Disharmony of the leaf

by iamgoku

He's Chaos! He's Aggravating! He's Hideous! Discord Appears and he won't Go Away!

Naruto stomped off. Should he still be training? Yes. But did he want to? Heck, no! His first major summons had resulted in him summoning something not of this world, and he regretted it. The boy felt as if he would rather have gone SPLAT at the bottom of that ravine instead of being successful in summoning Discord. (Don't forget Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony extraordinaire).

At that moment, Discord was floating over Naruto, ceaselessly chattering away. This almost caused Naruto to wonder if he was this annoying and rethink his life choices. Instead, Naruto glared at Discord. "Shut up, will ya?!"

Discord paused. "Alright, then," and he zipped his lip, literally.

Naruto didn't notice the stares villagers were giving him, and many of them glanced at Discord uneasily. What was that horrid creature with the Demon-child? The one who noticed the stares was Discord.

Those hesitant looks, the fear, the whispers! It was glorious!

A few people were pointing at Discord, and he could hear them whispering about demons and the like. With a devious smirk, Discord gave one of the nearby postboxes legs and it ran off spitting letters at unsuspecting people. A very proper looking older woman's purse suddenly developed teeth and began trying nip its owner. The woman screamed as she threw down the purse and ran, with her drooling-toothed purse in pursuit.

Discord gave a laugh before saying in a teasing tone to no one in particular, "I've heard of women having trouble with their purses, but this is ridiculous." He then looked at the surrounding buildings and a wide grin threatened to engulf his face. "Hmm, looks to me that this place could use some more color!" And with that he gave a snap of his lion's paw. The buildings' colors turned into hideous collection of neon greens, oranges and yellows – somehow making Naruto's own orange clothing seem tame in comparison, if that were possible.

"What the…" Naruto slowly took in the chaos, trying to process it.

Cats were barking, dogs were meowing, and one man ran by screaming as his toupee was growling atop his head.

"Are you doing this?!" one woman shouted at Naruto.

"Oh, please." Discord's voice was smooth as a nearby light pole took on his features. "I'd like to think I'm little more original than him."

"EEK!" The woman screamed and ran.

"NARUTO! CUT IT OUT!" a nearby man shouted, as he fought off attacking hordes of fruit and vegetables.

"But I…" Naruto started, but he stopped. He sent Discord one last venomous glare. "Leave me alone, already!"

Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving behind a log in his place.

"Hmm?" Discord simply shrugged.

Deciding that he would rather mess with Naruto, he snapped the fingers of his lion's paw and everything returned to normal; almost. Discord decided to leave the neon colors and the woman to her snapping purse. This boring town needed a little more excitement anyway.

Floating above to take in the scenery and to find his blonde quarry, Discord formed his hands into a binocular shape and glanced around the village, his sight enhanced as if he were actually using binoculars. Finally spotting a running blur of yellow and orange, Discord gave chase as a race number appeared on his chest; though instead of having a number, there was a picture of his face. Zooming through the air, Discord went after Naruto but then saw something that gave him pause. A boy no older than his target was lying on the roof of a building and staring lazily at the clouds. Figuring he'd easily find Fishcake later, the Chaos Spirit couldn't pass up this golden opportunity to mess with someone else. Or should he say, this pink opportunity to mess with someone else.

Shikamaru gave a content sigh as he stared up at the passing clouds. He had finally gave his nagging mother the slip an hour ago after listening to her try to get him to train for the upcoming third part of the Chunin Exam, and he was taking the moment to do his favorite pastime. Honestly, the Exam was a month away, and it's not like he had a shot at being Chunin. Didn't his mother realize that the whole thing was too much of a drag for him? His father supported his opinion in mind if not vocally, but since he was so whipped already the man wasn't much help. It also didn't help that Ino was determined to pester him into actually trying to win as well. According to her, he was the last representative of their team and that he couldn't embarrass them all by forfeiting before the match had even started. The young Nara was sure the troublesome women in his life would be forcing him to start training seriously soon enough and would most likely try to get Asuma roped into it as well.

