Split

by Chaoslover43

Kyubi alters Naruto's personality at birth to create a more powerful host due to his own sense of vanity but things do not go as planned... That is, until the genin exam. Features an extreme deconstruction of the kage bunshin technique and a less unintelligent way of fighting for our favorite blond hero.

1. The Genin Exam

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except my ideas and my words.

A complete AN is at the end of the chapter as it is quite long, but this is important. This is a rewrite of an old fic that is still up. If you're interested you can view its humble and significantly more erratic origins before reading on.

.oOo.

Iruka, the ever stoic instructor, sat calmly at the head of his classroom, his students arrayed in a tittering conglomerate in front of him. It was their last year at the academy and many were eager to grow past that stage of their lives. More, though, were anxious over their ability to pass the test, simple as it was, that would mark their passage to genin-hood.

"Look, the idiot's here!" Kiba, a member of the number unconcerned about the exam, shouted as a small group including one Naruto Uzumaki filtered in. "You pumped to fail again..." he continued at high volume before his voice slowly trailed off as he got a good look at the boy he was addressing.

In stark contrast to usual he looked almost aloof, face essentially blank if being generous, surly if not. He was out of his trademark orange and had on instead a pair of black cargo shorts and a dark jacket, with a lighter woven-cloth belt threading the shorts' many loops. In addition to his two navy pouches of basic ninja equipment, his back carried a small, lighter colored pack with its thin straps pulled tight. With everything else about him so toned down, even his so-blonde-it's-yellow hair seemed less bright than usual. It helped that its interminable spikiness had finally had a comb run through it for the first time that morning.

He gave a small smile, far removed from his usual dopey grin or swaggering smirk, at Kiba's words. "Well, no, I wouldn't really say I'm 'pumped' to fail, since I won't really be failing this year. Thanks for asking though. Really appreciate that," he said with just enough bite to convey insincerity.

Bemused by his lack of boisterousness Kiba let the exchange end there. Not before, however, his shout had drawn the attention of the students who had already arrived, including all of the heirs of Konoha's most influential clans, as well as one Sakura Haruno. Their collective attentions were then held permanently by Naruto's uncharacteristic appearance.

Now, the boy was not well liked by any stretch, however, if you remember but two people from your class at the academy, they will be your best friend and the most annoying guy there. Naruto generally fit neatly into the second category and, as such, was very well known among his classmates.

Unsurprisingly every conversation in the classroom became an exchange of comments on the formula: "The hell's up with Naruto?" "He looks so different!" "Where's the kill-me orange?" "Without that stupid freakin' outfit he's actually kinda cute...".

The last was said verbatim under one Ino Yamanaka's breath, to her eternal regret. "The hell, Ino-pig, are you talking about NARUTO?!" Sakura asked disbelievingly, glaring at her friend-turned-rival from her place leaning on a desk chair beside her, "He may look a little better on the outside, but I highly doubt he's any less annoying than usual," she finished scornfully.

Ino, leaning against her own desk chair, did her best to salvage the pieces of her comment. "Yeah, well, I have taste unlike you Forehead. He definitely looks a LOT better on the outside today than he did yesterday," she said snootily.

"Mm hm, as much as I appreciate the compliments, girls, I'm gonna have to ask you two to move. You're blocking the only seat left," Naruto's voice pointed out from behind the two.

Ino's face turned a light shade of pink while Sakura snickered, fairly unembarrassed by her own less than complimentary comment even if it had ceded his looks had improved. Both girls did notice, however, that the room had filled up while they had commented back and forth. While many boys, and a couple girls, were perched on the desks, it was clear that each seat but the one at the end of their row was 'claimed' with their chair-leaning blocking access to the free one. With only the minimum twenty seven seats in the classroom to begin with Naruto had little place else to go.

The girls took their seats sheepishly, noticing Iruka had turned his attention to them as well, clearly waiting to begin. Naruto took the free seat next to Sasuke's, as had been decided in an earlier fiery debate between the two girls on Sasuke's other side. Because of their fierce rivalry, it was understood that no girl could take the seat next to Sasuke that was NOT occupied by the winner of said debate.

As Iruka finally stood and called for everyone's attention students filtered off desks and away from friends until all were seated normally. He began to speak, explaining the details of the day's tests though Sasuke was apparently uninterested in the instructions. "Explain, dead-last," he said tersely, having been observing the blond sitting beside him bemusedly for the past few moments.

