Author note: I never knew a single cooking utensil could get so many enemies in so little time.
Itachi stood in the center of a training ground, listening. His sparring partner was hiding in the thick undergrowth normally found in Haven training areas.
A bush beside him rustled.
Itachi slowly pulled out a kunai, and waited, only for a small rabbit to jump out of the bushes. Itachi looked as if he relaxed, but his muscles were wound tighter than ever.
A swallow flew overhead.
Itachi scanned the area again, watching for even the smallest detail that was even a tiny bit out of place.
Silence.
Itachi's grip on the kunai tightened until his knuckles shone white.
A snap sounded behind him.
Itachi, in a move as fast as sound, threw his kunai at the origin of the sound.
Only for the kunai to bury itself into a tree trunk.
Itachi pulled out another kunai, his sweaty hand almost causing him to drop it.
"Why did I agree to this again?" Itachi wondered as he gripped his small weapon.
The branches danced in the wind.
Itachi slowly closed his eyes and pushed some chakra into his ears. His enhanced hearing heard everything from his own heartbeat to the sound of the Exile merchants hawking their wares a half a mile away.
His hearing stretched against the whole training area, trying to find the one sound he was looking for.
A leaf broke off its branch.
Itachi's eyes snapped open.
Quickly, he found the origin of the sound and threw his kunai at the area. He was awarded with Felicia jumping out of the trees. She landed in a crouch in front of him. "Not bad, weasel-kun." She said with a smile on her face.
"Not too bad yourself, Neko-chan." Itachi said as he drew his sword.
"Oh, that is such a sharp sword, Weasel-kun, can you promise me that you won't hurt me~?" she asked, widening her eyes and sticking her lower lip into a pout, giving him a look that she knew Itachi could never resist.
"I-I-I-." he shook his head, "Stop it! Using 'The Look' is not fair!"
She stuck her lip out more.
"Stop it!"
She widened her eyes more.
"Stop it!" Itachi said pathetically.
She continued to look at him.
"It's not fair!" Itachi yelled.
"All is fair in love and war, Weasel-kun." Felicia said, pouncing on him, and planting a big kiss on his lips. Her pounce pulled him to the ground. She held him to the ground and stared into his two black eyes. "And that's the way I like it."
Itachi smiled. "It seems you haven't changed much."
"Well, like I said all those years ago, I like things to remain constant, I've had enough change in my life."
Someone coughed.
Both Itachi and Felicia looked to where the sound came from and found Naruto. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said.
"Nope, we were just finishing a spar." Felicia said as she got up, and helped Itachi to his feet.
"That's good, because I need both of you to do something for me."
"What?" Itachi asked.
"I need you to substitute for Gaara today. There doing a class on forest hiding and Gaara still can't do that to save his life. Do you think you can do it?"
"Easily." Felicia said.
Itachi looked at her but made no comment against her.
"Thanks, guys." Naruto said before jumping into the canopy of leaves above him.
"You know," Itachi said, "You really should talk to me before you jump for a job."
Felicia smiled mischievously, "What? It the mighty Itachi afraid of a bunch of ten year olds?"
"Sasuke was a handful at six."
"That doesn't mean a thing." Felicia said, her tail flipping through the air, "Kids can get very mature when need be."
"Maturity is not the problem. They're ten. If they're mature ten-year-olds, then they'll act ten. I need them to be over mature."
Felicia shook her head, "Oh come on, you'll like this."
"Yeah, just like the way I love drowning."
Felicia smiled and shook her head as she led Itachi to the school room. "Come on, and be ready to make an entrance, that's always fun."
Itachi grumbled.
Gaara stood in front of his class.
No one breathed.
"Now class, today you are going to work on learning to use your surroundings to make you invisible."
A student raised his hand.
"Yes, Kimyou (Curious)?"
"You said 'you' does that mean that you aren't teaching us today?"
"Correct."
The class let out a collective sigh of relief.
"But," Gaara said.
The class silenced itself.
"If I get so much as one negative word of your behavior, well, let's just say it won't be pretty."
The class collectively gulped.
Gaara smiled, "Now please welcome your sensei for the day." Gaara said, pointing to the door, "Felicia and Uchiha Itachi."
Suddenly, the window behind him shattered, and a black and red form flew into the classroom. It was Felicia in her black battle gear and a cat mask over her face, giving the impression that she was some elite ANBU.
Another window broke behind the class, and they turned to see a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a black trench coat. "Howdy."
Gaara looked at the two of them. He sighed, then turned for the door, "The both of you owe me a window each." He said before exiting the classroom.
Naruto sat at his desk, back to his happy-go-lucky self. In front of him sat a large scroll on seals that one of the Exiles collected while training under several sensei.
