Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, plots, etc. I don't make any money from this.

One of my muses was just tickled by an e-mail I received yesterday and decided to prod me into another drabble. Thanks FairyNiamh for the continuous beta-ing and support.

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An important ninja skill is understanding different types of people from different societies and with different lifestyles. That is why the Konoha Academy made it a point to expose all it's future ninja to as many different kinds of people as possible. Iruka always loved and hated field trip day. He loved it because he enjoyed interacting with people outside of his normal routine. He hated it because there would always be some unforeseen calamity, usually caused by one or more of his students.

Today, he and Shikamaru were taking two classes of pre-genin on a tour of a horse auction. The young ninja in training seemed to find it all very fascinating, they were full of questions.

"Iruka-sensei?" One bright eyed little girl asked.

"Yes?"

"Why is that man doing that?" She asked in a confused little voice as she pointed at a man walking around a horse, examining it closely. They watched as the man ran his hand along the animal's back, over the rump and down the leg. The horseman moved to the front of the horse and ran his hand over the creature's chest.

"Oh, he's checking the horse's body out to see if he wants to buy it."

The little girl's eyes were wide and she looked like she was about to cry. "If he buys the horse will he take it away?"

Iruka rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and bit his lip in trepidation. "Well, yes, I'm sure he will..." He started to explain. Sure enough the girl burst into tears and wailed. "Kakashi-sensei wants to buy Iruka-sensei and take him away from us!!!!"

Iruka choked on what he had been about to say. His eyes were as big as saucers. Shikamaru burst out laughing. Iruka sputtered incoherently wanting to die.

A little boy at the back had heard the conversation and gave Shikamaru a puzzled look. "So do you want to buy Neji-sama or does Naruto-san want to buy you, Shikamaru-sensei?"

It was Shikamaru's turn to choke in place of laughing.

Kid's really do say the darndest things and some shinobi aren't as sneaky as they'd like to think.

Here is the original story/joke from the e-mail: (author unknown)

Little Johnny attended a horse auction with his father. He watched as his father moved from horse to horse,
running his hands up and down the horse's legs and rump, and chest. After a few minutes, Johnny asked,
'Dad, why are you doing that?' His father replied, 'Because when I'm buying horses, I have to make sure that
they are healthy and in good shape before I buy. Johnny, looking worried, said, 'Dad, I think the UPS guy
wants to buy Mom.'

`fin`