Chapter 3: Motions (Getting through them)
Pairings: Naru/Sasu
Rating: M - NC17
Disclaimer: 'Naruto', don't own it; not mine; I just borrow Masashi's characters and replace them in naughty positions.
Summary: From Prison Camp to Military Camp; "Let me assure you, your days will be long and your nights will be bitter, you will be fucked with, run ragged, razed and broken; I can also assure you that there are going to be times when you feel like it's too much but trust me, power through it and it will be the most rewarding thing you will ever achieve." That was the greeting Sasuke got. Trying to adjust to new friends and even newer enemies while dealing with Naruto two thousand miles away, the only option is to survive.
A/N: Music muse; Officially "Here Comes Trouble" by a local /international Jamaican singer Chronixx. I know it's not many people's cup of tea but I love reggae and it's kinda my countries theme music so...
For all y'all who want a strong Naruto, I can promise you, you'll be getting it.
I'm working off a military school schedule someone gave me. Be warned the activities, the official ranks and the internal workings off the military are somewhat unknown to me. All the info in here is based on research and a rampart imagination.
… And I'm blatantly stealing KizuKatana's idea of making the women badasses. (See her epic fic 'Deception') TenTen, Sakura and various other females are going to be kick ass AWESOME. And by some weird reason I'm going to have mercy on Ino...shocking right...
Mt. Fuji. Continuing Initiation pt2.
Blue eyes narrowed," Who the hell are you?"
The leader smirked. "Is that really your first concern here? My name doesn't matter, what does is the fact that we are going to be your worst nightmare... We've been told that you all came from a criminal camp. We don't suffer thugs here. "
Out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw Kiba grab and reel back a clearly pissed off, murderous looking TenTen.
"And you think that gives you the right to grub us." Naruto said blankly.
"Right in one convict."
A weird smile crossed the blonde's face. "Do your best... You won't get far though."
A thick brown eyebrow arched, "Really now, consider the fact that we have the upper hand here. We're seniors."
Naruto's expression never shifted, with the same tone he replied, "And consider the fact that I've gone through a lot of military stations all over the world. I know every grubbing tactic in existence. I've been through all of them."
The other teen paused for a second, then sneered, "You're an army brat, so what?"
Naruto leaned in and said flatly, "It means that I give as good as I get."
Hokkaido keys, dorm room, 4:58 am
He was still awake when the clock hit five am.
Sasuke, not for the lack of trying, hadn't slept a minute through the whole night. After lights out which was promptly nine pm, Sasuke had sat up in his bunk, back against the wall, eyes slipping to half-mast and mind slowly but methodically going through the previous day.
Sometime after midnight, realizing that he wasn't going to sleep, he had gotten up and quietly changed into the camo pants, a fitted but comfortable white t-shirt and boots necessary for the early morning calisthenics.
Propped back up against the wall, he slipped into some kind of half daze, body relaxed but mind active.
After dissecting the day down to infinitesimal pieces, analyzing and cataloging everything his agile mind then started to drift, to remember and flit from random experiences at the camp, like unfinished chess games with Gaara, suffering brotherly teasing from Itachi, interaction with the two CIA agents, learning about his mobster granduncle Madara, to dealing with a tempestuous Tsunade, to that fucker Ibiki, to Kakashi and finally to Naruto.
Naruto, the 'radioactive' blonde who had woken something in him up, who made him realize that he was capable of loving another human being to the point of self-sacrifice.
Uzumaki Naruto. The indefinable.
Sasuke shifted. Speaking of indefinable, he still hadn't come to a solid conclusion about the status of the...relationship... with Naruto. What exactly were they? For some reason he didn't want to put a formal term on it but one thing was damn sure he just felt fucking juvenile calling Naruto his boyfriend.
There had to be something else.
When the wakeup call rang through the dorm, Sasuke, snapping out of his daze, couldn't help but smirk at the reaction of his cell mates. Jason completely fell out his bunk and Bryce shot up shouting some esoteric British curse, but strangely Haku was quiet, completely coordinated, getting dressed quickly and methodically.
Five am on the trimmed grass field was completely shrouded in thick mist. Sasuke blinked hard. He was half blind already, with the water particles raging war on his tender irises he could only guess that anything after that was going to be bad.
"Welcome to the official first day of your lives." a lieutenant named Hagane Kotestu said while standing stiffly in front of the lines of cadets.
