Disclaimer: Ayame and Sasame are mine. The rest of this isn't.

Last time: Tenten goes looking for a teacher and manages to convince Naruto to be the one.

This time: Training.

"Hey Old Man, give me another miso will you?" Naruto shouted to which the elderly man who ran Ichiraku Ramen just laughed.

"Sure thing, Naruto," He said with a hearty laugh. "One miso Ramen coming right up."

Naruto didn't seem to hear him as he slurped up the last few noodles and broth in his current serving and put the now-empty bowl on top of the teetering stack that he had already gotten.

Ayame looked back at the blond genin with a fond smile from her place at the steaming woks. "It's nice to see that you haven't lost your love of ramen, Naruto-kun," she said.

"Why would I?" He asked as his eyes lit up as Ichiraku set another bowl in front of him. Now he dug in, devouring the steaming noodles like a ravenous vulture. "I haven't had decent ramen in almost five years!" How the blond Jinchuuriki was able to even speak a coherent sentence was a feat in and of itself, because his whiskered cheeks were bulging like a chipmunk's.

Next to him, Tenten could only stare as the man next to her continued to eat at a pace that made her wonder if the bowl would follow. Sure she'd heard the legends of Naruto eating half his body weight in noodles and broth, but never had she seen it. Iruka-sensei and Sakura-chan had told her many a horror story but the weapons mistress had just laughed it off as an exaggeration. Oh how wrong she was.

Ayame caught her unbelieving look and laughed gently. "You've never been to lunch with Naruto, have you?" It was more of a statement than a question. You could always tell who'd seen Naruto's ravenous appetite for ramen and who hadn't. Tenten shook her head mutely. She finally got her chopsticks to her mouth to start eating. Truth be told though, she was having a tough time with Naruto's racket happening right next to her. The kunoichi vowed to drag the blond somewhere else once and a while, even if she had to do it at kunai-point.

Old man Ichiraku laughed again. "Naruto here has been our main source of income ever since he was a kid. He was always emptying Iruka-san's wallet, and even managed to make Sandaime-sama a poor man every once and a while."

Naruto finished off his latest bowl with obvious relish and slammed the empty dish down on the wood counter with a happy burp. "Ah, man! Great as ever!" He stood from the stool he'd been perched on and reached into a pocket to pull out a wallet that was filled to bursting with ryo notes. The blond laid out the appropriate amount for him and for Tenten, then the two left, heading for the training ground, Naruto's cloak swinging onto his shoulders.

"Naruto," Tenten said, looking back at the stand with wonder in her brown eyes. "Just where did you get the money to pay for all that?"

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head. "How do you think I survived while I was gone? When I wasn't training I hired myself out as a mercenary before I joined up with the Sound and Snake-bastard." He shrugged. "It paid pretty well."

"But isn't that against Konoha's Shinobi Code?" Tenten asked, referring to the code that governed shinobi behavior in the village and during missions.

"I was a missing-nin at the time, remember? The code didn't exactly apply to me and I had to eat somehow."

Tenten shrugged, unable to argue with that logic. Even missing-nin had to eat right? When they arrived at an intersection, Naruto, instead of heading for the training ground, turned the other way, heading towards the thickest part of Konoha.

"Uh, Naruto? Isn't the training ground the other way?" Tenten prodded, wondering what the blond was planning.

"Yep, but I need something first to help me train you."

"What?" Naruto just smiled and vaulted for the rooftops, forcing Tenten to either follow or get left behind. Soon enough, they arrived at an apartment complex. The blond jumped from one balcony to another before stopping at the top floor and perching on the rail farthest to the left.

Kakashi was sitting at his desk, filling out some paperwork that, like the jounin himself often was, was late. This was the most free time he'd had in a while, seeing as he'd told Moegi to get some rest in the day or so after the exams so they would be able to start fresh. A tapping at his window made the shinobi look up. He blinked his eye once or twice to make sure. Naruto was outside his sliding glass door, and his raised fist made it obvious that he was to one making the racket.

