Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Posted: 1/13/12

Chapter 8: Jutsu

One morning as Naruto arrived in class, he looked over to his best friend and it was obvious Sasuke was depressed for some reason. Something was up with the Uchiha, but Naruto wasn't really sure just yet. He was sure the massacre had not even happened yet as he still had about a year to go until that, so it had to be something else.

"Hey Sasuke, is everything alright?" asked Naruto, deciding just to dive right in.

"Hn" was all Sasuke responded with.

"Oh come on, Mr. Sourpuss. If nothing's wrong, then quit pouting" Naruto knew that in the previous timeline, that would have earned him a strong punch to the face. However, already being friends, Sasuke just shot the blonde an annoyed look.

"Just be quit, class is starting" said Sasuke. For Naruto, this normally meant nap time, and seeing as today's lecture was on the Yondaime Hokage, it seemed like a perfect time to catch up on the sleep Naruto missed the previous night from trying to refine his chakra control. Last night, he managed to get the tree/wall walking technique while his parents were asleep and weren't looking.

Naruto managed to get about 20 minutes through his nap before an eraser upside the head knocked him awake. Looking around, he also saw Shikamaru rubbing an eraser-mark on his forehead. The two boys looked at each other and the conversation that could be summed up by their looks went something along the lines of 'troublesome, isn't it?'

At lunch Naruto managed to catch up with Sasuke in the courtyard of the academy. Both boys pulled out their bento boxes that their mothers had given them for lunch. It was a shame that Naruto couldn't have ramen for lunch anymore. Even though both he and his mom would be considered ramen addicts, Kushina still insisted upon Naruto getting the proper nutrition and as such, the variations of food that he ate compared to the previous timeline increased drastically.

"Come on, something's up" said Naruto to Sasuke.

"It's…it's nothing really. Just my dad" said Sasuke. Naruto put a little more pressure on him, trying to get a little more out of the Uchiha. Finally, Sasuke gave in. "You know how I'm always annoyed by being compared to my brother?" Naruto nodded. "Well, this past week, father's been teaching me one of our clan's jutsu, the Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu." (Great Fireball Jutsu)

"And? How's It going?" asked Naruto.

"Hn. I can't get it. I don't know why…and every time, he just looks at me…disappointed" said Sasuke, clutching his fist. Naruto never had any idea Sasuke's childhood was really like that. He had believed that Sasuke's life and his relationship with his family was perfect, that is until Itachi killed the clan, but he was never expecting Sasuke to be seen as a disappointment by someone.

"Hmm…you said Fire-style, right?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, but you don't have anything that can help. If I'm correct, your dad's a wind- and lightning-style user" said Sasuke. "And I think your mom is an earth-style user."

"Well, my mom can use fire-style and water-style as well, but that's not who I was thinking about" said Naruto. "Jiraiya-oji is in town today and he's really good with the fire. I'm sure he'll be able to help, and even better you won't have to worry about the pressure of your father being there."

Sasuke liked this idea. It would be good to train for once without his father breathing down the back of his neck.

When the day came to an end, Jiraiya was there to pick up his godson as Minato was busy with Hokage work and Kushina was out of the village on a mission. This was perfect for Naruto as he could ask Jiraiya right away to see if Sasuke could train with him today.

"So how was your day today, Gaki?" asked Jiraiya.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" responded Naruto.

"I'll stop calling you a Gaki when you stop being a Gaki" laughed Jiriaya.

"Anyways, I was wondering if Sasuke could come home with us and train. He's working really hard on this fire jutsu and I told him you might know some tricks to help him, after all, you are the 'Great Sanin Jiraiya' aren't you?"

"Haha! That I am" exclaimed Jiraiya. "I'm sure I can help your friend out a little."

Sasuke was talking to his father when they were approached by Naruto and Jiraiya. "Uchiha-san, Naruto here expressed interest in wanting Sasuke to come train with the two of us today, if that's alright with you" Jiraiya asked Uchiha Fugaku.

"Hmm…training with one of the Sanin, and perhaps the Hokage as well…" Fugaku thought. "Very well. Sasuke, I expect you to take any lessons Jiraiya-sama here gives you seriously." Sasuke nodded and went with Naruto and the white haired Toad Sennin.

