-\/-
Sasuke was alive! He was only knocked out.
Zabuza, likewise, would survive his wounds. Haku was alive, Tazuna was alive, Sakura was well, Kakashi was not even all that hurt. Naruto was… content.
"Naruto?" Sakura approached him while he looked over the edge of the bridge. The bodies still littered the area, but the villagers were slowly gathering them to give them a proper burial. Inari managed to rally them all to come in time to see the three ninjas decimate the small army.
"Yes, Sakura?"
"What… How did you suddenly get so fast?"
"I…" He wanted to tell her all. To brag. To tell her all about his awesome dad. She was bound to finally give him a chance then, right? But he remembered how his father spoke. How he went the extra mile to hide his heritage. This kind of secret should stay secret, at least until he got to talk with Jiji. "I can't tell you. At least for now."
"What!? What about that red chakra? It was so… evil. And you… you killed those men."
"Sakura." Kakashi was suddenly behind her. "Being a shinobi means that you have to put the mission before everything. By killing those men, Naruto, Haku, and I saved you, Sasuke, and Tazuna. The alternative, was death." He emphasized. This was why genin teams rarely went after anything other than D to low C ranked missions. There was rarely a need to kill on those. And if it happened, there was safety to process it in a calm manner.
"I understand, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura nodded and walked away, but it was clear she was still confused.
"So… what now?" Naruto asked.
"We'll wait until the bridge is done and then leave."
"What about Haku? And Zabuza?"
"I don't know. They're not our enemy any longer."
"Great!" The boy cheered and ran off.
-\/-
The Great Naruto Bridge was finally done. The group could leave for Konoha. Zabuza and Haku chose to stay in the Nami no Kuni for now. There was plenty of work for two Shinobi in the country that only now was beginning to get back on its feet.
The road to Konoha was peaceful and passed them mostly in silence. Sasuke was alternating between constant brooding and glaring at Naruto. Sakura told him what happened after he fell. Naruto, for his part, was mostly amusing himself by reading the cookbook his father left him. He promised Kakashi to explain more after he talked with the Hokage, but there was something different about the blond boy.
As soon as they arrived in the village, Naruto vanished. He promised to meet them later, but he was gone before either of them could speak up.
Up, on the Hokage monument, he finally got into a meditative position. He wanted to test it for the longest time, but he feared what his teammates would say.
"Kurama? Are you there?" He asked, allowing his question to hang in the air for the time.
A growl in his mind was the first answer. "Don't ask stupid questions, Ningen."
"So… you're the reason the village hates me?"
"No, their hatred is just in their nature. They must hate. Humans can only hate" The fox spirit snarled. "They hate you because they can, because it's easy. The alternative would be to deal with their pain."
"But Iruka-sensei doesn't hate me. And neither does Jiji. Or Kakashi-sensei."
"Don't speak out loud, Baka!"
"like that?" Naruto thought, earning the mental equivalent of a nod. How that worked he didn't even want to try and figure out. "Okay. Look, I wanted to ask. Do you wanna do a prank with me?"
"Now you're speaking my language, Ningen." The fox chuckled. "I admit, your previous pranks weren't bad, but you can do better."
"Duh. I now don't need that pesky safety equipment. Wanna make the heads more correct?"
In his office, Hiruzen was having a really big headache. His assistant opened the doors to inform him that Team 7 has returned from their mission. This was gonna cause him so much paperwork. He could feel it in his bones.
"Let them in." He sighed.
Kakashi entered, followed by Sasuke and Sakura. Surprisingly, no Naruto. Headache intensified.
"What's up, Jiji." Naruto was on the ceiling. He stood there, grinning.
"Naruto? How did you get here before us?" Sakura looked up, trying to wrap her head around her teammate. He was dead last before that mission. He was useless. Why was he suddenly so good?
"I entered through the window, duh." He grinned. "I thought I would practice walking on walls. Kakashi-sensei said that I should practice the basics, right?"
"Hokage-sama!" A jonin rushed through the still-open doors. "Someone's vandalized the Hokage monument!"
"Naruto!" Sandaime yelled at the wayward gennin.
"Hey! I just got to the village."
"Kami knows it would've been enough for you." Hiruzen shook his head. "We will discuss this later. For now, I'm just happy to see you all alive."
"Jiji, can we talk, alone?"
"Maybe later-"
"It's about my father. I've seen him."
That got Hokage's attention.
