AN: Sorry about being late, but you can never expect someone to update these stories daily. Usually they either have a lot of free time on their hands or turn out to be rushed, sloppy and overall bad. I don't spend a good portion of time on this, and I don't want sloppiness to happen to my story, so I'm sorry. And I promise things will move along very soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Pokemon. This is merely a made up story to entertain myself, and hopefully, people of both fandoms. Enjoy.
"That's the biggest damn egg I've ever seen!" Normal speech
'Must be some sort of super dog.' Normal thoughts
"Riiiiii-o?" Pokemon speak
"Expect me back by next week at best" Flashback/Dream
"Insolent whelp…" Demon Speak
"BOOYA!" Inner Sakura Speak/Demon thoughts
Naruto & Arashi
Chapter 4: Life of a Parent
"Ino! Hurry up or we're going to be late!"
"I know, I know! Geez, give a girl more time to prepare, ok?"
Before he met Arashi, Uzumaki Naruto's schedule was a simple one; Wake up for breakfast, go to the academy, train, eat at Ichiraku's, go to bed. Usually on weekends, the time for the academy would just be used for more time to train.
Ever since he met Arashi almost a year ago, Naruto's schedule was far from simple; every morning he would make breakfast for him AND the baby Riolu, making sure he gets something sweet and anything not dry or is ramen. The bottle thing was also a must. He would then head towards Azami's place first and drop him off to help with the berries while he was away. By the end of the school time, he would catch a quick meal at Ichiraku's then go back to Azami's. Or vise-versa, now that the Ramen stand serves fruit and veggie salads (more so for Arashi than other customers, but it's a new menu item).
Naruto decided to keep Arashi with the old Yamanaka because, in all honesty, he didn't know who else to trust. She was the first person who seemed perfectly ok with Arashi and didn't act all hostile to him either. It was odd to finally find someone who accepted him, but it felt good nonetheless.
He (somehow) also made a good friend in Ino. Sure, they both had their arguments and times when they try to overcome one another, and she was STILL a Sasuke fangirl, but they still enjoy the time they spend whenever they walk to the academy, talking of whatever comes to mind.
"Ready!" She said, just rushing out the door of her shop.
Naruto, waiting in front, groaned, and started walking. "Took you long enough. I didn't want to get late because you had to iron your hair!"
"Hey! You try growing long, beautiful hair and see just how hard it is to get it washed, combed, and in a ponytail!"
The blonde boy scrunched his face in disgust. "If it takes so long with that much hair, why don't you just cut it? I mean, it's longer than most girls; hell, people, I know!"
Ino huffed. "As if! Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair and the longer it is, the better!"
"And yet he still ignores you." Naruto mumbled, but it didn't go unheard of as Ino clunked him on the cranium, wincing in pain.
His relationship with Ino wasn't exactly the same as Sakura's. He used to be swayed by Sakura's cute face and pink hair and wanted to be friends with her. He quickly got the idea that if Sakura (and every other girl his age) would always ask Sasuke on dates, he should try the same thing for her. Needless to say, she was just as rude to him as Sasuke was to her. He still holds a little crush on her, but has been distant with her since being a legal guardian to Arashi took up a lot of his free time.
Ino was…different. When she wasn't talking to Sasuke or trying to ask him out on a date, she was normally helping out at her grandmother's orchard and giving Naruto gardening tips. He would never say it in front of her, but she had become a close friend to him, and he'd grown a sort of hobby to gardening, starting to water plants and planting seeds, instead of berries.
"Well, well, looks like the two 'blonde birds' are here as usual." came the smug comment from up ahead. Inuzuka Kiba was seen smirking at them, with Akamaru on top his head.
This rather bland insult didn't affect Naruto or Ino in the slightest; the former asked what loomed both their minds. "Blonde birds? Is that the best you can come up with?"
The feral kid shrugged, but didn't falter in the smirk. "Of course not. I don't have time to give you better insults."
