Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Atelier Uzumaki ❯ Chapter 13

Mornings in Konoha were bright and quiet. Birds sang no songs, and the only sound came from the eastern wind blowing only gently outside Atelier Uzumaki, making a few plants sway. Inside, the workshop was alive with activity. Vials of liquids and potions heated by gas burners, items exposed to naked electrical wires that were wrapped around them, the Alchemic Pot rumbling as it built weapons from base materials, and from the kitchen wafted the pleasant scent of breakfast.

 

Oddly, the alchemist of this Atelier, the only human resident living in the workshop, was in bed, half-asleep.

 

Naruto grunted in a heap, his eyes squinting at the glaring sun from the glass ceiling. Moving his hands towards the side of his bed, he found a small dial, and turned it. The room darkened as the glass tinted to grey and he continued to mumble sleepily as he hugged the pillow on his arms. It would seem he would have another hour of sleep until something heavy jumped on him.

 

“Wake up!” Mercedes declared with glee as she felt Naruto trying to scramble out of his blanket, surprised.

 

“Wha, who… ah…?” Naruto mumbled sleepily, and spotted the smiling face of the Wood Mana. “Mercedes… wha…”

 

“Morning, sleepy-head,” she greeted. “Brush your teeth. You got morning breathe.” And she got off him, leaving him mildly confused.

 

Naruto yawned, and wiped his eyes. His body felt a bit stiff, so he stretched his arms up and wiped his eyes. The smell of breakfast cooking jolted his system, waking him up from his reverie. Stretching his legs over the carpeted floor of his room and wore his slippers, went to the bathroom, and numbly brushed his teeth. He walked back to the room, stripped his pajamas and took a black shirt and white pants from his closet, exiting his room after dressing.

 

The first thing that greeted him was Mercedes, who was watching the vials and potions cooking. At first, Naruto had trouble thinking she was responsible enough, considering how she acted. Her personality was very different from Gwendolyn, but she was quick to point out that he, himself, acted similar to her. And to prove a point, the Wood Mana spectacularly made it her assignment to watch and even synthesize organic potions. Her affinity for the Earth and Wood (plant-life) boosted the effects of most of his herbal synthesis, making her quite invaluable.

 

“How's the synthesizing?” Naruto asked.

 

“Pretty good,” Mercedes replied. “I was able to restock most of the healing potions, and even added more. Our supplies are getting a bit thin, so I want to gather materials.”

 

She loved Konoha… maybe a bit too much. That was her thirty-sixth time in asking to go out to the surrounding woodland in the span of a month. Naruto did not mind though. Her nature had made Konoha's area irresistible to her, as there were many Wood Spots for her to hang out in.

 

Spots, as Naruto would learn from Gwendolyn later, were essentially a well of magical energy concentrated on one element. Mana love to hang out around Spots of their elements, like how Naruto felt the same about hanging around the Ichiraku Ramen stand.

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

“Thanks, partner,” Mercedes winked, and slowly shrunk in size, transforming from a very-human sized Mana to a miniature version of herself, and zoomed out an open window, towards Konoha's morning.

 

“You spoil her,” Gwendolyn called from behind the blonde Alchemist, shaking her head a bit.

 

Naruto turned and faced her. He smiled. “You could ask for a day off as well, you know, Gwendolyn-chan. You've never went out without me dragging you around.”

 

“You don't drag me around,” the Wind Mana replied, frowning slightly. “Besides… there's not much Wind Spots around here.”

 

“The Wind Corridor is a Wind Spot,” Naruto said.

 

“Like I'd like to hang out in the place where I was trapped and Corrupted,” she said.

 

“Right, sorry,” he blushed. “I wasn't thinking.”

 

You never think, Kyuubi snickered.

 

Oh shut it, baka-fox.

 

“Breakfast is ready, Naruto,” the Wind Mana said, pointing towards the kitchen.

 

“Ah, alright,” Naruto said. “Thanks Gwendolyn-chan. You're the greatest.”

 

As he moved to the kitchen, a knock came from the front door. Naruto turned. He was curious and wondering who that was. It was quite early to have any visitors, really. And a more pressing concern, who would even visit him? The only few people who would drop by were Hinata and Kakashi. The pale-eyed girl was away on a mission, her first C-Rank, and Kakashi would most likely sneak in and not bother on knocking.

