Chapter 1

They've just learned the bunshin in class, and Naruto knows he's going to have a horrible time of it. It's not like anyone can do the technique right away – not surprising since it's the first one they've learned – but Naruto fails in a different way than anybody else. The teachers don't seem willing to work with him on it and he can't use the advice they're giving the other students because he has a completely different problem. Other people's failed bunshin techniques are transparent wisps of themselves but Naruto's are completely opaque, they just lack all color and seem to writhe in agony. Putting in more chakra like the teachers tell the other students to do doesn't make Naruto's bunshin any better, and Naruto really needs to learn this technique. The graduation exam may be years away but Naruto hasn't made any progress at all with the technique and he's pretty sure it's going to be on the exam – that's what the teacher have said anyway.

So when Naruto sees a Jounin make a bunshin with just one hand sign he's really, really interested. The academy bunshin technique takes way more than one hand sign so Naruto figures this one must be easier and he wonders why they don't just teach this one in the academy. Then again a bunch of stuff they teach in the academy doesn't seem worth it so maybe it's just another of those stupid decisions no one will explain to him. Really, why would anyone need to calculate the trajectory of a thrown kuni? All you need to do is dodge it, and nobody's going to use math to figure out when to dodge in the middle of a ninja battle. But the teachers never answer when Naruto asks about it, so Naruto concludes they're just as stupid as the things they're teaching.

He finishes the prank he's playing on the man, but as soon as he's done he tries out this new type of bunshin. If there's a simpler type of bunshin than the academy one then maybe Naruto can pretend he's doing the academy one and instead pass the test with the easier one. He feels a little bad about cheating like that, but given how mean his teachers are he figures he doesn't really care. If they want him to pass the test their way then they should teach better. Besides, the test is about being a ninja, so fooling the ninja administrating the test is pretty much a pass anyway right?

The bunshin comes out perfect the first time. He's not transparent, and he looks like Naruto instead of a white Naruto shaped blob. This is a success. Everything is going exactly as Naruto hoped, until the copy of himself starts turning around in circles and patting himself down to make sure he's all there. Naruto's never seen one of the bunshin at the academy do anything like that, and what happens next is even stranger.

"Well boss, guess we've got bunshin covered huh? We'll be graduating in no time! And then we're gonna be Hokage! Believe it!"

Naruto is left staring at his bunshin; he doesn't think he's ever heard one speak before.

"Boss? Are you ok in there?"

And the bunshin waves it's hand in front of his face before grabbing onto his jacket and shaking just a little.

"Boss?"

But Naruto doesn't answer immediately, he's stuck staring at his bunshin's very solid hands holding on to his jacket. He stays that way for a moment before voicing his thoughts.

"This technique … is way better than the academy bunshin!"

"You're right boss, but it's going to take some work to pass it off since it's so different."

"Yeah, I guess that means I'm going to have to keep the bunshin from this technique completely secret until I figure out what all the differences are."

They stay silent, staring at each other for a moment.

"Hey boss, am I just supposed to disappear or what? The academy bunshins usually just burst into smoke when you stop feeding them chakra, but I don't think you're feeding me chakra. Are you boss?"

"No, I don't think I am. I'll try stopping the technique the same way we do in class."

They sit in silence for a few more seconds.

"Guess not, huh?"

"Nope."

"I'll just have to hide out here till you figure out how to dispel me."

"Alright, but no pranking. I'll get blamed for it and they might even start wondering how I managed to pull a prank on someone while I was in class. We want to keep this technique a secret so we can't make people suspicious."

"No pranking! But I'm gonna be so bored!"

"You can't pull any pranks, but you could spy on people and think up pranks for me to pull."

"Spying on people … that's how we learned this technique. The things people use are obviously better and easier than what you're getting taught in the academy, maybe I could learn more of them?"

"That would be awesome! I'm gonna be Hokage in no time! Believe it!"


The first people the clone finds to spy on are a genin team. He stays to watch since he figures the easiest way to learn more techniques is to spy on them being taught, that way they'll come with an explanation and everything. The boss had managed to do this new type of bunshin just by seeing it but now they were left not really knowing much about how it worked, which was – case in point – causing problems.

He almost leaves when he hears that it's going to be a chakra control exercise, but the teacher's demonstration immediately changes his mind. Who wouldn't want to be able to walk up walls? Just think how many more pranks you could pull!

He listens all the way through the teacher's explanation but leaves once the genin start to practice. He wants to try it himself. There's every chance that since he's a bunshin he can't do techniques at all, but since he's is such a different type of bunshin than the one they know about he decides to at least try.

It isn't easy but he's getting better. He's getting farther up the trunk before he cracks the bark or falls off, and he can modify how much chakra he's using based on what happened last time. Not only that, it's actually getting easier to feel how much he's using and to correct it.

By the end of the day the bunshin has almost reached the top of the tree. He's getting tired, but he doesn't want to stop till he gets to the top. He wants to have something impressive to show boss when they meet up again, something that will make boss glad to have created him, he wants to be useful.

He's just reached the top when he slips, and he's tired enough that he doesn't manage to catch his fall right. On Naruto it would have been a bruise, but the bunshin bursts into smoke.


Naruto pauses in the moment before he pours boiling water into his instant ramen. He stands there motionless absorbing memories that weren't his. He walks over to his wall and slowly walks to the ceiling and down again. Then he pours his water, and as his ramen cooks he considers what this means.

His clones can learn for him. It was the clone who had practiced walking up trees, but now Naruto could too. He could learn double the amount anyone else could. He could have a clone learning non-academy techniques – instead of just recording what they were so Naruto could learn them – while Naruto was stuck learning academy ones!

But Naruto gets the distinct impression that his bunshin is gone now, and he isn't sure why. It could be the clone ran out of chakra, it could have been the fall, or the technique might just have a time limit that he didn't know about.

He'll have to create another bunshin tomorrow.

Published December 10, 2014