"I see. Everybody but Naruto out."
"What!?" Sasuke and Sakura yelled, but Kakashi dragged the two of them before they got a chance to make fools of themselves in front of the Hokage.
The Anbu appeared from their hiding spots and also left. The room now only had Naruto and the Sandaime.
"Now, please, tell me everything."
For a moment, Naruto mulled over the order. He could give a half-lie. About his father putting a safety message in his seal together with some gifts for when he was older. He thought about it and Kurama said it was plausible. But… that was Jiji. And Naruto wanted to trust him so much. With a sigh, he made his choice.
Sandaime listened attentively to the explanation. It was… not as surprising as he expected. Actually, it was exactly within the lines of what he already knew.
"So your father actually told you."
"He had to. How else would I know about my new awesome kekkei genkai. Believe it!" Naruto beamed. "And wings. And those other awesome things I can do. But you knew already?"
"Very little escapes my sight as the Hokage. I am not called the Professor simply because I'm old." Sarutobi chuckled. "Minato at first tried to hide it from me, but I saw through his mascarade. After he finally confessed, I decided to put my trust in him and named him my successor. Then, you were born. Naruto. I am sorry I hid the truth from you, but your father had enemies. Enemies much stronger than Konoha could've handled. Being the Hokage means I have to watch over the village first."
"I'm still angry at you that you haven't told me when I was older! I can keep a secret! I didn't tell anyone about the fox. Or about the incident with the scroll. Believe it!"
"I was planning on telling you this once you've become Chunin." Hiruzen calmly answered. "But what's done is done. You must remember that Minato made many enemies and when word gets out that you are his son, they might seek revenge on you. Please, be careful, as it will get out soon."
"Wha'?" Naruto looked up at his grandfather figure.
"Imagine for a moment that someone sees you training with your wings. Or even Jiton. A Jonin might easily recognize your father's Jutsu. Even if it's only similar, it would be enough to start rumors. Jonins are like a bunch of old ladies when it comes to gossip. Sooner or later, someone connects the dots, and then it will spread."
"I see… Well, then I just have to become stronger so I can protect myself. Believe it!"
"I never doubted you. But please, do this old man a favor and be careful. And don't reveal the more… otherwordly aspect of your powers to anyone. Jiton is a powerful kekkei genkai and it might attract some unwanted attention." Sarutobi warned, thinking about his former student and his experiments.
"You've got it! Believe it!"
"Good luck then. And… please try to contain pranks to those that do not require a mountain of paperwork."
"Can't promise anything, Jiji!" Naruto cheered before jumping through the window.
-\/-
"Let the awesome training montage commence!" Naruto yelled, standing on an empty training field. Immediately after that, he tried to flap his wings, only to crash head-first into a tree. Trying to get up caused him to crash into another. And another. "Movies make them appear so easy…" He groaned.
"You're an idiot" Kurama sighed.
"If you're so smart, I'm open to suggestions" Naruto quipped.
"It's too amusing. Do it again"
"figures the fox is useless when I actually need him." The boy groaned getting up. He tried to flap his wings with less force, but the mouthful of bark told him it was a failure.
"Are you planning on trashing the entire training grounds today?" A voice asked from the edge. Naruto's head whipped to see just who was standing there. A girl with hair pulled into twin buns, wearing a pink sleeveless qipao-style blouse with red sleeve trimming. "Honestly, I thought it was Gai-sensei and Lee training here."
"Huh? Who're you?"
"I'm Tenten. You're… Naruto, right?"
"Believe it! How did you figure that out?"
"I know of only one boy my age that wears an orange jumpsuit and has blonde hair. Just what are you practicing? You're like… crashing into everything."
"I… it's… well…" He tried to figure out what to say.
"She's genuine," Kurama told him. "Just curious. And she appears competent. Definitely, she can prove more helpful than eating tree-bark"
"I wouldn't need to do that if you've just helped me yourself." Naruto pointed out. In response, he only got some chuckle.
"Maybe, but it wouldn't be so fun for me."
Stupid fox. Naruto thought and turned to the girl. "Well, I'm… practicing a cool new Jutsu."
"No offense, but it seems you still have a long way to go then." She laughed.
"I don't get it. The moment I use it, I just crash into the first thing in my path. Even if I cut out almost all the strength, I smash into a tree or a wall." Naruto got up and dusted himself off.
"Okay, how exactly does it work?"
