"HE'S STOLEN THE FORBIDDEN SCROLL!" was the general cry.
The Hokage watched his shinobi run around like headless chickens and sighed. Naru was more trouble than she was worth sometimes. At least she had given him a heads up about what was going to happen and they got rid of a traitor who picked the worst person to trick. The fact that she had been pranking the entire village for years now didn't matter in the least.
If she succeeded in capturing Mizuki even with her extra 'help' (how she got on Anko's good side after sabotaging the woman's dango he really did NOT want to know) then her reward was that she got to choose her team this time and he would ignore the fact that she was learning more tricks from the scroll. Though chances were that her new nin animal (the fact that this Luna could talk and had more common sense than her owner was a bit worrying, but easy to ignore because it meant she could keep Naru out of trouble for the most part) would keep her from getting them killed.
Naru ran into the forest as planned, carrying a large scroll behind her. Anko had been alerted to where Mizuki expected her male side to wait for him and was lying in wait for the fool to show up and prove her right. Any ninja who showed up before then and proved himself loyal enough to Konoha without holding whatever it was that pissed off so many people in the village was in for a large commendation and part of the pay she was getting for exposing the traitor.
Telling the Hokage about the man's intent before 'stealing' the scroll meant she was getting paid for this nonsense.
To be honest, it was rather easy to get Anko to help her get revenge on Mizuki. All she had to do was tell her that she was going to be paid for torturing a traitor who was dumb enough to attempt to trick her male clone into stealing an important scroll and no one could complain about it. The fact that Anko actually liked her was just a bonus.
Naru paused at the small cabin where Anko was waiting. She quickly took the scroll out and did her speed copy trick where she had her clones do most of the work on different sections. Within half and hour, she had copied a good quarter of the forbidden scroll onto another and only with techniques that actually caught her interest.
Some of them she copied for Anko in case the woman hadn't heard of them yet.
Forty five minutes in, and Iruka showed up. He was clearly taken aback by the speed she was showing at copying. And the fact that she wasn't wearing a jacket.
"Naruto...?" he said in absolute confusion.
"Not now Iruka-sensei, give me a minute... And done. Figures you'd be the only shinobi to make it here in time to get the paid unofficial mission on your record. All those years of allowing you to catch me must have made a difference," snorted Naru. She slipped her jacket back on in time to hear Iruka sputter.
Suddenly she tensed, and Iruka pushed her away from the quartet of shuriken and kunai launched at her. She immediately placed her Naruto persona up and played the act of a fool.
If Iruka hadn't seen those clones and the breast band, he would have kept buying the act too.
Naru grinned evilly as she walked up, scroll in hand. Anko was merely waiting for the signal.
"If you touch Iruka-sensei again, I will personally make your life hell," she growled.
"Prove it demon brat!"
"I think you mean Demon bitch!" she said, throwing her jacket on the ground while she prepared to deal some heavy damage. Anko took the hint and appeared with a snarky grin.
"Can I come and play brat, or is this invitation only?" she asked, cracking her knuckles.
Mizuki paled considerably...as Naru bowed to her fellow kunoichi and said "By all means Anko-nee-chan. Shall we have some fun before we take him back for you to play with him?"
Iruka did the only wise thing and covered his eyes. Some things men were never meant to see...and Anko with an able and willing cohort as devious as his favorite student was one of them.
He deliberately avoided looking at Mizuki as he stared at her.
"I guess this means you're already a genin. And here I was going to pass you anyway," he chuckled.
Naru grinned. There was a reason she liked Iruka so much.
"Sorry I didn't let you know about the fact I was a girl all this time sensei. But it was easier to let those mobs beat the hell out of me instead of doing something else..." said Naru.
Iruka gently ruffled the head of spikes.
"I don't blame you. I'm just glad you trust me now. So, how does all you can eat ramen on me sound?"
"Dango!" said Anko grinning.
"Ramen!" said Naru without missing a beat.
"Dango!"
"Ramen!"
The two girls looked at each other and said "Dango and Ramen!" they declared. Iruka sweatdropped along with Luna.
Then Naru got an evil idea that appealed to her greatly. Anko often complained that there were no quality guys worth her time and she eyed Iruka. Anko clearly caught the look because her grin widened.
"Say Iruka-sensei..." said Naru with an evil grin.
"Why do I get the feeling there will be more pain in my future...?" he asked to no one in particular.
"Experience?" asked Luna.
