Camp Konoha

Camp Konoha

Chapter 2

Naruto found himself staring at the hundreds and hundreds of large, old trees that covered all but the tiniest speck of the sky. He had never seen so many trees at once... It was nice and peaceful in a way.

The car stopped in front of a large wooden building built from logs. Wow... This place is huge! He thought, his eyes wide opened.

"Put your eyes back in your head and help already," Kakashi said, snapping Naruto out of his daze. Naruto scowled but complied and lifted out his huge duffle bag from the trunk of the car.

Suddenly, a huge, boisterous voice boomed out from the front of the car. Naruto looked up from where he was standing and saw a man with white spiky hair. He appeared to be older than Kakashi, though he seemed to be in great health. From the way his hair stood, Naruto would've guessed it was Kakashi's father, but the blond remembered vaguely about Kakashi saying his father was dead. The blond haired boy shrugged and stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Hey Kakashi! Good to see you again!" the man said.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama, good to see you too," Kakashi replied. "You haven't changed much."

"You haven't either Kakashi. Tell me, have you seen any pretty ladies lately?" Jiraiya asked, a sparkle in his eyes as a slightly ticked off Iruka stood to the side. Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Well... You know how it goes."

The old man turned towards Naruto and peered into his face. Naruto stood still - who was this old man... But most importantly, what was he doing in Naruto's face! Before he realized what he was doing, he aimed a punch in at the old geezer's face.

Expecting to feel the contact of his fists against Jiraiya's face, Naruto was slightly surprised to find his fist caught in a hand. The boy's scowl deepened.

"Ah... Naruto, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kakashi said, chuckling. "This is Jiraiya. He's the one who taught me how to fight - amongst other things."

Naruto looked at the old man suspiciously.

"GAAH! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THEN!" the blond suddenly shouted. Jiraiya blinked.

"What do you mean it's all my fault?" the old man asked, confused.

"It's all your fault that Kakashi is perverted!" Iruka's face reddened in embarrassment at his charge's words.

"Naruto! That isn't polite!"

"But it's true Iruka-sensei! It makes lots of sense!"

"Mah... well he might've rubbed off on me a bit," Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head. Iruka sighed. Naruto did have a point...

"So how has the camp been Jiraiya-sama?" Iruka asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's been great, great. Tsunade does most of the work in charge of that so I can have some fun," Jiraiya said, drooling slightly. Naruto blanched. "And not to mention, we have two guests from the famous Hyuuga family and one of the last survivors of the Uchiha family here. To have the heirs of two of the most famous families known for their martial combat here is very good for business."

"And how is Tsunade-sama?"

"Hahaha... She looks the same as ever. You know, plastic surgery can do wonders on a woman... And her breasts are still as large as ever! You'd never think she's really censored years old!"

Naruto felt a sense of foreboding.

A few minutes later, when a still slightly ticked off woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, but in truth was much older and a slowly healing Jiraiya were finished fighting, Iruka decided it would've been time if they got settled in.

"Well, we'll talk to you later," Iruka said, pitying the old, perverted man a bit. The three walked away a bit from the main lodge till they came to a forked path. "I guess we split here. I believe your cabin is Cabin #7, Naruto. The bell will ring in about an hour or so and we'll meet you back at the lodge." With that said, Iruka and Kakashi turned down a different path to where the staff slept, leaving Naruto and his duffle bag to face whatever fate had in store for him.

After a few minutes of walking, Naruto found his cabin. It was made of logs, like the main lodge and on the front was a large porch. The door was to the right and to the left of it was a large window. The door was opened, though the screen door was closed, as to not let any bugs in.

Approaching, Naruto heard voices from the inside of the cabin. Some of his roommates must already be here.

"It's a good thing we get to share a cabin together, Chouji," the first voice said.

"Yeah," another voice replied.

"It would've been troublesome otherwise."

Naruto opened the door and walked in to find two boys - one sprawled on the top of a bunk bed and the other sitting on the lower bunk, munching on some chips. The door creaked and the boy on the top sat up.

"Oi, so you're one of the other people."

Naruto blinked and nodded.

"I'm Chouji," the boy munching on the chips said. He was chubby with an odd hairstyle, but he did seem nice. "And this is my friend Shikamaru," the boy said, pointing to the other one above him.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the blond said, introducing himself. Then he looked around the inside of the cabin.

