Chapter 10: Graduation

Operation: Graduation Day Super Prank

Operative: Naruto Namikaze

Target: Classified

Naruto stole through the shadows of Konoha, a wraith in the moonlight. This was it. His greatest prank would make this day an unforgettable one. If he could get to his target.

Ducking into an alleyway, Naruto hid himself behind a dumpster, trusting the shadows to hide him from the group of chunin strolling down the road. As soon as the coast was clear, Naruto darted into another alley, weaving and winding through the narrow corridors like a mouse in a maze. The grand prize was the cheese at the end, and Naruto could practically smell it.

Reaching the narrow stairway leading to the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto cursed his luck, seeing a chunin pair standing at the little landing. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto decided to bluff his way through.

Staying out of view of the chunin, Naruto stepped out of the shadows and rounded the corner. "Good morning," Naruto said cheerfully, hiding the grimace when he realized that it was Kotetsu and Izumo. They both knew him and had been on the receiving end of one of his pranks.

"Naruto," Izumo replied warily. "What are you doing out here so early?"

"Eh, just wanted a view," the young blonde replied, trying to keep his tone casual.

Kotetsu snorted, raising an eyebrow. "And you need rope and climbing gear to do that?" He gestured to the gear slung across Naruto's shoulders.

Naruto muttered further under his breath.

"Go home, Naruto," Izumo said. "Hokage Monument's closed for some renovations, and we don't need you doing any more pranks up there."

Naruto snorted, then throwing caution to the wind, drew his hands into a hand seal. Immediately, the two chunin sprung into action, fearing whatever Naruto had up his sleeve.

"You asked for it!" Naruto yelled, before bursting into smoke.

In his place stood a blonde beauty, smoke barely concealing her modesty. Izumo, the luckier of the pair, stood rooted to the spot, gaping at the sight and bleeding from his nose, before his brain went into overload and he passed out completely. Unfortunately for Kotetsu, who had jumped towards Naruto, the chunin was in the air, unable to stop himself from falling onto the beautiful, and seemingly naked girl. Needless to say, Kotetsu shot backwards from a massive nosebleed, passing out next to his friend.

With a huff, the pretty girl got up and dusted herself off. With a puff of smoke, Naruto reverted back into his regular self, smirking to himself. "I should've known you two were perverts." Then Naruto thought about the problem that arose, now that Kotetsu and Izumo knew who would be behind the new prank.

Then Naruto shrugged. I wanted everybody to know anyways. Shouldering his gear, Naruto began the long trek up the Hokage's monument, his bucket of seals bouncing lightly on his leg.

When Naruto reached the top of the monuments, he was huffing lightly, but like most other Academy students, he was healthy and fit. Uncapping the bucket, Naruto knew he would have to work fast. His seals weren't the best, and if he didn't have them set up soon, they wouldn't explode in sync. Using the rope and his gear, Naruto scaled the faces of the Hokages, planting his seals all over the various features carved into the cliffside. There was a method to his madness, though, and Naruto needed to place each seal in roughly an exact location in order for the final product to be pulled off. The job took him over an hour, and by the time he finished, the sun was peaking its first tentative rays over the treetops.

Rushing back to the top of the monument, Naruto cleaned up his gear and rushed back down. As he reached the bottom, he noticed that Kotetsu and Izumo were still there, twitching but slowly regaining consciousness. Smirking, Naruto sauntered up to them, and making sure they could see him, yelled out, "Sexy Jutsu!"

As the smoke cleared, the same blonde beauty from before was standing there, and for added measure, she gave a flirty wink. Kotetsu and Izumo wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Naruto thought amusedly.

Quickly moving on his way, Naruto ran back to his apartment, setting up his camera to document his greatest prank yet. If everything went right, the seals would explode at 8:00, right when he and the rest of the students would be arriving at the Academy. Changing into an orange jumpsuit, Naruto began whistling a happy tune. As he walked through the streets of Konoha, which were just beginning to wake up, the people he passed couldn't help but feel a shudder of fear crawling up their spines.

As Naruto came into view of the Academy, the boy slowed down, allowing himself to revel in the moment, Today was graduation, and everybody would be outside for the headmaster's little speech. Even better, everybody would be in plain view of the Hokage Monument!

Grinning with glee, Naruto strolled through the gates, pushing through the small crowd of students who had already arrived. Finding a suitable spot, Naruto leaned back against a nearby tree, content to watch the proceedings. Until Ino showed up that is.

"Naruto! You're wearing that horrible orange… thing again!" Came the horrified shriek.

Naruto glanced at Ino with a touch of annoyance. "Nice to see you too, princess."

