Chapter 9 – Growing Up

It had been a week since the talk with his friends and Choji was still thinking about what was said. While Choji mostly followed Shikamaru's way of thinking, he wouldn't lie to himself and say that he wasn't envious of Naruto and Kiba. Naruto's prank on Sasuke was still the talk of the class. The fact that no one could prove that he did it only made Naruto bolder. His next prank that he did on Mizuki was really funny. Naruto was taking his sealing art to the next level.

Kiba was a different story all together. He had officially become the fastest kid in their class. He had only gotten a little faster since his win against Sasuke but it was noticeable. The obstacle course record that once belonged to Sasuke, now belong to Kiba and it would never be broken. Kiba enjoyed it and he kind of lord it over the rest of the class. Still, he was still envious of the two because they were actually doing something productive.

Choji walked around the compound of the Akimichi in deep thought. That's when he came across the main training hall of the compound. He peeked in and watched as several Akimichi kids were using a staff. They follow the instructions of the teacher. Choji just looked at the class and was intrigued by what he was seeing. As he watched, he did not see someone come up behind him.

"Choji?" the voice said. Choji jumped up and turned around to see a good friend of the family. His name was Dotō Akimichi. He was a very skilled veteran of the Third Shinobi World War. He was now retired and was on the council of the clan. He was like a second grandfather to him.

"Oh, sorry about that. You kind of scared me there." Choji said. Dotō just smiled at the boy. He then looked into the dojo then back at Choji.

"Are you interested in learning the clan's staff style?" he asked him. Choji just rubbed his head and chuckled.

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Chiharu was humming a tune as she made dinner for her family. As she cooked, her husband entered the kitchen. She was about to chase him away when she got a good look at him. He had this surprised look on his face and it worried her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Chiharu asked concerned.

"I… I don't really know. I was coming from a meeting and I ran into Dotō. He told me that Choji has signed up for staff training." Chōza said.

"C-Choji, our Choji?" Chiharu asked with shock. That's when Choji entered the kitchen.

"Hey mom, is dinner ready? I'm really hungry." Choji said with a grin. His parents just looked at him and he was starting to get worried.

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Shikamaru was annoyed. He didn't even pay attention to the lesson that was on something he was interested him. He was just so frustrated with his three friends. How could they do this to him? He just didn't understand why they would do this. It was because of them that he was in this situation at home. It all started two days ago.

***Flashback***

Shikamaru and Shikaku were just sitting around doing nothing. It was a good day for the two as Yoshino was nowhere to be found. That meant that they could just lounge around for a while and relax. After about an hour, Yoshino returned and their relaxing was over. She then walked right up to Shikamaru and dropped two bags in front of him. Shikamaru looked at the bags and saw that they were full with books. He looked up to her and saw that she was serious.

"What is this about?" Shikamaru asked.

"This is about you acting like a lump while your friends are doing something. I know about Naruto's calligraphy and sealing jutsu. I also know about Kiba's improved abilities. Even Choji is doing something. I just learned that he is taking two days out of the week to learn staff techniques from his clan." Shikamaru was surprised to hear that about Choji. "So, why aren't you doing anything?"

"That just sounds too troublesome to do." Shikamaru stated.

"Well I'm not going to let you fall behind just because it is troublesome. You have to read through all these books and pick something to learn. If you don't, I'm going to sign you up for those classes after the academy is let out." Yoshino said. Shikamaru looked at her with wide eyes. All she did was grin at him.

***Present***

Shikamaru blamed his friends for this and decided to get back at them for it. He watched the window as Naruto and Kiba appeared from their underground escape route. They only got two steps when they heard Iruka's voice.

"So, this is how you've been escaping." Iruka said with an annoyed tone. "Well, I'll fix that after I fix you." The two attempted to bolt but Iruka was too quick. Both boys found themselves frozen in place and could not move. They both noticed a sealing array below them. Naruto instantly knew that there was no way to escape as he did not have the chakra control to break out of this. Iruka quickly tied the two up and dragged them back inside.

From the window, Shikamaru looked on and was intrigued by what he saw. While he was smirking at the fact that the two got caught, he was first surprised at how he froze the two in their place. He knew that his Shadow Possession Jutsu could do something like what he did but it wasn't that technique. He decided to ask Iruka about it after class.

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Iruka was grading papers as the class filed out of the room. He was focused on his work when Shikamaru walked up to him. Iruka thought that the boy was going to ask for some type of reward but he noticed that he was waiting for everyone to leave. Once the room was cleared, Shikamaru faced him.

"Something on your mind Shikamaru?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah, it's about that thing you did to catch Naruto and Kiba. I've never seen anything like that. It was something like my Shadow Possession Jutsu." Shikamaru said.

"Oh that, it's called the String Light Formation. It's a barrier ninjutsu." Iruka answered him.

"Barrier ninjutsu?" Shikamaru asked.

"Barrier ninjutsu is when the user can erect barriers that can be used to protect themselves, or to trap an opponent, amongst other various uses. I dabbled in the art because it wasn't too hard. I wanted to do something that no one else had. I'm not a master of the art but I know enough to surprise even the strongest of opponents." Iruka said.

