//------------------------------// // Responsible Use of Power // Story: Friendship Contract // by Demeristraz //------------------------------// Naruto sat in the Hokage's office, across the desk sat an old orangutan in ceremonial robes, between the two sat the Third Hokage. Under normal circumstances, Naruto would offer his total respect to the orange monkey, but negotiation was no place for fanboy-ing. "So, this cloud walking technique is legitimate? You can make a cloud, ride on it, and control where it goes?" The old monkey said, his voice old and hoarse. Naruto nodded, keeping the stern expression on his face. It was like playing poker, the few times he had played with the ponies he had done alright, he knew that Dash would go in on even terrible hands, that AJ couldn't bluff to save her life, and that trying to read Pinkie caused migranes. He was rather certain that Twilight could count cards, but couldn't prove it. "I have everything you need to know about the technique right here." Naruto said, patting a scroll on the desk. "Anyone who works hard enough should be able to accomplish what I did, given these instructions." "And all you ask in return is a blank copy of a summoning scroll?" The old monkey said, stroking his long orange beard. "I suppose that can be arranged. The art of creating these scrolls is a well kept secret among summon clans. I expect that, in giving this to the leader of your summons, you impress upon them how important this is. I suppose it is best that I take this offer, before the toads get wind of this and start making competing offers." "You may not know this, but among the monkeys there is the story of Wukong, the first monkey to travel to the land of ninja. He was the first to bring back ninja techniques to the clan, and among the techniques, only his ability to fly on clouds was never mimicked." The old monkey pushed the scroll at his side forward, and with a nod from Sarutobi, the exchanged went through. O~O~O~O~O The royal chambers of Canterlot Castle was filled with familiar faces when Naruto arrived, floating down into the doorway on a single-person cloud. He held aloft the scroll, to the cheers of every pony present, and with a bow lay it open at the feet of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. "You have worked long and hard towards this day Naruto. You have learned many lessons from all of us, lessons on love and friendship and family. You have grown strong, not only in body and mind, but also in heart. It is an honor that I sign my name upon this scroll." Said Celestia, to the cheers of everyone present. Luna then stepped forward, "We have not met many times in person, young human, but I have heard much of your triumphs. From both your friends, and my own sister's opinion, you exemplify the traits we hold dearest to us as ponies. It is an honor that I sign my name upon this scroll." They ceremony continued, with Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Big Macintosh, and Shining Armor all adding their names to the scroll. When at last they came to Naruto, Princess Celestia stood forward once more. "Today marks the very last day that you are a student, but as I told my faithful protégé before, in life we never truly stop learning. Even when you are as old as I am, there are things in life that continue to surprise me. Tomorrow marks the day you take another step towards your goal of being Hokage, and it is a step you take with us beside you. Tomorrow marks the first day you live as Uzumaki Naruto, first summoner of ponykind." Naruto signed the scroll with enthusiasm, and Pinkie Pie fired her cannon. O~O~O~O~O The sun was just rising as Naruto, still buzzed from the party the night before, climbed to the top of the Hokage Monument. With a few hand signs there was a poof of smoke and a moment later a pink pony and cyan pegasus emerged. "Wowiee! This is Konoha? It's way bigger than Ponyville, are you sure it's a village?" "Pinkie! Focus! Do you have the stuff?" He called, getting her to come up off of her perch on the Third Hokage's giant stone nose. The pony nodded, pulling a scroll out of... somewhere, and unsealing numerous items. "Alright, first, sugar in the inflatable pool! Add the pink food coloring and then the water." Naruto called, already inflating the rubber device to hold the mixture. Pinkie got to work, dumping bags of sugar into the pool and as Dash mixed franticly, Naruto set to work generating big pink cotton-candy clouds. Within an hour they had at least a hundred, floating aimlessly about the Hokage's heads. "Step two, get the chocolate!" He called, they didn't have long before he needed to get to the academy. The sugar water was quickly replaced with a mixture of chocolate and water, which Naruto used to fill up the pink clouds that Dash brought over. "These should last about 6 hours before they start raining, just in time for you to celebrate passing the test." Rainbow Dash said, as they filled the last one. "Great, school starts soon, I've gotta get going." Naruto said, forming a normal cloud for himself to ride. "That's fine, I'll have these