章 17: Chapter 017

"Gah! Dang, did someone set up a trap to trip me!" the kid shouted as he sat up, holding his head.

"Honorable grandson are you alright!" the man wearing the sunglasses asked. "And pardon my observations but there are no traps here, the surface is completely flat." The man said as he regained his composure, pushing his sunglasses up on his nose in what Naruto thought was a snooty gesture.

Naruto just continued to look on at the scene, one eye twitching. Kami, I don't think even I'm that clumsy!

The boy got up from the floor and looked around, noticing Naruto staring at him. At the same time the man with the sunglasses spotted Naruto as well.

It's him! The Kyuubi brat! He's the worst kind of troublemaker around! The man thought as he sneered at Naruto.

Naruto however did not notice the man's sneer of disgust as the boy stomped up to him and pointed. "It was you wasn't it! You're the one who tripped me!" he accused angrily, pointing a finger at him.

Naruto's first reaction was to smack the kid, but he took a calm breath, it would not do for a ninja to hit a civilian. Slowly and deliberately Naruto reached out and grabbed the boys scarf, flinging it back and forth in front of the child's face.

"This," Naruto said in a slow voice as if talking to someone who was retarded. "Is what you tripped over. Seriously, if you're going to wear something like this, get one in a smaller size so your clumsy feet can't trip over it."

"No, no, no, NO!" the boy shouted as he stomped his feet on the ground. "You did it! I know you did! Just admit it you coward!"

That was enough for Naruto, no one called him a coward! Standing up Naruto lifted the boy off the ground by the scruff of his shirt.

"Now you listen here you damn brat!" Naruto shouted through gritted teeth. "I'm not a liar and I'm not a coward! You should be more careful when you're speaking to a shinobi, or someone might just end up putting you in your place!"

"Uzumaki! Take your hands off of him this instant!" the sunglasses man shouted. "He is the Honorable grandson of our leader Sandaime Hokage-Sama!"

Naruto paused as he turned to the man in the sunglasses, thinking about what he said before turning to the kid in his grip.

Huh, so this brat's related to the Hokage-Ojisan. Naruto thought since the sunglasses man did not have any reason to lie to him.

That's right, the boy thought with a smirk. He's just like the rest, stopping from doing something as soon as he learns who I am. Feeling confident that nothing would happen to him now, the young boy took this opportunity to gloat. "What's the matter tough guy? I thought you were gonna teach me a lesson! Afraid because the Sandaime Hokage is my ojisan?" despite being held up in the air the young child puffed out his chest.

Naruto's eyes twitched several times. "I DON'T CARE IF HE'S YOUR OBAA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled as he dropped the boy on the floor and smashed a fist on to the top of his head.

Konohamaru who had tried to get up from being dropped, fell back to the floor as Naruto smashed a fist on his head.

This guys… different…thought Konohamaru as he hit the ground again.

The man wearing the sunglasses looked scandalous, he- he just assaulted the Honorable grandson!

Sarutobi merely sighed and shook his head. "What a mess," he muttered.

"Damn brat," Naruto grumbled. He looked up at Sarutobi, "I'll be heading Ojisan, I need to clear my head." Naruto walked out of the room grumbling about 'stupid brats' needing to learn their place.

The sunglasses man whirled on his leader. "Hokage-Sama how could you let that-" he stopped as soon as he noticed his leaders harsh gaze. "That delinquent do something like that to your grandson! He must be punished!"

"Punished?" Sarutobi questioned, raising an eyebrow. "For what exactly? It's not like he did any permanent damage Ebisu. And Konohamaru did deserve that for questioning and insulting Naruto-kun the way he did." the old Hokage sighed, "now then if you could take care of this…" he gestured over to Konohamaru, who was sitting back up with a groan.

"Honorable grandson are you alright!" Ebisu asked, helping the boy to his feet.

"Hey, where'd that guy go?" Konohamaru asked, looking around. He had to find him. That guy was different from the others; he didn't treat him special just because of who his grandfather was.

Ebisu looked at Konohamaru with a frown as he pushed his glasses up.

"Now you must listen to me Honorable Grandson. You must not associate yourself with juvenile delinquents like that, nor should you attempt to draw him into a conflict even if he does deserve it." Ebisu lectured the boy. "He is far beneath you, so you must not stoop to his level. As your distinguished Jonin Sensei, I am never wrong about these things, which means I am always right!" Ebisu smirked to himself as he turned to look at the village through the open balcony on the left side of the room. "I'm above the more mundane trainers, so you must heed my every word. Your goal is to become the next Hokage, and I can teach you the best way to go about it. Indeed, stick with me and you will gain the short cut to becoming Godaime Hokage. You understand don't you Honorable Grandson?" Ebisu asked as he turned around, only to find himself talking to thin air. "AH! Where did he go now!" Ebisu wailed.

"I believe he followed Naruto, but I have no idea where their headed." Sarutobi offered up in a calm and casual tone as he lit his pipe.

"WHAT!" Ebisu shouted in shock and consternation. "This is a disaster!" Ebisu ran out of the room and down the hall.

How did Konohamaru-kun turn out to be like that? The old Hokage had to wonder, sighing a bit as he took a puff of his pipe. He's quite determined. That was his tenth sneak attack today alone. He thought to himself as he blew out a few smoke rings. Although if he hangs around Naruto he might learn a thing or two. He paused in his thoughts and grimaced. At least so long as Naruto doesn't teach him anything… tricky. The image of a naked blond woman quickly sprang to mind before he banished it.

Sighing Sarutobi looked down at the paperwork he had gotten from Naruto and began to read it over.

Naruto sighed to himself as he walked down the street, the confrontation with the little boy already placed in the back of his mind. As he wandered around the village, the blond tried to figure out what he should do. Today was supposed to be his rest day, so he wasn't going to be doing any training. However, because he had told himself that he would no longer do any pranks he didn't really have anything else to do.