Okay, not to confuse anyone. This is strictly a drabble in the "Jinchuuriki Chronicles" universe. It's a bit of backstory and a (lame) explanation for Naruto's ability to know the Kage Bunshin in the AU. And here it is:

Musan was deep in meditation. His breathing was deep and even as he extended his chakra out and around. The rocky walls faded from his sight as he "saw" outside their dark prison for a brief time and almost felt the warm sun on his skin…

Then something bright and flashy jumped at the corner of his eye and he lost the vision and sank back into the dank darkness of the prison around him. He scowled fiercely at the young boy who dared disturb him. Uzumaki Naruto. That little…

"Neh, Musan-san?" the boy asked shyly.

"Get the fuck away from me, brat!" Musan snapped, climbing to his feet. Hell if he was going to spend the next five minutes with that annoying brat!

"But…" Naruto started, "Rei-sensei told me to train with you today!"

The fuck? He was not getting stuck with babysitting duty!

"I don't give a shit what he said, don't bother me!"

"If you don't, I'll tell him who gave Setsu-bachan that nightmare!"

Huh. So the brat wasn't as innocent as he looked. This could be interesting…

"So, you wanna learn a new jutsu?" Musan asked sweetly. The boy's face lit up and Musan could barely stifle a chuckle. That bastard Rei was going to taste what annoying felt like! No one ordered Rokujou Musan around!

"One time during the war with Konoha, I learned this jutsu from a captured shinobi after a little 'persuasion.' It goes like this…"

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"Catch me if you can!" Twelve copies of Naruto sang out en masse as they raced around the cave. Tohru irritably sent a few fire jutsus their way which made several "poof" out existence but still left the rest to race around yelling at the top of their lungs.

Rei swore under his breath as one clone gleefully stole his signature headband and tossed it to the rest, starting an insane game of keep away.

Musan just smirked as he watched the chaos enfold. Uzumaki certainly had a lot of talent under that brainless exterior: he'd mastered a high-level jutsu in only two weeks. It was going to be interesting to see what else he could make the blond idiot do for him…