The One Man Legion

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Original and additional ideas for this story came from Nobody102

Speech/Regular text
Thought/Jutsu/Emphasis/Flashback
Demonic Speech/Boss-Summon Speech
Demonic Thought/Boss-Summon Thought/Kinjutsu

Unison

XXX

The forbidden scroll, holding the village of Konohagakure's greatest treasures and techniques, had been stolen. While generally this would cause extreme panic from this fact alone, the thief himself amplified desperation of the chunin searching for the boy. The thief was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, three-time-failed academy student, village-prankster and, by all accounts, an idiot.

And host to the Kyuubi no Yoko, beast of legend who decimated Konoha's forces only twelve years prior.

While these factors would generally scream of treachery, the aged Sandaime Hokage, Hizuren Sarutobi, knew that Naruto, his surrogate grandson, would never steal the scroll with malicious intent.

And thus, he only sent out chunin, including the boy's favourite teacher from the academy, Iruka Umino. And of course, the Hokage had been right about the boy's intent; he meant no harm by stealing the scroll, as Naruto, currently resting in a small clearing in the woods in one of Konoha's training ground's, was merely trying to pass the "Extra-test" granted to him by Mizuki-sensei.

All he had to do was steal the Forbidden scroll, of which he knew little, and learn a technique from the scroll. Simple, right? Naruto sat in the lotus position, scanning through the contents of the scroll with a sceptical look. "Come on; what's with this? All the stuff in this pile of junk's too complicated! Shadow clones? Oh man- I suck at clones!" he continued to read, delving deeper into the scroll, continually becoming more irate, "Bah- all of this stinks! Innocence crystal? Who the hell'd want something as lame-sounding as that? Where are all the cool kickass techniques?"

He let out a mournful sigh. Trust the old man not to include any cool jutsu in the scroll that he could use to impress Sakura-chan. He sent the scroll another glance, ready to give up, when something else caught his glance. "Disposition of the Centurion? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he examined the details on how to perform the technique, then squawked in surprise and delight. "Only two hand signs? Dangerous? This technique must be kickass!"

Immediately, he placed his hands in the Boar seal, as shown on the scroll, and began pushing chakra into the technique; just like when he tried the Bushin at the Academy, shortly following with the Dragon seal. "Kinjutsu: Hyaku-nin taicho no shobun." (Forbidden Technique: Disposition of the Centurion) Unlike the Bushin, Henge, or even Kawamiri where Naruto felt a small tug when using the technique, he suddenly doubled over as his very life essence seemed to seep out his mouth and nose causing him to scream in agony.

Unknown to Naruto, while this technique was as old as the scroll itself, it had never been successfully performed and all those who attempted to use it where immediately purged off their chakra and left to die. But those people weren't jinchuriki. Naruto's chakra network, larger than even some jonin's, was all but emptied as the spiritual and physical energy saturated the air around him, causing it to shimmer in an ethereal blue light.

Naruto, barely hanging on to consciousness, stared in horror as the blue mist began to swirl slowly condensing till it formed a dense sphere composed entirely of his chakra. To the ignorant bystander, it would look like it was a floating orb of water, diluted slightly with red colouring. The orb began to pulsate and quiver, before it slowly fell to the ground and began to puddle-out creating a pool of chakra, barely an arm's length away from Naruto, who was lying huddled on the ground, clutching his belly, and staring in transfixed amazement at the feat he'd caused.

From the murky-blue red pool, shapes began to emerge. Silhouettes, some tall, some short, bobbing like ships on the sea. Slowly, features began to materialise. While Naruto didn't normally commit things to memory, he knew instantly what these were. As their faces appeared, his shock began to grow.

Nine of them.

One of the figures blinked and looked around, adjusting his rimless glasses in the process. "Well…" he murmured in a loud enough tone for Naruto to hear, "This is an odd situation, isn't it?" The man was tall, evidentially older than Naruto by around twelve years, with his golden-blonde mane tied back in a short pony-tail. His eyes, clearest blue, focused on Naruto, and shimmered affectionately. "It's nice to meet you Naruto." He knelt down, and smiled.

Naruto was, undoubtedly, staring at another Naruto. A very different Naruto, but still Naruto nonetheless.

The original Naruto tore his gaze away from "One" and surveyed the other figures, all of whom seemed to be coming aware of the sudden change in environment.