So Shikamaru was trying to get in his kicks while he could before the real troublesome events started. He was satisfied with lounging on the rooftop of Ino's family's flower shop and watch the peaceful pink clouds roll by…Wait a second. Pink clouds?

Shikamaru sat up and rubbed his eyes before looking back to the sky once more. Yes, the clouds were indeed pink colored and actually looked like balls of cotton candy like that. And was it him, or did they seem to be gathering right over his resting spot? Suddenly, the clouds opened up and a heavy brown liquid suddenly fell on top of him, drenching the Nara and the surrounding roof. Shikamaru sputtered as he tried to wipe the liquid off, noting that it was way stickier than water.

"Shikamaru, you okay? I saw the clouds and knew you were up here because this is where you go to ditch your mom and Ino and…What is this stuff?" a familiar voice asked in concern before it became curious. Turning, the pineapple haired boy saw his best friend Choji standing on the edge of the brown downpour and was looking a mix of concerned for his friend and in curiosity for the strange clouds and rain coming from them. Hesitantly, the plump boy reached out a finger to get a little of the brown stuff on his finger before tasting it. His round face instantly brightened up and he ran into the rain and opened his mouth eagerly to catch as much of the stuff as he could.

"Choji, what are you doing?" Shikamaru asked his 'chubby' friend, slightly disturbed and disgusted at Choji's guzzling.

The Akamichi paused in his drinking just long enough to answer his friend excitedly, "It's chocolate milk, Shika! C'mon you gotta try this!" and with that he went back to drinking the now identified chocolate milk.

Sighing, Shikamaru knew his moment of relaxation had come to an end as he was rained on by chocolate milk. And he also knew that Choji probably wouldn't be much help as he tried to gulp down as much of the sweet rain as he could. "Troublesome," he muttered as he tried to wring the sticky substance out of his shirt.

Meanwhile, above the cotton candy clouds, Discord was rolling around in laughter. "Oh~! That was priceless!" He chortled. The chaos bringer then noticed that the building the two boys were on was a flower shop and he snapped his eagle claw before hovering over the shop's window. Inside, the plants all began growing out of control and the vines began to take on a life of their own as they attempted to lasso the platinum blonde girl inside who screamed and began to bat them away with a broom.

Discord laughed again and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Ah, I needed that. A thousand years in stone just makes a Draconequus truly appreciate how much fun chaos can bring!" he declared before rising into the air once more.

"Now enough sightseeing for the moment. I have a Fishcake I need to find," he said before scoping out his prey once more. Spotting a familiar head of blonde in the distance, Discord turned to the two chocolate drenched boys and one now tied up girl in the plant shop who had finally noticed him.

He grinned and said, "Sorry folks but I have to run. In the meantime, please enjoy the free chocolate and flowers for the next hour! Arrivederci!" and with that, he vanished in a flash of white light and leaving behind three very confused Genin. Ino began letting loose curses and empty threats to the empty space Discord had previously occupied, before sighing miserably and resigning herself to her fate for the next 56 minutes and 32 seconds.

~0~

Naruto sighed in relief as he stared at the bowl of ramen in front of him. He had finally shook off that Discord guy through the busy streets of Konoha. Seriously, he'd known the Chaos Lord for less than an hour and already, Discord made him want to tear his hair out, believe it! And people said that he was annoying! Hopefully, the Draconequus would be somebody else's problem for a bit as Naruto took this opportunity to relax and enjoy his favorite dish.

The blond picked up his chopsticks and had stuffed a generous helping into his mouth when he happened to glance down and saw something that made him do a spit take. There, floating in the ramen complete with horrendously patterned swim trunks, sunglasses, and an inner tube was a miniature Discord! Naruto blinked a few times and furiously rubbed his eyes before looking again. This couldn't be happening! Sure enough, the Disharmonious One was lounging in his ramen like it was a pool! He even had the nerve to wave up at the blond with his lion's paw!