In the backyard of the Namikaze estate, at the family's personal training ground, Sasuke had finished explaining everything he had done so far regarding the fire jutsu that his dad was having him work on. Jiraiya spent a few moments in thought.

"Alright kid, I want you to do it right now, but take your time. It sounds like you're rushing through everything and that can happen when you're under a lot of pressure" explained Jiraiya. Naruto nodded slightly, knowing exactly what Jiraiya was referring to from the previous timeline. "You won't be using this jutsu in any sort of combat situation for a few years yet, so there's no shame in going slow at first. Take time to build up your chakra and superheat it first. Then when it feels like your lungs are about to explode, release it all."

"Why couldn't Ero-Sennin be like this when he was teaching me the Rasengan?" thought Naruto.

Sasuke nodded to Jiraiya and did as told, taking his time to gather the chakra. For him, it was nice working on this jutsu while not having his father's undivided attention. There was no pressure being put on him here. He actually just stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing, something he would have been scolded for by his father. And then…

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted. As he unleashed all the fire chakra in him, a giant fireball erupted from him. He had done it.

"A fire jutsu at the age of 7, this kid's pretty good" thought Jiriaya. "Good, now all we need to do is find a jutsu for Naruto here."

"Umm Naruto, how are you doing that?" asked Sasuke as he turned around to look back at his friend and the Toad Sennin. Naruto was hanging upside down on a tree branch by the base of his feet.

"Ys, Naruto how did you learn that?" asked Jiriaya. Naruto struggled for an answer before Jiraiya said something. "You've been sneaking into your dad's study, haven't you?"

"Hehe, um yep" said Naruto, thankful that Jiraiya had come up with something for him.

"Hey Naruto, do you think you can show me how to do that?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, why don't you. I've got some work that needs to be done, so you can help Sasuke with the wall walking until he needs to go home" said Jiraiya as he began to walk away and pull a notebook out of his pocket.

"You're just going to peep again, aren't you?" asked Naruto. Jiriaya stiffened.

"I don't peep! I conduct necessary research that I need for my books" defended Jiraiya.

"What do you mean by 'peep' and 'research'?" asked Sasuke to Naruto.

"He may be a Sanin and a great ninja, but he's really just a big pervert" said Naruto.

"A pervert…eww" replied Sasuke. Being a kid, Sasuke was still considered fairly innocent.

"Yeah, I know. In fact, I've just thought of a nickname for him…Ero-Sennin" said Naruto. Sasuke laughed as Jiriaya face planted into the ground at his godson's declaration. There was another laugh coming from the house as Kushina was having trouble breathing.

"Kaasan! You're home early!" shouted Naruto running off towards his mother. Jiraiya used this time to slip away unnoticed before Naruto could think of anything else.

"Yep, an you'll be happy to know that we're going to Ichiraku tonight as I don't feel like cooking after that mission" said Kushina. Naruto cheered at this. "Now, what's this about you walking up and down trees?"

Naruto began sweating a little. "Umm, I kind of found a scroll on basic chakra control in dad's study" said Naruto.

Kushina sighed. "Alright, I'll have to tell your father when he gets home. There's some stuff in there that's too dangerous for you. Just don't get anything you can't handle, okay?"

"Don't worry mom, I won't" said Naruto. "I guess it's time to get my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu back for everyday use" thought Naruto as he began thinking.

"Good. Now if you want, you can show Sasuke how to do that. This past mission was really tiring and mommy needs to take a nap. I'll come and get you when it's time to get dinner" said Kushina as she left the two boys to themselves.

"So what was that technique called that you were using?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh that? It's a basic chakra control exercise that they teach you after the academy called the wall-walking exercise" said Naruto. "I mean, it's not much compared to that jutsu you just did, but from everything I've heard, it's very useful."

Naruto explained the basics of the technique to his friend and Sasuke spent the next hour or so trying to get the amount of chakra from his feet just right. By the time Sasuke was able to make it a few steps up a tree, his chakra reserves were running very low from the fireball earlier in the day and they were forced to call it a day for training. With about an hour before Kushina would wake up and they would get ramen, Naruto decided to run and grab some ice cream as the two just hung out or the rest of the afternoon.


