A/N: This story was written a very long time ago (2008) and contains Mary Sues/Marty Stus as the main 5 characters. If you want to have a laugh or two at how bad my writing used to be, then please continue on. If Mary Sues infuriate you, then you may want to turn back. ;)
The summer air in Konohagakure was unpleasantly hot. The humidity was high enough to give the air the consistency of water, yet not enough to bring any cool rain. Most of the residents of the Hidden Leaf Village had retreated into their homes for the day to escape the heat; others sprawled out among the trees, enjoying the shade beneath the forest's leafy cover. One group, however, seemed not to notice the blistering heat of the day. As usual, Might Guy and his four students were busy training out in the fields, too focused to even consider the risks associated with the heat.
Guy stood on the sidelines as two of his students, Rock Lee and Sango Hitarashi, sparred with one another. Sango had joined Team Guy three years ago, soon after Lee's defeat during the Chunin Exams. She and Lee had been childhood friends, and they had begun dating just after Lee had recovered from his risky surgery, so it was only natural for her to want to stay by his side. They were considerably alike, both in appearance and personality, and even wore the same clothes to train in day after day. Sango was not a typical sixteen-year-old girl, either. She possessed no natural-born talent, like Neji or Sasuke, and what little chakra she did possess was so pitifully weak that she had learned not to rely on it. As a result, she had taken to studying taijustu and the art of the sword, training like mad since she was a child to master them both.
"Haiyah! Haiyah!" Sango yelled. She bent backward, touching her head and hands to the ground and dodging a punch from Lee. Pushing herself up into a handstand, she extended her long, muscular legs into the air and aimed a powerful kick at him.
"Aaah!" he cried as her foot connected with his jaw and sent him flying across the training field.
"Nice, Sango!" Tenten called from the sidelines.
"Yes, good form," Neji added. Sango smiled at the praise. Hearing a rustle in the grass, she spun around to see Lee running at her at breakneck speed. As they both leapt into the air, she tucked her arms into her chest to block his punch, but he followed it up with a full-force kick, sinking his heel into her stomach.
"Ugh!" she gasped as she was thrown backwards, slamming into the ground on her back. As she stood to jump back into the fight, Guy stepped in front of her, Lee already next to him.
"That's good, guys!" he shouted, giving them the thumbs-up and flashing his unbelievably white teeth. "You've been at this long enough. You've improved a ton in these last few months. All of you really do deserve your Chunin titles!"
"Speaking of which," Neji said, joining them, "shouldn't we be getting ready for that party we're supposed to be throwing tonight? Most of Konoha's teams are coming, as well as Naruto, Jeraiya, and Lady Tsunade."
"Yeah, you're right," Guy said. "To be honest, I almost forgot about it."
"This will be great!" Lee said. "A party to celebrate all of Team Guy finally achieving Chunin!"
"Neji's a Jônin already," Tenten added quietly.
"Yes, he's just a little too good for little ol' me to teach," Guy teased.
"Oh, whatever, Sensei," Tenten retorted, smiling and rolling her eyes.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Sango asked impatiently, giving Lee a kiss on the cheek. He blushed and grabbed her hand as she began trying to pull him away.
"Right," Guy continued. "Lee, you're in charge of groceries. Tenten, you're in charge of decorating. Sango and Neji, you're in charge of cooking, and I'll be going with Lee." Sango pretended to make a pouting face and released Lee's hand. "And…dismissed!"
Neji and Sango walked with Tenten to the Nakama Inn, where Guy had rented out two adjoining rooms for the party. As they headed down the long hall to the kitchen, Tenten ducked through a side door into the main hall to begin decorating. Sliding open the paper doors, Sango and Neji entered the kitchen and began to explore it. The cabinets were filled to bursting with exotic spices and teas, as well as gigantic frying pans and glistening porcelain teapots. Opening the pantry revealed barrels of strange and colorful fruits and vegetables, not all of which they were sure were edible. Baskets of apples, lemons, and potatoes were hung by chains from the ceiling, swaying a little as the door was closed again.
"Hmm..." Neji muttered, peering into the gigantic freezer. "Sango, come look in here."
"Wow!" she exclaimed in awe, striding up behind him. Inside was every type of meat she could imagine, from beef to pork to fish and whole chickens; there were even ducks and cuts from a sheep. "So, Neji, what do you think we should make?"
"That depends. What can you cook?"
"Anything you want, as long as there's a recipe for it. So, maybe... some soba, tempura, and curry-" Neji flinched. "Oh, no, don't worry," Sango said, laughing at him. "I won't put any ghost chilies in it this time."
