What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish

Chapter 6

-An Unknown Test-

Naruto refocused as he concluded his stretching. He had removed his gravity and weight seals in preparation for this. Jiraiya had help Naruto paint them onto his body nearly 6 months ago during one of his random check-ins. Naruto found that as the gravity levels went up, he would feel way heavier and get light-headed. Tsunade was in charge of monitoring the seals, even though Jiraiya and Naruto were the only ones that knew how to adjust them. She was the one who informed him that increasing the gravity levels would make it harder for blood to circulate through his body. Thus, Naruto had to spend months at each level of gravity seal. In order to maintain his progress rate, Naruto used weight seals to act as intermediary gravity levels. For instance, if he set his over weights to 100-pounds, then at gravity level three the weights would weigh nearly 400-pounds. Tsunade was very strict about the gradual increase. She taught Naruto how to channel chakra internally to reinforce his muscles and organs passively to deal with the increased burden. While Naruto's healing and growth factors were amazing, she didn't want to stunt the boy's growth.

Returning to present time, Naruto heard a deep chuckle in the back of his mind.

"Yeah kit, you sure did surprise me. Never did I think that I would be able to trust a human again" Kurama said earnestly. "So, are you ready for this? If you pass this test and beat this ningen instructor, I will start training you on the first tail of my power."

"As ready as I will ever be, Kurama. You know me, I will either pass this test or pass out from exhaustion. Because I will never give up." thought back Naruto.

"Very well, kit. Show me how far you have come."

Naruto gave a mental fist bump to Kurama as he stood to his full height and shook himself out. He watched the Hokage walk up with and ANBU in a dog mask.

"Okay, Naruto-kun. This here is Inu, an ANBU captain. Today you will be fighting against Inu's shadow clone. You have one hour to destroy his shadow clone, so fight with the intent to kill."

"Hai, Hokage-GiGi. I will get it done." The excitement in Naruto's tone earned a chuckle from the aged Hokage.

Inu took offense to this. How can a brat that just turned 9 years old think that he could beat an ANBU captain. Sure, Kakashi had heard of the kid's amazing progress. However, genius and prodigy were such overused words in Konoha. It seems one kid every year was given the title. And he was supposed to fight this kid? Yeah, right. Kakashi scoffed internally as he heard the Hokage tell him to get ready.

So, he gave a wave and a casual, "Hai, hai" to his Hokage. He created a shadow clone and gave it roughly half of his chakra. "That should be more than enough to fight the kid for an hour" thought an amused Kakashi.

Naruto went to the center of the field. He started saturating his body with chakra in preparation for the fight. Tsunade's lesson had taught him to use chakra to augment his natural speed and strength. When both fighters were ready at the center of the field, Hiruzen stepped forward.

"Naruto-Kun, there are no limitations on your end. Show us what you can do. Kakashi, nothing that will maim or permanently injure the boy."

Both fighters replied casually with, "Hai, Hokage-Sama." And made the sign of altercation to one another.

"Hajime!" shouted Hiruzen as he walked off the field.

Both fighters stood there analyzing each other for a good 30 seconds. Naruto was in a ready posture, his muscles tight and coiled. Kakashi's clone was standing completely relaxed, basically telling the boy it didn't take him seriously. The clone then drew a copy of "Icha Icha – Paradise" out of its kunai pouch. This royally ticked Naruto off, so before the clone could even start reading its smut, it was forced to dispel from a chakra enhanced kick to its head.

The audience was stunned. I mean, it's not every day you see a child beat an ANBU captain in under a minute. Most of the esteemed eyes present had seen the boy Kawarimi with the clone's book and lash out with impressive speeds at the dog mask ANBU's head. The clone had dispelled before its' book even hit the ground. As all heads turned to Kakashi and gave him an "are you serious" look, Hiruzen chuckled. Unlike Kakashi, Hiruzen kept his perversion hidden safely in the shadows.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Ma, ma. It's just a shadow clone."

