"Good," Taryn looked at her students one by one, "let's see what we need to work on. We have Caves, Konoha and Mist. Did you come across any of them in the Forest of Death?"

The Genin shook their heads.

"Well," Daro said, "we ran into Hanabi-chan, but we didn't fight."

"Hanabi uses Byakugan," Taryn nodded, "and from what I've heard she's quite skilled. We have that part covered though. You can train with me for that. It's the others I'm concerned about. Especially Caves. We don't know much about them." She sighed. "This month is not just about training. You need to find out as much as possible about your opponents. All of them. If you pass the first round in the melee, you'll face another opponent and it could be any one of the others." She paused. "Even your own teammate. Keep that in mind."

The boys stared at each other stunned. They hadn't even thought about that.

Taryn smiled. "Don't worry about that just yet though. If it should happen. Make it a good fight. Alright? Now, for individual training..." she looked at Daro, "I want you to train with that signature jutsu of yours. So that means chakra control training. I don't care if it's boring. It will help you. Kuro, we'll train your wind jutsu, yes? And Hiro... keep a clear head and focus. Use your summons only when you have no other choice. Your water jutsu is strong. Use it to your advantage, okay? Remember, you'll need long range jutsu against Hanabi."

"Yes sensei," the boys agreed.

Taryn sighed. "Okay," she said thoughtfully, "let's focus on your first opponents for the time being."

She looked at Kuro. "Mist shinobi are most likely to use water based jutsu. Could you train with Hiro for a while? Hiro, only use your water jutsu, okay?" She looked at Daro. "I can't help you with Caves. I don't know a thing about them. So until we find out more, I'll help you with your chakra control, alright?"

Daro nodded. "Yes sensei."

"Okay," Taryn said. She looked at all three students. "First we need a secure place to train. And I know just the spot."

***

"Did you find them yet?"

There was a sigh. "I've barely started sifting through chakras. Give me some time, Suzu."

Suzume's cheeks puffed out as she pouted.

"Maybe they aren't in the village right now," Akira suggested, "maybe they decided to go somewhere else for training."

"Maybe..." Ken resorted to closing his eyes. They flashed open a few moments after and he pointed in his target's direction, "there. Come on. If we can get closer, I can pin point their exact location."

Suzume popped up from her seat on the ledge of a rooftop where they had all met up earlier. "Great! Thanks again Ken."

Ken looked away to hide the light blush on his face when Suzume had smiled brightly at him.

Akira snickered, but chose to say nothing that would cause any delay in their time to find and catch up to the group they were searching for. "Weird..." he said after Ken had reported on the target location, "why would they be training here of all places?"

"I guess it kinda does make sense," Ken said, "no one ever comes here anymore. Not since the massacre..."

The place was so quiet, but as they carefully walked down the roads, with Ken leading the way, they began to make out the sounds of what seemed to be fighting. There were sounds of water splashing, kunai clashing, grunts, and panting.

"Okay guys, I'm stopping here," Ken turned on his heels, "and don't pester them too much Suzume. They're getting ready for the finals you know—Hey!" Ken gagged when an arm wrapped around his neck, yanking him backwards.

"Aw, but you seemed to finally get along with them the last time we all got together," Akira grinned as he and Suzume proceeded forward, with Ken having to walk backwards.

"Let go Akira! I don't wanna!"

Suzume laughed. "Oh, stop whining, Ken. It'll be great!"

***

"Focus," Taryn said while she monitored Daro's jutsu with her Byakugan, "you're using too much chakra."

Daro took a deep breath and tried to adjust the level of chakra he was pouring into his Ox.

"Still too much," Taryn said and she brushed his arm with Gentle Fists.

Daro gasped as his chakra dropped, forcing him to break the jutsu. He gasped and his shoulders dropped in defeat. "I'm never gonna get this right."

"Of course you will," Taryn said, "you've only been trying for an hour. Perfecting a jutsu takes years, but you will at least get some more control over it by the time the Finals start. Take a break, okay?"
She turned to her other two students who were panting heavily.

Kuro was having trouble deflecting Hiro's water blades. He was whipping his chain in order to slam them out of the way.

Taryn looked at it puzzled. It was a shame Kuro was paired up against Mist. The boy wasn't exactly strong against water based jutsu.

"Tidal Wave!" Hiro said and a gulf of water flushed over Kuro.

Kuro gasped and dropped to the ground. He slowly sat up and spit out some of the water he had taken in.

"Sorry," Hiro apologized and he helped his friend to his feet.

"It's okay," Kuro coughed. He supported himself on his knees. "I need a break."

"I think we all need a break," Taryn declared. She glanced over her shoulder as she felt three familiar chakra signatures get close. "We have guests."

"Hi!" Suzume waved, a light blush over her face as she smiled, "hope we aren't interrupting anything."

"Isn't it obvious, we are?" Ken muttered, letting out a sigh soon after. Suzume sure wasn't shy anymore about joining a crowd. He gave a small shake of his head with a light smile on his face.

"You're not interrupting," Hiro said shyly while Daro glared at Ken suspiciously for a moment.

Taryn smiled. "Hello Ken. And... Suzume... and Akira, right?"

Ken couldn't help but turn red in the face. He promptly glanced off to the side to try and hide it. "Hi Taryn."

"Yeah, that's right!" Akira grinned, "Suzume wanted to say hi, so we came along."

"Dragged along..." Ken was still red in the face, and he coughed into his hand, speaking more clear for the group of Sand to hear. "So, how goes the training?" The topic was purposely changed to avoid more embarrassment for himself.

"We'll get there," Taryn sighed. She looked at her worn-out students, "we have time."

"Are you guys nervous?" Akira ventured to ask, "I mean, you got Hanabi, then there is Mist."

Suzume elbowed Akira lightly when she saw the Suna boys tense up from the comment. "Akira..." she gave a light growl, "not helping."

Akira gave an apologetic smile. "Right, sorry guys. I didn't mean to unsettle anyone."

Ken glanced at the three, noting that they were nervous. He could tell from the way their chakras flickered.

Taryn noticed the same thing. "They'll be fine,"  she said confident, trying to assure her students. She glanced at the three Chuunin. They would know a lot about the other competitors. She couldn't openly ask them for help, but... "Will you three be proctoring for the Finals too?" Maybe she could wiggle some information from them nonetheless.

"Yamanaka-san is going to be the main match proctor," Suzume replied, "but we'll be around to help out if needed."

"Yeah, so if anything gets out of hand during a match, we'll be there to help stop it." Ken assured, having finally regained his normal complexion.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Taryn asked concerned.

"No, it's just...well, we're being wary," Ken put carefully so as not to cause any panic, "Caves isn't exactly a village we've had a good first impression or meeting with."

Behind Taryn Daro flinched, but Taryn saw her chance and ignored her student for the time being. "Really? How so? You don't think they will start anything, do you? It's their first time attending after all." 

"Oh, yeah," Akira mused, "you're fighting one of them...Daro's the one, right?"

Daro gave a stiff nod. "Yeah."

"It's good to stay on your toes with them. The ones we've faced in the past were tricky."

