Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be here, ne?

Author's blabbering: Here's chappie 5… I'm quite in a hurry right now so I'll just answer your reviews in the next chappie… I've still got to run to UP or else my professor will bite my head again! See ya and I hope you like this one!

CHAPTER 5: DAY 3 – COUNCILS, CONSPIRACIES AND CONFLICTS

Sakura was sleeping peacefully, snuggled under her blanket. It was already the morning of the third day; the tribal council day as it is often called, but some people of the Sharingan team, namely Hinata, Sakura and Chouji, were still fast asleep under their, well, shed. The sun was just rising above the horizon, slowly transforming the lavender sky into pale mixture of pink and orange. It was just another beautiful day when…

"SASUKE! YOU BASTARD!"

The pink-haired kunoichi bolt up awake from her makeshift bed, a kunai in one hand. Hinata, who was lying beside her, was awake as well, a worried look on her face. Sakura stood up and rushed outside with Hinata hot on her heels, only to find…

"SASUKE-TEME! YOU BETTER PUT ME DOWN OR I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!"

Sakura sweatdropped at the situation in front of them. Naruto was hanging on his heel on a high tree branch by a thick rope. She assumed it was a trap for a chicken or any animal that happened to trespass their beach. Unwittingly, Naruto accidentally treaded on it and was caught in the trap. Yet, he was too high up in a tree…it was impossible to think it was made for a chicken. And, much to Naruto's overwhelming anger, Sasuke was out of the picture.

"I DOUBT THAT WAS FOR THAT CURSED CHICKEN!" The Kyuubi continued to shout, not minding if Sasuke was there or not. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU EVEN HANG A CHICKEN HIGH UP IN A TREE! IT'S JUST A CHICKEN!"

Sakura felt a hand clutch her red shirt and looked down at Hinata with inquiring eyes. "What's up, Hinata-chan?"

"W-Will Naruto-kun be all right?" the timid kunoichi asked faintly. twiddling her fingers, "What happens when he suddenly falls?"

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan!" Lee, who stood beside Sakura, assured her smilingly. "Naruto would never get hurt just because of a fall. He's too strong for that."

Sakura grinned. "Yeah, that's right," she told the Hyuuga. "And besides, Kakashi-sensei always does that to him during training or whenever he tries to steal the bento for lunch!" Of course, Hinata was still anxious and skeptic.

Naruto was still screaming for the lost Uchiha and no one made a move to even release him from the trap. Kankuro was muttering something about some idiots who didn't look where they're going. Lee was with Kankuro, enthusiastically catching fish or other seafood for their breakfast at the nearby lagoon. Chouji had just woken up by Naruto's constant naggings, complaining on how hungry he was, while Sakura and Hinata were trying to make fire for their food.

Soon, Sasuke came out of the forest carrying an armful of wood for their fire. Naruto started his screaming session again (his throat never gets sore from all that shouting) on 'red-eyed bastards who have nothing to do but kill people from his miserable past'. The Sharingan-user glanced up at his well-made, foolproof trap and smirked.

"I guess my trap worked after all," he sneered before going to Sakura and Hinata and giving them the wood.

"LET ME DOWN! LET ME DOWN! LET ME—oof!"

They all turned at the sound of a falling Naruto and found Jiraiya (who was probably sent by the Hokage to check on the shinobis) standing beside the crumpled Chuunin. He had apparently just cut the rope that was tied on the large tree. The sennin kicked the blond boy on his side lightly as if checking him for vital signs or anything. The group, except for Hinata who rushed back to the shed, ignored them and went back to their work.

Sakura glanced at Hinata who had just come out of their shelter with the familiar medicine container in her hands while Sasuke performed hand seals and summoned a Katon jutsu. "Hinata's really worried about Naruto, isn't she?" She observed as the girl gave the medicine shyly to Naruto, who was berating Jiraiya for not catching him. Of course, the sennin's reaction to the young kunoichi's actions was a loud whoop and whistle.

Sasuke followed her gaze and snorted. "Hinata's blind," he said shortly.

"No, she's not," the pink-haired shinobi replied, throwing a few twigs into the now-roaring fire. She guessed it was expecting too much when she hoped Sasuke would reply mildly on the situation. "She just sees something in Naruto that we ourselves can't."

