A Forgone Conclusion
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but that would be totally awesome if I did.
Summary: Naruto is placed in a mental institution after an unfortunate accident. After he is released, he is assigned to a genin team. Who is this girl that keeps following him?
It was early in the morning and dawn was just peaking through the leaves. The morning mist crawled across the floor of the village. Sounds of bickering could be easily heard coming from the training grounds. Two lone figures were standing near the training posts. The shorter figure, a female, had her arms crossed and her face contorted into a scowl. The taller figure ran his fingers through his long spiky hair.
"I'm telling you pocky is so much better than that garbage ramen you eat all the time," the irate girl said.
"Haku you're delusional. Take that back, ramen is the food of the gods," said the man waving his arms frantically for emphasis.
"Whatever, just go train Naruto-koi."
Naruto crouched low to the ground with one of his arms placed on his back and the other hand placed firmly on the ground. With a flick of a wrist, a bunch senbon appeared from his sleeves and took point in each of his fingers. He ran towards the training post, still low to the ground and his arm still positioned on his spine.
He drew sugi(1) from its point and swung it at the post. Sou(2) , was cocked back and replaced his hind arm. With each step that he took a similar pattern seemed to occur. each arm swinging at the post in a simultaneous and fluid motion. The post recieved many thin but very deep incises.
The blond swung ante towards the ground. The senbon caused the arm to stave. With a secure base, Naruto used his bibu(3) to sway backwards and use an inverted spinning heel kick into the post. Naruto, stood straight up and admired his work. On the post was the kanji for sting and an extremely deep but small hole in the middle.
"Well what do you think Haku?"
"The cuts are still to shallow. These will never kill anyone let alone immobilize."
"Your never pleased are you."
"Nope," she deadpanned, "Oh I think I'll pick up some pocky. I'll see you later." She walked away waving nonchalantly.
"What a baka, what store is open at six in the morning? Guess I'll just go to sleep until Haruno and Uchiha get here." He laid back against a tree and dozed off.
"Who's a baka?" Naruto awokened to see Haku, just within inches of his face.
"I called you a baka, pervert. What, come back to tell me that the stores aren't open yet?"
"Nope, I found a pack in my pocket." She smiled happilly while munching of a stick.
"Your such a baka," he said while slapping his forehead, "How did you become a shinobi in the first place?"
"Uhh, Naruto. Who are you talking to?" Naruto removed his hand from his face. In front of him was Sakura, with no Haku to be seen... again.
"How does she do that?"
Another hour had passed and Sasuke had arrived. Naruto was staring at the other two while he hung from the branch of a tree and happily ate an apple. When Sasuke had arrived, Sakura forgot how tired and hungry she was and ran to his side. Sasuke sat on a stump with his legs crossed and rested his chin on the top of his hands. Naruto had thought that it was pretty interesting seeing someone try to garner attention from another and get no response.
He mused about when he used to try to grab any attention, even if it was negative. When he was in the SIRC, he had forgotten all about it. He had Haku, Tenzou, and Kakashi. They were hard on him and they each had there oddities, but to Naruto they were family. A very dysfunctional family, but family nonetheless.
Naruto reflected on his time in the nuthouse, as Haku so eloquently put it. He remembered of the first time Haku and him started to create the Sasori no Bibu, his fighting style.
Flashback...
The two mental patients were lingering around the garden in the light of the moon. Haku loved the garden, no matter how shabby and rundown it was. The garden was meant for the nurses and orderlies to take breaks in and out of work, but at night the two would always sneak out and walk around the garden. Naruto was always enticed by the reflection of the moon in the small garden pond. It seemed to calm him down after a hard day of training.
"Hey Naruto," it continually surprised Naruto about how frail, weak, and lonely Haku's voice sounded when she was serious.
"Yeah..."
"If you ever get out of here, promise me that you'll be a strong person."
"I'm already strong Haku, didn't you see me at practice? Besides, you'll get out of here too I guarantee it," Haku let out a light chuckle.
"That's not what I meant," she said with a small smile while looking dreamily into the pond, "Hey, why don't we start our own fighting style?"
"Why?"
"Why not? I mean if we use a common fighting style or use someone else's, then it'll be easier for your opponents to predict your moves."
"How will we create a fighting style, we don't even have time."
