwork" Naruto sighed
Kankuro's lips twitched, he couldn't help but wonder which is more messed up, the fact that Naruto bailed on his friend so quickly, or the fact that the Hokage is trying to offload work onto others...
"I swear, she already has Shizune helping with quite a bit, and she's still greedy for more, hah, what has Konoha become" He shook his head and sighed
'It was quite normal until you happened' Kankuro thought half jokingly...the other half was very much so serious.
"Hah, fine, just make sure you leave soon, I have a busy day ahead" He said
"You? Busy? Did Gaara also offload his work onto you?" Naruto asked
"...is that all you can think of when I say I'm busy???" Kankura asked in perplexity
Naruto shrugged
"Who knows, he's been around me for so long, maybe my shamelessness rubbed off on him" He replied
"So you do know you're shameless" Kankuro asked
"I never deny it, never will" Naruto replied
"At least you're truthful about that" He sighed in response
Though he says all this, he does enjoy Naruto's company quite a bit, as well as their shared insights on puppet control. Naruto often comes to him to ask for opinions, and his questions gradually led to his own expansion of understandings, resulting in growth for both of them.
"So, why are you going to be busy?" Naruto asked
"Oh, well, Gaara, Temari and I were assigned with guiding some genins, it's a new training program, so we've got quite a lot to prepare" He replied
"Sounds nice, I kinda wanna teach my own group some day as well" Naruto smiled as memories from the other timeline surfaced.
He had to admit, those kids grew on him quite a bit during the period he trained them for, he even missed them sometimes.
"Wow, how about no? One of you running around is enough, if a few more like you pop up, the Akatsuki won't even be the biggest problem anymore" Kankuro chuckled
"Damn Kankuro, didn't expect such harsh truths from you" Naruto laughed
"Tr-Truths? I can't help but wonder how your brain is wired sometimes"
"It's not wired, it functions normally, I'm not a puppet, jeez"
"Sure, 'normally'" Kankuro rolled his eyes in response
"Hey, I heard those air quotes" Naruto huffed
"I hope you did"
"Wow, you're sort of an a*shole, huh?" Naruto lifted a brow and said
Kankuro let out a faint chuckle
"Learnt it from you" He replied
"Couldn't be, I'm the most upright and lovable person there is" Naruto shook his head
"..."
Naruto was about to continue speaking when he paused for a moment.
"...sis just told my clone that she no longer needs my help with the paperwork, call me if you need me, you have my kunai~, also, tell Gaara and Temari I said hi" Naruto winked and teleported out.
Kankuro sighed
"Sure, sure" He smiled as he patted his pocket, where a kunai was stored.
"Though I do hope I won't need to use it" He muttered, saying the same thing Naruto did when he gave him the kunai.
Naruto returned to see Tsunade, standing with...Fu?
"What's she doing here?" Naruto asked
Tsunade smiled
"Well, she said she missed her dear father, and wondered where you ran off to" Tsunade replied
"Hm...on that note, has Fu been given a rank yet?" Naruto asked
"Naturally...a genin" She replied
"Pfft" Naruto covered his mouth and let out a faint puff.
Fu's cheeks puffed up instantly
"Why do I need to start as a genin! I'm so beautiful and strong, shouldn't I at least start as a Chunin? I passed the exam, did I not?"
"Sorry Fu, but as you are Menma's daughter, you have to start from the bottom, otherwise, people will think Menma is corrupt" Naruto sighed as he shook his head, looking real broke up about this matter.
Fu's lips twitched
"What happened to the nepotism thing" She asked
"Fu, sweetie, baby, dear...I ma~y have stretched it just a ti~ny bit, you'll still received plenty of benefits, but when it comes to ranks, well, have fun with that" Naruto grinned
"Gah! I've been scammed!" Fu exclaimed
Naruto let out a faint chuckle
"But it's not completely hopeless, just accomplish great merit, and you'll be set" He said
"Urgh, that sounds like a pain" Fu grumbled
"Actually...I do have something in mind that can help you in this regard" Naruto tapped his cheeks and smiled
"What?" Fu asked eagerly
Naruto turned to Tsunade
"Yo sis, Menma should be quite the elite, but he doesn't have his own force, what do you think?" He smiled
Hearing this, Tsunade revealed a knowing smile
"Oh? What do you have in mind?"
