Sorry this took SO long… The reasons… Let's see…
-Writer's Block
-Being Busy
-Laziness
-Being Very Busy
-More Writer's Block
Yup! There's we go: Your absolutely valid reasons for this chapter being late. Now that's cleared up and out of the way…
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. Note that 'I' doesn't refer to a name but to me, StarDragon X, and that 'Naruto' doesn't refer to Uzamaki Naruto but the anime and that this whole sentence is absolutely pointless. Yup Yup!
Anyway, read on, enjoy, and REVIEW!
Shipwreck Chapter 4:
Organization
Hyuuga Hinata sighed upon from she sat on a tree branch. In the far edge of the small clearing, Temari looked fit to kill as she glared at Kiba-kun. Kiba himself seemed terrified out of his wits- Hinata had no idea why… Oh wait- the raven haired teenager sighed again upon remembering why Kiba-kun was in his current state of temperament.
Before the shipwreck yesterday, she had recalled Kiba laughing with Akamaru when he passed her down the hallway. Upon further remembrance, the heir also recalled that he had been twirling a key around his finger- Temari's room key…. She also remembered him saying sometime about throwing it overboard… Hinata sighed for the third time. Kiba could be such an idiot sometimes… The shinobi was jumping from tree too tree, weaving through the other ninja in the clearing as he tried to desperately escape the Kazekage's sister. No one lifted a finger to help the shinobi and the sound of a heavy thud followed by a wild yell was easily ignored.
Hinata shook her head. Kiba, Kiba, Kiba… When would he ever learn…? The teen glanced around the clearing where the other ninja on the mission were sitting, standing- or at least in some relaxed stance. Neji in the middle saying something… Hinata's head jerked up, and she quickly tuned her ears in to what was being said.
"We need to scour the island for food, water-"
"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Naruto jumped up next to Neji, a grin on his face.
Hinata swallowed and began to back off instinctively. Naruto-kun was a very special person... But he did have a tendency to be rash… Hinata only hoped that Neji wouldn't resolve this in the same way he had done the last time…. Most of the more unfortunate ones were sporting minor injuries and were none to amiable to Neji at the moment- she herself fortunately had no injuries. Immediately recognizing the hand seals that were being formed, Hinata had fled for safety quite long before Neji began to 'regain his reputation'. But back to Hinata's immediate fears for what Naruto-kun was just about to say…
"You," Naruto pointed a finger at Neji, "Aren't the one in charge! You're not the one highest in authority here! Guess who is?"
With that little statement, the container of the Kyuubi scampered back to a shady spot near a tree trunk, ready to flee if need be. Fortunately Neji only narrowed his eyes and walked through the group to stand beside Tenten. Hinata half smiled, wondering if there was something going on between the two- well, maybe, maybe not. Red momentarily blocked Hinata's vision for a few seconds before the kunoichi realized that from the low branch at which she sat that it was… Gaara's hair. Gaara had just walked past her, sand particles drifting through the air, following their master.
Of course. Being the Kazekage, it would be only natural for him to take charge. Silence seeped into the atmosphere as the teen walked into the middle. Gaara stood there for a few seconds, or rather to be much more exact, a few minutes, probably in thought before he spoke. Gaara finally lifted his head and opened his mouth. Every ear and eye was on him now.
"We need to divide up into four teams. Three teams of three and one team of six."
"What! He took that long to figure out just that!" half screamed the voice of Uzamaki Naruto.
"Idiot." came the general reply from most people, with Sakura-san's hand coming down heavily in the form of a punch on Naruto's head.
Hinata blushed, embarrassed for him. Even she sometimes wondered how much he had matured after his two and a half years leave for training…
"Are we going to be mainly divided up into our genin teams?" Nara Shikamaru asked, "Or something else…?"
"They will not be your genin teams." Answered Gaara smoothly.
"Why not in our Genin teams? After all each team has already been steadily balanced out," heads turned as Tenten entered the conversation.
Hinata nearly did a double take as she saw the kunai that was being deftly twirled around Tenten's forefinger. Most weapons owned by any shinobi in the group were currently and most probably… having a long nap at the bottom of the sea. But, then again, Tenten was, after all a weapon specialist, and it would only be natural for her to always be armed with something… Sadly everyone else, including her was not armed with something, thus the reason that so many people seemed to be staring at Tenten, or rather her weapon scrolls and her kunai.
"Why not in our Genin Teams?" Tenten repeated the question, mildly irritated by the stares.
"Because… Being stuck on this island, we are obviously going have to work with each other in a civilized manner," the red-haired shinobi gestured at Temari who was still glaring at Kiba, "I have put you into teams so that you will learn how to better cooperate with other people. And also because some people are better suited for some tasks then others and so on."
