Kishimoto owns Naruto and all derivatived works.
.
Chapter One
.
The alarm sounded and Naruto pulled himself out of bed, yawning. Getting up, he staggered into the bathroom and switched on the shower, letting the shock of the cold water finish waking him up as he reached for the lye soap. Wincing at its harshness, he scrubbed himself all over to get clean, then switched off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist as he headed for the kitchen to make his breakfast. As he did so, he glanced at the calender.
"Urgh, need to do some training, but where… Iruka would know where a quiet place is! Maybe practice my kunai thowing, I suck at it…"
The whistling of the kettle caught his attention and he quickly turned off the stove before pouring the hot water into a pot of instant ramen.
"Instant Ramen, why do they call it instant." He groused, slowly stirring it. "Shoud be called three-minute ramen, not instant ramen… why does this take so long! Why do three minutes pass like a damned three hours waiting for Kakashi-sensei? Grrrrr…"
After far too long for the blond's liking, the ramen was finally ready and he grabbed a pair of chopsticks.
"Itadakimasa!"
Within a minute, the pot was empty and Naruto threw it into the bin.
"Ahh, that hit the spot. Alright, time to get dressed and then find Iruka."
.
Iruka sighed as he worked his way through the folders arrayed on the desk before him. Despite the fact that the Chunin exams were about to happen (and the Academy had been temporarily closed down for the first stage), the paperwork was still somehow piling up.
He would even take having to deal with another prank by Naruto rather than…
"Iruka-sempai!"
Iruka looked up as Naruto pulled himself in through the window.
"Heya, Iruka, I've been looking for you!"
"Naruto." Iruka smiled, "I'm afraid that I have a deadline, so I can't treat you to…"
"Nah, don't want that at the moment." Naruto interrupted, causing Iruka to stare at him in shock. "I need some advice, Iruka-sensei. My chakra-control still sucks even though I can tree-walk. What other exercises are there?"
Iruka leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as Naruto performed one of the best Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu he had ever seen a male perform. "Well, the next stage is generally water-walking. It's like tree-walking, but takes more chakra and you have to keep changing the amount because the water keeps flowing."
"Right!" Naruto exclaimed. "Water walking! And that'll help with my chakra control and learning more jutsu!"
Iruka frowned slightly. "Naruto, after… that night, I did some research into the Kage Bunshin. Did you know that when a clone dispells, everything it learns gets sent back to the original and any other clones?"
Naruto looked at him blankly and Iruka sighed. "Look, make a clone for me."
A puff of smoke marked the appearance of a second Naruto and Iruka rose.
"Okay, original Naruto, stay here, clone, with me."
Naruto nodded and sat down as Iruka and his clone walked out the door. A moment passed, then Naruto blinked as Iruka re-entered.
"Excellent! I'll head there to do it!"
"Head where?"
Naruto stared at him as if he'd gone mad. "The small lake you just told me about."
"I told your clone about it." Iruka pointed out and Naruto's eyes widened so much that Iruka thought that they were about to fall out of there sockets.
"Whoa! That's cool! Freaky, but cool!"
"It'll help with your chakra control." Iruka shrugged. "Make fifty clones to do tree-walking and fifty to do water-walking. Every five minutes or so, dispell the best clone of each and the memories of how to do it should help all the other clones do it better. Once all the clones are gone, you should be really good at both. Just don't dispell too many at once or the influx of memories might knock you out."
"Whoah." Naruto breathed, then he lunged forwards and hugged Iruka. "Thanks! I knew that you'd be able to help me with that! Thanks, Iruka-sensei! You're much better than Kakashi-sensei at teaching cool stuff!"
Before Iruka could respond, Naruto had released him and dived out of the window.
"I hope he remembers that he has the chunin exam today." Iruka sighed as he sat back down.
PPPPPHHHhhhttthhhhhhttttttt!
Iruka sighed, then stood up. Lifting the cushion, he pulled out a now-deflated whoopee cushion that had been concealed beneath it. Looking at the whiskered chibi drawn on it, a figure giving the victory sign, he sighed with a wry grin.
"Alright, he got me."
.