"Nor do you have the time to bother us. Now get, doggy."
Kiba, now fully recovered, became somewhat of a rival to Naruto. He said their last match, which had him hospitalized, courtesy of Arashi, was nothing but a fluke and wanted to prove he was better than him. This surprised all the students. It was Arashi that beat him up, so shouldn't he be more ticked off at the dope's pet then the dope himself?
As if to prove that fact, Kiba stared at Naruto, who hadn't move since Kiba arrived. "Ok, Naruto, how's about we have ourselves a little spar before the academy starts?" He said as he started cracking his knuckles.
Naruto sighed. "I already told you Kiba. I neither have the time nor interest to fight you again. You got beaten by a Riolu. A baby one no less. Not me."
"But you were his owner! The Alpha-male! So that means I have the right to fight you as much as your pup!"
"Too bad I don't care. Besides, the academy starts in a few minutes. We can settle this some other time." With that said, he started to walk to Ino, who was patiently waiting.
Kiba scowled. "Hypocrite."
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. He hesitatively turned to Kiba and said "What?"
"You ask the same thing out of Sasuke and yet you turn down the same offer when given to you? That's basically going against what you've been trying to out of that guy for years!"
"Don't listen to him Naruto," Ino warned; she was having a bad feeling about this.
But deep down, Naruto felt that what Kiba said was true. He wanted acknowledgement all his life from the kid everyone loves and/or idolizes; Uchiha Sasuke. Perfect grades, perfect fighting style, and (to the female's opinion) perfect looks. He thought if he could surpass him in some way, he two would be idolized; which is why he constantly tried hard in the academy since he showed up and challenged him to a match.
Now Kiba, someone who was on the same boat, wants to challenge him like he would to Sasuke, when he would just go along with Naruto's demands just to make him feel better (before beating him up like just before his run-in with Arashi's paw). In a way, this was an improvement. Besides, he just insulted him turning down a match. He couldn't live that down. Well, maybe. It was just Kiba anyway.
"Heh, whatever," said Kiba, with still no change in emotion. "It's not like this kid's got guts anyway."
…Ok, there is NO way he could live this down.
"THE HELL I'LL RUN AWAY, DOG-BRAIN!" Naruto screeched as he jumped towards Kiba and held out his fist, trembling with righteous fury. Kiba actually looked surprised by his sudden attack, but he knew he had that coming, so with a smirk of victory, he quickly retaliated and the two of them were seen scuffling on the road, surrounded by dirt and debris.
Ino sweatdropped. This is the third time this month those two fought like this… Basically, Kiba had been using the 'Hypocrite Speech' to get Naruto mad enough to fight back. If there's anything he hates more than being rejected by Sakura, it's being compared to Sasuke in a negative way.
"Naruto!" She called out, trying to reason with him. "What about the academy? We're going to be late!"
"Go on without me! It's going to be a while before I make this jerk taste his dog's poop!"
"HEY!"
"But you're already tardy five times this year! Iruka-sensei said you be severely punished if you're tardy again!"
"Like I care! I'll still be a graduate!"
"Not when I'm through with you, dead-last!"
"You're going to STAY dead-last if you keep picking stupid fights with Kiba and Sasuke-kun! Why did you even agree to this stupid fight when we have to get to class RIGHT NOW?!"
"It's all about pride, Ino! Pride is more important than being prompt!"
"Amen to that!"
Ino sighed and glanced away from the two of them fighting. It was obvious that the other blonde only cared about showing off to his opponents rather than be discreet like a REAL ninja. She could just get on ahead, but Naruto, although slow and loud, was still, in a sense, her friend, and she didn't want to see him upset when he failed. It was likely that he'll fail again, like the last two times, and be held back for another year. Or worse, loose the privilege of being a ninja.
So, she decided to wait until the two of them were tired and/or distracted before beating them up and dragging them to the academy. Of course, she wasn't very good in patience…
Just then, the punching and kicking halted, and two bodies collapsed on the ground. Ino turned to see Hinata, her usual timid self, standing over the two knocked out boys. She looked over them, ashamed of herself.