"Naruto? What is it?" Kakashi asked as he unbolted the door and slid it open so he could talk with the genin. "Shouldn't you be training?"

"I was, but Tenten asked me for some help with her jutsu, so I need some of that weird paper you had me use when you trained me."

'Naruto's training Tenten?' Kakashi thought, mildly surprised. 'That's odd. I thought those two barely knew each other. Oh well,' he grinned beneath his mask. 'One of my students is instructing one of Gai's. Point for me!' The lanky shinobi nodded and reached into a drawer in his desk, pulling out a sheet of blank paper, about the size of an index card.

Naruto thanked him and then vaulted over his railing to land on the ground, say something to the kunoichi waiting for him, and then both of them sprinted off. Hatake just scratched his hirai-ateless head, wondering how that kid had so much energy and went inside to finish his paperwork.

"Okay, so what is this again?" Tenten asked as she held the small sheet of parchment and looked at it with a bemused expression. How was this supposed to help with her training?

"Right, this paper will tell us what chakra type you are," Naruto said, having no problem explaining what it was one more time. Hell, he'd barely gotten it the first time he'd heard it. "You know how the elements and everything work for jutsu, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the same thing applies to people. We all have a type associated with our chakra. Take me for example. I'm a wind type, so I have an easier time with wind jutsu than most other people. This paper reacts in different ways, depending on which type you are."

Tenten just gave him a look that said 'Yeah right, tell me another one.' Naruto grinned at her expression. "If you don't believe me, then focus a little chakra into the paper." The kunoichi figured she had nothing to lose, so she closed her eyes and sent a burst of chakra into the paper.

"Well, that answers that." Naruto sounded satisfied, and when Tenten opened her eyes, she saw that the paper in her hand had gone limp and was dripping wet, as if she'd soaked it in a bowl of water. "Looks like you're a water type, Tenten-chan."

"So does this mean that I can only use water jutsu or something?"

Naruto's long blond hair whipped as he shook his head. "Nope. It just means that you have a special affinity for Suiton jutsu." His head tilted. "Besides, some shinobi have more than one affinity. You might find something else down the road."

"Do you have two affinities, Naruto?" Tenten asked.

"I might. I like to think that it's a fire affinity." Whether Naruto had a fire affinity or not didn't really matter. There was nothing else the Kyuubi could've been, not when even his chakra had a temperature all its own. The blond clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Now, show me what kind of jutsu you know. And I mean real jutsu, not ones of your own making." He added as Tenten reached for her scroll.

The weapons user scowled at him and muttered a reply, looking away with pink-tinged cheeks.

"Didn't catch that." Naruto said cheerfully. Tenten glowered at him and murmured a bit louder,

"Just the three basics."

"No way! Only those three!?"

Tenten nodded, the pink in her face darkening. "Well, that's okay. I'll blame Gai for his obsession with taijutsu and leave it at that. But this means we have a whole lot of leeway with you, which is good. I assume that you can use the Bunshin?"

"Yeah. Can't you?" She asked. Surely he could use the Bunshin jutsu if he could do Kage Bunshin

Naruto laughed. "Nope. Can't do a Bunshin no Jutsu if my life depended on it."

Tenten gawked. "But you can use Kage Bunshin…" She trailed off, knowing Naruto knew what she meant.

The blond genin grinned. "Here. Watch." He made a single hand seal. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was a puff and a clone appeared, but it was sprawled on the ground with its tongue lolling out, eyes swirling and the color was all faded, just as pathetic now as it had been during his Academy days. No one would be fooled by that, Tenten knew. Naruto's hands shifted to a cross-shape. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was an explosion and ten perfect Shadow Clones appeared. They vanished just as fast. "See?"

"I don't get it," Tenten said with a shake of her head.

"Neither do I," Naruto replied. "Now, I know you like to use weapons and a little taijutsu, so I think that the Kage Bunshin would be a perfect jutsu for you."