"The teams? Or the groups, or whatever you called them… What are they?" the words came from Sasuke, his slim figure sitting on a tree branch.
"For Food: Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, Tenten. For Water: Hyuuga Hinata," Hinata perked up upon hearing her name, "Nara Shikamaru, Uzamaki Naruto."
If Hinata had an Inner-Self like Sakura-san did, Hinata's Inner-Self would've done a victory dance in joy for being with Naruto-kun. But sadly Hinata did not have an Inner-Self so she did not do a victory dance in joy. Instead, the white-eyed teen let a hue of red creep up her cheeks.
"Hey! Why am I on water retrieval? That's the dumbest job ever! We'll be done in an hour! Let me go on scouting! My talents are wasted here!" Naruto's voice was heard very clearly throughout the small clearing.
A vein pulsed on Gaara's forehead. Naruto thought better of it. He then decided that he wanted to go on water. Naruto smiled at the Kazekage. On an extra note, Naruto didn't make any input for the rest of the conversations in that particular hour.
Getting water… Even the name sounded quite… unimportant and trivial. But Hinata pondered it a little more. Water retrieval meant getting enough water for fifteen people… Not the salt water from the sea either… So it was probably quite a big job…
"Scouting the Island: Uchiha Sasuke, Rock Lee, Temari."
Temari and Sasuke glanced at each other, giving a small sound of understanding. Lee-san decided to add in his good guy pose, an exuberant shout, and a rant on the flames of youth which everyone ignored.
"The rest of us are on shelter."
A few seconds past as the 'rest of us' figured out who they were and who was with them…
"WAIT A MINUTE!" shrieked Ino and Sakura at the same time, "WHY AM I STUCK WITH HER?" a pair of accusing fingers pointed angrily at each other.
Hinata shook her head, wondering if this wasn't one of Gaara-kun's better decisions… Though it was true that Ino-san and Sakura-san were quite good or even best friends…. They both tended to be… quite competitive at times.
Gaara ignored them and said, "When you have completed your task of finding food or water, or scouting, come back to this clearing. A guide will be marked with arrows for you to the shelter spot. Is everyone clear on what to do?"
Several voices or sounds of agreement come form various spots around the clearing, Hinata adding in a nod.
"Then let's get going."
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It had been almost inevitable that Chouji would be put in charge of food- or in charge of food gathering and finding to be exact. Unfortunately Akimichi Chouji… had absolutely no idea of whatever food there was to be found in this tropical island. He didn't even know if he would grow critically ill later from eating the strange fruit that he had in his hands. He wasn't even sure if what he was eating could be classified as a fruit…
The others in the group, Tenten and Kiba looked at him expectedly. He guessed Tenten had been chosen because of her deadly accuracy, a skill needed in hunting, and Kiba would be exceedingly useful in hunting down animals for meat. And him? He was probably chosen because he was always eating…What could he do…? Chouji swallowed. He only knew the difference between types of Konoha foods- not foods on this weird island. Wait a minute-
"I can cook!" he declared happily to the others.
Tenten blinked. This evidently wasn't what the kunoichi had been expecting. Kiba sighed.
"Yeah… But can you give us a hint or directions on which foods are poisonous or safe?"
"No… But I can cook!"
"I can cook." Pointed out Tenten, annoyed.
But then she had a reason to be in that temperament. Half the weapons that she owned were taken away and spread out between the other ninjas for defense. The weapons specialist had clearly been very irritated. But the most irritated one seemed to be Kankuro who had been given a gigantic scythe and kind of looked like an apprentice of a grim reaper. Chouji wasn't too happy with the weapon he'd been given either… The chubby ninja touched the hilt of the battleaxe that hung by his side. How did Tenten… carry that many weapons…? That… was just plain wrong. Chouji made a mental note not to anger the kunoichi- or do anything that might annoy her in the slightest.
"Tenten! Over there!" Kiba's urgent voice was followed by the sound of a kunai slicing the air and a soft thud.
"Got him!" smiling, the bun adorned kunoichi vanished for a moment before coming back with a dead pig in her hands.
Chouji's mouth started to water a little. Pig… That meant pork… That meant steamed pork buns… Roast Pork… Chouji shook his head and snapped out of his thoughts.
"Can I see the pig?"
"Go ahead," Tenten handed him the carcass after taking out her kunai and quickly cleaning it, "Be my guest."
