Adaptation

Chapter5- Of Seals, Training and ... Hormones?

Ship- Naruto/Hinata

Author: Paladeus

Key: "Speech", "Demonic Speech", 'Thought', 'Demonic Thought'

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Author's Note: Quick note! There is mentioning of adult-themed material in this chapter. Nothing explicit or overly bad, just alluding to the fact that a dream had taken place. This material, in the world of movies rated by US standards and such, would be rated PG-13 (meaning the census bureau believes that it is socially acceptable for children 13 or over, in general, with the content based on parental discretion.) It is also only a few sentences long. Just a warning that it exists.

Recommended Story of the Chapter: "Uzumaki of the Whirlpool" by RaiderXV

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Previously:

"My duty is to protect my teammates, Hiashi-sama. I will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them. We will destroy anyone who attempts to harm them. " Hiashi saw Naruto's conviction shining in his eyes as he spoke and understood the underlying message; 'Kyuubi is just as willing' Yes, he was quite willing to give the boy a chance. He bowed his head as a sign of understanding and turned on his heel to go back into the dining room.

The group left to take care of their missions, Hinata pleased that Naruto wanted to defend her while being sad that they would say those things, Naruto plotting revenge already, Shino wondering why they would say things about their heiress and Kurenai simply sad that Hinata was forced to go through all that. By all accounts, there was going to be a very one-sided war in Konoha soon, and the only victims were going to be the over inflated pride of many of Konoha's citizens.

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The following two weeks had been filled with as much training as Naruto could get in with his new eyes and making his most elaborate prank ever for the Hyuuga on his bad side. Early mornings, he would go out to training ground eight, or one of his own favorite training grounds if he didn't have to meet his team that day, and train as much as he could. His days were filled with roughly five hundred clones to work on anything he had been able to get his hands on, most of which came from the Forbidden Scroll or the Rasengan directions left to him by his father and five to sit at his apartment and come up with ideas and plan everything together.

He had been able to learn a select few jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll he had copied, all of which were the variations on the Kage Bunshin technique he had already learned and the Kauntakachuu technique, but wasn't able to get them to work most of the time, aside from the Kage techniques, and the Kauntakachuu technique hadn't even come close to doing anything resembling the actual technique itself.

The Rasengan he had finally taken to the final stage and was able to make it work if he was using Kyuubi's chakra, but was only on the second stage with his own chakra, though he was nearing the end of that stage. Sadly, Kyuubi altered his original requirements and Naruto had to rely only on his own power for the Rasengan before he would be allowed to look at the Hiraishin no Jutsu.

Naruto was a little upset that he hadn't been able to get more standard jutsu to work on beyond what he had copied from the scroll, and he wasn't really wanting to try his luck at the Shinobi Library again. They never let him in while in the Academy, and would be less inclined to do so now. They would just call for the ANBU as soon as they saw him coming, just like the last two times, even if he tried to use a Henge, as it seemed the librarians were taught to detect such things in case of foreign shinobi. But he had a plan to take care of this one. He just had to come up with a way to make it work, and maybe with more than one target. He had been wracking his brain for months on how to get into the library, even if not the Shinobi section, then at least the areas that would help him with his school work and when he'd met Jin and Rein, he had finally figured out the best way to do it.

Of the two weeks doing their missions, they'd had to track down Tora at least eleven times, even having gone up to three times one day, though Naruto suspected it was in retaliation for the fire mishap during their first briefing. He just couldn't prove it. They had finished thirty-one D-rank missions at the end of the two weeks, doing several each day while finishing them quickly during the second half of each day while the first was set to be used for any training.

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"Alright, guys. That's the last mission for today. I've finally managed to get in touch with a few friends and they're all in Konoha at the same time, so I've got some things to try and work out with them that may help with your training, so you have all got the rest of today off," Kurenai said.

"We'll meet on Ground Eight tomorrow at the usual time and see what our next step will be. Any of you got any questions?" Kurenai received a series of negatives so she nodded and left. Shino merely nodded to his team and began to walk home, having his own plans for the evening, and wanting to use any additional time he may have for those plans. Naruto and Hinata turned to each other since they were the last two outside the tower from the briefing.

"Well Hinata-chan, I'm going to try and get the water walking exercise down again, so I'll see you tomorrow, ne?" Hinata, seeing her chance to try and put what information she'd learned from her clan library decided this was the perfect opportunity to help him out.

"Ano, um... Naruto-kun. The Hyuuga are taught very strict... chakra control exercises from a very young age. I... may be able to help you." Hinata was very proud of herself for no longer stuttering, though she did feel she had to work on the hesitation in her sentences now. Naruto, however, didn't even notice her lack of stuttering this time, even if he had noticed it getting less intense. He was merely a little surprised he hadn't thought to ask her for her help before. But should he ask her to take time away from her own free period when they were given nearly an entire day off?

"Let her help you, Kid. It'll be a good way to get to know your new teammate even better and she can give you individual instruction on the water walking exercise. It certainly can't hurt." Again, like at the ramen stand after Naruto graduated, he failed to mention the large amount of pheromones pouring off the shy girl in waves. There wasn't any reason that he couldn't try to help his vessel find a suiting mate, was there? She obviously liked him, which would only increase as teammates, and he didn't dislike her, though he had no immediate thoughts of girls, so it shouldn't be overly difficult, especially when he could work on Naruto's noticing the cute girl. No, it would be proving himself the alpha male of the team to the Aburame that he'd have to tell Naruto how to handle. That, and marking the young Hyuuga as his own.

'What are you thinking about you crazy-ass fox? I can feel you plotting something! And why have you been trying to get me to ask her for so much help on chakra?' Naruto fully agreed with what the Kyuubi had told him, but at the same time, there was a strange sense of satisfaction coming off the overgrown ball of fluff that made him cautious. There was absolutely nothing wrong with a little paranoia, after all.

"I'm just happy that we'll finally get a good chance of getting this exercise out of the way! It's as much of a pain in the ass to me as it is to you. More so even, considering I don't get to do anything but watch you stand on water."

'Oh, sorry, Kyuubi. I didn't really think about that. Alright, off we go!' The Kyuubi knew his container wasn't stupid, but at the same time, he was such a dense human that it made him want to break down and cry sometimes.

"Alright, Hinata! Are you sure you are okay with using up your free time to help me with this," he asked. He wanted to make sure she realized she had an out in case she changed her mind.

"Yes, Naruto-kun." Had she not been on missions with him, or seen him spar and using the technique, she'd have made sure he could use the tree-climbing exercise, but she knew he was really quite familiar with it, even applying it to inanimate objects for traps he had set up for Tora. Attaching that steak to the cat's back and chasing it towards the Inuzuka compound, while not exactly a smart idea, was proof that he had that concept down. It wouldn't have been a problem if the cat hadn't run after they had caught her.

The two had begun walking towards one of Naruto's favourite training grounds while Naruto described his problem, unaware Hinata had watched him on several occasions. Hinata pretended not to be familiar with the path they were taking while trying her best not to think too hard on being alone with Naruto.

The two arrived in the very same wooded area that Hinata had followed him to the first time. The only real difference is that a good many of the trees further into the woods were heavily scarred from his Rasengan training.