babies set up in 10 seconds flat. Pinkie, stop eating the clouds and get this cleaned up, you know where we're meeting?" Dash called, pushing the first cloud out over Konoha, close enough to the ground to be obvious, but out of reach of any ninja. "Yep yep, I'll sneak on over to the roof of the academy, where you leave your cloud, and summon the others before noon." The earth pony nodded, quickly switching into a Konoha style flack jacket. "Where the hay did you get that?" Naruto yelled, already drifting away from the cliff. "Rarity made them for all of us! Dash! Put yours on too!" Pinky yelled, said pegasus was already a multi-chromatic blur over the skies of Konoha. O~O~O~O~O The academy was just filling up as Naruto arrived, dropping off the roof to meet his friends. "Oi, Shikamaru! Good day for cloud watching right?" he joked, walking up to the group. The entire academy was already a-buzz with theories about the weather. "Troublesome, I knew it somehow had to do with you Naruto, only you could be this ridiculous." Shikamaru sighed, leaning back against a nearby fence. "They look delicious." Chouji commented, looking up at the one hanging over the sparring ring. For a moment Naruto thought he saw it wiggle. "Ready for the test?" Said Sasuke as he approached, too cool to be early, even on test day. "Yeah right, I spent more time planning the celebration than I did studying." Naruto joked as they headed inside. The classroom was not what they expected, written on the board in Massive letters was "THE SECRET PHRASE IS: NARUTO YOU PASS!" "This again?" some of the students muttered, looking around carefully for hidden seals. Sasuke got a twisted grin on his face and wandered over to Naruto's seat, where he sat without a care in the world. "So... what happens when someone says 'Naruto you pa-" He was cut off by Naruto leaping from his seat to put his hand over the black-haired boy's mouth. "Shh shh shh, I don't have the trigger this time, 'she' does, and she gets bored really really easily." Naruto urged, pulling his friend down into the seat next to him. Sasuke shook his head and leaned back to wait for the last minute rush of students. Naruto idly peered out the window into the academy yard, noting with a small grin the occasional flash of color between the bushes, all of them seemed to be wearing Konoha flak jackets. Soon enough Iruka and Mizuki entered the room, and the class quieted down. "We'll begin with the written test. This is to test your knowledge of what you've learned over the past few years, this includes questions on history and theoretical knowledge. You have one hour, you may begin when you receive the test." Ten minutes into the test Naruto raised his hand, "Yes Naruto?" Iruka asked, already flinching in preparation. 'Activation phrase said, 3...2...1...' With yet another cacophony of party favors the room was lit up in an explosion of confetti and streamers. Everyone in the room was inexplicably left wearing party hats, and a large banner over Naruto's seat read 'First One Finished'. A pink haired girl wearing a lime green party hat looked ready to throttle him, so with a sheepish grin, Naruto bolted outside. Stepping out into the sunshine he glanced up at the rooftop, with a soft whistle several heads poked over the side. "What did they think?" Called Sweetie Belle. "Not very impressed I think. We'll have to step it up a bit. Is the target practice area prepared?" The three smallest ponies nodded franticly. "Everything is ready. Are we doing anything extra for the taijutsu spar?" "Nah, just stick to the plan, did you get her to agree?" He asked, noting there were other students slowly coming out. Three more fervent nods told him what he needed to know. "Alright, gather around!" Called Iruka as the students lined up. "We'll be doing the throwing weapon accuracy test now, in alphabetical order. Shino Aburame!" "Hey no fair! N comes before S!" Came a shout from the roof tops, followed by sounds of a scuffle and rapid whispering. Iruka cleared his throat and the stoic academy student stepped forward, taking the offered weapons. Flinging the first one he hit a little low on the target, firing the second one off he landed a little too high. His third toss landed dead on, causing a loud 'pop!' as confetti flew out the top of the training dummy's head, giving off the shape of a '1'. The shock was enough that even the usually stoic boy jumped a little. Many of the students laughed at that, and as the line went on every student laughed as they scored bulls-eyes. Sasuke was the first to hit 10 out of 10 bulls-eyes, with each successive one the display became more eccentric, until the 10 was shot out in fireworks, to the sound of epic music, with sparklers springing out around the dummy. Iruka had a bemused expression on his face, and would occasionally shoot looks at Naruto, who had a face like Applejack trying to lie. Naruto managed to score a decent 7 out of 10, and soon enough they gathered for the sparring match. "Alright, the objective is to last 5 minutes against Mizuki in the ring. Bonus points are awarded for landing