"Transform!" In a puff of smoke, Naruto transformed into a girl dressed in a fishnet shirt and pencil-skirt with a cream-colored oversized fur-edged coat that was open right up to the point her nipples would be exposed. Her shoulder-length pale blonde hair was fixed in a ponytail.
In another world, Iruka would have been launched backwards by a nosebleed. In this world, he simply frowned, conflicted. He could quite clearly see where the design's inspirations had come from, though it seemed none of the other academy students could tell. For the best, two of them would kill him and the third would pass out. The fourth would just laugh, but she wasn't there.
Naruto transformed back and smiled, "so... what did you think of my sexy-" He was interrupted by a book smacking him in the back of the head.
Rubbing the growing bump, he looked back at the classmate who'd assaulted him.
Uchiha Sasuke simply glared at his partner, partially hiding the Kanji for love in his right eye. His hands were curled into fists on his desk.
Naruto frowned before looking down guiltily. "Sorry Sasuke."
Their classmates watched with interest and a little apprehension.
"Dobe." With that, Sasuke got up to and stomped out of class. Probably to clear his head.
Naruto looked up after Sasuke had left. The Kanji for love visible in his left eye. "I'm sorry." he said again to no one in particular.
/
Sasuke ran along the rooftops. It was safer if he minimized interaction with other people. Soon his destination was clear. Training ground Duo.
Sasuke almost laughed at the name of the slightly isolated building. It was only called that to give some legitimacy to the things that were supposed to occur there.
The building was three-story tall and divided in two from the top to the bottom. It also had no doors. Sasuke jumped to the roof of the building, specifically the south side. His side.
"Open." The seal within the building's walls activated and Sasuke sank through it into the second floor, which was really just one massive bed. It had been constructed with the realization that Sasuke was more likely to come in through the roof and would probably not be patient to look for a proper bed when he wanted to...
Sasuke closed his eyes, cradled his head and screamed, the soundproof walls keeping him from being too obviously heard. Once he was done, he sat up and looked at a full-body mirror. The kanji in his eye practically mocking him as it glowed red.
I shouldn't resist it, Sasuke thought, it will make me so much more powerful.
But, another part of his mind replied, that man would also like this. It would also make him more powerful. But at what cost?
And so Sasuke stared at his reflection, having the same argument he'd had every day for almost a year.
/
Iruka watched Naruto pick at his Ramen. His appetite was clearly reduced by the events of that afternoon. He was stopping halfway through his second bowl.
"I screwed up."
"Naruto..."
"I did, didn't I."
Iruka could only nod. "Why did you create that jutsu anyway?"
Naruto suddenly found the floor more interesting. "I dunno. I was hoping it would calm the voice. Like some relief. Stupid huh?"
Iruka didn't know what voice Naruto was talking about, but he was sure he could guess. "Naruto, it doesn't work like that."
"I know."
An uncomfortable silence sank over them.
"Iruka-Sensei, I don't think I can contain it anymore."
Iruka blinked at the words coming out of his student's mouth.
"And it's not just because I want to pass the exam. I'd never do it for such a selfish reason. I just... really want to."
Iruka looked at Naruto. The boy was struggling to hold in tears.
"Naruto..."
"You don't think any less of me, right Iruka-sensei?"
"Never," Iruka said. "I know you're a good kid, Bloodline limit be damned."
Naruto smiled.
"Now... as for that sexy jutsu."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"I have some ideas of who you had in mind when you created it."
Naruto's face went as blank as the grave as he calmly picked up his Ramen bowl.
"Na..."
Before Iruka could finish, Naruto was gone.
/
Sasuke watched Naruto fail to make a clone.
As the dead last began arguing about his failure, Sasuke simply raised his arm. Everyone stopped and stared at him.
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke?"
"I'll stay back with him."
That was when Sasuke realized that silence could be as annoying as noise.
"What?" Mizuki asked.
"I'll wait until the dobe graduates. We'll have to be a team remember."
Naruto opened his mouth to protest.
"Don't complain if you haven't passed the test dobe."
/
Sasuke kicked a pebble in anger. How could he do that? Was he really willing to put off his vengeance until his so-called partner was strong enough to become a ninja?
He was, he realized. As much as he wanted to go ahead, he and Naruto were practically brothers. And they would improve best next to each other.