One looked to be the same age as him, but instead of the jumpsuit wore a beige jacket with a flame-pattern at the bottom, and he stood with an almost regal posture.

Another had bright-red hair, and eyes that seemed to be rippled, coloured grey in stark contrast to his cerulean eyes.

Next to him stood an exceptionally tall man, with the makings of a beard on his moderately young face, which original-Naruto aged around 20. He wore a tattered cloak covering his body and a huge claymore, bound in leather, strapped to his back, making him appear more like a western-soldier than a ninja.

The next was again the same age as Naruto, and indeed almost identical except for the eyes- which were coloured a bloody-red with slits replacing the pupils. His canines glinted as he grinned at the original-Naruto, adding a feral quality to his appearance.

Number six was again older-looking version of him, but unlike the other's his hair was dyed black, unlike the ripple-eyed version's natural red hair. He looked disdainfully at the shocked original, glanced at the stunned others, then slapped his forehead and let out a groan. "You idiot."

Seven let out a grunt of agreement. He was the same age as the original, and indeed the only difference was the clothes he wore, rather thick looking gloves and a heavy-apron showing him to either be a black-smith or a mechanic. He even wore the same goggle's Naruto had over his eyes.

Eight was again older, around fifteen years of age, wearing a black and orange jumpsuit similar to his own. He looked as mystified as some of the others, and kept glancing back and forth between the original and the others, his eyes wide in terror and amazement.

And finally there was number nine, a Naruto of around the same age wearing a white shirt with a loose black tie around the collar and a jacket draped over his shoulders. One of his eyes was a pale lilac, whilst the other was the normal cerulean blue. His reaction, out of all the others, was the most impassive. He simply stared at the original with a calculating glance, as if looking into the depths of his soul.

The only feature identical to all of them was the whisker marks, revealing them all too indeed be one and the same.

Six, the one with dyed hair, continued speaking, "Why would you even bother writing a fatal jutsu in a scroll? Why not, you know, just erase it from history instead of letting it fall into the hands of an imbecile." He let out a melancholy sigh, and for a moment, Naruto was reminded of Shikamaru. "I mean, what's the point of writing down a technique that kills normal people who try to use it, honestly! Goddammit…"

Number two, the regal-looking one, sent a glare in Six's direction, "You're acting like this has happened to you before. Tell me honestly; what the hell is going on?"

Snorting in amusement, Six met Two's glare with equal intensity, "For you information, I studied every jutsu in that scroll, thus I know exactly what happened. I also know that anyone who read just a little further on in the scroll would realise that this jutsu is listed as a suicide technique due to its effects, hence the reason it's forbidden." He glanced at the original, who flinched under his gaze, "Most people ain't jinchuriki however, and because of his dense chakra he managed to reach completely into different dimensions and pull eight other versions of himself into this world. One different thing changed our universes, making us completely different people."

Four, claymore, laughed, "You sure know your stuff don't you. I'm guessing you took up jutsu craft at a young age, I can tell by that ring you're wearing." He motioned towards the topaz-studded ring that six wore, "I hate jutsu-crafters… Smug bastards."

"Calling me a smug-bastard is redundant and stupid as I am you. Get your head around that, shit-for-brains." Retorted Six with a dark smirk.

Eight, finally getting over his initial shock, suddenly gasped. "I remember this! This is when Mizuki-teme told me to steal the forbidden scroll!"

All eyes turned to Eight, who flinched slightly. "Told you to steal the forbidden scroll?" hissed Six, his eyes bugging out in amazement, "Are you having a laugh? Who on earth would be stupid enough-" he stopped, and then glanced back at the original. "No. No. No! You didn't. Please, oh merciful god, tell me that you weren't stupid enough to steal the forbidden scroll."

Finally finding his voice, Naruto let out a short, high-pitched, "Yes."

Grinning, Eight sent a thumb's up in Naruto's direction. "Well done, dattebayo! Iruka-sensei was really pleased when I learned the Kage Bushin,"

"Bushin's are my worst technique." The original stated, before he could stop himself.

"Ah, so that's what separates you two." Stated Two, in an understanding tone, "One of you learned the clone technique in the hopes of impressing your teacher, while the other, knowing that he wasn't good at the cloning technique, used the Kinjutsu." He whistled, impressed. "I have to admit, stealing the scroll and learning a technique so quickly is impressive,"

He stopped when Six sent him a glare that could curdle milk. "The forbidden scroll," he began, "Is one of the most dangerous, powerful and destructive objects Konohagakure have the pleasure of owning, and I was only allowed to see it after completing a ton of paper work. To think not one, but two dunderheads were capable of stealing it," he sent a questioning glance in the original's direction, "How did you get it out of the Hokage's office?"