Naruto slowly turned toward Sasuke, shook his head, and turned back toward Iruka. Clearly he WAS interested in what the man had to say.

Despite the following he'd earned among the class's girls for his stoic bearing and general gruffness, Sasuke was actually rather a short fuse. He growled audibly upon being rebuffed, though he managed to catch himself and turn the noise into a dismissive 'Hn.' before turning away from the blond.

The two had resumed attention just in time to catch the tail end of Iruka's comments. "... And if you succeed there as well you will be a proud member of Konoha's genin corps! So, let's begin with the written exam."

At the conclusion of the first sentence the boys heard, Mizuki, another of the academy instructors, began passing out the test papers. A single sheet front and back containing twenty questions, the genin written exam was a tool intended as a straightforward judge of both what students had learned in class and raw intelligence. The front contained questions confined to things learned, including topics ranging from Konoha's history to the nature of chakra, while the back contained questions that were either only tangentially related to the course material or complex logistical problems. The former tested one's retention and one's abilities to learn in a classroom setting, while the latter tested their analytical skills and raw intellect. The results allowed the instructors to work with Jonin-senseis and the Hokage to form the most balanced teams possible, matched up with the most suitable teachers.

"Alright boys and girls. You'll have sixty minutes to complete the exam. Not all questions are created equal, but they're all weighted equally, so be smart about this. No work will get you no credit. Good luck, you may begin." Iruka read off in a fairly monotonic voice once all the papers had been distributed. It was clear he'd given the spiel a number of times.

The room slowly filled with the sound of scratching pencils as the students struggled with their tests. After about twenty minutes had passed Sasuke looked up from his completed front side, glanced absentmindedly to his left, and scoffed. Naruto's test was sitting askew on his desk, though it was full of tiny neat writing, and he himself was sitting, relaxed but not slouching, and staring off into space. Typical failure, guessing right off the bat, Sasuke sneered internally, and busied himself with the other side of the test.

Forty minutes later Iruka called time and, with the help of Mizuki, gathered the tests. "Alright boys and girls, you know the plan. Start heading outside and we'll get the weapons test started," he prodded as he circled the room grabbing papers.

With an audible sigh the class rose and filed out of the room toward the outdoor practice area, discussing the test the whole way. Iruka met them out there shortly and began to explain the next test in greater depth. "Alright, we have a course set up out here to test your weapon skills. This will be a more complex examination so PAY ATTENTION!" A couple of bored students snapped to attention at Iruka's yell, "Thank you. Now, you all see this section of trees here, where we used to do our basic stealth exercises? We've erected a number of three ring targets of varying sizes in varying locations within the area. You will receive fifteen kunai and fifteen shuriken in a weapons pouch, and you'll be led further in where there are circles marked in red. You will stand in your circle, we will call time, and you'll have five minutes to locate and strike as many targets as you can. While you have thirty weapons, that in no way indicates the number of targets in there. One weapon per target, and you may use the weapons provided in any ratio you like," he finished more calmly, "Any questions?"

None were forthcoming so Iruka dismissed them for free time directing them to come when they heard their names. "Alright, we're doing this alphabetically in groups of three. Aburame, Akimichi, Arai, you guys are first!" Iruka said.

The three boys reported to the front of the group, were led off into the trees, and left behind a group that began to relax. Mizuki had been left to watch them and it seemed there was to be a fairly long break for most.

.oOo.

Shikamaru had just set himself up under the tree with the swing hanging from it, eyes closed, when a shadow fell over him. He cracked one eye and tried to identify the person standing over him based upon its shadowy outline. "Troublesome..." he muttered under his breath as he rubbed his eyes, "So bright out here."

When his eyes adjusted some to the light he could see the amused face of one Naruto Uzumaki looking down at him. "Ugh, what do you want Naruto? I was going to nap my way through this whole exam,"

Naruto just flashed him one of his small smiles and pulled the pack off his back as he sat himself down beside the dark haired boy. "Fun as that sounds Shika, you're sure you don't want to play shogi with me?" he asked as he pulled a folding magnetic shogi board out of his pack.

Shikamaru seemed to perk up a bit, lifting himself into a sitting position, before turning narrowed eyes on the blond. "You're not exactly the shogi type, are you Naruto?" he asked, suspicious curiosity in his words.

Naruto kept his eyes forward as he seemed to let the question hang between them for a few moments, before turning to face his classmate. "It sure seems that way doesn't it? Give me a try, I might surprise you. I am the number one surprising ninja of Konoha after all," he said smiling fully for once, almost blindingly.

