Day three
Naruto came into consciousness and laid there. Slowly, his hand came up to feel his face.
'Was that a dream? Some artifact from the shadow clone training?'
He pulled the chakra in his body to a same feeling as when he made cross shaped hand sign and thought, 'Kage bushin no justu.'
A shadow with the Fox mask appeared and left out the window and another went off to tend to his chores.
Naruto sat at the table flipping a pencil in his hand staring at the blank page of his journal.
'Large groups of clones may give the user another perspective…command. No, just a dream.'
He slammed the book shut and pushed it away to stare out of the window, before a bowl of cereal slid in front of him.
"Eat", the shadow said commandingly. "You're in the only body we have. I'll take care of the ninja registration and the rest of the house work, and you go do the strength exercises and running."
"No. I'll do the registration and then the exercises. I want to see jiji." Naruto said between bites.
"What's the difference? You'll see him tonight when I return to you." Said the shadow cleaning the dishes.
"No, it's not the same. I'm not truly in control, it's an illusion. I'm not going to be arguing with myself tonight. At first I thought it was me making the decisions and moving but I realized it's not the same. I'm really a passenger. Why are you even arguing with me?" Naruto finished with a skeptical look on his face.
"Mahhh, don't start being paranoid, I'm just doing what I was supposed to do. Take care of everything so you can train our body."
"Well while you're at it, see if there is some way to stop your memories from coming back to me, at least the ones that aren't important. I'll be the one to see Jiji." Naruto said after drinking the rest of his milk from the bowl.
Minutes later he was standing in front of the Hokage delivering his ninja registration with a low bow.
"Hokage – sama"
Iruka sat looking at Naruto with a strange face, but before he could speak the hokage cut him off.
"Iruka, if you could give us a moment." And the hokage gave a small signal.
Naruto felt presences, he didn't realize where there, vanish, as Iruka left the room with a parting pat on the shoulder.
When the door shut Naruto closed his eyes tightly, 'where do I start, what do I tell him?'
After a beat the Hokage spoke, "How long has it been?"
Naruto's eyes flew open widely and tears came unbidden, "I don't know." His voice breaking he continued, "I make five in the morning, one to read and take lessons at the "Art of brush", one to spar with, uh Uchiha Sasuke, and the other three work on different chakra control exercises, kinda. Each of those make around 100 clones for the day, give or take."
The Hokage held his breath for a moment, showing no outward sign of his shock, 'That's at least a year a day.'
"How are you coping?"
"It's difficult to deal with, when all the memories come in. Days straight of training over and over, without stop starts to feel like…"
"Torture." The Hokage supplied. "Your healing ability isn't the only reason I thought you'd be the first to master this justu. Your indomitable attitude and sheer force of will was why I put my faith in you Naruto. That being said, have your shadows do something enjoyable at the end of their training so that you can have some time off between memories."
Naruto stood shocked before jumping at the Hokage embracing him in a hug. "Thank you Jiji." Came a low trembling voice. Naruto stayed there for a moment, reveling in the one form of human contact he was afforded, 'I love you Jiji.'
Then he pulled back suddenly, "But, what should I do?"
The Hokage threw back his head and laughed a deep belly laugh, "That's for you to decide Naruto. I'm proud of you. You've devoted a great deal of time to studies and you knew to come to me when you needed advice. A mark of a strong person is knowing when they need help."
Naruto smiled rubbing the back of his head, "Thanks jiji."
"Iruka." He called, and the presences Naruto had felt earlier reappeared, as the door opened.
"Hokage – sama", Iruka called wearily, stepping into the doorway.
"Please take Naruto to get some proper Ninja clothing and out for some ramen, on me." The hokage replied with a smile.
"Naruto looked down at his clothes, remembering a passage from a book describing the proper shinobi attire, then looked to the Hokage and bowed, "Thank you Hokage – sama."
He whispered, "Kage bushin", and another shadow appeared in a fox mask and black shinobi garb. It bowed to the Hokage, then nodded to the original, before taking off out of the window.
