Ⅰ

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru groaned, rolling his eyes.

Ino chimed in. Her tone sounded more frustrated than angry as she sighed heavily, "We always pay for your screwups, you know."

The two and the other classmates all gave Naruto a stern look with their arms crossed. They were pretty much fed up with Naruto's constant pranks over the past several months, and it had come to the point where they could no longer tolerate it.

However, despite the criticism and disapproving look Naruto received, he simply brushed it off and responded, "Like I care." indifferently. His nonchalant attitude towards the mess he had done left me concerned and questioning his unusual behavior.

This was unlike him, I quietly thought. Naruto was always considerate of other people's feelings and would never act recklessly. I remember a day when he stood up for a Hyuga girl who was being bullied and called names like "Blind Eye Freak." Naruto was by her side when it happened. He would always defend the weak and never think twice to let the bullying continue. Knowing that he stood up for the girl before during the early days of the academy, it was very hard for me to grasp that Naruto had completely changed.

What had happened to him? When did he begin to behave in a way that would give everyone a bad impression? I do not know. But one thing I can be sure of is that today's schedule has completely changed, thanks to Naruto's action.

To give you the full context of the situation, Iruka sensei caught us causing a commotion in the corridor. He was in the middle of checking if all of his students were present in the classroom. When he called out his students' names, he noticed that Naruto and I were absent. Shortly after, he heard yelling from the corridor and went to investigate. He soon found out that it was us who were causing the disturbance. (Although, in reality, I just raised the voice, and we didn't fight, so).

After the scar-faced Chunkn lectured us for being late and causing a fight, which is still not true for the latter part, he quickly changed his attention to Naruto and began questioning him about the pranks he did this morning. When he heard the news that Naruto had graffitied the Hokague monument, he was both ashamed and furious. He had had enough of Naruto's pranks, much like everyone else, but he would never think that Naruto would do such a thing that could be sued for vandalizing a historical object.

He reminded the blonde boy that the graduation exam would be tomorrow. He even warned him that this would be his last chance. If my friend continued to slack off with his studies and not take any responsibility, he was told that he would be the only student unable to graduate from the academy. When this happens, it is better to think he should give up his dream of becoming a Shinobi.

However, Naruto ignored the warning and even showed annoyance, which infuriated the scar-faced Chunin. As a result, the test was changed from parkour to a revision of the transformation juts（変化の術）. In this revision, each student had to line up in the center of the classroom and take turns in alphabetical order from A to Z. Since my name starts with the letter "D," I was one of the first students to go. After I finished, it was Naruto's turn to take the test.

As Naruto approached and stood in front of Iruka sensei, he quickly formed a Ram seal with his hand.

"Okay, here it goes," he confidently said. His face bore a mischievous smirk, and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was about to stir up trouble. With a flicker of determination in his eyes, he closed them and focused on executing the Ninjutsu technique.

"TRANSFORM!"

Moments later, a cloud of smoke billowed out, engulfing Naruto. As the smoke cleared, it revealed not Iruka-sensei but a beautiful woman who had big breasts, a slender figure, and a curvaceous waist, with a curvy waist while being naked.

Iruka-sensei's expression shifted to surprise as his eyes fell upon an unexpected sight. Rendered speechless, he stood frozen in place like a statue, his jaw hanging agape as he stared at a stunning woman standing before him, unclothed. Then, within a few seconds, as if his soul had been taken away, he flew back from the power of his forced nosebleed. It was without a doubt that the erotic image had struck him down like a raging bull of titillation.

Naruto erupted into laughter as he dispelled the transformation. Clutching his stomach, he was delightfully watching Iruka-sensei's defeat at the hands of his newly devised ninjutsu. "HAHAHAHA! How do you like the new jutsu I cooked up?! I call it Sexy no Jutsu (お色気の術)! Been trying to perfect this one for months, and boy, was it worth the wait!"

However, his laughter quickly stopped when Iruka sensei scolded him for wasting time on this ludicrous ninjutsu. "YOU IDIOT! CUT THIS STUPID TRICK! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

As I watched him causing trouble during the transformation review, I shook my head and sighed deeply with disappointment. "Oh, Kami.."

Ⅱ

After the revision, Iruka-sensei took Naruto away to talk with him in private. While they were gone, Iruka-sensei told us to head home and prepare for the test scheduled for the next day. Once the two of them had left the room, all the students quickly packed their bags and prepared to leave. I followed suit and started packing my school items, and just as I finished, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I turned around to see Shikamaru and his best friend, Chouji, standing behind me.

"What a day, huh?" Shikamaru remarked, his hands casually tucked into his pockets as he glanced at me, shaking his head in disbelief. "I couldn't believe Naruto would pull such an idiotic move on the Hokague monument. He should have thought that it would only lead to more trouble. But… then again, I shouldn't be surprised that he didn't think that far."

"You had no idea, Shikamaru," I sighed, reflecting on Naruto's changes over the years, "Being his closest friend for many years, I still don't know what he is thinking in his head…." There was a long sigh as I rubbed my right side temple.