"I…used Jyuken…I didn't know what else…"
"It's ok." Ino smiled as she lifted the leap once known as Naruto over her shoulder. "At least sealing their chakra points will stop them fighting for a little while.
The Hyuuga's clan style of fighting, Jyuken, was made to aim and damage their foes chakra circulatory system. Everyone had pressure points which exhibit use of chakra, and hitting these points would stop the flow to the area. It merely took a simple tap at the spinal cord to have them collapse. Naruto and Kiba wouldn't die, but they'll be feeling a lot of back pain when they would wake up.
"That was pretty good back there too." Ino continued, walking to the academy with Hinata on toll. "Only one hit each. If you try hard enough, you might promote way past Genin in no time."
"I-I don't know." Hinata said while carefully carrying Kiba bridal style. "M-my family doesn't h-have many expectations for me, e-especially my cousin."
"Yeah, I heard, your family is a bunch of stuck-ups who aren't impressed with you, but that doesn't stop Naruto in giving the benefit of the doubt, now does it?"
"I-I guess so…" Hinata nodded.
After the little heart-to-heart the night of the Kiba Incident, Naruto decided to bring Hinata to the orchard with him, as a show of gratitude of the other day. When Ino found out about this, she was extremely peeved, though she didn't punish Naruto too much because Hinata was normally quiet and agreed wholeheartedly not to speak to anyone else. Still, Naruto was forced to eat leftover Pinab berries against his will as Ino chunked them down his throat. The sour skin and spicy juice inside exploded in his taste buds, which was adopted with a comically ridiculous scrunched-up face even Hinata found hilarious.
It was sort of a rocky start of a good friendship they all had; even Kiba, who found his way into the orchard and quickly demanded a rematch with Naruto. He was instead given a mouth full of Pinab berries, and threatened by Ino not to tell about this place. Kiba reluctantly agreed.
Still, Hinata was glad to know that she was now part of Naruto's circle of friends, and the time they come to grow closer over the past few months.
"Come in." said Sarutobi, hearing the door knocking. It opened to reveal the short Inuzuka hermit, Takeo. He walked up to the desk, but only reached it by forehead, so he settled with climbing onto the stool in front of the desk.
"Whadda you want, Hokage?" he grunted, more mad than embarrassed he had to sit just to look at the Hokage's face. Partly the reason why he was an irritable man was because people make fun of his height… until they feared the man for chasing them with his dog Inju-chan. They then called him crazy, but to themselves of course.
"I've heard that you recently chose an academy student to do your…exercise." The Hokage started. It was no rumor that Takeo liked to chase around any athletic looking civilian or Shinobi, just to get his dog a good running. Of course, he started to quiet down around the village, only chasing someone once in a blue moon. Takeo doesn't usually mean any bad malice to anyone he chases; he just likes to scare people for the sport of it.
"Yeah, I chased a punk, only because he went through my stuff, and took my egg."
"I heard that he had found it in the trash. Did you throw away that egg by any chance?"
"No; I hid it there of course. What better way to hide something than at the place where people don't want their stuff? Right under their smelly noses! They never suspected a thing!"
The Sandaime felt sweat trickling down the back of his head. Takeo was very paranoid, but he didn't honestly expect that he go to such lengths of keeping his stuff safe than the trashcan. He was surprised the egg lasted as long as it did before hatching.
"Well, I thought I would like to let you know what the egg hatched and-"
"That brat took my egg and hatched it?! That ingrate! I was saving that for a special occasion!"
"I'm sorry to hear that, Takeo, but it's in Naruto's hands now. The egg hatched into a Rioru and-"
"Did you just say Naruto?" Takeo interrupted, casting a serious gaze on the Hokage. The Sandaime had a feeling that Takeo hated the boy as much as the villagers did, but it was hard to tell since he seemed to hate everyone. If he had a weakness, it was his inability to trust others.