"Yeah, like what?"

Sakura frowned at him but said nothing. She obviously couldn't enumerate at least one trait. Well, probably his determination and cheerfulness… but that was about it! She couldn't think of anymore. So, instead of pointing out what was right with the Hyuuga heiress's choice, she said something that deeply wounded the Uchiha avenger's pride and ego.

"You know, instead of asking what Hinata-chan sees in Naruto," she started, her voice stained with acid. "Maybe I should just ask myself what I see in you." With that, she stood up and strode over to Lee and Kankuro who were holding several crabs and a few fishes.

Sasuke watched the retreating figure of the kunoichi with a scowl. What the hell did she mean by that last statement of hers? That he wasn't worthy and good enough for her now? Was she, for the first time in Uchiha Sasuke's life, walking out of it for good?

Apparently yes. Perhaps she'd had enough of your arrogance towards her already…

At the Byakugan Team…

Neji crabbily rubbed his aching backside with a soft growl. He was sitting on top of the slanted roof of their house, watching the sunrise, when a loud familiar scream tore through the cool crisp morning air, startling and catching him off guard from his meditation. As a result, he lost his balance and fell on the sand, bottom first, with a loud thud. He swore to make the Kyuubi suffer next time they see each other.

From a distance, he could make out Shino's figure, seated on the soft white sand, meditating as well. Like him, the young Aburame heir had also woken up early and quietly meditated.

"You know, Hyuuga—"

"It's too early to pick a fight, Temari," the Hyuuga prodigy said flatly without even glancing at her. "And whatever it is, I'm not interested."

"Chill out, Hyuuga," the blonde Sand Nin replied dismissively. "As you've said, it's too early to pick a fight."

"Hn."

The two shinobis stopped and listened to the shouts coming from the other side of the island. It definitely sounded like Naruto cursing and calling Sasuke all sorts of epithets and colorful words. Temari smirked for a minute or two, listening to the idiot blab something about 'the trap made not for a chicken'. After a while, they heard a loud, echoing thud and the two deduced that Naruto must've fallen somewhere since more of his loud shrieks could be heard throughout the island, this time, directed towards a certain Jiraiya.

"What the hell was that dobe shouting this early?" Kiba had just stepped out of the house, his hair looking like untamed grass. Temari bit her tongue to refrain herself from laughing at the bed-headed Inuzuka heir. As Neji had said earlier, it's too early to pick a fight.

Next was Shikamaru, still yawning widely and grumbling darkly under his breath. "What a nice alarm clock! 'Sasuke you bastard'! How enlightening…"

"The dobe is having a fit again, I'm sure," Kiba remarked sarcastically, turning to the only girl in the group, Temari. "Hey, what's for breakfast?"

"How about a knuckle sandwich?" Temari raised a slim pale eyebrow at him disdainfully. "Why don't you fix your own food?"

The Inuzuka heir stalked away darkly to Shino who had finally gotten up from his meditating position and was building a small fire for their food. Shikamaru followed him, lying down on the sand and starting his favorite hobby: cloud watching!

"It's too early for Naruto to be making this much noise," Tenten grumbled as she stepped out of the house, winding her long wavy hair into a single bun at the back of her head. "He must've fallen into another ditch or something!"

"Oi, Ino!" Shikamaru had abandoned his cloud-watching spot and was shouting at the house, picking up rocks and tossing it at the window. "Wake up! Ino! Wake up! You still have to cook our breakfast!" At the mention of breakfast, Kiba started throwing rocks enthusiastically at the window as well.

"Shut up, the both of you!" Ino screeched, opening the window and dodging a rock courtesy of Kiba. "I'll get you for that, fur ball! And for your information, Nara Shikamaru, I was already awake! I was just brushing my teeth for God's sake!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Shikamaru waved a hand dismissively. "We're starving here. Can't you hurry up?"

Ino, the furious blonde of Konoha, started picking up things from inside the house which included a pair of chairs, a table and Shikamaru's pack, and threw them out the window, "You lazy bum! Why don't you fix your own food?" she screamed as the dark-haired shinobi dodged the falling pieces of furniture. "Or better yet, why don't you ask your arm extension to do it for you?"

