(Discontinued until further notice) Naruto: The Truth Beneath the Surface

Chapter 21: It's For the Kids

"YOSH! IF IT ISN'T YUKI-SAN!"

Yuki stiffened in his spot at the familiar shout, cursing his bad luck. Why was he running into all of the jounin this week? It was like he couldn't catch a break. He went to walk faster when Gai suddenly appeared in front of him, his mini clone next to him.

Gai opened his mouth before closing it, eyebrows creasing together. He opened it again and spoke at a normal tone, "Why aren't you with your team?"

"Day off," Yuki supplied, waving to Lee, who beamed at being noticed by someone Gai knew as a friend. "Hello, Lee-kun."

"YOSH! It is nice to see someone as youthful as you again, Yuki-san!" Lee bowed deeply, "I am very honoured to be talking to you!"

"Ah," Yuki nodded, slightly surprised by his choice of words. Why would he be honoured to talk to him? He was just a simple guy that everyone seemed to think was something special. "Hello, Neji-kun," He gave the Hyuuga a small smile and the boy nodded in greeting, staying a bit away from his teacher and teammate. Tenten waved at Yuki, studying the man closely.

Yuki looked behind him, seeing people exiting their homes, and sighed. Great, they were cutting off his polite escape. You know, when you say something like, 'Oh, I have this thing...' And tap dance out of there. "Your team is out early," He commented, all those thoughts passing through his head in seconds flat. "Are you going on a mission?"

"Yes, we are doing border patrol today but first, we're training!" Gai answered enthusiastically, giving a thumbs up, "Would you like to join us?"

Yuki went to decline politely when he saw the genins' hopeful faces. Lee was bouncing in place, praising his sense I for his 'genius' idea. Tenten was smiling, excited at the prospect of showing off her weapon skills to someone who was close to the Hokage and at the chance of seeing one of the high-class ninja besides her sensei in action. Neji's eyes just widened, barely noticeable, and his stance straightened out more, trying to appear more dignified and like a Hyuuga.

The raven-blonde ran a hand through his hair, in warmly cursing his bad luck, "I would love to join your team. I hope you don't mind, though, if I just watch for a while."

"That is perfectly fine," Tenten answered quickly so the ninja didn't have a chance to back out.

"Lead the way then," Yuki said, smile a bit forced. He was pushed along by Gai, the jounin's grip like iron, keeping him from escaping.

The five ended up at Training Ground 11 where the genin immediately started on their katas, warming up to spar against their sensei. Yuki plopped himself down under a tree, leaning against the rough bark. He took out a popsicle and unwrapped it, watching the children with a blank expression, not reacting when Neji hit a high kick with deadly accuracy or when Lee finally took of his weights or even when Tenten brought out a long sword, twirling it with a skill expected from a jounin.

"Neji-kun," Yuki suddenly called, gaining the boy's attention. "Move your left foot back two inches."

The Hyuuga blinked but did as told, finding his kicks much easier to perform. He gave the ninja a nod, receiving on back, and continued.

"Tenten-chan, keep your legs apart and shoulders back. Make sure your sides are protected, don't keep your elbow out. Lock them in. There we go, like that. Very nice."

Said girl blushed under the praise and made sure she didn't make the same mistakes as before, practicing harder. She could feel the ninja's gaze on her and looked over to see approval in his eyes before he looked over at Lee.

"Lee, keep your elbow close to your side. I can see three openings already. Just, don't move your foot like tha- Okay, you know what? Come over here," He stood up, rolling his shoulders and making the wooden stick in his hand disappear into thin air. "Go into your stance."

Lee blinked in surprise and did, watching as the jounin circled him, eyes narrowed. He jerked from his thoughts when Yuki's arm came forward and he jumped away from the strike. He kept dodging when the ninja continued his advance, all calm-faced as he aimed at different parts of Lee.

Neji and Tenten watched the spar in shock, never have seen Lee move that fast. Yuki was pushing the genin faster and faster, making him dodge different kind of attacks Gai would never have thrown at him. But it was obvious to his teammates that Lee was having the time of his life as he attempted to hit back, unconsciously speeding up to keep up with the jounin.

Finally, Yuki crouched on the ground, kicking his leg out and tripping the genin. He grabbed the kid's arm, flipping him over and pinning him to the ground, arm pressed tightly to his back, "Do you see what you need to work on now?"

"Hai," Lee panted, barely managing a nod. He accepted Yuki's hand and got up. He almost stumbled, legs feeling like jelly. Every muscle hurt but he, undoubtedly, felt refreshed.

"Lee," Gai handed his student a bottle of water with a smile. "Tell me exactly what you need to work on."

Lee scratched the back of his head but rattled the things off, "I need to work on my speed, getting used to working without the weights. I also need to work on my accuracy when I kick. I was off slightly and it caused an unyouthful result. I also have to work on my timing as well."

"Very good," Yuki pulled out three popsicles, handing them to the children. "You all are excellent ninja already and I hope to see your team in the Chunin Exams this year."

Team 9 straightened at the praise, feeling proud of themselves, and bowed to the ninja, saying together, "Hai. Thank you, Yuki-san."

"I have to go now. It was nice training with you." Yuki sketched a small bow and waved at them, walking out of the clearing and ignoring Gai's suggestions of staying.

Yuki walked into the shopping district of Konoha, looking closely at each of the stores. He went over to one when he saw a 'Make Your Own Jewellery' sign. "Do you make your own charms too?" Yuki asked, tilting his head at the jewellery on display.

"Yes, sir. You can make any charm you chose and we even throw in the necklace for it for free. It's only 500¥."

"Oh, that's a good price," Yuki went inside the little tent next to the booth, seeing a couple people inside working on their own charms. He went over to a stool where someone was standing, ready to teach him how to work each machine.

"I wanna make..." He wracked his brain for something before nodding, "I know what I want to make. Show me how to work these things."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kakashi sat in his house, leafing through an old copy of one of the first Icha Icha. His mind, however, was somewhere else at the moment, buzzing with different thoughts. Yuki should have been back an hour ago but he wasn't and the Hatake was tempted to send some of his dogs out to find his partner.

Before he could, however, the door opened and Yuki's voice filtered through, "I got BBQ. You hungry?"

"Starving," Kakashi practically threw his book to the side, giving his friend his complete and undivided attention, something that would shock other people. "Where were you?"

"Oh, well, this morning I ran into Gai," He chuckled when Kakashi shuttered. "And I trained with his genin for about thirty minutes. Then I went shopping and made you this."

The Hatake looked up in surprise when a necklace dangled in front of his face, a small orange popsicle charm glinting in the low light, "For me?"

"Mmhm," Yuki nodded, picking up a piece of steak with chopsticks.

"Wow," He moved the mini-popsicle in his palm before putting on the necklace. "Thanks, Yu-chan."

"You're welcome, Ka-chan."