Naruto: Fullmetal

Chapter 3: Automail

Jiraiya smiled in content as he looked at the sleeping face of his grandson as the sun began to rise its light shining upon him making him glow as if he was Kami-sama's gift to the world. Two days had passed since the meeting between Hi no Kuni's highest officials and that of Rai no Kuni's and in that time much had been done. After the initial meeting between the countries Tsunade herself had done the blood test for the current Daimyou of Rai no Kuni. The results had indeed shown them to be related the man's blood matching that of Uzumaki Kushina's exactly.

Following this a blood test had been done for Naruto by the demand of the council. The blood test had matches to not only his parents and the Sannin but to the Sandaime himself much to everyone's shock including his own. A bit of intense testing later and Tsunade had discovered that much like with her son her sensei had been her father. According to the old man he and her mother had an on again off again relationship for well over ten years before her mother had been forced to marry out of an arranged marriage, of course at the time neither had known she'd already been conceived.

In an effort to find out more Tsunade had been forced to go through the things her mother had left after her death until finally she found her mother's diary. Within the diary had been the truth of her heritage addressed to not only her but her little brother Nawaki as well. According to the diary her mother had gone back to her former lover a few years into her marriage after finding her husband cheating on her with one of the servants resulting in Nawaki's conception.

She had also read of how it pained her mother as she was unable to let her true father know of their relationship. By this time her sensei had been in the lead of the race to become the Sandaime and the last thing he would need would be a scandal on how he'd knocked up the Shodai's daughter, as such she had kept silent so as not to create the idea that the political race had been a farce.

She had however been forced to submit the diary to the council for viewing when certain people had began trying to discredit her father and get him to step down from the Hokage's seat. Once the Daimyou had seen the entry he had put a stop to the rumors and the motion to make her father step down. However he did state that from now on the final decision on who would be Hokage would be up to him, after the jounin and ANBU captains put in their vote. The council however could only nominate people for the position they could no longer decide who the Hokage would be.

As far as the situation with Rai no Kuni the treaty had been renegotiated and both the Senju and Hyuga clans had been given monetary reparations from the Sandaime Raikage's personal funds. Jiraiya himself had spent the last two days with his grandson and by extension Tsunade. The little boy had quickly wormed his way into the hearts of the two as well as that of Tsunade's apprentice Shizune.

Naruto however was still bound to the hospital as the staff wanted him to hang around a little bit longer. This helped both Sannin as neither was sure if they planned to stay within the village or journey outward once more. Since news of the boys heritage had already spread however they'd gone and gotten his records from the orphanage. Surprisingly enough the matron of the orphanage had no grudge against the blonde nor did anyone else working there. She did however admit that the council had forced a few rules on them one of which was to lock Naruto out if he wasn't back at a certain time otherwise they'd shut the entire place down. Sensing the sincerity of the woman the two Sannin had left with their grandsons records and promised that these rules enforced by the council would be looked over thoroughly.

Outside of his regulars Naruto had been permitted four visitors; Hyuga Hinata and her mother Hitome and Ichiraku Tuechi and his daughter Ayame. The matriarch of the Hyuga clan had gushed over the boy as Naruto and Hinata played the blonde helping the young heiress climb out of her shell. When Tuechi and Ayame came however the blonde's face had lit up like a Christmas tree and both men found themselves chuckling as Ayame fed the blushing boy some ramen.

Other than that no one was permitted within the boy's room without personal authorization from the Hokage. The squad of ANBU guards and quartet of Hyuga's saw to that. The most prominent of his guards was a silver haired man with an Inu (dog) mask. After speaking with Inu Jiraiya discovered that the young ANBU captain was doing his hardest but could only check in on the boy once every two weeks as he was nearly always on a mission though he explained he was training a new protégée to take over so that he could watch the boy more closely at the end of his term in a few months.

When prodded he told the Sannin he'd had no idea of the blonde's heritage however he saw the boy as the Yondaime's legacy and was determined to make sure he was protected. His drive was so much he'd been determined to be the boy's jounin sensei but with the boys new injury didn't see that happening.