Naruto, forgetting the situation momentarily, grinned and got to his feet, before activating his deadly technique, "Orioke no jutsu!" At once, Naruto was replaced by a beautiful buxom blonde with smoke barely covering her tantalizing assets. He'd barely activated the technique when Six was beside him, blushing furiously and delivering a sharp smack to the younger blonde's head, causing him to yelp in pain and release the henge. One, Two, Three, Four and Eight had burst out laughing after seeing the technique, causing the laughter to ring around the clearing.

"Only an idiot would come up with a technique like that!" roared Six, in indignation, though the blush on his face told a different story.

Four, suddenly tensed. "We have company."

Eight stopped laughing, before he too let out a growl, "Mizuki-teme…"

Naruto, suddenly aware of the dark tone in which his other-self spoke, asked questioningly, "What's wrong with Mizuki-sensei?"

Six, finally having recovered from his blushing-fit, snorted. "He asked you to steal the forbidden scroll, probably under some false promise." He glanced at Naruto, "From you lack of a head-band I'm guessing he said you'd become a ninja if you passed this 'test.' Am I correct?"

The clenched fists were the only answer six needed.

"He'll go nuts if he sees all of us," Three pointed out. He spoke in a sorrowful tone; unlike anything Naruto had ever heard, making quite a stark contrast to his laughter from prior.

"Good, the teme deserves madness." Spat Eight, with disgust.

Suddenly, the sound of branches rustling could be heard, and Eight had just enough time to gasp and mutter, "Wait a moment, Mizuki didn't arrive first, it was-"

He didn't have enough time to finish as Six clicked his finger's as the newcomer emerged from the tree-tops, sending a bolt of lightning into the man's just, stunning him. Naruto screamed in horror, "IRUKA-SENSEI!"

Groaning, Six smacked his face again, then glared at Eight. "Surely that tidbit of information would have been handy in hindsight." Seeing Eight's obvious distress at having his brother-figure shocked out of the air, Six snapped, "It's just a simple stunning technique. He's temporarily petrified- it'll wear off in about two minutes. Jeez, why am I always the bad guy?"

Another rustling sounded, and suddenly a silver-haired figure appeared in the tree-tops a smug-grin on his face, "Naru-?" he blinked. Shaking suddenly, he held up his hand and pointed at each Naruto in turn, "T-Three… S-Six… N-Nine?" he laughed, at first quietly but it quickly turned to a loud hysterical cackle. He removed a Fuuma shuriken from his back. "K-Kill demons… E-Easy! Take Scroll."

"He's lost it." muttered Six. He held up his arm again, finger's poised, ready to click. Naruto glanced at Six's hands, and spotted the answer to how he'd stunned Iruka. A complex looking seal was woven into the fabric of the white glove he wore over his right hand, giving of an ethereal glow as he pumped chakra into it. "Do I really have to waste my chakra on this nutball?"

One, sighed, and then sent a smile in Six's direction. "I'll deal with this." In a blur of movement, One appeared beside Mizuki, who had just enough time to yelp in surprise when a sharp blow was delivered to the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious and sending him spiraling down to the forest bellow. "Oh my, I seem to have broken him." One remarked, the pleasant tone never leaving his voice.

Eight blinked in surprise. Even if he was hysterical, Mizuki was a chunin, and it took a horde of his shadow-clones to beat-down the man last time, and even then he knew that he was hiding far greater power behind his pleasant teacher-façade. So how had the other version of him taken him down so easily? "Last time, Iruka gave me a headband and took me back to the village," He commented, but only the original was listening to him, as he suddenly grit his teeth and clenched his fists. Because he'd made the wrong choice, he'd remain a civilian for another year.

"ANBU will have sensed a chakra pulse from the Kinjutsu, they'll be here soon." Four muttered as he glanced at the original, "Send us back, brat."

