Hinata and Shikimaru were making very good progress in the exercise. Hinata's eyes were really the only effective tracking team ten had. While Shino's bugs could detect which was a shadow clone or not, it took a little bit of time and getting the bug onto the clone and getting the message back. It often left that pair abandoning their target to focus on another one half way through the chase. They were getting closer, though. Shino could feel it from skills derived from the weeks he had spent with team ten tracking. "Come, Choji, we are close. I believe I have an insect on the original."
Choji grumbled about having to do a lot of walking and that he was running out of chips, but followed the bug user nonetheless.
Back to Hinata and Shikamaru. "We are approaching our target, Shikamaru-san." Hinata said, turning off her Byakugan to let it rest. They marched forward with extreme caution, disabling all of the traps they came across. There were some interesting ones that used strings of chakra to trigger instead of ninja wire, and some clear ninja trap art jutsu's.
Huh, I was unaware Naruto knew Ninja Trap Art. Shikamaru thought as he jumped over the trap. Ninja trap art was a ninja art the same way that the ninja poison or ninja weapon arts were, but was the second most complex art. The first going to (arguably) the puppet arts in Suna. they came to the large spiral shaped tree, with Naruto squarely sitting on the snake likfe trunk. He peered down at a scroll that lay on his lap with particular intent, not even noticing that two of his adversaries had entered the ring until they had made it to the base of the tree. "Oh, hey guys! Glad to see you made it!" Naruto said, putting his scroll away with a smooth motion.
"H-hello Naruto-k-kun." Hinata greeted. "W-what were you r-read-ding?"
Naruto's face brightened up at Hinata's interest. "A scroll on the Trap Arts! It's actually fascinating some of the theories and ideas on how to incorporate chakra without fuinjutsu into traps, but also the idea of summoning pre-set traps directly! Could you imagine how cool it would be to just slap the ground and bam! Instant pitfall trap! The possibilities are endless, especially if combined with Seals! Exploding tag traps, chakra drains!" The boy said excitedly from the top of the tree
Shikamaru quietly started to extend his shadow. "That's great, man, but do you even know fuinjutsu? That seems to be a key part of that last sentence there." he said, further distracting the boy. Naruto frowned, his face taking one of deep thought for a few seconds. With a shrug, the frown was gone. "Ehh, i'll just have to learn it then!" He said with a bright smile. Shikamaru had to physically block out the light with a hand to not be blinded by it.
Somewhere in Konoha a green spandex clad Might Guy felt an odd swell of pride in the flames of youth. "Come Lee! I feel greatly invigorated with the Flames of Youth! We must celebrate by running laps on our hands around the village!"
"Yes Sensei!" his mini clone yelled with enthusiasm, running after Might Guy.
Naruto of course, had no idea that this was happening. Shikamaru was just glad that he had managed to get Naruto out of "info-dump" mode, as Choji called it. The boy had a habit of assuming that everyone was as interested as he was in the seemingly various things the boy was interested in. Ramen cooking, traps, the hokage, some seemingly random ancient clans and people, and Ninjutsu was the list so far that Shikamaru was subjected to listening literal hours on end to. While sometimes it was interesting or useful information, it was often hard to keep up with the blonde's light speed rambles.
The shadow snaked its way up the tree to where Naruto stood. "When i catch him, disable him please." Shikamaru whispered to his partner, who just nodded.
"So, how many seconds do i have before your shadow catches me, Shika?" naruto asked with a great shit eating grin on his face.
Fuck. Shikamaru thought as the blonde jumped down from the tree. Ending the Jutsu, Shikamaru drew a kuni. Hinata entered her Taijutsu stance.
"Oh, and guys?" Naruto said, drawing a handful of Shuriken. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but complied with a "yes?"
"Please don't destroy the grove. It's a personal favorite spot of mine."
Shikamaru nodded. Hinata gave a stuttering we will try.
The projectiles flew at their targets.
Shino and Choji were making good time on getting to the clearing. There was a light buzzing as his bugs informed him of some new developments.
"Choji, it appears that our allies Shikamaru Nara and Hinata-san have found our target. How do I know this? My kikaichu told me."
Choji just breathed heavily, trying to recover his air after running from some tumbling logs. "That's great, Shino. That means we can eat soon." he gasped as he caught his breath. Long term stamina was something he was working on.
The two hunted through the forest, avoiding any clear pathing in hopes to not get caught in any traps. They came into the clearing just as Naruto drew his Shuriken. Shino stopped Choji from interfering immediately, opting to join in the fight after the first move. "Why? It locks Naruto into a position and gives us the ability to logically plan our next move." was Shino's explanation as he drew kunai himself.