 

As he approached, Gwendolyn, like Mercedes, shrunk to a very small version of herself. She moved casually towards the blonde Alchemist's shoulder as he opened the door, revealing the raven-haired Uchiha Saki.

 

“Oh, Sak… uh, Sasuke,” he corrected himself. She insisted on being called by her `male' name in public. “Morning.”

 

Her eyes casually wandered around, roaming towards Naruto's shoulder before she specifically looked towards him directly in the eyes, and asked, “Can I come in?”

 

He nodded and stepped back, letting his teammate in. She obliged, and she looked around the place, her expression colored impressed. It was her first time in Naruto's workshop, and she could see many vials filled with odd colored liquids and a pot quivering, releasing steam from small ventilating holes from its cover.

 

“I'm about to eat breakfast, want to join?” the Alchemist asked casually.

 

“No, I just ate,” she replied. “Kakashi just asked me to tell you that there will be a team meeting today at five. Usual place.”

 

Naruto nodded. “Why? I thought we're having a week-end off.”

 

“Who knows then,” she shrugged. “I've just been told to tell you.”

 

“Alright, got it,” he replied.

 

There was a slight pause, Naruto looking at Saki, who looked back. The girl-disguised-as-a-boy made no move, making the blonde wonder if there was anything else.

 

“Yes?” he asked.

 

“Are you busy today?” she said, her eyes locking on Naruto's.

 

“Well, I have to meet with Shikamaru today.”

 

“Another Shogi match?” she asked with an appraising eyebrow.

 

“Yeah…” Naruto shrugged. “I'm gonna win a game today. Believe it!”

 

Saki could only smirk as she shook her head. “When?”

 

“After breakfast,” he replied. “I'll probably stay there until meeting time. It's at five right?”

 

“Yes,” she said. She raised an eyebrow. “You're spending your day playing Shogi?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Oh…” she looked somewhat crestfallen.

 

“What? What is it?” Naruto said, looking towards his teammate.

 

“I… uh… never mind,” Saki replied, and turned around.

 

“What? What is it?” he asked, confused.

 

“I was hoping I could ask you to spar with me, but since you're so busy-”

 

“Sure, I'll spar with you,” he said, cutting her off. “Could use with a sparring partner. Hinata-chan's doing their first C-Class mission, and she's out of Konoha for a while. When and where are we sparring?”

 

Saki scoffed slightly, smiling as she shook her head. “Uzumaki, I'll say this as lightly as I can… you can't be in two places at the same time-” and she stopped when she realized something. Her cheeks flushed. “Um… right. I usually finish my warm-ups at ten. You know where I live, right?”

 

That got a wince out of both of them. Of course, Naruto knew where she lived. He practically invaded it to take pictures of her… and stumbled upon her secret in the worse way possible. It ended with Saki trying to convince the Hokage it was a training accident and denying the involvement of having anything to do with Naruto's old apartment going down in flames, and Naruto being threatened of castration just a few days after.

 

Not exactly their proudest moment.

 

“Um… Alright, I'll see you there,” he replied with a small smile.

 

With that, she turned and left him, closing the door behind her. Naruto could only blink, half of him wondering what was that all about, but he was too hungry to care, and shuffled towards the kitchen to eat the great smelling breakfast Gwendolyn had cooked up.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

How embarrassing, Saki thought as she briskly paced away from her teammate's workshop. For a moment, she had thought Naruto was pulling her leg in considering her offer and was about to ask him how he could even accommodate her when his schedule was full when she remembered Naruto's particular skill of cloning himself, allowing him to be on more than one place at the same time.

 

Still, she calmed herself, letting the flush of emotions, most notably embarrassment, wash away. Naruto would probably not have even registered her mistake. He was naïve in many ways, and that would be good for her reputation. She especially worked hard to make an impression on him, giving the image of a person you would not want to mess with when she was angry, but also gave him companionship when she was in a good mood.

 

Like training a puppy, she snorted. Well, no one argues with results. It worked. Naruto kept her secret, and for a good measure, did not try to antagonize her physically, though he would always have one of those smart-assed comments and the occasional slip-ups escaping his lips.

