An enormous distinct cloud covered training ground sixty-nine in its entirety, sending me into a bit of a coughing fit.

"Damn!" I couldn't even cover my mouth with my hands full at the moment.

"Ichi-chan! I did it!" The voices of Naru and her copies all echoed at once elatedly.

As soon as the mist cleared, I bore witness to a miniature army of blond-haired, orange-clad little girls seemingly standing upside down.

"Already?" I beamed, "You were quick, Naru-chan! It's only been about 20 minutes!" They all adorably giggled. I smiled warmly, "Clone me! Cut me down please." I glanced up at the sight of another me also admiring our friend's speedy progress from atop the branch I was tied up at doing pull-ups with a boulder. He nodded, karate-chopping the rope apart from my feet with a single swipe.

I righted myself mid-flight and landed like a hard, weighty cat. The sheer noise and tremble of my graceful, yet heavy landing made Naru and her clones gawp in bewilderment.

"Good stuff," I praised, setting the boulder aside, "You're making great progress already."

The original stepped forward or at least I assumed. (I wasn't quite there yet at distinguishing the difference between clones and their original counterparts for all my physical prowess) "That means I can learn cool jutsu now, right!?" She eagerly asked, embracing my stomach with stars in her gaze.

"Nearly," I grinned, "Completing just two more steps will make it even easier to pick up a whole heap of cool jutsu."

She lifted and tilted her head, "Really?"

"Really!"

A ferociously loud grumble like that of Goku's stomach reverberated throughout the woods, and our clones practically died of laughter.

"Um. What's say we get some grub while our clones work on the chakra-control exercises?" I asked, scrubbing my reddened cheek with an index finger.

"Okay," Naru agreed with a rosy, red blush of her own decorating her cheeks. Turning toward her clones picking themselves off the grassy earth from their bout of laughter, she queried, "You'll train hard for me, won't you, girls?"

"You bet!" They chorused with a salute.

"Thank you!"

I nodded to my one, "You know what to do, right?"

He lightly touched his temple with his index and middle fingers, coolly flicking them outward, "Leave it to me, bossman."

"Alrighty," I glanced back at Naru, offering her my hand, "Ready?"

"Ready!" She took my hand, beaming.

We ambled out of training ground sixty-nine under the blanketing warmth of the sun. While doing so, Naru glanced back over her shoulder.

"Don't worry," I grinned, averting her curious gaze back to me. "You'll get all the info sent back to ya in just a bit." I winked, "You're a quick learner, after all."

"Okay!" She beamed, "This clone memory stuff is neat, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!" I said, treading under the soft soil beneath our feet and hoping any wandering flies wouldn't fly into my mouth I opened in an infectious laugh. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu) was an absolute cheat code and one of the first techniques I made sure to master when I could many months ago. It took man a whole month of trial and error, but I eventually perfected it. And then Naru went and clocked it in under half an hour.

Yeah. It went without saying mastering jutsus wasn't my forte. I was a lean, mean physical machine of no finesse, even when I understood the fundamentals of something.

Meh. Can't be good at anything, I guess.

Man moved like a glorified Lee. (I'll find you soon, bro, I promise!)

Still, as absurdly beneficial as having clones stockpile experience before sending it back to you was, the fact the side effect had to be retconned into the series to provide an underpowered Naruto with a quick power-up was one of the many prime examples of Kishi winging Naruto and having to improvise as a result. I mean, I get it; creating a weekly comic in excruciating detail was hard, so I don't blame him for flying by the seat of his pants.

Many other renowned authors did so, too, to be fair.

Araki and Toriyama famously wrote JoJo's Bizarre Adventures and Dragonball as they went along and the evidence was plain to see in each series. One of the most infamous examples that sprung to mind in Stone Ocean was Giorno not just erasing Poochy's timeline-ending godly stand power with his own godlike ability that he acquired in the previous part. He totally could've done that and stopped Steel Ball Run from ever happening. (Good thing he didn't in hindsight)

The time travel mechanic in Dragonball's Cell Saga was riddled with plot holes, and one could be seen very early doors with Trunks not having any knowledge of Goku's Instant Transmission Technique. Considering he knew Goku beat Frieza on earth, he really should've known there was no need to intervene and risk altering the timeline. Bulma should've clued him up on Goku's Instant Transmission.

Hell, even Oda improvised in One Piece. Shanks having his arm torn off by a glorified fodder when he supposedly had Armament Haki and could've effortlessly armoured up his arm and avoided the loss of his limp was more than enough proof of that very improvision.