"Well, alright..." he said hesitantly. "But I should still taste it as you go to make sure it's alright. I can't really trust you unsupervised with the spices." Sango sighed.
"Fine..."
The two of them quickly got down to business. Working as a team, they easily prepared more than enough food for everyone in attendance. There was still a little time until the party began, so they finished neatly arranging everything on the serving dishes and prepared to call it quits.
"Phew," Sango said, placing the last plate in a neat arrangement on the serving table. "Now all that's left is the cleanup."
"Don't worry about it," said Tenten, suddenly walking in. "Go clean yourselves up and get ready. I have to get cups and bottles of saké for the tables, anyway, so I'll get it."
"Thanks, Tenten! You're awesome! But are you sure?"
"Positive. Besides, you and Neji both have flour all over your faces."
Sango quickly ran back to her apartment, which was in the same building as the rest of her squad's apartments. "Wow," she laughed as she looked at herself in the mirror above her bathroom sink. "Tenten was right. I really did make a mess!" Her jet-black hair was gray and full of flour and powdered sugar - now that she thought about it, she couldn't even remember using powdered sugar - and her clothes were covered in blood from the meat she had spent half the afternoon slicing up, not to mention the sweat from training earlier. "Wow. Ick." She quickly stepped into the shower and washed off the sweat and kitchen grime all over her, then wrung out her hair and wrapped herself in a towel, picking up her filthy taijutsu suit and dropping it into the laundry basket as she went.
"Hmm…" she mumbled to herself as she approached the closet "What should I wear?" She spotted a green yukata with a blue obi and snatched it off of the hanger. "Perfect." She crossed the sides of the lightweight kimono over her chest and tied the obi, having some trouble managing the long ribbon of blue fabric, then posed in front of the mirror, admiring the silver leaf symbols stitched here and there on the sleeves and the blooming silver cherry tree on the bottom hem. The sleeves themselves hung to just above her hips when she extended her arms to the sides.
"Okay, now the hair." She walked over to the mirror on her desk and ran a comb through her hair, tucking it up into a loose, messy bun. Selecting a pair of green chopsticks from her jewelry box, she slid them through the bun. Then she picked up a hair clip with a green jade lotus on it - a present from Lee - smiling as she snapped it into her hair. Last, she grabbed a metal leaf symbol pin, a pair of tabi socks, and her favorite green geta shoes. Pinning the silver leaf onto the front of her obi, she slipped on the socks and stepped into her shoes, lifting the hem of her yukata so as not to trip on it, which she had unfortunately done many times before.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Yes?" Sango asked, opening it. Lee stood waiting outside, wearing a clean taijutsu suit and his Chunin vest. Men in Konoha were much less inclined to dress up for parties than the women. Other than at weddings, most of them simply preferred to wear a clean uniform instead of a kimono.
"You look beautiful," Lee said, smiling at Sango and touching the jade lotus in her hair.
"Thank you," she replied, blushing. "You look handsome, as always." Lee smiled, a little embarrassed.
"It's five-thirty. Are you ready to go?"
"Sure," Sango said, taking his hand. "Let's go."
Sango and Lee arrived at the Nakama Inn by six o'clock, still holding hands. Walking into the main hall, they noticed that most of the tables were already filled with people. Sitting down at a small table with the rest of Team Guy, Sango heard the sound of beautiful music being played on a wooden flute. It sounded very familiar.
"No way. It couldn't be her." Slowly, she turned her head toward the stage at the back of the room. A young kunoichi sat on the edge of the stage, playing a haunting song on her flute as her legs swung back and forth beneath her. She had chocolate-brown hair and deep brown eyes; a white kimono-style shirt hung just past the top of her knee-length navy blue pants, which were tied at the ends with white bandages running from her knees to the tops of her blue sandals. That confirmed it.
"Disura!" Sango called out. The girl seemed startled and abruptly stopped playing.
"Sango?" she asked quietly, searching the room for the one who had called her name. Her eyes brightened as she saw her friend on the other side of the room. "Sango! It is you!" she cried, sliding down onto the floor and running over to Guy's table. "You haven't changed much since I last saw you."
"Well, duh! It's only been four months!" Sango replied. Seeing Disura's same old blue pants, she laughed. "You haven't changed, either, Disura. I see you're still as much of a tomboy as you always were."
"Kimono, skirts, dresses, it makes no difference," Disura said, smiling. "They all just feel too weird. Like I'll trip over them as soon as I take a step."
"So what? I trip on them all the time, and I'm totally fine."
"That's debatable," Disura teased with a toothy grin at her best friend. Lee chuckled softly but said nothing; Sango gently poked his ribs with her elbow.
