Naruto Hatake

Preparations for the Test

It was nearly the day of the final exams the day they would all be ninja and the kids were kind of excited over it all. But there was one person that was actually worrying and that was Naruto of all people, he and his friends had been training all this time to make sure they all passed as they were in a special training spot in the woods that Naruto had found a few years ago. There was a cabin where they could keep supplies and plenty of space to train. But Naruto however was having a large amount of difficulty with the one jutsu that would make him pass the test.

He had his physical skills down now and it took over a week for him to get the henge just right but now he was having a lot of trouble with making clones. Whenever he tried it they came out sickly and just lay there on the ground looking like death. He tried and tried and yet he couldn't get it to work right. He was currently in the area with his friends and once again was trying to make a clone. There was the puff of smoke and he looked to his right hoping that this time he got it, but it was just another failed clone there.

"Damn it why the hell can't I get this!?" Naruto shouted out in frustration.

"Naruto what the hell is wrong with you?" Ino asked hands on her hips, she had changed her style over the years. Her hair was longer now into a ponytail and wore purple. "Are you just messing around or what?"

"I'm not Ino it's hard!"

"I did it after two days so why can't you do it?" Ino asked getting irritated with her friend. "How can you be so good in so many things and yet suck so much at other things?"

"I don't know if I did I would figure out a way around it already," Naruto sighed and slumped his shoulder feeling a little depressed.

"I'm still surprised you can still try and make clones I'd be too tired to stand with how long you've been at it," Ino sighed as she sat down on the ground.

Shikamaru who was as usual on the ground turned his head to face Naruto as something clicked in his head. In all the time that he had known Naruto he seemed to have nearly unlimited energy and he was wondering is his chakra mirrored that. "Naruto how much chakra as you using?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head thinking about it, "I don't know I just use whatever I can."

"Naruto," chided Sakura at him, "You have to use a set amount for clones didn't you pay attention to that in class?"

Sakura had also grown over the years, she chided Naruto at times and she kept him in line. The young crush she had on the boy was still there but she wasn't sure if she liked Naruto as a friend or more these days. It didn't help matters that Naruto seemed to have taken up a slightly perverted side that annoyed her to no end. Her hair was still short, she had thought of making it long like Ino since she heard Sasuke liked long haired girls but she had asked him if she looked better with long hair, he only grunted and walked off.

Naruto had commented that she looked cute with short hair so she went with Naruto since he was honest about these things. Okay so he could be really sweet when he wasn't being an idiot or perverted. Sometimes she wondered why the top two boys in the class had to be so difficult, Sasuke was handsome and intelligent, strong and cool. But he was so cold to everyone and you couldn't get close to him. Naruto was the opposite of that, he radiated warmth and made you smile. Too bad he sometimes was too hyper, his pranks were childish (even though she did find a few of them very funny) and the aforementioned moments of being an idiot and perverted.

It was like Naruto was the sun and Sasuke was the moon and sometimes she felt that both were just unattainable.

'Why can't both boys be more like the other?' She thought to herself.