Temari shrugged her shoulders gracefully. "I'm busy. Why don't you ask Tenten?"

"Sorry, I've got another training session, ne, Neji?" Tenten smiled at him, her fangs bared. The Hyuuga prodigy raised an eyebrow at her, "Come now, Neji-chan! I'm sure the guys would call us, right?" She glanced at Temari who was now directing the boys to different jobs such as cleaning the food, chopping and cooking.

"I'll have dog boy call you," Temari said, not even glancing at them. Kiba glared at her from his position near the fire Shino made. "What? You have a problem there?"

Tenten grinned at her and then proceeded to drag the stoic Hyuuga into the forest that looked more like a jungle. After they had gone, Kiba nudged Shino with his elbow.

"What do you think they're going to do there?" the Inuzuka heir whispered conspiratorially but was promptly hit by a rock on the head, courtesy of Temari. He looked around furiously. "What the hell was that for?"

"For gossiping with Shino," the girl replied flatly, placing her elbows on her knees and cupping her chin. Another boring day!

"We'll be safe for another three days…" Tenten said, throwing a few kunais and impaling a large tree trunk. "I wonder who's going to be eliminated from the other group."

"I'm wishing it's Uchiha," Neji replied flatly. He was seated on top of a tree branch, observing the kunoichi from above. "He's such an arrogant prick."

Tenten chuckled. "Look who's talking."

The Hyuuga ignored her last remark for her safety. "I really pity Haruno," he continued in his flat, emotionless voice. "All this time she was waiting for a bastard to change only to be constantly pushed aside. And the ironic part of that, she always keeps coming back. I don't understand her."

"Maybe she sees something in Sasuke that we can't," she replied, spinning a kunai around her finger. "That's why she never gave up on him."

"Women only fall for men because of their looks and their talents," Neji countered. "What else would there be?"

"Not all of us are like that," Tenten said softly, tugging her kunai from the tree. "I, for one, am not looking for a good-looking guy. I need someone gentle and kind but strong and protective at the same time." She grinned up at him. "And if he's good-looking, well, that's a bonus, ne?"

Neji folded his arms across his chest in defiance, "Hn."

"You know," Tenten continued a gentle smile on her face. "I kinda understand what Sakura feels right now… being shunned away by the guy she likes…"

"Really?" He raised a slim eyebrow at her warily. "And why is that?"

Tenten chuckled even more. "I told you, you should get yourself a love life," she remarked. "So then maybe you could finally understand what's happening around you."

Neji snorted. "That's not possible."

"Sure it is!" the weapons specialist replied cheerfully. "As for Sakura, I'm sure she knows what she's doing. Maybe she's finally seeing hope in Sasuke. Well, in my case, I haven't seen progress yet."

"Really?" Neji asked again, jumping from the branch and landing on his feet gracefully. He took a step towards her. "Who is this guy anyway?"

Tenten let out a nervous laugh. "Why do you want to know Neji?"

"I'm just curious," he replied evenly. "You've mentioned yourself twice; did you realize that? First, that you understand what Haruno was feeling, being shunned away by Uchiha. Next, that you haven't seen any progress in that guy's personality whilst Haruno must've seen something in Uchiha."

"Well, it's true! I mean, he's so impassive and quiet and pensive," Tenten was now stammering as Neji continued to advance on her. She took a step back. "And he's always pushing me away because he thinks I'm a bother and all— Why am I saying this to you, Neji?"

Neji smirked at her. "Is it Shino?"

Tenten gaped at him. "Shino?" She repeated before bursting out, laughing. "The guy's a year younger than me, for goodness' sake!"

"Then who—"

"Oi! Tenten! Hyuuga!" Kiba's voice echoed throughout the forest. "Breakfast's ready!"

The chestnut-haired girl let out an inward sigh of relief, then grinned at Neji, who looked annoyed for being interrupted like that. "C'mon, they're all waiting for us!" she said, slapping a hand on his shoulder and following him back to their beach.

When they met Kiba at the edge of the forest, Neji growled at him quietly when he passed by him, throwing a death glare for emphasis. Tenten, on the other hand, playfully slapped the Inuzuka heir on the back with a loud laugh.