Ino ignored him. "Did you pull a prank today?! Was it on me?!"

Naruto was surprised. Did people really pay attention to what he wore when he went pranking? "Prank? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked trying to play dumb.

"Don't play stupid with me, you idiot!" Ino cried. "Everybody knows that you wear that horrible jumpsuit whenever you play a huge prank, cause it makes you feel all stealthy or whatever! So tell me, idiot! Did you play a prank on me?!"

Naruto involuntarily took a half step back, before relaxing. "Don't worry. You'll know soon enough," He said with a chuckle.

"Gah! Naruto! I hate you!" Ino cried, before running away quickly, hoping to save herself.

Naruto smirked, until he noticed Shikamaru next to him. "Oh hey, Shikamaru. What's up?"

Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow. "It better not be me, Naruto."

Naruto grinned deviously. "You'll see what my prank is soon enough, Shikamaru. Everyone will."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said, before sitting down on the other side of the tree, promptly falling asleep, hoping he wouldn't be involved with Naruto's prank.

Naruto blinked. How lazy can someone get? Anyways, the grand finale was about to start. Rubbing his hands gleefully, Naruto glanced around restlessly. Everybody was here. Even Sasuke. Naruto paused momentarily. Shrugging off the conflict in his heart, Naruto set his sights on the Hokage monument. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

BOOM! As everybody gaped at the Hokage monument, unable to believe that magnitude of this prank, far in the distance, Naruto thought that he could hear his Oji-san's voice. "NARUTO!"

IIIIII

Sasuke sat in his seat, brooding. He was watching Naruto laugh it up with his new friends. How he hated that sight. The betrayal he felt. The hatred he felt that Naruto could sever their bond just like that. But underneath all of that, the hurt. The pain that his best friend – his brother, really – could simply toss him aside. Here he was, laughing it up after playing one of his biggest pranks yet. Without him.

Sasuke just growled. Naruto had even gotten away scot free. When had that happened? When had Naruto stolen the spotlight and left him to writhe under the villagers' stares? When?

Sasuke knew when. When Naruto became Namikaze. Sasuke glared at Naruto again from his spot in the back, the spot he had been confined to by the other students. And what had Naruto said? Nothing. Not that Sasuke cared or anything like that.

Suddenly, the laughter surrounding Naruto ceased as the blonde was called up by Iruka. "Namikaze Naruto! You're next!"

Sasuke could see Naruto's easy grin, annoying as usual. Sasuke could see Naruto's grin get wider as the boy entered the private testing room. Iruka would be in for a surprise.

In the testing room, Naruto saw only Iruka and another chunin teacher in the room with him.

"Alright Naruto. You have to perform the jutsu in this test at a satisfactory level in order to pass. Do you understand?" Iruka asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Alright, let's start with the Substitution. Use the log–" Before Iruka could finish, Naruto had already disappeared in a poof of smoke, standing where the log used to be propped.

Iruka sighed. "Ok. Let's the the Henge next." He failed to catch Naruto's wicked smirk.

"Sexy Jutsu!"

"Wait, wha–?" The other proctor managed to stutter out before smoke flashed, obscuring Naruto.

In Naruto's place stood a buxom blonde beauty, stark naked. Both Iruka and his partner's eyeballs nearly popped out of his sockets as the young teachers tried to control their reactions, but alas, it was too much when Naruto blew a kiss. Getting a massive nosebleed, Iruka crumpled, eyes glazed over. The other proctor dropped like a log.

With another puff of smoke, Naruto was back, his signature grin pasted on his face. "Boo ya! Works every time!" Naruto cried out, pumping his fist in the air. Before he had a chance to celebrate though, Iruka jumped up, recovered, chewing Naruto out.

"Naruto! Stop fooling around! Unfortunately… since you were able to… fool me…" Iruka looked to his partner, who was still splayed out on the ground, "I guess that's a pass," Iruka grumbled out very reluctantly.

Naruto only smirked. "Now do the bunshin." Just as quickly, Naruto's smirk disappeared.

Sighing in concentration, Naruto called upon his chakra, trying to use as little as possible. He and the Old Man had figured out that he simply wasn't controlling his chakra properly because he was molding too much for the bunshin jutsu.

Doing his very best, Naruto gave a yell as three clones materialized in a burst of smoke. Peeking through half-closed eyelids, Naruto nearly shouted at the results. One of the bunshin was actually standing, but it looked like it hadn't eaten a day in its life. The other two were sprawled on the ground and looked more like training dummies than actual copies.