"That's easy, I know it'll cut into our alone time but if we can think of how to improve the fighting style during the day, then we can put them into practice at night."
They thought of every possible style that would accentuate both their strengths and cover their weaknesses. At first Naruto had suggested strong heavy blows. Haku argued that would be okay, if either of them had the strength and if their opponent was slow.
Haku inquired that they should use quick, fast strikes and agile stances like a true shinobi. Naruto couldn't really find a problem with Haku's type of fighting and eventually Naruto was swayed to Haku's side of the argument, but stated that if their opponent was strong enough they could take the hits with little to no difficulty. This minor setback had them rethink the fighting style that they shoud use. Both of them were not physically strong enough to handle that kind of fighting. They needed something in their fighting style to give them an edge in a battle and inflict some damage on an opponent.
One day, while eating in the cafeteria, Naruto saw a man holding three forks held between each of his fingers trying to fend off the nurses. This incident gave Naruto an idea of how to make the fighting style work. He told Haku immediately that the way for it to work, they needed to incorperate some form of weapon into the fighting style. That's how the senbon were introduce to their unorthodox style.
It was the perfect weapon, it was small, light, and still could create a cut just as fatal as a kunai but more accurately and precisely. The stance followed through easier, Haku got the idea from the way ninjas run and how specific animals run. Apparently if you leaned forward you would go faster. And if you were lower to the ground, it would force your body to take longer strides.
After many months of planning and constructing, the two young children only had gotten as far as a proper stance for the style, the name, and one set of strikes. They completed the first two attack sets and the first defense set, just a year before Naruto was released and Haku's mysterious escape.
Flashback End...
While he was recollecting about the past, one Hatake Kakashi had arrived. Naruto broke out his stupor to notice the man arrive. The pink haired girl had been yelling at the masked ninja for the past few minutes. Kakashi predictably came up with some poor excuse and ignored the following shout. Naruto dropped down from the tree branch he was hanging from and landed next to Sasuke.
"Okay, now that everybody is here... can someone wake up Naruto?" Indeed Naruto had fallen asleep. He was still standing up and appeared to look attentive, but if one were to look under his hair they would see that his eyes had been closed. If they were to listen a little more intently, they could hear the light snoring from underneath the blond boy's bandages.
These are one of the things that Kakashi had known about Naruto since he was a child. The one thing that was just as odd as his insomniac lifestyle, was his narcoleptic habits. Two things that really conflicted the other. He stayed up almost all hours but would fall asleep at random intervals, and then would wake up as if it were nothing.
"Okay now that everyone is paying attention. Let me explain the rules," Kakashi reached into his vest and took out an alarm clock and two bells, "This clock is set for noon. Which means you have roughly two and a half hours to get these two bells from me. Anyone who gets a bell passes and those who don't get a bell don't get lunch and will be tied to one of the posts over there."
"That's why he told us not to eat," this thought passed through the minds of both Sakura and Sasuke.
"But sensei, there is only two bells."
"Very good observation Sakura, I guess one of you will get sent back to the academy," Kakashi said sarcastically while smiling his annoying eye smile. This had piqued Sasuke's interest.
"That means I'll be rid of one of these losers. They would just hold me back," thought the ebony haired genin-to-be.
"Oh and please come at me with the intent to kill. If you don't, then you don't have a chance of getting one of these bells.Okay when I say go, you three begin. Now ready, set... Naruto wake up... GO!"
Sakura and Sasuke both took refuge in the foliage of the nearby forests. Naruto stayed put and had fallen asleep once again. Kakashi slowly approached the sleeping child in front of him and wanted to inform him that they had already begun the test. He jerked back when he saw Naruto move, but instead of waking up and attacking Naruto fell onto his back and continued to doze off. Kakashi crouched over the sleeping boy. He was on full alert when he saw Naruto move his hand. Naruto brought his hand to his face and moved the bandages over his eyes. Kakashi tilted his head to the side in confusion and left to find the others. As he was walking away, he sensed a kunai head in his direction. Kakashi lazily caught the kunai by it's ring and pocketed the weapon in his holster. He turned around to face the blond boy positioned in an unfamiliar fighting stance.
"That's a very unique stance, Naruto."