"Sasuke-kun." A female voice said. A young female voice. Sasuke stopped moving in shock. A girl was talking to him. He didn't remember the last time a girl had talked to him, specifically after he and Naruto had asked them not to.
He turned and looked at the girl. "Sakura?"
Sakura gave him a smile. Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the headband. A sign of power. And then his eyes went down until his they focused on her hips. His right eye began pulsing.
"So... uh, that was a nice thing you did for Naruto." Sakura said, noticing that he was staring.
"Why are you here?"
"What?"
"Didn't you and all the other fan girls back off because of my... second bloodline limit."
Sakura looked down.
The sight filled Sasuke with guilt. "Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't blame you. No one should be forced to deal with either me or Naruto."
"Don't say that."
"What?"
"You're a good person. You deserve more than everyone judging you because of your..."
Sakura stopped talking.
Sasuke was confused and opened his mouth to speak but found that it was pre-occupied. With a start, he realized what was happening and, with more effort than he was proud of, he pulled back.
Sakura scrambled back, falling on her butt. Her clothes were inexplicably torn, bruises already forming on her arms. She looked at him in fear, one hand covering her mouth. She hadn't fought back. She'd just frozen up. Smart.
Sasuke wanted to jump her again. He felt the love kanji in his eye glow. But she was submitting. He didn't like that. He preferred the brave face she'd put on to talk to him.
"I'm sorry." he turned around and began running.
"Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke ignored her cries and simply focused on putting as much space between himself and the genin before he lost the will to run.
He scaled buildings, jumped down from them, dodged and weaved through crowds, all on autopilot. It was easy. So easy. He could have easily graduated. But Naruto hadn't. Their shared bloodline limit proved the dobe could as strong as him, and despite him losing their weekly spars, he knew Naruto was strong. So why couldn't he pass?
He ran until his legs burned and his vision began to hurt, but he kept going, afraid he wouldn't be able to keep going if he stopped. It occurred to him that he had probably run a lap around Konoha and when he saw two green people on their hands run past him, he knew he was in trouble. He'd barely made the decision to stop before arms wrapped around his body, lifting him off the ground.
"Woah kid, slow down."
Sasuke stopped. He knew that voice. "Anko?"
The air got heavier.
"-chan?" Sasuke amended.
Anko smiled before holding him put and flipping him around so he could face her. "Why all the running."
Sasuke chose not to answer, focusing on catching his breath.
Anko sighed. "Did you-?"
"No. I ran."
Anko somehow sighed even harder. Then her eyes hardened. "Have you seen Naruto?"
"What?" And then Sasuke realized that the sky was dark. How long had he been running?
Anko chuckled. "It's nothing, just want to keep an eye on him."
Sasuke didn't believe that but schooled his face to hide it. The dobe had probably pulled some dumb prank after Sasuke had stopped him from painting the Hokage monument instead of coming to school, that morning. "Can I go back to running?"
Anko looked conflicted and set him down. "Make sure to take plenty of fluids." As soon as her arms left him, Sasuke took off again, but stopped when he was sure she couldn't see him.
She would not have let him continue running if there wasn't anything incredibly important to distract her. Naruto must have been in real trouble.
Sasuke then closed his love eye and focused. He and Naruto had discovered this ability a few weeks ago, so, no one knew about it. If they did, all of Naruto's dumb pranks would lead to him being pulled out of class to find him.
Sasuke opened his eyes and turned before he began running.
/
"...no one can tell you the nine tailed fox is inside you."
Sasuke froze just as he'd been about to jump from the bushes to help take down the bastard. The scene in front of him was bizarre. Iruka was injured. Mizuki was standing in a tree and Naruto was staring at the white-haired chunin.
But nothing was more frightening than what he'd just heard.
Mizuki was still talking, but Sasuke wasn't listening. His partner... was the nine-tailed fox?
"...love eyes..."
At the mention of his second bloodline limit, Sasuke went back to paying attention.
"... the Uchiha's eyes would be more valuable, if only because of the sharingan, but no one would care if the fox lost its eyes and died. And then I'll have an excuse to have sex with any woman I want. Of course, I'd have to leave the village, but that's a small price to pay. I bet Kumo would love to take me in, especially when I give them the scroll of sealing. Hell, I bet the people of Konoha will be happy that the nine tails won't be fucking any of their little girls."
