A/N: Hiyaaaaa! It's me. :3
This oneshot is a long one. Well, relatively longer than the others. It has two parts. Both parts have their own title though. Ahehe. So they're kind of pseudochapters in a way.
Capture The Flag = it's basically a game where you try to catch the other team's flag. It involves tagging and hiding. I'm not really good at explaining the game's mechanics since I have never played this game. If some of you still don't understand what the point of the game is, just search it on google. Lazy author is lazy. Hahaha!
Arrow Helicopter = it's a toy that you shoot high up into the air and it slowly falls back to the ground. It has pretty lights on it too.
I have a proposition! I need help thinking up themes for these oneshots and I decided to have you guys help me out! :D Yay! Reader participation! If you guys have something in mind, just send it in via review (I'm sort of having inclinations on challenging myself as a writer to spice things up.) To make it a little more fun for everyone, beside your suggestion, place a number from 1 – 20. I will be asking the first person I talk to at 6pm (my time) to give me the number I shall be choosing. Whoever is the first person who was lucky enough to place that number on his/her review, I will be doing that suggested theme. If not the exact number, the closest number up to keep things simple. :) Game will end three days from today. (I'll set it for Saturday at 6pm Western North American time. It's the same as the time zone in California. I don't know what they call that time zone. Ahehe)
This is going to be so much fun! (for me at least) I hope you all participate; I really do. Otherwise, this game would be extremely awkward if no one plays it. Hahaha! (Oh, speaking of the game... I just lost the game -_-" Crap.)
Example: I suggest a oneshot that has them fighting for the last piece of pork bun. 17
So if 17 happens to by the lucky number, I will be doing the pork bun theme. If no one chooses 17 within the next three days however, I will be doing the suggestion with the closest number up (18, 19 or 20).
Guidelines: As much as possible, please use your account if you have a suggestion. The moderation tool confuses me _
Specific age: The suggestion should cater to Sasuke and Naruto's age bracket. I'm looking at a theme that would work well with them at ages 9 – 12. I don't have anything going on for them at that age group. So no sexy time yet please. :3
I would really appreciate it if you guys can help me out. :) I can't think of anymore fluffiness! D: Until then, I'll be waiting for your suggestions since that age groups is coming up next after this particular chapter. -_-" Oh woe is the rapidly losing fluffy ideas author.
ON A MORE THANKFUL NOTE: Thank you to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favourited BTW! Your support brings me great happiness! :) I hope I can make the next chapters interesting for everyone!
Chapter not beta-read. Proofread it myself so it might still have mistakes here and there (the same goes for the previous and future chapters). Forgive the errors! D:
*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*
BEFORE THE WORST
Capture The Flag Troubles
Part I
It was a nice day at the park for two children; both of which were enjoying the beautiful summer weather. In the past few days, both kids had made a habit of going to their local park to just hang out together. Mikoto would usually be with Sasuke and Jiraiya with Naruto. But nope; not that time around. Jiraiya had offered to be the guardian for the kids that day as Mikoto was quite busy with her line of work. She managed a few of the Uchiha family's small businesses and it became fairly demanding if left unattended for prolonged periods. Fugaku... well. No one would ever expect the head of the Uchiha family to attend to such trivial matters. The man ran a huge company which specialized in the global distribution of merchandises. Since Mikoto and Fugaku were a no go with Sasuke and Naruto's play date, then all that was left was the watchful (not really) eyes of the little blonde's godfather.
Jiraiya sat on one of the available park benches that was situated near the play area. He swore to the gods that he really did try to watch the kids. He really really did! But after a few minutes of observing children throw sand and dirt at each other, Jiraiya decided it was more worthwhile to continue writing his next piece of literature.
Yup.
The old coot was a literary genius. Be it for journalism, creative writing, play writing, and so on, Jiraiya could execute his words flawlessly. As the guardian kept his head down to jot down his ideas on his notebook, the best friends continued with their little session of games. Surprisingly, they weren't just playing by themselves. Somehow, a huge lot of their classmates in school happened to be in the park that same day.
The children congregated amongst themselves just at the edge of the playground. They stood huddled in a circle, all looking quite grim. Clearly, they were discussing a very serious matter.
"So..." A little girl with unusual pink hair and a wide forehead muttered.
"So?" Ino nodded while tucking a few strands of stray hair behind her ear.
"What do you guys want to play?" The pinkette finally voiced out the million dollar question. A little boy with dishevelled brown hair raised a hand with enthusiasm to answer the little girl's query. The scruffy looking boy opened his mouth to shout a game suggestion when...
"We are not doing a mud sculpting contest, Kiba." Ino groaned at the brunet boy. Kiba, in his disappointment, crouched low on the ground to solicit comfort from his little white puppy. "I don't see what your problem is with mud sculptures. They're hecka fun! Right, Akamaru?" The puppy barked in agreement with his owner.
Naruto shrugged her shoulders. "I would have gone with playing in the mud." Seven pairs of eyes suddenly eyed her with mild disgust. Kiba, on the other hand, grinned at her and gave the little girl a thumbs up. "This is why we get along so well, Naruto!"
