Insanity

Konohagakure, 10 years after the Kyuubi attack.

"State your purpose for being here." The Hyuga guard asked in a near monotone, having said the same exact thing for the last several weeks.

"I'm here to kidnap the Hyuga heiress." I said the same exact thing I'd said in response to the idiotic request that the guard had.

The two guards fixed me with the trademark Hyuga deathstare that was unnerving because of their eyes being almost completely unreadable, but I could tell a bit of their thoughts from the slight shifting of their chakra.

They were about as impressed as they were the first few times, meaning not at all.

"If you weren't what you are, I would enjoy putting you on the ground with your tenketsu closed and spending a night in TI for being an admitted traitor." The unamused guard seemed to lament while his Byakugan was activated to try and intimidate me.

Today was a Saturday and was a day off for us at the Academy. Kakashi had told me that Ninjutsu training would start up and that Rin and I needed to be prepared.

So, like I had been for some time, I was picking up Hinata to help her out with taijutsu and a few other things that I had picked up from Kakashi that I'd been showing to Rin as well.

"And what am I?" I asked innocently, "I'm just a little boy that everyone hates."

I didn't stop there.

"The voice tells me you're going to hurt me, that I need to hurt you before you hurt me. 'Free me', it says."

The one guard that was a dick tilted his head in confusion, before shifting into an aggravated expression.

"Stop with your jokes. Hinata-sama will be out shortly." The guard signaled for the other to go collect Hinata.

"My stomach itches," I rubbed right where my seal was, forcing my chakra to spasm slightly to screw with the Hyuga, "The voice tells me to eat you." I started adjusting my voice to do that laugh yip that a fox makes to sell it further.

Before I could continue torturing him further, a familiar and soft chakra signature closed in right next to the one guard.

"Hi, Hinata!' I waved at her, the rather quiet girl wearing less conservative clothing for the training I was helping her with.

She had a simple t-shirt and sweatpants on, her midnight blue hair still at neck length.

"N-naruto-kun." She said quietly, greeting me before her head tilted in confusion, "Where is Rin?"

"At the training ground we booked." I replied, remembering how aggravated Rin was when I won the game of rock paper scissors on who had to stay to reserve spot to train.

Hinata gave a thank you to the guard that escorted her and I shot a wink towards the one guard.

The two of us walked away from the Hyuga compound and I heard the gate close, causing me to glance at Hinata.

"Is everything alright with Hanabi?" I asked, remembering something Hinata had told me a few days ago.

Hanabi had some kind of stomach bug that made her sick and caused Hinata to worry about her.

"S-she is," Hinata's slightly nervous expression slowly gave way to a relieved one, "doing better. The Iryo-nin b-believed it was something s-she ate."

It wasn't lost on me that her stutter was more pronounced. When she was sure about something, it was almost completely absent. But when she was worried or was stressed, she would try and repeat a syllable to try and speak clearly, causing her to continuously try and say it properly.

"Hinata," I said kindly, the two of us still walking, "You can tell me if something's bothering you. I won't be angry."

Hinata swallowed audibly and kept her eyes down towards her feet.

"Neji." She mumbled, my hearing barely able to pick it up.

I refrained from tearing into Neji only because I did it once when Hinata mentioned something about him being an asshat before and it frightened her how angry I looked and acted.

'To be fair.' I thought. 'She's grown up in a household that is very reserved about showing emotions, while Rin and I are decidedly not like that.'

"Just give me the word and I'll have him terrified of every redhead after I'm finished with him." I said, not being totally sarcastic.

"Please, no." Hinata managed to look at me, giving me a half hearted look of admonishment. "I know what you'll do."

I could feel her gaze on me as I smirked to myself, not elaborating further.

We eventually got to the training ground and I saw Rin, her eyes practically glowing in irritation.

"What took you so long?" She asked, her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot against the ground.

"Would you believe me if I forgot you were here?" I asked, snickering at the more heated glare.

"Yes." She said flatly, taking out a storage scroll that I made.

Fuinjutsu was awesome.

"Hinata," I turned to look at mine and Rin's friend, "We'll still do the exercise like before, followed by some taijutsu. Okay?"

Hinata nodded and started to stretch some, preparing for the warm up exercise.

I followed suit and stretched a bit, not wanting to pull something.

After a bit, I jogged around the training ground, slowly picking up my pace until I was running at almost full speed.

Rin did the same and was trying to keep up with me, the two of us keeping it up for about a half an hour.

Honestly, being an Uzumaki was awesome. The Sharingan and Byakugan may be amazing dojutsu, but being able to run, and run, and run without having to suck in air was amazing. Even after I was covered in sweat, having outpaced Rin, I was still not winded and was brimming with energy.