"Yeah, they were twins though and had used it to their advantage," Suzume added, "water and earth based jutsu were their thing. Some pretty advanced stuff, too."

"They liked to use bats in combat too," Ken further supplied.

"Water and Earth?" Taryn said puzzled.

"Bats?" Hiro squeaked.

"It makes sense if you think about it," Ken held a calculating expression, "I mean, they're from Caves and what do you find in caves? Water pools and bats. Their village, the Village Hidden in the Caverns, and the country of Caves itself, is a neighboring country to Rock. I wouldn't be surprised if they date back to Iwa."

"Possibly," Taryn mused. She frowned in thought. It did make sense. She wasn't concerned about the Water and Earth. Daro had enough experience with those, but bats were nasty creatures. "Thanks," she told Ken, "I'll keep it in mind."

"Hey, don't worry," Akira gave Daro a small pat on the back with an assuring grin, "we'll be on the scene quick if things get nasty. Besides, you've got that pretty cool jutsu we saw you use."

"Yeah. Sure..."  Daro said, not so certain at all.

"I know you'll do great," Akira's grin grew wider, "as a fellow earth user, and coming from someone, who at your age, wasn't even up to half the level of strength you have, I have confidence in you."

Suzume giggled. "You should have seen him. You're so lucky that Akio-sensei has so much patience, Akira."

Ken also couldn't help but chuckle as he pointed his thumb over to Akira. "Yeah, this block head couldn't keep himself clean. His earth attacks would always implode all over him. We had started to wonder if he really did have an affinity for earth like Hatake-san said."

"See," Akira also laughed, "compared to me, you're like a genius."

Daro perked up at Akira's statement. "You really think so?"

Taryn smiled. "Thanks," she mouthed at the three of the, making sure Daro wouldn't see.

Ken smiled back. "Yeah, you've got some pretty impressive chakra." He then glanced over to his team who were also smiling from ear to ear and nodding their heads.

"What about me?" Hiro grinned, leaning his hand behind his head.

Another giggle erupted from Suzume as she leaned forward towards the sandy-blonde. "Apart from being cute, your pretty strong too. A water user right? Technically I'm one too. Haha, maybe that's why I like you so much."

Ken nearly fell on his face, and while standing no less, at his crush's words to the Suna boy. You could practically feel the heat of jealousy radiating off of him.

Akira laughed, holding up his hands. "Hey, none of that, Ken. You know how Suzume is." He then leaned in to whisper, "you know she likes you."

Ken's face wasn't red from jealousy anymore, but rather, from embarrassment.

Hiro turned beat red. "Y-y.... wh... huh?"

Taryn bit back a laugh. These three sure made things interesting. Her eyes glinted with amusement. Perhaps a bit of distraction was exactly what her students needed. She sighed, suddenly feeling sad as she remembered her own Chuunin Exams. She had been a few years younger than her two teammates and she regretted that she had never been as close with them as her students, and Hisayo's, seemed to be. It was too late now. Kodan had died in battle while she was still in exile, and Inari was no longer active as a shinobi and had left the village years ago.

The student's all laughed, or chuckled lightly at Hiro's reaction to the little red-head. Ken came to an unnoticed stop in his chuckles as he caught onto a sadness mix into the all the happiness that surrounded them all. He put in a bit of concentration, finding it to be coming from Taryn. She was smiling, but now that he studied her more, he found it to be sad, just like her chakra was now. Not wishing to put a damper on everyone else's mood, he kept quiet, leaving Taryn to herself for now. He wasn't sure why she would be so sad like she was. Perhaps she was just nervous for Daro, Hiro, and Kuro. He understood if that was the case. Hisayo had been that way when they had all gone through the exams. Akira's near brush with death in the final round during their first go at the exams was a strong reminder of why any sensei would be nervous.

Taryn felt the boy's eyes on her and turned to meet his gaze. Not for the first time, she wondered if his sensor skills were stronger than he let on. He seemed to sense a lot more than mere chakra. In the way he was studying her, it seemed like he knew exactly what she was thinking. It unsettled her a little, but she hid it, not willing to let him know. She forced her smile to widen and turned back to her students. "We should really get back to training. We still have a few hours left before dark."

Ken's head snapped away from Taryn, his face lightly dusted with a rosy tint; and thankfully, no one seemed to notice but Taryn.

"Right, sorry for taking up so much of your time," Suzume gave an apologetic smile, "good luck by the way."

"Yeah, we'll see you guys next time at the arena," Akira grinned.

"Bye," Daro grinned and Kuro waved.

Hiro's face was still a bit red and he muttered a farewell greeting.

Taryn watched until the three were out of sight and turned back to her students. "Okay. Switch up. Kuro and Daro now. Hiro, you'll train with me. Let's see how well you do against Byakugan."

Her students nodded seriously and took position. Seconds later, the sound of battle was the only thing being heard.

***

Akio couldn't help but to chuckle as soon as he saw his daughter stiffen at the mention of Taryn. At least her reactions had improved. Usually he would see her canine show from a small sneer.

Her eyes closed and she bit at the bottom of her lip a bit.

"Aw, Hisayo. She isn't that bad at all."

Hisayo's eyes shot open. "And you would know, how?"

"I had the pleasure of escorting her to the tower after the second exam. No stop giving me that look. It's making me feel so unloved!" Akio let out a small fake cry and sniffle.

"There's something off about her."

"Hmm, I wouldn't say that there's something 'off' per say."

"Have you forgotten about the fact that she has connections to Itachi?"

Akio's eyes grew serious, but they were not unkind. "You of all people should know better than to pass judgment on others, Hisayo."

Hisayo went a bit red in the face over the reprimand, but remained quiet.

"Everyone has a past—a reason for what they have done. They do what they must to protect those they care about, even if it means taking the fall for things that were out of their control."

"Forgive me, father," she finally spoke after a moment of silence to chew over Akio's words.

Akio smiled, putting a hand to her head. "Just try to be nice. I'm sure you'll find her to be quite a friend if you give yourselves the chance to know each other."

"I...guess." She remembered many instances, just then, of people she had had a rocky start with, and later being on good terms with—friends even. 'It's not like it's the end of the world if I were to be more...civil with her.' Why was she being so stubborn when really, if she were to look back on all their meetings up to now, that Taryn hadn't done anything to gain such distain from her. 'It's because I'm being stubborn...and...jealous...' She was really unimpressed with herself. It had never been like her before to let anyone get to her unless it was over the sensitive topic of her birth, or if someone was causing trouble for Naruto due to his own birth.
Hisayo let out a sigh as she reclined back into the comfy sofa of her home. 'I'm acting far more emotional than normal and it's all because I've gotten so attached to everyone.' But she smiled lightly to herself. It wasn't anything bad at all.

***

All three boys were dragging their feet while on the way back to their temporary apartment. They had been training for hours, all they wanted now was sleep.

"This is like our first few weeks out of the academy," Daro groaned, "everything hurts."

The only response he received from his two teammates were groans.

