Prank

At the Ninja Academy, the moment the bell rang, the entire campus was instantly filled with vitality and clamor. Students in the classroom left their seats one after another, some laughing and playing inside, others chasing each other through the hallways.

During the break, Naruto pulled Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji into a corner of the classroom. His eyes were bright, sparkling with a cunning light as if he were hiding countless mischievous little secrets.

"Hey, don't you think Menma has been too arrogant lately? He shows off every time we have practical training, and it really ticks me off." Naruto crossed his arms, pouted, and swayed his body unconsciously, his face full of defiance.

Kiba scratched his head, his eyes lighting up instantly as he flashed a wicked grin and asked, "Haha, Naruto, what do you want to do?"

Shikamaru sighed helplessly, a hint of worry in his eyes as he said to Naruto, "Naruto, this isn't a good idea. After all, he's your brother; this is going to cause trouble."

As for Choji, he was stuffing potato chips into his mouth, his cheeks bulging. While chewing, he mumbled vaguely, "I think Shikamaru is right. If we get caught, we're going to be in big trouble."

Naruto, however, didn't think it was a big deal and said, "What are you afraid of? It's just a little prank. Look, I've already thought it through." As he spoke, he pulled a small wooden box from his shirt, held it carefully in his hands, shook it mysteriously, and lowered his voice, "Menma is terrified of spiders. If we put this in front of him, it'll definitely give him a huge scare."

Upon hearing this, Kiba's eyes lit up with excitement as he said to Naruto, "Haha, that sounds fun."

Shikamaru frowned, still trying to dissuade them, "You guys really shouldn't do this. What kind of older brother takes the lead in pranking his own younger brother?"

"Oh, Shikamaru, why have you become such a coward?" Naruto interrupted him impatiently, his eyes fixed intently on Menma, who was engrossed in reading Nintaijutsu Teaching at his desk.

Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji hunched over and crept toward Menma on tiptoe. However, Menma heard the commotion, looked up, and saw them approaching. He put down his book, his eyes full of confusion, and asked, "What are you guys sneaking around for?"

Naruto tried hard to hold back his laughter, his face turning bright red. He handed the wooden box to Menma, his voice laced with undisguised excitement, "Menma, this is something good we found for you. Open it and see."

Menma took the wooden box curiously. He sensed something was off, but he opened the lid anyway. The moment the lid was lifted, a spider suddenly crawled out.

"Ah!" Menma jumped as if struck by lightning. Terrified, he threw the wooden box aside, scrambled to his feet, and put some distance between them, backing against the wall. His face turned pale, and a look of lingering fear remained in his eyes.

Seeing Menma's reaction, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji couldn't hold it in anymore; they clutched their stomachs and burst into laughter.

Menma hadn't recovered yet. He leaned against the wall, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air, his eyes darting nervously toward the wooden box lying on the floor.

"Haha, Menma, it's just a joke." Naruto walked toward Menma, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.

"You guys are going too far! Naruto, you're Menma's brother—how could you bully your own brother like this?" Just then, a crisp voice rang out.

The four of them turned around to see that the speaker was Ino. Ino stood there with her arms crossed, looking at the four of them with a hint of reproach in her eyes.

The commotion here also caught Kuaiyu's attention. He walked quickly to Menma's side and gently patted his shoulder, which finally brought Menma back to his senses, as if waking from a nightmare.

He gave Kuaiyu a grateful look, then turned to look at the four boys. They were already sneaking off toward Sasuke's back.

At this moment, Sasuke was reading alone in a corner. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a soft outline on his profile.

Naruto crept over like a thief, carefully placing a toy snake behind him. Then, Naruto cleared his throat deliberately and said loudly, "Sasuke, there's something behind you!"

Sasuke frowned and turned around slowly. Seeing the toy snake, his eyes narrowed slightly. Although he didn't look as terrified as Menma, he still frowned in displeasure, swatted the toy snake away, and looked at them with a hint of annoyance.

Seeing that Sasuke didn't have much of a reaction, they set their sights on Shino. They knew Shino always carried bugs, so while Shino wasn't paying attention, Naruto secretly hid the container Shino used to keep his insects.

When Shino discovered his bugs were missing, a look of anxiety instantly appeared in his eyes, and he began searching all around his seat. Meanwhile, the group hid to the side, covering their mouths to stifle their laughter, their eyes full of the excitement of a successful prank.

Because of what Ino had said earlier, they felt she deserved to be pranked as well.

So, they set up a small mechanism on Ino's seat that would suddenly pop out a scary doll. When Ino returned and sat down, a "whoosh" sound was followed by a scary doll suddenly popping up. "Ah!" Ino screamed in fright, covering her face tightly with her hands.

After Ino was startled, the four of them laughed uncontrollably. The entire class turned their attention toward them, most looking at the four with dissatisfaction, all thinking they had gone too far.

But Naruto didn't care at all and kept laughing. Shikamaru and Choji, however, felt they had taken it too far and felt a faint sense of unease. When they heard Naruto wanted to prank Iruka, Choji opposed it vehemently, his eyes wide as he shook his head frantically.

But Naruto and Kiba wouldn't listen to reason; they simply thought it was fun and were wondering if anyone had ever done this before.

The group arrived at the podium and secretly tampered with the desk and chair so that they would fall apart at the slightest touch. Naruto and Kiba exchanged glances, the corners of their mouths curling up into wicked smiles. Shikamaru and Choji stood to the side watching them, looking helpless, as if they could already foresee the impending disaster.