a hit on him before the time limit, but you only need to last the full 5 minutes to pass. You can use chakra, but no techniques are allowed, including the academy three." Once again they went in alphabetical order, until at last it was Naruto's turn. Iruka was chanting 'This is his last day, let it slide' in his mind, over and over, as loud speakers appeared on the rooftop and a track with a strong beat started playing. As the orange boy walked forward a female voice blared over the speakers "F-f-fillies and Gen-gen-gentlecolts!" The class laughed as Naruto struck a few poses, a few of his friends cheered, as well as some voices from the roof. Mizuki immediately leapt to the offensive, and Naruto appeared to dance out of the way, his movements followed the beat of the music, but Mizuki couldn't seem to land any solid hits. This continued for the full 5 minutes, with Mizuki getting more and more angry and violent as the time went on. At the 5 minute mark the music cut off, and Naruto took a bow for his audience, to the applause of several present. "Well done Naruto, but why didn't you try to land a hit on Mizuki? You never went on the offensive." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, I guess I was having too much fun, sorry." The class was lead inside for the final test, one by one they'd be called into a separate room to demonstrate their grasp of the academy's three staple techniques. Several classmates crowded around Naruto, asking about the jokes and the music, to which he denied any involvement, which nobody bought for a minute. Several of the students asked about the strange pink clouds, but the only thing he'd say is, go outside right after the test, you'll definitely want to see the finale. On the rooftop of the school several ponies gathered around for last minute preparations. "Alright, it's almost time. Dash, get into position! Twilight, power up that spell, it's gotta hit everyone!" yelled Pinkie, practically vibration with enthusiasm. Finally it was his turn to perform, and looking at the clock he rushed through the motions. The moment he entered the room he was a blur of motion, within seconds he had copied himself, become a perfect replica of Iruka, and then replaced himself with some kind of extra-dimensional slab of mahogany. Returning to the front he looked at his teacher expectantly, ticking down in his head. '5, 4, 3'. "As much as I dread what will happen when I say it..." Iruka paused, seeing the boy in front of him vibration on the spot. "Naruto... You pass!" With a whoop Naruto leapt out the window to join his friends and immediately pointed upwards. From a position high above Konoha Rainbow Dash dove, becoming a blur as she shot down towards the village, with a window rattling 'BOOM!' an explosion of color expanded from the center of town as she proceeded to spell out "NARUTO PASSED!" in rainbow font over the Hokage's monument. The moment the Sonic Rainboom went off, the cotton candy clouds all over the village began raining chocolate down upon the populace. Chouji laughed and ran to the nearest cloud to get some, followed shortly by a crowd of pastel colored ponies. The final stunt was provided by Twilight, as with a final surge of power, every man woman and child in Konoha found themselves with very stylish handlebar mustaches. As Naruto, now with facial hair, rolled on the floor laughing at the sheer awesomeness of his graduation prank, his friends gathered around with mixed reactions. Many of them were laughing along with him, Kiba watched with mirth as Akamaru chased about Sweetie Belle in the chocolate rain, while Rarity chased them both yelling about getting messy. Chouji and Pinkie had a contest to see who could drink the most from the closest cloud. Hinata stroked her temporary mustache in shock as she leaned against Fluttershy for support. Shikamaru watched Rainbow Dash reshape the sky to be more 'festive' with a serene smile on his face. "So... Ponies huh?" Sasuke said, rocking a rather long and curled mustache. "Yep, told you I'd introduce you some day." Naruto said, gasping for breath. "Yeah... Think the council will get pissed off?" "I'm counting on it." Naruto grinned. "Give them hell" Sasuke grinned back. O~O~O~O~O "He's only been a genin for a few hours and look what he's done!" Shouted one of the civilian council-women. "That boy is a menace!" Understandably, the female population of Konoha was far more upset with the incident than the male side. The lady in question now sported a very large, very bushy, unruly pink set of facial hair. Idly, Naruto wondered how difficult it would be to change the spell to 'fu manchu'. His job, at the moment, was to sit on this bench, listening to council members bellyache over 'damages' and 'long term effects' and pretending to care. The last part was the hardest thing he had done as a ninja to date. Meanwhile, his friends, both pony and human, ran amuck in Konoha, causing who knows how much more trouble that actually Would have long term effects. He would be worried about that, but worry required far more effort that he could possibly spare at the moment. "What does the brat have to say for himself?" Sneered a balding man, who leaned over the orange boy to appear intimidating. Naruto wanted to ask whether he had the mustache before the spell, as it looked good on him. He wanted to say the man would probably look great with a pompadour. He wanted to ask if they thought he'd been spending too much time with Rarity. Instead he simply said, "I swear on my honor as a ninja, this scale of celebration will never happen again." 