AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.

Proofread by: Author and Kyluxia

Apologies for the late upload. Had some scheduling issues.

Chapter 33: Clone theoretics

Scouting the manor they would have to infiltrate really was the easiest part of the plan. Both the twins and Naruto knew the shadow clone technique, and their proficiency in the transformation technique wasn't anything to dismiss either. The Haruno twins could easily survey things from the air using their dove transformation, and Naruto had practiced using several smaller forms as well. With input from the twins, he had managed to perfect a black cat, Inuzuka dog, brown mole, mouse, and crow transformation. Although he still couldn't fly as a crow, merely glide, and the mole transformation was completely blind, making it unreliable unless Naruto knew exactly how far he should dig with it, which still took time and often resulted in Naruto losing track of how far he had already dug.

Considering the sheer amount of clones Naruto could manage, and how convincing his transformations were, the twins weren't worried about scouting at all. In fact, depending on the results of their scouting, it might even turn out that stealing the lyre would be as simple as transforming, finding the lyre, un-transform, grab it, and transform again and leave before anyone was the wiser. Maybe even replace the lyre with a fake. If it really was nothing more than a keepsake, then no one would notice as long as it looked identical.

Trying to be positive, Sakura figured that if nothing else, this mission would be a good measure for discovering the limits of shadow clones. They hadn't really thought about it previously, but there was a remote possibility that shadow clones had a limit as to how far away they could be without dispelling, or without returning their memories and remaining chakra upon dispelling. Asking Jiraiya hadn't worked, as he didn't know, meaning it was up to them to figure it out.

Creating a shadow clone, the twins sent it off transformed into a dove to begin investigating the property. Naruto did the same, although some of his clones seemed to complain about how bothersome their task was going to be, only for Naruto to bribe them with ramen.

"How does that even work? Do you actually feed them ramen, or do they just forget that you can dispel them and earth the ramen yourself?" Sakura just had to ask.

"What? Of course, I feed them ramen! Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on his word! It's my ninja way! Believe it!" Naruto reminded them, while Sakura rolled her eyes. They had heard Naruto's creed far too often.

"Right, right. How silly of us." Sakura responded, amused, which left Naruto pouting and Heikō chuckling until a sudden thought hit them. "Naruto… How soon do you dispel clones after they've eaten?" Sakura asked.

"Um, that depends. Why?" Naruto asked, wondering what the twins were wondering about now.

"Well, has it ever happened that you dismissed a clone right after it ate? What happened then?" Sakura clarified their inquiry.

"I think I have. It disappeared like all the others. Why?" Naruto asked, wondering what it was all about.

"Well, it was something we were wondering. If a clone eats something, and then dispels, where does its meal go? No way it could have digested the food before being dispelled, right? So, what happened to it?" Sakura explained, thinking it might be a good idea to consider experimenting with shadow clones in that area at a later date. She decided not to share the other suspicions that train of thought had managed to creep up. Surely, if a clone that remained long enough could become real by replacing the chakra making up its body with actual mass by eating and drinking, it would be known already. The twins decided to ask Tsunade in a letter whenever they next sent them back to Konoha.

"Huh, I never thought of it like that. Maybe it is converted into chakra, like the rest of the clone?" Naruto guessed, which to be fair, was as good a guess as any.

"Probably. A bit odd, but might be something to experiment with in the future." Sakura told Naruto, showing that both of them agreed with his guess.

"I still don't get how you come up with all these ideas and theories. I've been using shadow clones since before we became Genin, yet you two are the ones coming up with all these crazy ideas about them. It's kind of a shame you can't use shadow clones as freely as I can." Naruto told them, scratching his head for a moment as he seemingly got an idea.

"Hey, I just thought of something! Can't we do something like what you and Jiraiya did to summon Fezā? Like, use my chakra while you two make the clones?" Naruto asked. It honestly wasn't a bad idea, and it wasn't like it wasn't possible. Unfortunately, there were still issues with the idea.

"We could, but neither of us has practiced cooperation ninjutsu, and we'd need to be able to work together perfectly to perform something like a mass-shadow clone technique together without things going wrong. It's a good idea though, we should ask Jiraiya to teach us how to perform combination techniques." Sakura informed Naruto, who pouted slightly at the fact that it wasn't possible right away.

"Really? Isn't there a seal or something that could help instead? Didn't Jiraiya say something about seals being superior, as they can technically replicate any technique? Couldn't we just make a seal for making shadow clones for you, and then I power them with my chakra?" Naruto inquired, seemingly really set on the idea.

The Haruno twins, however, were suddenly struck by the fact that Naruto had missed his own genius with the idea. After all, being able to summon a shadow clone of another person on demand would be an amazing advantage. Need a medic, take out a scroll and summon a shadow clone of them. Need to report to someone half a country away, summon, report, and disperse their shadow clone. The applications of such a seal could be revolutionary, and Naruto wasn't even aware of it.

