Chapter 11:

Stealth

Naruto couldn't have possibly been more excited. It was his first day as a teacher and as such he had woken up extra early, something which rarely happened. He sat down and had breakfast. He looked around and realized that he would have to clean up if he ever intended to invite his friends over.

He stopped eating and smiled at the thought. Before, having friends meant the world to him. He would dream at night, like the little kid he was, about all the possible adventures the world had to offer if he had friends.

Those were the best dreams he had.

Having friends still mattered greatly to him and he appreciated the ones he had, but thinking about them this casually...

...Wow.

He had been so happy when they had accepted him, even after he had told them his secret. He still didn't know how to feel about the fact that the Yondaime was his father and that he was from a noble clan. Naruto knew, though, that his friends wouldn't treat him differently because of that and that they wouldn't tell anyone, not that he wanted someone to know. Everyone that mattered already knew.

That was why he grinned and again promised himself to clean later, after he was done with his lesson. Meanwhile, it would've been good if he actually knew what he was going to teach...

Naruto thought about it for a few minutes, munching on cornflakes. The milk had expired, so he didn't drink any, although he knew he needed it. The shopkeepers still didn't quite accept him, but they at least tolerated him. And even if the prices for him were ever so slightly higher, he didn't mind. He had been through worse. Plus, it wasn't like he hadn't pranked them enough already...

Naruto snapped. He looked at the clock and saw that he had about twenty minutes before the meeting. Perfect. He threw on his usual clothes, grabbed a pencil with an eraser on it, an old notepad and his frog wallet.

It was going to be an interesting day.

Naruto was already waiting at Training Ground 27 when the rest of the Twelve arrived, smiling with his foxy grin. Even those of them who hadn't known him for that long knew that his teaching methods were going to be quite...

...different.

That was bound to happen, anyway. Naruto wasn't the type of person to learn theory and sometimes didn't understand it, even when put in simple terms. Other times, if he paid close attention he could get the hang of it, but that wasn't all that common.

However, that didn't necessarily make him a retard or anything. Sure, he was sometimes very stupid or dense (like in the 'Hinata' case), but he was actually quite wise for his age. He understood things that others couldn't, or wouldn't. He had opened many people's eyes and was sure to open some more in the future.

The other part of him that wasn't stupid was his prankster one. He had made legendary quests and had humiliated nearly all of the others' families, not that they'd tell. Sasuke and Sakura had seen that part of him in battle and had to admit that it could be quite useful. More so, if properly moulded, it could possible be turned into an actual war strategist.

Who knew.

So yeah, that was Naruto: sometimes the most idiotic person in the world, sometimes the one making the other person feel like one. That was why he probably wouldn't construct his lesson like the others up to then had; no, he was probably going to give an example and maybe answer questions. But since his subject was called 'Stealth' the others didn't even want to know what examples he could possibly give.

"Alright, everybody," the blond caught their attention, "I realize that there isn't much that I can say about how to be good at stealth. You know I am not a man of many words," many eyebrows were raised at that phrase, "So, today, we are going to prank someone (more like I will and you will have to help me gather supplies) and after that you could ask as many questions as you want. Understood?"

"Wait, we are going to prank someone?! Naruto, I don't think that is the appropriate way to teach," Sakura said sternly. In truth, she was worried about him - people in the village did not appreciate his pranks and he often ended up cursed at or banned from certain places. Now that she knew the reason, she knew that there was more to it, but still getting in trouble wasn't the best thing for him.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! It'll be alright!" the blond protested, "Plus, I already have an idea. Here is what we're going to do."

He started explaining his plan while writting in his notepad. Needed supplies, steps - everything.

"Oi, Izumo, wake up!" Kotetsu nudged his best friend and life-long partner. Sometimes, during their shift at the gate (it was their main job) they would take turns to nap. It was his turn and he was very tired. His friend, however, remained sleeping, grumbling something incoherent.

Kotetsu sighed and looked around. He noticed a package that hadn't been there a minute ago. It was wrapped in brown paper and the sign on it said, "For Kotetsu-kun from your old Granny!"