Chouji examined the creature before him, trying desperately to look intelligent and look like he knew what he was doing… Chouji succeeded and made the following mental statements. At least this was an animal he was familiar with- a pig. But then, it wasn't exactly a pig… Maybe a boar with the tusks it had… No, not a boar… Too little… It was a boar-let… Damn. What was the name of a baby boar…? Wait. If it was a baby boar…
"Get into the trees you two!" yelled Kiba.
Yeah. The Inuzuka heir obviously had the same idea as him. Wherever there was a baby boar -Chouji jumped onto a high tree branch- there had to be a big fierce angry mother boar somewhere. It took a little while for Tenten to grasp onto this fact, but as soon as the kunoichi heard the noise of thundering hooves, she was in the trees. Kiba stayed behind, jumping onto Akamaru. Moments later, practically erupting out of the foliage was a massive boar, its tusks just about as long as an average human being. That was wrong… Very wrong.
But before the boar had time to start a wild stampede, Kiba acted quickly. The shinobi and his dog were soon high speed spinning things as they used 'gatsuga', and soon plummeted into the side of the wild boar. The creature crashed into a tree, nearly snapping the trunk in two, and Kiba jumped back, recovering from impact. Tenten jumped off the tree branch, and while still in midair, opened a scroll and sent a flurry of spears flying down at the pig. It was almost scary how good the kunoichi's accuracy was… All seven of the spears had hit the vital part of the animal- the boar's head. Chouji jumped down and driving his battleaxe into the boar, finished the creature off.
"That's a lot of meat…" he breathed, staring down at the mass of pork that was even bigger then Akamaru.
"Do you think we should drag it back? Or go after more boars?" Tenten poked the boar with her foot, "I'm not sure we can even carry this whole thing back…"
"Hah! Akamaru can carry it all, can't you?" Kiba grinned and glanced at the white dog beside who responded with a joyful bark.
It literally took seconds for them to all to load the meat onto Akamaru. The tusks were left behind though, as well as the bones. He chopped, Kiba sliced, Tenten diced. Yeah- they made a pretty good butchery, complete with the mass of the blood that seemed to be everywhere…. Even on them. Chouji shuddered- he'd better go wash up after all this. He didn't want to look like some kind of monster. Kiba sported a fair amount of blood, and Tenten somehow managed to end up with the least, though the kunoichi looked a little miffed about a dark stain on her black wader shorts.
"What's wrong anyway?" he asked, "That's tiny compared to Kiba and me!"
"Idiot!" groaned the older teen, "Have you noticed that we don't have the freedom of a lot of clothes here? We'll be wearing these clothes for a long time… Unless you still have your entire luggage! Stains are bad- very bad!"
Chouji shrugged. Women. He though that Tenten, the most tomboyish of the kunoichi wouldn't have minded blood but… Chouji shrugged again- women.
"Guys…? I know it's all fun to stand there arguing but…" Kiba pointed at a small herd of wild boars starting to advance on them from the underbrush, "We might wanna get out of here you know? It's just that small matter of having blood splattered all over us that's got them all riled up… We are so screwed up!"
Kiba's last sentence was virtually yelled as the ninja started running off, jumping onto Akamaru. He and Tenten just stood there, taking a while to know they the needed to get out of there and also comprehend that… Yeah. They were really screwed up.
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"NO! NO WAY! IT'S GOING TO BE BUILT HERE!" the voice of Haruno Sakura was heard clearly in the area.
"IT'S GOING TO BE BUILT HERE!" At the other side of the green clearing, Yamanaka Ino stamped her foot to emphasize her point.
Stupid forehead girl! The blonde seethed and brushed away a lock of hair. Ignoring the stares and sweat drops from the others, Ino continued her tirade on why the shelter housing should be built… on this particular spot of the clearing.
It was obviously really… Stupid Sakura wanted it built on the outskirts of the jungle… Over there would be too easy for any predators to come out and attack… While at her spot, far away from the jungle and close to the start of the hills, it would be hard for jungle predators to attack them. Ino smiled. Her spot was definitely the better choice!
Ino looked towards the nearest person to back her up. A white eyed shinobi with long black hair… Oh yeah! Neji! Ino turned her head towards him, smiling sweetly while her eyes were flashing dangerously- very dangerously. The Jonin swallowed, looking a little worried for himself.
"Neji-kun!" half sang the Chuunin, "Don't you think that we should build the shelter here?"
The Hyuuga wisely decided to pretend that he had not heard her and instead immediately started up a conversation with Kankuro. Ino's left eyebrow twitched.
"Neji-kun!" This time the words sounded very restrained, "Don't you think we should build the shelter here?"
Neji turned around- in a very slow manner… and smirked with faint relief on his face, "I believe Gaara has already decided."
