Naruto worked with Orochimaru overnight to try to replicate a human's chakra producing organ in the form of a puppet core. Though they were able to create a core that can gather chakra through some seals Naruto covered it with, they were unable to store a large amount of chakra in such a small core.
However, if they make it too big, it would become an easy target, so they wanted to keep it to the size of a fist at best.
"Hm...ah!" After hours of thought, Naruto suddenly thought of something
He formed another seal, and pressed it onto the small core. In an instant, the core began to glow as chakra began flowing into it at an insane rate.
"What did you do" Orochimaru gasped upon witnessing this incredible suction force
"We were overthinking the storage of chakra, think about it, what are tailed beasts" Naruto asked with a wide grin
"Well, they're...chakra entities" Orochimaru's eyes lit up
"Yes! Then the seal that traps the beast is a chakra storage itself, so if I model one after the one on me, and adjust the flow of chakra so it can freely enter and exit, the result is what you see here" Naruto said as he laughed
Orochimaru smiled, seeing this core finalised made him feel quite proud. He had spent hours creating a powerful core that is able to handle intense chakra, but they were never able to have it store the chakra.
Now that it is finally complete, he felt relieved.
"Alright, now we need to create a sturdy puppet" Naruto said
"Mn, the design you drew up earlier is good, but it has some flaws, come back in ten days, and I'll have a finalised puppet for you" He said
"Thanks" Naruto smiled as he tossed the scroll containing his other research over to Orochimaru, who received it with glee.
"I'll see you in ten days then" Naruto waved
Orochimaru's eyes flickered for a second
"Wait" He said
"Yeah?"
"This may be a bit troublesome to tell you, but with our current cooperation, I think it should be fine, you should know that your teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, bears the curse mark I planted on him" He said
Naruto nodded
"Yeah"
"I have sent my people to bring him to me, I hope you will not interfere with it"
"Huh? Just that? You don't even need to ask me, I wouldn't try to stop your people from doing this even if you didn't ask, heck, I can even delay the search party after you're done" Naruto replied
"Huh? Are you not teammates?" Orochimaru asked
Naruto revealed a sinister smile
"In terms of value, you and him, it's rather obvious who can provide me with greater benefits" Naruto chuckled
Orochimaru was a little taken aback by that smile, but he laughed
"I like your thought process, people should always look at the bigger picture after all"
Naruto left after confirming his stance in this matter, and returned home. Once he returned, he arrived just in time to see Zabuza making some breakfast for Haku with whatever ingredient he could find in the fridge.
'That guy can cook? Wouldn't have expected that' Naruto gasped
"Smells good, can I have some?" He walked over and asked
Zabuza glanced at him
"Sure" He nodded
Naruto sat down on the opposite side of the table to Haku, who was staring at him with a rather displeased look.
"Hi" He said with a smile
"..." Haku didn't respond, he just stared at Naruto with his hostile glare
"Zabuza, think your kid hates me" Naruto called out
"Of course he does" Zabuza replied
"Not even going to deny he's your kid now?" Naruto asked
"Is there a point?" Zabuza responded nonchalantly, seemingly have thought through over the night
Naruto couldn't help but feel that ever since Zabuza lost his arm, he has mellowed out quite a bit. He isn't bloodthirsty, nor is he showing any signs of ferocity, rather, he looks as if he has been enlightened or something.
His expression is always either calm or carefree. No one would suspect he's a missing nin from how he's acting at the moment.
"How have you been faring in your sword training" Zabuza asked
"Oh...uh, about that..." Naruto coughed, he hasn't really been training recently due to the whole Tsunade thing, and his research with Orochimaru...
"...after this, we're going to fight again" Zabuza said in a low voice
"Yes sensei" Naruto nodded
Zabuza paused for a bit, he then let out a faint breath
"Sensei, huh?" He chuckled silently, it felt rather nice to be called that.
Zabuza came back with various dishes that Naruto has never seen before, most likely specialities from the hidden mist. The moment he dug in, Naruto realised...Zabuza's parental level is off the charts!
