Naruto likes to tell himself it was just an accident.
It was a motivator, really, because it just can't happen again. He wasn't concentrating enough- maybe concentrating too much. Fuck, he has no clue. He just knows that he doesn't want to lie to himself, or go crazy. He's not that bright, but there was something instinctual in his fear so it wasn't really a matter of knowing better. He really would go crazy, if he ever thought about it for longer than he has to. He's allowed brief moments, so buried that they merely skitter across the very remote corners of his mind, to figure out how he was so sure, without even thinking about it, that his sanity would snap if he ever allowed- but it was just a mistake.
The clones are stronger, naturally. They pop into existence with hardly any effort now. He has strategies for how to use them because he understands now that numbers are only going to stretch so far unless you have a really clever plan to back them up. He can turn his little army into weapons- shuriken, kunai, anything else sharp and pointy. He can change their appearance, which will be handy for stealth jobs.
The shift in a clone's appearance- well, Naruto was never really strong with theory. He just knows that having a shape in mind and a simple 'henge' does the trick.
But…he didn't 'henge', all he did was summon a swarm of Narutos for some practice. So why?
He didn't think about it- he just attacked when each Naruto came at him, sometimes in three-man teams. And then there was a disturbance in the crowd, he wasn't even sure why he sensed something Not Right from the middle of his clones. He'd noticed it before a huge group of them paused with some confusion that left them completely open. By then he'd yelled at his current attackers to hold on a fucking minute, will yah? Geez…
The clones who'd remained fairly motionless had this expression on their faces he will never forget. He really couldn't even come up with an appropriate comparison. Shock, maybe. Defeat. Definitely a haunted type of thing that made each one of them look like they'd regretted living for those last few seconds.
He knows he must have had a similar expression on his face when he shoved past a few of them that only blinked and turned away, because fuck it all if he didn't think, just for a moment, that he was thirteen again and that Sasuke was just waiting for him to stop being a dunce so they could get on with some real training.
He…the clone really did look like a perfect replica. More than just the clothes or the hair. The way the clone carried itself held that stupid arrogance that brought back a younger Naruto's urge to punch Sasuke's stupid face in. Just for a moment. Barely time to take in a breath.
The temptation to close his eyes and embrace that feeling of coming home felt so sharp, so sweet.
He'd killed the thing with a soft pop, watched the smoke curl up before the wind blew it away. Then he plucked his kunai out of the ground and walked to the nearby river while Narutos all popped away like the last echoes of a storm.
It wouldn't take any effort, really. To make another one. Sasuke would be there, and close and perfect with his stupid sneer and his pale skin that all the girls love so much. They could be friends this time, and Naruto would never worry about this Sasuke leaving or any multitude of stupid things that really wouldn't be worth shit if it wasn't the real thing.
So Naruto clings to the last scraps of his hope, his sanity, and waits.