It was then Sasuke noticed the giant shuriken in Mizuki's hands. Naruto was too busy having a panic attack to dodge.
Sasuke began running without thinking, but he was too far away and too exhausted to do anything. Naruto was going to die. His brother in bloodline limit. Arguably the only family Sasuke had left. He was going to die. Just like everyone else. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.
Time seemed to slow down as Sasuke began running even faster, but he was still too far. He watched Iruka run to Naruto and throw his body over the scrambling dobe.
And then the shuriken stopped, an inch above his teacher.
Iruka turned in confusion and Anko simply smiled at him as she dropped the giant weapon harmlessly on the ground. She looked at Sasuke and gave him a flat look as if asking if he thought she'd fallen for his trick.
Then she turned and gave the traitor chunin a venomous glare. "I think you and I are going to have a serious discussion."
Mizuki let out a pathetic scream and turned to run away.
Sasuke watched as Anko ran to the traitor, jumped to his branch and punch him in the head. Which confused him, as he was normally incapable of following the older woman's movements. She then turned and looked at the still shell-shocked Naruto and then to Sasuke. "So, you need to talk to the Hokage."
/
Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other from across the table. Naruto had just finished his fifth bowl of Ramen and Sasuke had finished his salad.
"So, what did the third call you back into his office for after we were released?"
Naruto smiled. "He just wanted to tell me that there was a girl who liked me."
Sasuke blinked, "really?"
"Don't act so surprised." Naruto looked hurt.
"No, no, it's just, that was it?"
Naruto nodded. "I was worried the girls would only be into you."
Sasuke sighed. "Well maybe if you used all your potential."
"I'm trying okay, but it's not working."
"The shadow clones you showed me inform me different."
More silence descended on them.
"So, are we taking Lord Third's advice and starting tomorrow?" Naruto asked.
"I think we should." Sasuke said. "You'll need the power to defend yourself from more attacks, and I'll need it to keep up with you. Besides, you still want to be Hokage right? We're officially ninja now. It's time we made use of our abilities to the fullest."
Naruto smiled, "Believe it."
/
Naruto walked into class with a smirk.
Sasuke followed with a 'hn.'
Everyone stared.
"Wait," Shikamaru said, "didn't you both fail because Naruto couldn't perform a clone jutsu?"
"Shows what you know," Naruto said with a laugh, "Jiji himself gave me this headband."
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Naruto.
"He means Lord third," Sasuke said, his eyes zeroing in on Sakura who blushed and looked away."
"Are you guys okay?" Kiba asked.
"Why do you ask?" Naruto asked.
"Your kanji are glowing."
"Yes, they are," Sasuke said.
Many of them shifted uncomfortably as the implications of Sasuke's answer sunk in.
/
"So, that's what you have to deal with."
Kakashi sighed. "Do I have too?"
"You were always going to get Sasuke and I need a good excuse for you to finally contact Naruto without the council going ballistic about the sharingan. It's going to be difficult enough to get them to not freak out over Sasuke. And besides that, the love masters always work best when competing against each other and working together."
"And the third teammate? I mean, she's going to realize what she is... an opponent and a prize."
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, glancing at his crystal ball, "I've been watching the boys for quite some time. And I gave Naruto some advice when he showed me the shadow clone jutsu. I don't think both boys will be fighting over her." He smiled sagely.
/
Sakura watched as team eight left the class, leaving her alone with the two very dangerous guys who were a second away from attacking her. She didn't understand why Sasuke had attacked her. It went against what she'd been told. Fortunately, he'd stopped when she'd made it clear she would not fight back.
/
"What?"
It was unclear who had said that, but it was a sentiment clearly shared by everyone. Sakura looked Sasuke's seat. Ever since he and Naruto had begun screaming in pain in the middle of class yesterday and had been carried out, no one had seen either of them.
Iruka-sensei sighed. "They're partners. Essentially, they have the potential to be the greatest tag-team that exists. However, they are both infected with an unnatural amount of lust. It works as motivation to get stronger. A desire to have sex."
Kiba let out a perverted giggle.
"So..." Shino said, "they get stronger to get girls to like them?"
"No. They have to fight."