It was late, and Naruto had gone to bed…or did he? A small blonde figure crept towards the door of his room as he made his way for his intended target. Minato had not arrived home so Kushina had yet to tell him about Naruto's 'sneaking into his office'. This was perfect for Naruto. He knew his dad well enough to know that as soon as Kushina told him that Naruto had been sneaking into his study, and this worked perfectly into Naruto's plan.

With Sasuke now having his fireball jutsu, Naruto had figured that it was time get his shadow clones back. Now, he already knew the jutsu, but he didn't have an explanation on how he could use the jutsu. Tonight would solve that problem. In order for everything to work, he would need two things to happen. First, he would have to get the Forbidden Scroll from his dad's study, the same scroll that the entire village freaked out over when he stole the night of the Mizuki incident in the previous timeline. However, the good thing about this was that there was no potential in releasing the Kyuubi this time around as he didn't have the giant furball sealed inside him. The second thing was that he had to get caught reading, at the very least, the scroll.

Naruto snuck along the hall, careful not to notify anyone. As he opened the door to the study, there it was, the cabinet that contained the Forbidden Scroll.

"Hello my old friend, it's been awhile hasn't it" said Naruto as he removed the scroll from the cabinet. On his way back to his room, he heard the laughter of his dad from downstairs, meaning that he had to act fast.

"Now let's see here. Hey, seeing as I actually know the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, perhaps I could get another out of here" thought Naruto as he opened the scroll. As it was last time, the Taju Kage bunshin no Jutsu was the first jutsu on the scroll.

"Right, already know that one, so let's see what else I've got to work with" said Naruto as he unfurled the scroll even further. The next jutsu was one that he was not hoping to ever see again…the Edo tensei. "Oh hell no! That jutsu's just horrible." Naruto quickly brushed that jutsu aside and began looking through the scroll for another one that he thought that he might be able to use. After about four jutsu he came to one.

"Hmm...okay. Yeah, this should work. I just need some way to test it out. Wait!" declared Naruto as a light bulb went off in his head. "This should work. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"


"Mina-kun!" shouted Kushina as she jumped into Minato's arms, giving him a long kiss. Minato had been having a stressful day and the sight of his wife throwing herself at him was more than enough to chase away some of the stress; however, that usually meant something else.

"Okay, Kushi-chan, what's up?" asked Minato.

"What'd you mean? I can't just give my husband a kiss after a long, hard day as Hokage?" asked Kushina, bushing her finger across Minato's chest.

"It's not that. In fact, I quite enjoyed that. But I know you better than that to know something's up" said Minato.

Kushina sighed. "It's not much…yet, but Naruto brought Sasuke to train with Jiriaya, or as he called him Ero-Sennin…" Minato was on the ground laughing at the nickname his son had given his sensei, the same reaction Kushina had when she first heard it. A few minutes passed and Kushina was able to help Minato regain his composure. "Anyways, when I went out to check on them, Naruto was hanging upside down in a tree."

"Huh? Why is that a problem? He's a kid. It's normal for them to go climb trees" replied Minato.

"I know that, but he was using chakra" said Kushina. Minato's eyes widened as he realized his son was already working on genin level chakra-control exercises. "And he said he got it from a basic chakra control book in your study."

"I see…" said Minato as he and Kushina made their way up towards the study. "Well, at least it was only an elementary chakra control book and not something like the Forbidden Scroll. Still, I'll talk with him in the morning about taking stuff from the stud without asking." Minato opened the door to the study as he just wanted to make sure everything was still in its place…however, everything was not in its place. "The Forbidden Scroll! It's gone!" Minato began freaking out.

Kushina also began to panic as well. That scroll contained the formula to remove the seal that contained the Kyuubi, and the last thing she wanted was someone releasing the Kyuubi through Konoha.

"Shit! I've got to get the ANBU on finding it right away" said Minato. Suddenly, Kushina's mind started to think, which really was a surprise seeing as she was as impulsive as Naruto.

