The Legacy of the Most Unpredictable Ninja

38

Lights shone brilliantly, illuminating the well-waxed wooden stage as the crowd restlessly waited for the show to begin.

Murmurs and excited whispers echoed across the sizable auditorium, letting anyone with ears know that everyone's anticipation was building as time crawled by.

So the second that those lights dimmed a bit, the subdued uproar immediately subsided, the silence conspiring to reinforce that breathlessness that everyone was experiencing.

It was about to begin...

For long tense seconds, everyone waited, looking for even the most insignificant change to signify the main host's entrance.

*Plop plop plop*

Then, piercing through that tense blanket that took all sound away, was the sounds of childish steps being taken, obnoxiously becoming known to all as exaggerated anime-like footsteps.

In mere moments later, a small figure emerged from the left side of the stage, their features illuminated by the bright spotlights above.

That figure; being Uzumaki Naruto, in chibi form.

As to why he was like that...?

He had no clue, but he wasn't questioning it.

He liked the sounds that his footsteps made too much to question it.

A roar of approval exited the throats of the crowd facing the stage, quickly recognizing the figure that entered their sight despite his diminutive size, rejoicing in his presence.

Naruto himself, caught off-guard by the crowd's reaction to his appearance, waved awkwardly at all of them, a little overwhelmed by their deafening approval.

Slowly but surely however, the spiky-haired blond began to grin more confidently, taking in and basking in the crowd's love as his blue eyes shone brightly.

He continued to wave at everyone frantically as the uproar steadily began to die down, giving the blond a chance to actually hear himself think, much to his silent happiness.

As soon as they calmed down enough to not make his ears ring, the chibi version of the shinobi finally spoke.

"Yo, everyone! Uh...it's been a while for everyone, I'm sure, at least I think it has, I'm not too sure." he began, frowning as he tried to articulate what he was trying to say properly. "...I'll be honest, I don't know why I look like this, why I sound like I sucked in an entire room of helium, or why I feel like I should be telling you lot what I'm about to tell you."

He paused there, scrunching his eyebrows together in deep thought.

"...It is helium, right?" he wondered to himself, trying to remember one of those lessons that he had not entirely slept through, before forcing himself back on topic. "Anyway! I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do know one thing."

A toothy smirk stretched across the chibi's face as he closed his eyes, taking in the visage of a fox, especially with his tiny stature.

"...I get to set the record straight for everyone about the story of Konohagakure's legendary Hokage!" he practically squealed, pumping his fist in excitement. "With this, no one can deny my badass...-ness. Yeah, this is my debut to the hall of fame, no doubt!"

It took a bit for Naruto to bring his ego back down from the stratosphere, but once he did, he cleared his throat and brought out a switch from his pocket, pressing it without hesitation as he turned to face the crowd.

Behind him, a giant screen began to descend from the ceiling, occupying the entire backstage so that everyone could see what he was about to show.

Absent-mindedly, Naruto pressed his thumb onto the switch again, activating the slideshow that was prepped for his professionally made...speech.