#the puppet master jutsu

[sanguine-sand-shinobi]

Once upon a time, there lived a man by the name Chikamatsu Monzaemon. He was a shinobi who loved the theatre. Through practice and with the participation of other shinobi he was able to create strings with his chakra that replaced the strings of his puppets. His dream had come true. His puppet performance was revolutionized as his puppets came to life.

Chikamatsu continued to work with other shinobi and together they learned and created a method of combat using the technique.

Thus the Puppet Master Jutsu was born and the sand village would never be the same.

Chikamatsu would continue building amazing puppets and eventually created a special group of puppets that worked together as a unit.

This is when he made the White Secret Technique: the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets.

These very same puppets were passed down to Granny Chiyo.

These puppets laid waist to whole castles. These puppets even caught off a good majority of Sasori's puppet army.

Hope you enjoy the read.

[aaatsuuu]

The Akatsuki when they find a bug😭

Don't even ask why I'm writing this. I'm bored and I thought it'd be funny💔💔

No tags are really needed. A little domestic, I guess(?)

Screaming and crying

Deidara and Hidan (maybe Itachi. JUST MAYBE) are definitely screaming divas. You'd hear Hidan shrieking over the critter, pleading for Kakuzu to get it off him. Depending on his mood, Kakuzu would either lazily swat it off with his thread or use it to teach Hidan a lesson😭. I feel like Deidara doesn't necessarily hate how the bug looks but how it *feels*. The way he can feel it crawling so lightly drives him crazy, and he's flailing his arms, shrieking, trying to get it off. I also feel like he's the type of guy to associate bugs with uncleanliness. It's even worse if it keeps crawling up on his skin. This guy is SHRIEKING. Sasori would just pick it up with a sigh, shaking his head as he examines it and letting the critter crawl around the wood of his puppet. Anyway, elaborating further on Itachi being the screaming diva, he wouldn't scream, but he'd definitely gasp. He's the type to see a bug and have an internal jumpscare. He'd try his best to hold back his noise in front of others, but if you look closely, you can see his eyes widen for just a split second. He wouldn't be scared. Just get an ick. Hidan definitely gets scared and icky though.

(OK, I know Deidara controls and makes his clay bugs, but I feel like he's just gonna say, "It's different! My beautiful pieces of art aren't some disgusting creepy crawlies!")

Touching the bug

Sasori and Zetsu are definitely the types to just pick up the bug and play with it😭. Black Zetsu wouldn't give a FUCK if it's flying or crawling, or even on him. White would just be like, "Oh, what a cute little creature..." and just examine it out of boredom. Sasori is definitely the type of kid to be playing with those roly-poly bugs. He would probably just think they're interesting and let it crawl all over him, and I can definitely see him using his puppet-master jutsu to fling a bug towards Deidara when he's nagging him LOL. Honestly, Kisame would be the type to touch it, too... idk he's just a goofy guy. He'd definitely find the holographic-looking bugs cool and be like, "Oh hey, Itachi, check this little guy out." I feel like Konan would also like to examine and touch the bug, but it honestly depends. She's definitely the type to play with lady bugs and butterflies, but she hates other bugs.

Kills it

Kakuzu. Definitely. He just does it just because he can and doesn't like them. Like even if it's a small ant, he'd just kill it with his finger or something. I feel like he hates moths since they eat clothes and stuff, "I don't want them near my clothes or money. It'd be a waste." I feel like Tobi's just the type of guy not to kill it because he doesn't like bugs, but just because he's weird😭. He's definitely one of those people you'd see go out of their way to mess up an ant hill. Kakuzu wouldn't really care if it was a nest or what. He'd only kill it if it's like a singular bug or something in his way/area.

Doesn't care

Pain wouldn't really give a damn. There is no need for a God to waste time on such a trivial thing, y'know. However, I feel like he hates flies and maggots since they remind him of his days as a war orphan (I don't need to elaborate further😭💔). I also feel like Itachi wouldn't care, too. I know I lumped him in with the scaredy-cat category, but it really depends on the bug tbh. Like he's cool with butterflies and SOME of the bugs Kisame shows him, but he wouldn't go out of his way for one.

[maboroshi-if]

SNote: Maboroshi is intended for 16+ audiences. Strong Violence and Swearing/Cursing will be in the IF. The warning list will be updated as we continue. Intro Post is still being pulled together, so if there are any questions, let me know!

Maboroshi is an Interactive Fiction Game based in the world of Naruto, however, all events within the story span during the end of the First Shinobi War and the beginning of the Second Shinobi War.

Long ago, many years before you were born, the countries of the world were entrenched in warfare for land. Mighty warlords and noblemen wished to expand their territory; however, blood would need to be given in exchange; Unfortunately, for the people of the land, the blood given as payment was not theirs. Instead, shinobi across the lands sacrificed their lives to fulfill the greedy lord’s wishes. Villages would soon be pillaged, children and women would perish from famine, and demonic creatures would rise from the darkest parts of the world to roam the earth. This would later be known as the Warring States Era. 

Twenty years later, all the infighting, battles, and wars would just...cease to exist. No one knows what caused the wars to stop; many believe that an inner deal was made between Daimyo across the land, while others believe something much more sinister is at play. Regardless, the ninja world seems to have finally settled into peace and harmony.

It has been some years since the Warring States Era ended. Villages across the land have been ushered into peace, and the village of Kirigakure is one of them. 

Having just graduated from Ninja Academy, you're now a Genin placed into your forever squad. Focused on growing stronger and building a name for yourself. You set your sights on becoming the strongest nin in your village, and who knows? Maybe you'll even become Mizukage someday. Before that happens, you'll need to pass the Chunin exam, a test that is said to have painted the very soil underneath your feet red.

Exam preparations are put on hold when rumors of war begin spilling across the peninsula. 

Tonari Yuma, a missing-nin from your village once accused of kidnapping and killing five children from all across the Land of Water, has resurfaced as a chieftain in the small village of Kirostache. 

Proclaiming himself to be the rightful Mizukage of the Land of Water. He wages war against Kirigakure and denounces your village as a town full of traitors united in dethroning the Daimyo by the usage of dark means. Your father calls it foolish. There is no way that the Water Daimyo would believe such a basis. 

Or so he hopes.

A conspiracy is brewing in the Land of Water, and you will soon learn that life is not as idealistic as you believed.

Fully customize your character!

I MEAN IT; fully customize them! Choose your 

Hairstyle and type

Hair color is locked to red, but you have the option to pick different shades of red, 

Skin color, 

How you appear to others, 

Eye color, 

Ninja outfit + civilian outfit

Name + Nickname

Gender, 

Genital choice + Body Shape will come in Part 2

Pronouns

Height

Weapon (you can’t use your chakra ALL the time)

Birth Season

Backgrounds are locked based on your chosen clan

More to come soon...

Choose one of three clans to be your paternal lineage

Tsuchigumo: Become Spidewo-(man)! or not. 

Yuki: Possess the Ice Release Kekkai Genkai

Shirogane: Puppet Masters who originate from the land of Wind

Become a master of either Taijutsu, Genjutsu, or Ninjutsu

Or master a combination of all three!

Romance 8 ROs

Three are available for Part 1

Four ROs will be introduced in Part II. The last is a secret RO

Pass the chunin exam!

Failing means your death, so make sure you are ready when you take it.

Complete a bunch of D-rank and C-rank missions; you're only a genin, after all.

Learn forbidden jutsu or stick to a path of purity (aka, do nothing fun!)

Meet some fan favorites as they were when they were alive!

Determine your fighting style: are you more brutal, or do you have finesse?

Or maybe you don't want to fight at all!

Become a Jinchuurki? It could happen 

Choose to become a medic-nin if it suits your fancy!

Izuna Uchiha (M): The Rival A boy shrouded in mystery, he is a constant reminder of your first C-rank mission and what went so terribly wrong. You’ve tried your hardest to make peace with him. But it feels impossible. He's a stranger in your tight-knit village and has found himself to be treated like an outsider. You would feel bad for him; if he weren’t so smug. Replacing one of your squadmates, he has shown an aptitude for warfare and finesse that makes you weary. How can a child who has grown up in a world of peace be so ruthless? Get to know him and you’ll unfortunately find out. 

 Izuna possesses an aptitude for Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu, making himself a triforce. And it makes no sense to you, considering that you hardly see the boy practice! It will be interesting to see how he grows. If he makes it.

Chihiro Inoue (F): The Dreamer

One of your squadmates, she is a loud and outspoken girl with large dreams and big ambitions. Working to become the first female Mizukage, Chihiro often displays headstrongness and an overzealousness that can often get her into trouble. Luckily for her, fortune always seems to work in her favor.

Chihiro possess an extremely high aptitude for Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, calling herself a self-proclaimed weapons master. She gives as good as she gets, and has no problem getting a little dirty.

Tanui Hozuki (M or F): The Jokester

A jokester, they seem to have no desire to become a ninja; but with all that chakra they possess, they are given no choice. Apart of Squad Six, it makes no sense why you seem to run into them all the time, but you find their presence comforting.

You know nothing about their fighting style; only hearing whispers of the ‘wicked’ things that they have summoned from the adults in your village. 

Shinichi Hoshigaki (M): The Lost One/Secret RO

The second member of your original squad. Shinichi is the complete opposite of what you would expect from the Hoshigaki clan. Known for being fierce and aggressive, Shinichi is the exact opposite of the savage reputation that precedes them. Soft and friendly, Shinichi is a gentle soul and abhors the act of violence. But when push comes to shove, he will protect himself and his friends with the vengeance of Asura. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to save him. Or was it?

Shinichi possesses a high aptitude for the sword. Almost on par, if not matching Chihiro in strength and brutality. He favors the Water Release Jutsu; typical for someone coming from his clan. 

Akane Uzumaki: your mother is revered as the five-tailed beast's holy priestess/vessel. Once labeled as one of the strongest Kunoichi in your village, she has settled into domestic life and has left behind a life of adventure. She seems content; however, you catch the sorrowful expression on her face whenever she looks at you.

[[Chooseable Name]]: Your father is a distant cousin of the Water Daimyo, considered a war hero for his actions in a rebellion that lasted almost ten years. He has been given the highest spot in the village as "supporting Kage," only second to the Mizukage himself. 

Hanabi Sugawara: Your sensei; is not what you had expected in a teacher. Seeming to coddle your small team of three more than teaching you. You feel that she is hiding something, something that could put everyone in danger.

DEMO (Coming soon) || RO Appearances || Discord (Maybe)

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (part 3/?)

Part 1 Part 2

Dear Gaara,

I'm back in the village. You were right-- it was Tsunade that Pervy Sage was talking about. She's an old hag, but really strong. Oh, and Pervy Sage's name is Jiraiya. He's the one who taught me how to summon toads! He's supposed to be a legendary ninja, but he's really just a pervert.

Orochimaru-bastard was trying to get at Granny Tsunade too. We had to fight him, and it was my second time almost getting eaten by a giant snake. It was so gross!! But on the bright side, I mastered this awesome new jutsu that Pervy Sage taught me. It's called 'rasengan'. The old hag thought it was too tough for me to do, but I bet her I could master in in a week AND I DID! How awesome am I right now? I want to try it against your sand next time we see each other.

What I didn't have time to say last time is that your dad sucks. A lot. I know he's dead and everything and you're not supposed to say bad things about dead people, but what you said about him just makes me so angry!! How is it your fault that your mom died when you were born? Babies can't do anything about stuff like that. And it's not like you signed up for Shukaku either. What a jerk!

Bushy Brows is doing better now that Granny is here. She's doing a surgery for him, and then he can really get back on his feet. Everyone is doubting that he can be a shinobi again, but they're wrong. He won't stop until he's back in fighting shape, I know it. Sasuke woke up today, but he hasn't said anything yet. That bastard better fix his attitude soon, because he's upsetting Sakura-chan with his sulking.

I don't know why those guys are after us. Were you able to get your sensei to look into it? Also, how are things going with your siblings? It's good that they don't want to hit you. Family shouldn't hurt each other. You asked if they could be blamed for resenting you and I think... I don't know, kinda? I think they should know that your dad was so unfair to you. Even if you were scary, they're still your family, and if they weren't gonna give you a chance then why should you give them a chance, you know? But it sounds like they're giving you one now?

Sincerely, Naruto Uzumaki

PS: It doesn't count as you kicking my ass because you're the one who backed down! :p

Naruto Uzumaki,

I would like you to elaborate on the giant snake.

It is astounding to me that you refer to two of the measurably greatest ninja of our time as "old hag" and "Pervy Sage." I suppose the saying that familiarity breeds contempt is true-- though you don't seem to regard them with contempt. Tsunade has reached out to the council here in the Sand, and work is underway to repair the relationship between our two villages.