"Um… I have no idea. I'm going on instinct here."
"What exactly is this Jutsu? Maybe I can help?"
"Hirashin."
Before he knew it, he found himself lifted off the ground and held almost uncomfortably close to the girl's face.
"You've figured the secret behind Hirashin!?" She was strangely giddy. "I admit, I tried to replicate it, but the sheer theoretical knowledge needed would require years of constant study to master. How are you even attempting it?"
"There is a secret to it. Hirashin is actually in part kekkei genkai." He revealed. It was easier than to explain how one had to have angelic wings for impossibly-fast movement and Jiton for being able to… orient himself. "I'm an idiot!" He yelled.
"You figured it out only now?" Kurama laughed at his host.
"What?"
"All this time, I was only trying to use the travel part and not my kekkei genkai!" He pulled on Jiton and flapped his wings.
His next crash caused the nearby hill to be cut in half and several trees to be uprooted. Naruto was now inside a rather significant ditch of his own making.
"well, it certainly did something." Tenten joked. "You sure you don't need a marker?"
"Dad said they're not needed though." He belatedly realized what his probably-concussed self just said. "Wah!" He focused on getting next to Tenten before she could run off and tell everyone.
To everyone's surprise (especially Naruto's) he appeared next to her, accompanied by the sound of wings flapping.
"You can't tell anyone! It's a secret!" Only once he shouted at her, he realized he was now next to her.
"You did it."
"He did it" Kurama muttered from inside his cage.
"I… did it! Believe it!"
"You still have to pay for the damage," Hiruzen said, scaring the two teens.
"When did you get here, Jiji?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head in shame.
"Shortly before miss Tenten arrived."
"Oh… So you've seen-"
"Yes."
"Oh…"
-\/-
Seeing as he wanted to avoid having more training fields wrecked, Hokage finally took pity on Naruto and revealed the secret behind Shadow Clones and their amazing training potential. With that, he could finally catch up to the other academy students and push past them.
Tenten was a very eager sparring partner for him. Between Lee's brutal devotion to training and Neji's natural genius, she was starting to lag behind her teammates. Training with Naruto gave her a chance for some extra practice that wouldn't involve doing push-ups on one's small fingers. Really, Gai-sensei was an amazing teacher, but sometimes a little… excentric with his training methods.
During the months following their initial meeting, both improved by leaps and bounds, surprising their teammates and teachers. Hiruzen watched in amusement as Naruto climbed from dead-last to the top.
And then he cried when news of more pranks came. Naruto really put his training to use. How exactly did he manage to dye all Inuzuka hounds neon orange? If only he was as good in stealth during missions as he was in pranks, he would've made Jonin in no time.
These few months were filled with chaos.
"Naruto-baka!" Sakura yelled while he was busy setting wires all around the bridge. "Didn't you learn already!?"
"Hey, if a Jonin gets caught in my prank, what does it really say about their skills?" He shrugged.
"That they are a bunch of prissy morons." Kurama supplied with dark amusement. He reveled in the chaos caused by his host. The boy was a genius when it came to pranks. The cries of terror when he replaced all Kakashi's books with biology textbooks. Naruto didn't understand why he had to use biology textbooks of all things, but he guessed it was because they were boring. He will figure it out one day… Kurama sweatdropped at the memory.
"Everyone gets caught in your pranks! Ever since you've come back from Nami no Kuni, you've been insufferable!"
Being the mature fourteen-year-old he was, Naruto answered in the only proper way and blew her raspberry.
"Now you're gonna get it!" Sakura was one second away from pulverizing him, but she was stopped when Sasuke spoke up.
"Stop being so noisy." He grumbled from his place on the railing.
"Yeah, Naruto! Stop being so noisy! Why can't you be like Sasuke!? He's so cool!"
"You're the more noisy one." Sasuke deadpanned, which caused Sakura to sweatdrop. Naruto laughed at her expression.
"Maa, Maa. You three are a team. That's no way for a team to behave." Kakashi spoke from the top of one of the gates on the bridge. He tried to jump down but instead found himself hanging in the air, tangled in invisible ropes. "What?"
Naruto giggled. "It actually worked! I knew that you were watching us so I made it look like I was just setting the rope on the ground when earlier I made this net so it would catch you unprepared!"
"Huh. You really are improving. It is a lesson for me that the three of you should also remember. A ninja must always look underneath the underneath."