"Okay, Naruto-kun... Please... Show me what happens while you walk on the water. I would," here, her cheeks blushed lightly and Kyuubi bit his tail to muffle the perverted giggle that wanted to escape his mouth as he sensed the increased levels of pheromones, "like to... observe you." Naruto, noticing the blush, but not paying any real attention as she's done that quite a bit when around him, simply nodded and stepped to the side of the small stream, taking off his jacket and sandals without noticing Hinata blush or her small smile.

He stepped up and performed a seal, not using Kage Bunshin until after he'd heard Hinata's advice. Naruto gathered chakra in his feet and began pumping chakra as he walked over top of the water. By the third step, he'd tuned out Hinata and the rest of the world and concentrated only on his chakra and the water. He stood out on the water, taking occasional steps for practice for several minutes until he was shocked out of his concentration by Hinata's soft voice describing his chakra flow. His surprise cost him his not-so-sure footing and he sank into the water with a yelp and splash. Hinata winced as he came out of the water with a gasp. Her wince turned into a gasp when she saw him come out of the water with his shirt stuck to his chest and abs where she could see the outline of his already well-developed muscles. A slight growl came out of the back of her throat before she shook her head and glanced around quickly as if looking for anyone who may have seen or heard her.

'Abs ... camera,' she thought, taking occasional and quick glances at Naruto as he stepped out of the water, 'tranquilizers...'

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"Kurenai, are you really serious about this?" Sarutobi Asuma twirled an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he watched the other Jounin's reactions to the woman's suggestions. He had to admit, some of them made quite a bit of sense, but others were just rather odd. Several of the gathered Jounin were among the best in their fields, but not all had teams that could gain anything from this set-up. Several of those, however, were willing to do this simply to be able to teach. Unknown to all of them, the Sandaime Hokage had gotten wind of this particular meeting and was watching the whole thing in his crystal scrying ball.

"I am. We all know that we are the among the best in our respect fields. I specialize in genjutsu, Gai in taijutsu, Kakashi even rivals Sandaime-sama in ninjutsu. It's stupid of us to be blinded by our pride," here she looked primarily at Kakashi, "and teach something that we are not particularly gifted at. I'm proficient at taijutsu, but my students would learn from Gai's tutelage far better than my own."

"None of us are doubting that particular aspect, Kurenai, but having our teams ambush each other? Isn't that a little ... how should I put this," Kakashi struck a thinking pose before looking at her and smiling behind his mask, "idiotic?" Kurenai fumed behind her outwardly calm expression. Naruto had expressed his happiness at the Genin mission she'd put her team on for a full week afterwards, even explaining how it gave them a taste of what they may do in the future with both teammates agreeing, though less enthusiastically, which is what gave her this idea, but she had a feeling Kakashi had strong doubts in his own team's abilities. Everyone knew that his team only passed because the Village Council forbade him from failing the last Uchiha.

"I detect a sliver of doubt in your team, Kakashi. Are you still upset that my team, on their first day together, were able to ambush you and take your precious Icha Icha Paradise book?" She allowed the smile that tugged at her lips to fully blossom as she saw his visible face redden in embarrassment. "I still have the book, you know. Agree to this, and I'll even give it back to you." The congregated Jounin all chuckled as they recalled how furious Kakashi had been the day after the trials. Even the Sandaime had congratulated Kurenai on the results while Kakashi kept saying that he knew it was a test and went easy on them. While true, all knew it was because he'd underestimated Team Eight.

"Really, the idea isn't as far fetched as you would initially think. The odds of getting ambushed on a mission are actually very good. My team in particular can use the tracking and ambushing practice, while all of yours can use the experience of evading such attacks and it certainly isn't a bad idea to allow your teams the chance to learn to ambush their enemies as well. Can any of you tell me that this is actually a bad idea?" She looked around as the other Jounin looked at the others for their own thoughts. Many seemed to believe she had the right of things.

"They could get hurt in these mock ambushes you have got set up," Kakashi stated while reading his newly-acquired Icha Icha Paradise book, though this one didn't have the author's signature behind the cover. Kurenai nodded while allowing each of those present to let his comment sink in.

"You're right. They could. However, it is just as likely that they could get hurt out on missions where they come across situations they are unfamiliar with and may not have the best reaction times or abilities. These mock ambushes would allow them to learn how to react to these situations in a controlled environment and exchanging teams to learn each of our preferred fields is one of the best ways I could think of for our students to learn the various aspects of becoming practical and useful ninja." She could tell that she was getting to the others. Kakashi was the only one who was apparently against this at the moment and she suspected that was because his pride was still hurting.

'Damn men and their ego's! Why the hell can't they see things more like women?' Kurenai would have continued ranting in her mind had she not realized that she'd just thought of a rather wonderful genjutsu. 'Maybe making a man think he's got a woman's body isn't ethically acceptable, but at least it will be funny...' She quietly chuckled as she thought of how to make it work out without being too obvious.

"I like this idea, Kurenai! Perhaps we should decide who wants to help in this endeavor you've created! I am more than happy to take on our more youthful students and teach them the joys of taijutsu!" Gai struck a nice guy pose while the others shuddered. It wasn't so much how he was saying what he was, frightening as it may be, but that each of them knew what he'd subject the unsuspecting Genin to.

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"So," Naruto began, scratching his head, "you're saying that my chakra doesn't flow at a steady rate, but quicker and that there are 'pulse-like' bits that are basically concentrated chakra that go through my chakra circulatory system?" Hinata nodded as she sat on a fallen tree trunk from one of Naruto's rasengan training sessions before he realized that switching trees after a few Rasengans would be a good idea.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. I... noticed your chakra had brighter patches in it. I looked it up... in the Hyuuga archives and found that brighter chakra is... concentrated chakra. So... when you use your chakra... these patches add extra chakra to your jutsu. So, it basically overpowers the jutsu that use... less chakra to work."

"I think I understand."

"You may not, gaki, but I do. I'm going to need to do some examination of this seal to figure out exactly what it is, but I have a pretty good idea. If it is what I think it is, I'll let you know and see if I can work on it." Kyuubi answered in a voice that made Naruto question the fox's abilities. He sounded rather intrigued. "For now, I would talk with her about what she knows about chakra compression, density and regulation."

'You mean, you want me to basically talk with her about chakra in general?' Naruto sweat dropped as Kyuubi blinked behind his cage.

"Uh, yea. Basically." Naruto mentally shook his head while he turned his attention back to Hinata, not realizing the fox just wanted Naruto to spend more time with the girl. He knew she was powerful, and would be a good mate for the boy. He just had to get Naruto to consider it, now.

"Alright, Hinata. So what do you know about brighter chakra and dimmer chakra and things like that?" Naruto watched as Hinata seemed to redden slightly under his gaze and recognized a scent that seemed to emanate from her at times like this, only becoming more frequent and more powerful. He wasn't sure what exactly it was, but he found himself enjoying the scent when it happened, even to the point where he would offer to spend time with her just to try and figure it out. Over the past week and a half, he'd noticed his senses becoming more acute and had attributed the pleasant scent to that. He wasn't aware that the fuzzball had left part of the link between the two of them open and been increasing his strength, senses and over all abilities, allowing him to begin smelling her attraction to him. Kyuubi was working to make sure Naruto would notice women, this one in particular, and had several plans on how to work on him throughout the nights as well.