I am interested in this new jutsu. Your repertoire seemed somewhat limited when we fought, though it does not seem to be a problem for you with the amount of chakra you have. And, of course, I should not speak too much- I use my sand almost exclusively in battle.

I do not know Uchiha well, but I know his eyes. I know what silence means with them. Be careful with him, Naruto.

My siblings are... well. Giving me a chance, as you say. Kankuro has made a point of asking me to train with him. Well, he says train with him, but it is more him demonstrating his puppets to me. I have smashed many of them in the past, but I no longer wish to do so. He is very proud of them, and he should be-- ninja puppets require fine chakra control, and he is very skilled. I never noticed how skilled before. It is as though I am seeing him with new eyes. Temari has introduced me to her ferret summons, and has taken to preparing juice for Kankuro and I when we return from training. Kankuro complains that she is treating us like children, but is always happy for his juice. He contradicts himself like this often, I've noticed.

I am strangely grateful for your sentiments regarding my father. It is probably best that you do not speak them to my siblings, however.

Does Rock Lee hate m I had Temari tell Baki that she'd heard rumors about the Akatsuki, and the council is investigating. No one will know where she actually heard the rumors from. Now that our villages are collaborating, hopefully we will be sharing information freely as it comes.

I went for a walk as the sun set last night, and came to a noodle shop. The owner saw me and closed the windows. I have frightened her before. A child's ball landed at my feet. I saw him looking for it. I kicked it back towards him, and he thanked me. His mother pulled him away, but did not stop him from waving goodbye. Is this hope? I do not want to keep fostering fear within my village, but even my presence terrifies most of them. I cannot help but wonder- what would you do in place, Naruto Uzumaki?

Sincerely, Gaara of the Desert

PS: What does " :p " mean?

Dear Gaara,

The giant snakes are from Orochimaru. He's a FREAK with them. The first time was in the Forest of Death during the Chunin exam- that evil bastard had snuck in and attacked us. That's when he gave Sasuke that curse mark on his neck. The second time was when I was with Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade. I broke a bone that time-- the snakes were so, so, so big. Like bigger than buildings! And slimy inside.

Sasuke has been acting kind of weird since the curse mark thing, and now he's acting even weirder. I guess it kind of makes sense. This isn't classified or anything so I can tell you- one of the Akatsuki that attacked me was Sasuke's brother, who also killed his whole clan! Having that happen when he was little is a big part of why Sasuke is such a jerk. But I understand him, you know? He was left alone. And Itachi's sharingan eye is different from Sasuke's and scrambled his head and that's why Granny Tsunade had to help him.

Sasuke is angry about Itachi, is what I'm saying. Even more than usual. If I can get him to sit and talk to me, I think maybe I should tell him about why his brother was after me. Sasuke and Sakura-chan don't know about Kyuubi, no one my age does. I guess I'm kind of scared to tell them. Even though they're my teammates and I trust them, I just don't want them to look at me different. But Sasuke is so angry. Is that what you meant by being careful with him? Sasuke wouldn't ACTUALLY hurt me, you know? Not any more than I would hurt him if we fought!

You use a lot of big words-- I had to look up "repertoire". Also- hey! There's lots of different uses for shadow clones, you know. I don't think it should count as limited. Also learning new jutsu is kind of hard for me, so I just try to get really really food at the ones I am good at. Besides, you also saw my summoning jutsu! And you didn't see my Sexy Jutsu.

Also, I don't feel contempt at all. I just tell it like it is. I had to look that one up too.

About people being afraid of you- I think a lot of the time, people are scared of things that are bigger than them, or things that they don't understand. People hate that sometimes. Lots of people in the village hates me, and it used to be lots more when I was younger. But little by little I'm getting people to see me. It all started with Mr. Ichiraku at the Ramen stand. Then Sasuke and Iruka-sensei. Just show them that you're not a monster. And to show them, you have to let them see you. I guess if I were you, I'd be pretty hurt. But I would go back to the noodle shop and buy noodles. Or maybe go find another place where they let me in and eat there. Then people can see that I'm not so bad! If you're not so mysterious, there's not a lot to be scared of.

There are some people who like mysterious. Like all the girls who think Sasuke is cute because they aren't around him enough to know that he's an asshole under those cheekbones.

Sincerely, Naruto Uzumaki

PS: :p is me sticking my tongue out! I wanted you to know since you can't see my face. I hope I can see your face again sometime!

Part 4

[primnroses]

Hello! I’m resending this question because I’m not sure if my prior request sent– You’ve stated in a post of yours before that Sakura is a taijutsu master/master of taijutsu. Can you provide canon evidence for this? Whether it be from the novels, manga, databooks? And also, would you say Sakura has the best taijutsu (out of women) within the Konaha 11/12? Thank you!

(Yes I received your ask but it's been a while since I opened Tumblr. I'll try to be more active.)

Can you provide canon evidence for this?

If you're looking for a explicit text saying "master of taijutsu" then there is none. I believe you can find more information here with more examples.

The closest thing I can offer you is the Boruto manga stating she has a 5/5 stars in "unarmed hand-to-hand combat", which is taijutsu without weapons. That's a perfect score.

Now in the manga, it's never explicitly said, but her proficiency in alluded to several times.

There are two types of taijutsu in Naruto: Strong Fist and Gentle Fist. Sakura's taijutsu is considered Strong Fist because it inflicts visible and physical damage.

Now her taijutsu isn't just external damage, it's complete destruction, that's why it's called "monster strength". She relies on one-shotting people or things, and defeating her enemies with a single blow.

This is from the first databook.

Sakura's taijutsu has proved to be one of the most effective in the series together with the Gentle Fist via Neji's proficiency and the 8 Gates.

Her strength made it possible to destroy Hiruko, destroy the third Kazekage's puppet, several other puppets and manhandle Sasori during their fight. It's not just thanks to her medical ninjutsu and poison knowledge that they defeated Sasori, it was also Sakura's combat skills.

Her punch destroyed a Pain's summon in one blow and saved Tami.

It was her strength that broke Kaguya's horn, to this day the only female character that punched a goddess and destroyed a body part.

Her combination of dodging and successive moves defeated Toneri's crab and his multiple puppets.

Her combination of taijutsu and medical ninjutsu defeated Kido Tsumiki, a man with jinchuriki powers.

She destroyed Shin Uchiha's organs with one hand, and later she fought him in a 1vs1 despite having multiple MS that can read and predict her moves. The fight didn't last enough to proclaim a victor.

Her punches are so accurate by adulthood that she can send a shockwave to shatter structures to pieces.

All this ignoring that Sakura has never fought going all out. Never fought with the seal active which enhances her moves and provides instant regeneration from any blow, or used Katsuyu in battle with the acid.

I'm also ignoring that she fought 3 Oto-nin at the same time, alone with no sleep and later fought Ino knowing she was the weakest kunoichi in the room and actually got advantage in hand-to-hand in the first couple moves.

Her signature jutsu is a taijutsu move that requires precision to be effective, otherwise it won't work. But taijutsu isn't just punching, it's also being able to block opponent's attacks and counterattack. Sakura also learnt evasion skills by dodging the world's strongest kunoichi's fist. That's impressive. She also demonstrated that skill.

You have all these facts in the Sasori fight plus the statement of being stronger than Tsunade.

Would you say Sakura has the best taijutsu (of the women) within the Konoha 11/12?

Yes. Unlike the others, Sakura has fights and moments to back this statement that the rest don't. It's because Sakura has effective taijutsu that has defeated, destroyed or damaged people or objects I mentioned before that proves it.

There really is no room for comparison.

Hinata has Gentle Fist, but we only see its accuracy with Neji, and those are feats that can't be applied to her. TLF never once was effective, her Air Palm was only effective with Neji's aid and with KCM cloak, and her 8T64P can only take one enemy (all these examples happened during the war when everyone was at their manga prime). No feats during TL movie, she dodged a couple of puppets but didn't fight anything. In Sasuke Shinden she took down one of those zombi humans brainwashed by Chino that couldn't fight back, and it's said taking one down was too hard on her. She is later stated to be a "master of the Gentle Fist" by adulthood when she's retired.

Tenten is a weapon-based taijutsu user that actually uses her aim and proficiency in armed hand-to-hand to fight, but she had no screentime to back these claims. She basically uses weapons to land attacks. No fights in the BP or adulthood. The only problem with Tenten is that she has significantly less exposure that the others, but has combat and defensive skills.

Ino has zero individual combat skills in 1vs1 even stated by herself. Her taijutsu went from 1 to 1.5 in the timeskip and that was the level she had in the Chūnin Exams when she fought the weakest person in the examination. The only one worth mentioning would be when she used two Zetsu to distract Asuma, but 2vs1 couldn't entertain him for long. In Sakura Hiden it's said she backed Sai up with taijutsu but it's not described what she was doing exactly or if she actually hit anyone, only that she quickly got overwhelmed. I think there's an episode of Boruto where she literally kicks and punches the air that people interpret as being proficient in taijutsu. She's a support-type.

[tealmagicmoon]

I kinda called this arch ngl

I have been predicting that Puppet Master WAS Puppet, I didn’t predict the hole twin absorbed twin during pregnancy.

This theory started off as a crack theory but then grew legs to stand on lol. My theory was that due to the show showing us that Puppets power IS her, it was linked to her subconscious and what does Puppet love watching? Anime.

NSP boosts negative emotions and agony gives ‘life’ to those who’s gone though extreme pain. So with Puppet guilt mixed with the pain and betray left lingering in her dimension creating something like the Puppet Master suddenly became not so implausible.

The Puppet Master was linked to Puppet power because it was linked to her negative emotions, there for her subconscious, there for her power.

I also predicted that the way this was gonna be resolved was with good old talk no jutsu since it’s in VR and it’s hard to create fight since in VR especially heavily magic ones but also because this show loves making flawed characters who are relatable. That’s why it kinda hurts when they get hurt (or get consequences smacked in their face). To have a character like Puppet not see any sort of accountability and change despite her calling herself out many times wouldn’t feel good to me.

[samasmith23]

Interesting! I'll admit that I don't remember any stories where that took place, so how exactly did Mystique poison others simply through touch? Was it through knives or daggers that were dipped in poison (similar to how the Puppet-Master Justu users in Naruto coated all of their puppet's hidden weapons in deadly liquid poison), or was it through some sort of other means?

What did Raven expect when she tried to punk to Ororo?

[freigeistundanderes]

Red Thread of Fate (Part 1)

Legend has it, there is an invisble red thread that connects us to those we are destined to meet. Regardless of time, place or circumstances. The thread my stretch or tangle, but it will never break

English is NOT my mother tongue so please overlook some grammar mistakes and enjoy the story and be nice :) Thaaaaaaaank you :)

"Give it back!" 

He just saved this woman from a bunch of scavengers. They had been in this area for a few weeks, and Hashirama told him to take care of it. He wasn't bored enough to do it until today. 

Lucky for this ungrateful woman, he came to her rescue. Those raiders were about to violate her. Still… she didn't seem to be very thankful about it. Instead, she spent the last minutes shouting at him.

That was new

While he attempted to save that woman's life, she lost her necklace, and he picked it up. It was strange-looking, like a raw crystal that looked freshly broken out of a giant block of crystals. It was light blue and edged onto a small black chain necklace. 

"Give it back to me! That's my last warning!"

She was so determined that he gave it back. He had never met another human who talked carelessly to him as she did. 

He looked back at the woman. She was dressed in all black and light clothes. She wasn't carrying any weapons with her, but beneath those airy clothes, you can never be sure. 

Most importantly, she wasn't carrying any form of identification with her; he couldn't tell if she was an enemy or just some random stupid woman. 

But what he could tell was she wasn't afraid of him

Not a bit 

No fear in her voice or eyes 

That was rare

It amused him a bit 

"Enough is enough!" she shook her head in disbelief, stepped back from him, and put her hand on her hip. "I was so nice and asked twice, but you are like a donkey!" She started to insult him. 

Now, the Crystal in his hands started to glow like the flame of a candle in the wind. It was so light that he needed to close his eyes and let go of the Crystal. The intensity of the light nearly consumed him, and he needed to take some steps back, away from it. 

But a voice spoke to him before he could open his eyes again. A voice he knew too well even though he hadn't heard it in years—a voice of someone he loved so dearly and lost so brutally. 

"Long time no see, Brother."

It was Izuna's voice.

In disbelieve, he thought he must be wrong about it 

Izuna died

Years ago

It could not be him 

"Izuna," his voice was calm. Was it a Genjutsu she was using? Bringing him back to the most painful time of his life? No. He was the master of Genjutsu´s he would have noticed. It was something else he had never seen or heard about before. 

When the light got weaker, he saw his brother. He hadn't aged a day since his death. He looked the same and wore the same clothes—a dark blue Kimono with an old black armor over it. 