"Un..." was Naruto's only response. He swayed heavily to each side as he ran towards Kakashi, his senbon glinting in the morning sun. Kakashi took a step back and reached into the pouch on his hip. Naruto skidded to a halt when he felt that Kakashi had reached for something. Kakashi brought his hand out of the pouch to reveal his new, limited edition... Icha Icha Paradise. A little annoyed at the blatant disrespect and unethical, perverted behaviour, Naruto began to sway once more as he ran towards Kakashi. His senbon fully brandished and hidden beneath his large cloak.
"Chijou Dageki," Naruto brought his sugi towards the ground and secured a base. He then torqued his body and brought his bibu towards Kakashi's face. Kakashi grabbed the heel with no problem and kept on reading his novel. He then felt a slight pain in his wrist.
"Damn't that hurt, you have metal guards in there don't you?" Naruto didn't respond and flipped back into his stance. He ran back at Kakashi and brought his sou towards the floor of the ground before Kakashi and swung his sugi across nicking Kakashi in the shins. Kakashi felt a much bigger stinging pain from the small scratch.
"Kan (First)."
"And senbon. You never cease to amaze me. I don't know what you did, but you got me. I guess I'll have to take this a little more seriously."
"He's slowing down, better take advantage of this."
Naruto continued to fluidly attack in his rhythmic pattern, occasionally attacking with his bibu. Kakashi narrowly dodged each strike, in hopes of incapacitating Naruto. Hoping to finish it quickly and not waste anymore chakra than necessary, Naruto swung his 'claws' around in a repetitive circle.
"Hissatsu(4)" After gaining enough distance, Naruto used the momentum from his rotations to add a spin on his bibu and use the back off his heel to strike Kakashi. Kakashi ducked and grabbed the back of Naruto's calf. Naruto cursed under his breath. Kakashi brought his fist down towards Naruto's face. His eyes widened, because at the last second... Naruto was grinning. As he was bringing his fist down, Naruto's body disappeared in a veil of smoke.
"Doku Bunshin(5)." Kakashi was glad that he wore a mask everyday as he escaped the poisonous gas. When the smog cleared the field, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
"Kuso, he's too strong. I expected my clone to last a little longer and I'm starting to run low on chakra. I guess I will need some help."
Naruto fled the scene in search of his future teammates. In the course of his search, Naruto saw a small glint from afar. He moved towards the light and found one of the silver bells on the ground. Even though he knew it was a trap, his curiousity got the better of him. Trembling, Naruto tried to will his hand away from the aforementioned object. With his impulsive tendency domineering over his cold, hard logic; Naruto reached out for the bell with an inane grin plastered on his face. Predictably, the bell triggered a trap that caused Naruto to be caught in a snare, the noose of the rope wrapping immediately around his ankles.
"Weeeeeeeeeee," Naruto laughed loudly as his body was kept hung, dangling from a branch. His smile never left his face.
"Naruto, that plan of your's was pretty ingenious. When did you make a clone...hmmm?" Kakashi looked up at Naruto as he picked up the bell.
"Hmmmm? Asleep again Naruto?" Kakashi chuckled slowly as he saw his future charge fall asleep.
"Such a smart boy and yet so stupid?"
Sasuke was hidden on a branch that overlooked the area that Kakashi and Naruto had battled. He gritted his teeth in anger when he saw how well Naruto had done going toe to toe with their sensei, but was slightly confused as to why Naruto would fall for such a blatantly obvious trap. He did not let that distract him though, he would just have to show how that he was the superior of the three. Sasuke patiently waited on that branch for any sign of vulnerability in Kakashi.
When Kakashi had thought he was alone once more, he brought out his favorite novel to read. Sasuke smirked and reached into his holster for a handful of kunai and shuriken. And with quick flick of a wrist he threw the projectiles at Kakashi. A loud thunk resonated across the field indicating that Sasuke had indeed hit his target. But as he was ready to leave the covering of the trees, Kakashi's body dissipated into smoke and had cleared to reveal that Sasuke had hit a log.
"Shit, he knows where I am now." Knowing that he had been spotted and no longer having the element of surprise, Sasuke retreated deeper into the backwoods of the training grounds.
Sakura had been desperately searching for her 'love' since the beginning of the test, with high hopes of them working together and leaving the new kid to be sent back to the academy. Unbeknownst to her though, her future sensei had been watching her very movements currently and was plotting on how he would approach Sakura. Kakashi went through a small set of handseals.
