Chapitre 21: 21. Stalker
(This is first Bonus chapter for 100 Powerstones which we are almost reached, In 24 hours, Powerstones will Reset, so It's time for you guys to go all out, Let's try to reach Top 70, let's GOOOO!)
"Enthusiastic," Tsume barked out with a laugh, "is what I'd call a puppy chasing its tail. This?" She gestured to the devastated clearing. "This is what happens when you let two alpha pups off their leashes."
Naruto, still sitting on the ground, scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh, sorry about that, Hokage-jiji. We might have gotten a little carried away."
"A little?" Inoichi raised an eyebrow, surveying the destruction. "I've seen less damage after full-scale invasions."
Shikaku sighed, muttering his trademark "Troublesome" under his breath. "Well, at least we know they're not holding back in their training."
Choza chuckled, pulling out another bag of chips from seemingly nowhere. "Look on the bright side - at least they're learning to work together. Sort of."
Hiashi, his face as impassive as ever, spoke up. "While the level of destruction is... concerning, I must admit their skills are impressive for their age."
Shibi nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Why? Because they have shown creativity and adaptability in their techniques."
Sora, who had been watching this exchange with growing amusement, couldn't resist chiming in. "See? I told you guys this would be more interesting than watching paint dry. Though, to be fair, watching paint dry in this village usually involves more orange and property damage than you'd expect."
The clan heads turned to look at the small redhead, many of them seeing him clearly for the first time. There was a moment of stunned silence as they took in his diminutive stature and mischievous grin.
Tsume was the first to recover. "Well, I'll be damned. When you said he was young, Hokage-sama, I didn't think you meant fresh out of diapers!"
Sora's grin widened. "I'll have you know I've been potty trained for at least a week now. It's very impressive, really."
Inoichi blinked, looking from Sora to the Hokage and back again. "This is the boy who...?"
Hiruzen nodded, a mix of pride and exasperation in his eyes. "Indeed. This is Sora, one of the masterminds behind the recent... redecorating of our village."
"Redecorating?" Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "Is that what we're calling it now?"
"I prefer 'artistic renovation'," Sora piped up. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Choza couldn't help but laugh. "Well, he certainly doesn't lack confidence."
Meanwhile, Naruto had finally managed to stand up, swaying slightly as he did so. "Hey, hey, what's everyone talking about? Are we in trouble? Because if we are, I just want to say that it was all Sasuke's idea."
"What?" Sasuke's head snapped around so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash. "It was your idea to fight, dobe!"
"Yeah, but you're the one who used that big fireball jutsu!"
"After you created an army of exploding clones!"
"Details, details," Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "The point is, if anyone's getting punished, it should be you, Mr. I-Just-Awakened-My-Sharingan-So-I-Must-Be-Invincible."
Sasuke's eye twitched. "At least I didn't turn the entire clearing into a crater, Explosion Boy."
As the two continued to bicker, Kakashi leaned over to Hiruzen. "You know," he said conversationally, "I'm starting to think Minato-sensei and Kushina-san would have found this hilarious. Terrifying, but hilarious."
Hiruzen chuckled, puffing on his pipe. "Indeed. Though I shudder to think what would have happened if Kushina had known about exploding shadow clones."
The clan heads watched the exchange with varying degrees of amusement and concern.
"Well," Inoichi said, "I think it's safe to say the next generation is going to keep us on our toes."
Shikaku nodded sagely. "Troublesome, but potentially very interesting."
Hiashi, his Byakugan active, was examining the boys closely. "Their chakra reserves are impressive, especially Uzumaki's. And the Uchiha's chakra control is well above average for his age."
Shibi adjusted his sunglasses. "Why do you say that? Because despite the high-level techniques they employed, neither of them seems to be suffering from chakra exhaustion."
Tsume grinned, showing off her canine-like teeth. "Gotta admit, they've got spunk. Reminds me of my own pups."
Choza nodded in agreement, offering his bag of chips to Shikaku, who declined with a wave of his hand. "They certainly don't lack energy or determination."
As the adults discussed the implications of what they'd just witnessed, Sora sidled up to Naruto and Sasuke, who were still engaged in their friendly argument.
"So," Sora said, grinning from ear to ear, "on a scale of one to 'oh crap, we're so grounded', how much trouble do you think we're in?"
Naruto paused in his tirade against Sasuke's "stupid, cheating eyes" to consider the question. "Eh, probably not too bad. I mean, we didn't paint anything orange this time, right?"
Sasuke, who had been in the process of explaining exactly why Naruto's "idiot clones" were more trouble than they were worth, raised an eyebrow. "Speak for yourself, dobe. Some of us actually care about following rules."
"Says the guy who just participated in an unauthorized ninja battle that levelled half a training ground," Sora pointed out cheerfully.
Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again, realizing he didn't have a good comeback for that.
Naruto, never one to miss an opportunity to tease his rival, grinned widely. "Ha! He's got you there, teme. Face it, you're just as much of a troublemaker as the rest of us now."
"I am not-" Sasuke began, but was cut off by Hiruzen clearing his throat loudly.
The three boys turned to face the Hokage and the assembled clan heads, suddenly remembering that they were, in fact, in the presence of some of the most powerful ninjas in the village.
"While I appreciate your... enthusiasm for training," Hiruzen began, his voice stern but his eyes twinkling with poorly concealed amusement, "I feel I must remind you that destroying training grounds is generally frowned upon."
Naruto nodded solemnly. "You're right, Hokage-jiji. Next time, we'll make sure to destroy a forest instead. Much more environmentally friendly."
There was a moment of stunned silence, broken only by Sora's poorly stifled giggles and Sasuke's long-suffering sigh.