"Are you a complete ignoramus, or just a good actor?" spat Six, with a cruel grin, "Do you think he has any idea how to send us back? Of course not- he's as blind as we are now. He performed a forbidden one-way summoning, piercing several dimensions." He motioned towards the gaggle of jinchuriki's, "We are all technically his summons, however unlike the summoning technique we don't get dispelled. We die. Unless he sends us back." He strode over to Naruto and ground a gloved fist into the boys head, earning a yelp of pain. "However, because my other self is the first person I've EVER seen successfully use a labeled suicide technique, it may take me years of study before I crack the reverse-jutsu."

"That's all very well," responded One, as he leapt back down from the tree-tops to stand opposite Six, "But shouldn't we find somewhere more… Private to talk?" he smiled at the original, "If we do share similarities I trust you live in West-Konoha, next to the commercial district?" At Naruto's brief nod, One clapped his hands. "I know the way. Gentlemen, if you'll be so kind as to follow me, preferably with a henge."

Eight was about to yell about leaving Iruka, but Six stopped him, "We'll leave the summoner here." He nodded at Naruto, "Look after your teacher, convince him and the ANBU that Mizuki tricked you; they'll believe you. Probably." He suddenly morphed into a young girl with chocolate brown hair and emerald eyes, "We'll meet you back at your apartment,"

With that, eight of them took off. The ninth remained.

The original crawled over to Iruka, but sent Nine a questioning look at his immobility, "Aren't you going too?"

Nine cocked his head, then began to speak, "They cannot see my pain." He ran his long, spindly fingers through his hair, but never broke eye contact with the boy, "Neither can you, as a matter of fact. You only see a shell of what I am." His sorrow filled voice, suddenly gained a cruel, almost sadistic-edge, as a manic grin formed on his relatively harmless face, "We'll meet again, Naruto Uzumaki."

Then he was gone.

Naruto stared, shocked at what had just happened. The others couldn't see him? Why could he, regular-Naruto, see Nine when the other's couldn't. Come to think of it none of them had made any indication of seeing the heterochromatic-boy.

His thoughts drifted when Iruka began to stir. "N-Naruto?" his eyes fluttered open and his favorite student swam into vision, grinning at his teacher. "N-Naruto, the scroll! You stole-!"

"Er, I was kind of tricked," Naruto cut in, grinning nervously, he motioned to the unconscious Mizuki, "Mizuki-sensei told me if I stole the scroll and learned a technique I'd pass. H-He was about to kill me."

"You took down a chunin?" Iruka was astounded.

"Technically, yes." It wasn't a lie. One, after all, was Naruto- just a Naruto from another dimension. "I'm sorry sensei. I-I didn't know it was wrong… I just wanted to be a ninja so badly…"

Iruka smiled warmly, and ruffled his student's hair, "You know I can't pass you right now, Naruto. But…" he scratched his chin, "I can ask the Hokage if you can take a make-up exam in about three months; with the genin who fail their jonin's test. If you practice hard enough, I know you'll do it!" at his student's sudden grin, he began to laugh, "Is that alright with you, Naruto?"

"Yes, sensei!"

XXX

"Wow- the place is exactly the same in my world!" stated One, with an admiring whistle, as he stepped into the apartment. "Keep's the place in the same condition I did."

"That ain't something to be proud about." Muttered Six, casting a critical eye around the untidy apartment.

The Eight figures slowly shuffled into the room, and sat in a circle in the Living-room/Kitchen. "So… What's your story?" Eight asked, fairly casually. It was more a general question, rather than aimed at a specific person, but Four was the first to answer.

"I was raised in the Light temple on the Elemental borders. I traveled around the world with my master, learning how the world worked on a holy pilgrimage." He let out a bark of laughter, "Picked up some useful skills along the way. My master and I were resting in a Samurai compound after a rather long day of fighting," he tapped his claymore, "Not that it was hard."

"Oh, is that sword compensating for something then?" cut in Six, with a nasty grin, earning a glare from most of the room's contents. "What? Oh, sorry for speaking my mind!" he let out a sigh, and then noted his own brief back story, "I studied at the Konoha archives. I was always more interested in how jutsu's were formed than their practical application, so I became a Crafter." He tapped the topaz-ring, "I create one-of-a-kind seals and new jutsu's and get paid lots of money. It was truly a charmed life. There I was, sitting down to a nice cup of coffee when I get plucked straight out my office and dumped in the lap of my idiot-other-self…" he groaned, indicating the end of his own back-story.