"Yeah, yeah. Just admit that you were caught and don't try to make it look like you did that on purpose." Naruto grumbled.
"What makes you think that I didn't?" Kakashi suddenly spoke from behind Naruto, startling him.
"I hate when he does that."
"Why did you call us here, Kakashi-sensei? Is there a mission?" Sakura changed the subject.
"No. In fact, you have the rest of the week off." He proclaimed. "I've nominated the three of you for the Chunin exam." Kakashi handed each of them the required form. "Should you decide to attempt it this year, come to the academy on Friday. Each of you must decide on your own whether you are ready or not." He warned before leaving them.
Naruto snickered and also vanished, accompanied by the strange sound of flapping wings.
He arrived near the academy and decided to wait for a bit for Konohamaru to come. The boy was his semi-official apprentice. It wasn't long until the trio of Konohamaru, Udon, and Mogege ran toward him.
"Boss! Boss! Iruka-sensei was teaching us Henge no Jutsu today and I showed him your Oiroke no Jutsu!"
Apprentice in what you would ask? Apprentice in the fine art of pranking of course!
"When a monkey wants a banana…" Naruto sagely began.
"It must screech like it's on fire." His students finished. The four of them started to all laugh uncontrollably.
"Naruto? Who's that with you?" Sakura asked, walking into the alley. She figured she heard Naruto's voice.
"Whoa, boss! Is she your girlfriend?!" Konohamaru asked in awe.
"I'm not his girlfriend, Baka!"
"When did she learn Big Head no Jutsu?" Mogege asked confused. She was sure only Iruka-sensei knew it.
"Well, good. Boss doesn't need such a flat girlfriend." The Sandaime's grandson grumbled.
The alley was suddenly flooded with killing intent.
"Um… your master has a new lesson for his students." Naruto proclaimed. "A special Jutsu passed on through generations of men. It's called Run Like Hell Jutsu. What I mean to say is… Run for your life!" He yelled and started to dash out of the alley.
"You managed to find students that are as oblivious as you are. I'm impressed, Ningen." Kurama laughed from inside his host.
The four turned several corners, hoping to evade the furious female. Konohamaru was in the lead, so he was the one that crashed into someone.
"Sorry…"
"You brat. I oughtta teach you some manners."
"I wouldn't do that, Make-up boy," Naruto warned as he arrived in the alley.
"Oh? And who's gonna stop me?"
"Probably the girl you stole that make-up kit from."
"It's war-paint, you uneducated swine!"
"No, it's actually make-up," Naruto spoke from behind him. He was holding a box and admiring its content. "I think harsh purple is really not your color. Have you considered light pink instead? Mix it with crimson red lipstick to bring attention away from your horrendous cat ears."
"You're gonna pay for that!" Kankuro was about to lunge at Naruto, but the boy was already gone. He was now admiring the same make-up set from a nearby tree.
"Hey! You've stolen my make-up kit!" A girl landed next to him. She had a giant club on her back.
"No, I liberated it from the make-up boy down there." Naruto happily pointed at the alley.
"Kankuro!"
"Don't believe him, sis!"
That caused Naruto to laugh so hard he almost fell off the tree. "This… of Kami I can't… You… I only joked when I said you stole your sister's make-up. It's even more hilarious now that I was proven right!"
"When I get my hands on you…" The blonde threatened, grabbing her club.
"Enough." Another voice joined the discussion. A short boy with red hair stood on another branch. He had a giant gourd on his back.
"G-Gaara. We were just…"
"We didn't mean…"
"I said enough. We're leaving." With a Shunshin, Gaara appeared next to Kankuro. Temari jumped off and joined them. The trio started to walk away, but Naruto shouted after them, getting their attention.
"Hey, you three! Just because you came for the Chunin exams doesn't mean you can act like you own the place." His entire posture suddenly became tenser and his face took a darker expression. "This village is like family. And we protect our own. Believe it!"
"Really? You think you could take the three of us alone?" Kankuro boasted.
"Hn." A grunt from the same tree Gaara was on a moment ago attracted everyone's attention. "He's not alone."
"Yeah!" Sakura also reminded everyone she was there.
"Konoha stands together!" Konohamaru shouted, accompanied by shouts of confirmation from his two friends.
For a moment, it almost seemed like the place became darker. A strange aura of light surrounded Naruto and just for a moment, it almost seemed like his shadow had a pair of wings. It disappeared almost instantly, making it seem just like a play of light.
-\/-