"Um, Inu-San. I am very familiar with shadow clones. Each of them gets their personality straight from the original. At the most, there are some slight differences in personality. I think that means the clone reading smut in the middle of a fight is all you."

Fits of laughter wracked the onlookers. Hitomi was full on laughing and the prim and proper Hiashi could be seen with his back turned to the rest of the group. It was clear from the rhythmic bouncing of his back that he was trying and failing to suppress his laughter. It was that day that most in attendance heard Hiashi Hyuuga chuckle for the first time in a decade.

Naruto wasn't happy though. He had trained hard for this year and this clown of an ANBU didn't take him seriously. With a dark and serious tone that didn't fit with the playful mood Naruto stated, "ANBU-San, if you are not going to take me seriously, please leave and let Hokage-Sama find a replacement. I have worked hard over the past year and wish to test myself."

The real Kakashi stepped forward this time. "Okay, kid. You have my attention. If you can land a hit on me in the next 30 minutes, you pass this test."

Hiruzen and Danzo exchanged a look. They knew this version of Kakashi. This was the ANBU captain Kakashi that had done Konoha's hardest missions for the past twelve years. Despite Minato's last words, Kakashi could never get over the grief and guilt he felt. That is how he justified hiding in ANBU and never meeting Naruto before now. This time, he took the initiative and launched himself at Naruto. Naruto was caught off guard by his speed but still managed to block Kakashi's straight punch with an X-guard. The force made the child slide back about 10 feet. Kakashi was stunned because he thought that punch would have ended things quickly.

Naruto recovered quickly, crossed his fingers into the soon-to-be-famous cross hand sign and shouted, "Kage-bunshin no jutsu." Five clones appeared around Naruto. One clone repeated the hand sign, summoning his squad of 9 shadow clones and charged in a coordinated fashion at the ANBU. Two clones jumped to either side of the melee, summoned their clones and took out kunai. The other two clones jumped off into either tree line. Naruto himself began to pull out some flash tags in case his clones couldn't get the job done.

Kakashi was stunned. He had heard about Naruto being able to use shadow clones, so he wasn't too surprised when the kid summoned 5 of them. Then Kakashi saw how the clones were coordinated and how they each summoned their own clones. "Holy shit, this kid is a one-man-army." Thought Kakashi as he dodged and countered the front-line clone's taijutsu. It was easy enough for him to work his way through the 10 frontline clones. He did notice that each clone was using a slightly different taijutsu style than the next. As the smoke from the last clone cleared, Kakashi's eyes widened as he was pinned from either side by a hail of kunai. He executed an emergency 'Kawarimi' with a log from the woods nearby. It was there that Kakashi got jumped by another 10 clones and beaten to a pulp. The negative side effect of using an emergency 'kawarimi' is that it leaves the user disoriented for a couple seconds while they regather their bearings. In the middle of his beating, he told the Naruto clones that they won, and the test was over.

A bruised and beaten dog-masked ANBU walked out of the Woodline with his hands up in a surrender gesture. "The kid wins." He said and then shunshinned away before he could suffer any further embarrassment. The real Naruto walked up to the group of spectators and said, "Well, GiGi, I didn't really get to show off much, but this means I pass, right?"

Hiruzen chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair, "Yes, Naruto-Kun. With flying colors, I may add."

Danzo complimented the boy on his strategy and looked meaningfully at his friend. Hiruzen gave him a nod that said, "we will talk about this later."

In the back of Naruto's mind, Kurama congratulated the boy.

"Well done, kit. Next Friday we will begin working with my chakra. Prepare yourself. My chakra is far denser than yours and it is poisonous to most people. Even with the seal purifying some of it, it will be a lot for your young body to handle. Talk to your Hokage about this. He will likely wish to have someone present."

"Alright, thanks Kurama. I can't wait. How are things inside the seal?" replied Naruto.

"They will do for now, kit. I am excited to see if your idea with shadow clones works. For now, celebrate your victory. I am taking a nap."