 

It was obvious Naruto was now considering her a friend of sorts. She too began to welcome the idea.

 

Still, while Naruto may not have noticed her little anger-slip, the one riding on his shoulders definitely did. Now Saki was sure. Naruto was in partnership with Manas. So far, she counted two… first, spotting two spots of light after the blonde alchemist revived her in Wave Country. After that, she had no luck in making sure until last week when Kakashi began training in developing her Sharingan.

 

Because of the training, her eyesight slowly developed an unnatural sharpness in them. The little near-sightedness of her right had fixed itself over the course of week, and she could see farther by two. Colors and clarity had become her focus in almost all of her time during the training, distracting her in more ways than one. It was one of the few rare occasions that she admitted that Konoha was a beautiful place.

 

With clarity came the ability to see Mana. Wisps of light would fade and appear near her teammate Naruto, and for a week, she would concentrate on him, wondering when a random orb of light would appear in her line of vision. Today, she had finally gotten a clear look of his Mana.

 

She was a very pretty Mana, and could almost pass off as a human. What gave her away were the wings in her hips, and feathers holding her hair in place. Saki did not try to have eye contact with the Mana… she did not want her to be suspicious. Instead, she faked it by glancing around, not lingering on her stare too long.

 

Interesting, she thought repeatedly, walking back to her home. Very interesting indeed.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Today, the Hokage tower was closed. No jobs were assigned, nor was there any activity registering to anyone outside the structure. To most people, the building empty, save for a few hidden ANBU. Granted, it's been known that ANBU are everywhere, watching. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

 

They were wrong of course. The Tower was in fact bustling with activity. Instructor Jounins along with a few Chuunin who taught in the academy gathered inside one of the deep structures beneath the building, lit by only a few dim lights with the Hokage at the center. Most of the adults chatted with mundane things while waiting for everyone to assemble.

 

“I'm here,” Kurenai, Team Eight's jounin-sensei arrived, the last one they were waiting for, appeared from the darkened entrance, which also served as an exit. No one could enter or leave without others watching their movements. “Sorry. A little trouble with our return trip.”

 

“Hmm… how are your cute students, Kurenai-san?” one of the jounins, a man with black bowl-cut hair, rather spectacular eyebrows and wearing green spandex under his jounin-vest, asked.

 

“They are fine, Gai,” Kurenai replied easily. “How are yours?”

 

“Still burning with the passion of youth!” Gai replied.

 

Asuma, on his lips an unlit cigarette, chuckled, along with a few other jounin.

 

“A little difficulty with your C-Class mission?” Kakashi asked, his face mostly buried under his little orange book.

 

“The mission itself was fine, Hatake,” she replied, then glowered, “and don't read that book in front of me.”

 

Before anyone else said anything, the Hokage cleared his throat, earning silence in the dim room. “Now that we're all here, we can begin. As jounin-senseis, your students are all cordially invited to participate in next week's Chuunin exams.”

 

There was a slight murmur of agreement among the crowd.

 

“Now, who among you would nominate their team?” the Hokage continued.

 

Kakashi stowed his book back into his pocket, watching as every jounin began to recommend each of their squad. It was a very orderly event, mostly because there was no limit on how many teams could apply. There was also the fact that the Exam was going to take place here in Konoha, at the home base, increasing the chances of genins here of passing. Anyone would be a fool not to let his or her team pass the opportunity.

 

“I shall nominate my youthful team of Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee for the Chuunin Exams!” Gai said with enthusiasm, not unlike him. Most of the jounin were quite used to his eccentricities to pay much attention when he posed, smiling a smile that seem to glint with his too white teeth, giving a thumbs-up.

 

They were surprised however, when Kakashi suddenly moved forward and declared, “I, Hatake Kakashi nominate Team Seven for the Chuunin Exams.”

 

There was an abrupt silence. Almost everyone suddenly stared at Kakashi as if he had grown a third eye. Gai, who never usually let anything faze him, too was taken aback.

 

“Hmm, a bold nomination, Kakashi,” the Hokage said, looking at the jounin in the eye. “Do you feel your genins, rookies no less, are ready to take on such a task?”

 

“I believe they are ready, Hokage-sama,” Kakashi said without hesitation.

 

“I don't,” Iruka, finally finding his voice after the jounin's announcement, said.

