Disclaimer: All Naruto characters are the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. That's all. :) No copying of my story is allowed. That's stealing if anyone copies my story into his/her own story. Write your own story without taking others' works! (angry glare)
Big Thanks goes to Lazruth for betareading for me! Thanks! (big grin)
Before-chapter Author Note: I have to say I'm very much surprised. "The Smell of Love" already has more than 110 favs and watches, not to mention 29 reviews! And this was only after the first chapter! I'm quite stunned at the big reception that I'm wondering whether I'm really worthy of such praise. Thank every one of you for faving, watching, and reviewing! (big grin)
Now I want to be on record that I can't guarantee that this fic will be on the same great level as "Unexpected Love." UL was a pretty straightforward fic with Naruto and Tenten getting together easily with no strings attached to other people. SoL will be different, thus I'm entering new territory regarding how Naruto and Tenten will reach that 'goal' down the road, especially with a third and fourth wheel in the picture. All I can say that I will do my best to write up SoL the best I can do, given the high drama that no doubt will happen down the road while trying to keep to the canon timeline regarding certain events. Just as I said, I'm not going to guarantee anything. Okay? Good. Now on with the story! (big grin)
Story rating: M (R)(for adult and sexual themes)
Written: November 2010 -
Summary: Trying Jiraiya's new brand of deodorant, Naruto ends up with lot more than odor protection. NaruTen.
The Smell of Love
Chapter 2: Rising Suspicions
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
Human Nature. Ever since the dawn of civilization, the human race has been thinking about its own existence, what it meant to be human with emotions and intelligence wrapped up in a biological package with a brain. Yet despite for all its wisdom, people today were still puzzled over their own species, given the complexities of the vast diversity of human beings around the world. It was enough to give even the top psychologists headaches.
Yet for one Haruno Sakura, Chuunin kunoichi, medic, and apprentice of Konoha's Godaime Hokage, she was trying to figure out the riddle that was her teammate, Uzumaki Naruto. Oh, not that he had been easy to read, given the blond had always been unpredictable, ever since she knew of him back during their Academy years. This was nothing new. It was just the odd occurrence of seeing Tenten with Naruto, as the two had walked down the outside staircase of his apartment building several days ago on the morning Team Kakashi were to meet their new captain and third teammate.
For the pinkette, she remembered walking down the street toward the apartment building's street entrance when the two came down the stairs….
Green eyes blinked upon seeing the weapons-loving kunoichi besides her teammate. "Naruto? Tenten?" she blurted out, alerting the two to her presence, just when they reached the stairs' bottom.
Both were startled at first, but they soon relaxed as Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Morning, Sakura-chan!"
"Good morning, Sakura," Tenten greeted with a small grin at the same time Naruto lowered his hand.
"Good morning," Sakura returned the greeting before eying her fellow kunoichi. "Why are you here, Tenten? I don't recall you ever been to Naruto's apartment before."
Before the brunette could answer, the blond shinobi spoke out. "Tenten and I had been helping each other train in the past two days, Sakura-chan. She stopped by this morning to discuss continuing our training after I return from the mission regarding Sasori's spy."
Sakura raised her eyebrows at this. "Really?" She focused back on the older girl. "You're helping Naruto train? Since when?"
"Since two days ago," Tenten replied with a small grin. "Naruto had happened to come across me training, and we've been helping each other ever since. Believe me; he makes a better practicing partner for my weapons training," she patted her large scroll strapped on her back, "than either Lee or Neji. I don't have to worry about killing Naruto, not with him producing so many Kage Bunshin for me to target."
"And what do you help him with?"
"Tactics," Tenten smirked a bit. "With his Kage Bunshin, he's literally an one-man army." Her smirk went wider as her brown eyes targeted her male colleague. "It's just he's not that well versed in getting them to work in unison some of the time. He's just throws his clones out without thinking."
Sakura giggled at this. "Yeah, that's for sure."
"Tenten, Sakura-chan," whined Naruto, causing both girls to giggle this time.
Letting out a defeated breath, knowing he just could not win against their teasing, Naruto eyed his teammate. "What are you doing here, Sakura-chan?"
"What else?" the pink-haired girl replied with hands on her hips. "I'm here to make certain you are ready to meet our new captain and team member."
"Well, I'm ready," Naruto responded, before he thumbed to the backpack on his back. "As you can see I'm packed and ready to go on the mission."
Sakura smiled in satisfaction. "Good." If there was one thing she was certain about it was that Naruto always was ready to do his missions. He may not like doing D-ranks, but he was always ready to do even them. This time was no exception.
Tenten smiled at the pair. "Speaking of teams, I better get going to meet mine." Her grin went a bit wider as she eyed the blond. "I'll talk to you when you come back."
Naruto smiled back at the brunette. "Sure thing, Tenten."
"Good!" the weapons mistress chirped. "Good luck on your mission!" she said to both before walking pass Sakura and heading away from the two Team 7 members.
After a moment of watching Tenten strolled away, Naruto gestured to his teammate to follow him. "Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's get going." The pinkette complied, trailing her friend toward the place to meet their two new team members.
Yet as they walked along, Sakura couldn't help but to think about Tenten. Nothing was amiss about the older girl. Her clothes were clean. Hair orderly pinned up in their twin buns. Weapons scroll attached to her back. However, when Team Gai's kunoichi walked pass her, Sakura picked up the scents of body wash and shampoo, and having coming to know the weapons-loving girl in the past nearly three years, Sakura knew which hair and soap products Tenten used. What she smelled was not Tenten's familiar hygiene stuff, for they smelled of the familiar shampoo and soap of Naruto's.
