(A/N) Sorry to say, but this story hates me, so it'll be done a chapter or so after I finish off this Taki mission. I just can't with this story any more, sorry.
"Does everyone have everything?" Kurenai asked, scanning her three genin, then casting an eye over Gai's three.
"Yep!" Lee chirped, far too cheerful for this early in the morning. Hinata shielded her face from the sunlight reflecting off his grin, noticing Tenten doing the same.
She nodded timidly, watching Kiba yawn widely while giving a thumbs up, and Shino inclined his head politely.
"Then onward we go!" Gai exclaimed, pointing out of the gate.
"Indeed," Kurenai said cooly, beginning to walk towards the gate. "I'll sign us out."
Hinata had been wondering about that, perhaps it was good the less loud and more level headed jounin was checking them out of the village.
"H-how do you manage with Lee as your teammate?" Hinata wondered quietly to Tenten as Lee set himself to yet another challenge.
"You ignore any and all sunset genjutsu and try not to pass out from exertion," Tenten sighed, sharpening a kunai. "You get used to the noise real quickly. And if he challenges you, say no."
"I s-see," Hinata managed. She didn't, but oh well. Wait, "sunset genjutsu?"
"Tomorrow morning," Tenten told her. "You'll see tomorrow morning once they both wake up."
She did indeed, and it burned her eyeballs thoroughly. Gai and Lee hugging in front of a sunset over the ocean, when it was actually sunrise, and they were nowhere near a beach.
"And that would be it," Tenten sighed, turning to the fire. "Ignore them. You'll need less therapy."
With some difficulty, Hinata turned away from the two, strapping on her kunai pouch. "Do t-they do that every m-morning?"
"Yep," Neji said, using a hand to shield his eyes from the spectacle. "But when it gives you an extra few minutes of rest in the morning, you welcome it."
"That can not possibly be a genjutsu as it can not be broken," Shino decided as he sat down. "Also my kikai do not sense any chakra usage on their part."
"Nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks that isn't a genjutsu," Tenten noted, tying her own kunai pouch on. "And they're done. Finally."
"Why are you talking about genjutsu?" Kurenai asked, coming over.
"Lee and Gai's sunset thing, we don't think it's a genjutsu," Tenten told her.
"S-shino agrees, a-and adds that his k-kikai can't sense any ch-chakra usage," Hinata added. "P-plus it can't be broken."
"Makes sense," Kurenai hummed. "Kakashi has a thing like that, it's an intimidation technique for him though. Can't be broken, no actual chakra usage. Don't ask how it happens, it just does."
"Poor Team 7 I guess," Neji decided, shrugging. "Has an Uchiha anyway, so who cares."
"E-excuse you," Hinata said, frowning at him. "Th-that would be m-my U-Uchiha."
Tenten choked quietly on her food, coughing a few times. "Sorry, that's just… haha, the imagery…" she trailed off, coughing a few more times.
Kurenai just chuckled. "Let's get a move on, we still have a lot of ground to cover."
The first other shinobi they met was right outside of Taki. Neji almost tripped over her, but stopped just in time.
She opened one eye to stare at him, then abruptly jumped up, startling Hinata. "Oh! You're a Konoha shinobi! Hi! My name's Fuu! Will you be my friend?"
Neji blinked at her in shock, and Hinata decided to take the reins before her snappy cousin drove the Taki shinobi off. "We are K-Konoha shinobi, my name's Hinata H-Hyuuga, a-and I w-would love t-to be y-your friend." Fuu reminded Hinata of Naruto a little bit, all bright colors and cheerful energy.
"Awesome!" She chirped, grinning and showing off all of her teeth. "I'm supposed to lead you to Taki, then show you around!"
Kurenai stepped forward after that. "My name is Kurenai, my team is Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame."
"Oooh, Aburame, they're the bug ones, right?" Fuu asked, practically appearing next to Shino and inspecting him curiously. "Do the bugs only eat chakra? Can they eat other stuff? Do they have mouths?"
Hinata stifled giggles as Shino blinked at Fuu, clearly at a loss. "They do in fact have mouths and are capable of eating things other than chakra," he settled on, getting the statement out without too much discomfort.