It was a basic, square shaped cabin. Against the left and right wall were to bunk beds - one of them already claimed by the two boys. Against the wall with the door was another bunk bed, however instead of a bed on the bottom bunk, there was a couch instead.

At the foot of each bunk bed except for the couch, was a chest with divided into two sections - one section to each person sleeping on the bunk. Between the two bunk beds against the left and right wall was a night stand and right at the top bunk level was a shelf.

Seeing as one of the bunk beds were already claimed and the bunk bed with the couch also had belongings on it, Naruto took the top bunk of the last remaining bed. Then, he proceeded to unpack his belongings.

Sasuke grumbled. He was definitely not pleased. Not only did he have to share a cabin with complete strangers. It would've been more preferable had he been able to share a cabin with Neji. And to make matters worse, some of his fan club members at school was here too! He scowled.

This was definitely not a good beginning to summer break.

Ignoring the person at check in, he gathered his bag and headed to where his cabin was.

"Cabin #7... Cabin #7..." he muttered, passing each cabin. Finally, he found the one he was supposed to stay in. Entering, he found three boys in there already. One of them looked familiar. He looked at the situation he was in and who the people he was going to be staying with for the next month. He frowned.

A fatty, a lazy ass… and… He smirked, realizing just who the blond haired boy was, and a dobe, he thought, just as Naruto pulled out a stuffed fox with nine tails from his duffle bag.

"Hello Kyuubi, sorry for stuffing you in there," the blond said, hugging the stuffed animal.

"How old are you, usuratonkachi, still sleeping with stuffed animals," the raven haired boy asked, a smirk on his face.

Naruto whipped his head around, shock on his face. The shock quickly faded away, leaving a deep scowl on his whiskered face.

"What the hell are you doing here? And I am not a total moron!" he shouted.

Sasuke was a bit surprised the boy understood what he had said in Japanese, however he ignored the blond and headed towards the lower bunk, not pleased with the fact that the blond would be sleeping right above him. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and Chouji chomped on his chips.

The screen door opened and the four boys turned to look. They were startled at the appearance of a girl. Perhaps she was lost? Naruto began to open his mouth to ask her if she was walking into the wrong cabin, but before he could say a word, the girl spoke.

"Ah, sorry I left you. I had an errand to run," the girl said, her voice soft and gentle. Noticing the expression on all four of her charges' faces, she laughed. It was soft and gentle like her voice and very soothing. "I'm not a girl, if what you're thinking."

The boys looked flabbergasted.

Haku laughed. He was used to this reaction. He didn't mind at all though. Once upon a time he might've been annoyed, but his appearance pleased his important person and to him that was all that mattered. "I'm Haku, and I'll be in charge of this cabin. If you guys have any problems or anything, then please feel free to ask me. So, let's have a name check, shall we?" he said, lifting up a clipboard.

"Alright... Nara Shikamaru?" Haku read the name.

"Yo," the lazy boy answered.

"Akimichi Chouji?"

"Here," Chouji replied, munching still. Haku laughed. "I don't mind you guys having food in here, just please be careful to not leave anything out of it's container and to always put it in the chests. Though there shouldn't be any bears around here, I don't want to take the chance with the bugs."

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Here!"

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Just a grunt was the reply. I see... One of those brooding types... This will be interesting, Haku thought to himself, with just a hint of a smile.

"Alright... So I guess I know who's who now. Since we have a few minutes, why don't we introduce ourselves? Let's say... Our ambitions, our likes, dislikes, where we go to school, etc." Haku sat down on his bed and Shikamaru sighed. "Who would like to go first?" the androgynous boy asked.

"Me, me!" Naruto shouted. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto and I'm 16 years old. I'll be 17 in October," he started.

"Could've fooled me," Sasuke muttered. Naruto glared.

"I love ramen! It's my favourite food! And my goal is to become the best at taijutsu! I've been practicing really hard with Kakashi-sensei. I didn't really want to come here, but since Kakashi-sensei was coming here to work, and so was Iruka-sensei, I didn't have much choice. Oh yeah, and I go to Winford High," the blond concluded.