Out of instinct, he looked to the spot where his deathly wound had been. There was nothing, not even damaged clothes. 

How could that be? 

But…

Izunas eyes were different.

He saw his brother's black eyes and how he smiled at him, but there was no life behind his eyes. They were dead, just looking at him as if a puppet was looking at him. It was strange because Izuna was always so emotional and light-hearted. Never made for war or fighting but for being alive and happy. This was strange, but somehow, it was not because Izuna died in his arms. 

"You look good, brother. Strong and healthy! Older - you aged well," he spoke to him. There was also no emotion in his voice. It was Izunas voice, but it was empty. "And I also can see your Mangekyou got a fascinating form! I always wondered how it would look like with my eyes." 

"What?" Madara shook his head. This situation was so odd and strangely disgusting to him. Izuna was in front of him, but it couldn't be. 

"I told you to give back what belonged to me. I asked. Twice. Nicely." The woman's voice was sharp and cut through his thoughts. 

It was her Jutsu 

What had she done to his brother? 

"You—" Madara's voice got darker, like an angry dog ready to attack. "Madaraaaaa—" Izuna tried to calm him down by raising his hands. "Please calm down," he nodded and smiled. 

His facial expression was too empty, but his words made him feel this old pain again. How? Just how? 

"Just give her back her Crystal. She's very… obsessive about them." "Obsessive?!" the woman clapped back at Izuna, which made him smile slightly as if she had proved what he had just said. "You are," Izuna said, looking back at the woman. "I am not." "You are," Izuna smiled and turned back to Madara. 

"Gosh, you look like you just saw a ghost," Izuna joked and shrugged his shoulders. "Well … I think you did, kind of." Izuna took some steps closer to Madara and picked up the Crystal from the ground. 

"How?" Madara nearly whispered the words to Izuna, who just continued to smile. "Well," he raised an eyebrow and returned to the woman to hand over the Crystal to her. "It's complicated," Izuna tried to answer him but looked at the woman as if he needed her approval for what he was about to say. The woman's face got out of control, and in disbelief when she threw her hands in the air. "Of course – tell him everything you know!" the sarcasm couldn't be missed. 

Of course, Izuna couldn't tell Madara what he knew. He couldn't tell him anything if she wasn't allowing him to do it. But still, he wanted to spend some time with his brother. Besides, they needed to go to the village he was wearing the headband of, so… 

"Konoha – that's the name of the village you and Hashirama founded?" "We made peace shortly after you died," Madara explained, but she was still unsure of the situation. Izuna nodded and turned around towards the black-haired woman. "That's where we are heading. Asuka – this is the easiest way. We need an ally." "Sure, but not him!" she pointed at Madara, which led Izuna to a smirk and a head shake. "I cannot promise it will get better than my own brother. I trust him; you should, too." Izuna tried to talk some sense into the woman, which seemed to work. 

"Fine. So may it be. We will form a terminable alliance." 

"No" 

"What do you mean by no?"

"I do not know you, either, what kind of Jutsu this is, and I will not endanger the Village," Madara explained in a stony voice and ice-cold facial expression. 

"He got a point." Izuna nodded, which made Asuka even more furious. 

"If the circumstances had been different, his head would roll on the floor, parted from his body," she whispered sharply between her teeth while massaging her temples. 

She was on the edge of sanity, with Izuna being sassy and Madara annoying. She could not imagine what it was like when both brothers were alive. God bless their parents because those two must have driven them crazy. 

"Fine." Asuka was groaning in mental exhaustion. 

"Asuka Noro, that's my name. There is no need to introduce yourself—you are known all over town," she said fast and with a trenchant undertone.

"Can we go now?" 

"No!"

"Why not?"

"There are still things left to be explained(!)."

"There are no" 

"There ARE!" 

"Shouldn't you be more grateful that your brother is…. Well?" 

"Well? He died"

"Technically, he is still dead, so nothing changed, but he is flourishing, if you want to call it that."

"Flourishing?" 

"Strong as an ox." 

"He died. He should not be…. Here"

"Well, he is! You should be content." 

"What I am asking-" Madara groaned in exhaustion and took a deep breath. Never had it been this intense to discuss with a female bevor. Never. Ever. 

This woman was quick on her tonged, and the lack of respect and fear towards him wasn't making things easier. If the circumstances were different and this shrew wouldn't be so stubborn, he might have enjoyed it. 

But he didn't

And his patience was running out! 

Meanwhile, Izuna was just standing there like an unimportant side node, which he didn't complain about. Asuka and Madara needed to figure this out independently, but he thought they had forgotten about him being there. 

Asuka was very stubborn, like a donkey, but she found the perfect counterpart in Madara. His brother was very similar yet somewhat different. 

Still, it was funny to watch

"Answer my questions."

"Why would I do that?" 

"You will see," his voice darkened even more, and his eye formed into the Mangekyou Sharingan. But, contrary to usual, it had a different effect. 

"Oh no—now you're trying to put me into a Genjutsu? Poignant, but please, try." Asuka shrugged her shoulders and stared right into his eyes. No fear—she was just staring down into his eyes as nobody ever did before. 

People usually fall to their knees and beg for mercy instead of just gazing into his eyes. This never happened, bevor. Not even Tobirama and Hashirama were that stupid during their wartime. 

"Okay, enough." Izuna needed to step in; he was afraid they would start fighting. "Asuka, give him a little leap of faith. Otherwise, an alliance cannot work." Izuna tried to encourage her, which was a little complicated. Asuka was usually not very trusting, and Madara needed to put more effort into it now. There was a reason why Izuna always did those kinds of negotiations back in the day. 

"Fine," she growled at him like a moody street cat who had been betrayed. "Will you grant us entrance to the village?" "Depends." "Depends….?!" "Answer my question first, and we will see." "We will see---- you know if you decide not to take us in there, I will let Izuna kill you." "Try." Now, it was his turn to be audacious. "Oh, I will," she said, getting mouthy back. 

"Oh lord…" Izuna sighed, drained by this conversation. It was like watching two peacocks fight over who had the prettier fathering. 

"Nobody will get killed here." Izuna stood his hands on his hips and looked from Asuka to Madara. "This is childish, and you two know it. Please behave like adults," he intervened. "You two are annoying when you are doing this," he added, taking a deep breath. "Keeping it short because nobody has time for this ostentation --- Asuka Noro is a member of an ancient Clan, which is way older than ours, brother. Being here now is part of her special Kekkei Genkai." "Great, Izuna! Really! Why don't you tell him all the dark and deep secrets?" Asuka rolled her eyes and crossed her arms above her chest. 

"Ancient Clan? Never heard of it." 

"A book could be filled with things the vigorous Madara Uchiha doesn't know." Asuka rolled her eyes and resigned. 

"But it's true, my Clan is an old, not very well-known Clan. And my Kekkei Genkai contains…. Some sort of shamanism." 

"Shamanism?" 

"Or how would you call it to summon ghosts from the past?" she raised an eyebrow but didn't seem very pleased by what she had to reveal about herself.

"And that's all I will tell you. Take it or leave it."

"I take it." Madara nodded. 

That was not enough information, but it was all he would get now. And as long as he didn't know more about her and her Kekkei Genaki, he would probably lose a fight against her. 

So he needed more information and could punish her for the disrespect. 

"Why Konoha?"

"I got a message from an old acquaintance of my father. There is something in your village that does not belong there, right? Like a sickness?" 

"There is." Madara nodded. 

This sickness occurred a few weeks ago; nobody can heal - not even Hashirama himself. 

It was a sickness that turned the blood vessels black and was killing people from the inside. After some autopsies of already deceased patients, it was noticed that all the organs turned black, too. They became rigid and stopped working slowly. It was a long and painful death. 

It was kept from knowing where it came from and how it was spread.

"And you can heal it?" 

"That's why I am here – to find out."

"What can you do that Hashirama couldn't."

"Like I said, a book could be filled with things you don't know." 

"You think you can manage to heal it?" 

"I will try." 

"Good," Madara nodded. Children of his own Clan also died of this mysterious sickness. He did not care about the rest of the village but his Clan. He wanted this thing to be gone. 

"But you cannot simply enter."

"I cannot?" 

"We are at wartimes. You need the required documents."

"Required Documents…" 

"Yes…. Except-"

"Except what?" 

"Except for cases of espousal with residents of the village." 

"Espousal, of course." 

"These are the rules."

"Of course they are."

"If you do not want my help, try to enter yourself and see what happens."

"Oh no—how could I question Madara Uchiha's true intentions? Sure, my beloved finance, we do it your way." Asuka rolled her eyes and walked past the Uchiha. 

Rules were rules 

And since she needed to give him more information to get her the required documents, it needed to be done in a dowdy way. 

But also….

Asuka was interesting, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it without Hashirama interfering. 

"We head to the village now. Don't try anything stupid." 

"I already did by choosing you as an ally in this." Asuka rolled her eyes and walked past the Uchiha. She knew which direction to take from here; he was just a pretty side decoration of the path. 

Pretty 

But hella bothersome 

As Asuka walked past him, the wind was carrying her toward him. It was delicate yet so unique that she had it as her own

Wisteria – sweet but slightly spicy 

"Have you put down roots? Hurry up so we can end this act as soon as possible." Her voice was everything else but sweet and slightly spicy. It was a harsh and sharp tone, as someone would crack the whip. 

Yeah, he should hurry. 

Because nobody in the entire village would believe that he got a jade, like that, as his future wife

Nobody 

Not even Hashirama 

And that idiot believed everything

When they arrived at the village, it was already late evening, and the full moon was hanging about the village like a lantern. 

He never noticed how bright he was until today. 

Standing in front of Konoha's tall walls, Asuka stopped and slowly looked up. The gate was massive. If it ever was closed, could it even be closed? It was impressive. Asuka heard about the great Shinobi villages that started to form a few years ago. Clans in similar regions made peace contracts and decided to work together. 

It was a good idea at its core. But some clans could not—never ever—live in peace together. Uchiha and Senju were one of those clans, so it was imposing that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha managed to keep their relative Clan under control and manage to be in this small space together. 

Impressive 

Or Stupid 

Riotously, how close those two things are

"Come," Madara stepped closer to the gate and turned to wait for her. "Nobody will ask questions if you enter with me, so you can work." "Sure," she nodded and closed the gap between them. 

Since it was already late evening, just a few people were still on the streets. They were primarily drunk people trembling out of bars and some retailers cleaning up their stores for tomorrow. Nobody really paid good attention to them; they turned away from each other and started whispering things to each other, like talking shadows protected by the dark. 

Asuka caught some phrases they were mumbling, like "Ghost of Uchiha" or "Evil shadow." Clearly, the villagers were not talking about her. She even thought that they didn't even notice her existence. After they passed, the people hurried up their work and nearly ran away. 

The Uchiha clan wasn't very known for its good-hearted war actions but rather for its lack of mercy. But which Clan really showed mercy in times of war? None. Not even the Senju, who had killed as many people as the Uchiha. But she had noticed from people's sayings that the Uchiha were more feared than the Senju. Funny, actually…. She could tell the people the actual dark secrets of the Senju nobody talked about. 

"The hospital." Madara stopped in front of a white building and stepped aside. "The surviving patients are in here. We burned the dead ones," he explained as she nodded. "How many children?"

"Too many" 

"I understand." 

She walked past Madara and entered the Hospital. Even though she had never been here, she knew where to go. A disgusting rotten smell came from one direction. She believed nobody, but her could smell it because Madara did not seem bothered by it. 

But just by the smell of it, she knew what I could be that made those people sick. No wonder Hashirama could not heal them. 

She continued to follow the smell until it was so bad that she was on the edge of vomiting. This was the smell of pure evil, which was nested in a human's body and ate it alive. She had smelled it before, but this time, it was worse.

"What is it?" Madara noticed her hesitant and heavy breathing. Some sweat pearls were on her forehead, which hadn't been there before. She also swallowed a lot of times, which he only knew from people who were close to throwing up. Also, her skin got a little bit more pale. "The smell," she waved off and tried to catch herself a little before entering the room with the patients. 

"The smell?" He wasn't smelling anything but some dried herbs and sick people.

After a few deep breaths in and out, Asuka opened the door where the patients were resting. 

It was 3 people lying in the room. Two adults and one small child with black hair. It was a young girl, not very old – maybe 10 years of age. She was lying next to the window, where the silver light of the moon was falling onto her weak body. From afar, Asuka could already see her skin's black veins and dark spots. She was skinny, and the bones on her hands and face were noticeable. Malnourished. Her chest was lifting and sinking heavy and fast as if she couldn't get enough air. The sweat pearls on her forehead were reflecting the moonlight. She was a breathing corpse, not alive but also not dead. 

