"Team 7, here for a D-rank mission," chirped Kakashi. He never got tired of his students' reaction to D-ranks.
"Here are the available missions," said the Chūnin in charge of handing out D-ranks. "Painting a fence, chasing groundhogs out of a farmer's field, cleaning the Inuzuka dog kennels, capturing Madam Shijimi's missing cat..."
"That one," Kakashi pointed at the last scroll. "We'll take the Tora mission."
"Ah," said the Chūnin, amusement flashing across his face. "Here you go."
"Alright, my cute little Genin, we've got an exciting find-and-capture mission! Let's go!"
Thanks to Kakashi's mask, you couldn't tell whether his eye-smile was part of a genuine happy-smile or if it was a sadistic grin.
– CS –
"Psst, Tora." Naruto snuck up to the cat without any intention of capturing it or harming it, or even touching it in any way. The intelligent cat couldn't sense any killing intent whatsoever, so it didn't run.
"Mrow?" Tora backed away, cautious.
"How about a deal?" said Naruto. "Would you like to learn to climb trees?"
"Mrooow," said Tora.
"Okay, you can already climb trees. But I can teach you to climb up and down trees like a squirrel! Watch." Naruto set a foot on the side of a tree and walked up the vertical surface and back down to the ground.
"Meerrrrw..."
"The deal is, if I teach you this, you come quietly whenever my team gets a mission to find and capture you."
"Mrow!" said Tora. Not good enough.
"Also, I can teach you how to walk on water."
"Mrrrow?"
"Yes, really. Just imagine, you're running from a Genin team and you run across a river… they'll be flabbergasted! And most of them couldn't follow you."
"Mrrrr...ow."
"Cool, it's a deal." Naruto shook the cat's paw. "Heheheheh, this is gonna be fun."
– CS –
Naruto walked out of the woods with Tora sprawled on his head, mirroring the way Kiba Inuzuka carried his dog Akamaru.
"Naruto, how did you find Tora so fast?" Kakashi had to keep his disappointment from showing.
"Huh? Tora's a nice cat," stated Naruto, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Hey Sakura, wanna hold him? He likes to be scratched behind the ears, but be sure not to squeeze him. He really hates being squashed."
Team 7 walked into the missions office with Tora purring in Sakura's arms.
– CS –
Kakashi was in a bar, trying to pick up women. Of course, given his choice of reading material and the fact that he was reading it in the open and giggling pervertedly, he wasn't going to be successful anytime in the next century.
Might Guy was in a bar, trying to pick up women. Of course, given his choice of haircut and clothing, he wasn't going to be successful anytime in the next decade. Why the difference in success rate? Guy was actually paying attention to the people around him.
Then Guy noticed Kakashi, and both of them stopped trying to pick up women. No, I didn't mean it that way.
"YOSH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL! DID YOU HEAR?! MADAM SHIJIMI'S CAT TORA HAS BECOME EVEN MORE YOUTHFUL! ASUMA'S TEAM ACTUALLY FAILED THE MISSION YESTERDAY!"
"Hmm? Guy, did you say something?"
"ALWAYS SO HIP AND COOL, KAKASHI! I PROPOSE A CHALLENGE! WHOEVER'S GENIN TEAM CAN CAPTURE TORA FASTER IS THE WINNER! IF MY TEAM DOES NOT WIN, I WILL RUN ONE THOUSAND LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY THUMBS! AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT, I WILL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN FIVE THOUSAND TIMES ON ONE FOOT! AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT..."
"I accept."
"...wait, what?"
"I accept."
"YOSH! KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL, YOU ARE OVERFLOWING WITH YOUTH TODAY! I WILL DO FIVE HUNDRED CRUNCHES IN HONOR OF THIS OCCASION!"
The next day, Guy's team set a new record for the Recapture Tora mission: they dashed back into the missions room with a very much cowed and bedraggled cat in twenty-three minutes.
The day after that, Kakashi's team accepted the mission. Naruto walked into the forest and called for Tora. The cat ran up to Naruto, climbed his back, and perched on his shoulder. They casually strolled back into the missions room with a new record: three minutes.
