Thanks for your reviews! Here are some review replies, and also the next chapter! Sorry I posted this so late…. I'm being too lazy to write more…. -_-"…. Anyway, here's the next chapter!
Girl who hates herself (): I'm glad you liked this. I'm thinking of that pairing too though. ^_^
CleverPhoenix: Haha! Yep he should… naive little Naruto. Here's the next chapter!
Mika (): Thanks! And I'm also trying to get more ideas so that my crossover wouldn't be too similar to Pokemon Master Naruto. I actually asked 789 if it's ok if I wrote a crossover fic like this… So, I'm trying to make mine different, like you said.
TragedyDawl: Thanks! I'm trying to develop this fic towards this couple.
TheMissingPieceInaJigsaw: Thanks! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. ^_^
Kawaii Chibi-kun: Thank you! Enjoy this new chapter!
An Old Team Causes Commotion
Naruto was about to attack when Gaara beat him to it.
"Sandslash, Sandstorm," said the leader emotionlessly. The Mouse Pokemon brewed up a sandstorm in the arena blinding Naruto and Vulpix temporarily.
"Slash!" All of a sudden, Sandslash appeared right in front of Vulpix and slashed at it. Vulpix managed to dodge it, but unfortunately, it still got a gash on its side.
"Ahhh! Vulpix, Will-O-Wisp!" shouted Naruto. Vulpix sent balls of fire towards Sandslash.
"Sandslash, Dig," commanded Gaara. Sandslash dodged the Will-O-Wisp attack by digging a hole and hiding underground.
Vulpix and Naruto searched frantically for Sandslash. "W-Where did it go?" Naruto asked himself.
Then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath Vulpix cracked a bit, and Sandslash popped up, striking Vulpix head-on. Vulpix flew in the air for a while, then came crashing down. Naruto rushed over to Vulpix, but it was already struggling to get up.
Vulpix then, unexpectedly, fired six fireballs from its six tails. Naruto gaped at the attack. "I never knew Vulpix could do that!"
Sandslash, without any further commands from Gaara, disappeared underground again. Vulpix, knowing the attack now, tried to avoid Sandslash's attack, if possible. This time, however, Sandslash popped up from more than one hole.
It played around with Vulpix's eyes for a while before disappearing underground, and coming up behind Vulpix, slashing it again. Vulpix flew back, but it stopped itself by using its feet to lessen the impact.
Naruto was about to cheer on for Vulpix, but before he could, Vulpix's legs buckled underneath it, and it collapsed. Just then, the sandstorm subsided.
"V-Vulpix!" cried Naruto, defeated. "After only two attacks? Why?!" Vulpix was then returned to its Pokeball.
Sakura explained, "It's not only the Dig attacks, Naruto! The Sandstorm affected your Vulpix as well. Vulpix isn't a ground type, and it's not immune to the Sandstorm, so Vulpix will definitely get hurt in that Sandstorm attack!"
"The girl's right," said Gaara. Naruto put Vulpix's Pokeball back in his bag, uttering a small "Thanks" to Vulpix.
The young blond's face got serious for the next match. "Alright, this time I'm gonna take this more seriously." He took out another Pokeball, but before he could call his next Pokemon, Gaara stopped him.
"Before we started this match, I said that you can only use one Pokemon here. So, officially, you've already lost." A vein popped out of Naruto's head, and he looked like he was going to attack Gaara himself.
However, Naruto retorted, "Oh yeah? Well, I remember your brother over there saying that each side can use three Pokemon each!" Gaara just stared emotionlessly at Naruto while the fox boy fumed.
"I just made Kankuro say that to see if my opponents have heard my words. To see if they pay more attention to me, the leader, or my brother," said Gaara unsmilingly. Naruto looked like he was about to blow up while Sakura was trying to calm him down from the sidelines.
Then, turning to Kankuro, Naruto asked him, "Is that true? Did you just say that because your brother told you to?" Kankuro nodded, not flinching at all. Naruto then, sighed and walked out of the gym.
"H-Hey, Naruto! Wait!" Sakura called after him. Then, she stopped herself from following him. Sasuke was still in the gym. "Sasuke-kun? Are you still going to battle the leader?"