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering not for the first time if retirement was still an option. "That's not quite what I meant, Naruto."
"Oh?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Then how about a mountain? I bet we could take down a mountain if we really tried. Right, Sasuke?"
Sasuke caught off guard by suddenly being included in this ridiculous conversation, could only manage a noncommittal "Hn."
"I think," Kakashi interjected, his visible eye curved in what might have been a smile or a grimace (it was hard to tell with the mask), "what the Hokage is trying to say is that perhaps you should save the large-scale destruction for missions. Preferably missions far, far away from the village."
"Ohhh," Naruto nodded in understanding. Then he frowned. "But wait, doesn't that mean we'd be destroying other people's stuff instead of our own? That doesn't seem very nice."
Sora patted Naruto on the shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry, Naruto-nii. I'm sure there are plenty of evil lairs and dastardly hideouts out there just begging to be explosively redecorated."
"Evil lairs?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "Like where missing-nin hide out?"
"Exactly!" Sora grinned. "Just think of it as... preemptive renovation for future allies."
Sasuke, who had been watching this exchange with growing disbelief, finally spoke up. "You can't be serious. We're not going to go around blowing up random buildings on the off chance they might belong to criminals."
Naruto and Sora turned to look at him with identical expressions of mock disappointment.
"Aw, come on, teme," Naruto wheedled. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Probably buried under all that hair gel," Sora stage-whispered.
Sasuke's eye twitched. "I do not use hair gel."
"Really?" Naruto peered at Sasuke's still-disheveled hair. "Then how do you get it to stay up like that? Is it some kind of Uchiha secret technique?"
"Maybe it's alive," Sora suggested, his eyes wide with faux innocence. "You know, like a symbiotic hair creature that feeds on brooding and angst."
As Sasuke sputtered indignantly, trying to defend both his hairstyle and his (lack of) brooding habits, the clan heads watched the exchange with a mixture of amusement and bewilderment.
"Are they always like this?" Inoichi asked no one in particular.
"Oh no," Kakashi replied cheerfully. "Usually they're much worse."
Hiruzen, deciding it was time to regain control of the situation before things could escalate any further (he had visions of Naruto and Sora convincing Sasuke to join them on a village-wide "evil lair hunt"), cleared his throat loudly.
"While I'm sure we'd all love to continue this... fascinating discussion about hairstyles and hypothetical mission parameters," he said, his voice laced with dry humour, "perhaps we should address the more immediate concern of the training ground's current state."
The three boys looked around, seeming to notice the destruction for the first time.
"Wow," Naruto said, whistling appreciatively. "We really did a number on this place, didn't we?"
Sasuke, having regained some of his composure, nodded grimly. "It does look... worse than I expected."
Sora, ever the optimist, beamed at the adults. "Look on the bright side - now you have the perfect excuse to redesign the training ground! I'm thinking more orange, maybe some strategically placed craters for added challenge..."
Hiruzen held up a hand, forestalling any further "helpful" suggestions. "I think," he said firmly, "that the best course of action would be for you three to assist in the cleanup and repairs."
Naruto's face fell. "Aw, man. Can't we just use my clones to do it? It'd be way faster!"
"While that's not a bad idea," Kakashi chimed in, his visible eye curved in amusement, "I think the point is for you to learn a valuable lesson about responsibility and the consequences of your actions."
"Indeed," Hiruzen nodded. "Starting tomorrow, you will report here every day after your regular training to help with the restoration efforts. And no," he added, seeing the glint in Naruto's eye, "you may not use this as an opportunity to 'redesign' the training ground."
Sora pouted. "Not even a little bit? I had some great ideas for a ramen-themed obstacle course..."
"No," Hiruzen said firmly, though his lips twitched in amusement. "The training ground will be restored to its original state. Though," he added, his eyes twinkling, "I suppose a few strategically placed craters wouldn't be amiss. For added challenge, of course."
Naruto and Sora exchanged grins, while Sasuke looked like he couldn't decide whether to be relieved or concerned.
"Now then," Hiruzen continued, turning to the clan heads, "I believe we've imposed on these young shinobi's training time long enough. Shall we return to our meeting?"
As the adults prepared to leave, Tsume couldn't resist one last comment. "Try not to blow up anything else while we're gone, pups. At least, not without inviting me to watch."
With a chorus of chuckles and head shakes, the clan heads, Hokage, and Kakashi departed, leaving the three boys alone in the devastated clearing.
For a moment, there was silence. Then...
"So," Sora said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "who's up for round two?"
Naruto's hand shot up immediately. "Me! Me! This time I bet I can make an even bigger explosion!"
Sasuke, despite his best efforts to maintain his aloof demeanour, found himself smirking. "Hn. As if you could top that last one, dobe."
"Is that a challenge, teme?" Naruto grinned, cracking his knuckles.
"Wait, wait!" Sora interrupted, his eyes wide with excitement. "Before you start, I have the perfect idea for a new jutsu. Picture this: Exploding Shadow Clone Disguise Technique! It's like your henge trick, Naruto, but with an added boom!"
As the three boys began excitedly planning their next "training session" (read: controlled chaos), one thing was clear: the ninja world of Konoha was never going to be the same again.
Little did they know, perched high in a nearby tree, a single crow watched the proceedings with unusual interest. Its eyes, if one looked closely, seemed to shine with an intelligence far beyond that of a normal bird. As the boys' excited chatter filled the air, the crow tilted its head, as if considering something. Then, with a soft "caw" that sounded almost like a chuckle, it spread its wings and took flight, disappearing into the endless blue sky above Konoha.
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