Chapter 1-19

"You…look incredibly annoyed." I stated with curiosity when Hana stepped out of a nearby changing room and joined me in the hospital lobby, now dressed for comfort clad in knee-length leggings and a simple t-shirt.

"If one more old fart talks to me like I'm a little girl I'm going to break more bones than I'm healing." She said with a scowl and dragged me by my hand towards the exit.

"And for the last ten minutes I've been smelling the fried chicken you have in that bag so let's get on the roof and eat, I'm starving." With that said she pushed the doors open with probably more force than strictly necessary and leaped upwards to where I followed suit.

I saw her plop down against the wall of the rooftop entrance and joined her without much fanfare. Pulling out the little takeaway food carton I opened it and set the Tsukune between us. It wasn't even fully opened when the first stick of meat was immediately snatched out of it.

Refraining from commenting I took my own and dug in, savoring the incredible taste. I glanced over and couldn't help but raise my eyebrow in a mixture of confusion and humor.

"Since when do you eat like a dainty lady?" I asked my female companion as she continued to gently nibble the chicken on the wooden stick.

"You know you can drool all over the place for all I care." I teased her and didn't even try to hide the humor in my voice.

I saw her raise her eyebrow in response and take her sweet time with chewing, her expression becoming unreadable before she fully faced me.

"I bet," She began, voice low and soft as her face came nearer. Her mouth now dangerously close to my ear, her hot breath caressing my skin, which got me all kinds of bothered. "you would love it if I drooled all over you." She finished and my brain simply imploded. 'WHAT?!'

"I've seen that smutty little book on your coffee table, you little perv." She exclaimed with a laugh and in her normal voice again.

I robotically faced forward and continued with my meal, studiously ignoring her laughter and teasing.

"You know," She reached over my shoulder and held me close. "if you need help with the birds and the bees you can always ask." She helpfully offered with truly impressive fake compassion.

"The book is for infiltration missions." I said absolutely straight-faced and looked her dead in the eyes. "It's only a matter of time when the village will send me on missions to seduce foreign ladies of power to secure trade deals and treaties. I heard the Kazekage has a daughter my age."

I took another bite in satisfaction when she cracked first and squealed with laughter.

"I bet you are glad you can practice those moves with your sensei." She exclaimed between wiping away tears of laughter.

"I'll have you know that we enjoy a perfectly normal and professional teacher-student relationship." I said with my chin raised in mock defiance.

"Of course, forgive me for assuming otherwise, oh great savior of Konoha's future prosperity." She apologized with fake formality, even going so far as to bow her head in deference.

"You are forgiven, puberty makes us say things we regret more often than not, my dear." I gently patted the hand draped over my shoulder in sympathy.

"Talking about senseis," she began to say, her voice now back under control but still light. "Kiba and Naruto keep pestering me about you. They want you to teach them something and I quote 'badass' and 'cool'."

"Hmmm." I frowned in thought. "I don't know if that's a good idea." I admitted eventually.

"Why?" Hana simply asked.

"Don't you think it's better to let them progress at their own pace and let their teachers do their job?" I asked her. "And, I don't know, isn't it a bit unfair towards their classmates?" I added as an afterthought.

She took her time and thought about her response before she eventually shrugged.

"Do you remember your first dinner at my place and what you told Mum?" She asked and I nodded, understanding where she was going but keeping quiet, giving her the chance to voice her thoughts. "Kiba is my brother and Naruto is a good kid so the stronger they can be the better in my opinion. Plus I honestly don't care about fairness or their teachers when it comes to their safety and let's be honest you are probably already more competent than those guys, anyway."

I just nodded.

"Alright, I will think about something."

And let's make sure that they don't get big heads while I am at it.

Next day, early afternoon, and the three of us were alone in the little woods behind the academy.

My two charges practically vibrating with excitement behind me.

I found a decent spot, stopped, turned on a dime, and faced my two students.

"Alright, sit down." I instructed neutrally, my hands were clasped behind my back and I didn't slouch for once. I was taking this seriously and had prepared accordingly last night.

That's why I was initially hesitant to do anything, it wasn't so much, that I was dealing with the 'protagonist', but because I could potentially shape two young boys' lives in fundamental ways.

I hadn't thought about it when I had started training with Hana, but in hindsight, I could see how much I had influenced her, and I understood now why Tsume had been rather adamant about knowing what we did together.

Maybe, very possibly even, I was blowing this way out of proportions again, but I really didn't want to plant the wrong seeds in those impressionable little minds in an environment where mistakes can become so quickly fatal.

"I agreed to train and teach you." I began deadly serious and was glad to see that they picked up on my mood. "Under one condition."

"Naruto, do you remember what I told you at the end when we first met?" I asked him and saw him gulp, and think hard, desperate to please me with the right answer.

"You mean the be yourself part?" He hazarded a guess, which was close enough for me.

"The don't be an asshole part, actually." I said and turned my gaze on Kiba, making sure that he understood that I wasn't joking around just because of the language.

"Naruto, I want to apologize." I announced seriously and saw him cock his head in bewildered confusion. "When we sparred recently, I didn't show you the proper respect and didn't treat you seriously." I dipped my head slightly, giving the apology a bit more weight.

I paused again to emphasize the following part. "Just because I was stronger than you."

"That's the condition. I help you get stronger not so you can humiliate your classmates or flaunt your skills, but so you can protect your family, your friends, and your home, get it?"

"Yes!" They chorused and to my relief, I sensed that they meant it.

"Good." My stance relaxed a fraction, and I began to pace in front of them.

"We won't have a fixed schedule." I stated, turned, and carried on with my pacing. "You both already have a decent amount of chakra and you are plenty strong for your age."

Turn.

"We will start with your chakra control; I will show you different exercises you can do in your own spare time."

Turn.

"In between, we will work excessively on your speed and spatial awareness and when I deem you ready, I will teach you one of my favorite jutsu."

I turned again, now a decent distance away from the wide-eyed kids, and vanished on the spot.

I crouched behind Naruto, my head was now directly next to his, and my wakizashi at his neck. A shadow clone in exactly the same position behind Kiba.

"And why speed is king." We both whispered in unison.