Not long, my foot. (Sigh) Training take a lot more detail than I thought, and even then I don't think I covered everything. Anyways, hope you like the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Yay.
Chapter 3
Naruto woke up about five-thirty in the morning to the scream of his alarm clock. He groaned and slammed the snooze button. He lay there for a few seconds, trying to mentally chase away the last vestiges of sleep, and slowly got out of bed. 'Six in the morning. Why the hell did sensei have to do this? We're gonna be dead tired when we get there.'
The sun had begun to rise when Naruto headed out to the Training Ground at about fifteen minutes until six. He double-timed it to the location, taking several shortcuts through alleys and backstreets. He arrived about a minute left with both of his teammates waiting there for him. Neji was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, but he opened them when Naruto neared. TenTen was sitting on the ground with her back against a tree beside Neji, sleeping and even snoring lightly. Naruto considered scaring her, but crossed that out due to her almost unerring accuracy. She might hit something rather important.
The blonde walked over to the space between Neji and TenTen and sat, knowing it wouldn't be long until Guy would arrive. And he wasn't wrong. The man arrived at six on the dot, flashing his signature grin at them. "Hello, comrades! Today we shall use our Power of Youth and train until our heart gives up!"
TenTen snorted and looked up blearily at her sensei's words, and Naruto looked horrified. "I hope you don't actually mean that?" he asked.
"Of course not. But we will train until our legs give out!"
Neji snorted softly. 'Why does our sensei have to be an idiot?'
TenTen stood and yawned. "When do we start? I hope not now. It's too early."
"Of course we're going to start now, TenTen! It's the perfect time! Now, fifty laps around the village! Go!" The trio didn't budge, all choosing to look at Guy as if he had grown a second head.
"F-f-fifty!?" demanded TenTen, "Are you trying to kill us?" Naruto's mouth was hanging open and Neji scowled.
"That's a bit much, Guy-sensei! Give us like two or three or something! Not fifty! We're gonna die!" argued the blonde.
Guy seemed to consider his words, but then grinned at them. "But you gotta run before you can walk! Fifty laps, go!" They still didn't move a muscle. Guy kept his grin as he pulled out three jumpsuits and waggled his gigantic eyebrows. "If you don't, you will wear this for the rest of the day!" And in an instant, the three were gone.
Naruto swore as he tripped over a rock, and ahead of him, TenTen laughed. Neji's back was to him, but Naruto could feel disapproving waves rolling off of him. 'Damn it, I want to go faster, but then I'll tire out. If I tire out, then Guy-sensei will probably do something I'm scared of.' He weighed his options: either preserve his pride or energy. He choose the latter, optimistically thinking that Neji and TenTen would tire before he did.
And right he was. On about the fifth lap, he started to close in on TenTen, who by now was panting. On the next he passed her. Later on the tenth, he closed in on and overtook Neji. The blonde resisted the urge to throw insults over his shoulder at them as he did so. Eventually, about three hours later, Naruto finished with Neji behind about a quarter of a lap and TenTen a full lap.
He arrived at the clearing as he finished. Guy was waiting there, and the man grinned at the boy who was gasping for breath. "Walk it off." Naruto nodded and paced as he waited for his teammates. As he did so, he began to think about the other teams, the foremost in his mind being Team 6. He wondered if they passed the true Genin Exam. 'They probably did. They look like they can handle themselves.'
A rustle announced Neji's arrival, and the panting Hyuuga received the same advice from Guy that Naruto had been given. Neji simply chose to lean against a tree, his breathing slowing as he recovered. TenTen stumbled into the clearing about twenty minutes later and fell on her stomach to the ground. Guy moved to help her, but she growled at him. "That…was the…most exhausting…workout I've ever…gotten," she breathed, rolling over.
"And there's more!" said Guy enthusiastically, earning a terrified look from TenTen, a snort from Neji, and a sigh from Naruto.
"More!? Are you nuts or something?" shouted TenTen.
