What Guy?

Summary: The English language can be fun. Kurenai tries to make acquaintances with her fellow Jounin Instructors, and it goes wrong.

Disclaimer: I have accepted the fact I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Time for my heart to heal and move on…

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Yuuhi Kurenai had just become a Jounin and shortly after that, she had been given the task of raising three punk kids on her own to be top genins. There was Hinata, the quiet one with the bloodline ability and problems that came with it, Kiba, the chatty one with the cute puppy, and Shino…well there wasn't much to say about Shino except he liked bugs. In fact, Shino liked bugs so much to the point that Kiba and Shino argued every time Akamaru scratched himself to alleviate from an itch. We could go on and on about what a touching tale the start of their friendship was until Akamaru  (and Kiba) were forced to take monthly flea baths, but that is not the focus of the story.

Despite the problems with bugs, potty training pups, and Hinata's all around shy nature, Kurenai's team had developed to the point where she felt it was time to nominate them for the Chuunin Exam, even though they were rookies. But, when all the other instructor's got together at "Hokage HQ" to give their nominations, it occurred to Kurenai that she really didn't know any of the other teachers.

Thankfully, there was the after meeting mixer, complete with donuts and coffee (after all, the Hokage would never pass up a good opportunity for Dunkin' Donuts). Kurenai figured it would be easier to learn more about the other teams and their teachers there.

Kurenai thought wrong.

Kurenai twirled a piece of hair about her finger. Who would be easiest to talk to first. There was Sarutobi Asuma. He seemed alright, for a chain smoker, but the way he was talking to himself as he looked over a shougi board against and invisible opponent creeped her out. Maybe he was just a diehard Hikaru no Go fan, the way he was trying to retrace the steps of whoever his opponent was to figure out where the match had gone wrong. Not to mention he had a lumberjack-esque beard. That just wasn't right. Perhaps she would try to talk to him later. He did seem nice and handsome, despite the beard.

Next, in the middle of a heated debate with another pair of jounins, was Maito Gai. He seemed too…well, there was no words she could think of to describe Gai. The only fitting pair Kurenai could form in her mind was "frightfully energetic." On the bright side, he seemed to be full of…passion, spirit, or whatever it was that made him confident that his students would rise and pass the Chuunin Exam. It clashed terribly with his appearance. Thick eyebrows, extremely long eyelashes, overly prominent facial structure, and green spandex, all wrapped up in a mushroom bowl haircut.  It was, altogether, scary.

Tapping his foot up against the wall with his nose in a book was her last option, Hatake Kakashi. Sure, the man looked like his hair was a feather duster that had been used recently to clean cobwebs and she wasn't exactly sure how he could breathe in that mask was beyond her, but he was the best choice. He did seem sort of lonely, avoiding the conversation going on around him anyhow.

Kurenai took a deep breath, letting it fill her diaphragm, before exhaling. Time to be social. Coffee mug in hand she walked up to him, taking a sip, before letting out a simple phrase of greeting. "Hi."

Kakashi didn't look up from his book but glanced at her from the corner of his eye (or she though he did. It  was hard to tell with the way he was wearing his forehead protector). "Hello," He mumbled. "Nice to meet you."

Kurenai racked her brain, trying to think of something to start a conversation. "So, you lead Team Seven, right? How are your students?"

Kakashi looked up and smiled at her through his mask. "Oh, they're great. It was hard at first, but now they have gotten much better. I'm very proud of my cute students."

Kurenai gave a small laugh. "I wasn't expecting teaching to be so hard at first, but I was surprised. This is my first year teaching."

"Really? Well, me too…"

"…"

"..."

Kurenai cleared her throat and Kakashi returned to his book as an awkward silence reared its ugly head. Kurenai thought and thought. There must be something she could do to keep the conversation going. She remembered a lot of gossip she had heard about Hatake Kakashi. There was that big bit about how he had copied jutsu after jutsu with that eye of his and there was something about him and Maito Gai. Surely they weren't lovers or anything. Oh, right, rivals. Or atleast Gai thought so. Maybe she could ask about that.

"So…that Gai, he's your rival right?"

"What guy?"

"That Gai over there."

"Who?"

"Gai!"

"Which one?" Kakashi looked up.

"But there is only one Gai."

"No, there are three guys." Kakashi pointed at the table.  

Kurenai blinked. Gai seemed to have had too many Dunkin' Donuts and was now on a table singing some strange rendition of "Memories" from Cats, while the couple of jounin he had been talking to cheered him on.

"Don't tell me you can't tell which guy I mean." She nearly mumbled.

"Well, which guy is the guy you're talking about?"

This was getting frustrating. "Gai."

"But there are three…" Kakashi's one eye fluttered. What was this woman talking about.

"Look. The one in green." She pointed out the one she meant, just in case he still couldn't get it.

"Oh…that one. You mean Maito Gai. So that's what you meant by there being one 'Gai'. Silly me." Kakashi laughed and Kurenai smacked her forehead.

"Yes, that Gai."

"Well?"

"…"

"What about him?"

"You're rivals, right?" This wasn't working. Maybe she should just try another time.

"Oh, well, he seems to think so and I like to humor him." Kakashi tapped the bridge of  Icha Icha Paradise to his lips as he thought. "Although, I can't remember what it was originally about."

"I think I got a good idea what…."She sighed. She was getting a headache. This definitely had been a bad idea and the black coffee sitting in her stomach was not helping. "It was nice talking to you."

"Oh where are you going?" But she was already gone. Kakashi sighed and returned his attention to his book. Maybe if she came back, he could ask her if she really did know what started this ridiculous rivalry in the first place.

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Please R&R.