Orange Day

For your convenience

Sakura did two basic tigerish seals with one hand, covering her lower self with the other (she wasn't about to take any chances with an old man in the hole). A small blue flame came from the tip of her index finger, keeping its little body hovering over the nail. The bottom ballpoint of the flame swayed from left to right slowly, even though there was no air in the dry hole. She hesitantly crawled across the floor of the hole with a convincing look of concentration, sarcasm and fear to the giggling shadow.

"Ah! Old... man," Sakura ducked and fled back to the other end of the hole, dirtying her knees and scraping her pale delicate legs on tiny pebbles. Dirt got under the skin, making it sting.

Naruto put his arms up and reached for the pack with his weapons, even though he couldn't see them and didn't know where the old perverted man was. He was careful to make sure he had greased them, they go faster that way, thoughthey are slippery.

"I'm not..(giggle) old. I'm...(giggle) ...twenty-six"

The cloud overhead slightly and slowly freed the sun's rays, sending them off the hole, descending downwards; hitting the two ninja and the giddy person hidden in shadows.

The light reflected on a shiny Konoha head protector to the far left. This seemed to relax them, as Sakura stopped whimpering and Naruto snorted.

"Hey, old man, what are you doing in this hole?" asked Naruto with a grin.

There was a faint snicker, nothing more. Naruto got annoyed and stood up. The pressure of not being answered was like a sin to his manhood. If you had a voice, you were not to be ignored. People that ignored each other were of a psychological insecurity. By neglection, you feel as if someone wants you to listen; thus you are needed. The children in Naruto's class- had they felt worthless, thus ignoring Naruto to make themselves feel better? No, that probably wasn't the case. Though Naruto didn't know now, he would. Someday, he would.

He had been ignored all his life...until he was a...No, he wasn't a ninja yet. The test was today! Haha, It mattered so much it wasn't funny, and didn't need a reason to be thought of. It mattered? He didn't want to think that deeply, but he did know he wasn't going to be brushed off by some weirdo, and he wasn't going to be laughed at, and he was going to pass the exams...hopefully. He was going to win Sakura over by protecting her...and he was going to be a ninja in doing so.

As stubborn as Naruto was, he still was afraid, so he knelt back down and waited for the light. This might be his first fight against a real opponent. He'd just wait for the sun to get to the right angle...and.. .

-

Sasuke opened his eyes and smelt that crisp air...But there was no crisp air, he was in his room! No...wait...

The boy flexed his fingers and met with solid, cold ground. Grass tickled his knees and a dog barked unconsciously in his afternoon slumber. The cicadas were strangely quiet. On a regular day they were uncontrollably loud and obnoxious. But today there were one or two screeching sounds per minute, nothing more. The wilderness was dead!

He could have sworn he was in his room, where the idiot and that other person left him. He told himself he had been sleepwalking, even though it may not have been entirely true. So, he lay there, and didn't quite get up. The sun was warm after all, why would he get up?

-

Sakura looked to the reverse side of the hole; her first thought at a time like this was to screech, even though the man was of "her kind". However, she could taste Naruto's dirty hand on her mouth, which muffled anything she tried to scream out to the invader and trespasser.

"Shh," Naruto whispered to her. If she made one move, he might attack, and a perfect defense was almost always a good offense. "I'll handle this," the blonde-haired boy muttered, looking straight. He wasn't really thinking why he said what he said. But the way it sounded to him, it was the right thing to say, at the least of course.

Amazing. He'd said exactly the right thing, at exactly the right time. This must be his lucky day. God had coughed in Naruto's cereal, and had relieved himself in his milk, thus, creating...good luck? A chance? There is a God!

Naruto drew out a kunai with a tremulous hand, and a body that seconded that motion. The atmosphere had grown colder, harsher, darker; the perverted old man in the corner had stopped his snickering. The tension was building, the suspense threatening. He couldn't stand it. The orange boy thrust himself into the air, kunai in hand.

