The next few weeks passed rather quickly. Not literally of course, time continued on at the same plodding pace it always had, but it seemed to go by fast in retrospect. After all, even if this world was new to me, to my Other it was pretty much business as usual.

I started Team 7 off on tree climbing as the first thing for them to learn. It was nice and simple and had plenty of applications. I think I sold Naruto most of all when I demonstrated how you could catch an enemies' thrown kunai with said skill, and then throw it right back. In one motion, with enough skill.

Granted, I cut a bit off his ear but he walked it off. Tough kid. Didn't even get that nasty with revenge. Just used an Anko version of his Harem Jutsu. I didn't get a nosebleed so much as screamed in terror. Even Sakura was laughing at me too hard to get mad.

Hey, one Anko is tough enough. Twenty of her, I'd probably walk right up to Itachi and tell him his mother was a whore.

I also had them doing D-Ranks, as many as I could get. I didn't know when Tazuna would show up, so we were at the Mission Office every single weekday. I know, I didn't have to take the mission. It might not be assigned to us at all. But it was a critical event that forged the team together in canon, and I had a feeling the hand of fate would not let me escape it.

Naruto's Kage Bunshin allowed us to do several missions at once, stuff that I considered good training for him. After all, the better he could manage his clones, the better he could... well, manage his clones. Making him realize he could get memories from them helped as well. Seriously Kakashi, I could only blame Kishimoto for poor writing before landing here. You knew how the jutsu worked.

To keep the others busy, I had Sakura read all my dad's books and had all three of them plan out how to do each mission, which I gave a different objective each time. One was to paint a fence without being seen doing it. That was particularly fun to watch. Naruto's pranking skills and experience had given him a good grounding in operational planning, Sakura's considerable brains let her fill in any gaps, and Sasuke's attention to detail helped them edit it out into something usable.

I wrote down the whole shebang but I'll have to probably rewrite it. (Note to self: do not write journal while eating ramen).

Every Saturday, I would summon one of my spiders to do a particular training exercise with them. Ookamigumo was a Portia spider, a type of jumping spider. Spiders are the only arthropods that have a central nervous system, and the Portia spider was easily the smartest of them all. They are rather like ninjas in their natural state: They throw captured flies into other spiders' webs to attract the owner of the web in order to eat them, they imitate the mating dances of spiders to deceive them, they use the terrain to their advantage while hunting… seriously, these things are scary enough when they're little and not sentient. I remember a documentary on funnel web spiders in Australia. Apparently they will get annoyed by lawnmowers and chase down and bite people, sending them to the hospital. Thank god my Other never met any during his time away.

Anyway, it's little surprise that Ookamigumo was very, very good at stealth, hunting, and deception. The exercises were fairly simple. Try to get Ookami before he got you. The results were, well... somewhat predictable.

Naruto gave as good as he got, and nearly every exercise involving him ended with explosions. His win/loss ratio was a little fuzzy because of this. Sakura worked at being clever, and more often than not got her ass kicked but she did become progressively better and better at evading Ookami. Sasuke didn't waste any time and tried to kick Ookami's ass before he found him. Despite being rookie of the year and very talented for his age- well. Ookami has been at this for a very long time, and about the only times you can beat him is if you are very, very smart (like Sakura), very, very crazy (like Naruto), or very, very lucky (like me).

In all honesty though, all three of them more often than not ended up tied up in webbing and left hanging from trees. Upside-down. Sometimes for hours.

Hey, it's how Ookami taught me and look how I turned out!

Obviously my students were less than appreciative, and after finding my house filled with raspberry jam (only one team would dare give me the raspberry!) and all my clothes replaced with bondage outfits (I suspect Anko supplied them), I decided to make it up to them with all of my basic jutsu. All of which my sensei had entitled "camping jutsu".

These were all very basic: a small fireball jutsu for lighting a campfire, a jutsu that made a little orb of light in your palm (think 'lumos'), a jutsu for condensing water out of the air to drink, a jutsu that produced a current of electricity in your palm, a jutsu that would activate the seals in your tent to make it stand up… Lots of fun, simple stuff that was practical and useful.

At Naruto's complaints that he wanted cool combat jutsu, I reminded him that even the most basic jutsu, with sufficient chakra and in the right circumstances, could be awesome attacks. After all, hadn't he pulled off pranks with very simple materials?