Sighing the Toad Sannin shook himself from his thoughts only to find himself looking at the sketch pad that the boy had kept with him since his awakening. Picking it up and opening it the Toad Sage felt his eyes widen at its contents before a large grin covered his face.

'This is incredible. If such a thing could actually work this could revolutionize things around here and give us back some much needed manpower. However as far as I can tell the only person who could pull something like this off would be Tsunade. We would also need her help for the rest of this as she's the only one in the village who could probably make it.' Thought Jiraiya in shock.

"I thought I'd find you here Jiraiya-dono." Said the red haired Daimyou of Rai no Kuni as he entered the room.

"I just want him to wake up to the sight of family after going so long without it Daimyou-sama." Said Jiraiya.

"Please call me Kenji, I hate formalities, besides such things have no place with family." Said Kenji getting a nod from the man.

"So have you decided what you will be doing after Naruto's cleared?" asked Kenji after a few minutes.

"Not as of yet, though we do know we won't be staying in the village." Said Jiraiya getting an understanding nod from the red head.

"Well I was hoping to convince you and Tsunade-dono would bring Naruto to my place for a while. As one of the last Uzumaki I believe he needs to know his roots." Said Kenji.

"I'll discuss it with Tsunade and inform you of our decision." Said Jiraiya.

Kenji nodded at that having not expected the man to make any promises.

When Naruto awoke it was to a sight he had quickly come to cherish, that of his grandparents standing by his side. His grandfather's large hand was hovering over him obviously from shaking him awake. For Naruto life couldn't get any better than it was now. He had gone from an unwanted and despised orphan to the son of the Yondaime Hokage, grandchild of two of the Sannin, nephew of Rai no Kuni's Daimyo, and great-grandson of the Sandaime Hokage and it had only cost him an arm. Glancing over at the stub that had once been his right arm the child couldn't help but tell himself it had been worth the loss.

"Come on Naru-chan we've got a big day ahead." Said Tsunade breaking the boy out of his self inspection.

Before the child could even get a word in he found himself picked up and out of the bed his grandmother easily carrying him over to his room's bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later found Jiraiya, Tsunade and a still tired Naruto moving through the nearly deserted streets. Due to the hour they had taken to leave the only people out were the shinobi who were just beginning patrol duty and those more dedicated civilians who were preparing to open their shops. Naruto was currently enjoying the feeling of actually being carried through the streets and Tsunade was enjoying the fact that she was getting to carry him having never gotten the opportunity with her own son.

Tsunade found herself raising an eyebrow when they stopped in front of a shop where Jiraiya proceeded to knock at least five times. A few minutes later a young woman made her appearance her brown hair held in a ponytail and what looked like a spot of ash on her cheek.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" exclaimed the young woman opening the door wide and pulling the man into a hug at least before she pulled back and socked him in the chest.

"It's been over a week and you're just now coming to see me on top of the five years before that." Admonished the woman with a glare.

"It's good to see you too Asuka-chan, you remember Tsunade right and the little one is Naruto." Said Jiraiya wheezing slightly.

"OH Tsunade-sama I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Said Asuka bowing to the legendary medic.

"It's no problem I'd be upset too if my sensei neglected to visit me after leaving town for five years." Said Tsunade to young woman.

"Listen Asuka-chan I need your help with a project can we talk inside." Said Jiraiya lowly.

"Sure sensei, come on in."

As they entered the shop Asuka lead them through another door and a flight of steps where they entered the living room of her home.

"Mommy I finished breakfast." Called a voice as a young girl entered the room.

"Sensei this is my daughter Tenten. Ten-chan this is my sensei Jiraiya and this is Tsunade-sama of the Sannin. This cute little guy is Senju Naruto-sama" Introduced the woman causing the young girl to look up at them in awe.

"How'd you know that?" questioned Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama you've been gone so long you've forgotten how fast news travels around here." Said Asuka causing both Sannin to sweatdrop.

"Ten-chan why don't you and Naruto go play in your room."