"Minato, don't you have a Hiraishin seal on the scroll?" asked Kushina.

"Oh…yeah…that could work" said Minato, in disbelief that he would actually forget about that. However, he didn't need the Hiraishin to find the scroll.

"Kage Binshin no Jutsu!"

The two of them heard that come from the direction of Naruto's room. "Oh no…he didn't" said Kushina.


"Great! Now let's get started on this next jutsu!" declared Naruto to his two clones.

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze!"

Naruto stiffened at the calling out of his entire name. That was never a good thing.

He slowly turned around as a smile plastered his face. "Hi mom. Hi dad" he said. Yep, he was in trouble now. Kushina's hair had somehow risen to resemble nine tails. This was the telltale sign that Naruto knew he was in trouble.

"Naruto, do you know what you've got there?" asked Minato.

"Umm…a cool jutsu scroll?" said Naruto innocently.

Minato sighed. "Naruto, which jutsus in that scroll did you look at exactly?" asked Minato.

"Just this first one, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" said Naruto. That one was obvious as there were three Narutos in the room. However, Minato let out a sigh of relief that Naruto hadn't seen any of the other jutsu in the scroll. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was forbidden only because of its chakra cost, but there were other jutsu in that scroll that were forbidden for other, darker reasons.

"Wait, which one of you is the real one?" asked Minato. The two clones just smiled and disappeared, leaving a grinning, yet sweating, Naruto. "Naruto, you mother told m about your little adventure into my study to get a book on chakra control, and while that was fine, you should have asked first. And now I come home to find that scroll missing, only to find that you've taken it. Why?"

"Well, I found it in a cabinet and I thought it would be better than climbing the bookshelf" said Naruto. "What's so bad about this scroll in particular?"

"Naruto, that scroll contains a variety of forbidden jutsu" said Minato.

"Cool! So that means there are some powerful jutsu in here?" exclaimed Naruto.

"No! The jutsu in there are forbidden for a reason. They're either harmful to the user, or they go against all laws of nature and are considered immoral" said Minato.

Naruto gulped. "I'm sorry dad! I didn't mean to!" pleaded Naruto as he wrapped himself around his dad's legs.

"So long as the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was the only thing you got out of it, then it's okay. That jutsu was only forbidden because of its chakra cost if you use too many. Still, I'm going to pick you up after school tomorrow and we're going to have a talk about that jutsu in particular" said Minato. "Now promise me no more sneaking into my study, okay?"

"I'm sorry dad, and I promise" replied Naruto. However, on the inside, he was applauding his performance. He now had his shadow clones back for everyday use.

As Kushina and Minato exited the room, they were practically jumping for joy. Their 7 year-old son had somehow managed to learn a B-rank jutsu. Perhaps their son was a genius like his father.


The following day, Naruto exited the school, only to find his dad waiting for him. "You ready for this, Naruto?" asked Minato.

"What exactly are we doing, dad?" gulped Naruto.

"Figuring out to what extent you can use that jutsu" said Minato. "Just wait here a moment."

"Hizashi! There you are my old friend" said Minato, going over to greet Hizashi who was here for Neji.

"Hogae-sama, what pleasure do I have to meet you today?" bowed Hizashi.

"Hizashi, you know what you can call me Minato" said Minato.

"Sorry, Minato" apologized Hizashi. "Anyways, what can I do for my friend today?"

"I just need to borrow your eyes real quick" said Minato. "Naruto's already learned a jutsu and I need to figure out just how big his chakra reserves are."

"Already? Outside the academy 3?" asked Hizashi. Minato nodded and whispered the jutsu to his friend. "Wow. So it appears as if fate has granted us with genius sons." Like father, like son I guess. Still, Minato could see a hint of regret and disdain in Hizashi's eyes. They were directed at no one in particular, but Minato knew what his friend was so taken by. I was true, even in this timeline, Neji was still a genius and he still had a lot of potential. However, Hizashi knew that Neji was fated to the branch family of the Hyuga house, nothing more than a servant of the main branch which he had the potential to surpass.

