People forget what truly makes a shinobi terrifying: Ingenuity, stealth, versatility, and creativity. Too many rookies focus entirely on brute strength. Oh, if only they could see the little monsters in the shadows, laughing at their ignorance. Laughing as they step straight into a certain blonde brat's trap- a fatal prank- that'll be remembered for centuries. Trap Master Naruto!
Konoha's Fatal Joke is a For Want Of A Nail fic in which the third Hokage sees Naruto's skill in pranking could be translated into trap-making skills for Ninja. As a result, not only does Naruto improve his skills - including gaining an interest in sealing to help with some traps - but his drive leads the rest of the Kohona 12 to better themselves as well, causing events to pan out differently than they do in canon.
It can be found on Archive of Our Own here
, and on Fanfiction.net here.
Behold, Naruto's latest prank: these tropes which appear in the fanfic!
- Adaptational Badass: Naruto is much stronger than canon due to his expanded skill set. And thanks to this, most of the rest of the Kohona 12 improve themselves to catch up.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi appear during Naruto's second C rank mission which happens before the Chunnin Exams.
- Yugito Nii, Samui, Karui, Omoi, Suigetsu Hozuki, and Chojuro all show up during the Chunnin Exams.
- Adaptational Gender Identity: Here Haku is a trans woman rather than a feminine male.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Neji is far more antagonistic to those who do not align with his worldview. To the point of insulting the Third Hokage.
- Adaptational Villainy: Gato, who in canon was still a villain, was never part of a sex traffic ring like he is here.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Naruto is given one when the Third Hokage asks him does he know what it truly means to be Hokage.
- Birds of a Feather: Naruto and Kurotsuchi start a Friendly Rivalry over their similar personalities and goal to become Kage.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Zabuza's responce to Shino growing close to Haku is to grab the Kubikiribōchō and say that the two need to talk.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Hinata is very possessive of Naruto and dislikes Fuu for how close the two are. She drops this once she finds out the two Jinchuruki see each other as siblings.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Played for Laughs. Naruto uses storage seals to pack away a bunch of extra stuff on the off chance he might use them on missions. This includes chairs and a table.
- Naruto made it so that his explosive tags won't explode if someone else tries to detonate them in close proximity to him to prevent them from being used against him.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: This is the standard for the most elite Ninja in Konoha.
- Enemy Mine: A villainous example. Danzo and Orochimaru begin to work together to get rid of Lord Third. Both know that the alliance will end once the Third Hokage is dead.
- Good Is Not Nice: The Kyuubi doesn't like humans and makes this very clear, due to what happened to him and his brothers and sisters, but they can earn his respect and he will work with them if they do so.
- Good Is Not Soft: Part of the training that the Third Hokage gives Naruto involves him killing the animals he catches in his traps.
- Everyone Can See It: Nearly everyone knows that Hinata has a thing for Naruto.
- Happily Adopted: Iruka adopts Naruto after the latter graduates from the Ninja academy.
- Internal Reveal: Naruto gets informed of the identity of his parents during the Wave Arc.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- Zabuza and Haku stop working for Gato when they find out he is going to betray them.
- Suna abandons Orochimaru and his plan to destroy Konoha once the latter makes alliances with Iwa and Kiri not wanting to fight 3 hidden villages simultaneously.
- Mad Scientist: The Ichibi, Shukaku, has shades of this as he keeps experimenting with seals and nature power on himself and it keeps driving him, and usually by extension his host, insane his last experiment left him morally compromised for roughly the last seventy years before Jiraiya manages to fix the seal on Gaara and on Shukaku.
- Not So Above It All: Sasuke is usualy The Stoic when around other people, but sometimes he will go along with Naruto's antics, such as the prank Naruto pulled on Sasuke's Fangirls.
- Parental Substitute: Zabuza is this to Haku.
- Positive Friend Influence: Naruto is this to the rest of the Konoha 12, inspiring them to better themselves and push on just like he did.
- Related in the Adaptation: Kurenai Yuhi is revealed to be a desendant of an offshoot branch of the Uchiha clan, making her cousins with Sasuke.
- Running Gag: The many glitter bombs Naruto uses in order to prank people.
- Ship Tease: There are a good number of moments that highlight Naruto and Hinata's budding romance.
- Side Bet:
- Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya bet on whether Naruto will bring a bunch of dangerous people into the Hokage's office just before the Chunin Exams. He does so. Jiraiya wins.
- Hiruzen Sarutobi makes another bet during the Chunin Exams with Danzo, this time claiming that Team 7 will make the top 3. Danzo agrees to this bet, knowing fully well how events are stacked in his favour.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Zabuza and Haku survive the events of Wave.
- Team Mascot: Yoko, Naruto's pet fox is this to team 7.
- Trap Master: Naruto is one. He uses them in nearly every fight and is skilled enough to set them up as the battle is going on.
- Wham Shot: When investigating the corpses of one of the Ninjas that protected the Hero Water, he is described as having his heart ripped out. This shows that Kakuzu was responsible.