That night, the Hokage and Tsunade took out all the trainers, Naruto's friends and the clan heads that were following Naruto's progress for dinner at the Akimichi BBQ restaurant. Sadly, Danzo, Neji and Sasuke declined the invite. That didn't stop the group from having 20,000 Ryo worth of food and drink though, much to the chagrin of Sarutobi's wallet. Ino and Shikamaru, the two Naruto had gotten to closest to, claimed the seats next to him and caught him up on their first year at the academy.

The next day in the Hokage office, Naruto's trainers met in the Hokage office. Additionally, a Drago-masked ANBU was standing on Hiruzen's right side.

"Okay, we all saw how much Naruto has improved. Sadly, he dealt with Inu before we could get too much out of him, but I have a plan." The Hokage had to stifle a laugh at the memory. This turned into an awkward fit of coughs since he was holding in a drag from his pipe. All in attendance were keenly interested in what awaited the blonde. Tsunade was terrified that it might put Naruto in danger. She knew he was strong, but it terrified her thinking of him becoming a shinobi at 9 years old.

Hiruzen continued, "Well, I believe it is still too early to introduce Naruto-Kun to the public. After talking with Naruto, it is clear he wants to test his strength and start his shinobi career. Danzo and Dragon came up with, what I believe to be, a viable option. Since Naruto is clearly past academy level, Naruto will work and train as an honorary ANBU for the next year. Danzo and I will give Naruto-Kun missions directly that will test him and benefit Konoha. During the week, he will train with ANBU team Ro and run missions inside Konoha for me. We will honor his current training setup and only work him four days a week. The boy is strong, smart and on his way to becoming a splendid shinobi. I want to use this year to get him experience around the best shinobi Konoha has to offer."

Tsunade listened with a concerned expression on her face, "Sensei, he isn't going to be doing any wetwork or fighting shinobi, is he?"

Everyone was surprised when Danzo answered, "That is not the plan. Not yet at least. I have instructed him on some of the darker aspects of a shinobi's life. However, even I do not want to taint the boys light with blood just yet." Everyone's surprise came from the genuine tone easily detected in Danzo's voice.

The Third took the pause to cut in, "We want Naruto to benefit from the experience of being around highly trained shinobi. Team Ro will remain on duty in Konoha doing basic protection missions, patrols around the village and other safer duties. I do plan on team Ro being dispatched to the Fire Capitol in 3 months to meet with the Daimyo. It seems Daimyo-Sama misses Minato dearly and wants the chance to meet his son. He requested team Ro for some intelligence gathering that he will need done as a pretense to meet Naruto-Kun."

"So, he is just going to train and work with ANBU here in Konoha for the first year?" asked Tsunade. Her face and posture had relaxed considerably throughout Hiruzen's explanation.

"Yes, Tsunade-Chan. He will have some other tasks, but this sneaky old monkey will just tell you to wait and see what we have planned. I am sure you will get a kick out of it." At that moment, a shudder ran down the spine of every clan head in Konoha.

-Three months later in ANBU HQ Lounge-

Naruto's introduction to team Ro, where he met Neeko (cat), Kuma (bear), Hibi (snake) and Inu (dog), came the week following his test with Inu. They had welcomed him aboard by abducting him for two months of hell in training ground 44, dubbed the Forest of Death. Team Ro couldn't get enough of the vibrant new addition to their team. Especially since Naruto never stopped taking pop-shots at Inu-Taicho. Neeko and Hibi hogged as much training time as they could with the recruit. For some reason, Hibi thought it was okay to repeatedly smush Kitsune into her massive chest whenever he did something right. Despite Kitsune's protest, and Inu's snickers, she was also the one that spent the most time with Kistune during the training in her "home". Yes, this crazy snake lady dubbed the Forest of Death her home and she declared the sleepless night in the forest fighting oversized snakes, bugs and other jungle creatures as "sleep overs". Kami, Naruto was tire of "sleep overs".