The man to really excited. Sometimes, his grandmother would send him home-made cookies. They were his favourite - he had loved them since he had been a child. He hastily opened the box and took out a cookie. It looked fine enough to him. He stuffed it in his mouth and was surprised when it burned his throat.

"AAAAAHHHHH," Kotetsu screamed and knocked the rest of the cookies on the ground. He woke up Izumo and gasped for water.

The other man looked around and saw a bottle leaning casually on the side. He quickly grabbed it and was suprised when it stuck to his hand. It was covered in glue!

Still, there was water in it and he helped Kotetsu drink it. The latter relaxed and helped Izumo to wash off the glue.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away from there, Naruto was running towards the rest of the Twelve.

He reached Training Ground 27 and found them, looking nerviously around. After about ten minutes of convincing, he had managed to persuade them to cooperate. Sasuke had written the note in the box down, using his Sharingan to copy the handwriting (Naruto had one from a previous box). The four girls had made the cookies together, Shikamaru had cleared up the blind spots in Naruto's strategy and Neji had watched the 'enemies' at all times. Choji had tasted the cookies and had deemed them hot enough. Lee and Kiba had searched for all of the supplies and Shino had watched how the "nap-shifts" changed. Naruto had left the box and the water bottle with glue on it.

They were all nervious that they might have been caught, but Naruto told them that it had gone well enough.

It was time for questions. Although Shikamaru and Naruto had both devised the plan, only the latter was asked any questions. Mostly because the Nara had fallen asleep.

"So, how did you put the box and the bottle there?" asked Lee.

"I Henge-d into a delivery man and casually walked by, leaving the package. Kotetsu was sleeping and Izumo was looking at another direction, plus I didn't stand out. After Kotetsu woke up it took him quite a while to notice the package, it was nearly the end of his shift. The water bottle was put there while Izumo was sleeping and Kotetsu was reading some book, occasionally glancing upwards.

After placing the things, I just hid a few blocks away and waited. I love being there to watch how my pranks turn out. I wanted to make sure that it worked, even if sometimes it takes a long time until the trap snaps."

"How did you even think of that plan?" Ino questioned.

"Ehh...some people get inspired to write books or music or poetry or whatever and I get inspired to do pranks. It is really random. My best pranks aren't even widely known, since no one would let out the information," the Yondaime's son replied. He hoped that they didn't ask what he meant. He had pranked them before, but they didn't know that it was him who had been the cause of the worst ones.

"How is this all associated to our training?" the logical question came from Shino.

"Well, imagine that you are on a mission and that we had to kill them. In such a case, we could've put poison in the cookies and cover the bottle in acid that would make Izumo-san's skin peel off. Plus, the subject is called 'Stealth'. I don't wear orange so much just because it is my favourite color, you know! I also wear it because that way they are searching for it and I could just change quickly into some clothes or Henge and they wouldn't even notice because they would be so busy looking for orange," came the reply, "Any more questions?"

The others looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Good, you are dismissed, then. You could continue with your individual training. What will we learn tomorrow?"

"Can we please start our taijutsu training, my youthful comrades? From what I can tell, you have a lot to learn! But fear not, with the Flames of Youth burning brightly inside you there is no way you cannot succed!" Lee cheered loudly, pumping his fist in the air.

The rest of the Twelve sweat-dropped, but agreed. They were suprised that he had managed to not ask for his lesson to be next earlier - sometimes, he could be as impatient as Naruto. They agreed to meet at the usual time and were dismissed.

The blond teacher himself though didn't go home. Instead, he went to the Gates and to an irritatebly looking Izumo and Kotetsu. However, he didn't know that Hinata was following him. The girl saw that he hadn't been heading towards his home.

"Hey, Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san," Naruto started, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Listen, that thing earlier was because of me. I would like to apologise for it and clean up. It was just for training."

"Save it, Naruto," Izumo said, smiling knowingly, "Everyone in the village knows of the infamous Konoha Twelve and there was an information leak that your training was based on helping each other out. You haven't done any pranks ever since you became a genin, plus they were usually something grand, not just spicy cookies and glued water bottle."

