Warnings: This is an AU, so don't take what I say in here as fact for the show though I do try to stay true to the characters, I make no guarantees that there won't be OOC moments. There will be hints of boys liking boys though most likely no actual sex. There will also be girls liking boys and possibly some girls liking girls(I haven't decided on this yet).
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto characters and I make no claims for your sanity after reading this story. This chapter was 14 pages, so a nice long update. Most of my other updates will probably be around 1800-2000 words.
AN: I work full time and with the economy the way it is I often end up putting in overtime, plus I have a social life, so my updates will be few and far between most likely, but I am planning to finish this story. I've actually had the first chapter written for a while and it's been posted on another site about a year ago, but I was having trouble with the second chapter, so was waiting until I got past my writer's block on it before posting this one. Anyway I hope you enjoy the show. I don't mind constructive criticism, so feel free to let me know what you like and what you don't like.
Chapter 1: Black Velvet Auction
"Did you hear? It's that time again and Neji's participating this time." Kurenai asked.
"What? I thought he had been in ANBU for more than a year." Anko responded.
"He has, but since he hasn't done the auction, yet, he still has to complete that before he'll be considered a real ANBU member." Kurenai answered.
"Hehehe." Anko cackled. "Maybe I can get him for myself. I'd like to see if I could scare some emotion into that Hyuuga prude."
Kakashi's ears perked up as he overheard the conversation. He'd have to be sure to attend. After all, Naruto should be in it this year. He listened some more to Kurenai and Anko's conversation to see if they'd say when and where it was going to be this year. It changed every year as only ANBU and ex ANBU were invited and they didn't want the party to be crashed by civvies or even other non-ANBU shinobi.
"So who else is going to be on display this year?" Anko asked. "Maybe I'll try and get more than one. The more the merrier after all."
"Well, let's see who else is ANBU that hasn't participated in the auction yet? I know we'll have Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Hinata, Shino."
"With Neji that makes nine, so that must be it as there have only been 9 new recruits between this year and last year that didn't participate in the auction last year."
"Well, I'd like to bid on Kiba, Hinata, or Shino, but if I win any of them they'll think I'm playing favorites, so I think I'll try for Sakura. She could use a good lesson in manners. I'm tired of the way the girl treats Naruto. She's a great medic-nin and can do well enough to make ANBU, but she definitely needs to learn some manners. I'm not interested in the guys and Ino's actually turned into a decent person."
"I definitely don't want Sasuke. He's ice and would break too easily. Kakashi will kill anyone who tries to take Naruto away from him. Hinata, however, seems to be hiding something beneath that shyness to have made it into ANBU, so I think I'll try and get her and either Kiba or Shino to go with Neji. Which one do you recommend? You know them the best after all."
After hearing his name, Kakashi decided that he might as well make an entrance into the conversation. Maybe that way he'd find out where it was taking place. "What were you saying about me, Anko?"
"I said you were going to buy Naruto."
"Ma. We'll see." Kakashi replied.
"Are you coming this year Kakashi? You weren't there last year." Kurenai asked.
"I'm considering it. Where's it going to be this year?"
"Not sure. Ibiki and them are still deciding the details. I'm sure they'll send out an ANBU announcement like they have in previous years."
"Ja. See you then." Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke.
"So back to my question, Kiba or Shino?"
"Kiba. He'll try anything."
About a week after he overheard Kurenai and Anko, Kakashi received the notice that the auction was to be in a week and that it would be taking place in a theater outside of Konoha. It was the monthly ANBU gathering and all of the senior ANBU were discussing which of the newbie ANBU featured in the show were going to sell for the most money and who wanted to buy whom. Kakashi was only partially listening to the others as he had his own dilemma. He didn't want anyone else to end up with his Naru-chan as this was often used as a chance to humiliate or degrade the new members. On the other hand, he didn't want his Naru-chan to be sad because he didn't go for as much money as the other participants did.
He started listening more when he heard Naruto's name mentioned. Apparently, they were now talking about who was going to bid on Naruto and how much he was going to sell for. It seemed like Anko, Genma, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Raidou were all planning to bid on him though only Genma and Raidou seemed truly interested in winning Naruto. Kakashi growled lightly to himself. He would deal with those two interlopers harshly if they stole his Naruto from him, especially as Kakashi was hoping to use this event to get Naruto to see HIM as himself not as taichou or sensei.
Meanwhile, Naruto and the others had been informed that they had a special mission coming up together and that they would be getting the details closer to mission time.
"Hey, Neji. Do you know anything about this special mission?" Naruto asked.
"Tenten said it was fun last year." Neji replied looking at Naruto with his haughty gaze.
"Huh. That really doesn't tell us much. Hey, Shika. What do you think?" Naruto questioned.
"It's probably something top secret and they don't want any chance of it getting out. So they're waiting until the day of the mission to tell us since it's less likely we'll be able to blab it then." Kiba interjected.
"Troublesome. Too many shinobi are involved for it to be top secret. If they aren't giving us the particulars, it can't be a good thing." Shika responded.
"But Tenten said it was fun. Why would she say that if it wasn't?" Hinata asked, poking her two fingers together shyly.
"Cause she's a sadistic bitch who wants to see us make a fool of ourselves." Sakura said caustically.
"Sakura!" Hinata cried, shocked at the language coming out of her friend. She knew there was no love lost between the two, but she never thought her friend would say something like that.