Sakura inwardly frowned, as she and her team strolled toward the Hokage Tower to report to Tsunade-sama the results of the mission. She and Naruto were disappointed from meeting Sasuke, not to mention the overall mission was a failure. Yet, they'd managed to destroy one of Orochimaru's bases and made a new friend in Sai, who Naruto brought onto their side with his usual 'gift' in making people become his friend. It was a knack that the blonde had that certainly came in handy at times.
As she kept a giggle in check after Sai once more made an unintentional joke regarding Naruto's penis, which was becoming a very sore and embarrassing subject for the blonde to hear in public, the pink-haired kunoichi wondered about what was going on between Naruto and Tenten. It was kind of odd for the older girl to be at Naruto's apartment early in the morning to discuss training, not to mention the smell of Naruto's shampoo and body soap coming from the brunette. What was going on with those two?
Nearly yelping upon feeling a hand on her shoulder, jade eyes turned to look up into the concerned face of Team Kakashi's current leader, Yamato. With Kakashi-sensei bedridden from the mission to rescue Gaara, Yamato was picked by the Fifth to lead the mission to meet Sasori's spy, which turned out to be Kabuto. "Are you okay, Sakura? You seemed to be worried."
"Oh, I'm okay," grinned Sakura reassuringly up at her captain, even though she did not feel like it. "Just tired from the mission."
Yamato nodded, before facing forward again with Naruto and Sai in front. "After the briefing, it's best you have that arm check out. You don't want any side-effects from the Kyuubi's chakra affecting you."
"Hai," agreed the pinkette as her right hand reached up to the scar on her left arm. Naruto had gone into an uncontrolled rage and formed a Four-Tailed Fox Cloak, thus with his mind under control of the Kyuubi, he was not able to distinguish between friend and foe. Sakura paid the price in trying to stop Naruto, when he slashed her arm with one of his tails. It was an experience she would not ever forget. Thank Kami, Yamato-taichou was there to stop Naruto and bring him back to normal.
As they continued the trek toward the Hokage Tower, Yamato was having his own thought conference, and it was about Sakura. It was obvious to him the girl lied to him. Something was troubling the teenage girl, and it was not about the mission. Yet given how she eyed her blond teammate, the jounin knew it had something to do with Naruto.
Dismissing the subject, the elite shinobi coughed it up to the typical stages teenagers go through. To get involve in the messy and highly emotional drama of adolescents was just asking for trouble, especially given he was not even a parent. Yamato only hoped that any personal problems Sakura and Naruto were experiencing did not affect their professional lives.
Tenten sighed happily. Even though she loved doing missions, especially the kinds that enabled her to leave the village and visit many other places, she couldn't dispute the age-old wisdom of a well-known quote when it came to where her heart lay – 'There's no place like home.'
It was a nice change of pace to do a simple C-rank, after that A-rank mission rescuing Gaara. Yet even after doing a C-rank, the female weapons expert just wanted to go home and take a long, relaxing soak in her bathtub. It was soothing to even think of the warm waters surrounding her body, thus why now, after she and her team had just strolled through Konoha's front gate, she had the urge to run to her apartment, take off her clothes, and dive into her tub.
"I definitely going to take a very long soak this time around," mentally chirped Tenten, thinking of adding her favorite bath oil to the water to make it feel really appeasing.
"I still find it hard to believe you and Naruto are training together."
Letting out a breath, this time in disbelief, Tenten turned her head to face the person who had spoken, her teammate, Neji Hyuuga. "Why is it so hard to accept that, Neji? I told you, Lee, and Gai-sensei many times already the whole story. Naruto's Kage Bunshin are ideal for target practice, not to mention we can learn new things from one another. I can teach him about weapons, maybe a kenjutsu style, and he in turn can teach me about ninjutsu, which I can add to my arsenal. After several years of training with just you, Lee, and Gai-sensei, maybe it's time to train with others to expand my skills and knowledge."
"Tenten is right, Neji," exclaimed Gai with an approving smile. "There is nothing wrong with expanding your knowledge and skills under hard work to become stronger."
Lee piped in. "Naruto-kun is a genius of hard work just like Gai-sensei and I! Tenten will definitely benefit from training with him!" The taijutsu-master-in-training raised a fist. "Knowing Naruto-kun, he has grown stronger in the past two years under Jiraiya-sama! I must challenge him to a fight!"
"Yes, Lee!" Gai approved. "We have no doubt Naruto's fires of youth have grown stronger! Just like you!"
With his own 'fires' burning bright, the young chuunin embraced his master. "Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
As people around Team Gai stared at the two hugging Green Beasts like they were crazy, Neji and Tenten sweat-dropped. "Can they ever one day be normal?" the bun-haired kunoichi asked rhetorically.
The Hyuuga genius shook his head slightly. "You know as well as I that will not ever happen."
Suddenly, Tenten perked up upon spotting a familiar blond standing with a known pink-haired girl and an unknown black-haired boy. All three were wearing civilian clothes. "Hey, look! There's Naruto!" She began strolling toward the three with a wave of her hand. "Hey! Naruto!"
The boy in question turned and grinned upon seeing who was approaching. "Hi there, Tenten!" Naruto even waved to the three men just behind her. "Neji! Bushy-Brows! Bushy-Brows-sensei!"