"True, true. Anyway, where's the rest of Squad Seven?" Sango asked.
"Sensei dragged them along for some grocery shopping, so knowing him, they'll be at least another three hours."
"How'd you manage to escape that?"
"I disappeared while he was still trying to convince them to go. By the way, nice flower," she said, gingerly touching the jade lotus. "Where'd you get it?"
"Well…" Sango said shyly. She leaned against Lee's shoulder, then kissed his cheek and giggled. He smiled and put his arm around her, then resumed his conversation with Neji.
"Ah, I see," Disura said, smiling.
"You're as hopeless as ever, Sango," said a familiar teasing voice. Looking up, Sango saw a girl her age, with sun-colored, red-streaked hair and bright green eyes. Her nails were long like claws and painted electric blue, the same color as her striking kimono. A golden dragon snaked up and around her kimono from the hem, baring its teeth, and the obi was gold with silver flames.
"Hi, Tatsumi! I was afraid you weren't gonna make it today!" Tatsumi Ren, like Disura Enoki, had been one of Sango's best friends since she was three years old. She was always the wildest and most unpredictable of the group, almost animalistic at times. She was also the quickest to anger, usually at times that required intervention from Sango or Disura to keep all three of them out of trouble. Disura was Tatsumi's polar opposite, always cool and quiet, especially in battle. And while Tatsumi relied mainly on close-range Fire-Style jutsu, Disura used flute genjutsu that could take effect from a long distance as she blended into the trees. Like Sango, Disura and Tatsumi had joined their squads - Teams Seven and Eight, respectively - soon after the conclusion of the Chunin Exams three years ago.
"Wow, Sango," Tatsumi said. "You look more muscular than before, if that's even possible."
"Of course it's possible," Sango replied. She lifted the sleeve of her kimono and flexed her arm, making it bulge with muscle from shoulder to wrist.
"Whoa! I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that punch!"
"You're almost as scary as Lady Tsunade now," said a quiet voice behind Sango.
"Who are you and what did you do with Sango? You look too strong to be her!" said another voice.
"Well," said Sango, "Guy Sensei trains us really ha -" She stopped mid-sentence and spun around, gawking at the two people who had just appeared behind her. "Ruku! Jakku! You're back!" Ruku Mizukiri and Jakku Basatto, two boys who belonged to Team Asuma and Team Ebisu, respectively, had befriended the three girls during their Ninja Academy years. Ruku was tall, over six feet at only sixteen years old, and he was thin and agile. He wore a plain Chunin uniform like his teammate Shikamaru, and he had a very feminine face. His black hair was shoulder-length and wavy, and although he always complained about it getting in the way, he refused to cut it any shorter. Unlike most others in Konoha, Ruku specialized in Water-and Ice-Style jutsu.
Jakku, like Ruku, wore only a simple Chunin uniform, and he had short, unruly brown hair and glasses that were somehow constantly askew. He was very intelligent and practical, preferring function over form in any given situation. His was also very serious, making him appear cold and indifferent to those who didn't know him well, but he was actually very kind. Jakku had no favorite type of jutsu; he simply excelled at controlling his chakra in general. He had been training under Ebisu for several years for just this reason, focusing more on finesse and control than mastering a large number of jutsu. The Fifth Hokage had taken notice of this and, unbeknownst to his friends, was going to take him under her wing.
"About time you noticed us!" Ruku said, laughing. "I thought I'd have to smack you in the back of the head just to get your attention!"
"Where'd you guys go, anyway?" Sango asked. "The four of you left with your teams months ago without saying a word! Team Guy was the only group still here!"
"We can talk about that later," Tatsumi said. "Kurenai-sensei is calling me, so I have to go." Tatsumi rejoined her team and the others followed suit as their teachers beckoned them over.
"Hahhh..." Sango sighed. "So much for getting some answers."
By six-thirty, everyone had arrived, even Kakashi and Tsunade. The five friends had migrated to another table and were catching up on the goings-on of the past four months. The funny thing was that even though they had not gone to the same place or departed at the same time, they all made it back on exactly the same day. Disura said she liked to think that it was because they were such good friends that they could read each other's minds. Sango agreed.
"Okay, so first," Sango began, "where in the world did you guys go for so long?"
"Well," said Tatsumi, "Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei combined our teams and took us to train in the Fuyu Mountains for five months. We learned quite a few new techniques while we were there."
"I went with Kakashi-sensei to do some private training in Bara Pass," Disura said, "and I learned some awesome new jutsu, too."
