//------------------------------// // A Night to Remember // Story: Friendship Contract // by Demeristraz //------------------------------// The party was just warming up when Naruto and the Third Hokage arrived, everyone, pony and human alike, bowed as they made their grand entrance, the ponies in respect to the princesses, and the ninja in respect to the Hokage. Hopping down from his steed, Naruto broke away from the crowd that surged forward to question Sarutobi, and set about finding his friends. The ponies had really outdone themselves, there were large canopy covers set up over picnic tables laden with cakes and apple products, lights and lanterns were strung overhead illuminating the dusk for the partygoers. In the back Naruto spotted a stage where a familiar white unicorn with neon blue hair was setting up her equipment for music. The first of his human friends he saw was Hinata, sitting at one of the tables with Fluttershy sitting nearby. As he approached, however, he noticed neither of them were talking. "Hey, Hinata! Fluttershy!" Naruto called as he approached. The two of them looked up at his voice and smiled. "I see you two have met!" "Oh um, yes..." both of them stammered, and looked away. "Right..." Naruto paused, it made sense in hind sight, quiet + quiet = a whole lot of quiet. "Have you had a look around yet? Pinkie Pie's parties are legendary back in Equestria." "Well... I can't stay long... I'm expected home within the hour." Hinata said, looking quite sad at the fact. "Ah, that's too bad, tell your family they're all invited to join in, there will be plenty of food and music and dancing, and I think the princesses want to meet as many clan heads as possible, away from the civilian council." Naruto rambled on about the merits of 'Apple family apples', and why she should try Pinkie's carrot cake, but Hinata had begun to feel faint at the mention of dancing. Fluttershy noticed and stepped in to steady her, which the girl was thankful for. "Anyways, I'm glad you showed up, even for a little bit, congratulations on graduating Hinata, I look forward to working with you in the future." He smiled and waved, rushing off into the growing crowds. Up ahead he heard a crowd of people hanging around one of the food canopies. "Animals cooking food? Is that some kind of joke? Must be a ninja thing. I hear they're minions of the demon brat, this whole damn party is to mock us for making him a genin." Naruto slowed at hearing those words, the conversation from earlier still fresh in his mind. He really didn't want the ponies to be hated because of him. "You guys are nuts! There are Akamichi in there, which means the food must be good. I dunno about you but I'm gunna get some before it's all gone." He lightened at hearing a few of the civilians agree and move to join in on the party. Hopefully there were more people like that those looking to cause trouble. Taking a risk he entered the tent himself, and made his way over to the back where a crowd was gathered. Pushing his way through he found himself faced with an amusing sight, there were ten Akamichi clan members, including the clan head himself, sitting right next to his son. They were furiously at work stacking empty pie tins in front of them, while a large portion of the Apple family dished out pie after pie. Naruto chuckled a little at the sight, Chouji was a simple boy, a lot like the members of the Apple family, good food and good company went a long way to earning a good friend of the Akamichi clan. Seeing he didn't need to play peacemaker here, Naruto grabbed an apple turn-over and moved along. The next crowd he came across much more quiet than the previous, the Nara clan had come to the party en-mass and currently looked on as Shikamaru sat across the bench from a familiar lavender Unicorn. The two of them seemed to be deeply involved in a board game of some sort, and one of the older men, Shikamaru's father most likely, seemed pleased with how it was progressing. Deciding he had nothing to add to that sort of atmosphere Naruto continued. Kiba and Sasuke were mixed in among the Inuzuka clan, as they crowded the large kegs of cider, Rainbow Dash and a few other ponies were among them, all sharing stories. "-Was like the size of a house, sitting there snoring away. So I walked right up to it, and gave it the hardest kick of my life, and told it to wake it's scaly behind up!" Those listening leaned in as she took a drink. "And then it finger flicked me right out of its cave!" The crowd burst into laughter as she continued the story, Sasuke and Kiba slid out to join Naruto. "Dude, this explains the smell." Kiba said, sloshing his cider mug. "This is good stuff, wish we could drink for real though, we're genin now!" "There'll be time for that when we're older Kiba, I'm in no rush." Naruto shrugged. "Honestly man, how long have you known these ponies, some of them remind me so much of you it's scary."Kiba said. "Nah, Naruto is weird for a pony, right?" Sasuke joked. "Seriously, you guys aren't going to go after me about it being girly or anything? I mean the boss summon is a pair of Alicorn princesses." Naruto said, surprised at the lack of jokes on the subject. Kiba laughed even louder and