"Hi there," Sakura grinned at Team Gai.
Tenten returned the greetings, as well as the other members of her team. Afterward, they stared at the strange black-haired boy, and only then did the pink-haired realize her manners and began the introductions. "Oh, everyone, this is Sai. Team Kakashi's new team member. Sai, this is Team Gai – Tenten, Neji, Rock Lee, and their sensei, Maito Gai."
"Hello," Sai said with a smile.
After Tenten and her male teammates once again said their greetings, the kunoichi focused on the lone blond boy. "So how was your mission?" Her grin dropped upon seeing Naruto and Sakura frowned. "Was it bad?"
Naruto sighed. "Yeah, we failed."
Sakura shook her head. "Tsunade-shishou said it was not a total failure. We learned a lot, even if we didn't manage to bring Sasuke-kun back."
Team Gai was shock. "You met the Uchiha?" Neji spoke for his team. This was likely the first time anyone had seen Uchiha Sasuke, since he defected from Konoha years ago.
"What happened?" Gai asked, his face serious.
Tsaunde's youngest apprentice shook her head. "How about we wait until we tell Kakashi-sensei?" She gestured to Naruto and Sai. "We're going over to the hospital to meet him. He'll be released in the next day or two."
Gai nodded in agreement to wait. "Then let us go. I too want to hear about your mission. Any information regarding Uchiha Sasuke will be very important." With that said, both teams began their journey toward the hospital.
As they walked along, with Naruto situated between Sakura and Tenten. Konoha's Weapons Mistress noticed the title of the book Sai was reading as he strolled on Sakura's other side. "'How to Socialize for Dummies'? Why are you reading that?"
Naruto replied. "Sai is socially…" He frowned as he racked his brain for the word. "He's socially…"
"Inept," Sakura provided. "Sai's socially inept."
The blond snapped his fingers and pointed to his female teammate with a grateful grin. "That's right! Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Blue eyes turned back to the brunette kunoichi to his left. "Sai is socially inept."
After uttering a brief giggle on Naruto's lack of vocabulary in not knowing that word, Tenten returned to raven-haired boy in question. "So you're not very sociable, Sai?"
Sai produced his grin. "I am learning. This book is very helpful. It stated that between close friends, one could give nicknames to one another."
Tenten nodded at that. "Not everyone give nicknames to their close friends. I do know Naruto calls Lee 'Bushy Brows' and Lee does not mind."
Sakura entered the discussion, her eyes locked on Tenten's. "Before you arrived, Naruto and I told Sai that sometimes nicknames are created out of a person's physical traits. Naruto's nickname for Lee is a great example of that." Her lips spread into an impish smirk. "You should hear what Sai calls Naruto."
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out scandalously.
Judging from the blond's reaction, Tenten figured the nickname have to be very embarrassing. "What does he call him?"
Before Naruto could say a word, Sai spoke out with a grin. "I call him 'Dickless'."
The four members of Team Gai raised their eyebrows at this. "Why do you call him that?" asked a slightly amused Tenten, especially upon seeing Sakura trying to hold her laughter in.
Sai didn't hesitate. "Because his penis is—"
"SAI!" Naruto interrupted.
"Is small?" Tenten finished, guessing the obvious answer.
"Tenten!" the blond shinobi cried out in shock, causing Sakura to laugh, Tenten to giggle behind a hand over her mouth, and Neji to smirk. A baffled Gai and Lee just looked on with blinking eyes.
Yet for the 17-year-old female weapons expert, she was also laughing at the fact that she personally knew Naruto's penis well. After all, having experienced it first hand, she could easily tell Naruto was not 'small.' She wondered how Sai came to such a conclusion, unless the boy had seen Naruto's organ in its deflated stage.
With his cheeks very red, Naruto scowled at the grinning, art-drawing shinobi before turning to face Team Gai on his left. "I know Sai was about to give a nickname to Sakura-chan before you guys arrived."
"Oh?" Tenten said as she lowered her hand, while Sakura immediately stopped laughing to focus on Sai.
Once more, the black-haired boy did not hesitate. "I was thinking of calling her 'Ugly.'"
Everyone was quite astonished, while Sakura softly laughed; making the others wonder why she was not upset. Naruto and Team Gai changed their minds, when the pinkette, the next moment out of rage, grabbed Sai and slapped his face several times quite severely prior to punching him through a wooden fence. Every person on the street stopped to observe the carnage with fear for the enraged kunoichi.
As Sai's raised hand twitched in pain while Sakura continued to fume at him, Naruto blinked a few times before turning his head behind him to face Tenten, who had wrapped her arms around him with hands on his shoulders to prevent him from moving to intercept Sakura. "Why did you stop me, Tenten?"
The brunette girl gave a 'Are you crazy?' expression at him. "I know you're noble and all, Naruto, but surely even you wouldn't be that stupid to stand between Sakura and anyone she wants to punch out of rage. You would have ended up like him," she finished with a finger pointing at the still-downed Sai.
Looking at his semi-unconscious teammate, Naruto nodded in understanding. "Good point." He knew Sai was so new in socializing that it was not really his fault for not understanding what names were appropriate. Yet Naruto kept forgetting Sakrua-chan has become freakishly super strong. Thank, Kami, Tenten was there to prevent him from experiencing that monster strength again, thus he made a promise to himself to make certain he would not stand between Sakura and her 'target' ever again.