An hour later found Naruto sitting at Ichiraku ramen. He was wearing Black pants, taped at the bottom, and a dark blue vest over a mesh under shirt. His arm guards rested on the counter as he devoured his fifth bowl in silence. Iruka had been surprised when he'd picked out the outfit, without defending his beloved orange jump suit. Naruto had simply dumped it in the garbage, out back, before they made their way to ramen stand. Naruto had been quiet and polite the entire time, and he was starting to wonder what was happening to his favorite student.
"I've been training with that Justu and that's all I can say Iruka – sensei. That, and I'm getting stronger." Naruto said putting his bowl down and giving a nod and a grin to Teuchi.
Naruto turned to Iruka and gazed at him. 'How long will it be before I see him again? I shouldn't worry him.'
"Iruka – sensei, I have four more days to become a true shinobi. I'm reading, exercising, working hard on my chakra control, and bringing myself into the correct mind set of a ninja. My old self just wasn't quite cut out to be a shinobi and I'm fixing that now." Naruto finished turning his hard gaze into a wide smile. "Believe it."
Soon Naruto was running along the perimeter of the village, sweat sliding off of his brow. "Never give up, never give up, never give up." A shadow clone appeared ahead and he slowed down to a stop. "I need more charka to work on the Shunshin."
Naruto plopped on the ground, panting slightly, "Did you work on our carving?"
"Yes, and while it was refreshing, we'll have to spent more time to make up for those hours." The shadow replied.
"Well, I already gave some to… uh, another shadow. I'm not sure if it's safe to give out much more." Naruto said, laying back on the ground. "Who's working on the seal – less kawarimi?"
"It's done. Now we're moving on the Shunshin seal – less."
"Wow. Well, let me try to put some more out." Naurto said, sitting up into a cross legged position.
He felt for his charka, 'Seems low, but I don't really need chakra to run right? There was a mention of chakra exhaustion in one of those books but I've never experienced it. Maybe it's another bonus of having the Fox stuck inside me. Maybe I can tap into its power, like a never ending battery. It's got to have a huge amount of chakra.' He thought excitedly.
He looked up at the shadow with a devilish smirk, "You ready?"
The fox masked ninja paused for a moment, then nodded, spreading his feet apart, as if to brace himself.
Naruto closed his eyes and was immediately able to feel the connection between him and his clone. He reached deep thinking about the fox and pulled as hard as he could on his chakra. Deep inside him he felt the churning, liquid fire, agitate.
He was then sitting in water and the sensation was gone. He looked around to see a tunnel. Pipes heading in every direction around him, some glowing a faint cool blue, while a few seemed mixed with a red, to give off a turbulent purple.
A rumble sounded in the distance and he looked down the corridor. 'This must be some type of interface with my seal. Did I break something? Maybe I have to ask the Fox to use his chakra.'
He took a few steps and thinking about where the Fox might be and suddenly he was walking into a large space. The room seemed as large as half of Konoha, with a seemingly no ceiling. Huge cast iron bars stretched up into the darkness in the distance.
'There.' He thought
He began walking to cover the distance, feeling a sense of timelessness, like when he was watching his shadows. Soon he was standing in front of the gates, a paper strip with the kanji seal on it in place of a lock.
'Seems…what's the word? Ahh yes, inadequate.'
He could feel an immense presence in front of him. An ocean of power, more vast than he could associate with anything he knew. An eye, as large as a house slid open. A deep red iris with a slit pupil gazed into him.
A low rumble vibrated the air, "Why are you here?"
"I need your chakra." He spoke after a moment.
The eye closed and the rustling of something massive could be heard. A foxes head as large as one of the heads on the mountain turned into the light. Both eyes bore into him. He wanted to run, everything told him to run. His death was near. He was nothing, an insect awaiting the hand to fall. The hot breath pushed him back, feet sliding along the floor, his eyes squinting through the gale. His heart pounded in his chest.