"Consider boot camp as the extent of your existence. You will eat, breathe, think, move and sweat army. There is no margin for failure here, you will perform to the best of your ability. Solum optima petenda sunt (1) ."..
Sasuke had to seriously refrain from rolling his eyes. Typical cliché introduction. Maybe he was wrong about the 'bad' part. Then another voice stepped in.
"And against my better judgment," Ibiki growled,
Sasuke stood corrected, it had officially gotten worse.
"... I've been...advised...to allow you maggots three days of introduction to the methods we will be applying here. Specifically calisthenics. All of you graduated from some kind of institution that had a fitness program, so I don't expect you to be slacking, but Alpha Omega (2) is offering a temp period to allow you to change your minds." he said, "I don't like it, I don't agree with it, and I sure as hell don't see the point but orders are orders."
Silence. No one moved. Ibiki grinned.
"We'll start with the basic fitness assessment, which consists of one minute of push–ups, one minute of sit–ups, and a timed, one–mile run mile run. This assessment will determine your starting point and appropriate placement in the Pre–BCT Standardized Physical Training Program and determines your readiness for APFT (3)."
"Form your cells. Warm up starts now! "
...
Administration Hokkaido keys
Morning calisthenics had ended. It was about six in the morning, Sasuke reasoned that he had about at least an hour before classes started, plenty of time to set some things in order, so he made his way to the administration office to see if he could contact Itachi.
After explaining the situation, the aid there then placed the call and handed him the phone. Sasuke stood there listening to the phones ringtone, tapping his left foot until it rang out and went to voicemail.
Strange. Itachi was usually fastidious about answering his calls.
He redialed.
"... H...hello? "
Sasuke paused. Itachi sounded winded and based on the time of day there was only one clear reason for smirk was completely demented. "Aniki, for my peace of mind let me imagine that you've just came from a ten mile run."
A significant pause, then, "Okay let's go with that. What do you need, otouto?"
Sasuke snorted, "For some reason I forgot my laptop and cell phone at home. Could you courier them to me?"
"Sure." the older one said, then,"... You are okay otherwise, right? "
A roll of black eyes." Yes Nii-san, I'm fine. Honestly, you worry way too much."
Itachi sighed, "I'm your brother, of course I'm going to worry about you."
Something in Sasuke's chest contracted. A pause, "... Well you really don't need to, you should focus on yourself. I'm in good hands here... speaking of hands, he's there isn't he... could you give the phone to him."
A beat, "May I ask why?"
A roll of eyes. "I haven't had a serious conversation with the man, I just want to start knowing him."
"...You…want...to...know...him... I'm surprised and frankly terrified. "
Sasuke sighed melodramatically "Why, don't you trust me?"
"No, I certainly don't. I'm still suspicious but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. Go easy on him."
A shuffle.
"Uchiha."
"Mizu." Sasuke's intonation slipped to lethal, "Listen to me carefully. If you even think of hurting him there is no place on this earth where you can hide from me."
A beat. "Really now, okay. It's no secret but the only family aside from my brother are my parents who are marinating in a retirement home upstate and an great-uncle who's like older than Moses so no, you don't have to worry about meetings some weird asinine third removed cousins ."
So the man had sense.
"You're clearly more clever than you look, well, considering that you have a doctorate and you're related to a CIA agent, I should have expected that."
"Anything else?"
Sasuke paused again, wracking his brain, "Actually yes. Tell me how exactly did Ryuu get where he is? "
Kisame sighed, "If you really want to know that then you should probably ask him."
Fingertips drummed on the table, "You're correct, but since he's currently unavailable I'll just have to settle for you. I don't need the specifics, just general."
"Okay then... when Ryuu was fourteen he took an online IQ test, why I suspect he was bored to death but anyway, when he didn't receive the results he deemed it as worthless. To our surprise, two days later a man appeared on our doorstep flashing a badge stating he was from the CIA. Apparently they had run a pilot test to filter out prospective young candidates for their organization. He interviewed Ryuu and made some arrangements for him to fly to Washington. At first I was skeptical, but I accompanied him. To our shock they delivered. Ryuu met Nagato that day and they hit it off. They decided that after he graduated high school he would be trained with them in Virginia. He was in the US for three years, just taking short trips home for Christmas and his birthday. Anything else he'd have to tell you. Satisfied? "
"Immensely." He paused, and relented with a sigh, "Kisame, please take care of my brother, growing up he's had way too much to deal with... me included."
