Kakashi strolled casually into the training field. It instantly put his cute little genin on high alert.

"Who's invading?" Sasuke demanded swiftly. "Are you injured?"

Kakashi blinked. Right, he really needed to rely less on Shunshin… He cleared his throat. "Ah, no one. Or at least, no one today. I have heard rumors though."

Sasuke put on his 'focus' face. Really, it just made the kid look broody. Naruto loved to pick at him for it if he did it too long.

Kakashi waved him off. "Not now. We'll get to that when it becomes more pertinent." He rolled his shoulders. "I took my time getting here today because I didn't want anyone thinking I had anything to know about why the anbu headquarters are suddenly a bright fluorescent pink." He paused. "So…?" He gave them all an eye smile.

Naruto shrugged. "The Minions did it."

Kakashi's blink was slow. "Pardon?"

"The Minions," Sakura repeated. "They're very handy you know." She gave him a very respectful nod. "I understand now why jounin enjoy having genin to train. Wonderful use of delegation when you want something done."

Sasuke, of all people, was nodding along seriously. "I'm really glad that Naruto decided to share them. We get twice as much done and we have perfect volunteers when we're trying out new rope tricks."

Kakashi stared. He counted to ten. He blinked. "Right. Minions." He sighed. "What are you talking about?"

Naruto pointed to the side. "Since Iruka-Sensei took a B-rank mission to escape all the pranks being pulled on him, the new teach is pretty crappy. We've been keeping these four busy."

Kakashi felt his jaw drop a little in surprise. There, wriggling on the ground, completely hogtied in a very impressive fashion, were four young academy students. He almost guffawed when he saw both the 'Esteemed Grandson' and the second Hyuga Princess.

He still sniggered. "How long have they been like that?"

Sakura hummed. "About fifteen minutes. If they don't get out in thirty, we'll untie them and they fail the 'test' for the day." She shrugged. "We don't want to injure them by keeping them tied too long." She winced and rubbed her wrists. "I still remember how long it took me to get feeling back in my fingers when Sasuke and Naruto got in an argument and forgot I was tied up." She shuddered. "Hence, guinea pigs." She shot her two sheepish looking teammates a dirty look. "And I play supervisor."

Naruto chuckled and gave her an apologetic look before turning back to their Sensei. "We convinced the Minions to help us on our assigned project." He gave Kakashi a dirty look. "Because you intentionally put that darn necklace right next to the anbu headquarters for our stealth training, I knew we'd never make it unless we got a distraction going."

Kakashi felt a tingle run down his spine. "You...pranked the entire anbu headquarters… as a distraction?" He felt a little light headed.

Sasuke was positively glowing with pride. "The Minions did well. Had them henge to hide their identities and then set them loose. They passed the test with flying colors."

Sakura cackled. "Do you have any idea how amazing it is to give primed paint filled explosive notes to academy students?" She grinned up at him viciously. "And how much anbu ignore people with civilian sized chakra? More so with children?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we almost got caught because you were practically squealing about 'adorable lil minions'."

Sasuke grunted. "No kidding. I had to forcibly drag you away or you would still be there cooing over the mess."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. "It was glorious! I wanted good pictures to show Sensei!"

"I think fifty pics is overkill," deadpanned Naruto. He shook his head. "Anyway," he tossed the 'item' Kakashi had marked on the map at said jounin, "here. No one saw us." He snickered. "We kind'a blended in with the headquarter's new paint job."

Kakashi stared dumbly at the necklace in his hands. This wasn't supposed to happen for another six months. Six! And they did it in nine weeks! And they broke his rules to do it!

Kakashi's eyes burned a little bit, and he inhaled sharply through his nose. "Well done." He beamed at them. "Well done indeed."

Sakura simply plopped the photos in his hand in response.

Kakashi's forgotten guffaw exploded out of him, making his genin jump and a passing jounin to nearly miss the tree branch he was leaping to.

Gai blinked, looking over his shoulder in stunned shock, having barely fixed his footing in order to not make a close facial encounter with bark. Gai's eyes got misty as his genin came to a stop alongside him.

"What is it Gai-Sensei?" Lee's head whipped around to see what had brought their boisterous teacher to a halt.

