Sunagakure Hospital
In a slightly dilapidated beige room, a man with red hair spoke out.
"Sasori, this is your little brother Sora, treat him well son, he looks just like your mother doesn't he?"
Across them was a brunette woman. Sweat glistening on her face and strands of hair clinging to her forehead still disheveled from labour, cradling a red haired baby in her arms.
The little kid on the bedside was Sasori who was 5 years old, glaring at his new brother—his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
The baby however…
He was reeling in shock from what he had just heard.
Sasori of the Red sand!? My older brother!? Did I seriously just get reincarnated into the Naruto Universe!!
I just fell asleep while watching anime and all of a sudden I woke up —reincarnated as a baby, furthermore one who's Sasoris little brother that shouldn't even exist !
In the midst of my revelation, babbling noises had involuntary left my mouth, just from the sheer absurdity of the situation alone.
Hearing this, my new mother mistook me as being in discomfort and started rocking me up and down.
"There there Sora, it's alright.
Well at least I have a caring mother but…
I feel conflicted about developing personal ties to them.
I know they're destined to die to the hands of The White Fang of the leaf sometime during the second ninja war.
I'm presuming the second ninja war will break out soon, leaving the village in turmoil and severe debt, most importantly, I will be left orphaned .
Now that I think about it, there will be a lot of precarious situations that will arise in the future.
Not only that, I have to worry about a certain sociopathic brother, one who seems to develop an obsession of turning humans into puppets.
If I was reincarnated into Konoha I could at least try and live my life out as a civilian, maybe own a ramen shop or become Teuchi's protégée.
But now I have to worry about surviving not only through the 3rd ninja war, not get implicated in the Konoha collapse plan in the distant future, 4th ninja war or even against my own brother, so on and so forth.
Moreover, the next Kazekage Rasa is also a scheming bastard, whether it's attempting to assassinate Gaara or plotting to kill the hero of the sand village for a truce between him and Kirigakure.
That's only just a small list of issues I can recall from the anime.
I definitely shouldn't try and stand out —aim for a peaceful life, let the protagonists deal with everything and just relax, like a normal background character would.
What have I done to deserve being born at this era of Naruto…
—
-1 Year later
"Sasori take care of your little brother okay, your mother and I have a duty to protect the village"
"Sasori your father and I love you, We'll come back soon… wait for us and make sure Sora doesn't get lonely"
Damn…
I knew this day would come but I can't help but feel heart wrenched.
After all they have been raising me for the past year and despite the shame of being adored and treated like a baby, I enjoyed the warmth of family.
And so, the second ninja war has begun, my parents are heading off to their deaths — leaving me and Sasori alone.
I shouldn't fret however, as one could say I'm considered to be quite important , since I'm the grandson and grand-nephew of the esteemed counsellors of Sunagakure, otherwise I wouldn't have had people to feed and clean me in this poverty stricken dusty village.
This past year has just been torture, being unable to do anything other than eat sleep and repeat.
However, enduring through this has left me with a lot of time.
And with said time, I decided to figure out a plan to survive this dangerous world.
My grand plan to survive in this world is to be a puppet maker and not a shinobi!
If you think about it, this is really just the best avenue to ensure my survival.
After all, having Sasori as a brother and my grandmother being known as a legendary puppeteer around the village really helps, with the caveat of if I can just learn how to make puppets like Chiyo and Sasori, well barring the human ones.
So even despite being dealt these cards, I can see a future where I survive these next few war torn years.
…
Something really significant has occurred, which has changed my prospects in this world a lot.
As soon as my age had turned one, two discreet notifications appeared in my vision, startling me.
[Make puppets (0/10)
Puppet and Baryon Fusion Reactor knowledge 0%]
This is completely insane! Did I really just gain a system?
I moved my tiny hands trying to grasp the translucent text that appeared before me but my hands just went right through.
After pondering for a moment, I'm presuming this system will imbue me with knowledge on puppet making and whatever a Baryon fusion reactor is upon the completions of ten puppets.
I guess a Baryon Fusion Reactor is most likely correlated with Naruto's Baryon mode. From what I can recall, Kurama explained baryon mode was similar to nuclear fusion, of course with chakra substituted as the fuel source, furthermore it can also drain the opponents life force with contact.
So If this is the same Baryon fusion I remember, it will be a game changer.
Especially if i can harbour the extremely powerful and abundant energy source for my puppets.
—-
I've turned 4 now and the second ninja war has ended.
As expected, my parents had succumbed to the hands of Sakumo Hatake.
Of course Chiyo hadn't informed us, she was always giving false hope to Sasori.
Every time he enquired into when they were coming back, she replied with the flat lie that they will be coming back soon.
Although, she had already realised that Sasori was perceptive enough to figure it out on his own, when she peeked on him trying to embrace his handmade puppet parents.
This was also quite a troubling sight for me but for a different reason, it was a prelude to Sasoris future.
I hope I can change Sasori but it seems a lot of damage has already been done to his psyche.
