"Naruto..."
"Hey Naruto..."
Poke.
Poke.
Prod.
"Wake up sleepy head..."
Deep sigh.
Kiba grabs a bucket of cold water and lifts it over his head. He pokes Naruto with his foot, "Naruto, time to get up..."
Still no response.
Heavy sigh, "And I sooooooooo did not want to have to do this..."
Kiba tips the bucket over and drenches the sleeping blonde.
---
---
---
Still nothing.
"What the hell is this guy made of...?" Kiba knelt down next to the drenched but snoring boy and tried once more to wake him. "Come on Naruto...I really don't wanna have to resort to tickling you..."
Almighty snore.
The blonde turns over and continues sleeping.
Heaviest sigh yet.
"Well, you can't say I didn't try..." He reached down behind him and picked up a feather he had found somewhere. He paused it just above the boy's cheek, "Last chance to wake up Naruto." He waited a full minute for a response. Still nada. "Okay..." He flicked the tip of the feather lightly across the blonde's face.
Naruto shoots outta bed and slams his head against the ceiling. He falls, hard, on his ass and sits stunned for a minute. Recovering his brain and some semblance of dignity he whines, "What the hell Kiba!"
Kiba, laughing hysterically, choked out a very weak, "sorry."
"Damn..." grumbled Naruto as he stood up and rubbed his sore ass. "Coulda tried waking me up the normal way..."
Kiba just laughed harder.
It was then that Naruto noticed that he was soaking wet. He reached up and rung the excess water out of his hair. "Thanks alot, man. I needed a bath."
And with that little bit of witticism, Kiba passed out from lack of oxygen.
---------------------------------------------
Kiba's hysterical laugher and the loud bang of Naruto's head against the ceiling didn't go unnoticed. Lee, who'd already been awake for nearly an hour stretching, stopped mid-jump and tripped himself with his jump rope. "What was that?"
Tenten looked up from polishing her kunai and said, "Probably just Kiba trying to wake up Naruto." She smiled knowingly, "Sounds like he resorted to the feather trick."
Lee shook his head, a small smile on his face, and returned to his morning warm-up.
---------------------------------------------
Shikamaru didn't miss the resulting bang either. He was sprawled out on a chair that gave a very good view of the clouds through the window of the room he was sharing with Neji. The noise was so unexpected that he actually jumped a good three feet off the chair and flipped mid-air so that he face-planted on the hard stone floor. "What the hell was that!" he called as he dragged himself up.
Neji, who had been meditating, sighed and opened his eyes. "More than likely Lee or Naruto doing something stupid."
"You'd think that they'd be a little quieter this early of a morning."
"You've never worked with Lee overnight have you?"
"No."
"Well, on top of being an early riser, he also tends to cause massive amounts of noise during his morning warm-ups."
"Makes sense."
"And then there is Naruto." Pause where Neji takes a calming breath. "He is always loud and boisterous. Knowing him, it is plausible that Kiba tried to wake him up prematurely."
"True." Shikamaru reached for his shoes. "I'm going to find Temari and go over today's schedule again."
"Do as you wish."
---------------------------------------------
Naruto stripped off his soaked clothes, (much to Kiba's delight) and rung out the water. He laid them out over a chair to dry and reached for a towel. "You could have done the feather thing first ya know," he said as he toweled off his hair.
"Yeah, but soaking you with water has it's advantages," he sighed dreamily as he stared at the blonde.
"Go dunk your head in some cold water before you have a nose bleed."
"Too late," chuckled Kiba as he pinched his nose with a tissue.
"Baka."
"Better I'm staring at you than at some other guy."
"True..." Naruto reached for his spare pants and pulled them on. The towel draped across his still bare shoulders, he turned to face his boyfriend. "Come on Kiba, you can't go out there looking like that."
"Speak for yourself..." replied the happy boy.
"Oh ha-ha." He draped his towel over Kiba's head and used it to mess up the brunette's hair. "Come on. Clean yourself up and lets get out there."
"Whatever you say Naru-kun..." came the slightly muffled reply.
---------------------------------------------
An hour later everyone had convened in Gaara's office. "So..." said Kankurou, in an effort to break the weird silence that had been growing for several minutes, "Did everyone sleep well?"
