Okay class, I am going to hand out scrolls for you to all read about the Second Shinobi World War. We're going to read and discuss them in class today. Pay attention everyone; you will be tested on it!" Iruka stated sharply.
Nearly the entire class groaned almost in unison, seemingly uninterested in a 'boring' history lesson and even less enthused with the idea of a test. Only a handful of students did not appear to be phased by the instructor's words. Naruto, surprisingly, was one of them. The boy had a mischievous smirk on his face as he watched Iruka reach into his desk and pull out a collection of scrolls.
Iruka walked around the class, handing a scroll to each student. As he passed by the desk of Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Shikamaru, WAKE UP!" He shouted at the Nara.
Shikamaru pulled his head from the desk and nodded dumbly as he reached out for the scroll. Iruka frowned as he gave the boy the scroll, then handed one to his friends. He then moved onto the next table and Shikamaru immediately laid his head back down.
"How tired are you today?" Naruto asked, chuckling.
"Same as I always am." Shikamaru said with a yawn. "Never enough hours in the day for a good night's sleep."
Naruto shook his head, mumbling under his breath about lazy friend while Hinata giggled to herself.
A few more seconds passed by until Iruka finished passing out all the scrolls. He then walked back to the front of the classroom, holding his own scroll.
"Okay, now open up your scrolls and let's start your lesson." He said, opening his scroll, which prompted the other students to open theirs. "Focus your attention on the second paragraph-"
Iruka was unable to finish his sentence; a large ball of blue paint shot out of the scroll, splashing him in the face. He closed his eyes, dropping the scroll.
"UGH!" He shouted loudly.
No one else in the classroom had time to react; paintballs shot out of each opened scroll, spraying all students with different colored paint.
"THE HELL IS THIS?" Kiba shouted as he tried to rub red paint out of his eyes.
"Who did this?" Ken commented, frowning as he tried to shake paint off his shirt.
"MY HAIR!" Ino shrieked, looking in horror at the green coloration in her hair.
The rest of the class turned into frantic shouting. Iruka grit his teeth as his eyes moved from student to student. His eyes then focused on the only students who were coated in paint: Hyūga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto. His eyes narrowed on the blond.
"NARUTO!" The academy instructor shouted. All the paint-covered students turned to face the Uzumaki, glaring at him. "HOW DID YOU TAMPER WITH MY SCROLLS? WHY DID YOU TAMPER WITH MY SCROLLS?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Iruka-sensei. I didn't do this." Naruto said, grinning. "Props to the guy who did, though. That's hilarious!"
"Oh, give me a break, Naruto!" Sakura shouted at him, orange paint dripping from her face onto her desk. "A stupid prank like this could only be done by you. And your two friends are the only ones who didn't get paint on them? That's hardly coincidental, you idiot!"
Naruto frowned at Sakura's words, but he shook his head in response: "I didn't get paint on my face because I didn't open my scroll. Obviously the dude who planned this planned on getting me too and I just got lucky I didn't open it. And now I'm definitely not opening it!"
"Yeah, you didn't open it cause you know you'd get paint on your face." Ino rolled her eyes.
"Nah, I didn't open it cause I don't need to learn about the Second World War." He shrugged his shoulders. "That's ancient history. No one cares about that stuff anymore."
Iruka's eye twitched in response.
"And your friends both happened to not open it too?" Ino asked, her eyes narrowing on him.
"I mean, I probably already know everything about the Second Shinobi World War. Didn't feel the need to open the scroll." Shikamaru replied, yawning. "No point to bother."
"I… j-just was being s-slow today. By the t-time I started t-to open it, I saw p-paint hit you all. S-So I didn't want to risk opening m-my scroll." Hinata said, frowning as she poked her fingers. "P-Please d-don't use me t-to blame Naruto-kun. I'm s-so sorry I didn't open it f-fast enough."
Ino frowned in response: "Hinata, no one's blaming you-"
"Naruto, can you prove you didn't do this?" Iruka questioned, his eyes still narrowed at the blond.