I bare an uncanny resemblance to my mothers face and also have my fathers red hair, Sasori was always fond of me but from my memory, Sasoris deep rooted psychological issues stemmed from lack of love early in childhood, in part due to Chiyo negligence.
But my connection to him however, has made him slightly brighter than if I hadn't existed I presume. However, he still has those soulless eyes.
Nevertheless, Sasori is still far removed from the heartless Akatsuki member from the anime.
—-
In a Dimly Lit Sandstone Workshop
"Big Brother, Can you please teach me how to make puppets, Granny Chiyo taught you first, now it's my turn to learn ", I pleaded with my hands clasped together.
"Sora, I already told you to let me focus, you're not old enough to be handling these poisons and sharp blades."
Recently I've been stumped, I've tried several ways to convince Chiyo or Sasori to teach me how to make puppets, in hopes of progressing my ability but both have been too busy to listen to my request.
So, since I'm not allowed to make puppets yet. Im attempting to find a loop hole to try and progress my ability
"Please brother! At least let me put one part on, otherwise I'm going to tell Granny Chiyo you're using her poisons"
"Sigh fine, it's not like she'll come anyways, after this stop pestering me. I'm working on making a revolutionary defensive puppet design named Salamander," he said, looking at me with his dead eyes.
Seizing the opportunity, I attach on a missing wooden finger to the hand of the puppet, I then proceeded to watch him finish constructing the puppet
A moment later
[Puppets 1/10
Puppet and Baryon Fusion Reactor Knowledge 0%]
Whaat!
I can seriously make progress if I just assist in the process of making a puppet
I guess I'll have to stick around my big brother a bit longer.
…
4 hours later
Sasori finished building all his puppets, with me pestering him along the way, begging to add at least one piece to the puppets.
"Why have you been here the whole time?", Sasori remarks, glancing to his side.
"I just enjoy building puppets with you elder brother!" I said while conjuring up an innocent smile.
Sasori reacted, showing a glint of joy in his eyes, his lips curving up, forming a faint smile but he quickly turned away.
Well, even though I don't really mind building puppets with him, I really just want to survive in this world.
And looking at my progress, I'm getting closer.
[Make puppets (6/10)
Puppet and Baryon fusion reactor knowledge 0%]
I guess I should also start a secret training regiment, so entering my parents room, I peer through an old storage box, swatting away cobwebs in the process.
Then I found it.
"Yes! I hit the jackpot!"
In front of me lay a plethora of scrolls, within each, an array of different jutsus for me to learn, so I quickly clutch as much scrolls as I can, bringing them to my room.
Here is what I've gotten from my little expedition: basic scrolls, containing chakra extraction method, the Sunagakure secret chakra thread method, written by the first puppet master — Monzaemon Chikamatsu himself .
Honestly, I don't know how it's a secret since it's quite self explanatory,
well… it does require fine chakra control and the scroll does contain a lot of puppet fighting techniques.
Closing the scroll shut, I mumbled aloud: "I've come to the conclusion that in order to make chakra threads, I obviously need to learn how to use chakra first."
So far I've learnt that chakra is the 50/50 combination of physical energy and spiritual energy.
Recalling the process from the scroll, I form a ram hand seal, as begin to extract my measly chakra. A cooling sensation courses through my body's extensive chakra network, concentrating around my navel.
After a while, I was unable to continue extracting chakra.
"Whew.. I'm exhausted", I can't extract any more chakra without feeling like bursting.
From what I can recall in the anime, Kakashi had taught team 7 to climb a tree at first to improve their chakra control.
I guess that should be my first course of action. So I redirect chakra to my feet, step on the wall and…
Crack!
Underneath my foot, a seam forms across the dusty sandstone wall.
"Seems like I overestimated the amount of chakra required" I muttered after tumbling to the floor, this was a lot harder than it looked like in the anime.
Persevering, I managed to keep this up for another hour until all my chakra was exhausted.
"I seriously only managed 2 steps after an hour? But even so, that's pretty decent for my first time using chakra.
"If I keep up this training regiment, I should manage to become capable of climbing walls very soon!" I exclaimed bubbling with enthusiasm.
…
The next day I woke up feeling very sore and fatigued. I had done a lot of training and I also followed it up with a light jog around the entire village on that same day.
Half of my chakra comes from the physical aspect of my body, so while I won't gain super-physiological capabilities like the Uzumakis or Senjus. It won't hurt to build up a solid base for the future.
Knock knock knock…
"Little Sora, it's me Granny Chiyo", she uttered in a solemn tone, opening the door to my room.
Oh… It's Granny Chiyo again.
She visits every week, to tell me about my parents or even help put me to sleep, probably out of guilt and to prevent me being too lonely and pessimistic like my older brother.
Her witnessing the scene where Sasori was being embraced by the puppet parents he made must've hit her hard and she doesn't want me to end up like him.
Well… she really isn't doing a good job, considering how she still neglects us here and there and is in her study the majority of the time.
"Granny can you teach me how to make puppets like older brother please~"
"Is that what you want Sora?", she said with a wry smile
"Yes!, yes!", I said in a gleeful tone, jumping up and down.