"What? It's probably the truth."
"Never mind, that." Naruto interrupted. "What are we going to do about it?"
"What a drag. What can we do about it? We've already agreed to the mission."
"We've gotta think o' somethin'." Kiba whined. "Come on, Shika. You're the brains. There's gotta be somethin' we can do to get ourselves out of it or at least make it easier."
"Meh. The only thing that would make it easier is if we woke up one morning and it was all over with and we didn't remember what happened."
The night of the special mission finally rolled around. Naruto and the others had spent the week discussing what the mission might entail and whether they were truly ready for it or not. They had thrown out many ideas like completing a month's worth of d ranks in one day, sitting through a torture session with Ibiki-san, or even a general out and out brawl at a bar, since they had been informed that they would be considered true ANBU was they completed this mission. Never once did it cross their minds, however, that it would be this.
They showed up at the ANBU staging grounds, as that's where they had been told to go to receive further instructions on their mission. When they arrived there they found that it looked like pretty much everybody who was in ANBU and not currently on missions was there, though they did notice a select few ANBU that were not present like Gai. Once they arrived, Tsunade ushered them off to the side behind some screens that had been cleverly set up, so that the spectators could not see through or behind them. They were even chakra enforced to prevent people like the Hyuugas from using their Byakugan to get a peak at things that they weren't supposed to be seeing.
There Tsunade told them that every year the newbie ANBU were put up for auction and sold. Whatever the top bidder on each person was willing to pay was what each person would earn for his or her mission. After they were sold, they had to do what whoever bought them told them to do for a week though they could not be forced to have sex that was about the only thing that was prohibited by the rules of the mission. They would then receive the reward for their mission when the week was up. Some of their pay would be deducted before being giving to them, however, if the person who bought them weren't satisfied. If the person who buys you says you completed the mission successfully, you will be a permanent ANBU. If, however, they say you didn't complete the mission successfully, you will still be a permanent ANBU, but you will probably never live it down as the person who buys you gets to pick your ANBU nickname when the week is up.
With that, Tsunade handed the guys a black velvet bow. "You can tie it anywhere, but that bow is all the clothing you are allowed to wear when on stage. After all, the customers need to be able to see what they're purchasing."
She then turned to the girls and handed them black velvet bikini bottoms, the kind where you had to tie the strings together in order for them to stay up, and a black velvet bow. Tsunade then gave them the same instructions as the guys accept obviously the bikini bottoms and bow were all the girls were allowed to have.
"One last thing, I will call each of you out separately, so you need to be ready to come out when I call your name. First up will be Kiba and then Hinata. After that the rest of you should be prepared to be called at any time. I'll leave you alone to change, now." Tsunade walked out from behind the screens and up the steps to the stage that had been set up for today.
Calling for quiet, Tsunade announced. "Now, I expect you all to behave yourselves. If this gets out of hand like it did last year, I will be forced to have you pay me what you bid twice; once for the newbie ANBU and once for Konoha to be able to repair whatever damage you cause. I will also be forced to reconsider doing this next year. I'm being nice in letting you choose the ANBU and their nicknames, but that doesn't have to continue. I can always choose their ANBU nicknames myself, so, behave yourselves. Remember, NO touching the merchandise until after you've bought it."
Tsunade paused to let her rules sink in. "Now, without further ado, I give you, Kiba." Tsunade turned to look at the screens gesturing for Kiba to come and stand in front of her.
The crowd of ANBU started murmuring as they watched Kiba walk up the stage. Kiba had decided to tie the black velvet bow around his neck forgoing his privacy. After all, he knew he was well hung and didn't see any reason why he should hide it. He was proud of it, in fact. Kiba strutted up the steps confidently, not an ounce of fear in him anywhere. Tsunade had him face the audience, so that they could get the best view.
To prevent the senior ANBU from embarrassing the newbies too much, Ibiki always placed the first bid on each person being auctioned. This served a dual purpose as it also encouraged the newbie ANBU to show off in an attempt to get the other ANBU to bid on them, as they were usually scared of Ibiki and would do just about anything to avoid being bought by Ibiki.
Ibiki started off the bidding on Kiba by yelling out, "5,000 ryo." This was the cue for all the other bidders to start bidding and bid they did. It seemed like every female ANBU member was bidding and even a few males. The bids were coming so fast that Tsunade was having a hard time keeping track of who bid what and who was highest. Fortunately, everyone who was bidding seemed to know what the high bid was as they kept bidding higher. By the time the bid got to 15,000 ryo, it was down to 4 competitors. They were Anko, Kurenai, Izumo, and Kotetsu.
They all seemed pretty serious. Kurenai was just trying to bid up the others, as she wanted all of her old team to go for a high price. Kurenai dropped out once the price went over 24,000 ryo, leaving Anko, Kotetsu, and Izumo. Knowing that he would probably get to play with Kiba if Kotetsu won, Izumo stopped bidding as well. Anko and Kotetsu kept going at it, though. 30,000 ryo. 35,000 ryo. All the other ANBU were cheering on the one they wanted to win. Shouts of Anko and Kotetsu were filling the staging area.