"Can you prove I did? Cause I didn't so you can't." Naruto retorted. "I would have been a victim too if I opened my scroll, y'know?"
"Then do it!" Iruka said. "Prove your innocence!"
"Nuh uh. I'm not getting myself wet with paint." The blonde scoffed. "You prove it!"
"Fine." The academy instructor sighed as he walked up to Naruto's desk and grabbed the scroll. "This will be the proof!"
Iruka, in his anger, forgot he passed out the scrolls. In this moment, he expected a blank scroll.
Instead, he was met with another ball of paint that smacked him in the face, painting his already blue face a lighter shade of blue.
"NARUTO!" He roared.
"Well, there's your proof!" Naruto declared, grinning triumphantly.
Class continued from there, with Iruka drawing attention back to the subject at hand. Still, the instructor continued to keep his eye on Naruto suspiciously. While he technically had no proof, he was still suspicious. He could not shake the feeling that it was his fault…
When class ended, Naruto brought Shikamaru and Hinata to Ichiraku's once more in order to celebrate.
"Oh man, Old Man Ichiraku, Ayame-nee, you should have seen the looks on their faces!" Naruto said, grinning. "There was paint everywhere and I just know it's gonna take a long time to get everything cleaned up. Everyone was so angry, but they couldn't prove it was me so I got away with it!"
"Good work then!" Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi, said, chuckling. "I'm impressed you were able to pull something like that off! I mean, you had to pull a fast one on your academy instructor too."
"Well in order to pull it off right, I did need some help." He admitted, elbowing both Hinata and Shikamaru. Hinata looked down slightly, blushing in response while Shikamaru simply waved his hand in acknowledgment of his 'guilt'.
"Shikamaru-san! Hinata-san!" Teuchi gasped dramatically, bringing his hands to his face in fake shock. "You both helped? Is Naruto that much a bad influence on you two?"
"Bad influence? Hey!" Naruto frowned.
"He's n-n-not." A giggle escaped Hinata's lips. "We j-just offered t-to help. N-Naruto-kun m-managed to g-get to the reading scrolls yesterday and I j-j-just had one of my c-clansmen s-seal p-paint in them."
Hinata was still uncertain how she managed to convince her former caretaker, Hyūga Kō, to actually go along with her request. He was normally so stoic and followed the rules all the time. She could even tell that he disapproved of the 'prank'. Still, though, he went along with it. She would need to thank him somehow.
"They actually did stuff. I did nothing, unless you count giving Naruto some solid advice and arguments on how to avoid getting blamed." Shikamaru said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey, that helped a ton! I'd probably be cleaning everything up right now if it wasn't for you!" Naruto said, his arm swinging around Shikamaru's shoulder. "Thanks a lot!"
"… No need to thank me." Shikamaru said, chuckling. "It was fun. It was interesting."
"Well, I got your ramen ready." Teuchi announced as he finished pouring three bowls of miso ramen. He then brought them onto the counter in front of the three students. "Enjoy your lunch, your crazy troublemakers!"
"Well, the ramen is ready. Here you all go, you crazy troublemakers." Teuchi informed them with a laugh as he and Ayame passed out the ramen orders.
"Finally!" Naruto shouted as he reached for his chopsticks. "Let's eat!"
Hinata giggled as Naruto began shoving his food down his throat while Shikamaru shook his head, mumbling something under his breath. The two then turned their attention to their own ramen bowls.
As Naruto walked into class the next morning, he noticed some of the students glaring at him. Kiba and Ino, in particular, were scowling and mumbling something under their breath about him. The blond grinned back at them and waved as he took his seat next to Hinata and Shikamaru.
"People are still pissed about yesterday." He said.
"No shit." Shikamaru shook his head, chuckling to himself. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Kiba tries to punch you later."
"Let him try!" Naruto crossed his arms.
"Hopefully he d-doesn't t-try anything." Hinata mumbled.
Shikamaru opened his mouth to respond to Hinata, but he stopped himself as another student walked into the room. A smile developed on his face as he waved at the new student.