Shikamaru sighed hugely. "What a drag... Why do I feel like you don't mean that in the same way you used to? Don't answer that. Fine, let's play. It'll be quick."

Naruto allowed himself a small smirk. "Really now? I appreciate the confidence, means you're at least not taking your usual approach to things."

"Troublesome..." he muttered again, taking a few moments to orient the board as it should be and set up the pieces, "White moves first."

Naruto thought a moment and carefully moved a pawn forward a single space. Shikamaru responded in kind with one of his own pawns in another file. Minutes passed with the two players trading moves and Shikamaru's expression slowly deepening into a scowl. Despite his attitude, the boy was clearly winning and Naruto looked resigned to a loss, his clear numerical disadvantage evident.

Shikamaru made a final move and declared triumphantly, "Checkmate," seeming inordinately pleased with himself.

Naruto flashed another small smile. "Ah, I lose. How troublesome."

Shikamaru glared at him, "You know, you put up a lot of fight for a kid who supposedly has the worst grades in the class and already failed twice."

Naruto leaned back against the tree and surveyed the game board again, seeming to analyze the moves that led to his defeat. Finally he looked back up to the other boy's face. "Shogi isn't the academy work. Your grades aren't close to the top of the class either, anyway," he said slowly.

Shikamaru stared blankly at the blond. He was saved from the surreal conversation with the boy he'd written off as an amusing and tolerable idiot long ago by his own name. "... and Nara. You guys are next, come on," Iruka said as he exited the forest to pick up the next group.

Shikamaru dragged himself to his feet with a slant-ways look back at the suddenly enigmatic blond, before slouching his way over to their instructor. Naruto simply smiled at his retreating back as he packed up his board. There wouldn't be time for another full game.

His opponent gone, Naruto callously took his vacated spot under the tree and stared upward. The shape of a wispy dragon assaulting an ethereal castle with wispy, white blasts of fire drifted across the sky, slowly morphing into other less describable shapes.

Before long Shikamaru returned to the spot, glanced down, took in Naruto's eyes locked onto the sky, and sighed. "What a drag..." he said, taking a seat in the old swing.

He couldn't hold in a slight smirk though. This strange boy that came in the guise of Naruto was a marked improvement on the old model.

A companionable silence developed from there, Shikamaru never being one to start a conversation on so perfect a just-barely-partly-cloudy day. After the clouds that had initially been floating into sight over the high walls of the academy to the right passed out of sight over the trees to the left, Iruka finally called the last three names. "Alright, now, Uzumaki, Yamanaka, Zenigata, come with me and then we can move on to the ninjutsu portion of the test," he said, boredom creeping into his tone.

Apparently the evaluation of academy students was not particularly exciting. Shikamaru watched Naruto walk into the forest with the other two students and their teacher and couldn't help but wonder if he'd somehow become a better ninja with whatever change had allowed him to sit still for longer than five minutes.

.oOo.

The academy classroom was again filled with tittering students after Iruka led them back inside. He didn't let them devolve into conversation for long. "Alright, I know you guys are excited to talk about the weapons test. You weren't expecting something like that and you want to know how many targets your friends hit yadda yadda, but we've got a busy day, so can it wait for at least another hour or two?" he queried generously.

"Good, now, the ninjutsu portion of the test is simple. You've learned more than three jutsu here at the academy, we know, but these are the most essential, if not the easiest. You are to perform the bunshin, the kawarimi, and the henge techniques. At least three bunshin, a battle ready replacement, and a transformation that at least stands up to a casual glance will be necessary to earn a passing grade. Remember, this doubles as a chakra capacity examination. Appearing winded after performing these three techniques one after the other will not help your score. Mizuki and I will be testing you two at a time, it shouldn't take long, maybe half an hour. Good luck everyone!" he finished cheerfully.

The test was very well known even among academy students. The jutsu in question had long been referred to as the Academy Three, complete with aurally discernible capital letters. As such no one was surprised or intimidated by this test, as some had been by the weapons examination.

Sasuke heard his teacher's instructions peripherally, but his attention was primarily focused on the blond now sitting in the rightmost seat in the back. As Iruka began to call names he stared at him, wondering where the annoying bastard everyone failed to tolerate had gone. He looked away subtly when their eyes briefly met.

