Take it Like a Man
Chapter 6: Male Bonding
By: Vampire Toy
Disclaimer: Me no own (sadness)
"Talking"
(Inner Sakura)
:Sound effect:
A/N: Wow, Orochi-kun is tied with Tenten-chan! Oo XD hehe I love my crazy reviewers, well some of you had questions that I'll answer at the bottom/in the fic X3
Votes thus far:
Orochimaru: 5
Anko: 3
Tenten: 5
Ino: 1
Hinata: 1
…
Sakura's head almost exploded at the sound of someone's voice.
"Come on, get up!" Anko cried pulling Sakura up by her shoulders.
"Ugnnnnn." She groaned angrily.
"I know, I know you're tired…I mean…you must be the way YOU ran! I've never seen anyone go so fast before! That was amazing! But that's not the point." Anko grinned excitedly.
(Get to the point woman! I need a nap…)
"The others are really impressed too!"
"No autographs." Sakura mumbled sarcastically.
"Ok, lemme put it this way, everyone is going to the Hot Springs now to relax and the guys were wondering if you were coming." Anko said lugging Sakura behind her.
"I dunno….is Neji gonna be there?"
"Yup."
"Hell no."
"Come on! He's ok, really! I mean at least you didn't cut his head off!"
"If I'd cut his head off he wouldn't be able to kill me."
"Come oon!"
"Noooo." Sakura mumbled sleepily.
"Alright, let's try this again…..I'm your bodyguard and I must be with you at all times except say, when you bathe or go to the bathroom then I only need to be nearby…..and I would REALLY like to be nearby in the women's Hot Springs."
"Using me as a pawn to relax!" Sakura crossed her arms.
"My work is hard! Besides, Lee and Sasuke really want to speak with you about your performance….and don't worry about Neji, he'll get over it sooner or later…"
(Sooner or later in years or months?)
"Nooooo."
"Com on! Please! This is the only time you'll get me off your case!"
"Fine." Sakura replied instantly.
(Maybe I can sleep in the Hot Springs)
Wait, I'll have to be naked there…
(Yeah, but you're a guy now, so…stop freaking out)
NOOO I have to see the OTHER guys naked!
(Er….yay?)
No! Not yay!
(Well I doubt you'll see them naked unless they get up a lot, but that defeats the purpose of relaxing in the Hot Springs, I doubt they'll give you much of a show)
Eh…
…
Anko eagerly threw her charge into the boys changing room at the Hot Springs when they arrived and scampered off to go relax with the other girls.
"Ugh." Sakura looked around wearily but couldn't see anyone around in the dressing rooms.
(They must already be in the springs)
She sighed and took off her clothes, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her chest, pausing for a moment before she lowered the towel to only wrap it around her waist.
She walked timidly into the male Hot Springs; she'd never been in that area before so she didn't know it as well and she didn't want to get any glimpses of naked men strolling around. She mellowed slightly when she felt the relaxing heat from the steam as she walked through the fog, trying to see through it to find the others.
"GYA!" she shrieked tripping and tumbling into the water below, managing to go completely under, her towel still around her. Her head quickly broke the surface and she began coughing out the water she'd swallowed while trying to wipe her hair out of her eyes.
"Hehee, nice landing!" Naruto yelled.
Sakura's impulse to hit him into the rocks was strong but she held back and laughed sheepishly instead.
"Hehe, not used to your Hot Springs." she said meekly.
"Hey don't worry about it, at least you found the right one! If you went into the girls Hot Springs they'd have killed you!" Lee laughed.
"Hehehe I'm sure they would have…." Sakura mumbled shyly looking around at the other boys as she sunk down to her neck in the water, taking off the towel when she was low enough and throwing it over onto the bank to dry. Breasts or not she was still nervous and hoped that the others wouldn't decide to stand up anytime soon. Neji sat glaring angrily opposite Sakura while Lee and Naruto were on her left and Sasuke, Kakashi, and Gai on her right.
(I have never been around so many naked guys ….ever…..)
At least the teachers are here to protect me from Neji!
(I feel so exposed….and ashamed! So ashamed….)
Sakura sat sunk in the water, her legs crossed over and her arms covering her masculine chest.
"Well, that first training exercise was a little rough…" Kakashi said eyeing Sakura, "So tomorrow we'll do something a little more relaxing."
"Like what?" Naruto asked.
"Tubing!" Gai responded immediately.
"Tubing?" everyone asked raising their eyebrows.