Haku smiled. He was such an energetic boy. Naruto seemed to be full of life, and unless someone looked very closely, no one would've noticed the hint of sadness in his eyes. Haku had to admit; the mask that he kept was very good at hiding whatever secrets lying underneath that mask. He bet that underneath the mask, the blond hid something no one expected him to have.

"Just out of curiosity," Haku asked, "how did you get those scars?" Haku motioned towards the whiskered-like scars on Naruto's face.

Naruto blinked. "These? I don't really remember how I got them – guess I must've had them ever since I was baby," he answered.

"Alright, Sasuke? Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Uchiha Sasuke. 16 years old. I want to make my brother's life a living hell. Same school as the dobe," was all he said.

"Ok... Chouji?" Haku said, cutting off Naruto's protest of being called a dobe.

The chubby boy munched on a few chips. Then he spoke. "My name's Akimichi Chouji. I love any kind of food, but my favourite is barbeque. My best friend is Shikamaru and we've known each other since kindergarten. I go to Stanley High."

Haku smiled once more. This Chouji, he was a good soul. Haku could tell that he was loyal to his friend Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru?"

The lazy boy muttered a 'how troublesome'. "Name's Nara Shikamaru. 16 years old. I hate troublesome things. Like Chouji said, he's my best friend. I go to Silverton Academy."

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow at the last comment. Who would've guessed that the lazy boy was actually a genius? Silverton Academy was a famous school, known for its super intelligent students. Only the best was accepted in there. In fact, the rule that only the best could enter was so well kept that you couldn't even bribe the heads of the school.

"Well, I think I'll introduce myself, shall I? Then we can head towards the main lodge. My name is Haku. I've been working here for a long time now; I believe this will be my eighth year at this camp - " A bell rang, cutting Haku off. "Oops, well, I guess they rang the bell a bit earlier. Come on, let's go to the lodge now."

Grudgingly, the four boys followed Haku, walking back to the main lodge to face whatever was coming.

The moment Sasuke stepped into the lodge a shriek filled the air.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S SASUKE-KUN! AH! SASUKE-KUN!" a bunch of his fangirls began screaming excitedly. Sasuke wished the earth would swallow them up.

Naruto glared at the girls and then at Sasuke. Stupid Sasuke was always getting the girls' attention. What on earth was so good about him? It was always Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. Sasuke-kun is so good, Sasuke-kun is so cool… His stupid fan club had even added the Japanese suffix to the bastard's name. A scowl decorated the fox boy's face.

As everyone gathered into the lodge, the white haired man that Naruto had met before entered from a door at the side. Naruto glanced around. He hadn't really noticed his surroundings until now. The inside of the lodge was huge. It was rectangle shape. At one end of the lodge was sort of a place where you could sit down and chat with people. It had a few couches, a rug, a coffee table and a fireplace, though Naruto wondered why there was one - after all, during the summer you didn't really need one of those.

In the middle of the lodge were five long tables with twelve matching chairs per table. Perpendicular to them were two shorter tables, each sitting ten people. Some of the staff members were already seated there and Naruto spotted Iruka and Kakashi chatting, Iruka sporting a slightly blushing face. And then finally, at the opposite end was the kitchen, with a semi-wall and a counter dividing it from the dining area. It was a cozy place, decorated with a few flourishes here and there. On one wall was a large bulletin board with a few sheets of paper pinned there.

When everyone finally arrived to the lodge, the pervert that Kakashi had been talking to began to speak.

"Welcome to Camp Konoha! We've got a lot of great stuff planned for you guys. I hope you all have fun here..." And so Jiraiya proceeded to list all the regular stuff like the rules for the camp, stuff like 'no boys in the girls' cabins' or 'gotta be in bed after 11' and so forth. He listed where everything was, from the bathroom to the laundry room to the kitchen.

"... And finally, we have divided you guys into groups of three. These groups will be your teams. Each team is going to compete against each other to gain points. The team with the most points at the end of three weeks will receive something special. Check the bulletin board later to see which group you're in. Also, the itinerary for the days events will also be at the bulletin board." Jiraiya paused and looked at his watch. "Perfect, just enough time for lunch. Today, everyone can choose where they want to sit, however, tomorrow, you'll be sitting with your team." With

The air filled with people's voices, buzzing through the air. The sounds of people chatting with old friends and new friends, trying to find a place to sit could be heard.