leaned on Naruto, "Man, I don't care if you have to wear a tiara and brush their hair every night before bed, you'd better do it if it means brining them around more often. Those ponies are awesome!" "They taught you how to fight right?" Sasuke grunted. "Yeah, they practically raised me since I was six." Naruto shrugged. "Then they're cool by me." Sasuke shrugged as well. Kiba grabbed another mug off a table and forced it into Naruto's hands. "A Toast!" "To the Magic of Friendship!" Naruto called, only to have Kiba throw an empty mug at him. "Now you're pushing your luck Orange!" Kiba yelled back, "To graduation!" The three raised their glasses, and the Inuzuka clan howled along with them. Naruto wandered off around the time Sasuke got Rainbow Dash talking about lightning. He found it amusing that every pony he came across had a Konoha style flak jacket on, Rarity must have been working hard for this. Up ahead, towards the sound of music, he heard the standard sound of arguing. "Nuh uh!" "Yeah huh!" "Nuh uh, I'm gunna be the Hokage, my grandpa is right now, there's no way he won't give me the hat!" Cried a voice from ahead. "Yeah right, Naruto wouldn't lose to a stuck up shrimp like you! Yah have ta work ta get the hat, Naruto told me himself." That sounded a lot like Applebloom. "Naruto's a nobody! There's no way some guy I've never heard of could be Hokage!" "Say that again! Ah'll buck yah over that there mountain!" "Whoa, easy there you two!" Naruto rushed forward to intervene. "You shouldn't be fighting, it's a party!" "But he called me ah mule!" Applebloom said, looking up with her puppy dog eyes. "I'm sure it was a misunderstanding right?" Naruto turned to look at the boy causing trouble. The kid had a ridiculously long scarf and... something... on his head. "What's wrong? You mad that you have such worthless summons? At least with donkeys you could quit being a ninja and become a merchant, since I'm going to be Hokage anyways." The brat said arrogantly. Naruto had to quickly lift the kid up by his shirt to keep Applebloom from kicking him senseless. "Put me down! Do you know who I am? I'm Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson!" "I don't care if you're the first Hokage reincarnated, you're being a spoiled brat!" The crowd that had gathered went silent suddenly. "The title of Hokage is passed down to whoever is deemed most worthy, it has nothing to do with lineage. If you want to be Hokage you have to be strong, you have to be smart, you have to be willing to risk your life for each and every one of your people. And most of all you have to work!" He said, still letting the shocked boy dangle. "But Ebisu said he'd show me the shortcuts." "There are no shortcuts, do you think anyone would respect you for being given something on a silver platter?" "N-no?" "Do you want respect?" "Yes!" Naruto let the kid go, watching him stand up and dust himself off. "I'm gunna work hard, I'm gunna earn that title, and I'm going to take that hat from you one day Boss!" he shouted, a look of determination on his face. "I look forward to you trying." The situation defused shortly after that, although he felt certain that Applebloom and Konohamaru would never see eye to eye. Ahead on the left was a shop booth, Rarity's no doubt. Judging by the crowds, her outfits were as popular with human as they were with ponies. "My goodness, such exquisite fabric! Oh and the designs, they are simply marvelous, do tell me you have my size." Came an extravagant voice from inside. "Oh but of course Madame, I can have anything you like custom tailored in minutes! You have a good eye, this dress is all the rage in Prance at the moment, it's a fashion capital you know." Rarity definitely seemed to be doing well for herself. "It seems the Daimyo's wife has become quite taken with the party." Sarutobi said, coming up beside Naruto as they passed by. "Oh my, I'll take one of everything on this rack, they are simply gorgeous, and the Jewels! I cannot believe I'll be able to tell dignitaries my wardrobe was designed by a unicorn! You simply must send along anything else you design, it wouldn't do for anyone else to be more stylish." The lady within the stall yammered on and on, but Rarity took it with a grin, odds and ends floating around as she adjusted each outfit to fit her customer. "Naruto!" Came a voice from up ahead, revealing a different white unicorn. "Shining Armor! You made it!" Naruto called, running up to meet the pony halfway. "Of course, both Princesses are here, it is my duty to enjoy the party almost as much as them." He said, nodding as the Third Hokage caught up. "Old man! This is Shining Armor, he's the captain of the royal guard, and sort of a mentor to me." Naruto said, introducing the two. "Honored to meet you sir. Naruto I wanted to introduce you to somepony, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadencia, my fiancée." He said, gesturing to a pink Alicorn that emerged from the crowd. "Please, just Cadence is quite alright, it's a pleasure to meet you Naruto, I've heard a lot about you." She said. "I wish I could say the same." Naruto smiled, before giving Shining Armor a look. "I've been super busy with my duties lately, there have been more