The quietest member of the team was Kuma, a massive man towering over Kitsune at 6foot 4inches. He was the team's front-line fighter and taijutsu expert. He had a powerful earth affinity that he incorporated into a bone-breaking taijutsu style. Kitsune loved his time with the gentle giant. Despite getting throttled repeatedly by said gentle giant during training, Naruto learned something new from Kuma for each beatdown he received.

The team bonded together over their training of the blonde. It helped that each team member was given a clone captain to command and instruct. The real Naruto would train with one team member each day and then run off into the forest on some mission that Hibi or Inu would give him. Missions like hunting big ass boars or oversized bears. Collecting venom from the giant eight-legged denizens of the forest. Scavenging for herbs and spices that could be used to patch his wounds and make dinner tastier. Kitsune swore that almost every mission was him being this sadistic team's grocery boy, although it was great experience. After two months, Naruto had grown into his place in the team. He enjoyed the unique comradery that being a 9-year-old ANBU brought. In turn, his team enjoyed the break from shitty S-ranked missions that would rob them of sleep for days at a time. They really enjoyed the energy and light that Kitsune brought into the team dynamic.

Currently, three months into his ANBU career, raucous laughter could be heard throughout the ANBU headquarters. It was all coming from the ANBU lounge where a tiny, blonde Kitsune-masked ANBU was recounting his latest conquest. Many veteran ANBU would come up and slap him on the back. Some of the newer recruits would get on their knees and bow to him in mock worship. Hibi was the one laughing the loudest and saying, "That's my Gaki! He did this solo!" She was also trying to make a quick buck by selling copies of the pictures. This wouldn't go over so well with the Hyuuga clan elders if they ever found out.

Over the last week, operative Kitsune had infiltrated and pranked three of the head clans of Konoha, Uchiha, Inuzuka and Hyuuga. These were the special missions that Danzo and the Hokage had assigned him. Danzo taught Naruto to observe his targets and strike them where it hurt the most, all from the shadows. Kitsune conducted these missions with his mask off, the Hokage didn't want it to be associated with ANBU lest Naruto got caught. Naruto' s mission directly from the Hokage was to attempt to infiltrate the clan compounds and retrieve an item or information that would be damaging if an enemy shinobi were able to find it. Danzo's addition to the mission, a bonus task if you will, was to prank each clan in the way it would hurt their pride the most and spur them to take action. Pride was a powerful motivator to improve. Danzo and Hiruzen acknowledged that the villages security had gotten quite lax over the past couple of years, and they wanted to give the clans a wakeup call.

The third clan to receive said wakeup call was the Hyuuga clan. Naruto felt guilty about this one. He knew a lot about the Hyuuga and didn't want to betray the trust Hiashi, Hizashi, Hitomi and Hinata had shown him. However, Naruto did have a score to settle with the clan elders. Naruto had infiltrated the clan compound, put alarm seals on every wall of the main house. On the floor were paint traps that painted their victim pink. On each door, was a flash tag of Naruto's own making. Naruto only targeted the main house for this, as an olive branch to Neji.

Kitsune accomplished his main task by acquiring a scroll on the gentle fist. Therefore, it was time to play. When Kitsune activated 40 alarm seals in the Hyuuga main house, the whole village heard it. Every member of the main house, sans the previously named members, woke up, jumped out of bed and was painted pink. The seals Naruto placed were located at the bedside of each Hyuuga clan member. In their fury, they activated their Byakugan and were treated to 40 flash tags going off throughout the compound. Kitsune then took pictures of the Hyuuga elders, painted pink, stumbling around walking into walls. Since their eyes were activated, the blindness lasted for nearly an hour. This was the biggest blow to Hyuuga pride in clan history.