"We talked about it and figured out that this was probably your way of teaching. We know you used to suck at theory and wouldn't be able to explain anything, so you were probably going to show them what you meant," Kotetsu added.

"Still, I'll clean up around here. I've done pranks at you guys before and I think that it's time to take responsibility."

Kotetsu whistled, "Really, now? Are you trying to impress someone?" Izumo wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

Naruto suddenly looked beet-rot red, but said nothing.

"So, is it Sakura?" Izumo asked.

The blond just shook his head - he thought of her as a sister.

The two other shrugged, "Very well then, we might as well leave you 'take responsibility' or whatever," Kotetsu said, coming out of the booth. Izumo followed him, "Bye."

Naruto was left alone (or so he thought) and decided to start cleaning. Just then did Hinata decide to come out of the shadows.

"Hey, N-Naruto-kun, d-do you want help?"

He looked at her, suprised, but nodded. The two started cleaning up the crumbled cookies. Hinata wondered who the girl Naruto liked was. She hoped that they would be happy together, even if it wasn't her. They tried to reach out for the same cookie and banged their heads together. Both yelped in pain, rubbing their foreheads.

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?" Naruto muttered. She nodded.

"You know, we're almost finished. Would you like to come with me for some ramen?" the blond used his foxy grin.

"Y-Yes, that would be n-nice," Hinata replied, blushing furiously.

The two quickly finished and left for the ramen bar, Naruto telling Hinata about one of his pranks. Neither of them noticed the smugly grinning Izumo and Kotetsu, who both thought that the Hyūga heiress was a nice catch indeed. They vowed to protect the two genin of the warth of the Hyūga clan at all cost. Hiashi was not going to be pleased when he learned about it.

Omake: Personal Training #1

"Naruto, where have you been?" Tenten asked the late blond. He was supposed to be meeting with her ten minutes ago. He looked red and for some reason, he became redder when he answered her question.

"Well, I had lunch with Hinata-chan."

Tenten raised her eyebrows. She concluded to herself that maybe the blond wasn't such an idiot after all.

"Okay then, let's resume from where we started," the brown haired girl smiled, "Storage seals. You are actually learning fast. I thought that the theory was going to take us way longer, but you got the concepts really fast. However, your writting still sucks."

The blond huffed and Tenten laughed. Soon, he joined her. Jiraiya was watching them from a distance and smiled a little. Then, he left his students to their lesson.

"Okay Sasuke, one more time," Kakashi said and waited for the Uchiha to make the hand signs for the Raiton jutsu he was learning.

The copy-nin knew of the excercise that Sakura had gave Sasuke and actually found it quite useful. It was challenging for the Uchiha. Kakashi had taught him the basics in order for him to learn the Chidori, but only in theory. Plus, it was different than other Raiton techniques.

Currently, the jutsu was performed in an average level, but Sasuke didn't seem to appreciate the fact. Kakashi smirked and pulled his book out. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Sakura was working her shift at the hospital when a boy came.

It had a twisted ankle and Tsunade decided to test her skills up to date. She had barely started studying the human body, but she read a lot at home and had a good enough idea of what to do. The boy had traces of tears under his eyes. Sakura opted to be careful.

The pinkette gently got the kid's leg and put her hands on the ankle. The boy squirmed a bit. She started infusing her chakra, healing the ankle. The boy bravely said nothing and although Sakura was trying to make it hurt less, she knew that it was still rather painful. After she was done, she got her bag and searched in it. She had some strawberry flavored candy and she gave the boy. He looked at her, wide-eyed, and she smiled at him. He smiled and hugged her. After that, his mom thanked her and they both left.

Tsunade had been there the whole time and she congratulated Sakura. After her shift was done, the kunoichi went home, glad.

A/N: Hello!

This chapter was supposed to come up earlier, but I've been out with friends the last few days. However, tonight I'm planning to write a lot. The next chapter is already finished, but I want to write the ones after that.

The Omake was pretty long. What do you think about it? Also, I am fully aware that fūinjutsu is a very complicated art, but Tenten has been tutoring Naruto for a week. I think that he would catch up on the theory pretty quickly.

Anyway, until next time and reviews are always welcomed. :)