"Well, Naruto-kun, a person's chakra should all be... the same brightness, but your chakra has those pulses in it where the chakra is much more potent. It is only known to happen when ... giving chakra to another person who has suffered from extreme chakra exertion." Naruto frowned the slightest bit as he heard Hinata's description.

"So, you mean it kind of happens when foreign chakra is introduced to someone's chakra system?" Hinata nodded, pleased that he understood.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. The mix of the original chakra, and the natural pulsing of the offered chakra make the two become denser as they merge. But... because they are different, the chakra doesn't always fully become one stream. What is happening to you is like that... but only with one chakra source." Hinata hung her head low. "I have not been able to find precedence for something like this occurring within a single person without that foreign chakra being given. I am... sorry Naruto-kun." Naruto could see her sadness at not being able to help him. It was such that he almost felt he could actually smell it from her also. He reached back and scratched his head as he smiled brightly at her.

"Hey! No worries, Hinata-chan! It actually makes a lot of sense! I have a good idea of what's going on, and think I can work it out. You wouldn't believe how much knowing this is going to help, I promise!" Hinata looked up to see Naruto smiling and felt instinctively that he was telling the truth and it warmed her to know she was able to help him, even if she wasn't sure exactly how.

"Hey, Hinata. Now that I know about that, I'll have to work a little on the problem, so there's no point in doing the exercise at the moment. Would you like to have a spar or go get some ramen? My treat!" Hinata watched as he put his hand to his stomach and felt it was a hint of his own decision, even if it was actually where he was already trying to think a little over what he'd just learned.

"Ramen sounds... good, Naruto-kun, thank y- Eep!" She was abruptly cut off as Naruto grabbed her by the hand and ran towards Ichiraku Ramen as if the Shinigami was hot on his heels.

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"Please, hurry! They're almost here! We have to get to get out of here quickly!" A dark-haired woman with small pig cradled in her arms was quickly pushing a rather large-chested blonde woman through the door of their shared hotel room on the fourth floor. On ground level, there were five men rushing into the building, intent on finding the two of them.

"Oh, come on, Shizune! You know as well as I do that I can take them out! Can't I just do it this once, please?" The blonde-haired woman nearly begged for a chance to hurt the men coming up for them.

"No! They're only after us because you stole ran out without paying your debts! If you-" she was cut off by a few quiet thumps as something soft fell from the blonde's pockets. Shizune's eyes widened and her yell alerted everyone within the city about their new plight. "YOU STOLE THEIR WALLETS TOO! TSUNADE-SAMA! HOW COULD YOU!" She was answered by a slightly nervous laugh and the blonde woman scratching the back of her head, her nervous grin so large that her eyes closed from her cheeks pushing upwards.

"Eheh, sorry?" Tsunade didn't appear overly sorry as she quickly stuffed the wallets back into her own pocket and quickly left a stunned Shizune in the room before the dark-haired woman realized she had been left behind.

"HAVE YOU NO DECENCY!"

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Jourei crawled on the floor towards the man who was laughing as he grabbed his daughter out of her bed as she screamed at the unknown man. He didn't know what they wanted, but there were very few things a grown man may want with a seven-year old girl, and certainly, none of them were good.

"Please! Please, take whatever you want! Just leave my family alone!" Jourei wasn't sure where his wife or two-year old son was in all of this, but he knew this man hadn't come alone. He stopped crawling and began to cry softly as the man in front of him hit his daughter's neck, causing her to slump unconsciously in his arms before turning to him.

"These are your instructions. You are to go to Konoha, and you are going to hire a Genin team to search for your daughter. You will tell them that she has a tendency to get lost in the forest and you will endeavor to get a Hyuuga as well. Should you fail to get a Hyuuga or should you alert Konoha to this in any way, your little girl here will be killed at the first sign of betrayal. Otherwise, she will be treated very well."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Jourei watched as the man holding his daughter sneered at him.

"You can't you pathetic Konoha trash! But this is the only option you have! We have no desire to harm the girl, only get the Hyuuga. Do you understand," Tekouri paused as one of his men brought in his wife, "or do you need an example?" Jourei's eyes widened at the insinuation and he quickly shook his head.

"No. Please, leave them be! I'll do anything you want, just please don't hurt them!" Tekouri grinned as over a years' worth of planning began to come to fruition.

"Go to Konoha in two days and explain that your daughter ran off into the forest again and hasn't come back. Explain that she doesn't trust many men and is afraid of dogs due to an attack when she was younger and that she tends to find little places where she fits into to hide. That should help you get the one we seek. And remember, if Konoha sends anything stronger than Genin or if we feel you've alerted them to what is really going on, then your daughter dies and we may very well come back for you."

"I will do what you say! Please..." He began to crawl towards them again before the man snatched up his daughter and quickly left out the front door, his comrade leaving his wife on the floor where he dragged her in and following suite. Jourei quickly went over to his wife and made sure she was still alive before clutching her to his chest and crying.

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'So, you mean you think that your chakra is mixing with mine, but it isn't doing so like the seal is supposed to,' Naruto asked Kyuubi after getting the explanation from the fox. He'd had a pleasant lunch with Hinata where he continuously tried to figure out that scent that he'd been noticing coming from her more and more while attempting to remain in the conversation he tried to hold with her. He'd left her over two hours ago and had since been reading until Kyuubi had finally interrupted him with news.

"Yes. You see, the seal is meant to slowly take my power from me and give it to you until either there is no more, or one or both of us die. However, because of my strength," Naruto couldn't help but notice that Kyuubi seemed a little proud of this, though it was exactly what was causing the trouble in the first place, "several other seals were needed in order to make the whole thing work properly. There are purification seals so my youki doesn't turn you, limiter seals, so I can't take control if possible and you can't take more than you can handle, alignment seals for allowing our chakras and energies to merge and actually work together and then the seal that holds me here in the first place, which is the one with the problem. Because of all of these, once the true seal was activated, the others were doing their job as they were meant to, but they didn't adapt to the change in the Shiki Fuuin. So they are still controlling the seal as it was before it activated."

'So, in other words, they're doing their job too well?'

"Not exactly, but close enough, yes. They are doing their job, but not well enough, in this case. They should have adapted since their foundation seal, or the Shiki Fuuin, altered, but they remained as they were. So, technically, they are doing their previous jobs too well."

'Ah, they were supposed to be amorphous, or able to change, but are static, or staying as they were when created, yes?' Kyuubi was very happy that Naruto was able to follow what he was saying, but sometimes, he wished he hadn't learned as much as he had about sealing techniques. Naruto was just happy to be able to use the bigger words he'd learned from the seal scrolls.

"Exactly. They should have allowed more of my power to come out but are still allowing only the trickle you could handle as an infant."

'So, what can we do about this?' Naruto could tell that they would have to either alter the seals or simply get rid of some from his knowledge about seals, but he didn't know nearly enough to do the job needed.

"Well, we have three options. Option one is to leave it as it is, and just over power any jutsu you use if it would allow it, but that also means you could run out at some point, even when you shouldn't normally. Option two is to find the best seal master we can and have them take care of it while hoping they don't just simply kill us and option three would be to make the changes needed ourselves."

