A Drop of Poison
Chapter Nine: Discussions and Discoveries
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. Ramen belongs to Naruto. Enough said.
Prank Day 3
"Summoning Technique!" Naruto called out, slamming his hand into the ground.
For the third time tonight, smoke came out at this call, in this instance much more than before. When it dispersed, Nanabō-oh was standing there, arms crossed.
"See, I told you you weren't using enough," Ichibō added. "How's it going, Kage "
"The usual. And you?" the rabbit boss said, passing the time while Naruto recovered. The boy currently was inhaling in great gulps, sweat shining on his brow.
"Great! There's so much new stuff here I can't even know where to start. It beats the prank wars with Reibō anyday!"
"Good. I'll summon you for a meeting sometime next week." He said, smiling, then bent towards Naruto. "You gonna be ok, partner?"
It took a few seconds for the student to answer. "Hopefully it won't take this much each time..." It had actually tired him more than when he'd mass-summoned clones when training towards chakra draining. He finally straightened back up. "The plan's working, so pretty good, partner." He extended his hand.
They shook, smiling. "So you're gonna bring me up to speed on this prank of yours."
"Yup," Naruto answered.
"It all started less than a month ago, actually. It was the final exam at the academy, and..."
"... And I passed the whole morning training in summoning. That's pretty much it." Naruto finished, stretching on his chair.
Nanabō-oh nodded, thinking. Calling it a prank wasn't descriptive enough, even though that was certainly part of it. It was prank, long-term infiltration, revenge and legal manipulation all at the same time. It had managed to make him laugh quite a few times, especially the various retaliations to Naruto's maths teacher, but the goal of this wasn't simple laughter. It was much more.
He didn't need to do anything about it. It seemed that the newest member of his court had things well in hand, anyway. So, then, he would help where he could...
"And how are going your own studies ?" the rabbit asked.
"Good enough." Naruto shrugged. "Right now I'm working on modifying the Kage Bunshin to be used only for communication, but progress is slow. Not much outside of that."
"That's not enough." the summon said. A few hand signs later Miyamoto appeared in a burst of smoke.
The smaller rabbit bowed at its leader right as he appeared. "I come as summoned. What is your bidding, shogun?" he asked instantly.
"Miyamoto," Nanabō-oh said, in an official tone. "Is it true you haven't yet found someone to teach your techniques ?"
"Yes."
"I'm sure you remember the newest member of our clan. Would you be able to teach him ?"
"Well..." Miyamoto answered, visibly deep in thought. "He has the necessary frame, which is something most rabbits lack. And he has proven he can learn, so I do not see why not."
"Naruto," The rabbit leader said, cutting towards the boy who had stayed silent during the latest exchange. "The rabbit clan is all about both teaching and learning. One learns the techniques of the clan, and uses these to discover new techniques or modify old ones. Then he or she teaches those to the clan, and the circle goes on."
"Right."
"Miyamoto here hasn't found anybody that was both able and willing to learn the sword from him. Would you do him the honor of being his student ?"
Naruto thought for a moment. He'd already worked with Miyamoto, and he'd found the rabbit strict but respectful, something which wasn't a problem. However that would be cutting into his training time, and he had quite a few ideas he wanted to try out.
In the end, however, one point came above the others. Swords were cool, and he'd be cooler using one.
"Sure," The academy student answered with his usual smile.
"Could I also learn ?" said Ichibō from his perch on Naruto's head.
"I cannot stop you from trying..." responded the sword-wielding rabbit. "But you would find it much more difficult. Most rabbits your size do not have the necessary strength in the arms and fingers to properly wield a one-handed weapon, not to mention the issue of finding a sword the right size. I will not send you away when training your partner, however."
"Good," the summon leader said, smiling, and the seriousness of the moment evaporated in an instant. "We'll work on the details later. Now, pranks! What do you have planned?"
Smiling himself, Naruto answered. "Well, there's this one I have..."
