Chapter 3

BOOM! CRACK! Were the sounds that were reverberating throughout the area. It seems to be a dessert with all the sand and light, but the unbearable heat that is ever-present in the dessert was not here. No, if one looked close enough at the sky you could see that it was some sort lighting fixture attached to a rock ceiling that was providing all of the light. It would appear that the area was some sort of underground artificial desert. This was proven correct, as on one portion of the wall there was a large glass window with seven young woman and one man looking out at the fight that was happening in the desert.

BOOM! Sand flew everywhere as an object blasted into ground. Walking towards the small crater that was even now was a young woman who looked to be around her early twenties. She had beautiful black hair and stunning red eyes, this was Naruto's first banned doll, Aiko. She was the banned doll that absolute authority over sand.

As Aiko glided towards the crater a cloud of sand swirled lazily around her, like a guard dog protecting its master. Just as Aiko raised her hand and the sand stilled, a young looking girl came blasting out of the ground with her fist poised to strike and a determined look on her face. The girl looked to be around eleven or twelve years old, with brown hair and green eyes. This was Nina, Naruto's youngest banned doll, the doll that had the power to negate almost all attacks.

Right before Nina could make contact with Aiko a gigantic pillar of sand blasted powerfully from behind Aiko slamming into Nina. Nina was able to push through a light hit before the amount of sand overwhelmed her defense and pushed her back. As the sand settled down, Aiko leant forward and helped Nina back up.

"Nice! You did really well Nina-chan, you almost had me right then." Aiko said happily to her youngest sister who just smiled at her sister's praise. They both turned towards the exit to leave and saw Naruto standing in the doorway smiling at them. They both walked over to him, but stayed silent because it looked as if he was going to say something.

"Good job you two, that was some nice work. Aiko it looks like you've surpassed Gaara, great job! Nina you just need to react a little bit quicker, but otherwise you've gotten a lot better these past few months." Naruto said smiling, "Also, make sure you have everything you want to bring to the school sealed up because we are leaving in an hour."

With his piece said Naruto turned and left the building to go back to his room and make sure he had everything he needed.

The next day Naruto and his dolls were sitting in a train car on their way to Walpurgis Academy. Ryoko had left the car a few minutes earlier stating she was too cramped and wanted to walk around, while the rest of them talked Naruto looked out the window thinking about all the future puppets he would face.

They all looked at the door as Ryoko came with an uneasy look on her face.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked wondering why she looked so uneasy.

"I… I.. I just saw Aiko's twin," Ryoko shuddered, "She's a black haired banned doll, and she was whispering in to her puppeteer's ear while he was asleep 'Yaya is cute. Yaya… is the cutest girl in the world!' Ughh at least Aiko doesn't do that sort of stuff in public."

"I accept! Nobody loves their puppeteer more than me! I will have Naruto-sama's love before this Yaya has her puppeteer's. This I swear!" Aiko said enthusiastically. The youngest cheered while the others just ignored her odd behavior.

Sigh I wonder if this is payback for all the people I've killed Naruto thought before tilting his straw hat down to cover his face. They were all dressed similarly, wearing the same type of outfit his master had made him wear when he joined the Akatsuki. They all were wearing a chin-high black cloak with red clouds on it, and had a straw conical hat on more out of nostalgia than any type of strategic advantage. Naruto had been forces to wear this outfit for a while so he actually enjoyed it, plus it had the added benefit of making his group seem mysterious. All of the cloaks were made from the normal material, while the girls all had clothing that had been made from extremely tough material making their clothing similar to body armor. Naruto had normal clothing, but had a cloth facemask that came from his collar and covered up to his nose similar to the one worn by the Copycat shinobi, Kakashi Hatake. However, Naruto's mask had seals sewn on it that ensured he always inhaled clean air as a precaution against poisoning. Underneath his cloak Naruto was wearing the standard academy uniform.

All of their thoughts were broken as the train jerked suddenly.

"Let's go see what is going on. Shall we?" Naruto asked his dolls not at all put out by the sudden jolt.

