Author: Happy March 1st. Nearly my birthday!
Inner!: You still have almost another whole month to go.
Author: ...shut up, Inner. Now, thank you, Elements1999 for editing and co-authoring this story! Thank you to all who favorited, followed, and reviewed! Please review some more! Uh... Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto, I do not. That it?
Inner!: You forgot to tell them you're an idiot.
Author: Inner!Me, there's a line. Very thin line. You're about to cross it. Enjoy, my lovely readers!
~angelslaugh
~:~
When the original Naruto woke up, it was with a pounding headache and bright sun in her eyes.
She also found out she was moving.
"You're awake, I can tell by your heartbeat."
Naruto frowned.
"We're a long ways away from the village, just so you know." Naruto rolled over. They were on hay, which meant they were catching a ride from a farmer…on the back of his cart. Jiraiya was reading something. "Also, do you have a connection with your Ketsueki clone?"
Naruto swallowed a bit. "I don't know." She hesitated a bit. "I left a Ketsueki -"
"I know." Jiraiya's response was gentle. "I know that Itachi sent you the crow contract. What I'm asking is do you have a connection with the clone in Konoha?"
Naruto nodded. "I think so. Kyuu is the one that's connected to each of them, to be completely honest."
"What I want you to do is create a blood clone. Can you make one of me?" Naruto chewed on her lip thoughtfully.
"I can, but I'd have to do them both. There is still a risk of me passing out from chakra exhaustion. Why?" she asked him.
"I want you to learn a certain type of jutsu. It's called senjutsu, and it's a type of jutsu that can really only be taught at the home of the frogs."
"Seriously, I'm over-using this jutsu," Naruto growled as she hopped out of the cart. She held her hand out. "I need some of your blood."
Jiraiya pricked his finger. She made the cross sign. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" An exact copy of Jiraiya appeared with the chakra reserves of both Naruto and Jiraiya. Then, Naruto focused on the type of Ketsueki clone she was going to make and made the signs for the forbidden jutsu. She slammed her hands down and called, "Ketsueki Bunshin no jutsu!" Another copy of her came in front of her, and Naruto staggered at the loss of chakra before recovering a little and using chakra to jump up into the cart again. "It has all your memories. After it pops-which shouldn't be too soon because of how much chakra it has - the memories it has of after I made it will go to me and you. Unfortunate side-effect, but it still works."
"I assume that's how you saved those two missing-nin?" Jiraiya teased her.
Naruto threw up her hands in mock anger. "I can't keep a secret, can I?" she mock-groaned.
"I think you can," Jiraiya smirked. There was a puff of smoke as the now-distant clones reverse-summoned themselves. "One last thing - any side-effects on your part?"
"Just make sure that I'm not anywhere near a battle for a couple weeks after the blood-clone pops," Naruto said cheerfully. "Otherwise, I might die because I'll be in a coma because the chakra coils in my blood-clone mimic mine and add to mine, either double the amount or thrice the amount, depending on how long the clone exists." Naruto shrugged. "One of the few drawbacks. It's kind of irritating."
"I see," Jiraiya nodded. "I suppose implementing that in your training wouldn't be a great idea."
"What exactly are you going to teach me?" Naruto asked suspiciously. "And where are my ninken?"
"Oh, they're in the capital, which is actually where we're headed. The Fire Daimyo asked for a meeting. I couldn't refuse." Naruto stared at her teacher, then an irk mark appeared as Jiraiya looked…shifty.
"YOU'RE GOING TO THE CAPITAL TO GIVE THE FIRE DAIMYO AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF YOUR PERVERTED BOOKS, AREN'T YOU?! YOU REALLY ARE A PERVERT!"
"SHUT UP!"
~:~
Tsunade looked up and did a double take for a minute.
"Naruto-but how?"
Naruto rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Ah…Baa-san, I'm with Jiraiya at the moment… I'll just go by Ketsueki, -ttebayo!"
Tsunade understood. "Oh. Okay. Stay after. I need to ask you for that list."
"Right," Naruto nodded. Everyone else in the room looked confused.
"Nara Shikamaru, stay here. Iruka, you can stay too…Kakashi, this does have to do with one of your students, so stay. Asuma, go get Nara Shikaku and Nara Yoshino. Oh, and Naruto, stay," Tsunade added. "Everyone else including the ANBU may leave. Now." Her voice made them all scurry and do what she ordered.
"Does this have to do with the contract?" Naruto asked, frowning a little.
"Yes, but don't worry, Naruto," Tsunade patted her head. "You two won't be officially married until you're eighteen, and once you've been married officially for six months you can get a divorce."
"Okay," Naruto shrugged. "Oh, Shikamaru…I'm a blood-clone. As one of my clones once wisely thought to a friend, 'Just because I'm a bunshin does not mean I'm not still Naruto'. I am Naruto…a version of her. Once we merge together we'll be the same person!" Naruto beamed at him.
"So you used your clan's forbidden jutsu?" Shikamaru asked lazily.
Tsunade's rather angry face made Naruto chuckle nervously.
"Um…"
"UZUMAKI NARUTO, DID YOU USE AN UZUMAKI KENJUTSU?!"
"Uh…maybe? Only to help, I swear!"
~:~
IN THE PURE WORLD
"Ouch…do you have to throw a desk at her, Tsunade-sama?" Minato flinched as Tsunade threw her desk at Naruto. Luckily, Naruto only had a mild concussion. "It's almost like Kushina when she's mad at me!"
"What was that, dear?" Kushina's sweetly poisonous voice asked.
"Nothing!" Minato yelped.
Kushina beamed. "That's what I thought!"
Minato ignored the sympathetic looks he got from Tobirama, Hashirama, and surprisingly a forcibly-taken-from-whatever-he-was-doing Uchiha Madara.
Apparently watching his daughter was the best thing to do here…even if it was supposed to be the end for all of them.
Even though Minato was kind of hurt that it took his mother so long to appear, even if she'd been there almost all his life, never looking at him for more than a minute-not really being around even when she was around.
Minato couldn't bring himself to hate her. After all, she was giving his daughter what he couldn't. What Kushina and him couldn't, because they died the day she was born.
Arigatou, Tsunade-sama.
