New Sensei - 7

By noon, Naruto, Gaara and Haku were seated contentedly at Ichiraku Ramen, and their sensei would've joined them if not for the fact that he was on a strict deadline and didn't have time for noodles.

"Naruto-kun," Haku began, setting down his chopsticks, "I'm just curious, but I was wondering if maybe you could demonstrate to me and Gaara how to produce shadow clones?"

Naruto stopped mid-slurp, "Huh? Why would you want to know?"

"We can only create replications out of sand and water," Gaara cut in, "Your clones are solid. They can fight for much longer."

The blonde grinned, "Well you should've looked at that jutsu yourselves when we had the scroll if you're so interested! It's not like I give stuff like that away, even if you guys are my best pals!"

Haku and Gaara sighed in resignation. It was worth a shot, but they hadn't expected him to agree.

Naruto smirked impishly, "Maybe, if you guys get some cool jutsu to exchange..."

That was a good point. It wasn't as if Naruto could manipulate water or sand, which was where his strength differed from theirs. Without the elements they influenced, they wouldn't be of much use in a fight. It was only natural that they would fall back on Naruto's aid for melee combat.

Haku picked up his chopsticks again, "That sounds fair."

Gaara caught the attention of Ayame who was wiping the counter clean, and she smiled at him, "More miso, Gaara-kun?"

"Please."

Haku and Naruto restrained a smirk as she hurried off.

"Heh heh," The blonde looked at his red haired friend, "I think she likes you."

"..."

"She does seem to favor you over us, Gaara-kun," Haku nodded in agreement.

Gaara didn't care. He never really thought much about the girl who had worked in the ramen shop. He wasn't exactly keen to notice girls, especially while he was eating for god's sake...

Haku and Naruto just liked to push his buttons.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun, Haku-kun, Gaara-kun," A gentle voice sounded from behind them.

With his mouth full of noodles, Naruto turned to see Hinata standing behind them, smiling shyly.

He quickly swallowed and Haku was surprised he didn't asphyxiate from all the food he inhaled, "Hey Hinata-chan! How have you been?"

She smiled, "I'm fine. So I see you are all an official t-team now. That's wonderful! Some others didn't make it..."

Gaara quietly thanked Ayame after she returned with his miso.

"Gama-sennin is also our mentor," Haku added, and her eyes widened, "He returned to train us specifically on Hokage-sama's orders."

"W-What an honor..."

"Not really," Naruto sighed, "He's still a pervert as usual."

Gaara noticed two other young ninja behind Hinata, "Your teammates are with you?"

The Hyuga girl quickly turned to them, "Sorry, these are my teammates: Shino-kun," A tall boy with dark glasses nodded to them, "And Sato-kun."

The silver haired boy smirked, "They know me already, Sunshine."

Naruto gave Sato an enraged look, "Eh? Hinata doesn't need a pet name!"

"Ah, but she positively radiates light wherever she goes!" Sato declared, grinning, and she blushed terribly, "Besides, I'm glad I caught up with you three. I'm not surprised you're all on the same squad!"

Shino turned to Sato, giving him an inquiring look, "You know each other?"

Haku wore a somewhat humiliated look and Gaara turned away, busying his mouth with ramen. Naruto on the other hand was grinning just as broadly as Sato had been.

"Oh yeah! Half the pranks Gaara, Haku and me pulled were all his idea!" Naruto announced, and both Hinata and Shino looked at their teammate, not very surprised, "Now that I think about it, it has been a while...maybe we should plan another one soon..."

Haku looked mortified, "If you are planning another one, I'd prefer to sit it out this time."

Hinata giggled. So even Haku had been forced into backing up toilets around the Academy at least once.

Sato, ever resourceful, produced a picture from his back pocket and handed it to Naruto, "Maybe you remember this one, Naruto-kun?"

All of the present genin leaned in for a look. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a simple picture of the Ninja Academy...with the roof completely missing, perhaps by other-worldly means.

Gaara couldn't help but smirk at the sight of it.

Shino's eyebrows appeared above his sunglasses, "That was you?"

"That was the best!" Naruto laughed, nearly spilling his bowl over, "We never got caught. I couldn't believe it!" He flashed an appreciative glance at Gaara for reasons one could only guess.

The silver haired boy sighed, "Yes, that was absolute perfection. It'll never be duplicated...good thing it's all on film!"

Hinata turned to her rambunctious teammate, "So, is that one of the things that you like to, um, 'preserve' Sato-kun?"

"That's right, Sunshine." He nodded, "Haku is a bit lax at times, so it's usually Gaara, Naruto, and I doing all the hard work."

"Pranks hardly count as work..." Haku said pointedly and Hinata was giggling again.

Shino, however, didn't see much humor in their adventures. He glanced sideways at Sato, "Your frivolous habits: do not let them interfere with our team's training."

After making sure his warning was heard, the bug tamer stalked off. Sato called after him, "I promise they won't, Shino-kun! Jeez! I'm a serious ninja! You have to lighten up a little!"

Naruto found Shino's behavior slightly vexing, "What's his problem?"

"Shino-kun is...quite serious," Hinata offered, sensing that her teammate's words had partially discouraged Sato, "He isn't very fond of p-practical jokes, I suppose."

'He and I could get along well...' Haku thought to himself.

"He'll unwind eventually," Sato yawned, putting away his cherished photograph, "He's probably just beat because Kurenai-sensei ran us all ragged today..."

"Maybe we can train together sometime?" Hinata asked her old friends hopefully.

Naruto liked the sound of it, "Sure! I don't think Ero-sensei will mind if you stop by, as long as you don't interrupt his 'research'."

Hinata nodded, "Alright...um, I suppose I should be going home now..."

"We'll come see you tomorrow!" The blonde announced, "Just to hang out if you like."

"O-Okay..."

Sato watched in amusement as she turned several shades of red, something Gaara was also aware of.

Team 2 bade the remaining members of Team 8 farewell:

"See you guys tomorrow!"

"It was nice seeing you two again."

"Goodbye Hinata-chan...Sato."

Naruto squinted in the bright light of the afternoon as the Hyuga girl and Hatake boy traipsed away, grinning, and then turned back to his ramen.

"So, want to go see if Sakura-chan is around later?" Naruto piped up again.

Gaara nodded, but Haku seemed deep in thought.

"I have plans later, actually," Haku said quietly, a smile creeping across his lips, "Do tell her I said hello, will you?"

The blonde nodded, "You got it! Uh...what 'plans' are you talking about?"