"I think Menma should have an elite group under him, trained by him personally, so perhaps a few talented individuals can be picked and be part of this force" Naruto responded
"Oh ho, I do agree, it's about time for 'Menma' to spread his influence a bit more" Tsunade nodded
"Who do you have in mind?" She asked
Naruto snapped his fingers
"Naturally those living in my house, they are just regular Chunins for all everyone else knows, but each of them are more than strong enough to best a Jonin" Naruto replied
Tsunade rubbed her chin
"Granted" She replied
Naruto glanced at Fu
"And as for you, you'll be trained under me and Zabuza, and once this is official, you will be granted a Chunin rank as well" He said
"Sweet, nepotism is awesome!" Fu laughed
"Glad you're enjoying yourself" Tsunade said with a helpless smile
"Don't expect the training to be light though" Naruto added
Fu nodded
"Of course, I can tough through it all!" She patted her chest and said proudly
That was the last time Naruto saw Fu act as proud as she was...
-Days later-
"Please, my brain will explode" Fu grabbed her head and groaned as she held a book.
But the moment she did that, a stick back from behind, striking her back.
"Don't lose concentration during training" Naruto said
"Continue memorising the content" He added as he struck at her
Fu quickly dodged, with her eyes glued to the book in her hand.
"This can't be real! This isn't training, this is torture" Fu yelled as she got struck once more.
"Multitasking is quite important, and have you memorised the book yet" Naruto asked as he continued to strike at her relentlessly.
Fu's body was battered and bruised from the strikes, her eyes were red from staring at the book in her hand.
"Why do I even need to memorise this, I don't understand anything about seals" She shouted at him with tears running down her face
"Just cause I feel like it, I'm quite lonely being the only one in Konoha to utilise seals this proficiently y'know, so I figured if you have the talent, I can train you in this regard" he replied, though his hand never stopped moving, relentlessly striking Fu with the stick.
"Th-Then what about the kenjutsu training? Why do I need to do that as well?" She asked with tearful eyes
"You're Menma's kid, if you don't learn Kenjutsu, who will?" He rolled his eyes and said
"...can I take it all back? I'll just go back to being regular ol Fu, Jinchuriki of the seven tails" She said with a dead pan gaze.
Naruto laughed
"Aw~, how sad...that'll be a no" Naruto replied with a smile
*sniffle*
"Woe is me" She cried
Despite all her complaints, Naruto realised that Fu was actually incredibly focused on reading the content of the book, and her instincts have gotten much better, allowing her to avoid some strikes she couldn't even see.
Of course, her instincts have always been incredibly good, so it wasn't a surprise to see this improvement in just a few days.
"Head" He shouted
"Urgh" Fu tried to dodge, but the attack wasn't aimed at her head at all! It was aimed at her legs!
"Ch-Cheater!"
"This is a common method I use against my enemies, I shout something, and in the heat of battle, they assume I would strike that place, even if they don't, it'll mess with their heads" Naruto said calmly as he continued
"Legs"
"Arm"
"Shoulder"
"Head"
"Head"
"Head"
By the end, Fu clutched her head tightly
"Why...why did you hit my head only on the last few strikes! Boo hoo, you said it's meant to trick the enemy, no? So why were the last few all true" She cried in pain
"I did trick you, in the end, did you expect the last few to be true?" Naruto replied
"..."
"If there are no more complains, let's keep going" Naruto smiled as he raised the stick up
*Bang*
Training continued, Fu was forced to memorise structures of various seals, and the break down of each. The information was thorough, explaining how each seal are formed, and why each seal performs the things they do.
Meanwhile, she also had to avoid sword(stick) strikes from Naruto, who didn't hold back anything when attacking, forcing her to dodge amidst memorising.
"Harsh looking training" From the side, Shikamaru walked over
"Yo Shiki, came to join?" Naruto asked with a smile
"There's blood on the side of your face" Shikamaru said
"Oh, don't worry, she's a jinchuriki, she'll heal fast" Naruto laughed
Shikamaru gave Fu a sympathetic look before turning back to Naruto.
"Sunagakure has requested help" He said
"Sunagakure? Did something major happen?" Naruto asked
Shikamaru nodded
"Kakashi sensei recently came back with news that a village has been abandoned, and the ancestral grave has been dug up" He said
"Damn, digging up the ancestral grave? Whoever did that must hate that village" Naruto gasped
Shikamaru shook his head
"It was the action of the villagers there, the information is still unclear, but it seems to be related to the situation in Sunagakure" He explained
Naruto rubbed his chin
"Huh, why hasn't Kankuro used my kunai then..." He muttered
Naruto's expression was rather dark as he thought of a few possibilities. He turned to Fu, who was staring back with eyes filled with expectations.