"Yes! There is nothing more relaxing than sitting half-naked on a tube and letting the river of life carry you!" Gai said with a sparkling grin.
"It sounds great Gai-sensei!" Lee gushed.
Sakura made a face and sighed, she'd never been tubing before but from the mental image Gai had just given her it didn't seem too stressful.
(At least it has no way of turning into a fight, I mean, sitting on a tube in a river……pretty boring; most will probably fall asleep)
So it's not too bad….I won't drown or anything and it'll give me time to think over what Orochimaru had said….
(Orochimaru…)
Sakura's eyes widened and her expression twisted awkwardly when she realized what had taken place a few minutes ago.
The very man who'd branded Sasuke had decided to bring out something in Sakura that she didn't even know she had. (That can't be for any good reason! Not after seeing what he did to Sasuke-kun! He said he wanted a favor in return…..what would that favor be exactly…?)
"Are you alright Seeu-san?" Lee asked curiously noticing her strange expression.
"Oh I'm fine…I've never been tubing before is all." She shrugged, lowering a little more into the steamy water.
"It's relaxing, I've done it before…but its boring…so boring!" Naruto whined.
"Well you guys talk about it, we're off." Kakashi said with a casual two-fingered salute.
"Be at the river tomorrow at 6:00 A.M. sharp!" Gai said.
"What!" everyone cried.
"Be there!" Gai grinned and both he and Kakashi stood and climbed out. Sakura nearly died, a cherry red blush erupting all over her body. She pushed her head under the water to keep from seeing anything else she didn't want to see.
(EEEK! I NEVER wanted to see those two naked! Well….at least not Gai-sensei….I mean…NOT EITHER OF THEM! …)
She contemplated staying underwater forever but her need for air forced her to come to the surface once more. When she did, however, she decided drowning would have been better; everyone was silent and staring awkwardly at her. She was also reminded that her protectors were gone and she was now open for attack should Neji decide to do so.
"So…." Lee said trying to break the awkward silence.
"You fought really well today." Sasuke interrupted. Sakura's heart beat fluttered and she smiled shyly.
"Thanks…"
"Anyway, about the tubing tomorrow!" Naruto yelled, breaking the precious moment between Sakura and Sasuke.
"What about it?" Sasuke asked through grit teeth.
"It's pretty boring, like I said, but if you go down a different stream then it gets exciting." he said with a mischievous grin on his face.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked almost annoyed.
"I dunno, it seems to me that you like action!" Naruto grinned making a fist to emphasize, "I think you and me should go down that stream! We could race or something, or maybe see who can stay on their tubes the longest!"
"How…how…rough are the rapids down this 'other stream'?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Insanely rough! They could drown you if you get caught in one! But hey, we're ninja's! It should be fun for us!" Naruto slid between Sakura and Sasuke and gave her back a large slap.
"Uh…hehe, sounds…fun…" she said wearily trying her best not to instinctively hit him back.
"Alright! Tomorrow me and you and the rough rapids, this is gonna be awesome." Naruto cheered. Sasuke peeked from behind him and gave Sakura a 'are you just saying that or are you seriously an idiot' look. She looked away and looked over at Neji to see how he was doing. He glared back in response letting her know he'd been sending her death rays the entire time.
(Okaaay……..)
"I'll go too." Sasuke muttered.
"What!" Sakura turned to him but he was leaning back casually and looking straight ahead of him.
"On the rapids; it might be good exercise."
Sakura's face brightened and she heard Lee say that he would go too for training's sake and Neji said he would but only to show he would outlast everyone.
(This is cool…its like…male bonding or something…and I'm bonding with them! Even if the bonding is over something stupid…ugh…tubing on dangerous rapids? How is that fun in any way? Hnn, well Neji isn't really bonding…..)
"Well I'm hungry, hey Seeu why don't you treat me to ramen or something?" Naruto grinned standing up.
(Oh… GOD!) Sakura wasn't sure if she should shield her eyes or not but she knew she didn't want to see another one of these guys naked and she stood up abruptly as well.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." She slurred quickly as she struggled to get to the other side of the hot springs to get out. Only when she turned to see if anyone was following her did she notice the awkward stares.
(W…what the hell are they looking at me like that for?) She looked herself over quickly but found nothing that could be considered out of the ordinary for a male body.
(WHY ARE THEY STARING AT ME?)
"Uh….anyone else want ramen?" she blurt trying to kill the silence.
"I…I'll uh…get some…" Sasuke stuttered standing up.