"Sup Chōji. How was the wedding?" He asked.
Naruto and Hinata turned their heads to see Akimichi Chōji walk in, a bag of chips in hand. He waved to the Nara, a smile on his face.
"It was nice. The village was nice. And my cousin's new family were really nice." He said in-between bites of chips. "Plus her Dad's a great cook. The wedding feast was amazing!"
Shikamaru nodded his head: "Cool."
Chōji's eyes moved to Naruto and Hinata. He waved at them: "How's it going Naruto? Hinata?"
"G-Good. It's n-nice t-to see you again Ch-Chōji-san." Hinata said, smiling back at him.
"Hey Chōji, Shikamaru told me you think barbeque is the best food!" Naruto noted, crossing his arms as he grinned at him. "I just wanted to let you know that ramen is infinitely better than barbeque place!"
Shikamaru brought the palm of his hand straight to his forehead. 'You actually were serious when you said you'd do that Naruto?'
The Akimichi blinked in response as he stared at the blond. He was silent for a moment before he started to chuckle, shaking his head.
"Ramen's good and all, but trust me; if you had good barbeque, you'd know barbeque is better." He said as he started to eat his chips again.
"And if you had good ramen, you'd know what I mean!" Naruto defended. "What are you doing after class today? I'll show you what I mean!"
"I got nothing planned. Sure, take me wherever you want and I'll see. And then I'll take you to Yakiniku Q and show you a better barbeque place." Chōji said, still chuckling. He then held out his bag of chips to Naruto. "Want one?"
Naruto smiled in response as reached in and grabbed a chip: "Thanks!"
Chōji then wordlessly moved the bag towards Hinata, extending the same offer. She bowed her head as she reached in and grabbed a chip of her own. He then walked over to the seat next to Shikamaru and sat down.
Uzumaki Naruto felt, for the first time he could remember, that time was going by quickly. Lessons at the academy no longer seemed to drag and he felt himself more invested in what was going on. Days quickly turned to weeks. He greatly enjoyed going to the academy now and spending as much time as he could with Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji whenever the boy was available. He was having more fun than he could ever remember having.
In addition to enjoying his time more, the Uzumaki began to slowly improve in his grades and practical skills at the academy, as did his friends. Iruka began to notice Naruto paying more attention to class and he caught him questioning his classmates whenever he had any questions about topics of a lesson. Slowly, Naruto began to improve his grades in class to the point where he could no longer be considered the 'dead last' of his class.
Naruto was not alone in his improvements. Hinata could be seen as becoming ever-so-slightly more confident in herself, which translated into better focus in lessons on taijutsu or weapons training. Shikamaru, also, would get encouraged by his friends to participate more in class and try for some of the lessons, allowing him to receive marks fitting his actual skills.
These improvements were further amplified by training sessions with Shikamaru's parents. Twice a week, Naruto, Hinata, and Chōji were invited over to the Nara Clan Compound. Shikaku and Yoshino proved to be strict teachers, but were effective and respectful, only pushing the students in ways that would benefit them. They showed the students the tree walking exercise and worked on improving their chakra control. They also worked to improve their endurance through sparring session and prolonged tree climbing exercises.
Naruto could feel a great difference after all of his time spent with Shikamaru, Hinata, Chōji, and the Nara parents. He found himself stronger than ever before, found himself happier, and was looking forward to moving on with his shinobi career now more than ever. He finally had something he had been looking for years for – acceptance.
Naruto adjusted the goggles on his forehead, grinning as he looked at himself in the mirror. It was only one more week until the academy graduation exam. He was ready to go in, crush the exam, and move on with his career as a shinobi with Shikamaru and Hinata by his side.
'Things really have been going amazing.' He told himself.
With a nod of his head, he rushed away from the mirror, grabbed his belongings and headed towards class.
"Alright everyone, let's begin our review of the material that will be featured in the graduation exam." Iruka spoke as students stared to quiet down. "We have only one week left before the exam, so it is important that you all take this seriously! I'd hate to see even one of you fail because you slacked off at the last second."