After feeling Tenten's arms release him, the blond jinchuuriki continued the trek toward the hospital with Tenten and her team following suit. Only then did Sakura notice everyone was leaving, thus she sped up a bit to catch up to walk on Naruto's right side again.
Naruto waved a hand over his head, still facing forward as he walked on. "We'll see you at the hospital, Sai," he called out to the boy behind him.
As onlookers started to move away as well, Sai's raised hand continued to twitch in pain.
Even though he showed a calm exterior, Kakashi couldn't help but be laughing inside. After a few minutes of receiving visitors in the form of his two students and Team Gai, Team Kakashi's newest member strolled on in, and after he had introduced himself, the Copy Nin had noticed the strange bruise on the young man's face. When he had whispered to Sakura if there was a problem, she had laughed and said there weren't any problems. Right, sure. If the facial expressions on Naruto, Tenten, and somewhat on Neji and Lee have anything to say, Sakura was the one who gave that huge bruise on Sai's face.
"Seems our newest member is already experiencing Sakura's temperament first hand, eh?" Kakashi mentally laughed.
Before the elite jounin could say anything, the room's shouji door slid open, causing everyone to see who was it. Standing in the threshold was Sarutobi Asuma, and his three students – Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. "Hi there, Kakashi," greeted the Third Hokage's son. "I brought a gift." He held up a basket of apples.
"Asuma-sensei!" chided his blonde kunoichi student. "Do you ever knock before entering?"
As Team Asuma, aka Team 10, entered the room, Shikamaru gave his usual lazy greeting, while Chouji, munching on a bag of chips, just waved to everyone. Both however stopped upon seeing Sai as they glared at the boy. "What are you doing here?" the Nara heir asked, causing everyone, except Naruto, to blinked in confusion to what the ponytailed boy was referring.
However, after a few minutes of Sai explaining things, the two teenage boys of Team 10 relaxed, as did everyone else. "So you were just testing Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as he stood next to Chouji, who sat down on a small, wheeled stool.
"As long as that is the case, I'm okay with you," the big Akimichi claimed with a grin, before he continued with his snacking.
Standing by Naruto's right side as they stood to the right side of Kakashi's bed, Tenten raised an eyebrow at the blond. "Did he really test you like that?"
"Yeah, he did," admitted Naruto. "It was the day we had gotten back from Suna. After I left the hospital, I ran into Shikamaru and Chouji, and that was when Sai attacked, as he stated. At the time, I did not know I was being tested."
Turning from Naruto to face the grinning Sai, who stood in front of the bed, the teenage weapons expert gave an expression that was half frown and half smirk. "I admit that was not exactly ideal to test someone like that, even though it does have some merits."
"I'll say," Ino grinned slyly at Sai as she stood next to Sakura on the opposite side of Naruto and Tenten. The Yamanaka lean to whisper to Sakura, but it was barely loud enough for Tenten to hear as well. "He's cute! He reminds me of Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura whispered back seriously. "He may look like Sasuke-kun, but Sai is clueless when it comes to being social. He's nothing like him."
Tenten frowned as she mentally shook her head. It was quite obvious Sai was so naïve when it came to social interactions. Just, she couldn't believe Ino could make comparisons to the Uchiha, who, as far as she was concern, was a traitor and stuck-up bastard. For the Weapons Mistress, she just couldn't see what was so attractive regarding Sasuke. At least Naruto, despite his own childlike personality, was a far better person to socialize than Sasuke ever was.
A throat clearing made everyone turned to Gai, who lowered his hand. "Kakashi, your students have had an interesting mission. One where they met with an ex-student of yours."
Kakashi sighed. "Yamato has informed me." He turned to Sakura. "You and Naruto met Sasuke again."
Team 10's eyes went wide at this news. "Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked as she trained her sight on her best friend. "You met Sasuke-kun again?"
The pinkette nodded with sad eyes. "Yeah, we did. It's just he has become even more powerful and stronger, and the way he acted, he's become more cold and distance." With this said, Sakura began telling the tale of the entire mission, from meeting Kabuto to the very end where Sasuke left with Orochimaru and Kabuto. The only thing she excluded was Naruto's transformation into the 4-Tailed Fox Cloak, given she was told by Kakashi regarding the Third Hokage's law.
By the time Sakura was finished with the story, there were mixed reactions among the group. Ino felt like crying, while Tenten and most of the guys were frowning. Only the three adult jounin were showing neutrality with displaying any emotions.
"I just can't believe it," Ino nearly whispered. "Has Sasuke-kun fallen so deep?"
Sakura sighed. "I find it hard to believe it too. Yet I was there." She gestured toward Sai. "If it weren't for Sai, Sasuke-kun could have killed Naruto." Green eyes focused on the concerned blue ones of Naruto's. "I can't believe you just stood there and allowed him to nearly kill you, Naruto."
This time it was Naruto's turn to sigh. "Well, I wasn't expecting him to do it, Sakura-chan. I let my guard down."
Tenten crossed her arms in disbelief. "You weren't expecting him to kill you?" she said, gaining everyone's attention. "All due respect, Naruto, but everyone in the village now knows of the battle between you and Sasuke at the Valley of the End more than 2 year ago. He plunged a Chidori through your body!" Naruto winced at the memories, raising his left hand to cover the area on his right shoulder where Sasuke's fist had once pierced through him. "He definitely wanted to kill you! Not to mention the other members of the retrieval team nearly died as well!"