odd incidences around Canterlot, and now the wedding is coming up in a few months..." Shining Armor said, backing away slowly. "Months? Shining Armor do tell me you've told Twilight, surely this isn't the first any of us have heard of it." "Ah, well, I was going to tell her tonight, but I haven't seen her and we are about to leave..." He stumbled, Naruto was now closing in on him, and cracking his knuckles. "I was going to send a letter..." "A letter!" it was Cadence who stepped in this time. "So help me Shining Armor if you tell your amazing little sister about our marriage through a LETTER..." "Alright alright I'll go find her right now." He cried, taking off into the crowd once more. Cadence shook her head and followed after. "Poor guy." Sarutobi said, shaking his head at the unicorn's misfortune. "He gets caught up in his work." O~O~O~O~O The night wore on and the party continued, Naruto participated in a few games, even sitting in the dunk chair on a dare from his friends. He danced a little, enjoying the rave music put on by ponyville's resident DJ. Eventually everyone went home, and the party was shut down, the morning found many humans waking up in a now empty training field, wonder about the events of last night. The week that followed was spent better introducing his summons to the village, Fluttershy was a welcome volunteer at the animal clinic, Rarity received requests in the mail through Naruto, Pinkie and Rainbow dash played a few pranks, and AJ and Naruto took to doing laps of the village in the morning. When the day finally came for team selection Naruto was running behind schedule. "Applebloom I told you, I don't know how you or Pinkie even expect to get that boat of yours airborne, I'm not the person to ask about this sort of thing." "But this is all ninja mumbo jumbo, isn't it? You're a ninja, you're supposed ta know this sorta thing." She whined, keeping pace with him as he made his way into class. "I'm not a sealing expert though, the best I can figure, make two big clouds and tie them to the ship using enchanted rope." He said, desperate to end the conversation. "Do yah think Twilight can do that?" She asked, eyes hopeful. "I don't know, go ask her! Honestly what do you need a flying ship for?" "We're gunna be sky pirates!" She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But... there's nothing up there to steal from..." Naruto said, now halting his forward momentum. "Who said anything 'bout stealin'?" She said, before poofing back to Equestria. "Honestly what does that filly think pirates do?" He muttered, finally entering the classroom. "I haven't the foggiest." Came Iruka's deadpan response from the front of the room, along with a few odd looks from several jounin. "Now that everyone is here." He shot a look at Naruto, who bolted for an open seat. "We can go over team assignments. Team one..." Naruto tuned him out, waiting for his name to pop up. "Team seven, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno!" He heard, and looked over at Sasuke. "Who?" he asked, and Sasuke shrugged. O~O~O~O~O Three hours later, Naruto, Sasuke, and the pink haired girl now identified as Sakura, sat in the classroom... still... 10 minutes into their wait Naruto had leapt onto the ceiling and unsealed a pack of cards from a carefully hidden seal. "Cards anyone?" He asked, Sasuke shrugged, Sakura looked on incredulously. "What the heck was a pack of cards doing there?" She asked, coming over to sit down. "I have cards hidden all over town," Naruto shrugged, "In case of a card emergency." "And this counts?" She said, absently taking the hand dealt to her. The two boys shrugged. One hour in and Naruto was reduced to making idle chatter. "So we drill this hole, like 10 feet into the solid rock, we've got this wheel hooked up so the four of us can turn it. It's slow going but we get it done. Then Scootaloo runs off and comes wandering over with this stick in her mouth." "Raise," said Sasuke, half paying attention to the story. "So I take it from her, and she says its tnt, and I've gotta put it in the hole. Easy job right?" Naruto continued, pushing a few more chips into the middle of the floor. "So I lean down, put it into the hole, and just let it drop." "What happened?" Asked Sakura, not really looking up from her cards as she pushed a few chips in. "Turns out that nice safe shock-resistant tnt stick, was actually a stick of dynamite. The stick hits the bottom of the hole, and the nitro goes off, sending me and about a ton of rock on an express trip to the bottom of the quarry." Sasuke gave a snort at that, after all these years he finally heard the full story behind why he carries that first aid kit. Two hours in Naruto got fed up, and unsealed some sort of contraption near the doorway. "If he's this late, he's getting the welcome wagon." He replied to the odd look from Sakura. Sasuke just smirked. Ten minutes later Kakashi opened the door to the classroom, and looked down to see a strange box playing music. A few seconds later he was covered in cake batter. "The cake batter is in the confetti cannon." He said calmly, looking over the genin he's be working with. "It's tradition." Sasuke stoically replied. "Right, meet me on the roof."