"YOSH! I MUST KNOW THIS MOST YOUTHFUL YOUNG MAN'S NAME! I AM MIGHT GUY, KONOHA'S BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST! MAY I KNOW YOUR NAME?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki… it's… nice to meet you."
"I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! I HAVE FOUND SOMEONE EVEN MORE HIP AND COOL THAN MY ETERNAL RIVAL KAKASHI!"
"…people don't say 'hip' anymore."
Kakashi never accepted the "Recapture Tora" mission again. He wasn't one to mess with success. Besides, it just wasn't as fun when his students were as bored as he was.
– CS –
Almost two months after Academy Graduation Day, Team 7 walked into the missions room and Sasuke spoke up.
"Give us a C-ranked mission. No more of these… plebeian chores."
Sakura was quick to interject, "Yes! Sasuke dear deserves better! Give us a C-ranked mission."
The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, happened to be in the missions office that day, as he occasionally was, since he assigned the higher-ranked missions personally. He asked, "Are you sure you're ready for a C-ranked mission? You know that you may be required to fight bandits on C-ranks."
"Hn," said Sasuke. "I'm ready."
Sakura looked less sure. Then she perked up. "Of course I'm ready! And if I'm not, Sasuke will protect me."
Naruto said, "Personally, I'm ready. As a team?" he looked towards Sakura and shrugged. It was obvious.
A village council member, an old woman named Koharu, also "just happened" to be in the missions office that day – which was very unusual. "Oh," said Koharu, ignoring Naruto, "Let Lord Uchiha go on a C-ranked mission. I'm sure he's more than ready."
"Hmm," said Hiruzen diplomatically. "Well, it's Kakashi's decision as their sensei."
Koharu stopped smiling at Sasuke and glared at Kakashi.
Kakashi sighed, "Give us a C-ranked mission."
"Very well," said Hiruzen. He handed a scroll to Kakashi. "It's a protection detail for a bridge builder named Tazuna. You're to escort him to the country of Wave and protect him until his bridge is finished. Send him in."
The smell of stale booze preceded Tazuna into the room. Koharu grimaced and left.
"Okay. -hic- Where are the super ninja that are gonna -hic- protect me?"
"Tazuna," said Hiruzen, "This is Team 7, they'll protect you on your way to Wave."
"These -hic- brats? They don't look so tough. I asked for super ninja, not -hic- tetchy little brats!"
Naruto leaned forward, a blank look on his face. The room grew colder. Tazuna suddenly sobered up and started sweating.
"Tetchy little brats..." said Naruto in a monotone.
"I… uh, actually, you do look like super ninja..."
The room was suddenly warm again. Birds chirped, and the refreshing summer breeze blew through the room. There was even a butterfly, which made Hiruzen do a double-take.
"By the way," said Naruto offhandedly, as if the last fifteen seconds did not occur, "you're building a bridge? Where's this bridge connecting to?"
"Yeah, it's gonna be a super bridge! It's connecting the island of Wave to the main continent."
"So this protection mission… you're being threatened by Gato's mercenaries."
Hiruzen and Kakashi each raised an eyebrow. Tazuna started sweating again.
"Who's Gato?" asked Sakura.
"Oh," explained Naruto, "Just the biggest shipping magnate in the area. He's known for having the lowest prices for large shipments. So low, in fact, that they couldn't possibly cover the costs of running his ships – you know what that means. And then there's the fact that he more or less took over Wave six months ago. There's no proof, but everyone seems to agree that he was involved in the disappearance of their Daimyo. Which makes sense, given that Gato is living in the Daimyo's mansion. He's got a large collection of mercenaries and basically thugs acting as bodyguards."
"Hmm. Naruto, how do you know this?" asked Kakashi.
"Overheard it from someone working for that new Whirlwind Postal company. I guess they keep tabs on their competitors."
Nice work, Naruto, thought Hiruzen. You're finally showing signs of your father's intelligence. I suppose bandits and thugs still within the parameters of a C-ranked mission. I had hoped to give them a nice easy protection detail, since Sakura isn't ready for any kind of fighting, but maybe this will serve as a wake-up call.
I may have underestimated Naruto, thought Kakashi. To put all those facts together that quickly, he's smarter than he appears to be. That and the whole Genin test with the barbecue... now that I know Sasuke and Sakura better, Naruto must have done some serious manipulation to get them to eat his food.