"Yes, I did; a golden one at that. And he thinks that Naruto is his parent. I wanted to let you know before I approve Naruto as his legal guardian."
Takeo stared at the Hokage for a long while, before eventually breaking out and sighing. "Go ahead. Not my problem anymore."
Sarutobi was surprised. Takeo was never one to give up so quickly. "Are you sure?"
"The pup thinks that the brat is his parent, right? Even I know that taking him now would only cause trouble; for both of them. I was planning on saving that little creature when the time was right, but it turns out it can't be helped now."
The Hokage nodded, in content with the Inuzuka's answer. "I just have several questions to ask. What exactly were you saving the egg for? And how did you get it in the first place?"
Takeo scowled. "Respectively; it's not important now, and it was a gift."
"From who?" The Sandaime asked.
Takeo shrugged. "You're the Hokage. You figure it out."
Sarutobi vividly remembered that talk with Takeo a few months ago. He took upon his offer to figure it out on his own, and had spent the last few days researching.
Before the Kyuubi incident, Poke'mon were valuable partners for many Shinobi and Civilians in the village. Some clans even specialized with several Poke'mon, like the Haruno clan with the Medicham family, who were strong in both body and spirit. Of course, the aftermath of the fight had caused a causality of Poke'mon greater than the humans. Furthermore, any Poke'mon that normally lived in the forest seemed to have disappeared, with no trace of them whatsoever. He felt at best to not mention this tragedy to anyone of the younger generation; both the Kyuubi sealing and the possible extinction of Poke'mon.
Of course, now everything has changed now that Naruto had found Arashi, a Riolu. It wouldn't have been as surprising if he found another Poke'mon like a Bulbasaur or a Pidgey or even a Pikachu. But a Riolu wasn't common; he only knew of one person to have a relative of the Lucario family line.
That was the last Hokage who surpassed him; Namikaze Minato. He and his Lucario, Kougai(1), were an unstoppable pair, holding a deep sense of trust with each other and untapped potential, which lead them to winning the last Great Shinobi War with Iwa. When Minato gave his life to seal the Kyuubi, Kougai stood by him and helped stall the beast, royal to the end. The Lucario died serving his master's suicide wish, ashes and all.
Kougai was the first and last Lucario seen in the village, raised by The Fourth himself when just a little Riolu. He remembered how Minato struggled to train under Jiraiya, and that the little Rioru would try to cheer him up and train with him in his chakra exercises. Minato eventually created his own jutsu, with the help and inspiration of Kougai.
That got Sarutobi thinking. Was it possible that Arashi was Kougai's child? It was very likely, but at the same not, not very convincing. He didn't recall the Lucario having any mates. Then again, The Fourth was also secretive about his love life and he didn't learn about his wife until after the Kyuubi attack.
It was still possible.
"Ok, that's enough for today. Class dismissed."
Naruto wasted no time in bolting out his desk and running for the door. Gotta see Arashi, Gotta see Arashi-
He didn't get that chance as Iruka caught him by the jacket and held him up in mid-air. Naruto continued to run, but instead merely made loud friction noise across the flow. It was similar to how Azami caught Naruto when they first met.
"Sorry Naruto, but you're coming with me."
"What?! Why?"
"I'm supervising you to clean up the mess you made. Everyone's not happy with your prank last night."
Naruto scowled. "How would you know if I did it?"
Iruka gave him a deadpanned look. "You're the kind of person who would pull this kind of prank, and everyone knows that."
"Yeah, well, you still can't prove I painted those Hokage heads!"
Naruto quickly covered his mouth on impulse, realizing the stupid mistake he made; Iruka never implied what prank he did, and was waiting for him to say it to prove his point. He could hear the majority of the class laughing at him.
"Let's go." Iruka left the classroom door, with Naruto still in his immobile state.