The Hokage was considering putting up a barrier, so that the sound wouldn't disturb the citizens. That's how loud the crowd was getting. Anko glared at Kotetsu. He damn well knew she wanted Kiba and he kept bidding her up. Glaring at Kotetsu, she loudly proclaimed 41,000 ryo, jumping 5,000 ryo above his last bid. Seeing as she wanted it so badly, Kotetsu smiled charmingly at her, mouthing you owe me one as he stopped bidding and let her have Kiba for 41,000 ryo.
Kiba was in shock. He had never expected to be so popular. Plus Anko won him. Anko. What was he supposed to think of that? He had to deal with Anko for a whole week. It was hard enough to handle Anko during the torturous week of training that he spent under her when he was training to get into ANBU. Now he had to be around her for a whole week and had to answer her beck and call. This was going to suck. Oh well, she grows on you, right? Right? Kiba snapped out of his thoughts as Anko walked up the steps. Tsunade accepted the money from Anko and in return Tsunade gestured for her to lead Kiba off the stage with her.
Kiba followed Anko in a daze still unsure as to how he had ended up stuck with Anko. He almost thought Ibiki would be better. Almost. Noticing how out of it, Kiba was, Anko leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Not that I mind the view, but you can get dressed now that you've been bought. Make sure to come back here and watch the rest of the show with me once you're dressed."
Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Kiba jumped. "Ma'am. Yes Ma'am." He ran off to get dressed before she could yell at him for spacing out and calling her Ma'am. He knew she hated that name, but it was trained into him that that's how you responded to superior female officers in ANBU. Kiba disappeared behind the screens. He muttered a good luck to Hinata as she shuffled her feet slowly heading towards the stage for her turn.
"Tough luck, man." Naruto patted Kiba on the back. All the others murmured in agreement. Sasuke even added "Hn." Kiba dressed quickly and slowly walked out to face Anko wondering what she had planned for him now. Anko was busy bidding on Hinata. It was currently at 13,000 ryo. When she noticed Kiba, she said, "Good you're here. Now kneel at me feet like a good slave."
"Yes, Anko-sama." Kiba knelt at Anko's feet facing the stage, so that he could see what happened to the other newbies.
Before long it became obvious that it was again down to Izumo, Kotetsu, and Anko. Kurenai had again bid the others up, so that Hinata would go at a good price and then dropped out when it was high enough. Not wanting to face Anko's wrath if he was always the one bidding her up, Kotetsu decided to drop out this time. Not truly interested in dealing with girls, Izumo dropped out shortly after, letting Anko have Hinata for only 33,000 ryo.
"Come on, pup." Anko commanded. "Let's go claim your new playmate." Anko walked up to the stage and waited for Kiba to kneel in front of her again before murmuring to Hinata, "Go get changed and then come back out and sit down next to Kiba, ok?"
"Yes, Anko-sama." Inside Hinata was wondering what was going to happen. She had never feared Anko like the other newbies had, because she had seen Anko's tough exterior for the facade it was. Hinata's heart had gone out to Anko when she realized that she was wearing a mask much like her beloved Naruto-kun did. Hinata couldn't help it, her heart always went out to those who were in pain, yet hid it and continued on with their lives without turning into 'Avenging Bastards'.
Hinata walked down from the stage to the screens. She hadn't created the stir that Kiba had as she had worn the black velvet bikini bottoms where they weren't meant to be warn and thus covering up most of her private parts down there and had carefully tied the black velvet bow, across her chest, so that most of her boobs were covered up as well. She wasn't really shy, but she wasn't ready to let the rest of the world know that. In her mind if they underestimated her, all the better for her.
Hinata disappeared behind the screens just as Tsunade shouted, "And here's Sasuke." Hinata smiled shyly at Sasuke as he left to go on stage, before changing back into her clothes. She then walked calmly out to where Anko and Kiba were and sat down on the ground with her legs crossed in Indian style.
Sasuke was not impressed. It was beneath an Uchiha's dignity to appear in front of a bunch of people with only a bow on. A bow! How was that supposed to cover anything up? Deciding it to be an exercise in futility to cover up anything in front and not wanting to be shown up by Kiba, Sasuke had tied the black velvet bow around his body, so that the bow was covering his ass.
The ANBU were not as impressed with Sasuke as the villager's were. The ANBU believed that respect was earned not given. Sasuke had not earned their respect and was seen as the stuck-up bastard that he was. Many of the ANBU would like the chance to bring Sasuke down a peg or two. However, they had agreed ahead of time that the best way to hurt his ego was to have him be the one that sold for the least amount of money. They even managed to get Ibiki in on it and he started the bidding on Sasuke off with a measly 1,000 ryo.
The ANBU had also decided to humiliate Sasuke as thoroughly as possible and therefore, nobody jumped to bid on him once Ibiki opened the bidding. This caused Sasuke to think he was going to end up with Ibiki, which is what they wanted. Sasuke glared at all the ANBU. They were doing this on purpose. One of them had better bid on him. If he ended up going to Ibiki for a measly 1,000 ryo, there would be hell to pay.
Finally, Jiraiya bid 1,100 ryo. Sasuke glared even harder. That pervert was even worse than Ibiki and he didn't bid that much more. Those idiots knew he was worth more and weren't bidding. Damn them! Tsunade was having a hard time controlling her urge to laugh out loud. It was obvious that her ANBU had planned this and had chosen to have only people that Sasuke didn't like bid on him. Not that there were very many he did like, but still. Personally, Tsunade thought he deserved it. He had done nothing but cause her headaches ever since he came back. Fortunately, the other Kages were very forgiving; otherwise Sasuke could have caused Konoha to go to war with some of the things he said.