"Nope. One-hundred pushup, sit-ups, and pull-ups! Go!" Naruto reluctantly started the workout, and he was done about five minutes before his teammates. He fell from the tree from which he was doing pull-ups and collapsed into a heap. He groaned and pushed himself up.
"Never...again."
He fell back over and fell asleep. Neji finished soon after and smirked at the sleeping blonde. TenTen finished just after Neji and swore colorfully about her sore muscles. Her loud swears woke Naruto, and he cracked open an eye.
"What?" teased Naruto groggily, "Complaining like one of those fangirls, are you?"
TenTen glared at him. "If I had enough energy, I'd clobber you for that, but today I'll let it slide."
"Doubt you could touch me anyway," taunted Naruto, earning him a senbon in the arm. "OW! Dammit, that stings!" He stood and threw it back and missed. She poked her tongue out at him, and Naruto shook a fist threateningly at her.
"Now, now," soothed Guy, "We'll move on to the more specific training now."
"More of 'training'?" asked TenTen sarcastically.
Neji, however, asked, "What do you mean, 'specific'?" Instead of answering, Guy created two clones, solid ones by the shadow they created. One stood near Neij and other near TenTen.
"Each of you will be trained by my clones. Naruto, you will be with me."
Naruto
"So, sensei, what are you gonna do?" asked Naruto as his teammates walked off with their assigned clone.
"First, I want to analyze your fighting style thoroughly. I'll move on from there." Guy shifted into his combat stance and beckoned Naruto forward. Naruto nodded and crouched down with his forearms crossed in front of his face, his own invented and almost instinctual stance. Guy frowned slightly; that was an unusual stance. It was almost…feral.
Naruto exploded from the spot, charging the Jonin. Guy shifted his weight to his back leg in anticipation of a frontal attack as the blonde neared. He was right, mostly. Naruto jabbed at Guy's gut while simultaneously kicking from the side at the same place. Guy blocked the punch and sensed the kick, and crouched to dodge it. He swept Naruto's legs out from under him, and the blonde caught himself easily by landing on his hands and flipping backwards. He ran and tried to land a spinning kick on Guy, who caught his leg and threw him to the side. The Jonin grinned; for a kid with no official training, his taijutsu was crafty.
Naruto crashed into a tree, and he slowly stood. He frowned. The blonde was sorely tempted to use shadow clones, but knew inwardly that would be cheating even if Guy could take on an entire army. He rushed the Jonin again and, as he neared, dropped into a sliding kick intended to trip up the Jonin. It didn't work, of course; Guy simply stepped to the side to avoid it. As he slid by, however, Naruto pushed upward with his arms and attempted a kick much like the one he had landed on the Chunin in the Exams. Unfortunately, Guy was Jonin and a taijutsu specialist, and so he avoided the blow by tilting his head back slightly.
Naruto flipped away again and paused. This was a useless endeavor. Maybe Guy would allow weapons. Naruto had been dying to use an aspect of the Substitution Jutsu like it hadn't ever been used, and this fight might just allow him to do so. He took out two shuriken, and seeing no objection from Guy, he threw one. The Jonin stepped away from its path, and the shuriken embedded itself into a tree. Naruto threw the other, and then Guy lost track of things.
The man prepared to move out of the shuriken's way again, but then the shuriken wasn't there anymore, Naruto taking his place. The blonde roared as he jumped and kicked out, but Guy reacted quickly enough to dodge it. Then Naruto vanished for the second time, and Guy glanced around before a kick landed squarely on his back. Guy fell, but he rolled to safety as Naruto followed with a punch where he'd been.
Guy rose, and Naruto moved to rush Guy again, but he held up his hand. "That's enough. I've seen what you can do, and I'm impressed. Your tai could easily give an experienced Chunin trouble. There is no exact style to it, is there?" he inquired.
Naruto shook his head. "No. I just copy what I see and goes with what feels right. I just kinda make up moves as I go. I have a feeling that someone with real training could beat me in a no-jutsu spar." He scrunched his nose in dislike.
Guy grinned. "I take it you don't like to reserve to pure tai?"
"No. You saw the shuriken."