"Hey, boss, watcha doin'?"
"Hey, Konohamaru." Naruto smiled at the leader of the trio who were jogging up after him. "Training, tree-walking and water-walking, once I grab a swimsuit."
"Cool! Can we come?" Konohamaru asked and Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Well, okay, but who are your friends?"
"I'm Moegi!" The girl stated proudly.
"And I'm Udon." The boy sniffed.
"Pleased to meet you both." Naruto grinned. "I'll teach you tree-walking when we get to the lake."
"See?!" Konohamaru crowed, "Didn't I tell you that he was awesome?"
"You know where the small lake is near training area 32?" Naruto asked and Konohamaru nodded. "Good, meet me there in half an hour and I'll get you started on learning tree-walking which'll really help you with your chakra control and stealth. After all, very few people look up."
To make his point, Naruto placed his foot on the wall of the building and then, concentrating hard, walked up the side of it until he was on the roof. Looking down, he smiled at the shocked expressions of the three children.
"Well, get moving!"
"Yes, sensei!" All three chorused before sprinting off. Naruto chuckled and leapt across the alley, heading for his apartment.
.
Arriving at the lake, Naruto quickly set up several long stakes, attaching a sheet to them to make a shielded training area. Pausing in thought, he performed his favourite Jutsu and sixty clones appeared.
"You," Naruto said pointing to one, "Head to the academy, when Teme and Sakura show up, join them and wish them good luck, then dispell. The rest of you, start tree-walking, except you two. You're on timing duty. I want you to see which clone is the best and have it dispell after ten minutes, you're on trees and you will be water. You six stay to one side, you'll be teaching Ko and his friends tree-walking when they arrive."
"Yes, boss!" The clones shouted, then they split up to begin as Naruto darted into the shelter to change into his swimming trunks. Once he had done so, he moved to the edge of the small lake and summoned another fifty clones.
"Water-walking!" He commanded. "You ready to start timing?"
"Sure boss." Said the clone that had ambled over to join them, a big grin on its face. "This should be fun!"
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto sighed, then he started to focus his chakra.
"Whoa! We never spotted that before!" one of his clones marvelled.
Naruto blinked and looked down at his stomach where an odd spiralling seal was fading.
"Oh, that. That must be the seal that the Yondaime sealed theKyuubi into. Just ignore it."
"The Kyuubi? Cool!" A younger voice crowed and Naruto facepalmed.
"Ko, you're early."
"You have the Kyuubi sealed away? That's awesome!" Konohamaru chattered as he dragged his friends to the water's edge.
"It's not that great." Naruto sighed. "It's why so many hate me, they don't see me, they see it. The Yondaime sealed it away with the greatest seal he'd ever made so that it couldn't escape, but…"
Naruto shrugged and Udon leaned forwards. "That's amazing. I am so going to learn how to do that."
"It's called Fuuinjutsu." Naruto supplied, then he blinked and turned to the other trunk-clad clones crowding around. "Oy! Water walking, remember?!"
The clones promptly scrambled to the edge of the lake and soon a near-constant stream of splashes and cut-off swearing started to echo across the lake. Naruto sighed again.
"Okay you three, I have six clones over there who will help you. They'll support you until you get the chakra right in your feet and catch you if you fall. Go on."
"Thanks, boss!" Konohamaru shouted as the trio ran towards the waiting clones and Naruto turned his attention to the lake.
"Now, focus chakra, push it through my feet and…glub! Bleaurgh! Dammit! This is way harder than tree-walking!"
.
"Now, channel your chakra through your feet and into the tree." One of the clones supporting Konohamaru said. "Once you think you have it, try to pull your foot away to check that it's sticking."
"This is easy…whoa! Thanks."
Konohamaru glanced across to the ext tree, where Moegi had just been caught as she slipped off the trunk. The clones re-positioned her so that her feet were pressed against the bark and, frowning in concentration, she started to slowly walk up the tree again.
"This isn't so har… whoah!"
Konohamaru looked the other way just in time to see the pair of clones assigned to Udon catch the plummeting boy. As he tried to calm down, the clones carefully repositioned him.
"You're doing good. Keep going until you get tired, then stop for a rest."