Getting frustrated with the lack of ANBU buying him, Sasuke glared at Ibiki as if saying you'd better bid and I'd rather be sold to you than to Jiraiya. Ibiki smirked. He found it quite amusing that Sasuke would choose him over Jiraiya. Ibiki bid 1,200 ryo. Jiraiya looked over at Ibiki questioningly. That wasn't in the plan. What was Ibiki thinking? Jiraiya still wanted a chance to torture Sasuke as he was tired of Sasuke getting everything and Naruto getting nothing. Jiraiya bid 1,300 ryo.
Sasuke glared at Ibiki again. This time Ibiki shook his head. Seeing no help there, Sasuke glared at Kakashi. Kakashi used to be his sensei surely he would save him. Kakashi, however, was completely oblivious to Sasuke's glares as he was still trying to figure out how he was going to get Naruto to see him. Sasuke glared harder at Kakashi. Realizing that it was going nowhere, Sasuke then moved his glare on to each and every single ANBU present. He was an Uchiha. His glare should be able to get anybody to do what he wants them to. Yet, each and every ANBU member did nothing to help him. If it wasn't beneath his dignity and pride, Sasuke would have thrown a temper tantrum on the stage because he wasn't getting his way.
Finally, Tsunade gave him to Jiraiya for 1,300 ryo. Sasuke was beyond mad. He was beyond furious. He was fuming with rage and ready to kill something. 1,300 ryo? That's barely anything. That's less than his daily allowance. Kiba and Hinata had both gone for around 35-40,000 ryo and he went for a measly 1,300 ryo. There was just something wrong with this picture. No way that dog breath was worth more than he was. Clearly all the ANBU were jealous and that's why they weren't bidding for him. They were tongue tied because of his Uchiha charm. That must be it. Well at least the dobe will go for less than him. After all, how could the dobe be worth more than him? He wasn't an Uchiha, after all.
Jiraiya walked up the stage to where Sasuke stood fuming. Inwardly, he was smirking at Sasuke's predicament. He couldn't wait to see Sasuke's reaction to Naruto's auction. It would be priceless. Before that, though, he was going to throw in some Sasuke torture of his own. Jiraiya handed Sasuke a set of clothes that he had brought with him for this express purpose. "Now, be a good boy and run along and put these on, ok? Come back and watch the rest of the show by me when you're changed."
"Hn." Sasuke took the clothes and disappeared behind the screens, not even bothering to look and see what Jiraiya had given him. He just started shoving his arms and legs into various of the holes in the garments. He was still extremely mad and wasn't paying any attention to what he was doing. He was operating purely on autopilot and depending on that to get the clothes on correctly. It didn't dawn on him that there was anything unusual about the clothes Jiraiya asked him to put on until Naruto started snickering.
Sasuke looked down at the clothes he had just put on. It definitely wasn't what he would normally wear, but he didn't see anything that would be amusing to Naruto. It was just a normal sailor suit for the summer, shorts and a short-sleeved sailor shirt. Deciding Naruto was just being a dobe again, Sasuke "hn"ed and walked out to where Jiraiya was.
Ino had been called up on stage while Sasuke was changing. She had decided to follow Hinata's example and wear the black velvet bikini bottoms where they belonged. Of course she didn't want to be seen as a copycat, so she tied the bow around her neck and proudly displayed her ample bosom. When Sasuke came out and she saw his back, she burst out laughing. This, of course, attracted the attention of the bidding ANBU and pretty soon they were all laughing at the expense of the Uchiha. This made the Uchiha even more furious. He was an Uchiha, damn it, they shouldn't be laughing at him. This made Sasuke even more determined to find out what was so funny. He craned his neck to try and look at his back and see if there was something there. Giving up his head just wasn't meant to turn that way; Sasuke sat down and glared at everyone who was laughing. This just made the ANBU laugh harder.
Finally, Kurenai took pity on Sasuke and used some mirrors to show him what everyone was laughing at. When Sasuke saw what the back of his shorts said he lunged at Jiraiya with the intent to kill. Jiraiya himself was laughing too hard to even attempt to stop Sasuke, so Sasuke managed to pin Jiraiya and get his hands around Jiraiya's neck. Sasuke was doing his best to ring Jiraiya's neck. Several of the ANBU around them jumped in and pulled Sasuke off of the still laughing Jiraiya.
Tsunade called for order and then waited until she had everyone's attention. "Sasuke, you are not allowed to kill the person who bought you and that goes for the rest of you being auctioned off."
Sasuke glared at Tsunade. Tsunade ignored him. "Now back to Ino. I believe we were at 25,000 ryo to Genma." Raidou, Kotetsu, Izumo, and Genma continued to bid for Ino. All 4 of them stopped bidding and stared at Ibiki when he called out 43,000 ryo. The thought flashed through all of their minds, "Ibiki actually wants this one." Scared of what Ibiki might do to them should they continue to bid all 4 of them stopped bidding and Tsunade announced Ibiki the winner for 43,000 ryo.
Ino wondered what she had done to deserve this. Maybe Ibiki isn't as bad as he's made out to be. She could hope, right? On the other hand if she were to join the interrogation and torture team, she'd have to get used to Ibiki. Maybe she could use this to see if she'd be able to be an interrogation-nin.