The Uchiha smirked and walked out as well. Sakura followed this time. Once Sasuke and Sakura were outside, they saw Naruto crouching at the entrance to the gym.
"Naruto, you okay?" asked a concerned Sakura. Naruto just mumbled a "Fine," to Sakura. The pinkette talked to Naruto for a while, and comforted him. A few moments later, Naruto seemed to be back to his old self.
"Sorry guys. I was just pissed off at the leader. I mean, I don't really remember him saying that to me," apologized Naruto. Sakura smiled, glad that he was not really depressed anymore. Then, she turned to Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun. Why did you walk out of the gym? I thought you also wanted to challenge the leader," commented Sakura. Naruto also leaned in, curious.
"You saw how strong his Pokemon are, Sakura. If I could use only one Pokemon, then even I would end up losing to him," explained Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura were about to say something simultaneously, when they saw a crowd gathering together.
The trio jogged over to the scene and asked the people what the commotion was. One of the spectators pointed to a person lying on the ground and Sakura gasped.
An old man was lying, shirt torn open and bloody, on the ground. Sakura immediately went to help him. Sasuke and Naruto followed and tried to talk to the old man. Sakura's medical help made the old man's words a bit more plausible.
"T-They took my c-component," sputtered the old man. "What component?" "Who's they?" asked Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously.
"A-A shady group. T-Three of them. T-The component f-for the submarine," continued the man. Then, he pointed towards Petalburg Forest. "They went t-that way."
Sakura got up and shouted to the crowd to get this man to the hospital, while Naruto and Sasuke said that they would confront the team. Then, the trio ran towards Petalburg Forest.
After spending some time roaming around in the forest, they finally found three silhouettes sneaking away.
Naruto shouted, "Hey! Stop! You're the three who attacked the old man, aren't you?" The three shady characters turned around and took off their cloaks in one swift motion. One of them was a red-headed girl (AN: NOT Karin, the other red-head, hint hint…) and the other two had silver-ish hair.
"Looks like we're caught," said one of the boys. Then, the girl took out a Pokeball and said, "No, Kabuto, because these three won't live to tell who stole the component!" Then, she called out her Pokemon. When it came out, neither Naruto, Sakura, nor Sasuke could identify it. A bird like Pokemon with a musical note on its head appeared.
Sakura immediately took out her Pokedex to see what information it could give.
Chatot, the Music Note Pokemon. It keeps rhythm by flicking its tail feathers like a metronome. It imitates human speech.
The other two boys took out their own Pokeballs afterwards. "Hm, I guess you have a point, Tayuya," said the one called Kabuto. (AN: Kabuto Kabutops) Then, turning to her other partner, she said, "Kimimaro, you with us?"
The man named Kimimaro didn't reply, but sent out his Pokemon instead. Kabuto did the same.
A masked Pokemon came out of Kimimaro's Pokeball and an armored Pokemon with scythes came out of Kabuto's Pokeball. Naruto and Sasuke both examined the Pokemon.
Kabutops, the Shellfish Pokemon. Kabutops swam underwater to hunt for its prey in ancient times. The Pokémon was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs.
"If I remember correctly from those books, I think Kabutops was regenerated from a fossil!" deduced Sakura, after hearing the information from the Pokedex.
Marowak, the Bone Keeper Pokemon. Marowak is the evolved form of a Cubone that has overcome its sadness at the loss of its mother and grown tough. This Pokémon's tempered and hardened spirit is not easily broken.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura called out their own Pokemon before their opponents could attack.
"Hahaha! Are you kidding me?" mocked Tayuya. "Rookie Pokemon? Tch, do you really think you can fend us off with them? Attack, Chatot!"
Chatot flew towards the rookie Pokemon and started to glow yellow. Then, it showered yellow dust on all of them.
"Kabutops, Aqua Jet," commanded Kabuto. Kabutops surrounded itself with water and tackled almost all of the rookie Pokemon. Only Treecko, Sneasel, and Starly managed to dodge.