The very scary grin that emerged on Naruto's face, and the expressions of dread on my other students' faces convinced me to come up with another training exercise to keep them busy with. Seriously, the kid was like Macguyver. Give him the chance and he'd combine dozens of rather disparate and useless items together to form a laser cannon or a railgun or something.

Hence, I gave each of them their first jutsus to master. For Naruto, I gave him Doton: Kaisaku no Jutsu, and had him practice controlling his clones from underground.

Yes, apparently digging underground was totally a ninja skill he'd learned off screen. Thanks Kishimoto, that was very helpful. Granted, I was probably going to get a lot of hell from the townspeople for essentially creating a plague of giant, orange-garbed prairie dogs, but screw them, it was useful.

For Sakura, I had her learn how to make her own explosive tags, and a rather simple genjutsu that was entitled Genjutsu: Kyousei. It was a compulsion genjutsu that made a person focus on anything affected by the jutsu. Obviously it would only work on ninjas below a certain skill or power level, but I figured that, since her crush on Sasuke seemed to be relatively under control, her genius could shine through and allow her to come up with some nasty applications for both.

For Sasuke, I called in the standing order the Sandaime had promised me for the first time to have Kakashi give Sasuke some individual instruction in a jutsu or two. I hadn't the foggiest what to teach him and I wasn't prepared to hand over any Spider-style techniques to any of my students just yet.

I mean, it was all good and well in theory to try teaching them rasengan and chidori and so on. Except I didn't know them myself.

I explained to Naruto and Sakura that since my skill set was a little low on elemental jutsu, I'd see if I could get them some more jutsu from the other jounin. Though I might need their help for some bribery.

Naruto looked a little suspicious, but it looked like he did at least appreciate what I was doing for him and agreed. Sakura went along with Naruto. And Sasuke, who had already benefited from this, was willing to help.

This is how we came to be at Team 8's training grounds, on what looked like a very nice Monday morning.

I hadn't really gotten that great a look at Team 8 inside the classroom, as I was busy having a panic attack at the fate of the elemental countries being dropped in my lap. Now that I was calmer, I was able to give them some thorough scrutiny.

Shino looked rather like a young Auron from Final Fantasy X, in the texture of his hair and his facial structure. Which was appropriate. He had the air of a quiet badass, calmly analyzing his surroundings with Vulcan-like precision. He stopped short and his focus became very intense when he spotted me. I guess I couldn't blame him. The Aburame clan was, quite understandably, cautious around spiders. And wasps. No one likes wasps. Like my students, his features were a mix of European and Asian, though in his case the European side seemed to be winning. His nose was almost Roman, which I found befitting his stoic nature.

Kiba looked like he had a fair number of ethnicities in his background, but for some reason he reminded me of a part-Navajo friend of mine. Something about the cheek bones, the hair and his eyes. Whatever his descent, he looked feral and wild, a boy who spent most of his life outside. You wouldn't be surprised to see a guy like him on a motorcycle in our world, wearing a leather jacket with a devil-may-care grin on his face. Akamaru looked like no dog breed I had ever seen before, but that was understandable. Different world, different breeds. And breeding programs involving ninja magic.

As for Hinata... Well, you think she's cute drawn? She's even cuter in real life. Like the others, she was a mix of European and Asian features, but they had come together almost perfectly to give her the best parts of both. The first description to leap to my mind was Mulan meets Snow White, with a healthier set of curves. She was pale, but not deathly so. Her hair was black but had the slightest blue sheen to it. As for her body- true to her drawings, if not a bit slimmer and more athletic, though it was difficult to make that out through her jacket.

Not that I was perving on a twelve year old girl, this was entirely scientific. I was still seeing Anko in some sort of bizarre relationship involving much too many blades. If anything, I wanted to pat Hinata on the head, maybe give her a hug and a cookie.

Besides, Kurenai was also here: very beautiful, though according to my Other's memories, very high maintenance. Even if she wasn't in an off-again, on-again relationship with Asuma, I wouldn't have any interest in her; especially if I didn't want Anko to get really upset.

I'm a good... Boyfriend? Sex friend? I really was going to have to talk to her about that.

"Hello Andoryuu," she greeted with a smile. "What brings you here?"

