Naruto: With a Ghost Mom and a Grumpy Fox

---

When I woke up the next morning, two things hit me immediately:

1. My stomach was trying to eat itself.

2. I wasn't alone anymore.

No, I wasn't talking about the villagers suddenly accepting me (as if).

I meant literally—my soul apartment had two roommates now: a chakra fox with attitude issues, and my mom.

I brushed my teeth while listening to their morning commentary.

"Your hair is still sticking up in five directions. Want me to iron it with chakra?"

That was Mom.

Supportive, but terrifying.

"Forget the hair. Eat. You've got a battle coming. And you skipped dinner like an idiot," Kurama growled from deep inside.

"I would eat," I muttered with foam in my mouth, "but someone said not to."

"He said don't eat breakfast before the bell test," I said, quoting Kakashi-sensei from yesterday. "That sounds like a trap."

"That's because it is," Kurama replied flatly.

"You really gonna listen to a guy who showed up two hours late and called us boring?"

"…Fair point."

---

Ten minutes later, I was scarfing down half a rice ball while Mom stood behind me with her arms crossed like a proud but stern kitchen ghost.

"Only half," she warned. "You still need to move light and think sharp. And chew properly, you little squirrel."

"Yesh, yesh."

I left the house feeling better. Not full, but functional. And for once, not totally alone.

---

We met at Training Ground Three, just like Kakashi said.

Sasuke was already there, standing like a cool statue next to a tree. He looked like he hadn't slept—either that, or that was just his permanent face.

Sakura arrived a minute later, immediately waving to Sasuke like she'd been doing it in front of a mirror all morning.

I showed up last, for once, and no one yelled at me. Progress?

Kakashi, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

We waited.

And waited.

And then he showed up two hours late again.

"Yo."

That's all he said.

He didn't even look sorry.

"Kill him," Kurama suggested calmly.

"Don't kill him," Mom sighed. "But maybe tie his shoelaces together while he's not looking."

---

Kakashi finally set a pair of bells on his waistband and turned to face us.

"Today's test is simple," he said. "All you have to do… is take one of these bells from me."

There were two bells.

We were three genin.

Quick math: someone's going hungry.

"And whoever doesn't get a bell," he added, "fails. Sent back to the Academy."

Sakura gasped.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

I… stared at the bells.

And felt something twist in my gut.

"He's not lying," Mom said gently. "But he's not telling the whole truth either."

"Classic bait tactic," Kurama snorted. "Set you all against each other, watch you implode."

"Why only two bells?" Sakura asked.

"So one of you fails," Kakashi said, with an eye-smile. "And so you understand what it means to fight for real."

He held up a timer.

"You've got until noon. Attack me with the intent to kill."

Then he vanished.

Just like that.

---

We stood there in stunned silence.

"Well," Sasuke muttered. "This is stupid."

And then he jumped into the trees without another word.

Sakura followed, eyes still wide, calling after him.

I stayed back for a second.

"Mom. Kurama. Thoughts?"

"Don't rush in like a headless chicken," Mom said calmly. "He's stronger than he looks."

"You'll lose if you fight alone. But I'm guessing you already figured that out," Kurama added.

I smirked.

Yeah. I had.

This time, I wasn't going to do the same old Naruto thing and charge straight into a trap like a kabob skewer with legs.

I had a plan.

Kind of.

Sort of.

Okay, it was forming right now—but it was better than nothing.

---

I slipped into the trees, keeping low. My chakra was too loud to mask completely, but I could keep it from screaming "HERE I AM!" if I focused.

Kurama grumbled in the background.

"At least try to hide like a real shinobi, brat. Tuck your elbows in."

"He's doing fine," Mom said, defending me. "He's improving."

"He's crouching behind a bush like a soggy raccoon."

"That's progress!"

---

I found a spot overlooking the clearing and sat, quiet.

Below, Kakashi was reading his book.

Not moving. Not blinking.

Totally open.

Which was suspicious.

Way too suspicious.

So I tried something new.

---

I pulled out a kunai and focused chakra to my fingers. Slowly. Carefully.

Then I wrapped a bit of wire around it and tied it to a log.

I was going to make him move first.

Let the trap spring on him for once.

"Who taught you this?" Kurama asked, sounding mildly impressed.

"No one," I whispered. "I just thought… I can't beat him head-on. So I have to try sideways."

"Smart," Mom murmured, smiling. "Use your mind. Not just your heart."

---

The trap was ready. I tossed a clone onto the field.

Not a Shadow Clone. Just a basic clone—worthless in a fight, but enough to be seen.

Kakashi's eye lifted for a half-second.

Then he moved.

Fast.

And that was when I threw a real kunai—not at him, but at the base of the tree behind him.

It triggered the wire, which pulled the second kunai across the clearing.

Straight for his ankle.

It was perfect.

Precise.

A clean shot.

And it missed.

By an inch.

Kakashi caught the kunai midair without even looking.

He tossed it away, still flipping a page in his book.

"Not bad," he said. "Smarter than I expected."

"That's a compliment from a lazy genius," Kurama muttered. "Take it and run."

"Literally run," Mom added. "He's already behind you."

"What?"

I spun around—

Just in time to see a gloved hand rising behind me like a ghost.

"Too slow," Kakashi muttered.

Poof!

My clone vanished.

But that was fine.

Because I wasn't done yet.

---

Back in the trees, the real me grinned.

"That was a Shadow Clone," Kurama noted. "Didn't expect you to use it that early."

"Had to," I whispered. "I need him to think I'm still dumb enough to rush him directly."

"You are," he said.

"Not helping," I muttered.

---

Kakashi returned to the clearing, looking around.

He was good.

Really good.

But for once—I wasn't acting on impulse. I was watching. Waiting.

Sasuke would probably try something direct.

Sakura would panic if things got too intense.

Me?

I'd wait for the moment.

The moment he got distracted.

The moment he underestimated me again.

And when that moment came…

I'd show him.

---

To Be Continued