Metal clashed with metal as the sun's stalling and clumsy rays ran down the tunnel. Naruto opened his eyes (they were closed) to see a second kunai forcing his away. The push was forceful, Naruto couldn't pull the throwing-knife back to his body, and it went, flinging somewhere to the left of the hole, de-bedding earth and a couple of stray weeds that lay there. His hand was still in air clasping the invisible knife, when he felt his feet relinquish the hold he had on the ground.

"What!" Naruto was "gently" thrown over to the other side of the hole, his orange suit scraped against the dirt floor until it reached the crusted wall with a thud.

The spikey-haired, 6 ft tall man stood up, adjusted his vest, and pulled his pants a little further down his waste, they were riding up, and it was getting a bit uncomfortable. A lazy pupil studied the faces of the two surprised Ninja that stared back at him, unbelieving. He sat back down and adjusted the head protector that covered nearly his whole face, like he was hiding something. He coughed once, and then stopped reading his book to wipe dirt from his underside.

The two Ninja watched the man, as if expecting him to justify his presence in the hole. But he didn't, and they stared at him with ardent confusion, their mouths open. Naruto pulled his pants farther up, shook his head, and stood up to look at the strange man... that had thrown him...with ease. Naruto turned his gaze to Sakura, who was staring back at him with a question:

How are we going to get out of a hole this deep!

Nothing could get Kakashi's eyes away from the book he was reading...besides a bunch of low life "Ninja" who couldn't get themselves out of a measly hole. They were crap from the roadside, thinking they could do something great, thinking they could even hold the name of ninja, even think about "shinobi". Maybe he was thinking to less of them. They were only small children, afterall.

He looked up from his book and said " Haha, a Ninja who cannot help himself is useless, and scarcely a ninja at all. Go home little lady (he said in Sakura's direction) and help with the cooking or take care of your Grandma. You can't possibly become a ninja. As for you..."

"But I don't have a Grandma...!"-

Kakashi's lazy gaze seemed harsher (turned to Naruto). The flicker in his eye had erased, meaningful pathos shown through the seal that was his mask. He put his book into a slip on his vest, while giving a good effort to ignore the accusing looks the 'others' gave him. Kakashi gave one last look at the two ninja before him, and did a two hand seal, leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke. It smelt like...anger...No, it was regret.

-

Sasuke sat at the edge of a tall Oak tree, which was close to the entrance of the Hospital. Its leaves were thick, no one would see him come, and no one would see him leave. It was a good price to pay, since he had carried his aching body across the Hospital 'campus'. If they had seen him like this, those overacting, underpaid secretaries would never let him leave. He didn't even know why he had bothered to climb this high. He was safe. No one would come and bother him.

Sasuke coughed as a thick white smoke collapsed around him, and disappeared to show a man that looked young, but had a useless flop of grey hair. The book he had used as a drug was still in his vest, though he had a calm look on his face. He didn't look like he was smiling, however. Kakashi reached out to Sasuke, and rocketed ninja style to the booming voice of Iruka, and the beginning of the end.

Thanks to understar-sama for beta reading and helping me do away with...my...writer's block (which isn't laziness...). Thanks to all the readers!

Note: I was going to have Kakashi say something like "It's cooler in the hole" When Naruto asked him why he was in the hole and hadn't gotten out. And you can see some of the favoritism Kakashi has over Sasuke in the later series and manga. I was also going to have Naruto say something about Kakashi having genital herpes under his mask, only to be punched by Sakura. She explains to him where genital herpes is...quietly...and them he nods and they continue. But, I was alittle afraid to do that.

Next Orange Day: Do Naruto and Sakura make it on time? Will Naruto be accepted as a Shinobi? And...Naruto still doesn't have a gift for Sakura. Sasuke get's bombarded with gifts, as usual. Naruto sneaks into Sasuke's house...and finds out some valuable information. And, how DO they get out of that hole?

Remember: Orange Revolution coming soon