Take it Like a Man
Chapter 7: Let's Go Tubing!
By: Vampire Toy
Disclaimer: Me no own (sadness)
"Talking"
(Inner Sakura)
:Sound Effect:
A/N: Cool, Anko's catching up! XD
Votes so far;
Orochimaru: 8
Anko: 5
Tenten: 8
Ino: 1
Hinata: 1
The next morning, Sakura woke to a violent shake, while meekly trying to shoo the intruder away with limp arms.
"Wake up sleepy head, it's time for tubing!"
"Tubing," Sakura repeated groggily, refusing to move.
"Yeah! Come on! Where's your swimsuit? I'll get it for you while you get up." Anko's voice became clearer as Sakura's mind was forced to gradually awaken.
"S-swimsuit?" she yawned.
"Yeah. By the way, your aunt came by three times, and I'm tired of hiding so you better change quickly or I'll eat your breakfast!"
Sakura shot up from her bed, her eyes wide and bloodshot, glaring furiously at Anko for even pretending to reveal herself to her parents.
"So, where is your swimsuit?" Anko said again with a playful grin. Sakura let out a loud sigh and cracked her neck to relieve the tension.
"Funny, I would've thought you went through my things already," she mumbled sarcastically.
ÒI did, but I couldn't find it. Now I'm asking you." Anko replied. Sakura's widened yet again and quickly narrowed as she twitched in annoyance.
"You… went through… my stuff?"
"Technically, I went through your cousin's 'stuff'." She paused, "It's like she left all her things here! I couldn't find anything that even looked like it belonged to you."
(Oh crap, I remember now… I don't have any boy stuff, because I'm not a boy! And Sakura's belongings are still here because she never left! How …)
"I, uh… don't have a swimsuit… I didn't think I'd need one."
"Well, let's go get one! We have to get to the river soon, so we should be leaving now." Anko dragged Sakura out of bed by her arm. Sakura stumbled up dizzily, looking around the room and at the clock.
"It's… 4 in the morning… We don't have to be there until 6… Wait! Are my par- uh, my aunt and uncle really up already?"
"Yup, which is why I thought it would be better for me to wake you up now. Besides, they kept waking me up by knocking on the door to see if you were awake."
"Well, they're ninjas too, so I guess they're used to waking up early. Even if it's they're time off."
"I know. I do that by habit too."
"I've noticed."
(Unfortunately, with hands-on experience)
Sakura grimaced at the clock. She was used to waking up early too, but her sudden 'powers' took more out of then she would have liked. She didn't know if she could make it all the way down to the river with Anko constantly talking her ear off, let alone hang onto a tube.
(Yeah, and also the fact that I have to go into the rapids! I hate male bonding.)
"Seeu-kun…" Anko said, interrupting her thoughts,
"Yes?" Sakura asked, rubbing her head sleepily as she tilted dangerously low in front of the purple-haired ninja.
"Are you feeling okay?"
Sakura blinked in surprise; thus far, Anko had simply been dragging her around against her will. She didn't think Anko would care how she felt.
"I... I'm okay."
"You sure?" Anko leaned down and put her hand to Sakura's forehead, pushing aside her bangs.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sakura asked, turning slightly pink from Anko's sudden warmth.
"No reason." She smiled, "Just watch for Orochimaru okay?"
Sakura blinked curiously but nodded.
(She looks worried.)
Sakura smiled slightly from the anxiety pouring from Anko's usually hyperactive personality.
(it's nice for someone to worry about me…)
She pondered for a moment, and then frowned.
(Why isn't anyone worried about the real me? Doesn't anyone miss her?)
Her heart sunk again, it had only been a few days, but now that someone 'stronger' then Sakura was in her place, did anyone really notice?
"Hey now, what's with that face?" Anko said with a slight pout. Sakura jumped in surprise when she realized that Anko's face was still level with hers.
"Nothing." Sakura sighed, not quite managing to pull off a smile. "I just... don't have any money for a new swimsuit."
"Well, don't worry about that. As your bodyguard, and I do mean that in every sense of the word, I will buy you a new one!"
"Uh.." Sakura gave an uncomfortable smile at Anko's possessiveness. "I'll pay you back."
"No, no. It comes with my job, come on." She pushed open the window and took Sakura's hand.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Leaving inconspicuously."
"Through my window?"
"Your aunt and uncle will see me if we go out through the front."
"What if they get worried?"
"Leave a note."
:Knock, knock:
Both Anko and Sakura froze when the knocking got louder.
"Sakura? Sakura? Are you up, dear?"
"What's up with the 'Sakura'?" Anko whispered.
"Quiet. Wait, go!" Sakura shoved Anko through the open window. Her heart pounded as she heard the female ninja land awkwardly with a loud 'thump'.