"You saved me there, Kiba! Thanks!" She then skipped to the brooding Hyuuga and patted his shoulder consolingly.

Kiba looked confused. "Really, Tenten? What did I do?"

Sasuke folded his arms across his chest, a scowl on his face, as he sat under their, well, shed. He could still remember what Jiraiya had told him. Anyone could get eliminated. Even you, Sasuke, as the leader. He could be eliminated, but he can't be! He did most of the thinking here, aside from Sakura.

Right, Sakura…

You know, instead of asking what Hinata-chan saw in Naruto, maybe I should just ask myself what I see in you.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He couldn't believe Sakura, of all people, had told him that. And right on his face! Didn't she like him? Everyone knew her devotion towards him, right? Where was it now?

"Oi, Uchiha!"

He glared up at Kankuro who had just come back with Lee from the forest. The taijutsu master was carrying an armful of fruits and laid them on the sand in front of the girls. The Uchiha heir growled when Sakura brightly thanked Lee for the fruits.

"You know, that's called jealousy," Kankuro commented, raising an apprehensive brow at the onyx-eyed Uchiha. "And it could eat you up."

"What do you know?" he snapped irately.

"I have a sister, in case you haven't noticed," the puppet master replied pointedly. Sasuke glared at him. "Anyway, I reckon we should think about who we should eliminate tonight."

"What?"

Kankuro rolled his eyes. Is this prodigy for real or what? "I said, we should think about who we should eliminate tonight."

Sasuke snorted, "It's the dobe. Case closed."

"It's not that simple, you know," the Sand Nin said. "We could use the idiot's strength when it comes to physical combats. I'm sure there'd be several ones like that since this is, after all, a survival mission."

The Uchiha prodigy stared at him, an eyebrow raised in amusement and curiosity. "Indulge me."

"All right," Kankuro replied, folding his arms across his chest. "We can't eliminate the Hyuuga girl as well since she'll be handy on night missions with her Byakugan. Lee can't be eliminated because of his speed. We might be able to use it during races. Sakura is invaluable too since she's smart. She can be our strategist, you know."

"So that leaves you, me and Chouji," Sasuke said, now smirking at him. "I can't be eliminated since I am the leader." Kankuro sweatdropped at this. He didn't know that being a leader means having immunity as well. "While you and Chouji…"

"Hey! I can do something too!" the puppet master protested. No way was he going to be eliminated first! "Besides, won't you need a Jounin?"

"So that leaves…"

The two shinobis looked sharply at Chouji who was munching on a whole watermelon; beside him were several consumed fruits such as apples, oranges, pineapples and melons. The target has been spotted. Sasuke and Kankuro nodded in understanding.

"Right, and to add, he's the only guy, aside from me that hasn't got a love life or a partner in this group!" Kankuro said with an evil smirk.

"Lee hasn't got one either," Sasuke pointed out.

"Sure, Sakura doesn't like him but…" Kankuro grinned evilly as he pointed at the green-clad shinobi doing a lame fruit juggling in front of the girls. Much to the avenger's annoyance, the pink-haired kunoichi was laughing light-heartedly. "See? I sense a love polygon here!"

"Hey, what the hell do you—"

"Hey! Look what I caught!"

Naruto came into Sasuke and Kankuro's view, dragging a large wild boar from the forest. Lee, carefully putting down the fruits back on the sand, went to help him, carrying the boar effortlessly in his arms then dumping it somewhere near their shelter. Sasuke eyed Naruto who was chatting brightly with Sakura and Hinata, probably boasting on how he caught the large pig by himself.

"So, you still want to eliminate the dobe?" Kankuro grinned at their 'supposed' team leader.

"Hn."

"So, it's Chouji now, isn't it?"

Sasuke glared at him but thought of his proposition. They needed to win the next challenge, so they had to eliminate a liability. Sure, the portly guy can be industrious when called for, but you have to bribe him first with food, which happened to be scarce on the island. Of course, he didn't want to betray a Leaf shinobi again. He was trying to get on the good side… but what the heck!

"…Fine, I'll talk with the others before the council starts."