"That is absolutely no problem... any other orders?" The man teased.
Sasuke snorted, "Not particularly... and no ditching him for work either."
A snort. "For your information Uchiha-let, I don't work twenty-four seven, I actually have a life and currently it includes your sexy older brother who is currently sitting on my lap."
A squawk." Kisame!"
Sasuke grinned, "Way too much information Mizu and by the way, when he gets irritated just massage his scalp."
"Are you offering me an Uchiha cheat sheet?"
Eyes rolled, "I'm offering you an Itachi one. Just make sure he's happy and we'll have no problems. Okay."
"Agreed."
"Goodbye Kisame."
"See you on the flip side."
Sasuke snorted and hung up. Checking the clock on the wall he realized that there was still time to do set other thing in order. He needed to check the medical bay.
... Medical Bay Hokkaido keys
The minute he stepped into the freezing medical building a passing nurse eyed him and rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me, you have a "strained" muscle."
Sasuke snorted, "No. I'm actually here to see the dietician."
Her malignant look eased a smidgen. "Why?"
"I'm a vegetarian and I was wondering if there was a standardized plan for vegans."
"Oh," She said in a 'that explains everything' voice." Name? "
"Uchiha Sasuke." he replied.
Squinting she popped open a filing cabinet and quickly ran through the files before plucking one out. With the manila folder in front of her she quickly scanned the details.
Sasuke waited for the reaction he knew was coming. Five... Four... Three... Two...
Her eyebrows shot up, but the words he was expecting to hear didn't come, instead it was "Please, follow me."
Following her down the corridor he mentally mapped the building, noting and cementing the divisions into his memory, hematology, physiotherapy, rheumatology, until they reached the dietician sector.
"Wait here, " She said while knocking on the closed door." I'll see if Dr. Hirotoko is available."
A minute later "It's clear, you can go."
Sasuke entered the sterile space and saw a man, white cloak clad, and his back to the Uchiha while rummaging through some files.
"Please, sit." he was ordered.
"Thank you but I'd prefer to stand." he said.
The man turned around, he looked like he was in his early forties but he had strands of grey hair at his temples. "So, you're a vegan huh. I should tell you we don't get much vegetarians here. The majority stick to the myth that food from animals are the optimal protein source."
"Really," he murmured, "never expected that. Surely they are some right? I mean I don't think it's feasible for the cooks to cater to me specifically."
The doctor snorted, "I said that we don't get much vegans, but there are some here."
The man rummaged in a drawer and produced a sheet, "There is the basic menu for vegans, and of course you have the option of supplementing your diet on your own. For the type of activities that you will be doing, I'd recommend at least three to five servings a day, especially deep green, red, yellow type vegetables varieties. On fruit, mix it up, at least two a day. Just make sure that your vitamin C intake is high. You could try to have a citrus fruit or juice cocktail, including a blue, red, purple, or orange mix, like a soy and blueberry, strawberry or peach shake every day with a suitable carbohydrate addition like flax seeds or oats."
For protein, I'm guessing that you stick to legumes mostly, beans, peas, hummus and such right? "
Sasuke nodded." Okay, and you don't seem the type to favor dairy or I'd recommend the vegan pizza they serve here. My daughter comes here just for that. But for the bold there is a chili dish that is prepared for at least three hours before serving and let me tell you, it's lethal."
Sasuke snorted incredulously. "Really now?"
The doctor moved around his desk, flicking the pages of Sasuke's file, "Yes. It states here that you have had hypo-proteinemia from a phytotoxic poisoning. I'm going to tell you how to keep you protein levels up... First you start with..."
It was a stroke of luck why he was one of the last persons in the communal shower. Sasuke took some time to enjoy the soothing spray of water on his body. But he knew that time was slipping by so as soon as he deemed himself clean he wrapped a towel around his waist and exited the showers.
The dorm was practically empty except for a couple guys at the far end speaking...what…arabic... and Haku. The Momochi was sitting at the end of his bed staring into space.
"Haku?" Sasuke asked lowly.
The older teen snapped out of it and marshaled a small smile, "Oh Sasuke, sorry didn't realize that you were here."
"Clearly." Sasuke retorted getting dressed quickly into a fresh pair of jeans and a black Polo shirt.
The orphan seemed to be lost in thought but Sasuke was smart enough to not ask. He didn't know the teen much and he wasn't keen on making enemies so early.