He couldn't explain why the blond's odd changes seemed so worthwhile to him. He prided himself on his disinterest in his classmates. It wasn't like there was much chance any of them would amount to anything after all. Perhaps it was the careless way Naruto had dismissed his attempts to understand his change?

Regardless, he found himself tabulating the differences in his mind. He'd spied him sitting companionably with Shikamaru under a tree cloud-watching during the weapons test. He'd noted the vastly changed wardrobe. He'd observed the muted facial expressions. He'd even watched most of a surprisingly competitive shogi match.

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke nearly jumped in surprise when he heard his own name called. Embarrassed to be caught so deeply in thought he let out a slightly higher pitched 'hn' than usual and sauntered to the front to be examined.

He was led to a room just off the classroom to perform the techniques and did so unthinkingly. While those not destined to become full fledged ninja might have some difficulty with the techniques, they were trifling to a genius like him. Or he thought so at least.

By the time he returned, the blond was gone, clearly being tested by the teacher who had not tested him. He smirked, didn't matter how different he was, he was still the dead last. Probably still couldn't make anything more than a half dead clone.

With a small effort he pushed the blond out of his mind and resumed his seat to wait out the last few tests.

.oOo.

"Alright class, we're almost done, all that's left is the taijutsu examination. Regrettably this last test will also be the longest. We have to do this one by one as it wouldn't be a very thorough and fair evaluation if we did it any other way. We need one teacher freed up to observe, and there's just no way we're going to let you spar each other," Iruka observed the bored faces arrayed around him and grinned, "I promise this is my last monologue. Not my fault these tests are complicated. You do want to be NINJA right? It's not a simple job," he explained from his position in front of a large, clear circle of dirt.

The students all nodded, stood still, or zoned out completely as usual and Iruka just sighed. Let's just get this over with, he thought darkly. He addressed his assistant, "Mizuki, do you want to observe or spar?"

"Mmm, I'll watch, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, whatever's fine. I'm just really ready to be done here for today. The kids seem to have pretty much lost interest," Iruka stated somewhat dejectedly as he surveyed the crowd of bored faces arrayed on the opposite side of the circle from the teachers. "Okay, Aburame, come on!"

One by one Iruka fought his pupils. He only blocked or countered, as was standard practice for an evaluator, though that still rendered him in considerable pain due to the styles of some of Konoha's clans. "Great job, Hinata," Iruka bit out through gritted teeth as he tried not to cry out in pain over the twelve shut tenketsu on his arms.

Finally, the man's favorite student was up. He'd noticed the changes in the boy, his new clothes, his mannerisms, his uncharacteristic comments. He'd wanted to talk to him as class had started, but things had been rather hectic with the final exam that day, and it had seemed unprofessional to address him in front of everyone else.

Iruka smiled reflexively as the boy stepped into the ring. "Good luck, Naruto," he said warmly as he slid into his stance, only to be surprised as the boy smiled at him and slid into his own.

Iruka had always assumed Naruto simply lacked the aptitude for taijutsu. His form had been that of a common brawler, and while he moved with exceptional speed and struck with exceptional force compared to some of his classmates his lack of refinement led to his loss in most spars. Especially those against his clan-member classmates. Simply put, the boy didn't know how to use his speed and strength to his advantage. He would strike aggressively, leaving himself open to powerful counters and leg sweeps, fighting with a nearly criminal lack of strategy.

Now, while it clearly was not natural to him, Naruto had settled into a picture perfect basic academy taijutsu stance.

"Sensei?"

Naruto's voice broke Iruka out of his reverie. "Oh, of course Naruto, let's begin!"

Naruto flashed him another small smile and charged him, abandoning his perfect form. Iruka sighed softly. Perhaps that form had been just a fluke?

He had little time to think though, as Naruto was soon on him, throwing a wild right hook toward his face. Just as Iruka was about to block the wild punch Naruto lowered himself, tucked the fist into his shoulder, and transformed the wild attack into a textbook elbow sweep to Iruka's side.

However the strike was loose and a bit slower than Iruka knew Naruto was capable of. It was clear it was an unpracticed move. He was able to back up a half step to avoid the blow.

Naruto grunted as he spun with the missed shot, following it up with a left leg spinning kick to the same spot.

Again it was a good attack, a textbook example of how moves should be strung together, but poorly executed. Naruto hadn't braced his standing leg very well, his balance was off, and the kick came out a bit weaker because of it. Iruka was able to flip over Naruto's head and land behind him, sweeping his standing leg out.

