Ok, so its my fist story up and im not completely sure how good it is. Guess im kinda nervous and excited at the same time. Please please please read and review! I need to know what's good and what's not good so i can fix it and do better. Criticisim wanted. I want to know exactly what i'm doing right and wrong. Thanx and enjoy!
ninjapenguintime

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I dont own Naruto. Yada, yada, yada.


Bath Time

"All right, what kind of lame D-rank mission is it this time old man?" the blond genin grumbled causing his two teammates to glare a them and his silver haired sensei to shake his head helplessly. The rude greeting also earned the boy a look from the Hokage's assistants.

The Hokage himself, however, was not phased by Naruto's outburst. He sat forward in his chair before addressing the team in front of him.

"You should enjoy this one. There is a request to wash some ninja hounds."

"First we're chasing this crazy cat and now you have us washing some smelly mutts? Why cant we go on more C-ranked missions? Or better yet, B-ranked missions!?"

"Shut up Naruto." Sakura growled, her fists clenching threateningly.

Naruto continued on with his rant, oblivious to Sakura's threat. "Ya know what? I think you purposefully pick these missions to annoy me. You think I can't handle harder missions. But I can! I've been training hard and-"

"That's enough Naruto." Kakashi cut in before Sakura could take charge or they could get in trouble.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" he bowed then took the scroll. The then ushered his charges out the door leaving behind an very amused looking Sarutobi.

After much bickering from Naruto and Sakura, dark looks from Sasuke, Naruto tripping and falling down the stairs, (Sakura's fault but no one can prove it) and some wondering how on earth his dysfunctional team managed to get anything done on Kakashi's part, the team finally made it outside in relatively one piece.

"Ok you three," Kakashi sighed once Naruto and Sakura had settled down. "You'd better go and change. You'll probably end up getting wet. Meet me at the bridge in ten." With that said, the jonin disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving the genin staring at the spot he had just been occupying.

Abruptly, Sasuke turned around to head home.

"Wait up Sasuke!" Sakura yelled hurrying to catch up with him. "I'll walk with you."

Without looking back, the moody Uchiha just waved her off, not wanting to deal with how annoying she could be. Sakura dropped back, a little discouraged.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'll walk with you." Naruto said, quick to take a chance.

Sakura sighed and made her way to where Naruto was still standing. "Lets go." she told him in a dejected voice that clearly said she had given up on Sasuke for the time being. Her inner self, however, was doing flips at the possibility of seeing Sasuke with no shirt on.

Exactly one hour later, Kakashi showed up muttering an apology and a vague excuse about having to save some little girl's puppy from a house fire.

"Well it's about time!" Naruto grumbled, still clearly not happy about this assignment. "Lets get going." He jammed his hand into the pockets of his orange shorts and stalked away. His two teammates and sensei stared after him.

'Idiot," Sasuke called out. "You don't know where your going."

"Oh, right." Naruto realized and hesitated then turned back towards them. He eyed his sensei who had left his jonin vest behind and traded his normal long sleeve shirt for a sleeveless one. "So… where are we going?"

The man gazed lazily back at his hasty student with one eye before turning to lead the way.

The team made their was through the maze that was Konaha. Past flower shops and tea shops and busy citizens going about their day. Naruto's steps slowed when they passed his favorite ramen stand, and Sakura had to turn around and grab his shirt, towing him along behind her until he lost the enticing sent of his favorite meal.

Leaving the more crowded marked area behind them, the team headed down a quieter road. This one had houses with yards and gardens and neighbors outside enjoying the weather.

Kakashi lead his team up to a small one story house and opened the side gate that lead to the backyard.

An average sized tree occupied the middle of the lawn. Underneath it were some neatly stacked towels and several bottles of shampoo. Two hoses were off to the side along with some buckets. Everything they needed to get the job done except for one thing.

"Umm, Kakashi sensei, there's no one here," Sakura pointed out, her emerald eyes shifting up to his grey one. "Where are the dogs?" Sasuke and Naruto glanced around at this as if just realizing what they were missing.

"Good question," he praised his ever observant student. Performing the five overly familiar hand seals in rapid succession, he thrust his palm down to the ground and was instantly engulfed by a cloud of smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal a pack of eight dogs. They crowded around Kakashi, wagging their tails in greeting before going to meet the dumbfounded genin.

