Abyss of Birds
A Kage Bushin is a clone made of shadows given solidity by chakra.
Chakra is charged by the emotions the user is feeling, which is why so many ninjas have more success with jutsu when using them in life or death situations. Bushin, especially solid Bushin, are defined by the emotions used to make them.
Solid Bushin are used to deliver messages, as diversions, as something to take a blow for the caster. Each solid Bushin contains a tiny piece of the caster's soul. When a Bushin is destroyed or dismissed, that piece of soul returns to the caster with no harm done.
Usually, this would not be a problem.
But Naruto uses Kage Bushin all the time. In sparring, cleaning, shopping, and even just when he wants someone to talk to. And sometimes not all of them are killed in a fight. What this means is that the emotion he is feeling when he makes a Bushin is often not the same as when he dissolves one.
And that means that those pieces doesn't fit quite right anymore.
Instead of rejoining, they drift in the very core of his being, orbiting around his soul, until they collide with other such lost shards and combine. And a soul heals, just like everything else.
For almost three years, Naruto has used Kage Bushin on a daily basis. For almost two years, there has been more than one soul inside his body. For almost a year, Naruto has been aware of the 'other' Narutos, now fully developed souls. And today, he is going to free them.
Because they have made a deal. The extra souls will be contained elsewhere. In stones, trees, jewelry, it doesn't matter. When he- the original -died, his soul would go free. But that wouldn't matter, because all the other Narutos were as strongly bound to this body as he was. As soon as a soul left, another would take its place, and the amount of energy it would build up in racing to the empty body would be more than enough to heal the wound that killed him. And he could continue fighting.
They are all the same person, after all.
Naruto sat back, panting, and stared at the glittering stones in his lap. Originally the twelve little pebbles had been no better than gravel, now they were all clear and bright, in slightly different shades of purple-blue.
Each one held a soul
He had been worried, at first, that they would only have his memories up to the point when he pushed them out of his –no, their- body. A few simple tests showed that, not only did they receive his knowledge; they could transmit their knowledge to him.
So, he made the stones. He would give one to each of his precious people. The remaining souls inside him would be divided into two groups. The first would go into completely unremarkable object and be hidden, and the second group would power a group of semi-permanent Kage Bushins.
And the second group would learn. He would change their appearance, send a few off to travel, a few to stay in Konoha under various senseis, and all of them would transmit the things they learned to each other.
And the last soul, the original soul, would stay in their body to learn things the others couldn't. Like how to control and use the Kyuubi's chakra.
And in a year or two, he would be ready.
I really shouldn't be starting another story when I already have one on the go, but oh well. This one will be darker than Triad. And contain a lot more blood and gore. I'll update it whenever I get frustrated with Triad. –Heliotropic