"Marowak, Bonemerang," said Kimimaro. Marowak threw its bone towards Treecko, Sneasel, and Starly. Unfortunately for them, the bone hit all three of them, and when it came flying back, they were hit again.
"Ugh, Sneasel, Ice Shard!" shouted Sasuke. Sneasel formed a light blue shard and launched it towards Marowak.
"It's useless," said Kimimaro. Marowak easily dodged the attack by jumping. Then, it shot down, and slammed its bone into Sneasel.
"Houndour, Flamethrower!" Houndour fired a flamethrower attack towards Marowak. Unfortunately for Houndour, Marowak wasn't affected much.
"Too bad. Chatot's Feather Dance has already reduced your Pokemon's attack powers, and my Marowak isn't affected much by fire based attacks," said Kimimaro, as his Marowak kept attacking.
Tayuya continued, "So you brats definitely have a disadvantage! Chatot, Mirror Move!" Sakura's Torchic had sent an Ember attack towards Chatot, but the bird Pokemon used the Ember attack against Torchic.
"Sorry, but fire based attacks will mostly make Torchic stronger," said Sakura. Torchic was already out of the fire and was ready with its Peck attack.
Chatot quickly dodged Torchic's attack and countered with its own peck attack. The two birds continuously kept pecking at each other. Torchic, then, quickly stepped on Chatot's head, and pecked it from behind.
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke! Get Torchic and Houndour to where Vulpix is!" shouted Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura turned to where Naruto's Vulpix was. It seems to be getting ready to use some sort of attack.
"What is that dobe thinking? Wait, if he means to get all of our fire type Pokemon to get together then….Of course," thought Sasuke. He immediately ordered his Houndour to go to Vulpix's side. Sakura did the same for her Torchic.
"All right. Even though your Chatot's Feather Dance has reduced our attack powers, we can still do this. Vulpix, Sunny Day!" said Naruto. Suddenly, the sun shone brighter than before. Sasuke and Sakura immediately knew what to do now.
"Vulpix/Houndour/Torchic, use Ember, full power!'' commanded all three of them. Vulpix, Houndour, and Tochic, blasted their more powerful Ember attacks at Team Sound's Pokemon, immediately burning them.
Sasuke spotted something in Kabuto's hand; something shiny. "It's got to be the component that old man was talking about," thought Sasuke.
He ordered his Sneasel to use Thief to steal the component from Kabuto. Sneasel quickly swished past Kabuto, and grabbed the component. Then, it ran back to Sasuke. The three Pokemon still had their Ember attacks going, so that gave them some time to escape.
"Sakura, Naruto, I got what the old man wanted. Let's go!" said Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto nodded, returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs, and ran as fast as they could back to the city.
Meanwhile, the members of Team Sound were fuming mad. "How the heck can three kids get away with the component?!" shouted a furious Tayuya. She then turned to Kabuto and continued her shouting, "You! You should've hung on to that component! Even though Orochimaru-sama favors you, don't think you can relax!"
Before Tayuya could go on, Kabuto's Pokegear started beeping. He answered it immediately. "Orochimaru-sama…No, we failed, we're sorry. Yes, ok." Then, he hung up.
"What did he say?" asked Kimimaro.
Kabuto replied, "He's giving us another chance. Get the component at all costs, before they do."
"Huh, at least we get a second chance. We can't fail this time. Let's go!" said Tayuya. She was about to run after the trio, but Kimimaro grabbed her collar.
"Going after them won't solve anything. Our Pokemon need medical attention first. We'll strike when the time is right," said Kimimaro calmly.
Tayuya struggled free from Kimimaro's grip and replied, "Fine. As long as we get that damn thing." The three villains returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs and ran out of sight.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke went to the city hospital to return the component to the old man. The man seemed to be sleeping when they went in, so they just left the component by his bedside.
Before the trio could leave, the old man woke up. He saw the component beside him, and smiled.
"Thank you for bringing the component back, kids. I really appreciate it," thanked the old man.
"No problem! By the way, is that um, component, that important?" asked Naruto.
"It's the most important part of the submarine that the ship captain in Rustboro is building. Thank you again, for getting the component back," said the old man.
