Summary: A genderbend story, where Naruto and Sasuke are girls and Sakura is a boy. Maybe a few more genderswitches here and there.
This stoy is set in the medieval/folklore/kingdom I'm not quite sure what it's called ^_^" Just the fact that there are kings, queens, villages, dukes
For those who recognise this story - yup, this was originally Pecha Pichu's. PP made me write it after a few chapters ... ^_^"
A somewhat distorted collaboration...
"Oi, hurry up, will ya?" the blonde-haired girl yelled down from the top of the cliff. "Get a move on!"
From the far distance down below, the shiny glint of a Konoha hitai-ate appeared, followed by a dark-haired girl in blue. She was panting comically hard as she slowly, slowly climbed up the giant rock. It was precariously tall and she was sure she could see a few wisps of low-hanging clouds below her. Footfalls and jutting out rocks stuck out everywhere, making it easy to scale. However, some of them were merely disguised packed soil, ready to crumble below and send the climber to their death. The girl could smell flowers and grass and ignored the temptation to rub her nose, determinedly holding in her sneeze. At hearing the blonde's voice, a vein twitched in her forehead.
"It's not that easy usuratonkachi! No one has been that freakishly huge stamina of yours!"
"This is a complete waste of time! Get up here or I'll be leaving your ass behind!" was the reply.
Naruko stood at the top of the cliff. At the very top was a beautiful flat clearing that overlooked the busy town of Konoha below. It was covered in moist, green grass and dotted with brightly coloured, tiny flowers – it could've been a scene made of candy. A few wisps of mist were left lingering from the morning and the dew still clung to the leaves, leaving a crystallized effect. There were no trees around nor in the clearing therefore leaving any person on top at danger of falling off and plummeting to the bottom at any moment, especially during windy mornings and nights.
A pale hand clutched at the grass behind Naruko and slowly, Sasuke levered herself onto the level floor. The girl's shoulder-length hair was drenched in sweat, and the forehead protector that acted as a headband was in danger of slipping off. She wore a blue sleeveless shirt with a white mini-skirt and black bike pants and blue sandals. On the other hand, Naruko's long hair was in two ponytails at each side of her head and she was dressed in an orange jacket with a shirt underneath and matching orange and black shorts. Her forehead protector hung around her neck loosely. Naruko heaved a sigh at her pitiful state and pulled Sasuke up. Though her pride was wounded at accepting help from Naruko, Sasuke knew that the foothold her left foot was one wouldn't hold on for much longer and in danger of crumbling any minute. Next time, she grumbled, she'd lose some weight before going climbing again.
Hell would be over when she admitted that she was grateful for Naruko's help.
With a final heave, Sasuke tumbled onto the grass, her backpack falling over her head as she landed. Naruko snickered and Sasuke withheld the urge to dock her over the head.
The wind blew and ruffled the girls' hair. Sasuke picked herself up and walked to the other side of the cliff, which was really, only five metres away. Hence how small the clearing was. Her eyes widened as she saw the town below.
Naruko grinned and swung her arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "What did I say? I told you Konoha was up 'round here!"
There it was, her home town, the place where she had grown up in. It had gotten busier over the years as Konoha made itself prosperous with good trade routes, an ambitious ruler and easy access from the rural parts. Gone were the big, patched huts, now replaced by brick, two-storey apartments. Gone were the carts and wheelbarrows, now replaced with stores and small shops. The people looked richer, prouder and haughtier than before. But under all that there was a still a sense of homeliness, seen in the warmth of the mothers' eyes, the yelling and rackus of the children as they ran to school (which they were technically supposed to be in), the patched clothes of the men, held on tight by the poor, the conservative and the traditional. In the distance was the castle where the royal family lived, though they did little to influence the daily life in Konoha and were more like tales than real people.
Sasuke sensed Naruko walk up beside her. "It's been a while hasn't it?" Naruko said wistfully. "Since we've been here. Hell, we've spent half our lives exploring the country."
"Which was your idea, by the way." Sasuke muttered. "What seven-year old suddenly decides to explore the countryside for an adventure without telling anyone? I got convinced by a moron like you and we ended up nearly dying after five days."
Naruko frowned. Sasuke was way too pessimistic here. Actually, they had survived for seven days and during a heatwave in the mountains been saved by old man Kakashi. And was wrong with a little adventure? To travel and be free of school? Now, Naruko was an optimistic person and she didn't have any parents to restrict her - the only friend she had was Sasuke whom was dragged along for her curiosities far more often than desired.
While they had been living, seeing, experiencing things, the other kids at the academy were just reading out stupid passages of farms and pigs and the like.
Five years ago, seven-year old Naruko convinced seven-year old Sasuke to go on a week-long journey to the outskirts of Konoha. That week had been fun, camping, hunting, walking with nature though they had strayed farther than one thought. A day turned into a week, a week into a month.
Naruko and Sasuke, who were completely lost at that point, were saved by Kakashi and ended up living with the shepherd for a few years – meaning that Kakashi had failed to kick the two, no, Naruto out for that period of time. On the other hand, Sasuke would've been more than happy to leave though. Seeing the two conflicted kids, Kakashi had taken the two barely-out-of-toddler-age girls and raised them like his own daughters.
Living like this for several years had been bad for Sasuke's allergies. She was allergic and suffered from rashes when met with grasses or pollen of any kind. It came to the point that Sasuke couldn't stand huddled up on a hill with the sheep and grass decided to run away, taking Naruto away with her. From this point on, all that was pressed upon was to find Konoha.
Sasuke would be hard-pressed to admit it, but she had been homesick. She had missed her mother, her father and her brother. She had wanted a routine life of going to school and coming home which Naruto had destroyed any hopes of. On the other hand, Naruto had enjoyed life immensely and returning to Konoha was merely another adventure, being an orphan.
Flashbacks and reflections aside, it would be safe to say they had finally found Konoha after a long, long time.
Sasuke looked down the cliff.
"Well, usuratonkachi, how do you expect us to get down from here and get to there?"
A/N
When I wrote this, I was imagining Naruto in his sexy-no-jutsu (12 years old?) and Sasuke's hair (and headband) like Sakura's in Part I Naruto
They'll be around genin age.
Clue for next chap: Prince Sakura is on board!
Criticism and reviews appreciated!