Tenten looked at him like he was insane. "Are you nuts?" She asked. "I can't do the Kage Bunshin!"

"Sure you can! I did it even before I graduated the Academy and I sucked!"

"But…"

Naruto cut her off before the kunoichi could protest further. "Look, a Kage Bunshin is more difficult, that much is true, but unlike a normal clone, they can attack and do damage, just like you or I can. And with all them weapons you like to use, you could, in theory, double the number you send at you enemy!"

Tenten had to admit, she liked the idea of doubling the amount of weapons she could send at her opponent. It would make her Twin Rising Dragons so much harder to dodge. Finally she nodded. "Alright, I guess we can work on the Kage Bunshin."

The blond shinobi across from her grinned and began showing her the hand seals for the technique, what its limits were and what not to do unless she wanted to end up dead. It was close to twenty minutes before Naruto stopped talking. "You got all that?" He asked.

"I think so…" Tenten was uncertain that she understood all of it, but the kunoichi was positive that she had the basics down. Her hands molded into the correct seals and she concentrated on making a solid clone. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared, a clone, just as pathetic as Naruto's normal clone, was laying sprawled on the ground. "Damn," the weapons mistress swore softly.

"Hey, don't worry," Naruto said bracingly. "No one could get that jutsu on the first shot. I doubt even a Sharingan user could do it right the first time around." That was a lie and they both knew it, but Tenten appreciated the encouragement anyway.

A few more attempts later and Tenten's clones were showing no sign of visible improvement. The kunoichi found herself kicking the clone in frustration, forcing the failed copy to vanish in a puff. Naruto laughed at her venting.

"Jeeze, you're more like Sakura-chan that I thought!" he said, laughing. Tenten glared at him. "Right, why don't we take a break and you can show me some kenjutsu." Naruto unsealed his sword and unsheathed it, looking at the blade with a critical gaze, probably looking for dirt or something he'd missed from the last time he'd cleaned it.

Tenten nodded, still feeling a little put out at her difficulty with her Kage Bunshins, but brightening at the prospect of doing something she knew how to do.

"Sure, I have no problem with that," she replied. She unsealed a katana from her scroll. "Now, get ready. We're going to have a little spar to see just where you are with you skills and what you need to work on." Naruto nodded, and Tenten could see various plans speeding through his eyes. "Oh yeah," She added. "No jutsu."

"What!?"

"You heard me. No jutsu, just good old-fashioned stamina and elbow grease."

Naruto fox-pouted at her. "You suck, Tenten-chan."

The kunoichi shrugged. "Consider it payback for not letting me show you my jutsu." She raised her sword to guard. "Now, come at me."

Naruto rubbed his bright hair with a sigh before charging Tenten with more speed than she ever thought possible.

'Fast!' She thought, just managing to block Naruto's chest-height slash with her own blade. The two weapons met in a shower of sparks and ringing steel before Naruto heaved and sent Tenten skidding backwards, completely unable to stop herself. The kunoichi knew that she had to use chakra to adhere to the ground if she wanted to withstand any more blows from Naruto like that one, but the blond wasn't giving her a chance, because he was on her like bees on honey, sword flashing and dancing, keeping Tenten on the defense simply through speed and power.

The weapons-user managed to stop skidding and braced, waiting for the blow. The attack wasn't long in coming and Tenten felt her entire body shake like a leaf in a typhoon as the power from Naruto's hit radiated up her arm and into her body. Now that the blond had stopped moving, she decided to switch to offense. Her blade shifted and pushed Naruto's katana up and away, laying his entire torso open for her. Naruto's steel blue eyes tightened as Tenten's blade snuck under his guard and stopped, tip quivering, just beneath his chin.

"Well, I think I see your problem," Tenten said, as she pulled away. "You don't have much in the way of defense, but your offense is good enough that I'm not going to worry about it for now."

Naruto stood straight as well, laying the dull edge of his weapon against his shoulder. "Okay, so now what?"

