Naruto leaned back in his seat, resting his feet on the table with a bowl of ramen in his lap. All in all, he had to admit that today had been a very good day. He made gennin, which while not according to plan, did provide him with a viable income source. Now he just had to wait until he got a team, fail that, and take a job as a desk clerk or something, maybe he could even become Iruka's teacher's assistant or something.
That would leave enough time to have Joker running around free and wild, especially with the new trick of Kage Bunshin. He'd just have to make certain that he didn't wear his headband while running around as the Joker. That was the only thing the Hokage asked of him. It was agreeing or being arrested and given over to Ibiki, who wanted to 'talk' to him about the hot sauce in the torture expert's underwear.
The talk of getting a rival was entertaining, but it just annoyed him that Jii-san wouldn't help him make one. After all, he'd just have to slip the right books to the uptight Uchiha ingrate, and let nature take its course. But nooooo Sarutobi couldn't get involved in the Joker no matter what.
Slurping down his ramen, he smirked at what happened after he left the Hokage's office. As a special treat, Iruka and a few ANBU had taken him to Ichiraku's and bought him all the ramen he could eat for lunch. Well, Iruka had insisted on only buying the first and second bowls... everything else was on the ANBU. Sadly the faceless nins would be living on rations for a few days, due to their wallets suddenly being emptier than a buffet line after an Akimichi party.
Setting the bowl aside, he decided that it was time to go and have some fun. Letting a soft chuckle escape his throat, he summoned up the henge and slipped out through the underground tunnel his clones had been digging out all day. Popping out in the bushes of one of Konoha's parks, he smirked as he plotted out the night's events. He would have to visit the Uchiha, and give him another playful nudge into insanity, but for now he needed something else to do.
Seeing a jounin wandering past with his nose in an orange book, while another one that was chain smoking complained that they were late, gave him an idea. Slipping into the shadows and trailing the two was surprisingly easy, as they were meant to be jounin elites, he thought. Finding himself listening in on a jounin instructor only meeting at the Hokage's office was far too easy for his liking, and yet here he was, looking at the group of jounins, and the Hokage, not a single one indicating that they knew he was there.
"I have summoned you here, because of the recent outbreak at the academy has reduced our graduating class to just nine students," Sarutobi began while tapping down the tobacco in his pipe. "Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma... your teams are the only ones not under lock down in the hospital for the next month. I would like you to try and push them to fully pass the bell tests if possible. As we have all agreed previously, these are the students with the greatest amount of potential."
The Joker smirked at this, and leaned in curious about what the bell test all entailed. He was in for a great shock when Sarutobi pulled out a tinkling bag from a drawer of his desk, pulled out three pairs of small silver bells, and tossed them nonchalantly to the three named jounins. "The final tests will be next week, but one has already graduated and performed a mission... Kakashi I will speak to you of this one after the others leave. The rest of you, your teams will be tested again after the mild poison afflicting them has passed out of their systems, I hope that you will all be fair and just with them."
"Hai Hokage!" the assembled jounins proclaimed before being dismissed with a wave of the Hokage's hand. Joker decided that now would be an excellent time to play with the Uchiha brat.
Slipping out of the tower was easier than getting in had ever been, which made him want to weep, or make the security people weep. But he was running late on an important date, and it just couldn't wait. Getting into the open air, he found the Uchiha an elusive target for once, and decided to just prowl about for a while. As he was passing by the Hyuuga grounds, a sound reached his ears.
Turning to look, he found his teeth clenching in anger, for there was his classmate Hinata Hyuuga getting wailed upon by a man easily twice her size. Leaping into the area, he let out his laugh, gaining the attention of the major asshole. "Hello! I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let you do any more..."
"Joker..." Hiashi snarled while his Byakugan eyes flared again. "You dare intrude on my grounds and dictate what I can and cannot do in training my daughter?"
"YOU GOT IT POPS!" Joker exclaimed with another laugh. "And they said you Hyuuga pricks had no sense of humor..."
"You are in the range of my divination..." Hiashi stated calmly as he began his attack, only to break off in a cough as a pink fog shot out from the Joker's lapel and before he could return to his attack, laughter began bubbling out of his mouth. At first they were soft snickers and chuckles, then a chortle, until finally he was on his hands and knees laughing like a mad man.
"Like it? It's my own special blend, it uses your chakra to make you laugh! See I don't like bullies pops, and while you call her your daughter, you were nothing but a bully there..." Joker commented calmly as he watched Hiashi grip his sides in pain. Leaving the laughing clan head alone for a moment, he knelt next to the panting Hinata and held out a card. "Hello again, sweet cheeks, and I suggest you leave this jack ass in the past."
Hinata shakily took the card from the Joker and smiled her thanks. Bowing slightly she wondered if her suspicions about the man behind the mask were correct. Before she could say anything the Joker was gone, and on the back of the card was a recipe for the laughing gas that had just incapacitated her father. Tucking the card away, she smiled again and decided it was time to do some cooking.
Joker for his part was having the time of his life. He'd led the Hyuuga clan members that had chased after him on a merry chase, ending with them falling face first into a huge pile of manure. Each one ended up with his card taped to their butts where they stuck out of the pile. Letting his laughter fill the night air again, he began to prowl once again for his favorite target.
Passing an alleyway, he noticed an odd silhouette on the ground. Turning to look up he found a cloaked figure standing on the top of a building, glaring down at him. At least he was fairly certain those two white marks were supposed to be eyes glaring at him. The figure leaped off the building, using its cloak to glide down at him. A sudden draft sent the figure sailing not so gracefully into the wall of the building. As the figure tumbled down, he smiled seeing exactly who it was. The stitching was a little overdone and sloppy, the symbol was upside down, and he really needed to put in eyes and a mouth hole... but it could only have been one person. "BATSY! I was wondering when you were going to show up."
". . . My name is not Batsy, it's Batman..." Batman snarled as he cracked his knuckles. "And I'm here to stop your reign of terror and mischief Joker.
"Aww come now Batsy, let's not be so melodramatic..." Joker pouted while dusting himself off. "After all, this is our first meeting, so we should do this properly. A prolonged chase through the city, vows of my defeat, oaths of my vengeance, and a lot of laughs had by all!"
"I don't think so, you have enough to answer for, surrender and I'm sure the Hokage may be merciful," the caped crusader ordered, before lunging forward to tackle the insane clown. Joker let out his trademarked laugh as he leapfrogged over the dark knight, propelling him into a large pile of garbage.
"It's been fun Batsy, but I have to run... give my love to your tailor, because he doesn't do good work!" Joker mocked before springing away into the city, laughing for all the world to hear. Meanwhile Batman pulled himself out of the festering pile of refuse and snarled at where Joker had gone towards. How dare that purple clad lunatic question his stitching work. After all he had spent all last night on this costume.
Joker had to admit, tonight was a good night, and after he slipped back into the tunnel heading home, he released the henge he wore, revealing Naruto Uzumaki to the darkness that engulfed him. He would have to remember to pick up some bells, because he had a plan to make sure that he failed the upcoming test, and get sent back to the Academy, or maybe just given a desk job somewhere. AS one of his classmates liked to state, being a ninja would just be too troublesome.