Hinata basically did a few laps of her own, but at her own pace. The one time she tried to match the two of us left her wheezing on the ground, unable to stand. It was a little funny when I had to carry her back home in hindsight.

"Slowpoke." I said to Rin as she stopped right next to me, her face flushed from running.

"Your legs are longer." She said, looking up at me.

The top of her head was at about the bridge of my nose from a growth spurt I hit, which I relentlessly teased her about.

"You're just slow," I responded, noticing Hinata had finished her own warm-up, "We ready now, Hinata?"

The girl nodded and pushed her bangs back some, her hair having fallen forward some.

"You go through the katas again," I turned to Rin, "I'll help Hinata and we can switch afterwards."

Rin nodded and went towards the storage scroll I made, popping out a training dummy to punch and kick for herself.

I walked towards Hinata and raised my hands up in a regular taijutsu stance, smiling reassuringly.

"Ready?" I asked, noticing Hinata mimic my movement.

"Yes." She replied, coming towards me with her Byakugan activated.

//////////////////////

"You need to not hesitate, Hinata," Naruto said kindly, avoiding a halfhearted Juken strike aimed at his arm, "I'm not made of glass."

Hinata really did try, but she just didn't seem to be fast enough or strong enough to land a hit on Naruto without him stopping it or avoiding it.

"I can't do anything." She turned away from him, fiddling with her fingers as she was frustrated with herself. "I'm slow and weak."

"Hey," Naruto walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "That's not true. You're in the top half of taijutsu in our class. Don't compare yourself to me, because I'm not exactly average."

Hinata knew how good Naruto was, and Rin as well. But that didn't exactly make her feel better about her abilities with the Juken being lacking.

"I know," She said sadly, looking down at her hands, "But I don't see how any of this is going to help me with the Juken."

Naruto got quiet for a moment, his hand tightening slightly on her shoulder.

Eventually, he spoke.

"Can you keep a secret from your father and your clan?" He asked quietly, his eyes flicking towards Rin.

Hinata looked at Naruto worriedly, unsettled by the way he worded it.

"Why?" She asked, looking directly into Naruto's blue eyes to try and read what his thoughts might be.

"Well," He scratched the side of his head, "I think I know how the Juken works."

Hinata's breath caught and she stared at the red haired Uzumaki in a different light.

"Um," Her hands her trembling slightly from how nervous she was, "Do...um, you know how dangerous that is?"

"That's why I haven't said anything," Naruto said, "I've watched how some Hyuga genin spar and I noticed certain types of attacks that they did or didn't do."

Hinata was listening with rapt attention.

"You don't need to punch me hard, Hinata. You can basically touch me and do the same amount of damage I could do if I hit as hard as I could."

Hinata didn't follow.

Naruto sighed and put his fingers up to his mouth, whistling to get Rin's attention.

"Rin!" He shouted, the blonde ceasing her katas she was practicing against the dummy, "Assistance is requested."

Rin jogged to the two of them and stopped a few feet from her brother, her brow raised in question.

"Could you be a dear and punch me in the face?" He asked simply, not sounding like he was joking.

Rin scowled and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"I'm wanting to train," Rin ground out, "You said I needed to be ready to train with Kakashi and you're making stupid jokes."

"Rin," Naruto said sharply, causing his sister to flinch, "Punch. Me."

Rin realized he wasn't joking and cocked her fist back, pausing for a moment.

"Watch how her body moves." Naruto said to Hinata, the Hyuga girl's eyes going to Rin's body.

The blonde leaned forward and drove her fist into Naruto's face, causing his head to jerk to the right.

Naruto groaned softly as he touched his cheek, the spot already beginning to swell.

"Nice." He muttered, turning to Hinata as he rotated his jaw.

"You saw how she leaned and extended her arm and how she positioned her body to dump as much kinetic force into the hit without unbalancing herself?" Naruto's voice adopted a more clinical edge to it, on that reminded Hinata of her father or Neji when he deigned her worthy of a comment.

"Er, yes," Hinata replied meekly, internally frowning at the instinctive reaction she had to that tone of voice, "I think I understand, Naruto-kun."

"Then explain to the class, Ms. Hyuga." Naruto's voice shifted back to its normal laid-back tone as he requested she use her own words.

Hinata cleared her throat explained what she thought.

"I can move more quickly because I don't need to punch like you two."

Naruto started smiling, his head dipping down in a nod.

"I might just make a kunoichi out of you, Hinata." His smile turned into a smirk.

At this point, Hinata had become use to Naruto using small little comments to bring levity to something serious or tense, so she smiled along with him.