As the older shinobi turned back to his conversation with Kankuro who seemed anxious about being caught in the middle of the two, Ino seethed. Who did that stupid Neji and Gaara-kun think they were…? Putting the shelter in a spot other then her spot! AND not agreeing with her! Ino looked around angrily, ready to strangle Neji- oh wait…. The shelter was going to be built in the middle of the clearing! At the other end, Sakura seemed to have similar feelings to Ino.
Gaara… Who cared if he was the Kazekage…? Who cared whoever he was! Both kunoichi stampeded at the same time towards the middle, towards Gaara, their thoughts and sentiments the same. Gaara-kun… needed some… special treatment… But then, just about meters away from the Sand Nin both kunoichi realized something.
This was Gaara- the Gaara who was Kazekage and all-powerful. The Gaara who had defeated Rock Lee while receiving only a few minor injuries… The Gaara who was going to be very scary if they did something negative towards him. Sakura paled. Ino paled. They stopped. They smiled. They beamed,
"I think this is a wonderful spot Gaara-kun!" and scampered off.
Gaara smirked, before saying, "The shelter's gong to be built here. Kankuro, Neji, get the wood."
Both Jonin nodded and were soon back carrying a few logs of timber between them. Setting it down near Gaara, both vanished again to get more. Ino sighed. Maybe, it wasn't that bad in the middle… Even though, of course her idea was still the best.
"I won! I won! I won! Hah Shikamaru! And you said I couldn't win!" the all too familiar voice of Naruto came from the outskirts of the jungle.
Ino frowned as she saw the yellow-haired figure advance… Naruto didn't seem… To be carrying any water at all…. All he had was an empty bag of nothing. In the distance she saw Shino's insects hurry to suck up water that Naruto had spilled.
"Um, Naruto-kun…" That would be Hinata.
"Idiot! If anything, I won. You haven't brought any water back at all! Hey, Gaara! Where do I put this!" the lazy voice of Shikamaru came next, a wooden box full to the brim of pure water on his back.
"Over here!" Ino gestured and after seeing Shikamaru walk so slowly added, "Lazy-bum!"
"Whatever!" Nara was followed by Hinata, the kunoichi carrying her water in a similar fashion.
Naruto by know had disappeared back into the jungle to get more water- Ino sighed as she saw the traces of damp patches on the ground where Naruto must have spilt his water- what an idiot he sometimes was…
"Where'd you guys find this? I don't think you could've boiled this from sea water…"
"You've got to see it, Ino-san; we found a huge lake up in the hills!" Hinata gestured the size with her hands, "The water, amazingly was really warm, I think it used to be a volcano."
Ino's eyes sparkled. Water… Lots of fresh water. Even after a few hours in this desolate island, the kunoichi was sweltering hot and badly wanted a shower or at least a bath of some sort. She had to get a chance to visit it!
"Ah, Ino-san?" Hinata gestured to where the males in the group were starting to put together a 'shelter', "I think you're needed over there!"
"Ah yeah!" Ino snapped out of her daydream of the lake, and hurried along, seeing the kunoichi jog off into the jungle, she added "See ya Hinata!"
Ino frowned as she saw Sakura half directing Neji were to put a log- That was her job! Not silly forehead girl's job! And besides… That log was oh so very unsuitable for that particular place. Idiot Sakura-san!
Though she was now thoroughly enraged, Ino kept her voice sweet- extra sweet as she barged in on the two, "Oi! Oh Neji-kun! Don't you think we should put that log somewhere else!"
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To be stuck with a deranged silent avenger and a hyperactive green-clad, bowl-hair cut idiot must have been… Hell for Temari. The Sand Nin was literally at her limits after just one minute. After ten minutes the kunoichi had decided she was going to go insane. Rock Lee kept urging them to hurry up and match his speed- a pace that was definitely impossible because who could match the speed of light? No one but Rock Lee. To make things worse, Uchiha Sasuke just ran, looked, and kept his mouth shut. Temari badly needed some human contact- contact with real humans that is.
"Hey! Temari-san! Sasuke-kun!" Lee pointed to a large black suitcase lying on the beach, "More supplies! YOSH!"
Temari sighed and stared at Lee- practically every time they came across something, Lee would decide to pick it up and add it to the huge pile on his back, classifying the object as a 'supply'. But at least with the suitcase the Lee was examining, it actually did look like it could be useful. A buckle was clicked open and Temari heard Lee gasp. The kunoichi, her interest perked wondered- what was inside…?
"Ugh… Idiot." The words were practically seethed out upon seeing the contents.