"Yes, I believe that would explain it," said Iruka.
The strangest thing happened when Naru brought her cat with her for the second time.
Luna and Iruka just clicked. The two would often muse about the blond demon container and hash out some rather impressive ideas to keep her in line. The strange thing was that most of those ideas actually worked.
"I will consider paying for half of the victory ramen and dango...if you take Anko-nee-chan on a date," said Naru.
Iruka weighed the consequences. On one hand, Anko was one of the hottest kunoichi in the Leaf and the damage to his wallet wouldn't leave him eating nothing but plain rice until his next mission. On the other hand she was absolutely insane and had an unpleasant habit of dropping snakes on people who annoyed her.
"I'll do it only if she promises not to bring out any breed of snake on the date," said Iruka after some thought.
"Deal!" said Anko amused.
"So how many did you get?" asked the Hokage over a bowl of ramen.
"Nearly twenty, and three of them I plan to share with Anko-nee and two with Hana-nee if they're interested."
He raised a single eyebrow. At least she had chosen two kunoichi that were extremely loyal to the village and didn't care about the demon.
"So who do you want on your team?"
"Anyone not a damn Sasuke fan girl or the emo himself. Hinata if I could get her to team up with me, since I'm the only one able to get her out of her shell," said Naru.
"About that..."
"What?" she asked warily.
"As the top kunoichi, you are automatically placed with the weakest person who passed...and the top student. Or second from the top since you were able to make good use of the shadow clone trick."
The look Naru shot him made him laugh...but on the inside he was wincing.
"Who was the worst scoring shinobi?" she asked with a pained look.
"Inuzuka Kiba."
Suddenly she brightened.
"Dog boy got worst score? On second thought..."
"Compared to your male form, which would be awkward and dangerous to explain," said Sarutobi quickly.
"Damn. Couldn't we just say he passed?" she asked.
"Only if you want to be on a 'four man' team, despite the fact Naruto is a shadow clone."
Naru laughed hard.
"Only if my sensei is too dumb to notice that fact! Either way I get a helper on the field!" she cackled.
"...You have been spending far too much time with Anko."
"Aside from Hana-nee-san, she's the only one in the know about the truth," said Naru flatly.
"What about your cat?"
"Busy helping Iruka-sensei for his date, and giving him last minute pointers," said Naru.
"Iruka on a date?"
"I set him up with Anko-nee, since he's the only guy I trust with my secret," said Naru flatly.
"I've been meaning to ask. While I know talking nin animals aren't exactly rare, your new...pet...is a bit more intelligent than normal. It has yet to display most of the traits talking cats usually have, and it acts more human than most."
"Meh. Luna-chan said she was looking for the re-in-car-nations of some princess who died. Apparently the girl's mother sent her daughter into the future because they were on the losing side of a battle," said Naru. She had to sound out the word because it was one she wasn't familiar with.
"Unusual. Did she happen to mention any distinguishing features of the girl?"
"No, but she did mention the powers the girl's inner court were supposed to have. Apparently they were named after planets and had elemental powers."
"Not that odd, considering most ninja have one or two elements."
"Yeah, but one of them happens to be a combination of Wood and Lighting."
Now that caught his attention. Many were aware the reason Orochimaru had been kicked out of the village was because of his experimentation of children, but only a select, trusted few knew that of the infants he tried to give the Mokuton kekkei genkai, only two survived. One of which was female and was a few months older than Naru. The strange thing was that the girl was a natural wood and lightning element, which explained how she survived at all.
The two paused in eating their ramen as they watched Anko pass by in a rather nice outfit that didn't showcase her exhibitionist side. It was highly appropriate for a date. Iruka came running up, realizing he was a few minutes late and hoping Anko wouldn't set her snakes on him.
Luna spotted Naru and immediately went to join her.
"What did you tell him? He looks like that time I put Itching Powder on his chair by mistake," asked Naru.
"How did you put it on his by mistake?" asked the Hokage in amusement.
"I was trying for Mizuki, and didn't realize Iruka would take his chair that day," said Naru sullenly.
The Hokage laughed, as the two watched Iruka and Anko head out to their date.
"What are you planning?" he asked.
"I was thinking of following them, but I have a better idea in mind."
"Oh?"
"We watch them on that crystal thing of yours and I don't tell Kurenai-san about the fact that it doesn't keep you from spying on the ladies half of the bath houses," said Naru impishly.
