Me: Eh-heh *sweat-drop* Now I know it's been a while, but I've been busy. I had to set up my deviantART account, school, and wait for my computer charger since my other one melted. You can understand. Right? *sees angry readers with pitchforks and torches* 0.0" Right. Run away! *sprints away*
Sasuke: And that my friend… Is sweet revenge.
Naruto: Yeah, yeah hush. She really does feel bad though, but her sleeping and eating schedules have been messed up for a while. She hasn't had a decent night's sleep in well over two weeks.
Sasuke: It's her own damn fault! She knows her body shuts down necessary body functions when she reads. All authors have that problem.
Naruto Didn't I tell you to hush! *sigh* Kimpsee doesn't own Naruto or its characters, that belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Sasuke: You know the drill, otherwise you wouldn't be on chapter 4. This one is a hot springs chapter though.
*hears screams of 'Back away foul demons!' and of terror*
Naruto: Looks like they found her. Please enjoy. *turns to assaulters* You can't kill her! Or she won't finish the story!
Sasuke: But you can torture her! Mwahahahahahahaha!
Me: I'm SOOOOO gonna get you for this!
Several days since Sasuke received his punishment, Team Seven was allowed to go on missions again. The reason it took so long was that Naruto and Sasuke weren't too keen on their new closeness. There were many fights, so it took many days for them to tolerate each other once more.
When they finally got to go on a mission, it was for a debt collector of Tsunade's. She figured it would be good to give them something long and easy to calm them down. It was a good idea, and that way the ANBU wouldn't have to follow (they only had to follow in the village) and Kakashi could have his team back together.
They had to travel to Kusagakure*, which was located in the northern part of the Country of Earth. One of Tsunade's debt collectors was beginning to make a big fuss, so she sent Kakashi and his team to the collector's home country to make him stop. Of course she didn't plan to pay him; she never did with any of the collectors. It was very long and tedious, but at least the team got to do something.
Currently they were walking towards the gates of Kusagakure. They all had their headbands on, so they passed through without any trouble. Sasuke's headband had to be replaced, but he kept the original as a reminder of why he was still at the village.
Since they were expected, Team Seven was escorted to where they could meet the debt collector. What they saw was a well-kept feudal style house. The main color was a cherry red, too bright for the style of house, and black accents in strange designs. Pillars held up the entrance roof as it was more of a patio then sliding doors.
They were greeted by a portly man with a green yukata and round glasses on the bridge of his nose. His cheeks were plump and rosy, as well was his inflated nose. He was a short man-shorter than Naruto-with his hands crossed over his chest. He looked pleasant enough, but he's an acquaintance of Tsunade, so the team was still on guard.
"Welcome, welcome!" The short man said brightly, as he waved his hands. "I take it you're the Leaf shinobi by your headbands. Come in, come in!" He motioned for them to enter.
"Indeed we are, sir. We've come on behalf of Tsunade-sama." Kakashi politely informed as he followed the man's instructions.
"Wonderful! Tsunade was always a hoot." For a man who's owed money, he surely was an exuberant person. "If you would please follow me, I would like to discuss the negotiations."
Kakashi bowed slightly. "Of course, sir. That is what we are here for after all." And they followed the portly man to an empty room with a single chair. They sat on the tatami mat, across from where the collector was sitting in the chair.
"It seems I've forgotten to introduce myself." The short man smiled. "My name is Takahashi Hideaki."
"I'm Hatake Kakashi. This is Haruno Sakura," she waved and smiled a small smile. "Uzumaki Naruto," he smiled brightly and saluted. "And Uchiha Sasuke," who just 'Hn'ed.
"Lovely to meet you. Now about those negotiations…" And the conversation went on for several hours after that. In the end, Tsunade evaded another debt, the collector was pissed as all hell, and the shinobi we exhausted.
They quickly left, and headed for the road home. Not only were they exhausted after dealing with a man that had a demon hidden underneath, they were hungry and annoyed. Naruto wasn't helping this one bit either.
"He was so fat too! Did you see how it jiggled when he moved? Eeeeww! How could he let himself get that big? Did he have to eat a lot of ramen? Nah, ramen doesn't make you fat; it's a proven fact.1 Maybe it was because-"
"NARUTO! If another word leaves your mouth, you'll be sorry." Sakura lifted her fist, showing she was dead serious. That idiot! Can't he see we're all tired, and he can't shut up for two seconds! Inner Sakura was boiling, and ranting inside her head.
