8. Prank Wars : A Prodigious Uzumaki

(Here's your bonus chapter for 10 power stones:)

Chapter 8: The Great Prank War Starts

The sun was setting over Konoha, painting the sky in vibrant hues of orange and pink. In a secluded training ground, two young boys stood facing each other, their eyes gleaming with mischief and excitement.

"Alright, Naruto," Sora grinned, cracking his knuckles dramatically. "Prepare to have your mind blown!"

Naruto Uzumaki, the village's number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja, crossed his arms sceptically. "Oh yeah? What's so special about this jutsu of yours, dattebayo?"

Sora's grin widened. "Oh, nothing much. Just a little something called... Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, an exact replica of Sora appeared beside him, sporting the same fiery red hair and mischievous smirk.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Whoa! How did you do that? That's not the regular Clone Jutsu they teach at the Academy!"

"Nope," Sora agreed, looking mighty pleased with himself. "This, my whisker-faced friend, is the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It's way cooler than those lame illusions they teach in the academy."

"But where did you learn it?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide with wonder and a hint of jealousy.

Sora chuckled, launching into his tale. "Well, you see, it all started when I was out for a late-night pranking session. I stumbled upon this weird scarecrow on one of the training grounds. At first, I thought it'd be fun to give it a makeover – you know, maybe a nice hat or a moustache."

Naruto nodded sagely, clearly appreciating the artistic merit of scarecrow vandalism.

"But as I got closer," Sora continued, lowering his voice dramatically, "I realized it wasn't a scarecrow at all! It was a real ninja, just standing there reading some orange book!"

"No way!" Naruto gasped. "Who reads in the middle of the night?"

"Exactly!" Sora exclaimed. "So naturally, I decided to investigate. I hid in a nearby bush and watched. And that's when I saw it – he made a shadow clone to hold his book while he practised some fancy jutsu!"

"And you learned it just by watching?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

Sora puffed out his chest. "Well, not exactly. It took weeks of practice and more than a few... mishaps." He shuddered, remembering the incident where he'd accidentally created a clone with his head on backwards. "But eventually, I cracked the code!"

Naruto's eyes sparkled with determination. "That's so cool! You've gotta teach me, dattebayo!"

"Well," Sora stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I suppose I could impart my wisdom. But first, you need to understand the pros and cons of this jutsu."

For the next few minutes, Sora explained the intricacies of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, occasionally referencing a small notebook he pulled from his pocket.

"The biggest advantage," he said, flipping through his notes, "is that these clones are solid. They can interact with the environment and even fight. Plus, when they dispel, you get all their memories and experiences."

Naruto nodded eagerly, soaking up every word or so it seemed.

"But," Sora continued, his voice taking on a serious tone, "it's not without risks. Creating too many clones can drain your chakra dangerously fast. And if you're not careful with the memory feedback, you could end up with one massive headache... or worse."

"Worse?" Naruto gulped.

Sora nodded gravely. "I once made the mistake of having a clone eat nothing but ramen for a whole day. When it dispelled, I had the worst stomachache of my life – and I hadn't even eaten anything!"

(A/n- any idea what happens to food when the shadow clone is dispelled? other than the food dropping on the ground, can anybody propose an interesting theory)

Naruto's eyes widened in horror at the thought of ramen betraying him like that.

"But don't worry," Sora reassured him. "With proper training and moderation, it's an incredibly useful jutsu. So, want to give it a try?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, forming the hand seal Sora had shown him. "Alright, here goes nothing! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

What happened next would be forever etched in Sora's memory as one of the most shocking moments of his young life. Instead of the single clone he expected, the training ground was suddenly filled with a sea of orange-clad Narutos.

"I... what... how?" Sora sputtered, his eyes darting from one identical grinning face to another.

Naruto, looking just as surprised but considerably more pleased, scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, I guess I just divided my chakra into a bunch of parts instead of just two. Is that okay?"

Sora's jaw worked soundlessly for a moment before he managed to squeak out, "Okay? OKAY? Naruto, do you have any idea what you just did? That's... that's incredible!"

Unknown to the boys, they had an audience. Perched in a nearby tree, hidden by a clever genjutsu, Kakashi Hatake's visible eye widened in surprise. In the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly dropped his pipe as he watched the scene unfold in his crystal ball.

"Well," Kakashi murmured to himself, "this should be interesting."

Back in the training ground, Naruto was busy high-fiving his numerous clones while Sora tried to wrap his head around what he'd just witnessed.

"Naruto," Sora said slowly, "I think you might be some kind of chakra monster. There's no way a normal person should be able to make that many clones on their first try!"

Before Naruto could respond, one of his clones piped up with a mischievous grin. "Hey, boss! Now that we've got this awesome jutsu, why don't we have a prank war with Sora?"

The original Naruto's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea, dattebayo!"

Sora, never one to back down from a challenge (especially one involving pranks), quickly regained his composure. "Oh, you're on, whiskers! But we need some ground rules."

After a brief negotiation (during which several Naruto clones got into an argument with each other over the definition of a "fair prank"), they settled on the rules:

1. Each prankster would have 24 hours to prank the other.

2. During that time, the target couldn't retaliate.

3. Each successful prank would earn one point.

4. After two days (one day for each prankster), they'd tally the points to determine the winner.

"Alright," Sora grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Since I'm clearly the senior prankster here, I'll go first. Your 24 hours start... now!"

With lightning speed, Sora reached into his pocket and hurled a balloon filled with red paint straight at Naruto's face. However, he'd underestimated Naruto's newfound clone-based reflexes. One of the nearby Naruto clones shoved the original out of the way, taking the hit and dispelling it in a puff of red smoke.

"Ha!" Naruto crowed triumphantly. "Missed me!"

But Sora wasn't done. His own clone, left over from his earlier demonstration, launched another paint-filled balloon at Naruto, who was still sprawled on the ground.

For a moment, it looked like a direct hit. But in a move that left Sora both impressed and frustrated, one of Naruto's clones substituted with the original at the last second, taking the hit and dispelling in another explosion of red.

"Oh, come on!" Sora groaned. "Since when are you this coordinated?"

Naruto just grinned, already backing away towards the exit of the training ground. "Sorry, Sora! Gotta run! Good luck catching me now!"

With that, Naruto created a veritable army of clones, all scattering in different directions. Sora, who could now manage six shadow clones of his own, found himself hopelessly outnumbered.

"This... might be harder than I thought," Sora muttered as he watched the sea of orange disappear into the village