So, yeah, all this was to say winging it as you go along wasn't necessarily a bad thing, well, for the most part, that was.

"Right!?" Naru asked excitably. The sound of nature motioned quietly around us, contrasting Naru's energy, "I can have my clones learn a whole buncha crummy hand-signs and send them back to me, easy-peasy!"

"Now you're getting it!" I praised and stroked her pretty golden locks that sat atop her head. She giggled. "The possibilities are endless and with how much Chakra we have, there's really no downside for us spamming clones and reaping the benefits. We could gain, like, a whole ten years' worth of experience in just a few months!"

"Yeah!" The sunlight glowed brightly on her innocent face. "Let's get stronger together, Ichi-chan!"

"You know it!" A vibrant laugh resonated between our sincere grins. Despite our growing hunger, we enjoyed a peaceful strode back home (home – calling Konohagakure home still left me tingly even now), the fresh, clean air and cool, relaxing heat fit for an island, vocational summer resort. It was breezy, but not so much as to be rigid and warm without being boiling; it struck a perfect harmony that made you want to stretch your legs and play, or just bask in its perfect ambience.

The wide towering doors each painted with a distinctive six-looking leaf stretched open soon came into view. A few dozen people from all walks of life passed through. A granny wearing an aqua-green yukata with a cherry blossom-coloured obi, a handful of kids and a trio of shinobi were just a couple of the myriad of people we caught ambling in and out of the village's gates.

"Food, food, food,~" Naru sang, rhythmically stepping forward, "Yummy food, yay!~"

I rocked my head to the beat she played and hummed along cheerfully.

"Well, I'll be!" Izumo's amused voice laced with warmth stopped us, "Ichi-chan's got himself a little girlfriend!"

"Way to go, kid!" Kotetsu smiled cheekily.

"Hey, boys," A sheepish smile beamed on my face as I caressed the back of my head, deflecting, "What's going on?"

Kotetsu wasn't letting me off the hook that easily, "Oh, don't try and change the subject!" I pouted and his playful smirk practically split his face in two, "We saw you blasting through here half an hour ago with your freaky speed!" He snickered, "You were trying to hide her, weren't you, you little stud!?"

I held my hands up, grinning like a sly loon, "Guess you got me."

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"Damn straight!" He smugly folded his arms, "Nothing gets past my nose."

I resisted the urge to shake my head, looking at Naru quietly observing my interaction with the gatekeepers with idle curiosity, "Lemme introduce ya."

"Well, it's about time." Izumo quipped. I peeled my eyelid down and stuck out my tongue. He faked being wounded in response.

"Anyway," I gestured to Naru holding her arms behind her back, "Guys, this is Naru-chan. I met her just yesterday at the park!"

"And you're already planning a wedding?" Kotetsu smugly continued to poke fun at me, "Man, you work fast!"

Izumo elbowed his partner, drawing a shameless shrug from him. The former then turned toward Naru with kindness in his eyes, "Don't let this guy upset you, Naru-chan. He's been waiting to get back at Ichi-chan forever now." Kotetsu puffed out his bottom lip, folding his arms and turning away.

"Why would it upset me?" Naru's soft-spoken inquiry of innocent curiosity surprised all of us, "It's true."

Izumo and Kotetsu blinked blankly at each other, turning back to her, "Oh?"

Naru nodded and latched possessively onto me, "Me and Ichi-chan'll be together forever!"

"Awwwww," They melted.

I grinned and gently stroked her hair.

"Looks like you have a keeper, eh, Ichi-chan?" Kotetsu joked.

"Yup." I laughed. I gestured to the two of them with a thumb, locking warm eyes with Naru, "By the way, those guys are Kotetsu and Izumo," I pointed to each one respectively, briefly making their chests swell with pride, "They're the inseparable married couple who guard the village's northern gate all day and night." Before comically deflating Kotetsu's.

0_0 "What!?"

"They make a cute couple!"

"Aw, come on, Ichi-chan! Don't bring someone else into this!" Kotetsu slumped. We all laughed, playfully relishing in his misery.

"Alright then, boys," I began, taking Naru's hand again and motioning to Konoha central, "We're hungry, so we're gonna take off now."

"Alright, Ichi-chan," Izumo wiped a loose tear from his eye. "Enjoy your date."

"We will! I would say enjoy your time together, too, but you always do anyway! See ya!"

"Bye-Bye!" Naru rhymed.

