Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
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Memories Of Others
Chapter 2
Training Of A New Genin
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Kurenai shook her head in bemused amusement as she looked at her audience. After explaining to Naruto (in very simple terms) the memory-transfer function of the Kage Bunshin and how it could be used to help training in ninjutsu and in recon, she had demonstrated the water-walking technique and Naruto had sent a quartet of clones to practice. Her next demonstration, tree-walking, had left Naruto gobsmacked for a moment before he had generated another four clones and sent them to practice, joined by the accidentally-created clone of Hinata while Kurenai covered some of the basic knowledge that Naruto had somehow failed to acquire during his days in the Academy.
"…so, now I've explained the difference between shinobi ranks and official ranks, do you have any questions?"
"Iruka-sensei is really an A-ranked Shinobi?" Naruto burst out and Kurenai nodded.
"Yes, he is. If he wanted to put the effort in, he could be S-ranked, but he is perfectly happy teaching future generations of Shinobi."
"And most ANBU are B or sometimes C-ranked while the chunin who kept trying to chase me are normally C-ranked…" Naruto mused. "No wonder Iruka-sensei was always able to catch me after my pranks… I thought I was getting rusty or something."
"Being able to hide from your pursuers while wearing bright orange is quite impressive." Kurenai allowed. "If you ever went for darker colors, you'd be almost impossible to track for anyone without a Byakugan. In fact…"
Kurenai rose from her kneeling position and cast a quick genjutsu that projected a compulsion to gather round. The eight clones ran up from the trees and lake, forming up around her.
"Now, real Naruto, with me but make another dozen clones for this. Excellent. All Naruto clones, head into the trees, no more than two-hundred meters distance from the edge of the clearing. I want Hinata and… Hinata to take the role of hunter-nins, find and dispel the clones. This way, both of you get training. Naruto, you get training in escape, evasion and survival while Hinata gets training in tracking and attacking. Hinatas, a light Jyuuken strike will dispel a Kage Bunshin. Narutos, try not to make it easy since the harder the training, the better it is. Begin!"
The clones scattered, the two Hinatas in hot pursuit and Kurenai looked at Naruto.
"While we're waiting for the exercise to finish, do you remember how to dispel genjutsu?"
Naruto stared at her blankly.
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Hinata was impressed. She had thought that Naruto's bright orange trousers and jacket would be easy to spot, but his natural stealth skills countered the obvious color to an incredible degree. In addition, Naruto acted in ways that she had never encountered in her clan's tracking exercises before, ways that she would have to use herself in future exercises. He wouldn't balance on branches, he would hang underneath or cling to the trunk. He could squirm through low bushes without disturbing a single leaf or dart across open spaces fast enough that if she blinked at the wrong time, she would never know he had been there.
"Byakugan!"
Hinata blinked as she heard her clone activate their dojutsu, then she nodded in understanding.
She was barely a D-ranked shinobi in her own right. If she was to catch the elusive clones, she needed to use every single advantage that she had.
Horse, Tiger, Boar, Hare, Rat, Dog, Horse, Dog, Hare, Rat, Boar, Snake, "Byakugan!"
The world shifted around her and her eyes widened as she saw one clone crouched in the bush just behind her, a bush that she could have sworn was empty.
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"She got another." Naruto reported as he tried to suppress his chakra again and Kurenai cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at him. "Kick to the shoulder. Felt odd, though, more like that hand-strike of hers."
"I didn't know that she could use Jyuuken through her feet." Kurenai mused.
"And I think that was the last one." Naruto added. "I didn't even see her that time. Just a poke in the back of the neck. She's good."
"Th…thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she emerged from the undergrowth.
"I'm glad you think so." The second Hinata said and Naruto smiled.
"You did amazing, both of you! I can see I'm going to need to practice my stealth more. Can we do this again tomorrow?"
Kurenai glanced up at the darkening sky and nodded.
"I have to get Hinata back to her home soon, but… here again tomorrow at… half past one?"
"Sure thing." Naruto said, giving her a quick bow, then pulling both Hinatas into a hug.
"See you tomorrow!" he chirped, then he bounced off, leaving Hinata and her clone both blushing so hard that Kurenai was amazed that the air wasn't glowing red around them.
"I think you shouldn't dispel the clone yet." Kurenai said with a wicked smile. "Let's tell your father that it was the unexpected result of a jutsu."
The two Hinatas looked at each other and started to giggle.
"Argh!" Naruto's voice echoed from around the corner. "I completely forgot! Where do I go to get the registration photo?"
"Office 1C in the tower!" Kurenai called back. "The chunin there will be able to take the photo for you on top of the Hokage's Tower!"
"Thanks!" Naruto hollered back and both Hinatas started to giggle again.
"What the…?" A girl's voice said and all three Kinoichi turned to see a pink-haired girl staring at them. "Two weak little mice?"
Kurenai frowned as Sakura sniffed and strode off, muttering a comment just loud enough to be overheard while quiet enough that it could be argued that she was simply talking to herself.
"At least they're not competition for Sasuke-kun, even though they'll never become good ninja."
"…that was rude." Kurenai said slowly. "Who was she?"
"Haruno Sakura." Hinata said quietly. "She was the Kunoichi of the year thanks to her perfect test scores and is one of the girls who keeps chasing Uchiha Sasuke, even though he's never shown any interest in girls."
"A fan-girl." Kurenai sighed, shaking her head. "Thank goodness you're not one. Fan-girls do not make good kunoichi."
"…ano, Kurenai-sempai…" Hinata began.
"…could you help me to learn to be braver?" The other one finished and Kurenai smiled.