"Now I'm going to teach you some basic deflections and guards, then we'll go from there." Naruto nodded and then sat down to watch as the kunoichi in front of him began running through basic blocks and deflections, at first going slow, then picking up the pace. After that, Tenten had Naruto stand up and she ran through everything again, once again, slow then fast. After Naruto had a solid grasp of what the moves felt and looked like, the two of them began an exaggerated sparring session, moving at a normal pace instead of the blinding speed shinobi were capable of.

Twilight was in full swing when the pair finally stopped for the day.

"Well then, same time tomorrow?" Naruto asked. "I would go earlier, but I need to hunt down Ero-sennin. I need his help with the Rasengan."

Tenten nodded. "That's fine. I've got training with my squad anyway, so I wouldn't be able to make it in the mornings." Naruto nodded and the two left the training area, saying good night when they arrived at the intersection that would take them home.

"Bye Naruto!"

"Later, Tenten-chan!"

"Rasengan!"

Naruto's hand slammed into the boulder, burrowed in, then the jutsu gave out and blew him backward a few feet. Jiraiya, who'd been standing a few feet away watching, came over and inspected the hole made by the jutsu. He made a slight 'tsk' when he saw the inside of the hole had a spiral mark carved into the rock.

"Dunno what to tell you, kid." He remarked, looking over at Naruto who was practically on pins and needles behind him waiting for the verdict. "The form is fine, but it's just that the membrane of chakra isn't perfect, so you lose some chakra in the hit."

Naruto groaned. "Any ideas on how to fix it, Ero-sennin?"

The elder man's eyebrow twitched. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!?" The hermit yelled.

The Yondaime's son smirked. "What? 'Cause you know it's true?"

"Well, I guess you don't want my help then!" The comedy act lapsed into silence as Jiraiya looked at the spiraled hole again. "So tell me, Naruto, why do you want to master using the Rasengan with your left hand?"

The blond blinked before answering. "I dunno. It just seemed like a good idea when I thought about it." The genin shrugged. "It's mostly because you won't teach me Hiraishin, or anything else."

The Toad Sage sighed in an exasperated manner. "Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you that I can't? It's not because I don't want to or anything, but because Arashi used some kind of strange seal that reacts only to him. Besides, I never did get what that kid was telling me when he explained it." The white-haired man grinned as he remembered the Fourth explaining how his Flying Thunder God Technique worked. "He was always pushing the limits of the shinobi world. That damn seal he used on his kunai was something that I'd never even heard about until I saw him use it."

Naruto's head tilted. "What seal?" he asked, a curious look in his eyes. Jiraiya began rummaging around inside a deep pocket on the inside of his haori, evidently looking for something. His eyes lit up when the Sage found what he was looking for. Naruto leaned in when the hermit withdrew his hand and showed him.

"This is the secret to Hiraishin no Jutsu." In the pervert's fist was a three-pronged kunai with a complex seal inked out on the handle of the weapon. "The Yondaime had so many of these things and somehow he was able to jump from seal to seal in a flash. That was how he got the name 'Konoha's Yellow Flash'."

Naruto's hand reached for it, but hesitated until he saw the Sannin's approving nod. He weighed the weapon and spun it around in his hand a few times. "Heavy," the blond commented, holding out again for the Sannin to take back.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Why don't you hold on to it for awhile?" he suggested, silently adding, 'It belongs to you more than it does to me.' The toad-user wanted to tell Naruto about his heritage right then and there, but knew that Tsunade-hime would eat his guts for dinner. The old lady had somehow gotten it into her head that Naruto would hate his father when he found out about what the Yondaime did to him.

Jiraiya wasn't so sure. He knew that Naruto wanted nothing more than to surpass the Fourth, though his ambition to be Hokage seemed to have taken a back seat to protecting his friends. Knowing that his father was the legendary Yondaime Hokage would make Naruto work doubly hard to pass Arashi.

Naruto looked over the kunai, somehow feeling a strange attraction to the weapon, before putting it into his kunai pouch. The blond looked around and saw Jiraiya heading away. "Hey! Ero-sennin! Get back here! You promised to help me!"

