AN: I am using a 'KB' to stand for 'Kage Bushin'. Between his Mimicking the real Genin and Ino's Mind Body transfer jutsu, I need notes to remember who is flesh and who is living shadow.

SCNS

Shikamaru frowned. "This was just a test to see how we meshed. But it seems that Ino and Uzumaki want to raise the stakes. First it was just a good meal… but now I am playing not just against a stupid cat, but against Real Live Players." Nara grinned, before first Choji and then Kiba joined him.

His eyes looked about. "I take it that your nose is not working right now."

"Yeah. All I get is Old Fish, piss, and vomit." Kiba huffed.

"That means that you can't smell them if they are still here." Shikamaru squatted down and made a circle with his hands. "Tora would have spooked if they had tried to grab him… they would have had to grab him during the scramble. With his new Jutsu… Uzumaki could walk right in front of us and we wouldn't know."

"I could smell him last time… or at least that something off, so even in this stench, I doubt he could just walk by." Kiba grunted.

KB Ino leaned into Naruto's ear. "Can you do three sets of clones and have them run off in different directions across the Village?"

Naruto-kun led the way to the other side of the roof. He dropped the Cloak, spawned thirty clones and re-engaged the cloak. Half of the clones became Toras, the rest became each of the new Team Seven, each now holding a KB Tora.

One of the KB Naruto yelled, "Scatter! Regroup at the Fountain!"

Fifteen Ninja dropped from the Roof and bolted off into the crowd of the Red light District employees who were either just coming in or just running errands.

Kiba led the team out of the back alley, before he found a scent to follow and bolted off after the large group.

Shikamaru frowned, before leading Choji off at a slow jog.

Tenten smirked, "That was easy."

Naruto-kun shook his head, softly as to not disturb Ino on his back. "No… that was too easy."

"He is correct. The Nara Males are Lazy, but they think five to six steps ahead and always, always have a backup plan. He would have seen through Naruto-kun's ruse. But that was more to get rid of dog breath." KB Ino scratched the kitty's ears.

"Hey. Be nice. Akamaru is smarter than Kiba." KB Naruto grinned at the girl.

"Are you all like this?" Tenten stretched up to peer into the distance through the distortion.

"No… Some of us are kinda smart, not just smart assed."

"How are you doing on your Chakra?" KB Ino asked the guy carrying her body.

"Still got half a tank." He perked up right. "Got a plan to lose Shikamaru and Choji and Kiba will never follow us, but… you gals are going to hate it."

"What are you thinking?" They chorused.

"Do you trust me?" He looked at them both. "Win or Lose … I will spring for Baths."

"Oh Hell no!" Tenten hissed.

"You are paying for Hinata, Sakura, and Kurenai-Sensei too." KB Ino hissed.

"Done." He dropped the Cloak, and jumped down to the center of the Street.

"Stop right there!" Shikamaru smiled as he appeared a few feet away.

The Naruto-kun with the sleeping Ino on his back, chucked. "I knew you and Choji were nearby. You don't run and Choji take three blocks get up speed. But Tenten said that you were gone." He laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "But I don't think Kakashi will accept this outcome. Hey… have you seen this one?" Naruto-kun made the rat hand sign. "Harem-no Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared there were twenty blonde female Narutos… wearing only wispy clouds.

All the citizens around them stopped to look, nodded, and continued to move along. Choji smashed through their ranks causing them to explode.

"Don't Bother." Shikamaru strolled up as Choji was looking around. "He went where you can't go and I would be helpless if I followed. Now I just need to figure out where He would go next…"

"Are you sure! Just point me in the right direction." Choji Growled. "He made me run."

"Look at your feet." Shikamaru touched the com gear in his ear. "Alpha Dog, Cloud Watcher to Alpha Dog, come in, Alpha Dog. Our target has escaped into the sewers."

Choji took a step back and looked at where Naruto-kun was standing… a man-hole cover was sitting out of alignment.

SCNS

Two men stood on the Hokage Monument, each partaking in their vice of choice.