Breaking out of his thoughts, Kakashi said, "Very well. Prepare for a month-long mission. We'll meet at the gates of Konoha tomorrow morning at 7:00 am."
– CS –
Team 7 was walking out of the Hokage tower after receiving their mission.
"Sasuke," said Naruto, "Be more careful about asking that Koharu for favors."
"Hn. What makes you think I did that?"
Naruto shrugged. "It's not that. Did you see that smile she gave you? She's pedo."
Sakura's eyes widened when she heard this. Sakura would tell Ino. Ino would tell her dad. Ino's dad would tell Shikamaru's dad, Choji's dad, Ibiki Morino, and Anko Mitarashi. Shikamaru's dad would tell his son. Choji's dad would also tell his son. Ibiki would keep it to himself. Anko would tell everyone in all the dango stands and sake bars of Konoha. It would be an entire week before the story was displaced by a new, juicier rumor. Konoha's gossips would soon forget, but Sasuke's fangirls would forever class old woman Koharu as "competition".
– CS –
At 6:55am the next day, Naruto strolled up to the gate, where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting.
"Hi guys," said Naruto.
"Naruto? You're… not wearing orange," remarked Sakura.
"That's right, I'm... not wearing orange," stated Naruto. He was, in fact, wearing a mostly gray outfit that was rather tight, showing his lean physique and wiry muscles. His dark gray cargo pants were taped at the ankle and his long-sleeved shirt had several pockets for storage scrolls. He wore fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs of the palms. He had a standard kunai pouch, but other than that he didn't have a pack.
"Hn," said Sasuke. They fell into silence.
Five minutes later, Kakashi arrived at the gate with a sober Tazuna at 7:00am. "You're… not late," said an extremely surprised Sakura.
"Hn," said Sasuke in a surprised tone. Apparently he was back to monosyllables.
"Hn," said Naruto, copying Sasuke.
"Hn?" asked Tazuna, wondering why everyone was saying "Hn."
"WHY IS EVERYBODY ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER TODAY?! Except Sasuke dear, he's normal."
"Brats," said Tazuna.
"Let's move out," said Kakashi.
Five hours later found the team trudging along at a civilian pace, in a formation with Tazuna in the middle, Sasuke in front, Naruto on the right, Sakura on the left, and Kakashi in back.
Naruto made discreet hand signs to Kakashi with his left hand: Two ninja in puddle ahead. He turned to Tazuna and made a comment about the travel distance so he could see Kakashi's reply from the corner of his eye.
Kakashi blinked. Those were ANBU hand signs! Maybe the Hokage had taught Naruto? The two were known to be close. Mentally shaking his head, Kakashi signed back: Acknowledged.
Naruto pulled out a small bottle with a skull on it. He signed: Have antidote. Go ahead?
Kakashi blinked again. Go ahead, he signed.
Naruto unscrewed the cap of the bottle and lobbed it into the puddle which was now 10 meters away.
"Naruto, what'd you do that for?" asked Sakura accusingly.
"Triangle formation! Protect the client!" barked Kakashi.
Two masked ninja appeared from the puddle, spluttering and coughing. Kakashi was there in a flash, sweeping their feet from under them and tying them up.
"The Demon Brothers of Kiri, Gozu and Meizu. Chūnin level missing-nin. Sasuke, Sakura, stay with the client. Naruto?"
Naruto stepped forward. "You're dying," he said to the two trussed up men. "Feel that burning in your lungs? Once that poison works its way through your lungs and into your bloodstream, it will start to affect your nervous system. Your entire body will soon feel like it's on fire and your head will feel like the hangover after an entire week on a drinking binge. It'll take between five and seven days for you to die. And the only antidote is the one I have sealed in my pack."
"So…" said Kakashi, "If you want the antidote, you'll talk. Who are you targeting?"
"You bastards. Fine. The bridge builder, Tazuna. Gato wants him dead."
"Who else has Gato hired?" demanded Kakashi.
"We don't know."
"Hmm. They're not lying. Any other questions, team?"
Naruto had one. "Yeah, which one are you? Gozu or Meizu?"