Sasuke simply picked the farthest table and plopped down on a chair in a corner, so that he only had to worry about one person sitting next to him. However, the moment his butt touched the seat, a dozen of girls rushed up to his table, begging eagerly for the privilege to sit near the Ice Prince. Sasuke glared at them, hoping they'd go awake. Feeling Sasuke's glare, he girls hesitated and slowly sat down at nearby tables.

Smirking, Neji sat down next to the pale skinned boy. The shy Hinata, not knowing where else to go, sat next to him.

"Eh? Hinata? What are you doing here?" Naruto said, seeming to appear from nowhere. The Hyuuga girl blushed and before she could reply Naruto asked, "Is anyone sitting here?"

Hinata shook her head and Naruto plopped down beside her. Hinata went to his school, and shared some of his classes. She was one of the few people he could actually stand at school, and one who was nice to him. Then again, the shy girl was nice to everyone.

Across from Naruto, Chouji sat down, followed by Shikamaru. Then a boy Naruto didn't recognize sat down next to Chouji. He had two triangular tattoos running down his face, and had short, rough hair.

"I'm Kiba," he introduced himself. A pink haired girl sat in front of Sasuke. She looked nervous about sitting there, leaving a seat between herself and Shikamaru.

"Uh... You don't mind me sitting here do you?" she asked, glancing at Sasuke. The boy just grunted in response.

"Ah! Sakura, there you are! I was wondering where you went off to," a blond girl said to Sakura. Not caring about what other people thought, she plopped down in the empty seat. "I'm Ino," she introduced herself to no one in particular.

"Tch, how troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. There were so many people.

"Neji! What are you doing here?" A brunette with cute features appeared. Her hair was done up in two buns on her head. Seeing there weren't very many empty spots near Neji, at his table, she sat at the next one so that she was back to back with him.

"Ten-Ten," the Hyuuga boy greeted politely. Her parents knew his Aunt and Uncle and so she knew Neji. But that didn't mean Neji liked her. Then again, Neji didn't know enough people well enough to actually like them. He could count on one hand all the people that he actually liked with some to spare.

Three people sat down at their table. One of them wore a black hoodie and bore purple markings on his face. The other was a blond girl who looked like she shouldn't be messed with. Then again, all three of them bore that look. But it was the last one that looked the most menacing. He had blood red hair and sharp, emerald green eyes. Black eyeliner surrounded his eyes, making them look haunting. On his forehead was the Japanese character for 'love'. On anyone else, it might've looked ridiculous, but on him... He wore tight mesh clothing and the aura around him was dangerous and dark... But it was also appealing in a way...

Sitting down next to Naruto, the red head said nothing. The girl sat next to him while the other guy sat across from her, filling the table. A tension seemed to appear and an awkward silence seemed to settle over them.

Then Naruto broke it. He turned towards the new three and said: "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What's your name?" It was said in such a simple and childish way that it threw the newcomers off.

The boy with the hoodie smirked. "I'm Kankuro, brat."

Naruto seethed. "I'm not a brat."

A smirk came from Sasuke's end of the table. "That's debatable, usuratonkachi."

"Shut up, bastard!"

Naruto returned to Kankuro and sent him a glare. Turning to the two next to him, he asked the same question again.

"Temari," the girl replied nonchalantly, "And that's my brother Gaara next to you," she said, pointing towards the redhead. Gaara said nothing. He just stared at the bottle of ketchup on the table, along with the mustard, relish, onions, cut up tomatoes, processed cheese and pickles.

"My favourite colour is red. It reminds me of blood," the red head said, out of the blue. Naruto gave him a weird look. What's his problem?

Soon, each table were called up individually to get their food. For lunch they were having hamburgers, which explained all the stuff on the tables.

It was a really weird meal - not because of the food they ate. The food itself was good, but rather because of the people at the table. Needless to say, it was very awkward and the conversation was very limited, which suited most people there just fine.

Yeah... Welcome to Camp Konoha my ass... So much for fun... Naruto thought to himself. He wondered if this was what the whole time was gonna be like... If it was...

Naruto groaned inwardly to himself.