Just then, the class bell rang, its crisp sound echoing through the campus. Everyone returned to their seats, and the classroom fell silent. Iruka walked into the classroom as usual, his steps steady and firm, holding his textbook. He walked to the podium, but as he placed the book down, a sudden "clatter" echoed as the podium fell apart, scattering books all over the floor.

Iruka looked at the scene, his eyes full of surprise and anger. He frowned, looked at the students below, and asked in a stern voice, "Who did this?"

Naruto and Kiba saw this and desperately covered their mouths below, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, but the suppressed laughter on their faces was still visible.

But soon, they couldn't laugh anymore. The eyes of the entire class were fixed on Naruto and Kiba, and on Shikamaru and Choji as well.

Seeing this, Iruka understood exactly what had happened. He looked at the group, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, and asked, "Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji, did you do this?"

The group stopped immediately upon hearing this, but Naruto and Kiba still couldn't quite hold it together, the muscles in their faces twitching. Iruka looked at the four of them, his expression growing even darker. He tapped the blackboard in anger and said, "The four of you, come up here and put the podium back together!"

Upon hearing this, the four of them shrank their necks like wilted eggplants. Shikamaru just felt it was a huge hassle; after all, he hadn't really participated, yet he was being dragged into it.

The four of them walked up reluctantly and began to reassemble the podium. But just as Iruka was about to sit down, another "clatter" rang out as the chair fell apart, and Iruka fell to the floor completely caught off guard.

The entire classroom went deathly silent, and everyone looked at the scene in shock. Naruto and Kiba couldn't help it and burst into laughter again.

Iruka stood up, looking at Naruto and Kiba with eyes that seemed to spit fire, his face flushed red. Just then, Ino suddenly stood up and said in a crisp, loud voice, "Iruka-sensei, Naruto and the others didn't just prank you; they pranked us too. Even Menma was scared by them."

Once these words were spoken, many others began to chime in, chattering about the pranks Naruto and his friends had pulled. Shikamaru felt his head spinning, thinking that they had truly gone too far this time.

Menma looked at the four of them and shook his head helplessly. He could already imagine that Naruto wouldn't escape a scolding from Kushina once he got home, and at the thought of this, Menma couldn't help but laugh.

Iruka listened to the complaints of the other students, his expression turning extremely serious as he looked at the four and said, "Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, all four of you, come out with me!"

Naruto and Kiba instantly became obedient. The four of them hung their heads and followed Iruka-sensei out into the hallway.

Iruka-sensei crossed his arms and said angrily, "Do you think pranking people at school is a fun thing to do? Not only have you affected the other students, but you've also shown no respect for your teacher."

Naruto whispered, "Iruka-sensei, we were just looking for some fun; we didn't think it through."

"Looking for some fun? Is this how you look for fun? You've already disrupted everyone's normal studies and life. Now, the four of you will stand here and reflect on your behavior." After Iruka finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the classroom.

Seeing Iruka enter the classroom, the four looked at each other, and Naruto and Kiba quickly vaulted out through the hallway window. Shikamaru and Choji were stunned for a moment, then followed suit, though Choji, being on the heavier side, had to put in quite a bit of effort to climb out.

Iruka heard the commotion and glanced outside. Seeing the four of them running off, his face turned green with rage as he shouted, "Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji, you get back here this instant!" With that, Iruka gave chase.

"They'll die if they don't stir up trouble." Menma shook his head helplessly, as if talking to himself.

By dusk, Naruto and Menma returned home, with Iruka following close behind. Menma opened the door and walked inside, while Naruto kept his head low, looking like a quail that had committed a crime, not daring to look up.

"You're back!" Hearing the noise, Kushina walked out from the kitchen with a gentle smile on her face. She looked at the two of them and said, "Oh, Iruka, you're here too. Did Naruto and Menma cause some kind of trouble at school?"

As Kushina spoke, she glanced at Menma sitting on the sofa and Naruto, who was still changing his shoes. Her sharp eyes instantly understood the situation.

Iruka wore a look of helplessness as he told Kushina everything that had happened at school today, point by point.

After listening, Kushina's face darkened instantly, like storm clouds before a downpour. She placed her hands on her hips, her eyes burning with fire, and roared at Naruto, "Naruto! Look at what you've done! Dragging your classmates into your nonsense! Even pranking Menma—you really are a fine older brother!"

Naruto kept his head down and muttered softly, "I just thought it would be fun."

"Fun? Do you think it's fun to hurt other people like that?" Kushina raised her hand in anger, but it stopped in mid-air; in the end, she couldn't bring herself to strike him.

Naruto kept his head pressed low, not daring to look up. Kushina looked at Iruka and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Iruka. It's my fault for not raising Naruto properly, but rest assured, this won't happen again."

Iruka didn't know what else to say. After the two exchanged a few brief words, Iruka took his leave.

Naruto was still standing in place with his head bowed when Kushina came to his side and said in a stern voice, "Why didn't you think about the consequences before doing something like this? Tomorrow at school, you will apologize to every single classmate you pranked. On top of that, you are going to write a letter of self-reflection!"

Seeing this, Menma rose from the sofa and pulled Naruto toward the stairs. Kushina watched them go, shook her head helplessly, and turned back to the kitchen to continue cooking.