'Once he leaves, I can rest, leave please!' She thought to herself
Naruto walked over, and placed his hand on her shoulder
"I'll be gone for a while, so I'll leave this instead" He said as a faint seal appeared on her shoulder
"Uh...what's this" She asked
"You'll find out in due time" He replied
He turned back to Shikamaru
"I'll head over right now" He said
"That was what I was hoping for" Shikamaru nodded
*Whoosh*
With a blinding yellow flash, Naruto vanished from sight.
"Phew, I can finally rest" Fu sat down and heaved out a sigh of relief
She stretched her arms
"Welp, time to take a shower and hit the bed, I can't wait to sleep" She grinned
Shikamaru stared at her silently, then turned around. He considered warning her, but felt that it would be a pain if he did, so he remained quiet.
'Naruto must have left that seal for a reason, whatever it is, you won't have an easy time with it' He thought to himself
-Outskirts of Sunagakure-
Naruto teleported to the kunai he gave Kankuro, and upon arrival, he caught a heavy smell of blood in the air.
His gaze swept around, and he soon realised what had happened.
"Who do we have here?" Naruto turned and saw a man smiling at him, in his hand was a strange chain that was binding someone.
"Gaara?" Naruto exclaimed when he saw who it was that is bound
His brows furrowed, behind him, Kankuro was laying in a pile of destroyed puppets, while Temari was panting with a ruined fan in her hand.
'No wonder he didn't throw it, he was unconscious'
He turned back to the main holding the chain
"Your choice, explain before getting beaten up, or get beaten up, then explain" He held his clenched fist in front of him and asked
"Arrogant words from someone as young as you, I am-"
"Yeah, I don't care" Naruto took out a few kunais and threw them at the main.
He simply scoffed and deflected each kunai with the chain in hand. Gaara tried to break free with that given moment, however, he looked listless and weak, unable to even muster much strength to pull himself away.
"Temari, explain" Naruto said as he teleported to one of the kunais that were deflected, and formed a rasengan in his hand, bashing it towards the man's head.
But as it was about to land, Naruto quickly retracted it. Before him, Gaara was pulled over, and used as a shield.
"Tsk, he's been using that same method to whittle us down" Temari gnashed her teeth and growled
"Gaara as a meat shield? That's a first, anything else?" Naruto asked
"That chain can seal chakra, otherwise, Gaara would not be in that state" She responded
Naruto narrowed his eyes on the chain, then at the smug man who raised a hand towards him. From a contraption on his wrist, needles shot out at him.
*Whoosh*
A rasengan formed in his hand, exuding a powerful repulsion force that knocked the needles away.
"Kid, you've got some interesting jutsus, but standing before you is the greatest ninja tools known to the Shinobi world! Crafted by the most talented craftsmen in all the land...the very ones shunned by you great villages!" The main laughed as he yanked the chain binding Gaara.
Naruto lifted a brow
"You are...I still have no idea who you are, I don't follow up on history much" Naruto said with a perplexed look
The man seemed to have taken great offense to that as he snapped at Naruto angrily
"I am from Takumi village you imbecile! One of the four celestial symbols men, I am-"
"A pain in my a*s" Naruto stretched his arms and said
"You...are pushing this too far!" The man roared as chains shot out from his free hand towards Naruto.
"Watch out" Temari called out
Naruto used the flying raijin to teleport out...or at least that was what he intended, but the space around him seems to have been sealed, making impossible to teleport.
The chains closed in on him, and right when it was about to wrap around him, a blade appeared in Naruto's hand.
*Ding*
The sound of metal clashing rang out, as Naruto slashed at the chains with immense precision, and jabbed the Kiba blade into the gap between the chain, pinning it down to the ground.
*Clang*
*Bang*
The chain wriggled as the man tried to pull it back, but Naruto held the blade down tightly
"This chain is quite fun, it seems to have a strange property that allows it to lock down space, how'd you make it" Naruto asked
"Hah, impressed? These are made with great difficulties, by combing the..." The man soon went on into a long blabber about the creation of the chains, and the efforts put into it in order to create the sealing properties, sealing not just chakra, but space.