Temari glared at Lee who had tears of joy streaming down his face. That suitcase… contained… a huge big bunch of… It was almost too painful to say… It contained a huge big bunch of…
"Moronic green spandex…" with a glint coming into her eyes, Temari drew out her fan and forcefully whacked Lee on the head with it.
That felt good. The Chuunin went out like a light, his head immediately making contact with the ground. Sasuke came next to Temari and the brown haired teen felt the heir stiffen upon seeing what the suitcase held.
"That was a good idea." The Uchiha commented after glancing at Lee.
Before long the sixteen year old, struggled back to consciousness, his eyes slightly unfocused.
"You hit hard Temari-san…" murmured Lee, dizzily getting up.
The shinobi, with a sway in his movements, clicked the suitcase shut and started to carry it in his hand,"I think I'll take this along. I remember a few years ago, Naruto-kun wanted one… I'll see if he wants one now-"
Temari stiffened. Uzamaki Naruto… actually wanted one of those things… That was really…really… wrong! Taking hold of her fan once again, Temari swiftly knocked the suitcase out of Lee's hand and sent it flying into the ocean and far away.
Lee's eyes widened and started running after the suitcase, running speedily across the sea water, in great effort to receive his 'precious object'. Sasuke stiffened immensely; Temari let a vein throb on her forehead. She should've known that an idiot like him would have actually gone out and tried to get the suitcase- and being such a speedy thing, he would probably succeed.
Succeed Lee did- the ninja returned with the suitcase not even wet in his arms. Lee flashed Temari the good guy pose. Temari sighed but let it go. She might as well let the guy have it- if it meant so much to him…
Sasuke was already bounding away, heading back into the jungle. Temari followed suit, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. They still had a lot of ground to cover- the island was way bigger then expected. The three had covered the beach where they had all either washed up at or swam to after the shipwreck. A few corpses had been discovered but the general routine was to say a prayer of some sort for them before casting them out to sea. Temari swallowed upon remembering. But before the kunoichi could remember anymore a sudden shout got her attention.
"I've got the fruit!"
"I have the plants!"
"Let's head back! Akamaru and I have the rest of the meat and fur!"
Temari glanced to her left to see three shinobi and a dog. Inuzuka Kiba and his dog with masses of fresh meat, Akimichi Chouji with sacks of what looked to be fruits, and Tenten was holding green plants that didn't seem too edible in sacks…
"Tenten! Kiba! Chouji!" Lee grinned and caught up with Tenten, inspecting what she was carrying, "What are all these?"
"Hey Lee!" Tenten smiled but kept bounding, "Those are for what we think are for medicinal purposes and for general eating. Don't eat them, idiot!"
The teen swiped Lee's hand away from a plant with purple berries. Temari greeted them although Sasuke said nothing as expected.
"Where are you guys headed?" Temari took a sack of fruit from Chouji.
"Back to the shelters and everyone else," answered Kiba, "This is our last load for the day."
"How many loads did you guys do?" Lee asked curiously, "Three?"
Tenten, Chouji, and Kiba stopped and stared. Temari took that to be, "No. Absolutely not."
"We did ten loads, though this would have to be our smallest."
Ten… Temari's jaw nearly dropped to hit the ground. Ten! That was amazing... One thing was for certain- no one was going to starve here. They might all actually just get fat instead… How ironic that would be if that actually happened…
"Hey look! We're there!" Tenten called, Temari glanced at the kunoichi and for the first time noticed a blood stain on her black shorts.
The Sand Nin glanced at Chouji and Kiba- they too had blood, though in a much larger quantity. Temari grimaced, only just realizing how… gruesome they all looked. She really hoped those three would take a bath soon… But those thoughts were swept away when she saw the shelter site.
A big crude log house was in the middle of the clearing, with fires all around. Food was being cooked and the rest of the shinobi looked up as they arrived, greeting them warmly
"We'll have to leave the rest of the scouting for tomorrow I guess," Sasuke commented gesturing at the darkening sky- Temari nodded in agreement.
Surveying the grounds, Temari smiled faintly as she saw Gaara and Kankuro and after getting closer, finally wondered exactly what they were having for dinner. She was starving.
Whee! You got through that. Anyways, I need to seriously ask… Are my chapters too long? They're on average around 3000 words and I think this chapter is just about 4000 (Normally should be around 3000 but this chapter's special! )… Hopefully I'm not putting anyone off. If I am, please tell me… OR- Maybe I should just take a segment of this chapter and make it into a chapter and hopefully I'm not confusing you. But basically, please tell me if my chappies are too long!
Thank you!
-StarDragon X