"Magen: Narukumi no Jutsu(6)."
Sakura had walked into an empty glade, when suddenly a gust of wind surrounded her. The swirling of leaves hypnotized her and left her in a daze. When she had stopped spinning, a raspy voice had broken her out of her daze. She could vaguely hear the voice, but it sounded very familiar to her. Curious, Sakura walked closer to where the voice had originated from.
"...S...Saku..ra.." She walked on, her heart beating fast. It sounded like Sasuke, oh how excited Sakura was.
"...S...S...Sa..kura..." She continued and past through a thick bush. The sight before her brought her to her knees. Before Sakura was Sasuke, blood gushing out of the many wounds on his body. Sasuke was crawling on the floor, his eyes glazed over and his hand reaching out to Sakura. Many kunai were embedded to his back and blood flowed freely from both sides of his mouth.
His tattered clothes was drenched in his blood and his headband, which signified that he was a full fledged ninja, lay next to him crushed and utterly destroyed. Sakura could feel tears start to form from her eyes as she let out an ear splitting scream, right before she passed out. After she had passed out, Kakashi crouched down next to her.
"I guess I overdid it," he said while scratching his head sheepishly.
Kakashi was lazing around, laying his back against a tree while leisurely reading his 'gift from kami'. He looked from his reading when he heard someone heading towards him. In front of him, was Sasuke Uchiha and then went back to his reading. Obviously irritated at being ignored, Sasuke threw a kunai at Kakashi. With almost no effort, Kakashi let the kunai near just before he moved his head to the left. The kunai embedded itself deep into the tree that he was resting upon.
"I'll admit, your pretty accurate. But that won't get you a bell. Though I am glad that you are taking my advice seriously." He pushed himself off of the tree and dusted his pants.
"I'm not like the others."
"Really now? We'll never know until you try." Kakashi pocketed his book once again. Sasuke ran towards the man and threw a right jab. Kakashi caught the incoming fist and threw Sasuke in the air. Sasuke torqued his body and delivered a roundhouse kick, which Kakashi blocked with his forearm. Sasuke flipped off of his forearm and hurled a handful of kunai. Kakashi withdrew the kunai from the tree and blocked all the kunai that Sasuke had thrown.
Aggravated, Sasuke jumped back towards Kakashi and went through a slew of handseals. Kakashi recognized the technique and immediately went on gaurd.
"A gennin shouldn't have that much chakra!"
"Katon:Gokakyu no Jutsu (7)," Sasuke exhaled a large fireball that swallowed Kakashi in. Sasuke smirked. After the fire had died down, the smirk that had adorned him was quickly erased. Before him was a small crater. The only thing that was missing from the crater was Kakashi's body.
"Where is he. Left, right, up..."
"Try down!" Two hands shot up from below the ground beneath Sasuke and grabbed his ankles.
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (8)," The hands dragged Sasuke below the ground and left him up to his neck.
"Stay there like a good boy, 'kay Sasuke." Kakashi eye smiled and then walked away. He then heard the sound of the bell ring.
"Oh looks like all you guys fail, but I'm feeling generous today. After Naruto and Sakura wake up and they dig you out, one of you will be tied to the post and the rest will get to eat."
After Sakura and Naruto had woken up, Kakashi had told them to get Sasuke. When both of them got to Sasuke, Sakura fainted again, thinking that Sasuke was a disembodied head. Naruto on the other hand broke out laughing... until he fell asleep, again. When all of them had woken up/unburied, they walked to the posts where Kakashi was currently sitting at.
"Oh so you finally got out huh?" Sasuke was fuming, he was sore from being stuck in the ground, he was covered in dirt and mud, and he had to listen to Sakura ask for a date the whole time that they were walking. Naruto, however, was having a blast. His sensei was strong and fast, his teammate got stuck in a hole, he didn't have to talk to Sakura at all, he got a free ride courtesy of Kakashi, and he got to go to sleep.
"Do you know why you three failed? I'll tell you why, Naruto... you're just weird, Sasuke you were so arrogant that you thought that your other two teammates were beneath you and decided that you could take me all on your own..." Before Sasuke could protest, Kakashi had tied him down to one of the posts, "This test was about teamwork. Normally
"Okay, team. Now that I've tied Sasake to the post, I'm going to give you three a second chance. But before you three fight, I'll let you eat the lunch that I had prepared earlier. The only stipulation for eating is that you are not allowed to feed Sasuke. You feed himand you fail." With that said, Kakashi left the three alone. Sasuke had watched the other two eat and tried his hardest to not look hungry. But that is kinda hard to pull off when you are tied to a post.