Naruto rubbed his chin as his eyes lit up
"Fascinating...it seems I've been too short sighted" He muttered
"Heh, do you understand our greatness now? Do you know how hopeless you are before our tools!" The man laughed
Naruto in response, nodded
'He said the four celestials whatevers, so there are four of them in total...' A wicked smile slowly grew on his face
His eyes curved up as he formed a seal
*Whoosh*
Golden chains shot out from the ground, wrapping up the chain he has pinned down, and started crawling towards the man.
"So, what's your name?" Naruto asked with a smile
"Finally wanting to know? Too bad, a dead man needs not know of such things" The man laughed as he revealed a jet black long sword.
Naruto lifted a brow as he watched the long sword strike out, unleashing a devastating blast of flames towards him.
"How fun" Naruto pulled Kiba out from the ground, and slashed down at the incoming flames, infusing his chakra into the blade.
The blade coated in his chakra began unleashing a strange sound, as if blades were grinding against one another.
*Swoosh*
He waved it, ripping apart a pathway between the flames, dispersing it all in a single quick strike.
"It's not bad, the strength can compare to that of a flame serpent unleashed by a skilled shinobi, maybe A rank or so" He smiled as he twirled the blade in his hand.
"Th-That, how did you do that!" The man exclaimed
"Well, as you said, a dead man needs not know of such things" Naruto replied casually as he walked towards him.
The man took a step back, but realised the chain he was holding is thoroughly pinned down by Naruto's golden chain.
So now, he either has to release Gaara, or possibly get captured here.
"Tsk, count yourself lucky" He tossed the chain to the ground and leapt up
A green orb formed behind him, seemingly pulling him further up as his body began to levitate. From above, he unleashed another flame strike down towards them before turning around to escape.
Naruto looked up, then at Gaara, who was weakened by the chains so much that he could hardly stand.
"I'll be right back" He said with a smile
*Bang*
Naruto leapt up, his eyes narrowed in on the escaping man, and a rasengan formed on his hand.
In his other hand was a needle
*Whoosh*
The needle was thrown, and the man hardly realised that a small needle was shot towards him given the little sound it made flying through the air.
*Psht*
It wasn't until he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder that he realised what had happened.
"Tss" His eyes twitched from the main as he reached for the needle
But as his hands reached out, he felt his entire body stiffen.
"That's goodbye" Naruto muttered as the rasengan in his hand vanished
*Bang*
The instant it vanished, the man was struck to the ground with a rasengan spinning on where the needle was.
"Can't wait to make use of you in the future" Naruto licked the side of his lips as he formed numerous more rasengans in his hand, all of which he teleported to the man with the flying raijin mark.
*Bang*
Impacts upon impacts on the man resulted in a bloodied mess. The blade in his hand was crumbled, and his body was wrecked, with limbs twisted in ways it shouldn't.
*Step*
In his final moments, he heard the sound of footsteps approach him.
"Hey, mind telling me where the others are?" Naruto asked
His mouth moved, but no sound came out
"Well, I'll find them even if you don't tell me" Naruto reached out his hand, and stuck a needle into his chest.
His slow beating heart came to a gradual stop as the light left his eyes.
Naruto picked up his battered body, and pressed a seal onto it.
*Poof*
The body turned into a small coin, in which he tucked away.
"Let's go check on Gaara now" He smiled
When he came back to the scene, Kankuro had woken up, and Temari was helping Gaara up.
"Is he dead" Temari asked
"Dead as can be" Naruto replied
[Could have made the fight a bit longer, I didn't even get to commentate]
'You missed your chances' Naruto replied
[Tch, he spent so long talking about how to make the stupid chains I almost fell asleep, how would I know you'd spent most the fight talking] Kurama snarled
'Not my problem' Naruto huffed
Naruto walked over, and placed a hand over Gaara's abdomen
"He's had quite a bit of chakra drained from him, yo Shukaku, why haven't you supplied him with chakra yet" Naruto asked
Gaara's eyes shot open in an instant, yellow like sand, with a diamond in the center.
[You think I haven't? That chain was weird, it sealed off Gaara's chakra, and absorbed it, it was sealed off so tightly I had trouble supplying him, it's already quite impressive that I gave him as much as I did whilst he was bound up] Shukaku snapped
"Hm, so it has the properties of weakening the link between the beast and the jinchuriki? No, rather, the source of chakra is simply locked away, alright, I think I got the rough answers" Naruto nodded
[Hmph, had they not used a hostage, Gaara wouldn't have been trapped in the first place, damned humans, cowards! All of them!] He roared
"You do realise that Gaara and I are humans too, right?"