"So… were going to wash your dogs Sensei?" Sakura asked bewildered.

""That sounds about right." The jonin smiled, his eye crinkling. "Aren't they cute!"

"I knew they were plotting against me." Naruto mumbled to himself. He glared down at the dog who was sniffing him. It had a whiskered face not unlike his own.

Sasuke glanced around. An annoyed scowl was now on his face. "This is where you live then."

Kakashi shook his silvery head. "No, a friend of mine let us borrow her yard. Now, lets get down to business. There's four of us and eight of them, so two dogs each. This shouldn't take long."

"Alright! I call those two!" Naruto yelled pointing out a mean looking dog and the huge bull dog. He was as determined as ever to outdo Sasuke.

"Suit yourself," Kakashi shrugged. He tried not to shake his head at the overzealous genin.

The rest of the dogs split, two going to each of the remaining genin and Kakashi. Then the team took turns with the hoses and buckets, spreading nice smelling shampoo over the dogs.

Working like a pro, he'd done this many times before, Kakashi took a minute to see how his team was doing.

Sakura was well into lathering up Pakkun, whom he was very fond of. He heard her mumbling to the dog about this being the reason why she never got her nails done.

"I get mine done all the time. I could recommend this great place." was the pug's reply

and Kakashi got a kick out of Sakura's I-cant-believe-this-dog-takes-better-care-of-his-nails-than-I-do face.

Expertly working the soap into his dog's long fur, Kakashi looked over to Sasuke next. He was having a staring contest with the second smallest dog in Kakashi's pack, obviously at a loss of where to begin.

"Need some help, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"No." the boy said pointedly and picked up a hose reluctantly.

Kakashi took a minute to towel off the yellow furred dog and set its sunglasses back on its face. Before he could check on Naruto however, he heard the boy in question yelp.

"Kakashi sensei," Naruto whined. "He almost bit my fingers off!" the blond was clutching his right hand to his chest with a horrified expression on his face. "This dog's out to get me!"

"I just wanted a taste." The dog grinned evilly showing all his teeth. His narrow eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Would you like to trade Naruto?" Kakashi asked calmly and pointed at the dog he hadn't washed yet.

That shut Naruto up. He was still determined to beat Sasuke and do it in the most challenging way possible.

"Listen up dog," the boy growled. "I've got to wash you so I can beat that guy over there. I've gotta be the best so I can be Hokage and be acknowledged by everyone!"

The dog stared at Naruto for a second, eyes narrowing before growling out a quick "ok."

Now it was Naruto's turn to stare. He marveled at how easy it was to get the dog to listen and wished it would work like that for him all the time.

For a while, the team worked in relative silence, some members more productive than others. Kakashi was halfway through his second dog and Sakura and Naruto were finishing their firsts.

Sasuke, however was still getting used to washing dogs. The small brown dog he was still currently working on kept telling him he "missed a spot" when he clearly hadn't in a tired disinterested voice that had become highly annoying. There was also the fact that the white dog he had to wash next had been constantly badgering him.

"Come on now. Don't have all day do we?" the white dog pestered. Its tongue was hanging out and it had a silly look on its face. The ridiculous black tuff of fur on top of his head was making it even more irritating.

Sasuke turned to tell the dog to chill out when he was surprised with a face full of water.

Startled, he stepped back and tripped, falling hard. The stream of water followed him like a leash.

"Turn it off idiot!" He choked a little on the water.

"Sorry, sorry," Naruto apologized , finally getting the water off. "It locked and I forgot how to un…" he trailed off. "Hey, you know, you look like a drowned rat."

A laughing bark hut through the air and spread as most of the dogs found this hilariously funny.

Sakura rushed to get Sasuke a dry towel and fussed over him while chastising Naruto until the Uchiha pushed her away.

Kakashi hadn't said a word. He just rolled his eyes while finding the situation amusing.

"Ok, back to work guys. We're almost done. And Sasuke," the boy looked up at his sensei. "I told you you might get wet."

Sasuke glared at the amusement in his sensei's voice and the crinkle in his eye but got back to work muttering about how he should set Naruto's pants on fire.

The dog Naruto had been washing earlier heard the dark remarks.

"Do it." he snarled, evil mischief fueling his grin.

