Tsunade reads the paper with rare sober eyes.
"Hmmmm..." She puts the paper down as she finishes. "Shizune!"
A flurry of footsteps are heard and BAM--Shizune appears in the place of the slammed-open door.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" She cries dutifully.
Tsunade holds up the letter. Shizune's eyes widen as she reconizes the symbol of Kumogakure.
"What..." She takes the letter from Tsunade's hands and reads it quickly. "What does this mean?"
Tsunade rests her head upon her hands.
"Probably what it says. Kumogakure is sending one team to the Chuunin Exams, and since the team is missing one member, we need to supply one for them." Tsunade takes a sip from her sake. "If you're asking why...I don't know."
Shizune looks at the paper and back to Tsunade.
"What do you propose we do then?"
Tsunade closes her eyes briefly in thought. Seconds later, they are open and alert.
"We'll give them one of our younger looking jounins to act like a genin, to see if we can find out Kumogakure's motives behind this."
Shizune's eyebrows furrow.
"Which jounin?"
Tsunade smirks.
Three women stand outside the gates of Konohagakure.
"Hehe...We're finally back. Think they'll see through our disguise?"
"If you keep talking like that. Just make sure not to lust over Iruka-sensei too much."
"Shut up, panda."
"Gr..."
The third girl steps in.
"Now's not the time to fight you two. Let's review the plan. Tenten, you first."
"Sorry, Sakura. Didn't mean to get carried away like. Okay, I'm Haruka Chi, I'm 17 years old, and I'm a genin taking the Chuunin Exam. Iruka-lover, you next."
"You're lucky you're weak panda, otherwise you'd be dead already." She ignores the other girl's bristling. "I'm the awesome and beautiful jounin Akiko Shoko who is your teacher. Wow, everything is true but the name. Pinky-who-is-not-pinky-anymore, go."
The girl twitches.
"...I'm Tsukiko Akane, a genin participatin in the Chuunin Exam from Kumogakure."
"We're done reviewing. Now, can we go?"
"No, Anko--"
The older woman cuts in.
"Shoko-sama."
"Shoko-sensei, you're going to have to stop the nicknames if you want to pull this off."
She pouts.
"Fine. From now on, Panda shall be Weakling, and Pinky-who-is-not-pinky-anymore is Blacky. Happy?"
"I'm not weak, you Iru--ahem, dolphin-lover!"
The youngest of the three twitches.
"Immature...Hmph. Just like Naruto and Sasuke. Sheesh."
Minutes later they enter the village, Sakura finally being able to stop the two from arguing.
"Hehe...Time to pull the greatest prank of all ages on Konohagakure!!"
"OY!! WAKE UP YOU LITTLE GIRLS!!"
Sakura and Tenten jump up, weapons in hand. Then they notice Anko.
"Oh. It's you." Tenten says, her eyes dead. She flops back onto her bed, Sakura following her.
Anko look at the two of them with a pout, before smirking.
"Oh look" She sings. "Is that Shikamaru and Neji?"
The two girls pop up and immediately start looking around crazily.
"WHAT!! WHERE!?"
Their eyes land on a laughing Anko.
"Shoko-sensei..." Sakura forces out through grinding teeth.
"I'm going to kill you..." Tenten growls. "...Slowly and painfully..."
"Oh by all means, please do try." Anko says cheerfully. "However, make sure you do it two minutes so we can get to the meeting with the Hokage on time."
The two girls blink.
"Oh snap!!"
They somehow make it on time, with Sakura and Tenten running in a frenzy while changing clothes and combing their hair while Anko just watches in amusement. Minutes later, they are in front of the door leading to Tsunade's office. Anko slams it open.
"ARRIVING!!!" She yells brightly, as Tenten and Sakura follow her into the room, sweat pouring off them.
"We made it..." Sakura wheezes.
"Take that you evil old hag..." Tenten breaths out.
And they flop down on the floor.
"Excuse me?"
They look up to see Tsunade staring at them, her eyes blinking owlishly. Tenten scrambles to bow.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!! I wasn't talking about you at all!! I was talking about the evil mean annoying dolphin-loving teacher that I have over there!!" She says, pointing a glare towards a smirking Anko. "I mean no disrespect at all, Hokage-sama!"