It was an embarrassing sight for the whole village; graffiti was all over the Hokage Monument. The Shodai Hokage's right eye was surrounded by a black circle and the left eye was crossed of with a black X, had a red zig-zag line under both eyes, and had a pink tongue drawn outside the statues lips. The Nidaime statue had a bunch of ridiculous drawings all over it like little sharks or bees floating around, as well a big flower on the cheek They were all pretty small, but very numerous to make it look like little dots and lines over the face. The Sandaime's face had white paint streaming down his eyes, nose, and ears, ruining the face of the current Hokage like he was bleeding and crying. Then there was the Yondaime…
"May I ask WHY you wrote so many random words on the Yondaime statue?" said Iruka, staring at the countless sketchy words itched on the head; like "Nevr giv op" or "I'm teh besd" or "Uodame 4evr!" They were all poorly spelled and it really questioned Naruto's spelling prowess.
"Don't ask; it was Arashi who wrote all that!" said Naruto, trying to clean off more of the graffiti from the Nidaime side, after finishing the Shodaime (which was a lot of work)
"Arashi? You're telling me you FORCED your Riolu to do all this?!"
"No! I helped too! He just did the Nidaime and Yondaime. He seemed real happy doing it."
Iruka sighed. "There's nothing fun in defiling the village like this, Naruto."
"You're just saying that because you didn't have the guts to do it yourself, Iruka-sensei!"
"Say that all you want, but you're not leaving until this entire monument is spotless."
Naruto paused mid-swipe, eyes widening. "What?! But Arashi's waiting for me!"
"Then I suggest you pick up the pace and clean up."
Naruto moaned, this wasn't fair at the slightest. Normally, the downfall of his pranks was that they don't affect anyone but himself, but now Arashi was a part of this and was waiting patiently for him. Oh well, at least he wasn't suffering on his account. It was going to take forever to clean the mess a boy and a raccoon-dog made.
"Frankly, I'm surprised he even knew some letter and pictures, even if the weren't accurate."
"I gave him some picture books and tried to teach him speak words besides his usual 'Riolu'. I didn't think he actually remember some of them."
Satisfied with the answer, Iruka said nothing and continued to watch Naruto clean up.
He was just finishing up the Nidaime face when he saw the last little doodle his Riolu made. It looked like himself, cheering and wearing a big coat and a crown. Next to it were some poorly written letters spelling 'Narrodo Whogage.'
Naruto smiled. Sure, Arashi may not be a very good speller or writer, but he had the heart to make up for it. Naruto always did pranks to try and get himself noticed, if not recognized for how well he did them. It was hard when people just thought of him as an annoying prank-making brat and nothing more, but Arashi thinks of him more than that. He truly, genuinely believes he could reach his dream, and that was really saying something. He slightly hesitated in scrubbing off the drawing, but remembered he had to clean everything off just to leave. He was about to, but heard a loud boom.
"Ok Naruto, that's enough. Let's head back."
"Huh? But, Iruka-sensei, you said I had to stay here until the mountain was spotless!"
"No point in working when it's late. Besides, the rain can wash up whatever you haven't finished here."
As if on cue, the rain started to pour, several dropped pelting down on them and on the picture. The Naruto doodle was smeared with rain as several droplets started to wash it off. Naruto frowned a little; if only he could hold onto that picture and not have it ruined…
"Let's head for the Ramen stand. My treat."
Normally, Naruto would agree to a free dinner, but he had to hurry up and go pick up Arashi. He was probably out in the rain under a berry tree waiting for him or something.
"Thanks, Iruka-sensei, but I really got to go and visit Arashi. Maybe some other time!"
Without another word, he leaped out the mountains and hurriedly dashed for the Yamanaka orchard.
Iruka sighed to himself before smiling. "I guess I owe Arashi one. I actually get to keep my paycheck this time."
When Naruto arrived at the orchard, it was empty. Some berries were picked early and others were planted fresh to receive rain. After endlessly searching the area, he tried for Ino's shop, where he was greeted by a familiar face.