"Honey? Is someone in there with you?" her mother asked.
"N-no!" Sakura tried to raise her voice pitch, "I… I have a mission today, so I'm going to eat breakfast along the way. Is that alright?"
"Yes, but it's a shame, we were going to spend the day with you. Well, come home for dinner and we'll go out, okay?"
"O-okay!"
"Dear, are you sure you're well enough to go to the mission?"
"Y-yeah! I-it's not too hard."
"Well, alright then. Hurry then, you don't want to be late!"
Sakura changed quickly as she heard her mother's receding footsteps. Running out the front door as fast as she could, she bumped into Anko.
"Push me through the window again and I'll take you down with me," she growled.
"Right." Sakura smirked a bit while taking a branch from Anko's hair. Anko huffed and felt her hair for more foreign objects before realizing that Sakura was walking away.
"Hey! You can't leave me behind! I own you!"
Sakura waved her hand as if to say, 'Not now,' but Anko latched herself onto Sakura's arm to enforce her 'rank'.
XXXXX
"Seeu-kun!" Tenten cried, running over to the pink-haired boy who awkwardly walked over in his new swimsuit.
"Hi, Tenten-chan," Sakura replied as the brunette halted before him with her hands behind her back. She wore a green string bikini top with khaki shorts that went no lower than her upper thigh.
"Good morning Seeu!" Lee yelled from his place by the other two males of his team. Neji grunted a "Good morning" and Sakura waved back at them with a weak smile.
"I'm so glad you're here early!" Tenten smiled.
(Oh yeah, I'm early…)
Sakura turned to shoot another glare at Anko, who was happily ignoring her while talking to Gai about something that was probably irrelevant.
"Yeah, I needed a new swimsuit."
Sakura shrugged gesturing to her black swim trunks adorned with yellow, orange, and red flames. Anko had decided to also buy a new one, which took up most of their available time. Sakura glanced at AnkoÕs black one-piece. It had slits on the sides and a neckline taking a dangerously low dive. A disturbed look crossed her face as she saw Gai's choice of a green Speedo and fought a shudder as she turned back to Tenten.
"It's nice, I like it." She nodded her approval. "Um… Seeu-kun?" She took a step next to Sakura and gave a shy smile, "Well… do you want to be my tubing partner?"
"Tubing partner?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Well…" Tenten blushed and nodded rapidly, head a blur. "There aren't enough for everyone since Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei's team are coming too… so we'll have to share…"
"Oh! Well, sure!" Sakura smiled.
"Really? I mean… that's cool… I'll get the tube then, okay?" Tenten ran off to the tube shed with a huge grin on her face.
(Weird, I didn't know we had to share… at least I'm not with Neji…)
Sakura looked over at the Hyuuga cautiously. He wore a plain, black swimsuit. Lee, thankfully, also wore a swimsuit. His were dark green and had some type of silver design at the bottom of each pant leg. Neji seemed as if he was trying to explain something to Lee, but he caught Sakura's gaze and shot a glare at him in return.
(Oh God.)
"Seeu-kun!" a female voice squealed. Sakura turned rather lazily at the sound and was almost slammed to the ground by an airborne Ino.
"Ino!" she said in surprise, but regained herself when she remembered what Tenten had told her.
"So, going tubing are we?" Ino asked with a smile.
"Yeah…" Sakura grinned rather awkwardly.
"You look good in a bathing suit. You should go shirtless more often."
"Uh… I… er… thank-you? You… look good… too."
"Thanks!" Ino stepped back momentarily to show off her sporty blue one piece, spinning around once before sliding beside Sakura again.
"You're Seeu." Shikamaru said with his hands unenthusiastically in his khaki colored swimsuit's pockets.
"Eh, from what Ino rambled on about, I thought you'd be bigger." Choji said from behind Shikamaru.
"Shut up, fatty!" Ino hissed.
Choji twitched and crossed his arms, shooting a glare at the blonde's direction.
"Shikamaru," Ino pointed, "And Choji. They're my team mates."
"Very nice to meet the both of you." Sakura smiled. Both boys gave her an awkward look and Sakura inwardly sighed at her feminine politeness, though she wasn't exactly sure what else there was to do when meeting someone.
(Maybe I should grunt and pound my chest.)
"Seeu." Sasuke gave a slight nod as he, Kakashi, and Naruto arrived. Sakura attempted to lift her arm to wave back, but Ino was clamped onto it tightly.
(She's going to cut off my circulation.)
"Did you hear we need partners?" Ino purred at Sakura.
Sasuke glanced at her, then at Sakura and Naruto immediately asked where Hinata was.