A deep voice cuts off Tenten's babblings.
"Are these...my new teammates?"
Everyone turns to look at the other person in the room that they hadn't noticed before. Sakura's face, in particular, becomes more cold as she struggles to control her bubbling emotions.
"Ah yes, I almost forgot about you." Tsunade says. She turns towards the group of girls and points towards the boy. "Here's the replacement member you requested. His name is Hyuuga Neji. Hyuuga, meet your new teammates."
"Huuuhhh...we got a Hyuuga..." Anko says, reconizing the prodigy boy. "I guess we aren't that trusted, are we?"
Tsunade's face remain emotionless. However, Anko's grin seems to widen, and she sticks her hand out.
"Well then!! I'm your new teacher, the gorgeous Akiko Shoko. But please call me Shoko-sama." She says. Neji stares at her for a brief moment, before shaking her hand quickly. She starts to introduce the other two.
"That weakling over there with the bun/ponytail thingy is Haruka Chi, but feel free to call her Weakling."
Tenten clenches her hand into a fist, but decides not to say anything.
"Aaaaand Blacky is Tsukiko Akane. She doesn't like cute guys, so she might act weirdly around you."
Sakura's eyes narrow at her description, but knows that Anko's words will ring true. Out of all the people to be paired up with, what were the chances it would be the guy she had a crush on? Now as long as she doesn't embarrass herself in front of him...
"So, Hokage-sama, if you'll excuse us," Anko says, as she turns to the Hokage. "We'd like to get to know our resident Pretty Boy here."
And so, Neji's nickname is born.
Tsunade nods.
"You are excused."
The four leave, Tsunade staring after them. She turns towards the seemingly empty air next to her.
"What do you think?"
Kakashi and Kurenai appear as Kurenai release her genjustu.
"They are not what I expected." Kurenai says, carefully choosing her words. "They appear to be comfortable with their position."
"The teacher is dangerous. She had noticed Kurenai's illusion, but had pretended not to. We should keep careful watch on her." Kakashi adds.
Tsunade takes their words in carefully.
Meanwhile, the three girls search for a restaurant to eat at while dragging Neji around.
"MAaann, where is the dango place in this village?" Anko complains. "A village cannot be a village without dango!! Don't you know anything Pretty Boy?"
"No." Is his one word answer. He seems to be a slight bit annoyed at his nickname, though he doesn't show it. Anko glares at him.
FWISH!!
Anko pins Neji to the floor, his hair in her hands.
"You will tell me where the dango place is or your hair is getting chopped off." She whispers dangerously is his eye, twirling a kunai playfully. Neji is emotionless.
"I do not know."
Anko narrows her eyes, and puts her kunai against his hair, about to push down. However, Sakura stops her.
"Wait!"
Neji glances at the black-haired girl. Will she save him from the crazy teacher?
"You should layer his hair."
Or not.
Tenten chimes in.
"Give him bangs too."
The girls fuss with his hair, deciding what to do, when suddenly he sees it.
"Wait."
"Hmm...did Pretty Boy suddenly remember?" Anko says evilly.
"Look by the streetlamp." He says. They follor his gaze.
"Could it be..." Tenten's eyes start to sparkle.
"...A dango shop?" Anko finishes Tenten's sentence.
"FOOD!!" The two cry in unison as they race towards the stall. Sakura follows behind calmly, before turning to the freed boy.
"Coming?"
Neji gets up and grudgingly follows, though his mind is warning him not.
And he's right. Ten minutes later, after Anko, Sakura, and Tenten have their share of dango, he is forced to pay.
"Hehe...be a man for once!! You know, all that chivalry crap about how the man pays at a date!!" Anko uses her amazing logic and persuasion.
"In truth, we're actually really poor since we used all of our money for the trip to Konoha." Tenten smiles sheepishly. She puts on her sweet but shy flirting face. "Won't you pay for us this once?"
Sakura says nothing, looking away.
Neji glares at them, before taking out his wallet. Anko and Tenten jump up triumphantly, doing a little victory dance. He just can't win against women.
Neji reports to the Hokage's office.
"So, what did you find out?" She asks.
"They like dango."
She stares at him. He continues.
"Shoko-sensei appears to like dolphins."
Silence.
"That's it?" She asks.
"Yes."