Kitsune left the gentle fist scroll, a sorry letter and a full report on how he infiltrated the Hyuuga compound on the Hokage's desk. An hour and a half later, an enraged Hiashi roared into the Hokage's office, trailed by a bemused Hizashi. Both had an inkling of who had done this, but no proof. When they entered the Hokage's office and saw their clan scroll sitting on his desk, they confirmed their suspicions.

"Aww, Hiashi. I was expecting you. I suppose it is time to tell you that I have commissioned a security expert to test our clan's security systems. It would seem that said operative made quite a fuss at the Hyuuga compound." Chuckled out a highly amused Hiruzen Sarutobi. Slight giggles could be heard from the corners where the Hokage's ANBU detail was hidden.

"Hokage-Sama, are you telling me that you approved of the actions taken against my clan?"

"Now, now Hiashi-Dono, no real harm was done to your clan. The report submitted to me was quite thorough. Would you care to review it?" Said Hiruzen as he handed the report and pictures to the Hyuuga clan head.

Hayashi saw the pictures and was initially filled with rage. Then he read the report and was forced to add some humility into his posture. By then end, Hayashi had to chew on and swallow multiple servings of humble pie. Hizashi was reading over his brother's shoulder. His face began to redden, and his cheeks bulged as he struggled to keep in the laughter that he wanted to let out. Hizashi couldn't confirm it, not that he would want to if he could, but he had a significant inkling to give Naruto a gift the next time he trained him. In Hiashi's hands was a veritable gold mine of black mail on all the clan elders that made Hiashi's life so kami-damned difficult. In fact, Hiashi noticed that all of the pictures were Hyuuga elders. Most of the main and branch houses had been spared. A smirk crept upon Hiashi's face. With the power of humiliation, the operative gave Hiashi the edge he needed to take back control of the Hyuuga elders.

Hiruzen watched the emotions flash across Hiashi's face. He knew this was a large, bittersweet pill for him to swallow. When he saw the smirk, he resumed the conversation.

"Hiashi, these security tests will continue until I see marked improvement. It is safe to assume that similar … consequences … will be attached to further failures. I am sure your elders will want to prevent such a thing from happening again. Oh, and do keep them from trying to ascertain the identity of my operative. I doubt they would be able to, but I really don't feel like dealing with that headache."

Hiashi and Hizashi bowed to the Hokage and said in strong voices, "Hai, Hokage-Sama. It will be done."

Hiruzen chuckled to himself, and the ANBU let out the laughter they had been holding in. Between the chicken incident at the Uchiha police precinct, the Inuzuka dog's humping everything that moved for 3 days straight and now the pink Hyuuga, Kitsune brought so much joy to the ANBU corps and village as a whole. Dragon appeared beside the Hokage. The Hokage could see the smirk through Dragon's mask by the way it lifted slightly around his chin.

"Hokage-Sama, Kitsune is pure gold. My Corps loves the kid. Not just team RO, but everyone. Morale has been up since he returned from his camping trip. Over the past two weeks, mission success rate increased by 15%. If this continues, I will have to insist on making Naruto a full-time member of the Corps."

Hiruzen sighed, "Dragon, you know I want Naruto to have whatever semblance of a childhood that is left for him. I understand where you are coming from, though. For the remainder of the year, we will stick to the plan. If Kitsune wishes to dawn the mask full time after this year, I will talk about it with Jiraiya and Tsunade. They will have the final say."

"As you wish, Hokage-Sama." Dragon replied and then disappeared.

Throughout the year, Naruto took breaks from ANBU life by visiting his friends at their clan compounds. Each clan member was sworn to secrecy if they were able to figure out Naruto's lineage. The clan heads were responsible for enforcing this. Nearly six months into Naruto's first year in ANBU, his friends and their parents were noticing the absence of their friend. After Inoichi and Ino brought their concerns to the Hokage, Hiruzen ordered Naruto to make the rounds and visit his friends.