Naruto let loose a single Shuriken, running through a series of hand signs immediately after. Boar, rabbit, monkey, snake. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" naruto said as the shuriken split into a hazy six, forcing Shikamaru and Hinata to jump backwards. forcing Shikamaru and Hinata to jump back. "Damn, not quite there yet." naruto tiched at the sex shurikens
"Ah, Shino-kun, ch-choji, I am glad you made it." Hinata said as the four of them countered with their own projectiles. Shikamaru frowned at the Shuriken Jutsu Naruto used. He would have to ask his father about it later. Hinata and Choji surged forward, trying to engage Naruto in taijutsu. Bending backwards at the waist, Naruto evaded Hinata's gentle palm strike. Using his hands as a stabilizing pillar, Naruto kicked out at Hinata before flipping over into a push up position. Jumping to a handstand to avoid Choji's strike, a rapid kick to the head was given as he fell away from the two onto his back. Shino had already sent forth his bugs, and ran through a short series of hand seals. "Ninja bug bomb jutsu" he said quietly as he lobbed a large, chakra infused ball of energy boosted kikaichu at the blonde. Naruto saw this happening and substituted out with a log.
"That was a very fast kawarmi, Naruto-san. I am impressed." Shino said as he stepped forward Naruto, who was back on the tree. Naruto smiled.
"I would hope so! I've worked hard to get it perfect, afterall!" Naruto said as he ran his thumb across the top of his mouth. Running through the hand signs for sealing, there was a puff of smoke. Nero Yukastu, the genjutsu twin of the yukastu twins, came forth. "Naruto, why did you call me?" came the almost feminine male voice. Or was it an almost masculine female voice? It was hard to tell.
It was also a running gag to constantly change the poor foxes pronouns when talking about and to them. At this point, even Nero wasn't sure what they're gender was anymore.
"Hey Nero. I'm doing some training, and am severely outnumbered. Care to help?" Naruto asked the fox. They smiled, shaking to warm up.
"Always." They grinned as the tribal lines on their fur glowed with blue ember light. "Fire Style: Purifying Fire Stream!" a great stream of blue flames were launched at the squad. They dispersed, spreading out away from the initial fire blast.
"Please don't destroy the grove, Nero." Naruto pleaded with the fox. They just sighed, rolling their eyes. "Fine. I'll stick to what I know then."
The fox's eyes met Choji's own eyes, letting out a small blue fireball. It drifted slowly towards him, and he found that he couldn't really tear his eyes away from it. The voices of his friends were fuzzy and far away, like he was underwater.
The fireball slowly and lazily orbited around Choji, keeping him stunned.
"It would appear that our comrade is under a Genjutsu." Shino said, watching Choji's blank stare. He knew the signs of similar genjutsu from the countless times he and his team had to fight against their sensei. Naruto jumped forward, lunging with a kuni at the bug user. I really shouldn't let them snap Choji back. Three on two is a lot easier than four on two. Naruto thought as he and Nero pushed the trio of genin. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the blonde said, forcing them back. Shikamaru's shadow darted forward, hoping to capture naruto or move him from the path between him and his teammate. Naruto just popped a shadow clone in front of it before leaping to the side. Nero launched a much less impressive blue fire jutsu at Hinata, who eeped as she jumped to the side. The unfortunate Hyuuga was swept up into the air by a snare. Shino and Shikamaru looked up at her. "Really? The one person who can see everything, and you're the one to get caught in a trap? Troublesome." Shikamaru said as the girl cut herself down. She was a bright, bright embarrassed red.
"Hinata-chan, you alright? You're kind of red there." naruto said, substituting right in front of her, pressing his hand against her forehead. She gave the smallest of yelps as her face burned with an unhealthy shade of red. Falling backwards, the poor girl passed out. Naruto surged forward, wrapping her up in his grasp. "Is Hinata-chan sick or something, Shino?" Naruto asked.
Shino just closed his eyes, letting loose a breath in exasperation. It was not often that someone could draw emotions out of Shino, but Naruto had a knack.
"No, she's fine. Just set her down and let her recover." Shino sighed. Naruto made a signal to the trees. Immediately two clones substituted with a blade of grass next to Hinata. "Take her home, make sure she gets the bed or the soft spot. Do Not Disturb her, got it?" naruto ordered. The two clones nodded before disappearing.
Those were Anbu hand signals. How the hell does Naruto know those? Shikamaru thought, squinting at the blonde. The three Genin and singular fox summon faced off, preparing to fight once more. But they were rudely interrupted by Asuma and Kurenai flash stepping in.
"Alrighty, missions over." Asuma said as everyone stopped and looked at him confused. "Naruto has successfully reduced your numbers to a third their original mission, and has successfully outmatched you. In case you haven't noticed, the grove is surrounded by clones. At this point, the mission is FUBAR."
Shikamaru looked around, squinting at the three line. He didn't see any clones, or anything that would be out of place. "Really? I don't see any." Shikamaru said, just loud enough to be heard.