Taryn looked at them over her shoulder. "You can get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow will be better. I'll focus on individual training while the other two can watch. I need you to study and analyze each battle and come up with alternative tactics, alright?"

The three boys nodded warily, the first sentence being the only one that got completely through to them at the moment.

Suddenly Taryn came to a halt. She focused on something to her left.

"What is it sensei?" Kuro asked.

Taryn pressed a finger against her lips and motioned towards the training grounds. 'Hanabi's team,' she realized.

The others had noticed too and moved closer to Taryn. "Can we spy on them?" Hiro asked softly.

A smile crossed Taryn's face. "Why don't you go find out for yourself?" she asked.

The boys looked at her confused.

"Consider this a part of your training," Taryn continued, "the whole idea is to prepare for the finals next month. You heard what the proctor said. You need to use this month wisely. This is an opportunity for you to see how much your skills have improved. You had to use it on your written exam too, isn't that right?" She smiled. "I'm not going to help you with this. It's up to you. Let's see if you can avoid Hanabi's Byakugan. If it's activated she will spot you. If you've paid attention, you'll know how to deal with that. Good luck."

The three boys exchanged looks and nodded. Tired as they were, they knew they couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. It could give them a major advantage if they learned about their opponents strategies.
They stopped a moment to discuss their strategies.

Taryn watched it with great interest. It wasn't like she was leaving them on their own. They really did need to be able to pull it off without her help if they wanted a shot at becoming Chuunin.

Daro thought for a moment. "What are Byakugan's weak spots?" he asked his friends.

Kuro thought for a moment as he recalled everything he had picked up on the jutsu. "It can't see directly behind," he said.

"Right," Hiro nodded, "so if we stay behind her we should be alright."

"But we have to consider her teammates too," Kuro said, "we can't forget about them and we don't know what they're capable of. For all we know there could be a sensor among them."

"How likely is that?" Daro asked, "if they already have Byakugan on their team?"

"Anything is possible," Kuro said.

"What if we put it to the test?" Hiro said, "we can send one of my summons out first. Like I did on the written exam. If they spot one of my hawks, we'll know. We can come in from the other side and stay out of Byakugan's reach."

Daro considered it for a moment. "No," he said, "I think not all of us should go. Only one of us. Less chance of getting detected and spying is supposed to be a solo mission."

"So who then?" Kuro asked.

Daro bit his lip. "I think Hiro should go. He's the one to fight Hanabi and none of us is up against her other teammates. We can analyze their skills on the finals."

"Me?" Hiro choked out.

"You can do it," Daro said, "besides, they're your summons."

...

Ebisu smirked as he pushed his shades up higher on the bridge of his nose. He didn't expect anything less from his students. They were being taught by the best after all. He was a special Jounin—the best—the most qualified to—

"You're in the way."

Ebisu ungracefully scuttled out of the way as Hanabi's Kaiten grew in size. He let out a huff as the Hyuuga finished her move, sending her two teammates (and almost him) to the ground.

"You're both still too slow to act," Hanabi scolded as she looked down to her two teammates, before glancing over to her 'Sensei'—more like an unneeded attendant in her eyes, but she was told that she had to tolerate him until she rose in rank to Chuunin—a feat she knew she would be accomplishing soon. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since our 'Elite' Sensei, has more or less continued
to only take up space and be in the way."

Ebisu nearly tipped over, quickly regaining his composure and adjusting his shades once more. "My dear Hanabi-sama, I assure you that I am doing my job as your sensei and that I take great pride and interest in you and your team's future success. Why else would the Hokage and your own father even, have selected me as your teacher?"

Hanabi only rose an unimpressed brow. "Because the Hokage has no other place for you to take up and because my father was bribed by the Hokage to keep his mouth shut."

Tengai and Itsuki both snickered as Ebisu finally fell over into the dirt.

"That's not true!" Ebisu exclaimed, red in the face.

'Wow,' Hiro thought as he flattened himself against a tree, 'Hanabi's sensei is even more arrogant than her. But she's awfully rude.' He wouldn't dream of treating Taryn-sensei that way.Then again, Taryn would make sure he would regret it if he ever did speak to her like that.
He sweatdropped as he took out a small hand mirror to look around the tree. He was very careful not to make a sound, knowing that at least Hanabi would have good senses. 'That spinning jutsu, Kaiten, is very impressive. She is definitely better at it than Taryn-sensei. I need to come up with something to stop it. The question is, how do I do that?' One of the young Hyuuga's greatest weaknesses was definitely her pride. He had to find a way to use that against her.
Quickly he moved location as Hanabi shifted, so that he stayed behind her and out of Byakugan's reach. Just to be on the safe side, he had lowered his chakra to near to nothing. His eyes shifted to one of his smaller hawks who peered down at the team from a branch up ahead. 'No one seems to have noticed him yet. I wonder if that's another flaw in Byakugan...' He returned his attention to the team of Genin. He had to find out more.

"Can we take a break now, Hanabi-sama?" Tengai hoped his teammate would finally let them have a break. They had been at it for hours.

Ituski rubbed at his sore side where Kaiten had clipped him...several times. "Yeah, a little rest couldn't hurt."

Hanabi turned away. "Do whatever you want. I'm going to keep training."

Hiro gritted his teeth as he saw Hanabi's teammates take a break and he knew that was his cue to go or else he would get noticed. He nodded at his hawk and the bird disappeared. Hiro made some quick hand signs and flickered away from the scene to return to his teammates.

"You learn something?" Daro asked when his friend reappeared.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah. Not much though. Her teammates were just taking a break and I didn't want to get detected." He glanced at Taryn. "Sensei? Does Byakugan have more weak spots, other than directly behind?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Taryn answered, "why?"

"I had one of my hawks sit above them and they didn't notice."

Taryn considered this thoughtfully. "It could be just a flaw of Hanabi's. They weren't expecting anything from above. We will try it out tomorrow. Anything else?"

"I want to know how to stop Kaiten."

Taryn nodded. "We can work on that too." She eyed him carefully. "But I think you three have worked enough for the day. Let's go get some sleep." She smiled. She was impressed by how they dealt with this little challenge. It was quick thinking and teamwork. If they kept this up, they would be a force to be reckoned with in the finals.

***

Tsunade flipped through the list of Daimyos she was supposed to send out the letters of invitation to for the final round of the exams. From behind her, looking over her shoulder, was Shizune, being the wonderful assistant she was and making sure her Hokage wasn't slacking over such an important matter.

"Hm....hmmm..." Tsunade tossed some of the half written letters over with a small growl. "That's enough writing for this evening." She began to stand up.

"W-wait, but Lady Tsunade!" Shizune quickly followed the woman out of the office, "but you haven't finished a single one! These need to be sent off before the end of the week!"

"Oh, calm down, Shizune. I have plenty of time. And I'm only going out for a small drink."

"It's never just a small drink with you," Shizune flinched back and swallowed nervously, feeling a cold sweat pour over her as Tsunade turned to her with a grunt.

"What was that, Shizune?"

"I...I said...to enjoy your evening, Milady!" Shizune held in her breath.

Tsunade smiled brightly, "Why thank you Shizune, I think I will!"