Asuka didn't need to go closer to understand what happened here. It was simple, at least for her. She had seen something like this before, but this was better. It was a Curse. Someone had put a curse on this village, and now it was eating itself through the bones and flesh of its villagers. Like it was eating this little girl alive. 

A horrible way to die

"Asami," Madara was whispering her name and walked over to her. She was probably a child of his Clan. That must have been why he was so worried. Still, he must know that the child was basically already dead. Asuka observed how he slowly approached her gently. He took off the gloves from one of his hands and put the back of his hand on her forehead – probably to measure if she had a fever. 

He shook his head and refilled the water glass next to her on the small table – not that she would have had the strength to drink something. There was also a little vase with some wild-picked flowers.

Did Madara pick those flowers? 

Woken up by the soft and light touch of his hand, the child slowly opened her eyes. "Madara-sama…." Her voice was thin, shaky, and very quiet. "How do you feel?" "Worse," she was close to crying. The poor little girl was dying from the inside. 

Madara started talking to her to distract her from her pain. He even tried to make jokes to make her laugh a little bit. She must be a child of his Clan; otherwise, he wouldn't be so concerned about her well-being. 

Asuka did not interfere in their little interaction. There was nothing that she could do for the child anymore. Well… maybe there was something that could be considered to be an act of kindness. People who get eaten by curses suffer unimaginable pain – no battle wound could ever come close to this. Relieving the child from its pain was the last thing that could be done for her. But obviously, Madara wasn't yet ready to do that yet. 

Asuka looked at the child, who didn't seem present. She was even more malnourished than Asuka thought. The bad, rotten smell was coming from her, she must ha. She offered the longest of the people in this room. The other two – grown people—  weren’t smelling that bad. 

"She was healthy a week ago," Madara said when he saw how Asuka was just staring down at the child. "It's not a sickness" Asuka shook her head and grabbed the hand of Asami. The little girl was so powerless that her hand felt like a lifeless doll. Asuka turned the palm of her hand up, and with her other hand, she stroked the lower side of her arm up to her elbow. The veins started to pulse, and the hand started to twitch. But this didn't cause any pain to Asami. It simply couldn't anymore. Even if Asuka finds a cure right now, this child is lost. The damage was done, and she was about to die soon. The only thing that could be done for her was to put her to a nice cozy sleep to spare her the last couple of hours in pain. She was too weak to stay awake anymore and had fallen asleep again. 

"What is it?" 

"A curse" 

"A curse? Do not fool me." 

"I do not. Curses aren't just part of old tales to scare children. They are genuine, and they can be very dangerous." 

"How did a curse come in here?"

"Someone spoke it."

"Than…. Break  it!" 

"I will try, but I cannot help her anymore. But I can give her relief so she doesn't have to suffer anymore. A sweet relief, I promise." Asuka nodded and grabbed the blue Crystal around her neck. 

She wanted to call for Izuna so he could capture her in a Genjutsu and make her forget the pain and fall asleep peacefully. 

"No. I will do it." He shook his head and interrupted Asukas's action. He grabbed Asamis's hand to wake her up once more. 

Madara twisted his eyes into the Sharingan and made her look into them. She was surprised for a second, but then her face turned apathetic with a decent smile. 

A few minutes later, Asami stopped breathing, and she was dead. 

"A curse?" Madara asked again and looked up to Asuka, who just nodded. "Curses do not exist!" his voice expressed anger. Of course, there was; he had just lost a child of his Clan to something he didn't even know existed. "They do. A lot of them exist, actually. Not all of them are as deadly as this one, but they exist. Someone has put a curse on this village. For now, it's just a few people as I see it, but it will grow until it has consumed every soul living here," Asuka explained calmly. 

It must have been hard to wrap your head around something you thought was a fairy tale for so long. Yes, curses existed – all of that existed, but they existed in the most profound and darkest part of the shadows in this world. People would have blamed it on the war even if it had crawled to the surface. 

There was no better time for curses than a war. They kept themselves alive with the hate, evil, anger, and sorrow of the people. It was like a feast for them. 

But 

This one was different. Someone who understood their work and nourished themselves must have spoken a strong curse.

Someone like her 

"You can take this…. Curse …. Away from here?" 

"I can try." 

"I need more than trying!" 

"It's not that easy, but I will put effort into it. I hereby promise I will do everything in my knowledge and power to relieve the village from that!" 

"That's all you can give me? No certainty?" 

"The only thing certain in this world is death himself." 

"Then I take it. And I will take you by your word."

"Good, you can!"

Madara did what he had to do with the corpse of Asami. He wanted to give her some last minutes of respect before he would burn her like they burned the others. She will still get a gravestone at the graveyard of the Uchiha. The young girl had no family left; Madara was everything she had. Her parents died, both in war, so her Clan leader was everything she could call family.

While Madara was doing what had to be done, Asuka waited patiently. She wouldn't rush him. This was a sad moment, filled with sorrow and anger. She waited patiently in front of the Hospital until he returned.

This was a lot of work for her. She promised Madara she would try everything she could to solve this, but it would be tough. 

Finding the one person in the village with enough knowledge and power to speak such a curse? It was easier to find the needle in the hay.

Madara offered her a chamber in his estate – it was huge. Literally, it was too much for one person alone. A whole family and their relatives could fit into this building! How on earth did he need so much space for himself? Of course, his Ego was probably taking up half of the space, but still! 

Also, she noticed that there were not a lot of people in there—in fact, nobody was in this massive building. Asuka thought that at least some employees would be here, but nobody. 

Maybe they all had run away? 

Probably 

Her chamber was simple ---- simpler than simple. It was just a bed and a wardrobe, and neither was lovely. It was a small room; not even a working desk would fit. A small window, but the view was lovely. Madara had a garden. An exquisite and harmonizing garden. Grass is a little pond with a waterfall and a tree above the pond. Some stones have naturally growing moss on them. A porch was slightly reaching into the garden so you could enjoy the melodic platter of the pond. She could even hear some frogs singing their mating calls, and a bird was probably nesting in that tree. It was nice, so at least this was a good thing. 

"I am very exhausted" Asuka said, turning her back to the futon and letting herself fall into it. A huge cloud of dust erupted from the bed as she did it, making her sneeze. Of course, he still needs to clean the fore. How could he? Also, she didn't think he would clean the rooms himself. He probably just abandoned the rooms and left them to survive on their own.

"Ewwww." Asuka whipped the dust off her face and closed her eyes briefly. She could sleep on the grass in the little garden. The weather was still lovely, and the nights were not that cold. She had slept on grass before, even though she had to admit a bed was always better. 

The futon was also uncomfortable

But with that, she could arrange herself

But the dust? Ugh…..

But guess she had too. 

She will take care of that tomorrow. She was simply too exhausted, but she would never have admitted that in front of the Uchiha.

[dark-elf-writes]

Red Lights and Fox Fire AU during the Gaara rescue arc has me by the throat at the moment.

Kakashi and his Next Gen Sannin team that is only still under him as leader because they want to be sprinting for Sand the second they hear Gaara was taken and wherever they go there are people who see them and know.

Granny Chiyo tries to square up with Kakashi only to be met with the actual white gang reborn in the form of a snarling Sasuke right in her face, daring her to try to attack his brother in law (the facts that Kakashi and Aki aren’t technically married and Sasuke was never officially adopted by Aki in the first place notwithstanding) again. Naruto who rests a hand on Sasuke’s arm with a brilliant smile and cold eyes and he assures them both that any blood spilt today wouldn’t be Kakashi’s. (Those slitted pupils and flashing fangs promised it. There was no missing what he was. Why Konoha had sent him. Only a Jinchuriki could understand a Jinchuriki after all and it’s clear Naruto was willing to hunt Gaara’s captors tot he ends of the earth to get him back.)

Sakura heals Kankuro as normal before they’re ready to head out.

Naruto is at the head of the pack leading them just as much as Kakashi and Sasuke’s summons are. Like he can feel Gaara’s location. Like he’s being dragged there.

Until, all at once, he falls, missing the branch he was going to leap from with a shrill, enraged, shriek clutching his head as he plummets. Pain. Loss. Rage. All in one sound.

Sakura cat he’s him and red eyes look back at her before he forced himself back to his feet.

He knows. They all know.

Still they push on.

(Naruto would want his body brought home. Would die before they let them use Gaara like a fucking puppet like Oro-sensei told him Sasorinliked to do. The master would not get two Kazekage puppets if Naruto had any say in it.)

They run to it Not-Itachi not long after, and Sasuke scoffs.

“You’re not my brother.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Did I stutter? Stop wearing a corpse as a mask and meet me face to face nii-san.”

After a short battle, they end up at the seal with team Guy (with six instead of five this time because I said so) and sasuke just shrugs and take a radio.

(The doppelgänger fight with Sasuke is… far more destructive than any of Team Guy’s fights. He doesn’t seem to have broken a sweat even as he jumps out of the fucking crater him and his double left behind)

Sakura’s fight goes mostly the same with far more singlehanded puppet distraction. (Not many changes can be made when she can’t get hit tbh.)

Naruto and Kakashi wreck Deidara (kinda) and Naruto so about to throw all caution to the wind and use one of Orochimaru’s many forbidden jutsu to bring Gaara back himself when Sakura and Chiyo roll up.

(Sasuke and team guy finish off Deidara for real tbh because Sasuke won’t forget his brother screaming as he realized his friend was dead)

And it’s the first time that anyone outside of Konoha sees these three powerhouses and realizes they are the future.

[bogbees]

this page pisses me off as a crazy Iruka fan who's going too insane ab the crumbs we're given

bc like

Iruka and Hashirama have that stupid cloning feature familial relationships have, implying they're great grandson and great grandfather

Iruka is wearing the ichiban shirt waaaaaaay back during the funeral when he had his flashback. ichiban = first. further supplying some sort of connection, as the character we're shown does not imply he's arrogant enough to think that of himself, even as he's mourning his parents and suffering

Kishimoto loves a good repeated pattern. if Hashirama taught Sarutobi, and Sarutobi took Iruka under his wing, it'd be very similar to Minato teaching Kakashi who teaches Naruto.

implication that Iruka is good with seals and stuff with the only jutsu he's ever seen using (much later)

Iruka and Naruto already have an unbreakable bond. Naruto thinks the world of him. Iruka could easily calm him. and if all fails, seals master Iruka

Iruka Umino is not a name originating in Konoha. there is no ocean anywhere near Konoha. Kurama does not originate from Konoha, he came with the Uzumaki's who did not originate in Konoha. we could tack on some cool Umino family lore of them being jinjuriki guards?! that were married into the Senju line to strengthen the connection. idk

the only cool thing ab it is that it's another instance of ninja magic being XMen like mutations that you can biologically fuck with. SURE Orochimaru proved this eons ago with his genetic experiments and Sasori just went "teehee this puppet is the third kazekage's cavader. I'm just that special i can mutilate human bodies and keep their ninja magic intact as i turn the corpse into a puppet." and how Kakashi was able to magically use obito's eyeball and it's magic. but smth fun ab experimenting with cells on living test subjects for them to gain the ninja magic stored in the cell's memory or whatever.

[skalecsz]

If you could how would you fix ino's development

i love you and also im sorry.

ino is such an interesting character, kishimoto took your average pretty mean girl and made her actually super sweet and caring, adaptable, and intelligent

i actually like her personality a lot, she values her looks and can be a bit crabby but compared to sakura, ino is a lot more willing to work with her teammates. she actively takes charge to the point that shikamaru and choji look to her for what to do

id keep her "crush" on sasuke but id instead make it something that sakura misinterpreted and ino went along with bc she thought sakura just didnt want to be friends anymore. she still flirts with sasuke but in a joking way.

id keep her rivalry with sakura but makes it explicit that she wasnt the one that instigated it, id also make her less "mean" in a stereotypical bully way since she was the one that defended sakura from bullies in the first place. she should still be sassy and a bit of a hot head but not overtly rude to others.

also id have her win her fight with sakura, just bc i think it contributes better to sakura's development, but also opens up an extra fight in the chunin exams. not sure who id pit her against but im just saying it would give her more stuff to do (maybe shino? they were both top students at the academy)

she goes on the sasuke retrieval mission and stays behind to help choji fight. theres no reason that she shouldnt go, choji can still almost die and ino can use the time he bought her to finish off orochimaru's lackey but ino has PROVEN to be a good ninja, even if her fighting isnt that great shes fantastic crowd control…come the fuck on.

development wise…no healing abilities…it just felt so tacked on and she didn't nearly have as much passion for it as sakura did. id focus 100% on her clan's reconnaissance bc their abilities are super interesting. would def give her an upgrade regarding her body switching jutsu so shes not left unconcious on the ground with every technique. when shes a genin thats fine but ur telling me sasuke can summon God and ino still can't control people without falling asleep?

okay the puppet scene with the "Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique" literally has not left my mind its SO cool and I wish ino learned to use it. is it "ethical"? no. might even be a war crime. but thats fine i think. let ino be a little scary.