Naruto collected himself well though, placing his left palm on the ground and spinning with his momentum to land safely in a crouch. As soon as his second foot touched he pushed off hard with it, quickly closing the distance and launching a series of quick jabs at his teacher.

Being a chunin he was able to fairly effortlessly block the punches, but they were thrown with much better form than Naruto's usual looping, lumbering, powerful blows, even if they did lack some of that power.

Just as Naruto was going for a more meaningful leg strike Mizuki called time. He was left breathing hard with his leg extended about six inches from Iruka's hip.

"Very good Naruto, I'm impressed!" Iruka extolled him, "I wasn't sure you had it in you!"

Naruto simply absorbed the praise with a small smile, and rejoined his classmates. They too had noticed Naruto's fighting style over the past years. Sparring matches were commonplace in the academy syllabus and the blond's lack of finesse was somewhat infamous.

He was now receiving some very funny looks over his sudden flowering into a passable taijutsu student.

Iruka himself had been rather taken aback by it. "Oh, yeah, right then. Um, Yamanaka you're next," he said, shaking himself from his slight stupor.

The last couple fights were unremarkable, with everyone performing as expected. The taijutsu evaluation as part of the final exam was somewhat of a formality, as taijutsu was a heavy focus of the academy curriculum and the teachers were very familiar with their students' skill levels. Though occasionally some would perform much better or worse than expected on the test, so it was still run. It WAS ninja school and some extent of subterfuge and misdirection was present.

As the last student exited the ring Iruka nodded at Mizuki and began to speak. "Alright everyone, I appreciate your attention and cooperation today. I know the final exam is long and somewhat grueling, but I have high expectations for this group! I'm fairly sure you've all passed from what I've seen, and I look forward to handing you your hitai-ate and recognizing you as shinobi of the leaf! Mizuki and I have a lot of grading to do, however, and we'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow for the results and the hitai-ate presentation. Dismissed!"

A loud cheer rose up from the assembled crowd, which carried on for a few moments. Many students were celebrating years or even a decade of work and were understandably pleased. After a short time spent milling around and socializing with their fellow students, most dispersed in twos and threes to celebrate with a notable few, including Naruto, striking off on their own.

Iruka turned to Mizuki and gave him a grimace. "Ugh, I'd wanted to get the testing over with, but I don't think we're moving on to anything better," he said unhappily.

Mizuki mirrored his look and nodded miserably. "Yeah, twenty seven full academy evaluations to look over... I'm not a big fan of exam day," he replied in a similar tone.

Iruka wasn't one to shirk work, however, and dove into the marked scores and notes efficiently if not enthusiastically. After half an hour they'd managed to grade all the written exams, and simply had to go over the other sections, which had been marked during administration. "What do you think about Aburame Shino, Mizuki? Perfect ninjutsu execution, near flawless written exam, decent taijutsu and weapon skills. Definitely above average at least."

"Eh, he's a clan kid. What do you expect? He'll go to a tracking oriented team for sure, with his family's specialty," Mizuki responded not unkindly.

The evaluations continued on in that vein for over an hour, with Iruka summarizing the results and a short discussion ensuing. The evaluations of the seven children of established clans were the shortest, being mere formalities. Failing to pass the clan children would be a political disaster, regardless of their skill levels. The clans just had too much sway. Civilian students were considered much more closely. Generally the academy was the only training they got, and as such there was a significant risk they weren't good enough to graduate. This was a good year, however, and Iruka and his assistant had yet to dismiss anyone.

Finally they came to Naruto's set. "Hmm, there are some notable differences from his two past failures... Passable taijutsu, very unpolished, but technically correct now. Great speed and strength, but that's always been noted," he said, and then paused for a long moment, "A perfect ninjutsu score? He's always had some talent with henge and kawarimi, but since when can he even perform the bunshin jutsu, Mizuki?"

Mizuki took on a contemplative look. "Yes, I was surprised myself. When I asked him to perform the technique, he concentrated for a long moment... And suddenly the room was full of illusions. Probably at least fifty, but it was hard to make a headcount. I asked if he could maybe tone it down and he smiled at me and said he couldn't. I didn't know what to make of it, but he exceeded the requirements by a long shot, and his other two techniques were as good as ever, so I had to give him the perfect score. It's not that weird though, thirteen out of twenty seven students got perfect scores. Ninjutsu always goes well though, you know that. The students practice them tirelessly."