Ibiki walked up the steps towards Ino. He was carrying a set of clothes that he had brought along just in case he won somebody. Ibiki handed the clothes to Ino with the command, "Change and Return." Ino walked off with a slightly worried expression on her face as she sifted through the clothes to see what she was expected to wear. They were black and white striped, horizontal stripes even. How could Ibiki do this to her? There was no way that she would be able to look good in these clothes. She had some accessories that she could add to draw attention to her hair, but still when they looked at her clothes it would be awful.
Tsunade called Shino onto the stage. Shino walked out and the crowd of ANBU booed. They couldn't see anything because there was a thin layer of Shino's bugs on top of his skin. The bugs covered everything, so that they couldn't sneak a peek. None of the ANBU had seen the bug lover naked and they were all hoping for a peek, well, except for Kakashi, who was still preoccupied with trying to catch Naruto.
The only part of Shino that wasn't covered in bugs was his face. In place of the sunglasses he usually wore, Shino had tied the bow around his head. It almost looked like a blindfold from the front, as you couldn't see his eyes and the bow was tied in the back.
Tsunade took one look at Shino and her vein started throbbing. "You aren't allowed to have anything covering you other than the bow, Shino."
"You said we couldn't wear other clothing. My friends are not clothing, so it's not against the rules."
Tsunade started twitching. The ANBU had started a chant, "Naked. Naked. Naked." Tsunade couldn't believe that her ANBU were behaving this way. She was beginning to get the feeling that the ANBU would start a rampage against the stage, if they didn't see some of Shino's skin soon.
"Shino, can't you show them something. Please." Tsunade begged. "If you don't they'll probably swarm you in an attempt to see it anyway. Please, before they get too out of control and completely unstoppable."
Shino glared at the crowd, not that they could really tell that through the bow. In response to the Hokage, he just grunted, "hn". He appeared to be completely ignoring her pleading. After all, it really wasn't appropriate behavior for a Hokage in his opinion and he wasn't going to reward the bad behavior. However, after what he deemed an appropriate amount of time, so that his actions wouldn't be associated with her request, he allowed the bugs in front of his chest to go away. This appeased the crowd of ANBU a bit as they could now see some skin. It wasn't what they really wanted to see, but it would have to do. The Hokage couldn't see any change though as his back was still completely covered with bugs.
Finally after the crowd had started to calm down a bit, Ibiki called out a bid of 5,000 ryo to start them off. Some of the ANBU immediately started bidding, while others still wanted to see more skin. A few even shouted things like "Take it all off." Shino stared at the number of ANBU that were looking at him hungrily. He decided that more people would probably bid and higher too, if he let them see more skin, so he asked his friends to move to his back, as he didn't want Tsunade to see anything and only leave the front of his body covered, as if he had a speedo on.
With this change in the bugs' arrangement, the bids on Shino went way up. They were now at 39,000 ryo and still climbing quickly. It was down to Kotetsu, Izumo, Genma, and Raidou with the bid around 50,000 ryo. Kurenai had been bidding, but she dropped out once it got over 45,000 ryo. Raidou dropped out after it went to 54,000 ryo and Izumo dropped out at 58,000 ryo. It was down to just Kotetsu and Genma.
Ino had taken her sweet time changing and had endured Sakura's mad cackling at what she had to wear because she knew that it would be worse once she finally went outside, so that all the ANBU could see her. She finally couldn't think of anything else that she could do that would keep her behind the changing screens. Of course, she couldn't let the ANBU realize how much she wanted to be invisible and how much she hated this outfit, so she strutted out from behind the screens and over to where Ibiki was sitting.
Kiba let out a barking laugh when he saw Ino. She was wearing loose baggy pants with black and white horizontal stripes and a loose shirt with black and white horizontal stripes. She had tried to spruce the look up by piling her hair up on her head in a huge headdress type thing with a couple of black chopsticks to hold the hair in place. Unfortunately while the hair looked nice and well coiffed, it did nothing to distract from the prison outfit that she was wearing.
Anko hit Kiba on the back of his head. "Silence, mutt. No noises unless I give you permission." She then looked in the direction he had been looking and started laughing her head off at Ino. Those few ANBU who hadn't noticed Ino after Kiba's laugh, noticed after Anko started laughing, pretty soon all of the ANBU were laughing at Ino. Shino was very displeased since he wanted this over and done with as quick as possible, but with as much money as he could get. It was the least they could do for making him the center of attention when he had tried so hard not to be noticed, ever.
Shino "hn"ed and after having his friends cover him completely up again, he turned his back on the crowd and stared at Tsunade, silently commanding her to do something. After Shino turned his back, Ino had finally made it over to where Ibiki was and she sat down on the ground. Ibiki smiled evilly at the ANBU's reaction and thought to himself, "Step 1 complete." Ino was the only one who noticed Ibiki's smile and she became even more worried. What was he going to do to her after this was over? Was she going to be put in one of the ANBU dungeons and used as a test prisoner to be tortured? Just what was going to happen?
Shino's glare snapped Tsunade out of the daze she had been in from listening to the ANBU continue to bid higher on Shino even though he was fully covered. Tsunade clapped her hands together getting the attention of the ANBU again, "If no one else has any other bids, then Shino goes to Genma for 61,000 ryo." Kotetsu was still distracted by images of what he could do with Ino in a prison suit if he could get Ibiki to let him play with her and didn't realize that Tsunade was finishing the bidding on Shino. Too late he realized what was going on and Shino had already gone to Genma. He growled, upset with himself cause he lost yet another chance for him and Izumo to have somebody to play with.