An oddly subdued but tender smile flitted across the eccentric man's visage. Tenten and Neji exchanged wary looks. Lee was still squinting into the foliage.

"It's a bountiful day!" boomed Gai, fist rocketing up into the air and straight through the thick branch above him. He ignored it as it fell loudly to the ground and instead turned a (normal for him) tearful gaze on his genin. "It's a wonderful day indeed! We must express our own Youth just as vigorously!"

And then he took off through the trees at a maddening pace.

Tenten groaned, Neji grit his teeth, and Lee's eyes sparkled as they all chased after their 'roaring about Youth' Sensei.


"We are trash!" wailed Team 7 as they grovelled at Kakashi's feet.

Kakashi stood, arms crossed, scowling at them. "What lesson did we learn today?"

The three genin were covered in soot. Naruto's nose was still bleeding a bit, but thankfully Sakura had set it straight again. Sakura herself was sporting a ragged hack job of an impromptu haircut, as well as missing half of her left eyebrow. Sasuke was still smoking a bit, and his right arm was resting in a sling.

Sakura sniffled, looking up at the silver haired jounin with wet eyes. "N-never leave a teammate behind."

"And that we are so below your level that it is laughable to a ridiculous degree," added Sasuke, wincing as he bowed low again and pain lanced through his arm.

Kakashi's eye turned to the blond trembling on the left. "And you?"

"We didn't know!" Burst Naruto, honest to Kami tears falling down his whiskered cheeks.

Kakashi sighed, slouching as his angry visage faded away. "What have I been teaching you? You didn't even think before you attacked. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that the Hokage hasn't written us all up for insubordination and dishonorable conduct?"

His poor genin were so morose that Kakashi didn't have the heart to be too mean. He'd already put them through the wringer anyway. "Honestly, we should be super grateful that all he's making you do is perform extra D-rank missions and insists that I ensure you learn proper protocol for entering the Hokage's office."

All three genin wince.

"We're sorry," murmured Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto nodded beside her as they all stared glumly at his feet.

He sighed again, moving to sit down before them. He ruffled their hair, Sakura being last as she was in the middle. "Normally I would be super proud of your excellent reaction time. However, you didn't properly assess the situation before you went ballistic." He cracked a grin. "It was however, quite amusing that Ibiki, of all people, handed me a card applauding you for your 'amusing and out of the box' methods. I swear I heard him snort as he was walking away." Kakashi gazed thoughtfully up at the sky and scratched at his jaw. "I don't think anyone else has gotten him to crack like that."

His genin gave him small hesitant smiles. He eye smiled at them. "Really, other than the Hokage threatening to skewer me and hang my entrails from the Hokage Monument, it was quite a performance."


(4 hours earlier)

Team 7's genin were excited. They'd just finished another two D-ranks for the day and were impatiently waiting for Kakashi to return from wherever he went. He'd promised them some new sort of training, and though they knew to be wary, they were also pumped about it. Kakashi's methods were...unorthodox, but they were impressively effective.

Kakashi proofed into the training ground and held up a hand in greeting. "Change of plans. The Hokage summoned us."

The genin groaned but followed obediently as Kakashi turned to head towards the Tower.

"Any idea what to expect?" asked Sasuke, hands in his pockets as his thoughtful gaze turned closed off and irritable as soon as they crossed over the invisible threshold of their private training ground.

Naruto's relaxed gait immediately became bouncy as the blond practically vibrated in place. "Are we getting another C-rank?!" he asked loudly, the over enthusiasm making Sakura wince.

Kakashi chuckled. "We'll see when we get there."

Naruto groaned theatrically as Sakura berated him.

The walk always seemed to take forever when they had to pretend like this. It was so much easier when they were all disguised and moved through town with ease. They only had to do this when Kakashi was with them. The rest of the time they pretty much treated like extra training and went almost everywhere under a henge. Their favorite disguise was of three civilian kids who 'had lower working class families' and were often left unsupervised. Sasuke had been against it at first. Somehow Sakura had convinced him and Naruto to pretend to be brothers. In a weird twist of fate, Sasuke had to pretend to be the older brother (mostly because he was taller than Naruto and Kakashi's Henge Height Rule was strictly obeyed).