(I think my brain is going into overload…) she turned bright red and hoped out of the springs, running into the dressing rooms.
(GYAAAAAAAAA! What the hell was THAT? I'm the one who was shocked by all the naked boys, it's not as if they haven't ever seen a naked guy before! What was up with studying me like I'm some kind of multi-colored monkey?)
Sakura heard the other boys approaching and dove into the stall with her clothes in it, changing quickly and waiting for the sound of footsteps to make sure they each went into a stall. She then ran out as quickly as she could to wait for them outside the Hot Springs.
(I've never been so afraid of so many different things at once in my entire life….how am I still standing? I really need a nap….)
"Seeu-kun!" a voice called cheerfully. Sakura gave a big grin at the voice; finally someone who wouldn't make her feel awkward!
Tenten ran over and skid to a stop in front of her with a shy smile.
"Did you enjoy the Hot Springs? I mean…I don't know if you have Hot Springs where you come from…I mean I don't known if they're better…" Tenten stuttered blushing.
Sakura almost laughed but managed to give only chuckle slightly at Tenten's actions. After all the events of the day, a girl hitting on her seemed almost a blessing; the only thing that Sakura could actually figure out.
(Tenten's older than I am, so I must be pretty good looking for her to consider dating down)
A nice little confidence boost
(Hey you know, at least I'm hot as a guy)
Not that I want to be one forever
(No…of course not)
"Yeah, we don't have any close by where I come from so I never went, but these here are really nice." Sakura said, answering Tenten's earlier questions.
"See? Aren't you glad I dragged you out here against your will?" Anko grinned from her sudden place next to Sakura.
Sakura commenced to shoot a glare in her 'body guard's' direction while mumbling something along the lines of 'I still want a nap' through a tooth clenched smile.
"Hahaa, I knew you'd enjoy it! Quality time with the guys! You need to bond, we don't know how long you'll be here!" Anko slapped her back hard. Sakura let out a small 'oof' and twitched slightly at the possible bruises Anko was giving her.
(Oh wait, I wonder…if I should tell Kakashi-sensei about what happened in the forest?) Sakura looked around but saw only Anko, Tenten, and Kurenai (who she assumed joined them in the hot springs earlier). The only males around were the ones coming out of the hot springs behind her and none of them were Kakashi, she was sure.
(Probably reading his porno) Sakura silently fumed.
(Fine, he doesn't wanna hang around to make sure I'm ok, then it probably won't matter to him if I keep it to myself!)
The day had been much too long and tiring for Sakura to bother with telling Kakashi anything anyway, it would only delay her goal to get some sleep.
"So…umm, did you hear?" Tenten asked, snapping Sakura from her thoughts.
"Oh, uh…hear what?" Sakura asked sheepishly.
"We're gonna go tubing tomorrow!" Tenten smiled.
"Oh, yeah I did hear!" Sakura smiled in return.
"Yeah! It's gonna be fun, right Seeu?" Naruto said nudging the pink haired boy.
"Uh…yeah…so much…fun." Sakura sighed.
(I hate male bonding)
"You'll get to meet my team and Asuma's team as well, Seeu-kun." Kurenai smiled gently at the sleepy boy.
"Oh, yeah….uh…cool…"
"Though Hinata says she's already met you….it was very sweet of you to cheer her up." Kurenai pet Sakura's shoulder.
"Aww, it was nothing." She smiled meekly.
"Oh, and she says, thanks again for the flowers."
Sakura could almost hear the universe screech to a halt.
"You gave Hinata-chan flowers?" Naruto said crossing his arms and casually glaring over at Sakura.
"You…gave Hinata-chan flowers." Tenten said mostly to herself.
"Why…would you give her flowers?" Sasuke asked slinking to the other side of Sakura.
"Hnn, your interested in her?" Neji asked, images of the pink haired man who cut his precious hair, running the clan with pink haired Hyuuga babies flashed through his mind and he was less than pleased.
"That was nice of you!" Lee smiled.
(I'M TRAPPED! Noooo! What do they want from me? Do they want flowers too? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Does Sasuke like Hinata too? That sucks…)
"I…she was depressed….and I got some flowers for my house...uh, my cousins house, ya know, to make it look nice, but she was so sad…and…I gave them to her…" Sakura said shrugging.
"It was plutonic then?" Sasuke asked almost relieved.
"Well, yeah! I don't know her very well! It couldn't be anything but plutonic!" Sakura said trying to decipher Sasuke's signals.