'He's protective, can cook, and can use jutsus with one hand, he's damn impressive' Naruto gasped in his heart
"Say, Haku, can you show me your ice release?" Naruto asked
"I'd rather not" Haku replied as he ate
"Well, worth a shot" He shrugged
He didn't bother too much about Haku, as his main goal was Zabuza in the first place. Haku was simply the buy one, get one free along with Zabuza.
After finishing, Naruto went upstairs and began fiddling around with chakra strings. It could be controlled at will, and when attached to a puppet, it felt like they become an extension of the body.
"It's about time" He muttered as he flashed away in a golden light
*Swoosh*
-In the flower shop-
*Thud*
The moment he teleported in, Naruto felt three pairs of eyes land on him...
"...care to join us for breakfast?" Ino's mother, Kiku, gave Naruto a friendly smile as she asked
"I'm good, I just ate" Naruto replied with a bright grin
"Oh, I'm assuming that you're here for Ino?" She chuckled
"Yep"
*Snap*
Inoichi's chopsticks broke suddenly
"Dear?" His wife revealed a rather sinister smile towards him instantly
"..." In the end, Inoichi tucked away his fierce eyes and went back to eating
Ino glanced at Naruto, who was waiting by the side, she quickly finished her food and packed it all up at the sink
"My, so fast, you usually take much longer to eat"
"Mum!" Ino huffed, how could her mum reveal that in front of others so easily!
She glanced at Naruto, who chuckled
"I see, so I'm worth the rush, huh?" He said
*Snap*
'Did he just break another pair of chopsticks?' Naruto glanced at Inoichi, who was staring as if he was going to murder him in the dead of night...
He sighed in his heart, why is it that the father figures he knows are all so messed up? Well, Minato wasn't strange, in fact, he especially liked his naming senses.
"Na-kun, did you come to see me for something?" Ino asked
"Yep, I promised I'd make you stronger, I'm here to keep my promise" Naruto replied
"Aw, thanks" Ino giggled
Before leaving with her, Naruto glanced at Inoichi
"I'll be sure to take good care of Ino" He said with a resolute expression
"$&*@%!"
"Hm, that's a tough order" Naruto frowned
Inoichi's lips twitched, he then noticed the looks his wife and daughter were giving hi, so he decided to compromise.
"Kid...don't you ever make her cry" He said in a low voice
Naruto stared back calmly
"I won't, ever" He replied
Inoichi and Naruto stared at one another in silence for a bit, as if they were having a battle of will.
After a short while, Inoichi heaved out a sigh
"Take good care of her, Naruto"
"Alright...father-in-law" Naruto replied
!!!!!
*Bang*
Naruto suddenly realised a dreadful aura rise from Inoichi
[Kid, you really pushed your luck]
'So...I guess I should run...'
[Not should, you must run]
*Swoosh*
With a flicker of golden light, Naruto teleported away with Ino, leaving behind the red eyed Inoichi, and his wife who had her hand over her mouth.
"Oh my~" She giggled
"That brat! I gave him an inch and he took a mile!" Inoichi roared
"Pfft, dear, you're doing great" Kiku rubbed his head and said
"Th-This...urgh, he's getting too daring" Inoichi muttered
"Hehehe"
-At the training ground-
"Na-kun, what's the training this time?" Ino asked
Naruto was silent for a bit, he then sighed
"Ino...I really didn't want to do this, but after careful considerations..." He gave her a bitter look
Ino stared back, and gasped
"Y-You can't be talking about-"
"Yes" Naruto nodded
"Na-kun, I trusted you" Ino covered her face and cried out
Naruto sighed
"Ino, this is a fundamental method, we must do some physical training" Naruto said
"I don't wanna!" Ino huffed
"...sorry, but you don't get a say in this" Naruto said
"N-Na-kun?" Ino stuttered as she watched Naruto approach her
"No!!!!!!"