Just then, an eagle-like arm wrapped his arm around Naruto's shoulders and an all-too familiar horse-like face leaned forward to inspect the ramen bowl with that infuriatingly mocking grin. Naruto's head whipped back and forth as he stared between the regular-sized Discord and the miniature one floating in his ramen. Naruto had never seen substitution or illusion Jutsu like this before! A very small part of Naruto almost envied Discord's abilities. Almost.

"Oh, waiter!" Discord called over the counter. "There's a Chaos Spirit in this boy's soup!"

Instead of either old-man Teuchi or Ayame showing up, another Discord wearing an exaggerated waiter's outfit complete with a thin, curly mustache showed up and also looked into the ramen bowl – where the mini-Discord was now swimming with diver's goggles.

In a fake French accent, waiter-Discord said, "Why, I do believe he's doing the backstroke."

Then by the side of his ramen bowel, a small panel of mini-Discords showed up and held up score cards on the first mini-Discord's backstroke technique.

"Cut it out, already!" Naruto shouted.

Suddenly, three Anbu arrived around the duo in swirls of leaves. The lead one in a cat mask stepped forward and said, "Naruto Uzumaki; you and your…" the Anbu looked over to Discord who had picked up the ramen bowel with the mini-Discord in it and slurped the whole thing in one go before belching out a small flock of hummingbirds, "…associate, are being called to the Hokage's office immediately. We are to escort you there."

Before Naruto could respond, Discord teleported above him and rested his head on his mismatched arms. "Escort us? My, aren't we special?" Discord said mockingly before poofing up matching tuxedos for himself and Naruto. "Come along Fishcake, our presence is being called!" With that, the group found themselves being transported right in front of the Hokage's Office in a flash of light, leaving the humans wondering how they got there and why there was a red carpet leading up to the entrance. Discord gave a sweeping bow and smiled. "Shall we?" he asked.

~0~

The Third honestly didn't know what to do with the pair in front of him at that moment. After receiving numerous complaints from the villagers that honestly sounded borderline ridiculous, he decided to call in the source of the complaints. Namely (and most often) Naruto.

Only, Naruto wasn't alone this time. He was accompanied by a creature that looked as if someone had haphazardly thrown spare parts together on a mere whim. The creature was apparently called 'Discord' and was known as 'the Spirit of Chaos' and he gave Sarutobi an annoyed glare as he complained under his breath about having to explain himself so many times.

Not fully understanding what the creature meant by that, the Third decided to get down to business.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, Naruto, I guess you can guess as to why I called you here."

Glaring at the floor, Naruto muttered, "It's his fault."

Discord mock gasped. "Oh, really, Fishcake! That hurts, you know. Hurts me right here!" He then clutched his chest as if he was in pain before pretending to drop dead on the floor, a tulip clutched in his talons. The effect was ruined when he started snickering, however.

The Third sweatdropped, but years of dealing with eccentric shinobi like Might Guy and his own student Jiraiya had pretty much desensitized the old man to such antics. He coughed into his fist to get the duo's attention. The pair glanced at him, one looking slightly amused; the other looking annoyed.

"So, Discord-san," the Third said as he leaned forward on his desk and laced his fingers. "Where are you from?"

"Do I really have to explain it again?" Discord answered as he waved his paw rather dramatically.

"How about this," Discord pulled a projection screen out of somewhere and pulled on the cord. The lights went out, and a spotlight appeared on the Draconequus, who was now wearing a bowtie (because bowties are cool) glasses, and was holding a long pointing stick. A series of crude, child-like drawings filled the screen, basically telling Discord's story a third time. Discord pointed to each event as he flashed through the presentation.

Finally, he was done and the projection screen disappeared into the ceiling with a strange giggle for seemingly no reason whatsoever, and the lights came back on with a clap of Discord's mismatched hands.

"Satisfied?" Discord asked in a long and drawn-out tone, while floating casually around the room.

