A Birthday Surprise

"Now that we know your chakra natures, I'll tailor your training to each of you," Kakashi said, looking at the two boys.

"First, Naruto. Your chakra nature is Wind Release. Wind chakra is good at cutting and blowing things away, and it can make weapons sharper." As he spoke, Kakashi took out a kunai and threw it at a tree.

The kunai stuck in the tree. "Normally, a thrown kunai can only lodge in a tree. But if you add Wind Release chakra..."

Kakashi took out another kunai and began channeling Wind Release chakra into it.

Then he threw it at the same tree. Bang! The kunai pierced straight through the trunk and buried itself deep in the boulder behind it.

"That's amazing!" Naruto's eyes lit up.

"So, Naruto, your job now is to sense Wind Release chakra," Kakashi said.

"Sense Wind Release chakra? How do I do that?" Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi in confusion.

"Like this." Kakashi picked up a leaf from the ground and placed it between his palms. Then he began channeling chakra into it.

"Channel Wind Release chakra like this, and split the leaf in two." Kakashi opened his hands, revealing the leaf split cleanly in half.

"Oh, I get it now! Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto formed the Hand Seals and summoned dozens of Shadow Clones. Each clone took a leaf and began practicing.

After seeing that, Kakashi turned his gaze to Menma.

"Menma, your situation is a little different. You have chakra in all five natures, so your training will be harder than Naruto's. You'll need to channel each nature precisely, without making a single mistake." As he spoke, Kakashi plucked several leaves from a tree.

"The difficult part is that each chakra nature is different. Mastering even one is a challenge. Your training method will be the same as Naruto's," Kakashi continued.

"Yeah, that does sound kind of hard," Menma said thoughtfully.

"But training like this is easy for us." Menma began forming Hand Seals.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A cloud of white smoke billowed, and dozens of Menmas appeared.

"All right, let's split up and practice. You handle Fire Release, and you handle Wind Release..." Menma began assigning tasks. Before long, the clearing was packed with Naruto's and Menma's Shadow Clones.

"This training method really does suit them," Kakashi said, watching the two boys practice.

"While they're at it, I'll train too." Kakashi began practicing Taijutsu nearby.

Evening came quickly. Naruto's and Menma's Shadow Clones were all panting.

After an afternoon of practicing with Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto had made some progress.

Menma had made progress too, though he could only just barely use all five chakra natures, and doing so took a tremendous effort. Whenever he used one nature, the other four interfered with him.

It was like trying to grab a handful of marbles of the same color from a box filled with marbles of five different colors.

Naruto and Menma glanced at the sky, then at each other, and dispelled their Multi Shadow Clones at the same time.

They absorbed everything they had learned that afternoon, and then the exhaustion hit them hard.

"I haven't... pushed myself this hard in ages." Menma dropped to one knee, panting, then collapsed.

Naruto fell too. The two of them lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Hey, Menma, why are we working so hard to train?" Naruto asked, turning his head to the side.

"Why? So no one can bully us or the people we care about," Menma said, gazing at the stars.

"So no one can bully us or the people we care about?" Naruto repeated, lost in thought.

"Hey, you two. Can you still stand?" Kakashi called from nearby.

The two boys struggled to their feet and made their way over to Kakashi.

"Well, well. You can still stand? In the past, you might have passed out on the spot. Looks like all that training has paid off," Kakashi said.

"That's not the important part. The important question is what we're having for dinner," Menma said.

"Oh! Right! Follow me!" Naruto suddenly seemed to remember something and ran off.

Kakashi and Menma exchanged puzzled looks. They had no idea what Naruto was up to, but they followed him anyway.

The three of them went to the little stream. Only then did Menma remember Naruto's birthday present.

"Hey, bro, you're not planning to take us fishing for dinner, are you? It's already so late. Why don't we just find somewhere to grab a bite?" Menma ran up to Naruto and asked.

"No need. I've already got everything ready." Naruto pointed toward a faint light in the forest.

When they reached it, they found three of Naruto's Shadow Clones sitting there.

"You finally made it. If you'd taken any longer, this fish might've burned," one of Naruto's clones said.

"Sorry to trouble you today!" Naruto said, then dispelled the clone.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei. This is the birthday present I prepared for you. You once told me that you used to fish for yourself when you were little, so that gave me the idea." Naruto handed Kakashi a grilled fish.

"Then let's see how it tastes." Kakashi smiled and began eating. Menma sat down by the fire and took a bite of a grilled fish.

"The stars look especially beautiful tonight!" Menma said with a sigh, gazing up at the sky.

"They do," Kakashi said, looking up as well, his thoughts unreadable. The three of them didn't stay long. Once they'd eaten their fill, they left.

"Kakashi-sensei, why don't you walk us home?" Menma asked.

"What, are you afraid of walking home in the dark?" Kakashi teased with a smile.

"We're still kids, after all." Menma replied, looking at Kakashi as if he were scared.

"Now you remember you're a kid?" Kakashi teased.

After Kakashi walked Naruto and Menma home, he was just about to leave when the door opened. A woman Kakashi had never seen before appeared.

"You must be Kakashi. Come in and have some water before you go," the woman said.

"No, thank you, I..." Before Kakashi could finish, Menma pulled him inside.

Once they were in, Menma tugged Naruto along, ready to go take a bath. "Menma, why are you in such a hurry?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, well... We should go to bed early tonight. Let's hurry up, take a bath, and get some rest," Menma said after a moment's thought.

"But Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto started to say that Kakashi-sensei was still there, and that it was rude to leave him alone.

"It's fine. Auntie Ku is here," Menma said again. "All right, then."

The two of them grabbed clean clothes and went to the bathroom to run a bath.

Kushina led Kakashi into a small room. She glanced upstairs at the two brothers, and once she was sure they had gone into the bathroom, she dispelled her Transformation Technique.

"Long time no see, Kakashi!" Kushina greeted him.

"Kushina...senpai? What...?" Kakashi stared at her in disbelief.

"Surprised? I was even more surprised than you are now when I first saw Menma and Naruto," Kushina said.

"Kushina-senpai, have you been brought back to life?" Kakashi asked.

"Not exactly. Menma brought me back with Impure World Reincarnation," Kushina explained.

"Impure World Reincarnation? The forbidden jutsu that requires a living person as a sacrifice?" Kakashi stared at Kushina, utterly incredulous.

"That's right. I was shocked and surprised, too. By the way, it's your birthday today, isn't it, Kakashi? Then, on Minato's behalf, let me wish you a happy eighteenth birthday!" Kushina said, giving him the warm, fond look of an older woman toward someone younger.