I was so stuck on this, but now I know what I want to do. This chapter was a huge release for me.
"Kagami!" Kagami froze, turning to face Lee and Neji, eyes wide and worried. "Please, stop." Lee said, his voice softer than Kagami remembered it.
"What do you want?" He asked, colder than he intended. Sighing, he rubbed his head. "I am sorry, that sounded rude."
Neji stepped closer. "We were worried about you, you looked and sounded distraught."
Lee nodded. "I did not know Naruto has such a poor hand... I am sorry to hear that. If that is all you remember, it is no wonder you choose to separate from our peers."
Kagami sighed. "I do not intend to be rude, but you are right, all I have are bad memories. Of all of them. I deserve better, Naruto never fought for himself. I will be doing that. I am not sure why, but unlike him it hurts me to not protect me. I do not want to live in Naruto's shadow but it was still cast and the memories are who I am until I make better memories."
Lee did something shocking, he threw himself at Kagami. "I am your friend, you deserve better. I will give you all sorts of happy memories!"
"I won't hug you but I will do the same. I too will help you with your memories... and your training. If you are a newborn, I imagine you need to really train. I know what it is to linger with only poor memories, trapped in a destiny you thought was to be your fate. As does Lee actually."
Kagami beamed at them both, close to tears. "Thank you... I am too beat to train today, but we could work tomorrow. I need some serious conditioning, taijutsu work and chakra control since Naruto was so behind in all three."
"We can do that, YOSH!" Lee beamed...
And like that a real friendship was born, and Kagami felt hopeful for his future in a way he never thought possible.
""
Tsunade smiled, watching from her Sensei's crystal orb. "There, friends. I think we are safe, for a time anyway.'
Yugao nodded. "He also gets better training, mixing the powers of the Prodigy Hyuuga and the Hardworking clone of Gai... give him a few weeks of them and he will really excel."
"That is my hope." The Fifth Hokage said. "I am happy to see this, I genuinely feared him defecting."
"So did I, to be honest." Yugao sighed. " I will push them to bond, as much as is safe."
"See that you do so, the boy could be a real threat if he defects. Now... let us see how far he progresses over the next few months."
"""
Naruto's eyes were wide, not a trace of understanding in his eyes. "Someone made a clone of me?"
Jiraiya sighed. "Basically yes, Kagami is a replica of you, a copy with your memories. Think of him like a brother, a twin. That is basically what he is."
Beaming, Naruto jumped. "I have a brother, can he join us?"
"No, you are my focus, but maybe you can exchange letters? You have the Toads and he also should be able to summon small toads, he shares your blood." Jiraiya wasn't sure if that was true, but if nothing else it was a possibility. He would have to look into it either way...
Naruto shot away, grabbing stuff. "How do you spell Kagami?"
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a joy to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.
