Author's Notes 1: Well I've been asked to do a couple bonus chapters based on everyone's training, so that's what I'll do. At the start of each section of training I'll have a small note of when it takes place. These chapters are optional for the overall story but do have more character growth. This is my first time trying to make a chapter that depicts scenes when I'm far past it so I apologize if things are a little inconsistent.
Team Six's First Prank Spree:
"Alright Team!" Yūgao said with a large grin after their first day's training session. One Naruto knew well. It was the grin of a prankster, "So I'll be setting you some additional training that I'll want the three of you to work on for the next week that'll cover the following. Stealth, situational awareness, espionage, sabotage, trap making and psychological profiling."
"Isn't that a bit much for new Genin?" Shino asked.
"Perhaps, however, we'll be doing this in a very special way," Yūgao explained, "You three will have one week to plan and execute a prank."
"A… prank?" Hinata asked surprised,
"Ohhhh," Naruto said with a big grin, "Who are we planning to prank Sensei?"
"Oh I'll have no part in executing it," Yūgao replied with a small chuckle, "Apart from giving you a target. Everything else will be on you. You'll have to plan, gather supplies and execute the prank after our training sessions. Oh… and before I forget…" She pulled out two scrolls from a pocket and tossed them to Shino and Hinata, "Your uniforms during these kinds of exercises. To release the contents of the storage scrolls just channel a little Chakra into the seals."
Opening the scrolls the two Genin curiously released the contents only to stare blankly at bright orange versions of their normal jackets. Looking up at their Sensei, Yūgao chuckled, "If Naruto can be stealthy enough to evade Anbu in bright orange, how well do you think he'll do in a properly colored outfit?"
"I… had never considered that," Shino said, adjusting his glasses before turning to Naruto, "I look forward to learning stealth from you Naruto-san."
"Don't be so uptight Shino," Naruto smirked, "While I hadn't thought about it as shinobi training, pranking is a great way to go about it. After we prank the academy we'll look for targets who really deserve the big pranks."
"So what do you have in mind for this prank?" Hinata asked nervously. Normally she wouldn't even think about pranking as she'd be worried what her family would think but this was a direct order from her Sensei and very good reasons to back it up, but Hinata still wasn't sure what she should do.
"Hmm…what to do…" Naruto mumbled as he came up with and discarded idea after idea. He needed something that Hinata and Shino could easily do since they were new to pranking. Slowly a large mischievous grin crept its way onto his face, "I think I have something… two ideas in fact."
"What do you have in mind?" Hinata asked.
"Well…" Naruto started, "We could either find the Demon Cat and let her loose in the Teacher's Lounge…"
Yūgao burst out laughing, "I think if you do that then the three of you might be banned from school grounds if your caught!"
"Would be worth it though!" Naruto cackled, "After the way most of them treated me dattebayo!"
"I agree," Shino stated as he adjusted his glasses, "The way they treated you was horrendous and completely going against Konoha's Code of Conduct."
"What's your other idea, Naruto?" Hinata inquired.
Naruto shrugged, "Just spiking the coffee in the teachers lounge with something spicy and rigging a couple itching powder bombs on the fans. Still amusing but… honestly not as satisfying if you know what I mean."
"... Why not both?" Shino asked, getting shocked looks from Naruto and Hinata, "Start with spicy coffee, then a few days later we do the itching powder and wrap up the week with a visit from Tora? She should be easy to capture if we bring catnip or silvervine."
"Perhaps we should bring both to see what Tora prefers? We can even try strawberries since they're related to catnip," Hinata suggested, "I've heard several of my clansmen including Cousin Neji grumbling about catching her for missions, and if we can get a good relationship with her before we take those missions…"
"She might not hurt us as much?" Naruto suggested with Hinata giving him an odd look, "What? Ninja animals are a thing. Just look at the Inuzuka's canaines. Is it that far-fetched to think that Tora was trained to be a match for most Genin?"
"... Is there a Ninja Clan that trains cats?" Hinata asked.
"Not as far as I'm aware," Yūgao said reentering the conversation. She was proud that the three were taking this seriously even if for Naruto it would be a piece of cake, "However there might be a retired Shinobi who trained Tora for the Daimyo's wife."