-4 days later-
"C-Can we stop now?" Ino was running with Naruto beside her
When she asked, Naruto placed a hand on her wrist, and shook his head after checking.
"No, your body isn't at the limit yet" He replied
"Urgh" Ino wasn't exactly tired, as she had a cigarette in her mouth, one that Naruto made
But the feeling of doing physical exercise wasn't something she enjoyed. Though, if not for the cigarette, it would have been near impossible for Naruto to get her to do it, as she'd be panting and running out of breath without it.
As they were running, Naruto also began teaching her the basics of puppet control with chakra strings. He took out a small wooden doll and had her try controlling it as she ran.
*Huff*
"I...I did it!!" Ino smiled when she made the doll in Naruto's hand move fluently
"Good, keep going, try to reduce the strings you have attached to it slowly" Naruto said
Ino nodded, the doll currently had five chakra strings attached to it, and when she removed one, the control she had over it became much more difficult. But overall, her learning speed was quite impressive, though it mostly links to her incredible chakra control.
As Ino got more proficient in controlling the puppets, she gradually forgot that she was even running. If Kankuro was here, he'd be at a loss at how illogical Naruto's training results are, as beginners usually find it hard to move whilst controlling a puppet.
"Say, Na-kun, why did you think of puppets for me?" Ino asked
"I think it suits your clan jutsus, if you can be mobile whilst controlling puppets, you can use them to create openings for your clan jutsus" Naruto replied
"Oh~" Ino nodded, thinking it made sense, but if Inoichi heard this, he'd be in shock
Why? Because both fighting styles, be it the Yamanaka clan jutsus, and the puppet control, both required incredibly high concentration! If one does one, they'd usually not have the additional concentration to do the other!
After a few more hours of training, Naruto had Ino stop running, and sat down. But that wasn't the end of training, right afterwards, he had Ino try a rather strange training.
"Ino, have you learnt the mind clone switch jutsu?" Naruto asked
"Hm? I've practiced a bit, but it's a little advanced, so I'm still trying to get the hang of it" She replied
Naruto nodded
"That's fine, what I want you to focus on is actually the mind clone part, last night, I had someone help me with altering that jutsu" Naruto said calmly
"Huh? Alter the jutsu!? How? And who!?" Ino gasped, she has never heard of anyone altering a clan jutsu before!
Naruto chuckled, how can he tell her that he did so with Orochimaru? They spent the entire night figuring out how to cancel the body switch part of the jutsu.
"Follow my instructions, from this point here, you..." He began explaining the process, and used his own chakra to guide her as she sat down cross legged.
She followed his instructions, and with his chakra as guidance, she slowly cloned her consciousness just like how the jutsu would proceed. But rather than switching bodyies, the consciousness remained in her own body.
She tried to maintain the state of it, however, the moment Naruto's chakra stops channelling, the second consciousness shatters.
"Take your time, this isn't easy to begin with" Naruto smiled
"Mn" She spent hours upon hours, and right when the sun was about to set, she opened her eyes.
She looked around, and everything suddenly seems weird.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Hey (Hey) Na-kun (Na-kun)..." Ino spoke, but every word she says, is as if two people spoke at once.
"Looks like it worked, hm, try saying two different things at once" Naruto said
"Okay (Okay)"
"Hello (Bye)" When she spoke, it sounded like mess as two words were spoken at once
"This is so weird (so weird)"
Naruto chuckled
"Yeah, but now, try controlling the doll" Naruto said
"Okay (Okay)"
Ino reached out her hand, and chakra stings were formed, but strangely...each finger had two strings! She has only ever made one string on each finger before, yet now, it doubled!?
Ten strings attached to the puppet, and when she tried to control it, it was as if she was moving her own limbs, but it was also awkward...
Two consciousness controlling one puppet made it so their controls started to conflict.
"This(this) is(is) so(so) tough(tough)" Ino grumbled, and hearing her own voice double was quite odd.