Shizune let out her held breath quite loudly in her relief.

...

Tsunade slammed down her fifth drink when the dark haired man stepped into the bar. She didn't pay him much attention at first. He was a regular at the bar and knew how to hold his own. But when he sat down at her table she narrowed her eyes at him, a faint suspicion making its way through her fogged brain. "What do you want Nakamura?"

"Aw, what's this? And here I just thought you'd like to share a drink with me." Akio
held up a bottle with a sweet smile on his face.

"You can save that innocent smile for Hisayo, Akio. I know you're up to something. I know that look on your face."

Akio chuckled as he sat himself down. "You got me. I guess I cut right to the chase then. It's been brought to my attention that you, Ms. Slug Queen, are neglecting some very important work. So I thought I'd persuade you to get right to work."

Tsunade settled her eyes on Shizune who was nervously hovering at the entrance. When the woman met the Hokage's eyes, she gave a sheepish smile.
Tsunade growled and focused on Akio. "Work is boring." She raised a hand to get the bartenders attention so she could order another drink.

Akio took the top off of his bottle and poured the woman a drink, "Ah, yes, you are right. So, how about we play a quick game to take your mind off it for a while?" Still Akio was smiling.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Game?"

"Yes, a game, but no worries, I'll make it worth your while."

This sparked Tsunade's interest. "What did you have in mind?"

Akio inwardly smirked at finally catching the woman's interest. It would make pulling this off much easier, just as Shizune had told him. "I bet you that you can't keep up with me in a game of drinks—though it has been awhile, so forgive me if I happen to puke everywhere after. Now as for the game...Shizune, would you be so kind to give us a word that is not allowed to be spoken?"

"Er,  sure..." Shizune timidly drew closer to the two and thought a moment. "Um...how about...sake?" She knew Tsunade would have a hard time not uttering that word.

"Ah, good choice. Now, for the duration of this game, you will add another word every...five minutes. If either of us speaks the word in any form, we must drink. The list of taboo words will grow making the game more interesting. Tsunade, do you agree to this friendly game?" Akio glanced over to the woman with eyes lit in a cunning smile.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him, sparked with interest. "And what's the gain?" she asked, "what if I win?"

"I'll be the one that deals with your workload during the remainder of the Chunin Exams. I'll do the paperwork, the letters of invitation—whatever needs to be handled that you don't want to do yourself. But if I win, then starting first thing tomorrow morning, you handle everything without any 'breaks'—starting with those letters of invitation."

Shizune's eyes went wide, "Nakamura-san," she whispered, "are you sure that's really a good idea? What if she wins?"

Akio glanced down at the dark haired woman and chuckled, "Don't worry. I may not look it, but I can hold my own."

"You're on!" Tsunade said fiercely. She was already thinking about what to do with her free time. She rubbed her hands. "Bartender! Your biggest bottle of sake! I have a game to win!"

"And that, Lady Hokage, is your first drink!" Akio laughed, "better watch yourself now. Barely two minutes in and you're already spewing the forbidden word."

"That one doesn't count Nakamura," Tsunade growled, "I wasn't ready yet."

Akio gave a sheepish smile, "Fine, fine, I'll let that first one be a freebie, but the game officially starts now."

Tsunade smirked. "You're going down, Nakamura."

"Aw, now let's not get too serious. Let's just enjoy ourselves a bit. So...what were you up too anyway, before I showed up?"

"Drinking," Tsunade answered, "what else is there to do in a bar?" She grinned.

Akio quirked an eyebrow. It seemed he'd have to be more cunning in the game of words to get the woman to slip up. "Of course. I suppose I'm already feeling the drinks from earlier. See, such a light weight I am."

"What is it you're drinking anyway?"  Tsunade eyed the glass in Akio's hand.

"Why, this is the best sake this side of Konoha! Care for a taste?"

"You just said the taboo word." Shizune brought to the man's attention.

Akio blinked before a chuckle left him. "Indeed I have." He soon threw back a drink with a content sigh. "Now that's some good stuff!"

Tsunade let out a soft laugh. This was going to be easier than she had thought. "You're right about that," she said.

"The second word is 'glass'," Shizune announced. She eyed the two drinkers warily. She sure hoped Akio knew what he was doing.

"Another good pick, Shizune." Akio praised, before starting up a real conversation this time. "So that Taryn Desertstorm. I can see she's got herself quite the reputation in this village. Hisayo hasn't been too keen on her either. It's unfortunate really. Those two could be good friends if given a proper chance."

Tsunade's eyes turned serious. "Taryn's life hasn't been easy and the decisions she's made weren't always welcomed by everyone. Perhaps she deserves the way people treat her, perhaps not. Who's to say? Kakashi seems to vouch for her. They're very close." She leaned back in her seat. "Is that what has Hisayo so on edge?"

Akio couldn't help but let a small grin show as he rolled his eyes a bit. "Perhaps. She has been pretty moody lately ever since she first met her. Even I've been subjected to a snap or two made by her in regards to Taryn."

Tsunade shrugged. "The Chuunin Exams are almost over. Just a few more weeks and Taryn will be back in Suna. Unless she decides to stay a while with her family. You do know she's related to the Hyuuga clan, right?"  

"Indeed. One of her students is matched up with one of them I hear...Hmm," Akio inspected his sake bottle and frowned, "I think there's a chip on the mouth of the bottle. I hope my sake isn't ruined, but I do have a good reliable medic on hand to help me out if I accidentally swallow some glass." Akio gave a bright closed eyed smile.

"That's two against you, Nakamura-san," Shizune sighed in defeat. This was going to be a disaster.
Tsunade smirked. "Keep that up Nakamura and you'll be in my office in no time."

Akio sniffled. "Awww, but I want to win!" He pouted before throwing back two more.

"Hokage is the next word to the list," Shizune seemed to groan in agony over the current score.

"Don't worry, Akio,"  Tsunade said content, "the evening is young. There's enough sake to go around."

"That's right! I still have a chance at winning! Prepare to be stuck with all that paperwork!" Akio passed over Tsunade her drink.

Tsunade glared at him as she downed her drink. "It's still three against one," Tsunade said, "and don't look so happy about it. It's hard work being Hokage! Everyone wants something from you all the time! I don't have a moment's peace. I can't even have a glass of sake in between to relax without someone snatch it from me."

"And I believe that puts me in the lead now." Akio grinned as he waved over to the bartender for extra glasses. He then poured the three Tsunade was due to drink.

"Next word is 'drink'," Shizune chimed, happy now with this turn in events.

***

She stopped walking a moment, letting out a sigh as she looked around and tried testing the air for any fresh scent of the man she was searching for, but to no avail. The streets were littered with people, and the irritating smells of smoke and alcohol filled bars. Sniff too much and she was sure she'd turn
greener than Guy's infamous jumpsuit.

"Sure, I'll be home. We can put together a great dinner and invite Naruto," Hisayo muttered the famous last words Akio had told her earlier that day. What she had come home to was a dark and empty apartment.

"Now what's this, developing a habit of talking to yourself now, Hisayo?"