"Humph."

We walked in reverse for multiple steps, waving back at the (definitely not) married gatekeepers until they were out of sight; and by that point we dropped our arms and travelled forward, sighing in contentment.

"They seemed nice," Naru smiled.

"Yeah, Izumo and Kotetsu are calm," I returned her good mood in kind, "It's really fun bantering and teasing Kotetsu." I hid a giggle behind a fist. "He gets so flustered whenever I tease him about being Izumo's husband."

"I see that," She covered her giggling lips with a hand. Once we flushed the hilarity out of our systems, Naru couldn't suppress her curiosity any longer, "Say, how're we going, anyway?"

"Only to the best restaurant on earth!" I beamed. Naru gave me an adorably inquisitive look. "Which is funny since it's not even a restaurant." Not yet at least, I mused to myself, laughing cheerily, "It's a little shack that serves the tastiest ramen ever."

I flipped a switch in Naru's head, lighting up her eyes. My recommendations had gained some weight for her after how much she had loved Mama's Chicken Katsu Curry. "Ramen, huh?" It felt a little strange to hear Naru refer to ramen with such a ponderous tone considering ramen and Naruto were as joint at the hip as the gatekeeping lovers-, I mean bros.

"I've never had that before," She grinned with delightful buoyancy.

I ushered her forward, "Then you've not lived yet until you've tasted Ichiraku's finest!"

A starry, awestruck gaze glittered in her sapphire pupils, "Then what're we waiting for? Lead the way, Ichi-chan!"

"Yes, madam!" Our legs motored with all the acceleration of a professional cycler riding full speed, weaving past citizens, rounding corners left and right and kicking up an erratic dust cloud from Konoha's dirt street. It was after maybe the tenth corner we turned that realization finally leapt onto Naru's face.

"Hey, where are we going anyway?" Asking an entirely innocent query that switched my brain into gear, bringing my rapidly moving feet to an instantaneous halt. I didn't even skid. "Hey!" The same couldn't be said for her, who skidded like the road runner and fell on her rear like Wild Coyote. "A little warning would be nice, y'know?!" She, rather justifiably I might add, complained, massaging her cush.

"Ummmm." I hesitated tone drew an intense deadpan look from her, "…So, yeah." I drawled, caressing the side of my neck and shrugged, "I kinda dunno where the thing is actually."

"You dummy!" She reprimanded me. She picked herself up and marched over to me, pounding my chest with light tsundere annoyance.

I shrugged my shoulders once more as if that made it any better, "I dunno! I've never been there before!"

"But you said it had the tastiest ramen ever!"

"…I mean, that's what I heard."

"Dummy, dummy, dummy!" She shook me frantically.

"I've always wanted to go there, but I wanted to go with someone special," I woozily insisted. Naru ceased shaking my shoulders like a rattling toy, blinking, "Ramen, or just food really, always tastes better when eaten with a friend." I added, the world spinning around me. I shook off the cobwebs, smiling warmly at my friend's vacant expression.

"Well, I guess that's true." She turned her head like Akane Tendo, but her lips threatening to curl into a smile broke her façade. She peeked at me, a contagious giggle erupting from her that I immediately caught.

"C'mon!" I said in between bouts of laughter, flicking a tear from my eyelid, "Let's go ask for directions."

"Okay!" We embraced hands again.

"Um." I mused, 'Now, let's see here.' I laid my other hand atop my brow like it would narrow my focus, 'Who here looks nice enough to not glare at Naru on approach.' My gaze eventually landed on a docile enough-looking elderly woman clad in a delicately woven brown yukata with an orange obi tied around her waist staring at a calmly moving river atop a small bridge on geta sandals. She looked like she had just come out of the warring states era, even more so than the previous grandma we saw earlier. She even had her greyed hair tied in a bun.

I nodded, deciding, "Let's ask her."

Naru followed my lead to the elderly woman. I could sense a bit of trepidation from her, indicating that she was still a little wary of civilians, so I led our request like the responsible nii-san that I was that definitely didn't get us lost. Intentionally, at least. "Um, excuse me, oba-san," I started politely, turning her attention to us, "Do you have a moment?"

"My, what a cute pair of siblings," She gushed, gracing us with a kind wrinkly face. We blushed. "What can I do for you, dearies?"

"We're looking for a ramen shop," I smiled. It turned sheepish when I admitted, "But we have no idea where it is."