 

Kakashi spared him a look. “While I appreciate your input, Iruka, it has nothing to do with you.”

 

“Like hell it doesn't,” Iruka muttered darkly. “I taught those kids, Kakashi, long before they went under your supervision. I doubt they are ready for something like this so early in their life.”

 

“I too agree, Kakashi,” Gai stated, earning a look from the masked jounin. “I trained my genins for a year to prepare them. Don't thrust them prematurely.”

 

“Gai, keep out of this,” Kakashi replied nonchalantly, and then looked towards Iruka. “Doubt all you want Iruka. They are ready for this. You may have taught them before they came to me, but right now they are my soldiers and not your students.” He paused. “Or maybe you are hurt by the fact that only a few months under my supervision, they have grown at a rate faster than they were under yours.”

 

“Kakashi!” the Hokage declared sharply, sensing Iruka's temper rise at the jounin's barb. “Stand down, Iruka. Kakashi is right. You have no say in the matter. If he wants to nominate his team, it is his right to do so.”

 

Iruka growled silently, his face flushed with anger but reluctantly backed down.

 

“Well, this is awkward,” Asuma scratched the side of his forehead. “If Kakashi's going to nominate his team, then I too nominate mine.”

 

There was another murmur amongst the crowd. And then, the other shoe fell.

 

“Mine's too,” Kurenai declared. She'd be damned if she left her team out of this.

 

There was silence. Then, there was chaos. The Hokage heard everyone suddenly talking amongst themselves, loudly. Nine rookie genins in the exams? It was unprecedented. Yet there it was, happening right now. The chatter concentrated around Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai, all three looking resolved.

 

There was nothing else to do. Nodding, the Hokage gave the signal to one of the female chuunins. Silence fell as she began her approach towards the aged man, slowly, steadily, and handed him a scroll that she had been writing. It was the record of the participating teams. The Hokage took one last look around, concentrated a bit of chakra towards his index and middle finger, and pressed those in the list. A seal, bearing his mark, appeared on the paper making it official.

 

“We have our teams. I suggest all of you to prepare your teams,” he declared, and rolled the scroll to a close. “Dismissed.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“Checkmate,” Shikamaru declared as he moved a shogi piece on one of the squared tiles of the board.

 

Naruto sighed. He wanted to curse. It was only the second game since he arrived, and it was already turning out to be a lousy day for him. At first, he was rather hopeful, having a good run on the first try, cornering the lazy genin around a few corners, but Shikamaru would always slip away, manipulate the whole board while moving his king, and in one fell swoop, turned the game against the blonde, much to his frustrations.

 

“Yup, I knew it,” Ino, stated, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. Beside her was Chouji, who, as always, stuffed himself with potato chips he always brought along with him.

 

Asuma's genin team had been hanging out mostly in the commerce part of town, not very far from Atelier Uzumaki. It was also Chouji's favorite go-to place when he had free time, mostly because of the many restaurants that spread along this area. With him, as usual, were Shikamaru, and surprisingly, Ino, who did nothing but complain how bored she was. Not surprising, those complaints turned to lowering comments towards Naruto's skill as a chess player.

 

“I don't know why you always come back, Naruto. You can't beat that lazy bum. Heck, our teacher can't beat him. It's the only thing he's good at,” she said.

 

“Ah, shut it,” Naruto mumbled a retort, rubbing his foreheads with both hands. “Another game! I'll win it this time!”

 

Shikamaru just gave him that small, lazy, annoying smile. “Sure. Set up the board.”

 

Ino groaned. “Oh come on. He always loses! Why bother playing with him anyway?”

 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He gave her a lazy grimaced expression. “I play with him because its fun.”

 

She gave him an arched expression. “Fun? I should have just gone with forehead girl. At least she ain't boring like you two. I'm going.”

 

“Yeah, sure, Ino. Take care,” he replied nonchalantly, which probably annoyed her even more. He watched her stomp away, mumbling about blonde losers and lazy teammates, and smiled when she was well away.

 

“Sheesh… how do you survive her? Or at least, not try to kill her?” Naruto mumbled as he began to rearrange all the Shogi pieces.

 

“It's a bit ironic you ask that, Naruto,” Shikamaru replied.

 

“Huh?” the blonde said, confused.