AND!!! SUNA LITERALLY HAS A PUPPET MASTER!!! Ino can train with kankuro or at least ASK for assistance

ALSO. OH MY GOD. GIVE HER MORE TO DO IN THE HIDAN AND KAKUZU ARC HOLY SHIT. that arc literally just ended up being about shikamaru (based) and naruto (???) why weren't ino and choji more present!! naruto literally appeared to save the day with his new jutsu when this mission shouldve been team 10 and team 10 ONLY (kakashi is on thin ice)

i like the confrontation between shikamaru and hidan in the forest, thats fine, but ino and choji should be absolutely duking it out with kakazu and his family of puppets! you know who else uses puppets/external tools? INO. Have her try to control kakuzu's external guys while choji beats him up, naruto arriving on the scene feels cheap :/ have kakuzu remark that "oh the strategist is gone" and then ino just immediately takes over as the leader and thinks of a plan because shes teammates with shikamaru's lazy ass and also BEING SMART IS LITERALLY SO IMPORTANT TO HER CHARACTER

AND GIVE HER (AND CHOJI) A SCENE WHERE SHE MOURNS ASUMA. OH MY GOD. HER FUCKING TEACHER JUST DIED. Ino is sidelined sooo much in team 10 its insane. maybe she and her dad (while not super close) talk about what its like to lose people you love, her dad has been a ninja for decades, he would comfort her. have her arrange a bouquet and place it on asuma's grave, have her break down crying over her teacher! this would also be interesting since we dont spend as much time with team 10, but would be able to see that the side characters have their own lives and feelings outside of naruto.

regarding romance ive personally always seen her as a lesbian but her relationship with sai is fine i guess. if she and sai are endgame id like more of a buildup to it. but if i can get my way she and sakura end up together <3

i think shes fine in the war arc, but the war arc itself is something i just wouldnt include if i were to rewrite naruto

also her blank period outfit is UGLY throw that shit OUT girl

[sanguine-sand-shinobi]

Welcome to my break down of the puppet master jutsu.

I've honestly got a lot of thoughts on Naruto. Mainly for my favorite jutsu. Needless to say I find myself b often trapped in the fantasy of my own imagination, unable escape from the dream of being able to one day perform the puppet master jutsu. Sadly, apparently this is a symptom of a disorder I have. Strange stuff, but on to my point.

The Puppet Master jutsu. What is it and how does it work?

First a brief explanation of what I come to believe is jutsu, explained through the Naruto universe.

Basically my understanding is that in the series jutsu is a combination of spiritual and physical energy that all living things have, but the ability to harness it was gifted to humans by the mixed children of an alien to help prevent that alien from seizing control through her monopolistic powers.

(This of course makes me curious about all the animals that seem to have ninjutsu abilities. This is just a side thought.)

Humans and I assume these aliens who now shared this chakra network could then mold and give form and shape the chakra in their bodies in order to create jutsu. Which by using different mental and physical hand signs they can form the chakra into different elements of nature or control things such as light and shadow itself. On a small scale.

What is the puppet master jutsu then?

This is actually a jutsu created in the land of wind. Due to lacking amount of soldiers and military might caused by a lack of food and supplies due to the infertility of the desert an inspired second Kazikage took it upon himself to learn and master my favorite jutsu. He was inspired by a guy putting on a puppet show.

By molding the chakra in his body the creator of the puppet master jutsu was able to project strings from his finger tips. These strings were then attached to an object on the other end of them and he could manipulate said object. (I've read that a few people refer to this as a crappy telekinesis) this would be used to attach 5 strings to a single puppets head, arms, and legs in order to bring life to a manikin based fighting tool which you can alter and manipulate physically to have any number of dangerous weapons to fight an opponent. So basically you become a long range weapon master. Mastering weapons that would normally even be a close range weapon at long range.

There are apparently a few weaknesses to the jutsu.

There is a time delay on the puppets actions.

Apparently as you manipulate this puppet it's not as much of a pulling on the string you with to manipulate as sending a signal for the puppet to respond to. This takes a minor delay to travel down the chakra string and reach your puppet for it to respond.

Even though this delay is minor I believe it's based on 2 factors. The length of the strings. And the speed of your opponent. Such as the yellow flash for instance.

Another issue is vulnerability. If you are controlling a puppet. Your focus is drawn which leaves you open to easily be attacked. There are a few ways I believe this can be resolved.

I believe what most puppet masters prefer is power in numbers method.

As you master your technique you become more proficient as with any jutsu used by any character in the series.

As you get better with the puppet master jutsu you need less strings to control the puppet. So mastery ends up leaving you with the end game of one puppet per string. That ends up being 10 puppets you can use to protect yourself.

As most ninja teams are three man squads however I feel this could still be very dangerous for you. Because even if you're not fighting the yellow flash or any Raikage. Who are known for speed kills. You're focusing on controlling 10 puppets and at least three enemies. That's a lot of things to divide your attention to as your trying not to be the proverbial sitting duck. Hopefully your team can pull their weight and you can just be the one guy and 10 puppets vs one other guy. Seeing as this technique was to bolster military might and not for sending ninja on one man missions.

Puppet armor. This is really like the situation with salamander or hiruko. Where your puppet is actually large enough to climb inside like a tiny Gundam or slightly bulkier suit of armor. This can potentially protect you from taking the full force of an attack.

The only down sides seem to be an increased blind spot and if the enemies technique is strong enough to destroy your puppet then what's stopping it from cutting through you as well?

All in all you might be better off without it unless you're fighting someone like Tenten. Weapons masters are awesome but I doubt season are getting through your armor unless it's made with that special metal that absorbs chakra and enhances it's strength like Asumas chakra blades.

Then there is stealth. As the ninja hides in the bushes his puppet flies around doing the fighting. Yes I said fly. Did I not mention these strings are holding the puppets in air. More on this later.

This is really some of what we see early on a Kankuro fights Shino. This is a nice fight. Really got me excited and I really enjoyed finally seeing crow/kurosu in action other than just going all Almira on a ninja. Which I still enjoyed. I personally would be horrified to see that face while getting a big hug. But I was left with more questions. I always wondered was that puppet carrying his body the whole time? Or was that just a substitution jutsu? More on this later as well.

This stealth issue is awesome as I believe it showcases a very real issue with inconsistency. Which the question for now is, can you see the strings?

The show really goes back and forth on this. In the fight with Shino no, Shino obviously can't. Otherwise hiding would have been useless and Shino could just see where the bright purple lines came from and ambushed him with bugs.

Plus the strings weren't noticed when crow was disguised as a Proctor, nor when Konkuro started his first match. Or even when he tripped Naruto when they first met.

In another fight with sand villiage anbu tryng to kill Gara, yup he sees those strings. His armor is even holding them back as two puppets attempt to strangle maybe even cut straight through Gara like a wire cutter.

At this point I'm thinking well maybe it's based on the amount of chakra and the strength needed for the puppet.

Then there was the famous sasori fight. Granny Chiyo started the fight with her kunai, using one visible string and then several invisible strings. Making them visible I assume to strengthen the pull back on Sasoris, or rather Hiruko's scorpion tail. Saving Sakura from the jab.

This was kind of an explanation. But felt cheap honestly.

Then there was the puppet master rematch with Konkuro and Sasori.

Konkuro attached his strings to Sasori's and literally pulled him off a cliff.

How the fuck would he even aim that shit. Even with all 10 fingers. It was pretty bad ass but there's no way in hell.

Travelling into the far future. In the Boruto series. It's the chunin exams. Sarada is fighting a puppet master who is nowhere near his puppet. Kids on the other side of the map, yet his strings were not perceived by anyone. No one saw them leading back to the kid at all. Until Sarada finally put 2 and 2 together she had to focus to see them with her sharingan and in the end guessed where he was. She didn't just make some distance and follow the strings back.

This is why I thing the signal delay of the technique is so minimal you don't even really notice. Because at the greater distance of a whole stadium this kids puppets stayed combat responsive enough to smack Sarada around.

So now the things I gather on this technique is that it's the best.

It can be utilized with minimal to no lag at great distances.

It can lift weight. It's a swole technique. People say 'but it can only lift wooden puppets that are smaller than people. '

Well fucker. It can lift wooden puppets that are actually larger than the person (Sasori and his third kazekage pupped, granny Chiyo and basically all of her puppets) and all their gear. These puppets are not held together with glue. They have a metal Skelton and mechanisms on the inside for custom weapons. Such as crows mouth impaling spear. Did you notice that mouth of metal? Plus all the blades, swords, knives, junior, senbon, stars, poison capsule, saws, grinders and what ever the fuck that met chest piece on the third mage puppet.

Let's not forget that if Konkuro didn't use substitute jutsu on his first chunin exam qualifier after the forest of death he'd have not just been lifting his puppet with invisible chakra threads but himself as well.

So yeah each string can then lift the weight of a full size puppet plus an undetermined x.

So basically I don't believe there is any reason why a half decent puppet master can't just be spider making his way anywhere and everywhere better than spiderman due to the advanced manipulation of the strings themselves.

I also believe if a puppet master jutsu user wanted to control you. There isn't shit you can do about it.

You'd basically be an action figure for them to impale using their action figure of choice.

Some people if you read this far may be thinking. No they can't control you. Sasori controlled multiple soldiers in full armor. Against the weight of gravity.

Yeah. The only reason they got him was because at that point the writer was all. You can see the strings this time. Hahaha.

Originally chakra wasn't something you could see unless you manifested the element. I assume puppet master jutsu has no element and this is element less which is why invisibility would be a thing.

But yeah, my rantish explanation is done. Hope you enjoy.

[littlemonstert-blog]

Hinata The Last Blank Period

What she’s done & Scaling for her adult years despite the peacful times.

 The Last movie :

Mastery of the gentle fist over the timeskip

Then a bit of pre war arc scailing & Her accoplishments during war arc

Requesting to go on the mission to rescue Hanabi

Hinata uses her byakugan to help track down Hanabi

Hinata’s byakugan can see as far as 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ) without missing a single detail Hinata could see a trail of Hanabi's chakra (before Harma’s chakra)(She is a tracker so this shouldn’t be new)

Leaving to save her sister, stop Toneri and to destory the Tenseigan from hitting the Earth. While trying talking to Toneri in a peaceful manner trying to change his about Shinobi.

Intelligence & deduction:

Hinata was able to find Hamuras tenseigan on her own. (Her speciality as a tracker is coming in handy)

Combat:

The puppets she fought were at least High Jounin level. Using basic gentle fist.

(head puppet that gave people some trouble.)

The head puppet that gave base Naruto some trouble

Surpassing her father

Hiashi on the other hand(along with his body guards), got beaten and had to use Kaiten to throw them away while Hinata never used her strongest jutsu against them, she fought them with the basic gentle fist.

People will say "the puppets held back against Hinata!”

Toneri threw an explosion at her, he treated her badly and asked his puppets to fight her.

Hiashi cannot that feat when he barely handled falling rocks.

The tall puppet also defeated Hiashi but not Hinata

Hinata is the only known Hyuga member who uses the Twin lion fists also use it in conjunction with sixty four palms. But she also developed different version of the jutsu  

“ Eight Trigrams Twin Lion Surging Shot”

Hinata & Naruto destoryed the tesigan together

Side note: Hinata wasn’t fully recovered when she attempted to destroy the Tenseigan. She literally just got a green orb removed from her. ( he kept doing this on repeat)

That orb tampers and messes with the chakra flow. Look at what happened to Naruto after the orb hit him. Even Hinata could barely stand on the wall after Toneri used the orb on her. This ain't no antifeat.

Taking Hanabi’s eyes back form Toneri

Hinata was able to restore Narutos chakra reserves 

light novels- aka continuity problem city, then adding boruto anime canon...gives me a headache.

Sasuke Shiden:

Using her byakugan to see what happening how random people are exploding

One shot civilians one at a time to making sure there are non casualties.

(no she didn't faint nor was she pregnant that was filler)

Helping out to identify the problem in the hospital.

Can download the books for free here:

Side Note: A narrative perspective, expecting for Hinata to be really strong in the movie because she is a MC and the heroine but she can't overshadowing Naruto because he is the MC which is why she didn’t destroy the Tenseigan alone

For plot reasons, she had to do it with Naruto.

Toneri : level threat only two people at the time could defeat him. Aka just the only people at the time Naruto & Sasuke.

She's come far despite the little screen time she had. Adopting the nindo to never give up. Training hard to become a Gentle Fist Master the strongest taijutsu. She's around Kage level in terms of fighting.

