Title: A Day in the Life of a High School Shinobi
Author: Mazoku-princess
Show Original: Naruto
Rating: pg-13 to R
Warnings: shounen-ai yaoi. Maybe a little smut…Gaara might be waaay OOC, seeing as I don't really know his character. Actually…I doubt anybody, save Masashi-sensei, knows him. T-T Sadness.
Summary: Gaara has just moved to Leaf Village with his siblings and instantly his eye is caught on the young, beautiful blonde boy, Naruto. However, when Sasuke proclaims his love for the boy, Gaara seems to be out of time. What will he do to win the boy's heart?
Comments: If you see any first person running around where there shouldn't be any, let me know ASAP! I went off to do my chores, and came back and started writing in first person and now I don't think I got all of it… So yeah. Eyes open, please?
(Begin chapter four)
Tsunade sighed, sitting back against her chair. It'd been such a long day and it was going to be an even longer night. She turned her head to gaze out her window, her eyes roving across her village until she spotted the training grounds already crowded with the students.
"Oh…that's right…the evaluation." She stood and stretched. "Oi, Sakura!" she called. "Shizune!" The two apprentice medical-nins came in, looking bewildered; Sakura had just pulled on a coat.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" the pink haired girl asked.
"You just called, Tsunade-hime?" the dark haired.
"Be careful out there."
The two looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces, then smiled and nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama!"
Then they were gone. Tsunade allowed a small smile to flit across her face before she sighed and pulled on her own coat. Time to get to work.
(D)
Naruto sighed, leaning back into Sasuke's embrace and gazing up past his boyfriend's face to stare at the starry sky above.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
"I heard someone say somethin' about how we're doing this alone…then I heard someone say we're going to be in teams…" He adjusted his gaze so that he was now looking in the Uchiha's eyes. "What is it?"
Sasuke smiled slightly. "I don't know. I guess we'll see when the instructors get here, hm?" He bent down slightly to nuzzle his nose against Naruto's ear, earning a giggle from the boy.
Gaara had just walked on to the grounds, instantly spying the golden haired angel and the dark haired…devil. Gaara smothered a growl before it touched his lips, motioning for his siblings to follow him. Quickly, he moved to sit under a tree and pointedly did not look in the couple's direction. After waiting for twenty or so minutes, the senseis arrived. First came Iruka-sensei, followed by Kakashi—who was unabashedly staring at the dark haired teacher's behind very appreciatively—and Asuma-sensei, Baki, Ebisu, Hizashi, Jiraiya, Gai, Anko, Genma, and Kurenai. They were, in turn, followed by the Hokage herself.
She stood on a slightly raised platform, near the monument for those shinobi who had died in the line of battle. She gazed at the many names carved upon its surface for a moment, then called the student's attention.
"Now, tonight is a survival test for you gennin," she said softly, her voice carrying over their heads clearly. "Tonight you will be paired into teams of two, all selected randomly. Iruka, will you please read off the pairs?"
The brunette sensei nodded, unrolling a piece of paper from his fist. "First, let me say good luck to you all. You will need it. Also, when I call your name, come to the front to receive your mission stats." Glancing down at the parchment, he began. "Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. Nara Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji. Haku and Kankurou. Temari and Uchiha Sasuke. Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. Rock Lee and Aburame Shino. Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara—"
Iruka's voice prattled off more names as Gaara stood and moved to the front. He barely glanced at the blonde, who was half way between sulking and excitement, before taking the scroll that was handed to him and moving on into the forest.
"Wow, who would've thought we'd end up as partner, huh?" Naruto asked excitedly, waving at Sasuke, who was moving away with Temari.
Gaara only shrugged in response. He led the blonde angel away to a slightly less crowded—but still rather full—clearing to read their mission statistics.
The students are to take one member of an opposite team hostage within three days. Any team that is not accompanied by three gennin at the sunrise of the fourth day will fail the mission.
Gaara snorted softly, and then handed the dissertation to Naruto, who glanced at it.
"Three days, huh?" he murmured, and grinned. "I think we can do it!" he added happily.