Sasuke's grin copied that of the dogs and he wasted no time in blowing a small jet of fire toward the oblivious blond and waited for his reaction.

It took a few seconds, not that Sasuke expected anything less from the idiot.

"Is something burning?" The whiskered faced boy turned around in circles sniffing the air, searching. "Hey Sakura, do you smell something burning?

Sakura looked up from her work and saw Naruto standing there with a confused look on his face and a thin line of smoke curling up behind him. "Turn around Naruto." she sighed. It was a sight she wouldn't have believed if it hadn't been for the fact that it was Naruto. "Alright, come here." Your pants are on fire. I'm just going to-"

"What!? My pants are what!?" He twisted around to glance behind himself. "Ahhhh! I'm on fire! I'm on fire! Put it out, quick! I'm gonna die!" He ran around the yard waving his arms in the air leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

Kakashi stared at the unbelievable spectacle before noticing some curious neighbors who had poked their heads over the fence to see what all the commotion was about.

"Don't worry," he called to them as Sakura yelled to Naruto to "get your kyubi butt over here so I can put out the damn fire!" "Just some training exercises. Everything's under control. He rubbed the back of his head a little, a bit embarrassed, and observed the uncertain looks on their faces. He turned around just in time to see Sakura yank Naruto backwards into a bucket of water after he ran past her again. Good save Sakura, the jonin thought approvingly. Then Sasuke dumped another bucket of water on Naruto, making sure the job was done.

"This was your fault!" Naruto growled at Sasuke. "You caught me on fire cause I sprayed you with water! Wait till I get my hands on you!"

"Now Naruto," Kakashi interrupted. "Just because it you're one of the few people I've ever met who caught fire spontaneously doesn't mean you can blame it on Sasuke. Don't worry, we'll get you some help." This was said in all seriousness.

Sakura made a funny sound and turned away to hide her laughter. It didn't escape her notice that the dogs were snickering. Sasuke even had a smirk on his face. She turned back to the dog she was working on and spread some shampoo on its fur. You know, you kinda look like Naruto." she said commenting on its whiskers. "Act like him too." she grimaced as the dog shook and sent soap suds flying all over her.

Still sitting in the bucket an fuming a bit, Naruto stood up, but the bucket came with him. He turned to glance at his behind and squinted at it. He shook his bottom a bit and then a lot before finally coming to the conclusion that the bucket was stuck,

"Uh, guys? A little help here?"

"What is it now Naruto?" Sakura sighed, exasperated, and turned with the others to see what trouble he had gotten into now. "You've got to be kidding me!" she said as she saw what the problem was.

"No, really, I'm stuck."

"There is just no way Naruto." Sakura crossed her hands on her chest. Sasuke and Kakashi shook their head no in agreement and backed away. No doubt they too were thinking about the smelly consequences of standing behind Naruto.

"Oh, come on." the blond pleaded. "Anyone? Please, I'm begging you!" The sun was momentarily blocked out and Naruto was thrown into a shadow. His distressed face flickered to confusion. "Huh?"

The big bull dog had come behind him and grabbed the bucket, dragging Naruto with it. Then the dog started shaking his head, back and forth. A screaming Naruto went with it until finally he was flung halfway across the yard, landing in a heap in a bush.

"I'm ok." he called. He stood up, a little disoriented. Everyone stared at him observing the sticks and leaves in his hair and his slight stumble as he tried to make his way over too them. It was all too much. They all cracked up laughing. Even Sasuke allowed himself a chuckle.

"S'not that funny." Naruto mumbled and picked up the hose to finish washing Bull.

"Yes it was." Sakura giggled and went to pick the leaves out of the boy's blond hair.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. Kakashi finished early of course and sat under the tree reading his book. The clean dogs all joined him, lounging around.

Just as they were finishing up, the old lady who owned the house came out with lemonade and sandwiches for the team and a bone each for the dogs. "It's nice to see these young people hard at work." she said fondly.

"Thanks a lot lady!" Naruto stuffed a sandwich in his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"You come and visit me soon Kakashi," the old lady said as she waved them off. "That applies to all of you. Such well mannered kids." She stood on her porch and watched as the team and gang of dogs made their way back to the heart of Konoha. She smiled softly to herself as she heard the bickering start up and turned around to continue on her day.


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