"Naruto, that isn't just brilliant, but genius on so many levels. If there isn't already a seal like that, I think Jiraiya will be amazed at your idea. Unfortunately, we won't have the time to develop something like that until our mission is over. Let's pack our things and we'll ask Jiraiya if there is something like that as we head out." Sakura suggested, trying not to get side-tracked with the raw potential of being able to carry your friends safely into battle like that. The dangers for a traveling medical-nin could essentially be eliminated, provided they found a way to guarantee the chakra for activating the seal. Sealing raw chakra was possible after all, surely it could then be used to power other seals.

Hearing Naruto already packing his gear and belongings into storage scrolls, the twins managed to bring their focus back to packing their own things, briefly giggling at the term "pocket medic" popping up in their mind, as they considered having a medic appear from a scroll stored in their Chūnin vest.

The sound of something tumbling to the floor, as well as a curse from Naruto, had the twins turning around to see Naruto picking up a pile of books that he had dropped.

"Didn't realize you were reading so many books," Sakura told Naruto, counting eleven different books, including the Shinobi field guide Jiraiya had handed them.

"Yeah, Jiraiya sensei won't give me a break. He's making me, or rather my clones, re-read them, over and over again whenever I have the time to ensure they stick." Naruto informed them, sounding rather displeased with the treatment, only to sigh. "Although, I suppose it is working. Some of your tricks help as well." Naruto admitted, before turning towards them with a smile. "Thanks for that by the way. I didn't think trying to make a tune to something you want to remember, or training while reciting the material would help. It's weird, but it works better than simply reading it all over and over." Naruto explained.

Sakura nodded, satisfied. "I told you it might work. You learn from doing things, not by memorizing or reading something. Everyone learns differently. It sucks that you didn't get the right help back in the Academy." Sakura told him, feeling regret that she herself hadn't noticed the issue, even if she might not have been able to help him in that area all that much at the time.

"Come on, no use dwelling on the past. Let's focus on the now. I wonder what Jiraiya has given Naruto to read." Heikō interjected, hoping to stop Sakura from going into a spiral of regret. There was a surprising amount of it centered on their Academy days, due to their crush on Sasuke at the time.

Following Heikō's suggestion, Sakura looked over the covers of the books visible to them, surprised to see one of them being one concerning fashion. "Jiraiya has you reading about fashion?" She asked, wondering why.

Naruto was slightly surprised and stopped sorting the books into piles to look at the book Sakura had noticed. "Oh, yeah. He thinks it's stupid that Kunoichi classes aren't an option for boys as well. He has me reading about fashion, thinking it might help with future transformations and infiltration." Naruto explained, before frowning. "That, and it's obvious that he uses the information for his books. He asked me to proofread part of his manuscript, can you believe that?!" Naruto exclaimed, huffing in annoyance before going back to packing his things.

"Wait, he lets you check his manuscripts?" Sakura asked, surprised, and desperately trying not to sound envious. If Heikō hadn't been equally so, she would have definitely been teasing Sakura about it.

"How come he didn't ask us? Aren't we the more academically inclined? Wouldn't it make more sense to ask us?" Heikō wanted to know.

"I don't know, but we can ask him when we inquire about the seal," Sakura assured Heikō, although she also felt rather miffed about this revelation.

Naruto simply shrugged. "I guess he wanted some input or something on it before he continued, but it's lame, and when I told him so, he got annoyed and took it back," Naruto explained.

The Haruno twins bristled at the revelation that Naruto had actually had the manuscript, rather than having gotten a peek at it. They were ready to do a lot to earn the same privilege that Naruto dismissed so casually. Granted, Sakura was also too embarrassed to admit that she read the Icha-Icha series. It would be less of a hassle to just talk with Jiraiya himself about it, even if they would have to admit to reading it and being a fan.

"Right," Sakura managed to respond, nodding her head, more to reassure herself, until her gaze fell on the book of dresses again, the title this time clearly visible as "Dress and style for ages". A rather odd title, but from what they could see, it had stellar reviews and marks of approval on the cover as well. "You know, that book? It's a lot bigger than the one we had to read during Kunoichi classes, back in the Academy. Mind if we borrow it once you're done?" Sakura asked, hoping to distract herself and Heikō with fashion.

Naruto shrugged and picked the book up before tossing it over to them. "Sure, I'm not reading it much now anyways. It's easier to remember than most others, cause there's a lot of pictures." Naruto informed them, which they supposed made sense. More pictures meant less reading, and a visual aid was proven to be very effective when teaching Naruto. The twins had made use of them themselves on multiple occasions when trying to explain something to Naruto during their information exchanges. Besides, if anything, the Sharingan was the most convincing example, period. It was a Dōjutsu, and Sasuke had confirmed the rumor that while active, whatever the user saw with it, was forever seared into the user's head. They were forever unable to forget whatever they had seen. It proved just how effective visual memorization could be, even if it was a very specific exception.

AN: Naruto really is a genius in his own right, considering how quickly he picks stuff up, despite his supposedly poor chakra control. I mean, he learned to water walk while his seal was messed up, and mastered it instantly once the nine-tails seal was fixed. Academic learning just isn't his thing.

Oh, shadow clones. Such an intriguing mystery, are they not? I suppose chakra in itself is a big mystery that leaves us scratching our heads and leaves us intrigued enough to try and understand the many ninja techniques from canon.