*1 year later*
"So Sasuke, how's Shisui?" Naruto grinned as they lay on the grass. The sun shone in the sky as Sayuri munched on some fried shrimp. An orange fox lay on Naruto's head, nestling into his hair, hind legs on his neck. He had explained to them that he kept it as a pet.
"He's fine, still a little bit stressed though. Itachi, too." He paused, taking in a mouthful of rice. "I still can't believe you managed to get yourself banned from the Uchiha compound." Naruto laughed, memories flooding back.
"Well, the copious amounts of glitter and fart bombs I used might've helped." Naruto grinned widely. "In my defence, Fugaku has a giant stick up his ass. I tried to help him out there." He chuckled.
"And helping him out constituted an extremely large amount of fireworks, paint, fart bombs, glitter, and of course, firecrackers in the hallway." Sayuri replied dryly, a smile etched onto her face.
"See, you get it." Naruto beamed. Sayuri's smile widened, morphing into a grin. Naruto paused, taking in a ball of mochi. The sweet disappeared down his gullet as the sugar flooded his system. He let the feeling wash over him, savoring the moment.
"Hey Naruto, what do you think of what's happening right now?" Sasuke shovelled more rice into his mouth.
"What do you mean?" Naruto inquired. "Do you mean how you've finally hit 600 attempted confessions? Or how we're going to start ninja training toda-" Sasuke cut Naruto off.
"No, I mean what's happening with the Uchiha. Like, it's obvious that something is happening. Dad looks like he's getting ready for war. Everyone's talking about a new development in hushed whispers." Naruto could almost feel the detachment yet worry about Sasuke's speech patterns. He rubbed Sasuke's back.
"Hey, it'll all be okay, right? I mean, that's how things always go. We'll be fine." Naruto stated exuberantly.
Sasuke's eyes were still clouded. Naruto could almost sense the indecision that rippled through Sasuke. The doubt vanished. He smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what got into me." A disembodied, unholy sound shrieked through the air, its origin from the bells. "Well, time to head back." They packed their lunch and headed in.
"Today we'll start ninja training." At this, many cheers were heard as everyone was ready to begin their road to 'awesome ninja powers', as Naruto heard a boy from the Inuzuka clan put it. Iruka tapped a chime that hung from the blackboard to regain order. The raw force of everyone's excitement overwhelmed the sound of the chime. Iruka tapped it again, with more force. This time, everyone settled, granting Iruka complete control over the class.
"As I was saying, we will be focusing currently on shurikenjutsu, or the art of throwing weapons." An assistant hauled in a sizable wooden crate, filled to the brim with razor-sharp kunai. A chorus of 'oh' rang out. Naruto sat there, his eyes dilating. There were so many kunai, and it was obvious just based on their designs that they were very high quality. It must've cost a fortune to get all of those, on top of other expenses for the academy. His respect for Iruka Umino rose by several notches, and judging by all of the smiles visible on everyone else's faces, they thought this as well. Even the stoic, closed off Hinata had a small smile adorning her.
"We'll be training in the target field. Come on." He smiled and motioned for them to follow him. Everyone bolted after him, their seats left precariously on the floor. Naruto looked at the chairs and sent a silent prayer to whoever was going to have to deal with this mess. Naruto followed after everyone, a small smile reaching his face. Soon, Sayuri and Sasuke caught up, and the three resumed their usual banter.
"You know, it's crazy just how far we've come," Sayuri grinned. "It feels like it was just yesterday when we came in for the first day." And met you, which was left unsaid, but she and Naruto both knew it.
"I remember it. The first day was magical. Everything felt so new and amazing." Sasuke chuckled as memories flooded the trio. "A shame that the second day and all the rest never felt that way."
"More like we saw the truth the first time he said something," Naruto spoke, amused.
"Too true." Sayuri's expression flickered, her smile faltering, something nearly imperceivable. She resumed her usual facade of joy as Naruto glanced at her in concern.
Iruka gestured to a large door as he opened it. "Through here are the training grounds. Be safe," he called out as a stampede of children rushed towards the high stacked boxes. On these boxes were identical paper sheets, detailing what the kunai were, how to use them effectively, and daily goals.