The first two weeks of the disguise had been very hard to hold up. Sasuke had so many mixed feelings about Itachi, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself as an older sibling. It didn't help that Naruto played the younger brother with perfection, always coming to 'Nii-San' for everything. Naruto's 'Toro-kun' act was brilliant. Toro-kun was all gentle sweet smiles and naive wonder. His dark brown hair was adorably mussed, and his big brown eyes positively soulful. Sasuke, after much twitching and hidden horror, eventually decided to act like he'd always wished Itachi had.

It had, not that Sasuke would ever, EVER admit it aloud, but it had been kinda carthitic. It was kind of nice to feel the weight of responsibility over a younger sibling. Sasuke found himself standing straighter, feeling more protective, and far more open than he'd been for years. Sakura's Chi-chan was just icing on the cake. She played Toro-kun and Taku-kun's favorite cousin. She was everything that Sakura never got the chance to be. Chi-chan was a loud, almost to the point of obnoxious, tomboy who goaded her cousins into anything and everything she could think of. She was their ringleader and mischief maker. Taku-kun found himself having to be the voice of reason and play mediator when they inevitably got themselves into trouble (which was rather often, really).

It was so different to their usual roles, it was like a breath of fresh air. All three of them had grown quite a lot because of it, and Sasuke knew he would forever have a soft spot for their little 'civi trio' as they called it.

Sasuke blinked, realizing they were at the base of the Tower. When his eyes darted to his team, Kakashi gave him a subtle but knowing smile. Sasuke hunched a little more in on himself to hide the faint upwards lift of his lips.

As per Naruto's 'normal' style, as soon as they reached the doors to Hiruzen's office, the blond barged right in with a boisterous greeting that left Sasuke's ears ringing.

"Hey old man! Wha-"

And that is exactly the moment that Team 7 saw two very familiar figures standing to the left of Hiruzen's desk.

Kakashi hardly shifted, his lazy exterior completely belying the fact he was poised to throw kunai at the two figures' jugulars.

Before Kakashi could open his mouth to greet the Hokage and indirectly ask what the hell was going on, his cute little genin...moved.

"Mole!" Shouted Naruto.

Zabuza barely had time to yell a profanity before two Naruto's (Kakashi had no idea where the second one even came from. He assumed it was another henged clone that Naruto apparently carried around on principal now.) dove forward straight through the floor.

Before Kakashi could tell the blond to stand down, Zabuza was in a familiar predicament, where his torso was quite solidly stuck in the floor. Unbeknownst to Kakashi, Zabuza's feet were flailing around quite comically from the ceiling below. Both Ibiki and Shikaku were staring up at Zabuza's and Haku's kicking limbs with bemusement while two Naruto's high fived upside down before barreling out of the conveniently nearby open window.

It lasted all of a breath before Sakura and Sasuke charged forward and landed impressive haymakers on the two Mist ninja's heads and their struggling came to a stop. Both unfurled a scroll, bit their thumbs, and ran them across the seals written within. As soon as the scrolls started to glow, both genin dropped them on the Missing Nin and Fake Hunter Nin before bailing out the window behind Hiruzen's desk.

Hiruzen blinked.

Kakashi blinked.

Ibiki and Shikaku blinked up at them through the holes where the two ninja had been.

The Anbu hidden in the room 'snrked' as they tried to suppress their laughter as the dreaded "Demon of the Mist" got thumped by a couple genin.

Kakashi hesitantly cleared his throat. "Yo."

Hiruzen's wooden desk creaked ominously as the room was flooded with a terrifying amount of KI. "Kakashi," Hiruzen said smoothly.

Kakashi started sweating bullets. His cute little genin had left him! Had left-HIM! They were totally getting a remedial lesson if he survived this!


(Present Time)

Kakashi clapped, ignoring his rather tattered looking uniform (courtesy of Hiruzen). "So, that brings up something I wanted to ask. Naruto, the floor."

Naruto blinked. "Oh, well it's made of clay, right? It's just like using the Head Hunter jutsu with rock." He shrugged blithely. "You just gotta wiggle between any wooden beams if they're there."

Naruto could walk through walls. Kakashi had just been given this gift too. Kakashi felt a bit like doing the insane and challenging Gai to a contest. Cause...Kakashi-can-walk-through-walls!