"…Well, I suppose it'll have to do…" The Third didn't know what to think.

"Gramps, tell him to go away!" Naruto demanded, trying but failing to hide the slightest bit of whining on his part.

"Would you like some…" Discord wound his way around Naruto, and presented a platter with a variety of very smelly cheeses, "cheese with that whine?"

Naruto resisted the urge to gag and shoved Discord away. The boy turned to the Third. "He's been nothing but annoying, and he won't go away!"

"Well…" the Third hesitated. While it was true that he really knew nothing of Discord (who was a true anomaly) the village could greatly benefit from having him on their side. His advisors wouldn't like the fact that he wasn't ordering Discord to be locked up and having tests done on him in one of their labs so that they could further understand the creature. They would like it even less knowing that Discord was hanging around Naruto…but…a plan formulated in the Hokage's mind. One that would (hopefully) give him a better understanding of Discord's abilities as well as 'integrate' him to the population, so to speak.

"Alright," the Third began, thankfully interrupting Discord's attempts to make Naruto eat some of the smelly cheeses. "Here's what I want you two to do."

"And what is thy bidding, oh wise and powerful Hokage?" Discord asked as he now sat behind the Third's crystal ball with a swami outfit complete with an enormous turban.

The humans in the room sweatdropped before turning their attention back to the Hokage. "I'm going to assign both of you on a few D-Rank missions to assess your teamwork."

"WHAT?!" Naruto's voice rang out.

"Oh, boy!" Discord pulled Naruto into a near-bone-crushing hug. "We're gonna be best buds, Fishcake!"

Naruto continued to try and protest, but a series of noogies and matching t-shirts bearing the name BNDFFs (Best Ninja and Draconequus Friends Forever!) and the Third outright ignoring him forced Naruto to decide that he would simply put up with it for now. It was a mission, after all…and Sasuke wasn't in on any of them.

"In fact," the Third walked over to his desk and pulled out a scroll from one its many drawers. "I have a mission right here. A shopkeeper wants his store cleaned top to bottom before moving in new inventory. He'll be expecting you around 4:00."

"Fine." Naruto begrudgingly relented.

The Third smiled and motioned to the clock on the wall. "Since it's already nearly 3:30, you should head over there now."

"Okay…" Naruto took the scroll from Sarutobi with a frown. Naruto was about to say something else when Discord grabbed his collar and took off out the door, yelling, "Late! We're late for a very important date!"

Naruto's eyes widened briefly at the sight of Discord who had taken on the form of a white rabbit in a rumpled suit and was carrying an oversized pocket watch. Sarutobi had to smile at the fading voice of Naruto demanding that Discord put him down.

"Yo," a voice from behind Sarutobi said. The man turned to face his former student Jiraiya, who was (much to Sarutobi's chagrin) climbing in through the window as usual. Why couldn't people use the door? He might as well not have one.

"So, Jiraiya," Sarutobi lit his pipe and took a few puffs. "What's your opinion on this Discord character?"

Jiraiya shrugged and smirked. "I think he's rather interesting. It'll be very entertaining to see where that pair is headed."

"Indeed…" Sarutobi agreed as he peered into his crystal ball. He then deadpanned, "It would appear the two are heading to the wrong end of the village," he then sighed and signaled two Anbu to point the odd pair in the right direction.

He then turned to Jiraiya and said in a serious voice, "But in all seriousness, do you think he's trustworthy?"

Jiraiya adopted a similar look and answered while leaning against the wall, "To be honest? I know there are parts of his little story there that are made up if not outright lies. However, so far he seems pretty harmless all things considered, just a bit annoying to the civilians. I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't try anything and I'd suggest you have a couple Anbu do the same. I've yet to see any being, summon or otherwise, do the things he can so it's best to use caution."

Sarutobi nodded at his student's words and considered doing just that. "And if he does prove to be a threat?"

A dark look passed over the Sannin's face and he stated, "Then strange powers or not, I will find a way to end him."