"Naruto! What are you doing?" Naruto was happily smiling as he attempted to feed Sasuke.
"I want to feed the pet."
"You baka. Do you want us to fail?"
"Aww, Kakashi-sensei won't see us." Sasuke was constantly trying to avoid Naruto's attempts at trying to feed him. He calmed down when he saw that Naruto wasn't trying to shove food down his throat. Then, out of nowhere a ball of rice landed on his face.
"Naruto! Why did you do that?" Sakura was furious that Naruto had thrown a food at Sasuke.
"Well since Sasuke didn't want to be fed, I decided to turn feeding him into a game. I thought it would be funny."
"You idiot."
"Well if he eats, then he won't be a liability when we fight sensei. Besides we're a team."
"Here." Sakura offered Sasuke her food. Sasuke debated whether or not to take the food. Instead of denying the food, Sasuke ate the small portion that the two had offered, to hell with the consequences. After he had eaten, a bolt of lightning erupted from the sky. Emerging from the sudden flash of light was their Sensei.
"YOU... pass." This left the three new genins with a puzzled expression.
"What?"
"Well Sakura, this test was about teamwork. Instead of following orders, you two thought about the needs of the team, rather than failing and that's the true purpose of this test." Kakashi walked over towards a giant slab of marble with many names engraved on it.
"On this stone is the names of many herioc shinobi..."
"That sounds cool I want to be on that stone," Naruto looked on smiling like an idiot.
"All of the shinobi on this memorial are KIA. Some of my best friends are on this memorial. In fact, everyone precious to me is dead," the three new genins, looked on at the memorial with a downcasted expression.
"The ninja world is a dangerous place. Blood and death is normal for us, but it never gets easier. I want you three to know this, a great man once said to me that those who fail their mission are trash but those that abandon their friends... are worse than trash."
"Now get home, we start missions tomorrow."
"Those three will do great things,"thought Kakashi as he watched the retreating forms of his new pupils, "What do you think Minato-sensei?"
"Team 8 led by Yuuhi Kurenai... passed."
"Team 9 is still in circulation from last year, so how about you Asuma?"
"Team 10 led by Sarutobi Asuma... passed." After that was said a figure arrived from behind, pushing through the crowd of jounin.
"Ah so you finally decide to turn up now, huh Kakashi. So what's your excuse this time?"
"Well hokage-sama, I was helping a pregnant lady in labor to the hospital and then I broke my leg on the way here, so I had to go back to the hospital and get the medic-nin to heal me. After that I crossed paths with a black cat, so I took the long way around when I suddenly noticed that I was lost on the road of life." Every one of the jounin shook their head in embarrassment for the poor, pathetic excuse.
"So what about your team? Did you fail them again?"
"Team 7 led by Hatake Kakashi... passed." Everyone in the room was shocked. Kakashi had actually passed a team.
"Oh my god! Kakashi passed a team. Hokage-sama, now if Anko stopped her dango addiction then we know that we have to prepare for the end of the world," yelled out a random jounin.
"Oh coincidentally on a side note, Anko?"
"Yes hokage-sama?"
"The dango stand apparently had a mishap and won't have dango for another three weeks." Anko fainted, falling onto Kakashi. The other jounin panicked, knowing that Anko without dango was like Kakashi without Icha Icha.
"So how did it go Naruto-koi? Naruto? Naruto... Asleep again?"
Moves and Meanings:
Tail of the Scorpion or Sasori no Bibu (incomplete, ? Rank, Taijutsu Style)- The strange taijutsu that is only unique to Naruto. The creation of this taijutsu was made sometime during his incarceration and is only fully known by his close friend Haku, as she apparently helped create it. It is unknown if Haku is able to use it. Many times when Naruto is talking about the senbon that is used, he calls it his claws.
The main stance is one that mimics a scorpion. One arm in front acts as a sonar and senses vibrations and is meant to distract the opponent (Naruto is not that adept at this form of fighting, but tries) and the other is placed on the back and is the main use of offence. The Tail or Bibu is mostly used as the final strike and the sole of the Bibu conceals a metal gaurd. Naruto is still in the progress of completing this taijutsu and has only perfected two different forms of attack and defense.