Hinata was staring intently at Naruto, a blush coloring her cheeks. Kiba scowled at our arrival, and Shino kept up his laser-intensity stare right at me. Or more specifically, Ringumo-chan, who was once again riding on my shoulder.

"Yuuhi-san, I was just thinking that, given the emphasis on teamwork for our ninja, that maybe our teams could benefit each other if they did some joint-training," I said. Kurenai raised an elegant eyebrow, and glanced over my students.

"Oh?"

I nodded. "The better they work here, the better they work out on real missions. Plus, we should always know who we're working with, correct?"

"Hard not to know who we're working with," Kiba jeered.

Naruto growled back. "Fuck you, Mutt!"

"Bite me, Deadlast!"

A single look from both of us silenced our students, and Kurenai and I looked back at each other.

"I see your point. I think it's a good idea," Kurenai said. "Though we need to do some assessment..."

"Agreed," I said. "So, let's do some simple sparring. Um... Sakura! You're up against Kiba."

"Er, Sensei?" Sakura asked. I looked over at her.

"Something wrong?"

"Well, no but-"

"Then get in there," I ordered. "Sasuke, Naruto, sit with Hinata and Shino won't you? Take notes."

Hinata blushed heavily as Naruto cheerfully took Kiba's vacated spot next to her. He turned to Hinata and grinned.

"Hi!"

"Um... h-hi," she replied quietly. So quietly even I had to strain to hear her. Kurenai shot a knowing look in my direction, and I shrugged, glancing over at Hinata and Naruto. Kurenai looked thoughtful, then smirked very slightly.

"Everyone, pay close attention to how this goes," I said. "Gumo-chan, go sit with Sasuke."

"Okay!" My summon cheered, and she scuttled over to hop onto Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha heir struggled not to shudder, and shot me a glare. I simply smiled back. Out of all of my students, Sasuke (hilariously) was taking the longest to get over his fear of spiders. Sakura was coming along, able to resist panicking unless Ringumo pulled a face hugger, and Naruto, well... He was still in his "icky things are AWESOME" phase so his immunity to spiders was going to come in soon.

Sasuke though... Well, we had to work on that.

Sakura faced Kiba in the middle of the training ground. It was a covered clearing in the forest, trees extending their branches overhead to cast mottled light all over the grass. Sakura looked a bit nervous, while Kiba just grinned.

"Relax, I'll go easy on you," he said.

Sakura bristled. "What? Easy?!"

Kiba frowned, "I was just saying, ya know, in case you were worried-" Kiba backpedaled.

"This is training! It's, it's not supposed to be easy! Especially not if you're a girl!" Sakura insisted.

Kurenai looked over at me questioningly. I shrugged. I seemed to be doing that a lot. Perhaps my assessment of Sakura as a potential Hermione wasn't too far off.

"Okay okay! Sorry!" Kiba insisted, holding his hands up. "I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Then what did you mean?" Sakura demanded.

"Begin," Kurenai said, a hint of amusement in her tone. Sakura immediately whipped out several shuriken and threw them at Kiba. He dodged several and deflected one with a kunai.

"Sheesh! Touchy! If you hadn't looked nervous I wouldn't have said anything to begin with." Kiba shouted at her. He landed and sprang forward, Akamaru providing a diversion as his master made a strong kick at Sakura's hip. Sakura pulled back out of range, and deflected Kiba's follow-up punch with her arm.

"Gah!" She cried, and snapped a kick up at Kiba's stomach. He saw it coming, and took it with a grunt, before responding with an uppercut to her jaw.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, as Sakura landed hard on the ground. I mentally smiled as she remembered to slap her hands against the ground, a judo technique I taught her. It dispersed a lot of momentum that would otherwise be hitting her, and hard.

"Kiyah!" She cried, snapping a kick between his legs from the ground. Kiba yelped and jumped back, allowing Sakura to get back up.

"Akamaru!" Kiba called, and Akamaru slammed his little body against the small of Sakura's back from behind.

"Arf?!" Akamaru, confused, sailed right through Sakura, and I felt some pride in my student. She had switched herself for a Bunshin very quickly.

"Wuh? Oh, where'd she-?" Kiba asked, looking around, before a kunai flew above him from behind a tree.

"Sakura Fubuki no jutsu!" She called, and a bag burst open. Kiba's jaw dropped as he was surrounded by falling cherry blossoms.

