Uzumaki: aprentice of the pranksters

by:

Infinitenightmares

chapter 1: in which it is revealed why they guard the gate, and a lesson to always check your hats.

"he's staring at me again."

"so? He's a four year old. Whats he gonna do, gum you to death?"

"first of all, four year olds have teeth, and second, hes creeping me out. He hasn't moved in over three hours!"

"once again, ive gotta say, so what? Okay, its kinda creepy that he hasn't moved, but hes a kid. I'm sure hell get bored and wander off soon."

"that's what you said two hours ago. And look at him now, hes still right there, still staring! The only time ive seen him move is when someone walks by with ramen!"

"well, maybe he wants something. Why dont you go talk to him?"

this conversation had been going on for the past few hours, repeating itself more times than the two cared to admit. Once again, Izumo and Koetsu were on gate duty again, thoroughly bored out of their skulls. However, about two hours into their shift, something strange had happened, which promptly set off this conversation.

At some point during their shift, the two had noticed a small child watching them, but this wasn't just any small child. The four year old in question was one Uzumaki Naruto, and neither Izumo or Koetsu could come up with a reason for Naruto to be watching them. Thus, the argument began.

"you know what, fine. I'm gonna go over there and see what he wants. Maybe i can get him to give the staring a rest for a bit." Koetsu huffed, as he started walking off towards naruto.

"go easy on him, he is just a kid." izumo warned, as he turned back towards the gate, while keeping an eye on his fellow chunin.

"Ill try, but if he tries to take a bite outta me, there's gonna be a throw-down." replied Koetsu, ignoring Izumo's muttered comments ("seriously? Who the hell says 'throw-down' anymore?). As Koetsu moved closer to the child, Naruto's attention quickly shifted to the slightly irritated chuunin, a curious look on his face.

"hey there, you're that Naruto kid, right?" koetsu asked as he walked up, giving the child a once over, noticing the shabby sate of his clothing that had been unnoticed before.

Looking up at the chuunin, Naruto gave him a questioning look, then replies, "yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

"i'm Koetsu. You mind telling me why you've been staring at me and my friend for the past two hours?" Koetsu asked, as he gestured back to Izumo for emphasis.

sparing a quick glance to the second chuunin at the gate, Naruto looked back at Koetsu and replied, "well, i was curious, so im tryin' to figure out what you two are doing just standing there all day."

looking down at the young boy, koetsu gave him a little smirk, and awnsered, "isnt it obvious? We're the gate guards today."

"whats a gate guard do?"

"well, basically," Koetsu explained, "we make sure that nobody that's allowed in or out of the village goes through the gate."

looking over to the gate, naruto gave a small 'hmmm', and said, "so basically, you guys just stand there all day? Why would you want to do that?"

giving Naruto a slightly confused look, Koetsu thought for a second, then replied, "its not so much that we want to, its that we have to. Its our orders that for today, we look after the gate."

as Naruto listened to his explanation, his eyes grew wide, and he quickly asked, "wait, orders? Does that mean you guys are ninjas? The old man told me he's in charge of all the ninjas, so does that mean he told you to do this?" looking the two chuunin over with an evaluating gaze, Naruto snickers, and continued, "jeez, you guys must have pissed off the old man something fierce to make him give you this boring job."

Koetsu ignored the laughter of Izumo at the gate, knowing that he had overheard Naruto's comment, and scrunched his face up in memory of the event that landed them guard duty.

I mean, honestly, what kind of hokage forgets to check their hat for extra strength itching powder. You'd think that the leader of the village would be all aware of his surroundings. Not noticing that he was muttering under his breath, Koetsu was broken from his thoughts by the sound of laughter next to him, and looked down to see Naruto rolling on the ground laughing, near in tears at what he had heard.

"oh man, you guys were the ones who did that? That was hilarious! He was scratching his head all day long after that! Everyone thought that he had lice or something!" Naruto managed to get out around his laughter.

Looking down on the laughing child, Koetsu decided that Naruto wasn't too bad after all, and came to a snap decision. "here, Naruto, how about you come over here, ive got someone i want you to meet." as the boys laughter died off, he nodded, and followed Koetsu back to the gate house, where Koetsu was promptly smacked in the back of hte head by Izumo.

"ow, hey! What the hell was that for!"

looking between the indignant Koetsu, and the once again snickering Naruto, Izumo coolly replied, "just making sure you remember what happens when you pick the wrong person for a prank."

scowling at Izumo, Koetsu began muttering again. "che, whatever, at least i know how to have fun." regaining his composure, Koetsu turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, id like you to meet my friendIzumo, one of a select group that knows ourselves as 'the eternal chuunin'." he finished with a small motion, clearly proud of the name.

Looking between the two, naruto asked, "so then, this is what you guys do for a living? Just watch a giant door in and out of the village."

turning his eyes to Naruto, Izumo gave him a questioning glare for a minute, making the boy fidget slightly, before nodding to himself, as if awnsering his own unasked question. "technically, this is our job for right now. As for what we do for a living, well, that is another story."

now quite curious at the smug, proud looks on both the chuunins faces, Naruto couldn't resist, and finally asked, "so if that your job, then what do you do for a living?"

looking between each other, Izumo and Koetsu gave a smirk, then turned to Naruto, and replied in alternating voices, "or living? We live for one thing, and one only. We live for pranks."

fist chapter, up up and away! Feel free to tell me what you think, i know there isn't much really, but i have a general idea of where i want this to go. By the time this is done, the 'eternal chuunin' are basically gonna be big brothers to Naruto, helping him out with all kinds of things.

The main reason that i picked Izumo and Koetsu is the fact that there isn't really much on them that i can find, besides their names, and a few times where they show up, but dont really reveal that much about themselves. I figured that this basically gave me a clean slate to work with, and by the time im done with this, ill have gone to town on those two.

Comments, ideas, and constructive criticisms very welcome, as this is my first story that ive posted, and id love to know what others think. Just be warned, flames will be ignored, as i get enough bullshit from people on the Internet as it is. I don't need them giving me it here.

Next chapter:

in which we learn that there's always a leader from the shadows, and that from the mouths of babes flow the most dastardly plots.

Chapter 2

The first prank, and the gangs all here.