The rest of the training that day was her basically practicing a mix of the traditional aspects of the Juken with a more flexible base for mobility and agility.

The startling part was that she could already noticed that it felt more natural to her than the rigid structure of the Juken, or even the other minor variants of it that her father had attempted to teach her at times, but to no success.

"I think that's enough," Naruto said as it was around 3:00, judging by the sun, "Your form's starting to get a little sloppy and you look tired."

Hinata wanted to protest and keep going, but her ragged breathing and the sweat dripping down her face pretty much said otherwise.

"M'kay." She replied, sitting heavily on the ground to try and catch her breath.

"Don't sit there." Naruto rolled his eyes, walking forward and hoisting her up. He then grabbed her and set her on his shoulder, causing her to let out a startled squeak.

Naruto whistled as he carried her, the Hyuga heiress too tired to complain as he set her down on the ground next to the stuff Rin brought.

The red haired Uzumaki popped open a storage scroll and pulled out a water bottle, handing it to her.

Hinata was pleasantly surprised that it was cold, but she didn't say anything and opened it, taking a small gulp.

Naruto went over to Rin and talked to her for a moment, the younger of the two stopping her katas.

Hinata just looked at them silently as they came back.

Rin grabbed herself a bottle of water and so did Naruto, the two sitting down on the ground as well.

The three were quiet for some time as they relaxed and rested some.

Eventually, Hinata decided to speak.

"Thank you," She said to the two of them, having said it before, "For helping me and being my friends."

Rin jumped up immediately and pulled Hinata into a hug, squashing her face against her.

"Of course we're your friends," Rin pushed her away a bit and had her trademark toothy smile, "You're just too sweet and nice."

Naruto sighed and shook his head amusedly.

"Friends help friends, Hinata," Naruto poured some of the water on his face to cool off, shaking his head almost like a dog, "I don't need a reason to help a friend other than because I want to."

If Hinata were to be honest, she only said anything because she wanted to hear it said again by the two closest friends of her's. Anytime she felt useless or weak when she had to be humiliated when sparring against Neji, she always went back to what was just said.

They eventually exited the training ground and left to go back to her home, but not until they made a detour to pick up some food.

After a satisfying training session, Hinata had a slight spring in her step as they got back to the gated compound of her clan, the guards from before still there.

"The ransom money?" Naruto asked, putting his right hand out expectantly.

Hinata was completely lost on what he meant by that, even more so when the one more uptight guard narrowed his eyes at Naruto and her friend made a type of yip sound that sounded like a fox.

"Seeya, Hinata. Later, Hinata." Her two friends said, the twins turning and leaving.

Hinata smiled softly as she walked towards her home, the last thing she heard from her friends being Naruto wondering what the training with Kakashi was going to be like.

//////////////////

'Plain and simple, Anko is a bitch.'

Mine and Rin's chakra finally stabilized its growth a several months prior. I had noticed an uptick in my sensing ability after it had occurred, to the point that I could almost see silhouettes and some background things like trees and shrubbery.

Training with Kakashi had resumed in full swing. Rin had joined in as well. I don't know if it was Kakashi or Hiruzen that thought of the idea of who another trainer would be, but whoever did was a jackass.

Kakashi helped bring Rin up to speed on her taijutsu and did the actual version of training you'd expect to give to an above average student, not the kind of training I got. Kakashi/Hiruzen had it in their heads that I needed to "learn what happens when you take a hit when you don't need to".

Enter Anko.

I could deal with getting a kunai cutting or stabbing me, I could deal with broken bones, or concussions.

But I couldn't deal with being paralyzed by poisons or toxins that caused me to lose bowel control and hallucinate of giant purple dinosaurs singing that they love me.

'Anko, thy name is bitch.'

"Ah, are you thinking nice things of your Anko-chan?" the aforementioned female canine asked, her tone more poisonously sweet than the poison she stabbed me with.

I tried to speak, but the poison caused me to slur like a drunk. "I haet yuuu."

"Ah, you're at a loss for words, I'm touched." she said, hand over her heart. "At least you didn't shit yourself this time."

I responded with a spasming right hand flipping her the bird.

"Don't be like that." She said, affronted by that, "I'm doing you a favor here, kid. I ain't getting paid for babysitting your ass."

"Don't act so offended." I said slowly, trying to fight through the slight paralysis affecting my mouth, "You stabbed me in the ass the first time we met. You licked my face like a snake."

"Mind games, sweety." She stated with a grin, "It's not all about pissing people off. Making people think you're crazy also works."

"You don't need to make people think you're crazy." I said flatly, "You do that well enough on your own."