None of his genin reacted as Kakashi started cackling madly and the area around him lit up with flashes of lightning and boomed ominously.

They were getting used to this kind of reaction when Naruto broke some 'unwritten ninja rule'.

"Second," Kakashi continued, as if he hadn't just acted like a mad scientist, "what was the whole mole thing?"

All three genin looked at him like he was clearly missing something obvious.

"It's our attack formation, Whack a Mole," Sakura said carefully. "You know, where the mole pops it's head up from underground and then you smack it on the head?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It's faster to say Mole, though. Conveniently confuses the enemy too, because they think we're talking about a spy."

"Really Sensei, you use it all the time! It's very useful," Naruto finished, nodding sagely.

'Well, when put that way…' thought Kakashi.

"Oh!" Naruto thumped a fist into his palm. He then rooted around in his pocket before tossing something to Kakashi. "One of my clones decided to take a picture, cause he thought it was prank worthy."

Kakashi was given the awesome blessing of a forever imprinted image of Zabuza's and Haku's legs dangling from the ceiling in the Tower. Kakashi's collection was starting to look quite impressive!


"Yo." Kakashi held up a hand blandly.

Team 7 fell into formation before him immediately.

"Hey Sensei, um…" Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "Are...are we out of the running for the Chunin exams?" She blushed a bit when his lone eye turned to her. "I mean, after what we did in the Hokage's office, I wasn't sure if we were barred this go round." She was sporting a rather cute pixie cut. It made her look even younger than usual, especially with her headband still tied up on top her head. She was literally going to get away with murder, and it wouldn't have anything to do with the awesome skills he'd been training them in.

"What makes you think you were in it to begin with?" Kakashi asked, sounding faintly amused.

"Oh." remarked Naruto, looking a bit ill and a flash of hurt in his eyes that he buried quickly.

Sasuke looked like he was stuck between a pout and bitter resignation.

Sakura's entire face simply went blank. It was a bit unnerving actually.

Kakashi chuckled. "Mah, mah, I'm just kidding. I had been thinking about entering you." He eye smiled. "How did you find out they were happening?"

Sakura and Sasuke immediately pointed to the blond.

"He has eyes and ears pretty much everywhere," remarked Sakura. "He was so excited about how much he was learning, he makes two dozen clones to hide around the village now." She rolled her eyes. "Five of them even have jobs."

Kakashi's head tilted a bit as he turned Naruto's oddly bashful expression. "Oh?"

Naruto scuffed the ground with his toe. "When they don't know it's me, they...people talk." He looked up at Kakashi through his bangs. "It's…" there was a tinge of suppressed excitement in his bright blue eyes. "There's so much I never knew about."

Kakashi was never a hugger, but his cute little genin almost… made him want to become one. They were too darned adorable!

"That's great, Naruto. I'm glad you're learning a lot." He paused. "Jobs?"

Naruto's teeth flashed. "Yup! It's so cool! One of the jobs, I get to help at a weapons shop. There're some really awesome weapons out there! And learning about the different quality is awesome too!" Naruto danced a bit in place, too excited to fully contain his bubbling energy. "There's another that I get to work with a glass blower! It's super neat!" His grin was megawatt. "The other three aren't that fun, but honestly it helps me pay for rent."

Kakashi winced internally. He'd forgotten that Naruto didn't get the orphan allowance anymore. He'd also forgotten that the complex tended to charge Naruto more than other tenants. The Hokage couldn't step in because, despite his irritation about it, the owner was correct; Naruto's presence had driven a lot of potential tenants away. Charging him extra to cover the difference was something the Hokage couldn't rightfully fight without causing problems, the best he could do was make the extra cost reasonable. That did, however, mean that an orphan in his pre-teens was fighting an uphill battle just to remain financially stable.

"Did you…" started Kakashi, hesitant because he wasn't quite sure how to offer to help.

Naruto, miraculously, knew exactly what he was thinking (those daily observations of people were getting down right scary accurate). "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. I've been managing my money better. The old lady at the baths helped me, er," he scratched his head, "or rather helped one of my clones. She explained how I should be spending and saving. And, well, because I can use a henged clone to get supplies, costs have been less." He shrugged. "I'm doing okay."