The red head was about to retort, "I can do it in an hour" but turned away and started off deeper into the forest with out a word. He looked back only once to see the blonde staring at him in confusion. "What are you waiting for?" he grumbled. Naruto grinned his usual goofy grin, and quickly caught up with him.
They walked in silence for several long moments, the blonde growing edgier and edgier with each passing second. Finally he began to grumble to himself about being hungry, then moving on to grumble about how he missed Sasuke--causing Gaara to quicken his steps--then onto his hunger again.
"Do you know how to shut up?" Gaara asked at one point, his voice dry.
Naruto looked taken aback. "I can't help it when I'm bored," was all he said. Gaara rolled his eyes, jumping up onto a low hanging tree branch and quickly climbing up to the top.
"I'll scout for any teams nearby," he said softly. "You stay here and if someone comes by, try and capture one. Got it?"
"Yeah, I think so!" The blonde angel smiled up at him, goofy and beautiful at the same time, making Gaara's heart almost seem to melt. Quickly, the red head looked away and nodded, climbing higher and jumping over to the next tree. 'Good luck…' he thought mentally.
(E)
Naruto watched the pretty red haired boy--what was his name again?--jump off with his goofy smile still in place. He was truly cute! Almost as cute as Sasuke-kun!
Naruto shook his head, turning and leaning against the tree with the mission stats in his hand. Glancing down at them again made him feel…empowered! Like he could do anything!
A grumble-growling sound alerted him to something: he was very hungry. With a sigh, he reached down and began to rummage through his pack for his instant ramen. He looked first to the right, then to the left, noticing that all the teams that had been in the clearing a few minutes ago were now gone and grinned broadly. He bent down and—having picked up a small pike of dry sticks—began to make a small, smokeless fire. Just as quickly, he set up a pot full of water just over the fire and waited for it to boil.
Soon he had his ramen and was munching down happily. He didn't seem to notice the two shinobi creeping up behind him and almost choked when one grabbed his shoulder: it was Sasuke. Temari stepped out from behind a tree with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Where's Gaara-toutochan!" she asked irritably, tapping her foot erratically. Sasuke glowered at her, patting Naruto's back as he continued hacking.
As Naruto finally began breathing regularly, Temari stepped over him, her eyes livid.
"Where. Is. My. Brother?" she snarled.
"Calm down, Temari," the red head grumbled behind her. "I'm right here." His pale blue eyes were trained on the dark haired Uchiha's dark ones. "Did you already capture my teammate?" he added softly, his voice a dangerous threat.
Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed Sasuke's arm around him. "You could say that," the dark haired teen rumbled darkly, his voice a warning.
Temari sighed, tugging Naruto away from the Uchiha and holding a kunai to his throat. "I'll do this the right way…" she grumbled. Pressing the blade to the boy's skin just hard enough to cause a thin line of blood to trickle down his skin, she hissed, "We're takin' your partner hostage. If you want him back, otoutosan, come and find us!" With a flip of her hand, she tossed a smoke ball at her brother and threw a soft—well, soft enough to wake him up from his glare-battle with Gaara, but hard enough to make him see stars—punch at his head. "Let's go!"
Gaara growled, jumping up and quickly grabbing the back of his sister's shirt. "Drop him," he whispered next to her ear, his voice hardly audible even to her.
The blonde smirked. "As I said, otoutochan," she whispered back, "come and find us." And the image of Gaara's sister that had been right in front of him was suddenly altered to that of a rotten stump. The red head's eyes narrowed.
"You've learned, Temari," he hissed. "But you haven't learned enough."
(F)
Sasuke had taken care of Naruto's small wound as if it had been life threatening, causing the blonde more than a little pain. Temari found the whole thing absolutely hilarious, laughing so hard she was literally rolling on the ground. They had taken "shelter" in a small abandoned cave, setting Naruto—as Sasuke playfully referred to him as their "hostage"—in the back where there was no exit. Temari stood watch at the entrance, often glaring daggers at a passing team.
