Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's Note: This is afast update (Ihave out-done myself) because I will not be able to update until theend of next week. I am very upset that I only received one review for the last chapter -sobs-. Thank you, though,to the person who did review -gives them cookies-. I hope this chapter keeps you busy enough to wait for my next update. Enjoy!

The home economics room was quite clean. Actually it was sparkling white (much like Lee's teeth, but not as blinding). The first thing the young ninjas found, though, was that the room was already occupied by Tenten, Lee, Ino, Chouji, Neji and Shikamaru with their sensei(1).

"Oh," said a silver haired man who was accompanying Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji, "More company…just joyous."

"Shut up, Hatake," Kurenai shot, "This room is not reserved."

"Just drop it Kakashi," said the dark haired man next to him, "You can't win a fight against Kurenai."

"Side with your girlfriend then Asuma," Kakashi snickered, "We all know that Kurenai and you were-"

Kakashi stopped right there because, one, there were underage teens in the vicinity (never stopped him from reading Icha Icha Paradise in front of his subordinates), two, Asuma was giving him the 'better-watch-out' look and most importantly three, Kurenai was staring at him with a killing intent, complete with a raging death aura.

"…Um," Kakashi sweated, "Never mind…"

However, 'never mind' sounded like a very interesting story to the rest of the shinobi, so Naruto insisted, "C'mon Kakashi-sensei, tell us….please."

"Come to my room after school today and I'll tell you," he mouthed to the young ninjas.

Kurenai was just about to kill Kakashi when Sakura said, "Um…Kurenai-sensei, can we start baking cookies now?"

"Of course," replied Kurenai, concealing her anger, "Pair up and go to an oven. I'll distribute the recipe and ingredients."

"May we also bake cookies?" asked Ino sweetly.

Kurenai looked at Kakashi who gave her a nod in return, "Of course you may…um…"

"Ino," Ino introduced, "Yamanaka Ino. And the over-weight guy is Akimichi Chouji and the pineapple-head is Nara Shikamaru."

The introductions earned her a stare from both of her team mates. Chouji mouthed something along the lines of being 'pleasantly plump' and Shikamaru grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'troublesome women'.

Kurenai looked at Asuma's group, "Would you guys like to bake as well?"

Neji just shrugged. Tenten looked at Asuma as if seeking permission. Lee was ecstatic as usual, jumping around, making a fool of himself. Asuma looked at the trio of troubled teens and decided it'd be better just to hand the job of taking care of them to someone else.

"Kurenai," Asuma sighed, "I'm sure they'll be delighted to join your cooking class."

"Great," Kurenai beamed, "Now there's an even number of people."

Hinata and Naruto

Naruto looked at the recipe, "It doesn't tell you how to make ramen flavoured cookies. I guess we'll have to improvise…"

Hinata who was still basking in the joy of getting to spend time with Naruto did not hear his comment but merely nodded her head.

"Okay," Naruto smiled, "I'll go get the ingredients. Is it okay if you preset the oven, Hinata-chan?"

"Gomen," Hinata apologized, "What d-did you s-say, Naruto-kun?"

"It's okay," Naruto reassured, "Just pre-heat the oven and prepare the cookie sheet, okay?"

"Hai," Hinata replied as she went to work.

Sasuke and Sakura

How he got stuck with this fan girl of his was beyond him. He took an extra precaution to keep away from her when walking yet here he was, cooking with her. He blamed it on the teacher.

Flashback

"Since you two aren't getting along too well," Kurenai told the pink haired girl and the Uchiha, "I want you two to work together on this assignment."

The Uchiha looked aghast at his newly appointed home economics teacher. Does she know how treacherous it was to be chased by hordes of girls everyday? Apparently not…

End Flashback

"Um, Sasuke-kun," Sakura tried to talk to the Uchiha, "We might as well start. I'll go get the ingredients, okay? When I'm gone can you please set up the rest of the equipment?"

Sakura made it sound like a delicate science experiment (which it wasn't) but it still did not crack the icy exterior (perhaps even the interior) of the stoic Uchiha boy. He just inclined his head a bit to show that he had heard.

Ino and Shikamaru

Ino was really pissed off. She had looked around the room for a partner but to her surprise no one suitable was left. Sakura and Sasuke had been dragged off by their teacher. Naruto and Hinata have already decided to be partners. Tenten didn't seem to care. Kiba (aka dog-boy), in Ino's opinion, had bad hygiene which would equal nasty cookies. Freaky sunglasses-boy was definitely not an option. Lee (aka Fuzzy-Eyebrows) was just too weird. She had tried asking Neji but all she got was a cold glare. Chouji would've eaten the whole batch before it was even cooked so that left her with only one other option.

And that's why she's standing next to a lazy genius at this moment.

"Ugh," Ino complained, "Will you do something?"

"Tch," Shikamaru drawled, "It's too troublesome…"

"Well you better do something," Ino threatened, "Or I'll show everyone the picture I took at that Halloween party when we were nine."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, "You wouldn't."

"I would if you don't do something."

"Troublesome woman," muttered Shikamaru, "I'll go get the ingredients."

Ino watched the trudging form with a smirk on her face, "How I love blackmail."

Tenten, Lee and Neji

Tenten sighed. She watched her other two comrades, irritated at their behaviour. Lee was wasting his energy, bouncing around while Neji just slouched himself against the counter. They were getting nowhere.

Deciding to take charge, Tenten said to Lee, "Lee, can you please go get the ingredients we need? Here take the recipe."

"OF COURSE," Lee exclaimed, grabbing the recipe, "BY THE FIRE OF MY YOUTH, I HALL RETRIEVE THE INGREDIENTS!"

"Thanks Lee," Tenten said.

As soon as Lee bounded off, Tenten turned to face Neji, "I'm glad that Kurenai-sensei was nice enough to let us remain in our squad but you really should start working."

"I don't see you working," Neji deadpanned.

Tenten fumed, "I would be working if you weren't on the counter."

"Whatever…"

"Move."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Say it nicely."

"Fine," Tenten said, "Please move your ass out of my way."

"That's not 'nicely', Tenten," Neji told her.

Truth to be told, Neji was having fun watching her boil in anger. It gave him a kind of satisfaction that he can provoke people and make them furious. It was kind of sadistic if you think about it though. But Neji didn't care.

"Please move," Tenten repeated in a falsely sweet voice.

"That wasn't sincere," he noted.

Tenten growled. This was going to take a while. She'll have to do her best to keep herself from starting a fight with him. She was not worried about herself getting hurt, oh no, she was scared for Neji.

(1)There are no 's' in the plural of Japenese nouns unless the nouns have been adapted (e.g. ninjas) into english. In this case, I meant to say there were more than one sensei.

Author's Note: Pretty pleased with the way this chapter turned out. I've always kind of sided withthe Asuma and Kurenai pairing (please don't kill me KakaKure fans). As you probably know (if you read the beginning note), I will not be updating until the end of next week. However, if I receive 35 or more reviews on this fic, I will update again by the end of this week. Review please!