"Huh? Woah... Pretty..."

A small but quick fireball shot out into the cloud, and I winced as they all went up in a large blast.

"GAAAAHHHH!" Kiba screamed, as he was caught in a fireball. Sakura emerged, eyes wide.

"Oh no! I-I didn't mean to-!"

The smoke cleared, revealing a charred log. Sakura blinked before narrowly avoiding a punch to the head, as a slightly crispy and very unhappy Kiba counter-attacked.

"You bitch, you could have fried me!" He shouted, as an equally sooty Akamaru barked and leaped up.

"Sorry sorry sor-OW!" Sakura barely ducked Kiba's kick, even while Akamaru bit her foot. "OWOWOWLETGOLETGOLETGO!"

I had mixed feelings. Sakura was definitely losing now, but she was still avoiding any major damage. Not easy with a dog attached to you. My boys on the other hand were openly amused, Naruto began laughing and Sasuke had a wide grin.

Kurenai seemed interested in something. "Stop," she ordered, and our students froze... Well aside from Sakura, who kept shaking her foot to try and get Akamaru to let go.

"Akamaru," Kurenai said flatly. The puppy huffed, and let go of Sakura's foot. Kurenai walked over to Sakura.

"You used a Compulsion Jutsu on the paper?" Kurenai asked. Sakura nodded.

"Yes, um... On all the pieces..."

"Very ingenious... Though next time, you should include an explosive note with the mixture so you can detonate them remotely," Kurenai advised. "Having to shoot off a fireball to get them started gives away your position."

"It's what let me get away in time," Kiba grumbled. Kurenai looked over at her student and nodded.

"Yes Kiba, very good work there... Though next time, I presume you won't underestimate her?" She asked with a slight smile. Kiba scowled at Sakura.

"Yeah. Next time I'll beat her into the ground straight away," he growled.

Sakura scowled back. "Next time I'll blow you up sooner!"

"All right, all right... Relax you guys, it's nothing that you can't sleep off," I said. Sakura winced and scowled at Akamaru. The puppy panted, and made himself look quite adorable. Her anger evaporated away, and she smiled.

"Your dog's very good too," she said. Kiba raised an eyebrow, and then grinned.

"Yeah, well... He's a sucker for a pretty girl," he said. Sakura actually blushed, and I caught the speculative look on Kurenai. I let out a tiny snort.

Were all the jounin teachers little matchmakers at heart? Or was it just since I became one? I didn't know. Perhaps we were all just that bored. Though perhaps I would find out... Besides, Sakura may have been getting better, but turning into Ninja!Hermione wasn't the best direction either: Too stiff and bossy.

Oh well. All in good time.

"Sasuke, Shino, your turn," Kurenai stated. The two taciturn genin rose, both looking a bit disturbed... For them anyway. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

"... and so I said to the bug, 'Bug-san, please let me eat you! I am sooo hungry!' But Bug-san didn't say anything back! He just buzzed! I asked politely you know, there was no need to ignore me, but I felt a lot better after playing fetch with Andoryuu, I love how he throws my ball and I bring it back and he throws it again and I never know where he's going to throw it! It might be here, it might be there, it might be-!"

"Ringumo, I think you should let them spar," I called. The little spider looked over at me and then hopped off.

"Thanks for listening to me! Good luck Shino! Your bugs look juicy and delicious: I bet you'll do well!" She waved her leg at Sasuke. "Good luck Sasuke! You look juicy and delicious as well! I bet you'll do fine!" She then turned and scuttled back to me. I offered an apologetic look to both of them. Shino's face became focused, Sasuke shot me a glare but managed to calm down back somewhere to his usual expression.

Kurenai seemed amused by Ringumo, which I suppose was for the best. Presumably a genjutsu specialist was used to thinking up a lot more terrifying things than a dinner plate sized spider with a cheery disposition.

"Fight," I said, and Sasuke and Shino leapt into action, a flurry of finely controlled punched, kicks, palm strikes, and leg sweeps. I was slightly surprised, neither could gain the upper hand, and I hadn't remembered Shino being that skilled this early. Still, the manga didn't cover the other teams hardly at all up to the chunin exams, and it had been a while since I sat down with the anime. Their taijutsu was finely polished, the result of long hours of training every day. Naruto looked impressed, even though he tried to hide it, and Hinata and Kiba smiled as their teammate fought so well. Was Sakura drooling?