This weekend, Naruto had set up a picnic for him and his friends. He used the promise of a lower-severity prank to the Akimichi to negotiate with Chouza for some top-shelf Akimichi food. The giant of a man rapidly accepted the offer. Naruto's first two infiltrations into the Akimichi compound had left his wife and clan in a rather foul mood. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out how Naruto had swapped all their best cuts of meat with broccoli and Brussel sprouts. Chouji cried that night when his father told him that the whole clan had to eat a vegetarian meal for one night in order to get their precious meat back.

Naruto met his friends in the Hokage's private training ground for the picnic. Hiruzen set this up so prying eyes wouldn't ask about why some blonde orphan was friends with all the future clan heirs. Naruto spent the day deflecting questions on where he has been and why he wasn't attending the academy. He didn't appreciate having to lie to his friends, but he understood that it was necessary.

The whole picnic was going perfectly well until Ino grabbed him by the arm and demanded they go on a walk. Naruto listened to her rant about how the whole academy thought Sasuke was so special and that she just wanted him to be there with her. She ranted about a girl named Sakura who was obsessed with Sasuke and about Sasuke's haughty attitude. She didn't understand why Sasuke had closed up so much over the past year. After a 20-minute rant from Ino that made Naruto nod his head and say "yeah, uh-huh" a whole bunch to convince her he was listening, Ino began to question Naruto. Naruto told Ino that he would go on trips with Jiraiya around Fire country. He said Jiraiya would train him while they travelled and all that. The cover story barely held up to Ino's scrutiny but she relented so long as Naruto would visit more often.

When the two returned to the group, Kiba's crude comments and not-so-subtle innuendos made the pair blush. Nobody noticed Hinata's hands ball into fists or the calculating gaze of Shikamaru. Chouji just offered the two some beef jerky and helped the group move past it. Naruto really did enjoy getting to catch up with his friends and promised each of them that he would make a greater effort to stop by their compounds on some weekends.

- End of Probationary Period for Operative Kitsune -

The year went by in a flash for Naruto. He had very little free time. Even though he only worked actively in ANBU four days a week, he still wanted to train outside of the ANBU corps. Since his week was occupied, Naruto would often send shadow clone captains to various clan heads on the weekends. This let him keep in touch with his friends, although they never knew the clone captains weren't the original Naruto. It took quite some time for Naruto's friends to realize they were all meeting with him individually at the same time over the weekend. In fact, it took them the whole 2nd year at the academy for them to come to this realization.

This didn't really bother anyone too much, except Ino. Ino missed her Ruto, the affectionate name she gave to Naruto. He made her feel so much better. He would listen to her, tend the flower shop with her and help her with her problems. It was thanks to Naruto that Ino gave up on the diet fad after her first year at the academy. He told her, "Why diet when you can train instead?" He said it with such certainty and conviction that Ino decided to listen. Now, in her second year, she was keeping up with Hinata in spars and the physical aspects of shinobi life. Inoichi was ever grateful to Naruto for helping break Ino out of a behavior that would have left her helpless when she got out of the academy.

Alas, when Ino found out that she had been dealing with a Naruto clone, she insisted that the real Ruto come next week and take her out to dinner, as an apology of course. Naruto showed up not knowing that Ino was treating this as a date, so when he acted casually, she bonked him on the head and made him treat her like a proper lady. Naruto took the queue and grabbed Ino's hand. He took her out to their favorite flower field where they caught up on things.

Ino, being the gossip she is, couldn't help but talk about Konoha's Devil Prankster. It was the talk of the town. Once a week, a clan would get pranked. There was no pattern to the pranks, no rhythm that could be found whatsoever. Security remained high, 24/7/365. Yet, the Prankster kept claiming victims. He was recently sighted by a Hyuuga that claimed he was a boy, 4ft 9in. He moved faster than the Byakugan could track, and he kept disappearing from view, even with the doujutsu activated. This latest news was shared among all clans. There was a joint mission to catch this prankster and even a reward posted for 100,000 Ryo. This sighting was the only clue that they had after suffering for an entire year. Of course, everyone that knew Naruto knew the most likely culprit, but they never had any proof and the Hokage just kept handing them the after-action reports. Those in the know kept it to themselves.