It hurts me to act like this, but hey anything to get stronger right?
"Ok, I'll give you the mini wooden puppet sets to work on, okay?"
"But promise me you won't end up like Sasori. He's in that damn work shop all day, you should go outside to the park and make some friends"
"I promise!"
And with that, she came back hefting a box of mini wooden doll parts, the building process comprised of the simplest building method with joints being plug fitted.
I'm assuming this is meant for training early puppet makers or for kids.
Fortunately, there seems to be the perfect amount needed to complete my task
…
Click!
After a while of fiddling around, I managed to make 4 mini dolls, however I can't operate them, since I have yet to master the chakra thread method.
As soon as the last part clicked, the same transparent text popped up in my vision — this time containing a new message.
[Puppets (0/10) - Completed(1)
Puppet and Baryon fusion reactor knowledge (0.1%)]
What! Only a 0.1 percent increase? Does the increment it increases by depend on my contribution and or quality of puppets built?
I'm hoping that's the case because if not, this will be far more tedious than I thought it would be. I can't afford to make thousands of puppets just for a small increase in knowledge!
Contrary to what I expected initially, the knowledge that was imbued within me, gave me an uncanny familiarity with the puppet in my hand.
I found myself having a level of comprehension I didn't have before.
I also noticed that my chakra control seemed to increase, my theory is that a Baryon Fusion Reactor must require extremely precise chakra control to operate.
Enlightened by the system, I attempted to create chakra threads yet again. The last time I tried, I failed before threads could even materialise.
Buzz!
Thin luminescent strands started emerging from my finger tips, twirling in the air .
With concentration etched into my face, I attached the thin strands onto the puppets limbs.
Rattle Rattle Rattle
Tiny wooden dolls began raising up, as though they were granted the gift of life.
I was able to move the puppets, albeit with rather sloppy movements.
My eyes lit up, "I actually done it!"
It seems the knowledge I acquired, worked like cheating on an exam, you don't understand the content but you know the solution to the problems. So when it comes to utilising the knowledge in building puppets or using the chakra control required, it seemed to come to me subconsciously.
That's amazing, since I'm not exactly the smartest or craftiest, I can't imagine being able to utilise the knowledge alone. If it was like being handed a textbook on nuclear fusion, then I would've been hopeless.
Furthermore, the minuscule puppet making knowledge of 0.1 percent was far more impactful than I expected.
This is a relief, at least I can aim to become a good puppet master even without reaching the 100% mark.
Chiyo was not going to check up on me to see if I would follow through with my promise. But since I'm a man of my word, I'll go outside and I'm also quite curious about civilian life myself.
Walking against the harsh wind hurling sand into my face, I treaded along the paved sandstone paths. Sunagakure roads were dense, lined with hemispherical beige houses and interweaving pillars .
Reaching the park after admiring the infrastructure of Sunagakure, I decided that instead of playing with the other kids, I had other plans — training.
So I began doing push ups, squats and using the bars for pull ups.
"What is that weird kid doing?" A concerned parent whispered to herself
Then suddenly, I hear a bratty voice call out.
"Hey! What are you doing here? Can I play with you too?"
It was a young girl carrying a bucket of sand. She had green hair and orange bangs and seemed about a few years older than me.
"I'm training what else?!, stop disturbing me! I'm not in the mood to play with a little kid right now!"
"You're a little kid too…"
What I want to focus on is getting stronger — not playing with little children, I'm still an adult mentally you know, so I tried to scare her away but it backfired.
"Hey, you could be a little kinder you know."
"Just leave me alone."
Woosh!
A fist came flying at me
I quickly dodged
"What the hell are you doing!"
"I'm teaching you a lesson."
She then launched a barrage of kicks and punches at me, I managed to block most of them but I was still taking a beating, with my weak composition being caused by my still growing young body.
So deciding to put the knowledge accrued today to good use, I created tiny chakra threads, latching onto her hands and legs, manipulating her to punch herself and then followed it up by then making her tripping over her own feet.
Thud!
She fell face flat in the sand pit.
"Haha!" I involuntarily snickered but quickly covered my mouth afterwards
"…"
Sizzle
Breaking the awkward tension, the faint noise of steam whistled in my ear, as smoke began to rise from the depths of the sand.
Materialising out of thin air, a mini fireball began ominously swirling around her.
"Shit.."
There's no way! Is this who I think it is .
This must be Pakura: the future hero of the hidden sand and the user of the scorch release Kekkei Genkai
How did I not realise earlier!?
Of course I'm not strong enough to fight someone like her, and why is she using her scorch release on a little child in the first place.
Knowing the information I do, I couldn't just wait there and get seared to death.
So I ran away…
"Y-You… how dare you humiliate me like this!" She muttered slowly picking herself up with tears welling up in her eyes.
A visibly bright red flustered Pakura got up, stomped and screamed into the far distance
"I'll get my revenge on you!"
——
Thanks for reading this far!
Don't be too harsh it's my first time writing something like this😓😓