Dazed stares from Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru.
"I'll take that as a no..."
"Well, I do not know about them, but I slept like a baby!" grinned Lee happily. Tenten eyed him in a 'what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about' kinda way, but didn't say anything. (A cookie to anyone that can figure out why she was giving him that look.)
"Moving on..." said Temari. "We've got the Gennin ready and waiting, so anytime you guys want to get out there..."
More dazed stares.
"It's gunna be a long week..."
"Kankuro," said Gaara.
"Yes Gaara?"
"Escort them to the training grounds."
"Yes Gaara."
He glared at them all, daring them to not follow. Not even Naruto was stupid enough to stay behind.
---------------------------------------------
"Listen up!" called Kankurou as he stood in front of the assembled Gennin and trainee's. "This is the group that Konoha sent to train you. You will listen and do exactly what they say at all times." He added mentally, "No matter how stupid it is..." He motioned for Neji and Shikamaru to come forward. "These are the team leaders." He pointed at Shikamaru, "The depressed looking one is Shikamaru." He pointed to Neji, "Mr. White-eye's over there is Neji. And don't let the calm look fool you. This guy can be just as insane as the rest of us when he's up against the right opponent."
Shikamaru and Neji nodded but didn't verbally respond to Kankuro's unusual introduction.
"Okay you two. Get yourselves separated into your groups already."
They separate into their respective groups.
"Okay then. Since Neji's team has the only Gennin in the group, you'll have the distinct honor of training the wanna-bes"
"Awwwwwwwwww maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!! Why do I get stuck with the wanna-bes!?!"
"Awwww pipe-down kid! You got no say in the matter."
"But, but..."
"Naruto, calm yourself," said Neji reproachfully. "Behave like a ninja, not like a three year old."
"But Neji...!"
"I said be quiet."
Naruto stopped arguing, but he continued to mutter under his breath.
"Moving on..." Kankuro motioned toward Shikamaru's group. "Gennin get to listen to the whiny-assed mutt boy and the depressive cloud watcher."
"Way ta make them feel better," joked Kiba as streched one arm behind his head.
"Ahhhh shut up dog-breath and get to work."
"Whatever you say purple-puppet boy."
---------------------------------------------
"Soooo..." said Naruto as he stared at the group of kids that stood in front of them. "How we gunna do this?"
"We could always just divide them into smaller groups and rotate them between us every few hours," said Lee, trying to be helpful.
Neji considered this idea for a moment. "That makes sense," he agreed. "Naruto, do you wish to offer another plan?"
"Ummmm..."
"I shall take that as a 'no.' So then, let us divide them." He raised his voice to a commanding tone, "I want you to divide yourselves into three equal groups. You shall rotate between training with myself, Naruto, and Lee."
The trainee's stared.
"Is there a problem?"
One either very brave or extremely stupid boy said, "Yeah, what's up with your eyes?"
Lee and Naruto's jaws dropped.
The newbies waited for an answer.
Neji mentally sighed, "I see we have a group with about the IQ of cement blocks..." He gathered his chakra and activated his Byakugan. "How many of you have ever even heard of the clan blood-line traits?"
A few nodded. Most continued their confused staring.
Neji sighed once again, "You cannot tell me that you have never heard of them."
No response.
Neji deactivated his Byakugan and launched into a long-winded explanation of his Byakugan that left a good portion of the crowd completely confused but scared.
"Anyway..." said Naruto after Neji fell silent, "How about we get started before it gets too hot out here."
"Please Naruto, I very highly doubt that it will get very hot today," replied Lee with a glance upward at the pale grey clouds that covered the sun.
"Whatever you say Lee, but your buying drinks tonight if the sun comes out."
"And if it does not?"
"Then I'll take you and Tenten out for barbecue."
"Deal."
"May we stay on task?"
"Yeah, yeah Neji. Whatever you say. It's not like I'm the one that likes to hear myself talk."
"That is you Naruto."
"Whatever."
They grabbed their groups of trainees and separated themselves so that they'd have plenty of room.