I'll be able to fix redo this later in more detail if I have the time.

[reddawnmultimuse]

He doesn't flinch from their sudden stab in the earth, keeping his own composure as cool as possible. While also looking quite amused at their irritated reaction to them, "Is that right? It's funny that you are implying that I would have to sleep with you in order to see your true self. But don't you know that there is another way for me to see your real face as well? And I'm not talking about peeping on you or asking Deidara or Orochimaru about your appearance... I'd suggest that you make a spare body appearance or master a transformation jutsu in case if your shell..."

god forbid He said trying to not sneer at that, "breaks apart or if you so happen to meet an unfortunate end."

"Oh and speaking about Orochimaru. Do you wanna know the most surprising thing about all of this, and the reason for my question about your true face? When I asked about you out of curiosity to them, perhaps maybe a close guarded secret that I could also keep between the both of you since I am working for you and spying on him after all."

"And did you know what he said to me?"

He pushes his glasses up by the bridge of his nose, "Orochimaru have not once ever shared with me what your true identity was, other than the obviously outdated picture of you on the bingo book. He told me that there are some things that are to be kept between old friends, and I shouldn't mind you at all since there's nothing human about you left for a medical ninja like me to figure out. But to be honest, that only makes me even more curious."

He tilts his head at them, "Perhaps, what if..."

He places the scroll full of Orochimaru's achievements including the recent experiment's results on the wooden boards on their worktable. Course, not all of their secrets other than what Orochimaru has allowed it.

"What if, maybe after all of these years. He still holds some sentimentality and a sense of honor for you that he's willing to keep his your secrets guarded from anyone out of respect for you and your former partnership with them? It's a shame that you don't share the same sentiment and respect as much as he does for you. They don't even speak ill of you at all when your name is mentioned, unlike you who's always cursing him around me or anyone who's willing to hear. I don't tell him about that of course, because if I did, that would surely break his heart. Right?"

Perhaps now he should leave them before it starts to get dangerous for him, after all. Sasori's temper can only go so far, as he has witnessed it firsthand when he argues and even tries to hit Deidara.

Sasori listened in eerie silence as Kabuto went on and on, the only indication of his budding irritation being the thunderous rattling of his metallic tail. First: he threatened the puppeteer--and yes, Sasori took it as a threat upon mention of the "unfortunate" destruction of Hiruko which could imply the sneaky, little spy was planning on it--and then he had the fucking nerve to mention Orochimaru.

Whilst he was quietly impressed that Orochimaru hadn't uttered a single thing about Sasori's true appearance to Kabuto, it did nothing for the redhead's overall opinion of his old partner. To him, the Sannin was still a double-timing, scheming snake bastard and always would be.

But then, Kabuto laid something on his workbench and Sasori did not fail to notice Orochimaru's insignia on the scroll. Though, he made no motion for the scroll which no doubt was chalk full of precious information on Orochimaru's latest labours.

Instead, he waited patiently/impatiently for Kabuto to cease his dribbling about how "how mature Orochimaru was unlike Sasori" and blah, blah, blah. He didn't need Kabuto speaking him like he was naughty five-year-old being chided for not playing nicely with the other children.

"Get the fuck outta me workshop." Sasori said once Kabuto was finished and give the medic a little pep in his step, slamming his tail down onto the concrete flooring, causing the crashing noise to echo throughout the dark room like an explosion.

And after Kabuto had gone, Sasori left the scroll where it lay on his desk as he laboured over his latest puppet instead.

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Vapors 59

"Kagekage-sama, there's been another attack!"

Gaara stood abruptly, indicating that his meeting with the Jounin commander was over. "What has happened?"

The brunette Chuunin in front of him looked downright terrified to be in his presence. "It- it's Kankuro-san." She ducked her head to avoid eye contact. "He was found outside of the diplomatic suites and taken to the hospital. He's not entirely coherent, but-"

With a whoosh, Gaara was striding down the hall. "What about the girl he was with," he demanded briskly.

"Ah, girl? There was no one else," she said uncertainly. Baki scowled at her, and she cringed away, hugging closer to the wall while she trotted behind her kage.

"I see." Gaara's face may as well have been carved from stone. "You there," he ordered to his guards. "Go to the third floor of the diplomatic suites and investigate. Don't disturb anything you find, but I want a full write-up." Then he turned back to the Chuunin. "Take me to my brother."

Shizune outright cursed when the door to the operation room was flung open with a bang, wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead with a wrist. "This is a delicate procedure," she protested, swiveling to see exactly who had disturbed her work.

She didn't appear intimidated in the slightest by the sight of the Kazekage himself.

"Get out of my operation room, now," she snapped, turning back to the wan form being held down by two nurses. "This is a nasty poison, and-"

"Wait," Kankuro gasped, eyes flickering open. "S'at you, Gaara?"

"I'm here," his younger brother replied softly. "What happened?"

Fevered as he was, it was hard to tell if the violent way the puppet user shook his head was purposeful or reflexive. "P-puppet master," he forced out, teeth chattering. "Tricked me with a dead nurse. Took Aiko. Wanted you to come after her."

The bowl Shizune was holding dropped in shock, shattering on the tiled floor. Her face was pale.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Kankuro nodded his head with visible effort, fighting shudders. "Didn't hurt her," he added, sounding strangely grumpy. "She was high enough that she saw a nurse and went along willingly."

The medic nin who had prescribed the drugs Aiko had been on looked nauseous.

"I'll take care of it," Gaara promised seriously. He laid a hand on Kankuro's shoulder. "Thank you, brother." Then he directed his gaze to Shizune. "Will he recover?"

"Er- yes," she forced out, swallowing hard. "Provided I get this poison extracted as soon as possible. I'm not as talented with this jutsu as Tsunade-sama is, so I really need to get to work."

"Of course," Gaara demurred, giving a long glance at his brother's pained expression.

"It hasn't had time to spread, so it shouldn't take me long," she soothed. "Just wait outside, okay?"

Nurses hurried by, giving awed and frightened glances at the section of hallway that their Kazekage and the Jounin commander were leaned up against, along with one frightened-looking Chuunin messenger.

Baki gave a heavy sigh that rustled the cloth hanging over half his face. "I don't like waiting like this," he rumbled softly. "We have to make an attempt to get that girl back. Our treaty agreement with Konoha-"

"I know that, and I will not leave her," Gaara interrupted quietly. "The doctor assured us that this operation will not take long. We should gather all the information possible before setting out on such a venture."

He gave the younger man a long, evaluative look. Then Baki snorted. "You've gone soft," he accused fondly. "You can just admit that you want to be sure your brother is alright."

In lieu of answer, Gaara turned his face away to signal the conversation was over. They waited in silence for another ten minutes before the door creaked open.

"You can come in now," the Konoha medic-nin called quietly, eyes tired and shoulders slumping. Her two assistants hurried out, but she lingered when Gaara strode into the room to examine his brother. "I wouldn't talk to him for long," she cautioned. "He'll need to get to sleep soon to fight off any lingering effects."

Considering the state he had been in only half an hour before, Kankuro looked surprisingly good. His hair was still plastered to his face with sweat and already smeared facial paint was a grey mess, but his vitals had improved and his eyes were more alert.

"I'm glad to see you so improved."

Kankuro rolled his eyes fondly and scrunched up his nose. "That's because you didn't see what they did. I think that hurt worse than the poison."

"Well, don't get poisoned again," Gaara pointed out sensibly. His brother made a mock surprised face, as if the idea had never occurred to him.

"What happened to Aiko? Have you figured out who took her?"

Baki and Gaara exchanged a look. "We were hoping you could help us with that," the older man explained with a visible frown. While they talked, Shizune was washing her hands vigorously at the small sink and occasionally glancing over warily.

The bedridden teen groaned. "No clue, sorry," he admitted honestly. "It was definitely a puppet user." Then he shuddered. "A creepy one. One who used a corpse. Do you remember that pretty nurse who we got to help us get Aiko settled in?"

Gaara winced.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Kankuro agreed glumly. "Whoever it was, he was hidden well. Maybe it was a genjutsu, or maybe he was never in the room. I was stupid," he admitted. "I saw a familiar face and I let my guard down. He hit me once and had the girl jab me with a needle, and I was down for the count. Corpse-nurse slung Aiko over her shoulder, said something dramatic in a man's voice about you coming to rescue her personally, and trotted out the door."

Though her back was turned away from the group, Shizune's flinch was visible.

If he'd had eyebrows, they would have been drawn inwards. "She didn't resist?" Gaara's tone was a little incredulous. Aiko just didn't seem like the type to take that lying down.

"That's my fault," Shizune said miserably, turning to face the group. "After I did the major surgery, I knew we wouldn't be able to get to the follow-up appointment before she woke up. Not with how many injuries we had coming in. So I gave her a massive prescription of painkillers so at least she wasn't going to feel anything. If she's even awake, Aiko won't be in any state to do so much as make a bunshin."

"You couldn't have known," Kankuro muttered a little bitterly. "I fucked up just as much, probably more."

"As productive as this line of discussion is," Baki interrupted dryly, "Perhaps we should determine our next course of action. It seems that we don't have much choice. We have to send a team after the girl."

"He demanded me personally," Gaara pointed out mildly. "He may well kill her immediately if he sees anyone else."

"We can't send the Kazekage," Baki argued. "What will the people think?"

"Yes," a high voice agreed, "What will they think?"

Kankuro sunk down into his bedcovers, clearly not delighted about having the two honored siblings in his sickroom. Elder Chiyo didn't seem to care one whit for his comfort, clacking in and giving Shizune a nasty scowl. Her brother meekly followed at her heels.

"Why don't we just cut out the middleman and tie you up before we toss you over the wall," she snarked unpleasantly. "After all, we have such an excellent track record with losing Kazekage when they wander off to confront mysterious persons. Why not go for three in a row?"

The two Jounin Gaara had sent to investigate the room where the fight had happened appeared in a shunshin flicker, kneeling at his side. The room was getting rather crowded.

"The people will think," Gaara enunciated seriously, "That it is my responsibility as Kazekage to ensure the safety of my people and our alliances. They will know that Uzumaki Aiko is largely responsible for curtailing the destruction when we were invaded. Suna does not leave her allies to die alone."

Her lip curled, but Chiyo didn't have a reply for that. It was hard to make one that didn't claim Suna had no reason to fulfill the terms of treaties they made. That was obviously an unwise argument to make with foreign nin in the room. "Fine then, pup," she said finally, turning to leave. "Don't die so soon."

The two Jounin who had come to report exchanged looks. One managed to protest, "Surely you would have won without Konoha's assistance, Kazekage-sama," before ducking his head when Gaara looked directly at him. Firsthand reports had been vague, since very few nin had been close at that point. Most of them had been participating in the evacuation of the civilians and young trainees, or in hiding themselves under orders. Very few could hope to interfere in a fight with a shinobi who could tax the abilities of their Kage. But none of those vague reports had given too much credit to the girl. Some claimed that Gaara had finished the intruder with a sand coffin, other claimed it had been the Jounin commander who had beheaded the scum. The general consensus was that the girl had merely come up with a plan to get the intruder within reach of their Kazekage.

"No," Gaara said quietly. "I do not believe that I would have."

And that was that. If the Kazekage claimed this girl had saved Suna, they couldn't leave her without losing honor. Especially not when she had been taken from under their noses.

Without another word, Gaara set off for the village gates. With the exception of Kankuro and the Elders, the rest of the assembled shinobi trailed after him like ducklings. "Baki, can I leave the village in your hands for now?"

"Of course," his old teacher nodded.

"Thank you."

"There's a group incoming!" shouted one of the gate guards, hand over her eye. That wasn't strictly procedure, but to be fair everyone was a bit on edge.

With the way the last few days had been going, the assembled shinobi jumped to the conclusion that this was another assault. They tensed in the long seconds before the first face became visible- and then relaxed as one.

"That's Temari," Baki breathed with a faint smile. "Bout time, girl."

"Naruto," Gaara said unnecessarily. For once, he didn't seem pleased to see his friend. Actually… he looked a bit tense and ashamed while the group came to stop. Nonetheless, he gamely strode out to meet them, maroon fabric fluttering behind him in the wind. Naruto's attention instantly latched onto him.

"Gaara!" He practically threw himself at his fellow jinchuuriki. "We brought back Temari! Why do you have Aiko?"

"Strictly speaking, we don't," Shizune muttered glumly.

It hadn't been intended to draw attention, but nonetheless she had it. The entire group of newcomers seemed focused on her.

"What are you talking about," Naruto's old teacher demanded. Shizune looked a bit discomfited at being the sudden center of attention, so Gaara stepped forward with a hand raised.

"This is my fault," he admitted quietly. "She's been taken out of the village by the partner of the man who she helped me kill two days ago."