"Riiii!" The Rioru happily squealed as he leaped to his master in a fierce bear hug. From the look in his eyes, he was crying, not just the rain.
"I'm sorry Arashi." He said, stroking his ears a bit. "I didn't want to be gone for so long either."
"Then don't next time!" an irritable voice screeched. Naruto looked up from his crying Rioru to see Ino impatiently tapping her foot from a counter of bright flowers. She looked soaked and peeved. "He was balling his eyes out for an hour straight! It was enough to water all the berries in the orchard!"
"Now, now, Ino-chan," Her grandmother said while watering some flower pots. "You can't expect a young, cute little baby like Arashi to not miss his caretaker, now would you?"
"The way he beat Kiba the other day is anything BUT young and cute!"
"He's eight months old! What did you expect?!" Naruto shouted, starting to get irritated about Ino's ranting.
"I expected him to be potty trained by now! He once used his own URINE to water the plants and ruined them! Lum berries are hard to come by you know!"
"I told you he was sorry about that! Let it go! It was like, three weeks ago!"
Hinata, meanwhile, was standing by a heater trying to keep warm but couldn't help to overhear the loud argument taking place. "Um, Naruto-kun, Ino-chan? Please stop fighting."
"Why? She started it!" The blonde boy yelled.
"And you were at fault for being a bad caretaker!" Ino chided.
"Arashi says I'm doing a great job."
Ino glared at him skeptically. "And just how do you know that?"
"I just know. Right Arashi?"
"Lu! Lu!"
"Well, I think I'll just be going now. Thanks again for watching over Arashi for me, obaasan."
Azami smiled at the boy. "Anytime lad. Oh, but before I forget; I got something for you."
All the young academy students blinked as the elder Yamanaka left for the backroom. Ino was confused, Hinata was surprised, and Naruto felt a mix of both. Naruto never really got any gifts often; they were usually from Sarutobi and most recently the Ichiraku family. What could Azami possibly have to give him?
When Azami came back, she held a cardboard box and handed it to him. "It's a gift from some anonymous stranger. All it said was he or she wanted you to have it."
Feeling more curious of what it was, Naruto hurriedly opened it and pulled out its contents. In his hands were a pile of dark blue clothing; shirt, pants, belt, gloves, and pair of sandals. Despite the mask, it was enough to be a part of a Shinobi Shozoku (2), although, there was straight line of orange paint through them all, like it was painted there when all of them were aligned. Separate, however, it looked like different slashes of orange arranged over the uniform.
"Why is it painted orange?" Ino asked, with a hint of disgust. Arashi whined.
"Arashi-chan here was playing with a paint brush earlier," Azami explained. "…and accidentally got it on the clothes. I'm not sure if it will come off or not, but it was such a nice design. I didn't want to ruin it without your consent."
Naruto was oddly silent staring at the clothing, starting to tremble as if upset. "This… Is…"
The girls had a feeling that Naruto was going to cry or scream, so they were about ready to give him comfort, until they heard the rest of his sentence.
"PERFECT!!"
Ino fell down from the sheer idiocy of the pause and reaction, while Hinata was stumped and Arashi suddenly perked up, as if he was praised instead of given the death penalty.
"You're right, obaasan, this IS a great design! The orange line makes it unique and unexpected! I couldn't have done a better job myself if I tried! Way to go, Arashi!"
"Ri lu." Arashi said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Ino slapped her forehead. "You've got to be kidding me." Even Hinata had to admit it was a little silly, but just settled on a giggle.
Without hesitation, Naruto rushed for the bathroom and changed into his new clothing. When he came out, he looked dashing as a ninja. The orange stripes were found diagonal from left to right on the shirt from the center of the back to the center of the front of the shirt, a horizontal line across the knee caps in the pants, and a dot or two on both gloves. The sandals looked fine and didn't have a trace of orange on them.