Yikes.

I really shouldn't have been surprised. She was, as Naruto would say, a closet pervert. Though I thought she'd have been drooling only if Sasuke was fighting, say, Neji. You know, two bishounen guys fighting, striking, each looking more focused and arrogant than the other as they try to match each other in angst and fighting skill...

"Oooh, I like how Shino moves! He's very tasty looking!" Ringumo said. Shino's eyebrow twitched, very slightly.

"And Sasuke looks juicy! Tasty, tasty!"

"You're hungry aren't you Gumo-chan?" I asked. Ringumo gave the spider equivalent of a shrug.

"Uh huh!"

I sighed, and pulled out some money. I handed it to her.

"Go to the corner store nearby, and buy yourself some food, all right?"

"All right!" Ringumo cheered, as she turned and scuttled off quickly. Kurenai's brows rose slightly, and I shrugged in return.

"Kids," I said succinctly, my eyes on the spar. Kurenai chuckled.

Both of our students had relaxed considerably now that Ringumo was gone, and their movements became more natural and fluid. It was easy to see what they were doing: assessing each other's strengths and weaknesses using taijutsu first. Shino's fighting style was very controlled and focused, with a minimum of flair. By no means was he predictable though. Well, to other genin of course.

Sasuke's fighting style was very quick and aggressive, with a minimum of defense. That made sense, it was made for Uchiha, and when you have a Sharingan, you literally see attacks coming. It made for a counter-heavy defense.

Sasuke leaped up and performed a hammer kick, which Shino caught and used a burst of strength to flip him up over Shino's head. However, my student had done this on purpose. As he flipped in midair, he tucked his hands close to his body and performed hand seals in quick succession.

"Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!" Sasuke bellowed, shooting a fireball at Shino. He was quickly consumed by the flames. Or rather, a small cloud of his bugs were consumed, as he had replaced himself with his kikai at the last moment. Sasuke was surprised only for a moment before he spun around, seeking out Shino.

Whoops. Forgot to look up! Shino landed a kick right to his face.

"Gah!" Sasuke cried. His hands snapped together and he swung Shino down onto the ground, hard. A swarm of kikai left Shino's pants and buzzed after Sasuke, an attack my student was barely able to get away from. He made more handseals and unleashed a stream of flames, which Shino deftly evaded. Shino then threw a kunai with a flash tag attached, which went up in the flames and blinded everyone who hadn't closed their eyes in time.

Specifically, everyone other than Shino, Kurenai, and myself.

"GAH!"

"AUGH!"

"DAMNIT!"

I reopened my eyes just in time to see Shino taking advantage of Sasuke's closed eyes. However, my student hadn't been as careless as before, and when Shino was in range he lashed out with a wide punch that landed in Shino's gut. A blow which Shino returned to Sasuke's face.

"Hurk!" Sasuke cried. He staggered back and got back into fighting position, but Shino had slid his hands into his pockets quite calmly.

"What're you doing...?" Sasuke asked.

"This battle is over," Shino stated. Sasuke's eyes widened, as he felt his chakra being drained away.

"The flash tag was merely a means of cover for my allies, a window wherein either you would be blinded, or would close your eyes to protect your sight," Shino stated.

"And I did it all thirty-five minutes ago," I mumbled. At Kurenai's questioning look I waved my hand in a small circle and shook my head with a grin. I walked over as Sasuke collapsed.

"All right, very good both of you," I said. Kurenai nodded to Shino, and the victor withdrew his insects back into his coat.

I stood over Sasuke. "All right there?"

Sasuke glowered up at me, and I shrugged.

"Hey, it just means that you need some more work," I said. "Anyway, you were keeping up just fine until he used his insects. You'll get your sharingan soon, I should think."

Sasuke stared at me for a few moments, before nodding and getting back up. He looked at Shino and smirked.

"Next time," he said.

Shino nodded. "Next time."

Sakura was staring at Shino in some disgust. Hmm... Looks like her ickiness resistance wasn't as high as I thought it was. Might have to start sneaking spiders into her bed if she was going to shift gears this fast on me...

"Just a moment," Kurenai said. "Hinata, come here."

She took Hinata to the side, as Naruto looked at me in some confusion. I shrugged in response and walked over to stand next to him, as Kurenai murmured a few things to her student.