Oddly, that statement didn't seem to clear things up.

"What the hell are you talking about," the Uchiha who Temari seemed to find so interesting demanded crossly.

He realized for the first time that his hawk-carried messages to Konoha must have reached them after this group had departed. Well. That didn't make things any easier. "She appeared to help," he began delicately, (ignoring the way that the Uchiha muttered to Naruto 'appeared, there's that euphemism again, does everyone think we're stupid?'), "shortly after Suna was assaulted by Akatsuki. With her assistance, we managed to kill one of them after he had done quite a bit of damage. His partner ran away, and we thought he had left entirely. It appears that we were wrong. He must have hidden within Suna and managed to find where Aiko was convalescing."

At that point, Naruto interrupted in a suspiciously high tone, "Convalescing? Why was Aiko convalescing? Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine," Shizune assured quietly, rubbing at his back. "She's heavily sedated, but the reconstruction went as well as could be imagined."

That was where Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to blanch, though Naruto took the comfort for what it was and focused on something else. "Akatsuki, huh," he said quietly. "So… this was about you, then. They came to take you, and they're using Aiko as bait."

Gaara inclined his head. "An accurate assessment," he agreed quietly. "I was told to come alone. I am about to depart now. Please, wait for me here."

"Are you kidding?" Naruto demanded, aghast. "Why would you do what he says? You must be nuts if you think I'm not coming with you. That's my sister we're talking about. You wouldn't leave Temari behind, so don't tell me not to come with you for Aiko."

"This is my responsibility as Kazekage," he argued just as fervently. "She was under my protection, and-"

"She's a Konoha nin," Sasuke pointed out sharply. "You can't stop us from going after her. Give it up already. You're stuck with us. She's our responsibility too."

Baki rolled his eyes, clearly tired of all the drama. No one else seemed to share his sentiments.

'Perhaps it would be worth the risk of killing her to have some peace of mind,' Sasori thought rather uncharitably. The girl slung over the back of his most recent corpse puppet just wouldn't shut up for long. Where are we going, can I see Shizune, I feel sick can we slow down, blah, blah, blah.

He had been lucky in that she was so drugged that she honestly thought anything strange she perceived was the result of her state of mind and not an indication that she should be concerned. It had kept her mostly quiet while they passed through Suna and went directly over their pathetic walls.

Unfortunately, the drugs that had been pumped into his current companion by some kind soul who had cared more for pain relief than cognitive function also made it very dangerous for him to use one of his own sedatives on her to shut her up and put her out. He would end up killing her eventually in any case, but she was much more useful to him today alive than dead. He could always control the Kazekage's actions by threatening to kill his captive, but Sasori could hardly un-kill her if he turned out to need her alive later. His plan included having her as a mitigating factor and a shield of sorts between him and that damnable sand. That awful stuff got everywhere in his poor puppet joints. It was part of why he'd never come back to this hellhole.

Aiko sniffed unhappily. Nurse-chan hadn't readjusted her at all since flinging her over a shoulder what must have been at least an hour or two ago, and said shoulder was digging painfully into her gut, which seemed to make breathing even harder. Not even chakra healing could totally mitigate whatever had happened to her side in that fight against Deidara with just a single session. Her hip was stiff, and the skin felt stretched and painful around the joint and a little ways down her leg.

Even for a drug-induced hallucination, this was strange. It had gotten awfully dull, too. What kind of drug trip was dreaming about looking at sand pass under her forever? Her neck was starting to hurt from hanging down. This couldn't be proper medical procedure.

"I must be a really boring person," she mused. Nurse-chan made no response, mechanically running over dunes towards a destination she apparently didn't feel like sharing.

Something about the situation was really tugging for her attention, but it was hard to focus through the fog in her mind competing with the pain in her heavy limbs.

She frowned. That was it. Something about that last bit was important.

'Pain,' she realized. 'If I hurt, doesn't that mean the drugs are wearing off?'

Uncertainly, she raised her head from the sand passing underneath nurse-chan's feet and bent backwards a little bit to stare at the quickly receding skyline of Suna and the shimmering heat wave that had been following nurse-chan for quite a while.

She'd figured that part had to be a hallucination. She didn't smell a person there at all… though Nurse-chan was starting to get decidedly rank.

A chill fluttered up her spine.

'I think I know what that smell is,' she realized dully. 'That's meat starting to spoil.' Aiko swallowed a bit of bile, no small feat when hanging upside down and in constant jerky motion.

"Finally coming to, are you?"

That voice was definitely not coming from her friend the nurse. It never had been. That meant she was pressed up to a corpse. A quickly decaying corpse. A feeling like spiders crawled all over her skin, and she struggled frenetically to be released. Obligingly, nurse-chan stopped and heaved her onto the sand. She yelped at the impact. It was relatively soft to the touch, but it was burning hot and it hurt the uncovered flesh on her legs and arms. With a quiet whumph, the woman who had been carrying her collapsed like a puppet with cut strings… probably because that was exactly what she was.

"I had been growing weary of dragging that carcass around, but it seemed to soothe your idiotic whining. No need for that any longer. There is no one here to hear you."

The shimmer she now recognized as a sign of a genjutsu being impacted by glittering bits of sand in the sun disappeared. What it left was decidedly less ethereal. In fact, it was pretty damn sturdy looking. She'd never seen anything like it, but Aiko knew what it was.

'Sasori,' she realized, feeling sick. The thought that immediately followed was, 'Oh fuck, I've been kidnapped. I'm that girl. I'm 'Rescue me Daphne.'' She pictured it- and blanched, realizing that with her current outfit- "I even have red hair and a purple dress," she wailed. Goddamnit!

The bulky puppet seemed to stare. "You are impressively deranged," Sasori said after a long silence. "Luckily, your obvious deficiencies will seem much less apparent when you are under my power. You should be grateful."

Aiko blinked warily. He seemed to be waiting for her to ask. "Uh, why should I be grateful?" she asked awkwardly. 'Play along with the crazy person for now.'

The situation didn't look to be in her favor for an outright battle, after all. She was severely weakened from a major healing and over a day and a half of bedrest and no food (judging by the skyline), still not in her right mind after being drugged, and completely unarmed. Her best option was probably to play along and see what happened. After all, she was relatively certain that someone would be coming for her.

Even if she hadn't had faith that Tsunade had the sense to know something was wrong when she never returned, now that she could feel her chakra again Aiko could sense the distant siren song of her Hiraishin seals. They were scarily faint, though. She couldn't be more than two hours or so away from Gaara, but his tag felt as distant as it had when she'd been in Konoha. Using it would be incredibly difficult. Of course… it was also very close to her other two tags. Her team had come for her. With them so close and her chakra so hard to access, it may just be most intelligent to wait for them to show up and not risk a dangerous Hiraishin.

Best not to tell the lunatic that, though.

"You will receive the honor of becoming one of my tools when the Kazekage comes to fight, of course," said nutjob replied blandly.

Aiko blanched. That was fucking creepy.

"You mean… like her?" She sort of flinched/ gestured in the direction of the medic nin corpse, doing her best to prop herself up on the sand so she felt less like a broken doll splayed on the ground.

'Okay, now would be a great time for someone to show up to rescue poor limp-legged Daphne. I didn't realize they were this slow.' She paused, and internally corrected, 'Poor beautiful, limp-legged Daphne who can't be blamed for this at all.'

Sasori scoffed, curling a wooden tail through searing hot sand in agitation. "Hardly. No, that corpse had not been prepared so that I could use it for anything but basic movement. If you aren't too damaged in the fight, I will use a special technique I have developed to ensure I can make use of your chakra enhanced abilities. If you killed Deidara, you may not be completely worthless. The Kazekage will be a better trophy, but I can always add to my collection as a thank you for ridding me of that incompetent fool."

She recoiled, strangely indignant about being an afterthought to Gaara. "I'm not a consolation prize," she protested crossly, managing a more dignified position that was at least sitting up with her knees splayed. "I would be a fucking awesome puppet!"

Then she thought about what she was arguing.

'Maybe that's not the best position to take. In fact, fuck waiting for the boys to get here and save me. This guy is dangerously crazy.'

"Anyway, I have a better idea. How about we don't do that?" she asked awkwardly. Aiko hated backtracking rhetorically, but the last argument just hadn't been a winner.

Sasori just gave her a look like she was an idiot.

She waved her hands and gave him an apologetic smile. "Not that it isn't every girl's dream to become a puppet slave, but this is all just happening so fast. I'm going to have to back out."

Instead of verbally replying, he moved to backhand her with his wooden tail. Reflexively, she deflected it with a chakra chain that sliced a chunk right out of his puppet. If puppets could have shell-shocked expressions, Sasori might just have right then.

'Hey, my chakra is working regularly,' she noted with some cheer. That brought a good thought. "Bye bitch, I'm out," she chirped (already picturing how hilarious his expression would be when she disappeared), waving at him before yanking furiously on the loudest signal.

Sasori of the Red Sand took a moment to close his eyes, count to three to soothe his already-strained nerves, and then opened them again. The girl was still gone. "Like a mirage," he mused. "Perhaps she regained control of her chakra much sooner than I realized and employed a genjutsu."

The theory almost worked. But a genjutsu wouldn't explain how she could have utilized a solid manifestation of chakra to slice his tail. No, she had to have been physically present at the time of that attack. Perhaps she had utilized an especially efficient shunshin? If she had managed to clear the last dunes, it would explain why she was out of sight. The brat was from Konoha- she couldn't possibly know the desert well enough to set off in any direction other than the one they had come from. She would die in the desert if she tried.

Of course, she was going to die in the desert regardless. He didn't appreciate irritations like her.

"I'm coming for you, little girl," Sasori uttered lowly, heading back in the direction he had just come from.

How vexing. She was wasting his time. But it was no matter. She couldn't have gotten far. If he turned around, he should be able to retrieve her and still get back to his chosen confrontation ground before the Kazekage managed to escape the bureaucracy back in Suna and set out to find him. Not being a tracker of any kind, it should take the brat plenty of time to track him down. Sasori had already set the trap. Using his captive as a human shield hadn't been his only contingency plan, after all.

"Well, that's embarrassing," Aiko muttered to herself and a rather startled looking lizard. The Hiraishin had worked… sort of. She found herself in the middle of nowhere and completely alone. More importantly…

"Someone is eventually going to be confused as to why there's an ass print in the sand with no footprints leading up to it."

She wasn't going to admit to this. 'I must be tireder than I realized,' she grumped. 'God, when was the last time I was so far off the mark?'

Incredibly depressing.

"I'm hot, bleeding, sunburned on the back of my legs, and I have sand in my braaaa," she wailed piteously. "and I'm not even where I wanted to go." She snuffled helplessly for a moment, trying to recapture her shinobi calm. Everything about this sucked super hard.

To be honest, it was pissing her off, now that she'd stopped to think about it. What the hell had she done to deserve a day like this? What kind of asshat picked up his hostage from the hospital? And why the hell hadn't security been better? She'd just totally saved Sand's collective asses the day before or whatever.

Where were they, anyway? She'd been kidnapped for what felt like a million years. 'If you want to get anything done, you have to do it yourself,' she thought grumpily, searching out for one of her Hiraishin tags to try again.

At least she had traveled in the right direction. She could see Suna in the distance, much more closely than it had been when she had been with Sasori. It wasn't close enough to really make her feel like she was far enough away from that lunatic, though, so she'd have to try again.

'Act natural,' she counseled herself. 'Totally not going to tell anyone that escape attempt one was a failure.'

"Working together, we can do anything," Naruto shouted, hand curled into a fist. "I don't care that he told you to come alone."

Gaara huffed quietly. "Alright," he acknowledged. "We will save Aiko together." There was a collective sigh of relief from the Konoha delegation.

Whumph.

"Yo," Aiko said blandly from where she was sprawled on the ground at Yamato's feet. Literally. She was sitting on his sandals and using one of his legs as a support. "Sup?"

Temari gave an unbecoming squeak and jumped backwards into Sasuke, who reflexively caught her around her upper arms. Then he flushed red and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Yamato smacked a palm to his face, already shaking his head. "I can't believe I was worried about you," he groaned quietly to himself. To be fair, she wasn't looking much like herself. Her hair was a fuzzy halo around her head, she was frightfully pale, and there was a large bloodstain leaking down the front of the purple dress he didn't recognize.

As if to complete the range of emotions in the tableau, Kakashi was staring with his visible eye wide in shock.

"Aiko!" Naruto shouted, dropping to his knees at her side, fingers clenching helplessly as if he was scared to touch her and hurt her. He eventually settled with gingerly resting a hand on one of her shoulders in a weak attempt to steady her. "We were going to rescue you!"

She gave him a dirty look and jabbed him with a finger. "I rescued my own damn self, thank you very much," she bit out testily. The intimidating effect was somewhat lessened by the way she was swaying slightly in place.