Kakashi let out a relieved breath. It still bothered him Naruto had to work thrice as hard as his peers to get by, but he was glad the plucky blond was making it work. "Back to your comment on the Chunin exams, the Hokage has been generous enough to still allow me to decide." He smiled at their radiant expressions. "However," he warned, "That means you're going to have to prove to me you deserve it." He winced. "Your escapades with the Inuzuka Clan are not helping your case."

Sasuke huffed. "That's not fair. That's training."

Kakashi waved a bored hand. "Training generally means you have a goal you're working towards improving. All I've heard is a barrage of complaints about you three breaking and entering without permission." He internally snickered. He'd also heard how effectively that Tsume roughed his genin up before booting them out of the compound.

"But Sensei! We're working on a new seal! We don't have anywhere else to test it!" Sakura looked both imploring and frustrated.

"A...new seal?" That could be rather dangerous, more so knowing his genin. "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Scent," Sasuke said flatly. "When we've been doing our stealth missions, we've noticed the 'scent away' soap isn't reliable. We were trying to find a way to either mask our scent or rid ourselves of it entirely. We got the idea off the chakra suppression seals that you tattooed onto our shoulders." He shrugged. "Sakura and Naruto tried to find anything similar by camping out in the library for several weeks while I discreetly asked around. We couldn't find anything. Our next best solution was to try and create a seal of our own." He shuddered. "It has proven ineffective so far."

"Hmm...well what do you have?"

Sakura touched the seal on the new bracers she started wearing a month ago. Out popped a notebook that looked to be decently full of notes. She flipped through several pages before handing it to the silver haired jounin. "This is where we started."

He lifted a questioning eyebrow.

Sakura waved him off. "We only move on when we finish a previous seal. The ones in there before that were ones you taught us and we tinkered with a bit to see if we could change or improve them." She shuddered. "Naruto's clones test them for us." She gave him a sheepish look. "Sometimes the results are...hazardous."

"Hmm… the new swamp in training ground 10?" he asked, moving his headband to scan their notes with his sharingan.

"And the fire in training ground 43," added Sasuke.

Naruto sighed. "The new cave in the mountain by training ground 12."

"The mess of training ground 33." Sakura shuddered. "That one... we can't even begin to explain that one."

Kakashi let his eyes move from the book to stare at them. "Really?"

Naruto held up his hands hastily. "We submitted a portion of our pay to help with repairs!" He winced. "Discreetly, of course. The old man would be furious if he knew it was us."

"We made sure no one could connect it with Team 7. Naruto's clones always go in henged, and when things go...badly, the clones leave no trace behind." Sakura shuddered.

Sasuke shifted uneasily. "It's rather terrifying how frequently they go badly."

Kakashi barely refrained from a facepalm. "There is a reason there aren't many Seal Masters. There's also a reason there is usually an experienced mentor on hand. They help keep the 'bad' things from happening." Kakashi audibly sighed. "I'm glad you had the foresight to have a clone do the dangerous part." He gave them a 'look'. "However, please refrain from testing things until you either run things by me or a proper Seal Master."

Naruto huffed. "Where are we going to find one of those?"

"Jiraiya of the Sannin is one," remarked Kakashi.

Sakura sighed. "And he's our spymaster as well. He'll never be around long enough to supervise half the things we come up with."

Kakashi decided he didn't want to know how they knew Jiraiya was a spymaster. He closed the book with a soft 'thump'. "Tell you what, if your more dangerous stuff looks credible, and that means laying out your concept more thoroughly, I will see if I can get Jiraiya to take a look when he's in the village." He held up the book. "For now, please refrain from testing these ideas until I or Jiraiya approve them. I'm not sure our training grounds will survive too much more of this, and I really don't want the Hokage to catch on to where the new additions came from." He eye smiled. "I will, however, try and help with the scent seal. As I've said before, I'm not a master, but I'm no slouch either. We'll see if we can come up with something workable, okay?"

"Before the exams?" queried Sasuke, looking hopeful.

Kakashi chuckled. "We'll see." He handed the book back to Sakura, who put it back into the seal on her bracer. "For now, back to the training I originally wanted to discuss."

Team 7 felt a shiver run down their spine at Kakashi's ominous smile.

"And that is?" dared Naruto.

"Seduction," Kakashi said cheerfully.

All three genin face faulted.


