Author's note: Naruto and the characters within it are the intellectual property of Masahi Kishimoto. This work of fanfiction is in no way meant to infringe on the right of the author to publish or profit from his work.

This story will borrow significantly from the Naruto manga and anime, including many plot points and certain lines of dialog in addition to the characters and setting, the first several chapters in particular will contain explicit borrowings of character lines and events.

For those of you waiting on some of my other stories, sorry, this idea just jumped at me and demanded its immediate attention. They'll be updated soon, Believe It!

Kurama Uzumaki

"Give it up!" a loud, boisterous voice shouted as a streak of orange bounded from one building to another, bouncing off and in-between at speeds that should have been impossible for a human.

"Come back here! You're going to pay for what you did!" a voice shouted after him, the sentiment echoed by several other voices.

Several figures wearing dull grey and green uniforms, all with identical faded green flak jackets leaped around in pursuit of the orange-clad figure they were pursuing. Like the boy they were chasing, for that's what the streak of orange actually was, these adults were moving at incredible speeds and with preternatural agility, turning sharp angles at high speeds and scaling buildings in series of quick leaps. Unlike the boy, however, many of the pursuers were panting and out of breath as they tried to find a better angle to intercept the blond haired prankster.

On a nearby rooftop, concealed in the shadows so well that none of those involved in the chase noticed her presence, a similarly dressed figure observed with some amusement the events from behind a porcelain mask with markings reminiscent of a bird's head. It was always funny to watch fully trained adult ninja get frustrated by a young academy student. These were village chuunin, the middle rank among the ninja, and the most numerous of the ninja ranks. The ninja in action today had previously proven themselves competent, able to handle all aspects of ninja duties, but had yet to prove themselves capable of more challenging tasks.

And from the looks of it, none of those chasing the boy would likely distinguish themselves any time soon. If they had that kind of skill, the boy would already have been captured. The kid was moving quickly, constantly boosting his speed with chakra, but it was still not even remotely up to the standards of a jounin. What was impressive, however, was just how long the boy could keep that kind of speed up. It had already been an hour, and the chuunin given the assignment of keeping the peace in the village for the day, unlucky sods, had all been called over to try and catch the boy at some point or another.

"Losers!" the kid called back, cutting back across the village, "You're all just upset that you don't have the guts to do what I do!"

Falcon grinned. Few people had the guts this kid had. She would know. She had been assigned as one of his protectors for some time now and had seen some of the things the kid had done. This most recent stunt was one of his most daring. Not particularly dangerous, but certainly provocative.

The village of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was situated behind a mountain and surrounded on all sides by a towering forest. The cliff face of the mountain had been carved to form the faces of the greatest ninja of the village, its previous and current leaders, the Hokage. While each of the four faces up there were respected and revered by the people, it was the fourth face, the Fourth Hokage, whose memory was most loved, for many remembered his sacrifice, and were only alive today because of him.

The Fourth Hokage had saved them from destruction at the hands of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the most powerful of the nine tailed beasts. It had cost the leader of the village his life, but the rampaging monster of chakra had been halted, and the people spared. Which was, coincidentally, the reason why Falcon was watching out for the boy in orange, the child whose life was sacrificed to hold the great demon at bay, the child whose every breath protected Konoha be keeping the demon locked up. The boy who was marked on the face with the whiskers of the beast he carried.

Just like the whisker marks the boy had painted on the face of the Fourth. Falcon had to chuckle looking up at it. But then the specially assigned ninja, the ANBU became deathly serious as the situation on the ground suddenly changed.

The boy, dressed in bright orange, had evaded his pursuers completely. It was a clever stunt, using the Replacement technique combined with a bit of camouflaging, making himself appear as part of a nearby wooden fence while the ninja ran off the other direction chasing an indistinct blur, but that left the boy unattended in a civilian area. And all of his visible minders were off looking for him.

"You stupid brad!" a burly shopkeeper growled out, carrying a thick wooden cudgel and brandishing it menacingly. "Just who do you think you are, defacing the Hokage monument like that?" A half dozen more of the civilians in the village stepped behind the first, angry looks on their faces.

Falcon tensed, prepared to intervene. These people hated the kid. Usually, they weren't so mean-spirited (or stupid) as to try to hurt the boy, but after he had just defaced the Hokage monument? Who knew what they were capable of now?

"I'm Kurama Uzumaki!" the orange clad boy shouted, fixing the civilians standing around him with a glare. "And I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

Oh, this wasn't good. As often as Kurama shouted that, this was probably the worst timing of them all.

The miniature mob was outraged. "YOU?! Hokage? How dare you—" one of the people in the mob stepped forward, drawing a long knife from his belt.

Just one more step and Falcon would have been down there. If the mob had come any closer to the boy, the ANBU would have done her duty and those civilians would have been apprehended. But, fortunately for everyone involved, they never did take that step.