"We've got one whole day of rest and relaxation," Shikamaru sighed happily as he lay on the soft white sand of the beach under the shade of a palm tree, staring at the white clouds floating in the sky. "Hey, that looks like a kunai… And that one a fan…"

He stayed there, looking very relaxed and not caring what the others were doing around him. He didn't care whether Neji was drowning Kiba for commenting on his white jacket or Shino was actually humming an unfamiliar tune as he sat on a large boulder sticking out of the sea. He didn't care that the girls were swimming, splashing seawater happily and that Jiraiya was peeking from behind their house. He didn't care that Temari just whacked the old sannin with her fan, sending him back to the yacht where he belonged. He didn't care about anything at all… except the clouds, that is.

That moment of peacefulness lasted for about a few minutes only though…

A loud half-shriek, half-laugh made him sit up and look at the damage. There was none actually. Well, except for a pissed off Neji who looked like an axe murderer that just came out of the sea with his drenched black hair sticking to his face and some seaweed draped around his shoulders. It was really hilarious, except for one thing: A pissed off Hyuuga Neji is never hilarious. Only Tenten was openly laughing at the soaked prodigy. It must've been her who pushed the pale-eyed boy into the waters.

Shikamaru decided to lie back down, not wanting to get involve in Neji's killing spree.

"Mind if I join you?"

The dark-haired shinobi glanced at voice then shrugged. "I'm surprised that you even asked, Ino."

"Oh, shut up!" the blonde replied petulantly, winding her long ponytail into a bun at the back of her head. "I just don't want to get wet any further."

Shikamaru nodded wordlessly. Typical Ino.

They both watched Neji dunk the weapons specialist underwater, holding her shoulders to push her down. Of course, it only lasted for a few seconds when Tenten decided to swing a leg below the water, catching Neji's leg without warning and toppling him back to the sea. The kunoichi broke the surface of the water, a malicious grin on her face. Her buns had fallen down and her hair was neatly brushed up by the water behind her back.

"Are they… training?" Ino asked in disbelief as Neji delivered a roundhouse from below the water, aimed for Tenten's head. The kunoichi dodged it effortlessly.

The lazy shinobi briefly looked at the two ninjas before resuming his cloud-watching position. "Yep, they're training all right!"

Ino sighed. "Why don't you try to be like Neji once in a while?" she said slowly. "You know, train with me and Chouji or something."

"I'm too busy."

"Busy what? Watching clouds?" she snapped, pulling her knees to her chest. She watched Tenten jumping into the air and pulled a few kunais, before launching them at Neji who was still standing in the waist-deep water. "Training won't kill you, you know."

"Yeah, but it'd waste my supposed-to-be cloud-watching time," he responded matter-of-factly and Ino smacked him on the head. "Ow! Not so hard! You are so troublesome!"

The blonde Leaf kunoichi placed her hands under her chin and pressed her lips together. "It's really rare for us to sit down like this and talk about pointless stuffs," she started, tracing patterns on the sand with a finger. "With you always being sent to missions or me being sent by Tsunade-sama to escort different daimyos…"

"Well, that's life we chose," he replied. "The life of a ninja."

"Actually…" Ino cleared her throat softly and Shikamaru threw an inquiring look at her. "I was thinking of retiring after a few years."

The shinobi raised an eyebrow at her before cracking a wry smile. "That's a good one, Ino."

"No, seriously," she said, shaking her head. "I'm really getting tired of this running-around stuff. Or maybe I'd just follow Iruka-sensei. You know, become a teacher."

"I doubt the kids would like that," Shikamaru said with a chuckle. "After all, they need someone as kind and gentle as Iruka-sensei," That earned him another whack on the head. "Ow! You are so troublesome, Ino! Get a life!"

"I already have one, thank you!"

The dark-haired shadow master snorted. "Retiring… You'd miss the action and adventure soon enough… Why'd you even think something as foolish?"

"Because," she started again irritably. "I want to get married."

"Get married?" he echoed disbelievingly.

Ino grinned. "That's right! I want to get married with Uchiha Sasuke!" she declared. "So I can't become a kunoichi any longer. If we got married and we're both ninjas, who'd take care of the kids? I mean, something might—Shikamaru, are you all right? Why are you choking like that?" She helped him sit up and gently pound on his back.

Of course, nothing was wrong with Shikamaru. It was just too much information for him. Way too much information!… Especially about Ino and Uchiha.