"It's probably best." Neji muttered.
"What's plutonic?" Naruto asked.
"Dobe." Sasuke muttered.
"It means 'just friends'." Sakura sighed, silently calming her clenched fist.
"Oh….ok! Then you can still buy me ramen!" the blonde grinned.
"You idiot!" Sakura yelled smacking his head painfully to the side.
There was more silence; Sakura sighed and gave a strained grin.
"Hahaha! You….silly…. on! How about that ramen?" she threw an arm around his shoulders nervously and turned to the others, "Anyone else wanna come?"
Sakura let out a deep sigh when everyone raised their hands.
…
After feeding Anko, Naruto, Kurenai, Naruto, Neji, Naruto, Lee, Naruto, Sasuke, Naruto, Tenten, and Naruto, Sakura couldn't bare to by herself anything and decided to sit and mourn the sudden void in her wallet.
"Thank you very much for the meal Seeu-san!" Lee grinned.
"Gomen, Seeu-kun." Kurenai smiled.
"Thanks Seeu-kun!" Anko grinned throwing an arm fondly around Sakura's neck and painfully ruffling her hair.
"Thanks." Neji nod.
"Thank you Seeu." Sasuke smiled.
(Ahh, that makes everything worth it….well not really…but it's nice to look at…)
I guess he doesn't like Hinata after all!
(Hmm…I'm hungry)
"Thank you so much Seeu-kun! I'll pay you back." Tenten smiled.
"Oh! That's not necessary! I wanted to treat my new friends!" Sakura smiled wearily at the blushing brunette.
"In that case, could you buy me another bowl!" Naruto asked with a grin as he stuffed his face eagerly. Sakura felt a darkness fall over her and shot him a warning glare that almost made him choke.
"Eh…Seeu?" Naruto asked meekly.
"Yeeeessss?" Sakura asked with a forced grin. right…I still have female Sakura in me! Try me Naruto…ask for that fiftieth bowl of ramen that I'M paying for…go ahead…..)
There was a moment of silence and Sakura calmed slightly, smiling proudly when she figured Naruto had come to his senses.
"Could I have another bowl?" his voice piped when her head turned away. Sakura slowly turned to face Naruto, who had finished his current bowl and had tossed it in the pile of empty bowls behind him.
"You….want…another bowl….after eating so much…already?" Sakura said, her body beginning to shake with lack of sleep and all the events of the day having built up and fueled into anger.
"Uh…um…yes please?"
Sakura shrieked and pounced on him, giving him a good punch and kick in the rear until he flew out the doors of the ramen shop, landing face first in the dirt outside.
Everyone became silent once more and Sakura took in a few deep breaths before retaining a shy pose, one of her hands behind her head as a blush went over her face.
"Oh silly Naruto! Hahaha, I don't have enough money to get him another bowl! Hehe…..well, I'm glad you all enjoyed your meals! See you tomorrow! Goodnight!" Sakura said quickly, eager to get away before she attacked someone else.
"Goodnight!" everyone smiled; Naruto getting beat up wasn't abnormal, just a little different when done by the new guy.
Sakura laughed nervously and Anko hopped up and followed her out, also waving and saying her goodnights.
"Wow! You packed quite a punch there!" Anko commented when they'd made there way past Naruto's body and on the road to Sakura's home.
"Hehe….uh…sorry…"
"No! It's ok! Your cousin actually beat him up a lot too! It's just kidna weird seeing you do it…since you're a guy."
"Oh…?"
(Do I lose my privileges of beating sense into him? That's not fair…)
"Ah, no, he'll get used to it, he did with your cousin!"
"Hahaha, yeah…I heard she…beat him quite a lot."
"Yup! So…where to?" Anko asked with a smile.
"HOME!" Sakura wailed.
"Fine, fine! Time to rest up for tomorrows tubing right?"
"Yes, call it what you want, I just wanna sleep!" Sakura said, speeding up when she saw her home come into view. She strolled quickly until she broke into a run and sped into her house and to her room.
(VICTORY!)
"Sakura? Dear is that you?"
(NOT VICTORY! The opposite of victory! It's….anti-victory! Dammit!)
"Yes mom?" Sakura slapped a hand over her mouth when her deep voice cried out and she ran back to the front door to try escape.
"Hey there, are your aunt and uncle home already?" Anko asked in the doorway.
"SHHH!" Sakura let out a stressed sigh and dragged Anko into her room and shut the door.