"Alpha Dog, Cloud Watcher to Alpha Dog, come in, Alpha Dog. Our target has escaped into the sewers." The com gear speaker broadcasts in its weak volume.

Asuma inhaled and chuckled. "Well this is turning out well. Shikamaru has not had a real life game that he took seriously since he came under my watch."

"Naruto has not been as active other than his Extra Mission exercises." Kakashi spoke as he turned the page. "Do you have any ideas as to where they will come up?"

"Madam Foo's… with the whole of the Village in play…" Asuma hummed.

"The South District is experiencing blockage. I might have left an eavesdropping device in the Mission Room." Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "With his run through the sewer… The Inuzuka Compound would be my guess, as he will need to clean up before delivering Tora to the Tower.

"Should I tell my team?" Asuma crushed the last of his snub out and pulled out his pack. Shaking the next twisted roll of tobacco out to put it in his lips, he pulled and flicked open the lighter, lit his smoke, and exhaled.

"They have not asked." Kakashi smirked. "Just as mine have not asked."

A few minutes of silence. "I am thinking of putting the team up for the Chunin Exams. Win or Lose, it will be a good experience for them."

Kakashi grunted in the affirmative.

SCNS

Two clones pushed the iron lid off the manhole before Ino, still holding the Cat in her Arms, was lifted up and handed out.

Naruto carrying Tenten followed, as was another blonde with a 'sleeping' Ino on his back.

One of the free Naruto eased the blonde female's head up. "Uh, how long are you supposed to hold your Jutsu?"

"I normally only can hold for a few minutes… why?" KB Ino shifted her hips.

"You are bleeding from the nose." The clone eased her head down. "Inuzuka Hana is a medic." He looked the Boss in the eye. "Get her to Hana… even if you have to lose the Cat."

Then the two KB Naruto popped. The two clones, two kunichi , and a worried Brat and a not completely happy cat entered the clinic entrance to the Inuzuka Compound.

"Uzumaki-san. I thought you and your team were already…" a late teen Inuzuka female smiled at the boy who would sneak into the Kennels on cold nights and sleep with the unbonded ninken as a child.

"Hana-nee-chan. Ino Chan here needs a medic to check her out." Naruto eased the unconscious girl onto the exam table. "She has been…"

"I have been piloting this Kage Bushin, of his, for about an hour." KB Ino stepped forward. "The most I could do was ten minutes with a songbird in the backyard at home.

Hana scanned the girl's body. "Well, your Chakra is low. You have a foreign Chakra in your system. It's like using oil to lube a system that uses water. It will work… for a bit. And you have reached your limit." She saw the cat in the girl's arms and set a wicker carrier on the table beside the girl's body. A bowl of milk in the carrier and the cat transferred easily.

"A Kage Bushin, you said?" Hana asked the image of Ino.

"Yes."

Ino never saw the Kunai slam into her face.

The Ino in the table spasmed…

Naruto-kun screamed and fell to his knees. "Do you know what taking a Kunai to the face feels like?"

"No… it normally kills everyone it happens to." Hana was inspecting the girl on the table.

"It Hurts!" Naruto-kun climbed to his feet. "By the way you were dead center between my eyes." He shook his head. "Check her lower abdomen. She was either cramping or beginning to do so."

Hana did a Chakra sweep of Ino's lower abdomen. "Okay. All males out. Go take the hell beast out back and clean him up. You know the procedure."

Tenten swung down, shifted her hips to regain control of her limbs. "Riding like that is fun, but I have not been still that long while awake for years."

As the door closed behind Naruto, Hana turned to the younger girls. "Ino… how long have you been having your menstrual cycle?"

"Been due for the last three months." The girl answered softly, her eyes still closed.

"Well, the Brat sensed your cycle starting. Technically you are having PMS. I would advise you to go home, take a hot bath and rest. I will send a note with Naruto for your Jonin Sensei… why are you three together anyway?"

