Tag With Naruto: Chapter one
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I want to... I want to own Gaara...
The sun shone through the cloudless sky and fell onto the faces that made up cell seven. A gentle breeze blew through Sakura Haruno's short, light pink hair as the three students waited patiently for Kakashi Hatake to arrive. "There you are sensei!" Sakura squinted her eyes to make out the spiky-haired figure that approached them, waving casually.
"It's about time!" Naruto yelled as the man became closer and more clear.
"What are we doing today, sensei?" Sakura asked, ignoring Naruto.
"Well Sakura, today's mission is to gather the ninja you met at the chunin exams, and beat them at a game of tag." Kakashi replied.
"TAG?! What does that have to do with anything?!" Naruto shouted.
"Naruto! Shut up! Remember what happened last time you complained about a mission? You almost got us all killed!" Sakura punched him in the face.
"Actually, Naruto does have a point. This mission is quite pointless. It just makes it easier for me to read." Kakashi sat down on a boulder and pulled Make-out Violence from his pocket.
"Hmph, fine. Sakura, you find the ones from our village. Naruto and I will find those Suna freaks. We'll meet back here in three hours." Sasuke said, bored.
"WHAT?! Why do I have to go with Sasuke?!" Naruto wondered aloud.
"Because our half is more dangerous, idiot. Now let's go."
"Right!" Sakura agreed, as they split up.
Three hours later, the trio met up in the now overcrowded clearing. Kakashi closed his book and stood in the center of the crowd, "Alright, since Gaara was the last one to arrive, he is 'it.' The rest of you have five seconds to get away before the game begins. 5...4...3...2...1..." Kakashi counted down, then darted through the dust cloud and continued reading.
"Move it, Ino-pig! I was here first!" Sakura yelled, both Sakura and Ino were hiding behind the same boulder.
"Shut up, will you! You're going to give us both away!" Ino argued.
"Don't tell me to shut up, you're the one talking!"
"You started it!"
"And I'm gonna finish it too!"
"Uhh… Sakura…!" Io stared as Sakura was being lifted off the ground in Gaara's sand coffin.
"What now Ino? You're just jealous!" Sakura looked down and screamed, finally realizing that she was no longer touching the ground, and that Gaara was approaching.
"Bye-bye Sakura!" Ino darted away from them.
"You're it." Gaara said coldly, reaching out and touching Sakura's one free hand, then releasing his grip. "No tag backs." He snarled, walking away.
Out of nowhere, Rock Lee jumped in front of Sakura, "You can touch me, Sakura." He offered. Sakura tagged Lee's shoulder, then ran off. Lee spotted Shikamaru hiding behind a tree, and rushed up to him, "Gotcha! No tag backs!" With that, Lee scuttled away.
"What a drag. Why are we even playing this kid's game?" Shikamaru asked himself, standing up. He glanced into the branches above him, knowing that Sakura had hidden herself somewhere up there. Sure enough, she was hanging upside down on the highest branch. Shikamaru threw a kunai knife at her, and, although she dodged it, it was just enough to distract her, causing her to lose concentration, and fall to the ground. When she stood up, she was not under her own control. Shikamaru had used his shadow possession jutsu on her. They both walked up to each other and reached out their hands. He tagged Sakura's shoulder as she tapped his, "No tag backs." He said as he released the shadow possession.
"Ahh! Fine!" Sakura looked around herself. From her perch in the tree, she had been able to see almost everyone's hiding places. "I should tag Choji! He won't even notice I'm there, he's too busy eating chips!" She thought, sneaking up on a giant boulder. "You're it!" She turned to run, but froze. She was suddenly surrounded by the darkness, and the smell of chips, "What the-?!"
"No tag backs!" Choji tagged Sakura and pulled another bag of chips from his backpack.
Sakura pulled the bag of chips off of her head, and threw it on the ground, then brushed the crumbs off of her now greasy hair. "NO FAIR!" She glanced around, "Now… Where did that Ino-pig go?" She wondered, but the one she spotted was Naruto, and his orange jumpsuit. "Oh well!" She thought, running at Naruto.
Sasuke figured out what she was doing and yelled out, "Sakura! What are you thinking! Naruto, you idiot! GET OUT OF THERE!" They were both ignoring him, so he darted out in front of Naruto. Sakura hadn't been expecting this, and, just as she was about to tag Sasuke, Lee jumped in front of Sasuke.
"Sakura, I cannot allow you to tag your own teammates. I'm sorry, but I will not let you fail this mission!"
"Lee…" Sakura sighed and looked around, and noticed the sun was starting to set, then asked, "Hey, Sensei, how long does this game last?"
"Oh, I suppose I wasn't very specific… It ends when there is only one cell standing… In other words, you must protect your cell. So. Sakura, if you were 'it,' it would be your duty to battle with the person you tag until one of you is no longer able to fight. The winner is then 'it.'"
The entire crowd stared at Kakashi. "WHAT?! But-! But-! That's just like the Forest of Death and the preliminaries combined!" Naruto yelled.
"Naruto's right, sensei, this is going way overboard, we'll be here for weeks!" Sakura said.
"That's alright, Sakura, I have Lord Hokage's permission to continue with this mission until it ends. We'll return to this spot at eight in the morning. If there are any no-shows, you and your teammates will be disqualified." Kakashi stated.
"Then why would we want to come back?" Temari questioned.
"This is an official mission. All of your cells are in on it. If you fail, there won't be any punishment, but there will be no reward either. You'll also be losing quite a bit of dignity."
"Sensei, you said earlier that it wasn't a real mission!" Sakura protested.
"Did I say that? Well, no matter, it is, as of right now, a real mission." Kakashi glanced around, smirking at all of the surprised faces.
"But-! If we're supposed to protect our teammates, how can we do that if it's a one-on-one battle?" Sakura asked.
"I never said one-on-one. At any point during a battle, you can call upon your teammates for help, whether you were the one who was 'it', or the one who was tagged. Basically, this is an extreme form of ninja tag. The rules are quite simple, so I'm only going to say them once. Rule one: No killing. Rule two: You can't start a match without one of you being 'it.' Rule three: If you or one of your teammates forfeits or is unable to battle, the cell is automatically disqualified. Rule four: The game is only to take place during daylight hours. Once the sun sets, the game is paused until the sun rises again. Rule five: If you disappear for more than a half hour at a time, you and your cell are automatically disqualified. By disappear, I mean to remain out of my sight. Now, I suggest that you all go home and rest. And for the three Suna ninjas, hotel accommodations have been prepared. I'm going home." After this long-winded speech, Kakashi took off to go home. Everyone else blinked in bewilderment, then trudged back to their homes.
To be continued…..