Hisayo frowned, her face tinted pink in embarrassment as she glanced over to her left at the masked man that had shown up out of the blue.

"No, I was just wondering where I could find Akio. He said he'd be home and he isn't. His trail ended about three blocks back. Have you seen him around?"

Kakashi put a finger to his chin. "Hmm, no. Can't say I have. But why don't I give you a hand with the search?"

Hisayo nodded, and continued on her way. "I know he sometimes goes out to the bars around here with his friends from the academy, but he'll usually tell me. It's a bit strange that he'd suddenly come here."

"Maybe he didn't have a choice?"

"Akio may be a tease and a bit of a pushover at times, be he'd at least leave me a note to let me know what is going on." It was then that the sound of Tsunade's voice was heard, bellowing out from one of the bars. Cheering seemed to be going on as well.

"What's going on in there?" Hisayo asked aloud as she and Kakashi made their way to the building.

"Whatever it is, if Lady Tsunade is involved, then it can't be anything shy of a drunken game of dice of other," Kakashi lazily pointed out as the two finally stepped through the threshold of the cheering people.

Hisayo and Kakashi both blinked as they witnessed not only Tsunade happily drinking away and singing at her table, but Akio as well. "Hit me up with anoooother one. Bartender, hit me up!"

Tsunade sang away.

"That now makes for another, Barrrrtender, hit me up as wellllll!!" Akio sang alongside Tsunade before they both chugged back another drink each.

"Next rrrrrrrrround'zzz on m-me," Tsunade hiccupped. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oopzzzz." She let out an overly loud laugh. "Shhhhhhhhiiiii-zz-unne. What'zzz the scoooore?"

"I'm in the lead, the lead, the lead! Watch out Hokage-ssssa-sama," He hiccupped, "Haha, oops! Make that twen-twenty to nine!"

"That's  twenty—hic! Nine!"

"I'm still winny!" Akio teased.

A vein twitched over Hisayo's head, prompting Kakashi to take a wise step away from her. "Now, Hisayo, let's take it easy. I'm sure there's a good reason behind this scene. Right, Shizune?"

The woman in question sweat-dropped when she saw Hisayo standing by Kakashi, electricity looking to be ready to strike within the bar. "Well, you see, Lady Tsunade was adamant about skipping out on important duties and I just knew Nakamura-san would be able to help me out."

"By getting drunk?" Hisayo was not impressed.

"I told him Milady is easily swayed by the prospects of gambling and he drew her into this game you see? A taboo of words. Milady is currently losing."

"Interesting," Kakashi rose his brow, "what happens if she loses?"

"She has to return to her duties without fuss and complete everything that needs to be done for the exams."

Hisayo's eyes narrowed, "And if she wins?"

"Nakamura-san has to do everything then."

Hisayo brushed passed the assistant, going straight for Tsunade. There was no way Akio would win. She'd never seen him make it past seven drinks.

Tsunade was the first to discover the white haired kunoichi. "Ah llllook, Aaaakio, there's Hizzzzzayooo now. And Kakakakakakahsi is with heeer. Zeeeee? N-nothin'  to worrrry about. A cute l-little couple." Her voice was so loud that it could probably be heard three houses over.

Hisayo's face turned beet red, an eyebrow twitching, her teeth gritting hard as she had flinched back at the woman's loud statement. The bar, filled with drunks cheered, giving whistles and hoots all across the bar.

"Oh boy," Kakashi was red as well, with a very large bead of sweat hanging at the back of his head, "this is not going to end well."

Shizune looked to Kakashi curiously. "What do you—"

Sparks of lightning crackled around Hisayo, her face not red in just embarrassment anymore, but anger and irritation as well. The people nearest to her were scrambling for cover behind chairs and over counters. A light just over head, broke with a loud crack. Meanwhile, Tsunade was simply laughing away, obviously having had far too much to drink.

"H-heeeeeey," Tsunade slurred, "who turned off the lllllllights?"

"I'll tell you who." Hisayo charged a lightning laced fist and brought it up to turn out Tsunade's lights. Her actions however where cut short when her first was caught by a gloved hand, and her shoulders being gently pulled back by a haori covered arm.

"Aw, now don't go spoiling everyone's fun, Hisayo." Akio smiled, "she was only playing."

Kakashi chuckled. "Were you really drinking?"

Akio chuckled along, "Of course I've been drinking. I'm up to twenty rounds! Ah, guess that makes it twenty-two now since I spoke a few taboo words." He sweat-dropped.

"Let go of me now—both of you," Hisayo demanded, having calmed down enough not to be emitting electricity anymore.

"If we do, promise not to attack anyone? She was only joking." Akio tried to smooth the situation over further.

"Drunk people tend to speak the truth."

"So is it true to you then?" Akio asked.

Hisayo promptly shut her mouth and looked away to the ground. "Let's just go home. We were supposed to have dinner with Naruto. Guess it's too late now though."

A bang made the three of them look up. Behind them Tsuande's head had made contact with the table. The latest glass of sake tipped over and its content dripping to the ground.

Shizune looked on in blinking disbelief, before she grinned, "Nakamura-san, you've won! You really did it!"

"I told you not to worry, Shizune. Now I'll be checking in to make sure she holds up to her end of the deal. Have a good night!"

"I still can't believe you're not feeling sick after drinking so much. You barely get to seven before you have to stop." Hisayo frowned.

"Who ever thought I'd stop because I couldn't continue? I'd just choose to stop. There is a difference there, Hisayo," Akio grinned.

"Unbelievable," Kakashi chuckled, as he saw Akio begin to walk out of the bar, "it seems like it's been a while though, Akio. Need a hand?"

Akio gave a light-hearted snort, "I'm drunk, I'm not an old man, Kakashi."

***

"Ugh, my stomach." A large hungry growl only solicited another hungry moan from the blond Genin as he continued to walk in the direction of the ramen bar for breakfast the next morning.
Naruto had made it to Hisayo's and Akio's place for dinner like planned last night, only to find an envelope with his name on it posted on the door with a small paper inside that was signed by Hisayo, apologizing for having to cancel their plans. Apparently she had to go on some self-appointed mission to hunt down her sensei who would soon be in trouble by her once he was found. A few notes had been left inside the envelope as well to pay for his dinner, much to his joy. It seemed Hisayo had really felt bad for the cancelled plans. The money she left for him had paid for eight bowls! He had happily stuffed his face last night. But now, it was morning again, and his stomach was throwing such a fit, as if he hadn't had dinner last night at all. So it had been off to the Ichiraku's for even more ramen.
He turned the corner to the next street, his face crashing into the chest of a slightly older and taller boy. He looked up after hearing a familiar chuckling voice.

"Hey, what's up, Naruto? Daydreaming about ramen?"

Naruto's grin matched the one on Akira's face as he saw not only him, but Ken and Suzume as well. "Hey, I haven't seen you three for a while!"

"We've been busy with the exams. Sorry, Naruto," Suzume gave her sweet smile.

Naruto's face lit up considerably. "Cool! Do you get to tease the Genin and play tricks on them?"

