Giving is its own Reward!

"- And then the castle fell down," concluded Naruto as he finished regaling the rest of Team Gai with his version of the Library Mission.

Reactions were mixed. Gai and Lee vacillated between weeping at Naruto's Youthfulness and yelling in joy at the prospect of 'Intense Training'.

Tenten, outwardly (and genuinely, truth to tell) interested and attentive, was seething on the inside.

'Damn that Shizune, using his love of ramen to worm her way into his affections! And that Kuroyama tramp, with that "Ooh, my name's a secret," gimmick! No, no. Happy Place, Tenten, Happy Place. Nice swords. Pretty kunai. Ahh…'

Ok, moving on…

Neji…well, who could tell? Unfortunately, the Hyuuga expression of Mild Interest was, to an outsider, almost indistinguishable from the expression of Utter Disdain.

Or Murderous Rage, for that matter.

"-Anyway," continued Naruto cheerfully, "it was your help that hot me back to taking missions, so I wanted to pay you back. Especially you, Ten-chan."

In accordance with certain universal laws, Naruto, fumbling in his equipment pouch, completely missed the rosy blush on Tenten's face and the amused smirks of her male companions.

"Ah! There it is!" Naruto, the bright grin on his features illuminating the clearing, flourished a sealing scroll.

"See, Daihon-san let me take my pick of the books and stuff the other clans donated and I saw a few that I thought you'd like."

A smear of blood, a puff of smoke and a flurry of motion later and each member of Team Gai were left holding a scroll.

"Ok guys, Ten-chan, I'm headed for Ichiraku," chattered the blond as he trotted off. "Hope you like 'em. Bye!"

"Do you suppose Naruto-san isn't very comfortable giving gifts?" wondered Neji after a moment, prompting a cautious nod from Tenten.

'And…was he blushing?'

Giving a collective shrug at the eccentric blond, the four turned to their scrolls. The sound of rustling parchment arose, cut off sharply as a shocked silence filled the clearing.

Tenten was the first to speak. Swallowing to moisten her abruptly dry mouth, she slowly looked up from her gift.

"T-this is 'Principles of Damascene Metallurgy'! There's only a hundred copies in the world! I never even dreamed…!"

"'Fanning your Youthful Fires' by A.L. Armstrong," added Gai, his voice uncharacteristically low. "I too never hoped to receive such a boon. What of yours, my cute protégé?"

"'Combat Curry: Food for Fighting'," the green-clad boy replied in a quavering voice, a trail of manly tears flowing down his face. "T-there are no words…"

Tuning out a tearful Gai clutching Lee in a (surprisingly quiet) manhug, Tenten noted the quizzical look on Neji's features as he gazed at his unrolled scroll.

"So, what did Naruto-kun give you, Neji-kun?"

"I'm not actually sure," replied the Hyuuga prodigy in a bemused tone. "It's a summoning contract, but I can't make out what animal it's for. Just something about 'Great Hunters, revered by all'."

"Sounds pretty good to me," said Tenten, intrigued. "You should sign it and try it out. It's not like you'll have to use it, after all."

After a moment of thought, the Hyuuga nodded, bit his thumb and signed. Taking a deep breath, he flicked through the requisite handseals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was a burst of smoke, and…

"Mew!"

"Oi, Shizune, aren't you going to open your souvenir?"

Looking up at her mentor and leader (who was thoroughly enjoying the first-harvest sake that was the blond's gift to her), Shizune's look of confusion at the question rapidly shifted to pleased recollection.

"Oh, yes! I wonder what it…is…"

Looking up from her cup of alcoholly goodness as her apprentice trailed off, Tsunade gawked at the sight of a pale, trembling Shizune staring in awe at a green scroll.

"Shizune?"

"…"

"Shizune!"

"Mwaa…"

"Shizune, dammit! What's wrong?"

"This…T-this is 'Pressure Points, Senbon and Dim-Mak techniques of the Kiri hunter Corps'! One of Kirigakure's highest Black Books! How-?!"

Watching her apprentice sink into shocked, giggling glee, the blond Hokage sighed and took another sip of sake.

"-And then the castle fell down," concluded Naruto, turning his attention back to the ramen that swirled invitingly in his Awesome Bowl.

'I don't think I'll ever get tired of telling that part of the story.'

About to take another bite, his newly-sensitive ears twitched.

"eeeeeeeeeeee…"

'What the hell is that? Sounds like a fangirl, but the voice is different.'

"eeeeeeEEEEEEEE…"

"Whatever it is, it's getting closer."

'Yeah, it is.'

A trickle of dust fell from the ceiling as a faint tremor was felt.

"Gaki…"

'Yeah, I think you're right, Fox,' replied the blond, placing some Ryo on the counter. 'I'm getting a bad feeling about this.'

The rumbling grew as he stepped onto the streets, causing the paper lanterns to sway and jostle.

"naaaaaaaRRRRRUUUUUUUTTTTOOOOO!!!"

"Oh shit! Run Gaki!"

Too late. The blond had barely time to turn before being brought down by a flying glomp from an ecstatic Neji. Staggering in panic back to his feet, he was struck from the opposite direction by Gai and Lee in a rolling rugby ruck, then from above by an aerial Tenten, each one babbling paeans of praise and thanks.

'Ok,' thought a resigned Naruto. 'Shizune-neechan in three, two, one…'

-Glomp!-

'Yep, right on time.'

It would ultimately take a full twenty minutes for the blond to persuade his captors to release him, and the combined efforts of Tenten, Gai and Lee to remove Neji, seemingly determined to permanently attach himself to the blond's apparel.

'It was probably a mistake to give Neji the Cat-Summoning contract.'

"Noooo, ya think?"

Author's Comments:

And there's the latest installation! there were a few people asking about the gifties Naruto handed out in 'Oops! chapter 5'. Mystery solved!
I'm honestly not sure where the inspiration for this chapter came from, beyond idly wondering what might prompt the whole of Team Gai to tackle-glomp Naruto and how i might plug that into the Library mission chapter. i think it worked out pretty well.

Incidentally, this chapter will be considered Oops! canon, with the various gifts being occasionally referenced in future chapters. Especially the Cat Contract. he he he...

Anyway,

Reviews!

Zaion Indulias: Thanks! always nice to prompt a bout of Maniacal Laughter.

Firehedgehog: Ok...TWO reviews with laughter. I am both flattered and a little worried ; )

Love Psycho: I agree, it would be nice to wander into Kitten World on occasion. Fuzzy...

Aurora Ivy Fang: Thank you! it's very gratifying to get this many kind reviews. I'm a little surprised at the reception of Neji the Kitten Freak, to be honest. Along with YouthSpeak, it's the second random "Hey, that might be funny" snippet to be taken on by my readers. Thanks!

Lord Sia: Heh. i could go into a well-reasoned and researched rant on the merits of facial hair, but i fear that would push me still futher up the Scale of Youth.
Yeah. I haven't been able to find too much info on the characters of Team Gai, but they always seemed a little under-explored to me. So i thought to myself "what would be an unexpected yet understandable character quirk for them to have?" and the results you can see.
As for Lee, all i can say is that it's always the quiet ones...
I haven't seen Perfect Girl Evolution, but i too shudder at the thought of Lee being made responsible for a young woman's induction into the Ways of Youth.

Well, that's that. i'll probably have another one or two drabbles from the Library Mission up in the next week or so, so until then, stay tuned.

Smylingsnake out.