A/N: Today, June 14, 2006, is officially the last day of finals. Also, this is the day before the last day of school. YAY! Anyway, I feel like writing a little bit, so here I am. I still have a few major problems but they are greatly reduced since school is basically over. I mean, nobody really comes on the last day of school, do they? I have a reputation to uphold, therefore, I will not be able to write anything until around 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. Even then, I will probably be slacking off in class since nothing is going to happen. Anyway, here are the review responses.
Demon of Konoha: You'll know exactly when I have something on my mind or if I have a creativity block. I won't really update very often if I am thinking about something else. I enjoyed using your prank. I mean, I added a few things and made the scale a lot larger but it's still similar.
Dragon Man 180: I've decided to not change the original teams. If I did that, then a few events would never happen. There are going to be some changes, though. Also, everyone in the village gets a prank by Naruto, except for the people around his age that accept him for who he is, even if Naruto is faking the entire thing. Also, I doubt it, unless he tells the others his absolute greatest secret, which was revealed to him in the last chapter.
Orbrey: Like I said, Naruto would not be dropping the mask anytime soon. Also, I'm glad you think so. I don't like to have the characters be OOC. Also, since Shikamaru knows, Naruto may be able to give Shikamaru a run for his money, nut I still think Shikamaru would win.
Miss Naye: (sigh) Unfortunately, Naruto won't be on the same team as his friends. Naruto will be able to have a relationship with his friends, though.
Causeiambetta: Have I mentioned that I just love your screen name? Anyway, as I've said repeatedly, Naruto is not a moron! There is no way that Naruto could do the things he does without having some sort of intellect. I'm just making Naruto really smart while making him act like an idiot to preserve the validity of the story. Thanks for the review.
LoveDetermination: Thanks for your input. I personally loved the last chapter because it revealed a lot about Naruto's hidden personality.
Exerci: Thanks for the constructive criticism there. I changed the last chapter a little bit. I also decided to stop using Japanese terms to a certain extent. All the Japanese used in this chapter has been used before and is not really major. I'm glad you like it otherwise.
Yay! I didn't have to pull Jessie off of anyone! Jessie, no offence, but you are heavy. (Jessie: growl) Hey, I said, "No offense!" (Jessie: snort) Okay, anyway, let's get started! Enjoy the ninth installment of "Cheerfulness Incarnate"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If you say I do, I will let Benny, the zebra lawyer, pay you a visit.
(Chapter Begins)
Naruto was truly cheerful the next morning. He headed towards the Hokage tower to take the picture for his ninja papers. He got a bright idea halfway there and prepared it along the way by one of his scrolls. As soon as he got there, the photographer's mouth made a connection to the roof of the Hokage Tower.
"Are you sure you want to take the picture like THAT?"
"Yeah, yeah, just take the stupid picture."
"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you…"
The camera went off preserving a very funny portrait of the village's #1 prankster.
Later, he took the completed ninja forms and his hilarious picture to the Hokage's office. An argument followed when Naruto refused to retake the picture. This particular argument ended with the Hokage gaining a nosebleed. Before they could speak again, a small, goofily dressed little boy charged into the room.
"Jiji! Fight me! The title of Godaime Hokage belongs to me!
BAM!
Naruto's head formed a large sweat-drop at the scene as the Third sighed. The boy had tripped over his oversized scarf and fell on his face. The boy then looked up to see Naruto looking at him. He grew angry and started to yell at the orange blonde.
"You tripped me, didn't you!"
Naruto became annoyed, seeing that the child was blaming him for the boy's own screw-up.
"What are you talking about, you brat!" Naruto yelled back, grabbing the boy's shirt and lifting him up off of the floor.
"Put him down this instant, young man! He is the honorable grandson of the Third Hokage!"
Naruto turned towards the sound of the voice to see an angry jounin yelling at him. He then looked at the little kid thinking about the jounin's words. "Grandson; what's a grandson?"
