Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.

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Memories Of Others

Chapter 8

Reputation Of A New Genin

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"You seem distracted today." Kosuke commented as he and Naruto slowly paced along the great wall surrounding Konoha.

"I found out that yesterday that I totally misread someone." Naruto sighed. "I all but accused him of being a traitor like Mizuke-teme, but he was actually trying, in his own way, to look out for me. Yes, he totally got it wrong, but he's tried to make up for it since."

"Who?" Kosuke asked curiously.

"Jonin Hatake Kakashi. He was kind enough to tell me about my parents."

"Minato and Kushina. Yes, they were wonderful people."

Naruto froze. "You know their names? He said he couldn't tell me due to security reasons!"

Kosuke winced. "Damn, I'm getting too old. I wouldn't have made a mistake like that if I was younger."

Naruto stood, staring into space. "I have my parents names… I can find out all about them… see if they left me anything!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto's attention snapped back to Kosuke.

"…hai?"

"Your parents had enemies." Kosuke said gently but firmly. "Should you try to claim your inheritance, they will find out and they will send assassins to kill you in order to end your parents clans forever. Your father in particular had many enemies who would like nothing better than to see the corpse of his son ripped apart and his head placed on a spike over the gate to their village. If you wish to research your parents, then make damned certain that no-one, and I mean no-one can trace the research back to you. Don't go to the archives yourself, send clones using Henge. Deploy the clones and have them hide for an hour or more before they head in so that no-one links your actions to their arrival. Have the clones find somewhere secret to dispel since knowledge of your usage of Kage Bunshin is spreading.
"And above all, once you confirm your parents clan-names, tell no-one unless you are in a truly private room with security seals in place.
"Having said all that, I think that when you find out exactly who they were, you will be inspired to train harder and better than ever before."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Sempai."

"Now, since I've messed up enough for the day, we may as well discuss infiltration and interrogation techniques, also known as how to get information from others." Kosuke said and Naruto grinned at how the old man was able to turn an honest error into a lesson.

He was almost as cool as Jiji.

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"Well, now that the D-rank is done, it's time to train and today's training will be different for you." Asuma smiled and Shikamaru frowned.

"You seem to be looking forwards to this too much. This means that whatever you have planned for us will be highly troublesome."

Asuma's grin broadened and he stepped to one side, revealing a meter-tall scroll leaning against the tree behind him.

"This is your target." He said. "In the scroll is your dinner. All you have to do is bring it here and unroll it on that table. Don't worry, I won't make a single move to stop you."

The trio of genin glanced at the long table set up in the shade, then back at the scroll.

"The test will start in ten… nine… eight…"

Shikamaru frowned in thought as both Ino and Choji crouched, ready to run to the scroll.

"Seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… go!"

Even as Asuma gave the command, a black-clad ninja dropped out of the tree, grabbed the scroll and sprinted off.

"Dammit!" Shikamaru cursed as he dashed after his two team-mates."I should have locked it into place with my shadow!"

"What the hell?" Ino screeched and Shikamaru looked up just as a dozen identically-clad clones leapt on him.

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"So, what did the real you want in exchange for this exercise instead of the usual payment?" Asuma asked.

"Boss was wondering if you could help us find out his elemental affinity." The short ninja replied even as he pulled off his hood to let his blond spiky hair wave in the breeze.

"I'll get you some chakra paper tomorrow." Asuma said and the clone nodded, then twitched.

"Your genin have almost fought free of the first group."

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Shikamaru punched the last enemy, dispelling him in the now-familiar cloud of smoke and looked round.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Ino grumbled, trying to put her hair back into its normal ponytail.

"We have to find him!" Choji panicked. "That scroll contains all of our food!"

Shikamaru bent down and picked up a piece of paper by his feet.

"Clue one. The four watch over, yet only one watches. Go where the hat would rest on stone. Beware the route up to the top, 'tis not safe to go alone." He read.

"What?" Ino asked in disbelief. "What the hell does that mean?"

"The next clue is on the Hokage mountain." Shikamaru said. "We'll probably have to fight another group of clones in order to find the next clue."

"What?" Ino started, then she shook her head. "Never mind, let's go."

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"How long did it take Shikamaru to work out the problem?" Asuma asked as he lit another cigarette.

"About five seconds." The clone laughed. "Of course, he got the threat wrong…"

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Ino staggered into the clearing, her clothing ripped, her skin blotched with bruises and various dyes. Choji and Shikamaru followed, both showing evidence of having been caught in traps, but nowhere near as much as Ino.

"Who the hell traps every single foot of the damn path?" Ino howled. "You two were useless!"

"We kept telling you not to charge ahead." Shikamaru mumbled.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Calm down, Ino." Choji said placatingly.

"I'M PERFECTLY CALM!"

Choji sidled backwards and Shikamaru sighed.

"Alright, everyone look round. The next clue should be on the Sandaime's head."

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"Oh, this should be fun."

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"Of the four ways, you used the fourth when the third would have carried you past." Shika read, ignoring Ino's snarls. "The obvious way is not always correct. Clue two. When leaving the village, this path you will take, but don't leave the leaf for that would be a mistake."

Choji tilted his head slightly and Shikamaru sighed. "Main gate."

Ino stormed back down the path, then screamed as a noose wrapped round her ankle and hoisted her up into the air.

"I think we should find another way down." Shikamaru mused as Ino turned the air blue. "It looks like the traps have been reset."