Guy nodded and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What jutsu do you know?"
"No much. Shadow Clone, Transformation, and Substitution, that's about it."
"I was going to ask you: How did you get ahold of an A-rank kinjutsu? The Forbidden Scroll is always locked up in the Hokage Tower."
Naruto went rigid. Damn. Even though he had known that people would eventually notice, he still was reluctant to explain. "Well, you see…" The blonde told the story of failing, seeing Kakashi and the odd clone, talking to Iruka, and then basically stealing restricted information. After he had finished, Naruto looked fearfully at Guy. "Please don't turn me in. I was just trying to pass," he pleaded.
Inwardly, Guy was impressed. This kid was good at infiltration. He smiled softly. "No, I'm not going to have you arrested, but I might inform the ANBU about the hidden copy. A copy of the Scroll of Sealing is outrageously illegal, but the library is usually secured very well."
"But I got in without doing anything!"
"Well, the man you transformed into is very well-known and trusted. It's not a surprise, really, but I want the copy of the Scroll of Sealing protected and protected very well."
"What else is in there?"
"You'll find out when you become a Jonin. What else do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Naruto grinned and created a clone.
He pointed to it. "Whisper a number into his ear." Guy frowned, but he muttered into the clone's ear, the original plugging his ears and closing his eyes. As soon as Guy had said his number, the clone dispelled, and Naruto shouted, "One thousand five hundred and seventy-six!" He opened his eyes and lowered his hands. "Is that right?"
Guy raised his brow. "Yes, it was. You know about the memory transfer ability. How?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, I was stuck in class one day, and I remembered that I'd left something at home. I went to the bathroom and created a clone to go get the thing, a pencil, I think. On the way, though, it took a wrong turn and hit a metal pole with its head." Naruto rubbed his forehead ruefully. "In class, I felt that hit, and I wondered why. After playing around with the clones, I found out that each one is like me and sends me their memories." He used the example he always used to explain why he liked the ability so much. "If ten clones fought you and I hung back, it'd still be the same as fighting you ten times. Am I right?"
"Yes, you're right," confirmed Guy, impressed with Naruto. "It's amazing that you noticed." Naruto grinned, flushing from the praise. "The Shadow Clone Jutsu was designed to be a reconnaissance jutsu, something to send ahead and scout. But the way you phrase it, it could be used for combat in ways besides overpowering the enemy with sheer number."
Naruto's grin grew. "That's fun, too. I can create a lot of these clones."
"And I can only create two or three. Your chakra reserves are huge compared to mine." Naruto flushed deeper red, and Guy moved on. "Moving on to your shuriken, I guess that you switch places with them to surprise your opponents?"
Naruto nodded. "Most people use Substitution Jutsu to get out of hairy situations, but I was thinking of how cool it'd be to be anywhere almost instantly with it. When I'm fighting, I could substitute behind the person and hit them from behind." He smacked his open palm. "They'd never know what hit 'em!"
Guy laughed. "You're crafty, I'll give you that." His face became thoughtful. "Now, about straightening up your fighting style...I could teach you my own style, Iron Fist, but you'd need dedication and lots of willpower."
Naruto puffed out his chest. "You think I ain't got that?"
"Do you have enough to put two hundred pounds of weights on?"
His entire body fell, and he ogled Guy. "Huh?"
"To be proficient with Iron Fist, it requires you to be strong and quick. The weights will help with that."
"You're gonna kill me!"
Guy waved his protests away. "No, I'm not." He began to draw something from his jacket. "Now, here are the weights..."
TenTen
TenTen and the clone walked off into a group of trees about a hundred feet away from the original, and the clone began, "Okay, I take it you're weapons specialist?"
"Yup."
"Alright, from what I saw from the fight, you are inaccurate with moving targets. Using blunted weapons because I am a clone, I want you to try to hit me."
