Chapter 2

"Gift"

The Hokage chuckled through the various candies in his mouth.

'You're hopeless' his wife thought letting out an exasperated huff. However, she couldn't help but let out a smile. "Fine" She said, "Fine, but don't think I'll be as easy going. I'll have a discussion with her later." She turned to leave and was almost out of the door when Naruto called after her.

"Hinata, wait." He said. Hinata stopped and turned around. "There's actually kind of another reason why I let her off the hook."

Hinata looked questioningly at him for a while. After seeing the solemn expression on his face, she understood and said "It's okay Naruto-kun… You're a very busy man. She knows as well as I do you wouldn't have the time."

The Hokage nodded his head slightly, his expression unchanging.

"I'd better go." She said, heading back towards the door "Hopefully, Kagetsu's not out there causing trouble. I'll see you later, okay Naruto?"

And with that, she closed the door, leaving the Hokage in his large room, his expression unchanging.

…

"Okay, so what'll it be?"

A day had passed, it was a bright and sunny afternoon. A party of 3 sat at a table in a small tavern, two men and a woman. The tavern was almost empty, probably due to it being so early in the day. The three people seemed to be Konoha nin, all Jounin, off duty and taking their free time to meet and talk. A male bartender stood over them, ready to take their order.

"Just water." Said one of the men.

"I will take melon please!" The other man said enthusiastically

"I'll have some regular rice wine…" The woman answered.

The bartender mumbled the names of the drinks as he wrote the down. "That'll be all?"

Responding to the nods of the three ninja, the bartender took his leave.

One of the men, whom had his arms folded, eyes closed and head lowered, looked up and spoke. "Y'know Tenten, it's not wise to drink during your break…" The man opened his eyes to reveal bright pupilless light violet. He had long pitch black hair, a straight face and was dressed in traditional attire. "…Especially with it being so early in the day. Irresponsible if you ask me."

"Ai, Neji-san… Mr. Boring as usual." Teased the woman across from him. "It's been such a long time since we've gotten together to talk like this and you're already lecturing me."

The woman wore more casual clothing and brown sandals. She looked to be of Chinese descent and wore a mess of silky hair that fell all around her head. People sometimes told her that if it wasn't for the fact that she needed to see, she would just let it fall right in front of her face. She smiled contently at the annoyed look on her comrade's face.

"I wouldn't call it a lecture" He stated "just some simple advice."

"I do not know Neji" Said the Jounin beside him "From where I sit, it sounded a lot like a lecture to me." This man was the peculiar one of the group. His outfit was normal… well, for the most part. His clothes were that of what the master of a Dojo would wear. He wore a white band around his head and his hair, like Neji's, was long and black, but not as slick. What was actually bizarre about him were his facial features. He had a somewhat chiseled face, thin nose and black, dot eyes that appeared to be open all the time. What was really bizarre about his appearance were his eyebrows. They were thick and rectangular, standing out on his already somewhat exaggerated face.

"You see?" Tenten chuckled "Lee agrees."

The violet eyed Jounin sighed "I wanted to meet and catch up with you guys" He breathed exasperatedly "Please don't make me regret it."

"Maaah…Don't be so huffy Neji" She said nonchalantly. "But you're right. We're here to catch up."

"Well I must say that my students are doing well for themselves. It has been such a pleasure watching the seeds of youth grow into beautifully strong lotuses!" He said, fists clenched full and of passion. "They have been working so hard! By this time next year, they will blow away the competition at the Chunin Exams! I am so proud of them!"

"Well, Lee…" Neji responded dully "I can see you've been busy"

"Ai, Lee… We got together here to talk about each other, not your students." Said Tenten

"Here are your drinks" The bartender returned with the 3 Jounins' orders, placing each by its respective customer.

"I know" said Lee, wiping tears from his eyes "It just moves me so to see Genin this day and age work to their fullest like they have. It reminds me of when we were younger – Thank you…" He took the orange drink from the bartender and too a gulp before continuing. "So Tenten, what have you been up to?"