Ken chuckled. "It's not all about fun and games, but yeah, we get to every now and then."

"So where were you off to just now?" Suzume asked.

Akira laughed. "Are you kidding Suzu? He's obviously heading to Old Man Teuchi's place."

"Hey, where are you going?" she then asked as Akira had turned a one eighty and began leading Naruto to the very destination.

"I'm hungry and we don't have anything to do really today, so why not relax and have breakfast with Naruto."

"Really?!" Naruto was beaming, "alright!"

Everyone chuckled at the younger shinobi's excitement.

"Yeah, let's go then," Ken turned to follow too, "I'm feeling hungry too."

"Wait for me guys!" Suzume ran to catch up.

...

"Where did sensei run off to so early?" Hiro asked, "I thought we were supposed to train today."

Kuro shrugged. "I don't know. She didn't leave a note. Should we go look for her?"

Hiro sighed when his stomach gave a loud growl. "Do you know how big Konoha is? And she knows her way around better than we do. If we're going to look for her then I need breakfast first."

Daro rolled his eyes. "Let's go. We can search for sensei and stop for something to eat along the way. Happy now?"

Hiro smirked. "Sounds like a plan."

...

Taryn shrugged her stiff shoulder and walked down the road. Her students had still been asleep and she had decided to let them sleep a little longer.
They had been training so hard yesterday, they could use some rest. It would give her the opportunity to get some training done herself. The Chuunin Exams left little time to spend on her own training schedule. When she was training her students she couldn't exactly go full out, so she had to find another way to keep up.

When she had walked a few feet further, her eyes were drawn to a familiar figure.

Of course.

She had almost forgotten.

He still did visit the Memorial Stone.

Her steps halted and she watched him for a while. Hesitation made its way through her body. Should she go up to him and say hi? He was her friend after all.

But she didn't particularly want to end up in a fight with Hisayo again. It was obvious the white haired kunoichi saw her as some kind of rival.

Just as she decided to keep on walking and pretend she hadn't seen him, the masked shinobi spoke up.

"How long are you planning on standing there staring at me, Taryn?"

Taryn sighed. He hadn't even turned around, but it didn't surprise her that he had noticed her. He always did seem to be aware of her presence.

She walked up to him. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"You're not," he said. His eyes stayed trimmed on the Memorial Stone and he sighed. After a few more seconds he turned to her. "How are your students coping?"

"They're still asleep," Taryn said, "I decided to leave them alone a little longer and have breakfast before I wake them up."

A small smile made Kakashi's eye crinkle. "Why don't I join you?" he asked, "I was just about to head into town myself. And we haven't really had time to catch up."

"I wonder why," Taryn sweat-dropped. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?" she asked, "I'm not ready to get skewered by your girlfriend."

"Come on Taryn," Kakashi said, "she's not that bad. You two just have to get to know each other. Besides, I thought you two decided to be civil with each other."

Taryn closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine, but if we run into her, then it's on you."

Kakashi smiled again. "Don't worry about it. It will be fine, you'll see."

...

Hiro's stomach gave a loud growl and then another. Kuro sweat-dropped at the sound. "Seriously?"

"What? I can't help that I'm hungry. It's breakfast time. I'm always hungry in the morning."

"Not just in the morning," Daro chuckled.

Hiro glared at him, but then smirked when his friend's stomach started growling too. "Look who's talking."

"Alright," Kuro sighed, "I suppose we can stop for a quick snack before we continue looking for sensei."

"Best idea of the day," Hiro agreed eagerly.

"The day has only just started though," Daro noted.

Hiro shrugged. "So? That doesn't make it any less true. And we're close to Ichiraku's."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Daro asked.

"Breakfast," Hiro grinned widely and started off towards the ramen bar.

...

"So I don't know if I want my usual pork ramen or if should go with something like chicken. Or maybe I should get the pork and double up on the miso."

Akira chuckled. "Why don't you just get all three? That's what I'd do."

Suzume and Ken sweat-dropped. "Someone's going to get faaat," Ken snickered.

Akira had clearly heard it, though, and his head whipped around. "I dare ya to say that again!" he flared.

Suzume smiled sweetly, but all three could feel her aura growing agitated already. "Guys, it's a little early for that kind of thing this morning, don't you think?"

"R-right, Suzu!" Her teammates gave the stuttering response, both not wanting to incur her wrath so early in the morning.

...

A loud growl made Kuro and Daro glare at their teammate. "Hey!" Hiro protested, "that wasn't me, I swear!"

"Who else could it be?" Daro asked with an unimpressed expression on his face. He held back the curtain so his friends could enter. As soon as the three of them had set foot in the bar, they found the answer to that question. "Right. Him," Daro sweatdropped.

...

"Oh man, you think you could hurry it up a bit, Teuchi-san?" Akira grumbled, his earlier hunger having grown to rival that of Naruto's who was sitting next to him with a face that matched his own discontent one.

"Yeah, Old Man, we're dying over here," Naruto added with a groan.

"Patience is a virtue," Teuchi happily smiled as he started up on their orders.

Ken and Suzume shook their heads at the sight, but froze and looked at each other when they heard the mother of all growls.

Akira and Naruto looked at each other too, confused as they knew it hadn't been either of them despite their dying hunger. All four then turned and looked behind them, all eyes landing on a familiar sandy haired, teal eyed, shinobi from Sand.

Even his own teammates were staring at him now, heavy embarrassed drops of sweat present on their features.

Hiro gave a sheepish chuckle as he scratched at his cheek, "Ehehe, okay, that was me that time."

'Great...' Ken frowned, already feeling the jealousy flaring at the sight of the Genin, 'Them again.'

Suzume was sure to be friendly with them like she always was. "Hiro, Kuro, Daro! Hi!"

He flinched at the excitement she held in her voice, as well as the bright smile that appeared on her face. Yup, just as he thought.

"Morning," Kuro smiled.

"H-hi," Hiro stuttered, momentarily forgetting his stomach until it gave another loud growl.

"Seriously, put a sock in it," Daro sighed.

"I don't think that would digest that well," Hiro pondered.

Kuro stared at the ceiling and then closed his eyes. He let out as loud sigh. "Let's order food already so we can look for sensei again."

Suzume blinked. "Taryn-san is missing?"

"Taryn's missing!?" Naruto leapt up from his seat, "wait, who are you guys?"

Ken, Akira, and Suzume all fell out of their seats at Naruto's turn of theatrics. "You know Taryn but you don't know her students?" Ken sighed as he found his seat.

Akira laughed, "I guess that's Naruto for you."

"Hey, I know Taryn has students. I just didn't know who they were," he mumbled as he now turned his attention back to the trio from Sand.

The three boys from Suna stared from Hisayo's students to the blonde boy and back.

"Errr... who are you exactly?" Hiro asked while staring at the blonde shinobi.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. And I'll be Hokage one day!" Naruto grinned and put up his thumbs.

"You are Naruto? No way!" Hiro gasped.

"Hah, I see you've heard of me," Naruto grinned.

"Yeah," Kuro said, "you're the ninja that saved Gaara-sama."