She just glared at me.

"And," I continued, "If you could be such a dear, I'd prefer the seduction mind games, far more "productive" if you know what I mean." I finished, grin on my face.

Anko snorted at that. "I'm flattered, but you're like 10, you don't even know what you're talking about. Who the hell would even be perverted at 10?"

"Ask the Hokage." I said, snickering.

That got a reaction from her. She seemed to shiver, as if remembering a bad memory.

"Super pervert." She mumbled to herself.

In my "surveillance of people", I had learned that Jiraiya was something akin to what the Safari hunters were to rare species. He was something that seemed to lurk in the shadows, ready to pounce when they least expect it. You know when you are doomed when you hear the giggling of a grown man.

The rare species being kunoichi.

He was a lecher, plain and simple. The older generation of kunoichi, the generation that was between the Sannin and Hiruzen's age, used it as a sort of game. They had been far more comfortable displaying their bodies than the later generations. The Warring clans mindset held great sway in that timeframe. The women play the role of assassins and seductresses, and the men for the most part played the role of the heavy hitters when one could not be covert about things. If the little pervert that was a young Jiraiya could avoid being caught, he was free to peep all he wanted.

But there was a catch, if he got caught, he'd be in for a beating. It gave him the incentive to be much better at covert action. All bets were off it wasn't kunoichi he was peeping on. He'd get a real beating then.

I learned this from no history book. The instructors at the Academy didn't want students to realize how insane the Sannin were, but I learned it from the source. I asked Hiruzen, under the guise of wanting to know more about the trainer of the man that saved me and my sister, about Jiraiya. Hiruzen had then told me about the crazy things his three students had gotten up to. I could tell that some of the memories bothered him, so I stopped with my questioning.

Anko had probably heard of the elusive Jiraiya's habits from Orochimaru.

'I'm starting to think of Jiraiya as a perverted anime Steve Irwin. Dear God.' If he had his own show, instead of books, I'd be on point.

Anko just glared at me now. "You even think about being like that pervert, I'll skin you."

"Don't worry, Anko-chan," I said sarcastically. Before adopting a predatory grin. "My eyes would only be on your voluptuous frame." I then bolted away from her, making two handsigns for a Shunshin, I realized I screwed up when I shot forward.

'My legs were still partially numb.' I ended up smashing into a tree, face first, with a sickening crack. I just layed there moaning as the bones in my face tried to fuse back together, trying to fight through the nausea. I then heard footsteps behind me.

'Oh God no.' Anko stood above me, sinister grin on her face.

"Why are you scared, Naruto-kun," she asked sweetly, "You'll be fine. I've got some medicine that will help."

I felt a snake crawling up my leg.

'Shit.'

//////////////////////////

"Did you here something, Sensei?" Rin asked.

"No." Kakashi said, having not heard a thing. "What did it sound like?"

Rin frowned for a moment. "It almost sounded like screaming."

Kakashi knew Rin had better hearing and a sense of smell, much like her brother. It made Kakashi work a little harder when he was training them to detect him. Rin probably heard Naruto reaping the fruits of some other sarcastic thing he said to Anko.

"It's probably nothing." Kakashi said, "Now back to the lesson."

Kakashi was trying to show Rin something that Naruto had stumbled across in a spar a few weeks back.

(Flashback)

/////////////////////////

Naruto collapsed to the ground with a rapidly shrinking knot on his head. "Ow." was all he said.

Kakashi had resumed Naruto's Ninjutsu training last year. He had gotten chakra control to enough of a level where the training wouldn't be useless a few years down the road. His and Rin's chakra had also stabilized, which was a blessing and a curse in Kakashi's case.

'He's wanting to learn combat ninjutsu.' He thought. He'd been drawing up a list of the techniques Naruto needed to not simply know, but master in a combat situation. It included the Academy Three, and knowing the Shunshin.

"You're getting better." He said simply, "You're making me work a little more."

Naruto pulled himself up, giving a slight nod. "You could still turn my head into a foot rest if you want."

"I don't like having trash on my sandals." He said. Everytime Naruto said something about his progress, he'd get a takedown.

"Cyclops." was the only word he heard before Naruto got back into a fighting stance.

"Ready." he said, a look of deep thought crossing his face for moment.

'What's he up to?' Charging forward, Kakashi brought his right fist down towards Naruto's ribs. The strike was blocked, as was the jab from his left and the kick to the knee. Several quick punches to Naruto's face were diverted instead of being caught, the 10 year old knowing he'd lose if he met force with force.

The exchange went on for several seconds longer until Kakashi spotted an opening.

'Not fast enough.'