Genma was happy to finally win somebody. He had bought an outfit especially for this auction and now he finally had someone to try it out on. It didn't hurt anything that that person was hot either. Genma grabbed the outfit and went to claim his prize. Genma held the black leather pants and black leather cape up against Shino to see what they'd look like. "Perfect." Genma handed the clothes to Shino. "Here you go, Sexy. I'll be waiting."
Shino made a small noise of agreement before calmly walking off the stage. Tsunade then called Neji onto the stage. Neji nodded to Shino as they passed each other. Neji had taken a couple of clips and attached the bow to his nipples, so that it hid the clips and the nipples. This allowed the strings that were intended for tying to hang down and obscure his member. After all, it wasn't like anybody was going to get to touch him there, so there was no reason for them to see it.
Ibiki started the auction off at 4,800 ryo. Neji could tell that Anko wanted him badly as she kept bidding higher and higher on him, when she hadn't bid on Shino at all. This scared Neji. Who in their right mind wouldn't be scared? The woman played with snakes and enjoyed torturing Genin and other Ninja and even civilians. He just hoped that somebody would spare him from the pain and suffering that she tended to inflict. He didn't dare hope that somebody else would get him, as it seemed to him that Anko had managed to get exactly whom she wanted and so if she wanted him, she'd probably get him as well.
Genma, Raidou, Kotetsu, and Izumo were all bidding along with Anko, but Neji had noticed time and time again that they would slowly start to drop out and would eventually leave him with Anko. That's what happened again this time. Neji could at least console himself that he went for a higher price than Kiba. Though nowhere near as much as Shino seeing as Neji wasn't playing to the crowd. He spent most of his time on stage playing with his hair, which while nice just wasn't what the crowd was interested in. Seeing as nobody else was bidding, Tsunade called an end to the auction on Neji at 45,000 ryo.
"Come on, you two. Let's go get our third playmate." Anko commanded to Kiba and Hinata. They all went up on stage to greet Neji. Kiba looked at Neji and mouthed the word, "Sorry" to him. Hinata just smiled shyly. Neji had started treating her better and they were now great friends these days. Frustrated with the slow pace Neji was setting, Anko commanded. "Hurry and go change. Then come back out I want to sit next to my 3 playmates and see the rest of the show."
Neji would have rolled his eyes if he didn't believe that it was beneath his dignity. He really didn't understand what Anko thought she could do with the three of them. At least he was on reasonably good terms with the other playmates. Maybe they could all stick together and it wouldn't be so bad. He didn't want to incur Anko's wrath immediately, so he sped up a bit on his way to the changing screens, but he still looked noble and regal despite the slightly faster walk pace.
Tsunade called Sakura up to the stage next. Not wanting to be outdone by Ino, Sakura let her bad girl self out and tied the black velvet bikini bottoms on her head and the black velvet bow around her neck, thus leaving nothing to the imagination. She had to go for a higher price than Ino did she just had to. This would be her best chance to prove that she was better than that pig once and for all. Confident that with her outfit she would get higher bids, Sakura strutted out to the stage not even sparing a glance for Neji as she passed him.
Tsunade frowned at her apprentice. It was one thing to show off your assets when you had them and to give a peek, so that it looked like you had something you didn't, but to display nothing. It just wasn't right. Sakura was putting her to shame. She'd have to reconsider having Sakura as her apprentice if the gal didn't learn her lesson after this. She was sure her ANBU would put her in her place and show her that modesty is worth more than nothing.
Tsunade was right. Ibiki had intended to start Sakura off with 4,300 ryo or so, so that she was around the same price as everybody else's starting price, but after seeing her outfit, Ibiki started her off with 1,300 ryo, the price that Sasuke went for. Sakura was shocked. Ino had started at a higher price than that. Well that just means that she'd have to work harder for it. Maybe if she shook her body and showed off her assets, they'd bid more and higher?
Sakura tried that. All it did was succeed in getting most of the people to stop bidding for her. The only people still bidding were Kurenai, Kotetsu, and Raidou. It was currently at 10,000 ryo, but the more Sakura tried to get people to bid the less people who did. Tsunade finally decided to just end the auction and put everyone out of their misery by giving Sakura to Kurenai for 14,000 ryo. Kurenai calmly walked up to the stage. She had brought along a Jounin outfit just for this occasion. "You really should be more modest. Nobody likes someone who behaves like a slut." Kurenai handed the Jounin outfit to Sakura. "Don't come back out until you have that on and are fully covered."
In an effort to hurry the auction along and erase her memory of the pitiful site, Tsunade barked. "Shikamaru get out here, now." As Shikamaru ambled across the grass to the stage, Tsunade announced to the crowd, "I present you Shikamaru." Shika had his eyes closed and muttered "Troublesome." when Tsunade announced him to the crowd and he wasn't even on the stage, yet. He completely missed seeing Sakura since he had either been watching the clouds or had his eyes closed attempting to nap while walking. Sakura disappeared behind the screen shortly before he actually made it on stage and Kurenai went back to where she had been standing somewhat close to Anko to continue to watch the action.