 

“Never mind,” the lazy genin smiled, and stood up. “I'll be back when you're done.”

 

Naruto watched as Shikamaru walked towards Chouji, who was still eating chips, and shrugged, going back to his work, re-arranging pieces for another game. As he did, he began to plan and formulate opening moves, basing them on the last ones he had used and with Shikamaru's as well. The lazy boy always had very effective ones.

 

Chouji glanced at the blonde as he began to re-arrange the board and looked towards his best friend. He paused mid-way in putting another potato chip in his mouth, and whispered, “Well?”

 

“He's improving… a lot,” Shikamaru mumbled lazily, softly as he watched Naruto. “I can see why his jounin-sensei sent him here. He's a very good at planning things on the fly. The stuff he does disrupts almost all long-term planning. He's unpredictable, and he uses that quite effectively.”

 

Chouji just nodded at him. “How come he loses though?”

 

“He lacks one thing though.”

 

“Oh? What's that?”

 

Naruto finished rearranging the pieces. He had a smile on his face, then looked towards Shikamaru, and impatiently tapped his foot. “Oi! Come on! Scared that I'm gonna beat ya?”

 

Shikamaru just smiled at Chouji. “The ability to keep his mouth shut. It makes reading him easy.”

 

The chubby boy looked at Naruto, who was now going on and on about he was going to beat the lazy genin, and smiled. “You're not going to tell him, are you?”

 

“Of course not,” Shikamaru replied as he walked back towards the loud-mouthed blonde. “It's all part of the game.”

 

The lazy genin strode back towards Naruto and sat on the free chair. He moved the first piece, starting with his opening move he usually fell on a habit. He knew Naruto would recognize it, and wondered if the blonde was going to fall on a habit himself, or do something different?

 

Naruto did do something different. He suddenly stared at Shikamaru for a long moment, making the lazy genius wonder if there was something on his face. Or maybe behind him, he thought as he turned. There was nothing. He looked back at the blonde, who had a smile on his face.

 

“Hey, she's back,” Naruto declared blankly, and then grimaced. He held his side, in pain, and shouted, “OW! That bitch!”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Back at the workshop, one spectacled Naruto began to gather his energy over three fate cards, two blank and the other with his picture on it. After a slight shimmer of energy, two other spectacled Naruto's popped beside the third one.

 

“Well, you know what to do, right?” the third spectacled Naruto asked, watching the other Narutos nod.

 

“Most of the things here are almost done,” one spectacled Naruto said. “Did you really need to make us to help you?”

 

“While that is true, some of the items are about to finish simultaneously,” the other one replied for the third. “We are here just in case, so our bombs don't overcook and blow up the shop.”

 

“I still think a clone shouldn't make other clones to help that said clone do his job,” the second one said.

 

“Why not?” the first one said calmly. “It is a logically sound. The technique is after all, all about helping in making an alchemist job a bit easier and more efficient.”

 

“I just feel its redundant for a clone to make clones to help him with a job that he was cloned to do.”

 

“As I have said -”

 

“Would you two get on your jobs already?” the third Naruto muttered darkly, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. “We can argue over the semantics later. Chop-chop.”

 

The two arguing Narutos nodded, and hurried towards their designated positions. The third was about to take his place near the alchemic pot when he heard a knock on the door. “I'll get it!” he shouted, walked towards the entrance, and gingerly opened it revealing a young, nervous pale-eyed girl.

 

“Oh. Hinata,” he said, surprised.

 

“Um… hi, Naruto-kun,” she stuttered slightly, her face flushed a bit. “Is… Prime-kun here?”

 

The spectacled Naruto winced. The girl was dangerously knowledgeable about most of Naruto Prime's skills, mostly because he loved to brag on about it. Worse, she also understands the premises more than he does, which was wrong. Granted, Gwendolyn likes the girl, but she was still a shinobi of a different team, and if it came to a fight, she could potentially use all the information given to her freely to make short work of them.

 

“No… he's… busy, sorry,” the spectacled Naruto replied with a bit of airiness to his statement.

 

“Oh…”

 

“Yeah, sorry, but…” and it happened. Pain came in before the memories, and the spectacled Naruto found himself almost screaming as he held his sides. He wasn't alone either. The other spectacled Naruto's felt the fire from their sides as well.