"Hear that Shikamaru?" Naruto questioned, elbowing his friend. "He's calling you out!"
"He can get in line." The Nara mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"It's weird to think it's almost over, huh?" Chōji noted, eating from another bag of chips. "Pretty soon, we'll all be ninja."
"I know, right?" Naruto grinned in response. "It's so cool!"
"I'm a l-little nervous, but I'm excited." Hinata noted, smiling. "I'm h-hoping we end up on th-the same genin team."
"Same here!" His grin widened.
"I'd bet money that me, Chōji, and Ino are going to be a team to recreate that 'Ino-Shika-Chō' trio are dads are famous for, so hopefully you two end up together." Shikamaru added. "
Naruto was about to respond, but he was interrupted by a cough from Iruka. He turned his attention to the academy instructor, who had a frown on his face.
"Well, if everyone is so ready to get out of the academy and move on to discussing genin teams, we can move onto the review and hopefully help you all actually pass!" He said sharply.
The Uzumaki grumbled something under his breath in response, but stayed quiet as he gave the academy instructor his attention.
Iruka spent the first hour going over information about Konoha, its history, and its famous ninja that had been discussed during the years in the academy. When he finally finished, he led the class outside to a field with lots of logs. The academy teacher began to review the academy basic jutsu – the Substitution, Transformation, and Clone Jutsus – and ordered the students to begin practicing the jutsu on their own.
Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji worked together and began practicing their Transformation Jutsu. All four students were able to transform into identical copies of various academy teachers, with Naruto having the most realistic transformation with his version of Iruka.
After they realized they were down with the Transformation Jutsu, they started working on the Substitution Jutsu. All four students were able to replace themselves with any of the nearby logs.
"Two for two! This test is going to be a joke, y'know!" Naruto cheered.
"It's not meant to be hard. It's just about the basic skills needed to be a ninja, which we all clearly qualify." Shikamaru replied, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, let's get down with the Clone Jutsu so we can be done with this and I can go to sleep."
All four students made the necessary hand signs for the jutsu. A poof of smoke filled the air around them. When the smoke cleared, perfect clones of Shikamaru, Hinata, and Chōji appeared. Naruto, however, only created one, seemingly dead blob that could be barely considered a clone.
"Ugh, again?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "Why does this keep happening? I've improved my chakra control and everything! Why can't I make even one stupid clone?"
"Hmm… maybe you're not using enough chakra?" Chōji asked.
"That can't be it." Naruto shook his head. "I feel like I'm already using a lot."
"We can always see." Shikamaru said as he turned to Hinata. "Hinata, can't you check with your Byakugan? See if Naruto needs to use more chakra?"
"Ah." The Hyūga nodded her head in understanding as she made hand signs and activated her clan's dōjutsu. "Naruto-Kun, c-could you try the C-Clone Jutsu once more please?"
Naruto nodded his head and made the necessary hand sign. Hinata gasped as she watched him channel his chakra. A poof of smoke filled the air and, when dissipated, revealed a similar pathetic-looking clone on the ground.
"N-Naruto-kun, that was s-so much chakra. Way t-too much." She shook her head. The amount of chakra he used for such a simple jutsu seemingly overwhelmed her. "Y-You're going t-to need to use a whole l-lot less!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, but nodded his head as he wordlessly made the hand sign again. He channeled chakra once more, making sure to limit the amount of chakra used. Upon completing his jutsu, he created another dead-looking clone on the ground.
"What gives?" He grumbled.
Hinata frowned: "S-Still t-too much."
"Oh come on! I was hardly using any that time!" Naruto shouted in frustration as he made the hand signs. "Clone Jutsu!"
Once again, another dead-looking clone appeared on the ground. He rolled his eyes as he made another attempt. He continued to try making clones until Iruka spoke-up, informing all the students that it was time for weapons training.
With an annoyed sigh, Naruto walked forward ahead of his friends, trying to get weapons training over with as quick as he could so he could get back to practice. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji all looked at him, confused expressions on their faces.