"I was training with Master Four-Eyes," Jakku said, pushing his glasses up with his middle finger to imitate his teacher. "After two weeks I easily beat him in a sparring match, and he said he had nothing more to teach me. So I trained and helped out in the Land of Waves for the other three and a half months."
"So what'll you do now?" Ruku asked.
"Well," Jakku said, "starting tomorrow Lady Tsunade is taking me on as an apprentice medic."
"Awesome!" Ruku said. "And on another note, I've been thinking… What if, a month or two from now, the five of us have an all-out melee to see how we've improved against each other?"
"That sounds awesome!" Sango said.
"I'm good with that," said Tatsumi.
"Okay, now a question for Sango..." said Disura, smiling mischievously at her friend. "How long have you and Lee been together, Sango? Two years?"
"Two and a half," she said, smiling joyfully. "And I love him more and more every day."
"We know, we know," Tatsumi said, rolling her eyes and smiling. "That's what you always say. The way you talk, you might as well be married."
"You're just jealous 'cause you aren't dating anyone yet," Sango said, sticking out her tongue at Tatsumi.
"That's where you'd be wrong."
"Spill it, Tatsumi," said Ruku and Jakku. "Who is it?"
"Well... he's strong, fierce, and even wilder than me, and he usually yells when he talks."
"No way," Sango gasped in disbelief. "You're dating Naruto?!"
"Naruto?! No way!" Tatsumi said, laughing. "You're way off, Sango! I was talking about Kiba!" Sango's face froze.
"KIBA?! Really?!" she nearly shouted. "How? I didn't think he was the dating type!"
"Neither did I," Tatsumi said thoughtfully. "But about two months ago when we were training in the mountains, he started acting really weird and shy around me. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he really liked me and wanted to go out with me. So I said yes!" she said, smiling brightly.
"Did he tell you what he likes about you?" asked Disura.
"He said he loves my 'rebellious nature,' as he put it," Tatsumi said, blushing. "I think we're a lot alike."
"Talk about twins," Ruku teased. "You may be even more alike than Sango and Lee."
"That's... not possible. At all," said Jakku.
"Well congrats, Tatsumi!" Sango said, giving her a high-five.
"Sango!" Guy called from across the room. He was sitting at a large table with the rest of the squads and their sensei. "You and the others come over here." Sango obeyed, standing and walking over to join him. As the other four joined their teams, she sat down next to Lee and snuggled up to him.
"So, Sensei," Disura asked curiously, "what is this all about?"
"Well," Kakashi said, "we've been talking, and we've decided that since you're all sixteen years old and most of you are Chunin, you should be old enough to have your first saké." Lee looked nervously at Sango.
"It's optional, of course," said Kurenai, picking up one of the white bottles, "but this isn't just for fun. It's vitally important to know how you handle alcohol," she said, glancing at all of the younger shinobi at the table. "Even some adults can't handle it well. Enemy shinobi know this, and they will often invite you to drink with them in hopes that you will reveal some valuable information. Therefore, you must know your limit."
"So," Asuma said, "we'll drink going clockwise around the table, starting with my team. And you'll all know how you handle it very quickly. This stuff usually takes effect within five minutes." Team Asuma quickly tipped back their saké cups. Shikamaru and Ruku seemed to be the only ones who liked it. Ino and Choji scrunched up their noses and set their cups down, washing the saké down with a few bites of their food.
"Okay," Kakashi said, pouring saké for his team. "Now we'll go."
"Aren't you having any, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.
"No, I don't really feel like saké tonight," he said. "Plus, I have to be the designated driver."
"You don't even have a car!"
"He just doesn't want to take off his mask," Naruto whispered to Disura. The three drained their glasses. Kakashi snickered as even the stoic Disura hastily downed a glass of water to wash away the taste.
"Okay, now us," said Kurenai. "Jakku, join us."
"No, thanks," he said. "I've tried saké before. I don't like it much."
"Suit yourself," said Tatsumi. Everyone drained their glasses, and everyone but Kurenai then regretted the decision. Hinata and Shino remained silent and took a few sips of punch to cover up the bitter taste of the alcohol.
"It's terrible!" Tatsumi and Kiba said in unison.
"It figures that you two would think the same," Kurenai said, smiling.
"And now," Guy said, "It's our turn!" Sango tightened her grip on Lee's hand. Everyone but him grabbed a glass and drained it. Sango and Neji neither loved nor hated it, but Tenten found it disgusting. Out of curiosity, Sango glanced toward the other end of the table; Naruto and Shikamaru's faces were already turning red. "This may not end well," she thought worriedly. "I have a feeling this may have been a really bad idea…"