Hizashi sealed away his emotions for the moment. "Byakugan!" he said activating his dojutsu and focusing it on Naruto. "T-this is incredible! His chakra reserves are larger than most jonin in the village!"

Minato was surprised by this. He had always known that Naruto had large chakra reserves, probably as a result of being related to the Uzumakis as they were renowned for their chakra and stamina. But still, jonin-level reserves at the age of 7 were something he was never expecting. "Thank you, my friend. And it was nice seeing you Neji" Minato said to the father and son before returning to his own son.

"Jonin level reserves? But how?" thought Minato as his mind began contemplating a few things. Naruto noticed that his dad was in deep thought.

"Tousan? Is everything okay?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah. I just had to check with Hizashi about something" replied Minato as he took his son's hand and flashed back home. Naruto and Minato found themselves in the back yard of the training ground. "I think you know why we're here."

"Umm…I'm guessing it's because of last night?" grinned Naruto.

Minato sighed. "I still don't think you get it. You're lucky that the first book you took was just a basic book on chakra control, and I can overlook that. But the Forbidden Scroll is something completely different" said Minato. "That scroll contains some of the most dangerous jutsu this village had and when I found that it was gone, I was almost ready to put the village on high alert."

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you like that. I was just looking for some cool jutsu to match Sasuke's" said Naruto.

"I know. I heard from Jiraiya-sensei that he performed that fireball jutsu the other day. And I know how competitive the two of you can get, so I guess I'm not surprised that you went looking for a jutsu. But next time, ask. I can't have anyone sneaking into my personal library, taking some forbidden jutsu, let alone my own son" said Minato. Naruto looked down and Minato placed his hand on his son's head.

"But, that's not why we are here. I think you got enough scolding from your mother this morning. I do want to talk to you about that jutsu, but I'm not going to scold you" said Minato. "I'll be honest, if there's any jutsu you could have gotten out of the scroll, I'm happy it was that one."

"Why's that?" asked Naruto.

"Because, if there is any jutsu in that scroll that you can use, it's that one. Most of the jutsu in that scroll were sealed away because they're immoral and go against the laws of nature; however, the reason the Kage Bunshin Jutsu is in there is because of its high chakra cost. In all reality, it's only in that scroll to keep ninja away from it until they've developed the necessary chakra reserves for it" explained Minato. "However, and I don't know why, you have extremely large reserves, even larger than most jonin in the village."

"Thank goodness. If there was anything I wanted to take back with me, it was the massive amount of chakra that I had" thought Naruto. "So does that mean I can actually use that technique?"

"It does, but don't go overboard. I brought you here because I want to see how many clones you can make, under supervision" said Minato.

"All right, here I go. Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, making a few hundred shadow clones. Minato just stared in utter disbelief.

"Wow…umm, just…wow" was all he could say. "I…never…umm, just…"

All 300 Naruto clones got a laugh out of their dad's expression, causing them to dispel. "How was that dad?"

Minato was still speechless as Naruto came over and poked him a little. Minato snapped out of his trance and looked down at his grinning son. "How did you?"

"I don't know. I just put as much chakra as I could into the jutsu and that's what I got" said Naruto.

Minato let out a held breath. "Okay. For now, I'm going to have to forbid you from making that many clones" said Minato.

"What? But why?" complained Naruto.

"Because, creating that many clones puts a severe drain on your chakra system, not to mention the mental fatigue when you dispel them all" sad Minato. "You did read about the second ability of shadow clones, didn't you?"

Naruto let out a slight nod. "It said something about all the memories one clone gets going back to the original, I think."

"Correct. That's another reason why this jutsu is dangerous because of the mental fatigue that comes from dispelling a massive amount of clones" said Minato. "But, simply put, if that clone learns anything, then you learn what the clone learned upon dispelling. Now listen, I don't want you making more than let's say 10 clones for the moment, and that's even pushing it. I know you can make many more, but the more clones you make, the stronger fatigue you experience."

"Okay, I can do that" said Naruto. While 10 wasn't as many as he hoped, at least he could use it in public. "Hey dad, I was thinking. Can you use shadow clones?"

Minato smiled and made a few clones of himself. "I sure can. And I can make more than you. Why?"

