After Naruto was finished with his rant, those around him were stunned by his words, some stunned he could say and knew the word 'prodigious'. But mainly stunned by what he said. He didn't call Sasuke Bastard once in that speech, and it was all extremely heartfelt. Though Sakura was quite confused too, as there were a couple things she didn't understand from what her blonde teammate just said.
Though none were quite as stunned as Sasuke. While he knew they were best friends, neither of them had ever actually said it before. And then there was the way he mentioned his brother. Unlike how he would call Sasuke Bastard, when he said it in relation to the Uchiha murderer, there was no kindness in it, no playfulness in it, just complete and utter disdain.
"Well said, Naruto. Well said," praised Kakashi. "When you put it like that, I think I would be a fool not to allow both of you to learn this jutsu."
"I must agree, Kakashi. The possible outcomes are too good to pass up, if want Naruto says is true, and I myself trust his judgment," declared the Third.
"Yeah! Woohoo! We both get to learn it!We both get to learn it," shouted Naruto. While his blonde friend was jumping up and down in excitement, the Uchiha's reaction was much more subdued. He just sighed in relief and started to smile slightly.
"Calm down, my boy. Calm down. You still have to learn it," Hiruzen pointed out.
"Oh yeah. Well the Bastard and I can easily learn this jutsu. Of course, I'll learn it faster, but a few days after, I'm sure he'll be able to get the hand seals down," Joked the blonde, trying to rile Sasuke up.
"What are you talking about, Loser? I'll learn it before you can even say the name," Sasuke challenged.
"Oh yeah," asked Naruto.
"Yeah," replied the Uchiha.
"Shadow Clo-" Before Naruto had finished the name, Sasuke covered the blonde's mouth, making it impossible for him to say the name of the jutsu.
All anyone else could do was just watch and let out a few chuckles at the two boys' antics. "Well I'm afraid it's about time I leave. That cursed paperwork isn't going to do itself," stated the Hokage.
"Okay, Old Man. Thanks for coming by and allowing the Bastard to learn the jutsu," spoke Naruto.
"Goodbye, Lord Hokage," Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura said at the same time whilst bowing.
Soon enough, the Hokage was gone and it was time to actually train.
"Alright, Team 7, it's time to train. Same thing as yesterday, I'll make a Shadow Clone to instruct Sakura in Taijutsu while I continue to teach the two boys in chakra control," explained Kakashi.
"But Kakashi-sensei, aren't you going to teach me and Sasuke the Shadow Clone Jutsu," whined Naruto.
"Not yet, Naruto. You may have plenty of chakra to spare, but Sasuke does not. Therefore, he needs a lot of control to safely be allowed to use it, and even then, no using it during combat. That's forbidden unless it's a life or death situation and you have no other choice, understood," declared Kakashi, getting serious while explaining the restrictions to his student. Last thing he wanted was another member of one of his squads getting killed.
"Yes, sensei," replied Sasuke with a head nod.
"Very good, Sasuke. Now, let's train," said Kakashi while making his Shadow Clone for Sakura to train with before taking Naruto and Sasuke to a different section of the training field.
Once the two groups were separate, Sakura began asking the questions that had been bugging her, momentarily forgetting she was talking to a clone, not that it mattered.
"Um, Kakashi-sensei? What did Naruto mean when he said Sasuke wanted revenge on someone," asked Sakura.
"Oh, well, Sasuke's life hasn't been the easiest, and there are some particularly bad moments that were caused by a single individual. Sasuke wants revenge for what this person did to him, explained Kakashi.
"What did this person do that was so bad that would cause Sasuke to seek revenge," questioned the pinkette.
"I'm afraid that's not for me to tell. Only Sasuke can tell people, as it affected him the most," stated Kakashi. "Now, back to your kata."
~~Meanwhile~~
"Okay guys, you'll be continuing the tree climbing exercise as you did yesterday," stated Kakashi.
"But Kakashi-sensei, we want to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu already," complained Naruto, Sasuke nodding along with his friend in agreement.
"And I told you yesterday, you can't learn it until you have proper chakra control. And that won't happen until you learn the exercise after tree climbing," explained Kakashi.
"Wait, there's an exercise after this? What could require more chakra control than attaching the weight of a human body to a vertical surface," wondered Sasuke aloud.
"Three words, my cute little Genin. Walking. On. Water," explained Kakashi. Though with those words, his students just stared at him with wide eyes and agape mouths. Then, without another complaint, the two clan heirs rushed towards the nearest trees, which were, coincidentally, the same trees they used the previous day.