It took a while before Tenten answered. She poured the bottle of Sake into her tiny cup and took a sip from it. "Aaaahhhhh…. The life of a special Jounin is a tough one. Everything's been peaceful for now in the Leaf Village, but the council is taking it as an advantage. They're asking for an increase in production of weapons, and considering we're running low on resources, this may not be an easy task for the nin that are stuck with the job… me included." She took another swig from her cup before continuing "What makes it even more frustrating is that the council seems to be worrying about it much more than the Hokage himself."

"So from the sound of it, you're not doing to well then?" Said Neji in a mocking tone, Tenten caught it immediately

"I never said that, thank you…" She responded irritably "…We're just in a taxing position right now, hmph."

Neji chuckled at this reaction and couldn't help but notice a twinge of pink forming on both of her cheeks.

"In any case" Lee interrupted after an awkward silence "We have not heard what you have been up to Neji"

"Nothing special, just the usual." Neji couldn't help but become slightly amused at himself and what he'd just said. As vague as Tenten went on about it, he had to admit that it had the Village of the Leaves were quite uneventful these days, though saying peaceful may have been a stretch. "Patrolling the village, trying to keep people out of trouble… had another run-in with the honorable daughter…" He said the word 'honorable' with yet another, but slighter, mocking tone in his voice.

"Oh, yes! It had slipped my mind until now" Said Lee, interrupting Neji and pounding his palm "Speaking up which, I had an interesting talk with the store keeper -- By the way, he bears no hard feelings. He says it was partially his fault for leaving his storage room open."

"The honarable daughter stole from a candy store?" asked Tenten

Lee nodded his head to acknowledge her question before continuing. "Anyway in the middle of a conversation we were having, he shared with me exactly what happened after you caught her. He said you were helping her clean up when she started a bizzare argument. Neji…" Lee leaned in closer to Neji, as if he were trying to keep a secret "Is…. Is it true that Honorable Daughter Kagetsu… knows the Byakugan?"

Tenten made a throaty noise before clumsily swallowing her Sake, nearly choking on it. "W-+ahem+ what? You're making that up!"

"No Tenten, it's true…" Neji said in a matter-of-fact tone "I didn't think anyone had seen it though… why do you ask?"

"Really?!" exclaimed Lee "Then it is true!" Lee's passion had returned as he clenched his fist. Tenten, the pink in her face starting to grow, seemed very surprised as well.

"Byakugan?" She said "No way… but how? You never told us you were training her…"

"That's because I wasn't" he said, a bit taken back by his two comrades. "It's like this… After I'd caught her stealing, I made her help me pick up the candy that she'd dropped when she ran into me…."

Flashback

An awkward silence hung over Neji and Kagetsu as they collected the pieces off of the floor. Kagetsu could almost feel a dark aura bearing down on her with Neji's presence. She jumped a little when Neji began to speak.

"You do know just how disappointing this is don't you?" He said in a lecturing tone. "To think that the Hokage's own daughter would stoop to stealing."

The girl listened in silence, feeling lower and lower.

"It has become obvious to me that you're under the impression that you can do whatever you want…" He sighed before going on, his tone turning more toward disappointed "It is a shame that that father of yours isn't stricter with you."

"Don't talk-a' bout Papa like tha' Ojisan!" She said suddenly, raising her voice a bit. Neji shot a questioning glance at her. For Kagetsu, it was like nearly dodging a kunai. She flinched a little and went back to picking up the candy; she spoke again in a smaller voice. "I didn't mean ta be bad… I was only training"

"Training?" Neji scoffed "Of all the sorry excuses…"

"Nuh uh! Is not a excuse! I was training! I wanted ta test it out!" She said, raising her voice again, but this time, not looking at Neji.

"'Test it out?'" Neji repeated "What… dare I ask?"

"T-the B-Bak'gan… sir."

Neji stared at her for a while. Kagetsu could feel his eyes examining her, she felt like ants under a magnifying glass.

"I… I'm not good yet, but--"

"Ha!" Neji cut her off so loudly that one probably would've made the mistake of thinking he would break into laughter. "Now I know you're lying…"

"Am not! Am Not!!" She said, regaining the courage to face him again "I c'n do it! I practiced!"

"Okay then, little missy. Show me."