"Seriously? …I'm Gozu," said the one who had spoken first.
"Alright," said Kakashi. He pulled out two pieces of seal paper and drew something on them, then slapped them on the backs of the prisoners' necks. "Chakra disruption seals. We'll leave them here for ANBU to pick up after I send a message to Lord Hokage. Naruto, the antidote?"
Naruto grinned, "Just a paralyzing poison mixed with pepper spray. It'll wear off in a few hours, depending on how much they inhaled."
The Demon Brothers cursed. Kakashi chuckled and eye-smiled.
Sasuke had a different reaction. "Dead-last. Where did you get the poison. I demand you give it to me."
"You can buy paralyzing poison in any shinobi outfitter. You can find pepper spray in a grocery store. And why should I give you my stuff?"
"I'm an Uchiha. It's my right."
"What, the great Uchiha clan is too poor to pay for basic supplies?" taunted Naruto.
Meizu snorted, "That Uchiha, he's a real worthless brat, isn't he?"
Sasuke glared at Meizu.
"What, is that supposed to be killing intent? My ex's mother had better killing intent. And she was a civilian."
Sasuke pulled out a kunai and growled.
"Now, now, Sasuke, put that away," ordered Kakashi. "The T&I Department needs them alive."
Sasuke fell back to what he knew. He said, "Hn."
"So, Tazuna..." Kakashi said, falsely cheery. Then his tone changed. "When were you going to tell us you had ninja after you?"
– CS –
After a sob story from Tazuna and a warning about a probable upcoming fight with a Jōnin from Kakashi, Team 7 decided to continue with their mission. They crossed the channel in a boat and made their way towards Tazuna's house. This time, Kakashi was in front and Naruto was in the back, with Sasuke and Sakura in the middle.
"LOOK OUT!" shouted Kakashi. Naruto dove forward and grabbed Sakura and Tazuna, shoving them to the ground.
A giant cleaver blade came spinning out of the mist and over their heads where they had been a moment ago. It embedded itself in a tree, and on top of the blade a fierce-looking man appeared.
"Triangle formation!" shouted Kakashi again. "Protect the client! This one's out of your league."
The two Jōnin named each other in a reverse introduction.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan."
"Zabuza Momochi, Missing Nin from Kiri."
"What's with the grandstanding, are you a samurai?" asked Naruto. "I thought samurai would be a bit less… y'know, shirtless. Are you broke?"
Zabuza chuckled. "Kid has a point. Let's see how you deal with this! Kirigakure (Hidden Mist) no Jutsu!" Zabuza raised a thick mist, vanishing into it.
Powerful killing intent hit Team 7 and Tazuna. Sakura froze completely. Sasuke, shaking, started to raise his kunai to his throat.
"Sasuke!" said Kakashi. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me."
Naruto took a deep breath and thought, Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)! He blew a powerful stream of wind blew at Zabuza's last known location, producing a stiff wind everywhere that blew the mist away.
There were three Zabuza's hiding in that mist.
Naruto threw a spread of kunai at one who was dashing towards the team's triangle formation. The kunai were blocked with a swipe of the sword, but the element of surprise was lost. The second attempting to sneak up on Kakashi, who faced it with a kunai. The third was standing by the trees observing, but immediately started to make hand signs.
Three Naruto clones appeared beside Naruto, with no hand signs or warning. Two of them vanished in splashes of water, and at the same time, two of the Zabuza's turned into water with a puff of white smoke above each one, revealing that the real Zabuza was the one standing by the trees making hand signs. Naruto handed a sealing tag to the remaining clone, who vanished in a puff of smoke and Kawarimi'd with the real Zabuza's sword, which was attached to his back. It slapped the tag on the back of Zabuza's neck, and Naruto made a single hand sign, channeling chakra to the seal and causing it to sink into his skin.
Zabuza stopped making hand signs, spun around, and kicked out at the Naruto clone, dispersing it in a puff of smoke.
"Shadow clones," he growled. "Don't think that'll stop me." Then Zabuza fell over, unable to move.
"Chakra Disruption and Paralysis Seal," said Naruto to Kakashi. "He's not moving until I take that off."
Suddenly a short ninja with a Kiri hunter-nin mask dropped beside Zabuza.
