Naruto was grinning. Sasuke looked exasperated and the other two boys looked rather confused.
"You want to what?" repeated Sasuke. He had come to see Naruto as a sort of pseudo-younger-brother. You know, the kind that's always getting into things and you have to drag his ass out of trouble all the freaking time?
"I want to see the Area 44."
"That's what I thought you said. Naruto-no-baka, are you insane?" said Sasuke.
"What? Anko goes in there all the time and you know how we're her favorite playthings. I figure if we can handle her playing tag, then Area 44 will be cake walk!"
Sasuke looked very much like he wanted to bang his head against something. Instead he does the smarter thing. He smacked Naruto on the head.
"OW!"
"And how exactly do you think we'll get into an area that's covered by a twelve-foot fence?"
"We're shinobi, duh. We can just climb the thing!"
"We're still in the Academy, dumbass," said Sasuke.
"We can still climb it," said Naruto.
"Why are you so dead set on going there anyway?" asked Haku finally. The two had been watching the argument ping-pong back and forth.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"I saw some foxes through the fence in there...and you know how the civvies look at foxes," he admitted.
Sasuke's annoyance softened a bit. Yoruichi had been stuck explaining what really happened to the fox when Naruto accidentally discovered his tenant while she taught him to meditate to calm some of his nervous energy down. And in an effort to bring the two closer together, she had Naruto explain it to Sasuke in order to keep from breaking the Sandaime's law, which had backfired spectacularly. Naruto then explained it to the three newcomers, mostly so they wouldn't freak if he had to tap into the fox's power.
The fact they didn't run away screaming had helped. A lot.
"If we go in and retrieve the foxes you saw, will you drop it?" he asked.
Naruto nodded.
"Fine. We'll go in once Yoru-nee is out on her date. Kami knows Anko will drag Kakashi with her. And you're the one who has to explain to her why we have them!" said Sasuke.
"Deal!"
"Count me out," said Kimimaro. He found a scroll earlier that morning with stances for a particularly intricate sword dance, and he wanted to read it.
Haku sighed.
"Someone has to help Sasuke reign you in," he said.
Sasuke looked at Haku gratefully.
"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT... DUCK AND COVER!" yelled Naruto.
They had gotten in surprisingly easily...however what Naruto failed to take into account was that Anko loved this place for a reason. There were several varieties of highly poisonous, massive snakes living in said training ground. Needless to say Haku and Sasuke were going to have several choice words with their fellow thirteen-year-old in addition to whatever chewing out their sister/mother gave them for this.
On the plus side, they did rescue the kitsune Naruto had spotted...at least once they got a good whiff of him and his tenant's chakra anyway. The only issue was that in convincing them he was trying to help, he had woken up several rather cranky and hungry snakes. Snakes bigger than the Academy. Snakes that even Anko wouldn't have pissed off as thoroughly as they had by accident. At least not without prior preparation to kill them for their venom at any rate.
Finally, the fence loomed in the horizon. The trio broke for it like the hounds of hell were on their trail...or in this case a very hungry pair of snakes that could eat them hole without having to chew.
Sasuke, in his desperation to escape the snakes knocked over a rather poorly made hawk's nest, enraging the occupant.
Even though the fence stopped the snakes, it did nothing to deter the hawk which proceeded to dive bomb the boy.
"Naruto, I blame you," said Haku.
Finally Sasuke caught the thing by the talons and glared at it in the eyes.
"Here's the deal bird. You either leave me alone or I rip your feathers out and feed you to those damn snakes."
The hawk glared right back at him. However to the surprise of the boys, instead of flying off once Sasuke let go of it's talons, it climbed onto his hand.
Naruto blinked.
"Hey, you don't think that's the messenger bird that went missing last month do you?"
"Huh?"
"Well some of the guys in the aviary were talking about how one of the more ornery birds went missing after the letter was shot off by some genin. The kid was chewed out pretty good by the Chunin in charge of the birds and made to clean it for three months until the cost of the bird was repaid," said Naruto.
Sasuke noticed the nest through the fence. It wasn't very well made, and he barely had any idea of what a hawk's nest should look like. If this hawk was one used to send messages, it would make sense that it didn't know how to do it properly.
Then the Uchiha boy gave the hawk a look.
"If you want to live at our estate rather than with the other birds, I could care less. But if you attack me I will turn you into fried bird. Got it?"
The hawk screeched at him, but didn't attack him.
Yoru's date went rather well, considering the amount of nosy biddies watching them. She collected on a second on-going bet by being the one to give the first good night kiss.
So it was understandable her eyebrows twitched rampantly upon finding her little brothers had gone into one of the most dangerous training grounds in the village and not only brought back three foxes, but a missing messenger hawk that seemed to have adopted Sasuke as it's new owner.
Fortunately she was in a relatively good mood. Enough not to chew them out right away.
They were still grounded for a week though. Only Kimimaro would be allowed to do more than go to the Academy or the training grounds under the strict supervision of Gai.
Considering she could have thrown them to Anko for a week and let her show them more of said forest as punishment, they got off light.