"Ok, come on." Said Tenten dragging Naruto off before he could even blink.

"So what's going on?" asked Asuka sitting as soon as the kids were gone.

Jiraiya said nothing merely handing her the sketch pad he'd picked up earlier causing her to raise an eyebrow. Looking through it her eyes began to widen in amazement after a few minutes.

"Well the drawings crude but I get the jist of it. This is actually amazing sensei, but is it possible?" asked Asuka after a few minutes.

"I don't see why it isn't Suna has been using a similar concept for years replacing missing limbs with wooden ones controlled through puppetry. As far as I'm concerned this is merely taking it to the next level." Said Jiraiya.

"Yeah but in order for this to work a person would need extensive knowledge in human anatomy since it needs to be attached to nerves which means the procedure would be incredibly painful for the recipient. Still whoever came up with this is a genius. It's the interior design that gets me I've never seen anything so complex." Said Asuka.

"But can you do it?" asked Jiraiya.

"Of course I can, as long as I follow the blueprint to the letter, attaching everything will be the problem." Said Asuka her apprehension showing.

"That's why you'll be learning more medical skills." Said Jiraiya causing both women to blink.

"I know the obvious choice is Tsunade but while she's a goddess with a scalpel the same can not be said for metal work which is your forte. This is also a very sensitive project so people like Danzo don't get wind of it you're the only person I'm approaching." Explained Jiraiya getting an understanding nod from his one time student.

"Ok in that time I can also start developing the arm. If I make it my only project I can have it done in a week. After that I can start looking for ways to improve the prototype so that we have a useful working model." Said Asuka.

"The first one doesn't need to be combat ready though. I'm sure he'll be happy just to have an arm to swing around again. You'll also be the only person with knowledge on how to build it unless Tenten decides to follow in your footsteps. Though we'll need to know how to handle the maintenance." Said Jiraiya thoughtfully.

"Man I haven't been this excited about a project since I first started designing Hiraishin kunai's, this is going to be so much fun." said Asuka with a giddy looking smile.

Four months later found the family of five standing in front of the village gates. For the last three months Naruto had made himself extremely scarce within the village, meaning he wasn't seen at all by the villagers. Of course he had managed to stay in contact with his friends but he'd spent majority of his time hidden within the Sarutobi estate. A month after meeting Tenten and her mother Asuka, Naruto had his new metal arm installed.

The process had been far more painful than anyone had ever imagined it being made worse by the fact that he was awake throughout the entire process. Sure it may have been easier to do it while he was unconscious especially seeing as how it had to be connected to the nerves in his shoulder Naruto however had refused such a thing wanting to see the process all the way through. His screams had echoed throughout the Sarutobi estate that day making Jiraiya wish the boy hadn't been so stubborn.

It had taken another three months before he could work the limb properly. The time taken had amazed everyone as Tsunade had theorized it would take a good six months before he reached that point. The arm itself looked simply like a regular arm only made of metal which Naruto kept completely covered. Jiraiya however had enhanced it a bit with a few seals, the most important being one that made it so that even the Byakugan couldn't tell it was a metal arm he had. He had also added one that made it lighter so that the boy didn't strain himself to carry it, as the thing was heavy though Asuka swore the later models would be lightweight.

There was no fanfare as the three left the village. Tsunade and Jiraiya had taken the blonde to see his friends the previous day and now they were leaving in the darkness of night sunrise still a good three hours away, the Sandaime was the only one to witness their departure. Looking down upon his great-grandson Sarutobi had to admit he looked far better now than anytime he'd seen him a few months prior. He wore a pair of black pants, a black shirt and jacket with his gloves covering his hands.

Saying their final goodbyes to the old man Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya turned and left, Jiraiya taking the sleeping Naruto from Hizuren. No words were spoken by the group as they left the village having already plotted their course earlier in the day. Instead they used all their concentration to make the trip hoping to be nearing Rai no Kuni before midday.

AN: That's it the chapters finally done. I know its short but longer chapters will be coming one day. Anyway thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, LATER.