She eyed each of the other boys, who were part of that mission of long ago – Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed, Chouji lost his appetite as he remembered nearly dying, Lee winced from what he remembered of his battle, and Neji closed his eyes, understanding well what his female teammate was conveying. Only then did Tenten returned to focus on Naruto. "How can you possibly think Sasuke would not kill you?"
"I know!" burst Naruto as he held up a hand to forestall Tenten before lowering it and taking a calming breathe. "I made a mistake, but you just do not know Sasuke as Sakura-chan and I do. I believe he still is good, I just need to reach him. No one knows how it feels to lose an entire family like he did."
Dropping her frown, Tenten shook her head. "The entire village has given him sympathy for his lost, Naruto. Yet losing his entire clan is no excuse for betraying the village. Do you really think he can be redeemed?"
A reassuring and confident smile spread across the blond's face. "I know he can be redeemed. As I said, I just need to get through to him, and I will!" he finished with a raised fist.
The brunette female of Team Gai couldn't help but to grin a bit upon seeing and feeling Naruto's confidence. Just what was it about him that gave everyone a strong sense of spirit in oneself as well as wanting to believe in Naruto? She remembered how Naruto had lifted the spirits of everyone during the first part of the Chuunin Exams that Ibiki had no choice but to pass everyone. Even now, as she gazed at the others in the room, Naruto's self-confidence has lifted everyone up, even Sakura and Ino were grinning a bit. It seemed Naruto once again showed that you just couldn't keep a good man down.
Turning from Tenten to his bedded jounin-sensei, Naruto spoke what was on his mind. "Sasuke has become strong, Kakashi-sensei. I need to get stronger, and there's not much time left before Orochimaru will claim his body."
"True," Kakashi said before he returned to reading his Icha Icha book in his hand. "Yet for the type of training you needed to get stronger, it will require years to do so."
"Years!" Naruto nearly shouted out in disappointed. "We don't have years, Kakashi-sensei!"
The Copy Nin eye-smiled as he raised his head out of his book. "Do you think I was lying on this bed doing nothing, Naruto?" His face became normal again. "There's a training method that will shorten the time required. It's a method that will suit you." He paused for a moment. "Matter of fact, it's a method that's only suited for you, Naruto."
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What training method is that?" she asked, speaking for all in the room.
Kakashi eyed his book again. "He'll find out tomorrow. After all, I can't start his training while I'm in the hospital." Naruto and Sakura face faulted, while everyone else, except Asuma and Gai, sweat dropped.
As Naruto and Sakura recovered and glared at the silver-haired man with ticking left eyes, Tenten let out a breath and shook her head. "It's not like it will harm anyone to tell what is the method, baka."
A throat clearing snapped everyone back to reality to focus on Gai, who was grinning widely. "Speaking of training, my youthful rival, your student and my student," he gestured with a hand toward Naruto and Tenten, "had a training idea of their own."
"Oh?" blinked Kakashi prior to raising an eyebrow at the pair in question.
Tenten didn't hesitate in replying. "Naruto and I had decided to help train each other, Kakashi-sensei." This prompted the silver-haired jounin to raise both eyebrows in surprise, and seeing that expression, the bun-haired kunoichi elaborated.
"The day after we returned from Suna, Naruto ran into me training, and after we sparred, we realized we can help each other. I can teach him, say, kenjutsu, while he can help me with ninjutsu." Her lips curled into a smirk, as she gazed at the blond next to her. "Besides, with Naruto's Kage Bunshin, I don't have to worry about holding back with the way I keep hitting my targets." Kakashi eye-smiled amusedly in understanding, while Sakura smirked in knowledge of what Tenten had in mind for her teammate's signature jutsu.
Raising a fist to his chest, Lee nearly whined to his female teammate. "But, Tenten, I always had been there to provide you target practice!"
The Weapons Mistress gave a reassuring yet apologetic grin. "I know, Lee, but with my accuracy better than it was four years ago, I'm hitting you far often now. Even with blunt kunai and shuriken, you'll end up being hurt. With Naruto's Kage Bunshin, I can 'kill,'" she quoted with her fingers, "them without worrying about hurting the real person."
Lee sighed in understanding, while Neji and Gai nodded to the sound reasoning.
Kakashi however was mentally frowning. "Does this mean Naruto doesn't know about the side effects of the Kage Bunshin?" He mentally sighed upon answering his own question. "Knowing him, I'll not be surprised tomorrow if he doesn't know."
Yet Copy Cat Kakashi nodded to the brunette female ninja as she focused back on him. "That's not a bad idea. Matter of fact, what I'm going to teach Naruto will benefit you as well, Tenten." He turned his head to eye his own kunoichi student. "You too, Sakura. You both can join Naruto tomorrow as I begin his training." The pinkette simply nodded in acknowledgment.
"Wow," Ino said as her eyes locked on those of her best friend's. "Maybe you can allow me to join?"
Asuma chuckled while shaking his head. "Guessing what Kakashi have in mind, I don't think you should join them, Ino. You're busy as it is with the training your father is giving you in learning your clan's techniques." He placed down the basket of apples on the night table besides the bed. "You'll have your chance to learn after you finish your clan training."
"Chouji and I are the same," Shikamaru spoke up. "We have no time to join any cross training with other teams." The big Akimichi nodded in affirmative without stopping his snacking.
Neji was the one who talked next. "I too am learning much from my clan. I do not require any cross training." Tenten frowned a bit on this, but quickly brushed it aside. It was not like she needed him to be there for her anyway.
