Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: Alright, here we go with Chapter 9! Also, I truly appreciate the amount of support this story has gotten over the chapters I've published! Although I only have 4 chapters posted, I (as of writing this part) have over 100 follows, and over 70 favorites! That truly means a lot, and so, without further ado, Let's get into Chapter 9!**

Naruto's Apartment, 2 Months Later

Naruto was getting ready for the day, seeing how today he was going to show Kakashi how to make the Physical Shadow Clone, seeing how he has a copy of the scroll on him. After he finishes eating, he decided to go ahead and walk around the empty village, seeing how he got up a few hours early to get a head start on his day. He ended up by the Shinobi Archives and went in, gathering a decent amount of chakra theory books and also an Intermediate and Advanced Fuinjutsu theory book, seeing how he was already done with the beginner level seal theories. As he went to the checkout, the librarian saw him.

"Why, hello Uzumaki-san. How may I help you?" She asked.

"I would like to check out these books for a while, seeing how I'm wanting to take my training to the next level. What would be the longest time I can check these books out for?" Naruto asked. The librarian took a look at the books, saw what they were over, and finally spoke up.

"Well, I can't exactly lend it out longer than any other book. However, because its over a topic that not many people care about, the price to actually buy it is considerably lower than any other. If you can afford buying these books, you can keep them." Naruto nodded.

"So, how much are they?" Naruto asked. She looked right at him. "Well, to add them all up, they are all together only around 400 ryo. Now, that isn't to say that its exactly cheap, but it is considerably cheaper than dealing with books about jutsus themselves." Naruto again nodded, clearly agreeing with the bargain. He then pulls out his wallet that looks like a toad and hands over the exact amount, and takes off with the books.

"Well, even though I lost a decent amount of money, I still got a good deal for all these books. I still feel bad about you though, Gama-chan." Naruto said to his wallet, which got considerably more empty than normal. After he got to the training ground, Naruto noticed that he wasn't the first one there.

"Hey, Ino-chan!" Naruto greeted.

"Oh, hey Naruto-kun!" She said back. Then she noticed that he was carrying a scroll in his hand. "What's with the scroll? Is that the scroll for the shadow clone variant you created?" Naruto shook his head.

"Yes and no. It's a sealing scroll that has multiple books along with the scroll for the Physical Shadow Clone. I went to the archives and bought a couple of chakra theory books, some more advanced chakra building and control exercises, and the next two stages of Fuinjutsu theory, seeing how we all need to work on our control for our newfound chakra that we all get. Once we get both yours and Shikamaru's chakra up to around Kakashi's level currently, we will guide you to creating the clone I made.

While you both are working on all of that, I'm going to be working on creating some new jutsus, which is why I got me the chakra theory books. At some point, I'm going to have to ask Kakashi to train us all in elemental training, that way we will all get to use shadow clones to learn elemental manipulation afterward. What do you think of that plan?" Naruto asked Ino, which looked thoughtful. She finally nodded her head.

"Alright, I'll go with this plan of yours, Naruto-kun. After all, teammates are supposed to trust each other, right?" Ino asked with a smile. Naruto smiled back and nodded.

"That they are." Naruto said right as soon as Shikamaru and Kakashi appeared.

"Alright, everyone. Who's ready to get started training?" Kakashi asked. Shikamaru muttered something that sounded vaguely like "terrifyingly troublesome." Everyone chuckled when they heard it though.

"Apparently everyone except Shikamaru." Naruto muttered a bit loud on purpose. Shikamaru glared at Naruto, and everyone else laughed. "Although, I did bring some books for the 3 of us, advanced chakra building exercises for both Ino-chan and Shikamaru, advanced Chakra control exercises for the 3 of us, and Chakra theory for me and later on for the 3 of us, along with Fuinjutsu Intermediate and Advanced theory books for myself to get better at Fuinjutsu." Naruto stated, with Kakashi's eyes going wide.

'He's already on Intermediate level? He must have used Shadow Clones to speed up the process of his calligraphy and seals efficiency. That is really smart, and something that not many people can do. Maybe this training will really come together…' Kakashi thought. "Alright everyone, lets get back to training. After all, we aren't going to get stronger just sitting here. Naruto, make 100 Shadow clones and split them into 4 different sections, those being Chakra control, Fuinjutsu seals, Calligraphy, and the remaining helps Ino and Shikamaru with what they need guidance over." Naruto nodded, and everyone got to work for the rest of the morning.

