Chapter Four

Naruto's POV

"Five, Six, Seven, Eight! Step and step up! And turn around! Down and up! And hit, hit, hit!" I tuned out the rest of the horrible dance steps Mr. Shue was trying to teach us. I respected the guy's singing talent but his dancing was hideous.

"Can we stop please?" Rachel called.

"You don't have to ask me for permission to go to the bathroom, Rachel, you could just go." Mr. Shue said offhandedly.

"It's not my bladder. It's the choreography."

"Okay… what's wrong with it?" Okay, that got his attention. We might have had something to do with what Rachel's saying.

"It sucks." Complained Quinn.

"It's completely unoriginal." Santana supported.

"Aren't you guys going to be shunned for talking to me?" asked a confused Rachel.

"Who would shun us?" Brittany asked.

"You're protected as long as you're with us." I told Rachel but she was still looking confusedly at Quinn.

"Sweetie, we're a team now. But you have to do something about Mr. Shue's dance routine" Quinn said to her.

"We can't compete with vocal adrenaline with these steps. You're a great vocal coach, Mr. Shue, but you're not a trained choreographer. That's what we need to be the best. We need Dakota Stanley." Rachel firmly said to Mr. Shue. Did I mention that we planted that thought into her?

"He's the best show choir choreographer in the Midwest. He works with vocal adrenaline." Quinn informed her.

"We can't take regionals without him. He was the understudy to the candelabra in beauty and the beast… On Broadway" Santana told Rachel.

"Imagine working with someone from Broadway!" I tempted her.

"Just because he understudied doesn't mean he ever performed." Mr. Shue replied. He was still against Dakota Stanley.

"Did you ever perform, Mr. Shue? After high school, I mean. Did you even try?" taunted Quinn. Ooh, Mr. Shue just got burned.

The Next Day

"He's not coming." Announced Rachel as soon as she entered the room.

"What happened?" Finn asked her.

I could almost hear Santana and Quinn rolling their eyes. They really don't like Mr. Shue.

Rachel then proceeded to tell us about her conversation Mr. Shue.

"They're my famous sugar cookies. I bake them usually for the poor during Christmas time but I baked them just for you" Rachel said Mr. Shue. "I wanted to say how sorry I was for what I said"

Mr. Shue scoffed. "Don't be, you were right. If you weren't so hard on me, I would never have the guts to start Acafellas"

"We need you Mr. Shue. You missed 6 rehearsals in the past couple of weeks and when you're there you're not really there." Rachel said to him.

"Which is why I think you should go hire Montana." Mr. Shue interjected

"Dakota." Rachel corrected.

"Whatever." Mr. Shue said uninterestedly. "I'll still be there to hear to hear you sing but I just don't have time for all of it anymore."

"Of course he doesn't want anything to do with us after you kicked him in the nads!" exclaimed Finn

"Then why did he thank me?" Rachel asked pointedly.

"The goal is to win and now that Mr. Schuester has agreed to let us hire Dakota Stanley, we can." Santana interrupted their banter.

"But he doesn't want us to. He just doesn't have the confidence to coach us anymore. Guys are really sensitive when it gets to this kind of stuff" Finn said.

"Guys are sensitive to this kind of stuff? Pansies are more like it." I argued.

"And that's my fault?" Rachel defended.

"You see anyone else here with a plate 'I'm sorry' cookies?" Finn said pointedly. "I don't, just you."

"Whoa, Finn. No need to place blames!" I defended the Hobbit.

"I'm bored. All of those in favor of hiring Dakota Stanley?" Quinn asked the rest of the club.

All of the girls raised hands. Finn looked around. He spotted Artie meekly starting to raise his hand but Finn gave him a look. I raised my hand and glared at Finn.

"What's the point in voting if you're just going to force people?" I asked sarcastically to Finn.

He blushed from embarrassment and Artie raised his hand. I know Finn doesn't like me. He wasn't exactly subtle. So, seeing no point in forcing him to like me, I try my best to push his buttons.

As we were leaving, I could vaguely hear Finn ask Rachel to wait up.