Lee however was crying. "Oh, if only I have more chakra to use! I too wish to join in this training!"
Placing a hand on his favorite student's shoulder, Gai gave his best 'youthful' grin. "Do not be concerned, Lee! You've proven yourself time and time again that you are a great shinobi like me! You'll become a taijutsu master and show the world the power of your youth!"
Perking up from his slump, Lee turned to face his teacher. "You are right, Gai-sensei!" He raised a fist. "I am going to continue training, until I am great as you!"
"That's the spirit, my youthful student!"
"Gai-sensei!" exclaimed Lee as he embraced his teacher, who returned the hug.
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Oh, give me break," murmured Ino, sweat-dropping along with everyone else at the manly-hugging scene.
After the two Green Beasts parted a moment later, much to everyone's relief, Kakashi eye-smiled at Sai. "You're welcome to join us, Sai."
Sai simply grinned. "Thank you, but no, Kakashi-san. I feel sufficient in my skills to not require any training for the time being."
Kakashi shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said prior to casting a glance at Sakura, Naruto, and Tenten. "Well, it'll be just you three." The two Chuunin kunoichi and one Genin shinobi nodded in understanding.
Clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention, Asuma smiled at the younger generation of Konoha guardians. "Well, now that's settled, I need to speak to Kakashi and Gai alone for a few moments now. How about you all head over to the barbeque place? I'll be coming by later, for I'll be treating."
"All right!" shouted Chouji excitedly. After all, where it came to his most favorite restaurant, he just couldn't get enough of it, especially when someone else was paying the bill for dinner.
As Ino approved of the dinner notion while dreamily gazing at Sai, much to Sakura's disapproval that her blonde friend had not heed her warning, Neji shook his head. "I must decline. I have some clan business to attend, not to mention needing to rest after a long mission."
Tenten grinned apologetically at Naruto and the others. "I too want to get home and rest, thus I'll pass." As brown eyes returned to gaze into the blue ones of the whiskered boy besides her, she saw he was somewhat disappointed but his grin and nod told her he understood. She was glad, given as much as she wanted to socialize with her friends, the brunette so much desired to get home and relax in that bathtub waiting for her.
Lee however was quite energetic. "Yosh! I will be happy to attend dinner with my friends! I'll even pay for Sakura-san's share!"
Feeling embarrassed, Sakura softly laughed as she waved away the taijutsu specialist's kind offer. "You don't have to pay for my share, Lee. Asuma-sensei said he will pay, so don't be concern about it."
"I do not mind, Sakura-san," Lee said. "After all, it will be not youthful of me if I didn't." With that, he gave a thumbs-up with a smile that produced a 'ping' as his teeth gleamed for a moment.
Sakura sighed with closed eyes. Her ears picked up her best female friend's snickering; knowing the Yamanka found it was quite amusing that after nearly three years, Lee still was adamant in his pursuit of winning her affections.
After shaking his head at Lee's 'offer' despite Sakura giving a 'hint' that she was not interested, Shikamaru headed toward the exit. "I too will decline. My dad wants me to be home to help him collect deer antlers to make medicine. It's a troublesome process, but it needs to be done." With that said, he slid open the door and stepped out of the room.
As the others followed him, Tenten thought of something. "Speaking of dinner parties, I'm surprise we have not given Naruto a 'Welcome Home' party."
"That's right," Ino turned to face the brunette, her voice sounding she liked the idea. "We should have one for you, Naruto," she grinned. "You can tell us stories of your adventures, and we can tell you what had happened in Konoha while you were away."
"Yeah!" agreed Chouji. "We will plenty of food and drinks for everyone!" His mouth drooled on the prospect of a huge buffet.
Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto chuckled. "You guys do not have to do that for me. Being home and seeing you all again are enough of a warm welcome for me."
The platinum-haired kunoichi of Team 10 waved away the notion. "Nonsense. It'll just be a nice small party where we can exchange stories and everyone gets to know everything all at once. This way you do not have to repeatedly tell your stories over and over again."
"That's not a bad idea," Sakura nodded in agreement prior to Chouji and Ino leaving the room with Sai following.
Tenten softly chuckled. "Do you know, Sakura, that Naruto had visited Spring Country during his trip?"
As Neji and Lee crossed the exit's threshold, Tsunade's youngest apprentice raised her eyebrows at the brown-haired kunoichi before eying her blond teammate. "I certainly didn't know. How is Koyuki, Naruto?"
After Sakura, Tenten, and Naruto exited the room, the blond answered the question with a warm grin. "She's doing fine, Sakura-chan. She's very happy and doing a great job as daimyo. It was too bad you were not there, for she wouldn't have minded seeing you too."
Sakura sighed warmly at the memories of the beautiful ruler of Spring Country, and as Naruto began closing the door, the three jounin men in the room heard the pink-haired medic's words before the door was fully shut. "I certainly wouldn't have mind seeing her again. That was one mission I will not ever forget."
Kakashi eye-smiled. "I will not ever forget that mission either. Naruto certainly won the day on that one."
Asuma chuckled, knowing there would always be memorable missions, for he certainly has his share of them. His amused grin flattened upon taking a serious look. "Kakashi, Gai… After the Suna mission, the Fifth has been thinking that we should go on the offensive."
"You mean against the Akatsuki," Gai elaborated, receiving an affirmative nod from the bearded Sarutobi.
Kakashi also nodded but in understanding of the situation. "The Akatsuki's move in acquiring the Ichibi was the opening salvo. It's only a matter of time before they send a two-man team to Konoha to capture Naruto. It will be best if we meet them before they reach the village."