"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, "why do I-" THWACK! "Ow! Ow, ow. Why's it always me?" He muttered under his breath lest he get another goose egg.2 Sasuke smirked at the dobe's dismay.
"Why don't we all calm down, ne? If I remember correctly, there's a hot springs somewhere around here." The jounin was reading that familiar orange book, but wasn't distracted to where he was going in the least. "Maybe if you behave, we'll go."
"Really Kakashi-sensei?" The pinkette asked hopefully, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
"Really Sakura, but you can't beat up Naruto anymore. Naruto you're not allowed to talk. And Sasuke… Eh, you're good."
"No fair! Why doesn't Sasuke-teme have to do anything?" Naruto complained.
"Because he doesn't do anything annoying." The blonde pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, grumbling. Sasuke looked smug, feeling superior that he doesn't have a ridiculous requirement to fulfill.
Soon enough they made it to the hot springs, and checked out keys to two rooms, both adjoined to each other. One for Sakura, and one for the boys, seeing as how Naruto couldn't leave Sasuke's side, Kakashi was a pervert, and Sakura might try something on Sasuke, which could result in him 'accidentally' killing her.
After the team settled in their rooms, they went to the springs, each going in a different direction. The only two who didn't split up were the rivals. After a quick warning from their sensei, they agreed that they could tolerate each other for at least twenty minutes.
After a few minutes of searching they found an unoccupied one, and entered the changing room. Turning away from the blonde, Sasuke removed his armbands first and then his shirt. He scowled as he felt his shirt unglue itself from his skin, and threw it into the basket provided to hold his clothes. Next were his shorts and boxers, which he quickly removed and put a towel around his waist just as fast.
"I'm going in first," he stated and without waiting for a response, seated himself in the relaxing waters.
Unaware to him, Naruto watched him strip and was blushing like a school girl. What's wrong with me? It's not the first time we've been to a hot spring, or even bathed together. The blonde shook his head and undressed himself, haphazardly throwing his clothes wherever.
Not bothering with a towel, he settled in the hot spring. A sigh of contentment left his lips as the water relaxed his aching muscles. It wasn't just this mission, but months of built-up stress left his body. It felt so good.
The raven had his eyes closed, but opened them when Naruto entered the spring. He felt his face heat up once he got a look at the blonde wet and satisfied. Dirty thoughts filled his mind, but he blocked them out. Figuring it was just hormones, he closed his eyes and relaxed once more.
The blonde couldn't take much more of the silence and began to move around in the water. It splashed around, making the ground and the rest of his body become covered in water. He was having fun and starting laughing out loud, until he looked at his teammate. A blush rose up his neck, onto his ears and he swallowed. He looked at the raven's chest, watching the water droplets fall down and blend with the water.
AAAHHH! What the hell am I doing?! I'm not gay! The blonde shook his head harshly and started splashing again, distracting himself. He blamed his perverted thoughts on Kakashi and Jiraiya, considering what they did. He blamed it on Sasuke too, seeing as how it was his body Naruto was looking at.
This thought angered him and he splashed Sasuke right in the face. The Uchiha started and roughly coughed since he inhaled some water. He glared at the dobe, who was looking so innocent, and splashed him back with even more water. Naruto sputtered and glared right back, returning the favor. This started an argument, and both boys began a war, splashing each other with water. They choked and spluttered, but continued until Sasuke got tired of the childishness.
This is stupid. An Uchiha doesn't act like this. "That's enough dobe. I'm not going to splash around in a pool and act like a child." And with that, he proceeded to exit the spring and walk back. He almost made it too if it wasn't for a body tackling him to the ground.
"No way teme!" Naruto held him down by sitting on his waist. "You always think you're better than everyone, but I'm gonna be Hokage!"
"Get off! I don't want your stupidity rubbing off on me!" Sasuke started struggling but with Naruto's fat ass holding him down, he couldn't escape. Naruto grabbed his wrists and held them above the raven's head, further restricting him.
"Stop struggling teme! You're not going to get away!" Challenging that statement, Sasuke bucked his hips to try and throw the blonde off, but it was futile. Naruto was right, he couldn't escape. After a few more attempts, he gave up deciding not to exhaust himself even more than he already was.