Shika didn't bother to hide his member having deemed it too troublesome, since pretty much everyone either had one or had seen one before. Plus, the bow really wouldn't cover much anyway. He had decided that the best place for the bow would be tied around his arm where he usually had his headband tied. It just wouldn't feel right to not have anything tied there and the headband was considered clothing, so he couldn't wear it for this. Shika stared out over the crowd with a bored expression on his face. He was mostly staring at the sky, but he could see all the ANBU if he wanted to. He just wanted this to be done.
It was much too troublesome for him and he just knew that this would somehow result in more work for him. He just knew it. Shika sighed when Ibiki started him off at 5,000 ryo. Really couldn't Ibiki have started higher? The man knew he was worth it. After all, he kept dragging him into stupid strategy meetings. Besides the higher he started the less time he had to stand there. Tch. So Troublesome. Shika didn't know why he had to do this anyway. He didn't even really want to be in ANBU. It was too troublesome. He was glad when Tsunade finally called an end to the bidding and awarded him to Raidou. He really didn't care that all he went for was 40,000 ryo. All he cared about was that he was done and could go change into his normal clothes.
Shika was not a happy camper when he saw Raidou carrying clothes. He was sure that meant that Raidou would expect him to wear them whatever they were and do to the terms of this stupid mission he had to. Tch. Troublesome. He wished this stupid mission were already over. When Raidou handed him the clothes. He nodded his head and went to change.
Outside of the changing screen the ANBU were wondering what was going on. Tsunade hadn't called anyone else. Was it over? What happened to Naruto? They thought he was participating this year. Kakashi was still lost in thoughts and hadn't noticed that nothing was going on. The ANBU had started murmuring amongst themselves. If Tsunade wasn't careful the crowd was going to start getting worked up and start demanding that Naruto come out. Most of them were here to see what their most surprising Ninja could pull off.
Noticing the restlessness, Tsunade called out loudly. "It's time for our final auction, however, since everybody has been patiently waiting for this person to be auctioned, we want to make sure that everybody can witness the auction, so our last contestant will not be brought out until everybody other than him is out from behind the changing screens. So Neji, Shino, Sakura, and Shikamaru hurry up and get out here, so that we can get on with the main show."
Shika grumbled when he heard the announcement. He didn't want to go out there in the outfit that Raidou had given him. It was freaking troublesome. He was so going to get teased for this too. The top item of clothing was a fishnet shirt. Not a big deal he wore those all the time, so he quickly put it on. He started to get a bit concerned when the next item was a long chain necklace, but he put it on anyway. After that was the kilt. A freaking kilt and Raidou expected him to wear it. Troublesome. He had to though, so he put it on heaving a sigh as he did so. The last item was a huge metal belt that attached to the kilt. Troublesome yet again.
While Shika was busy changing, Shino walked out and sat next to Genma having finished changing a while ago, but not really wanting to go out in front of everybody in the stupid black leather pants and cape that Genma made him wear. Not long after Shino left, Neji did as well. He praised fate that he didn't have to wear a costume like some of the other auctionees. Sakura was taking her sweet time putting on the awful outfit that Kurenai had given her. There was a reason Sakura didn't wear the jounin outfit's. She didn't like them. They had too many pockets. She wasn't a nerd and the pockets prevented people from seeing her beautiful figure. Plus they were that stupid green color. With her pink hair it made her looks like some stupid plant and was not at all conducive to getting boys attention.
Shika couldn't waste anymore time and finally walked out in his kilt and shirt and belt and chain necklace. He actually thought he looked really stupid, but Raidou had told him to wear it. As soon as he was visible, Kiba burst out laughing. "Are you wearing a skirt, Shika?" This of course got pretty much all of the ANBU's attention centered on Shika. "You are so troublesome, Kiba." Shika replied calmly walking to stand over by Raidou, who was getting many pats on the backs and congratulations for his choice in outfit.
Seeing that everybody except for Naruto and Sakura were now out in the crowd, Kurenai called out loudly, "Sakura get out here. We're all waiting on you now." This didn't have quite the intended effect as it made Sakura feel important that everybody was waiting on her, so she still took her time though she knew she couldn't keep them waiting too long or they'd be mad at her. Given that Kurenai was already slightly upset with her, she didn't want to get the other ANBU mad. She foolishly believed they actually cared about her and would help her out if Kurenai was making her do embarrassing things or something.
Sasuke ignored all the fuss over Shika and the others who had come out. He was focused on figuring out how the dobe could be the main show. He decided that they must have been talking about the fact that he was so cheerful and funny and pulling pranks and that's why he would be the main show. It certainly couldn't be because he was better than Sasuke. They must have been making fun of Naruto.
Finally, Sakura came out. She was quite surprised to see that most of the ANBU were still paying attention to Shika. In fact the only person who commented on her person was Tsunade-sama. "Now, that our last delinquent, Sakura, has decided to join us, we can now move on to the main entertainment. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Naruto Uzumaki." Hearing Naruto called the main entertainment only increased Sasuke's belief that they were making fun of Naruto or planning to play pranks on Naruto to get back at Naruto for all the pranks he played. Having successfully convinced himself that that was all that it could be. Sasuke leaned back to watch the show.