"What are the Godaime's plans, Asuma?" asked Gai.
"She'll be forming the Nijuu Shoutai. Once word is received that the Akatsuki has been spotted within the country's borders, she will send the squads to hunt down the Akatsuki. She would like to capture a member for interrogation, but in case that is not possible, and it is highly unlikely, she said she will accept total elimination of the Akatsuki."
The silver-haired, bed-ridden jounin bobbed his head once. "Twenty four-man squads should be sufficient, but even a single squad might not be a match against the Akatsuki. Hopefully, the squads will not be dispersed widely, so one or two teams can back-up the one whom would make contact." Neither Gai nor Asuma added anything, knowing the plan was the best they could do under the circumstances without leaving the village vulnerable while not neglecting the paid missions.
After a few moments of silence, Asuma frowned as he brought up the next subject he was worry about. "Gai, Kakashi, sooner or later, my father's law regarding Naruto might need to be abolished."
It didn't take long for the other two jounin to determine what the former member of the Twelve Guardians meant. "You're talking about the law that forbids anyone to talk about the Kyuubi," Gai said.
Asuma nodded. "Shikamaru already figured out on his own about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. He'll be in my Nijuu Shoutai squad. Ino and Chouji will be assigned to another squad, but they are not aware of the truth regarding the Kyuubi. With the Akatsuki attacking, it is only a matter of time before everyone in Naruto's generation will know about his secret."
"I agree," Kakashi concurred. "It will be best if everyone does know in order to understand why the Akatsuki is seeking out Naruto." He suddenly eye-smiled, baffling the other two at first. "Luckily, Naruto is already ahead in telling the others. On our way to Suna, he told Sakura and Temari the truth, and both girls took the news well with no hard feelings toward him. I don't think Naruto will have any problems, if the rest of his peers is told about the Kyuubi."
"Of course not," chimed Gai with a grin. "They were all way too young or not yet born to ever experience the Kyuubi as the older generations had when it attacked Konoha 15 years ago." His grin widened with proud confidence. "I know my team will accept Naruto fully. They respect him for being a Genius of Hard Work, much like my Lee."
"My team too will no doubt accept him," Asuma grinned. "Shikamaru already knows and accepted him. Chouji has a too big a heart to hold it against Naruto. Ino might be shock at first, but she'll accept the news too."
Konoha's Copy Nin continued to grin. "Knowing Kurenai's team, I can't see any of them holding against Naruto for being the Kyuubi container. Shino will logically see it makes no sense to hate him. Kiba will be shock, but he'll come around. Hinata will definitely accept Naruto fully."
All three men nodded in contentment. "Well, that settles it," Kakashi said. "We'll tell Tsunade-sama regarding abolishing the law. Naruto definitely is ready for this." With that said, he returned to reading his beloved Icha Icha.
After chuckling at how casual Kakashi went back to reading his book, Asuma turned to walk toward the exit. "I'll tell Kurenai now."
"And I'll tell Tsunade-sama," grinned Gai.
"Good," the Third's youngest son said before he opened to door. "I'll see you later, Kakashi." With that said, he left the room.
Gai turned to his long-time opponent, still maintaining his grin. "You continue to get well, my youthful rival! I know Tenten will learn much under your tutelage tomorrow."
Kakashi momentarily lifted his head out of his book to give a reassuring eye-grin at the Green Beast of Konoha. "No problem, Gai."
After the village's taijutsu master gave a thumbs-up with a shiny tooth 'ping,' he too left the room, closing the door behind him.
Once all alone, the elite jounin smiled even more. "Well now, I can finally eat without anyone seeing my face." He pulled down his mask, grabbed an apple off the basket on the night table, and took a bite out of the tasty fruit. The man commenced with his reading, turning the pages with his right thumb as his left hand held his snack.
"This is where we depart, guys," Tenten mentioned as they approached a street cross. Neji had already left the group upon leaving the hospital, in order to go directly to the Hyuuga Compound. It was the same with Shikamaru. Now it was her turn for her to reach her apartment. "I'll see you tomorrow for our training, Naruto, Sakura!" she grinned. "Bye!"
"Yeah! I'll see you tomorrow, Tenten!" Naruto grinned in return. Everyone else also said his or her good-byes prior to the bun-haired kunoichi venturing away.
As the remaining young shinobi continued on to the restaurant, Ino gave a small smirk, knowing the cost was clear. She grabbed Sakura's arm before speaking to everyone. "Guys?" The boys stopped to focus on her. "Go on ahead. Sakura and I will catch up, we have something to discuss. Okay?" Without even waiting for a response, the bleach blonde pulled her best friend along with her as they speed-walked away. The boys were baffled at first, before they shrugged and commenced their journey, leaving whatever the girls wanted to do on their own.
After turning the corner onto the street where Tenten went, Sakura finally spoke. "Where are we going, Ino? This is the not the direction to your home!"
Ino smirked. "I know, Forehead. We're going to interrogate someone." She let go of Sakrua's arm upon spotting Tenten. "Target is in sight." She sped away from the pinkette, who cried out for her friend to wait.
Thinking of nothing but that wonderful bath waiting for her, Konoha's Weapons Mistress nearly shouted in fright, when Ino suddenly wrapped her right arm around her shoulders without warning. "Hi there, Tenten!" the longhaired blonde chirped in greeting.