Later that sunset at the Sharingan Team…

Sakura peered warily over Naruto's shoulders to see Chouji who was busy munching bananas while talking nonchalantly to Kankuro. She then frowned at Sasuke who was waiting for a reaction of some sort, "We're actually plotting to kick Chouji out of the group," she repeated coolly, "How much more evil can you get?"

The dark-haired Uchiha glared at her, "I am not evil!" he retorted, "If I'm evil, then what do you call my brother? A saint?"

"I thought you wanted to kick him!" Sakura hissed, pointing at Naruto who looked blankly at them.

"Well, that was my plan first," Sasuke replied and Naruto let out a strangled protest. Hinata obviously calmed him down, "But then, I thought of the pros and cons of kicking dobe out of the group. I realized that we could use the dobe's strength when it comes—"

"So you finally admitted I'm strong!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pointing a somewhat accusing, somewhat disgracing finger at him.

Sasuke glared at him, "Shut up, I didn't say you were strong! I just commented that you have a strength that we could use to our advantage!" he spat angrily. "That doesn't mean you're strong already! Actually, we could do better without you in the group!"

"What?" Lee and Hinata had to restrain the fuming Kyuubi from attacking and mortally wounding the Uchiha heir.

"So, where was I…? Ah, right!" He glared once more at the blond boy. "Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted by an idiot over there—" Naruto growled at him. "—I was thinking of the different pros and cons of eliminating each one. And unfortunately, Chouji has more pros on elimination. Not only is he almost physically unfit, he also need constant feeding, which is a really difficult job for us since the food here is scarce—"

"DON'T WORRY! I, ROCK LEE, SHALL FIND AND PROVIDE YOU WITH ALL THE FOOD YOU NEED!" Lee struck his Good Guy pose, complete with a thumb up and a bright, toothy grin. "I SHALL NOT LET YOU DOWN!"

"Ah, er, that's nice, Lee," Sakura said tentatively and the taijutsu master swelled with pride. She cleared her throat, "Why can't we eliminate you then, Sasuke-kun?"

The young man stared at her like she just asked something very obvious, "I'm the leader," he replied flatly.

"Ah, yes," the pink-haired kunoichi said, a wry grin on her face. "Your ego got in the way again, hasn't it?"

Hinata winced at her words. So did Sasuke inwardly. That was strike two for Haruno Sakura! What the heck was she playing at anyway?

"Anyway…" Sasuke cleared his throat again, hoping to dissolve most of the tense atmosphere. "Do I get myself clear?"

"…No," Sakura replied flatly, rising to her feet. "I still think it's unfair for Chouji to just conspire like that against him. I'll vote whoever I want to vote," And before Sasuke or anyone could react, she gazed pointedly at the clearing near their shelter. "I think Kakashi-sensei is summoning us already."

The Sharingan Team followed Kakashi into the forest through an unused deer trail; torches in their hands. Sakura was still avoiding Sasuke, walking at the back of the group with Chouji and Kankuro while he stood at the front, just behind Kakashi.

Hinata was jumping every now and then at the slightest noise. Of course, she was deeply terrified of things that crawl, hiss and bite. But she did shriek quite loudly when Lee suddenly turned around to her, his torch just below his chin. That gave the young heiress a fright, seeing a face like that especially in the dark.

"You know, we shouldn't be afraid of anything we can see," Kakashi said from up front, his nose buried in his very graphic book. "We should be afraid of things we can't see."

At the mention of that, Hinata suddenly stopped in her tracks, her knees too weak for her to move. She was clearly afraid now. Naruto, sensing the girl's distress, started berating his teacher for trying to frighten Hinata. Kakashi just chuckled at the boy's reaction.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned toothily at her. "I'll make sure no snake comes and bite you!"

"Th-Thank you, N-Naruto-kun," the pale-eyed heiress said, a gentle smile on her features.

"Hey!" Kankuro called loudly from behind. "Stop flirting and get moving, you two! The trail isn't that large, you know!"

Hinata blushed to the tips of her hair and started shuffling behind Lee. She blushed even more when she felt Naruto place a protective hand on the smallest of her back as if to assure her. She was glad she wasn't on the same team with Neji or else her older cousin would've threatened to cut off Naruto's hand by now.