"This is a good start. You're sowing the seeds of destruction." Mom said proudly once we put her up to speed on what happened.

"Mr. Shue barely even shows up for rehearsals." Santana says to her.

"And when he's there, it's his mind that's missing." I added.

"Oh no no no no no... Barely will not cut it. I will not be satisfied until glee club is disbanded. What about this Dakota character? Any chance he actually helps? "

"They're soft, he'll eat them alive. I give them 15 minutes before the first one quits or tries to commit suicide." Quinn informed Mom.

"And his prices are out of the roof. Unless Mr. Shue is secretly loaded, Mom, that gives us a chance to 'help'."

"You know ladies, I learned a lot in the special forces. I was on the strike team. We took out the shepherd, then we went after the sheep. We need to go after these glee clubbers, one by one. I want my full budget restored… I need a fog machine." Mom said, her mind drifting off at the thought of the fog machine.

We saw the perfect opportunity when we see Kurt ask Mercedes to the mall. The girls and I shared a look, all thinking about the same thing.

"You should totally scoop that." Quinn says to Mercedes as soon as we approached her.

Santana fixes hair and they both link arms with Mercedes. I just trailed after them along with Brittany, not really interested in making her go after someone gay.

"I don't think I'm his type" Mercedes weakly denied.

"Oh, I think you are. Just follow our lead. We've got your back." Quinn assured her while hiding a smirk.

I held Quinn's forearm, signaling her to stay. "Hey, Quinn, can you come with me to my locker? I think I forgot something. Brittany, Santana, you can go ahead."

I half lead and half dragged Quinn to my locker. She didn't like Rachel, and me trying to woo Rachel might cause some tension between the two of us, I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I may appear cold but I really care about my friends, especially the girls.

"So, what's this about, Naruto?" Quinn said seriously.

Tilting her chin a bit so she can look at me in the eye, I took a deep breath. "Do you trust me?"

Her features softened, "Of course I do, Naruto. You're my best friend."

Even though I know it would fuel the rumors about us, I grabbed her in a hug. "Just… Keep trusting me okay?" I whispered in her ear. I kissed her gently on the cheek before letting go. "Now, let's get to class." Grabbing her hand, I lead her to our next class.

"I don't get it. Who did you kill?" Quinn softly mumbled while I lead her, obliviously to the students gossiping and pointing at our adjoined hands.

The next day, we went to Vocal Adrenaline's school. It wasn't very far away so it was still early when we got there.

"Dang, Kurt. This car is fly." We hear Mercedes say to Lady Hummel.

"My dad got it for my sweet 16 after I swore I would stop wearing form fitting sweaters that stop after the knee." Kurt explained.

We all look at his outfit, which was… You guessed it! A form fitting sweater that stops after the knee.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Kurt said after seeing the looks we gave him.

"Well, who knew Hummel had a mischievous side." I smirked at him. A very important lesson I learned from my mom, Manipulating becomes a lot easier if they trust you. Besides, the other Glee Geeks should put a good word for me to Rachel, making it easier to woo her.

"Are we even sure they're rehearsing today?" Quinn said to no one in particular.

"Vocal Adrenaline rehearses every day from 2:30 to midnight." Rachel answered.

"And that doesn't sound stalker-ish at all." I whispered to the girls, making sure the others don't hear.

Kurt and Mercedes comfortably link their arms together, how can Mercedes actually think he's straight?

"I'm nervous these Vocal Adrenaline kids will laugh at us. They're so cool and popular and we look like we've just stepped of the short list." Mercedes said insecurely.

"Speak for yourself. I totally rock this look." Everyone quickly assessed my look. I was wearing red running pants with my red and white running uniform. My uniform was covered by my letterman with an added hoodie.

"Those sweaty Nazis just had more time to practice we have more heart and you don't look touched in the head. That outfit is amazing… yours too, Naruto." Kurt complimented the both of us.

"So…Would you like to hang out?" Mercedes asks Kurt rather shyly.

"Come on over." Kurt agreed quickly.

After witnessing a girl puking and Stanley insulting Vocal Adrenaline's amazing performance, they still haven't backed off.

"Mr. Stanley, we're the McKinley High glee club." Rachel introduced us.