'Ah, this is going to be a relaxing month. With a Shadow Clone taking care of Sakura, and these two practically training each other, I have nothing to do but read my precious Makeout Paradise,' thought Kakashi with a perverted giggle as he pulled out his little orange book.
~~~One Week Later~~~
As Kakashi Hatake sauntered into Training Ground 7, reading Makeout Violence, the second Makeout book. When he arrives, his customary two hours late, he's subjects to sounds of fighting and splashing. At this, he looks up to see Naruto coming down onto Sasuke in an axe kick. This normally would be no reason for pause, as they tended to spar quite often, though usually it was on solid ground. They were currently on the surface of a nearby pond. He knew that they had mastered the tree climbing exercise exceptionally fast, but to also learn the water walking exercise almost just as fast was truly remarkable.
Kakashi was soon brought from his musings when he heard "Fire Style:Great Fireball Jutsu." He automatically knew it was Sasuke, as Naruto had yet to learn any Fire Style Jutsu yet. As he watched the match, he saw Naruto enveloped in the flaming ball. He was just about to jump into the fight when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. Kakashi quickly turn just in time to see Naruto deliver a roundhouse kick to Sasuke's guard. He then witnessed as Sasuke grabbed Naruto's leg, swing him around, then toss him off the water's surface.
"Damn, Bastard, looks like you finally took the lead in our spars. I was afraid you had peaked," joked the blonde.
"Not in a million years, Loser. I just felt like you should have a confidence booster. After all, we don't want you getting lax in your training, now do we," asked the last loyal Uchiha rhetorically.
"Wow Sasuke, you're so cool. No one could ever beat you. You're the best," squealed Sakura.
"As fun as this is to watch, don't we have some training to do," reminded Kakashi in his usual bored voice.
"Right you are, sensei," stated Naruto excitedly. "Speaking of training, Sasuke and I mastered both exercises, so can we finally learn how to make Shadow Clones? Can we," asked Naruto.
"Well, I did say I would teach you it once you both learned the exercises, so I guess," agreed Kakashi reluctantly. 'Damn, I didn't think they would learn it in a week. A month, I could see, but a week?'
"Yes! We finally get to learn it, we finally get to learn it," sung Naruto happily whilst doing a little dance.
"Let's just hope you can actually do it, Loser," stated Sasuke with a smirk.
"Of course I can learn it, Bastard. You're the one I'm worried about. After all, who here as more than enough chakra," teased Naruto.
"Well enough of that. Do you wanna learn it or not," asked Kakashi, trying to end the arguing.
"Yes, we want to learn it," said Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously.
"Good, but first, Sakura, go train with my Shadow Clone," stated Kakashi as he made a Shadow Clone. Once she was gone, he continued, "Alright, then. Now, to teach you the hand seals. After all, what use is knowing how the theory if you don't know how to mold your chakra? Okay, so it's Tiger, Snake, and Ram." After demonstrating the hand signs as he said them, he let them practice for a few minutes before continuing.
"Now, when you're shaping your chakra for the jutsu, let it wrap around you like a cacoon, then push all of the chakra forward, or in whatever direction you want, at the same time. Though for simplicity's sake, we'll push it forward for now," elucidated Kakashi.
Sasuke was the first to try. He made the hand signs flawlessly, then there was a poof of smoke in front of him. Once it was cleared, there was nothing there.
"It seems like you succeeded in pushing all of the chakra out, just not all at once," stated the strange-haired man.
Naruto, seeing his friend's failed attempt, decided to try it for himself. Once he felt as if he was surrounded by his chakra, he pushed it all out. Once he felt it was all out, he waited. And waited. And waited. Soon, it was apparent that nothing would happen.
"Hn, you couldn't even make any smoke, Loser," mocked Sasuke.
"That's just because I have more chakra. I can't control it as well as you can, you Bastard," defended Naruto.
"Now, now, it doesn't matter who can do what now. This isn't a competition, it's learning something that could save your lives," berated Kakashi, though it was still with his lackadaisical manner. With that, the two Genin began trying to do the jutsu repeatedly, though Sasuke had to stop after some time as his reserves were getting low.
~~~Two Hours Later~~~
"Hooray! I got it! I got it," shouted Naruto happily. And it was true, as right across from him was an exact replica of him. It was him in every physical aspect, all the way down to the unique iris of Naruto's, and now the clone's, eyes.
