I got the inspiration from an FML I read a WHILE ago. This has also been sitting on my computer for a while. Oops.

Set at some point after Sasuke returns to the village and rejoins Team Seven and everything is perfect.


"I honestly can't believe this."

"Hn."

"Awww, c'mon guys! It's kinda funny isn't it? Heh heh . . ."

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand this situation. The three of you all forgot to pack your toothbrushes. What is so humorous about that?"

"It's not funny. Naruto's just an idiot."

"Well, it is kind of funny, when you think about it, Sasuke-kun. I mean, this is the second time this has happened."

"This has happened before? I would expect something like this from Naruto, but I assumed you two would be more responsible."

"Hey! Why would you expect me to do it twice?!"

"Shut up, Sai."

Sakura sighed as she looked at her boys sitting around the table, arguing. They were on a mission, just getting settled into a hotel room. The mission was expected to last a while, so they had made sure to get a room that contained a kitchen so that they could cook meals instead of spending money eating out. This room had a small kitchen, but the appliances looked clean and there was even a small dining area. Everything seemed perfect, until they had all started unpacking their bags. That was when they realized that only Sai had brought a toothbrush. Between forgetting toothbrushes and the arguing, Sakura wouldn't have believed that they were even shinobi, never mind jounin. She rolled her eyes and interrupted them, "All right, all right, enough! Can I trust you three not to kill each other while I go out and get a few supplies, toothbrushes included?"

"Of course you can, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

"I know it is rude to speak for others, so I'm only talking for myself when I say that I am more than capable of controlling my anger and annoyance."

Sometimes, Sakura wondered if Sai just pretended to not understand social situations because he sure knew what to say to get everyone riled up. It would definitely not be a good idea to leave them all alone now. She had to bring one of them with her. If she brought Naruto with her, that would leave Sasuke and Sai alone, which was never a good idea. Bringing Sasuke would leave Naruto with Sai, which that was normally fine, but not a good idea since tempers were running so high at the moment. She figured Naruto and Sasuke were the safest to leave alone; they did fight a lot, but their current anger was directed at Sai, as opposed to each other. She could just give them something to do and their natural competiveness with each other would cause them to focus on doing their task better than the other instead of fighting. Sai it was.

"Never mind, I can't trust you three alone. Come on, Sai, you're coming with me."

A half hour later, Sakura was walking around a market with Sai trailing behind her, pushing the cart. "Okay, so the only thing left we need to get is the toothbrushes . . . here they are." Looking at the different colors there were, she made sure to grab brightly colored ones that were easy to tell apart. They didn't need a complete reenactment of last time . . .

"Would you mind telling me about the first time you all forgot your toothbrushes? I'm curious as to what made you all react in such a negative manner. Sai asked as she placed the toothbrushes in the cart.

"Sure. It was pretty funny, but I guess it's one of those stories that are only funny when you look back at them. It was during our first mission out of the village when we were genin . . ."

"So you're telling me that you all forgot to bring a toothbrush?" Kakashi asked his students from his mat on the floor of Tazuna's house. Said students were all embarrassed at such a mistake.

"We were just really excited to have a C-rank mission and to be leaving the village that we didn't think when we were packing!" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Speak for yourself, moron."

"Oh, yeah! Then what's your excuse, bastard?!"

"Leave Sasuke-kun alone, Naruto!"

Not wanting a fight to break out, Kakashi decided to interrupt his students. "Well, I always bring some extra toothbrushes on missions, just in case. They're in the front pocket of my bag."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura and Naruto chorused.

"When Naruto got the toothbrushes from the bag, we noticed that they were just barely different shades of gray, but we didn't think much of it. We didn't really pay attention to what shade of gray our toothbrush was when we brushed out teeth that night. It wasn't until the day that we left that we realized it . . ."

Gato was dead, Zabuza and Haku were buried, and the bridge was completed. The four Konoha shinobi were packing their bags and making sure none of their belongings were left in Tazuna's house. The three genin remembered their toothbrushes right before they left and all crowded into the bathroom to retrieve them. Sakura, the closest to the sink, grabbed the toothbrushes. She took the one she had been using, the darker gray one, and held out the other two, a medium and light gray, out to Naruto and Sasuke. "Here, take yours."

"The other one you're holding is mine," Naruto said.

"No," Sasuke argued, "that one is mine."

"What are you two talking about? I've been using this toothbrush."

They exchanged a glance before all coming to the same realization. "We've all been using the same toothbrush!?"

"There was a lot of gagging after that!" Sakura chuckled as she and Sai walked into the hotel room, carrying the bags with their purchases. "Kakashi-sensei rushed in, all concerned, thinking that someone was attacking us or something. He ended up just laughing at us when he realized what had happened."

"That is quite amusing, though I suppose it would be unpleasant at the time it is happening."

"Unpleasant isn't a strong enough word," Sasuke complained from the floor, where he was sitting and going through papers for their mission.

Sakura just rolled her eyes at him. "Stop being such a drama queen." Ignoring his glare, she asked, "Where's Naruto?"

"Bathroom."

"Okay, I'll hand out our toothbrushes when he gets out." Sakura put the bags on the counter and started unloading them. By the time she was done, Naruto was finished in the bathroom and was annoying Sasuke on the floor. Sighing, she separated the two boys by sitting them at opposite ends of the table. She then sat down herself and held out the toothbrushes. "I have three toothbrushes, three different colored toothbrushes. The orange one is Naruto's. The blue one is Sasuke's. And the pink one is mine," she said slowly and deliberately, handing out the toothbrushes as she gave each description of ownership. "Got that?"

Naruto nodded vigorously and Sasuke simply nodded once.

Sai, who had been watching the proceedings with great interest, said, "I hope you three can handle keeping your toothbrushes straight this time."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!?" Naruto exclaimed in anger while Sasuke growled.

"I was merely wishing you luck. That is a kind gesture, is it not?"

"Well, yes, normally it would be," Sakura explained patiently, "but you have to know the right situation to say that in."

"And this wasn't that situation!"

"It's called tact. Learn it."

Sakura sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. She picked up the toothbrushes from the table and to go put them in the bathroom. It wouldn't do to have them destroyed, after all that, in the fight that was sure to soon to break out.


"Toothbrush" no longer seems like a word to me... Hope you liked it! :)