"Either way," Shino said, adjusting his glasses, "We should get started. Should we start where most espionage missions do with reconnaissance?"
"Let's do it!" Naruto said before letting out a cackle.
Meanwhile at the academy Iruka who was working on some paperwork froze instantly as his instincts started screaming at him that Naruto was planning something. Something Iruka had hoped would never happen again now that Naruto was a Genin. Why… oh WHY had whatever Kami that lived in Konoha forsaken him! It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since Naruto was made an official Genin! For the rest of Friday as well as the weekend, Iruka was glancing over his shoulder, checking his chair, desk and bag constantly, and it was almost infuriating that nothing had happened yet.
On Monday morning Iruka entered the teacher's lounge, poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip only for his eyes to shoot open as the incredibly spicy coffee met his tongue. He instantly spat it out before yelling, "WHAT THE HELL?! WHO MADE THIS COFFEE?!"
"What are you yelling about so early Iruka-San?" A female teacher asked as she entered the room, "What's wrong with the coffee? Didn't you make it?"
"No!" Iruka said as he gestured to the pot, "It was already here when I arrived!"
"Oh come on it can't be that bad," The female teacher chuckled as she poured her own cup of coffee… only for her to spit it out and scream in shock, "WHY IS THIS COFFEE SPICY?! WHO THE HELL WOULD MAKE THIS?!"
The two then froze and looked at each other only to say in unison, "Naruto…" Sitting innocently next to the coffee maker was a container that Shino had bought two days prior. A well known coffee blend from Iwa which was somewhat infamous for being spicy.
The moment the female scream filled the air Naruto, Shino and Hinata who were hiding in the trees outside of the academy left, Naruto snickering while Hinata and Shino had small smiles, "Well that went well," Shino stated.
"I'll say," Naruto chuckled, "Too bad we only got two people but that was bound to happen with a coffee based prank. Don't think the next one will be as easy though. They'll be on guard for the next couple days, and after our next one they might have someone guarding the school at night making it difficult to sneak Tora inside."
"Who says we have to sneak her in?" Hinata asked. She might not be fully comfortable doing this but she'd still give it everything she had.
"Because we're testing stealth, sabotage and espionage," Shino stated, "For those to be successful we can't be caught. The teachers may already know Naruto is part of this because of his track record… wait. What if we use that to our advantage?"
"How so?" Naruto asked.
"What if you pulled an extra prank to draw everyone's attention so Hinata and I can sneak in the back?" Shino suggested.
Hinata and Naruto were silent for a few moments before the two grinned, "Shino… That is brilliant!" Naruto explained.
"I agree," Hinata said, "It's so simple… but will be incredibly effective. Doubly so since distractions are also a part of shinobi training," Naruto started cackling again, making an odd mix of emotions within Hinata and Shino.
The rest of Monday and Tuesday went exactly as Naruto predicted with the Academy Staff on guard. Even going as far as to lock the windows as well as the doors. However Naruto had a way in that the teachers weren't aware of… or at least a way in that they didn't know Naruto knew, and that would be an emergency tunnel going from the supply shed. Only the teachers and Anbu were supposed to know about the tunnel as it went directly to the headmaster's office.
Using that the trio of Team Six easily made their way into the school to set up the itching powder prank. The three had made them the night before with Naruto explaining the best materials to use so the packets of powder wouldn't burst the moment the fans turned on. The first prank was designed to only get a couple people. This one and the one with Tora were designed for maximum effect.
The three used various methods to watch the results of the prank. Shino had a couple Kikaichu in each room along the ceiling to avoid the powder, Naruto was using shadow clones hidden in the ceiling while Hinata was hiding in the nearby trees using her Byakugan making sure to keep the academy at just the edge of her current range.
About halfway through the first lesson after lunch the packets finally split, leaking the itching powder at such a slow rate it would take a couple minutes before anyone noticed a thing. Ten minutes later however and the entire school was itching like crazy. "Damn it!" Iruka growled as he scratched at his face, "I know the place was locked up tight last night. How did Naruto get in!?"