They all gave their agreement and he stood up to open the door leading to the outside of the train. Naruto used his chakra to cling to the train's surface as he walked to the roof of the train with his dolls climbing up behind him. Turning towards the front of the train Naruto saw what he assumed to be that Yaya puppet that Ryoko had told them about, and he could make out a young man who he assumed was her puppeteer. Hmmm the way he moves… he's obviously had some kind of training in this worlds martial arts. With an obviously unique banned doll like the one he has, he'll definitely become a powerful opponent in the future. However, I seriously doubt there are many people here who could beat me if I used all my puppets with just their base stats….. Hopefully, I can have a challenge though. Naruto thought as he analyzed the pair in front of him.

"Well, we can't let them have all the fun can we?" Naruto asked with a smile, before running towards the back of the train, his dolls following close behind. Once they made it to the end car Naruto turned to address his dolls, "Oi, I don't really care which of you do it, but one of you get down there to keep the train from straight when it stops."

"I'll do it Naruto-sama!" Ryoko said with a smile before jumping down and griping the train.

As she stuck her feet into the ground and pulled, slowly the train started to lose speed. Ryoko was the one of his dolls that focused completely on physical abilities, and as a result was the strongest physically of his dolls. Naruto could tell when the other puppeteer made a move because the train started slowing down at an even faster rate.

The train stopped just in time at the last stop, right before it would have come off the track. Because of the two puppeteers' effort nobody on the train was injured beyond a few bruises. Naruto gave a sigh of exasperation and his eye twitched as he noticed that Aiko had taken the chance the jerky motion of the train gave to "fall" into him, her whole body pressing into his. Before it went on for much longer Rin stomped over and yanked Aiko off of him, pulling her away and ignoring her grumbles. They all went back to their car and grabbed the bags they had packed for the school and the tournament, before heading out towards the academy.

Naruto calmly walked through the gates of the school heading towards where his class placement test would be, all the while keeping his hat pointed down hiding his face. Naruto entered the building the test would be held at before stopping when he noticed the doll from before, Yaya, waiting outside the testing room.

Sigh… looks like the boy from before beat me here… It's probably because Rin decided it would be a good idea to lecture Aiko on public indecency when she kept looking at me with her glazed over giggling. Oh, well it probably won't be much longer. Naruto thought to himself before leaning against the wall to wait, his dolls keeping quiet for once and followed his example.

They only had to wait around twenty minutes before the puppeteer came out and Yaya called his name. The now named Raishin looked pretty average to Naruto, but he could tell this kid would be something else once he gained some experience. Naruto's eye twitched as he was watching their antics, finding it hard to believe just how similar this Yaya was to Aiko, except for the jealousy streak Aiko was perfectly fine sharing him and she had said it multiple times. Shaking his head to clear those thoughts Naruto watched as the female teacher, Kimberly, came out and had a short discussion with the boy before she turned towards him and motioned towards the door.

Naruto had his dolls wait where they were before following after the teacher into the room, before the door shut he could see out of the corner of his eye the boy, Raishin, looking between him and his dolls obviously wary. To Naruto the test was incredibly simple, he had been using a few shadow clones a day since he made his home to study what would be taught at this school so he wouldn't be bothered with the classwork. Honestly with the amount of studying he put in added to creating his dolls, he was probably more knowledgeable than most of the teachers. When he was finished he could see the surprise in the professor's eyes no matter how much she tried to hide it.

"Boy, I'll be your advisor as well. With the scores you have I'm sure you'll survive the fight. Make sure you try not to die though." Professor Kimberly said before walking away. Naruto could tell she was trying to play it cool, but he had just come in out of nowhere and probably upset a lot of people with the placement he received, he knew she was trying to figure him out.

"Come on lets head to our dorm. I managed to convince them to give us a few of the larger rooms so we won't be too confined." Naruto said before turning to leave the building. Naruto was pleased, so far everything had gone well and he was able to make himself score well enough to get his preferred place without accidentally gaining the higher placement. After all, he was sure the one above him could realize a challenge from a fellow puppeteer and puppet maker.

The light through the window flashed and you could see a number two proudly sitting next to the ranking spot on the paper he had gotten from his test.