"Breakfast?" he proposed.
Haku smiled, getting up from the perfectly made bed and slipping his shoes on. "Sure."
They walked to the mess hall in comfortable silence. Entering the room he immediately spotted Shikamaru face down on a table, his plate of fruit abandoned beside him.
Sadistically Sasuke slammed his palms down on the steel table and smirked when the Nara jumped.
"Sasuke you asshole." he cursed rubbing his eyes. "I was -"
"Dreaming about Gaara's sister, right?" He filled in for the hacker. "Tell me, what was she wearing?"
"Be extremely careful of your next words." came the quiet but deadly voice of a clearly temperamental Sabaku.
Shika snorted, "Gaara please don't get an aneurysm; I have and will never have any aspirations for your darling sister."
Sasuke while keeping them in earshot, walked away towards the serving section and grabbed a fruit bowl and a bottle of mineral water and return to the table only to hear this:
Gaara had pinned the genius with his unnerving gaze. "I don't believe you but know this Nara, I. Will. Kill. For. My. Sister."
Shikamaru's head slipped back into the cradle of his arms. "Even if she has obsessive stalker tendencies?"
Setting down the tray he bit into a slice of apple and just settled himself to watch.
"Who's stalking who?"
Sasuke looked up to see Jason flopping down on the seat next to Shikamaru's with a tray of eggs and a stack of bacon. "Hi, I'm Jason."
"Shikamaru Nara." The hacker replied solidly, fingertips massaging his forehead. "Gaara I would literally pay you my entire five million to have your sister leave me alone."
The Sabaku tutted. "And what, have her pester me? No dice lover boy. You got yourself in this mess. I'm sure you're smart enough to get yourself out."
"Umm what?" The American asked, completely confused.
"Long story." Sasuke dismissed.
Classes 8:00am.
"Where's Neji?" Sasuke asked searching for the elusive Hyuuga while choosing a seat, flush against the wall and high window.
Gaara snorted on recognition of Sasuke's paranoia." No idea."
Sasuke glanced over to Haku. There was something, an unclear urge, which pressed him to get to know the orphan. He hadn't forgotten the sigh of relief from the Momochi yesterday after the comments were made about the discrimination. Could it be ...
He shook himself; that would be a very long stretch.
The teacher arrived. He was clearly of mixed heritage, Asian in body but European in appearance, someone named Takahiro Allen, and gave the order for them to sit down.
Walking the front line of desks he deposited stacks of paper on each one with the order to distribute them. Then perching on the edge of his desk the man gave them the order to skim over the paper.
Printed on the top in bold capital letters was "ARMY SEVEN CORE VALUES."
"I'm sure you have all heard of commandments. Well these are ours. They should be cemented in the deepest level of your psyche. There is no aberration, no absolution, and no abdication from these rules. They are your life. "
Sasuke rolled his shoulders to relieve a crick in it. More rules huh, he'd have to master them first before breaking them.
Just like before.
Perfect.
"Many people know the words loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service and honor, integrity and personal courage mean. But how often do you see someone actually live up to them? The aim is not to just employ these statues the aim is to embody them in every action we do.
It doesn't matter which section of the forces you are in, the overall purpose is to exemplify the attitudes and values of the army. Fulfilling your obligation means doing more than carrying out your assigned tasks. Duty means being able to accomplish above and beyond the boundaries set before you..."
Sasuke settled down to listen.
….
12:30 Break time.
Break time was spent in the upper quad, just munching on an apple when he sensed a presence behind him.
"You're slipping, Hyuuga." He casually remarked while taking another bite. The prodigy came to a stop beside him, hands shoved into his pockets and facing out on the landscape. Sasuke peered at him from under his bangs. Something was niggling in his gut.
"Neji?" he asked, "What's wrong?"
Pale eyes shifted a millimeter, "Nothing… it's just…I wasn't prepared for-"
A horn sounded indicating time to get back to class. Neji shot him a look and turned away. Sasuke's eyes narrowed while throwing the apple core away. This wasn't over. What on earth was Neji not prepared for?
1:00 p.m
Meeting Room Six, the place deemed for the Tactics class, was set up like a modern military operation base. A continuous semicircle desk stacked with cutting edge plasma screens consoles lined the back of the room. In front of it were galvanized plastic chairs.