With Team 8

Kiba, Shino, Sakura, and Kurenai were in the mission assignment room, standing right in front of the Hokage. They had just got done chasing Tora, and because of that, Kiba has a giant scratch mark across his face.

"Hokage-sama, we are here for a new mission." Kurenai said, making the Hokage smile.

"Well, now. Let's see what we can find here. I got missions to take out trash, painting a fence, grocery shopping for a couple, babysitting, and-"

"MREEEEOOOOW"

"TOORA COME BACK, BABY!"

"And capturing Tora for the 50th time." Hiruzen finished with a laugh.

"NO DO NOT GIVE US THAT MISSION, ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Kiba yelled and begged at the same time. "I want a real mission, not some lousy mission wannabe chore."

"Kiba, you should know that there is a reason why we do D-ranks. It may not be the most entertaining thing, but they are essential to progressing as a shinobi." Kurenai scolded.

"I just want to prove myself out there. I don't want any of these lousy missions anymore, I'm not a brat that can't handle myself."

'Well, I can't say that he doesn't resemble Naruto-kun that much. He wants to prove that he isn't a brat anymore, so be it. I'll grant it this one time.' Hiruzen thought. "Okay, lets see here… Ah here should be a good mission. You are to escort a bridge builder back to the hometown of Land of Waves by the name of Tazuna. Bring the client in."

"At once, Hokage-sama." A random Chunin said.

4 Hours Later

As they were wrapping up their training, Kakashi noticed a hawk flying towards them. After grabbing the message, he read what was on the report.

Team 7,

You have been summoned by the Hokage to head to the Mission Assignments room ASAP. Do not be late, as this is an emergency. Failure to do so will result in a penalty on the entire team, particularly the disbandment of the team until after the Chunin Exams.

- Hiruzen Sarutobi

Kakashi's eyes widened at this message. "Alright everyone, we've been summoned to the Mission Assignments room, and need to be there as soon as possible. No arguing or complaining, this is an emergency situation." Everyone nodded and sprinted towards the tower.

Inside the Mission Assignments room.

Hiruzen was sitting behind the desk meant to give missions to the new Genins, waiting for Team 7 to come through. Right before he was starting to question whether they got the message or not, Naruto barged through the door, shouting "Hey, Hokage-jiji! What's going on?" Right after that, Ino walked through, followed by Shikamaru and Kakashi.

"Alright, Team 7." Team 7 straightened when the elderly Hokage mentioned the team. "I gave Team 8 their first C-ranked mission to the Land of Waves around 4 hours ago. However, the client didn't give sufficient information, due to not being able to afford a B-A rank mission because of the economic struggles Nami no Kuni are facing. We have decided to select your team to serve as backup, don't let us down."

"Don't worry, Hokage-sama, we will make sure the client stays safe. Alright, team. Go get packed and meet at the East gate in 10 minutes." As Kakashi said this, Naruto handed Ino and Shikamaru 2 scrolls.

"Those are modified sealing scrolls that can fit everything we may need on this mission. Let's go team!" Naruto said before running off, followed by his two other teammates. Kakashi looked pleased with himself, and went off to gather his own gear.

'Well, it looks like the team placements, at least for Naruto-kun, are going splendid. After all, his team are getting along extremely well, probably better than any other team."

10 Minutes Later…

Kakashi shunshined in front of everyone, who was prepped and ready to go.

"Alright, we need to go to Nami no Kuni as fast as possible, hopefully we get there before any real problem begins." After he said that, they get sprinting as fast as they can.

Meanwhile…

Kurenai Yugi was not having a good day. It started off by getting the demon cat of Fire Country, Tora. After that, Kiba brashly requested a C-ranked mission. It was a miracle that Hiruzen even said yes to that. However, the mission that was supposed to be a simple C-ranked mission, one where they were supposed to protect the client from simple bandits. However, after their encounter with the Demon brothers, in which Kiba and Choji took care of relatively quickly, Sakura was somewhat petrified, due to seeing her sensei get 'killed' in front of her eyes. However, once she saw Kurenai again, she noticed the broken log where it looked like she did get cut up into multiple pieces.