'If I must celebrate, I will endeavor to out-do myself.' was the implication of that sentence, which seemed to be lost on the civilians. Many of the ninja present snickered, including one in the corner wearing a face mask. It was the man with the orange book, Naruto noted. He seemed to have cut slits in the mask to let his large silver mustache sprout through like some kind of plant. Eventually the council wore itself out, and Naruto was left with the task of fixing the mustaches, which amounted to 'wait four more hours', and he was left alone with Sarutobi in his office. "Quite the celebration you threw for yourself, Naruto." The old man had a genuinely happy expression on his face. "This was easier than making an appointment to see you." Naruto shrugged. "Besides, the party doesn't start for another two hours, training ground 7, you're welcome to come if you like." "Ah, I'll be certain to stop by then. In the mean time, you should probably summon the pony boss, the three of us have something to discuss." The Third said, putting his hat on and ensuring he looked presentable. "That is, they will fit into this room, won't they?" He thought, recalling the size of Gamabunta. "Of course of course," Naruto said, performing the technique. There was a massive poof of smoke that filled Sarutobi's office, and slowly drifted out of the window. "Hark! For what purpose hath thy princesses been called forth from our homelands! Show thyself enemies of ponykind and face the wrath of the heavenly bodies!" "Luna! Indoor voice please!" Came a softer voice, as the smoke cleared to reveal two radiant winged unicorns. The smaller of the two mumbled a soft 'Sorry Celly, I forgot.' and turned to face the desk. Sarutobi shook himself from his stupor and began what would be a very long, very boring diplomatic talk. It was nearly an hour later when the focus turned back to Naruto. "I am not certain how best to say this. But I vowed that Naruto would learn the truth the day he became a genin. There is a reason that the civilians dislike you Naruto. It isn't a good reason, and it has no basis in rational thought, but it does stem somewhat from truth. You were born on the day the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, Naruto, the only child born on that fateful evening, this you may know. You were also told your parents died, facing down the beast and protecting this village. What was not told to you, or the children of your generation, was that the fourth Hokage could not kill the Kyuubi, he could only seal it away, in a newborn baby." "Me," Naruto whispered, as Luna placed a comforting wing over his shoulder. "Yes, the villagers see you, and are reminded of everything they lost. But what they should see, what I see, is that you are a hero to us all. Every day you live you protect this village by holding the Kyuubi imprisoned." The Hokage said, trying to get Naruto to look up. "So, having this much chakra, and the speed at which I heal..." Naruto said. "Yes, both symptoms of your condition. The fourth created a brilliant prison, and the Kyuubi's power, given enough time, will all become yours." The third explained. "Did you know?" Naruto asked, looking up at Celestia, prepared for a horrified or disgusted expression. Instead he found a look of pure kindness, one that would not be out of place on a mother. "Of course I knew Naruto, I felt it the moment you entered Equestria, but I knew you were not to be feared the moment I lay eyes on you, and trusted Twilight's judgment even before that. I know you are no danger to any of your friends Naruto, we all know." She said softly, both her and Luna moving to embrace the child. "Do the others know? Twilight? Fluttershy?" Celestia nodded. "I informed them all, and the first thing they asked was if you were at any risk. They wished to know if they could use the Elements of Harmony to get rid of the monster. Fluttershy even wanted to give it a stern scolding I believe. Believe me, if I knew for certain you would be safe, the Kyuubi would already be enjoying life on the moon." She joked softly, as Naruto calmed down. "You don't hate me?" He asked quietly, returning the embrace. "Of course we don't hate you, we are your friends, we signed a contract remember?" Celestia smiled. "Now come along, I don't usually stay up passed sundown, but I wouldn't miss this party for the world." She said, and Luna offered him a place on her back. "Just this once." She assured playfully, as he climbed aboard. Celestia turned to the Third Hokage, and gave him a look. Sarutobi smiled softly, and climbed onto her back. There was a party to attend.