"What's the deal?" Naruto asked. I cast a genjutsu (Kurenai had done the same thing) and smiled.

"Hinata has a bit of a confidence issue because of her family," I explained. Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Kurenai's just giving her encouragement."

"So, she's scared to fight me?" Naruto asked.

I nodded slowly. "More like she's afraid she won't perform well, but yeah," I slapped his shoulder. "You're not going to take it easy on her though, right?"

"No! Why would I do that?" Naruto asked. I nodded.

"Good. I'm thinking you and Hinata could teach a lot to each other while you spar."

"Oh? What do you and Anko-sensei learn from each other?"

"Kuchiyose no-"

"I take it back, I take it back!"

I nodded and smirked, before dropping the genjutsu the moment Kurenai did the same for hers. I smiled at Naruto, and went over to watch with Kurenai.

"So, give him some encouragement?" Kurenai asked.

"No, he wondered what you were up to, and I explained Hinata probably needed a pep talk. Then he teased me, for which I will think up a suitable response," I replied quietly. "What'd you tell Hinata?"

Kurenai just smiled, her scarlet eyes almost glowing in mischief. "You'll see..."

I turned back to the pair. Hinata was in a Jyuken stance, looking more surefooted than I had thought she'd be. Her cheeks were bright red. Little surprise there. Naruto though was holding his hands up, elbows slightly bent, and his feet were placed in an unusual stance... I frowned.

Wait a minute...

"Begin!" Kurenai ordered, and Hinata struck first, hand snapping out at high speed. Naruto's hand snapped forward at an angle, managing to deflect the blow. I watched his movements carefully, confusion mounting.

That was Jeet Kun Do... How would Naruto...?

Oh. Duh. Where else? He'd seen me "sparring" with Anko, and, well... Truth be told I didn't have a specific fighting style. My Other didn't I mean. I was originally the team medic, and I only had a rudimentary taijutsu foundation. My spider training didn't include a specific fighting style. Why would spiders need a martial arts style that a human could use? But, it had made my Other's reflexes incredibly fast and his body incredibly flexible, so I was decent now, even though I used a bastardized combination of martial arts. I had only learned Jeet Kun Do for a few months, enough to know the basics. But it seemed even a basic style was better than what Naruto had been using.

Naruto kept blocking Hinata's strikes, hitting her wrists away with each strike. Hinata then dropped down and slammed a palm into his stomach.

"ERK!" Naruto choked, moving back. His hands formed a handseal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hinata was immediately surrounded by Narutos. She flashed through handseals of her own. "Byakugan!"

"Get her!" They shouted, and attacked as one. Hinata lowered a hand, and dropped a smoke bomb to the ground. She was almost instantly obscured by the billowing smoke, and the Naruto clones fought furiously, blinded...

"I got her!"

"No you dumbass! That's ME!"

It was rather comical... Especially when Hinata began annihilating the clones in quick succession. She was quite fast when she wanted to be. Even if she was considered too soft by her family, her taijutsu was very crisp and controlled.

The smoke cleared, and only one Naruto remained. Hinata blushed, but held her stance ready.

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun," Hinata said. Naruto groaned, and held his chest. She stared.

"N-Naruto?!"

"My chest... Oh God... What did you do, Hinata?" Naruto moaned, falling back. Hinata bent over to help: Which is what the real Naruto was apparently waiting for, as he burst out of the ground underneath and slammed a punch into Hinata's stomach.

"OOF!" Hinata cried, as Naruto's clone slammed another blow into her from in front. Hinata fell back, hitting the ground.

"Ah... Hey, Hinata-chan, you okay?" Naruto asked, his grin instantly replaced with a look of worry.

Hinata exchanged a glance with Kurenai, before she got back up.

"I-I'm fine," she said. Her eyes then widened and she pointed at something over Naruto's shoulder. "Oh my! What is that?!"

Okay, I know Naruto is kind of dense, especially at this stage in the plot, but even he wouldn't-

"What? Where?"

Hinata (looking very guilty) struck Naruto several times in the back, making him fall flat on his face. My hand went to my own face, and I bit it as I tried very, very hard not to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kiba laughed. "Way to go, Hinata!"