Daro merely stared at Naruto in disbelieve. This was the ninja that had saved his sensei's brother? He had expected someone more...impressive.

Naruto scratched his head. "I had some help," he said sheepishly.

Ken chuckled. "Anyway, Naruto, these are her students. Kuro." He began the introduction with the one who got under his skin the least, "Daro, and...Hiro—ow!" He nursed his side after feeling the jab of an elbow.

"Be nice." Suzume scolded, "geez, what's been up with you? You've been acting like this ever since they showed up."

"Sorry," he muttered, turning red in embarrassment from being scolded in front of a crowd.

"Orders up!" Teuchi happily set the bowls down in front of his best customers. "You three gonna order next?" he asked the three new comers.

"Yes please!" Hiro beamed, immediately turning away from the group, "I'd like an extra-large bowl of pork ramen with miso on top. And chicken on the side. And some egg rolls and a plate of onigiri."

He turned when he felt half a dozen stares directed at his back. "Oh sorry guys... did you want something too?"

Akira nearly fell over the other side of the counter. "Ooo, add that stuff to my order too, Teuchi-san! Be sure to add peppers to my dipping sauce!"

Ken face-palmed. "Now you've done it."

"Do you mind leaving some food for us?" Daro said through his teeth and he glared at Hiro.

"Aw, be nice, Daro. Hiro's a growing boy, aren't you Hiro." Suzume was smiling with her eyes closed.

A deep red rose up from Hiro's neck until it reached his face.

"Yeah if Hiro is anything like Akira, then he's going to get fat too," Ken snickered.

"I am not fat!" Hiro protested.

"Not my fault I have such a fast metabolism!" Akira went on to defend himself.

"Yeah, what he said," Hiro pointed at Akira.

Naruto slammed his empty bowl on the bar. "I'll have another!" he exclaimed.

Both Ken and Daro sighed.

...

"You want to go to a ramen bar for breakfast?" Kakashi asked confused.

Taryn smirked. "And I thought you knew me by now. They have excellent dango here. And dumplings."

"I'll rephrase. You want to eat dango for breakfast?"

"Why not?" Taryn cocked an eyebrow at him.

Kakashi sighed. "Alright. I'll stop questioning your eating habits." But a smile was evident in his visible eye and he held the curtain aside for her to enter.

Taryn stepped around him and froze on the doorstep. "On second thought, maybe we should go somewhere else." She made to turn, but bumped into Kakashi who was just entering.

"What do you..." His eyes rested on the young ninja at the bar. He sweatdropped and let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh."

It suddenly grew quiet and the two turned to find all the shinobi staring at them, comically frozen in their actions of either arguing, talking, teasing, and eating.

All that could be heard was the content slurping coming from Naruto who had received his second bowl not too long ago.

Taryn cleared her throat and stepped into the bar. "Morning everyone. Itadakimasu, Naruto." She sat down at the bar and casually grabbed a menu.

"So Hatake-san," Suzume began. Ken and Akira could see a new gleam to her eyes and were already fearing for the worst. They knew what she was up to. "Where's Hisayo-sensei? I'd think you'd be inviting her out for breakfast."

Naruto lifted his head up from his bowl looking around at the sound of his friend's name. "Hisayo-san!? Where, where!?"

"Sorry, Naruto, but she'd be here if Hatake-san had invited her instead." Suzume eyed the mask shinobi carefully for his response.

Taryn's students glanced at their sensei nervously and then shifted their eyes towards the masked shinobi in the doorway.

Kakashi cleared his throat and stepped further into the bar. "I will, Suzume. As soon as she wakes up. It was a long night."

Those that had awkwardly gone back to eating practically choked on their food. It was a response that Suzume had most definitely not anticipated—and neither had anyone else, obviously.

Taryn slowly turned towards him at hearing those words. Did he not hear what that sounded like? 'I blame Icha Icha. That must have done some real damage to his brain.'

Suzume turned beat red. "Hatake-san! We don't need details of your nightly activities, especially ones that involve our sensei!" she scolded, while inside her mind she was freaking out. 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I really had no idea they were really that deeply involved! How...how...Romantic!' She had to really stop herself from looking like her dorky romantic loving self—all the boys were watching.

Taryn raised an eyebrow at Kakashi and watched him amused, wondering how he would get himself out of this situation.

Kakashi gulped and turned a deep red. "No! No, that was not what I meant!" He frantically waved his hands.

"Riiight," Daro commented suspiciously. He shifted his eyes back to Taryn who was watching the scene amused. "Anyway, sensei, where were you this morning?"

"Don't ask those kinds of dangerous questions!" Suzume warned afraid of what the answer may be, though inside she was still going on about romantic possibilities as well.

Taryn raised an eyebrow. "While you three were still sound asleep, I was going to get some training done myself. And then I ran into Kakashi and we decided to have breakfast before I was going to wake you for your training." What did they think she had been ...oh. She sighed. Kids these days.

"Still working hard for the finals, huh?" Akira grinned. "Don't sweat it guys, you'll do great!"

"Do you want sparing partners?" Suzume offered before looking over to Kakashi who would be more than likely to answer her next question. "We are allowed to do that, right, Hatake-san?"

"Yeah," Akira continued, "Even though we're proctors, being sparing buddies isn't considered cheating, is it?"

"You know about the other teams as proctors," Kakashi began, "so it would be considered cheating. If other teams want intel on their opponents, then they would have to go about getting it themselves. Sorry, but that's just how it goes. If you weren't proctors, then it'd be a different story."

Akira folded his arms and sank in his seat. "Aw man. Sorry then guys."

"It was a nice offer, Akira," Taryn smiled, "maybe you can have a sparring match after the exams."

Akira grinned at that. "Alright! With spicy pork going to the victor!"

"I'm so in!" Hiro grinned as well.

"Good," Taryn said, "now that's settled, I need some breakfast." She glanced at Hisayo's students. "And this time, I'll pay the bill." The last words were muttered while she hid behind her menu again.

"So what were you and Hisayo-sensei really up to last night?" Ken dared to ask.

Kakashi smiled. "It's actually quite a funny story, that..."

***

Shizune was smiling away, though sheepishly and with a nervous bead of sweat as she continued to hear Tsunade grumbling away, cursing under her breath about how she would skin a certain wolf man and turn him into a nice coat for the next winter.

"I'm right here you know," Akio chuckled away, as he shook his head. He knew there was no way that would happen. Tsunade just needed to blow off some steam from losing her bet and getting stuck with work that she was supposed to have been taking care of herself anyway.

"I am never going to fall for any bets you offer to me ever again, you weasel."

"Oh, so now I'm a rodent, am I?"

Shizune wisely stayed silent in the continuing exchange, hoping to remain out of Tsunade's line of fire since Shizune was in fact the one who started the whole thing and landed her Lady in the current predicament.

"Shizune!" The dark-haired woman cringed at the sound of her name, "don't you for one moment think you are out of trouble with me."

Shizune sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Yes, Milady."