"Bwahahahaha! You have to get me here for that one ! I know a genjutsu that'll complement that prank perfectly." Nanabō-oh said, repeated hitting the ground with his left paw. Naruto had quickly noticed that whenever the rabbit laughed hard enough, he unconsciously did so. Some kind of nervous tick, probably.
"Glad to have you there. I'll make sure to give you a call once I have the timing down." The boy answered, smiling.
"Perfect. Now is there anything else on the plan?" The bunny leader asked.
"Well, there a meeting of those in on the prank a little later, so you might want to be present for that, but outside that I didn't have anything planned out."
Nanabō-oh thought about it for a minute. He was about to say yes, but held back at the last moment.
He'd nearly not realized, but Ichibō had barely said a dozen words since he'd started talking to the boy. While his grandson could be direct with him in private, he tended to stay silent and defer to him much too much while in public. The small rabbit would be much more active if he was absent.
"No need. Ichibō, you'll be speaking for the rabbits in my stead, ok?"
Ichibō tensed. "You sure, Kage?"
"Perfectly. I'm sure you'll do a good job as my voice."
The rabbit on Naruto's head nodded.
"Then, Naruto, I'll be waiting for your call about that prank. Don't forget to call on Miyamoto every night for training at the very least."
"Will do."
"See you, partner," Nanabō-oh said, waving.
Naruto waved back, and the summon disappeared.
Prank Day 6
The village was abandoned, and had been for quite some time. It was situated about halfway between Konoha and the border to Grass, deep in the forests of Fire Kingdom. The Naruto that had found it guessed from the buildings that it had been some sort of logging camp, but that was all he could tell, really.
Its exact position and its current state made it a perfect meeting spot for the various clones of Naruto who were in charge of the trading network.
These bunshins were originally three, but ended up having to multiply themselves to keep up with the multiplying copies that were spreading everywhere in the ninja world. They were now more than a dozen.
The way they increased in number was simple. Originally, the three each took care of an area, meaning either East, West, or Fire itself. But as the number of clones infiltrating various places grew, there started being too much for a single person to track. The clone in charge of that area created new bunshins either as secretaries, or split his territory in smaller increments. And the process repeated itself when too much work started piling up once again.
The entire group was inside the building which looked the most stable, around a table that was actually a clone, as no furniture intact enough was found. They were grouped as per their respective region.
"Ok people, this is our third meeting," said the bunshin in charge, who was officially head of the region of Konoha. "Anyone has anything urgent to bring to the table, or can we get directly to the agenda?"
No one said anything.
"Then let's get to it. First, clothes for Ariko. Status?"
A clone rose from his seat in response. The only difference between him and the other Narutos was the set of googles he wore around his upper left arm, the symbol of the jumpers. "I brought the package to Konoha yesterday night, and delivered it directly to her place." That was what jumpers did. They used the Kawarimi jutsu to 'jump' distance and bring packages. They were only few as of now, but their number was expected to grow quickly.
"Good, one down. Second is, we have our first stock from outside Konoha. I know it isn't much, but it's gonna be enough as samples to see if those items are worth it. We have spices, medicinal plants, silk and a crate of Hakuto-Cho peaches. Jinei, Anei..." He nodded to the civilian clone parents. "You're leaving with those. We'll be expecting news as soon as you have them."
They both nodded in return. This would actually be their first task as an actual part of the network.
"Anything to add about this?" Silence answered him. "Three then. Maps."
A pair of bunshin stepped up and unrolled a map nearly as long as the table. The leaders of the network had switched from the smaller ones to this cloth representation when issues of scale became evident between the various maps.
"As of yesterday, we now have a team in both Rice Field Country and in Northern Tea Country, which means we now have members in seven different countries. By this time next week, we should be in a even ten countries, provided that the team to Wave Country can find a boat to ride on." Clones nodded left and right in agreement. The team to Wave was already five days late, and it seemed it could continue in that vein for a while.
"This brings us to our last point: Catalogues." He brought a rolled scroll to the table. "We have the first draft of the list of products the network could get his hands on, along with the estimated prices. The Tea Country products are not yet there, as the group arrived only early this morning." He brought out other scrolls, copies of the first. "I'm expecting region heads to come after the meeting to get one"
"Any last words before we close the meeting?"