"That's more like it," Naruto said smugly. "See? Even Uchiha Sasuke can be tied down!"
Now that the raven was calmer, he finally noticed their position. Naruto's hot, wet body straddling and pinning Sasuke's panting and sweating body to the ground. The latter's eyes widened as he flushed, blaming his burning face on the blonde.
"Dobe," Sasuke started in a deathly calm, "get the hell off right now."
"Sorry what did you say teme?" He leant down closer so his ear was right above Sasuke's mouth.
"I said, get the hell off. NOW!" And get off he did, holding his ear as he waited for his hearing to return.
"Ow! What the fuck teme?! That hurt you bastard!" But the bastard was already gone, clothes and all. "Shit. You can't leave without me remember, or Kakashi's gonna eat us alive!" Naruto yelled as he put on his yukata as fast as lightening and sprinted after the raven, his clothes in his arms.
He caught up and they both headed to their room, never making eye contact. Kakashi was already in the room, on his futon and reading Icha Icha Violence. He glanced at the two rivals, and saw their awkwardness. He snickered to himself and went back to reading. The boys got their futons set and fell asleep almost immediately as their heads hit the pillows.
Not far from the hot springs was a cave with a single occupant, shrouded in a black cloak with red clouds covering him. He closed his eyes and made a hand sign. Now he was in one of the Akastuki's secret hideouts, where his colleagues were waiting patiently for his return.
"Any news on the jinchuuriki?" One, the female, asked.
"He's constantly around one of his teammates, but it's the same teammate." The white side answered calmly.
"It's quite annoying but he doesn't seem strong so he'll be easy to kill." The black side added.
Across the way, red eyes looked at Zetsu and asked, "Which teammate was it? The boy, girl, or the sensei?"
"Are you that concerned about your little brother Itachi?" Blue and huge, his partner mockingly asked.
"Nonsense. If Kakashi was constantly around the jinchuuriki then it could become a problem," Itachi said, always thinking efficiently to work towards their goal.
"It was the boy, Uchiha Sasuke. Apparently, that's part of his punishment for trying to run to Orochimaru."
"That would suck. To be followed around by that annoying blonde all the time."
"But he looks like he would know what true art is, un." A blonde with half of his hair in a ponytail nodded.
"You wouldn't know true art if it hit you in the face. It's eternal beauty, not those ugly creations of yours," the blonde's partner deadpanned, disinterested. Deidara grumbled, trying not to get into an argument in front of their leader.
"This makes things easier then. We can capture Uzumaki Naruto without having to spend our time and, more importantly, money on the Uchiha." The owner of red eyes and green irises stated.
"Fuck you and your money Kakuzu. It's about the fucking money, it's about the sacrifice to Jashin-sama. Why don't we just go and kill the son of a bitch now? It'd be a helluva lot easier and I can get my ritual done for today."
"No," the leader spoke for the first time. "No one is allowed to interfere with the jinchuuriki except for Kisame and Itachi. But I do want you to wait for a bit, until we get the other jinchuuriki. It has to go in order, otherwise it won't work and all our time and energy would be all for nothing."
"Very well. We'll wait for your order."
The meeting was over and each team went after their own jinchuuriki. Itachi and Kisame returned to their bodies and continued to walk to their destination. Their orders were to wait, but at least this way they could keep an eye on Uzumaki Naruto. Their first meeting was a bit hurried and a waste of time, but this time, it was planned and they would wait for the perfect time to strike, as soon as the order was given.
*The village of grass. If that's not right, blame google.
1Only in your mind Naruto.
2That's what I call big bumps on your head since I was an itty bitty girl.
Me: And done!
Naruto: O\\\O We were naked… And I was on top of him…
Me: Yup! It's not the first and won't be the last.
Sasuke: I hate fan girls. They make things so annoying.
Me: Oh? So you don't want Naruto hot, sweaty, and naked on top of you when you go the bath. Fine, I just won't write it anymore.
Sasuke:… Now hold on a second, I didn't say that.
Naruto: Sasuke, your nose is bleeding.
Sasuke: Damn it! *rushes to the bathroom*
Me: And there you go! Hope you enjoyed, and liked the hot springs scene. I'm not good at writing scenes like that but I hope it was good. I hope this makes up for me being late. Next chapter is gonna be Shippuden time btw!
Until next time!~