Naruto of the Salamander
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Authors Notes:

This story was mainly inspired by the 'The Pro' and 'lord of the land of fire' who both have written some really good stories with not much of a divergence from canon. For instance, their stories are not that much canon, mind you, yet Naruto does not possess the sharingan, rinnegan or even some crazy kind of affinity nobody else has ever heard of (most of the time). They both simply turned the basic story and world of Naruto into something amazing with a few well-placed words and meetings.

Also, I figured I'd give a little shout-out to an author by the name of, 'Ryu no Tenshi' who wrote a few chapters of a story called, 'Naruto of the Salamander' odd, huh? My story by no means is a rewrite or even based on that story. Honestly, I was done with the first chapter of this story and typed in the title just to see what would come up and what came up? You got it right in one! Figured I'd just point that little bit of information out for anyone out there wondering if perhaps I copied him or her. Also, 'NOTS' sounds badass.

Summary: A young, lonely and impressionable Naruto meets a Black Salamander of legend. Nobody would know just how big of a change such a small happening could make until the legend of Uzumaki Naruto had already begun.

Enjoy the first chapter.

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Battle of the Naka River!
IIII

Uzumaki Naruto was a loner – he was almost always seen alone and unhappy; though most thought he was happy, it was a well fabricated and crafted lie that he'd kept up to keep appearance one might say. He'd say it didn't bother him to the old man, Teuchi and Ayame, but he was lying. It bothered him – very much so, actually.

For some reason pretty much all of the villagers didn't think highly of him. The ninja guarded him with a cool sort of respect – they'd deal with him when they had too and they wouldn't go much farther than that; they would do their duty, although some seemed to be just itching for a reason to punish him. The teachers at the academy ignored him for the most part whether that was if he wrote on his desk, forgot or even did his homework – it was usually regarded with a zero if picked up at all –, raised his hand, answered a question or even asked one with or without permission.

It was like he was a ghost in Konohagakure no Sato, only a ghost that could be occasionally seen and regarded with barely-withheld fury and disdain. He was a pariah and had no clue why.

He wasn't outright ostracized or beaten – except for that one time when a newly appointed drunken genin attacked him he was never really harmed; apparently he'd been executed for treason a few days later – but what was done to him was worse, in a way.

He wasn't acknowledged, and that was all the little boy wanted. Acknowledgment on a positive level from the place he called home. Acknowledgement from the place he would one day lead as their Hokage and leader.

Uzumaki Naruto was a loner – that, however, was about to change…

IIII

Hands stuffed deep in his forest green shorts, Naruto continued to walk along the lonely path that was life; his current destination, the Naka River.

He'd found the peaceful spot not so long ago, following Sasuke home, oddly enough. The lone Uchiha had broken off a little ways after the spot he was settling in and headed towards the compound where he and the rest of his clan used to live. Naruto briefly recalled some boys in class talking about a massacre of all the Uchiha; he would have to look more into that particular topic.

Shaking his head, Naruto removed his blue sandals and dunked his feet into the water before pulling of his hooded shirt and bundling it up, creating a makeshift pillow and placing it behind his head; beneath the shirt he wore a simple dark blue t-shirt.

Soaking his feet, Naruto allowed his adolescent mind to wander…

He still didn't really have any friends but Iruka-sensei had saved him from no-doubt dying at the hands of foreign nins and Shikamaru had even hung out with him a few times after that; Iruka had told him Shikamaru had pretty much saved his life as much as he did! And wherever Shikamaru went, so did Chouji and sometimes Ino though it was clear she usually did so as a last resort. He now needed two hands to count the number of people that acknowledged him as a positive member of their community (Ayame and Teuchi Iruka, Hokage-jiji, Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi)! He'd be Hokage in no time!

As Naruto's thoughts made their way back to his classmates – for some reason unbeknownst to the boy – a small blush made its way upon his face as he thought of the blonde and her friend Sakura. They were both very pretty in his opinion, and popular if slightly on the unfriendly side. Well, Sakura more than Ino, that is. Sakura liked to make her point, and by extension, love for Sasuke very clear. Ino could be just as loud but she seemed to have a pretty good hold on her anger, unlike the fiery pink haired girl though her tongue could be as sharp as the rest when it wanted to be.