As usual, only silence answered.
"Then, meeting closed. The next one is in a week in Warehouse Four. Let's get back to work, people!" The clone leading the meeting clapped in hands twice and rose, as did everyone else. Most walked or jumped out, with only a few remaining.
Jinei and Anei walked the the person who was, if only nominally, their superior. "Are all meetings like this?" The bunshin impersonating the father asked.
"What, you expected anything else ? We're all Narutos, so long meetings would kill us with our mediocre attention span for such things. Fast and loose is the way to go." He tossed a catalogue to the head of Eastern Fire Country. "Beside, it works. That's what's important, in the end."
The supposed parents couldn't find any way to refute that.
Prank Day 9
"Ok, now what?" said the leading clone back to the group.
This particular group was one of the five training in the new elemental techniques, with the one assigned to them being Katon: Akiraka Jigokuhi.
As it often happened within clone ranks, the whole jutsu learning had become somewhat of a competition being the various teams. Boasting led every group to proclaim that they would finish first, and now each was stuck trying to back their words.
"I don't know. Let me get the scroll," said another bunshin, who then took off in a run.
The other members had nothing else to add, so they only focused at keeping the black balls over there hands stable.
Those balls were the core of the technique, a sort of shell upon within which you built the fireball, or so they understood. Those balls could be thrown, though distance quickly made stability an issue, and would burst upon contact with anything solid, releasing the flames inside.
They hadn't actually found what made the technique dangerous as of yet. They knew the scroll mentioned most students having died due to accidents in training, but most failures they had encountered released fire similar in amount to that of that fire breath technique Naruto had seen Sasuke use, and not much more.
Enough to burst a clone, sure, but hardly deadly enough to be banned by ninja standards.
The clone came back with another, this one holding the scroll. Standard practice, actually, with all the techniques that sometimes went out of control around this room. They hadn't another physical set of copies of the Scroll of Forbidden Seals.
It just hadn't come up.
The leading clone grabbed and unrolled the scroll, and started reading out loud.
"Dragon, Reverse Tiger, Dragon... Focus Chakra above the palm of either hand... form of a black ball... constant concentration... Ahah!" He intoned.
"After having generated a stable ball, one can now feed the technique Fire-aspected Chakra using his other hand, increasing the heat so contained," he quoted directly from the paper. He then looked at the whole group.
Silence ruled for a second. "So, how does someone generate Fire-aspected Chakra?"
"No clue," said the leader, and this was visibly the general opinion. "We'll need to find out."
Hours later, they hadn't advanced a single more inch. There was nothing as such in the copies of the academy textbooks they had, the other Katon technique scrolls only referred to it without explaining what it was, and they all other clones had no clue what it was or how it was formed.
In the end, they kept working on generating and maintaining the sphere, and would think about how to find a solution. At worse, if they found nothing, they'd petition to ask Iruka at the next council meeting.
They were at an impasse, otherwise.
Prank Day 11
"Do a little turn!" exclaimed Ringo. Ariko rolled her eyes.
"Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!" the others took up as a chant.
Ariko obligatorily did a turn, causing the skirt to twirl along with her. The five girls before her watched in rapt attention as it did.
"I like that shade of orange. Amber, right?" said Ringo.
"Yes, but the previous ensemble went much better with her skin tone," countered Fumichi.
"This skirt flutters so prettily. Is it silk, or something else?" added Mihoshi.
Discussions intersected questions as the group argued upon the merits of the latest ensemble. Ariko answered as best as she could, though she had realized she was in over her head.
And how! Just in the last two hours, she had learned the names of two dozen shades of green, and at least half that in red, yellow and orange separately. And what kind of color name was atomic tangerine anyhow?
And that's not counting cuts or materials. Ariko, being Naruto, had had a very limited wardrobe for most of her memories, and rarely opportunities to buy new clothes before the start of the prank. Naruto's well known bright orange shinobi outfit had actually been delivered to his door one day, and Naruto (and the clones, by extension) were pretty sure the old man had something to do with that.