It took Kakashi a good fifteen minutes to calm his genin down. They were still quite twitchy, but their mumbled growls and threats were subdued enough that Kakashi could continue what he was saying.

"Now, I know you think I'm out of my mind, but this is rather important. You need to be able to interact positively with a target or a passerby in enemy territory. If you can woo someone, it puts them in a false sense of security. They trust you and are willing to defend you. They are also willing to share more information with someone they are romantically interested in." He gave them a hard look. "This isn't a joke." He internally sighed at their disbelieving looks. "This is a very traditional and well used trick as a shinobi. I know we don't talk about it a lot, and that is mostly because you are still quite young, but it is actually still a very useful skill to have. Many of our chunin and jounin use this to their advantage." He paused. "Some more than others."

"If we're to take this seriously," growled Sakura, "and you already made a point about our age, why are you bringing it up now?" She waved a hand at her two male team members. "And isn't it traditionally the kunoichi that do this sort of stuff?"

Kakashi shook his head. "That is a horrible misconception. Male shinobi participate in this art just as frequently as women do. Admittedly, it is a poor gender stereotype that causes issues with both sides, but both are equally adequate and well used." He gives Sakura an apologetic look. "The biggest sore spot for most kunoichi is that male shinobi tend to brag a bit louder and openly about such conquests. Kunoichi tend to discuss it only with close friends. Sadly, old traditions and biases color these things as well, and it makes for a muddy topic outside of the shinobi ranks. Civilians just don't understand and don't respect those who do it. The shinobi side understand its usefulness as a tool and use it accordingly" He shrugged. "It makes for a sensitive topic, but it isn't one to be dismissed."

He ran a hand through his hair. "The reason I bring this up now is because of a few reasons. First off, now is a good time to start and begin practicing these things. That way, when it becomes necessary for a mission you have the proper experience and ease to handle it. Secondly, just because you are young, it doesn't mean other shinobi won't try these tricks on you. If you are exposed to this now, you are less susceptible to it from an enemy. Thirdly, shinobi generally tend to live short lives. It is rare for shinobi to reach the Hokage's age. This means you are all going to get exposed to this very soon anyway, more so for Sasuke due to his Clan legacy." Kakashi gave them all a flat stare. "That is the harsh truth. Squeamish as you may feel about it, this is something all of you need to get used to."

They still didn't look happy, but they weren't biting at the bit to stick him with kunai.

Sakura's bottom lip was jutting out and she was looking crossly to the side to avoid looking at the rest of her team. "I hate that your argument is logically sound."

He gave her a faint smile. "Trust me, I was in your shoes at one point. I didn't like the idea any better than you do."

Naruto's face was all squished up between horror and intrigue.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to puke.

"There is, however, a bit of a twist," remarked Kakashi, drawing their attention. He eye smiled. "You're going to be henged into the opposite gender and convince someone of your proper gender, to date you."

"WHAT?! Came three equal screeches of horror.

Kakashi loved being a sensei.


Aku gazed intensely at the petite brunette in front of him. He reached out and took her hand, feeling the breeze ruffle his spiky raven locks. "Umi-chan, would you do me the honor of going on a date?"

Umi-chan yanked her hand out of his and proceeded to swing it sharply towards his face.

Aku yelped and barely managed to jerk back enough to miss being smacked, losing his balance and falling on his rear in the middle of the quiet path they were on. He stared up at the fuming young teen in stunned disbelief.

"Don't touch me, you creep!" she shivered in disgust, wiping her hand on her skirt vigorously. "Tch! Stay away from me!" She pivoted sharply and stalked away.

Aku watched her leave, gaping and frozen where he'd fallen.

A giggle drew his attention, and he turned to find a lithe redhead grinning mischievously at him from beside a tree she'd been hidden behind. Her hair was a wild shoulder length mane that framed her pale face beautifully, and her scuffed yellow shorts and tight yellow t-shirt enhanced her untamable look. "You know, that was kind'a fun to watch."

Aku growled, rising to his feet and dusting off the seat of his trousers. "This is ridiculous! Why did she get so angry?!"