Upon asking about what kind of seals they were, Naruto suddenly found himself holding the scroll. "Why don't you just keep it." He had said, "I've got them memorized anyways."
So now Naruto was pouring over them, studding each and every step for the specific strokes of each seal.
It was a very large scroll, filled with hundreds of seals, everything from your basic storage seal to the most complex paralyzing seal.
He now sat over a chakra-storage seal, according to the scroll, it allows the user to store month's worth of chakra at a time, and actually after a while, it began to copy the chakra to practically synthesize more, kind of like a bank account and interest.
The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that he need at least four of them, one at each corner of the Haven.
"Why? You have a practically inexhaustible amount right here." A voice said in his head.
"Well, well, the demon speaks." Naruto thought to the giant fox locked in his stomach. "I haven't heard from you in a long time, Kitsune-teme."
"Well, after what you did to me all those years ago left a sore spot, I just wanted to drop a hint."
"Drop another one and we'll have a repeat of what happened."
Kyuubi growled, "Curse that stupid squid-ox, teaching you that jutsu. You know he never liked to begin with."
"I wonder why."
"Bah, that's what I get for talking to humans like you."
"So then, why did you talk?"
"I'm bored, alright! There is nothing in here! The only thing I can do is measure how long I've been in here with that incessant dripping!"
"Cry me a river, then I'll build a bridge, and then you can get over it. What's the count, by the way?"
"3,000,000,023,793,343,123,479. Sorry, 480."
"So if I found you something to do, would you shut up?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Naruto said, closing his eyes to concentrate. He imagined a large chew toy, taller than himself, and extremely durable.
"Are you kidding me?"He heard Kyuubi say, "I'm not some pooch here, I'm a fox."
"So you don't want it?"
"I never said that." The Fox protested. "I just said that I don't like how you are equating a fox to a dog."
"Do you want the toy or not?"
Kyuubi hesitated, "Yes…?"
"Then take it and shut up."
"Insolent Human!" Kyuubi yelled, "No one talks to me with such a tone!"
"Fine, then I'll just take the toy and-."
"Just kidding!" Kyuubi yelled, "I'm just kidding, I'd never do -."
"Just take the toy and shut up."
"Alright."
Naruto felt the Fox return to the depths of his subconscious, before taking a deep sigh. "That stupid Fox will be the death of me." He whispered under his breath before continuing his research on the seal.
Hinata made her way to Naruto's office, hoping to see if he wasn't busy so she could be with him a bit.
He sandaled feet barely made a sound on the dirt road, and if they did, it wouldn't be heard over the hustle and bustle of the street.
Hinata smiled as she watched the Exiles. They never demanded anything, they barely had any pride, making them, agreeable, and wonderful people. They never judged each other, and always kept stories from getting blown out of proportion. They also kept crime to a minimal, but that was probably because each shop owner knew at least six C-rank jutsu.
"Hey, Hinata-san!" a voice called out behind her. Hinata turned to see a blond haired woman and a tall, dark-skinned man with sunglasses, they both wore a Kumo headband with the Mark of the Exile surrounding the clouds.
"Ah, Yugito-san, Killer Bee-san, what are you guys doing here?"
"We live here, obviously." Yugito said wait a mischievous smile.
Hinata discreatly rolled her eyes. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked.
"Well, figuring that you only know The Outcast, I figured that you needed a friend here, after all, you are going to be living here for who knows how long."
"Can you give me the short version?" Hinata asked, trying not to sound harsh.
"Want to go shop?" Yugito asked.
Hinata looked up to Killer Bee. "Why are we bringing him?"
"Because we need someone to carry all of the bags." Yugito said smiling evilly.
Killer Bee mumbled, "I knew this would turn out bad for me."
Felicia and Itachi stood in the middle of a large clearing on the island. "You're a pretty good teacher, Felicia." Itachi said to her.
"I try." Felicia said, "Alright everyone, you can come out now."
A few faces popped out of the bushes.
Felicia looked at them. "You all fail my little test."
"What?" The kids asked.
Itachi explained, "You just gave away your positions. No matter what, you never give your positions unless directed otherwise by a superior."
"But aren't you are superiors?" one of the kids asked.
"Yes, but Feilica told you specifically before hand to hide from us as if we were enemies."
One of the kids looked very depressed. "She did say that, didn't she?"
"Yes she did." Itachi said with a smile.
Felicia took a quick look around, before pointing to the kids that had revealed themselves, "Alright, you guys, try and find your classmates, the one who brings me the most gets an A."
The kids jumped, searching for their teammates. After twenty minutes, Felicia told them to stop, and bring everyone they had found forward. Each child brought at least three classmates, where as one of them brought forth six.
"Very impressive." Felicia said to the first found students. "Now, all students who have just been found, you must try to find the rest of the hidden students. The one who brings me the most gets an A."
