9. Prank Wars: One-Upping

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

Realizing he had no idea where Naruto lived (and suspecting the crafty blonde would be laying low anyway), Sora decided to focus his efforts on the one place he knew Naruto would have to show up: the Academy.

As evening fell, Sora snuck into the classroom, a backpack full of pranking supplies clinking softly with each step. "Alright," he muttered to himself, "time for some multi-layered mayhem."

Over the next few hours, Sora rigged each desk with an intricate series of pranks, each one designed to trigger if the previous one was avoided. By the time he finished, every seat in the classroom was a veritable minefield of mischief, with no less than nine separate traps for each waiting to be sprung.

"Let's see you dodge this, Naruto," Sora grinned as he admired his handiwork. "And hey, if I happen to catch a few other victims in the crossfire... well, that's just a bonus!"

The next morning, Sora arrived at the Academy early, practically vibrating with anticipation. As his classmates filed in, he kept a sharp eye out for a certain spiky-haired blonde.

To only his surprise, Naruto was actually one of the last to arrive, shuffling in just as Iruka-sensei was about to start the lesson. Even more surprising were the dark bags under Naruto's eyes, a stark contrast to his usually boundless energy.

"Naruto," Iruka frowned, concern evident in his voice, "are you alright? You look exhausted."

Naruto yawned widely before answering. "Sorry, Iruka-sensei. I was doing some ninjutsu experiments last night and lost track of time."

Sora's eyebrows shot up. Ninjutsu experiments? What exactly had Naruto been up to?

As Naruto made his way to an empty seat (notably not his usual one), Sora tensed, ready to activate his elaborate prank system. But to his frustration, Naruto moved with an uncharacteristic caution, carefully inspecting the chair and desk before finally sitting down.

Around the classroom, Sora could see his other classmates reacting to Naruto's strange behaviour. Shikamaru, usually half-asleep by this point, had one eye cracked open in curiosity. Sakura and Ino had paused their usual bickering to watch Naruto's careful movements. Even Sasuke seemed to be paying more attention than usual, his dark eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Sora gritted his teeth. His pranks were well-hidden, utilizing storage seals and clever positioning to avoid detection. But if Naruto remained this vigilant, he might never get a chance to spring them!

As the lesson dragged on, Sora found himself only half-listening to Iruka-sensei's lecture on chakra theory. His mind raced, trying to figure out the best moment to strike. Finally, as Iruka turned to write something on the blackboard, Sora decided it was now or never.

With a subtle hand sign, he activated the pranks – not just for Naruto's desk, but for the entire classroom. After all, why let all that hard work go to waste?

What followed was a scene of utter chaos that would go down in Academy history.

The first layer of pranks was relatively simple – spring-loaded cushions that launched their victims into the air. Most of the class was caught completely off-guard, with yelps and shrieks filling the air as students suddenly found themselves airborne.

Naruto, however, was ready. In a move that left Sora grudgingly impressed, he created a shadow clone mid-air, using it as a springboard to launch himself clear of the desk entirely.

But Sora had anticipated some evasive manoeuvres. The second layer activated immediately, releasing a cloud of brightly coloured powder into the air. Several students, including a very disgruntled Sasuke, found themselves coated in neon pink and green.

Naruto, still in mid-air, substituted with one of his textbooks, narrowly avoiding the powder cloud. But this put him right in the path of the third trap – a series of paint-filled balloons that launched from hidden compartments in the walls.

With a speed that would have made Sora and Iruka if he witnessed proud if it wasn't so frustrating, Naruto created another shadow clone, using it as a human shield. The clone took the full brunt of the paint barrage before dispelling in a very colourful puff of smoke.

Layers four through eight were a blur of activity. Rubber chickens flew through the air, desks suddenly sprouted cartoon arms that tried to grab their occupants, and at one point, Iruka-sensei found himself suspended from the ceiling by a net that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Through it all, Naruto dodged and weaved with an agility that seemed almost supernatural. Shadow clones popped in and out of existence, each one taking a hit meant for the original. Substitution jutsus were performed with dizzying frequency, leaving Naruto's classmates (and Sora) struggling to keep track of where he actually was at any given moment.

By the time the ninth and final layer activated – a truly inspired combination of whipped cream, feathers, and what appeared to be live ducks – most of the class looked like they'd been through a very festive war zone. Choji was licking whipped cream off his fingers with a bemused expression. Ino was trying desperately to get feathers out of her carefully styled hair. Shikamaru, true to form, had somehow managed to sleep through the entire ordeal and was now blinking confusedly at the chaos around him.

And Naruto? He stood in the middle of it all, grinning from ear to ear, without so much as a speck of paint or a single feather on him.

Sora, covered head to toe in a rainbow of colours and looking like he'd been tarred and feathered, could only stare in disbelief. "How?" he managed to sputter. "How did you dodge all of that?"

Naruto's grin, if possible, grew even wider. "Shadow clones, baby! I had them working in shifts all night to improve my reflexes. Pretty cool, huh?" 

Before Sora could respond (or consider the implications of training via sleep-deprived shadow clones), he felt a menacing presence behind him. Slowly, he turned to find Iruka-sensei, still hanging from the ceiling net, his face a mask of barely contained fury.

"Sora," Iruka said, his voice dangerously calm, "would you care to explain what exactly is going on here?"

Sora gulped. He opened his mouth, ready to launch into one of his patented excuses when suddenly, inspiration struck. With a quick hand sign, he activated one last seal he'd hidden for just such an emergency.

***

Thank you shoval_picu, Desire96, sparta55, dylan_buehner, Kennchan, Zsolt_Papp and Kay_smiles101 for powerstones.

***

The scheme is still ongoing, current power stone count is 19

20 = +1 chapter

30 = +1 chapter

40 = +1 chapter

50 = +2 chapter