***

"Haaaa!" The earth trembled in the surrounding area of the dense forest, toppling over a few trees and sending any occupants such as squirrels, or birds, fleeing for their lives. The sound of a young man was heard again, and this time, the earth rose up, shifting and twisting over to create its large over-hang over the land. When it was completed, the man let out a heavy, tired sigh, as he wiped away some sweat from his brows. "Heh, no problem."

His sensei Ganshou rolled his eyes. "Right, Touji. Not a problem for you at all. You only have a little less than a month to complete your training for that, so stop trying to show off and get serious. This is Cavern's first time entering these exams, and I won't have you shaming our village and land."

Zarigani chuckled as she easily manipulated the earth around her in a jutsu, forming spikes of earth at different heights and breaking them down. "That's right, Touji. You had better not make me or Terasu look bad out there." She continued with her jutsu. Music could beat away to it, giving the impression that the earth was dancing.

A cackling laugh was heard just after. "Haha, Zarigani, it's a beautiful display!" She then gained a crazed and dangerous gleam in her eyes as she added. "It makes me want push a person off a cliff into that jutsu of yours. Hee, hee, hee."

Touji frowned. "You seriously think I'll be the one to make us look bad?" He pointed to his psycho teammate.

"Do you really want to start with me?" Terasu gave an eerie smile and Touji flinched back.

"Enough," Ganshou stepped in, used to the less than sane woman in his group of students, "get back to work, all of you, and no more unnecessary breaks."

"Yes Ganshou-sensei." Came the unified reply.

***

Daro shifted his eyes towards Taryn with a suspicious frown on his face. He didn't like it one bit that she was so friendly with that masked shinobi. Why couldn't she just stay clear of that Kakashi guy? All it did was get her in trouble with the sensei of their new friends. She did not need any more enemies.

Daro sighed annoyed. First that stupid Uchiha missing nin and now this Kakashi person. He crossed his arms. Why couldn't the Chuunin Exams just be held in Suna?

"What is it?" Kuro whispered at him harsly, "you've been moody ever since we left that ramen bar."

"Nothing," Daro said. He unfolded his arms and put his hand in his pockets. He kicked at a pebble.

"Riiiiight," Kuro commented.

On his other side, Hiro sniggered. "I wouldn't worry too much. We'll be back in Suna soon. You won't have to worry about masked shinobi anymore."

Suzume lit up, knowing what the three were possibly going on about. "Oh, I get it! Daro has a girlfriend back in Suna, right?" she giggled, getting excited now.

"Oh no," Ken and Akira said, "here we go again."

Daro turned beet red. "Shut up. That's not how it is!"

Hiro chuckled. "Of course it isn't."

Daro gritted his teeth annoyed. It was true that he'd had a crush on Taryn not long ago and his sensei was fully aware of it. But she had been very kind about it and he was getting over it. That didn't mean that he liked it when she was so close with someone else, even if they were just friends.

Hiro laughed at the expression on his friend's face.

Ken chuckled now, liking how the conversation was turning on Daro. "So he does have a girlfriend in Suna if he gets that flustered then."

"I knew it!" Suzume turned to Ken with a smile that made him start to blush. "See, isn't that sweet?"

Ken flinched back, chuckling nervously, "R-r-right, Suzu-chan."

She hadn't noticed the way he had addressed her as she had turned her attention back to Daro. "She's probably anxiously awaiting you arrival back home, Daro."

Akira snickered. "She's got you again, Ken."

"Shut it, Akira, she'll hear you." But it wasn't Suzume that heard him, it was Daro.

He smirked at Ken. This was his chance to get back at the young Chuunin. He didn't like it one bit how the Konoha shinobi always reacted to Taryn-sensei. "Ah, so that's how it is, huh?" he taunted the older boy, "does she know? Maybe we should enlighten her." He turned as if to address Suzume.

Ken's eyes went wide, as he leapt over and hooked an arm around Daro's neck. "No!"

Akira was laughing at the sight.

Suzume's went wide in confusion. "Ken, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Ummmm, bonding!" Ken covered Daro's mouth so he couldn't respond, "rough housing, you know, hahaha, a guy thing!"

Hiro was laughing so hard he almost toppled over "That's what you get for trying to avert the attention from you, Daro."

Kuro only sighed. This was how it always went. Never a dull moment with his teammates around. It seemed the same counted for Ken and Akira.

Meanwhile Daro was trying to wiggle free from Ken's grip, without much success.

"You should totally teach me that move, Ken!" Hiro smirked, "it will come in handy!"

"Yeah, sure thing, Hiro!" Ken gave a sheepish chuckle.

Suzume shook her head. Guys were always acting tough and playing rough. These three from Suna were the same, but she chuckled anyway. There was never a quiet moment, but having more friends around made it just as fun, if not more.

A few feet ahead of them, Taryn looked over her shoulder. "Daro, Hiro, if you two have that much energy, you should use it for training. I'll come up with some nice exercises for you to work on." It wasn't that she was bothered by their banter, but she felt like she should save the situation before it would get out of hand. Things were awkward enough as they were. She wanted to spare both Ken and Daro more embarrassment.  

Both Hiro and Daro tensed. "Aw man," Hiro groaned.

Daro uttered a muffled complaint through Ken's hand that was still covering his mouth.

"Ack!" Ken let go of his hold, "keep the slobber to yourself!"

Akira couldn't hold his laughter. "That's what you call karma, Ken—Gyah!" His hands went to the top of his head where he had been clobbered over.

Ken smirked. "That's what you call karma, Akira," he mocked.

Akira grinned. "You're asking for it, Ken."

"Oh, and you didn't first?"

Suzume sighed. "Guys..."

"You better watch out, cause next time I'll do more than just laugh."

"Bring it Akira."

"I will!"

"Guys."

"How 'bout right here and now then?"

"Careful what you wish for."

"GUYS!"

"What?!" Ken and Akira whipped their heads in Suzume's direction, seeing her roll her eyes.

Daro and Hiro were watching the two amused. "My money is on Ken," Daro smirked.

"Nah, Akira is gonna beat him. Easy," Hiro replied.

Kuro leaned over to Suzume. "You have my sympathy."  

Suzume shook her head. "It's not that bad. You just need to know how to handle them. Now...Akira, Ken, listen up!"

"Ma-am!" Both stood to attention, afraid to make Suzume upset further. Ken didn't even need to scan her chakra to see if she was only teasing—she was serious despite her sweet appearance.

"No more playing around now. Taryn said her boys need to train, and since we can't exactly help, we're better off staying out of their way. Got it?"

"Yeah, sorry guys." Akira offered his apology again over the topic.

"It's okay," Hiro smirked.

"Yeah," Daro nodded, "see you around guys."

"Maybe we can have lunch together again," Hiro added.

"Always with the food," Daro teased.

"I was just saying!"

"It's what you're always saying!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Just saying."

"Why you...."

"Enough now!" Taryn interrupted before they could start again, "get to training or no lunch at all."

"Yes Ma'am!" the boys saluted and disappeared onto Uchiha ground.

Kuro sighed in defeat at the reaction the boys gave to both Suzume and Taryn. He hung his head and followed his teammates. "They make it look so easy."

To be continued...