(And they were right, somewhat. After a meeting where the boy had complained not being able to buy this piece of required ninja equipment, the Third had ordered the ANBU to drop said piece of clothing at the boy's door. He'd even specified that there should not be any tracking seals or other surprises of the sort.
The ninja who received the request had the bright idea of finding the required object in the most visible of available colors, as he'd been hunting said boy after a prank often enough. He thought it would help.
Needless to say, Naruto loved it, and it did not help in any way.)
"So, which one do you prefer?" Asked Fumichi as the discussing died down.
Ariko didn't know what to answer. To her male eyes, none were something she would willingly wear (outside a prank, of course). As something for ninja, they all failed, being far from solid enough to withstand active service, and from his limited civilian point of view all were equally comfortable. Well, the skirt bothered him some, but that was because a man shouldn't wear such things, and not any other reason.
In the end, she answered what she could. "None of them, really. I prefer the suit I usually wear at the academy over all of them." It was the best she could come up with.
The rest of the group sighed in near-perfect harmony. "You're such a tomboy, Ariko," said Ringo. The clone, of course, was in no way insulted by this.
"Your mother is dead, right?" added Asano.
"Asano! We don't ask such things!" Fumishi, the leader of the group, replied, cuffing the girl lightly on the shoulder. The effect was completely lost when she turned towards Ariko with expectant eyes, visibly desiring the answer like the others.
Ariko acted as if the question surprised her, mainly to gain time to think. Neither she or any other Naruto clone had worked out much of her history or family, so she didn't know what to answer. As this was the second time this happened, she mentally noted that she'd have to get together with a few other clones and work out a complete history, and that sooner than later.
But now, answering was first. She decided to go along with it, as it would be difficult to argue otherwise. She also supposed it was factually true, as Naruto had none he could call mother.
"Yes," she answered, bowing her head.
"And your were raised by your father alone, or only with other men, right?"
"Right," she said, as this was actually the truth. Iruka and the old man were the primary figures in his life, and both were male.
"I knew it," Fumichi said.
Wait... How did they know that?
"How did you find out?" the bunshin asked.
"I've known three types of tomboys. There are those who are raised as tomboys because their mothers were tomboys, those who refuse to act like their mothers and so act like tomboys, and those who are raised by men and act like them without knowing any better."
"The first type knows somewhat about cosmetics, fashion and such stuff, as their mother will have taught them what little they know. The second knows most, however willingly doesn't care or apply it in any way."
"Only the third type really doesn't know."
She then turned around. "So, girls, one of our number need our help in learning what it is to be a woman. What do you say about that?" she asked the rest of the group.
All smiled. "Let's go! Let's go!" replied Ringo, visibly eager.
Turning back to her, Fumichi was smiling herself. "Today then, we're gonna teach you about fashion, using the sacred female art of people-watching."
Ariko was then dragged to an ice-cream shop in the middle of the business district, and had to comment on the people passing by. Like, this man is a well-to-do peasant, or, a down-on-his-luck merchant.
Her colleges were simply better however.
"A peasant in his best clothes," said Nishi. "This cut is quite out of fashion and he visibly isn't used to wearing them."
"A successful merchant going to do something dirtying," pointed out Mihoshi. "While most of what he wear is old and used, he's wearing new fashionable sandals, and the bracelet he wears seems to be worth quite a bit."
"How about this group?" asked Ariko, pointing at a group of three children playing together. Just to see what they could say.
"The girl... I'd say minor nobilty. She has a posture like she's used to getting her way and most non-nobles wouldn't let a child out to play with a pendant," replied Fumichi.
"The two boys are peasant sons, visibly," added Ringo while taking a bite of her ice cream. "Resistant clothes. Shades that hide dust well and clean easily."
"Left one works the earth with his parents, probably," pointed out Asano. "You can see the earth stains that don't wash out on his knees."
Maybe there was something to this fashion thing after all.