"I did help. It's up to you if you want to perfect your lefty Rasengan or not!" The old man Shunshined away, but not before Naruto heard a perverted laugh and a mumbled 'Reseeeaaarrrch.'

'Pervert' the blond though with a sigh.

'Some things never change,' The Kyuubi remarked dryly.

'You're telling me?' He checked the position of the sun. 'Shit! I'm late for my training with Tenten-chan!' Naruto bolted into the trees, sending leaves flying from where he entered the foliage.

Tenten scowled down at the latest attempt at a Kage Bunshin. Naruto was close to twenty minutes late and the kunoichi decided to try to make a decent Shadow Clone. She'd been up until the graveyard hours the night before trying to get it right, but the jutsu was still a little beyond her. How Naruto had managed to master and perfect the jutsu in just a couple of hours was beyond her.

"Well, it's better than yesterday's."

The weapons mistress jumped and whirled, spotting Naruto leaning against a tree trunk with a grin.

"Yeah, but I still can't get it!" Tenten protested as the blond stood upright and came over.

Naruto scratched his head. "Well, maybe it's the wrong approach." He snapped his fingers. "I know! Why don't we work on getting you some water jutsu instead? There's one that should help you out a lot with this!"

"Really?"

"Yeah," The blond shinobi pulled out a map. "Here's a map of the area around Konoha." He pointed to a spot on a river that ran behind the village to the north. "There's a waterfall there where I learned to summon from Ero-sennin. Wait for me there while I go to the library and grab some scrolls."

"Alright," Tenten couldn't see where this was going, but she had to trust Naruto. He was her best bet for learning new jutsu right now. The pair went their separate ways, Tenten heading for the falls, and Naruto hurrying for the village to get some scrolls on how to do various Suiton jutsu.

When Naruto arrived, Tenten was once again trying to perform the Kage Bunshin. There was a great improvement over her last attempts because the clone, though its colors were still faded, was now able to move and act like Tenten herself. The clone dispelled and Tenten tried again.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was a puff and the clone appeared again, but this time its colors were right where they were supposed to be, but the details on the gold embroidery of the Chinese shirt were off. Any shinobi worth their salt would be able to see the difference right away. Tenten slumped in defeat as the clone vanished. "I'll never get it."

"You expect too much out of yourself Tenten-chan," Naruto said as he dropped his armload of scrolls next to the kunoichi, who looked at the scrolls with a downcast eye.

"But, Naruto…" She started, then trailed off, worried to voice her fears.

"Are you worried that you'll fail?"

Tenten shook her head vigorously then hesitated. "Well…Maybe a little."

Naruto grinned his bright grin. "Don't worry about it! I always failed and look where I am now!" Tenten stopped, remembering the match during the Chuunin Exams where she'd been so sure that Neji would win, only to witness a stunning turnaround by Naruto.

The kunoichi smiled a little sadly. "Well, I guess." She looked curiously at the heap of scrolls on the ground, deciding to change the subject. "Are all these Suiton jutsu?"

"Yep! And there's one in here that should help you a lot with the Kage Bunshin."

"Really? Which one?"

"This one," Naruto pointed to a scroll and Tenten opened it, blinking when she saw the title.

"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin?" She glared at him. "Another clone jutsu? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to turn me into a clone powerhouse like you!"

Naruto laughed nervously, holding up his hands in a nervous attempt to pacify her. "No really, I'm not." He pointed to the scroll. "Look, the Mizu Bunshin is very similar to the Kage Bunshin, only it's made from water and it has your affinity. It should be easier to do than just creating a clone from nothing. Once you get the water clone down, the shadow clone might be easier!"

"Riiight." Tenten didn't sound convinced, but she picked up the scroll and read through it, finding how to focus her chakra, the seals needed for the clone, and how to form the water into the proper shape. When she thought she was ready, the weapons mistress' hands flashed through the seals. "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" To her surprise, the clone formed easily and effortlessly. A perfect clone of Tenten stood on the river, just a few feet away from where she was kneeling on the bank.

