Author's Note: Here's where the story kinda gets a point to it. This may seem slow at first, but hang in there! To the chapter!
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The next morning Sasuke slept late. At least one good thing came from last night. Now that Naruto thinks I'm gay, he hasn't bothered me yet. He slowly dragged his feet over to the mirror hanging on his closet door.
Seeing his perfect hair brought a self-centered smile to his face. Ha. No morning hair. I doubt I have to comb it…but I will anyway. I do have the best hair out of all the others, don't I?
Agreeing with himself, Sasuke opened the closet and took out his regular Chino shorts and Happi jacket. As he pulled on the clothes, he caught a glimpse of the clock.
10:43! Damn I slept late…. Those human trashcans probably ate everything by now.
He ran from the room and down to the dining area, only to find it deserted. Where is everyone? He slowed down and moved to the living room. This time he walked into the middle of a house meeting.
"Hmph. Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally decided to join us…." The guys snickered at Baki's comment. "Take a seat."
Glaring at the older jonin, Sasuke obeyed and helped himself to a seat in a far corner.
"Leave him be, Baki. I'll take it from here." Kakashi cleared his throat and boredly looked at him. Baki stepped back with a sneer.
"Okay then. We've all decided that since you have a whole week left before normal classes resume, you should do something productive." A few moans came from the crowd of students.
Kakashi threw up his hands innocently. "Hey, all you do is sit around all day. I know for a fact that you don't have anything better to do." A hand shot up, "This isn't going to be educational, is it?"
"Somewhat. Why wouldn't it be?" More moaning. "Quiet down…"
"But the people that left don't have to do this! Why should we!" "Yeah! It's not fair…"
Baki stepped forward, hoping to yell at someone. "Neither is life. Besides, all of you here were too antisocial to leave. Or maybe you're too social. Hm. I'm not sure. But the point is none of you here were smart enough to set up a trip over the vacation!"
"Alright Baki. That's enough." Kakashi sighed and continued with the lecture. "It'll be an enjoyable experience for the most part…."
"For the 'most part'!" "Yes. If I said it would be fun all the way through…I'd be lying. And I don't want to lie to all of you."
"Only most…" Naruto whispered to the boy sitting next to him.
"As you may have noticed, the building is in need of some repairs. And you're all lucky enough to lead the project of redesigning the following rooms…." He cleared his throat and Asuma started to read from a list.
"'Kay. Here we go. The kitchen. We need help setting in new appliances and tiles….maybe wallpapering….yadda yadda yadda. Second, the dining area. This needs new carpeting, probably new lighting. The basics. The rec room. We're not investing in new games…."
He smiled at the disappointed faces.
"But it needs new panels for the walls. And the bar has to be refabricated. Oh and lastly, ha. This should be fun. The half bathroom at the end of the hall."
"There you have it. Alright! You can sign up here," Kakashi waved a clipboard. "For the room you want to work on. About ten people per room. And remember, this is a student project. Don't expect us to help with anything more than approving your room layouts."
"But what about the appliances? We have no clue how to put in a sink…or whatever!"
Kakashi squinted happily. "That's what makes it an….. adventure! Now sign up!"
Of course Sasuke was one of the last to sign up.
If I'm lucky, I won't have to do much. They'll probably never notice I'm gone. Ha. I see Gaara jumped at the rec room. It figures. What's Naruto doing? Ugh. Dining room? Check that off my list. How about Lee? Bathroom. Nope. What's left? Kitchen or Rec? Kitchen.
"How are we going to finish in just one week?"
Baki's lips curled. "You will. You all start tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow!" "Yes Naruto, bright and early."
Sasuke looked around at all the teachers. They're just happy because they don't have to do anything. I can't say I'm surprised though.
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When they were all dismissed the guys lingered outside the doors, discussing the future jobs and complaining about what they were expected to do.
"Settle down and split into groups by the room you chose. Bathroom in the far left corner; Rec room in the far right; Kitchen and Dining."
The house residents grudgingly moved from their spots.
"Now, I want you to brainstorm inside your groups. But before that, chose a captain that will lead the rest during the entire project. You have a little less than all day to come up with floor plans…. And you have to clear them with one of us before you go any further. You can start now."
00000 Bathroom
"Good. At least we have the floorplan figured out. That didn't take too long. Hopefully we'll be able to get the room started soon." The group working on the bathroom was ahead of the others, they had already approved the layout with one of the senseis. But their problems were soon to come.
Lee stood, "Does that mean we can move onto decorating!" "Uh...I guess..." Without another word, he ran to the front of the group and pulled a large posterboard out of nowhere.
"This is just something I came up with last second..." The board was decorated with tiles and fabric samples.
"Here are some curtain samples and tiles that would compliment them. Though I have been having some trouble with the color scheme. It's between either a nice pastel color set or a bold, bright, electric collection..."
They looked at one another as if Lee was speaking another language.
00000 Rec Room
"I call leader!" A nieve ninja shouted out from the group. The other eight boys gave nervous looks to Gaara who smirked. "Really." The opposing boy shot him a defiant look. "Yes! I called it!" Gaara sighed and stood up.
"So, since the room's main repairs include carpeting and new paneling..." "HEY! I'm the leader!" Gaara shot him a death glare.
"Apparently you lack the leadership. You can't 'call' being the leader. Especially being in charge of a group that conists of humans capable of thinking for themselves, unlike incompetent mindless zombies that you couldn't lead even if it depended on your life." Everyone turned their attention to the boy, wondering how he would countermove.
Gaara didn't bother being merciful. "Besides, who holds the highest recorded time of residing in that room?" The guys nodded. "Who?" Gaara looked directly at the opponent across him.
"You." He muttered.
"And how long?"
No answer. Gaara cleared his throat. "I'm waiting."
"34 hours... 45 minutes... 57 seconds." The redhead smiled. As you can imagine, he won the arguement.
"There you have it, the numbers speak for themselves. All of you listen to me now. Got a problem with that?" No one spoke up. "Hn. I thought not. As I was saying, most of the repairs won't require much hard labor..."
00000 Kitchen
Sasuke sat boredly as two group members argued over who would lead. He couldn't help but think that he would be the best candidate, but he didn't want to put forth much of an effort so he remained silent.
This is pointless. Can't the teachers hire someone? They must be desperate to get us out of their way. No doubt they've realized how dangerous this little 'project' is going to get. Everyone's too immature to take it seriously.
The two arguing boys had gotten into a fist fight and Kakashi had come over.
Sasuke didn't pay any attention to his lecture, until he heard his name.
"Sasuke, you're in charge of this group now. And there's no other option."
Shit. I guess that means I have to be an active participant. He looked over at the others. Choji shrugged when Sasuke looked over at him. He was one of the only ones. The two boys that had hoped for the position glared sullenly.
"Hmph. Let's get this over with..."
00000 Dining Area
"No Naruto! No one wants you to lead!" Naruto had become the self-proclaimed dictator of the team in charge of the dining room.
"Too bad! I'm the best man for the job and so you all have to listen and obey! And I'll take on anyone that has a problem with that..."
The nine guys smiled and in an instant, all jumped ontop of the blonde.
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A few moments (and punches, bites and scratches) later...
"Fine! Get off me already!" The guys slowly backed off and elected another to lead the group, a tall, dark haired, and insignificant to this story, boy.
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Author's Note: Was it slow? I hope not... I had to do a lot of research for the next few chapters after this one. I don't have much experience around house renovation so forgive me if I get something wrong! ; )