His fist made contact with his target's ribs, but at a glancing angle. Naruto then grabbed his arm as he fell backwards, pulling Kakashi with him. Kakashi didn't realize that the back of Naruto's hand was the only thing making contact with his sleeve until he had a sandal impact his stomach and was thrown a couple feet behind Naruto's head.

Flipping up with his foot shooting out in a blind kick, he felt it hit and heard a grunt of pain. Naruto was behind him, grabbing at his leg before getting up.

'Was that a chakra sticking technique?'

"How did you do that?" He asked.

Naruto looked at him with a grin, happy that he'd actually landed a genuine hit on Kakashi.

"Chakra sticking. Like it?"

"I know that." Kakashi said. "But how did you stick it to my sleeve? It's chakra resistant."

There were certain cloths that could be made to be slightly resistant to chakra. Not enough to stop a technique, but just enough to make a grappling move be a little slick. Naruto's grip didn't waver at all.

"I don't know," he said, confusedly. "This is an actual fighting style?"

"It was." Kakashi said. "All a Shinobi had to do was flare their chakra slightly and the grip would slide right off."

Kakashi then thought for a moment. "Let me try something."

Stepping forward, he reached his arm out to Naruto, "Try to stick to my arm." he said, pulling up his sleeve.

Naruto put his hand up against Kakashi's arm. Kakashi felt a slight stinging sensation, before he pulled his arm away. Naruto's hand still stuck.

Kakashi flared his chakra out in the way he would when he was in the middle of a combat situation. Naruto's hand stopped sticking to him.

"I think you have very dense chakra." Kakashi said, as a response the Naruto's look of confusion.

"My chakra stops yours from fully sticking to my actual body. But cloth could still stick."

Naruto got a look of thought on his face. "Would it work better on those with weaker chakra than you?"

"Definitely." Kakashi said, "My chakra is dense enough and I have enough control to prevent you from sticking to me if I didn't want you to."

Naruto again was thinking deeply.

'Is this what it looked like from Sensei's perspective?'

"This'll work on those my age, or weaker chakra."

Naruto and Rin both had a slightly smaller chakra reserve than Kakashi before their chakra went through a stabilizing growth stage. Now, it was easily twice his level.

"Yes, it would."

(End Flashback)

////////////////

Rin did as Kakashi instructed, using something that generally involved sticking to surfaces to climb was used to grab a hold of somebody. It took her balancing her chakra for a moment until she got it to work.

'This could be a surprise grapple that could be useful.' Kakashi had done it only a handful of times in his near twenty years as a Shinobi. There seldom was a time where his opponent had such a low level of chakra that he could use his own chakra to stick to them to pull a joint out of socket.

Rin or Naruto just needed to force it on an opponent that wasn't flaring their chakra. It was a tactic of veteran Shinobi to randomly flare chakra in the event that a slight perception genjutsu was placed on them. It could be useful as an unexpected thing. It definitely wouldn't be recognized by rookie Shinobi or those in their class.

Rin gave Kakashi a look. "Is that all for today?" she asked, it now being late afternoon.

Training would have likely stopped earlier, but since the ones doing the most strenuous training were Uzumaki jinchuriki, stamina and recuperation issues weren't a problem.

"No." Kakashi responded, "We just need to wait for Anko to finish up with Naruto."

Kakashi saw the little smile Rin had at the thought of Anko. She had taken a shining to the older kunoichi, much to her brothers mortification.

'No brother wants their sister to dress up like Anko does.' Kakashi thought amusedly.

Kakashi didn't even want to imagine what would happened to the village. Both jinchuriki having their own specific brand of insanity. The village probably wouldn't survive.

After around 15 minutes, Kakashi saw Anko and Naruto arriving from a separate training ground. Anko looked positively gleeful, and Naruto... well, Naruto looked terrible.

He had blood caked on his face, a limp in his step, a chunk of his hair sheared away, and his face seemed to twitch involuntarily.

'Anko's special poisons.' Anybody else would have full-body paralysis for over an hour. Naruto only had numbness and partial paralysis, with the occasional muscle twitching.

When they got to Kakashi, he spoke. "Nice of you to join us. You look different, Naruto, did you cut your hair? It looks nice."

Naruto scratched the side of his nose with his middle finger at Kakashi's little jab at the fact that part of his hair had a noticeable chunk missing from it.

"At least mine doesn't make me look like I have to piss half a dozen times in the night."

"Getting better," Kakashi said, "but not good enough. I've heard it from a dozen before you, and I'll hear it from a dozen after."

Anko decided to step in. "We get it, your both beautiful, girls. Now what was it you wanted us to be here for Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked to her, before pulling two sheets of blank paper out of a storage scroll. "Chakra affinities." he said.