He looked very proud of his attire. "What do you think?"
"That you look like a bigger idiot than a minute ago?" Ino smirked monotonously. Naruto quickly shot the other blonde a death glare. In all honesty, she was merely teasing, and while it did make him look like an idiot, it worked for him. Not for the silly appearance, but rather that it feels just right for him.
"I-it looks great, Naruto-kun!" Hinata reassured, feeling the same way. That comment mollifying Naruto considerably, and she blushed when he gave her a small smile.
Azami smiled as she nodded, and Arashi did a thumb's up (or paw up) gesture. Naruto felt in content with this, and was willing to thank whoever gave him such a great gift; if he would ever meet that person anyway…
Elsewhere, Inuzuka Takeo sat in his rocking chair out on the front porch of his house, the roof protecting him most of the rain. He rocked back and forth in it, enjoying the pelting beauty of nature while petting his dog Inju-chan curled up and sitting next to him.
It was times like this that the hermit could just forget about all his troubles and relax, especially after he had nothing to worry about now. The brat was annoying, true, but he could relate. Both of them were seen with disdain in the other villager's eyes, even his own clan. He thought he could help Naruto out, if just a little.
"You think the brat would like my little present, Inju-chan?"
The dog ruffed in agreement.
Takeo chuckled before gazing to the clouds. "He'd better. Minato owes me one for this…"
Time passed, and the village seemed a lot more peaceful than anyone could remember. Nothing out the ordinary happened, and but many of the villagers started to feel tense; it's been months since the prank on the Hokage heads and Naruto hasn't made another one since.
One of the two Jounin walking around the village was especially edgy. "It's quiet…too quiet."
"It's probably nothing, Izumo." Kotetsu assured.
"Nothing? How can you be so calm? He's watching us!"
"You mean the brat? Look, he hasn't done anything yet so don't get so worked up about it. The Hokage did say that taking care of the Riolu would distract Naruto from pranks, and it has."
Izumo didn't look convinced. "It's impossible to say for sure. He always has some excuse as to not do something before and proved us wrong time and time again. For crying out loud, this is the kid who went into the ANBU base and painted it ORANGE! THE ENTIRE ANBU BASE ORANGE!"
Kotetsu shook his head. "Look, we just got graduated into Jounin, and I like to spend every minute of this day celebrating without you ruining it with paranoia. Just relax; if he was planning on doing something, he would have done it by now."
"Or maybe he's preparing for a really big practical joke that will humiliate the entire village forever."
'Haven't thought about that.' Kotetsu admitted, but only to himself. "I said relax, ok?"
They uneventfully made their way to the party store, buying all the essentials for their self-graduation party. They had the day off, so they were planning to make the best of it and drink until they can't anymore. They were just leaving when a orange-blue blur ran past them into the same store.
Uzumaki Naruto. In his blue and orange... matador costume?
Curious, Izumo and Kotetsu walked away behind the store before using henge to make themselves look 70 years older. They walked in, looking at the party favors when they were really eavesdropping.
"Let's see here, streamers, balloons, party hats and napkins, and candles; that's all?"
"Mostly." said Naruto. "Do you make cakes here?"
"Some of the best."
"Could I have that too?"
"Be sure to pay double, kid."
"Yeah yeah…"
As the man walked to the back to receive the cake, the two jounin grouped together and gossiped.
"He's up to something, I just now it!"
"Calm down, Izumo, maybe he's having a party."
"The only time the kid ever buys party supplies is for pranks, Kotetsu. Streamers? He used them to make the Hyuuga Compound a giant streamer jungle. Balloons? He filled them up with water and soaked the Akimichi clan with them. Party hats and napkins? He tweaked them and used them as mufflers for the Inuzuka dogs. And let's not forget the cake; filled the mix with chocolate laxatives and gave it to the Hokage as a 'gift'. Enough said."
"If that's the case, why would he buy all of them at once?"