Naruto grabbed a few kunai and inspected them thoroughly. Every mark, shape, and property were thoroughly scrutinised as he sought to understand every facet of how the kunai worked. Small scratches along the blade signalled prior uses, maybe test runs. There was a gap in the center of the hilt, presumably for wire or a tag.
Experimentally, Naruto channelled some chakra into the kunai, and the blade shone a light blue, as Naruto threw it into a rock. The kunai embedded itself hilt-deep into the stone, whereas with a second kunai without chakra, the kunai bounced off the rock harmlessly.
Sayuri rushed towards him, smiling as excitement radiated off from her in waves. "Naruto, come on! We're waiting for you!" She tugged at his orange sleeve. Naruto grinned, and the two ran side by side towards Sasuke. He threw his kunai, which made an audible thunk, landing right next to the bullseye. He sighed, turned, and a small smile crept across his face. "Hey. I was waiting for you to arrive."
"Getting in extra practice to gain an advantage?" Naruto gasped in faux shock as his hand flew to his mouth. "So unlike you, Sasuke. I thought you were better than this." Naruto said in mock disappointment. Naruto shrugged and grabbed a set of 10 kunai. "So, how are we doing this?"
"We throw kunai until we run out," Sayuri began, grabbing a set of 10 for herself. "For each ring closer to the bullseye, we add a point, starting from one."
Naruto nodded, "So for each set of possible points, it goes one, two, so on, so forth. Alright, let's do this." He smirked.
"Take your own target, I want space." Sayuri scoffed, preparing to take her first shot.
"Three." Naruto lowered into a stance.
"Two." Sayuri crouched into a grin.
"One!" The three threw their first kunai, each one slamming into the target with a resounding thunk upon impact.
---
Sayuri and Sasuke smiled. "Well that was fun", Sasuke grinned. "But you know who would've won when we started this competition."
"Yeah. Me," Naruto sniffed imperiously. "You would do well to not live in delusions."
"Such arrogance is unbecoming of you, Naruto." Sayuri sighed in disappointment. A bell rang out.
"Class is over! Remember to practice at home!" Iruka called out.
"Well, I must go. Mischief rings," Naruto grinned as he dashed away.
"Oh no. I feel so sorry for whoever's going to be stuck cleaning that up," Sayuri remarked with dismay. Sasuke looked on with sympathy.
*Some time later*
"Well Naruto, I think that we've done well." Shisui grinned. Naruto looked up and matched that grin as the two gazed upon their handiwork.
The sun had just begun to creep over the horizon when the two finished. Here they were, gazing from the peak of the Hokage mountain.
Massive graffiti throughout the mountain, each giant stone face having massive patterns drawn over them. Snot, swirls, polka dots, the works.
On the Administration Division of the Academy, including the Hokage's office, they had placed a billboard containing spoilers for the newest edition of Make-Out Paradise, including graphic illustrations.
In the academy, every single kunai was replaced with a resin replica, and the real kunai were stored in the staff closet.
The Hyuga district had quite a few flash bombs and glitter traps spread throughout. Naruto was amazed at how they hadn't been detected during the whole process.
In the Inuzuka compound, Naruto and Shisui had placed laxatives in the clan's dog food supply. They had been hysterical the whole time they had done it.
The largest shopping district in Konoha had large garlands of catnip dangling across the streets, as each street was overtaken by a veritable sea of cats.
Naruto yawned. "I forgot that I had to go to school today," he sighed, his eyes struggling to stay open. They had spent the entire night planning, gathering, and executing this plan, which was only possible due to Naruto's use of his clones.
"Want me to get you some coffee?" Shisui offered, looking a little bit worn himself.
"I hate coffee." Naruto droned.
"Alright then." Shisui straightened. "Gotta go. Goodbye, Naruto."
"Bye, Shisui." Shisui vanished, only a slight cloud of dirt to signify he was ever there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm back with another chapter!
Things have been going well, and this book is getting a lot more support than I expected.
Of course, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it support! Add to the pile! Vote and review, you hear me? Vote and review!
Until next time;
( ._.)