Taking that as his cue to come out, Naruto walked out from behind the screen. He had decided that nobody in that crowd was worthy of seeing his most prized possession, so he had carefully tied the black velvet bow around his member, so that it was mostly hidden from view. Naruto believed that that view should be saved for his one and only. He didn't care if people called him a sap or made fun of him for it. It was the way he felt. Plus he didn't want to be the same as the other guys and he thought this would be the best way to stand out. It might even get him more bids, since obviously the person to buy him would probably be the first person to see it and it seemed like a lot of people made a big deal about "firsts".
Once he arrived on the stage and stood in front of Tsunade, she questioned, "Wasn't he worth the wait?"
The ANBU nodded their heads and chattered excitedly amongst themselves waiting for the bidding to open. Ibiki smiled sadistically thinking about Sasuke's auction and how much pain the young Uchiha was about to experience. He started the bidding off with 20,000 ryo. After all he couldn't let somebody with that kind of courage go for nothing like the Uchiha and if he ended up with Naruto all the better. There were all sorts of things he'd like to learn about Naruto's mind. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he didn't see the warning smile and as such he went rigid with shock when he heard Naruto's opening bid. That was over 10 times what Sasuke ended up going for.
Now, the Uchiha was getting mad and he was glaring at everybody around him. Inside his head the wheels were spinning madly as he tried to re-compute this new information and figure out how on earth the stupid dobe was better than him. He was a dobe for Kami sake. A dead last. How could he be better than an Uchiha? Jiraiya chuckled darkly when he noticed the Uchiha's reaction. It served the boy right. It was time the Uchiha figured out that just because he was an Uchiha didn't make him better than everybody else.
As the bids went higher and higher Sasuke became more and more shocked. It was almost to the point where his mouth was hanging open with a slack jaw. He was tightly controlling his jaw muscles, so that it wouldn't happen, but it was getting harder and harder to prevent. Sasuke thought the bid was at 50,000 now, but he wasn't sure. He was having trouble keeping track of the bids between his shock and how fast the bids were coming in.
Completely oblivious to his previous student's growing shock and horror, Kakashi was still lost in his thoughts. He only snapped out of it when the non-bidding ANBU started cheering Naruto on. Wanting to please the crowd Naruto had started sensually dancing and showing off all his muscles and what not. Kakashi almost landed right back in his daze as he watched Naruto. It was only the shout of 60,000 that brought him back to reality. Crap. It was already that high. They were bidding on his Naruto. His, damn it. Didn't these bastards know better? Not only were Kotetsu and Izumo bidding, but also so were Ibiki and Genma and Raidou and various other ANBU that Kakashi couldn't remember the names of. It didn't matter they would be dead soon.
Kakashi glared at everybody who was bidding even Ibiki. Normally, he would be respectful to Ibiki, but not when Ibiki stood between him and what should be his. Some of the weaker willed ANBU's stopped bidding immediately when Kakashi glared. Those that were made of sterner stuff continued to bid much to Kakashi's disgust. Didn't they understand Naruto was his? He couldn't seem to get a bid in between all those still bidding on Naruto. Finally, Kakashi gave up and yelled 100,000 ryo.
Sasuke was torn. He didn't want to admit that Naruto was worth the amount of money they were bidding and was doing hardest not to think of that fact, but he couldn't prevent himself from thinking that Naruto looked hot and the dobe certainly knew how to dance. When Naruto started to dance, Sasuke had lost count of what the bid was and wasn't really paying attention anymore. Well he wasn't until Kakashi yelled 100,000 ryo. That startled him a bit. Even Kakashi was bidding? Kakashi hadn't bid on anyone yet. He wondered what Kakashi had in store for Naruto. Maybe he thought the dobe needed more training and that's why he wanted so badly to buy the guy cause obviously he was willing to pay a lot of money.
Kakashi's bid had even shocked Naruto up on stage. His jaw had dropped and he was frozen in the middle of a hip thrust. The rest of the ANBU had kind of expected it to happen. Kakashi wasn't as secretive as he thought and most of them had seen the signs. Still they didn't want him to think he could win Naruto easily. I mean half the fun is the chase, right? So, Genma bid 110,000 ryo. Kakashi glared at Genma and yelled. "120,000 ryo. Genma, If you don't stop bidding I'm going to take that senbon out of your mouth and shove it so far up your ass that you won't know what hit you."
Seeing how serious Kakashi was all the rest of the bidders dropped out between Kakashi and the amount of money Naruto was at, there was no way they were going to continue bidding. When he noticed that nobody else was bidding him up, he turned his glare to Tsunade as if to say, Hurry up and end this or I'll injure you too. Fearing a bit for her life, Tsunade had never seen the copy ninja look like that before; she announced, "Kakashi's the winner for 120,000 ryo."
Kakashi quickly poofed up on stage. He bent and whispered in Naruto's ear. "As much as I like looking at you, I think it would be best for you to change. " Kakashi slapped Naruto lightly on his ass before dodging the hit that Naruto threw at him.
"Kakashi, you perv. Get back here."
"Now, now, Naruto." Kakashi replied. "There will be plenty of time for that later after you're changed."
As Naruto stomped away grumbling, Tsunade decided it was time to close the auction portion of the proceedings. "That's all for the auction. As I'm sure you all know. Congratulations to the winners and good luck next time to the losers. I'd just like to remind everybody of a few rules that I'm sure you all remember. Since the winners will obviously be otherwise occupied, it will be up to the rest of you to take the missions that they would usually take. So winners enjoy your holiday and the rest of you get cracking. We have lots of work to be done in the next week."