Old Izumo's elderly eyes widened, as if coming to realization. "It can be…"
"What?"
"No, I must be crazy!"
"What?!" Old Kotetsu was starting to feel nervous in what his partner was implying.
"All those items he used for his past pranks..." Old Izumo started.
"Yeah?"
"He must plan to get them again…"
"Yeah?"
"And…PULL ALL THE SAME PRANKS ALL AT ONCE!"
Old Kotetsu blinked. "You're right."
"I know."
"You are crazy."
Izumo glared at his deadpanned partner and friend in disgust, partly at the fact he would remain so stubborn. "It's possible."
"Or it could be the fact that he's throwing a party for someone?" The old Kotetsu asked in an obvious tone.
Old Izumo's expression grew dreadful. "For who?"
The other Jounin didn't know what to say after that. Who would Naruto throw a party for? Sure, it was evident that he had a few new friends since he found the Rioru, but their parents would never let him throw a party for. He wouldn't be stupid enough to make himself a fake birthday, unless…
"What day is it?"
Old Izumo looked confused. "Today? Tuesday, April 20th."
April… his birthday wasn't for another six months. And any decorations he would get for that would long be forgotten. People usually get those only a month early at most, to stay fresh in the mind. Maybe, as crazy as Izumo's idea was, he was going for the prank of all pranks. But something was oddly familiar with the date...
"We still shouldn't jump into conclusions. If he was REALLY going to do what you said, he would have to go for it."
Izumo gasped. "You don't mean…?" He asked, almost too shocked to whisper.
Kotetsu nodded. "I do, but, REALLY. He wouldn't… not after last year."
It was around that time when the man came for the cake Naruto had asked for. It was a simple vanilla cake with white frosting over it; looked innocent enough. No chocolate as the eye can see.
"Anything else?" The clerk asked.
"Do you have 10 packs of pop-rocks?"
Both the jounin's mouths dropped wide open, faces paling and almost losing concentration of their henge. "He would..."
The last time Naruto bought pop-rocks was possibly his most famous scheme of all; last year, at the dead of night, he filled every toilet in more than half of the buildings in the village, including the academy, ANBU base, and Hokage's office with said pop-rocks. When the villagers went to flush their toilets, it caused the pipes inside to blow holes in the pipes and nearly ruin the pipelines for the whole village. He was well punished, mind you, helping the other ninja repairing the pipes he damaged, and it was also the time when everyone knew of the pranking expertise of Uzumaki Naruto and never underestimated him in that expertise again.
Old Kotetsu gulped. 10 packs were more than enough to destroy the village with the other pranks he has in store. He glanced to Izumo, who was equally uneasy. "Ok. Now we can jump into conclusions."
In truth, Naruto found no fondness in pulling pranks anymore. All that seemed to matter to him was looking after for Arashi's well being. Making sure he was alright, feeding him when needed, giving him milk (which Azami had been doing up until she taught him how to) and training with him.
He was a little reluctant at first to let him train with him, but he was always so full of energy and wanted to help him any way he can. Also, he was strong enough to beat down Kiba in a few punches and he didn't really want to baby him forever, despite Ino and Hinata's constant attempts.
He wasn't much of a teacher, so he only taught him some of the poor basics he knew; running, punching, kicking, jumping, guarding and avoiding. He was a bit faster than he was, but had a frail body, so defending was a bit difficult. At least Arashi got all the basics down, a bit quicker than Naruto even.
Of course, he didn't have much time for himself anymore. Before he knew it, the Graduation Exam was right around the corner.
OoC: Ok, things are coming along, some interaction and the main plot line shall start next chapter
1. Kougai translates to outside a port. It is supposed to be a similar joke to his master, how Minato translates to port, or habor
2. Remember those real life ninja dressed in pitch black gi and ACTUALLY look like ninja (more so than the ones in Naruto at least)? That's a Shinobi Shozoku. Just… more like Aaron/Riley's garb or something. Hence also the comment on the matador.