"Well, not to be rude, Darren, but..." Chouji interrupted, "Why do you always help him? I've noticed that you're always at Naruto's side, and whenever he makes a mess, it's always you who clean it up." My Akimichi friend's curiosity sparked my Nara friend's interest when the ashen-haired boy brought it up. The two seemed to want to understand my support for Naruto as they awaited my explanation.

"It is simple, Chouji." I replied, "I made a promise to Naruto."

"A promise?" he tilted his head.

"Yeah," I nodded. I went on to explain my promise to Naruto, recounting the story of how we had first met. As I detailed the story, I could see the impressed expressions on their faces, acknowledging my steadfast commitment to keeping my word.

"Wow, Darren. I didn't know you made that kind of promise to him," Chouji responded in surprise.

"Yeah. No wonder you've stuck with him all these years. You are a good friend," Shikamaru chimed in, his voice tinged with respect for my dedication to Naruto's friendship.

However, as the boys acknowledged my friendship with Naruto, a girl's voice swiftly reminded us of the consequence we got into, "Well, even if he is a good friend, it still doesn't change the fact that we all got into a mess," We turned our heads to the person who had said that. It was Ino. She had a thoughtful expression when she injected a dose of reality into the conversation.

"You don't have to remind me, Ino," I replied, shaking my head. "I knew we'd all be dragged into it, but who would have thought… that would happen during the review?" Shikamaru and Chouji started to avert their gazes, their cheeks reddening in embarrassment. Most of the boys were deeply shocked to see it in broad daylight, and let's just say… certain parts of our anatomy reacted to it quite happily.

However, the girls had a different reaction. They were very furious when they saw a naked girl posing in a very provocative way. I could see the vein popping on Ino's forehead when she quickly recalled the very scene. She cleared her throat to clear her mind. "Yeah, well… seriously, Darren, you gotta do something about him. It's getting out of control." Her frustration was evident. "Have you actually tried telling him to stop these pranks?" she asked, her tone was serious.

"You think I haven't?" I retorted, frustration seeping into my voice. "I've been trying to understand his misbehavior for years. He wasn't always like this before, and no matter what I do, I am no closer to the answer!" My voice had a hint of defeat; the stress had worn me down over time. "I... I don't know anymore. I'm starting to feel like... I'm failing him. What kind of friend am I if I can't keep him out of trouble?"

I was nearly hopeless by this point, unable to grasp Naruto's motivations for his pranks. I felt like I had let Naruto down immensely, which compelled me to release my frustration in that outburst.

"Well, here is some advice for you, Darren," she kindly said. She took a seat on the edge of my desk and began offering her guidance with a determined yet calm.

"Instead of trying to figure out why Naruto plays pranks, you should try to talk to him about his feelings first," she urged, carrying a note of empathy. "Sometimes people act out because they're dealing with things they don't know how to express. But since you're his closest friend, I bet Naruto will open up to you if you ask. Just don't be too hard on him. The most important thing is keeping your friendship strong. Believe me, you wouldn't want to strain that and end up regretting it later."

As I listened to her advice, I couldn't help but feel a little awkward. It was clear that she had been in a similar situation before, and I wondered if she was drawing from her own experiences to help me out. But regardless of where her advice came from, I was grateful.

"Oh, umm… thank you, Ino," I replied, slightly taken aback. "That's… really thoughtful of you. And… I must admit, I didn't think you were particularly fond of Naruto."

In response, Ino let out a small chuckle, her expression softening with a hint of nostalgia. "Well… he can be a bit annoying sometimes, but... he does remind me of someone I used to be close to so." she confessed, her gaze drifting momentarily into the past.

"I see."

With a brief nod, Ino quickly carried her things, "Anyway, I better get going. I need to help at my parent's flower shop this evening. See ya." She swiftly approached the exit, leaving us behind in the classroom.

I fell silent, lost in deep thought. Never did I expect Ino to offer advice regarding my friendship with Naruto. At first, I always thought of her as a very assertive girl who would never back down from her own opinion. Given how much she liked Sasuke, the last Uchiha in our class, I figured she'd always align herself with Sasuke's interests and criticizes Naruto whenever she got the chance.

But after hearing her thoughtful advice, I found myself rethinking my impression of her. I had gotten so used to seeing her being a bit mean towards Naruto, for a long time, I just assumed she didn't like him at all. Still, once I saw her kinder side, I realized maybe she wasn't as harsh as I'd thought.

"Darren? Are you okay?" Shikamaru's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Oh, I'm fine, Shikamaru," I quickly reassured him, though my mind was still grappling with Ino's words. "I'm all good."

"Are you sure?" he pressed, concern evident in his tone.

"Yes," I nodded in a confident tone.

"Okay then. Let's head home." With that, Shikamaru, Chouji, and I exited the academy. As we walked, the day's events stayed with me, along with a fresh perspective on friendship.