'What! You may have the knowledge, but I don't! And I would be the one that has to make this changes and-'

"Do you trust me, Naruto?" The question silenced Naruto as if he'd suddenly run out of air. It wasn't so much the question itself, either. But the fact that the Kyuubi seemed to truly care about the answer. It was impossible for Naruto to not feel the demon's unease. He truly wanted to know.

'Of course I do, Ryoku,' he answered using Kyuubi's true name, feeling it necessary as a sign of the friendship they had created up to this point. It was as Kyuubi had told him when he learned of the name, he was the first human in a very long time to learn of it. 'But how can I be sure I won't mess this up and kill myself or you? Or do something wrong and make things worse?'

"That's what I'm trying to say. The changes can be made from within. You control the seal in its entirety. How much power of mine you're able to get, what kind of control I get when I take over, or even none at all and how much control. You can make these changes and not make any physical alterations to the seal itself. Even the sewer mindscape you see when you come here is because of your own choices. Your strength of mind controls all of it."

'Oh...' Naruto suddenly felt rather stupid. He hadn't known of any seals that could be altered in such a method, but was willing to trust the voice in his head, even if he did wonder why that statement sounded so wrong. 'How long will this take?'

"As long as it does. Willing to give it a shot? We've got more time from this evening and tonight than we may have for some time." Naruto thought for only a moment before shrugging to himself.

'Lead on, oh fearless leader!' Kyuubi snorted in response before bringing Naruto into his own mindscape.

xXxXxXx

Shino sat uncomfortably on a couch next to Teksewa Shiya, a potential arranged marriage that his parents were contemplating for him. It wasn't so much that they were calmly discussing his future wife's qualities in front of him and her, or that he was being used as a bartering tool for that matter, but that he was thirteen and sitting across from a fifteen year old woman who was was rather happy with the idea of marrying Shino, and constantly pushing her modestly-developed chest out because she liked watching him squirm. Yes, it was the fact that the girl was teasing him mercilessly. It probably wouldn't have been a problem for the usually stoic boy if it didn't make memories of Naruto's plan against Kakashi surface. Somehow, though he knew Naruto had nothing to do with it directly, he couldn't help cursing Naruto's name.

'Naruto-san ... Our next sparring session, I'm kicking your blonde ass...'

xXxXxXx

Naruto, roughly twenty minutes into working within the mindscape alongside Kyuubi, suddenly sneezed, causing everything he'd done up to this point falter and collapse, causing the representations to the seals to fall back into their original forms.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kyuubi blinked at the seals and Naruto as the blonde boy continued to curse.

"You aren't even supposed to be able to sneeze in here... You have no body..."

"Well, apparently you can! DAMNIT!" The two got back to work, Naruto cursing a few last times in quick succession to get them out of the way so he could concentrate again. Kyuubi was slightly worried since the results of the strange sneeze that shouldn't exist could have been disastrous has they been too much further into their task.

xXxXxXx

Shiya's own family worked alongside other insects much like the Aburame, but nowhere near the same level. They were master breeders who were able to succeed in altering strains of insects where all others, including the Aburame, failed and were able to coexist with them while providing a haven for them and providing food and such rather than simply their bodies. It was almost assured that, with the joining of the two families, both would benefit with the blending of the Aburame Kikaichu and the Teksewa insects to create hybrids that would be impervious to most of the elements and eventually, more maneuverable in the air.

"So we have selected the final details of the marriage proposal. We shall deliberate with the Aburame elders and see if they, too, accept the details. Should all go well, then the proposal shall go through as agreed. Otherwise, we will come to your home for the final agreements. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes," Meika, Shiya's mother stated. "And should either family, or either of the betrothed decide they would prefer to not complete the arrangement, they need only say as much along with their reasoning, yes?" Shibi nodded and wondered about the arrangement, but felt it a rather good option to have. At least it was a safe out that provided for either child's decision to marry for themselves rather than their clan.

"Correct. As beneficial as this arrangement is, it must be their own decisions." Final pleasantries and farewells given, the Teksewa family left. Once gone, Shibi turned to Shino. "What do you think of the Teksewa, Shino?" Shibi was forced to remain quiet as Shino contemplated his answer.

"The arrangement would be a good one for both families. They are an honorable clan and she is nice, though more expressive than I'm used to," he blushed slightly behind his collar as he remembered Shiya's actions. He couldn't figure out if she was simply that happy about the arrangement or if it was something else, though he was beginning to lean towards the latter. His parents caught his embarrassment, however.

"Yes, they are. But then, it could simply be that we are not used to that form of expressive behavior since we must keep our emotions in check at all times in fear of losing control of our colonies," Ami said while giving a very pointed look towards Shibi who sighed heavily.

"Shino," he began, sounding as nervous as he felt, "it has come to my attention that there are certain ... talks that I have yet to have with you." Shino's posture went ramrod straight and his eyes began to look around for possible escape venues and his mind processed the odds of escape. "Shino, there comes a time in a man's life when he meets a woman that he feels ... more than simple affection or friendship for..." Inwardly, Shino was screaming about injustices.

xXxXxXx

Hinata sat in her clan library, looking over scrolls once again in an attempt to find something help Naruto with his chakra problems. At first, she was hesitant about looking any more information up when he said he had a good idea of what the cause was, but he'd asked her so many questions, most of which she was able to answer, that she hoped she would be able to answer his questions again in the future should he ask them of her. Admittedly, though, she hoped that she could find the answer and give it to him as well.

She didn't know it, but each time she came to the library, she was watched by her father. Originally, he had come to berate her for skipping out on her training, but that idea had stopped before it had even fully matured in his mind when he saw her arms loaded with scrolls about multiple chakra conditions and manipulations. He had watched for an hour as she filtered through scroll after scroll and making her own notes on a blank scroll she'd brought with her. It hadn't taken him too long to figure out she was focusing her research on compression of chakra and the manipulation of potent chakra and transferring chakra from one person to another. The notes even showed where she had made mention of current clan techniques and ways that they could be improved upon. It was the last, and even notes of potential original jutsu, that made him decide to make sure she wasn't disturbed. She still made it to her training periods and she still met her familial obligations, so if she wanted to use a good portion of her free time reading instead of training herself, he would allow it. Her notes did appear promising after all, and she did seem to do a bit of practice on her own.

Currently, Hinata was going over her notes and checking over five different scrolls that mentioned chakra potency and regulation. She knew that Naruto shouldn't have multiple chakra sources, and therefore thought that his problem had to be a chaotic core, as she'd found precedence for it. In other words, knowing how large his reserves and chakra circulatory system's coils were, it was very possible that his core produced chakra sporadically. It was possible that his core was trying to produce a stronger chakra and that it was taking time to get that way. Maybe she could give him advice on how to work on leveling his chakra or maybe she could help him work on it, though she hadn't found anything in the records to support such a possibility.

"Hinata." The sudden voice of her father caused Hinata to jump and stop thinking of the budding fantasy beginning to go through her mind and drop the scroll she'd been holding in place for the past ten minutes.

"Yes, Father?" She watched silently as Hiashi looked over the scrolls laying about on the table before he settled his gaze on her.