[You two don't count! With us tailed beasts inside you, you may as well be half beasts] Shukaku responded
Naruto shrugged
"Fine, whatever you say, just keep supplying him with chakra for now, he looks like he'll drop dead with how little he has" Naruto said as he lifted Gaara's chin up
[Wh-What are you doing] Shukaku growled
"I never realised, but your eyes are pretty cool looking" He said as he stared at Shukaku's golden sand coloured pupil, with the black diamond within.
Shukaku, Temari, and Kankuro both gasped, with Temari pulling Gaara away from Naruto
"You may have helped us, but I'm not letting you have Gaara" She said with a growl
"Huh? Where'd this come from?" Naruto exclaimed
"Hmph, don't think I don't know, our Gaara is so cute, even when he acts dignified, how precious boy is obviously under the radars of beasts like you" Temari said with a fierce glare
"...f**k, again with the allegations? I have a girlfriend!"
"So? Polygamy isn't rare around these lands" Temari responded
"...Kankuro, say something" Naruto sighed
Kankuro's narrow eyes stared at Naruto suspiciously
"I'd rather my younger brother have an heir" He said
"...okay, wow, I said Shukaku's eyes are pretty, and suddenly you think I'm lusting after Gaara? Where's the logic in that!?"
[Brat, back off! My beautiful eyes, paired with how precious Gaara is, do you think I won't know you cannot resist!] Shukaku snapped at him
"..." Naruto pinched between his brows as he sucked in a cold breath
"F**k, where did our years of friendship go? Ino's gonna kill me if these idiots ramble in front of her like this, dammit, then Sakura's gonna start bothering me as well, asking if I'd become her rival" He covered his face
"I don't like Gaara in a romantic manner" He said in a low voice
[So you lust after his body only! You beast!] Shukaku exclaimed
"You're the damn beast here, Shukaku!" Naruto shouted
"For the love of! Urgh, this is all sorts of messed up, Gaara is like a brother to me" Naruto was on the verge of tears
"So you want a relationship between brothers! How indecent!" Temari exclaimed
"..."
[HAHAHAHA] Kurama burst out laughing as he witnessed this
And in front of everyone, a drop of tear ran down his eye.
"Holy crap he's actually crying, I never thought I'd see the day" Kankuro gasped
After a short round of apologies from the two siblings, and a very forced apology from Shukaku, they finally got back on track...
*Sniffle*
"So, wh-what's the issue so far" Naruto rubbed his nose and asked
'Now I just feel bad' Temari and Kankuro thought
"Well, as you know, that man just now was Hoki, one of the four celestial symbols men from Takumi village" Kankuro explained
"Yeah..." Naruto nodded, but his expression...he was still sulking...
'It's like we kicked a puppy, I feel f**king awful...' Kankuro and Temari both had an uncomfortable look at the sight of this.
"It seems that they want revenge against the five villages because they felt abandoned despite their contribution to providing tools, as their village died out, they wanted to prevent complete extinction of their clan, so they hoped to resurrect their ancestor" Kankuro continued
"I...see" Naruto nodded again, his expression looking more pitiable than before
"...ahem, a-and to do that, they wanted to capture Gaara, and use the Ichibi's chakra to finalise the ritual, since Gaara isn't an easy target, they captured a girl that we were training, Matsuri, in order to lure us into a trap, with Matsuri as a hostage, Gaara fell for a trap and was bound by the chain" Kankuro sighed
"...so...why weren't I called earlier?" Naruto asked
"Ah, w-well, we thought it was a situation we could handle, but it seems that after we were gone for longer than expected, the elders sent a request to Konoha" Kankuro said hastily
"...I see...so I was forgotten..." Naruto muttered as he looked away
"...quite with the guilt tripping, I'm sorry, okay!" Kankuro shouted, almost crying himself with Naruto looking the way he is...
"What guilt tripping? Hah, I'm just...thinking..." Naruto replied, his eyes flickered with a bitter flash
It dawned on them just how bad it could get if they were to mess with this person, they couldn't tell if he was acting or not, which made it very frustrating.
'This f**ker' They cursed in the heart, but never aloud, worried Naruto may use this to make things even worse for their hearts...