---------------------------------------------
"Alrighty then, let's see what kinda weapons ya'll brought." Naruto glanced over each of their caches. "Okay, you guys come prepared. Good. Now, how many of you are good with clones?" About half of them raised their hands. "Is that it? For real?!" He shook his head," Okay... how many of you can do clones period?" Everyone raised their hands. "That's better." He backed about twenty feet away from were they were gathered. "Now, I'm gunna show you a specialty of mine that I like to call the Everywhere Shuriken Jutsu!" he called. "Now, you have to be good at making multiple clones to be able to use this, so there will prolly be a few of you that can't learn it. But don't get discouraged, it's not very hard to start with. Let me demonstrate." He gathered his chakra and created his usual four clones. "Okay, now, once you've created your clones, you want to grab a handful of shuriken." He and the clones separated a distance. "This is better when you have trees or cliffs or something you can get above the enemy with." They jumped up onto the balcony of an adjacent building. "Here we go!" They lept off and called out, "Everywhere Shuriken!" before throwing the shuriken downward in every possible direction. And even though the raining shuriken appeared disorganized and chaotic, they all landed within three feet of each other, proof of how dangerous the jutsu actually was. "Any questions?"
The same boy that had questioned Neji raised his hand. "Yeah?" said Naruto, pointed to him.
"Uh yeah, what exactly is the point of showing us some simple little shuriken trick? I thought we were here to learn some kinds of powerful Ninjutsu or something like that."
"Well, considering that you aren't even Gennin yet, you should be glad that you're even getting to train with us. And with me especially!"
The boy snorted, "What's so special about you?"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "What's so special about me?" He paused and took a very deep breath. "I am Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gunna be the next Hokage! Believe it!"
That same boy laughed, "You!? Hokage! What a joke!"
Naruto smiled, "You think it's a joke, eh?"
"Oh come on, do you really think they'd let a idiot like you be Hokage?"
Naruto continued to smile. He was already focusing his chakra into his left hand. "Are you sure about that?"
"Hell yeah!"
He raised his left hand. The chakra was just becoming visible. He used his right hand to focus it into a what resembled nothing so much as a small typhoon. "You want to see some powerful ninjutsu, do ya?"
The kid's gaze was focus on the ball of swirling chakra in Naruto hand.
Naruto walked calmly over to one of the stone training posts about ten feet from the group. "I'll show you powerful Ninjutsu!" He pulled his arm back as far at is would go. "Rasengan!" he shouted as he slammed the rotating vortex into the stone face of the post. Time appeared to stop for a moment. The mass of energy vanished and Naruto turned around. The only apparent damage was a moderately sized indentation, a weird looking swirl, and a radiating pattern of cracks.
The kids laughed.
"Oh what, don't laugh yet. Come around to the other side." He herded them around it.
Loud and unbelieving gasps.
The entire far side of the post was shattered into a billion pieces and the remaining standing stone was fractured badly. Naruto tapped the post with a fingernail and it appeared to disintegrate. "How's that for powerful?"
The group parted to reveal the talkative one cowering behind the rest of them.
"I thought so," grinned Naruto. "So how about we get back to the Everywhere Shuriken Jutsu? That is, unless someone else has any questions?"
Not a word from any of them.
"That's what I thought."
---------------------------------------------
Lee already had his kids running laps and therefore they missed the show. Lee paused momentarily near Naruto a few minutes after the missed show, "How are your group doing?"
"Just fine. I had a bit of trouble at first, but they're behaving now. How about yours?"
"Just fine. I had a few groans when I told them to do a hundred laps, but then I told them they'd have to do five hundred jumping jacks instead, they complied."
"Well, don't tire um out too much. I get them next."
"Do not worry, a light warm-up is always a good idea before strenuous activity."
"Yeah, but not everyone has the same idea of a light work-out as you do."
"I know that. But if the cannot do one hundred laps, then they have no hope of keeping up with me."
"I guess. I'd get back to them if I were you. I see a couple of them walking."
"I know, and they will be the first I train."
Naruto smiled and went back to his training.
---------------------------------------------
Neji on the other hand had a group of somewhat passive and better behaved group. Which was perfect for him. He was trying to teach them the basic stances of the gentle fist style. He knew that they would never be able to use them to their full potential, but he had nothing else to work with.