Prank Day 15
Iruka was finishing work alone at the academy.
It wasn't anything new. Being Head Teacher had it's perks (a somewhat higher salary and more authority), but also had it's disadvantages, such as the extra work that tended towards late hours. The chūnin had forgotten how many times he had to beg off a diner or a drink, simply to continue working.
But in this case, it was an advantage.
The current academy class just had their first history exam, and Iruka wanted a look at Naruto and his two clones' work. Not that he wanted to change anything. No. He just wanted to make sure the tests wouldn't give clues pointing toward the infiltrating copies.
He'd only change answers if he really needed too.
Grateful for the fact that he was alone in the building, Iruka infiltrated his co-worker Kazuhi's office, and took out the latest test papers. Less than a minute later he had the three answer sheets lined up on the desk and started poring over them.
'97 for Ariko...' Iruka thought. '71 for Muremaru and 45 for Naruto.' A quick look revealed nothing incriminating. Iruka was of two minds about bringing the subject up to Naruto. On one side, if he gave the teachers what they expected they'd be less curious about him. On the other Naruto didn't really need to use the prank to pass. It would be much better if he went through on his own efforts.
'Then again,' the teacher thought. 'It's obvious from Ariko's results that he masters the material.'
He started going down the questions, comparing them one by one. Naruto hadn't won himself any points by writing down 'Don't care' as the answer to question nine.
Then Iruka came to question thirteen out of twenty.
Ariko's answer was picture perfect, an exact textbook answer, which netted her five points. Muremaru's was similar, with some difference in vocabulary, which was worth again five points.
But it was the same with Naruto, and on his sheet was written a red zero beside the answer.
Iruka reread the three answers one after the other. All had the same core meaning, the same information, with only some differences in vocabulary. Yet Naruto got a zero where the others gained points.
Iruka froze at the implications. The jumped into action.
A few seconds later the original tests were back into their drawer, while Iruka had brought out last year's final exam. And again the same pattern came up.
Even worse! Sometimes Naruto's answer was the exact same as the one of another student, and always was Naruto's ranked lower.
Now fully into the chase, Iruka brought out everything: All the tests, all the notes, all the graded assignments Naruto had done since entering the Academy.
He didn't go in details, passing over quickly, focusing on the questions with the worst results, comparing them to others in his class.
He quickly came to the very conclusion he'd been afraid of:
Naruto should have passed long ago.
His report card for his first year at the Academy had him fail by less than three percent, and that was including everything, such as his Taijutsu (borderline pass) and his Ninjutsu (Total fail). Iruka's recalculation would have brought Naruto final score by at least five points, if not more.
Continuing on, the second year was the same. However Naruto was already visibly starting to make less effort. The number of missing assignments increased, the answers became less worked-on and more rushed, and his notes were lower, even in Iruka's recalculations. This time the teacher wasn't sure if Naruto would have actually passed or failed, his scores were just too much on the limit to tell.
Then coming to the third year, Iruka noticed something else.
He'd not realized before, but last year was the third time in a row that the final Ninjutsu examination was on the bunshin. Thinking back he remembered Mizuki suggesting it last year, while he couldn't remember how the decision was made the year before.
Some people might think it coincidence, but Iruka doubted the existence of the word when it came to Naruto. There was simply too much for that.
"Iruka, are you there?" said a voice.
The teacher jumped out of his chair at the sound, only to recognize Naruto's voice.
"Here," he said in answer, then was hit by a wave of guilt as he looked down at the piles of exam paper. While he hadn't joined in the oppression, he'd been Head Teacher, so it was his responsibility to insure that every student had a good education. And he flubbed it.
"Is everything ok, Sensei ? You were supposed to be at the meeting thirty minutes ago," his student said.
A quick look at the clock confirmed those words. It was already past ten. He'd been so into it he hadn't noticed.
Turning to look at his young charge, Iruka didn't know what to say. How could he explain? He had to, however. Naruto deserved that, in spades.
"Naruto," Iruka said, his voice low. "Take a seat."