"Thank you for taking out my prey," said the apparent hunter-nin. "I will take him back to Kiri for interrogation."
"Hold it!" shouted Naruto. He threw a kunai at the newcomer.
It was too late, the apparent hunter-nin disappeared with Zabuza in a Shunshin (Body Flicker).
"Naruto!" said Kakashi. "That was a Kiri hunter-nin! You shouldn't have attacked him!"
Naruto shook his head, "There ARE no Kiri hunter-nin. All of the Mizukage's forces are tied up fighting that rebellion of theirs. Besides, a real hunter-nin would have just cut off Zabuza's head, right?"
"…You're right," said Kakashi. "He should have cut off Zabuza's head and destroyed the body right there. But how do you know about the Kiri civil war?"
"I'm a ninja," deadpanned Naruto, as if that explained everything.
"Hmm. Alright, is everyone okay? No injuries?"
Tazuna took a deep breath. "I'm fine," he said, giving a thumbs up. "That was a super fight!"
Sasuke relaxed, taking a long breath and trying to hide that he was doing so.
"Dead-last," said Sasuke in his "high-and-mighty" voice, "What was that technique, shadow clones? Teach it to me."
Naruto shook his head. "You wanna take this one, Sensei?"
Kakashi sighed. "Shadow clones are a B-rank Forbidden Technique. Sasuke, you don't have enough chakra to use shadow clones right now. If you tried it, best case, you'd end up with severe chakra exhaustion. Worst case, you could die."
Sakura finally unfroze. "Then… how come Naruto can perform it?" She sounded a lot less confident than usual.
"I'm a ninja," said Naruto, stopping Kakashi from giving a half-answer.
"And what is that supposed to mean, idiot?" demanded Sasuke.
"It means I don't tell my secrets to people I don't trust and respect. And right now, the two of you fit in neither category."
Sakura would have punched Naruto in the head, but she was still feeling out of it due to Zabuza's killing intent. "Then… how did you take out Zabuza's clones so quickly?" asked Sakura. "They just… disappeared."
"Let's just say it's something only shadow clones can do," stated Naruto. It was true. His shadow clones had simply Kawarimi'd with the water clones' heads, which was almost a suicide technique because it left the clones' feet fused with the water clone's body, dispersing both clones. A normal ninja would require an incredible amount of chakra control to avoid fusing with the clone's body, like Tsunade-level chakra control. And it wasn't possible to use Kawarimi with a real human being's head. On the other hand, it was very useful for identifying a real person and proving that the third Zabuza wasn't just another clone. And shadow clones were the only clone type that could perform ninjutsu, which allowed them to use a whole range of self-destructive techniques like this one.
Naruto changed the subject by picking up Zabuza's giant cleaver blade from where his clone had left it after using Kawarimi with the sword. "Kubikiribōchō," he said, giving it a couple of experimental swings. "Interesting weapon, unfortunately not my style. I think I'll keep it anyway. Unless you want it, Sensei?"
Kakashi was surprised that Naruto could swing the sword like that. Either the sword was lighter than it looked, or Naruto was stronger than he appeared. "No," said Kakashi, "Not really my style either."
"Okay," said Naruto. He pulled a storage scroll out of one of his pockets, unrolled it, and lay the sword on top of it.
"Hold on," said Sakura, "Give it to Sasuke."
Naruto snorted and hefted the giant blade by its center of gravity with one hand, offering the handle to Sasuke.
"Hn," said Sasuke. He had to look cool, so he tried to grab the sword with one hand.
When Naruto let go of the sword, Sasuke dropped it on the ground, jumping back to keep it from landing on his toes. He couldn't even hold up one end of the sword.
So it's not that the sword is light, thought Kakashi.
Naruto snickered, "Let's just say Sasuke's... more of a speed-type fighter. Sakura, you wanna try it too? Think you're stronger than Sasuke?"
"Of course not!" said Sakura. "How do you think I'd look, swinging around an ugly thing like that!"
"Mah, mah," temporized Kakashi. "Let's move on. Tazuna, we're about twenty minutes away from your house, right?"
Naruto grabbed the sword – with one hand – and sealed it into his storage scroll.
