Game of the Year: A Naruto Quest

You stare blankly at the replacement fan in your hand for a long moment. It's the shitty kind, the type a roadside stall would give out as an advertisement on a hot summer's day. The wood is splintered beneath your fingers and has been long before you touched it, and the paper is ragged and full of holes.

It's a poor replacement for your fan. Your fan. The beautiful reinforced steel fan with a silk leaf that Mother pressed into your hands on the first day of the Academy. The same one that was given to her by her father on her first day of schooling. The item that you've been using to point at things, signify your displeasure, and spread open to tell people when you're done with a conversation. The one that you almost never let leave your hands unless you're doing hand seal exercises or need both hands for something else. That fan.

That fan is gone. Uzumaki Naruto took it. Just snatched it out of your desk and left this trash in it's place.

…you might kill him for this.

Sure, he may be the protagonist of the story that this world is based on. He may just be acting out for attention right now. He may, deep down, be a good person that just needs a hug and a hair tussle. He may think this is a funny, funny joke that people will laugh at for years to come.

But you might kill him for this.

You explode out of your seat in flash of movement that startles the few stragglers left in the classroom and run. You run with all the speed you can, pumping chakra into your legs with every beat of your racing heart. You leave a footprint in the hardwood of the hallway and barely notice. Your mind is racing- you need to catch him now.

Where would he go? What would he be doing with your fan? This won't be the end of his 'prank'. Uzumaki's pranks are always big, always a spectacle. He wouldn't just steal something- he has a plan. But what is it?! And where would he be setting it up?!

He wouldn't have left the Academy. You haven't gone through practicals yet today and he wouldn't miss those for anything. So he's still around here somewhere. The roof? Maybe, but you doubt it. There's only one exit point up there, and Naruto's a cunning bastard. He wouldn't let himself get trapped. Another classroom? You doubt it; no way of telling when someone else would come in and discover him.

Wait a second. Maybe discovery is the point? What if the fan isn't his goal, it's just a prop in some game of his? So what would that be? Why would he need it-

Authenticity.

He needs it for authenticity. He's disguising himself as you and knows that you're never seen without two things, your sword and your fan. And it's much easier to get a cheap sword then a quality fan around here. Pieces start sliding into place and you skid to a halt in the hallway leading to the training yard. Your hand lashes out and grabs the nearest person: a suddenly scared looking Ami. You pull her towards you with such force that you feel the neck of her shirt rip beneath your grip. You frankly don't care.

You glare at her. "Have I come by here before?" you growl.

Ami looks like she might protest on principle but whatever she sees in your eyes loosens her tongue. "Yeah," she rattles out. "I just saw you outside!" You release her and stalk towards the training yard. Like you thought.

Sure enough, when you get outside, your eyes land on your friends. Sitting between Ino and Sakura and looking uncharacteristically pleased with himself is Satomura Daisuke. In one hand he's playing with his fan, while the other is moving animatedly as he talks to Sakura. She's looking at him with a combination of concern and… is that pleasure? Does she like whatever he's saying to her?

If she does, you frankly don't give a shit. You stalk towards the group, hand drifting down to your sword's hilt. You're going to fucking end him and no one will care because you will be right in doing it-

No. No. You inhale slowly, and exhale. No. You will talk to him first. You will explain to him what he's just done and why you are so angry with him. You will not let your admittedly justified rage lead you down the path of beasts. Your anger doesn't control you. You control it.

...and if he doesn't give you the fan back, or if he doesn't apologize, or if he says one thing wrong or even breathes funny, then you will beat him within an inch of his life.

As you master your temper your pace slows, but you don't stop moving towards your friends and Naruto. Jabari is the first to see you when he looks up from his notebook tapping his pencil against his lips. His dark eyes widen and he almost chokes on whatever he's chewing as he glances from you to not you and back.

His movement draws everyone else's attention, and the eyes of your friends all snap to you. The only one who doesn't notice your arrival is the disguised Naruto. He keeps talking, heedless of you bearing down on him. "We can get food after school!" he's telling Sakura. "I'll pay of course, because I have so much money! And I know just the place to- hurk"

The last isn't a word, it's the sound he makes when you grab him by the neck of his fake hoodie and toss him back. To his credit, he lands on his feet, hands near his kunai pouch as he's been trained. He blanches when he sees who's thrown him, your normal pale skin somehow turning even paler. Wow. He's got good control of that jutsu if it can even mimic his emotional state.