"Damn, you already learned it," asked Sasuke in disbelief as he was currently resting against a tree.
"Of course I did, Bastard, I'm awesome," exclaimed the blonde.
"Very good, Naruto. How is your chakra doing," asked Kakashi.
"It feels fine. I could create hundreds more," boasted the Jinchuriki.
"Hn. Yeah right. I highly doubt that," said the Uchiha, not believing his teammate.
"Well you shouldn't. I can do it, no problem," proclaimed Naruto.
"Then let's see you do it." Surprisingly, it was Kakashi that made the request.
"Fine, I will," spoke the Uzumaki. And he did just that. After making the required hand seals, he molded his chakra, and sent out clones. Soon, the clearing was filled with about 300 blondes.
"I told you I could do it, Bastard," stated the blondes, all speaking in sync.
Sasuke was speechless. He knew his friend had a lot of chakra due to his heritage and condition, but this was ridiculous. Even after two hours of practice, which was preceded by two hours of water walking, he still had enough chakra to make this many Shadow Clones. And they could all function normally. It was insane!
"Alright, Naruto. Enough showing off. And Sasuke, I think it's about time you get back to learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu," ordered Kakashi.
~~~2 Days Later~~~
Despite Sasuke being a prodigy, it took him another two days to master the Shadow Clone Jutsu as well as Naruto had due to his small chakra reserves. Well, small in comparison to Naruto. Even after the two days of practice, Sasuke could only make one clone that he could actually use to train with.
"I don't care if I can make hundreds, I'm only making one," stated an irate blonde.
"Naruto, think about this rationally. If you can cut the amount of time it takes to master something down to less than a day when otherwise it would have taken months, possibly even years, why wouldn't you take the opportunity," questioned a confused Kakashi. Usually his sensei's son would jump at the chance to master something so quickly. So why wasn't he now?
"If Sasuke can only make one to train with, then that's all I'm going to make. It wouldn't be fair if I used my insane amount of chakra to get a leg up on me. He wouldn't use his Sharingan like that," explained Naruto.
'So that's it. He doesn't want to leave his rival in the dust just because he has an advantage over him in the chakra department. It's quite noble, if not incredibly naive,' thought Kakashi. "Very well. I can't force you to use more Shadow Clones to train with."
"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get started on that new jutsu you're teaching us," spoke a relieved Naruto before walking away. His sensei had been hounding him about upping the amount of Clones he was using to train. Before Sasuke had mastered the technique, he did use about 20 clones to continue the Water Walking exercise to increase his chakra control. While Naruto's Clones were increasing his control, Naruto himself had some questions he had been wondering since they were told about the exercise.
~~Flashback~~
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, I have a question," stated Naruto, getting his teacher's attention.
"Yes, Naruto," came the reply.
"So you know how we can walk on walls and water," asked Naruto. With Kakashi's head nod, he continued, "Well I was wondering if it's possible to walk on air. It'd be kinda like water, since all water is is a bunch of molecules, as is air."
"That's quite an astute observation, Naruto. But sadly, no, ninjas can not walk on air. It requires much more chakra than even you have. I believe that only Tailed Beasts have enough chakra to attach themselves to the air. Though that's just speculation. I've never actually seen a Tailed Beast walk on air," explained Kakashi.
"Oh. Okay, sensei. Well I'll let you get back to your porn," spoke the blonde before walking away to continue training.
"Hey, it's adult literature, not porn. And why do I feel the need to explain myself to you," Kakashi wondered to himself.
~~End Flashback~~
Since then, the subject hadn't been brought up again, though Naruto vowed to ask the Nine-Tails about it if he ever met him. But until then, Naruto would continue to practice the jutsu he was currently working on. So, after going through the hand seals required, Naruto shouted out "Body Flicker Jutsu," and went up in smoke, only to appear in another plume of smoke five feet away.
Well, here's this. I finally finished it, despite the first third or so being written with last chapter. I didn't want you all to think that I would regularly put out 4000 word chapters. I'll probably stick with 2000 or so. Definitely not below 2000, though. I've actually been thinking about the walking on air thing for quite some time, but I never knew if it was possible. But, I just rewatched Road To Ninja, and the two Nine-Tails were running on air, so I figured only Tailed Beast could. Sorry if I'm going a bit slow with the training, I just wanted to get Sasuke and Naruto through learning the Shadow Clones, so now that that's done with, I'll probably have a time skip of about a month or so. Not quite sure yet. Well, that's it. Please Read and Review. Reviews are greatly appreciated.