Thus, she was clearly on edge, making sure they were moving slow enough so that a backup team could catch up quickly. And her prayers were finally answered when she sensed a team of 4 heading towards their position from Konohagakure. 'Thank god they're here.' Kurenai thought before meeting their backup squad. "So, Hokage-sama sent Team 7, huh?" She said, looking over at Kakashi, who just shrugged.

"Yeah, he did. What's the situation? Any foreign chakra signatures?" Kakashi asked. Kurenai shook her head in a negative.

"No, at least not yet. However, we are approaching a boat held by one of the clients friends, but unfortunately there may not be enough room for all of us." Kurenai said, while Kakashi didn't look phased.

"That's fine. We can just walk." Kurenai's eyes widened when she heard that.

"Wait, you're telling me that all your Genin can walk on water?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, they can. Also, instead of just learning jutsu, we've been working on building Chakra reserves, Chakra contol, and things like that." Kurenai's eyes went to the size of saucer plates when she heard that.

"What are their stats right now, in terms of chakra?" Kurenai asked, while Kakashi gave a signature eye smile.

"Well, Naruto as you know had Kage level reserves by the time he graduated. However, now he is getting close to the amount Shukaku has. Shikamaru went from a Genin chakra reserve to close to High Chunin level, and Ino is almost Low Jonin in terms of chakra reserves. Naruto now has close to High Chunin to Low Jonin control over his chakra, while Ino and Shikamaru are getting close to mid Jonin control.

Pretty soon, I'm going to start teaching more useful jutsus for them. After all, Naruto was wanting to teach them the Shadow Clone jutsu, but he also knew the amount of chakra it would take. And thanks to the books that Naruto got, Ino and Shikamaru has just passed the barrier to making around 30 clones without passing out." Kakashi said, nonchalantly. Kurenai was shocked. After all, you don't hear that a Genin team that just graduated the academy starting to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and even more rare that you actually see it affect the students themselves. Team 7 looks way more serious than Team 8, by a long shot. Naruto seemed to have matured a lot in order to be this calm.

"Alright, Team 7/Team 8. Lets head out." Kurenai and Kakashi spoke simultaneously. "Make sure to protect the client by going in Diamond formation." Kurenai added for her team. Teams 7 and 8 nodded, and they started moving again. On the way, they tried making small talk.

"Hey, Ino-pig, what's your team been doing for training? We've been working on our physical strength, tracking skills, and I've been working on some basic medical ninjutsu." Sakura said. Ino smiled.

"Well, Sakura, we've been working on building our chakra reserves as fast as possible, and adding onto that, really good chakra control as well. Currently, I'm around the reserves of probably High Chunin to Low Jonin, and my control is around Low to Med Jonin. Shikamaru's around the same as me, but the real kicker is Naruto. Apparently he is around Med to High Kage level reserves, and around Med-High Jonin level control." Sakura's eyes widened.

"Is that why he couldn't perform the normal Clone jutsu? After all, if you hit a certain point, no matter how good your control is, you wouldn't be able to perform the academy Clone…" Sakura said, starting to see a different side of Naruto. She thought that he was just an idiot, but after he performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a technique they never taught in the academy, she didn't know what to think anymore.

"Precisely, Naruto is well past that point, and I believe me and Shikamaru are getting close to passing that point. In fact, Naruto's reserves were around Med to High Jonin, but when it came to chakra control, it was around Low to Med Genin level. Shadow Clones came in handy there." Ino stated, with Sakura listening very intently.

"Wait, so what are the details about the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Sakura asked, with Ino giving her a small smile.

"Well, the first is the Chakra requirement. In order to make just one, you would have to have around Medium Chunin reserves, just so that you don't pass out. The benefits outweigh the negatives, though. One such thing is that you can get the memories back from the clone as soon as they dispel. They also give you the experience that your clone went through.

That means that if your clone was doing chakra control exercises while you were doing chakra building exercises for 5 hours at the same time, you would be doing 10 hours of the work you did, because Chakra control is a skill through memories. Same process can be applied to Ninjutsu. However, you would still have to train your body, because it doesn't transfer muscle memory, or physical changes.