"Why are you the one delivering it, old man?" asked Naruto.
"I'm the chairman of the Fire Cooperation," answered the old man. He extended his hand towards the three rookies. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner. Call me Sarutobi." Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke shook the chairman's hand, one at a time. (AN: It's the third Hokage, just in case you didn't know.)
"We'll leave you alone now, Sarutobi," said Sasuke. Then, he turned and walked out of the room. Naruto followed close behind him. Sakura was about to leave, when Sarutobi stopped her. He pulled out an envelope from his shirt pocket, and gave it to Sakura.
"Will you give this envelope to someone named Jiraiya when you see him? He's a student of mine. May I know your name?" asked Sarutobi.
"It's Sakura. Sakura Haruno," answered Sakura. She continued, "By any chance, do you have a picture of him or something?" Sarutobi shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but right now, I have no remaining pictures of Jiraiya. I'm sure you'll be able to spot him easily. He's a pretty famous character." Sarutobi then, placed the envelope in Sakura's hands.
"Can you not tell your companions about this envelope?" asked Sarutobi.
"Why not? I mean, they could help with the search," said Sakura.
Sarutobi shook his head and continued, "One of your companions, the blond one…"
"Naruto," finished Sakura.
Sarutobi then continued, "Yes, Naruto. He seems to be a bit… rash. I can't risk having the enemies know about this envelope."
"What about Sasuke? He thinks before acting," said Sakura.
"That child seems to be manipulated easily. He might give the information away to the enemies," explained Sarutobi.
"Then, why me?" asked Sakura.
"You seem to be decent enough to deliver this envelope to Jiraiya. You look smart. I'm sure you'll be able to keep the envelope concealed," answered Sarutobi.
"Alright then. I won't fail you Sarutobi-sempai. I have to go now. I hope you get well soon!" saying so, Sakura took off.
When Sakura caught up with Naruto and Sasuke, she asked them if they were going to challenge the gym leader again.
"Not just yet. That leader is formidable. We'll need to do some training first," answered Sasuke.
"By the way, Sakura-chan, when's your contest?" asked Naruto. Sakura stood there, as stiff as a board.
"Argh!! I totally forgot about the contest!!" Sakura shouted.
"S-Sakura-chan, calm down," said Naruto.
"Sakura, don't worry. Today's contest is already finished. You can enter in the next contest, which is in the next five days," said Sasuke, calmly.
"How did you know when the next contest's gonna be?!" asked/shouted Naruto.
"Unlike you, dobe, I listen to what Nurse Shizune said," answered Sasuke.
"Shut it, teme!" yelled Naruto.
"Guys, you two need to train for your gym battle, and I need help from you two for my contest. Let's get to work!" said Sakura.
The three rookies walked to a clearing and started to train with each other. Sakura tried out various moves for the first round of the contest, while Naruto and Sasuke attacked each other. (AN: With their Pokemon of course…)
Naruto and Sasuke decided not to go back to the gym until Sakura's contest was over. The trio kept training with each other for about five days. Sakura registered for the contest on day 2, and got her contest pass.
By day 4, Sakura was confident about winning her contest. Naruto and Sasuke decided to watch Sakura's contest first, then go to the gym for a rematch.
"Thanks for helping me out guys. You two are the best!" said Sakura, and then she hugged both of them as a thank you. Naruto blushed, and Sasuke just averted his eyes, with a tint of pink on his face.
After Sakura released them, she said, "I'm sure I can win this contest now. I'll show Ino how much I've improved!"
"Sakura, we'd better get going now. Your contest is going to start soon," said Sasuke. Sakura nodded enthusiastically, and ran towards the contest hall, with Naruto and Sasuke trailing behind her.
Finally, I got this chapter finished!! I'm getting lazy to write fanfics…. -_-"…. But, I'll still try to write them. My school re-opens on August 10, so I'll have to try to get a few chapters in… if my laziness allows it… Anyway, I finished this chapter! Please review! (I want to raise the number of reviews required this time…. Let's say, 8 reviews! I think that's not impossible, right, readers?) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!
Next Time: An Official Battle between Childhood Friends