"Have you been finding whatever information you seek in these scrolls? You had seemed to be studying that scroll intently." Hiashi ignored her instant blushing, finding it commonplace to show up in random situations. Quite frankly, he was making sure to ignore the fact that it was in conjunction with speaking about Uzumaki Naruto more than anything else.

"I have been finding... everything fine. It is mostly research," Hinata said quietly as Hiashi nodded in response.

"Yes, so it seems," he replied. "Should you require any assistance, feel free to let me know. I'm curious to see the results of some of your alterations to the clan techniques." Hinata blushed slightly as she realized that he'd somehow found out what she was working on.

"I will come to you if I need assistance, but ... I would prefer to show you the completed ... changes first." Hiashi was very pleased with her decision. While he'd like to be able to say he helped his daughter adapt and change the Hyuuga styles of combat, he was equally pleased that she wanted to attempt it on her own.

"I see. I've been very pleased with what I've seen so far. If you continue as you have, I fully expect wonderful results. Good luck, Hinata." At Hinata's nod, after a pleased smile, he turned and left, putting thoughts of her team to the back of his mind for later contemplation while proud of both himself and Hinata. Meanwhile, Hinata went back to the scrolls she'd been reading, which pretty much confirmed what she'd been researching; that what she was witnessing in Naruto's chakra circulatory system was impossible without a secondary chakra source, otherwise his own chakra core would be so erratic that it would kill him, or disable him in the very least before killing him.

'Naruto-kun, how is it that you have this with only one core and still be alive? And with so much chakra at that?'

xXxXxXx

"So we are of an agreement, then? For a trial period of three months, we're going to swap students with each other; Taijutsu will be with Gai, genjutsu will be with myself, ninjutsu with Kakashi," Kurenai ignored Kakashi's mutterings of protecting his beloved book from the big bad illusionist lady as she spoke, "kenjutsu with Hayate and Asuma for those who would like it and the secondary choices whenever the primary ones are unable to teach due to missions or personal matters. All agreed?" Kurenai watched as all of the assembled Jounin nodded, aside from Kakashi who was still nuzzling his orange book and releasing a slight amount of killer intent at the red-eyed beauty.

"I have no problems," Hayate paused long enough to cough, "with teaching some kenjutsu, but I should mention that I only know how to use swords. Anything else would be beyond me." Asuma took the cigarette out of his mouth as he spoke.

"I'm more of a brawler with trench knives and daggers, but I know some people who may be willing to work some kind of an arrangement out for more obscure weapons." Gai suddenly found himself with an idea.

"Ah, yes! My youthful Tenten is a weapons master! Her youthful father taught her everything she knows and runs a most youthful forge!" Those around him, while listening, couldn't help but wonder what may have happened to Gai as a child to make him into the ... man ... he was today. "He would probably be willing to exchange weapons training for their help in the shop or to buy from him exclusively!" Gai sat back into his seat, not even aware that he had risen, with a large smile, pleased with his idea as Kakashi looked up from nuzzling his book.

"Hm? Did you say something Gai?"

xXxXxXx

"Alright, Naruto. We've opened all the seals except the Shiki Fuuin. While maintaining the others, I want you to take the section that controls the channeling of my chakra into you and add one link to the wind purification node," Kyuubi waited while Naruto shifted the seal appropriately before continuing, "Good. Now, take the earth purification node and take the link off of it and put it to the water-based purification node... Excellent. Alright, last step, ready?"

"Yea, I am. Give it to me straight, Doc." Naruto smiled cheekily as he held all nine layers of seals apart from each other. This was by far the most difficult thing he'd ever done with seals and he'd learned more in the past hour and a half than he had in the past several months, but it would be worth it. Each layer of seals was like a seal written on paper and then laid on top of the other, only without the paper and connected with short lines of connecting seal work. It was these, and the seals themselves, though thankfully only in part, that he was changing. The problem, however was that if he lost control and allowed the seal structure to collapse while he didn't have it exactly as he wanted, the results could destroy not only them, but potentially all of Konoha, though Kyuubi hadn't mentioned that part, but he trusted in Naruto enough for this or he wouldn't have offered it yet.

"Alright. We'll lose communication between each other until you finish this last part once you start, so listen carefully. You're going to take the Shiki Fuuin seal and the six lines that connect to each base element node need to be expanded. Since we can't do that with what's already there, you will have to take each one and take them off at the same time and then reconnect them all at once as well. Start with Life, then Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and finally Death when you start to increase their size. Understand?" Naruto nodded and the Kyuubi grunted once to tell Naruto to begin. He didn't want to say anything else in fear of having Naruto forget what he'd said.

"How much should I widen... them?" The seal structure wavered for only a moment while he spoke, but it was enough to scare him enough to pause his questioning.

"As much as you feel you could handle. I would recommend about double their current size, but probably no more than three times or you may have slightly animalistic urges and habits that you'll take. I'll explain more later if you want, but I would recommend double to just over. And remember, Life, Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Death." Kyuubi knew that the order didn't really matter in what they were doing, but controlling the order as he had, he wanted Naruto to increase his affiliation with certain elements that he was already naturally adept at while the Life and Death nodes were a must in this case. He watched as Naruto disconnected the nodes, causing everything that both could see, including each other, turn translucent, hazy and lose their color. As Naruto increased the size of each connecting support to the seals to about double and half again their original size, the color of the whole mindscape altered in reflection of the element being used until the Death node was finally connected, turning the whole mindscape into a mirage of colors and lights before settling down. Naruto, finally exhausted and knowing he was done, let all nine layers of seals settle down on each other before falling onto his butt and sigh heavily.

"Whew! That was exhausting, Kyuubi!" The large fox rested on his forepaws, knowing what was about to hit once the seal changes took affect.

"If you think that was bad, wait about five more seconds." He chuckled darkly as Naruto looked at him curiously for a moment.

"What do you mean? What's happening in five se-AHHH!" Naruto's back arched backwards as a sudden wave of pain hit him and left almost as suddenly. Then another, followed by seven more just like it, each worse than the last. To Naruto, it had felt like someone had been whipping him, but hitting his whole body all at once rather than just his back like while he was in the orphanage. After the final wave hit, he laid on the ground, panting for air.

"W-w-what the hell w-was th-that?" He looked to see the Kyuubi in a similar state, only with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth and his fur ruffled in multiple places.

"That was... the seal changing... Runt." Kyuubi couldn't believe how much simply talking hurt when he didn't even have a body to feel the pain.

"N-next time... warn me f-first... bastard... f-fox..." As the last words left his lips, Naruto faded into unconsciousness, letting sleep take him.

"No... f-fun... in that..." Was all Kyuubi could get out before following his container into the warm embrace of blissful darkness.

xXxXxXx

"Jourei, can we really do this?" Tsuna clutched her husband's arm the next morning after she'd woken up and explained everything to her. "It sounds like we're going to be sacrificing this Hyuuga they want just to get our own daughter back!" Jourei sighed and held his wife's hand.

"Once we get Yume back, we'll be able to let them know what actually happened or something. But really, ninja have a much better chance than our daughter who's never even been in a fight to begin with, right?" Tsuna let out a shuddering breath.

"I don't like it. It feels like we'll be as bad as they are."