"It doesn't make sense, though. Most people have problems getting enough chakra. How is that his problem is that he uses too much?" Chōji wondered.
"N-Naruto-kun has one of th-the largest ch-chakra supplies I've ever seen." Hinata admitted, shaking her head. "It's even l-larger th-than my father's chakra supply."
"That's unreal…" Chōji whistled in approval. "That's going to make him an amazing ninja later, though. He's never going to have problems with chakra exhaustion."
"Yeah, but it's a problem right now. A troublesome problem." Shikamaru mumbled.
The Nara knew that, due to technicalities, Naruto could fail the test if he was unable to produce a single clone, which caused him to scowl. 'That would be idiotic to fail him for that. Punishing him for a large chakra supply? When that's actively going to help him as a ninja.'
"Hey! Dad!"
Shikaku sighed; he had only just gotten him from a long day of work with paperwork for the Shinobi Council and a late meeting with the Sandaime. He wanted a few minutes alone in his compound's private cellar to drink sake and destress. Not even a minute had passed by and his 'alone time' had already ben disturbed as Shikamaru ran into the cellar.
"Yes?" He grumbled as he sat his bottle down on a small table.
"It's a troublesome situation I know, but I got to ask about it. We were working on the Clone Jutsu and Hinata, Chōji, and I noticed Naruto having problems with it. Was wondering if you knew anything that could help him out, since it'd be a pain if he couldn't graduate because of such a stupid problem." Shikamaru said, sighing.
Shikaku had an idea what his son was referring to, but needed confirmation: "Well, what kind of problems are we talking about?"
"Chakra." Shikamaru answered. "Hinata checked with his Byakugan. Naruto's got a huge chakra reserve and is seemingly incapable of using the little amount of chakra needed for the jutsu."
'The Kyūbi's chakra is probably to blame for that.' Shikaku noted, shaking his head. 'Most people have issues with too little chakra. This kid's issue is the exact opposite. That'll help him out later, but right now that's a pain. I know Yoshino and I have helped him out with his chakra control. This kid is getting better at it, but if he's made no improvements with the jutsu yet, he probably never will be able to create a standard clone.' The man's eyes widened as a solution occurred to him: '...wait, he probably can't ever do standard clones, but what about a different type of clone?'
"Shikamaru, invite your friends over for a training session tomorrow. Don't worry about Naruto; I got an idea that'll help him out." He told his son.
"Alright. I can do that." Shikamaru nodded his head.
With his concern addressed, Shikamaru walked off, heading to his usual cloud-watching spot. Shikaku remained in his seat, still thinking about Naruto and his issue with clones.
'If this were anyone else, I'd be worried to show them how to do shadow clones. But Naruto should be fine. He's got enough stamina and chakra to pull it off… troublesome kid.' Shikaku noted, chuckling he picked up his bottle of sake and started to drink once again.
The next day came quickly. Shikamaru brought Naruto and Hinata to his clan's compound after class and walked to the courtyard. Both Shikaku and Yoshino were standing in the courtyard, their eyes on the three students.
"Chōji didn't feel like coming today?" Yoshino asked.
"Yeah, he wasn't feeling too good in class today and went home. We stopped by the Akimichi compound on the way here to check on him and he said he was getting sick." Shikamaru said, frowning.
His mother frowned: "That's not good at all! I'm going to stop by and see what's wrong with him after training!"
"Later though. We got training to do." Shikaku stated, getting everyone's attention. "Today, Yoshino will be working on improving your chakra control further."
Yoshino's sadness went away in seconds and was replaced with a sadistic grin on her face. She instinctively reached for a blunted kunai and pointed it at the group of academy students, who all instinctively backed away.
"What do you intend on doing with those, Mom?" Shikamaru asked.
"If you all are quick on your feet, you won't have to find out." She replied, her grin widening.
Hinata turned to look at her classmate. 'Shikamaru-kun, your mother is terrifying!'
As if reading her mind, Shikamaru shook his head: 'At least you don't have to live with her!'