Instead, it was Kurama who stepped forward, and for a moment, a brief, terrifying moment, the street below was flooded with such an intense feeling of imminent death and malice that Falcon felt her own heart grow cold. The civilians, who were much closer and at whom that killing intent was focused, literally blanched, frozen in place.

"That's right, I'm going to be Hokage," the boy with the whisker marks said, and Falcon thought she could see his eyes glowing briefly red, but couldn't be sure from this distance. "And when that happens I'm going to make you regret that attitude."

And then, like that, the flash of killer intent was gone, as was the intense expression on the face of Kurama, replaced with a wide grin. "See ya!" the boy shouted and dashed off, just as the chuunin searching for him returned.

*.*.*.*

Kurama brought the rag he was holding up to wipe the orange paint off the cheeks of the Fourth Hokage effigy, swiping at it ineffectually. Up above him, his favorite academy teacher sat watching him with a perplexed expression.

"Kurama, you're at the top of your class, top marks in every category," the teacher said with an exasperated sigh. "So, why do you continue to pull stupid pranks like this? Especially since you know that in the end you're going to have to deal with the consequences."

Kurama looked up at Iruka and shrugged his shoulders. The chuunin-teacher wouldn't understand. Sure, Iruka knew all about pulling pranks and acting like a class clown to get attention. But that wasn't why Kurama pulled his pranks. Honestly, he wasn't completely sure if it was actually him who was doing it all, or if it were due to his…tenant.

So, he made up an excuse he thought the man would find plausible. "Because it's fun! And who else has ever done something like this, huh?"

Oh come on, your pranks are completely derivative, Kurama. The voice in his mind complained. And you dare to claim they're original? You totally stole it straight from me!

Shut up, you can't compare your childish graffiti to my exquisite art. Kurama retorted. There are depths and layers of meaning to what I did, while you were just a petty vandal.

Pfft. If I were just a petty vandal, then why are you emulating me?

I said shut up. Kurama growled back. He didn't like it when his "tenant" was right, at least not when they argued.

"Look, Kurama, you're about to graduate. You've put off becoming a full ninja as long as the academy will allow. Either you take the exam tomorrow, or you'll be dropped from the program. And that means it's time for you to grow up and stop doing childish things like this, okay? Once you get the Leaf headband you'll be responsible for your actions. A stunt like this when you're a genin will get you arrested, not given detention, you got it?"

Kurama had no intention of failing the genin exam. Or of getting arrested. He had plans. Big plans, and that included becoming the Hokage one day, and soon. But he needed to be a genin, the lowest ninja rank, before he could make any of that happen.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei. This was kind of my grand finale, a last big one before I stop harassing the villagers with my pranks."

Iruka watched as Kurama scrubbed at the whisker marks some more. At the rate he was going it was going to take all night every night for a week. The teacher sighed. Poor kid, acting out to get attention, the young academy instructor thought to himself.

"Um, Kurama, one question. Why whiskers? And why on the Fourth? You know that making the Fourth look like the fox he killed by was certain piss a lot of people off, right? So, why do it?"

Kurama smiled. Why whiskers? Few people in the world knew enough of what happened twelve years before to really get the whole picture and appreciate his prank on every level. He certainly wasn't going to explain it all to Iruka; the shock would probably cause the chuunin to fall to his death, which would be a pity. So, he went with the obvious answer, only slightly hinting at one of the hidden meanings behind the act. "Cause one day, that's going to be my face up there! This whole village is going to see me and know me for who I am and acknowledge me. That's just a preview. And the Fourth looks the most like me, don't you think?"

Oh, I get it. Not bad, Kurama. But you were still copying me.

Whatever. Kurama thought back, with a smirk. Don't pretend like you've figured out why I really did it, other than to piss off this stupid village.

Hey!

"Hey, Kurama? What's say after you get done cleaning up, I treat you to some ramen? You know, the good stuff?"

"Really?" Kurama called back with wide, eager eyes. "Alright! Now that's some serious motivation!" And with an inward smirk, Kurama formed a handseal. "Kurama Pranking Paint: Release!" The orange coloring disappeared from the face of the statue in a large puff of smoke. All of it. Instantly.

So that's why you mixed your chakra in with the paint! So you could release it and not have to scrub it all off! And now we'll get that ramen without having to do all the work! I wish I had thought of that!

And that, is the difference between me and you.

Well, that and the fact that you're a complete jerk.

Oh, then you won't want me to share the experience of enjoying the ramen with you this time?

Oh, no, nevermind! You're totally cool, Kurama, the best!

I thought so.

How about you just go ahead and release me from the seal, then eh?

Not a chance, Naruto, not a chance, Kurama smirked.