He turned his attention back to the little boy who was wearing a taunting smile.
"Aren't you going to hit me? Are you afraid that I'll kick your butt? Are you scared that my grandpa is the Third?"
Naruto got really angry at that last comment. He was not scared! He voiced his thoughts by bashing the kid on the top of the head.
"I don't care if he's your grandmother! I'm not scared of you!"
The kid looked surprised as he rubbed his head. He looked up in awe as the Third dismissed Naruto. Naruto left shortly after.
(Scene change)
Naruto was getting pretty annoyed by this point. The little kid was attempting to hide from him and was failing miserably. By now, Naruto had seen him through 5 disguises, the most pathetic being the oversized rock and the sideways fence disguise. The kid finally introduced himself after being caught for the 15th time. It seemed that he was tired of being called the "Honorable Grandson" instead of his true name, Konohamaru. Naruto began to gain respect for the kid as he taught him one of his prized techniques, Oiroke no Jutsu. The jounin came by near the end of the day and was blown away by Konohamaru's Oiroke no Jutsu. This wasn't enough, seeing as Naruto had to subdue him by combining the Oiroke with Kage Bunshins. The Haremu no Jutsu was born as Ebisu was transported to the other end of the village via blood rocket.
Konohamaru looked up at Naruto in awe as they observed the flying special jounin. Konohamaru mentioned his search for the "easy way" to becoming Hokage. Naruto responded seriously to this statement.
"There isn't any. You have got to gain the trust of the villagers if you want to ever become Hokage. I've been trying for more than 9 years now and I only have the support of about 5 people. It's hard to gain the trust of others so you have to work hard. There is no easy way to becoming Hokage; just as there is no easy way to gain a person's trust. Even then, you will have to beat me and everyone else who tries to become Hokage in order to gain that title. The title of the Hokage indicates the strongest in the village so you must be strong in both mind and body in order to gain such a title. In the future, when you're stronger, we'll have a fight to see who is worthy of the name Hokage."
Naruto walked away, leaving Konohamaru to think of his words. A true smile crept across Konohamaru's face as he trotted away, determined to become strong in both body and spirit. Naruto walked away happily, satisfied that he helped another to find their true path.
"You will be strong someday, Konohamaru. I anticipate our match in the future."
(The next day)
Naruto woke up to an annoying ringing in his ears. He smacked his clock and got dressed as he took a glance at the calendar. A smile crept on his face as he placed his headband upon his forehead.
"Today, I am a ninja!"
As he walked to the academy for the last time as a student, he looked absolutely ecstatic about the events to come. But, on the inside, Naruto underwent an identity crisis. "If I have the Kyuubi sealed into me, what does that make me? Does that make me a puppet for the fox? Will I end up destroying the village in the future?" Naruto then remembered Iruka's words from the night before.
"He is a kind young man who cares for those around him. He is a valued member of this village. He is Konohagakure no Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto thought carefully about Iruka's words as he developed his next thought. "That's right; if I was just a demon, then Iruka-sensei wouldn't have said that. He would have backed Mizuki's statement about me being a demon."
Naruto seemed to lighten up after this thought as he arrived at the school. He immediately walked towards his friends who were sitting near his usual seat.
"Hi, everybody!" Naruto said cheerfully. Each person who considered Naruto a friend whipped his or her head up. Each person had different reactions.
"Hey, Naruto" Chouji said in between eating his chips.
"H-hello, Naruto-kun" Hinata said timidly.
Shikamaru only gave a wave, determining it to be too troublesome to speak. Shino only acknowledged Naruto's presence with a slight nod.
Naruto smiled brightly. Inside, Naruto was having an internal debate concerning, once again, the newly found information. "Do they know? When I asked Hokage-oji-san about this, he said that only the adults knew. I hope they don't know. Like my tears, this is just another secret that will never be revealed as long as I can help it."