The Hokage didn't gape at her, he knew full well that she wasn't threatening him with a bluff. It would amuse her greatly to see Kurenai hit him with a nasty genjutsu once she learned about the crystal, and he knew damn well Anko and Naru would be cheering her on.
"Ramen first, then we spy on them. If you're lucky I'll let you pick the other teammate, since I know the Uchiha would raise hell when he learns the truth about you," said the Hokage gruffly.
"Not as much as that damn harpy would," said Naru flatly.
"Luckily for you, since you stole the top kunoichi spot from her you won't be placed on a team with her. Naruto, on the other hand..."
"Think anyone would actually figure it out if I finally let the illusion drop?"
"Wait until you get a team that passes, and then no one can legally touch you and I won't have to cover for you if you defend yourself," said Sarutobi.
"Can we record the Council's reaction when they hear I was a girl the whole time?"
"Are you kidding? The few ANBU who are aware of the truth have cameras at home waiting for me to alert them when that event happens so they can savor the reactions. You can hide behind me when I tell them!" cackled Sarutobi.
As it turned out, Naru ended up with Shikamaru and Chouji, who were of the few people who knew that she was in fact a girl. Shikamaru had the claim of being the only person, however, to figure out that Naru was in fact the real face of Naruto, which even Shino and Kiba couldn't claim. Because of this he was officially Naru's best friend.
She did feel somewhat sorry for her clone and Luna, who were stuck with Haruno, the emo Uchina brat, and the chronically late Kakashi.
Then again she was stuck with the second most vocal fan of the Uchiha jerk, Ino Yamanaka.
She couldn't wait to give the girl a rude wake up call, though to be fair Ino was more serious about being a kunoichi despite being the undisputed gossip hound of the Academy.
"Alright, since we had an odd number of graduates, why don't we get started?" asked Asuma.
"My name is Naru Uzumaki. I like ramen, animals, and reading. My hobbies include gardening, helping out at the Inuzuka vet office, and playing pranks. I dislike girls who aren't serious about being kunoichi, people who are way too loud or violent, and those who think that the fox is it's jailor. My dream is to one day be Hokage and rub it in the faces of those who've tried to make my life hell!"
"Hold up. Did you just say Uzumaki? Are you related to that idiot Naruto?!" asked Ino incredulous.
Shikamaru and Chouji started laughing, hard.
"Ino, she isn't related to Naruto, she is Naruto," said Chouji.
"WHAT?!"
"I figured it would be easier to learn if the teachers had someone else to target, so I came up with a fake identity to keep them off my ass. It wasn't until two years ago that I was able to be in two places at once," explained Naru amused.
Ino seemed absolutely devastated that such a juicy piece of gossip had gone undiscovered right under her nose.
Naru held up a hand and said "But I will give you undisputed rights to parade the fact that I am really a girl if we pass this teamwork test and rub it in Sakura's nose later."
"Deal!" squealed Ino.
It didn't take long for the introductions to continue, and even less time for them to learn what they needed to do in order to pass.
Shikamaru came up with the primary plan to get their new teacher, while Naru mostly gave her personal experience pranking the upper level ninja and getting away with it. By two the team had successfully captured Asuma in what was definitely a modified net trap created by Naru who was laughing at Asuma.
"I suppose you three pass. Which reminds me, exactly how are you going to explain to Dad that he just assigned two genin to one teacher instead of three?"
"Jiji knows that, he just wanted to give me a fair chance of passing this time since last time it wasn't even my fault. Either way I am not joining a team that has the harpy and the emo on it! Ino is one of the few girls I can tolerate!" said Naru vehemently.
Ino was very surprised by that declaration, and for once didn't jump to defend Sasuke.
"So what now?" asked Shikamaru.
"Now I'll go tell dad you four passed and possibly capture Kakashi's look when he realizes that he was just given a shadow clone instead of Naru disguised as a boy. Since you passed I can assume that means we'll be having a council meeting tomorrow involving blackmail?"
"You better believe it! Once that's over I'll follow Ino and enjoy the looks of shock, disbelief and outright surprise when people learn my real gender!" cackled Naru.
The Sailor Moon Elements will kick in soon enough. As it stands, I have already picked out three of the four inner Senshi, not counting Moon. Luna doesn't recognize Naru as Sailor Moon because the presence of the Nine Tailed Fox is confusing her senses, and it will remain that way until a while longer.