'never give up, never give up, never give up.' Started chanting in his mind. He could feel his shadow still connected to him faintly, and it fortified his resolve. He tightened his fist by his side and held firm, encircled by a tangible hate, a desire for his own death, the intent to wipe him from existence like thick syrup surrounding him. He tried breathing it, blinking it away from his eyes.
'Never give up, never give up, never give up.' After a time the pressure eased up and he slowly drew breathe he'd not known had been caught in his throat.
A low guttural growl smoothed into a deep voice, "And what do you offer, mortal."
This was it, his chance to bargain with the demon. 'What can I give an immortal chakra demon, imprisoned inside me?'
He closed his eyes to think, and the silence stretched on. The evil presence and feeling of death had vanished and the Fox sat silently, save for its hot breath. A constant reminder if the pending question.
"What happens to you when I die?" He asked quietly
"I go free." Came the low silky voice of the demon in a slowly articulated fashion.
'He's lying.'
After what felt like hours, "Freedom… of a sort."
Kyuubi's eyes narrowed, but remained silent.
"I could transfer some of your consciousness into a shadow clone, and you'd be able to walk freely, as long as you didn't cause trouble." Naruto continued.
The demon smiled slyly and the rumbling voice vibrated Naruto's body with the same excitement the voice carried, "Do it."
Suddenly sitting back in the clearing next to the wall, Naruto's chakra coils ached with pressure and hot fire. The Shadow was already backing away, knees trembling with fear.
'Now?' He thought as his body felt like fire, painfully frozen in dance, waiting to burst free and whip out its heat.
'Kage bushin no-', he stopped, gritting his teeth from the rising hatred that swelled in his heart.
He looked at his shadow, now on the ground crawling away backwards, ass dragging under him.
"You, help. Make as many clones as possible as I give you chakra, but keep the fox's chakra separate from your own." Naruto cursed the mask that hid the shadows face from him, until the shadow stood and formed the hand seal. Naruto let slip a fraction of the chakra, the connection becoming a visible beam of energy, bright as the sun, and thin as thread.
A few hundred shadows appeared, the original shadow spreading his feet, crouching and attempting to form the perfect stance for the jutsu.
Another beam, a muffled grunt from the shadow, and a few hundred more shadows appeared.
Naruto felt for a piece of the fox, for its essence beyond the chakra and thought, 'Kage Kyuubi.'
A final beam and the shadow clone screamed between clenched teeth, "Taju…. Kage….bushin… no…..Justu!"
Shadows filled the clearing in every direction.
Silence reigned for a moment, before the sound of a body hitting the ground echoed throughout the area.
Shadow
The day had been going well. He'd made around 100 clones in a nice training ground he'd been using and meditated on them. He could feel them and their focus on the Kawarimi. The jutsu, like brief flashes of light in a sea of simmering darkness. As they continued he began to hear the whispers. So faint, at first, he thought it might be his imagination, but after several hours, he could truly hear it. Excitement washed them into static and frustration whited out his sense of them altogether.
'Shit.' He thought.
He tried again, with a deep breath to blow out his frustration. After a moment his shoulder was tapped and his anger boiled over. He jumped up lashing out with an upper cut. The memory from training had come back to him and he suddenly felt hot shame on his neck, and turned away as if to avoid his failure. The shadows he'd created were almost out of chakra and wanted to get to work on carving, the hobby he'd settled on after receiving his updated orders. It seemed as though some of the shadows had managed to perform the jutsu without seals, so once the original had the combined memories he'd have the skill.
'Have to try again', he thought. He looked up to see some of them still staring at him, and he looked away.
"Carve until you expire. I'm going to get more chakra, and we can start working on trying the Shunshin." He said and began to walk away, to intercept the path of the original's chakra.
When he found the original, he was running slowly next to the wall surrounding the village. After partially explaining the reason for his request, for additional chakra, the original readied himself to pull out the charka.
"You ready", the original asked.
The shadow paused for a moment collecting his focus and widening his stance.