Naruto sat in his favorite seat which happened to be next to the seat where Hinata was sitting. Hinata blushed brightly and Naruto did not notice. He was too busy debating his identity inside his mind. He looked over to Hinata as soon as her blush faded. Hinata seemed tense and Naruto inquired about this.
"Hey, Hinata-san, are you okay? You seem to be a little stiff."
"I-I'm okay, N-naruto-kun. I-I'm just a little n-nervous, t-that's all." Hinata responded with her well-known stutter.
Naruto smiled in response, attempting to comfort the blue-haired girl. "No need to be nervous, Hinata-san. Nothing bad could happen today; we're only being assigned into our genin teams."
Hinata leaned forward and set her head in her arms in anxiety. She wanted to have Naruto on her team, but she did not know how probable that was. She seemed to stiffen as Iruka walked into the room. She took one last glance over to Naruto to see that he was in a similar position in the chair next to her.
"Okay, everyone, I will be telling you your genin cell assignment. Your jounin instructor will come to pick you up shortly…" Naruto spaced out somewhat, already knowing about this information. He was able to see how it worked one day as he walked through the school one day. His attention was caught as his name was mentioned. He needed to keep up his mask even if he was out of the academy, so he got prepared to do so.
"Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi"
As his team was announced, Naruto reacted as expected to the results. He cheered as his "crush's" name was called and sighed in dejection as Sasuke's name was called. Shortly afterward, the two newly dubbed teammates glared at the orange-clad genin. Both Sasuke and Sakura were still sore from the prank from a few days ago. Naruto glared back at Sasuke as he noticed Hinata's dejected and disappointed look. His eyes filled with concern as he asked her what the problem was.
"Hinata-san, what's wrong?"
Hinata seemed to jump at this statement as she replied timidly. "N-nothing's w-wrong, N-naruto-kun. I-it's okay."
Naruto doubted this but accepted her response nonetheless. Also, Hinata's name was being mentioned.
Iruka began to speak again, mentioning team 8. "Team 8 will consist of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Your sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai."
Naruto began to zone out again, now thinking about Hinata's earlier expression. His interest was caught once again as Chouji looked upward from his bag of chips and Shikamaru opened one eye sleepily.
"Team 10 will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. Your teachers will arrive shortly. I hope you all have successful endeavors!" Iruka said with a smile. He walked out of the room leaving the students to do as they wish.
Naruto instantly went to meet his team members.
"Hi, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura turned around slowly, anger apparent on her face. "Naruto, I didn't give you permission to call me "chan."
Naruto seemed to ignore her statement and kept talking. "Anyway, we should get to know each other better since we're on the same team. So, would you like to have lunch with me, Sakura-chan?"
"No, Naruto, you're annoying." Sakura said simply. Naruto was left behind as she left. Inside, Naruto was fuming.
"It's not like I actually want to call you "chan," Sakura. Damn, it's hard keeping that up, especially since I'm not interested in people that treat others like shit."
Naruto came up with an idea as he tracked down the brooding member of his new team. He found him in an unused room, apparently avoiding his large fan club.
(POV change)
Shikamaru spotted his friend as he walked on an awning on the next building over. He was walking towards a window which held the silhouette of a certain brooding boy. Ino spotted this and shouted in protest.
"Naruto! If you even scratch Sasuke-kun, you'll be on by "Enemy" list for life!"
Team 10 watched closely as Naruto ambushed Sasuke. Not 30 seconds later, they saw Sasuke hop out.
"That's what I'm talking about. No one can beat my Sasuke-kun, especially not that dobe, Naruto."
Shikamaru was slightly confused. Was it possible that he underestimated Naruto? A thought hit him as he analyzed the situation. "Sasuke" left though the window when he could have left through the door. Naruto should have been up and running by now. Then, Shikamaru smiled as he realized that the "Sasuke" was Naruto using Henge. He submerged himself back into thought as Ino continued her rant.