The Third nodded, content with that answer. "On to other matters, what else do you plan to teach Naruto these next few weeks in preparation for the Third Exam? We'll also need to discuss that mercenary group you mentioned in your last report."

Jiraiya nodded and sat down, knowing this'd be a long conversation.

~0~

Now at the client's bookstore, numerous boxes filled with all kinds of reading paraphernalia were stacked up against the walls. Naruto almost didn't bother keeping the books organized, but wisely decided that it would be more work in the end if he didn't organize the books for later. Judging by the expression of the shopkeeper upon his and Discord's arrival, Naruto didn't want the guy holding anything else against him. It didn't help things when Discord started eating the books in order to, as he put it, "learn more about the world." When asked why he was eating the books instead of reading them, he merely replied he was having "food for thought".

Discord consumed knowledge by candlelight dinner all while slowly transforming into a green bookworm with coke bottle glasses and a red bowtie. Naruto silently hoped that the books weren't actually gone forever, otherwise they would have a very gross…eh… Naruto didn't want to imagine having to wait for the books' return through conventional methods.

By that point, Naruto felt exhausted, and his voice was slightly hoarse from shouting at Discord more times than he could count within the last few hours. The thought of a horse emerging from his throat or being transformed into a little horse entered his mind, so he begrudgingly kept silent for the most part, biting his tongue (figuratively, not literally of course!) Silently, Naruto cursed, because Discord was twisting things around – in the literal and figurative ways, and the blond could already imagine the visual gags that accompanied unintentional puns and everyday phrases.

Naruto grumbled as he mopped the inside of the bookstore. "Stupid chores. Why do I gotta do this again?"

Suddenly, the mop jerked from his hand before sprouting arms and duplicating by ten. The mops then began to mop the floor themselves in a choreographed dance pattern as the music from Disney's Fantasia began to play from nowhere. Naruto could only stare at the bizarre turn of events with unhidden shock before it suddenly turned into irritation when a familiar laugh was heard. Looking up, Naruto saw the Spirit of Chaos wearing what appears to be a long, flowing red robes, a tall wizard's hat decorated with stars and moons, and his hands were covered in puffy white gloves as he moves his mismatched limbs in conductor like movements to the music.

"Discord...what are you doing?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth as he tries to reign in his temper. He had learned that reacting strongly to the Draconequus' antics just encouraged him to do them even more.

"Why helping of course Fishcake. After all, isn't that why your esteemed Hokage sent us this task? To see how well we 'worked together'?" Discord said cheekily as the living mops started mopping the walls and ceiling now as water from their 'cleaning' started to build up. "And then I thought, why not do this mission in a way we can enjoy ourselves. After all, who doesn't love the classics? Besides, the client did say he wanted this place cleaned 'top to bottom.'"

As he said this last part, the water from the excessive mopping started to build up and was soon pooling up to Naruto's ankles. The boy growled, "Would you just knock it off?! You're not helping!" Wanting to stop the renegade mops before they flooded the store, Naruto put his hands in a familiar cross shaped symbol and cried, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Soon there were as many blondes as there were mops and each one tackled the mops to the ground. Discord smirked mischievously as he changed his outfit into an overly elaborate cowboy costume and said, "Well if it's a roundup y'all want, you better be prepared to take these bulls by the horn!"

And, with a snap of his eagle claws, the mops began to buck and kick like a bucking bronco and taking the screaming and struggling Naruto's for a ride. "Yee-haw!" Discord crowd as he floated above the mayhem he helped create.

"Agh!" Naruto noticed that the boxes began to float by him, and Discord passed him sailing on a boat, and the Draconequus was wearing an outrageous outfit that consisted of gold chains, top hat and sunglasses. As he passed by, he was singing, "I'm on a boat…"

Suddenly, the door to the shop slid open and the shopkeeper looked aghast as he took in the sight of the numerous Naruto's, the strange creature sailing past him on a boat continuing to sing, "Everybody look at me, 'cuz I'm sailing on a boat…"

As various objects from the current struck the clones, they all dissipated into smoke. Heck, even objects and people that weren't even in the shop to begin with floated around them. This included statues (some of them naked, with conveniently placed greenery) animals like chickens and a few villagers who looked rather confused as to how they had gotten there, while others simply went with the flow.