Naruto smiled, he took out a second doll
"Now, main Ino, control the doll on the right, cloned one, control the one to the left" Naruto said
"Kay (Kay)"
The strings on each finger split up, and now connected to both dolls. As Ino proceeded, her pupils shrunk as her eyes lit up with joy and amazement.
"WOW (WOW)" Both puppets are now controlled with ease, and now that both consciousness has a split task, they no longer conflicted with one another!
"Now, an instruction for the cloned consciousness, do not try to move the body, leave that to the main body, and if the main body falls under illusions or falls unconscious, then take over" Naruto said calmly
Ino's eyes shone brighter with everything he said. It was just too amazing! But Ino wasn't the only one in awe, Naruto was as well. He couldn't believe her talent, to have mastered that jutsu.
'That jutsu was only a theory created by me and Orochimaru, neither of us were able to pull it off, yet she was able to turn theory into reality...she's the real genius' Naruto stared at her, and his heart began beating with pride.
To take something they suspected to only be theoretical, and turning it into a real jutsu, he now understood that Ino's potential has multiplied with the addition of this jutsu.
What does a second consciousness mean? It means she can now have double the thought process and chakra controlling capability! This isn't the end either, once she can handle it, perhaps she can create two, or maybe even three clones of her own consciousness!
'I don't know what her limit will be...but once she masters puppet control, I feel that she will become a one man army'
At the moment, Ino was having a lot of fun controlling two dolls at once. This was something she hadn't expected at all.
"Alright, cancel the cloned consciousness, it eats away at your chakra" Naruto said
"Huh? (Huh?)" Ino stared at him
"It doesn't though (It doesn't though)"
"...WHAT!" Naruto was stunned, it doesn't use up her chakra by much!?
Ino saw the stupor on his face, and giggled
"So~ Did I surprise you, Na-kun?" X2
She grinned as she leaned over with a cheeky grin, but Naruto suddenly grabbed her shoulders
"What about mental strain? Do you feel your mind growing tired, or mild headaches? Any of that sort?" Naruto asked
"Nope (Nope)" Ino grinned
!!!!
He couldn't believe it...this jutsu has no drawbacks? This...it was too amazing! Naruto couldn't control the smile that was growing on his face, and before long, he even broke into laughter.
After confirming there really are no problems, he had her cancel the jutsu and walked her home.
"Once Orochimaru is done with the puppet, I'll have Ino familiarise with it, and start working on mass producing them" He smiled
The sun is now set, and night crept upon the village. As he was walking back, he noticed someone by the village gate. Upon closer inspection, it was two people.
"Sasuke, wh-where are you going?" It was Sakura who faced Sasuke, who returned with an indifferent gaze
"I need to take revenge on the one who killed everyone...this village cannot give me the power to do so" He replied in a low voice
Sakura walked up hesitantly
"B-But-"
"There's no point in trying to convince me" Sasuke said coldly
His words were like blades that cut at her, but she clenched her fists as she stepped closer.
"Sasuke-kun, I won't stop you from taking revenge, but...I just want you to know, I like you, I always have" She said with a sincere look
Sasuke stopped in his tracks for a split second, but continued to walk away
"I don't need your love" He replied, his gaze still filled with a fierce flame of anger and hatred
Sakura saw that he won't be stopped with anything, and desperate to stay with him, she ran up and grabbed his wrist.
"Then, let me go with you, let me help you take revenge!" She said desperately
Sasuke scoffed, and shook off her hand, showing no signs of saying another word to her. In that moment of desperation, she resorted to the last thing she could think of.
"Sasuke...i-if you won't allow it, I-I'll scream, alarming the whole village!" She said with tears filling her eyes.
She didn't want to resort to it, but her unwillingness to see him go was so intense, she was willing to do anything to keep him with her.
Sasuke sighed as he turned around
"Sakura" He said calmly
Seeing him turn around, Sakura saw hope
"Thanks for everything you've done for me" He said sincerely
"I-"
"But this is goodbye" He vanished from her eyes, and before she could react, he appeared behind her, and chopped down on her neck, knocking her out cold.