"Seeu-kun!" Tenten cried, running with a large pink tube, ÒI have our tube! Oh! Um, hello Ino."
"Tenten?" Ino looked over at her suspiciously while Sakura felt the urge to hide behind a rock or use Naruto as a shield.
Tenten looked at Ino in confusion. "Oh," she gave a confident smile, "It's the tube for Seeu-kun and I. We're tubing partners."
"You two are partners?" Ino asked, making a disgusted face. Tenten gave a triumphant smirk and grabbed Sakura's other arm.
"Good morning Seeu-san." Hinata waved from where Naruto was dragging her towards the river.
Sakura smiled happily at seeing the two together, "Morning Hinata-chan! I like your swimsuit!" she shouted, referring to the white-eyed girl's dark blue one-piece covered with stars.
Kiba and Shino followed their comrade, with dog boy complaining about the lack of girls.
"Why is their only four? Of course, Sasuke could pass for one if he didn't mope around so much…"
(Three, there are only three.)
As if reading her mind, Kiba did a double take after glancing at Sakura's direction.
"Who the hell are you?" he yelled. Shino said something to Kiba before walking towards the pink-haired boy.
"My name is Seeu, Haruno Seeu. I am S-"
"Sakura's cousin." Shino finished for her. He shook her hand, while she tried to find out what was passing through his mind, though it was difficult through the dark glasses.
(He's wearing those while we go tubing? They'll fall off! But, he wears them indoors too… Maybe he has an eye problem?)
Though she couldn't see his eyes, Sakura felt as if he was staring into her soul, or something like that.
"I'm Kiba!" Kiba interrupted.
"Nice to meet the both of you," she replied for the second time that day.
"Tenten is your partner?" A voice asked.
Sakura gave a startled gasp, but quickly regained herself as she gave an uneasy smile at the Uchiha. Ino gave an angry glare when her spot was taken, but was soon distracted by Kiba and a bright tube.
"Yes."
"We should be partners instead," he stated.
Tenten's neck almost snapped to the side as she whirled around to face the Sharingan user.
"Why… is that?" she asked.
"You don't want to make him uncomfortable with your flirting do you? Aside from the fact that you'll be right on top of him, he can't relax with a girl on top of him," he replied bluntly.
Tenten blushed furiously and looked down at her feet, racking her head for a witty comeback.
"Well, it doesn't really make me that uncomfortable, besides, it's better to have a girl on top of me than a guy right?" Sakura asked trying to defend Tenten.
(He's being a jerk! Why is he so mean to Tenten? She never did anything to him.)
Sasuke shrugged, slightly embarrassed by what Sakura pointed out. Not replying, he stuffed his hands into his swimsuit's pocket.
(Do all guys have pockets in their swimsuits? That's cool, I wonder if I have them… Hey! Is that the Uchiha symbol on his pant leg? Is it on all his clothes? I wonder if it's on his underwear too?)
Tenten's confidence was restored as she gave Sasuke a smirk.
"That's right, so I guess you'll just have to get another partner. I really hope that's okay with you…" she said in an innocent voice.
Sasuke turned around and walked away with an incoherent response to Tenten under his breath. Sakura almost shot him her own smirk before frowning as she realized that if she were a girl, that situation would have been a lot more favorable to her.
"Thanks."
"What?" Sakura turned to a blushing Tenten.
"Thanks," she repeated. Walking over to the water's edge with Tenten, Sakura felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She shook it off with a smile and glanced at their teachers.
XXXXX
"Now, my flourishing youth, today we will commence to relax. But as you've heard, we do not have enough tubes for everyone to have their own. That means you will need a partner!" Gai spoke with his blinding grin.
"But I counted the tubes! There will be a few left over after we all pair up." Ino pointed out.
"No, there will not be any left over. You see, us teachers cannot exactly 'share' our tubes with each other, so we get our own." Gai put his hands on his Speedo-clad hips.
"No fair!" Kiba shouted out. Ino nudged him angrily as if to say, 'You picked me for your partner so you are going to like it!'
"Oh, it's fair. We need more relaxation than you." Kakashi replied.
(Man, does he always wear that mask? He's like Shino! I bet both of them are hiding something.)
Looking around she examined everybody's swimsuits.
Kakashi and Asuma's were similar, Kakashi's being gray and Asuma's red. Kurenai's wore a black and red bikini, the straps tying around her neck instead of on her back. Kiba's was a putrid yellow and Naruto's was neon orange.
(Figures.) Sakura thought with a smile.
Shino's swimsuit was black as was Choji's.
(Do they all go shopping at the same place or something?)
"Well, let's get going then!" Kurenai smiled at them, holding her pink tube. Sakura perked up and saw everyone making their way into the river's currents.