Naruto, thought Sasuke, How did you get so strong?
– CS –
That evening, Kakashi pulled Naruto aside. "Do you know how long Zabuza will be out thanks to that seal?"
"It's locked to my chakra signature, so it would take a real sealing master to outright remove the seal. The chakra I channeled into it, for someone of Zabuza's strength, should last at least a week, possibly two. The paralysis will wear off a couple days before the chakra disruption effects are completely gone."
"Good. Now, where did you learn the Shadow Clone Technique?"
"I read it in a book."
"Where did you get this book?"
"The library. Here, I've got a copy." Naruto pulled out his father's book and showed it to Kakashi. The "ignore me" genjutsu took effect… Kakashi changed the subject.
"I think we'll do some training for the next week. Let's tell the team."
– CS –
How to be a Ninja
by Minato Namikaze
Chapter 3: If You're Not Cheating, You're Not a Ninja
Ninja cheat, lie, steal, and use deception and stealth. That's what sets us apart from Samurai.
When you're up against an enemy, strike without warning when they least expect it. Use every advantage and every dirty trick you can to your maximum benefit. There's very little honor in war, and you have none to spare for your enemies.
Section (a): Uber Hax: Shadow Clones
Shadow Clones are, without exception, the greatest invention known to mankind. Here's why.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu is listed as a B-rank Forbidden Technique due to its chakra requirements. It divides your chakra evenly among the shadow clones you make. Each Shadow Clone is a physical, touchable construct made of your chakra. This has three effects. One, Shadow Clones can use ninjutsu. Two, after a Shadow Clone disperses, the remaining chakra returns to your body, bringing with it the memories of the clone's "life". And three, if you don't have enough chakra, using the Shadow Clone Jutsu can give you extreme chakra exhaustion, or possibly even kill you.
So, to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, the first thing you need to do is raise your level of chakra reserves. See Chapter 8: "How to Gain More Chakra" for more on this. You'll need at least high-Chūnin level reserves in order to safely make a single Shadow Clone. In other words, when you can do the Water Walking chakra control exercise at the same time as Leaf Sticking and Kunai Spinning, and hold all three of them for one hour straight without a break, you should have enough chakra for a Shadow Clone. Or you can just use a fuinjutsu seal from the appendix of this book to find out how much chakra you have.
Once you've learned Shadow Clones, you can use them to cheat with your training. Remember that second effect? It turns out that your Shadow Clones can learn practically anything, including reading books, learning ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, even practice chakra control techniques, and their experiences will be transferred back to you. Once you have a significant number of Shadow Clones training this way, it TOTALLY feels like cheating, because you're learning many times faster than the average ninja can learn.
And you can use them to help increase your chakra capacity. By dividing your chakra, you can exercise your body when you're mostly empty of chakra, increasing the rate at which you generate it. You can also make clones, wait until your chakra recovers, then disperse your clones. When your clones disperse, their chakra returns to your system, giving you a bit of an overload and "stretching" your chakra system. Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, has a sword that uses the same principle to increase his chakra capacity. Beware that rapidly increasing your chakra capacity in this way will naturally reduce your chakra control, so be sure to keep doing those control exercises. With Shadow Clones, of course.
One more thing: ever hear about forbidden suicide techniques? Yeah, due to the fact that Shadow Clones can use ninjutsu, they can use almost all of the self-destructive forbidden jutsu out there. Just avoid anything that involves your soul.
Now remember, this is a trade secret. If other ninja learn about this, it will eventually get to our enemies, which will result in stronger enemy ninja coming after us.
Section (b): When to be Honorable
Honor actually does have its place for ninja. You need to be careful to distinguish between family, friends, allies, and enemies. Family are those you trust completely. Friends are those you trust and have respect for. Allies are those whom circumstances allow you to trust, but may not be trustworthy forever. Show honor to your family, friends and allies, but not your enemies. You can tell your secrets to your family and friends, but not your allies. Tell nothing to your enemies.
Don't get any ideas about slowing down to let your friends keep pace with you. At times, your friends will get curious about your secrets – the honorable way to handle this is to openly tell them that yes, you have secrets, but no, you're not going to tell them everything. If they're really your friends, they'll accept this.