Pairings: SasuSaku, NejiTen, NaruHina and ShikaIno
The Curse of OOCness
Prologue
"They'll be fine, won't they, Tsunade-sama?"
"Hokage-sama, what happened to them?"
"Did they succeed in killing Orochimaru?"
"Hokage-sama, how are they?"
Tsunade couldn't help but smile at the worried looks plastered on the four girls' faces. "Yes, Sakura, they'll be fine, and I'll tell you what happened soon, Tenten. And no, they did not kill Orochimaru, Ino, but they're currently unconscious and will wake up soon, Hinata."
The four girls silenced and glanced at the bodies of the unconscious boys behind them. Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Rock Lee, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino all lay there, completely unaware of what was going on. They looked bruised and slightly bloody.
"Well, as you can see, there're no major damages. That is because before they were able to beat Orochimaru, he… cursed them."
"Cursed?" Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Tsunade cursed herself for using the word 'curse'. She should've known better than to remind Sakura of Sasuke's seal.
"I didn't mean that kind of curse, Sakura", she said as calmly as she could manage. "I meant that he cursed them in the meanings of a killing curse. Fortunately, I've the cure… but…" She hesitated.
"But…?" Hinata repeated, pale.
"… they'll not be themselves… in a week. They'll be… OOC", she sighed.
"OOC?" Sakura frowned. "As in Orochimaru-like Oxymoronic Crazy?"
"No. As in Out Of Character", Tsunade explained.
"Oh", Sakura replied, seemingly satisfied with her answer.
"What do you mean, 'Out of Character'?" Ino asked in disbelief.
"Well… they'll simply be… their complete opposites."
"You mean they'll be like girls?" Tenten arched an eyebrow in amusement. "I'd love to see that. Neji as a girl. Too much entertainment for me to take."
Hinata uttered a quiet giggle.
"No, they'll not be girlish, they'll simply show a side of them that does not go with their personality", Tsunade smiled. "Like for example…" She gestured at Naruto. "… Naruto will be an intelligent, serious person. Or Shikamaru will become helplessly dumb."
Ino winced. "But… won't that cause trouble?"
"Of course it will." Tsunade sighed. "That's exactly why Orochimaru cast this curse. He knew I could cure them, but that the side effect would be that they'd not be themselves."
"And why is that to his advantage?" Tenten wondered.
"Well, he can easily make them join him. Normally, their loyalty would side with Konoha, but since they've become their abnormal selves, they won't reject his offer, will they?"
Silence. Until Sakura broke it, "Tsunade-sama… what shall we do, then?"
"I know it's a kind of… dangerous decision, but I want you four to live with them until this side effect subsides."
Gaping mouths. Tsunade expected that, and hurried to add before they could interrupt: "That is because we've no definite protection. Therefore we must force you four to join them in the same house and keep an eye on them, simply because you're their teammates and it's part of your responsibility to take care of them."
"All of them?" said Sakura weakly.
"Yeah, that's right. If needed, we'll make more people join you and help you."
"So… where will we live?" Ino wanted to know.
"I kind of thought that the house right outside Konoha would do. It has been deserted for some while, so you'd need cleaning it up, but it's exactly big enough to have room for all of you and maybe more." Tsunade grinned broadly. "So, girls… what do you think?"
The four girls exchanged glances, before replying in unison: "We accept."
Tsukiko: Next chapter published soon! I'm currently working on chapter 2... x.x And please tell me what you think, if this fic sucks I'll discontinue it. Please review :D