Sasuke shook his head at her, noting that her back was turned as far away from them as possible. The perverted side of his brain began to toil ideas out through his ear. Glancing down at his Naruto, he noticed the sexy way the boy was laying—stretched out on the ground with his arms behind his head—and leaned over the boy.
"Don't even think about it, Uchiha," Temari called back. "We're on a mission."
Naruto began giggling as the other boy cursed. "So?"
"That means we get no time for playing."
The boy cursed again, sitting back against the wall huffily, pouting uncharacteristically. Naruto smiled and patted his boyfriend's shoulder comfortingly. "I'll make it up to you after this is over, 'kay?" he promised. Sasuke smiled back at him and kissed the boy's cheek. Temari growled from her position.
"What did I tell you! We're on a mission! No playing with the hostage!"
Naruto giggled and stood up, stretching. "Wow, Sasuke-kun's not obeying the rules!" he teased. "Should I call Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and tugged the boy back down.
"We didn't say you could move," he growled mockingly.
(G)
Iruka was perched atop a tall pine, watching Naruto closely. He'd almost jumped down and tackled the Uchiha when he saw him leaning over the blonde.
"Calm down, Iruka-chan," the silver haired sensei muttered, a couple of branches below the English teaching shinobi. Kakashi was also closely monitoring Sasuke, but for totally different reasons than Iruka. "I doubt the girl will let him do anything…even though it'd be entertaining to watch."
"How can you think like that at a time like this!" the brunette gasped, glaring down at his cohort.
Kakashi shrugged. "I dunno, I just do." He grinned up at him through his mask, tugging the cloth down slightly so he could nibble on a bit of chocolate. Iruka sighed, leaning back against the tree trunk and gazing up at the stars so far above.
"You're very confusing…" he murmured, causing the silver haired shinobi to smile wider.
"Am I?" he whispered back, taking another bite of his chocolate and pulling his mask back up over his nose. "I don't think I am." He reached down and pulled out his favorite Icha Icha Paradise book, flipping through the pages until he reached the spot he'd left off on.
"But you are perverted."
Kakashi laughed, tossing his head back to give Iruka his famous hidden-smile. "That I most certainly am," he agreed.
(end chapter four)
I'm upset. I'm losing inspiration. I've begun playing FF7 again, finally—yes, finally, after I don't know how long the game's been out—making it to disk two. –tear- I'm such an awful gamer…
Oh well. I make a better author…or I like to think I do. This is such a crappy chapter I don't even think I deserve that name. It was so difficult to write! I don't know what the problem was. Actually, I think it was lack of inspiration. –sigh- Oh well. Maybe this Saturday's Naruto-ton will wake me up!...I hope.
New news: my x-mas pressie for this year (and yes, I only got one present because I only ASKED for one present) was a brand spakin' new GATEWAY LAPTOP! –waits for applause and hears hisses, then shrugs- Oh well. Can't help it if you're all jealous. Hee, I begged for two months for this thing, so I'd feel jealous too. Anyway, it's really nice to have this thing around, cause now I'll hopefully be able to work on some of these stories at school! Y'know, after I take notes and do my class work an' all that. –sweatdrops- Anyway, that's all.
Reviewer responses!
Shadow Kitsune67—Yeeup, I updated, and here's another update. Hee. I'm a huge fan of the NaruSasu, too, and until I read a GaaraNaru fanfic I hadn't realized that either. –sweatdrops and grins- Sounds oh so similar, doesn't it? Hee.
DarkvsLight—I shudder for I normally do not write fluff. I usually detest fluff, hence why most of my fics are angst-ish. Mrrr….I can't answer your question. It might give things away that I do not want to give away. Just know everything is not as it seems.
IS2Cookies—That was rather unexpected, wasn't it? Especially coming from "Lady Angst", as my mother calls me. Is he more open? A little. More friendly? Not really. Oh well, I like! Thanks for reviewing and reading! Appreciation to the extremes! –bright smile-
-16-BrokenWings-16---Yup, yup, another chapter! That's how it used to be with me, 'cept it was more like half a year before I'd update and with only about three pages…this at least is four! –sweatdrop-
To everyone else, thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! –waves-