Holding his breath, Naruto hoped that Iruka would be merciful. The young teacher sighed. This was typical of Naruto's problems with bunshin. But unlike previous times, Naruto could actually create a clone this tim. Three of them. As the exam rules dictated.

"Come on, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto begged, "They can be used in battle as a distraction. My opponent might… might… die of laughter!"

Iruka nearly snorted, but held it back, thankfully. Naruto had performed the bunshin, and he had a point. Moreover, Iruka knew of the boy's track record. He did well in taijutsu training and was fairly average in academics. He had potential. Iruka looked back once more at his still twitching partner. Must be the first time he's seen that jutsu. Iruka sighed.

"Alright then, Naruto. You pass, by the skin of your teeth–"

"Yes! Thank you, Iruka-sensei! I love you!" Naruto exclaimed, before hugging Iruka and grabbing his headband and leaving the room in a whirlwind.

Iruka couldn't help but smile at the young boy.

As Naruto exited the room, Sasuke grunted. It looked like Naruto passed. He must have been working at that bunshin. Naruto was jumping around like a manic idiot, too. Typical Naruto. Sasuke hated that Naruto was finally able to find acceptance. Sasuke zoned out the rest of the exchange, only perking up when he heard Iruka call his name.

"Hn." In one grunt, Sasuke conveyed his annoyance with the situation, his utter boredom, and his dislike for Naruto. And only Naruto understood any of it, which the blonde responded to with a glare.

Sasuke did his test, and sat back down. Nothing special about this. Just another day in the life. "Hn."

IIIIII

Sasuke felt the need to grunt again as he and the other Academy students filed back into the classroom. Iruka was supposed to be announcing the teams now, but Sasuke just wanted to go home and get some more training in.

Sasuke thought back to the graduation proceedings. Almost everybody he knew had passed. Even Naruto. Apparently, he could perform the bunshin well enough to pass. Sasuke was surprised. He must have been practicing that at least.

Sasuke thought back to Naruto now, and resented the boy even more. Had he forgotten about the Uchiha and the training he received? It was because of them that Naruto was as skilled as he was now!

Sasuke closed his eyes, furiously trying to calm himself, only opening his eyes when he sensed Iruka returning to the room.

"Alright, everybody! Listen up! I have good news for you today! If you're in this room, then you passed the graduation exam!" Iruka paused, smiling at the cheers that burst forth. "And as many of you may know, you will be divided into teams of three and placed under the instruction of a jonin…" Here Iruka paused dramtaically, "As official genin of Konoha!"

The newly instated genin in the room all gave a cheer and some sort of sign of approval. Even Sasuke, who nodded his head and smirked, allowing the corners of his mouth to turn upwards slightly.

"So now, here are the teams!" Iruka said proudly, and for good reason. He had seen these students for quite a few years. He had taught them skills that they would be carrying with them throughout their lives. Of course he should be proud.

"Team 1!" Iruka called. Sasuke grunted. Unimportant. Zoning out for a while, Sasuke snapped back to attention when he heard his name. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Namikaze, and Sakura Haruno. You'll be team 7!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He was going to be on the same team as Naruto. Was he angry? Was he annoyed? Was he happy? He couldn't tell.

Naruto turned in his seat, grinning, to give a high-five to Sakura, who was a seat down from him. "Alright, Sakura! We're on the same team!" Naruto was cheerful enough, but he remembered the days when Sakura used to be a fangirl. In fact, she still was. It was only the social stigma surrounding Sasuke that prevented it from turning on full blast. Thinking of that, Naruto turned in his seat again, this time to glare at Sasuke in the back. "Uchiha."

"Namikaze." Came the short response. The students fidgeted in their seats, able to feel the tension hanging between the two boys. They all knew that something had happened between Naruto and Sasuke, but no one knew what it was exactly. Just that it was enough to make them the bitterest of enemies. All the more reason to stay away from Sasuke Uchiha.

Iruka cleared his throat. "You three will be under Kakashi Hatake." Iruka sighed when the only one who seemed to give an indication of listening was Sakura. "Anyways, Team 8…"

Naruto zoned out for most of Iruka's talking, settling to give Sasuke a parting glare. The two of them would be on the same team. That was a bad thing, right? Naruto wasn't so sure. A part of him was… happy? He didn't want to question it now. There'd be time to think on it later.

When Iruka dismissed the class for lunch, Naruto practically jumped out of his seat, moving for the door faster than chain lightning. But before he could make good his escape, Iruka had already grabbed ahold of the boy's collar. "Alright, Naruto. It's time to talk about your pranks."

Iruka's evil smile promised pain, and Naruto whimpered, despite himself.