"Well, you know how you're always complaining about paperwork?" Minato nodded. "Why don't you have a shadow clone do the paperwork for you?"

"Because Naruto…wait what?!" Minato's mind blanked again.

"Umm…dad? Are you okay?" asked Naruto.

"I just…umm" it took a few minutes for Minato's brain to regain itself. Out of all the times wishing that he could have someone else do the paperwork, the bane of being Hokage, he had never thought of doing that, and he was pretty sure no one else had. Minato pulled out a scroll from his coat and unsealed a large post with the inscription 'When realizing something completely obvious, bang head here'. Naruto spent the next few minutes watching his dad bang his own head against a solid wooden post.

"Dad?" Now Naruto was really getting worried.

"It's nothing…just" Minato broke down hugging his son and crying tears of joy. "Thank you, son! You've just made my job as Hokage a whole lot easier!"

"You're seriously telling me no one has ever thought of that before? After all the complaining from Jiji and Baachan?" thought Naruto.


The following day, Minato was sitting in his office, not stressing out for the first time in years. He was sitting back in his chair, completely relaxed as he had four shadow clones working their way through the pile of paperwork on his desk. With the four clones, the paper work went by much faster, and more time could be devoted to reading the paper work. In particular, one of the clones caught a clause in one of the documents that the civilian council had snuck in to lower the graduating standards of the academy. They wanted there to only be three simple E-rank jutsu, the Bunshin, Henge, and Kawarmi, to be the only three jutsu that were required to pass the academy. Currently, a student needed those three and then two additional jutsu of their choosing, D-rank or better or clan techniques, in order to be able to pass the nin/genjutsu portion of the graduation exam. Minato was certain that had it not have been for the shadow clones, he would have skipped that part completely and allowed the academy standards to drop drastically.

"Minato, are you…what's going on?" asked Hiruzen as he walked into his old office and observed Minato's clones doing all the work. He had originally stopped by to discuss some steps towards securing the Forbidden Scroll after Naruto so easily got his hands on it, only to see a completely relaxed, stress-free Minato and a rapidly shrinking pile of paper work.

"Hiruzen, you'll never guess, but I found a way to combat the paperwork" said Minato with a big grin.

"You can't be serious…" said the old Hokage as his jaw dropped to the floor. Minato tossed the Sandaime the same scroll that he used the other day and the ex-Hokage went to work bashing his head on the same post that Minato had used the other day.


In the sewers beneath Konoha,

"Danzo-sama, I'm afraid to report but those documents you slipped into the Hokage's paperwork specifically aimed at giving you and the council more power have failed to be passed. It appears as if the Hokage now actually reads the documents before signing them" said a masked ANBU with the kanji 'Ne' (Root) in his mask.

"That is most unfortunate" Danzo sighed. Ever since Minato had taken over as Hokage, it had been increasingly difficult for he and his Root organization to work. Minato had disbanded Root upon its discovery at the time of taking the mantel of Hokage and Danzo, who was used to controlling much activity in Konoha through the shadows under Hiruzen's reign, was finding it increasingly more difficult to control Konoha.

"What are your orders, Danzo-sama?" asked the Root ANBU.

"Hold for now. I need think where we want to go from here" said Danzo. The Root nodded and disappeared. "Things were so much easier when you were still in charge Hiruzen. My power here is slipping, and I can no longer do what I once could."


Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed.

For time reference, Naruto is now just older than 7 years in age.

Naruto can now use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu outside of his own personal time and Minato is beginning to suspect something is up with his son. At first, he is passing it off as Naruto being a genius, but he is also beginning to think something else is up.

Something's up with Danzo, but what? Stay tuned. I also promise that Naruto will begin to resume his pranking tendencies within the next chapter or two. Also, I will be explaining Naruto's healing probably in the next two or three chapters.

I do apologize that the size of chapters has been fluctuating. I think with this chapter, I have found the size that I prefer (between 5-7k words/chapter) for chapters. That will be about the size of chapters from now on and I may go back to previous chapters and make them more bulky, but that is sadly not on my list of priorities for now.

Please review/comment.