TenTen snorted. "That so worked out yesterday." Even though she had trained with Naruto's clones the day before, Guy was much quicker and agile. She would be lucky to even graze him. She quickly threw three senbon in his direction who sidestepped them. The clone leaped in the air and onto the trunk of a tree. He then started to jump to each tree trunk, never staying on it longer than a second. TenTen continued to launch senbon at him, but they would hit the trunk the clone had landed previously.
'I need to track him. Predict and then lead a senbon to the spot he'll land next.' She calmed her breathing and followed the blurring clone with her eyes. Slowly, the pattern began to show, and the clone seemed to slow as she reached for a senbon. She led the clone, predicted his next move, and threw the senbon.
With a knock, it hit a spot about an inch away from the clone. 'Damn! So close!' She calmed again and analyzed the pattern again. 'A little bit faster than what I thought. A few minor adjustments.' She repeated the process of leading, predicting, and throwing the senbon. This time, it hit the clone in the shoulder, causing he to loose balance and fall from the tree. He fell perfectly to the ground and grinned at TenTen.
"Good shot! But you have to keep at it! We're going to go at this until the aiming process is instinctual."
"That takes weeks!" she argued.
"I have a feeling that it may only take a few days." With that, the clone was bouncing off tree trunks again with TenTen hitting it every two attempts. After about an hour and a half, the clone jumped back to the ground. "Well done. Your accuracy has improved." TenTen grinned at the clone. During the last thirty minutes, she had been hitting the clone about nine out of ten times; she even surprised herself by her rapid improvement.
"Now let's move on to-,"
"Erm, sensei?" There was something she want to know, a weapon that she had always wanted to learn to use but no one could ever teach her. Now, under the tutelage of a combat master, she might have a chance, but she wasn't entirely sure he knew anything about the weapon. He was the right person to ask, though.
"Yes, TenTen?"
"Do you know anything about the bo staff?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, I want to be a weapons master, and to be that I have to know about all weapons and how to fight with them. I thought that the ones that are close to taijutsu might be easier to start with." She fiddled with her feet. "Well, do you know anything?"
The clone nodded. "The original knows how to fight using a bo staff, and therefore so do I. I was planning on improving on your taijutsu, but using weapons is just fine. Though you might want to find someone else for the more complicated weapons. I know only how to use tonfas and the bo staff."
"Alright!" She pulled out a scroll and unsealed a staff about five and a half feet long which she grabbed and held it touching the ground at a perpendicular angle.
The clone nodded to himself. "That's the at-ease stance, meaning you don't wish to attack. What else do you know?"
"I don't know anything else. It just comes naturally," she replied, shifting her grip on the staff. She now held it in both hands parallel to the ground.
"That's the combat stance," said the clone, tapping his chin. He seemed to ponder something before taking off its leg warmers. He pulled out black cylinders which the clone linked together to make a staff about six and a half feet long. Then he adopted the same stance TenTen was in. "I'm interested if you can defend yourself using the bo staff without any training." It grinned. "In short, bring it on."
She grinned back and swung with the staff, extending her reach by letting with one hand and reaching her arm as far as she could. The clone blocked it and attempted to disarm TenTen by using her weakened grip to his advantage, but she had already made the full swing and brought the staff around to grab in both hands. The clone made a movement for an overhead strike, and TenTen prepared to block it only to be lightly tapped in the side by him. "If this had been real, you would have been thrown sideways and several of your organs would've been ruptured," said the clone, shifting back into the combat stance as did TenTen.
She jabbed with the right side of her staff, which he blocked, and tried a sweeping motion at the clone only for him to jump over her staff and tap his staff on her head. "Dead." She growled in the back of her throat and then jumped to imitate the clone's move. The strike was blocked easily, but she followed up with two alternating jabs, the last of which grazed the clone's side. "Hey now! If you destroy me, the original will be hard-pressed to make another clone!"
"Sorry, but not really." She swung one-handed again, and this time the clone disarmed her with a well-placed smack on the staff. Her staff clattered to the ground, and the clone placed his foot on it.