There was a massive betting pool among a majority of the ninja population. You get to choose the day the prankster would get caught for 100Ryo. This betting pool exceeded the reward posted for catching the prankster, the current pot was up to $420,969Ryo. When the Hokage said that the pranks would be ceasing next week, he announced to the ninja populace that if the prankster were not caught by October 10th, then the prankster would collect the pot. It was the last week to catch the prankster, so a public challenge was issued to him. "Hit us with your best shot, you will not get away from us this time."

For a gossip like Ino, this was pure gold. She would talk to Naruto and speculate on who it could be. She was so lost in her thoughts that she missed the sparkle in Naruto's eyes and the slight swelling of his chest.

The Kyuubi chuckled deep inside Naruto's mind, "To think this whole village is on high alert and you're out here having a date with Blondie. It's putting your genius to work at its finest." Kurama was immensely proud of his container. The boy had worked so hard and never wavered. His dedication to his trade earned the fox's admiration. The resolve he demonstrated through his training made the fox think that he would allow the boy a second tail soon. Before that though, the boy would have to take a life. Kurama needed the boy to crush this last barrier and prayed to Kami that it wouldn't break him.

"Thanks, Kyu. I appreciate the compliment. I took after my Sensei after all." Thought back Naruto, although it was clear he was distracted by the blonde beauty.

"Alright, Kit. Enjoy your date. Tonight, we do the prep work."

"Hai, hai." Replied an amused Naruto. He came back to reality seeing Ino inches in front of his face.

"Jeez, Ruto! You spaced out on me there. Were you even listening?" challenged a pouty blonde.

"Yes, Ino, I heard you. I tell you what, next week I will tell you who the Devil is."

"What!? You know the Devil? How?" shouted Ino

After looking around to make sure they weren't be overheard, Naruto answered, "He is a friend of mine. I will not tell you more than that. If you keep pushing me for the answer, I won't tell you who he is at all."

Ino pouted and adopted her puppy dog eyes, after seeing it wasn't going to work, she said, "Fine, Ruto. But that's a promise!"

They went out to Ichiraku's and enjoyed the rest of their date. It ended wish Naruto walking her home and getting a peck on the cheek. With his face flush, Naruto walked home a happy boy.

-Subchapter: Prank Day-

The whole ANBU Corps was sworn to secrecy when it came to the Devil Prankster's identity. Hell, everyone in the know was sworn to secrecy. However, they were allowed to attempt to capture him, should they catch him in the act. For the final week of the declared Prank War, everyone was on high alert. It was a busy morning in Konoha. The markets were coming to life, vendors and civilians alike waiting to see the show. The anticipation was building. The prankster had 3 days left to strike.

Just after 8am, the chaos began. It started with a roar from a Kyuubi-enhanced Naruto at the entrance of the Forest of Death. Using the Kyuubi's chakra, Naruto let out a bestial roar that projected throughout Konoha. Clone squad one had prepared siren tags that were placed around the village. Everybody was covering their ears and trying to catch sight of the prankster. Henged Naruto clones were dispersed around Konoha to keep Naruto aware of the battlefield. The henged clone captains would create and disperse shadow clones to pass on the knowledge of sentries and troop movements. Squads of chunin and genin were running around to each siren, trying to catch the Devil Prankster and earn the reward and fame.

As the siren tags died out, a massive firework that shot out blue flames went off above Konoha's gates. The flames took the likeness of the head of Kyuubi before dispersing. It took all the chakra of a shadow clone captain to make this happen. The people were confused and slightly terrified when they saw the likeness of a fox. Not enough to make them panic, but enough to set them on edge. This display earned the response of 3 ANBU teams and 2 squads of jonin, all according to plan.