Kimimaro, once she knew of his interest in swords, promptly introduced him to another ANBU member from a noted kenjutsu clan. Once Sasuke and Naruto were done with their week-long punishment (or torture session considering it had been Gai she had picked to supervise their taijutsu training) she then allowed them to return to their kenjutsu lessons with the man.
Sasuke had shown a surprising proficiency with the small tanto she had given him for his birthday, and Naruto's mother had been particularly skilled at kenjutsu.
Hayate actually didn't mind the mock-genin team Yoruichi had saddled him with. Partly because he had bet on her making the first move and not Iruka, but also because the academy students were actually listening to him.
Considering they were slated to graduate in a year, there was every chance he might end up as their jounin sensei anyway.
Kakashi had finally been removed upon finding out that he had no clue how the hell to teach snot-nosed genin. He could barely tolerate being in the Academy for a demonstration of lightning chakra after he was blackmailed by Yoru.
Haku and Karin were going to be learning from Tsunade after showing a surprising ability towards iryojutsu. Yoru had caught Haku reading from the old scrolls she kept when she first started the prank, and a few tests showed the boy could control his chakra surprisingly well.
A few weeks after the incident where they suddenly gained four animals, Haku quietly approached Yoru about getting his own pet.
She did one better. She took both of the two boys she rescued from Kiri to a local animal shelter and told them to find something to care for and possibly train as a nin animal (if it could be trained). She had seen the looks they shot Naruto's new foxes and Sasuke's pet hawk.
(The chunin responsible for the birds was glad the hawk had been recovered, and instead of demanding the ornery creature be returned had chosen to give Sasuke training on how to care for and use a messenger bird. Apparently the hawk was a bit of a menace in the aviary. It was officially registered as Sasuke's new nin partner, but he was forbidden from bringing it to class primarily because of the fact it would react badly to the fangirl's shrieking.)
Haku left the place with a bunny with a nick in one ear, while Kimimaro somehow ended up with a certain furry menace and nearly gave Yoru a heart attack.
How the hell the bone-white haired boy found an exploding squirrel that wouldn't blow up on him, she had no idea. As long as he kept the evil thing away from her she would have no complaints.
(She would later find out that Kimimaro netted the odd 'Blast Squirrel' contract. Anko would bribe the boy to send the evil furballs after her boyfriend Kakashi, who was terrified of the things for some reason he never explained.)
Yoruichi's eyes twitched.
"You want me to take a courier mission to Suna. Less than a week before the boys are supposed to take their first attempt at the Genin exam. With only Iruka to keep them in check."
The Hokage's wince only grew with each sentence.
The last time Yoruichi left the village, unprecedented hell was unleashed. This time Naruto and Sasuke would have more accomplices.
"Could you ask them to tone it down?"
"Why? Naruto's pranks increase his ability to plan, Sasuke has yet to withdraw into depression because our parents and family are dead, and it gives the others a chance to interact with the village and learn valuable skills. Besides, if the ANBU are really unable to capture a group of academy students, then maybe they need to step up their own training. For kami's sake, the only one I've ever seen able to catch them other than me was Iruka! And he's a freaking Chunin!"
Privately the Hokage agreed completely. Publicly he couldn't say as much.
"Be that as it may, they do need to tone down some of their adventures."
"...I'll see what I can do."
And by that she meant she would tell them no more late night visits to training grounds without it being close to help. She was going to tell the kids to give the teachers hell while she was gone. All in the name of improving their shinobi skills of course.
Yoruichi stared down death in a tiny form. The youngest son of the Kazekage, Gaara, was not exactly a social child. After the betrayal of his uncle, Gaara wouldn't let anyone near him without trying to kill them.
She had chosen to enjoy her brief moment of peace to do a little moon watching, and, as if drawn to her unknown presence, Gaara arrived much to the horror of the ANBU watching him.
Outside of staring him down, she did nothing.
Soon, to the open relief of the observers, the two settled into a companionable silence of moon gazing.
Before Yoru left for Konoha, however, she does something that openly surprised the red head.
She gave him two rather innocuous books. One is about the stars and the stories behind their names...the other is a beginning book on pranks with a note inside that told him if he really wanted to get back at the people who treated him like crap, then he should give them a reason to fear him other than killing.
Pranks would make the village hate him for an entirely different reason, but it would also improve his skills as a shinobi. Which was the main reason Yoru never told Naruto to stop doing them. Not to mention the grudges caused by pranking would be a lot less intense than the ones caused by Gaara's murderous tendencies.
Needless to say the Kazekage was torn between thanking her for giving Gaara a new hobby and something to do in the night hours...and cursing her for introducing his homicidal son to pranks.
His siblings weren't so torn. Temari and Kankuro would openly thank the Uchiha female for telling Gaara there were easier and more satisfying ways of getting back at people. At least now they weren't in fear for the lives...just their dignity.
Temari quickly proved she wasn't a fool like Kankuro, because she discovered bribing Gaara with books to read at night was a good way to keep him from practicing his new interest in pranks on her.