"That move you used is powerful, but very risky. As you see, your grip is weakened, opening yourself up to disarming. Though if you do manage to hit, the results can be serious for the opponent," pointed out the clone, kicking TenTen's staff back to her. "I admit your skill with the staff is advanced for someone with no experience with the staff. You could take down a few bandits if needed, but we're still going to train."
TenTen picked up the staff and held at-ease. "So what are we going to do first?"
"Well, since you have the stances down, I might show a few complicated moves like…"
Neji
The two walked into another nearby clearing, and the clone turned to face Neji. "Alright, now we're going to start by-,"
"Sensei, I want to ask a question," cut in Neji.
The clone frowned. "Yes?"
"I am a Hyuuga. How exactly can you give me specific training when you cannot perform Gentle Fist techniques yourself?"
It sighed. The original had been expecting this. "I am a taijutsu expert. Even though I don't have the Byakugan-," this earned him a surprised look from Neji, "Yes, I know about the Hyuuga Kekkei Genkai, and even though I don't have it, I can still learn what the stances are and how the style is supposed to be used. I simply cannot utilize it to its full purpose. Now, for actual in-depth training, I would consult an actual Hyuuga, but you have to do that on your own time. I will simply keep your skills sharp during our personal training."
The clone shifted into a fighting stance. "Now, I want to measure your skill at Gentle Fist. From yesterday, I can see that you are proficient, but now is the time to make a more detailed analysis." Neji nodded and adopted his stance: weight focused on the right foot which was in front of the left, right arm full extended in front of him with fingers and palm skyward, left arm bent with the hand tucked near the waist parallel with the ground, and both legs bent slightly.
"And one more thing," piped up the clone, "Don't use chakra in your strikes, and try not to hit me that hard. I'll dispel if you do." The Hyuuga nodded and closed his eyes. After a second, they whipped open with veins popping out around them and a faint pupil developing in the center of each eye. The Byakugan.
Neji darted towards the clone and performed a series of quick jabs with paired index and middle fingers, all of which were dodged. He tried to follow up with a quick kick and a palm strike to the chest, but the clone simply seemed to dance out of the way. Neji narrowed his eyes but continued to jab at the clone, making no progress whatsoever. 'This is pointless,' thought Neji after five full minutes of hitting nothing but air. The clone was simply too quick. Knowing to at least land a single blow, Neji focused chakra to his right foot to ready himself.
When the clone backed away, the Hyuuga released the stored chakra, causing him to bolt forward and take it by surprise. He focused his Byakugan on the clone and saw its chakra network. "Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!" shouted Neji, striking the clone.
"Two!"
"Four!"
"Eight!"
"Sixteen!"
"Thirty-two palms!" The clone slid back slightly but did not dispel as Neji had not injected chakra into its system or had hit hard enough. It smirked at the Hyuuga and settled back into its stance. Neji kept his face blank as he backed away, moving back into Gentle Fist. The two slowly circled each other, waiting for other to attack.
The clone broke the circle by charging Neji, fists at the ready. Neji shifted his weight to his left foot to intercept the strikes. The clone threw several jabs and hooks at the Hyuuga, but each were deflected by Neji's palm. After a rather powerful left hook which rattled Neji slightly, it seemed to lose its balance. He smirked as he lightly hit the clone's chest. The clone flipped backward and clutched the spot that had been hit.
"Alright. Fight over," said the clone. Neji relaxed and stood straight.
"Well?" he asked.
"I can see why they call you a prodigy. Able to master the stepping stone for Sixty-Four Palms at such an age…impressive. Give it ten years, and you might equal Hiashi-sama."
Neji's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Hyuuga patriarch, but he said nothing. 'It is by luck that I learned that. The Main Family doesn't share its secrets with us lowly Side members,' he thought venomously. 'If I'm caught…'
"Well," said the clone, disrupting Neji's thoughts, "Your form is near-flawless, but I saw a few things out of place. Mind you, I might not be able to fix them, but I'll do my best. Okay, assume the stance again…"
The entire team regrouped after about three hours. Naruto was panting; he had mastered the stance for Iron Fist, but the style of fighting was exhausting to keep up even for a stamina monster like him. Both Neji and TenTen were breathing lightly. Guy's clone had pointed out errors in the Hyuuga's form which the prodigy had easily corrected. TenTen had picked up the staff techniques naturally, but the clone still bested her as she had several bruises to show for it.