During the distraction, Naruto was painting the Hokage monument. He had developed stealth seals and created a plethora of tags that he distributed to his clone captains. These tags imitated Jiraiya's invisibility jutsu, it just didn't work as well when within 10ft of a ninja. He could walk right past a civilian with the seal active, but most jonin would sense him about 10ft away. A good censor could pick him up about 25ft away. Thank Kami good sensors are rare, thought Naruto. He painted a joint over the first Hokage's mouth with an air bubble that read, "Do you want to feel happy, too?" The second Hokage got a Hitlerian mustache. Don't ask Naruto why, it just fit. The Third got a pipe drawn on him with smoke coming out of it. He had an air bubble answering the First saying, "You bet I do!" The Fourth got a toad and the Kyuubi drawn on his cheeks. Kyuubi made a stink in his mind about this on, but he could see the humor.

Once Naruto was done painting, Naruto released the banner saying, "Catch me if you can!" that covered the hair of each Hokage. Then Naruto created 10 shadow clones and stood on top of the Hokage monument. One of the clones jumped of the Hokage monument screaming until it got halfway down. Then it glowed a brilliant blue and exploded after saying, clone explosion jutsu. The explosion sounded like a M80 going off and it produced a brilliant blue chakra light. The sound drew the villages attention to the Hokage monument. After a couple seconds, the clones on the end activated the fire style, flamethrower techniques and blew the torrent of flames into the air. The clones in the middle blew of fireball after fireball. The real Naruto took a deep breath and executed a "great breakthrough" on all of the fire that was racing into the air. The result was a literal firestorm hovering over the village.

All jaws dropped. The Hokage, Jiraiya and Tsunade knew something big was coming. They never expected the display they got from this blonde knucklehead. Hell, Hiruzen would be bordering on chakra exhaustion of he did what Naruto just did. As the fire cleared, Naruto's art could be seen by the whole village. A black blur could be seen racing away from the Hokage monument out toward the training grounds. Every single ninja in Konoha gave chase. The clone captain darted away from the Hokage mountain, making sure that everyone could catch a glimpse of him. He shunshinned to the nearest training ground and created 20 low-chakra clones. Their orders were to dispel on sight if sighted. The main purpose was to lose and distract the ninja tracking this particular clone captain. The captain had no doubt he would have to deal with a hoard of Hyuuga, Inuzuka and Aburame. His job was to lead them into the Forest of Death.

As the clone captain made his way to the Forest of Death, he felt 18 of the 20 clones dispel. He had a 30s head start, that would do just fine. The clone captain heard shouting behind him and knew immediately who it was. Might Guy, the Green Beast of Konoha and his student Rock Lee, who was still in the academy.

"Yosh! Lee-kun, we must catch this prankster! If we do not catch him, we will do 1000 push-ups. If we cannot … "

The clone turned off his auditory senses. He couldn't be made to deal with all that. He knew that Might Guy was fast, but it was clear he was pacing his student. The clone made its final dash into training ground 44 and hopped the fence. It dashed to one of the "camp sites" the ANBU had used during orientation. Then, with a smile on its face for a job well done, it dispelled.

Naruto, the real Naruto, got the memories of his last clone captain and smiled. He lay back on the couch in his father's study and closed his eyes. "Ahh, the sweet taste of victory." Tsunade woke Naruto up from his nap two hours later, "You sure you didn't go a bit overboard, brat?"

Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Haha, maybe Bachan. I used most of my chakra making all those clones and seals. How is the village?"

"It is nuts out there, brat. Ninjas are running around every which way still hoping they could get the reward. Hibi said that the pot for catching you today was 150,000Ryo. They are getting desperate out there."

Naruto chuckled, "Well Bachan, your next trip to the liquor store is on me."

"I knew I loved you, brat. Well done. Watch out for your GiGi though, he didn't like everyone knowing that he mixes that medicinal herb into his pipe."

"Haha, oops. You think you could get some of the good stuff from the hospital for me, as an apology to GiGi?

"Sure thing, brat. Get some sleep." With that Tsunade walked up stairs and waited for Naruto's payday.