The Difference Between Boys And Girls by fang_shinobi
Disclaimer: Naruto and other related characters, settings and such are strictly under the ownership of Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I take no claim of ownership except for the words I have contributed.
Spoiler: Contains characters from the post-time skip, aka Shippuuden. I'm up to date with the manga. If you don't recognize the characters, just imagine how they look. After all, I've only seen them in the manga, and these could differ from the anime. The colors I follow for the older characters are from the first season anime. I don't watch Shippuuden (because I choose not to) so the rest of the colors are based on colored manga covers.
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura have been chosen by their camp counselors to head the debate on which gender was better. But things get personal when they start a girl-against-boy war that could ruin the whole summer. Watch out for cockroaches, bloodsucking leeches and such. Sasusaku and other pairings…
SECONDARY WARNING: !!SPOILERS GALORE!! Do not dare read this fic unless you're updated on the manga or willing to get spoiled. Thank you.
INTRO
DAY 1
The Lake 0600
Sakura sat on the old wooden dock by the shoreline, taking in the sight. The lake and the lush foliage behind it had a peaceful feel so early in the morning. It was a scene she could watch for ages.
Sitting there in a red and white striped tank top and khaki shorts, she was already getting comfortable in the camp. She also had her carnation pink hair cut above shoulder length to avoid getting hot around the neck for the hot season.
It was, after all, the first day of the summer camp program organized by their high school, the prominent Konoha Institute. It all seemed peculiar to organize such a thing for a selection of high school students who already had their minds set on taking the summer, or at least that camp's fifteen days, on their own pre-decided destinations. The young schoolgirl, being the active student that she was, had decided to volunteer for the program when it was first announced, though no one else in her class had. Her best friend Ino excitedly joined in after her, and soon enough, the two had convinced a few of their friends to join.
Sakura thought about the perks of getting there early – the assembly wasn't until 8. She viewed the wonderful landscape before her, thinking how perfect it all seemed… until…
She jerked up in her seat in surprise at the sight of wildly splashing water a couple of meters away past the buoy line. It only rang one bell in her head – drowning camper. She jumped to her feet and ran up the pier to the lifeguard station nearby. A few moments later, she hurriedly returned to the lake with the camp lifeguard in tow.
"Over there!" Sakura shouted, pointing at the wild splashing some distance away from the port. She looked worriedly at the lifeguard but was shocked to see that he didn't seem to be in a hurry to help. "Hey, what's wrong? Aren't you the lifeguard?"
The tall lanky man nodded his head, adjusting the round sunglasses on his nose. "Yes, but those kids aren't drowning."
Sakura gazed out the lake to see that the splashing was approaching them.
The lifeguard, Ebisu, squatted at the edge of the wooden dock, anticipating the arrival of the swimmers. After a while, the pink-haired girl managed to make out the figures of the two boys swimming towards them.
The blue-haired one arrived at the dock first, emerging from the water with a loud gasp of air. A blond head emerged a moment later, panting just as much as the first. Sakura recognized the two but was unable to say anything to them as the lifeguard wasted no time in reprimanding them.
"How many times did i have to tell you brats that you're not allowed past the buoys?!" he yelled at them, making them flinch more so from the volume than anything else. "But you still insist on doing it anyway!" Running out of breath, the lifeguard paused, regaining his composure. "This is your last warning, boys. If I catch you doing that again, I'll have you kicked out of here!"
He turned on his heel, stomping away and grumbling under his breath about little pests and about them drowning and causing him heart attacks.
Sakura watched him go before turning her attention towards the two boys, who both seemed to be holding their breaths. Sensing that the lifeguard was gone, the two erupted in a raucous laughter, half-choking on lake water.
"Calm down, guys," she told them, somewhat amused by their behavior.
Noticing her for what seemed to be the first time, the two guys looked up at her and greeted her with a chorus of "Hey! What's up?"
"You troublemakers, apparently," she answered. "How long have you guys been here anyway? Since I gather that you've been scolded for this for the nth time." As for her, she'd been there since five that morning to get acquainted with the area. She hadn't expected anyone to get there ahead of her.
She watched as they swam towards the nearby ladder. The blond one got out first, his honey blond hair matted against the top of his head and partly concealing his cerulean blue eyes. He had a nice bronze tan and a lean muscular frame from being a varsity football player. He gave her a big toothy grin as he pulled himself up on the dock. His name was Naruto, Sakura's extremely mischievous classmate and one of her closest friends. Highly energetic and fun-loving, he enjoyed pulling off pranks and acting like a total clown.
"Been here since five yesterday," he explained, standing a few inches taller than her and making her feel like a dwarf, as he used to be the shorter one back in their junior high days. "Met Suigetsu down here and spent the rest of the day playing cat and mouse with Ebisu, that grouch of a lifeguard. Caught us 'bout a couple more times too."
"What a jerk he was," supplied the aquamarine-haired boy as he heaved himself unto the wooden floor, his nicely toned body dripping wet. This one was Suigetsu, a batchmate of theirs who belonged in the school swimming team. He had expressive amethyst eyes, and his left canine tooth protruded a bit, giving him a rascally smile. He plopped himself on the floor by Naruto's feet, still panting. He figured it was from all the excessive laughing – being a star swimmer, swimming couldn't possibly have exhausted him.
"Hey there, Suigetsu-san," Sakura greeted him, "I didn't know that you and Naruto were close friends."
"Not from school we weren't," he answered as Naruto offered him a hand and helped him to his feet. "But when I saw how well he swam back there, we totally hit it off."
"Watch out, swimming team, you're new star swimmer is here!" the blond boy exclaimed teasingly.
"Yeah, right!"
The two laughed once again, finding the whole thing hilarious.
Seeing the silly scene, Sakura should've been inclined to look on in exasperation and sigh in embarrassment, but Suigetsu's last statement caught her attention. After all, the aqua-haired boy was the swimming team's fastest swimmer. If he was impressed by how well Naruto could swim, how fast could Naruto swim?
"And guess what!" Naruto exclaimed. "We're roomies! Cabinmates!"
"Eh, is that so?" she asked, trying hard to conceal the envy from her face. She envied how they already knew that they were cabinmates. As for her, she had yet to know who hers were and whether they'd be able to get along or not. After all, she'd only been provided the cabin key and number, but the names of her companions in it were yet to be disclosed. She had to wait to find out since no one else had shown up yet. "Well, I hope you guys keep out of trouble. I'd hate it if you guys had to leave all of a sudden."
"Will do," Naruto said almost too willingly, offering her a double thumbs up and big confident grin.
Suigetsu mimicked the gesture before saying, "We trouble-free boys will be running off now."
The two shared another giddy explosion of laughter as they bounded off to do something else less mischievous – something Sakura doubted.
She made her way off the dock and headed for her cabin.
END OF INTRO
Next time:
"Why does everyone assume that I know where Sasuke is?" said Sakura.
Her friends gave her blank looks, as if she'd just said something absurd.
Side note: When I meant football, I meant SOCCER. Thank you.