A quiet chuckle drew their attention to a smaller raven haired youth with long silky black hair that brushed the back of her knees. The pale kimono she was wearing made her look both regal and mysterious. Her dark eyes were deep and knowing, and her porcelain skin looked delicate and soft. "You are too forceful, Aku-kun. You scared the poor girl." She gave him a small tight lipped smile before turning to head the opposite direction down the path. "You treat the flower too roughly, and it will wilt."

Aku gaped at her a breath before he huffed and hurried to fall in step beside her. He stuffed his hands into his pockets with a growl. "This whole thing is stupid."

The redhead trotted up to the other side of the raven haired girl with a laugh. "I dunno, that was pretty entertaining. You'd think you'd know what a girl would want, ya know?" She gave him an impish grin.

"Stuff it, Rei," muttered Aku, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.

"Come, we shall discuss this in a more...comfortable location." The raven haired girl didn't grace them with a look, merely kept up a steady and graceful gait that made the other two feel like bumbling fools.

It was a long wandering path. None of them spoke until they reached a hidden alcove not far from training ground seven. As soon as they were hidden in the shadows of the alcove, the small raven haired girl in the lead was surrounded by a small puff of smoke to reveal a golden blond head and an easy grin.

Aku huffed and disappeared to reveal Sakura's pouting visage. She crossed her arms and gave a dark look at the redhead next to her. Rei gave a cheeky grin and a victory sign before a puff of smoke and Sasuke was revealed wearing a cocky smirk.

Sakura growled, rubbing her temples with irritation. "Alright...What the hell went wrong?!"

"Tut-tut," chided Sasuke. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Not here."

Sakura shot him a nasty glare before stomping towards their training grounds while muttering a long list of things that sounded rather painful.

Sasuke sniffed but followed, hands moving to his pockets.

Naruto openly laughed as he dashed ahead. "Come on, Teme! Race ya'!"

Sasuke blinked. "Hey! That's cheating, Dobe!" He gave chase immediately.

Sakura glanced at them with a scoff. "Boys."

When they were finally all at the training grounds, huddled in a comfortable little circle, Sasuke pulled out a scroll and unsealed three bentos. All three gave a cheer before digging in.

It wasn't until they were about halfway through their food that Naruto nudged Sakura. "What was that back there? You do realize that being that intense scares girls, right?"

Sakura grumbled something under her breath before looking at him. "It's what I always wanted Sasuke to do," she winced, "you know, before…" She gave Sasuke an apologetic look.

He looked a bit disturbed that her behavior had been in accordance to what she wanted him to do.

Naruto shook his head. "That only works if a girl is already head over heels for you. It totally freaks them out if you start that way." He gave her a second nudge. "Too fast, too soon. You have to move slower."

Sakura groaned. "Why?! I don't get it! I wanted Sasuke to move that quickly!"

Sasuke looked more green, glancing at his half eaten bento before putting it aside.

Naruto sighed. "No, no you didn't. You wanted him to notice you right off the bat, yes. But," Naruto gave her a pointed look, "the more he ignored you, the more you wanted him. Had he actually immediately advanced on you, you would've frozen up and probably freaked out like that girl did." He shook his head. "It's not romantic until you have an established relationship."

Sakura exhaled loudly, slumping with a despondent expression. "Then how does this work?" She winced. "I mean, I know how I approached Sasuke was wrong, but how am I doing things wrong now?"

"Sakura," spoke Sasuke, shifting uneasily under her watery gaze. "You er, want to come across as confident, but not overbearing." Sasuke scratched his head. "I mean…" He shot a pleading look at Naruto.

Naruto chuckled softly. "Sakura, you can't beat someone into submission. Remember what Kakashi said? Move slower. This isn't a race." He gave her a soft smile. "Look, you're approaching this wrong. Instead of being too forward, allow your more shy persona to come forward."

She blinked at him. "What?"

Naruto grinned. "I know you've got it in you. You want to be confident about you, but when you approach a girl, be a bit shy about it. They like to feel like they make you nervous. It means you find them a little intimidating and attractive."

The pink haired girl opened her mouth…paused, and then let it click closed.

Sasuke was nodding to her left. "A girl feels pretty when a guy stumbles over himself a bit when he's around her. Boosts her confidence and makes the guy look endearing."

Sakura openly gaped at her teammates. "H-how do you even know that?!"

Both boys blinked, exchanged a look, and then shrugged.