The attacks are referred to as Chijou Dageki (Above Ground Strike) and Koukuukougeki (Air Strike). The defense stances are referred to as Kuroji Boubi (Black Ground Defense) and Boukuu (Air Defense). Some aspects of the attack is based off of Naruto's abnormal reserves. Knowing this, he 'steals' his opponents chakra every time he strikes by adding chakra too his senbon (this takes a large amount of control and chakra). In reality though, Naruto uses his chakra to destroy his opponent's chakra, instead of absorbing it. He doesn't use this technique much due to the amount of chakra it exhausts, but does it when the time calls for it.
Note: Whenever Naruto hits something, he says the number of strikes. This is relevant to how much energy his opponent has left, or so he says. He calculates that a normal shinobi should be able to take about forty-two strikes.
1. Ante or Sugi- In Naruto's fighting style, this refers to the arm on the back.
2. Prece or Sou-In Naruto's fighting style, this refers to the arm in the front and on the ground.
3. Tail or Bibu- In Naruto's fighting style, this refers to the leg opposite of the Ante.
4. Certain Kill or Hissatsu- In Naruto's fighting style, this refers to the final attack in each attack set. It's called a certain kill, because of it's original intention is to kill on contact, usually in a vital spot; if not, it inflicts damage spread over a large area.
5. Poison Clone or Doku Bunshin (A Rank, Ninjutsu)- A special type of clone made of a poisonous gas that, like a kage bunshin, creates a physical clone that can be controlled by the user. Some major flaws of the doku bunshin is the amount of control and chakra that is needed. It uses a lot of chakra due to it's substance being gas. Another major flaw that is easily noticed by most ninja above genin, is that the doku bunshin produces a strange chakra residue around the eyes that can be seen even without a doujutsu, hence why Naruto hid his eyes. (He was taught this, amongst a few other jutsus, by Tenzou).
6. Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing technique or Magen: Narukumi no Jutsu (D Rank, Genjutsu)- This jutsu causes the target to see a horrifying vision. First, an imaginary circle of leaves will spin around and envelop the target, falling away shortly after. After a short period, the illusion will begin. This is to make the illusion more convincing, since the user will likely have moved before the illusion sets in.
7. Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique or Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (C Rank, Ninjutsu)- A technique that signifies an Uchiha as an adult. The technique utilizes a large amount of chakra and takes an extremely long time (for a shinobi) to use. It is primarily used to burn the remains of missing nin. After the user finishes the necessary seals, the user places their hand near their mouth. They then blow into the fist, the chakra acts as a flammable substance and the user's breath acts as the flint. This is the reason why the mouth isn't burned. Afterwards, a large fireball consumes the affected area.
8. Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique or Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (D Rank, Ninjutsu)- The user, emerging from the ground below the target, pulls down (or swaps places with) the target so that only the target's head is above ground.
AN: Sorry I took so long, but many things distracted me. One, finals... the bane of all students. Two, every time I try to start this chapter that bottle of alcohol just keeps staring me in the face. Three, the following hangover. Four, sleeping. Five, laziness. Okay, now for explanation time. Naruto's lack of chakra? I tried to make a child's body just that, a child's body. He has abnormally high chakra reserves for a genin, but that's just it, a genin.Anyway, I'm not really good with fight scenes so just bear with me okay.
As for the doku bunshin, I thought it was too convenient of a technique. So that it wouldn't be too cheap, I made it have weaknesses such as chakra requirement and the residue idea is solely my original idea. The wave arc is still going to take place and yes Haku will make an appearance during the wave arc. Some of you have been wondering as to what Haku is... well I can't say without revealing anything, so I'm going to leave you guessing. This chapter though is just to give you guys a chapter.
This chapter is sort of like a filler, or a character/fighting depth revealment sort of thing. I was actually going to skip this scene and just vaguely mention it every once in a while, but I thought certain scenes would be funnier. Naruto's narcolepsy is a joke. It's supposed to make fun of Gaara. Even though Naruto seems like he stays up late to others, he actually sleeps more than he is awake. Coincidently, Naruto usually falls asleep when others aren't around or (usually for comic relief) right in front of them.