Eight scratched his nose, and laughed nervously, "Well, you all know what I did. I learned the Kage Bushin instead of using that weird summoning technique. I trained under Kakashi Hatake, with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha," Two let out a low whistle, but Eight continued nonetheless, "Quite a lo of stuff happened, but in my world my village was just invaded by a man called Pein, well, Nagato. My team and I were about to go on another mission to… Rescue Sasuke from Orochimaru, when I ended up here."

"Sasuke, eh? He's a douche in my world." Mumbled Two, all attention turning to him, and earning a small chuckle from Eight. "I was raised by my father, erm, the Fourth Hokage." Some eyes widened, leaving only One, Five and Eight unsurprised, "He taught me everything I knew. In my world, Lord Jiraiya sealed the Kyuubi into me instead. My father ordered Itachi to assassinate the Uchiha clan; they were planning a Coup, but Itachi left Sasuke and Mikoto alive. Sasuke never really forgave me." He blinked, "In fact, I was just about to fight him when I was summoned here."

Seven, who was sitting next to the Fourth-raised Naruto, felt all eyes drawn to him, but he simply shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned you all are worthless to me. All I want is to get back to my own universe, and that's all you need to know."

"Dick," mumbled Six under his breath, earning a smack on the head from One. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"You've got an attitude problem." One answered, quite simply. Attention turned to him, so he shot his other-selves a smile, and began to speak, "I became a medic-nin."

"… Is that all?" it was Six who spoke, but unlike his previous harsh comments, this one was laced with genuine surprise.

"Of course; I'm simply a combat-based medic-nin. I was resting after the aftermath of a battle when I was summoned." He shrugged, "That's really the only interesting thing about me."

Six was ready to ask another question, when Three cleared his throat. "E-Erm… W-well, I'm n-not really that special. I-I was taken by J-Jiraiya-sama when I was a baby and we traveled around the Elemental nations together." He smiled at Eight, "You recognize my eyes. T-That man you mentioned, Nagato, Jiraiya often spoke of him. He had the same eyes as me." He flicked red hair out his partially-obscured eyes, revealing the rippled iris and sclera. "Jiraiya-sama called it one of the legendary doujutsu; the Rinnengan. It allows me to use all five elemental ninjutsu, and apparently unlocks a sixth, which Jiraiya-sama was unwilling to teach me."

At his look of discomfort, Eight strode over and patted Three on the back. "Pein wasn't a bad man. He was incredibly powerful, and helped kill many people but… He wanted to bring peace to the world." Eight grinned, "You're gonna be brilliant when you get back to your world, dattebayo!"

Four let out a grunt, "Will you stop saying that? It's getting exceptionally tiresome." He motioned towards Five, who was sitting away from the circle, crouched in the fetal position, sending a crimson-glare in his counterparts' direction. "What's up with him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked One, with a lopsided smile, "He's-"

At that moment, the original Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment, walking in to hear words which rocked him to his very core.

"- been influenced by the Kyuubi which resides inside him." finished One.

None of them had noticed the original come in, until he fell to his knees. "W-What…?" The Kyuubi no Yoko had attacked his village twelve years ago, on the day of his birth. The Yondaime had killed it, hadn't he? As hard as he tried to convince himself that it must be a joke, deep down he knew it was true. He held the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside him.

Eight rushed over to the shaking boy, and tried to stir him out of hysteric daze. "Damnit; Mizuki was the one who told me about that! If Mizuki didn't this time-"

One blinked, "Oh my; have I perhaps said something I shouldn't have?"

"I-I'm the Kyuubi…?" mumbled Naruto, feebly. It made sense. The harsh glares, the whispers people thought he couldn't here, the defunct-overpriced equipment he was sold in shops, even the dud-information the early academy instructors gave him- all of it made perfect sense. "Am I the Kyuubi…?"

"Naruto! Naruto, listen to me!" Eight snapped, causing the younger blonde to meet his gaze. "You are not a demon! You're Naruto Uzumaki, right? You want to be Hokage, and you won't stand anyone belittling your dreams, right? How can you possibly be a demon? Remember; Naruto Uzumaki is going to become the greatest Hokage ever, dattebayo!"

Awe-stricken, Naruto stared at his older counterpart, then let a small-smile blossom on his face. "R-Right!"