"No interviews." Came Dakota's quick rejection.

"We'd like you to c-choreograph for us." Surprisingly, it was the shy Asian that said that. Tina was her name... I think.

"Look, my fee is 8000 dollars per number plus a 10000 bonus if you place in the top three. And with Dakota Stanley at the wheel, you will place at the top three. Move it." Stanley says haughtily while he drives off with his gorgeous girlfriend.

"How are we going to get 8000 dollars?" Rachel asks the rest of us.

It was somehow decided that we're going to host a Glee Club Car Wash. Which lead to all the Cheerios in bikini tops and their signature short skirts. Though the Bolts were somehow roped into wearing swimming trunks while shirtless. I certainly wasn't complaining, it was a very nice view. The Cheerios, I mean.

"Quit checking out the other Cheerios, Naruto." Quinn scolded me while elbowing my abs.

"Yeah, Whiskers, all the leering you're doing is distracting." Santana agreed.

I forced myself to stop and approached Rachel, leaving Quinn and Santana gaping.

"Hey, Rachel." I greeted her.

"Hey me? You're talking to me?" She asked me, probably confused at why I was greeting her.

"Yeah. Since you're kind of the leader of this club, I wondering about what you thought about the car wash?"

Her eyes briefly flickered to my abs but she quickly forced it back to my eyes, blushing at being caught. "It's going great! By the way things are, we should have no trouble hiring Dakota Stanley."

I smiled at her charmingly and leaned in just a bit closer. "I really appreciate you doing this, you know? I know that it was our idea but I like how you try your best to make it happen." I say sincerely.

"Y-Yeah. N-Nothing but the best for o-our club." She managed to stutter out.

"Hey, Rachel, help me with this car, would you?" Finn suddenly called her. Rachel looked at me but I nodded my head, wordlessly telling her to go.

As soon as she left, Quinn and Santana approached me. "What the hell was that about, Naruto?"

"What was what about, Quinn? I was just telling my thanks to the captain of this club."

"Shut your trap, Whiskers. You don't just talk to anyone, what's you ulterior motive?" Santana interrogated me.

"Why, Santana, sweetheart, can't I just talk to Rachel without an ulterior motive? Now, let's get back to work." I say in a sickly sweet tone, further making them suspicious. I just love pushing their buttons! They dropped the subject and we went back to washing the car.

"You know what, Sue? I really misjudged you. Getting the Cheerios and the Bolts to help with the Glee Club Choreographer Fundraiser is one of the nicest things I've ever seen." I hear Ms. Pillsbury say to Mom.

"Well, Emma, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this glee club successful. My son likes it, after all." Mom replied. I tuned out the rest and decided to eavesdrop on Lady Hummel and Dark Chocolate.

"Can we just make this official?" Mercedes sweetly says to Kurt.

"Make what official?" Kurt asks suspiciously.

"You know…that we're dating." I have never heard Mercedes sound so shy before.

"I'm sorry Mercedes, but I thought I made it very clear. I'm in love with someone else." Kurt says while gazing dreamily at Hudson. He decided to duck at that particular moment and someone else appeared at Kurt's line of sight.

"Rachel?" Mercedes asked unbelievably. I could relate if I didn't know the truth. How damaged does a guy have to be to like someone as annoying as Rachel? I didn't count since I was forced to woo her.

"Yes! For several years now." Kurt quickly said. Looks like someone's desperate to stay in the closet.

Smash! And Kurt now has a brand new broken windshield.

"How could you do that?! You busted my window!" Kurt angrily said to Mercedes.

"Well, you busted my heart…"

"Ok, please examine your personalized menus. This is what you're going to eating for the next six months." Stanley says for our first session. He handed the others menus but seemingly ignored Artie, Quinn, Santana, Brittany and I.

"Um, mine just says coffee." Mercedes says to him. Stanley just nods in agreement.

"What's smelt?" Rachel curiously asked him.

"A pungent low carb fresh water fish." Stanley surprisingly explained. "Ok, let's start with today's business. Artie, you're cut. You're not trying hard enough."

"At what?"