They finally arrived at a clearing very deep inside the jungle. A bonfire was lit in the middle and three logs surrounded it on its three sides. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune and Gaara were seated on director's chairs in front of the fire while the other Jounins stood behind them, looking very bored.

A table was set up a bit farther from the clearing with a small box on top. Two torches stood on each of its side. Asuma was there, as if guarding the box, with a small video camera in his hands. He was in charge of taking the comments of the players and recording them after they had written their 'candidate'.

But what really made the shinobis' jaws drop was the very out-of-place candles, cushions and silk sashes hanging around them like some desert ruler tent. It sure looked out of place in a jungle like that but then, Gaara didn't mind.

"I didn't know the real Survivor show had all these candles and cushions in their set," Sakura commented flatly.

Jiraiya looked at her reproachfully, "No!" he replied sulkily. "I designed it myself! To give that romantic feeling…" The younger shinobis sweatdropped. Okay, what was the meaning of the word 'romantic' in Jiraiya's dictionary again?

After the Chuunins (and Jounin, in Kankuro's case) had warily settled down on the logs (their torches were planted on the forest floor behind them), Tsunade stood up. Then Gaara stood up as well. Of course, the Hokage didn't remark on this. No one questions the Kazekage. Case closed.

"So… We have bad news…" Tsunade announce, clearing her throat.

"What? We're all going to be eliminated?" Sasuke asked sourly.

The Hokage threw a very unreadable gaze at the prodigy before moving on. "No, you won't be eliminated. Well, we just decided that—"

"Get on with it, baa-san!" Naruto said loudly, earning a whizzing kunai from Tsunade herself.

"I am 'getting on' with it!" the blonde Hokage muttered through gritted teeth. She cleared her throat again. "Well, Asuma and Kurenai just pointed out to me earlier that if we start the elimination tonight, we might not finish the mission at exactly 39 days."

"Won't that be better?" Sakura asked, clearly confused. "We'd finish this mission early so we could go back home."

"No," the legendary kunoichi answered sharply and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, "We're following the system here—"

"You mean the system of Survivor," the Uchiha prodigy cut her off rudely.

Tsunade fought the urge to impale the insolent boy to a tree and leave him there for who-knows-what to find him. But then, Sasuke is one of her prized shinobi, aside from Naruto, Neji, Sakura, Shikamaru, Tenten, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Chouji and Ino. Prized shinobi, yeah right! She nearly lost him to her former 'teammate-turned-snake' without any resistance whatsoever! Actually, the boy even went there himself! So much for prized shinobi!

"Yes, Sasuke, if you want to put it that way, then fine!" she replied tetchily. "So… where was I…? Ah, right! Well, the bad news is…" Tsunade paused for that cliffhanger effect. Of course, the kids played along, pretending to hold their breaths or something. "…No one's going to be eliminated."

There was complete silence… Then…

"Yahoo! I won! I won! I won!" Lee started to dance a victory dance of some kind around the fire. The group sweatdropped at him. The group even sweatdropped some more when Gai decided to join his favorite student, bellowing something about youthful passion leads to a wonderful victory. "I won!"

Tsunade nodded at Gaara who lazily let all his sands loose and enclose the two green-clad idiots inside a sand cage. "I knew this might happen so I asked the Kazekage-sama to help me," she informed the frozen shinobis with a wide grin. Okay, rule number one to live a long life: Never dance in front of the Kazekage.

"Okay… So what's the bad news?" Sakura asked. She actually didn't get the last part since it didn't sound like a bad news.

Tsunade raised a slim pale eyebrow at her, "That's the bad news… No one gets eliminated."

"Ah…" Sakura nodded in sheer understanding and wryness. "Then why the heck did you even have to summon us in the middle of nowhere? You could've just sent Kakashi-sensei to tell us the news!"

"Nah," Kakashi said with a sheepish smile. "Then it wouldn't be exciting, would it?"

Sasuke and Sakura threw an exasperated glare at their sensei. If Gai is out of his mind, then Kakashi is out of this world. Hinata, on the other hand, looked relieved. At least they didn't need to eliminate Chouji, Naruto or anyone for that matter. Naruto also looked relieved for now he didn't have to go!