"In case you want the logical argument," Six cut in, breaking the moment of bonding between the two similar-Narutos', "Imagine your body as a jail, with the Kyuubi as the tenant and your mind as the jailor. Only you hold the key, and the Kyuubi has no possible way of making an escape." He paused, "I've studied my own seal countless times, but I still cannot fathom how the fourth came up with its mechanics. Clearly he didn't do it on his own,"

Two was about to interjecting defense of his father, when One tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Naruto, who was still preoccupied with Six's explanation, "I think the boy's had enough surprises for one day. Don't go ruining his mind when he's already down about the Jinchuriki issue." Two hesitated, but nodded in agreement.

"Well, now we're all here, I trust we can get down to business." Four rubbed his not-quite beard, then continued, "The Emo-me says he may be able to come up with a reverse-summoning technique, but in the meanwhile we're stuck in this world, and none of us have experienced this before. And, to top off this onslaught of crap, this apartment looks big enough to fit maybe four of us, and I'm guessing, due to you lack of headband that you still aren't a ninja, meaning our income will be less than optimal."

"Thanks for lightening the mood, dipshit." Snapped Six, before sighing, "But unfortunately you are right. But I don't recommend we go outside this circle for help."

Two raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you have an adequate reason for this?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. For one, we don't know the full-difference between our worlds and this one. Hypothetically this world could have two suns for all I know. To top it off, dimensional travel could have had an impact on the greater scale of things; imagine, if you will, that there is a tear between all the universes making up this patchwork-reality, and we have fallen through that tear. Now, to an ignorant bystander, we may be viewed as the cause of this tear, and to sterilize it, they may try to go for the most simplistic option." He drew a finger across his neck and made a gargling sound, "Sad but true, ne? I recommend most of us stay with the kid, even if we are low on funds."

"I get an allowance from the Hokage every month." pointed out Naruto. "It's not much, but it's enough for me to have kept some aside as savings, and Iruka said I'd be able to take a remedial test in three-months with some other failed genin."

Two nodded in agreement. "It seems you may be right. But how do you propose we keep this under-wraps? And where are we supposed to live, as the monk said, there isn't enough room!"

"Finding a black-market in the Red Light district shouldn't be too hard; I'll just sell some low level seals and before long we'll be rolling in money. The only problem should be convincing the tenants to sell…"

"Wait!" Two cut in. "You expect us to live here?"

"Got a problem with that, Prince?" said Four, with a snicker.

"Don't you think it'll be suspicious if a whole gaggle of people, even if we are under a henge, move in after convincing the tenants to vacate?" asked One, curiously.

"Not if we cast a little genjutsu over the landlord telling him not to be suspicious." Six pulled a small-book from a satchel on his hip, and began to flip through it, before stopping on a page with a seal-design imprinted in the centre, "I call it the 'Ignore Seal'. If I can mix the chakra signatures on the seal it should be simple enough for him to ignore all of us."

"Did you come up with that name yourself? You must be so proud." Snapped Four, grinning at Six's glare.

"As far as I see it," Six continued, ignoring Four's interruption, "Our best bet so far is getting Naruto- the one that summoned us- into his ninja career, or at least a career until I make a reverse technique." He paused suddenly, then gasped, as though something just hit him, "And I may have just had a stroke of genius! Why have one ninja when we can have two?" he pointed at Three, who blinked in surprise. "If we simply cover up the whisker marks and give you a fake name you can blend in with the summoner and, hopefully, join his genin team."

"Is that it?" Four asked, with a grunt, "I don't want to stay in place for three months, let alone a year."

"Don't underestimate my talents. As long as you remain in contact at least once a month we should be fine. I don't want any of you dying; it could screw up the reverse-summoning. It's lucky there are only eight of us… Currently."

The original raised an eyebrow. "Wait, did you say 'currently'? More of 'me' will be appearing?"

"Well, if you want the honest answer, I don't know. Like I said, no one successfully used that Kinjutsu before, so I don't know of the total effects. For all I know millions more could appear due to a staggered-summon."

"… So what happens now?" interestingly enough, it was Five who posed the question; speaking the first words he had since arriving. His red eyes were locked on the original, a hungry glint causing them to sparkle. "Do we part ways?"

"If I may interject," said One, "I doubt it would be wise to let an unstable jinchuriki out into the world. The only ones who seem stable to leave would be I, the monk, goggles over there, and the guy with an attitude problem. The rest are too young, or too… dangerous to be let out of the village's security. And even then, I want to stay, and I assume the Crafter is staying."

