"Dammit, Naruto, don't sleep during the mission briefing!" yelled a rather pissed off Tsunade as she chucked her chair at the blonde just coming out of dreamland.

Yawning, Naruto deftly caught the chair flying his way with one hand while the other rubbed his eyes. "You shouldn't toss your things around, Baa-chan," he said with a small grin. "You're not young anymore, you know."

Suppressing the urge to throw the desk at him, the young looking (but truthfully very old) Godaime just rubbed her temples and counted to ten. "…and you're not helping.." Naruto heard her grumble under her breath.

Shrugging, Naruto just set the chair he just caught in front of him and propped his feet on it. "Well, you –did- say that Kakashi-sensei was the one going out of Konoha," he said, pointing his thumb at the bored looking jounin beside him. "I really don't get what I'm supposed to be doing here…and I'm hungry," he added.

After she had noticeably calmed down, Tsunade let out a sigh. "I know, I know Naruto; I heard your stomach a few minutes ago."

"Then can you just tell me what –my- mission is?"

Tsunade sighed again. Some things just never change, she thought. "Fine then, have it your way. I called you here so that you'd at least know what to tell Kakashi's students if they ever ask what happened to him; then again, I'd just leave the details to you if you're just going to sleep during the briefing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Students? What students?" he asked turning to see the gray haired jounin hiding his face behind that beloved pink novel of his.

Tsunade smirked. Naruto felt a shiver running up his spine. He had a feeling he wouldn't exactly like the reason she was smirking at him like that. "Because, Naruto, my dear child," she began. "You'll be taking over Kakashi's genin team while he's away."

The silence that followed lasted for a while and was broken only by the gagging sounds that came from Naruto; apparently, a fly had found its way inside his mouth that was hanging open too long. After a minute or so of trying to spit the fly out (to no avail), the blonde ninja finally sputtered out, "And I'll be doing this for how long?" while still rubbing his throat.

Tsunade smirked again. Oh, was she enjoying this. " One whole year."

A few minutes later, Naruto gagged on a fly again.

0-0-0-0

"You should meet your new students as soon as possible," Tsunade shouted at his back as he walked out of her office. "Naruto-sensei." She was obviously holding back a giggle. Or rather, a maniacal laugh.

Naruto groaned as he rubbed his rather sore throat. Damn flies, he thought to himself. And what's up with making me a genin instructor? I don't know the first thing about being a teacher… He shuddered as a vision of him being late for meetings and reading Icha Icha Paradise novels came to his head. Well, at least I know what –not- to do. But still…she should have given the job to Sakura or Shikamaru. He stopped and blinked. Oh yeah, he thought. They're on their honeymoons, the lucky dogs; how could I forget? He mused as he shook his head. He had just been on a mission with the Ero-sennin. And missions with Jiraiya tend to make him forget a lot of things. Like the wild double-wedding Sakura and Ino had. And the wilder double bachelor party they threw for Sasuke and Shikamaru the night before. And the even wilder birthday cake girls, headed by Temari of the Sand, who happened to be Chouji's gift for his best friend for marrying Ino. It was also quite interesting to note that over-half of the two-dozen hired dancers were members of Sasuke's fan club. They didn't even seem fazed by the fact that he was marrying Sakura with all the seductive looks they gave to Sasuke (and occasionally, Shikamaru; Chouji was the one paying after all).

Man, those were pretty wild times, Naruto mused as he headed to the usual grounds where Kakashi trained with his students. He figured that he should treat them to ramen while he broke the news that he'll be replacing Kakashi for a while. A –long-while. Just as he neared the tree where he often saw his former sensei lying down and reading that perverted book of his, a rain of shuriken and kunai from the tree suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

0-0-0-0

"See? I told you he'll be late again," said a rather irritated young genin, as he juggled a couple of rocks while an equally irritated teammate watched him, before tossing another rock to be juggled.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow as she watched her two teammates do their juggling act. All the waiting around for their sensei was starting to get on her nerves too, though she tried her best not to show it. She was intent on keeping her calm, collected image intact. Besides, her teammates' little juggling act –did- amuse her a bit. Just a bit. Deciding that adding something sharp to the mix he was juggling would make things more interesting, Hanabi was about to throw her kunai at them, but then halted as she sensed a familiar presence approaching them. Jumping down from the branch she was perched on, she startled the juggler enough for him to break his act.

"Ren, someone's coming," she said, after successfully suppressing a laugh; her teammate dropped a couple of rocks on his head. "It feels familiar, so it might be Kakashi-sensei."

Rubbing his head, Ren raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh? But sensei –always- meets us unannounced. –And- late."

"Well, whoever it's supposed to be," their other teammate finally said, flicking a lock of hair over her shoulder. "How about we set a little surprise for them?" The glint in her eye made Hanabi feel a little nervous. Okay, maybe moderately nervous, as their previous prank endeavors have shown.

"Karin, I don't think we shou-" she tried to reason, but her two teammates were already up on the tree preparing some scrolls. Resisting the urge to slap herself, Hanabi groaned. "Not again," she muttered, as she settled to sit a small distance away from the two. She didn't want to be there anyway, in case their little prank blew up on their faces.

0-0-0

A/N:

Well, rather short update as I've found myself to be enjoying Atelier Iris 2: the Azoth of Destiny a bit too much. Fee-chan 3 3 3 Don't worry though, as I already have a general idea of what to do with the next couple of scenes.

Err…anyway, I'd like to know if any of you out there have any suggestions on as to where this fic will head… you know, what scenarios that would be amusing to see. XD