Chapter 1

"Gai-sensei?" Tenten asked, pausing as her teammates left.

"Yes, my youthful student?" Gai asked loudly.

"In preparation for the next Chuunin exams, I'd like to branch out a little bit," Tenten said. "Sparring with Neji has made me come to realize that if someone has a defense that can block my weapons, I'm kind of screwed."

Gai nodded thoughtfully. "You have a point Tenten, I will talk to one of my old teammates, he may be able to assist you with that issue."

Tenten nodded gratefully. "Thank you Gai-sensei, see you tomorrow."

Gai grinned, doing his 'good guy pose complete with the sunset'. "Have a good day, my beautiful flower!"

Tenten just chuckled as she wearily walked away. She was glad she'd convinced Neji to undo his work and unblock her tenketsu, instead of having to meditate to open them herself, which was a pain when she just wanted to sleep.

Gai ran out of the training ground, checking the sun as he went. Plenty of time to challenge his most esteemed rival before going to meet up with his old teammates for dinner and drinks.

He challenged his eternal rival to Rock Paper Scissors, won twice, then ran off to the sushi place he had agreed to meet his old teammates.

Genma chuckled dryly as Gai ran in, basically crashing into the seat he and Ebisu had left for their third teammate. "Excited to see us?"

"Of course, my most youthful teammates!" Gai exclaimed.

Ebisu sighed. "Nice to see you too, Gai."

"So, your genin team treating you well?" Genma asked, flagging down one of the waitresses.

"Of course!" Gai exclaimed.

Genma blinked lazily. "I see they haven't done anything for your volume, they deaf yet?"

"My apologies!" Gai said, quite a bit quieter. "As we usually train outside, I have yet to deafen them!"

"Probably good," Ebisu said, adjusting his glasses. "Wouldn't want a bunch of deaf genin."

"What can I get you?" The waitress asked, stopping at their table.

They placed their orders, and she nodded to them, heading off.

"So, you forgot to tell us what your team is," Genma said, removing the senbon from his mouth and setting it on the table.

"Ah!" Gai said, grinning widely. "Of course! I got the Rookie of the Year, Top Kunoichi, and Deadlast combination!"

"How bad's the animosity?" Genma asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

Gai wilted slightly. "Pretty bad," he admitted. "I am trying, but Lee and Neji do not get along well."

Ebisu looked interested. "Neji Hyuuga? The supposed prodigy?"

Gai nodded. "He is… very prideful, unfortunately, I am not able to break him of that, and his home life does not seem the greatest."

"He's a branch member, isn't he?" Genma asked. "I'm not surprised. The Hyuuga clan is pretty strict."

Gai nodded somberly, then lit up as he moved on. "Rock Lee is my most youthful student! He has decided to take after me as a taijutsu master!"

Ebisu and Genma traded glances. "Does he wear the green spandex?" Genma asked, amusement clear on his face.

"He does!" Gai exclaimed very loudly.

"Volume," Ebisu said tiredly.

"Apologies!" Gai said, quieter this time.

"And your third student?" Genma prompted.

The waitress came by, dropping off their food. The three men nodded gratefully to her and began eating.

In between bites, Gai continued. "My third student is Tenten, she is aspiring to be a weapons master!"

Genma looked slightly impressed. "Really? Those are few and far between."

"She has expressed an interest in expanding somewhat, fearing defeat at the hands of an opponent she could not hit with weapons."

"And you're talking to us why?" Ebisu asked. "I am a special jounin specializing in training, but weapons are not a particular specialty of mine."

"And something tells me her aim is just fine," Genma said. "And I don't think poisons fit into what she needs."

Gai inclined his head, swallowing the sushi he had in his mouth. "She shows high aptitude for seals, specifically with space/time seals."

"You realize that I only know a group version of the Hiraishin, right? I can't do it by myself, only Minato-sama and Lord Second managed it."

"Perhaps you can figure it out together!" Gai exclaimed boisterously.

Genma chuckled. "Your faith in me is neverending. Alright, I might as well try. Perhaps I'll teach her a couple of other seals while I'm at it."

"Thank you, my most youthful teammate!" Gai shouted.

"Volume," Ebisu reminded tiredly.

"My most youthful students!" Gai exclaimed, Genma shunshining in next to him.

The three genin looked up from their stretching.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted, running over.

They started hugging, and yelling each other's names at the top of their lungs.

"Do they do this a lot?" Genma asked Tenten, edging away from the sight with a long-suffering expression.

"Yep," Tenten said tiredly, continuing to stretch.

"This is why we didn't indulge him as genin," Genma muttered. "To save our sanity."

"Too late," Neji said dryly. "For many people."

"Are you the teammate Gai-sensei mentioned?" Tenten asked, finishing up a stretch and straightening up.

Neji eyed her curiously.

"I am, how much do you know about seals?" Genma asked, figuring it couldn't hurt, and starting to stretch himself.

Tenten shrugged, bending over into a backbend. "I can draw storage seals, and know how to use explosive tags."

"More than most chuunin," Genma noted. "Show me after you guys finish your warm-ups?"

Tenten nodded, continuing to stretch out. "As soon as those two finish yelling at each other, we'll go on a run around Konoha."

Genma raised an eyebrow. "He hasn't changed, I see."

"He did that as a genin?" Neji asked, looking slightly incredulous.

Genma nodded, beginning to stretch out his legs. "Although it was less running around Konoha, and more running around the training ground."

"I wish it was just running around the training ground," Tenten muttered.

Neji didn't deign to say anything, but it was pretty clear he agreed with Tenten.

"COME MY MOST YOUTHFUL GENIN AND TEAMMATE!" Gai shouted across the clearing at them.

Tenten finished her stretching. "Huh, that was shorter than usual."

"They do that for even longer?" Genma asked, eyebrows going up.

"Yep. We're usually sitting around for a while after finishing stretches," Tenten said, beginning to jog after her teammates. "Coming?"

Genma removed the senbon from his mouth, tucking it into his kunai pouch. "Yep." He jogged after her, keeping a steady pace up.

"So, how long do you run?" Genma asked a little while later.

Tenten shrugged. "I'll be going for another 14 laps or so, about an hour. Lee and Gai-sensei won't be done for two hours at the least, longer if they're feeling particularly youthful. Neji'll give up around one and a half hours. Then we'll spar."

"So I've got you for about a half-hour?" Genma asked.

Tenten shrugged. "Give or take the few minutes that'll let me stand up again, yeah. Longer though because me sparring with Neji basically means me throwing weapons at him and him batting them away with his hands. Not too hard to keep up with."

Genma nodded. "So what's after your teammate and sensei come back?"

"A mission, or more sparring. Lee and Gai spar, I throw things at Neji. Or me and Neji both do kata or practice other things."

Genma nodded again. "A good schedule. Neji won't mind doing kata or practicing while we work on seals?"

Tenten shrugged. "Probably not. Or we might mortally offend him. It's about 50/50."

"Mortally offend him?" Genma asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

Tenten nodded, clearly holding in a smile. "Mortally offend him until he forgets about it the next day and goes back to talking to me cause I'm the only other sane person on this team."

Genma snorted. "Sounds like a Hyuuga."

"Well, now I've got a sane person to teach me!"

"Kid, no Jounin is sane."

"You're saner then Gai-sensei, so…"

"Most people are saner than Gai," Genma noted dryly. "He isn't exactly the best measuring stick for sanity."

"Good point," Tenten conceded, moving to the side as Gai and Lee shot past her.