Four chuckled, "Well I never liked staying in the same place for long. If this world is as you say it is then I'm sure it'll be very… interesting to explore." He rounded on Six, "But please get me out of this mess as fast as possible. My master will kick my ass if I don't get back before long."

Six, flipped through his seal-chart quickly, then rounded on a page with a seal shaped like a helix. "Just give me a moment," he grabbed Four's arm, ignoring a shout of protest, and pulled up the sleeve, drawing a brush and ink from his satchel. "This is what got me a spot as a Crafter in the first place," he claimed, proudly, "It's a two way-seal I designed, one in the pattern shown in the book, the other the exact inverse. It's a Contact-Seal, virtually limitless in distance it allows us to stay in touch no matter where you are across the world." With a few casual yet precise flicks of his brush an inverse helix was scribed on Four's arm.

Drawing back his sleeve, Six revealed several complex seals scribed on his own left arm, several of which were contact seals with names written above them. "Right, now I just put the brother-seal here and… Voila! All we need now is a chakra injection from each of us, and the seals are linked! Just do as I do," he bit his thumb and placed it over Four's seal, to which Four mimicked his action, placing his own bloodied thumb on Six's new seal. "And one three we activate the seal; one, two, three: Fuin!" (Seal) The seals glowed momentarily, then returned to their dormant-black hue.

"That's it?" Two asked, fairly unimpressed.

"Of course that's it! Don't you see its beauty? The minimalism in the seal is what earned me my ring- and got my name written down in several prestigious magazines. Ah, the life of a celebrity, how I yearn to return to those days…" he sighed wistfully. "But I digress, what name should I put over your seal?" At Four's questioning glance, he stated, "Well I can't just put 'Naruto,' can I?"

"Four." It was the original Naruto who spoke, earning questioning glances from the contents of the room. Even Seven looked surprised at the seemingly random name. "He's the Fourth one who came through, I gave all of you numbers."

Six sent him a weird look, which could only be described as disgust-crossed with admiration. "Well number's aren't really the best names, but I'll go by that theme," he inscribed 'Quartus' beside the seal. "To activate it just tap it and channel some chakra into it. Tap it twice to switch to vibrate."

"Vibrate?"

"Don't ask."

"So, oh esteemed summoner of mine," said Seven in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "What number have I been blessed with?" he held out his arm to Six, who began to work on him as well.

"You're Seven." Stated Naruto, before turning to the other occupants of the room, "One, Two, Three, Five, Six and Eight." He said, pointing to the occupants in the room in order of their names.

"Septimus, Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quintus, Sextus and Octavius in that respective order," said Six, now dubbed Sextus. He completed the sealing with Septimus then rounded on the original, "But if we get numbered so do you; I ain't letting you get off scot-free. When you're with us you're Zero."

Blinking for a moment, Naruto grinned. Zero? He liked that name.

XXX

And that's a wrap! Well, I have to say, I enjoyed writing that. NAB's are coming up at school, so I'll be fairly busy, but writing may keep me sane. I like the premise for this story, not only because it can hold some serious plot but maybe take a few pieces of comedy under its belt too. I hope you all enjoy it so far, and be sure to review, good or bad. Preferably good.

Thanks again to Nobody102 for the inspirational ideas!

Zero: A Naruto who used the Forbidden Technique: Disposition of the Centurion, instead of any other techniques in the scroll. He is the summoner of all alternative Naruto's, but is unaware of the full-effects of the summoning. Currently of civilian status.
Primus: Medic-Nin Naruto who seems kind and thoughtful. Surely he can't be dangerous, right?
Secundus: Raised by Minato Namikaze and brought up as a hero of Konoha
Tertius: A version of Naruto who possesses the Rinnengan due to his dominant Uzumaki blood.
Quartus: A traveling-monk who seems roguish. Fiercely loyal to his master
Quintus: A Naruto who has been heavily influenced by the Kyuubi and who has let it loose inside his mind.
Sextus: Jutsu-Crafter Naruto, a sarcastic and insulting Naruto who nonetheless possesses a brilliant mind and a great knowledge of seals and Jutsu theory. Prefers to use seals to fight rather than engage in physical combat.
Septimus: Unknown back-story; prefers to keep to himself.
Octavius: A Naruto who learned the Shadow Clone technique that night, rather than summon his alternate-brethren. (Canon-Naruto)
Novus: Could only be seen by Zero. Disappeared before Naruto woke Iruka up.