"Well, there are a few ramen shacks around here." She had a healthy, strong posture for an elderly woman that looked to be in her mid-to-late 60s, standing upright with pride and dignity without the need for a walking stick. She reminded me a little of my previous Grandma from my old life who died without ever once using even a crane let alone a wheelchair because her pride never allowed it.

Byakuya's and Vegeta's pride had nothing on hers, I was telling ya!

"Could I trouble you for the name?" Her lips curled into a courteous smile.

"Not at all!" I grinned widely, "It's Ichiraku."

"Ah!" Her mouth parted in recognition. "That narrows things down a bit." She smiled again. "You're heading to Teuchi-kun's shop." Teuchi-kun. That made me giggle internally. It seemed wild that anyone would attach the kun-honorific to his name considering his age, but then again, she was likely older. If she had any children, hers would be adults while Teuchi's daughter would only be about 9, right now.

"You're not too far," She turned and stretched out an arm, "Continue down this road and make a second left just after the first. Carry on straight down that path and make a third left, then a first right." She held her arms below her waist, gazing at me with patient kindness, "Did you catch all that, dearie?"

"I… think so?" I cupped my chin as steam permeated from my brain. Stupid directions!

"I did!" Naru beamed with sunny assurance.

"My, what a smart girl," She lavished upon praise her, causing her to caress the back of her head, "You'll help your nii-chan, won't you?"

"Yup!" She giggled. I grinned softly, tugging on her hand gently in an insisting motion. The hint slipped into her brain like an instant download and together, we bowed in respectful gratitude, ringing as one.

"Thank you so much, oba-san!"

"You're welcome, dearies," She smiled in appreciation. "Now, go and enjoy yourselves at Teuchi-kun's ramen shop. He's a fine ramen chef if I do say so myself."

"We will!" We bid the kind elderly lady a good-natured farewell, once more walking in reverse until we could no longer see her.

"She was nice." A ray of sunlight glowed around her as if to symbolize her contentment. "It's nice to know that not everyone is a mean jerk."

"Some people are, some people aren't," I sang, "We just need to find the good ones and ignore the bad ones."

"Yeah!"

We giggled simultaneously as though an inside joke that only we were on was told and began following oba-san's directions to Teuchi's ramen shop, until we reached the first turn of the elder's guidance when my lousy, Zoro/Kenpachi-like sense of direction came into play, prompting me to turn right instead of left and dousing Naru in bewilderment.

"Um, Ichi-chan?" I blinked. "Shouldn't we be turning left here?" I goggled, turning my head to the side we were supposed to be turning, much to her adorable annoyance, each of her cheeks puffing up like balloons, "Onii-chan, you dummy!"

"Oh, right!" I laughed nervously, "Or, left I should say!" I tsked playfully, rotating, "I knew all along. I was just testing you!"

"Sure you were."

"Alrighty, let's go!" I enthused, leading an entirely unenthusiastic Naru down the correct path for approximately two seconds before trying to take the first left that appeared.

"Onii-chan!"

"Okay, my sense of direction sucks," I admitted with a shameless grin.

"How do you get around?"

"Easy," I brightened, "I run circles around the entire village until I find whatever I was looking for!" Then I commit the route to muscle memory.

"If that doesn't work, I'll run up a building and soar through the air for a bird's eye view of the village."

"So that's why you came from the sky yesterday."

A shrug.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That's so…" She couldn't contain the sheer hilarity swelling up inside her tummy like Mama's house-cooked meal, bursting out in laughter, "That's so dumb!"

I tittered along humourlessly at my own expense. My bad sense of direction had followed me to the grave and into my second life. Getting around was a nightmare for me when I didn't already know where I was going. This became especially problematic when I frequented London for weekly trips to the Emirates stadium to watch the boys kick ball. One time I accidentally got on the wrong subway train, ended up at Wembley, home of the national team, and had to take a £50 black cabby all the way to the Emirates!

By that time I missed half the game against Man City in the opening game of the season. (Probably for the best since we ended up losing. A vicious losing cycle started against them lot started in 2015. Even when my team played brilliantly fucking City still found ways to come out on top, both on our home turf and on theirs.)

"One time I got so lost Dad had to go out and find me."

"I totally can see that!" She replied breathlessly, slapping her knee. Waving her hand apologetically, she inhaled, "Okay, I'm done." She looked at me and stifled some remaining giggles behind her palm. "Okay, you better let me lead when we're out walking like this." She took my hand, shooting me a teasing smile, "You wouldn't wanna get lost again."

"No arguments there."