Chapter Text
"Narutoooo.”
Naruto frantically looked around, jumping from branch to branch as he moved swiftly through the forest. Squinting into the distance, he could see a familiar figure standing in the middle of a clearing.
Jumping down, Naruto couldn’t help but smile as Sasuke turned to face him. To anyone else, Sasuke looked cold and aloof, but Naruto knew better.
He could see that slight smile tugging at the edges of Sasuke’s lips.
They moved into attack positions in unison, before launching into their spar.
Naruto had never felt so free.
Their kunai locked together, faces less than an inch apart as they panted. Slowly, Sasuke leaned in closer… before suddenly drawing back in shock and alarm.
Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, only to hiss as he caught his lips on something sharp. He raised his hand to check, only to find piercing claws at the end of his fingers.
Looking around, he saw long, orange tails flailing wildly around him, and instinctively, he knew that his eyes were of the fox’s.
Why else would the usually fearless Sasuke back away like that?
He lunged… and woke up with a sharp gasp.
He covers were tangled around his legs, hair sticking up in all directions and his palms ached from clenching his hands so hard that his fingernails dug into the skin.
And then he looked over at the clock, yelping in alarm, when he saw just how late it was.
He had the best prank planned for the end of the Academy School Year, and he needed to get to school now!
He rolled out of bed and grabbed the first clothes that he could find, only to hear a knocking on his front door.
“Naruto!”
Iruka-sensei.
Dammit.
“Naruto, if you’re still in bed, I swear, you’ll be doing push-ups for the entire holidays!”
“I’m up! I’m up!” Naruto flung open the door, trying to get past his unofficial guardian.
Iruka-Sensei had years of experience with him though, grabbing Naruto’s collar as he examined the room with a critical eye.
“There are dirty clothes everywhere.” Iruka sighed, “You’ll spend all the holidays cleaning up this room at this rate.”
“Lemme go!” Naruto whined.
“Naruto, we’ve talked about this- “
“- I’ll pick them up later, I promise!”
Iruka frowned at Naruto’s attempt to get free, “Why are you suddenly so eager to get to school?”
“… No reason!”
“Then you won’t mind me escorting you, right?”
“Iruka-sensei! I can walk to the Academy by myself!”
“Not when you have that devious look on your face.” Iruka rolled his eyes, “Come on. We can get some breakfast on the way.”
As they headed down the steps, Naruto tried not to whine.
How was he meant to set up this awesome prank if Iruka-sensei was being annoying like this?
They left the building, with Naruto flushing when a small group of students spotted them, hiding their smirks behind their hands as they pointed.
Unzipping his jacket, Naruto wriggled free and made a desperate run for it.
“NARUTO!”
…………………………………………………………..
Naruto ignored how most of the students gave him a wide berth, racing to the main Academy hall as quickly as he could.
They’d avoided him for as long as he could remember, so it was nothing new.
“Why are you suddenly eager to be here?”
Naruto skidded to a stop, looking over to his right to see Sasuke standing there, arms folded as he leaned against the wall.
“Nothing just- excited to see the Hokage, you know?”
“Hm.”
“Anyway, I’d better get going! See you later!”
Nearly tripping over a bin, Naruto continued to make a run for it, failing to see the soft, fond smile on Sasuke’s face.
………………………………………………….
“Where have you been?” Shikamaru asked, “Making a fool of yourself in front of Sasuke again?”
“Shut up! When he sees what I’m going to do, he’ll finally respect me!”
“Respect.” Shikamaru scoffed, “Sure, that’s what you want from him.”
“Shut up!” Straightening up, Naruto beamed, “Just wait and watch!”
Shikamaru watched him leave, feeling his heart drop into his stomach.
This was not going to end well.
……………………………………………………………………….
“I must say, I am impressed with this class of graduates.” The Hokage hummed as they made their way down the corridors, “There are a lot of prominent clans that will be impressed with your teaching style Iruka.”
Iruka couldn’t help the pleased flush that spread across his cheeks at the words, “Thank you Hokage-sama.”
“I was hoping I could watch the final exam?”
The good feeling disappeared as Iruka realised exactly who was in that class.
Naruto.
“Are you sure? I-I mean, you must have a lot of work to do?”
“I always have time to see what the next generation has to offer.” The Hokage chuckled, “You have Uchiha Sasuke in your class, correct?”
“Yes, plus Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata- “
“- and Naruto.”
Iruka tried not to wince, “Yes… and Naruto.” They approached the classroom, as Iruka took a deep, calming breath before opening the door. “Students… we have a special guest today!”
………………………………..
This was great!
Naruto tried not to beam as the Hokage walked in.
This was perfect.
“Today, we’re going to show Hokage-sama our progress with the copy jutsu and the clone jutsu!” Naruto saw Iruka’s eyes linger on him, prompting him to give his sensei a cheeky smile.
Iruka sensei was going to get the shock of his life.
“Everyone line up!”
Naruto made sure to stand next to Sasuke, wanting the other boy to see this prank in all its glory. One by one, the students performed the required jutsu’s, practically dancing away as the Hokage gave them approving smiles.
Iruka-sensei looked far too relaxed, a look that soon disappeared with Naruto stepped forwards.
“Hāremu no Jutsu!”
There was a cloud of smoke, followed by the cooing of several naked women.
“Hokage-sama!”
Iruka only just managed to stop his own nosebleed, but the Hokage was not so lucky, falling to the ground in a dead faint.
“NAAAARUUUUUTOOOOO!”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Naruto was possibly in the worst trouble he’d ever been in.
As ANBU agents rushed to take the unconscious Hokage to the hospital, Naruto was dragged from the room by his arm.
He didn’t even get a chance to see if Sasuke enjoyed it!
“Sit here, and don’t move.” Iruka sensei was so angry, that he was past the point of shouting, shoving Naruto into a nearby chair, “I need to speak to the Headmaster about this.” He stormed away, stopping just before reaching the door, turning to look back at Naruto, “You’ve crossed the line this time Naruto.” His voice was soft, and almost hurt sounding, “You hurt people with those pranks… you know that, right?”
And then he was entering the other office, shutting the door behind him.
Naruto felt sick.
“He’s probably going to get into trouble.”
Naruto jumped, glancing over to his right to see Sasuke standing them, giving him a stern look.
“Huh?”
“Iruka-Sensei.” Sasuke’s voice was quiet, “You’re in his class. Everyone’s going to think that he can’t control you… maybe that he shouldn’t be a teacher?”
Naruto felt a little bit sick, especially when Sasuke’s scowl deepened.
“Do you ever think of anyone else before you act like an idiot?”
“I- “
“- No, obviously not.”
And then Sasuke was gone, and Naruto had never felt so ashamed in his life.
Maybe it would be better if Sasuke had called him a monster like the rest of the village.
That would probably have hurt less.