The boy did, his face questioning all the while. The chūnin teacher knew he wasn't acting as Naruto was used to, so he wasn't surprised.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," the adult said as soon as his student was fully in his seat. "I failed you."
The boy went as though he wanted to interrupt, but Iruka stopped him with a hand and continued. "I've been going through your latest history exam, just to make sure you hadn't inadvertently given your teacher any clue when I found something."
"Damn!" Naruto said, hitting his open left hand with his fist. "I thought I had done well enough. Is the prank in danger ? Or is Kazuhi only suspicious ?" He put both his hand forward as if praying. "Please tell me it's only suspicion!"
"Nothing like that," answered Iruka, inwardly cursing the fact that he'd given the wrong idea. "There's really no other way to say it..." he added gravely. "Naruto, your teachers failed you on purpose. You should have passed three years ago." Iruka dropped his head in shame. "And I didn't notice before now."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute or so, then the teacher brought his head back up. Looking at the face Naruto was making hurt. 'Broken' was the only description that fit in his mind.
Nevertheless, he soldiered on. He explained how he just noticed, how the notes had been changed. He gave his revised scores, and explained when he should or should not have been promoted. It took a good hour. The chūnin then went back to silence to let his student process the information.
It wasn't long before Naruto answered. "So, what... What happens now ?" he said, his voice sad beyond measure.
"Now depends on you, Naruto. If you want, I'll go right this minute to the Hokage with what I found. He will not be happy with hearing what I have to say, but I'm sure he'll promote you to genin on the spot, along with some form of punishment for those who wronged you."
"I don't know if you'll get a team right away," Iruka continued. "As that depends on how many genin students and Jonin teachers are currently available."
"You'd have to drop your prank, however," the teacher added as an addendum. Naruto reacted to this, however.
"And what would you recommend?" the boy said in a small voice.
Iruka thought for a good moment about this. He loathed what he was about to say, but it was what was best in his mind for his student.
"Personally, I'd recommend keeping the course and finishing the year. Your notes from last year show that you visibly need to revise the basics, especially in maths and history. With all the students graduating, I'm a hundred percent sure that getting a team won't be an issue, nor will getting a jonin-sensei be one."
"And don't worry..." he added with a growl in his voice. "I won't be forgiving this. I''m already building a report on the favoritism of the teachers, and this will feature preeminently in it." The idea that someone would go to such lengths to hurt a child was horribly revolting to him.
"No need for..."
Seeing the face Naruto made with that start, Iruka cut him off. "Yes, there is need. If it happened once it can happen again! And I will not have have a child hurt simply because some people think he doesn't deserve what he worked for!"
"I will have to live with not noticing what they did to you for the rest of my life, but I will not compound that mistake by letting them get away with it. And that is FINAL!"
Naruto shrank back at those words. He'd never seen Iruka so violently passionate, outside possibly the beginning of his battle against his co-teacher Mizuki.
Then he smiled. A passion like that he could respect in a teacher.
"I won't say anything else about it then," Naruto said. "And we'll go with what you said about school. I'm kinda curious how far the prank can go, anyhow." He was smiling all the while.
Looking at Naruto, Iruka saw through the smile the boy was giving the words he knew Naruto meant, and those words were a balm to his soul.
To the chūnin, that smile meant 'All his forgiven', and that was all he really needed to have.
Merry Christmas !
This is part of my present to you all. It has been a long and difficult road writing this, but I finally have something good enough from my point of view.
As for last chapter's challenge, we have actually two winners, because there were two jokes hidden.
Drac-frst wins the easy challenge with the Jōdan name, which of course actually means joke.
M.W. Midnight is the winner of the hard challenge, which was in the girl group's names
Fumichi - One
Nishi - Two
Asano - Three
Mihoshi - Four
Ringo - Five
Which were their names in my original outline.
Both of you, please PM me with the anem of those two characters. They won't be directly important to the plot, but they'll be there.
For the rest of you, I'll post other challenges if ideas come up, so good luck next time, and have a good year.