Once you start with the Chakra control and Chakra building exercises at the same time through the use of Shadow Clones, and you get enough chakra to create around 15 of the clones, then you can start taking use of a modified version of the Shadow Clone, one that Naruto created. He calls it the Physical Shadow Clone. This clone allows you to build your chakra reserves, along with building muscle memory. However, it still doesn't transfer taijutsu training, like wearing weights. You'll have to ask Naruto about it, because it is somewhat complicated.

One major benefit about this upgraded Shadow Clone is the fact that it makes Reconnaissance missions a ton easier. If he sends in one of these clones, not only does he get the muscle memory of the clones, so he would be able to go through the area like the back of his hand, but if the clone gets killed, it'll look like he actually died for another 1-2 minutes. After that, the body and blood will just poof away.

This is useful because no one would think that he survived if the body is still there after around 30 seconds, so they would probably leave. What makes this jutsu even better is that once you make one, your chakra reserves skyrockets. Once you make one, and both you and the PSC (Physical Shadow Clone) do chakra building exercises, that makes it so much more effective." Ino finished, with Sakura thinking about everything she just said. Once she understood everything Ino said, she nodded.

"Well, maybe I should work on building my Chakra reserves. Although I am sitting at around Med Chunin, I should probably work on getting my reserves up to around Low-Med Jonin, huh?" Sakura asked, with Ino giving Sakura a smile.

"That sounds like a great plan. Naruto is currently working on his Fuinjutsu practices, if you want to ask if you can join, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers at that statement.

"Wait, Naruto's working on Fuinjutsu? The HARDEST study when it comes to usage? Naruto's learning it?" Sakura asked. Ino smiled and nodded her head.

"Yep, Naruto's learning Fuinjutsu. Actually I guess you can say it's in his blood to use Fuinjutsu." Sakura looked like she was going to question that, but Ino saw it and answered the unspoken question. "Think about the name Uzumaki. There may not have been much in the academy about them, but that's probably because they were from a different hidden village. It was practically in their blood when it came to Fuinjutsu. Because of that, I think Naruto's motivated to learn more about Fuinjutsu. He may even make some brand new seals later on in the future, for all I know. All I know is that Fuinjutsu is in his blood." Ino finished, with Sakura amazed at that revelation.

After all, it isn't every day that you find out that an orphan, who had no family his entire life, was a part of a clan from a completely different village, and one that had a hidden talent like studying Fuinjutsu the entire time.

Just around that time, a thick fog started rolling in. Team 7 and 8, with a scared Tazuna, tensed. They knew that this wasn't normal fog (except Tazuna. He just felt uncomfortable). Kakashi and Kurenai increased all their senses except for eyesight, because the fog was so dense that it was impossible to see 5 meters in front of you.

A few minutes later, and Kakashi and Kurenai yelled "GET DOWN". Kakashi pulled down Tazuna, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino, Kurenai pulled down Sakura, Kiba, and Shino. Just then, a giant sword came swirling right over the teams, and lodged itself inside the tree.

"Troublesome." Everyone heard Shikamaru say, even the ninja on the sword, and just sweat-dropped. "What? This is a very troublesome situation." Earning more sweat-drops from his teammates.

The ninja on the sword just chuckled, drawing everyone's attention. "Well, well, well, look who we got here. Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, and Kurenai the Genjutsu mistress. No wonder those two failed. Oh well. Just hand over the old man, and we'll be on our way."

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist. So, it looks like you are working for Gato, huh? Attempting assassination of the Mizukage, and ran away after you failed the assassination attempt. So this is where you ended up. Sorry, but I'm not handing over Tazuna. After all, he is my client." Kakashi said to the now named Zabuza, while lifting his headband over his left eye, revealing a blood-red eye with 3 tomoe surrounding the center.

"Oh, so soon. I'm honored that you think of me as a high level threat. Well then, let's get this show started." Once he said that, the mist started thickening. This was going to be a long fight…

**Author's Notes: Alright! Chapter 9 finished. Now, I know that this one wasn't that long of a chapter, seeing how I had trouble figuring out the conversation between Sakura and Ino. Also, WE ARE FINALLY CAUGHT UP! However, I'll try to keep uploading Every week, but that means that I will have to start working on this much more.

For now though, I hope that I see you next week (If I can finish this next chapter within a week)**