 

Hinata's eyes widened, and immediately helped support the Naruto closest to her as he almost fell to the floor.

 

“Naruto-kun! What's wrong?”

 

The blonde just grimaced as he leaned on the frame of the doorway, Hinata still holding him.

 

“Damn… she hits hard…” he muttered.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“Watch out!” Gwendolyn warned.

 

Naruto felt a fire of pain explode on his side. The force was so strong that he spun in the air once before landing on the semi-loose soil of the woodland area, quite far away from the workshop, and from the commerce area of town.

 

“GAH! Damn it!” Naruto declared as he writhed on the ground, holding his side. He glared at Saki in front of him. “That was a cheap shot!”

 

She just smirked. “Don't get distracted, moron. Seriously. If you were in the middle of the battle, standing straight blankly for a second would get you killed.”

 

“I only did it because I was surprised,” he muttered. “Did you have to put everything in that kick!?”

 

“Yes,” she replied, unabashed. She approached him as he moaned, and then looked at him for a moment, before she offered her hand. “Come on. Stop being pathetic. Did I hit you that hard?”

 

“Yes,” he replied as he rubbed his side. “Very hard.”

 

She smiled. “Yes, well, let that be a lesson to you, Uzumaki. I think I liked you better loud and annoying. At least you moved… or more specifically, never kept still.”

 

“Haha,” he said sarcastically.

 

Gwendolyn, in her miniature form, flew around Naruto for a moment. “Anything broken?”

 

“I… I don't think so…” the blonde whispered.

 

Gwendolyn nodded, and settled once more on his shoulder while Saki approached now sporting a frown in her face.

 

“Seriously, what happened?” she asked.

 

“Meh, its nothing. I was just surprised when I saw Hinata-chan visit,” he shrugged.

 

“Really? Where is she?” she stood, looking around.

 

“Not here. Back at the workshop,” he replied.

 

“Ah…” she nodded. “Doesn't it confuse you, you know, having your memories scattered around like that?”

 

“Nah, not really,” Naruto shrugged. “It's kinda hard to explain, but the skill kinda separates the memory for each of us. Um…” he paused, thinking, and snapped his fingers as the answer came to him. “Yes, like a photo album! Our memories are like photographs in an album. Each photo represents a different memory, and all of us have access to the same album to breeze through.” And he looked at her. “Does that make sense?”

 

“A bit…” and she smirked. “You got that from the smart one, didn't you?”

 

“Got what?” he asked.

 

“The whole `our memories are like photographs in a photo album' bit…” Saki confirmed. She smiled. “No way could you have come up with that yourself. The one who always wore spectacles probably deduced that.”

 

“Hey!” Naruto protested, “He's still me, you know… he just picks things up faster.”

 

“Yeah, right. Then why did you freeze up if your memories don't confuse you?”

 

Naruto flushed. “It doesn't, really. I was just… distracted.”

 

“Dumbass,” she snorted.

 

He flushed. “Hey, at least I got clones! Real body clones!”

 

“Heh! That's what you think!” and she formed a seal with her hands, and began to gather a huge amount of chakra. “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” she said, and another Saki popped in beside her.

 

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He looked towards the clone, and to Saki, who seemed a bit tired. “Whoa… Kage Bunshin? That's great! I thought Kakashi-sensei said you wouldn't be ready for it yet.”

 

“Yeah well… Scarecrow's right,” Saki sighed softly, weakly.

 

Naruto giggled at Kakashi's nickname, and he saw her smile at his reaction. She slowly sat back towards the ground, and her clone popped away in a wisp of smoke.

 

“Drains chakra like you wouldn't believe it. It's basically useless in battle, but,” she panted. “I'm one step closer in mastering it. Even if its just one clone… I can double my training. And the stronger I get, the more clones I can make. And the rest… well… you know.”

 

“Ah…” he nodded. “Is it that hard?”

 

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “Well, actually, not that hard. It only uses one seal, but manipulating your chakra… it feels like half a henge and half a normal bunshin. Very odd.”

 

Naruto stood up. That didn't sound too hard. He wasn't a total dweeb when it came to Bunshin, he just couldn't create a passable one. His Henge wasn't too shabby either. Granted, he had difficulty in discerning smaller details in each person he Henges to, but if you take his Oroike no Jutsu, it pretty much encompasses his mastery of the technique (in his head anyways).