He glanced at Sakura, then started to head for the gates once more.
Naruto watched all this with Kurama, who has awakened his new found love for something he did back in the chunin exam...
[Oh, what a sweet confession from the pink haired lass, but too bad, the Uchiha has no heart and only ever shows a b*ner to the emotion of hatred!]
[What's this? What a move from the pink haired lass, to join the brat's revenge story! Oh, but it wasn't good enough I'm afraid!]
[Ooh, a retaliation! She's resorting to threats for the love of her life! Ah, what a pity, she is too weak to his words, and lost focus when he said thanks, resulting in a left right good night!]
'You're having fun'
[Oh, it felt great! Hahaha]
Naruto chuckled, Kurama truly has a strange talent for commentary, it wasn't the greatest, but it's filled with enthusiasm.
[Not gonna stop him?]
'Why would I? Not my problem, actually, on that note, I should probably feed Sakura a sleeping pill so she won't wake up for another day, then, a retrieval mission would be pointless since he'll be long gone by the time she informs Tsunade' Naruto's eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands
He knew that once Sakura woke up, she'd inform Tsunade, and she would then have a squad formed to retrieve him, but he didn't want to do that!
For one, he'd need to act weak so the Orochimaru's subordinates could escape with Sasuke, and he already promised Orochimaru he wasn't going to interfere, two, he'd rather spend time helping Ino with her training.
On that note, he ran over, stuffed a pill into her mouth before leaving.
As a result, Sakura indeed woke up a day later, and by the time Tsunade was informed of this matter, she could only sigh that the mission would be impossible now that an entire day has passed since Sasuke's departure.
Tsunade sighed, to have Sasuke become a missing nin the moment she takes the role of Hokage simply puts a bad taste in her mouth. As a result...she drank a bottle of alcohol to cleanse the palate...
*Knock*
"Come in" Tsunade said
After she spoke, Sakura walked in with a resolute look
"Tsunade-sama, I wish to become your apprentice" She said
"Oh? Care you give me a reason?" Tsunade asked
Sakura bit the bottom of her lips
"When Sasuke left...I couldn't even stop him for a few minutes, as I am now, I will never be able to catch up with him, and even bring him back!" She clutched her chest, realising her own weakness when it really mattered.
She couldn't allow such weakness to cloud her any longer, and wanted to improve.
Tsunade revealed a faint smirk
"Well...don't expect me to go easy on you" She chuckled coldly
"Yes, sensei!" Sakura replied
-5 days later, in Orochimaru's lair-
"Welcome, Sasuke, I'm quite glad you could make it" He chuckled as he led Sasuke in
Sasuke looked around, but he didn't seem to care much about the area. His main focus was still the curse mark that Orochimaru had implanted.
"You can make me stronger, right?" He said with a cold glimmer in his eyes
"Of course~" Orochimary smiled
The curse mark was a great temptation for Sasuke, likewise, Sasuke's body is a great temptation for Orochimaru.
'The sharingan...once I take his body, it will be mine' He licked his lips and laughed in his heart
'But first, I need three more years to molt from the current body, before then, I shall make him a perfect host for myself'
"You must be tired, go take a rest, my experiments will begin tomorrow" He said as he led Sasuke to a small room.
Though the room itself wasn't much different to a prison cell, Sasuke had little care for it. All that matters to him is the power he can get from Orochimaru.
*Swoosh*
"Is the puppet done?" Naruto popped up behind Orochimaru after the door to Sasuke's room closed, which gave him quite the fright.
Upon seeing that it was Naruto, he sighed
"Stop popping out of nowhere" He complained, but he then passed a scroll to Naruto
"I've made some adjustments to your designs, consider it a gift"
"Thanks" Naruto received the scroll
"On that note, how much would it cost for you to make a few more, preferably a few that would harmonize well with this one if they were to form a seal or battle formation" Naruto asked as he tucked the scroll away.