Rin's eyes rose at what he had just said. Naruto showed much less suprise.

'He likely already realized that I had these.'

He handed the two sheets to the two of them.

"Push some chakra into it. If it burns, your affinity is fire. If it crumbles, it's Earth. If it crinkles, it's lightning, which is my affinity. If it gets wet, water. And if it gets shredded, it's wind. Naruto, you go first." he finished.

Naruto looked at the sheet, almost as if there was no reason to do it. He pushed some chakra into the sheet.

It got wet. Then it crinkled slightly.

Kakashi saw the look of shock on Naruto's face.

"Water affinity with a secondary for lightning. Both work together well." Kakashi told him.

But he noticed something, Naruto didn't seem to care. He was staring at Rin's sheet. Almost as if he needed to know what his sister's affinity was. She channeled her chakra into the sheet.

Wind.

/////////////////////////

'No. This isn't suppose to happen.'

I'd been paranoid for the last year. I just had to go to a bargain clothes store to buy new disposable clothes for training due to the others getting shredded all the time. I saw an orange jacket there.

'The. Orange jacket.' I thought it would be amusing to probably buy it as a joke, see the look on Kakashi's face when I rolled up to stealth training wearing that monstrosity. I looked at the tag on the jacket, that now looked a little different than the series.

It was for a girl.

I had dropped the jacket, the shock getting the better of me.

'No. That doesn't mean anything.' My greatest fear was that Rin was the "prophecy child". Canon Naruto only survived to the point he did because of plot armor. This world was not governed by plot armor. My sister would not be protected from it.

'She won't find this.'

I bought the jacket. I took it out into one of the forested training grounds. I torched it. Problem solved.

But now, the girl that resembled a female canon Naruto, more so than how much I resembled him as a guy, had the same affinity.

'Doesn't matter. The prophecy only applies if the issue reaches that point. I'll kill anyone who is a part of the Moons Eye plan. Anyone who tries to stop me can die screaming alongside them. Fuck canon.' With these thoughts, I calmed myself down, not wanting anybody to be worried.

"So," I said, "The both of us have very rare affinities."

"You have two. That's so unfair." Rin said irritably.

"Now Rin," Kakashi said, "Wind is the rarest affinity in the elemental Nations. It is also one of the strongest offensive natures."

Rin looked at him, surprise on her face. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, in fact, the Yondaime had a wind affinity."

I was able to stop any outward reaction.

'You have it because Dad had it.'

"What would you recommend for us to learn nature transformation?" I asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Kakashi gave me a look. "With this." He made a couple handsigns. Signs that I recognized in that pattern from a bygone era.

A perfect copy of the Copycat Nin stood before us.

'A shadow clone.' Rin didn't know what to make of it. "What good will a bunshin do?" she asked, not realizing exactly what Kakashi had just done.

"This is a Kage bunshin." Kakashi said. "It's not an illusion like the clones you two are having trouble making." he clarified.

"This," he said, throwing a punch at the clone, only for it to be blocked. "Is solid."

I decided to step in. "How would this help us? It's a chakra construct. I don't see how that would be helpful for nature transformation."

I knew what Kakashi was going to say before I even heard him. "They are connected to the original. Anything they do have their memories transferred back."

"No feedback issues?" I asked, a leading tone present.

"There can be." Kakashi admitted, "But only if you make close to a hundred and dispel them all. Not like most people could make that many without it killing them from chakra exhaustion."

Rin's eyes widened in surprised at that. "You can die if you use this?"

"Only if you have low chakra." he elaborated. "This jutsu splits your chakra in half, half staying while the other half is in the clone. Any of the chakra not used by the clone returns to you when it is dispelled." He finished, popping his clone as an example.

This is what I had wanted for a long time. Shadow clones. I could get a great deal of progress on jutsus and nature transformation that would free me up to focus on taijutsu, physical endurance, and Fuinjutsu.

"They obviously won't work for physical training, will they?" I asked.

Kakashi looked at me again, probably thinking I was the one doing the asking for the both of us.

"Correct, but chakra control will work. But, there's a catch, you'll have a smaller chakra pool after you do it just once. Do the math."

I loved but also hated when he would give me a hint but would try to have me solve it myself. Chakra control gets more difficult when you have a larger degree of chakra flowing in your tenketsu. When a large amount is in a clone, neither you or the clone would be doing chakra control exercises at full capacity. You become adept at running, but you skipped learning how to walk. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was something that was not mentioned in any story or theory about the series to my understanding.