"I know, I really do. I don't like it either. But we really don't have a choice." He looked around the house, silently reminiscing about his stolen daughter as he tried to control his breathing. "If we don't do this, then they'll just come to kill us to cover any loose endings and try this with another family and then we die for nothing." Tsuna began to cry anew as she submitted herself to actually going through with the plan.

Jourei hugged her for a few minutes before finally getting up and grabbing the money left by the kidnapper to be sure they could pay for the mission and walked out the door, listening to his wife's sobbing intensify.

xXxXxXx

Naruto groggily pulled himself up from the floor where he had been laying while stretching and yawning. He could see the pink-orange light coming through his window as the day was beginning.

"Naruto-kun! Ah!" Hinata was laying underneath him as he nipped at her collarbone and then sucking gently on the spot he'd bitten.

Naruto's eyes widened as he began getting flashes of the dreams he'd had the night before.

Naruto sucked gently on a pulsing vein on Hinata's neck as she moaned and wriggled beneath him, taking in a deep shuddering breath. He snaked his hand up her bare side, leaving a trail of goosebumps over her pale flesh as it made his way to her developing breast where he lightly pinched her hardened nipple, receiving a high-pitched squeal of delight from the woman beneath him.

Naruto's breath came in gasps as he breathed heavier with each flash of the dreams. He could feel his body reacting as he remembered not only the visions of what happened, but how he felt in those dreams. Those very, very realistic dreams.

"What the hell is-" He was cut off by the final vision of a naked Hinata, sitting in his very naked lap with her head thrown back as she screamed his name in pleasure with her fingernails digging into his shoulders as he nibbled on her tender flesh. As the last vision passed, Naruto wiped his forehead in shock and felt a light sheen of sweat.

"Th-that was... H-Hinata and... me... we..." Naruto gulped as he thought over what he'd seen.

"You alright, Naruto?" Kyuubi was a very happy fox. Admittedly, he'd had a part in Naruto having the dreams that Naruto had, but he'd only actually set the dream into motion of the two of them together on a date. He was very highly amused and happy with the fact that Naruto had taken the initiative on his own to let the dream progress itself. It just meant all the less work for him.

"Kyuubi... I think I'm sick," Naruto said as he began to panic. "I had an... odd dream." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard the Kyuubi begin to laugh.

"N-Naruto! Haha! Th-those are dreams you'll be-begin to have as you grow older! Do you remember what your lessons in the Academy mentioned about puberty and such?" Kyuubi snickered as realization seemed to hit Naruto as surely as Tora would claw his face.

"So this is just about that, then?" Naruto let out a heavy breath. "That's good." Kyuubi saw an opportunity to sow the seeds of a fruitful relationship, or at least get in some good teasing, and decided to take it.

"Why is it good? Is there something wrong with Hinata?" Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

"No, no, no! She's a great person," he began, but then slumped back onto the floor as he frowned in thought. "But... I can't think of anyone like that. Especially Hinata-chan. She's a member of what is practically a royal family in Konoha and I'm... well... me." Kyuubi didn't really need him to explain what he meant. He could practically hear Naruto remembering the countless instances where the villagers would call him names, the assassination attempts and other horrible things the villagers had said or done because of his existence in the boy.

"Kit, you do realize that you have just as much right to love and happiness as any of those damned villagers, right? More so, even, because of what many of them have done to you." Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe, but could you really think of anyone that would feel that way once that found out what I was?" Rather than wait for an answer, he got up and took off the clothes he still had on from the day before and began to take a shower, trying in vain to keep the images of the dream and Kyuubi's words out of his head. He was failing miserably.

xXxXxXx

Hinata woke up slowly, trying to remain in her dreams where she had Naruto's arms around her and where they were together. As she awoke, the details of the dream fled her mind once again, but she held on to the knowledge that Naruto was once again in them and with a sigh, she began her morning rituals.

Once she'd finished bathing and eating, she went back to her room and picked up one of the scrolls she'd written that held several different chakra control exercises she planned to give to Naruto. When she'd began copying, she hadn't thought about the lack of a Byakugan and had copied down all of their exercises, excited by the idea of giving him something that could help him out, but felt that maybe he could adapt them to his own style. It was something she had learned about him in the very beginning. If there was something that didn't work for him, then he'd change it and make it better than before and it would be all Naruto. Even when most of the Genin could perform the Bunshin no Jutsu and he couldn't, he'd managed to learn the much more highly advanced Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Sure, it was due to a traitor who attempted to use him and kill him, but that was standard of what could be summed up in only two words; 'only Naruto'.

'Maybe we can try and think of a way to adapt the chakra exercises together.' Hinata giggled lightly as she thought of watching him try and come up with a way to adapt them himself. She knew he was far smarter than he had let on during the Academy, but there was only so much you could do to change an exercise based entirely on the eyesight of the Byakugan. Suddenly her eyes widened.

'Maybe we won't be able to adapt them, but maybe I can be his eyes for him!' Suddenly, the day seemed to get far brighter. With a large smile, she strapped on her shuriken holster and left the estate quickly.

xXxXxXx

Naruto was only a few buildings away from his apartment when he finally stopped thinking about Hinata, his dream and Kyuubi's words enough to notice how he actually felt physically and remembered in a rush everything that he and Kyuubi had done the night before and the pain.

'Oi! You damn fuzzball! That hurt like hell last night!' He was answered by the fox's dark chuckles.

"But it was funny!" Naruto growled as he leapt from roof to roof.

'Forget about that for now. Did it work? I just realized that I feel really light and I'm moving as fast as I normally do when I'm using a little chakra to run, but I'm not doing that at all now.' Kyuubi sighed heavily as Naruto listed off his questions and observations.

"Okay, I'll start from the beginning. When we changed the seals, it allowed more of my chakra to come through and into your circulatory system. This means that you now have a constant and, most importantly, steady flow of my chakra and your own chakra, making it a little stronger than it was before because they're mixing properly now, which means I can also help a little with your physical development. You'll probably need to fine-tune your chakra control, though, but it shouldn't be different enough to make any of your current jutsu to fail, except maybe where you are currently at on the Rasengan training." Naruto pouted as he heard that.

'Aw, damn it! I was doing so well, too!' Kyuubi chuckled again. This just meant that he'd learn all the more before trying to learn his father's prized Hiraishin technique.

"Regardless, having more chakra in your system is like having constant adrenaline. This means you're going to be a little faster and a little stronger than normal. We'll have to test a bit to see how badly it affected your control, though I doubt it made it too much worse."

'Alright. When we get there, I'll try a few jutsu and exercises to see.' Kyuubi nodded in his cell.

"That should be fine."

Naruto decided the best way to start off his tests with his newfound chakra would be to pump it into his legs and try to get to the training ground as quickly as possible. He found immediately that he should have started off small. As he pumped chakra into his legs like normal, his first step rocketed him over the next two buildings and caused the air to rush into his eyes with his new speed.

"Whoa!" Naruto's grin was as wide as it could get as he passed through the village and into the training ground at record pace. Kyuubi himself was pleased as well. It had been a long time since he'd gone fast, and Naruto was moving nearly as fast as he'd ever gone.

'That new chakra is totally awesome!' Kyuubi laughed at Naruto's enthusiasm as he landed.