"What the…?" the shopkeeper glanced at the chaos that flooded the street and the soaking wet interior of his shop. The mop that Naruto had been struggling with got away from him and broke one of the windows – but instead of shattering, it became a mosaic of Discord's face.

"I-I…" Naruto started, but he didn't get to finish as the shopkeeper turned a shade of puce through no help of Discord.

"Can't you even control that-that beast?!" the man demanded, pointing angrily at Discord. Naruto once again tried to speak up, but the man was so angry he continued, "My shop is absolutely ruined, thanks to you! This is what happens when you let a monster—"

The man suddenly stopped, wide-eyed yet glaring at Naruto.

The blond hung his head, letting his bangs shadow his eyes. "It's his fault."

Discord was observing them with a cocked eyebrow, figuratively, of course.

"All of this started because of him!" Naruto pointed accusingly at Discord. "Why is it always my fault?!" Naruto shoved passed the shopkeeper and before leaving, he turned to Discord and sent the Draconequus a fierce glare. "Leave me alone already. Go back to where you came from. No wonder those ponies or whatever were trying to lock you away… YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!"

Naruto simply ran down the road a few shops and turned the corner, leaving Discord on his boat while the shopkeeper yelled at the out of control mops, boxes and other objects. Discord slowly glanced from the angry shopkeeper to the spot where Naruto had turned the corner. Discord began playing events back in his mind, when he had been having fun…looking back, he realized it: the glares and the whispers…none of them had been directed at him. People had panicked at his actions, but Naruto had been the one that the villagers had demanded take responsibility.

And that shopkeeper had stopped himself from mentioning something, but what? But what bothered Discord the most was the way Naruto looked at him. Naruto's last words to him played back even when he wasn't willing them too, and honestly, they stung – even if it was just a little. Discord had only been trying to have fun, yet… 'YOU RUIN EVERYTHING'. Ponies had been upset with him for disrupting the norm, but the way Fishcake said it was…

His thoughts were interrupted when a broom was shoved into his face. "Get out of here, shoo!"

The shopkeeper wielded a frayed broom, and he swatted at Discord.

Discord narrowed his eyes. Reaching into the water, the Draconequus pulled a bathtub plug out and the water went down a previously nonexistent drain, leaving a sopping wet and ransacked store. With a snap of his talons, the enchantment stopped, and the shop looked like new, with everything in place. It was…ugh…orderly… *shivers*

But Discord made sure the broom wound around the man (who of course screamed when his broom turned against him) and the broom took off to fly wide circles and loop-de-loops for the next half hour. Heh, that's what the foal got for swatting at him.

Donning a Sherlock Holmes-esque hat and bubble pipe, Discord decided he had some investigating to do.

With a snap of his lion's paw, Discord was now also wearing an outfit that blended in with the locals, although to be perfectly honest, the pattern for his chosen outfit was perfectly atrocious in true Discord fashion. As Discord walked amongst the locals, nobody noticed his Draconequus features; they were too busy noticing his outfit. It was an absolute eyesore. But enough about that.

As Discord walked, he was thinking. He had learned quite a bit from those books he had consumed. He knew that the world consisted of extremely skilled ninja living in various villages spread across a series of countries that seemed to be more often than not, involved in some kind of war or something or other with each other. For Discord, the war he knew of consisted of a battle of wits – and the wars these people fought were violent and bloody, and children younger than the Fishcake were sent to the frontlines. Vastly different from Equestria…

According to the history of Konohagakure, there was apparently a very violent attack by a Fox Demon that the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal away, and then…there was a blank. No pages had been missing from the book, but something had been left out. Such as, where was the Fox now? Why had information on it been left out? Any attempts at even casual conversation was immediately shot down. People suddenly had something to do and somewhere to be as soon as the Demon Fox was mentioned.