"Is that so? You wouldn't have a book on it would you?" Shikamaru asked. Iruka looked at the boy with shock.

"Uh, sure, I might have the book here. Just give me a moment and I'll get it for you." Iruka said and went to get the book for Shikamaru. When night came upon Konoha, Yoshino checked on her son. She smiled when she saw him with his face in a small little book. This made her happy that he was taking this serious. In the coming years, Yoshino would regret her decision to push her son into learning something.

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Naruto groaned as he looked at another failure. He couldn't understand why this was so had. It was nothing more than a freaking illusion. That's what Iruka said to him. So why, why couldn't he do this damn Clone Jutsu. He looked on as the two dead looking clone disappeared. He sat on the ground and wondered what he going to do. While he could do the other two jutsu with ease, the Clone jutsu always tripped him up. He did not want to fail another test but what was he going to do.

"Looks like you're in a pickle kid." A voice said, gaining his attention. Naruto turned and faced the voice. He was surprised to see that Ibiki person. He hadn't seen him since that exercise they did. He was curious as to why he was here.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked bluntly. Ibiki wasn't offended but he looked amused.

"I was just walking around and a saw you attempting to do something that is kind of out of your reach." Ibiki said. Naruto shot right up and looked at the man with a frown.

"I can get this stupid jutsu! I just need to train more!" Naruto exclaimed. He never did like it when people doubted him. Ibiki didn't look intimidated by the dirty look and just sighed.

"Tell me something kid. How can someone like you come out with a great way to change the academy be so clueless?" Naruto was starting to get angry by the man's insults. "You can get angry all you want but it's the truth. You can only get so far by just rushing into things and expecting it to work. I've kept up with those exercises that the class is going through now and every time I see your name, you've done well. Still, you can't figure out why this jutsu is too weak for you to do." Ibiki explained.

"Too weak, what are you talking about?" Naruto asked with confusion.

"Figure it out kid. You can't just expect the answers to come to you. You have to go out and find it." Ibiki said and walked away. Naruto just gave the guy a dirty look but he couldn't help but think about his words. Was he missing something about this jutsu? Naruto decided to go and find out what the trick was. Ibiki watched him leave. He saw the direction that he was going and just smirked. He continued on his way to his office.

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Naruto was looking at the book that he found in the library. It was on the Clone Jutsu and he was even more confused. The jutsu did not require too much chakra and he wasn't using that much. What was that guy going on about that this jutsu was too weak? Annoyed and frustrated, he made his way out of the library. He walked around for a while, still thinking about what was said to him. What could Ibiki mean?

So deep in thought, Naruto bumped into someone. He quickly looked at who he bumped into and saw a regal looking woman. He recognized her though as one of Mrs. Nara's friends.

"Sorry Mrs. Yamanaka, I should have been watching where I was going." Naruto said nervously.

"It's quite alright. It must have been something important for you to not be concentrating." Noriko said.

"Yeah, this jerk messed with my head about a jutsu that I'm trying to master. He said that it was too weak for me but I'm doing exactly what the instructions are saying. I'm using as little chakra as possible to complete it." Naruto explained.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, are you positive that you are using the correct amount? Unless you're a sensor type of shinobi, I don't know if you can actually say that." Noriko explained.

"A sensor type of shinobi? What's that?"

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Inoichi Yamanaka couldn't help but smirk at the stupid look that Naruto was giving him. When his wife came to the flower shop with the boy, he was curious as to why. When he learned of Naruto's problem, he decided to help the kid out. Chōza and Shikaku didn't seem to have any issues with him so he thought that he would do them a solid. When he explained Naruto's problem to him, the blond was in shock.

"B-But I'm using to least amount of chakra. I know I was." Naruto argued.

"Sorry but that's not true. Your lowest amount is actually enough for a C-rank jutsu. If you were planning on making a thousand clones, then you have the chakra but for two, there's no way for you to succeed. I don't even think with years of chakra control exercises will help you. It's actually something amazing Naruto. You're still growing and with your growth, expect your chakra to grow with you." Inoichi explained. He looked at Naruto and saw that he was disappointed. Inoichi knew why because he would not be able to pass the academy without creating two perfect clones.

After a while, Naruto's head popped up. Inoichi and Noriko looked on as Naruto seem to be thinking about something. After what seem like a long while, Naruto got a grin on his face. He then looked at the two elder Yamanaka.

"Thank you for your help. I know what I must do now." Naruto said. He ran out of the shop, nearly running down Ino. He shouted a sorry before continuing on his way. They could hear him cheering about something. The two looked at each other and wondered what was going on.

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Naruto was carrying several scrolls that he just checked out of the library. They weren't jutsu scrolls but they were chakra theory scrolls. While Naruto was a little bummed that he couldn't do the Clone Jutsu, he suddenly got inspiration by a story the old man told him about the Second Hokage. He liked to create jutsu so why couldn't he? If the Clone Jutsu was out of his reach, why not create his own clone? Naruto made his way home to get to work.

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Authors' Notes: Well, I like this chapter. I remembered the chapter I had before and I remembered that I never really gave Naruto any direction to create his own clone. I remember having him create a clone to pass the class and never explained how he even got the idea. So, I corrected that mistake. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.