Kagetsu flinched again, but she gave him a hard glare, answered "Fine!" and formed the handsign. She concentrated… concentrated… until…

"Byakugan!"

End Flashback

"Wow…" Ten Ten mouthed the word. A little red could be seen around the bridge of her nose. She began to pour a few more drops of Sake into her cup. "The byakugan, huh?"

"Afterwards, she took this chance to make a run for it. Eventually, I caught her and carried her to the Hokage Mansion."

But Lee failed to hear this, for he already swung back into his gear of firey passion. "Remarkable!!" He yelled, fist raised and fire in his eyes. "Simply remarkable! To think that such a young child can learn the basics of such a great Jutsu!"

Neji was a little shocked a Lee's reaction. Sure, it was somewhat surprising, that's why he even took Kagetsu to her parents. Still, who would have thought it was 'remarkable' as Lee so calmly put it. He, himself, had learned the Jutsu at a young age, but was bound to certain limitations because of his position in the Hyuuga family tree, so he wasn't really aware of how incredible this occurrence really was.

"As she'd said, it was far from perfect." Neji said "It seems she can only point out objects from in front of her, and it wouldn't do her any good when used on a mission or battle."

"That doesn't matter, Neji" Tenten said, slightly slurring "To learn something like that at her age is nothing short of amazing. The child is gifted… really gifted…" Her voice trailed off as her glazing eyes examined Neji. She seemed to be in a trance. Slowly, she started grinning, almost devilishly, and soon that smile turned into giggles.

"Tenten, what is it?" Lee asked.

"She's probably just drunk" Replied Neji, lowering his eyelids. "I always tell her not to drink so early in the day. Especially since it doesn't take much…"

"Nej-ojisan." Tenten cooed teasingly "I have an idea."

'Idea?' Neji thought, a slight wince forming on his face. 'Why is it that I'm starting to regret coming?'

…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…

The clock ticked seconds away as the Hokage sat in his office, signing paper after paper. He repeatedly glanced on a calendar on the wall. While resting his wrist, he glanced over at the ticking clock, breathing a sigh of exasperation.

'The clock on the wall seems to be mocking me.' Thought the Hokage. He pushed his hair back and stared at the ceiling, leaning back in his chair and thinking of his family. 'Today of all days'

He sat back upright and looked, with a grimace, down at his papers. He then glanced first at his calendar, then at the clock and then faced straight ahead. And closing his eyes with a frown on his face he uttered "Screw it!"

…

In the hallways of the mansion, a woman walked, carrying a large stack of papers in her arms. Walking as fast as her legs would allow, she continued complaining to herself.

"Man, so so busy…" she huffed "I'll never begin to understand why this stuff can't get done earlier in the day. Nothing short of procrastination." Stopping at the door of the main office, she moved the weight of the papers to one arm and wiped away the strands of pink hair stuck to her forehead. After she was done settling herself, she proceeded in.

"Hokage-Sama. A new batch of papers and contracts just came in, as well as a few mission requests. You may want to work on taking care of these before you leave today, okay?"

"Yes, of course, thank you…" The Hokage replied, looking up. "Could you just hold on for one second..?"

"Hmm?" The woman blinked in confusion. "Hold on for… what?"

All of a sudden, the Hokage exploded in a cloud of smoke. "Gah… What the--?!" Gasped the woman. The cloud hung in the air for a while and cleared, revealing an empty chair.

"Hokage… sama…?" Uttered the woman in complete confusion. It took a while for her to gather what just happened, but as she looked around the room, the answer to the questions floating in her mind were answered. One of the windows behind the desk stood open, allowing a small breeze to enter. "A… a shadow clone?"

As she murmured the question to herself, her confusion turned into realization and, quite quickly, into anger.

"Grrr… that… that….!"

What had just happened became quite clear. The Hokage was playing hooky.

"NAARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"Yes, I know the writing wasn't all that great, but the thing is this chapter was done with a "Get-it-over-with" attitude. I actually had this file all written up, but I'd lost it before I could submit it, which is why this chapter took so long. I finally stopped being a baby and got it over with. Hoped you liked it! Please, please leave a comment and tell me what you think" -BX3