"And the Inuzuka are the dog ones, right?" Fuu asked, barely letting Shino finish his statement before appearing next to Kiba, waving a finger in Akamaru's face. "He's so tiny! Will he get any bigger?"
"He'll get a growth spurt later," Kiba said defensively, but it was futile as Fuu was already gone, inspecting Gai this time.
"Wow, your suit is like the color of my hair," she decided, fingering a few strands of her admittedly very bright green hair. "Is it for camouflage? It doesn't seem very camo-y, or very useful. Is it to scare away your enemies?"
Gai handled it with more grace than Hinata's two teammates. "It is not for camouflage, but it does embody the spirit of youth!"
"Youth?" Fuu asked curiously, tilting her head like a particularly incredulous bird. "What kind of youth?"
"The Power of Youth!" Gai exclaimed, striking his thumbs up pose. Hinata shielded her face from the bright glare off of Gai's teeth.
"Riiiight. So who're you?"
"My manners have been bad! Forgive me!" Gai shouted immediately. "I am Maito Gai! My youthful team is comprised of Neji Hyuuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee!"
Fuu seemed a bit stumped by Gai, and moved on quickly to inspect Lee. "You're wearing the same thing as him? Why, it's like weeeeird, and really bad taste in fashion if you don't mind me saying. Like, why would you even voluntarily wear it?"
"It is to emulate my most esteemed sensei!" Lee proclaimed, giving a just as flashy imitation of Gai's thumbs up pose. Fuu was gone before he completed it.
"You're related to her, right? You look so different! Are you closely related? Why're your eyes like that?"
Neji looked five seconds away from bashing his head into a nearby tree, so Hinata graciously saved him. "N-Neji-nii-san is my c-cousin, and our eyes a-are a f-family trait."
"Ooo," Fuu allowed, moving onto Tenten next. "What do you do? You aren't planning on wearing the green spandex, right? That'd be a serious downgrade from the current outfit."
Tenten flushed. "A-ah, no, I'm not going to wear green spandex. It's a fashion choice I will leave to my teammate and sensei."
"Good choice!" Fuu declared, moving to stand at the front of their group. "Come on! We gotta go see the elders n stuff! So you can drop off your thing! Then I can show you what we do, and where the bath houses are, and where you can sleep!"
"Thank you," Kurenai settled on, following the enthusiastic girl.
"Just doin my job!" Fuu replied cheerfully. "And this way I get to make new friends! Always fun!"
"And that's a really cool place that has lotsa meat," Fuu continued with her tour as she led them ever steadily towards the central building. "Yummy, but not for the faint of stomach!"
From the stares Gai and Lee were giving it, they were intending to ensure they weren't the faint of stomach.
"Oh dear, prepared to be dragged there after we drop off the scroll," Tenten murmured under her breath to Hinata.
"I-it's alright," Hinata assured her quickly. "I-I've been to the barbeque place Choji likes s-so much a few times, so I-I should be fine."
"Not you I worry about in particular," Tenten sighed. "I'm worried about another Curry of Life incident."
Hinata wisely decided not to ask.
"I'm here!" Fuu announced loudly, kicking open the doors to the central building. "And I brought the Konoha shinobI! And they have a delivery!"
The elders inside looked rather resigned to Fuu's behavior, the one on the farthest left ignoring her completely in favor of looking to Gai and Kurenai. "Who has the scroll?"
"I do," Kurenai said, pulling it out and setting it on the desk of the man. "Should you have questions, they can be directed to Maito Gai or myself."
The man inclined his head. "Of course. We will summon you when we come to our decision."
Kurenai bowed formally, and quickly herded them all out. "Now, who wants dinner?"
"Me!" Lee shouted immediately. "I vote the barbeque place!"
"Of course you do," Tenten sighed.
"Of course h-he does," Hinata agreed quietly.
(A/N) Honestly, poor Fatgum and Fuu, they share a birthday with Endeavor. Which was yesterday cause it's past midnight here. Incase no one read the first note, I just kinda can't with this story any more, it hates me, so expect maybe 3-4 more chapters of this.