Entering another bookstore across town, Discord walked right up to the smiling woman at the counter and asked ever-so-politely, "Hey, do you happen to have any info on that Fox Demon, I'm writing a novel…"

He was cut off by the woman who was no longer smiling. "We don't talk about that here! You know the rules!"

Rules? "Why, yes of course, the rules…" Discord nodded, "Do forgive me, I just wasn't here when it happened, and I'm ever so curious. Good thing I'm not a cat."

"You shouldn't be asking about it at all." The woman narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Why would you want to know?"

"Because," Discord said with a slight purr. "I'm curious. It's clearly a juicy bit of gossip that I'm sure you're aching to share. I mean…an intelligent woman such as yourself wouldn't own a bookstore like this one if you didn't know a thing or two about…" Discord leaned in closer to the woman. "…forbidden little secrets."

Discord grinned. "Am I right, or am I right?"

"It's a law, it's not something we talk about!" the woman hissed.

"Oh, but you do want to talk about it. I mean, we always gossip about the people and situations we dislike, right? You so desperately want to share that bit of info with dear, old Discord, do you not? I mean, we're the only ones in here…it's not like anyone will find out unless we tell them, right? How's about a little secret between us? Clearly, you place value on such things as keeping secrets. That's to be admired. But your opinion is meant to be shared and heard by all; it's not something someone like you should keep to herself."

The woman honestly didn't take much flattering to her ego before she finally spilled the beans (Honestly, she was easier to trick than Rarity, who just needed a diamond disguised rock to fool). The Demon Fox that had rampaged through the village and had been sealed away by the Fourth Hokage at the cost of his life was currently residing inside of Naruto. The boy was nothing more than a troublemaker, and his becoming a ninja was nothing but a bad omen for the village. Especially if that creature that had been causing trouble around town was any indication.

"They should have locked that monster up, but instead the Third allows him to roam free."

"That boy will transform into the monster he is at some point, and he'll wipe out our village for good this time!"

When their conversation was finally over, Discord was tightlipped. It was a rare expression to see on his face. "I see, thank you and have a good day."

Discord quickly left. He was disgusted by that woman. He was disgusted by the villagers. They clearly hated the Fishcake. What was it the boy had said earlier? Something about becoming Hokage? Why? Why bother with these cretins if they were simply going to toss him under the bus? Did they even have buses in this place?

Discord flapped his wings, effectively ridding himself of the enchantment, and scaring a few of the villagers. Good.

Discord wasn't normally one to get upset about such things, but if there is one thing he prides himself in is that if blame is to be assigned to someone/pony, it should always be on the one responsible and not an innocent bystander. They treated him like a monster. Somewhere in the back of Discord's mind, a small voice seemed to whisper, "You know what its like."

Shaking his head of the thought, Discord went on a Fishcake hunt.

~0~

Discord found Naruto sitting on the roof of his apartment, staring up the clouds (which were no longer cotton candy) and as soon as Naruto saw Discord, he glared at him venomously. If the boy could have glared daggers, Discord had the distinct feeling that he would be a pincushion by now. If Naruto's silent glare was any indication, he was clearly asking why Discord was still there. The Fishcake wasn't going to talk to him…alright then…he would speak first.

"Why do you want to become Hokage?" Discord asked.

The question clearly surprised Naruto, but the blond narrowed his eyes accusingly. "Why do you care? You'll just ruin that too, just like you did everything today. My summoning, my ramen, that stupid mission…"

Ouch. Okay, he deserved that.

"Well, not everything goes as planned…but you still didn't answer my question, Fishcake."

Naruto huffed, and pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his face in his arms. A muffled, "Just go away…" sounded from the blond.

"Not talking? Alright then, I'll start." Discord sat somewhat awkwardly a little higher up on the roof. "From what I understand, Hokage is the leader of this place, and is also a position where that person will sacrifice their life in order to protect this place. Just like that Fourth guy did. A waste, if you ask me."