"Well, besides paying attention to it now, being a girl...kinda changes your perspective." Sasuke shuddered. "Plus, watching a guy stumble all over himself makes you feel kinda powerful, you know?" He rolled his eyes. "They get worse when you giggle and give them an amused but intrigued response. I had three guys start fighting each other just to be the one that got to buy me dango." Sasuke made a face at the sweet treat; tomatoes were always better. He glanced at Naruto. "By the way, what took you so long? I thought you were going to meet us an hour ago."

Naruto grimaced. "Playing mysterious and aloof, for some reason, drew in more guys than I expected. It took forever to ditch them. 'Oh Himiko-sama! Let me escort you!' 'Himiko-sama, would you like to get something sweet to eat?'" Naruto groaned and threw his hands up. "Himiko, Himiko, Himiko!" He groused. "I swear, I was mobbed!"

His teammates stared.

"You're joking. How many?" Sasuke had been rather proud of his three.

Naruto pouted, picking at the grass viciously. "Dunno, lost count after I tried escaping the first five. Their numbers just kept growing!" He shuddered. "I didn't even know we had that many single guys in the village!" He sighed. "If some pale eyed dude hadn't stepped in and helped me sneak away, I woulda pry been trapped at the market for another two hours."

Sasuke's and Sakura's jaws dropped. "A Hyuga helped you?!"

Naruto leaned away from them and answered cautiously. "Yeees?"

Sasuke spit out a curse. Sakura just kept gaping at him.

"You can't be serious," hissed Sasuke. "Those stuck up pricks wouldn't give a civilian the time of day!"

Naruto shrugged. "Hey, I dunno why he helped. He was way polite though. When I thanked him for escorting me away from the rabble, he bid me a soft 'your welcome' and disappeared."

"Prove it!" demanded Sasuke.

"What?! Why?!"

Sakura grabbed the blond's arm. "I'm with Sasuke on this. Prove it."

"B-Wh-... How?!" He jerked out of her grasp. "I'm not going to go lookin' for girly lookin' pale eyed dude! Can you imagine how quickly the Hyuga would kick my ass?! One glance with their freaky eyes and they'd be beatin' me into the ground!"

Sasuke huffed and rolled his eyes. "That's exactly why we don't believe you."

"It's true!"

"So prove it!" growled Sasuke.

"Do you have any idea how bad of an idea that is?!" Naruto waved his arms dramatically. "Seriously! He probably didn't activate his freaky eyes 'cause I didn't seem threatening! If we run into each other again, it's only a matter of time before he figures it out! I'd be a walking dead man!"

A sly smirk slid onto Sakura's face. "Maybe he already knows."

Both boys blinked. "What?"

Sakura buffed her nails. "What if he already knows and wants you because he knows?" She gave him a devious smirk. "I mean, if he's a 'girly dude', maybe he likes other guys."

Naruto paled a bit. "I'm not interested!" He squeaked out shrilly.

Sasuke broke into loud guffaws.

"No?" Sakura said lightly.

"No!" Naruto said vehemently. "It's cool if he's into that, but I ain't!"

Sakura giggled. "Relax 'Ruto. I'm just teasing."

Naruto's cheeks were scarlet as he blew a raspberry at her before looking away in a huff.

"I still want proof," Sasuke interjected.

Naruto shot him a dirty look. "What do you expect me to do? Wander around town until he finds me?"

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged looks.

"Sure."

Naruto groaned.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted, smiling at his genin.

"Save me Kakashi-Sensei!" wailed Naruto as he lunged at the silver haired jounin and wrapped his legs in a tight hug.

Kakashi glanced at the blond before turning to his grinning teammates. "Do I want to know?"

Sasuke's grin grew. "You're the one who assigned the training."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side.

Sakura waved an airy hand. "We're just getting him to prove he met his goal."

"LIES!" shouted the blond at Kakashi's feet. "If you want proof, you have to have it too!"

"Done," Sakura said cheerfully.

Naruto blinked, stared…and then scowled petulantly. "You all suck."

Sakura flashed a victory sign. Sasuke grinned.

Kakashi was pretty sure he needed to be there for this… with a camera. "Tomorrow?" he posed.

"Tomorrow!" cheered Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto grumbled and pouted.