"At walking. We can't be wheeling you around every number. It throws off the whole dynamic. It's depressing."

The girls and I shared a quiet giggle, well a chuckle for me since it wasn't manly to giggle.

Though the others didn't share the humor. "So you're kicking him out?" Mercedes accusingly asked Stanley.

"Yup. Also, you got to go." Stanley says to a now gaping Mercedes.

"You can't kick people out of glee club cause you don't like the way they look!" Kurt defended Mercedes.

"Why don't you shut your face-gash and stay away from aerosol cans. You could burst into flames any second!" Stanley replied to Kurt. He turned to face Quinn, Santana, Brittany and I, "You four, you're great. You're perfect! Seriously. Don't change anything." This time, she turned to Rachel. "You… ughh, nose job."

"Now hold on a sec!" Finn sad to Stanley.

"What was that Frankenteen? Why don't you wipe that dopey look on your face and get some lotion for those knuckles you've been dragging on the ground!"

"What's wrong with you?!" Finn suddenly raised his voice at Stanley.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me is that you're so freakishly tall! I feel like a woodland creature!" Stanley turned to face the rest of the glee club. "Am I hurting you're feelings? Did I say something because I thought you wanted somebody who respected you enough to tell you the truth? But maybe you don't have the confidence to hear it, hmm? Maybe you need somebody who's going to…lie to you. Say thing like, you got what it takes! But you know what? As far as I can see you don't! So, why don't you just take a little second and ask yourself; do I want to be a winner or not?"

"Screw this. I quit." Finn says as he walks out. Seriously? I thought he liked singing but it turned out he was just a quitter who's bound to be a Lima Loser. Did I mention we don't get along?

"Me t-t-too" Tina quickly followed.

"Let's roll, Artie." Mercedes says as she wheels Artie away.

"Great! Great! Separate the wheat from the chaff. That's perfect!"

"Wait." Everybody turned to look at Rachel. "Barbra Streisand. Everyone told her to be a star, she had to get a nose job, and thankfully she refused. We don't need you. Let's face it. We are never going to be as good as dancers as Vocal Adrenaline. We're going to win because we're different. And that's what makes us special."

"They told JLo her booty was too big." Mercedes said to Stanley.

"Curtis Mayfield was more successful after he became paralyzed." That was Artie.

"Jim Abbott-"

"I have no idea who that is." Kurt interrupted Finn.

"He was a one-armed pitcher for the Yankees. Pitched a no-hitter." He still continued.

"Okay, so misfits and spaz-heads and cripples can make it too. That's great. What's your point?" Stanley was starting to get annoyed.

"Our point is that, you're fired… and I'm taller than you." Rachel said to Stanley.

I laughed out loud at that. Maybe spending time with the Rachel wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Barely." Stanley managed to utter before he left.

"Let me get this straight." Mom said after we recalled the events to her… And she was not happy. "Glee Club got rid of Dakota Stanley, Mr. Schuester's back and they're busy at work on a new number, more confident than ever? This is what we call a total disaster. I'm going ask you to smell your armpits." We all reluctantly did it. "That's the smell of failure and its stinking up my office. I'm revoking your tanning privileges, ladies. Naruto, you're grounded for a week."

Santana suddenly left the office, tears springing up from her eyes while I groaned. I hate the fact that my mom was a teacher.

"Ms. Sylvester, I want to thank you." Quinn suddenly said out of the blue.

"For what?"

"For teaching me a valuable life lesson…When you really believe in yourself, you don't have to bring other people down." We both left her office after that.

"Isn't Santana naturally tan?" I asked Quinn as soon as we were clear. I had no idea why she walked out.

"You know that, I know that, but does Coach Sylvester know that? Santana makes such a big deal out of it so that Coach thinks it's a horrible punishment. The three of us never actually uses it."

"You three are much more devious than you appear, you know that?" Quinn just smirks at me, not bothering to reply. "Come on, I'll drive you home." I say to her.

"Did you really have a choice? You picked me up so you better bring me back."

"Can't your boyfriend, Frankenteen, do that?"

"… You just had to use Stanley's name for Finn."

"It fits."