"Come on Seeu-kun!" Tenten grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her enthusiastically into the waves.
"Hey, remember, we're going down the other way," Naruto whispered with a wink.
"What..." Sakura's heart pounded when she remembered the 'plan', "... about Hinata?" Sakura's eyes widened.
Naruto gave a surprised look as he slowly realized he would be taking Hinata to the rodeo rapids.
"Err…"
"Come on!" Tenten pulled Sakura into the water before she could finish talking to Naruto. Sasuke shot her a look that told her he had heard, but she couldn't tell if he agreed or not.
(I hate male bonding. I hate being a male. I want to paint my nails…)
Before she could blink, they were on the tube and floating gently down the river. Tenten sat sideways in Sakura's lap and gave her a shy smile. Sakura returned it nervously.
(Well, I guess that means we won't be going down the other way…)
But that would be unmanly.
(Naruto won't do it with Hinata on the tube too! Right? Besides, I'm not a man! No matter if I look like one.)
Sakura looked up to see Naruto give her a grin.
(Yes, no death tubing today.)
XXXXX
Tenten and Sakura spoke for a little while before going into a comfortable silence, in which they both fell asleep. Their slumber was short due to the sudden ramming of their tube, which led to them crashing into another tube.
Sakura's eyes shot open as she heard Tenten yell angrily. She turned quickly to see who their attacker was. Expecting to see Orochimaru or Kabuto with a collar with her name on it, she was surprised to find Sasuke beating them to the side.
"What are you doing?" Sakura shouted.
"Helping you out." Sasuke told her, ramming her tube again.
ÒWHAT?Ó she cried, his voiced drowned by the rapids.
(Wait, rapids?)
"HELPING YOU OUT!" he yelled.
Sakura froze with sudden realization, and turned to find her, Tenten, Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Neji and Lee in a raging clash of waves and rocks.
"H-HOW'D WE GET HERE?" she shrieked to Naruto.
"I DON'T KNOW, YOU PUSHED ME!" he yelled back.
Sakura gritted her teeth as she grabbed the tube fiercely to hold on as Tenten clung desperately on to her.
(Did Sasuke push us into these heavy currents? Bastard!)
Sakura turned quickly to see Neji and Lee on the same tube, trying to stay on. Hinata screamed from beside them and Sakura turned to see her attached to Naruto, shocked at their sudden decent into tubing hell.
(Neji and Lee are in the same tube? Then who's Sasuke with?)
She turned back again but saw no one else on the tube with Sasuke.
Her head snapped back to the front as a particularly large wave slammed them into a maze of rocks.
(Neji and Lee probably came here on their own, I must have pushed Naruto when Sasuke pushed me, but… boys are so stupid! I have to get onto shore!)
Tenten's grip on Sakura tightened as she let out another shriek of terror, yanking Sakura's head between her breasts.
(Er…)
"Is that a waterfall?" Tenten cried out.
"What?" Sakura tried to ask as she attempted to pry her face from Tenten's chest.
"WATERFALL!" Naruto shouted.
"WHAT?" Lee yelled from behind them.
"WATERFA-! " Sakura's voice was lost as she felt the tube give out to nothingness as they flew over the edge into the rocks and misty foam below.
XXXXX
A/N: I went tubing with my lil bro and his minion… er… friend and it's pretty much just relaxing save for a few tiny rapids. However, if you go the wrong way, for example, where the extreme sports take place, you're screwed. No, tubes don't hold two people, but that made it more interesting didn't it? XD
FAQ Time
People are weirded out by Sasuke's 'gayness' but behold, he's not gay in this. The only reason he's been noticing 'Seeu' is because he doesn't think his feelings for a guy are normal. When he was attracted to Sakura, (yes, he was attracted to her), he didn't pay any attention to her because she was always there and he always thought about revenge, blah, blah, blah. But when he suddenly has feelings for the pink-haired boy who looks almost exactly like Sakura, then he notices. XD Especially since Seeu's not fawning over him like Sakura did. So in a sense, he's freaked out and suspicious. Sasuke's queer in his own special way. XP
Another question I must answer, for I must answer all you question, XD, is, 'Is Sakura a straight/gay guy? Or a straight/gay girl?' Not my place to say. You make up your minds depending on who she ends up with. XP
More Orochimaru-ness in next chapter, promise. XD
As for my other stories, I'll be working on them for a while now, so if you're keeping up with any of my other stories, I'll do my best to update soon.
Any questions? E-mail me and I'll do my best to answer. I shouldn't be making super long author notes. XD
R & R. Flames welcome. Thanks again to I S2 Gaara-kun for being my beta! You're the best; this chapter is for you:)