Summary: They've amassed quite a few names over the years. But in the end, they are Team Gai. (20 truths, One shot)
Toboe LoneWolf: A one-shot in the style of 20-truths from the livejournal community, for Team Gai. Because Team Gai rocks. XD
Disclaimer: You know, if you take out the middle four letters in "Naruto," you get the word "No." Guess what my answer to owning Naruto is then, hmmm? XP
Of Naming Team 13
1. When Tenten learned that their team number was 13, she thought that her team's future was going to be filled with much pain, hardship, and loads of embarrassment.
When Neji learned of their team number, he thought that yep, the Fates were against him.
When Tenten finally told Lee why their team number was so bad (Lee was never one for superstition), he suggested renaming their team as Team Gai.
Having nothing else, they agreed.
2. Nevertheless, even with the renaming and supposed thwarting of unlucky 13, the team still faced much pain (the Lotus training), hardship (the list goes on), and loads of embarrassment (ask Tenten).
3. The first time their mission was to find and catch the daimyo's lost cat, they caught it less than seven minutes after their commission but Lee scared it half to death by literally chasing it down.
The second time, they still caught the cat in less than seven minutes, but this time Neji overdid it a little and the poor cat fell over after Neji had pressed all of its chakra holes.
The third time, they kept up their fast record and reputation of cat-catch-and-scare when Tenten barricaded it with a barrier of kunai and almost gave the cat a new haircut.
Sarutobi then decided that even if Team Gai were the fastest ones to catch the poor kitty, for the sake of its remaining 2.5 lives some other genin team would do the capturing.
4. Tenten's
idol is Tsunade.
Neji's idol was, and still is, his father.
Lee's
idol was Astro Boy until he met Gai-sensei, and the proof lies
in his first hairstyle.
5. Neji can
cook very basic dishes.
Tenten can cook very basic dishes.
Lee
can cook very basic dishes.
It is Gai-sensei who is the gourmet
chef of the team, and that is all we shall ever say about that
subject.
6. Once, upon comparing their team to team 7, Lee suggested renaming their team as "Team Taijutsu."
That was quickly shot down, as Neji refused to let the elegant Hyuuga Jyuuken style be merely merged with the "Ferocious Fist" style.
7. When
asked if Tenten likes Neji, Tenten's face will turn red.
When
asked if Tenten likes Lee, Tenten's face will also turn red.
It is
still highly contested in circles today whether Tenten was blushing
or fuming, and to which question.
When Tenten learns of this, the
said contesters are quickly pulverized.
…And sometimes, Neji
and Lee like watching.
8. Tenten
likes kissing her weapons.
Lee likes (trying to) kiss Sakura.
Neji
likes kissing…er…
…
9. Neji, surprisingly enough, likes (or has liked) kissing a lot of things, up to and including Hinata's forehead, (supposedly) Tenten's weapons (this involves a long story involving "creative" training, Lee, and accidents), radio collars, the birds in his courtyard, and the ground.
10. In a fit of madness or inspiration, depending on who tells you the story, Gai-sensei decided for the whole team to meet Neji's most esteemed family, regardless of Neji's protests.
The Hyuuga family's reaction and Neji's mortification:
Tenten: a very nice
girl, up to the point where she used a kunai from her hair buns to
stab a piece of meat a bit farther away from proper arm-length.
Lee:
a very nice boy, even if overly enthusiastic about the meal, Hinata's
smile, and Hiashi's "springtime of youth."
Gai: …You
don't ask. The Hyuuga don't tell.
11. What with the fanatical training regime of Lee, the obsessive quest for perfection by Neji, and the much-suffering Tenten as their sparring partners, the name of "Team Training" has also been thrown around.
As true as it sounds, that was also quickly shut down. Not by the members of Team Gai, but all of the other jounin instructors as they feared that Gai's insane training ideas would be considered a good example for their cells.
12. If Lee is alone and decides to watch TV, his choice of entertainment fluctuates between children's shows and Chinese wusha fighting dramas. With loud proclamations of "YOOOOOSH!"
If Tenten is alone and decides to watch TV, her choice of entertainment is crime-mystery dramas and police chases, with a dabbling of soap operas. Sometimes she likes reenacting the murder scenes (bloodless, of course.)
If Neji is alone and for some unknown reason known only to the bird chirping outside his room, decides to watch TV, his choice of entertainment ranges from the yoga channel, the news channel, rock MTV, game shows, little children's shows, anime, and the food network channel. So actually we're not quite too sure what his choice of entertainment is.
13. In the aftershock of one of Team Gai's training sessions, which involved a decimation of two woodlands, an emergency building evacuation, a new worn dirt track around Konoha, and a new decree ruling that no more than ten explosive tags should be used simultaneously during training sessions, the name of "Team Destruction" has been told in reverent stories around Konoha campfires.
Since then, Lee has found a new path around Konoha that doesn't involve wearing down the plantlife, Neji has made the Kaiten destruction sphere two times larger, and Tenten still thinks explosives are one of the coolest things ever.
14. If Lee and Tenten get together and decide to watch a movie, their choice is obviously action/adventure with a large amount of explosions.
If Lee and Neji were to get together and decide to watch a movie, their choice would theoretically be a historical drama with a large amount of action/adventure. It hasn't happened yet. (Once, Lee tried dragging Neji to a comedy movie. This was not successful.)
If Neji and Tenten get together and decide to watch a movie instead of spar for some unknown reason, their choice ranges from dramatic classics to action/adventure with a large amount of explosions. (Once, they tried a chick flick. They left ten minutes later.)
If entire Team Gai got together and for some reason Gai wants to watch a movie, they end up watching a comedy. If only because Gai and Lee are all for the "laughter of youth" and Tenten and Neji just…want to get through this sudden desire as fast as possible.
15. It is said that there was a rumor (said, mind you) that someone (a very not-smart someone) referred to them as "Team Hair," due to their unique…hair styles.
And while Lee does have a hairstyle reminiscent of Gai, and Tenten does have a hairstyle reminiscent of pandas and well, buns, and Neji has been voted as one of Konoha's top three "silkiest hair," one should, never, ever, ever, make fun of their hair. Even in passing.
Said someone, and the rest of Konoha, learned their lesson.
16. Question: There is a square table. Neji won't sit next to Lee. Tenten must not sit across from Gai. Lee has to sit next to Gai. What is their seating arrangement?
Answer: None, because they hate sitting formally at a table. They'd rather sprawl across the couch, with Lee and Gai sporadically sitting on the floor (in between fun taijutsu tussles), Tenten curled up with a pillow and Neji spreading his arms out on the back.
17. Under no circumstances should the phrase "Team Gai: Dynamic Quartet Entry" be mentioned in Neji or Tenten's presence.
18. Once, they weren't so close. That was when they stayed in their little corners and bemoaned their fates and their quirky teammates, weirdo people who kept staring up in the sky counting birds and kept failing everybody and just weren't strong enough to do anything.
19. Now, they're proud. Now Team Gai looks up to the sky for inspiration and in victory, swear never to fail to protect their precious people, and train each other to the ground to become even stronger. No one doubts them, and especially not themselves.
20. They've been called a lot of names in the past. Fated, caged; failure, weirdo; weak, forgettable. Taijutsu freaks, training fanatics – a team seemingly wholly dysfunctional. Team 13, Team Unlucky.
They have new names now. A freed prodigy, a taijutsu genius, a flying mistress of weapons. The most battle-experienced team, the team of flashing colors, a team built upon solid rock where they can look up to the heavens where birds fly free. They keep one name, though.
Because in the end, they are Team Gai.