"Alright, team!" began Guy after dispelling the clones, "Same time, same place tomorrow!" Neji and TenTen nodded and walked off, leaving Naruto behind.
The blonde opened his mouth to ask something but was cut off by "GUY-SENSEI!"
'Hell.' Lee landed in front of the blonde with his back to him and saluted the Jonin. He must have passed the second test to be in such a dapper mood.
"Reporting, sir!"
"How did your training go?"
"Anko-sensei had us fight against her summon as a team, and then she made clones which tutored us individually!" The boy pulled from his waist holster a pair of spiked knuckles. "Anko-sensei said that this would not stop my development in taijutsu, but instead augment it!" Guy nodded, liking the Snake Mistress's approach.
Naruto frowned. 'She uses clones to train her students too? I guess it lets the sensei be in more than one place, but the students have to be careful.'
"That's good, Lee," said Guy, breaking Naruto's concentration, "Now let's-,"
"Umm, Guy-sensei?" interrupted Naruto. Both turned to look at the blonde. "I was going to ask if you could give me extra training, but if you're doing something-,"
"Nonsense! I can train you and Lee at the same time, but," he pulled out a green jumpsuit, "You have to wear this!" He waved it merrily.
"C'mon, sensei! What's with the jumpsuit? It's ridiculous!"
"It is not ridiculous!" argued Lee, "It is the representation of our power and spirit!"
"Riiight. A tight green jumpsuit." The blonde rolled his eyes. "Look, sensei, I want to train with you, but if you threaten me with that thing I'll have to forget the whole thing."
Guy sighed and put the suit away. "Alright. At least I have two pupils instead of one. I can finally show you the Power of Youth!"
"And you won't threaten to brainwash me," said Naruto flatly, and Guy's shoulders slumped.
It was sunset when the training was finished, and Naruto lay on the ground, huffing. 'God. Those two don't play games.' He rubbed several bruises and scrapes. 'Both can fight forever it seems like, and no matter how hard they hit each other, not one bone breaks! Hell, I was kicked by Lee and nearly broke a couple of ribs.'
He sat up painfully, and Lee, who stood off to his right, offered him a hand. "Thanks, Lee," thanked Naruto as he stood.
Lee gave him a puzzled look. "How do you know my name?" They hadn't introduced themselves at the first of the training.
Naruto blinked but replied without hesitation, "Guy-sensei said your name just after you told him about your training and before we started training." He shrugged noncommittally. "I pick up on those kinds of things."
"Oh. Well, what is your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Pleasure to meet you, Naruto-san."
"Likewise." A thought occurred to the blonde. "Hey, Lee. Do you know any ninjutsu?"
"I do not. I am not capable of performing the simplest of jutsu."
"What? How'd you pass the Exams?"
"They altered it for me. I was instead given a more difficult taijutsu portion in place of ninjutsu."
"That's…different." 'It's really gonna be hard for him to get to higher ninja ranks. All shinobi have to know at least one jutsu. It's always been like that, but maybe he can change that,' thought Naruto. He rolled his sore neck and waved goodbye as he walked back toward the village. 'Good God, I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Plus I've got these weights on. Damn.'
He turned a corner and smelled ramen, the aroma coming from Ichiraku. The small stand had always been his favorite and still was. He parted the flaps and sat down wearily, not even noticing his neighbor.
"Hey, Naruto. How'd your first real day of training go?" asked Iruka, causing Naruto to jump.
The blonde glared at the Chunin. "There were two tests. I never heard of the second."
With a smile, he replied, "'A shinobi must expect the unexpected.'"
"I hate sayings sometimes," remarked Naruto, setting his head on the table.
Ayame came to where he sat. "Hey, Naruto-kun! The usual?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Ayame-nee."
Ayame looked at Iruka, who ordered a miso ramen.