(next day)

Naruto and his group were standing or sitting under some trees, watching as the kid from yesterday stood across from the girl who commanded the dragon puppet Sigmund, Charlotte Belew. Hmmm, let's see what they've got. Naruto thought with a slight smirk.

Naruto watched the two as they introduced themselves getting ready to fight before the guys he had noticed before intervened by attacking Sigmund. Tch, bunch of weaklings… how pathetic Naruto thought as he watched the fighting. He smiled when he saw Yaya stop the larger puppets fist with one of her own, and saw the destructive capabilities Sigmund had with his Lustre Cannon. As he saw Raishin catch Charlotte he decided he had seen enough. Turning towards Saiko he nodded towards the field in front of him. She stepped forward before disappearing as she turned into wind. She reappeared a few moments later walking back as behind her the puppets excluding Yaya and Sigmund fell apart as if cut.

Naruto gave her a smile and saw as a happy light appeared in her eyes showing how happy she felt being of use to him. He turned towards the field and saw everyone had paused in shock, before wildly looking around to see who had interfered.

"Maa... maa... you people should know your place. Multiple ants won't be able to win against a boot." Naruto said as he walked forward a wide grin on his hidden face.

Everyone turned, startled, towards him. He could see the surprise and fear as they looked towards the number of dolls around him.

"Hey, you where the guy that transferred in the same day as me aren't you? What's your number?" Raishin asked looking directly at Naruto, Yaya standing protectively in front of him. Charlotte turned surprised eyes towards him before focusing back on Naruto.

"Oho, it's nice you remember me Mr. Second Last." Naruto said with a cheery voice amused by the slight annoyance he could spot on Yaya's face at his slightly mocking voice. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the best puppet maker in the world. And I'm this schools new…. Number two." Naruto said gesturing towards himself and his puppets first before holding up two fingers to show his rank.

If they were shocked before it was nothing compared to now. The puppeteers who he had beaten had fallen on the ground and were slowly backing away. Charlotte's eyes widened and she took a slight step back before firming herself and looking at him questioningly. To most it looked as if Raishin hadn't reacted, but Naruto could see the tensing of his hands and shoulders that told him he wanted to fight him but knew he would lose.

"So you made all of them?" Raishin asked pointing towards his group who had slightly surrounded him in a defensive position.

"Hmmm… Every doll I've ever used, besides my first couple, I've made myself. These are my finest works, though I'm thinking about making them a younger brother. It can get quite annoying being the only guy surrounded by multiple girls, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that." Naruto started casually before nodding his head in Yaya's direction.

"Yaya is Raishin's wife! Raishin will only be surrounded by Yaya!" Yaya shouted out.

"Stop confusing people! We are not married!" Raishin said turning to Yaya before giving Naruto a nod and walking away. Naruto knew that Raishin would be calling in favors to try and get information on him. Too bad for him, nobody but his loyal servants knew of Naruto's existence.

Naruto nodded in Charlotte's direction before heading back to his room. The whole way his girls were begging to see their little brother, even though he had told them multiple times he wasn't finished yet.

So far everything was going exactly how he wanted it to. He could tell he had caught everyone's attention and rumors about him would be spreading like wildfire across the school. He knew the number one, Magnus, would be smart enough to hear the challenge in the information he gave. From what he gathered before coming to this academy, Magnus had six banned dolls that he had made himself and with the challenges Naruto had been giving him since coming to this place, their battle was surely going to be a fierce one. Yes, everything was going exactly as planned.

End

We find out a little more about the capabilities of Naruto's puppets. Here is what is known so far. All nine of his puppets are stronger and more durable than others of their kind. Here's their names and abilities in order of the tailed beast their modeled after.

1) Aiko- extreme sand manipulation/control(similar to Gaara in base mode and Crocodile from one piece when powered up)

2) Rin- ?

3) Shizuka- ?

4) Ryoko- strength(able to harden every part of her body and increased strength similar but not the same as Yaya)

5) Saiko- Wind manipulation(controls wind, more advanced can turn into wind)

6) Maiko- ?

7) Fu- ?

8) Izumi- ?

9) Nina- cancellation(field that turns everything that attacks her into harmless extra magical energy)

While they are extremely powerful they do have their weaknesses if someone has the proper abilities and the right strategy to fight him.