Dawn heard the sharp sound of metal against metal, and she knew her kunai had been deflected. She jumped out of the onsen and quickly covered herself with her robe. Seeing light bounce off a figure to her left, she turned and readied herself for an attack.

Before she knew it, she was knocked onto the ground. Dawn winced at the suddenness. Then, she felt the cool touch of metal upon her neck.

"Is Sasuke here?"

The deep clarity of his voice demanded her immediate attention. She looked up, right into the most crimson eyes she had ever seen...

"Ga-chan!" Emi and Asuka sighed. He was being so difficult. "Come on, Ga-chan! Out of the sand ball you go!"

"No!" a muffled reply answered.

"Then there's only one thing to do!" Asuka exclaimed. She quickly ran over to the bathtub and turned on the water. Afterwards, she leaned against the wall.

At first, Emi was confused. What is she doing? After a moment of thought, however, she understood Asuka's intentions, and grinned. She flashed her friend a thumbs up.

Inside his little barrier, Gaara was rapidly thinking. What are they doing now? How can I escape? How can I-

Before he could complete his thought, he was lifted into the air and was dropped into a bathtub full of water. "AAH!" he screamed, as he felt his sand grow heavy with water. In only a matter of seconds, the water dripped through, and he was forced to give in to whatever scheme the girls came up with.

Sitting stiffly in the bathtub full of soapy water, Gaara wished he hadn't promised to do anything they said. A bubble bath? he thought. This was way too embarrassing.

He allowed them to shampoo his hair, and they were marveling over its softness.

"Such pretty hair!" Asuka said.

"So soft!" Emi added.

Gaara didn't know how much more of this he could take.

Naruto's stomach was growling from hunger. It would be dinner in an hour, and he couldn't wait! The exquisite scent of cooking food followed him outside as he wandered into a courtyard. The girls kicked him out of the kitchen when they caught him trying to sneak some food out from under their noses. He sat down and sighed.

"Hey," a voice called out behind him. Naruto turned to see Sasuke strolling towards him. "Where are Emi, Asuka, Dawn, and Gaara?"

"No idea," he responded. "But they should be here soon. It's almost dinner."

"There you two are!" Sakura joined them. "Hey, would you guys happen to know where the three girls are?"

"We were just discussing that." Sasuke told her.

Sakura studied the expressions on their faces. "Hmm..." she began. "You two wouldn't happen to be...in love, would you?"

The question caught them off guard. "Why would you say that?"

"Kinda obvious." she replied. "It's so easy to tell Naruto's interested in Asuka, no evaluation needed. Now you, Sasuke, I was surprised because you never show you're feelings..."

"So how did you-" Sasuke started.

She cut him off. "I was just getting to that."

Naruto was lost. He just stood there, not getting anything the two were talking about other than the part of his obviousness.

"It was when Gaara's wave of sand came, remember? You activated your sharingan in case we were under attack. When you saw the new nins manipulate sand, you were staring at Emi." Sakura giggled.

Naruto finally got the conversation. "Whoa! Sasuke! You-you like that short girl?" He looked out into the distance. "Oh, no way..."

"What? It was only because she was the only one I saw not using ninjutsu to manipulate the sand! It was as if...she was just using taijutsu." He grew puzzled when he remembered the incident.

Naruto was startled. "What? You mean to say she was just using physical arts?"

"I don't know about that...it just didn't register in my sharingan that there was any spell being performed...but the other two were using ninjutsu..."

Sakura and Naruto just looked at him. "Oh. Your sharingan's probably messed up..."

Wanting to change the subject, he asked Sakura, "Hey, Sakura? You told us you're seeing someone, but you've never told us who it is."

Sakura blushed. "Yes, well..."

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

The sudden scream made them jump.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled. "That sounded like-"

"Emi and Asuka!" They finished. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the bathhouse. They ran towards it and kicked the door down.

Asuka screamed again as she heard a loud bang behind her. "No! I swear I didn't do it, Kazekage-sama!" She closed her eyes, and shielded herself. When nothing happened, she opened one eye to see what was going on. "Oh." she said when she saw Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura and the doorway. "It's only the idiot brigade."

She walked over to them. "What?" she asked. Receiving no reply, she waved her hands in front of their faces. "Hey, anyone there in those empty heads?"

They continued to stare past her, so she turned around to see what they were staring at. When she did, she flushed with embarrassment. "Oops...I forgot I did that..." When Gaara couldn't take the humiliating bubble bath and tried to leave, Emi grabbed him. She, too, tried to grab Gaara, but had accidentally pushed Emi in. She was now in the bathtub with Gaara, and it didn't help that her robe had slipped a little off her shoulders, feigning an unclothed appearance with all those bubbles around them.

The two in the bathtub also stared at the newcomers. They looked as frozen as stone. Asuka nervously looked around. "How do I explain this...?" She turned back to Naruto's group. "Um...it's my fault for..."

Then it was as if everyone had unfrozen. They all started screaming in disbelief and confusion. Asuka's explanation was drowned out.

"My God! So they're an item?"

"WHAT? No! It's just-"

"I don't believe it..."

"No! How can you do this to poor Sasuke?"

"Huh?"

"Wait! You see, it was..."

"BE QUIET!" They all turned to face Asuka, who was red with anger. "You three idiots!" She pointed at Naruto and his friends.

Scared, they answered. "Y-yes?"

"Can't you shut up while we're trying to explain what happened?"

They agreed, and she Asuka, Emi, and Gaara spoke.