The other students jumped into the forest, trying to find the remaining classmates. When they were done, all but one student was accounted for.
"Excellent." Felicia said, smiling. "The exercise is over. Nobu, you get an A+. All those who were found get a B-, except those who found the most, who get the promised A."
Everyone bowed, "Thank you Felicia-sensei, and Itachi-sensei."
When the students left, Felicia turned to Itachi, "So Weasel-kun, was it really that bad?"
Itachi looked at her before closing his eyes and smiling, "It could have been worse."
Killer Bee, stronger than most men, rivaling that of an Ox, was bent under his burden of a thousand bags, containing whatever the girls laid their hands on.
"Ooh, Hinata, look at this comb!"
"Oh, oh, Yugito, you have to see this skirt!"
"Whoa, look at this price!"
"Where?"
This continued on for an hour or so, all the while, Killer Bee felt as if his spine was going to snap.
"Oh my-." Yugito stated as her eyes beheld a beautiful golden necklace, decorated with a gorgeous green emerald, with the Kanji for 'sweet' carefully etched into its face.
"Oh, I want that." Hinata said, pulling out her wallet, only to find it disappointingly empty.
"Don't worry, I'll buy it for you." Yugito said, pulling out her own wallet. She opened it and frowned. "Or I would." She said as she turned the wallet over to reveal it to be bone dry.
Killer Bee thanked whatever deity there is out there for his mercy.
"Oh man, I so want that necklace." Hinata pouted.
"Another day, please." Killer Bee said.
"Oh, fine." Yugito said, "We'll buy it another day, Hinata, but right now, we have to save the poor baby over here."
Naruto took the chakra-storage seal, or CSS as he called to the eastern corner of the Haven, there, he found a very large tree and placed the small piece of paper to before whispering something. The Seal glowed red and the paper slowly merged with the tree, leaving only the ink seal visible.
With a satisfactory smile and nod, Naruto turned southward to put up the last CSS.
As he was walking down the street at a leisurely pace, one of the shop owners, a woman of about thirty years, came up to him. "Excuse me, Outcast-sama?"
"Yes?" He asked.
"The Hyuuga girl, she is precious to you correct?"
"Absolutely." Naruto said.
"Well, earlier today, she, Yugito-sama and Killer Bee-sama came by earlier today, shopping. They came into my store and Hyuuga-san found a necklace that she really wanted, but she had spent all of her money earlier today."
"Really, can I see the necklace in question?"
"Of course, this way if you please."
The next day, Hinata climbed the gigantic tree that held Naruto's office. She wanted to ask him about a job, since she was a little low on cash.
When she got up to the catwalk that went halfway around the tree before coming to his office, she couldn't help but think of that necklace. When she came to the cloth-covered doorway, she knocked on the doorframe, in case Naruto was doing something.
"Come in." Naruto voice said.
Hinata walked in to find Naruto working at his desk, doing a very small amount of paperwork, and by small I mean a few sheets, Naruto was the envy of every Kage at that moment.
"Oh, hey Hinata." Naruto said, putting his pen down, "What can I do for you?"
"Well, is there a mission I can take, 'cause I'm a little short on cash."
Naruto smiled, "You know, selling yourself to another village could be seen as treason." He laughed, "Nah, I'm just kidding." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag. "Here." He said.
Hinata looked confused for a second. "But I didn't do a mission."
Naruto smiled at her, "Because you completed it before I gave it to you."
"What did I do?" she asked, blinking like a deer in the headlights.
"You were being beautiful."
Hinata blushed. "Um, I don't think -."
"Nonsense." Naruto said, "It's my money, I'll give it to whomever I choose."
"But."
"Actually, now that I think about it, something could be done to make you drop-dead gorgeous."
"I-."
"Here," he said, standing up and holding a gold chain in his hand, "Put this on."
She just stared at him, speechless.
"Fine, if you won't I will." He said, holding the necklace by its clasps and very gently placing it around her neck. "There you go." Naruto said, as the necklace naturally draped around her neck. "Now you look all the more beautiful."
Hinata's cheeks looked like they were two red coals. "I-I-I-." She said, her stutter coming back with a vengeance.
Naruto smiled. "Thank you, you may go now."
Hinata's brain was too overloaded to respond to the sudden change, and her body went into autopilot, leading her slowly out of the room, her cheeks almost glowing with her blush.
Naruto smiled as she watched her go. "Well, it's not subtle, but then again, that never was my specialty."
He chuckled to himself and began to go back to his paperwork.
"Well aren't you the little Romeo?" Kyuubi asked.
"One more word and the chew toy is history." Naruto said to his tenent, not even looking up from his paperwork.
Kyuubi shuffled a bit, putting a large paw on the toy. "My chew toy." He said to himself.
End of Chapter! Yeah! numbah 11 is up!