"Don't say that!" Naruto turned to face Discord.

"Why do you care so much? Everyone here thinks you're a monster due to that Demon Fox sealed away in you. By a Hokage, no less."

Naruto looked shocked. "You know about that?"

"Of course I do." Discord narrowed his eyes this time. "If people are going to think so little of you, they aren't worth saving. You should either embrace the monster they think you are, or leave this pathetic place."

Naruto was on his feet in a matter of seconds, fists balled at his sides. "Don't say that about them! You don't get to say that!" Naruto slightly calmed down. "This is my village…I love it…and if-no, when I become Hokage, they'll have no choice but to acknowledge me, believe it!"

Somewhere within the confines of Naruto's seal, the Fox asked, "How did he find out about me?"

But Naruto didn't hear him. He was busy debating with Discord. "When I become Hokage, they won't think of me as a monster anymore. I'll be Konoha's number one Ninja, ahead of that idiot, Sasuke!"

Plus, Sakura would finally pay attention to him instead of Sasuke. In Naruto's mind, that was a win-win.

"…I don't understand you, Fishcake." Discord finally said. "Why would you want to protect the people who think so little of you?"

"Because then they'll do the same for me, someday…they won't see me as the Demon Fox," Naruto placed a hand on his stomach. "But as a true, ninja of Konoha, believe it."

It was then Naruto looked at Discord; truly looked at him, beyond the mish-mash of creatures. "Did…did those ponies see you as a monster too?"

Discord's eyes widened briefly.

"That's a loaded question, Fishcake."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

Discord took on a mocking tone. "I didn't do a very good job of conforming to their precious little speeches and 'powers of love and friendship' and all that nonsense." Discord huffed. "They merely didn't appreciate my creativity."

"Maybe. But maybe if you used your abilities to help out - to help people, then they wouldn't have needed to seal you away in the first place."

Discord rolled his eyes (keeping them in their sockets this time.)

"Were you ever lonely or scared?" Naruto asked.

"Not once," Discord said, a little too quickly, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. "Me, myself and I are the most entertaining people to ever exist!"

"Yeah, right." Naruto responded flatly.

"Look, enough about me, Fishcake. Let's talk about you." Discord took to the air once again so he float overhead a few feet, summoning a therapy couch to scoop up the blonde and float him beside the Chaos Lord.

"Me?"

"How about this, I'm curious to see where this story of ours goes, so I'll stick around for a bit. Let's declare a truce."

Naruto looked suspicious. "What kind of truce?" he asked skeptically.

Discord held a claw up and said, "You let me stick around, let me see if that conviction of yours is real or not, and I swear to not only tone it down on the chaos a bit, but I'll even lend you my aid if you really, really need it."

Naruto hesitantly held out a hand. "You promise?"

Discord gave a grin and said, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" he finished by sticking an actual cupcake in his eye before using his long tongue to lick it off.

Giving a slightly disgusted look, Naruto said, "What…was that?"

Discord chuckled and pinched one of Naruto's whiskered cheeks in his lion paw. "Why a Pinkie Promise, silly! And how about you?"

After the first time in what felt like forever, Naruto gave his signature foxy grin and declared, "Alright Discord, you got yourself a deal! And I never go back on my word, because that's my nindo, my Ninja Way!"

Author's Note:

Chapter 2 (with some minor edits and reformatting)

Hope you enjoyed

Oh and just letting this be known right now, I dont ship Naruto and Sakura, so if you're reading this expecting them to wind up together.....sorry, that ain't happening.

Comments

[KnightOfZaku]

This definitely has my attention. Consider this story liked and followed. Also, NaruHina for life!

[iamgoku]

10305552

Thanks, while I can't take complete credit (yet!) I'll be endeavouring to post all the already complete chapters (with the necessary edits, reformatting and any additional stuff I see fit) before moving onto my own original chapters.

And yes XD Another NaruHina fan!