Iruka sat in thought for a few beats before continuing. "Ignoring inexplicable clone creating prowess... What's this?! He got a perfect score on the written test?" Iruka's eyes bulged out as he scanned Naruto's exam paper.

He flitted from question to question but could not find a fault with any of Naruto's answers. His understanding and explanation of the nature of chakra was more advanced than anyone's save Hinata's. That including the girl with the highest average written exam score in the class, Haruno Sakura. One couldn't really expect to understand more about chakra than a Hyūga, so effectively Naruto's was the best answer given.

While Iruka was looking at the test Mizuki spoke up. "Yeah, I graded that one. The amount he recalled from class was truly impressive considering how terribly he's done on all other written exams we've given. I was most surprised by how well he did on the IQ kinda stuff on the back though. I didn't think the kid had anything between his ears."

Iruka frowned and flipped the page in Naruto's exam folder. "Well let's just keep going. His weapons results are at least close to expected, about average a bit above... Hmm, this is weird. His accuracy wasn't as good as I expected so his score shouldn't be so high, but... Wow, he hit almost all the targets!" Iruka said slowly, before flipping through all the other files.

He turned to Mizuki in some shock. "The only two people that hit more targets than Naruto were Sasuke and Hinata. Can't really count Hinata since she could see through the trees, and Sasuke's been the undisputed best weapons user in the class since day one. Jeez. His accuracy really wasn't that great though... Even worse than usual..." Iruka trailed off.

More softly to himself he asked, "Naruto... What's happened to you?"

Mizuki, who had very keen hearing, answered. "Iruka, I wouldn't pay it much thought. I know you always had a soft spot for the kid, but this is common enough. There's always one every couple of years who thinks they're better off being underestimated for a while. You should be glad he turned out to have some skill after all!"

Iruka nodded slowly but made no reply. As much as that seemed to explain things neatly... There was no reason his accuracy would decrease if he'd been hiding skills. And if he'd known the proper forms all along his attacks would be much more polished. He racked his brain for an explanation with all the factors in mind, but no single thing gained prominence that explained a change of such magnitude and complexity.

"Iruka? Do we pass him this year, or not?" Mizuki asked sharply, as if he'd already asked at least once.

Iruka jumped before replying. "Oh, yeah, sorry, I kind of zoned out. Well, we can't exactly fail him with two perfect scores regardless of his other results, which really weren't too shabby. I just wonder why he chose his third time through the exam to pass, practically with flying colors!"

Mizuki just shrugged and let Iruka's statements hang. Iruka stared at Naruto's file for another moment and then shook his head. "Alright Uzumaki Naruto. I guess you pass this time," he said tossing the file into the rather full pile of passes.

.oOo.

AN: I apologize for any weird POV stuff. If anything is unclear, leave me a review with your questions and I'll try to revise it or explain it to you. I wanted to show Naruto by using a few others' POVs, before switching to primarily his POV. The first scene is the most confusing as it kind of bounces around third person omniscient style, but the rest is fairly straightforward third person limited, and the character it's limited to is usually pretty clear I thought.

Other important notes include: This fic will be mildly AU with no one specific diversion point, including a fair number of re-imaginings of Kishimoto's concepts in addition to numerous concepts Kishimoto never hit on. It will do its best to contain as few pairings as possible, and certainly none involving Naruto. Anything that looks like a pairing is likely a joke, or just a subtle bit of characterization. It ignores many things post time-skip for simplicity's sake. It attempts to avoid as much complex Japanese as possible, though I prefer Japanese names for most things, (kunai, shuriken, ninja/shinobi, kekkei genkai, henge, bunshin, kawarimi, jutsu etc.) because really I don't know any, and I'd butcher anything I put in. If I mess up anything I do put in, let me know in a quick review, that's embarrassing ;)

Of some note is the fact that Roku Naruto by Anthurak The Chaos Lord heavily influenced the first iteration of the fic, and this fic will still draw a tad from that one, though less than the previous story as I don't really recall exactly what was in Roku Naruto. However I much more recently read A Drop of Poison by Angel of Snapdragons and I feel some ideas from there will end up in here as well. I simply had a very similar vision, so far as the scope of kage bunshin is concerned.

Finally, I apologize for the length of this note. It's the intro of the story and I just want to keep a few things straight. Notes should be more minimal in future chapters, and will almost always occur at the end.

Next chapter in two weeks.