There was also that other girl – Hinana was her name? No, that wasn't it. Naruto bit his lip in thought, wading his feet through the water – Hinada! That was it! Naruto smiled, folding his arms behind his head and grinning at the clouds. If only Shikamaru could see him now…

Naruto was taking his time and joying the setting sun, knowing he'd need to head over to Ichiraku's if he wanted to eat before they closed. Only he really knew who bad he cooked – everything besides instant ramen and a few other basic meals that is – and the stores didn't like selling him stuff most of the time; if he went grocery shopping after dark and right before closing they'd probably accuse him of stealing! Sometimes the store clerks were just too troublesome.

It was with great hesitance that Naruto pulled his feet out of the river and slipped back into his shinobi sandals before tugging his hoody back over his head; it was getting a little chilly, after all, and he didn't want to catch a cold.

He was just about to turn and make his way back up the warn dirt path that stretched from the river to the main street when he saw it.

A black and white salamander apparently locked in deadly combat with a wart-covered toad.

The salamander was bigger than the toad, but not by much. The toad was rather chubby looking and reached about eight inches high, with his knees bent and ready to pounce; it also happened to be a forest green color with tiny orange speckles dotting its skin in a few spots. The tallest point of the salamander was about mid-level with the toad, although from head to the start of the tail it was easily over a foot long; the salamander was also jet black from head to toe with an unusual white pattern on its back and from the looks of it, underbelly as well.

Naruto's observation was cut short when the toad leapt at the salamander, brandishing what looked like a tiny little fork. The salamander was not one to be intimidated by toys and opened its mouth. A sickly colored purple mist floated from the dark cavern and 'struck' the toad head first; it dropped to the grass twitching in mid jump. The salamander wasted no time at all in advancing upon its prey, ripping into the toad with – from the looks of things – tiny and glinting razor sharp teeth ferociously.

"Well, damn," Naruto murmured, rubbing the back of his head in confusion. It wasn't every day someone saw a toad and salamander do battle. "I can't wait to tell Chouji someone has even worse eating habits then he does."

As if listening to him, the salamander's head snapped towards Naruto, bloody teeth bared in a viscous little scowl that had a little bit of toad's leg hanging from his mouth; Naruto's stomach clenched uncomfortably at the gruesome sight.

"Now, now," he muttered pleadingly, "just go back to your dinner, yeah? I'll just be going now…"

Satisfied, the salamander went back to its meal, Naruto seemingly forgotten in his mind. Also satisfied his life was no longer in danger, Naruto began making his way towards his favorite eatery, his appetite still in place.

Walking, he snorted. I'm training to be a shinobi for Kami's sake! If I don't have an appetite after that I don't deserve to be one!

IIII

The next day after class, Naruto went back to the river, not intent on seeing the salamander, no, it was just his normal spot and he'd be damned if that little shit scared him off!

Shikamaru and Chouji were apparently going on a clan trip with some members of both their clans as well as the Yamanaka of Konoha; it was supposedly a comradely thing Naruto knew next to nothing about. Shikamaru has said his father allowed him to come but he didn't want to impose upon them. Not only was he the only person with the name Uzumaki in Konoha – he wasn't even sure if they were a clan at some point in time – not many people liked him and he didn't want to risk ostracizing Shikamaru and Chouji amongst their clans, thus risking the loss of his first friends.

No, Naruto would take one for the team – Team Naruto – and stay put. Besides, who else would bother Sasuke if he was gone, too?

Satisfied with his own train of thoughts, Naruto removed his sandals again, and, like the day before, placed them in the cool water waiting below and got himself comfortable.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard rustling in the tall grass to his left.

Stumbling through the grass was the salamander he had seen yesterday feasting upon a toad, only it was hurt. Its front right leg looked to be missing a few chunks and its tail seemed to be half the size it was then the first time he'd seen it.