"Naruto's team was unbalanced." Tenten answered. "Rather than Risk the team, the Hokage traded his teammates for me and Ino. The three of us are working better than my old team."

"Same here." Ino chirped. She sat up. "Well looks like I am going to have to miss Bath Night."

"Not really." Tenten smirked. "He just promised us a night at the Baths… not that we had to go tonight."

"Ha-Na-Chan!" A voice announced a visitor and the way she said the medics name identified who it was.

"In the exam room, Anko. I also have company!"

A woman wearing a yellow trench coat and mesh under armor breezed into the exam room. "Did you hear what that Bitch, Uzuki Yūgao, did?"

Tenten shifted, as she glared at the new woman.

"Anko-chan, I barely hear the news about the Pack, let alone anything from outside the wall. With the Whelping on us…"

"Of course. She found a place to rent. Four stories, four rooms per floor and move in ready. While the place needs a little work, the rent is less than a third of what she is paying now and it will cut her commute in half."

"And why would this place be so cheap and empty?" Hana handed a wet cloth to Ino to clean her face.

"The only issue is a problem tenet. But the Manager can't evict him." Anko shrugged. "Some orphan. I wasn't listening as I was measuring the East corner of the third floor. I am thinking of a jacuzzi with full Bay Windows."

Ino frowned at the young woman who often worked with her Father. "The Whole lower Floors are covered with graffiti?"

"Yeah, that's the place." Anko smiled.

"The tenet is Uzumaki Naruto." She hissed at the 'interview specialist'. "And my teammate. You are going to be putting yourself within striking range of the Prank King of the Village?"

"Anko-chan. Look out the window at the paddock. See the Blonde washing the dogs?" Hana smiled at her friend. "That's Uzumaki."

The woman peeked out the window. "Which one, I see over thirty blondes out there."

Hana just grinned as the Genin started chuckling.

Anko looked at the girls, and back at the mass of blondes. "Solid Buskin… Mizu-Buskin?"

Three heads shook for the negative.

Ino frowned for a second. "How hard is it to throw a Mizu-Buskin?"

"It's classified as a C rank jutsu… why?"

"Naruto-kun might like to learn and master other Buskin Jutsu… so his Buskin can have elemental Buskin. Think about it, a Mizu Buskin to walk through a wall of lightning or to punch a control panel." Ino smirked at the Adults.

"I can teach him the Mud Clone… but if those aren't Mizu, what are they!"

Tenten, not knowing better, answered, "Kage."

"I can't do the Kaga Buskin… little alone thirty. Not enough Chakra." Anko turned to look out the window.

"You cross his Bloodline with…" Hana caught herself from speaking the secret in front of the girls.

"Why does every adult in the village not speak about why everyone hates Naruto-kun?" Tenten asked.

"The Hokage passed a law. Speaking of it in his or his generation's hearing will cost the speaker their head." Ino shifted off the table. "Come Tenten. Let's see how good his Sakura Clone is. Hana and Anko need to gossip." She glared at Anko. "You know the pain he is in."

Tenten helped the limping Ino out the back door. As they picked their way around the twenty foot diameter, two foot deep pool, that six Clones were using as a large tub, a seventh was wrestling a dog three times the body weight of himself towards the pool.

Ino scanned the dog's mind, and found the old brute was having fun. He enjoyed pitting his skills against the boy's. He thought of Naruto-kun as 'Pack'.

Ino watched as the clone was using the same trick as he did when carrying her on his back… just using his hands to hold the dogs shoulders and his feet to drag them both along.

"He's just muscling that beast into the pool?" Tenten gasped.

"Yeah, the only Chakra he is using is gripping the dog and the concrete. Everything else is raw Naruto-kun."

"How strong is he?"

"The other day, he carried me on his back, along the road to Lumber Farm Three, while Cloaked, and we still beat Sasuke and Sakura who were taking the shorter route. He probably could give Lee a good run for his money."

Tenten nodded as the two kunochi arrived where KB Haruno was filing the nails of a Ninken Bitch.