"That is good," he said to one that was picking up on the movements quickly. "Extend your arm just a little more to the right." He turned to a younger girl, "Your leg should be turned a few degrees farther, but you have the gist of the stance." He moved across the line to one boy who seemed to have a problem balancing, "Equalize your weight untill the moment you strike. Leaning heavily on one leg or the other with disrupt your balance and cause you to fall when the time to strike arrives." He continued down, stopping every little while to adjust body positions or praise the faster learners.
---------------------------------------------
This went on for several about three hours before they decided to take a break and rotate the groups.
"So, how'd your kids do?"
"They did as I expected. Most were exhausted from the run, but they were still able to learn the material adequately."
"How about yours Neji?"
He stared at them benignly. "They were able to grasp the basics of what I taught them. Some showed more promise than others."
"Sounds like you guys had it easy."
"How was your lesson?"
"I got the rebellious ones." He sighed, "That idiot that asked about your eyes was in my group. He gave me some crap about why I wasn't teaching them powerful Ninjutsu and was acting like a ass so I showed showed them the Rasengan to shut him up."
"I take it the grey powder laying on top of the sand on that end of the training area was stone dust?"
"Yep. I shattered one of the stone training posts."
"Good one."
"Thanks, Lee."
The sat for a few more minutes, drinking water and resting.
"So, shall we return to the training?"
"I guess," sighed Naruto. "I'll take your group Lee. Their gunna spend a good chunk of their time standing around with me anyway."
They went to where the kids were siting. "Okay guys, time to change groups," called Naruto. "If you were with me before, follow Neji. If you where with Lee, you come with me. Neji's old group, follow Lee." He waited untill they'd divided themselves back up, "Let's go."
---------------------------------------------
So they repeated their lessons. Naruto didn't have to continue using his Rasengan as a scare tactic, but several of the group had seen it from a distance and begged him to show them. And Naruto, being the show-off that he was, showed them without a second thought. By the end of the day, he was the most popular trainer there.
"Come on Naruto! Show us the Rasengan again!" pleaded several of them when they announced the end of the training sessions.
"Not tonight."
"Awwww come on!!! We wanna see it again!!!"
"Tomorrow I don't feel like it right now."
"But..."
"No. Now stop asking."
"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww," groaned the kids.
Kankuro appeared outta nowhere, "How'd we do today?"
"Where the hell have you been?"
"I was off seeing to other things," came the cryptic reply. "Now you answer me."
"It was fine. They got the hang of most of it."
"And how about you two?" he asked, turning to face Neji and Lee.
Lee was beaming, "It was great! We had a lot of fun together!"
Neji gave a non-committal shrug of the shoulders.
"Well anyway, I was gunna say that it's time to call it a day, but apparently you already had." He yawned and went on, "Temari wants you guys to meet with her to discuss things."
"What things?"
"I have no idea. But I would suggest you get there rather quickly. She's been raging about something since lunch."
Naruto sighed, "Poor Shikamaru."
"Right..." agreed Kankuro. "Come on, let's get over there before she starts annoying Gaara.
"Hey Lee..." whispered Naruto as they walked.
"Yes?"
"Look up."
Lee blinked and looked up.
There's not a cloud in sight.
He blanched and looked back at Naruto. Sighing, "I guess I am buying drinks then."
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AN: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha soaking wet Naruto and Kiba with a nose bleed. Gotta love the things your mind comes up with after seven uninterrupted hours of reading very well written fanfics. And I swear, the more I read the banter between Kiba and Kankuro, the more it strikes me as having a very Inuyasha Kouga feel too it. Dunno why...must be watching too much Inuyasha in me spare time. Anyway, sorry if Naruto seems a little OOC in this chapter. I rewrote it a couple of times, but no matter what I did he always came out sound very...Jiraiya-ish. Maybe even a little bit like Kakashi. Ehhhh...i think it works. Anyway, sorry it's taking so long to get new chapters up. Kinda hard to upload new stuff when you never have time to write nor have any way of uploading them. I may have gotten a job with decent hours finally, but its still cutting into my writing time.