Orochimaru's eyes flickered
"I can at most make 3 more puppets, the one you have now focuses mainly on raw power, I can make it so they each have their own specialty" He replied
"Nah, make them more balanced, all rounders if you can, one that focuses on raw power is enough" Naruto replied
"I see"
Naruto stared back at him
"So...what's the cost?"
Orochimaru smiled
"The seal you used to seal the two Hokages I summoned, I wish to study it"
"That's it? Sure, I'll draw a few in your lair if you want and give you the activation method, also, don't try using it on me, I can break out of them easily and have the nine tail bomb your place" Naruto replied
"I'm not as petty as you are" Orochimaru scoffed
"That's for the best" Naruto chuckled
He drew up a few of the seals, some on the walls, some on talismans, and also gave Orochimaru the method of activation. After that, he bid him farewell and vanished from the lair.
"That brat...he really treats this place as his back yard" Orochimaru sighed
He then stared at the seal in his hand as a smile rose to his face
"But that kid's payment methods are always so irresistible, I wish he was born in my generation, then, we'd have met so much sooner" He tucked the seals away and went to start on the puppets once more.
When Naruto returned, he went to his backyard and summoned the puppet, which was massive in size. It stood at three metres tall, and it had arms that were thicker than his own head. The puppet was broad, and standing in front of it made one feel an oppressive feeling.
"Not bad, let's see how the control is" He connected
He linked five chakra threads to the puppet and began moving it. The movement was a little tougher than moving Kankuro's puppets due to the size, but he could feel that the power behind each punch the puppet can send out is immense.
'Kurama, do you think I can withstand a hit directly from this thing?'
[If you have three tails worth of chakra and sage mode, I believe you can shake it off quite quickly]
"Not bad" Naruto smiled
He then tested out how much chakra it would use up on the long run, and the result...was almost nothing! With the core inside the puppet, the only chakra cost was the ones used to create the chakra strings!
Then what did this mean? Ino would be able to create an army of puppets with almost no cost whatsoever in terms of chakra. The only thing she needs to focus on is combat experience and increasing the amount of puppets she can control on her own.
"Interesting thing you got there" Naruto turned to see Jiraiya standing on the wall of his yard
"What do you want?" Naruto asked as he put the puppet back into the summoning scroll
Jiraiya chuckled as he jumped down
"I heard what happened to Sasuke, and wondered, perhaps you'd want to become stronger so you can bring him back" He said
Naruto stared at him blankly
"Um, nah"
"What?"
*Cough*
Naruto shifted his eyes
"I mean, oh no, what ever will I do? Sasuke was tempted to leave the village, I'm so sad" Naruto spoke with an empty tone, almost sarcastic in fact.
"...so you don't care about your teammate?"
Naruto sighed
"Look, if it was when we first met, maybe, he was quite compliant at that time, but ever since he awakened his sharingan, he acts like such a stuck up prick, he would refuse my plans, do everything on his own, and try to pick a fight with me at every turn" Naruto said with a frown
"Uh, I see your point, but now that he's with Orochimaru, he would be growing at a much faster rate, you may find it hard to keep up in the future" Jiraiya replied calmly
His words left Naruto at a loss. Seriously, in comparison, he is actually working together with Orochimaru, whilst Sasuke is a guinea pig, raised to be killed. It's rather obvious who is going to grow further...
Of course, he couldn't say it aloud, but he had no fear that Sasuke would overshadow him in any way...well, he certainly overshadows him in edgy backstory, no one can compare in that regard.
"I'm not afraid of his growth, he won't be able to surpass me" Naruto shook his head and said
"Overconfidence isn't a good thing"
"I'm not overconfident, I'm fully confident that he'll never surpass me" Naruto smiled
Jiraiya sighed, if that is the case, he couldn't force him.
"Alright, I won't disturb you any further then"
"Cya" Naruto waved as he watched Jiraiya leave