Nature transformation wasn't an issue. You can throw as much chakra as you want into it, you just need to make your chakra act in a certain manner, the volume is less important than for a chakra control exercise.

"Control will be easier," I said finally. "but it will not help as much for fine tuned chakra conservation."

Rin and I will hit a wall for how much chakra we waste. I could feel that I use over 5 times as much chakra in my single Shunshin as Kakashi does, and this is from over a year of intense chakra control exercise. Sensory levels of a nearly unmatched level helps almost as much as having a Byakugan to see what the hell you're doing wrong. The clone spam exercising might cut it down to three times that, but I wanted better than that.

I knew I could do better.

//////////////////////

'Naruto actually did it.' Kakashi thought. Naruto had wanted to learn at least two jutsu per affinity of his. The following weeks after He and Rin learning their affinities was hectic. The two would skip school, or Naruto would do something to get the both of them kicked out for the day.

'Where does he come up with some of the things he does?' Putting low level exploding tags in toilets was a time honored tradition of a prank. Henging into a female and moaning excessively into a loudspeaker, in the staff break room, was something that he didn't think an Academy student would do.

'Where the hell would he have learned about that? Did their neighbors make enough noise that he could hear it?'

Kakashi shuddered at the thought. Naruto and Rin had enhanced hearing. It would be nightmarish to him to even have to deal with that.

'Can't say it didn't get results though.'

Naruto got kicked out for the week, and Rin was pissed when she got kicked out as well. She was more irritated by what he had done, instead of why he did it. Kakashi would sometimes make a bunshin to look at what the two of them did at the Academy. Rin was mostly quiet, or at least looked quiet in comparison to her brother. Naruto was a terror to the teachers that were unfair to him and Rin. But that was nothing compared to what he pulled with a number of his classmates. Almost all the girls in his class received ridicule from him, the Hyuga heiress being one of the only ones not on the receiving end of his ire.

He'd see both Rin and Naruto wince and rub at their ears when the blonde Yamanaka and her pink haired rival/friend would shout about "Sasuke-kun". He still would chuckle at the memory of when they stopped they're high pitched squealing.

(Flashback)

//////////////////

"Spare us all your ear damning squall!" Naruto shouted at the two girls.

Kakashi's clone was concealed outside the window, listening in to Naruto's "talk".

"What did you just say, Baka?" Sakura shouted.

Naruto winced at her tone. "At the pitch your going, only dogs will hear you."

Sakura's face turned beet red from anger, " Did you jus-"

"Yes, " Naruto interrupted, "I did just refer to you as a dog."

Sakura's breath turned erratic, she raised a fist towards Naruto to punch him. Her fist came down, only to be caught by Naruto's off hand, no effort at all.

"Good. Good." He said in a gravelly voice, sinister grin on his face. "Let the hate flow through you."

Another one of Naruto's inside jokes that not even Rin knew.

Ino started snickering at Sakura being looked like as an idiot in front of everyone, but most importantly, Sasuke.

"Don't think your turn isn't next, Peppa pig." Naruto snarked at her, making a pig snort to emphasize who he was talking to, before letting go of Sakura.

Ino hated jokes about her name. Her dad had to name her partially after him, just like how Choji and Shikamaru were named after their fathers.

"Not going to defend the honor of your brides-to-be, Sasuke-kun?" He asked sweetly, turning to the black haired boy.

Sasuke hated being dragged into conversations with the idiot. He couldn't bring himself to consider Naruto weak. He and his sister had terrible scores, but both were painful to fight against with taijutsu.

'She punches harder than I do. The idiot is even worse.' Both helped him improve his taijutsu simply by him being motivated not to get his nose broken for a third time. He didn't want his face looking like a squashed tomato.

'Might keep some of the fangirls away.' Naruto did a better job at keeping the irritating ones in check, by being sarcastic and insulting them, than what Sasuke's tactic of ignoring did.

"Hn." was all he said as a response.

He saw the look on Naruto's face before he even said a thing.

'Not again.' "Now, Uke-kun." Sasuke twitched at that damned shortening of his name. "Don't be like that. Use your words."

That nickname never failed to piss off all the fangirls and himself.

"Shut up." he said.

"Two whole words," the idiot said in wonder, "The world must be ending. I've broken the cold exterior of the Uchiha Prince." he finished, grandiosely.

Sasuke didn't understand why he did this. Ever since that night, Naruto had been trying to be friendly to him. After the first six months of Sasuke not opening up to him, he switched tactics. He began to be sarcastic and insulting to him, forcing him to speak out and tell him to either shut up, or have an actual conversation, albeit a short one.

