Starting from the End

12. Teammates...!?

'OH BLOODY HELL'

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But what made him groan in pain was the sudden kunai attack in the gut by none other than pissed off Kakashi Sensei with a sentence "Come quick or else..." and an eye-smile.

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'NO SHIT TOBIRAMA. Ahh... I should have known better. I can't fool 'Scarecrow' just by a measly shadow clone, at least not right now. And here goes my seclusion. I was hoping for a small break. But... damn it.'

"One of you go to the apartment and bring those cleaning equipment. Finish these cleanings. After this, if you still have chakra left to use, read the books on the shelves from dad's office. Dispel yourself one at a time once all done. I'm going out. Oh... beware of any anbu, jonin, and root especially."

"Yay Yay boss."

He left the estate after suppressing his chakra as much as possible to ignore the surveillance.

Ground 7 was not very far away from the Uzumaki-Namikaze household. On the contrary, they both resided in the same side of the village along with the Memorial Stone. Still, Konoha was never a small village. It could be said that it was the second-largest hidden village in shinobi nation and produced most fearsome shinobis from the warring era. It took him 15 minutes to reach the ground in full sprint. And obviously, he was out of breath when he reached his destination.

"Hey guys, Sensei. Sorry, I was lost in the hidden aspects of my life." Naruto tried to pulverize the tension and negative hostility, he felt before he set his feet, oozing from Sasuke and Sakura. But the sudden change in the atmosphere almost made him double-take on his observation. "Guys, are you all okay? You all look funny."

"Naruto, are you okay?", Kakashi asked.

"Yeah... I'm fine. What's it about? You are all scaring me."

"Hmm... Naruto- baka you appeared a little tried. Did you have a sleeping problem?" enquired a worried Sakura.

"No, Sakura. I'm not tried and I don't have a sleeping problem. What's it all about?" Naruto was becoming irritated. At that moment, Naruto preferred to be in his parents' home than wasting his peacetime with his used to dead comrades. They were the reasons he wanted to isolate himself first. 'If it's about appearance', he crossed his hand and whispered, 'Shadow Clone Jutsu'. And he was again reminded of his very horrible chakra control. Instead of making one, he made 15 clones in a go. He sighed heavily. 

"One inspect me carefully. Others go for the basic chakra control exercises. Half to leaf spinning on the head. Rest to leaf spinning on the fingertips, start from one. Don't stop until self chakra exhaustion."

"Sure boss", chorused all clones then tey scattered in the field.

"Dobe, teach me shadow clone." Sasuke practically ordered Naruto. 

Naruto's temper was already flailing. And he was feeling a sudden headache as well. "Teme, there is a reason why it's called a kinjutsu. Did you forget the last lecture? Do you want to be in a comatose state before enacting your so-called revenge on your brother?"

Sasuke's face became red due to the anger and growled out, "Shut up Naruto. You don't know. You don't know anything."

"Boss, you look like a ghost. Everything is pulling you down. You eyes are blood-shot, you haven't changed or eaten anything. You will collapse eventually due to mental stress. It will be same as Chrysanthemum. You need time to cope, boss. It's best if retire to bed and doesn't go to a deep slumber. Or better go to him." Clone-Naruto was agitated for some reason unknown to rest.