But you're not here to be impressed "Uzumaki," you intone, barely keeping wrath out of your voice. "Give it back. Now."

It's disconcerting to hear your own voice say words that you aren't making it say, but you manage to keep yourself from giving any visible reaction when Naruto starts talking. "I've got no idea what you're talking about!" he says through his Henge. "But how dare you put your hands on me, Satomura Daisuke! I will-"

Your voice is low with either rage or pleading, you're not sure which. "That fan was a gift from my Mother." He looks like he wants to say something, but you press on. "Which came from her father."

All around you, you can see the pieces fall into place on your the faces of your friends, and glares begin to bore holes through not you. The illusion's shoulders slump and finally, with a plume of smoke, Naruto dismisses the jutsu. "You're no fun!" He scowls, gesturing at you with your own fan. "Why couldn't you take just a few more minutes getting down here?!"

You don't really care what he's yammering on about. "Uzumaki. My fan. It's an heirloom. Please, give it back."

'or I'm going to start beating you and I'm not sure when I'll stop' is something you definitely don't add even though you desperately want to.

Whether it's the fact that you said please or if how much you care about your fan has penetrated his thick skull, you're not sure. Whatever the case is, a guilty look crosses his face. He sighs and tosses your fan at you underhand. You snatch it out of the air with a quick motion and stare at it for a long moment. No scuffs. No visible damage. You unfurl it with a quick, sure motion, revealing the painting of a coast at twilight. No holes or damage there either.

You're so caught up in inspecting your fan that you miss Naruto's next words. Ino, however, doesn't. "Sorry?!" she snarls, sounding closer to violence then you've heard her in a long time. "Sorry?! You steal his fan and dress up like him so that you can do I don't even know what, and now you say you're sorry?! How dare you!"

Ino looks like she wants to stand up and deck the boy, and the rest of your friends aren't far behind. But while part of you still wants nothing more than to destroy right now, you feel almost light headed from the relief of having your fan back. It puts you in a forgiving mood. You put your hand on Ino's shoulder and press, keeping her seated. "No," you tell them all. "None of that."

You turn to Naruto. You're not going to address his apology, but you're not going to hold it over his head either. "Please do not touch my things again," you tell him.

He nods once, shortly, arms crossed. He almost looks like he's pouting. "Well," you continue. "Then I'm going to have my lunch now. Good afternoon." With the last word said, you drop down into your normal spot and turn your back, dismissing Naruto.

You don't hear him leave but you can tell when he's gone when everyone else stops staring and returns their attention to their food. "So that was weird," Sakura says.

"Who knew Uzumaki was so good at Henge?" Yui muses. "I wouldn't have been able to tell if Dai hadn't shown up and stood face to face with him."

There's a general murmur of agreement. Sakura doesn't join in. Instead she glowers down into her salad. "I could tell there was something off," she says. "But it was in what he was saying, not how he was acting if that makes any sense."

You all wait for a moment for her to go on, explain what Naruto was saying to her, but she clams up. When it becomes clear she's not going to talk, Ino takes the conversation over. "You should've let me punch him!" she hisses. "He stole your fan!"

"I noticed," you reply dryly. "But I don't think he was trying to be mean. If he was he wouldn't have given it back so easily."

"It doesn't matter!" she answers mulishly. "He deserved a punching!" Sakura nods, the two back in sync for the first time since the morning game. Hopefully that sticks for a while; you still need to weasel out what Ino's problem is.

It takes some doing but you manage to talk Ino down and back to her food. As she digs into more of Mother's dumplings, she lets out another huff. "At least we're almost done with Naruto," she mutters through a mouthful. "I don't know how much longer I can take him."

Huh. You hadn't really thought about that. Once you're done with the Academy, you won't really be seeing Naruto everyday anymore. Only a few people will have to deal with that, and those are the people that wind up on the same team as him.

...one of which could be you.

You've had some ideas about making a final press for Rookie of the Year. It would be tough, but you might just be able to push past Sasuke and the rest if you really put your mind and body to it. And if you did, you would likely wind up on the same team as Naruto come graduation, with all the benefits and problems that that would entail.

So now the question is… do you want to shoot for that goal?
[] Yes. You'll go for the Rookie of the Year spot, the achievement that goes with it, and everything it entails.
[] No. You have far better things to focus your time on than forcing your grades up past four more people. You'll let this one go.