"WOAH!" Naruto's exuberant yell made birds in the trees lining the sides of the rocky bank take flight. "On the first try too! You're amazing, Tenten-chan!"

The kunoichi gave him a look that said 'Don't patronize me,' but she couldn't help but be proud of her success. After constant failure with the Shadow Clones, seeing something go right was a real morale booster.

"What is it Naruto?" Tenten asked. The blond was scratching his cheek and looking like he was contemplating something.

"Nothing. I just remembered that Kakashi-sensei told Sakura-chan and me when we were a rookie team that Mizu Bunshins had a limited range." If Tenten saw the absence of Sasuke's name, she didn't show it. Most of the Konoha Twelve knew the history between the members of Team Seven.

"They have a range?" She asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yep. They can only go so far and then…" The blond thought for a moment. "Well hell, I don't know. I guess they would just dissolve or something."

Tenten sent a command to her clone, which promptly turned and began walking away. Both ninja watched with anticipation as the kunoichi clone got to the other side of the river, maybe fifteen feet away, then just collapse into a puddle of water without any warning at all.

Tenten frowned. "Fifteen feet? That's it? I won't be able to fight with only that kind of range!"

Naruto rubbed his head, blue eyes showing his puzzlement. "I know that Zabuza's clones had way more of a range than that…maybe it has to do with chakra control, or the amount the user has?"

"It doesn't say anything," replied Tenten, who'd picked up the scroll about the Mizu Bunshin to see if there was anything in it about expanding the range of the Water Clone. She stood from where she'd sat down to read the scroll. "Anyway, that's one jutsu down. Got any more or do you want to work on your sword skills?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's your choice. I really don't care."

His partner frowned. "Fine." She tapped her chin. "How about some taijutsu then?"

Another shrug. "Sure. That's why we're working together isn't it?" Tenten decided to get a little revenge for giving her a hard jutsu like the Kage Bunshin to work on by teaching Naruto about the Celestial Gates and how they worked, and how to unlock them. Naruto shot his mouth off, saying it would be easy to unlock, but ten minutes later, all the blond had managed to do was make himself look constipated. Tenten had just laughed at him and went back to practicing her two clone techniques.

When she looked over again, Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the ground, arms crossed and eyes closed. He had a scowl on and his eyes were moving beneath their lids. Tenten felt shocked. Imagine, the loudmouthed Naruto, meditating! Tenten looked up to make sure the sky wasn't going to fall on her next.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. A dreary corridor with pipes crisscrossing the ceiling and walls met his eyes. He grinned. It was a good thing he'd learned this little skill. At first it was to deepen the bond with Kyuubi by allowing him to talk directly with fox right after the two had fused. After he was able to communicate easily with the fox, he'd given it up, but it was nice to see the skill came in handy for other reasons.

The blond shinobi set off down the dank corridor at a trot, passing doors that were locked, unlocked, padlocked, and deadbolted. Memories, he knew. Once the genin had opened one of the doors and found himself back in Konoha, surrounded by angry villagers and being pelted by rocks and shards of glass, the merciless shouts of the mob filling his ears. Thankfully, the door had stayed open behind him, so he was able to run out quickly. After that he'd vowed to stay away from the doors.

'Now I just need to find the room with the gates in it…' Almost as if in answer to his question, a door at the end of the hall swung open and Naruto ran through it. Inside was a huge room, easily more massive than the Kyuubi's old 'chamber'. Behind him was the door that led back into the hall he'd just come from. All around the edges of the, arrayed in such a way that led the blond to believe that the room was 'circular', were massive granite doors, easily as tall as the ones on Kyuubi's cage way back when.

There were eight of them, each representing, Naruto supposed, the eight celestial gates. The first gate was easy to spot. It had only one massive chain on it. All eight of the gates had a huge chain, ranging from one loop to eight, and on each chain was a padlock the size of a small car. There was no key or any way of unlocking the Gates visible anywhere in the room.