The instructor was a short guy, stocky with a crew cut and sharp rimless glasses. He looked like a cross between Iron Man and Clark Kent. The name on his flak jacket
"Good afternoon. I'm Ensign Takihiro Mason. Operational tactics is the lifeblood of every action in the armed forces. It doesn't matter if it's in the water, the field, the air or on the computer. A strategic approach is essential to produce productive results. A cohesive plan saves time, it save money, it saves costly do-overs and more importantly it achieves its goals.
The concepts of tactical maneuvering are simple but the execution is not. Plans look good on paper but putting them into action is a whole other story, considering the human factor, the specific skill set needed, the amount of available resources and the quality of the information given. This is why this class was invented." He paused.
"I'm going to be honest with you, this is one of the operations that gets unnoticed. Everyone lauds a successful mission but they don't really consider how it came to be or the people behind it." He paused again, eyes lightly skimming over the gathering. "This is the invisible but imperative man in the middle."
The room was quiet, "So that the basic ideology of the course…can anyone tell me the first basic actions of forming a tactical plan?"
The silence was uncomfortable stretching into embarrassing. Sasuke glanced over to Shikamaru, who as usual had his head buried in his arms, then to Neji who, aside from looking intuitive was silent. It was getting worse until Gaara, eyes closed and arms crossed across his chest spoke up in his steady but half-strangled voice of his.
"The first step into forming a plan is to assess the situation, not only the current state but the contributing factors that led to it. You have to know the devil you're dealing with inside and out. A messy situation doesn't develop overnight, it takes year, even decades. The background id essential; it makes you understand the state of the current problem and it reveals the underlying and mostly unseen factors."
The instructor looked inordinately pleased. "Sabaku Gaara, correct?"
The redhead nodded.
"That was a perfect answer." He praised, "May I ask, how did you come to this level of knowledge?"
"My father." Gaara answered, "He has a collection of old war manuals ranging from Chiang Kai-shek to Attila the Hun. When I was young I read all of them and it somehow stuck." He shrugged, "I guess that it didn't help either that when he had a bunch of old advisors coaching him on military tactics to apply to domestic situations I was hiding under his desk and listening."
Sasuke had to school his face to not show the ear splitting grin that was trying to break out. Didn't Gaara realize that by that statement alone he had pushed himself in the spotlight?
"Astounding." The man said while turning to the white board behind him and uncapping a marker. "I'm going to give you all a scenario and I want you to analyze it. Two years ago in Adelaide, Australia…
….
3:00 p.m. After evening athletics.
It happened again. Sasuke was seriously getting tired of the piercing annoying stares sweeping over his person.
"What the fuck is going on? Who the hell are these people?" he snarled, eyes narrowed into a lethal glare.
A tow headed boy glanced at him and snorted, "Who they, oh we call them the 'Inzei'."
Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, "Royalty, why? "
"Because they're all from the upper class, they're sons of politicians who want to garner approval from the public by 'showcasing' that they're committed to public service." He scoffed, "Don't get it wrong, they're here just for a publicity stunt, conning the public into believing that they are servants of the state. The majority of them, after this, will just end up behind some cushy senator's desk. The only upside is that in exchange from the leeway they're given the academy gets insane monetary grants from their rich parents."
Sasuke snorted, "Political autocracy at its best."
"Yup."
The Uchiha turned and immediately his eyes met the orbs of the blue haired guy he had seen on the quad. He stopped dead. Cold washed over him.
Those eyes were blue.
A shade of blue he could know anywhere.
Those were Naruto's eyes.
What the hell was going on?
...
He had bumped into him while going to the library.
If the axiom "gentle giant" meant something Sasuke was sure he'd just found it. The teen he'd bumped into had a body like a juggernaut but his face, especially his light brown eyes were soft.
Sasuke absently wondered what on earth this guy was doing here. "I'm so-"
He stopped when the look he was receiving made him a little uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, eyebrow arched.
"You're Uchiha Sasuke…" The teen said, voice taking on a hallowed tone.
Sasuke shifted eyes narrowed," What do you know of me?
The teen gave a wry smile, "My name is Han... When I was five years old your mother saved my life."
Notes /vocab
'Solum optima petenda sunt' (1) . Only the best matters.
'Alpha Omega' (2) the powers that be…well according to my imagination. Shrug.
'Pre–BCT – Basic Combat Training. & 'APFT (3)." Army Physical Fitness Test
AND AS USUAL REVIEW DAMMIT!