"You are doing a great job already. You only fainted three times around Naruto today and you were able to bring yourself to dispel his clones."
Both Hinatas blushed.
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"Hey, you the photo-nin?" Naruto half-yelled as he almost erupted through the doorway. "I need my photo for the files! And it's gotta look awesome!"
"Not even a chance to finish my coffee." The Chunin behind the desk groaned. "Oh well, let's get this over with. So, name… Uzumaki Naruto…"
"How did you know that?" Naruto asked. "I've never seen you before… have I?"
"I'm a sensor-type. Name's Zaji." The brown-haired ninja said as he rummaged through the desk drawers. "That's how I knew who you were, a new genin with almost-Kage levels of chakra and less control than the average Academy student? Only one person fits that description."
"Hey!" Naruto protested. "I'm getting better, I can water-walk and can almost tree-walk. Hinata-chan really helped me by telling me what I was doing wrong."
"And what were you doing wrong?" Zaji prompted, his voice muffled as he pulled out several large folders from the box under the desk.
"I… kinda toppled a tree by using too much chakra." Naruto admitted and Zaji jolted, causing the desk to lift slightly. A moment later, he reappeared, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ouch. You toppled a tree just by pushing chakra into it? Have you ever thought about doing that with your fists?"
Naruto blinked. "Huh? Why would I want to topple trees with my fists?"
"I meant the chakra-push thing." Zaji sighed as he stood up, holding the camera equipment. "If you manage to send out a pulse of chakra just as you hit something, it makes the impact a lot stronger. Of course, gathering the pulse means that someone like me can sense that it is coming."
"So… should I try to learn how?" Naruto asked and Zaji nodded.
"You should. Sensor-type ninja are fairly rare, so you'll have the advantage more often than you won't. Plus, if you get it working, you'll be able to claim it as a personal technique. I've got a few of my own, as have many of the shinobi."
"Wow. I'll have to try and come up with some awesome techniques." Naruto grinned as they emerged onto the roof. Zaji pointed to one of the sheltering awnings.
"Stand just there and look as serious as you can, but don't frown."
Naruto bounced to the indicated point as Zaji set up the camera and tripod with the ease of experience.
"Now, look at the camera!"
Naruto blinked as a flash of light almost blinded him. "Ow! What was that?"
"That was one of the basic field-jutsu, often used for signalling." Zaji said slowly. "Didn't you come across it at the Academy?"
"Er… no? Can you teach me?"
"It's quite simple." Zaji said as he put away the tripod. "You start by focusing chakra in your thumb and first finger, then you release it as you click your fingers… like this."
As Zaji's middle finger impacted against the base of his thumb, a small but bright pulse of chakra sparked between his thumb and first finger.
"Cooooool." Naruto breathed.
"You practice it, I'll file the paperwork." Zaji said as he vanished down the stairs. Behind him, the roof was suddenly lit by a flash of light brighter than a lightning bolt.
"AAAAAAAARRRRGH! MY EYES!"
"Oh, don't look directly at it or use too much chakra!" Zaji shouted.
"NOW YOU TELL ME!"
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"And here we are." Kurenai said as the trio walked up to the Kurenai's front door. "Now, before we go in…"
Kurenai's comment was halted by a massive flash of light from the top of the Hokage tower that left them blinking several times.
"What was that?"
"I don't know." Kurenai admitted. "It wasn't an explosion… I'll check tomorrow. For now, why don't we finish arranging those pressed flowers of yours. With two of you, it'll be done twice as fast."
"Yes Kurenai-senpai."
"We'll probably be done before your father gets here to pick you up." Kurenai smiled as she opened the front door.
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Naruto dropped the empty pot of ramen into the trash can and flopped onto the sofa.
"What a day." He sighed in satisfaction. "I can water-walk and know a cool jutsu to blind my enemies. Take that teme!"
The familiar surge of clone-memories flowed through him and he winced.
"Ouch, I didn't realize that my orange was actually painful to Hinata… maybe I should ask her to help me get a different orange, a darker one… wow, the world through the byakugan looks weird… wait, was that Sakura… oh, that was mean, I don't think Hinata-chan deserved that… wait…wait!"
Naruto's eyes slammed open.
"Those were Hinata's memories! Aaaaargh!"
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Hinata wavered as her clones memories integrated with her own.
"That's the problem with Kage Bunshin." Kurenai noted. "If you're not prepared, the memory inflow can be rather disorientating."
"I was unaware that my daughter knew that particular jutsu." Hiashi noted from the front door and Kurenai shrugged.
"She doesn't."
"…what?"
"She doesn't." Kurenai repeated. "We found a way to use someone else's chakra to make a Kage Bunshin and Hinata has just confirmed that she gets the memories from the clone, not the the person who actually performed the Jutsu."
"Fascinating." Hiashi mused. "Should this person become strong enough, they could aid by duplicating the person most suited to the mission in question. Lack of skill would no longer matter… may I learn the name of the one who has developed such an incredible technique?"
Kurenai gave a small nod and Hinata answered.
"Uzumaki Naruto, father."
Hiashi blinked several times. "…what? But… he failed the Academy exam…"
"He's a full genin now." Kurenai corrected. "The Jonin Lounge was buzzing about it earlier, it's quite a tale. They pulled Iruka in to tell it since he was part of it."
"…then I shall have to visit tonight to find out the details." Hiashi stated. "Thank you for looking after my daughter."
"It has been an honor to be entrusted with her care." Kurenai replied with a smile. "Goodnight, Hinata-chan."
"Goodnight, Kurenai-sempai." Hinata replied as she moved to stand by her father.