CHAPTER 2 – Jounin Instructor, Uzumaki Naruto?

Naruto walked straight into Tsunade's office, as usual, without knocking. His impatience with formalities was well known, but Tsunade knew better, she only wished that the old perverted fool had taught him some elementary manners as well. However, the scowl on her face couldn't last long, not when Naruto was grinning that typical grin of his. She still tried to hide from him the fact that she was desperately fond of him, but it slipped out ever so often.

She watched him seat himself on a chair in front of her. How he had grown, from a clumsy prankster to an elite ninja. He looked fit and tall, and walked around in his customary jacket, though it was now more black than orange, with the Konoha symbol on its back. Those sparkling blue eyes had lessened not the slightest in their intensity, but she had also sometimes seen a slightly lost look on his face , when she surreptitiously glanced at his face so that he wouldn't know she was looking, and that worried her a lot. She smiled back at him as he sat down in the chair.

"Hi, Tsunade-baa-chan" said Naruto, as he watched the smile disappear into another scowl. Huh, he still had a measure of the old lady after all.

"When will you stop calling me that, Naruto? Oh, never mind, if you want to act your age after all these years and be a little kid, go ahead… I don't think anything I say is going to stop you from calling me Granny." said Tsunade, watching Naruto's grin widen even more. He reminded her more and more of the Fourth as the days went past.

"Well, you know that the Academy graduation exams are over, don't you?" not bothering to wait for an answer, she pushed ahead. "Well, you are now a Jounin, and even though you managed to escape the responsibility last year, this year you will be in charge of a rookie team, like it or not" said Tsunade.

"But… but… come on, you know I will be no good with kids, don't you think they would be better off with someone who has their basics right, unlike me. Say, what about Neji, can't you make him do it?" said Naruto, trying to squiggle out of this ridiculousness.

"Well, Neji and Lee have already been assigned teams last year, and they are yet to graduate to Chuunin, while Kiba and Hinata will also be assigned teams along with you this year. The rest are away on various missions and are not available. Besides, Shikamaru has specifically requested me to assign you to a particular team and I see no reason to turn down such a specific request from the Academy instructor."

"Uh, well, I'll think about it and tell you tomorrow morning…ok?" asked Naruto, nervously looking for an exit. "Damn, what is Shikamaru thinking? I should go and Sexy-no-jutsu that woman hater (except for Temari-san, of course) till he drops dead." He thought vindictively.

"NO! Tomorrow is when you will report at the academy at 8 'o' clock sharp, and if perchance you happen to not come, I will personally send the entire ANBU unit after your sorry ass" threatened Tsunade.

"…"

"Don't worry, Naruto. I have complete faith in you, and so does Shikamaru."

She added gently.

"Well, handling three young leaves is no big deal for the man who is going to be Hokage! Goodbye… baa-chan" said Naruto, as he grinned back at her and made a hasty exit.