"The fourth way?" Choji asked. "It seems familiar…"

"There are four ways to deal with any obstacle." Shikamaru recited. "Over, under, around or through."

"Ah."

"STOP YAMMERING AND GET ME DOWN!"

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Asuma smirked as the tottering forms of his genin approached. All of them showed significant signs of having been forced to do more work than they were used to and Shikamaru's jacket was still smoldering while Choji's bandanna was ripped, letting his hair stick out in all directions with a small electrical spark occasionally jumping between them.

"The damn password is Uzumaki." Shikamaru growled and the scroll dropped out of the branches, landing on the table. "Naruto, I'd like you to know that I really, really hate you right now. I hope you know that."

"You ruined my wardrobe!" Ino tried to shriek, but her exhaustion prevented her from getting any real volume. Asuma glanced at her and his eyes widened at the sight of the rags tied together to form an impromptu pair of shorts and chest-wrap.

"Holy crap!" Naruto gasped from beside him. "You mean the trap with the three lemons and the paperclip actually worked? Madara really was a genius!"

Ino tried to charge forwards to rend Naruto into pieces, but collapsed on the grass before she could even cover a third of the distance.

"Looks like I've been slacking off." Asuma sighed. "Naruto, I'll hire you again next week for another round, but remember to pop by tomorrow for the paper."

Shikamaru gave his Sensei a pained look, then slumped onto the ground.

"Before then, though, I think a finishing spar would be a good idea."

All three genin of Team 10 glared at their Sensei.

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"Well, don't you look like the cat that ate the cream." Hayate called as Asuma walked into the Jonin Bar.

"One of the new genin's gonna need a nickname." Asuma called back, catching everyone's attention. "I just finished watching him give my team the run-around all round Konoha then beating them all in a single spar, he's a real challenge as an antagonist."

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Kurenai asked from where she was sitting with Anko and Asuma nodded. "I've hired him several times to provide opposition for my team. Since I trade training with him, and Hinata helps him with his reading skills, I don't really need to pay all that much for his help."

"How can one new genin take on a full team?" A voice called. Asuma and Kurenai looked at each other and chorused the answer.

"Kage Bunshin."

"He can generate several hundred of them and keeps coming up with new tricks using them." Kurenai added. "Yesterday, he had some Henge into caltrops, then they transformed back and dog-piled my team when they were halfway across the field."

"He pulled a double-kawarimi in the finishing spar I asked him to do." Asuma noted. "He kawarimi'd away from Shikamaru's shadow technique, leaving a log in his place, then when Shikamaru turned away, he swapped back and took him down."

"Deyaaaamn." One of the Jonin whistled in awe. "How the hell did none of us consider doing that before? I know what I'll be practicing tonight."

"Op Force." Anko said and everyone looked at her in confusion. "What? You two are hiring him to be just that. Op Force Uzumaki. Has a nice ring to it."

"Yosh!" Gai shouted from the corner, causing several of the Jonin to jump as they hadn't actually realized that he was there. "Truly he is ablaze with the flames of youth! Tomorrow I shall hire him for my squad!"

"You do know he does morning wall patrols, right?" Asuma asked.

"Op Force and the Eternal Genin." Anko sniggered. "Kid's probably already learned more from Kosuke than he learned in his years at the Academy."

"Now that he can actually read, yes." Kurenai agreed and almost half the Jonin stared at her.

"Hold on." Asuma said slowly. "What exactly do you mean, now that he can read?"

Kurenai looked round at the silent crowd.

"If he managed to pass when he couldn't read," Asuma continued, "Just how far have the Academy standards dropped since we were genin?"

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Naruto flopped onto his bed with a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes. His daily clone-lessons with Hinata had gone very well, to the point that between his own determination and Hinata's memories of helping him learn, he was finally up to the educational level he should have been at.

A sudden rush of memories flooded into his mind and he concentrated on sorting out the data accumulated by his research-clones. A few seconds later, his bed was empty and his front door was swinging shut.

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"And done." Hiruzen sighed as he passed the last stack of paper to his assistant. "Well, I think that I've done enough for today."

The assistant edged out of the room, being careful not to drop any of the sheets of paper and Hiruzen slid open one of the drawers in his desk, pulling out an orange-covered book.

"Let's see, let's see… escaped the castle… in the cave… where is… aha! In the cave and Rai is helping Zuna to warm up… hehehehe…"

"Jiji!"

The echoing shout gave Hiruzen just enough time to slam the book closed, drop it back in the drawer, slam the drawer shut and re-position himself to face the door a bare quarter-second before Naruto raced in.

"…I wasn't aware that I had invited you to a sleepover." Hiruzen joked and Naruto glanced down at his pajamas.

"No time for joking." He panted. "Jiji, this is real important, like… very important!"

As Naruto repeated the word important, he flashed four fingers at Hiruzen and shot a significant glance at the row of pictures on the wall, the row showing all four Hokages. Hiruzen paled and quickly channeled chakra into an other-wise insignificant portion of his desk.

"We're secure." He said, praying that his concern was misplaced. "What is it?"

"I've been having clones doing research for me and I've finished putting things together." Naruto said, leaning on the desk. "When were you going to tell me that my old man was the Yondaime?"

Hiruzen stared at the young genin.

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Authors Afternote - Dun dun DUUUUUNNNNNNN!
Cliffhanger!
Also, no-one noticed The Witchdoctor in the last chapter? I expected at least one groan for that insert...