Konohamaru made the Ram sign with his hands and felt his Chakra flowing towards his feet.
"Okay…" He whispered and carefully took one step up the branch, then a second and a third.
"Yes! Waargh!"
The clones caught him as he dropped and he smiled at them.
"Thanks."
.
Naruto leapt for joy as he stood atop the water. Only fifteen clones had been dispelled before the accumulated experience relayed to him let him reach the point where he no longer had to concentrate. His remaining tree-climbing clones were all moving easily up and down the trees and along the underneath of the branches as if the oddly-angled surfaces were simply flat ground. From one side, the young trio watched in amazement.
"See, I told you that Boss was awesome." Konohamaru exulted as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "He taught us how to tree-walk in one day, who else could have done that?"
"Yeah, he's cool." Moegi admitted, then she sighed. "But I'm exhausted, how do I get home?"
"My clones can carry you back." Naruto said as he walked towards the changing area to put his normal clothes back on. "Just direct them to where you need to go."
"Thanks, boss." Konohamaru said as he let one of the clones pick him up and place him on the back of another clone. "Hokage mansion! Away!"
"Hush you." Laughed the clone as it started to jog off.
"Thanks, boss!" Udon called as he was carried away and Moegi waved as she left. Naruto smiled and looked round.
"Alright, dispell five at a time." Naruto shouted and the poof's of dispelling clones soon filled the clearing. Naruto closed his eyes as the memories flooded in, then he smiled as they settled down.
"Damn, that's a lot of tree-climbing and water walking. Well, means that I now have a better chance of learning new jutsu. Well, since my memories show that the Teme and Sakura have entered the exam, I guess I should try and see if there are any D-rank missions that need doing, I really need the money."
Naruto paused and looked up at the sky.
"Actually, I think I'll get some Ramen instead. Ichiraku's, here I come!"
Laughing he ran out of the clearing, then after a few moments, he re-entered it, muttering under his breath.
"Can't believe that I forgot the sheet… I can't afford to leave it behind, tonight will be too cold without it… grrrr…"
.
"Hey, old man, Ayame-nee-san! One Naruto special please!"
Ayame stared at him and Naruto shifted under her gaze. "What? Have I got something on my forehead?"
"Naruto?" Teuchi asked as he emerged from the kitchen area. "What are you doing here? I thought you had entered the chunin exams?"
"Nah." Naruto sighed, looking down at the counter. "I'm not ready for them yet. Haven't learned enough, all I've really got is my Kage Bunshin. Teme has his Sharingan and fire jutsus while Sakura can think her way through anything and has perfect chakra control. Me, I'll just hold them back."
Ayame and Teuchi exchanged a long glance, then Ayame spoke. "Dad, you get the Ramen started. I got this."
"Okay."
As Teuchi vanished back though to the kitchen, Ayame leaned forwards, resting her elbows on the counter. "So, how did the other two take your absence?"
"I sent a clone to give my best to them,but Sakura and the Teme refused to listen to it." Naruto sighed. "I don't know why we're still regarded as a team, I mean, the only time we work together is when we're about to be killed. What sort of teamwork is that? Sakura keeps punching me, Sasuke never speaks more than three words at a time and usually just grunts…"
"N…Naruto…?" A female voice gasped and Naruto spun round to find three people his own age staring at him in shock.
"Hey, Kiba, Hiya Shino, hello… hello… I know we used to be in the same class, what's your name again?"
"Hinata." The girl half-whispered.
"Hey man, where were you?" Kiba asked. "I couldn't see you at the exam at all after the girls leapt at Sasuke."
"I decided I wasn't ready, so I stayed away." Naruto shrugged. "I sent a clone to wish the other two luck, but they didn't listen."
"Man, that blows!" Kiba snarled. "You mean the other two got to take the exam without you? We were told by Kurenai-sensei that all three were needed before we could enter."
"I… I'm sorry…" Hinata whispered, staring at the ground and Kiba shook his head.
"Yeah, well fortunately scarhead was lying about never taking the exam again. We'll just have to get you stronger for next time."
"What happened?" Naruto asked curiously.