 

“Let me try,” he muttered, his fingers feeling for the seal.

 

Saki scoffed. “Don't bother, Uzumaki. Stick to the clones you know and--”

 

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

 

He didn't know it, but he had released quite a potent amount of chakra that was so strong that Saki felt the chills at the back of her neck as his energy washed over the whole place. Plums of smoke blinded him. It was as if a fog suddenly descended from the sky and when it cleared, Naruto found himself surrounded by other Narutos.

 

“Wow… this is kinda weird,” one of them stated.

 

“I feel unbalanced.”

 

“You too?”

 

“Yeah, I feel off…”

 

“Ugh, I think we all do…” Naruto muttered, shaking his head. The Kage Bunshin technique seemed easier to do than the Bunshin but there was something wrong. It took him for a moment, before he realized it.

 

“Hey, pick a number from one to ten… which number am I thinking of?” he said.

 

“Is it number six?”

 

“I pick five!”

 

“Nine.”

 

Yup… Naruto got it. They weren't sharing memories. Unlike the Jade Shift, he couldn't access what the Kage Bunshin clones were thinking. After being used to his other technique, he felt some disappointment with this one. Still, it wasn't that bad. From what Kakashi could explain, the technique allowed him to build an expendable army without any health concerns the Jade Shift brought along.

 

“You… you can do the technique?”

 

The words cut his train of thoughts. He looked at Saki and realized she had an odd expression on her.

Her face was paler than normal and her eyes betrayed strong emotions about them. All subtle nuances were mostly lost on the blonde. If he and his clones could read each other's minds, they would have realized they had all come to the same thought.

 

She looked defeated.

 

“Oi… you okay?” one of the clones asked, looking a bit worried. “You look like you ate some bad ramen.”

 

Her face hardened, making the Narutos step back. Her expression reminded them of the time she had cornered the blonde in the comfort room and threatened him with sharp pointy objects. She wasn't exuding out killing intent, yet with her expression, she didn't have to.

 

He half-thought she was going to get her weapons out, or even form a seal to throw a Katon technique, but instead, she just turned and walked away.

 

“Hey,” Naruto called. “Where you going?”

 

“Training,” she replied. Then she added, “Alone.”

 

“Wha… I thought we were sparring?” he asked.

 

“Leave me alone for now, Naruto,” she replied, softly, yet with hard conviction.

 

The blonde could only frown, watch his teammate disappear from the thicket of trees, wondering what the hell was that all about. They were pretty much doing okay, especially after the whole mess at Wave Country. Sure, he'd still annoy her, but it was all in good fun, and she while she wouldn't be caught dead acting like him, he was sure she was more friendly to him before. Her inviting him to spar and train with her was an obvious sign, considering she loved to spend of her training days alone. So what had changed?

 

He could only come to one conclusion.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Shikamaru and Chouji blinked when Naruto suddenly muttered, “Kage Bunshin is troublesome.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“Of course there is more to it than that,” the spectacled Naruto muttered for a moment. “She was obviously jealous.”

 

“Um… Naruto-kun? Did you say something?” Hinata asked, looking from her side of the counter.

 

“Nothing to bother yourself about, Hinata-chan,” he replied, waving his hand to wash out the whole conversation. He was sure Prime would realize it later, but trying to sell the concept to him would be more trouble than it was worth. Besides, there were other things to concentrate on.

 

Like the new technique.

 

“Though the application can be used. It's very familiar with Jade Shift, but also fundamentally different…” he began to mutter again.

 

“Um… Naruto-kun?” the young girl repeated, and was confused when the spectacled blonde seemed to move away, muttering to himself about Kage Bunshin and its uses.

 

“Don't bother,” another spectacled Naruto called behind her. “He's going on his `thinking mode'.”

 

“Oh…” she replied, understanding. “Anything I can do to help?”

 

“Not really. Besides, he's gonna drag us on it soon, and we're almost done anyway,” he said, moving towards the other vials and closing the Bunsen burners. “Hey, thanks for the help.”