"What?" Sakura asked.
"They'll essentially fight the girls to hold them down. If they can overpower them, then they'll have sex."
"That sounds a lot like rape." Shikamaru said.
"Not quite. You can get them to leave you alone by not fighting back. They'll lose interest eventually." Iruka paused. "And I hate to say it, but I have to request that some of you girls fight back."
The silence was deafening.
"Let me guess," Shikamaru said. "If no one will reciprocate, they may actually rape people with no connection to improving?"
Iruka-sensei looked down and nodded.
"But Sasuke's too strong." Ino said.
"He'll hold back. For instance, he may take someone on with only taijutsu, even if they used ninjutsu and genjutsu. Or he may let you use your family's technique on him to train the strength of mind he needs to resist."
Ino sat back down, contemplative.
"And Naruto?" Sakura asked. "I mean... he's the dead last right?"
Iruka looked at her. "And the symbol in his eye means he has the potential to become as strong as Sasuke. Plus, he sneaks around Chunin and ANBU ninja and runs from them with ease when he wants to pull a prank. He could try his infiltration skill by trailing you and breaking into your house." He paused. "Well, not you. Neither of them will be interested in anyone too weak. If you can't even appear on their radar, they won't bother with any of you."
Sakura's eyes widened. Too weak to appear on their radar? "So, if we were to like, try a long-term relationship with them?"
"You'd need to be able to challenge them. Constantly."
/
"Sakura." Sasuke's voice pulled Sakura out of her musing.
"Y-yes?" She stuttered.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I guess I was so over the edge that I took the fact that you were a genin and talking to me as a sign you were stronger."
Sakura nodded, feeling herself relax a little.
"But I do want to challenge you."
Sakura froze again.
"Dobe." Sasuke said, "She's mine."
"What?" Naruto asked.
"What?" Sakura asked, looking at one of the boys for the first time. She noticed that Sasuke's eye was glowing a bright red.
"I mean, if she'll have me."
"Wait," Sakura said, "you can claim a girl for your own?"
"If I claim one, he gets to claim another. I want you."
Sakura looked at Naruto who seemed contemplative. Then his eye fired up. "Okay." And with that, he stood up and ran out.
"Wait, Naruto, our sensei's... and he's gone."
She turned to Sasuke and then jumped back as his foot flew through where her head had been.
"Huh," Sasuke said, clearly surprised by her agility.
"What?" she asked, barely containing her smirk. She'd trained all year to see that look of confusion his face.
"You're stronger than I expected." It was Sasuke's turn to smirk, "wanted to be a challenge?"
Sakura blushed. Then she dodged a lunge from Sasuke who pressed forward before he managed to grab her arm and pull her close.
Instead of trying to get back, she let him pull her forward and slammed her head into his with enough force to fling him back to the end of the classroom.
Sasuke got up rubbing his head. And then he looked at her. "How?" he asked.
Sakura was sitting on the roof. "Trade secret."
Sasuke stared at the girl in confusion.
"Those were all my surprises. Now I'll just have to stay out of reach."
Sasuke stared at her, trying to work out how she was doing it.
"Well?" Sakura asked. "You'll have to walk up the roof to get to me."
Sasuke smiled. "You're not going to be able to walk when I catch you."
/
Kakashi walked into the classroom his new team had been waiting for him in for three hours. He had given them time to get whatever was going on out of their system and hoped they'd cleaned up.
The sight that greeted him was more confusing than he expected.
The top kunoichi, who he'd clearly underestimated, was lying on the ceiling, displaying prodigious chakra control, looking bored. A little tired, but bored. The top student was standing on the wall, gingerly taking a step onto the ceiling, however his attention was then drawn to Kakashi and he fell to the ground. The dead last was... groaning in pain, looking like he'd been run over by a ninja ostrich.
Kakashi shuddered at the thought.
"So...?" he asked.
"Sasuke's trying to get his chakra control up to get to me." She paused and looked at the Uchiha. "If the love masters thing is supposed to make you really good at learning things, does that mean I'm some sort of prodigy? I was able to stand on the roof by now."
Sasuke's eye twitched.
"And what of you Naruto?"
"Uh..." he groaned. "The gentle fist is a lie."
Kakashi nodded. "First impression, you're interesting."