Rin and Hinata were the only two girls he could tolerate talking to. Neither of them would blush and giggle within seconds of him making eye contact. Hinata simply wasn't interested in him. She was quiet and mostly spoke with Rin and Naruto, the first being her best friend.

Rin was almost as bad as her brother in her interactions with him. She hated the fangirls as much as her brother. "Insults to real kunoichi." he had heard her mutter. She'd intentionally make the other girls jealous when she'd mock giggle and pretend to blush when she was talking with Sasuke, especially when he would actually talk with her.

'Naruto hates it as well.' Sasuke had noticed how vicious he could be when his sister was insulted.

'It almost reminds me of Ita-, no. Don't go there.' Naruto would insult the girls that tried to insult his sister, if she didn't get to them first.

'He doesn't like me much and hates it when his sister even Pretends to like me. Finally found something to piss him off for a change.' Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts before responding to Naruto. "Not 'brides-to-be'," he said, a small grin showing on his face, "There's only one for me." he finished, sparing Rin a slight glance.

His grin grew further when he saw Naruto's face visibly twitch. Nobody but Naruto noticed his glance at Rin.

'Checkmate, idiot.' He thought, before seeing a grin appear on Naruto's face.

'Damnit.'

"Oh Sasuke-kun, why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his tone full of joy. "That's why none of the girls can grab your attention. You love me." he finished.

"No." he growled irritably, "That's not wh-"

"Don't deny it." Naruto interrupted, his eyes seeming to shine. "You want someone strong, not a skinny little fangirl. You talk with Rin because she reminds you of me, something forbidden that you could never have." he finished, with a grandiose wave of his hands.

Rin evidently understood what Naruto was trying to do because she fell out of her chair, laughing hysterically.

"I'm not gay!" Sasuke shouted, the conversation beginning to drive him mad.

"Oh," Naruto said, almost like he was trying to think of something, "So you just like strong girls?" he asked curiously.

"Yes." he growled out irritably, before realizing what he had just said.

Naruto was quiet for a moment, before he dropped the dramatic tone and body language had been using for the last minute. "Thank you for the information, Sasuke." he said simply, before sitting back down.

Sasuke could notice a contemplative look on all of the fangirls faces.

'Why the hell did you even do that, Naruto?'

(End Flashback)

///////////////////////

Kakashi had never thought to use that kind of tactic to motivate fangirls to perform better physically. The last month, from what he heard from the Hokage, showed an improved taijutsu rating for the female students.

There was not a jump in Rin's or the Hyuga heiress.

'Naruto knows how to read people. Extremely well.'

With Naruto and Rin's free time from getting suspended for Naruto's stunt, the two had abused the Kage bunshin training option, something that Kakashi had originally been resistant on. There was a reason that it wasn't often used for training. Using for safe Fuinjutsu experimentation was one thing, but using for general chakra control and jutsus were not common. Unless you were a lightning affinity and could enhance your brain's electrical signals moderately, you'd end up getting blinding headaches and difficulty thinking.

The Sandaime had eased his worries by saying two words.

"Healing factor."

No headaches for the two. No difficulty thinking. Just non-stop progress. More progress was made by the two in this last year than the previous three. The Hokage still told him to keep an eye on Naruto in case there could be issues with him having memories pushed into his mind. It would do nobody any good if his yin chakra might have still been slightly off.

There seemed to be no issue at all. But it was irritating how his clones acted. They seem to understand that there would be no repercussions to them because they eventually dispel. It resulted in so many crazy things that were happening in the village. Non-stop pranks on the markets. Henging as a vague resemblance to Jiraiya, and walking around the general vicinity of the hot springs, giggling away and being a general nuisance to the women there.

One time, two clones henged as the Hokage and a vaguely looking Jiraiya, and caused a flurry of complaints getting sent to Hiruzen. The old man was not amused.

Naruto was finally told to keep his clones in line when he had two of them, there is no way they cooked this up themselves outside of his orders, to henge as two men, one that looked to be in his twenties with dark hair, and the other in his mid-30s with auburn hair and a beard. The two then proceeded to draw two training swords, no idea how he snuck them out of the armory, and had a fight in the street. It was one of the more realistic choreographed fights Kakashi had seen. He realized who it was who was fighting when it was near its end. There is only one person who repeatedly shouts words that sounded like what the older of the two men said.

"I have the High Ground."

End chapter.

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I can truthfully say, hand over my heart and the other on a Bible, that if I were in the Narutoverse, I would henge clones into characters to re-enact movie scenes. This chapter was mostly to show how the world is progressing over the last couple years following events. Naruto has finally struck the gold mine and will be making rapid progress leading up to him and Rin turning twelve. The next two years will show how dangerous he can be.