A moment later a red toad with yellow spots emerged, this one not only bigger than its brethren but much larger than the black and white salamander in front of him. While the salamander reached a little over his ankles at best the toad in front of him nearly to his knees and a miniature tanto was easily visible in its hands.

The toad let out a little garble that Naruto assumed was supposed to be an intimidating war cry and sprung forwards, intent on killing the salamander and avenging his clan it seemed.

The salamander was not to be outdone, snarling and spitting out a yellowish-green substance that the toad managed to evade. Naruto could only gape as the liquid began to eat away at the grass it had landed on. The toad was not to be bested though as it landed before feinting to the left and springing back towards the salamander, ready for another round. Not to be outdone again the salamander burrowed its way underground in a flash, easily eating through the soft grass and dirt. Stomping its little feet in annoyance, the toad croaked to itself as it peaked into the dark hole the salamander has just escaped into.

Now, Naruto was training to be a ninja, and a ninja should know that they'd see very strange things on occasion and were supposed to reign in their shock and do their duty. Naruto was positive that this didn't count as he promptly fell over, landing on his ass when three identical black and white salamanders erupted from the ground – two creating new holes and the last coming back out of the hole it had made, promptly fading into dust when he toad's tanto made contact with it.

"Shit," Naruto whispered, eying the fight with obvious interest. "That little salamander can create a better bunshin that me…"

Even though the salamander had created some serious bunshin, the toad was not one to fall for tricks, easily dispatching the fakes and advancing on the salamander who looked to be tiring quickly, his wounds seemingly overtaking him.

The salamander backed away from the tanto-wielding toad, slowly makings its way towards the river, its eyes darting back and forth. The toad continued advancing.

As the toad continued to advance upon the salamander, Naruto made his choice then and there; a choice that would forever chance the shinobi nations and Konoha in general.

Three things happened in very quick succession.

The toad swung his tanto, the salamander leapt back and Naruto chucked a kunai with as much force as he could at the toad.

Three small noises were heard in very quick succession.

The salamander landed safely atop the slowly churning river, a kunai buried itself to the hilt in the toad's back, the tip of the blade erupting from the toad's chest in a shower of gore right before the toad fell – the final thunk – dead and defeated.

Naruto couldn't hold in the little whoop of joy that had threatened to break out at his successfully thrown kunai – target practice indeed.

"Yatta!"

"Why are you so excited, boy? You've killed a toad. Yare, yare! Thank Kami you've decided to grace the Elemental Nations with your presence."

Naruto blinked, once, twice, three times before lowering his eyes and coming to a conclusion that it was the salamander mocking him. The shock of actually speaking to a life form not known for, well, speaking wore off a little when he remembered that many summons could speak as well.

Naruto crossed his arms across his chest. "You could say thank you," he muttered, frowning.

The salamander spared Naruto a lazy look and up close Naruto was able to see a helmet-like marking – more like a broken crown – atop the salamander's head in the same tone of white as his back and belly before looking back at the cooling corpse of his opponent. "I had it under control."

"You could have at least said thanks, salamander-san," said Naruto, raising his chin and sniffing slightly.

"Salamander-san? I have a name, boy."

"Not like you gave it to me," Naruto muttered, more to himself than the salamander.

"I suppose I owe you that much – Dokueki, at your service, child."

Naruto frowned. "Uzumaki Naruto," he said curtly.

"Well, I'll be going now."

"Aren't you going to… you know," said Naruto, waving towards the dead toad.

"What? Eat it? No thank you. That was your kill – your meal."

Naruto grimaced. He knew that eating your own kill and finding a meal when you didn't have the luxury of eating a cooked meal by someone else or something packaged was the shinobi way – "you keep what you kill," Iruka had said –, but he was barely nine and didn't really feel like gutting a possibly poisonous toad and eating it just because some salamander said it was the thing to do.

"Eh, feel free to have at it," said Naruto, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Thanks, kid," said Dokueki, giving a little shrug before turning slightly and makings his way towards the fallen toad.

"So," Naruto drawled as Dokueki dug into the toad with relish it seemed; perhaps it was little revenge or maybe he was just hungry, "are you from Konoha?"

"Not really."