Sakura and Sasuke both wore looks of disbelief. Clearly they too thought Naruto wasn't that gullible. On the other hand, Hinata was rather innocent looking. That whole Mulan meets Snow White thing.

"Ow..." Naruto groaned. He got back up, and scowled at Hinata.

"Hey! That was a dirty trick to pull!"

"Um, er..." Hinata mumbled, tapping her fingers together.

"So? You're the idiot who fell for it!" Sakura shouted. Naruto looked over at me for support, and I grinned.

"Ninjas use whatever means at their disposal to win. If your enemy falls for it, then you exploit the advantage you've been given, period. Anyway, you did it first, Naruto. "

"So, you mean... Like th-Damnit!" Naruto shouted, as the Shadow Clone he'd had sneaking up behind Hinata was summarily dispatched by the dark haired girl. "How did you do that?"

"One, you gave yourself away," Sakura stated, "and two, she's a Hyuuga. She has the Byakugan."

"Oh... Um, the what now?" Naruto asked.

I am am kind of glad that the anime sweatdrop is indeed simply an artifact of the animation. That would be weird in ways ninja magic would fail to explain. However, if it wasn't, I can assure you we'd all be sporting one.

"Ano, it's my kekkei genkai... I-I can see almost 340 degrees around myself," Hinata explained. "Also, thr-through physical objects, and I can also s-see chakra."

"Really? That's amazing!" Naruto grinned. "Tell me more!"

"How would you like the chance to train and talk with Hinata more tonight?" Kurenai asked.

It came together in an instant. Kurenai had promised Hinata a date with Naruto to push her to fight at her best. I immediately shot Sakura and Sasuke with a glare, though I probably needn't have bothered. Sasuke looked impatient and bored and Sakura, realizing that she might be free of Naruto if things worked out, was trying not to whoop in excitement.

"Why not right now?" Naruto asked.

"Because I'm going to give you all a practical lesson against genjutsu. Then, you will be trained according to the strengths and weaknesses this session has revealed," Kurenai continued, very business-like. "That was the purpose of this exercise, to see where we need to improve."

"Really? New jutsu? Okay!" Naruto grinned. I allowed Kurenai to handle this part of the meeting herself. My genjutsu knowledge was basic for a jounin. Many of my summons were very good with genjutsu, but as you might expect from spiders, the majority dealt with baiting or deceiving prey. All well and good for managing an enemy's attention, but not much variety beyond that. I had picked up a few tricks, but Kurenai was a specialist.

Kurenai was a very good teacher, demonstrating the kai technique that was used to disrupt genjutsu. She answered all of her (and my) students questions in ways they could understand, and explained a few useful tactics for employing it.

"However, keep in mind that this essentially just disrupts a genjutsu," Kurenai explained. "In combat, it's usually better to be aware of the genjutsu but be able to resist or counter it."

"Why not just break the genjutsu?" Sasuke asked.

"Because then your enemy knows that you have done so. Most ninja will employ genjutsu to lure you into a trap or to allow them to approach to killing range," Kurenai explained. "If you're able to deceive them into thinking their genjutsu is still working, then you can spring a counter ambush." She smiled.

"However, controlled bursts of the kai technique can disrupt different parts of a genjutsu without letting your enemy know you've done it. This makes it easier for you to locate them. However, that requires very, very good chakra control."

She then proceeded to place a few simple genjutsu on our students, so that they could break them with the technique. Unsurprisingly, Sakura was able to take out single genjutsu at a time without much trouble. Hinata, while having a higher chakra level than Sakura, was also able to accomplish the same feat, though she didn't really need to; her Byakugan would let her see through most genjutsu. All the same, it was good practice.

I should have known that Naruto would overdo it, but I was so interested in watching the lesson, I didn't realize Naruto was producing an excessive amount of chakra until it was too late.

"Naruto wait a-!"

"KAI!" Naruto bellowed, and a shockwave of wind left him, making the trees shake overhead. In the distance, I could hear a few people shouting and yelling, and belatedly realized that not just ninja used genjutsu. No indeed, a fair amount of civilians used it too... Particularly women as a cosmetics substitute.

Naruto's headband had actually flown off, landing on the ground. He looked about as surprised as everyone else did.

I held in my laughter. "Hmm... Close. I think that almost did it. How about you try again with even more?"

The horrified looks I got in response were too much. I started laughing, and soon everyone else was too.