After a minute, Naruto said, "And to answer your question, it was exhausting. Guy-sensei is teaching me Iron Fist, and I probably just trained about twelve hours with only one break. Tomorrow is going to be the same, I guess." He sighed and put his arms underneath his head.
Ayame came to their spot with the food and put it down in front of them. She looked worriedly at the blonde. "Naruto-kun? You alright?" He muttered something unintelligible, and Iruka nudged him.
"Hey, the food's here." Naruto sat bolt-straight and blinked dizzily before laying his eyes on the ramen in front of him. Taking a pair of chopsticks, he dove into the bowl. Iruka chuckled. "He'll be okay. Just a bit tired I think." Ayame giggled and went off to take the orders of other customers.
Iruka started to eat his own ramen bowl, but was rudely interrupted by, "Hey! Can you make about ten more bowls?" Iruka raised an eyebrow at the blonde who grinned at him. "I'm feeling better with food in me!"
"Obviously." Soon, three bowls were set in front of Naruto, who swiftly devoured all of them.
Iruka shook his head. "I don't know how you grow so much yet eat only ramen."
"Beats me," Naruto managed through a mouthful of ramen. "I really like being tall though. I'm no longer a midget."
"You're still short to me," teased Iruka.
"That's gonna change in a few years." They laughed and then ate in silence until Iruka finished his one bowl and Naruto his ten. The blonde leaned back and sighed comfortably as he finished. "That was good."
Iruka nodded. "So," he began, "Guy's teaching you Iron Fist, hmm?"
"Yeah. I don't really have a style of fighting to go to, and Guy-sensei wants to change that. He nearly made me wear that God-forsaken jumpsuit." He shivered. "I talked him out of it."
"That would've been quite a sight," commented the Chunin, amused.
"If you had laughed…" Naruto shook his fist at him, and Iruka chuckled.
"Do you know what he's doing with your teammates?"
"No. He made shadow clones and taught the others separately."
Iruka frowned. "That's strange. My Jonin sensei taught my squad all together. We all learned the same thing-,"
"Really? The other team that passed is using shadow clones as well. Is it because we've all got our own thing to learn?"
Iruka frowned as he considered it. "That's a possibility," he agreed. "I'd look into it if I had time. Who are your teammates?" he asked curiously.
"Neji Hyuuga and TenTen Jinta."
"Ah. The prodigy and weapons girl. I've heard about them."
"The prodigy? That explains everything…" Naruto trailed off, mumbling. Iruka frowned but decided not to ask. A few minutes later, the blonde asked, "What did you learn as a Genin?"
"Eh…jutsu."
The blonde snorted. "Nah, you learned how to knit and how to bake a cake," he said sarcastically.
"I really can't remember…wait, I learned echolocation."
Naruto deadpanned at this. "You gotta be kidding."
"Nope. Out of the three of us, I was the only one to pick it up successfully."
"Your parents named you right, looks like." Iruka stiffened slightly at the mention of his parents, and Naruto noticed it. "What?"
"It's-it's nothing." Naruto frowned but decided not to pursue the subject; it was sensitive to the man. The mood was tense until Teuchi came around and announced it was closing time. The two exited the stand after paying, and the blonde turned to face Iruka.
"Do you think we could meet here every day?" he asked. "It's been nice talking with you."
Iruka shrugged. "Depends. Sometimes my teaching duties are hectic, but I could be here by…," he furrowed his brow, " seven or seven-thirty. But if I don't show, it's just because of my job." He yawned.
"So yeah?"
"Yeah."
With that, Naruto grinned. "Be seeing you tomorrow!" He was off in an instant. Iruka chuckled. That kid had too much energy.
Well, that's done. For those who don't know, the last chapter was edited. The last part was changed, and that's about it. If Guy was a bit off, oh well, he needed to be a bit more serious. As for the clone training, Naruto hasn't thought about using it for training yet. And he won't. Someone will tell him.
EDIT (1/8/15): OK, changed a few things with Naruto and TenTen. Again, made them like their later selves.
Toodles.