'Well,' Kakashi thinks, as the angry red-haired Naruto confronts him, 'This is a bit of a mess.'
He pulls up his hitai-ate - not because he thinks that Naruto is a threat, but because he's hoping that he might be able to figure out what this jutsu is so that he can end it. From the looks of the clones, maybe they're under some sort of henge? But Naruto is unconscious, and he doubts that even Naruto could pull that off. Although he is the number one surprising ninja, and whether or not it's possible the evidence is right in front of him.
The green Naruto - who, Kakashi realises with some amusement, is a girl - steps forward and takes Red Naruto's arm. Green Naruto is older, that much is clear; even a little older than Naruto is at the moment. Maybe around 14, then? Red Naruto is younger, looking exactly the same as Naruto when he joined Team 7, so he must be 12. Exactly the same apart from the look of pure fury on his face. It strikes Kakashi that he has never seen Naruto himself this angry, as when he is he goes into the nine-tails mode. He realises with relief that this means none of the clones contain kyuubi chakra; although this is just an assumption.
Green Naruto puts her hand on Red Naruto's shoulder. "It's a stupid idea to try and take on Kakashi," she admonishes. "He's a jounin, and clearly better than us. There's no way you'll win."
"Shut up!" Red Naruto growls, fists clenched. "I hate him! Always training Sasuke instead of us. We're ten, no, a thousand times better than that stupid Uchiha! There's no way I'll lose, not to him."
"There's no way you'll win," Green Naruto says again. She turns to the others. "Some help here, maybe?"
Blue Naruto just sighs and looks at the ground, shrugging. "Who cares? It's not like what I say will make any difference." Kakashi is surprised, to say the least, that this is coming from Naruto. Or from a Naruto. He's more than a little confused. This Naruto is younger still. Maybe 11? He looks tired, depressed. There are shadows under his dull blue eyes, which are staring at the ground.
Purple Naruto, however, is the complete opposite. "I think we can beat him," he says, and his voice is self-confident and assured . He's by far the oldest out of all of them, and he practically radiates calm. There's something about his voice that makes Kakashi instinctively believe him, and Kakashi is reminded, with a jolt, of his old sensei. They hold themselves in the same way, and there's no denying the visual similarities between the two - apart from, that is, the purple hair.
"However," Purple Naruto says, bringing Kakashi out of his reverie, "You should pick your battles wisely. This man is our sensei. What good would it do us to pick a fight with him? And you should have a bit more respect for him," he admonishes.
"Respect? Ha! What did he ever teach us, anyway? If anyone's our sensei, it's Jiraiya, not him."
"No, he's right," Green Naruto interrupted. "Kakashi is our sensei and it wouldn't hurt you to show a bit of respect once in a while. No matter what half-brained things you say, you can't deny that he cares about us."
"Half-brained?!" Red Naruto explodes. He starts ranting, and Kakashi turns to Sakura, who has walked up beside him. Sasuke is standing a few feet away, watching the exchange with intense interest.
"What do we do now, sensei?" Sakura asks worriedly. "Naruto's still unconscious, and it doesn't really look like they're going to help us complete this mission." Kakashi hmmed.
"We should return to Lady Tsunade for now," he said. "We're still not sure about the effects of this jutsu, and she can check over Naruto for us."
"But how are we going to-"
"SASUKE-NII-SAN!" they hear from behind them, and turn to see a little pink-haired Naruto hugging Sasuke as though he'll run off and never come back - although, going by his facial expression, he just might. Pink Naruto - and she can't be more than 5 - is clinging to Sasuke's chest, legs suspended off the ground by her hug. Sasuke has an expression that's parts surprise and sheer horror, and Kakashi wishes desperately for a camera.
"Awwwww!" Sakura squeals, and runs towards them. Kakashi begins to feel a little bit sorry for the dark-haired boy. "You're so cute!"
Sasuke winces at her high-pitched voice and she grabs Pink Naruto from him, wrapping her up tightly in a hug. Pink Naruto begins to wail. "No! I want Sasuke!" Sasuke, in the meanwhile, is inching away as fast as he can without it looking deliberate. "Sasuke-nii-san!" she calls. "Come back, come back!"
At the same time, Purple Naruto is restraining Red Naruto from launching himself at Kakashi, Green Naruto is talking quietly to a depressed-looking Blue Naruto and Orange Naruto is, somewhat worryingly, nowhere to be seen. In the space of five minutes they had gone from relatively calm working to absolute chaos.
Kakashi sighs. 'It looks like it's going to be a long day.'
A/N - Chapter two :D I just have this image in my head of a little pink-haired Naruto attached to Sasuke like a limpet, and him desperately trying to detach her.
I'm actually really enjoying this, and I have a good idea of the characters now. So now we need some plot! (eurgh no don't say that I have to think bleurgh).
They'll go see Tsunade next chapter, methinks. And I need names for them. I can't keep calling them Red Naruto, Blue Naruto, etc.
Please review! Reviews make me happy (and they also make me write faster).