"Are you a… a, what is it called? A… summon?"

"Possibly."

"Really? Who do you serve?"

The salamander looked at him sharply, sending a few innards he'd been chewing on array. "You ask a lot of questions," he said, baring bloody teeth.

Naruto didn't seem too threatened, or worried. "Just curious. I've never met any summons before except for jiji's monkey.

"Monkey – jiji? You must be talking about Sarutobi's old, decrepit ass!"

"Yup!" Naruto chirped, happily. "So who do you serve?"

"I'm a salamander," the salamander provided, going back to its meal.

"Salamander, salamander," Naruto muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. "I've heard that only a very powerful ninja uses the salamanders… What was his name? Danzou? No… Lando! Yeah, that's is. Lando of the Salamander!"

Dokueki swallowed the heart of the toad he had just been tearing into – a delicacy amongst salamanders – before letting out a raspy chuckle. "If Hanzou heard you calling him that he'd probably kill you," Dokueki eyed Naruto seriously before lowering his head and turning back to his meal, "or turn you into his weapon."

"Me?" Naruto questioned, pouting for a moment before grinning and jabbing a thumb at himself. "Naruto!"

Dokueki snorted but did not look up. "Cute, kid, really cute. Aren't you a little chibi-shinobi."

Naruto didn't seem to have any more questions for the time being, thoroughly insulted and defeated, instead settling on just observing the little salamander as it ate. Little, however, was the wrong word to use as it was easily over a foot long and that wasn't even counting its tail while its head could probably take a bite out of his shin without any effort. This also gave Naruto to give him another look. His previous observations were confirmed when he noticed the blotchy white markings on its back; they did, in fact and oddly enough, bear a striking resemblance to that of a spider while the top of his head seemed to be covered in a shattered crown. Dokueki was also – as Naruto had previously noticed – missing a large chunk of his tail and several 'fingers' on its right 'hand'; the wounds looked clean though, obviously caused by the enemy toad's blade.

"Hey," Naruto spoke up as Dokueki was finishing up his meal, "do you need any help?"

Now Naruto was by no means a medic-nin at all. His chakra control was positively horrendous but he felt that Dokueki didn't need to know that at the moment. Perhaps the salamander would appreciate the gesture of him trying and failing instead of not trying at all; hopefully he didn't just mock him some more.

Dokueki's tongue darted out, licking some residual blood left on around its mouth. "Help?"

"Yeah," said Naruto, wriggling his fingers and giving his lower-half a little shake.

"That," said Dokueki, chuckling, "is already being taken care of."

Naruto should have known the salamander had another ace up his non-existent sleeve and that was only confirmed when the injuries Dokueki had – and there were actually more than actually visible; little nicks and cuts hidden by the color of his skin – began to glow a familiar shade of green Naruto had seen on a few occasions: the salamander was healing itself.

"Why am I not surprised," Naruto muttered and it was actually quite the contrary as he was in fact very surprised.

"What can I say? I'm just that good," said Dokueki, giving Naruto a toothy grin.

"Arrogant little bugger aren't ya?"

As Naruto and the salamander traded jibes, a bond was formed.

The boy wouldn't know for a while that the little salamander he had helped do battle with a toad was one of his most precious 'people'.

Nobody would know how big of an effect a nine year old spotting a salamander fighting a toad could make, just like nobody would have guessed a simple sighting would turn a young, lonely boy into one of the most powerful shinobi the Elemental Nations had seen since, well, his father…

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Author's Notes:

And that is the first instillation of Naruto of the Salamander. I hope you enjoyed it because I'll admit that I had some fun writing it! I'm a few chapters in and I'll admit this is the first Naruto story I've actually felt like writing and done it! Most are just ideas I wish someone out there will just be like, "OMG! This idea is fantastic! I'm writing a story where Naruto…" But this idea stuck, so I hope those of you out there enjoy it.

I'm stilling working on my other fic but writing a lone story gets old and boring from time to time as most writers out there know; this keeps my mind fresh and interested.

Translation:

Dokueki – Venom (reference towards both his appearance, abilities and the spider-man character)

See ya next time!