"So… that would be all for tonight!" Tsunade announced as the older Nins all stood up from their seats.

The Jounins waved at them goodbye then they all disappeared in a large puff of smoke that sounded like a small explosion. When the smoke had cleared and the shinobis had stopped coughing because of too much smoke, they were all gone. Including the elaborate set, bonfire and everything. The only things that were left were their torches. And the logs.

"That was a neat goodbye!" Kankuro scoffed as he absently pounded the back of a coughing, gagging taijutsu master. "Hey, you okay?"

Sasuke folded his arms across his chest, a mixture of a scowl, a frown, a grimace and a scorn on his facial expression. "Let's just go back."

"We just wasted our time!" Naruto exclaimed petulantly. "We could've been eating by now!"

"Naruto's right!" Chouji agreed, still munching on another set of bananas.

Sakura sighed inwardly in relief. At least her conscience wouldn't eat her alive for even trying to kick out an innocent member of their team.

So much for the tribal council!

"Hinata-chan!"

The young kunoichi looked around her shoulder, a small smile gracing her child-like features. She was seated in front of their roaring fire, holding her knees against her chest, gazing at the dancing flames. It was almost midnight, she deduced, since the sky was already very dark, dotted with twinkling stars.

"Did you have a bad dream?" the blond Kyuubi asked her brightly. She shook her head, burying it in her arms. "Oh? You just couldn't sleep?" She nodded wordlessly. "Is something bothering you?" She shook her head again. "Hinata-chan!"

"W-What is it, N-Naruto-kun?" she stammered anxiously, looking up at him.

The boy threw her a fox-like grin and patted her shoulder gently. "I thought you'd gone mute!" he said jokingly; Hinata nearly face-faulted at that. "Just kidding! I just want to see you smile!"

She smiled at him sweetly. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."

They sat there in silence, the crickets chirping around them, the flame crackling and the sea softly hitting the sand. It was really amazing that Naruto could actually sit quietly for a few minutes. But then, Hinata was there. He must've thought the girl needed some peaceful time. That's when the gods of Konoha decided to make a very cold but gentle breeze blow over the cute couple. Hinata shivered slightly. She left her jacket back at the shelter. She didn't think it would be that cold.

"Ah, Naruto-kun…" She started fiddling her thumbs again. "I-I'm just going back t-to the tent… I-I'll just get m-my jacket…"

"Nah!" The boy brightly grinned at her before placing his orange jacket around her shoulders. Hinata blushed madly, her face resembling a sweet, ripe strawberry. "You can just stay here!"

"D-Demo Naruto-kun…" She could notice the goose bumps on his arms. "Y-You're also cold…"

"I'm okay—" But even before he could protest any further, Hinata shook her head and decided to place the other end of his jacket on his shoulder. They were now both sitting very close to each other, not touching of course, but close enough so they would fit inside the jacket.

"See? Isn't this more comfortable?" She smiled at him slightly, before returning her gaze at the flames. Naruto let out a loud happy laugh and patted her shoulders again.

Hinata let herself be pulled closer by the blond Kyuubi when the jacket started to retract. She knew she wouldn't get another chance like this, especially under the disparaging pale eyes of her Neji-nii-san. After a while, she heard a soft snoring. She glanced down and giggled quietly at the now sleeping Naruto on her shoulders.

From behind a palm tree some meters away from Hinata and Naruto's seat…

"See? That's why we can't eliminate Naruto!" Kankuro hissed at their 'supposed' team leader who was yawning widely. Why, oh great gods, did Kankuro have to wake him up in the middle of the night just to witness this sappy, fluffy event? "Hinata will be very sad!"

"So?" As usual, Sasuke, the cold-hearted bastard who felt no emotion except revenge and anger and annoyance, asked.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha prodigy before looking back at the peaceful couple. "With a personality like that, it'd be a wonder if Sakura would even sit beside you like Hinata with Naruto."

"Hey! What's that supposed to—"

"Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!" Lee hollered from their shelter, causing Hinata to jump and nearly spot them. Kankuro shrugged nonchalantly while Sasuke cursed under his breath.

"Damn you, Fuzzy Eyebrows! I'll get you tomorrow!"

Review, people! I need to rush!