"How?" Temari asked, visibly baffled. Her brother must have been on a similar train of thought, because he quickly added.

"Did he not have you incapacitated?"

Aiko huffed. "It was easy," she said snippily. "It's not my fault everyone else sucks. I'm a grown damn woman and I don't have to explain myself or wait to get saved."

"Which is why you're holding onto my leg like an angry baby koala," Yamato agreed blandly.

"Yes," she agreed, not loosening her grip on his rapidly numbing calf. "This is intentional."

That was about the time she seemed to notice just how baffled the group looked. "What?" Aiko demanded, looking about as threatening as a kitten and twice as crabby. "Do I look like a damsel in distress? I don't fucking think so. I'm an independent lady. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I missed my check up and I'm going to go take a nap."

There was a rather undignified giggle from Kakashi that the group decided to ignore, and a whispered, "She's still high, isn't she?" from Temari.

"As a kite," Shizune muttered back with some satisfaction.

"What about the man who kidnapped you?" Sasuke furrowed his brow at her.

Aiko waved a hand dismissively. "Creepy fucking puppet guy? Ain't nobody got time for that. I sure as hell didn't. If I'd waited ten more minutes he would have made me into a puppet. Slow ass bastards."

There was a collective flinch and Kakashi started flaring killing intent. Naruto was twitching.

She put her palms on the ground and attempted to stand up. A knee gave out halfway and she thumped back down onto the sand.

"Take it easy," Shizune huffed, pushing her way forward and picking the other kunoichi up with about as much effort as she'd use to pick up a hairbrush. "You're right about one thing, it's way past time for a follow-up."

"Kay," Aiko yawned, curling into the medic nin's arm. "Bye dudes. I'm out."

There was an awkward silence at the gates of Suna while the assembled rescue team watched Shizune trot off with the damsel in distress.

"Perhaps we should hunt down this man regardless," Gaara offered after a long moment.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed sheepishly, scratching at his head. He scowled. "I don't like the sound of this guy. Puppets?" He made a rude sound.

"I do seem to vaguely recall some kidnapping incident," Sasuke added dryly. It seemed to him like a better reason to think their opponent was bad news than his weapon of choice.

As four Konoha ninja, the Kazekage, and his battleaxe of a sister sprinted off into the distance, Baki finally allowed himself to groan. "It's like I'm surrounded by total weirdos," he mumbled crabbily to the gate guard. She gave a terrified giggle and then shrunk back against the wall, as if worried that Gaara might have heard even from such a distance.

Pakkun wasn't terribly happy about running on such hot sand, but he pushed on despite burnt paws. At least his fur shielded him from the harsh sun that was quickly turning the porcelain pale skin above Kakashi's mask pink. They ran without interruption for a little over an hour until Pakkun signaled the scent trail had changed. When he gave a surprised whine and stopped, the whole group flickered into a sudden stop around him.

"What's wrong?"

The pug snuffled around the ground, not even looking at his summoner as he lead them slightly to the side of the regular, straight trail he had been following. "Aiko's scent is much stronger here," he explained. "Most of the time it's been very faint, like she was carried above the ground. But something happened here."

"But we aren't tracking Aiko," Sasuke pointed out with a little hostility.

He got a dirty look in return. "If you can smell another living being, go ahead and track them, boy. If not, let me do my job."

The group bristled uncomfortably at the implication that their opponent had disguised his scent so well that Pakkun couldn't catch up on it. The two most at home in the desert scanned the landscape. Temari's eyes widened at about the same time that Gaara's did. Naruto wasn't paying attention—he was holding direct eye contact with an oversized lizard. It looked decidedly grumpy to see them.

"That is not a natural mark," Gaara said quietly, kneeling to point at a strange indentation in the sand. "It seems oddly careless. The tracks leading up to it have been obscured immaculately. Were it not here, I would never have known that another living being had been here."

'That's an ass print,' Yamato and Temari thought at the same time unbeknownst to each other. She gave the group at large an incredulous look, as if wondering how so many adults could fail to recognize an ass when they saw one in the sand. Presumably they had all seen one before.

'Things make much more sense now,' Yamato tried not to snicker. 'Aiko deals much better with S class freak jobs than she does with confronting personal failures. That's why she was so grumpy when she found us.'

"How bizarre," Kakashi muttered with a slight frown, crouching to get a better look at it himself.

"I've never seen anything like this," Gaara said seriously, staring as if some secret was hidden in the sand.

Yamato suppressed a highly inappropriate laugh and turned it into a rough cough. Temari shot him a sharp look that turned to shared amusement. "S'dry," he explained weakly, holding eye contact with the only other person with a social life of any sort.

Naruto nodded seriously, a frown painted on his features. "It is." He wasn't a tracker, so he shouldn't say anything at all. But personally… he thought it looked like a butt. 'Beserious,' he scolded himself. 'Now isn't the time for jokes. I need to focus so I can help get the bastard who hurt Aiko.'

Sasuke was scanning the dunes around them for movement, eyes red and muscles tight. Clearly, he was above such juvenile fixations at a time like this, so Naruto was determined to keep a straight face as well.

"I don't like leaving without knowing what's going on," Pakkun rumbled, "but this isn't going anywhere. We should go back to the straight trail."

After a while, a doubled path of a strange trailing indentation appeared in the sand. Gaara appeared severely discomfited by that point. It wasn't often that he ran into trails that were totally unfamiliar to him. It wasn't difficult to track—even if it hadn't been visible, the tip of whatever it was had been soaked with day old blood that Pakkun easily tracked. Aiko's trail stopped at the exact place where they discovered a woman's body, bloated from the sun and already picked at by flies. Her skin was straining at a dirtied Suna medic nin uniform.

"The girl that the intruder used to surprise Kankuro," Gaara said quietly. Pity flickered through his gaze. Naruto looked horror struck by the sheer brutality. The girl's neck was completely mangled, and a gigantic splotch of blood trailed down her back that matched suspiciously close to the one on Aiko's front. This girl had been murdered and used as a pack mule.

"He just left her here, like trash?"

The quiet statement seemed to hang in the air for a moment.

Naruto clenched a hand into a fist. "I really hate this guy," he muttered lowly. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, looking around and avoiding eye contact. He was clearly sharing the realization that this could just as easily have been Aiko. They were hunting a dangerous man.

Of course, even when he wanted to be comforting, Sasuke didn't quite have it in his heart to be nurturing. "Why are we standing around? Let's find this man already."

It was blunt, but a good point.

"Aiko's trail completely stops here," Pakkun pointed out huffily, panting in a desperate attempt to cool down and catch his breath. "I'm useless here."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "And this is where the doubled path begins. Our intruder showed his true form here."

"He must have gone back for Aiko when she left, not realizing what she had done," Temari added easily while Kakashi knelt to thank and dismiss his summon.

Naruto swallowed uncomfortably. "Does that mean he's given up and making a retreat?"

After all, the path eventually came back and continued past this point. Clearly, he'd given up on finding Aiko and gone on his way in the opposite direction of Suna.

It was hard to say. "Just a moment," Yamato added quietly before turning to Gaara. The teen was still staring at the much-abused girl who he had seen only the day before. "If you'd like, Kazekage-sama, I have a sealing scroll we could use instead of leaving this girl here." The younger man took the proffered scroll with a solemn nod and pulled it open, kneeling at the corpse's head.

"I don't think he gave up," Kakashi added thoughtfully, looking up at the sky. "After he determined he couldn't find Aiko, he followed the exact same path out and retraced his old steps. That indicates that his destination hasn't changed."

"Could be heading to reinforcements," Temari said grimly. In silent agreement, the group set out at top speed as soon as Gaara had tucked away the newly filled scroll. If that was this man's intention, it would be in their best interest to head him off. He had already lost time by searching for his missing prisoner.

They saw the profiles in the distance outside a cave of some sort long before it was possible to make out any faces. However, they were rather distinctive profiles. They weren't the kind of people one could run past, so the group came to a cautious stop with fifty feet still separating them.

"Itachi," Sasuke breathed, sounding strangely nervous. Naruto shot his friend a soothing look and nudged his side with an elbow.

"It'll be okay," he growled. "If he was involved in this, we'll kill him too, Sasuke."

It was downright unnerving to see Sasuke look so sick and reluctant at the sight of his murderous brother. If he'd made a prediction, Naruto would have thought Sasuke more likely to get angry. That only made it worse—this guy shouldn't have so much power over Sasuke. In fact, scratch that. He didn't have that power over Sasuke, because Naruto wouldn't let him hurt his friend again.

Omake

If Sasori had gotten her all the way to the cave before the anesthetics wore off…

Aiko blinked, having a hard time readjusting to being awake. 'There are dead people hanging from strings and a wooden scorpion in an ugly housecoat talking to a metal-faced mirage. My keen intuition tells me it's time to go home.'

"I see," Pein said disapprovingly, looking at the slumped form of the confused looking girl his agent had apparently captured for bait.

It was a shame that Sasori had opted to involve more people than he had to. The jinchuuriki of the Tailed Beasts were a necessary sacrifice for a world free of pain and sorrow, but it was not strictly necessary to harm this child. However Pein disliked the practice, he had to allow his agents free reign in order to fulfill their assigned missions.

"I anticipate that I will be ready to perform the extraction before the end of the night."

Pein blinked. The redheaded girl had suddenly disappeared from his vision. "Did your prisoner just escape?"

Sasori slowly turned his head to the definitely empty place where he'd deposited his prisoner. The ropes she'd been tied with were even gone.

"No," he deadpanned, moving to end the connection between himself and his boss. "I'm in a cave. It must be the reception."

"But-"

"You're breaking up," Sasori said hastily, cutting off the connection that allowed Pein to materialize.

[alexthegamingboy]

Toonami Weekly Recap 01/11/2025

Mashle: Magic and Muscles EP#07 - Mash Burnedead and the Puppet Master: Abel wants to return the world to a ''survival of the fittest'' mentality, as ''equality for all'' means no opportunity for strong people to advance. He uses his dolls to steal Mash's gold coin. Mash discovers cutting their strings returns the dolls to humans, freeing Silva. Abel realises Mash used super fast sleight of hand to swap the coin he stole with a button, surprising him. Silva is confused that Mash saved him just because it was the right thing to do. Lemon reveals Mash has Adler's only gold coin, but Lang has fifteen. Mash and Lance are later attacked by Magia Lupus members Sixth Magic Fang Olore, who transforms into a shark, and Seventh Magic Fang Anser, who controls a magical shuriken, wagering gold coins on who wins. Mash is sent to Olore's underwater pocket dimension to fight Olore. Lance crushes Anser and his shuriken with gravity magic. Mash swims at over 10 kilometres an hour and knocks Olore unconscious. Lance claims their gold coin before they are retrieved by Second Magic Fang Abyss, a masked Magia Lupus who can negate people's spells and moves faster than Mash can punch. After leaving he realizes Mash did manage to crack his mask and wonders if Mash is as unique as him.

Blue Exorcist EP#08 - Now a Certain Man Was Sick...: After an argument arises between Ryuji and Izumo, Yukio punishes the whole class. After Yukio leaves for a mission, the students are attacked by the naberius from yesterday, which splits in half. Rin tries to lead the first ghoul away from the others, leaving it up to Ryuji and the others to work together against the second ghoul. Rin learns that the naberius was sent by Neuhaus, who wanted to confirm that he is the son of Satan. After the incident, Izumo thanks Shiemi for saving her during the attack.

Naruto (Land of Waves Arc) EP#01 - Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!: Naruto Uzumaki is a twelve-year-old ninja living in the Hidden Leaf Village under harsh ridicule from the villagers, having defaced a monument dedicated to the four Hokage leaders out of a need for acknowledgement. Naruto's teacher Iruka Umino reprimands Naruto for putting graffiti on each face statues, later hearing Naruto's aspirations of becoming Hokage to become respected by the villages. The following day, being held back from graduating the Ninja Academy after a botched Clone Jutsu, Naruto is tricked by an academy teacher named Mizuki into stealing a scroll containing the secret ninjutsu from the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi that night. Iruka intercepts Naruto as Mizuki was going to kill the boy and leave the village with the stolen scroll. Mizuki then reveals to Naruto that villagers were ordered not to reveal him as a host to a demon fox called the Nine Tails which devastated their village twelve years ago. Mizuki explains this to be the reasoning Naruto is hated, adding that Iruka's parents were killed by the Nine Tails. But a remorseful Iruka protects Naruto while telling the boy they have a lot in common, spurring Naruto to use the Multi Shadow Clones Jutsu he learned from the scroll to overwhelm Mizuki. Soon after Iruka uses Naruto's ability to use shadow clones to justify his graduation from the Ninja Academy.