As Tenten let go a breath of relief that an unknown enemy did not attack her, Sakura came up to stand on the older girl's left side. "What's the meaning of this, Ino Pig? If you had wanted to speak to Tenten, why didn't you do it before?"
Letting a giggle escaped her, Ino explained. "Simple, Forehead. I'd wanted to speak to her without Naruto being there." Mischief light blue eyes focused on wary browns, while green eyes blinked in confusion on what did this have to do with Naruto..
"What is it you want to talk to me about?" asked Tenten. She has a sense of dread, guessing precisely what topic Ino wanted to talk about based on the type of person Ino was and the hobby the girl loved to participate in.
The sly Yamanaka didn't hesitate. "Rumors are floating around the village that you were spotted with Naruto, hopping on the rooftops toward his apartment. You didn't leave his home, until two mornings later."
"What!" nearly shouted Sakura, eying the weapons-loving girl. "I remember being there when you came down the steps of his apartment complex with him. You stated you were helping Naruto train."
"Which was the truth," admitted Tenten.
Ino smirked at the new information. "If that was the case, why did you spend a day in his apartment without coming out?"
Tenten frowned at the gossip-loving girl. "Ino… You said it yourself. You were hearing rumors. I was helping Naruto train for two days, starting the day after my team and Naruto's team returned from Suna. You really should not believe in everything the village's gossip mill spreads. Remember the rumor that Tsuande-sama was dying, when in truth, she was simply found passed out on her desk from drinking?"
"True," the slim blonde concurred before raising a finger. "Yet all rumors have some grains of truth in them."
Rolling her eyes, Tenten shook her head. "The rumor regarding Tsunada-sama was far from the truth, Ino." She flicked Ino's hand off her shoulder before continuing her journey home, speaking over her shoulder to the two other girls. "Naruto and I trained for two days, nothing more. I'll see you two later."
Yet, as Tenten grew farther in sight, Ino's smirk grew larger. Sakura raised an eyebrow at her leering friend. "What are you thinking, Ino Pig?"
Light blue eyes locked on green ones. "She was lying. Having spoken with many customers to my family's business, I know when someone is telling the truth or lying. You know I can tell."
Sakura nodded. Over the years, Ino always could tell when she was lying. It was a knack that no doubt ran in the family of mind readers, with most of them ended up in the Konoha Interrogation & Torture Department. Knowing her blonde best friend, the pinkette knew Ino could easily follow in her family's footsteps into I&T, enabling to gather and extract information from people.
"If Tenten was lying," Sakura asked herself, "what was she lying about?" She eyed her friend. "Yet how can you be so sure this rumor is reliable, Ino? As Tenten stated, it's just a rumor."
The leer on Ino's face turned into a knowing grin. "I heard it from Mom, who was told by Daddy. Daddy heard it from Anko, who managed to get it off some ANBU. The ANBU were the ones who spotted Naruto and Tenten entering his apartment."
"I'm not so sure," Sakura said, crossing her arms. On the one hand, she could trust Ino's skills to tell Tenten was lying, but rumors were still rumors. Just because ANBU had spotted Tenten entering Naruto's apartment does not mean something was going on between the two.
Turning on her heels, Team 10's kunoichi headed back to where she came from, prompting Team 7's kunoichi to follow. "This is going to be so much fun," Ino chirped in glee. "I bet something is going on between Tenten and Naruto, and I'm going to find out what."
As she followed her best female friend toward the barbeque restaurant, Sakura's mind couldn't stop churning. If Tenten lied, did she lie regarding what she was doing at Naruto's place? It was odd for the older girl to be training with Naruto inside his home, if she had not left the apartment for more than a day. Then there were the faint traces of Naruto's soap and shampoo she had faintly smelled on Tenten. Why would Tenten clean up at Naruto's place when the girl had her own apartment and bathroom to wash up at?
The more she thought about it, the more the pink-haired teenager became confused. What exactly happened with Naruto and Tenten for two whole days between the day they came back from Suna and the morning of Team 7's mission to meet Sasori's spy? One possibility left Sakura feeling a tad sick, not to mention her green eyes becoming greener.
TBC (End of Chapter 2)
A/Ns:
1) First off, I'm already hearing some of you are asking, "Where's the lemon?" Well, I'm not going to be writing a lemon in every chapter. I'm writing up a character development story, not a porn fic. Lemons will just be the icing on the cake. So settle down, you horn dogs! LOL! XD
2) To advance the plot, having Tenten join Naruto's training with Kakashi seems like a good idea. Besides, I have an idea to further advance things between the pair with a trip they will take together. I'm not going to spoil things, but let's just say that after the trip, Tenten will have another reason to help Naruto train. ;)
3) The one thing that really had bugged me regarding Shippuuden canon was how and when did the rest of Naruto's peers learned about him being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. The Rescue Gaara arc showed that Sakura did not know until Naruto told her, but in the manga and anime, the rest of Naruto's friends suddenly knew. To just say "It's not a big deal, thus it was told to them off-camera" is just stupid, knowing how big a deal the secret was.
So, I'd decided to nip this in the bud, and starting in the next chapter, Naruto's peers will learn of his secret. I figured that they all must have been told about the Kyuubi eventually, so why not from Naruto? Makes sense. :)
4) Last, I want to tell everyone that the next chapter for SoL will not be coming out soon. I'm going to focus on a one-shot "Unexpected Love" NaruTen Valentien's Day fic. I want to get it ready to be posted next month. :)