"Please, my pa….my aunt and uncle don't know I have a body guard! I don't want them to worry! Don't let them see you or hear you!" Sakura begged.
"Oh…alright, no worries, I'll be sneaky." Anko grinned.
"Sakura?"
"Why are they calling for your cousin?"
"Shh! They…forgot I was here! Stay! Silence!" Sakura ran into the bathroom and turned on the sink, dipping her head down and soaking her head then quickly grabbing her bathrobe and wrapping it around her body to hide as much of herself as she could. Her shoes were tossed to the side and her bare feet slapped frantically over her wooden floor as she ran out her room, right into her mother.
"Mom!…I mean :ahem: mom…" Sakura said trying to heighten the octaves in her male voice and quickly shut her bedroom door behind her.
"Dear…? Did you cut your hair AGAIN?"
"Uh….yes….." Sakura squeaked.
"What's wrong with your voice?"
"I'm kinda sickish." She chirped from the collar of the thick robe.
"You are?" her mother felt her forehead and eyed her curiously, "You feel ok…"
"It's not too severe, I'll be ok."
"Hmm, are you sure?"
"Yes:cough: I mean…yes…"
"Well, good news, your father and I might be able to stay home for about a week! So even if your sickness gets out of hand we'll be here to take care of you!" Mrs. Haruno smiled cheerily. The color drained from Sakura's face and she laughed tensely, hugging her robe tighter.
"T-that's…great! Haha….er…you said 'might' does that mean 'not for sure'?" Sakura asked eagerly.
"Hmm, well we ARE ninja's you know, just like you we have missions!" her mother smiled petting her daughters head affectionately, "But we're gonna try stay home for you! We rarely get any time together!"
"Hahah…uh…oh, don't let me hold you back!"
"No really, we want to spend quality time with you while we still have time to stay home."
"Uh…no, I mean…I….have missions too! Lots of them! Important practice and everything!"
"Oh that's ok, we'll have mornings and evenings."
"It…might run over that! We might have to sleep over somewhere, maybe another village!"
"It's doubtful, if our missions are so slow then yours probably are too." The older woman smiled. Sakura returned a sickly smile and felt she might fall over.
"I'm….glad….uhh…but I'm really tired and sick right now…" Sakura mumbled.
"Oh, right! Right, get to sleep! Rest up so you can get better…do you need anything? Medicine, food, drinks?"
"No! NO, I'm fine thanks! I love you, tell dad I love him, goodnight!" she cried scuttling into her room and shutting the door quickly.
"Honey?"
"I'm ok! just really, really tired!"
"Well…ok…but call me if you need me!"
"I will!"
Sakura waited to hear her mother's footsteps before she locked the door and slid down, curling into a ball in front of it.
"Aww, you really do look sick."
"I'm…tired…those powers." Sakura mumbled with a yawn as she closed her eyes. Anko smiled and stood up from her spot on Sakura's bed, walking over and scooping the boy into her arms gently.
"You used a lot of energy today didn't you?" Anko said mostly to herself as she carried Sakura over to her bed.
"Your doing very well so far….at least he hasn't gotten to you yet…" Anko mumbled softly as she tucked Sakura into bed and ran a hand over her cheek, "You don't need to worry about him though…" Anko continued, pulling down the robe slightly to look at Sakura's neck, "He won't get you while I'm here." She sighed contently when she found nothing on the pink haired boy's throat. Her hand moved to the mark on her own neck and she gave a small smile, leaning down and giving 'Seeu' a fond kiss on the forehead before lying down next to him.
…
A/N: Ok! One of the things was, you didn't understand how the conversation between Sakura and Orochi could be so calm? Well it's because Sakura was so worn out; the amount of chakara she used in her adrenaline rush when she was running from Neji (another question answered) plus the fight where she was just about equal with Lee and Neji, made her VERY weak and she knew it cause she could feel it. Her body was aching all over and fear plus excessive struggle was almost impossible and her body was even immobile from her excessive chakara use…hope that explains it cause that's how I tried to write it XD as for her parents they're out on business a lot, and I had them come home so you could see they'd been gone.
As for this chapter, I know, once again, it sucked, I actually had a lot more planned for this chapter but it was getting pretty long so I decided to cut it short so I could work on my other stories too. I hope you enjoyed it despite its suckiness, I need a beta reader o-o; BTW: More Tenten/Sakura and Orochimaru/Sakura interactions in the next chapter, promise! Whelp R & R please! Flames welcome