Up in the ceiling Naruto's clone was grinning like loons and it took everything in the not to burst out laughing and give themselves away. Hinata meanwhile had no restrictions and was giggling like mad. She did respect Iruka-Sensei due to him being the only teacher who didn't outwardly sabotage Naruto, however he never really did anything to help Naruto either. Always telling Naruto to 'get better at Chakra Control' without giving Naruto any way to do so had always annoyed Hinata so getting a little harmless payback was… oddly satisfying. Sadly she couldn't stay to watch more as she needed to get back to her team's training ground.
After training that day the Genin of Team Six were brainstorming what Naruto could do as a distraction, "Perhaps flood the school grounds with shadow clones?" Hinata asked, "And… use them to paint the building bright orange?"
"Possibly," Naruto mused, "I haven't had a chance to use them for any real pranks yet. Not counting this training exercise… do you think if I use them to clone a single can of paint then the paint would vanish with the clones? I know paper and ink does but would that translate to anything I clone with it?"
"From what little I know of Shadow Clones I wouldn't be surprised," Shino said, "Your clone's thrown shuriken do vanish when they burst," Naruto's grin slowly grew almost manic before he started cackling again.
Nearby Yūgao-Sensei watched with a small smile as she shook her head. His mother had a very similar reaction when she learned about how the Kage Bushin could be abused in various ways, be it for training, a whole host of free but temporary items, or simply used to multiply herself when pissed to beat the shit out of idiots… Fugaku Uchiha NEVER learned not to piss her off as he was constantly spouting subtle [ok not so subtle] Anti-Uzumaki and Anti-Senju statements, "You'd be so proud of them Kushina-Sensei," Yūgao whispered.
That Friday about five minutes after the academy was let out, the entirety of the academy's grounds including the trees, the training grounds and the walls of the academy itself was painted in an incredibly bright obnoxious orange, with a large amount of Naruto's standing before the academy laughing and high-fiving each other.
"NARUTO!" Iruka roared as he and the rest of the teachers charged out of academy with the hoard of Naruto's bursting into cackles and scattering with the teachers mimicking these actions to track down the original Naruto who had to be amongst all these clones. Once all the teachers and clones were gone, the original Naruto, Hinata and Shino left the bright orange supply shed and simply walked into the academy with no problems and using a Chakra Control exercises to prevent the still slightly wet pain from sticking to their saddles. Making their way to the teacher's lounge they quickly hid Tora in the ceiling who gave the three an evil cat smirk in anticipation. Like on Wednesday Naruto hid a clone in the ceiling who gently petted the Demon Cat before the three made their way back to the shed and Naruto dismissed his clones who were having a riot running around Konoha.
A few minutes later when the teachers returned, each and everyone paused when they saw that all the paint had vanished before heading back to the teacher's lounge. Once all the teachers were inside Tora burst from the ceiling with each and every one of the Chunin screaming in shock and fear.
The Naruto clone who was watching the entire thing burst itself by biting it's cheek to keep from laughing though none of the Chunin noticed the sound of a bursting clone. The Genin of Team Six quickly made their way away from the academy, and barely got to their Training Grounds before they all burst out laughing.
Once they calmed down Shino adjusted his glasses, "That will teach them to sabotage students… or not in which case we'll simply prank them again."
"Did… you just hold a gruge?" Hinata giggled with a small smirk and Shino's only responce was a small nod.
"They'll be wondering how Tora got inside for weeks!" Hinata giggled.
"For our first Prank Spree I'd say that went fairly well, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered.
"I'll agree to that," Yūgao-Sensei said as she appeared in a Shunshin, "In fact you three went above what I asked for. I told you 'a prank' and you pulled out four. Next time I'll be adding an additional prerequisite to the mission. For now I am pleased to say mission accomplished."
"Yes!" Naruto cheered throwing a hand up.
Author's Notes 2: I know of the girl with the ninja cat's that Kiba gets with after the main series… but she's not from a full clan. Her and her grandmother just live in an abandoned city and work for the Uchiha… with a lot of cats, including some Ninja Cats.