And then the feeling came like a tsunami of hatred spread over him. The original's presence became smothered in an over whelming surge of power. His knees began to buckle and he started stepping back away from it. They finally gave out and he continued his retreat, dragging his ass backwards away from the red mass of chakra. And then, He'd asked for help. The pleading look in his eyes froze him in his place
'My eyes', the shadow thought for a moment.
Nodding to the original, he got back to his feet. Then he was funneling the hot beam of chakra into clones, focusing on calm acceptance. Another beam was shot, though, with much more force, and he realized there was still more chakra to come. Quickly getting in his stance he focused everything he had into his jutsu. Then, like a snake, an oily presence passed through him. A darkness without end spilled out of him, into one of the clones in the distance, being formed.
'What had he done?'
And it was over. The original had fallen and an uncountable number of clones had been formed. The presence of the fox still hung faintly in air as an ANBU arrived on the wall, overlooking the area. The shadows started looking around and the tension began to spike.
"What are you looking at asshole?" Barked one of the shadows to the ANBU.
"Yeah, what… the fuck… are you looking at?" Another shadow yelled, emphasizing each phrase with a tilt to his head. The ANBU shifted readying a kunai and the damn broke. Shadows came up the wall like a black tide. The ANBU tossed a kunai into the surge and an explosion dispersed a large group of the attackers into a cloud of smoke. A sea of kunai appeared through the chakra smoke and the ANBU could sense the chakra signature of the shadow's shunshins in time to dash 50 meters along the wall, sending another kunai, explosion tag fluttering behind it. A moment after the kunai's release from his hand, a clone kawarimi'd with it, throwing a punch to his face. He ducked the punch and sent a quick jab to the clone's stomach, dispersing it. An explosion sounded off in the distance. He spun around and tripped the clone that had come from behind him, and punted him from the wall. Another quick jab, a jump over another attempting to tackle him and he was running down the wall.
'Requesting additional back up. An army of shadow clones have appeared by the north wall and I'm engaging.'
He back handed the clone that had rushed him, ducked under the kick another sent at him, to be horrified when the clone was replaced with one kicking up into his chin. He kicked it away into smoke and narrowly dodged several kunai, half of which turned into shadows launching their own kunai, point blank. He replaced himself with a clone creeping over the ledge of the wall and desperately back flipped way from the barrage of steel, clips of concrete pelting him in the face.
The hoard of shadows spilled over the ledge of the wall, cocking back to let lose another volley of kunai. This time, each of the clones was pelted with several with shuriken from a squad of five ANBU that had appeared from his flank.
The original shadow waded through the mass of clones, looking and feeling for the Kyuubi. A flash of red in his peripheral alerted him to a fox sneaking away from the battle. He jumped up to the building next to the alley the fox had traveled. He dashed to the edge of the building to be greeted with an empty street, fox nowhere to be seen.
"Stupid child. This is what happens when you do not trust me. Had you put all of my chakra into one clone, this would not have happened."
The shadow spun around to see the Fox sitting behind him, tail listlessly slapping the ground.
The shadow held his tongue, knowing that this was most likely true, though what the fox would do with all of that power would pale in comparison to an army of genin ninja. Several more explosions sounded in the distance and a glance around showed numerous ninja rushing to engage the enemy.
"Listen now child, and know that I will do nothing to risk this small freedom you've granted me. I will lend you a small fraction of my chakra, but you must mix it with your own before making clones. If this happens again we will both be prisoners and the first bit of freedom I've tasted in close to 100 years will be gone. Now leave me be, to enjoy my freedom for the time it lasts."
The fox made to leave, but paused at the shadow's words.
"Outside the village."
The fox turned to look at the boy with what could be a questioning look.
"If you are not with me, you need to be outside the village. And if I hear of any foxes mauling people or missing persons our deal is off."
The fox barked a laugh and made towards the wall. "As you wish, warden."
A/N: This might be pushing the bounds of good taste, but I'm not going to get too carried away. And, because I dislike when authors explain their story afterwards, I'm not going to do it. Unless you ask, then I'll probably PM you, because you are awesome (reading my story). Thanks for letting me entertain you, and for your outstanding feedback. I hope you enjoyed it.