The Art of Kunoichi

Summary: Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.

/ Chapter Three /

There was a collective yell as all the shocked children reacted.

"You said you were mute, sensei!"
"Sensei is a liar!"
"Wahhhh! She can talk!"

Naruto, meanwhile, was thinking. 'She wrote that she couldn't talk… And there's something weird about when she said that, like it was… fuzzy-sounding?'

Taking a wild guess that she felt instinctively was true, and worked up and excited by all the shouting and talking, Naruto jumped up and down, with her finger pointing accusingly at her sensei.

"GENJUTSU!"

Anyone would think that a teacher would be mad that one of their new students was pointing and shouting at them on the first day, but Sorako-sensei just nodded and clapped her hands, smiling all the while. She pointed at the girls, then motioned towards the seats.

"A-ah, we should sit down," a shy girl spoke up.

The young kunoichi-in-training settled into the desks – Naruto made sure to get one in the middle, so she could pay attention to Sorako-sensei if she was as interesting as she seemed, and take a nap if she was proven wrong and their new sensei was boring, even without a Boring Voice (or any kind of voice at all).

Their teacher turned her attention to the board then, and wrote incredibly quickly, much faster than Iruka-sensei had, with her long dark hair swishing back and forth as she moved from one end of the board to the other.

Yes, that was a genjutsu. Unfortunately, it takes up too much chakra, or energy, for me to use it for a long time to communicate with you all. You see how some of you were confused just now, and how some of you were angry? I apologize for the trick. I wanted to show you girls the power and surprise that things like illusions, information, and misdirection can have for Kunoichi. Now as an exercise, please pair up and lie to each other for 5 minutes. When I ring the bell, tell each other the truth and learn about your new classmates – remember that we are all comrades, and any lies or tricks here are just for training and practice.

Naruto turned to the girl in the seat beside her and saw the same shy dark-haired girl from earlier.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Want to be partners, 'ttebane?"

The girl blushed a bit and poked her fingers together before replying. "I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata! I'd be happy to be your partner!"

Naruto grinned. She was a bit shy, but it was cute, and it was nothing she couldn't fix after awhile, for sure! "Alright, Hinata-chan! I'm actually blood-related to the Aburame, and I have kikaichu too, they're just hidden in my long hair!"

Hinata gasped and eyed Naruto's hair. "R-really?"

"No, Hinata-chan, we're lying, remember?"

"Ah, r-right! Then… I secretly came up with a special clan jutsu that lets me read minds."

"Haha, no way! I can run around Konoha five hundred times, and on just my hands!"

Elsewhere in Konoha, the Green Beast Maito Gai let out a sneeze in the middle of his training.

"Springtime is full of allergies as well as youth! Yosh, I must not let my health suffer from the youthful blossoms!"

Passersby were treated to the view of the fully-grown man, dressed in a tight green spandex suit, running as fast as he could to the Hospital, while trying to remember if it was youthful to run fast with a cold or not.

Of course, with his speed, there was pretty much nothing to see but a green blur, so we'll cut the intermission and just go back to the story.

Hinata and Naruto traded lies until Sorako-sensei rang a bell, signifying Truth Time.

"Okay, me first?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded, so she went on.

"The Aburame took me in, but they aren't my family in blood. They are in pretty much every other way, though, 'ttebane! Anyway, I don't have kikaichu, but it sounds cool and I'd like to have them. And I really can run around Konoha, but not that many times, and just by running the regular way. I'm not really the Hokage, but I will be someday, believe it! And then I'll have the hat and the outfit and the Ramen Festival I told you about, and all the other cool stuff I told you about are my plans for once I'm Hokage! Just wait, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata giggled and blushed. "I believe in you, Naruto-ch-chan!" It had been hard for Narutop to convince her to address her more casually, but Naruto didn't really like formalities. At all. Hinata was stuttering less often, anyway, so something must have been working.

"I don't have a move to read minds, but I want to make one s-someday. That is one of my w-wishes. And I have an older cousin and a younger sister, not the other way around. Um, I also haven't activated my bloodline, the Byakugan, yet. I hope to soon, though. I've been training with my Father to try and activate it."

The bell rang again just then, as if Sorako-sensei had just been waiting for Hinata to finish speaking. Sure enough, their sensei gave Naruto's partner and newly-found friend a wink before gesturing at the blackboard, where a new message had been written while the students had been busy talking.

Practicing to lie is an important part of being shinobi. It is better, in most cases, to give enemies wrong information than to give no information at all. This is especially true for situations where the enemy is stronger than you. If you can trick your opponents into fighting themselves, then you will not need to fight them yourself. The quickest, the easiest, and the least risky path is almost always the best path to take for anyone, but especially for ninja, where any situation can lead to danger, and even more especially for kunoichi.

Kunoichi face the misconception that females, even female ninja, are weaker than men or male ninja. This is just another lie, one that we can use against those who underestimate us. Men are more lenient and complacent when they're against women, especially chivalrous and kind-hearted men.

It is not always a bad thing to have others underestimate you. You can surprise them later on, when they least expect it. The element of surprise, brought about by use of misinformation and misdirection, can turn the tides of battles and even wars, and can save your life.

Of course, nobody can lie all the time, to everyone. You told your partners the truth today because you must be able to trust your comrades and your friends. Just imagine how hiding your true skills could leave you unable to be promoted to the level you should be at! You need to learn the values of cooperation and teamwork, which make every technique more powerful, including telling lies.

AN: Damn, it's been awhile. Sorry about that. I promise this story won't be abandoned, and it will be finished eventually. Even if it takes forever damnit, this story will be finished. So no worries there. Please write a review on what you think about this!