"Damn right you don't! We worked hard to get our hiding skills to this level!" A clone shouted from behind a tree. Several others jumped in agreeing with him before they were told to shut up, or else their cover would be blown.
"Naruto, you can dispel your clones now." Asuma sighed, rolling his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. Naruto nodded, summoning and dispersing a single clone. There was a series of puffs from around the forest.
"Why did you summon the singular clone, if only to disperse it immediately after? It seems illogical and a waste of chakra." Shino asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.
Naruto brightened that someone was asking him about his favorite technique. "Oh, I summoned the clone to create an input into the Neural network, as the clone is an exact replica of me right now, or I guess then. So that clone has the information of Asuma's orders in particular, right? And when that clone disperses, those orders are shared with the rest of the clones. Besides, it gives them orders to stagger themselves. Saves me the headache."
Shino nodded, understanding the basics of what Naruto said. Naruto thanked the Third Hokage in his mind for letting him review the shadow clone section of the Forbidden scroll. It was incredibly useful to really understand the jutsu.
The nadiame was a genius, that is for sure.
"Naruto, could you please take us to where you put Hinata, please? And perhaps snap Choji out of the genjutsu?" Naruto nodded, giving Nero permission to go back home. They did so with a smile, demanding that tea be served next time they were to be summoned. Walking up to Choji, who was still standing there, glassy eyed, Naruto poked him. "Kai." He said as Choji came back to the world of the living.
"Woah, man, what happened? I feel kind of dizzy." Choji said as he leaned on Naruto. Naruto just nodded, taking the boy slowly to his shrine. "Yeh, it will take a couple minutes to recover, big guy."
Kurenai walked with the Konoha nin as naruto expertly led them through the forest, the various worker clones saying hello or giving reports. Kurenai's jaw dropped that Naruto could make so many clones. How was this kid not dead from chakra exhaustion? Everyone's jaw fell to the ground when they saw where naruto lived. Ino, Hinata and Kiba were already there, along with Anko. they sat around a large stone that Naruto had moved into the courtyard to serve as a table.
"You live like this?" Ino asked the fox child, almost insulted that anyone would like in such abject poverty. Hinata was playing with the foxes, not meeting Naruto's gaze. She knew how much he hated being pitied
"I mean, yeah? It's better than the village." Naruto said with a shrug before turning to Anko. "Anko-sensei, what are you doing here. I thought you were working today."
Anko rolled her shoulders as she absentmindedly scratched a fox. "We've been assigned as a relief unit to Kakashi-san and team would appear that they are in some deep shit right now."
Naruto took a breath in. "of course they are. What did the Teme do now? And is Kaka-nii alright?"
Asuma nearly swallowed his cigarette when he heard Naruto's name for Kakashi. "I'm sorry, what?" Asuma wheezed as Kurenai thumped him on the back. Naruto and Anko immediately ignored his comment.
"Pack for a long term trip, and make it quick. Gates in 30." Anko barked, sitting up. Turning to her friend, she gave a smile. "Thanks for watching the Gaki, Kur, but duty calls." and with that, Anko was gone in a twirl of leaves. Naruto sighed, running into the depths of the fox shrine. He came out a few minutes later, with a small hap-sack on a staff.
"T-t-that's all y-your taking, Naru-t-to-kun?" Hinata asked quietly, concerned for her crush.
Naruto shrugged. "I don't have much else to take with me, so i guess?" turning to the largest fox, he squatted down to be at roughly eye level with him. "Tesu, you and your family can have the food in the pantry while i'm gone, got it?" the fox gave a happy laughing yip as it made a circle. Naruto smiled as he stood. "Well, i need to get to the gates. See you guys around!" Naruto waved at the two genin teams as he sprinted off. Kiba and Shino looked at each other before turning to look back at the retreating orange blur.
"I kinda guessed that Naruto was bad off, but holy shit…" Kiba started, looking at the decrypt fox shrine. There were some clear attempts at renovation, but naruto's hands were not as skilled as the original builders.
Naruto made good time, being just over 5 minutes early to the gate. Of course, Anko was already there, waiting.
"You got your stuff, whiskers?" Anko asked, already knowing the answer. She had seen the staff and attached hapsack. The staff was a mostly straight pole that bent into a hook at the top. The bend was an odd 90 degree angle, and had a nub at the bottom that also bent down at 90 degrees. Anko had gotten used to Naruto's lack of material, unfortunately.
"Yup." Naruto responded with a smile. Anko turned to walk out of the gates, but Naruto hesitated for a moment. Looking out at the road, he seemed frozen in time.
"Gaki, what's up?" Anko said, turning to look at her student.
Naruto swallowed. "If I take one more step, i'll be the furthest away from home i've ever been." he said softly. Anko gave a smile at the odd sentiment. Walking over and giving the boy a small push, he stumbled past the gates.
"There, the first step is the hardest, after all. Now come on, we got a team to save."