The Nara clan head chuckled before he continued to speak. "Anyway, she'll work on chakra control today for about an hour. I'll tell you what we will do when you are done and recovered." His eyes then moved over to Naruto. "However, Naruto, can I borrow you for a little bit before you join your friends with chakra control training?"
"Huh?" Naruto blinked in response, pointing to himself, before he shrugged his shoulders. "Sure? Why not?"
"Then join up when done! Anyway, Hinata, Shikamaru! Follow me!" Yoshino shouted excitedly as she walked towards some of the large trees in the back of the compound, reaching for a second dulled kunai.
"Wish us luck, N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata mumbled as she and Shikamaru both followed his mother.
A few seconds passed until they were out of sight. Now along with Naruto, Shikaku crossed his arms.
"Shikamaru told me you were having trouble with the Clone Jutsu. Asked if I knew any way to get around having too much chakra." He said.
"Hmph." The blond scoffed. "Yeah, I know. It sucks-" The words died on his lip as his eyes started to widen. "Wait, can you help me with it?"
"With the basic Clone Jutsu? Nah." Shikaku chuckled in response.
"Huh?" Naruto blinked in response.
"You have too much chakra from what I understand. Nothing's going to fix that. While you can definitely better you chakra control to better use your chakra, if you genuinely have too much chakra for such a technique, you're physically incapable of creating regular clones, so you probably will never get the jutsu down with any help." The Nara clan head informed him.
"… Really?" He asked, starting to frown. He shook his head, biting his lip. "Then what the hell am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to graduate without it? Am I just supposed to quit or something? Cause that's bullshit! This jutsu shouldn't be a requirement then if-"
"Kid. Naruto. Relax." Shikaku said, raising one of his hands. Naruto quit talking, but still silently glared at the ground. The look on his face caused Shikaku to chuckle. "I said you probably would never be able to do a basic clone. That doesn't mean you can't graduate. How about you learn how to use a different kind of clone technique?"
Before Naruto had the chance to respond, Shikaku made a hand sign. After channeling chakra, a poof of smoke filled the area. When it dissipated, a second Shikaku stood side-by-side with him. Both smirked at Naruto.
"If you have too much chakra for simple clones, then we'll just use your chakra for a more powerful technique that needs more chakra." Shikaku stated.
"You still interested in learning Shadow Clones?" The clone asked.
Naruto's eyes widened once again as he started to grin.
"No way! Are you serious? Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted loudly. "I get to learn this epic jutsu that's way more useful AND pass the test! This is awesome!"
"Kid, calm down. You still have to learn it." Shikaku told him with a chuckle.
"Of course I'll learn it! I'm way too awesome not to learn it!" The Uzumaki replied.
This earned a snort of laughter from the Nara Clan Head. 'I swear, no kid should get me to laugh this much. Uzumaki Naruto, you have way too much energy and excitement. You are troublesome… but in a good way.'
"Well, if you're so 'awesome' then you best be ready. I can promise you it won't be easy." Shikaku noted. "I'm going to show you how to do the jutsu one more time. Watch carefully. We'll then work on your execution."
Naruto calmed himself down and nodded at the man's words: "Alright, let's do this!"
Shikaku in turn made the hand sign for the jutsu.
An hour had passed by since the training began. Naruto was standing with tired, wobbling legs as he panted heavily.
"You need to take a break soon? Get yourself more energized?" Shikaku asked Naruto. "Might do you some good-"
"No, I got this!" Naruto replied, still breathing heavily. "Just… give me a moment!"
As Naruto brought his hands together into the same hand sign, Yoshino walked back to the courtyard. Shikamaru and Hinata followed behind, both panting heavily with bruises on their bodies.
"How did your training go?" Shikaku asked his wife.
"They're getting better. They lasted a long time on the trees and were able to avoid most of the kunai I threw at them. I was impressed." Yoshino said, grinning. "I think next session, I'll use actual kunai. Maybe the fear of getting hit and a real wound will incentivize them more-"
"Mom, I kinda would like it if Naruto and Hinata actually wanted to come over here again, so please don't." Shikamaru pleaded, scowling.