 

Hinata blushed. She didn't do much. When the three spectacled Narutos began to rub their sides in pain, she had helped around the workshop, mostly capping out the burners to prevent the vials of explosives from igniting.

 

“Its nothing,” she replied modestly.

 

“It's not `nothing',” the spectacled Naruto said. “I'm sure Prime will meet with you sooner than later. He missed you. We all did.”

 

The Hyuuga Heiress face couldn't be any redder.

 

“Um… I'll… I mean… um… I'll be back tomorrow. Thank you for having me!” she quickly said, and dashed out of house. The spectacled Naruto could only chuckle before he went back to his work.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Time passed quickly, Naruto thought as he emerged from the workshop. It had been a terribly lousy day. He hadn't won a game from Shikamaru, he missed seeing Hinata personally, and for some reason he still didn't have a clue why Saki had gotten sour in her mood. At the back of his mind, he knew she seemed worried, even jealous, but for the life of him, he had no idea why she was worried or whom she was jealous.

 

Oh well, at the very least he would be seeing Sakura-chan. Right?

 

The sun was already sinking when he arrived at the training area, leaving a tinge of red in the sky. It seemed he was also the last of the genins of Team 7 to arrive. He spotted Sakura chatting towards the aloof Saki, who had put up her Sasuke-personality once more. Naruto wondered if the Uchiha's mood improved, only to see her eyes narrowing at his arrival.

 

Yikes, he thought. Part of him said he'd better leave her alone for now. “Hey Sakura-chan!” he greeted his other teammate instead.

 

The pink-haired girl glanced at him slightly, gave a nod, and went back to talking to Saki.

 

“Hey,” Naruto greeted towards Saki, cautiously. “Um… are you okay?”

 

“Just shut it Uzumaki,” Saki growled, her arms crossed in front of her.

 

Of course, the exchange wasn't lost on the pink-haired kunoichi, who immediately turned to Naruto, annoyed. “Alright, Naruto. What did you do to Sasuke-kun this time!?”

 

“Nothing, Sakura-chan,” the blonde replied, confused. “I swear, Even I don't know what's going on.”

 

“Having women troubles, Naruto?” Kakashi's lazy voice called from above them.

 

The three genins stopped bickering, looking up the tree where their jounin sensei greeted them from, lying down on one of its branches, thick enough to support his weight. He didn't even bother looking at them, with his visible eye on the open page of his book.

 

“Such a young age to have them,” he continued, relaxed.

 

“You're early,” Naruto pointed out. That fact was something obvious in hindsight, but Sakura took a moment to realize that.

 

“Naruto's right. You are early,” Sakura eyed the man suspiciously. Then she added, “Relatively.”

 

“I can be early too, Sakura,” the jounin said.

 

“Liar!” she shouted.

 

Kakashi ignored that comment, as he always did. Instead, he snapped his book shut and jumped downwards towards them. Landing cleanly with masterful ease, he gave them a small smile, putting his orange book on one of his vest pockets.

 

“Anyway, my dear students, I have great news!” he declared.

 

“Finally got yourself a girlfriend?” Naruto asked in a tone that was derogative and sarcastic at the same time.

 

Saki snorted. She had been feeling lousy but even that comment got to her. She stifled it when she spotted a hopeful look from the blonde, and averted her eyes, going towards Sakura, who too looked at her only this time with a confused expression.

 

“Don't be rude, Naruto. You will like this one,” Kakashi stated, unaffected. “For those who don't know, Konoha will be hosting an important even for a shinobi's life next week. It represents their first step to a larger world.”

 

Naruto blinked. What was Kakashi-sensei talking about? He also noticed Saki's arms slacken, leaving them dangling at her side, her eyes widening. Sakura was less severe in her reaction, mostly because she too looked as confused as Naruto was, until it dawned to her.

 

“No…” she muttered quietly.

 

“What?” the blonde asked.

 

Kakashi provided the answer. “I have nominated you three to the Chuunin Exams.”

 

To Be Continued…

 

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Author's Notes:

 

Sorry for the delay. I haven't been too happy with my initial draft of this chapter, and took at least five revisions to do so. I still think it needs work… meh.

 

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

 

Later!

 

And another revision. I like this one a bit better. It tightened the chapter a bit, though there were things I wanted to add. Next chapter, maybe. Enjoy people.

 

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