"When's the next time you meet them?"
"Tomorrow at 6:00 at the Konoha inn to guide them to the training grounds."
Silence.
"You are dismissed."
Neji gets to the entrance at 5:45. There's no one there, except for Kakashi who is hidden among the trees.
He waits.
5:50. No one.
5:55. Nothing.
And then a distants yells are heard.
"Wake up little girl!! Akane's already up."
"Shut up old hag!! I still got four minutes to sleep!!"
5:57.
"YOO!! WEAKLING!! GO!! WE'RE LATE!!"
"What are you talking about...oh snap!! 6:10!!"
5:59.
Footsteps are heard rushing down the steps.
6:00.
The three open the door on the dot.
"I'm sorry, Neji-san!! I didn't mean to..." Tenten's voice dies, as she catches sight of the clock on the wall. She turns to Anko, her face darkening by the second.
"I...am going to kill you..."
"Go ahead and try, Weakling."
The two charge at each other. However, just as the two are about to fight, Sakura forms some seals in her hands.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu."
Suddenly, Anko and Tenten are frozen in fighting stances, both of them glaring at her.
"You both are going to behave. Otherwise, I'll get the Scroll." Sakura says cheerfully with a threatening lilt in her voice. "Got it?"
She releases the jutsu.
"Akane-chan, you used to be so sweet and shy..." Anko whines as she gets up. "Fine then, let's go. Pretty Boy, lead the way."
They walk a few steps, before Sakura suddenly flips out a kunai towards a tree.
"Someone's following us." She says. Tenten nods, as she reaches for the wrapped up bundle on her back. Anko has a prideful smile on her face, proud of Sakura's progress at detecting.
"Don't worry. It's just someone from the Hokage sent to spy on us to make sure we don't have some hidden motive. If it was an enemy, Pretty Boy would have noticed long ago." Anko says. "Come out!! It's nice to have company!!"
Nothing.
"Don't make me come get you!" Anko sings.
Then--
CLANG!!
Anko is holding a kunai against another, facing her opponent.
"Why, I believe I've heard of you," Anko chirps. "Hatake Kakashi, right?"
Kakashi pulls back.
"You're pretty good, Akiko-san."
Anko grins.
"Why thank you." She turns to Sakura and Tenten. "Kiddies, this is our stalker, also known as Hatake Kakashi."
"Nice to meet you, Hatake-san." Tenten says cheerfully, as she bows. "Are you going to train with us? It'd be pretty fun to train against a Sharingan user."
"I agree. Please do train with us, Hatake-san." Sakura says. To see her sensei after all this while...it felt odd how he didn't even seem to reconize her. Had she changed that much?
Kakashi shrugs.
"Might as well."
They start to walk to the training grounds, Neji and Kakashi leading the way.
"So, what element are you most compatible with, Hatake-san?" Anko asks, conversationally.
"I'd prefer not to say." He says lightly.
"Ah...well, are you at least somewhat good with lightning? Akane's mostly lightning so it's hard to train her since I know nothing about it. Which is kinda weird, isn't it, as I'm from the village that specializes in lightning attacks. But people there are more concerned with just training either themselves or their own teams and don't have the time to train others...hmph, selfish bastards. By the way, Pretty Boy, what's your main element?"
"Water." Is his one-word answer. Anko frowns.
"Oh...so is Weakling...that's not good balance..."
Anko continues to talk consistantly, as they walk. Finally, as they get to the training grounds, she finally stops right next to a lake.
"Okay, time to start warming up!!" She cheers. "Go go!! 100 laps on the pond!! Last one to finish pays for dinner!!"
Sakura and Tenten stare at each other, both clearly saying something.
There is no way I 'm paying.
They dash for the pond, fire burning in their eyes, and start to run back and forth on the pond. Anko slaps Neji and Kakashi on the head.
"Oi. You're included too."
So starts the race between the five.
Minutes later, it is Kakashi who finishes last. Anko stares at him.
"You're pitiful." She comments, before turning back to her team. "Now that you're warmed up, it's time to really start!! Here's the plan. Kakashi and Neji will hold a scroll, while Chi and Akane will hold another scroll. The objective; get the other teams scroll."
AN: Remember Chapter Three? This is one of the earlier attempts at it...I thought it would be nice to post up.