"You're… s-so strict with your t-training…" Hinata noted. "Who… who t-taught you?"
"My sensei was a no-nonsense woman. Someone who would not tolerate any slacking off. Which was good, because it helped shape me and my team into the amazing shinobi we are!" Yoshino declared, flexing slightly as she chuckled. She then turned her attention to Shikaku. "How's your session with Naruto-Kun? Is he still working on it?"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as a poof of smoke filled the air only to reveal nothing. "Ughh…"
"He's making a ton of progress, but it's gonna take a little bit more time. Maybe another day of training." Shikaku admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Understandably, since the jutsu is advanced."
"That's not going to stop me though!" Naruto stated as he brought his hands back to the same hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Another poof of smoke filled the area around Naruto. As the smoke dissipated, another Naruto appeared. The original Naruto stared at the second, both blinking at each other.
Shikaku nearly choked at the sight. 'Did he literally just accomplish that to prove me wrong? About needing to take another day of practice?'
"I… I did it?" Naruto asked.
"I think you did?" The second repeated.
"That… yup." Shikaku spoke-up, nodding his head. "That's a Shadow Clone."
Naruto immediately tackled the shadow clone he created to the ground. He rolled around the ground with it, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"I DID IT! HELL YEAH! I CAN MAKE CLONES!" Naruto shouted.
"HELL YEAH! WE DID IT! ONE STEP CLOSER TO BEING HOKAGE!" The clone shouted back.
Hinata giggled at her friend's excitement while Shikamaru had a smirk on his own face. The two ran over to the blonde and pulled him up from the ground away from his clone.
"Impressive! Very impressive!" Shikamaru said.
"Y-You're amazing Naruto-Kun!" Hinata said, a pink blush developing on her cheeks.
Naruto responded to their praise by pulling both of them into a group hug. Shikamaru started trying to squirm out a little, having problems breathing properly. Hinata had trouble breathing as well, but for different reasons.
'Naruto-Kun is hugging me! He's hugging me! Don't faint, don't faint, don't faint, don't faint...' Hinata repeated the mantra in her head as her face turned scarlet. 'Not again, not again not again not again…'
'Air! Give me air! Please!' Shikamaru mentally pleaded.
Eventually the boy let go. Shikamaru immediately started to gasp overdramatically as he caught his breath.
"I… saw… what must have a god… calling me to the afterlife…" He mumbled in a daze.
"Ah, screw you Shikamaru. I didn't hug you that tight." Naruto rolled his eyes.
Hinata still seemed to be in some dreamy daze, but was inwardly cheering herself for not fainting from her crush's embrace.
"Well, from what I understand, you all deserve a break for a little bit. I know Naruto probably does at least." Shikaku spoke, getting the attention of all the students again. "Take about twenty or thirty minute break and head back here. We'll work on improving your resistances to genjutsu when you are back."
The three shinobi nodded their heads in unison before they walked off together, heading towards a tree. Shikamaru immediately collapsed upon arriving, which caused Naruto to roll his eyes and Hinata to giggle in response. The two then joined the Nara Clan heir on the ground as they laid down, staring up at the clouds.
"Just what we needed; more cloud watchers." Yoshino noted, rolling her eyes. "Our son's a bad influence."
"Perhaps." Shikaku chucked in response. "But that might not be a thing. And they are rubbing off on him as well."
"That's true. I like that they are and wished they would rub off on him more! Maybe that would get rid of his laziness!" The Nara woman told her husband with a smirk of her own. "They really work well together, you know? They just seem to have a desire to help the other improve. They probably would work well together as a genin team. Maybe even better than you and your old teammates!"
The Nara clan head was about to give a sarcastic reply, but one glare from his wife told him it would be 'troublesome' to say otherwise. Instead, he remained quiet and watched his son lay down with his friends.
'… You know, she has a point. They really are all rubbing off on each other in a good way. They'd probably make a great team…' Shikaku rubbed the chin of his head.