A voice made the genin jump. 'Impressive, aren't they?' Naruto spun so fast he almost fell over.

'Kyuubi?' The fox's massive head came out of the shadows that loomed in between the gate doors. The demon's nine tails followed soon after and the Bijuu sat down with a muffled thud. 'What're you doing here?'

'Coming to talk to you, brat, what else? Not like I've got anything better to do with my copious spare time.'

Naruto shrugged. The demon had a point. He regarded the first gate. Now he could just barely make out the gate's name, written in kanji across the black iron lintel of the chained door. 'Any ideas on how to open these suckers?'

'Nope. Trust me, brat, I've tried.' The demon raised himself up and strode up to the gate, reaching for the padlock with a humongous paw. The moment the clawed foot got within a few feet of the lock, it crackled with raw power and threw Kyuubi across the room, the demon impacting the soggy floor with enough force to rattle the whole place. The youkai stood shakily and shook his massive head, as if clearing out a daze. 'See? Damn things won't let me near them.' He eyed his vessel. 'I suppose only you would be allowed to touch them.'

Naruto just raised an eyebrow, but approached door and put a hand to the cool granite. No surge of power rebuffed him, and the blond stared up at the massive padlock that dangled some fifteen or twenty feet above his head.

'So just how in the hell am I supposed to open this thing?'

'That vixen you've decided to waste your time on said something about great need or intense training.' The fox's massive mouth pulled back in a frightening grin, revealing his long fangs. 'Guess you're just not intense enough, brat.' Naruto ignored the jibe and thoughtfully rapped the door with one knuckle before allowing himself to come back to the waking world.

Tenten had just finished making another Kage Bunshin when Naruto stirred and unfolded from the position she'd last seen him in. The blond stood and rolled one arm and his head, probably trying to work out the knots that had formed from sitting like that for so long. Judging by his scowl, the attempt at opening his first Celestial Gate hadn't gone over too well.

The kunoichi decided to rub salt in the wound. "So," she said innocently. "How'd it go?" She giggled at the look Naruto gave her. It hadn't been so much a glare as it was a cross between a glower and a pout. "Don't worry. If Lee could do it, you could too, right?" Naruto glowered again, but then his face cracked into a mischievous grin.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A puff of smoke later and there were fifteen Narutos surrounding the weapons mistress. Now it was her turn to glower. "Fine, I get the point." The meaning of Naruto's actions was clear.

Hey, don't harass me about the Gates when you can't even make a decent Kage Bunshin.

Tenten huffed and dispelled her clone; this one was just a touch too tall. She had the basics down, but in the shinobi world, the devil was in the details. If one thing was out of place, the enemy would know it and her Shadow Clones would be useless.

Both shinobi spent the rest of that day working on the various tasks that they assigned to one another. Before long, it was evening and the two once again said goodnight, heading their separate ways until the next afternoon when they would work on something else.

Sorry for the lack of action, but this chapter is supposed to show how Tenten and Naruto are going to help eachother improve as time goes on. The Finals start either next chapter or the one after, depending on if I throw in a side mission that's been bouncing around in my head. Now, I'm sure some of you are going to ask me if Naruto's going to learn the Hiraishin. Here's the answer...(Garbled). That answer your question? No? Well, I guess you'll just have to read and find out now won't you? Oh yeah, just a reminder, I know that the Yondaime's name is Minato, but I prefer Arashi. It just sounds better to me.

Glossary:

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin (Water Style: Water Clone Skill/Technique): A weaker version of the Kage Bunshin. Like Naruto says, it has a limited range, only able to go so far from the original before disintigrating. I think the distance varies with the user. Zabuza's were probably only able to go as far as they did in the anime, while Kisame's seem able to go quite the distance. The Bunshin also needs a source of water to be created from. (Unless you happen to be a powerhouse like Kisame or the Nidaime Hokage).