(Meanwhile)
Sasuke, painted similar to how he was two days before was being guarded by two Naruto clones. Sasuke seemed extremely confused and angered as the clones wore a sinister smirk filled with pride. He was tied to a chair and placed in an awkward position as the Naruto clones puffed out of existence. Sasuke's mind swam as he escaped from the bindings. Sasuke then used a henge to disguise his body.
"How can the dobe combine the use of solid clones, kamarimi, and two techniques I've never seen? The first one was obviously a fire technique and the second one was a wind technique. Where did he learn these techniques? How could he use them?"
Sasuke, freed and looking perfectly normal, headed back to the classroom to see Naruto change back into his regular self. He watched Naruto carefully as he stepped into the classroom.
(POV change)
The jounin sensei arrived shortly after the students returned. After about 15 minutes, there were only two teams left. Team 7 and Team 8 sat in their various seats with different reactions. Naruto sat in his seat, conversing occasionally with Hinata, Sakura tried in vain to get Sasuke to speak, Shino spoke with one of his bugs, gathering information on the other people present, and Kiba sat and fumed silently and impatiently. Soon enough, Kurenai arrived to take team 8 away from the classroom. Kiba lightened up instantly and bounded out of the room. Shino calmly walked out and Hinata reluctantly left as a stuttered goodbye was given to Naruto.
Naruto's mood had changed substantially after Hinata had left. He now no longer had a person to talk to while he waited for his extremely late sensei. A smirk crept on Naruto's face as he got an idea on how to pay him back. Naruto did some hand-seals and opened his scrolls and got to work. Sasuke watched Naruto intently as he did his deed. Unfortunately, Sasuke could only see Naruto opening and shutting the door and patting certain parts of the walls and roof. Sakura looked confused since Naruto seemed to be checking the walls and roof for something. Naruto then opened the door slightly and placed a chalkboard eraser in the space between the door and the jamb. Naruto suddenly smiled as he rushed back to his seat.
"Naruto, that'll never work. He's a jounin for a reason." Sasuke said to the smiling blonde. Sakura only nodded in agreement.
The three genin heard footsteps coming down the hall and they all heard them stop in front of the door. Naruto was sitting on the edge of his seat as the door opened and a silver-haired head peered in. Naruto instantly brought his hands together in a quick seal as the jounin saw hell before his eyes. The other people present widened their eyes as the entire setup was revealed to them. An eraser fell on top of his head as he looked up. A bucket of a sticky substance fell on his head shortly after. The silver-haired jounin stepped in and tried to get the bucket off, only to trip on a wire. As the jounin stood up and removed the bucket, he saw that he was in the line of fire of some demented oranges. The oranges pelted him as he staggered backward into another trip wire. This time, however, another bucket fell, raining a hail of eggs on the poor jounin. Sticky and smelling of eggs and oranges, the jounin spoke. Sasuke and Sakura looked astounded as Naruto rolled on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"My first impression, I don't really like you people." The genin present looked dumbfounded as the somewhat smiling jounin went to the roof.
(End Chapter)
Technique list:
Kamarimi no Jutsu: Replacement Technique
Oiroke no Jutsu: Ninja Centerfold AKA Sexy technique
Fuken Houin: Item Sealing Method, technique used by Naruto to seal his prank items in convenient scrolls. Used in many occasions when Naruto pulls pranks on people.
(End)
A/N: Yeah, I had to explain that sometime. Naruto needs to have some sort of technique to seal his items away. In a way, it is based on Tenten's anime technique during the chuunin exams. I got the idea in the anime, but I'm not exactly going to use Tenten's Soushouryuu in my fanfiction. If you hadn't noticed already, Naruto has used many techniques in the past chapter, especially when he was being chased. I will be explaining these some other time. Take a look beack to the previous chapters if you don't believe me. Look in chapters 6 and 8 for details. Look when he is pulling his pranks or is being chased. Have a nice and review please!
-omegaguardian