"Well, part of that is because you've got more of my chakra in your system now, but part of it is also your circulatory system. Do you remember the pain we felt after changing the sealwork?"

'Yea, what was that about, anyway?'

"Well, when my chakra came through, it forcibly widened your pathways a tiny bit. That was what the pain was about and why you're getting a little bit more chakra along with the new density."

'Alright. A bit weird, but whatever. Time for testing!' Naruto quickly ran over to a tree and ran upwards, only to launch himself from the tree in a shower of broken bark from too much chakra. As he lay on his back watching the sky through the leaves, one thought blared through his mind. 'Owww...'

xXxXxXx

Hinata found herself in the branches ten meters above the ground as she watched Naruto climbed from the ground where he'd just landed heavily on his back after attempting the tree climbing exercise.

'I wonder why Naruto-kun is having trouble with tree climbing,' she thought, activating her Byakugan to look at his circulatory system as he ran up the tree, this time without trouble. Her eyes widened as she realized that there weren't any more of those odd fluctuations in his circulatory system and that his chakra itself seemed to flow faster. 'He really fixed it in only one day?' Hinata was most definitely surprised. She continued to watch him as he ran up and down the trees and from one tree to another several times before launching himself back off of the trees and into the clearing before grinning and throwing his hand up with a whoop of happiness. With a smile and a blush, Hinata jumped from the trees and into the clearing where Naruto turned to her in surprise.

"Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" Naruto flashed his normal smile and waved at her as she approached.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun." Hinata began to push her fingertips together as she approached. The two sat next to each other as they waited for the appointed meeting time. Hinata was blushing as she thought about how close she was to Naruto, and because she had her Byakugan activated to such a small degree that the usual veins at the side of her eyes didn't bulge like normal, but allowed her to see about five feet around her in about a one-hundred and eighty degree field of vision. It was something she'd taught herself to do while in the Academy. Naruto was blushing as well, but it was for a very different, and much more inappropriate reason.

'Damn it! Why the hell can't I get her voice out of my head!' Unheard by Naruto, Kyuubi chuckled amusedly as he replayed the final moments of Naruto's dream in his mind, making him listen to Hinata's moans and her screams as she called out his name.

'You'll figure it out soon enough, Kit. And when you do...' He let out a perverted chuckle, reminding himself that demon lords do not giggle, as he tried to get things to go the way he planned.

"Naruto-kun, I n-noticed that you ... managed to fix that chakra problem ... we found." Naruto, thankful to have something to talk about aside from thinking about the audio running through his head, grinned widely at her.

"Oh, yea!" He realized he hadn't thought of anything to tell her to explain the change, so decided he'd work with as close to the truth as possible. "I have some seals on my body, similar to the gravity seal I released against Kakashi, do you remember that?" Hinata nodded.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. It was near the end of the fight."

"Yup! Well, I've got a few others also and they were interfering with each other, so I had to change the main one. I did, and now everything is better."

"Have you tried water walking yet? I noticed ... that you got the hang of tree climbing quickly." Naruto nodded and leaned back against the tree.

"Yea, I got it pretty quick, thankfully. But I haven't tried water walking yet. There isn't any water too close to us and I didn't want to leave and not be here when Kurenai-sensei comes." Hinata nodded and the two spoke of inconsequential things for a few minutes, both unaware of Shino's early arrival and his waiting in the trees where Kurenai found him.

"What are you waiting up here all alone for, Shino?" Kurenai couldn't detect any obvious reaction from the boy but waited for a response regardless. She'd learned that he always thought of his answers before actually giving them.

"I wished to give Hinata-san and Naruto-san some time to speak together without my presence." Kurenai chuckled and looked at the two at the base of the tree, pleased to see the two talking amicably.

"You're certainly more observant than some of the boys your age," she said with a smile. 'And many of the men as well,' she thought with a mental grimace. When he didn't respond, she let out a quiet sigh and motioned him to follow her.

"Come on, we've got to get the day started, I'm afraid." Shino and Kurenai jumped into the clearing and landed a comfortable distance from Naruto and Hinata who turned to look at the newcomers and raised to their feet.

"Good morning Kurenai-sensei, Shino!" Naruto waved as Hinata greeted the two newcomers.

"Good morning you two. I've got a few things to discuss with you and then we'll get to our training," she began as Naruto and Hinata took their seats under the tree again and Shino stood beside them.

"Now, those friends I mentioned last night were a few Jounin that are among the top of their selected fields. Hayate and Gai weren't both here until two days ago since they were on missions, but they were up to the meeting yesterday." She was slightly surprised that Naruto just simply sat there, listening to every word. Though he did still have a goofy grin on his face that got goofier as she spoke.

"Now, I spoke with Gai for taijutsu, Kakashi for ninjutsu, Asuma and Hayate for potential kenjutsu, a ... friend of mine for some specialized training that will probably be a little harsh, but very worth it and a few others for similar studies. We've come to an agreement of sorts where we'll learn from some of the best in their chosen fields by going to them for temporary periods of time."

"What does this mean for us, exactly, Sensei?" Naruto looked between the others to see if there was anything he could actually glean from them but saw them simply wearing curious expressions.

"Well, I'll take on teams for genjutsu training while Kakashi, Gai or whoever else has one team or another to teach their preferred fields. This is a new idea that we're going to try for a few months to see if it works out or not. We want to try and let our current Genin learn from the best in each field rather than those who simply know it enough to survive or something similar." She watched as Shino seemed to take it in stride. Hinata seemed to shift slightly closer to Naruto as he seemed to ponder on his own thoughts.

"So, for now, we're going to train like we normally do and we'll start our new training regimen at the beginning of next month so that all of the Jounin involved have a chance to prepare for their new pupils rather than work with those who've known their style for a little while now. So we've got a little over three weeks until it starts. Now let's go!" She gathered them together and began the day of training. The four of them spent the rest of the day training and performing their usual D-rank missions, unaware that a frantic, middle-aged man was half way to Konoha with a fake mission.

xXxXxXx

Naruto had left his team after their final mission nearly three hours ago. In that time, he had managed to get the hang of water walking without any more difficulty than he had with tree climbing, but was having difficulty with his Rasengan. He and all five hundred clones that had been working on it for two and a half hours. With a sigh, he slumped to the ground and looked around at the clones surrounding him.

"Alright guys! We've almost got it! Go ahead and disperse yourselves and I'll try it again and see what happens!" It was an instant later than he remembered he didn't want them all to disperse at once. "Ah! Wait!" Suddenly, he was surrounded by smoke as all of his clones disappeared. He grabbed his head in pain, which distracted him from the gasp a small distance away from the girl that had been watching him in astonishment. After a few seconds, the pain went away, leaving him gasping on the ground, thankful he'd already sat down.

"Okay," he panted, "let's try this again." He stood up and concentrated on the sphere forming in his hand, appearing after three seconds. He took a moment to look at it, seeing no discernible differences, but recognizing that it felt different.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto rushed the tree he'd been working on and the glowing blue ball ground into the trunk perfectly before the back end of the trunk exploded into a shower of splinters and bark.

"Yatta! I did it!" Naruto hopped around in little circles and threw his hand up repeatedly in triumph as he realized he finally had the technique mastered.