"Sakura. Good to see you." Ino picked up an extra file and began to clean and shape the nails of the next dog. "How do you feel about the fact that you are no longer on Naruto-kun's team?" She smiled at the clone.

"The Sakura Identity is pleased to be away from Naruto-kun, but unhappy to be parted from Sasuke-teme." She blew to clear the dust. "But I am still stuck as his image of Her. What do you need from me?"

"Am I sensing a little…" Ino inquired.

Tenten selected the file closet to her and walking it across the back of her hand and threw her fingers, she approached the last dog in line. As she sat and worked, she kept an ear on her junior Genin.

"Hostility… I believe so. In Naruto's head, you and Haruno are fighting over Uchiha-teme. I am caught in the middle. I am The Boss's Intellect showing. In order to keep up the illusion that I am Haruno, until you two publicly make up… you are my rival. And Stay Away from my Sasuke."

"What if I told you that I was only pursuing Uchiha for the sake of my Rivalry with Sakura-chan." Ino shifted the paw she was working on, to a better position. "In truth I find him to be an entitled ass. At least the Hyūga can usually back it up… he just has his Clan's reputation. Uzumaki has a better pettigree than Uchiha. They at least had their own Nation."

"They did?" Tenten sounded shocked.

"Uzu-Maki." Ino broke the word in pieces. "There are a lot of Clans here from the Land of Whirlpools. The Uzumaki were damn near Royalty and they had strong ties to the Founding Clan of the Village. The First was married to an Uzumaki."

"Then why does everybody hate him?" Tenten almost dropped her file.

"That's Naruto's secret to tell. And why Hana threw us out of the clinic." Ino rubbed her lower abdomen. "He will tell us when he learns the truth. We are his team. And as his team… we stand with him until it is time to stand against him."

"And why would you stand against him?" KB Sakura asked.

"If he is standing between me and my Chunin vest… or if he has hurt Hinata."

"Why would you think he hurt Hinata?" KB Sakura stopped her filing to look at Ino.

"So you don't know…" Ino frowned at the copy of her best friend. "Hinata-chan is in love with the Boss. He mistakes her nervousness as a health condition. As he is so outgoing, he doesn't realize that she has feelings for him."

"Ah…" KB Sakura leaned back before turning to look at the blonde trying to avoid the claws of a wet and soapy Tora while rinsing the pissed cat off. "I don't know if we want you to tell him. Now that I know, he will be more attentive to her and her interest. But his obliviousness is not an act."

"I heard from my Father." Ino changed from a file to a rasp and began to shape the nails on the dog before her. "I would like to have you as my friend as opposed to my rival. I am officially walking away from Uchiha. Besides, I have found a better guy."

"Good, we have missed you." Sakura smiled at her… and Ino almost forgot that this was a clone of two of her friends.

SCNS

The two Jonin watched the activity in the paddock.

"That's the work of the Demon-child?" Anko-chan licked her lips. "And they're completely autonomous?"

"A little smarter than my younger brother, but not a real thinker. They are a match for any Genin in their class, except they can't take a hit. And he can spawn over a hundred of them. But due to how he was raised… he himself is a bit…"

"Dumb boy. But takes orders well. And is the Tenet of the sweetest priced apartment building in the Village. And if we ask nicely… he will help us move in."

"Easier to just bribe him. A couple of Ramen Bowls and he's your servant." Hana turned to lean on the door jamb and look at her lover. "You said you were looking the place over?"

"Yūgao-senpai has taken the brat as a student, and when she went to pick him up… she found the place empty except him in the top apartment, and the manager in the small room down on the ground floor." She smiled at Hana, "When we were shown about, the place needed a makeover… but…" She turned to look at the swarming blonds. "We have a trainable yet cheap work force…"

"Be warned. He eats Ramen like you eat Dango." She bumped her hip into Anko's as she turned to finish the work in the other room. 'A chance to get out of the Compound. And maybe even room for a clinic closer to the center of the Village.'

TBC