"Good job, Gaki. You finally got it. The speed will come with more practice, but now you can refine your technique with it." Kyuubi was really quite proud of the boy. He hadn't expected him to be able to advance his control that quickly.

"Thank! Does this mean I can look at Dad's technique now?" Behind her tree, Hinata tried to figure out both who Naruto was talking to and what his father's technique was, including who and where the man himself was.

"That was the deal," the Kyuubi sighed. "Let's go ahead and look at it and see what it entails." Naruto let out a whoop and grabbed his ninpou scroll. After getting his father's scroll and unrolling it, he began reading to the Kyuubi, even though he didn't need it, since it helped him concentrate anyway.

"The Hiraishin no Jutsu was created by myself and the reason behind my nickname, 'The Yellow Flash of Konoha'. It allowed me to move over large distances. Although it is often compared with the Body Flicker Technique, the speed of this jutsu is much greater. In principle, it is similar to the Summoning Technique, but instead sends me somewhere rather than bringing something to me like Gamabunta. Additionally, it makes no noise and produces no puff of smoke, which allowed me to appear behind someone unnoticed." Naruto, even with his enhanced hearing, was unable to hear Hinata's gasp of surprise. By reading off the technique and his earlier words, even if she had no clue who he was speaking to, she was able to figure out the secret of his father that he promised to tell his team when they trusted each other.

"To activate this jutsu, I needed a special seal to mark the destination, which I used as a focus point. It is this seal that allowed me to know exactly where I wanted to go and be. After this is done, I could almost instantaneously transport myself to that location. I always made sure to apply the formula in advance to every one of my weapons such as kunai and shuriken or wristbands that I'd make a client wear if I was on bodyguard duty. It is also possible to leave a formula in an area I'd been to by either placing some kind of tag or drawing it wherever I needed to be. I was particularly fond of metal tags that could be hidden in simple places. The device that you put the seal on, however, must have three spikes or prongs come from it. This is used by the seal drawing in elemental chakra from the ambient nature chakra that is always around and, when I use the jutsu, it activates by drawing in earth, lightning and water chakra. Because I have air for my primary and fire as my secondary nature affinities, my seal specified which ones to pull in since all elements are needed for it to function properly."

"This technique is the reason we, Konoha, came out victorious in the Iwa-Konoha Ninja War. After having my subordinates toss marked kunai randomly into the enemy ranks, I used the technique to appear within their ranks and slaughter them one by one before they could even react. Understand that I wasn't proud to take all of those lives, Naruto, but I held no reservations when it meant the safety of my village."

"Now, once proficient in how the technique works, I theorize it is also possible to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu without the marker seal. I think this because I did it without a seal once on accident. Again, the seal was used for targeting purposes, or something to concentrate onto and to manipulate the chakra I didn't have an affinity for, but a person can use all elements, just not very well. If you know the person or location well enough that you can picture it perfectly in your mind, just like the seal I used, then you'll find that you can send yourself anywhere at a moment's notice if you can work all of the elements at once, even if I was only able to do it once.) Or, have loved ones tattoo this symbol somewhere very unobtrusive and unnoticeable. This particular seal you see here, when drawn with at least a drop of blood, will 'signal' the person who's blood was used when chakra is added to it or if it interacts with earth-based chakra, such as tossing a marked kunai into the ground, the earth's natural chakra will activate the seal. It makes it an invaluable tool for those who are precious to you and run a high risk of abduction."

"Below are the technical notes on using this jutsu, my son. Be very careful on who you give this to or show it to, but I wish you the best of luck. Use it as well as I did." Naruto took a moment to think about the man his father had to have been to have been able to write what he had and have so much power behind even a written word. Knowing that the Yondaime had entrusted him with something so incredibly powerful. The Kyuubi himself was quiet, allowing Naruto have to his moment was he checked over the technical notes about the jutsu and how it worked, amazed at the man's genius.

"I want you to read over the directions twice, at least, and then make as many Kage Bunshin as you can and let them work on the technique using this same symbol, okay Naruto?" Naruto frowned as he came out of his thoughts.

"Huh, why?"

"Because it's getting to be kind of late and you've nearly exhausted yourself. By letting your clones work on the jutsu tonight while you rest, you'll have a good starting place tomorrow and beyond when you practice it. This technique uses no handseals, so it's raw chakra manipulation just like the Rasengan and the Shunshin. Just far more involved and with elemental chakra, which is dangerous to work with and I would rather your clones get hurt than you." Naruto nodded to the forest surrounding him.

"I got you. So let as many of my Kage Bunshin as I can make learn this so that, when I actually try it, I'll know more about it and it'll be safer for myself since it's so dangerous, yes?" He received the equivalent of a mental nod as Hinata realized that she was too close to not get caught if he created as many clones as he could. She quickly high-tailed it out of there, keeping her Byakugan active for the show.

"Right. Now get cracking!" Naruto grumbled as he complied.

"Yea, yea, Slave Driver... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto funneled as much chakra as he could pull, including about a quarter of that same amount of Kyuubi's chakra to create the clones, surprising himself, Kyuubi and Hinata as just under three thousand clones popped into existence. He blinked as he looked around at the mass of clones. Hinata was hiding behind a tree, a Naruto clone less than ten feet away, trying to breathe as silently as possible.

'So ... many ... NARUTO-KUNS!' It took every ounce of self-restraint for her to keep from glomping the nearest victim. Where was a plushie when you needed it?

"Damn. Nice job," Kyuubi offered, rather surprised.

"You guys know what to do," Naruto yelled. Some of them yelled while others nodded. "Alright! Try it out and we'll see what we have tomorrow!" Each clone began reading over the copy of the scroll that had materialized with them since the original had been holding it at the time, double-checking everything that they had planned. Meanwhile, the real Naruto took off for his apartment, unwittingly passing a hiding Hinata while thinking about trying to finish learning the shunshin soon. About four minutes later, he began getting the memories of clones who'd already died, some in rather painful fashions. Apparently, if they failed, it was very similar to the affect of a Kage Bunshin Daibakuha.

"Uh, thanks for the idea of this, by the way, Fuzzy..." Every few seconds, as the memories of a felled clone came to him, his eyebrow twitched, even after he'd changed into his pajamas and was laying in bed.

'Damnit... this is going to make going to sleep a pain in the ass...'

xXxXxXx

Author's Note: - Quick note about how Naruto made it so far on the Rasengan when it took him a month to learn it the first time, and that was without the daily training sessions interfering. Naruto, in this fic, read through the whole section on the Forbidden Scroll regarding the Kage Bunshin technique, regardless as to whether he did it or not in Canon, and that means he knows the benefits of training with them (as explained by saying he uses five-hundred of the buggers to train each day.) This means that he will gain that much experience that quickly (In this regard, it should have taken 30 clones one day, but took longer due to his chakra control problems, which aren't actually fully fixed yet.). This will hold true for most jutsu (yea, don't expect it to be the case for ALL jutsu, of course.) - And no, he will not be learning the Hiraishin for a little while. I admit, he'll learn it about 1 arc earlier than I had originally planned so that I can do something I found VERY humorous. I'll let you know when we get there, trust me. I loved the concept.

Yes, Naruto will be powerful in this fic, but it won't be sudden or soon. He's going to actually have a lot working against him as other things work for him, and they won't be mutually exclusive.