"I'll g-go with Sa-Sakura on this one, Kiba and Narut-t-to. Sorry." A little girl with short onyx hair murmured. This caused Naruto to slump her shoulders in defeat. "You too, Hinata?" The blonde whined.
"Thanks, Hinata!" The pink-haired girl chirped while crossing her hands at her back.
"So what do we do?" Naruto furrowed her brows and folded her arms against her chest. She proceeded to look at Sasuke who hadn't said a word since the beginning of the discussion.
The nine-year-old Uchiha uninterestedly toyed with the ends of one of his side bangs. "You guys want to play Capture the Flag?" Most of the kids in the group jerked in shock. That was actually a pretty good suggestion.
"Great idea, Sasuke!" Ino and Sakura both exclaimed at the same time. The two little girls then glared death at each other once they realized that they had praised their little crush at the simultaneously. Ahh, female rivalry at its finest. Naruto could only stare funnily at the two girls. She just didn't get it! Although she was his best friend, she couldn't understand Sasuke's appeal.
"Hm. All of you can go ahead and play. I'll stay here and take a nap. Chouji, are you playing?" A boy with black hair tied in a pineapple-looking ponytail drawled. He directed his droopy eyes to one of the kids whom was currently munching on a bag of chips like there was no tomorrow. "Nah. I'm gonna hang with you, Shikamaru." The chubby child followed Shikamaru's lead.
"We'll probably just watch you play. We can be judges or something." Shikamaru dropped to the ground and rested his body on the grass. Chouji sat beside the boy and simply continued to eat away.
"We'll need more players. Why? Because-" A boy with short spiky brown hair decided to pitch in on the conversation. But alas! "It's no fun if only a few of us are playing! Plus the group has an odd number of people. We need more players!" Sakura interrupted the poor boy midsentence. The shades-adorning boy internally wilted with sorrow.
"Excuse us but we happened to overhear your conversation. We'll be happy to fill in for the spots you need!" A boy in a bowl cut and weird wide eyes appeared with a huge grin on his face. Was it just them or did his teeth just twinkle?
"Hi, everyone!" A girl with two buns on her head and a Chinese get-up appeared. Her name was Tenten. She was on the same grade as Naruto's group but was a year older than everyone else. This was so because she had previously lived abroad. From where she came from, children would normally start school at the age of five. With that reasoning, when she moved to Konohagakure, her family stuck with their former residence's tradition and she started schooling later than the kids her own age. "You all know Lee and Neji, right?" Although she was from the same batch as Naruto and the others, that didn't stop her from making friends with the kids a grade higher than hers.
The younger children greeted the newcomers in their own individual ways. They knew of Lee simply because of their connections with Tenten. Neji was a popular figure in school since the boy excelled in all school activities (much like Sasuke). Overall, the two were pretty okay people to hang out with. Lee was hyperactive most of the time. Neji, however, was hit and miss; sometimes, he'd be acting really awkwardly, but most of the time, he'd be all serious and have furrowed eyebrows...
Kind of like right now.
"Neji, w-w-will you b-be playing?" Hinata shyly asked. It was also a well know fact that Neji was Hinata's older cousin.
"A game of Capture the Flag really seems interesting. Count me in." He said monotonously. Neji directed his gaze to Sasuke and shot the little Uchiha a smug smirk. Sasuke glared at the look that was sent his way. Obviously, Hyuuga Neji was challenging him.
The two geniuses blatantly sized each other up. The hushed war between the two kids would have continued on for an indefinite amount of time had Sakura not interrupted.
"I get to be on Sasuke's team!" She tugged on the little boy's arm and cradled it to her chest. This rendered Ino to rigidly show her displeasure. "Well, if you're going on Sasuke's team, billboard brow, then so am I!"
"No way! You go to the other team, Ms. Piggy!"
"Why I outta -!"
Sasuke simply sighed at the two girls fighting for his sole attention. Girls could be such a hassle sometimes. Oh! Speaking of girls...
"Naruto, you be on my team." The little Uchiha ordered his eight-year-old best friend. Quite frankly, she didn't have a say on the matter. She would be on Sasuke's team regardless. "Stop stating the obvious." Naruto answered nonchalantly, shrugging off the jealous disbelieving looks Sakura and Ino were shooting her.
The children were able to group themselves fairly quickly. Since Ino and Sakura couldn't settle their little bout of arguing, Sasuke decided to take matters into his own hands. Regrettably, he put the two annoyances on his team. Therefore, Team Sasuke consisted of Ino, Sakura, Naruto, and Kiba. Team Neji, on the other hand, was made up of Lee, Tenten, Hinata, and Shino (aka the constantly ignored child who had a fixation with bugs).
In a matter of mere minutes, both teams were able to set up their flags (which were really just Sakura's and Hinata's handkerchiefs both respectively tied to fairly long twigs) in obscure well-hidden locations. Team Sasuke had all its members kneeled into a tight circular formation. It looked like the small Uchiha was discussing his strategy with the team as he had in his hand a stick which he was currently using to draw markings on the sand.
"Kiba, you and I will go on the offensive. We have an advantage since we have Akamaru with us. You and he will be able to track down the enemy easily." Sasuke pointedly stared at his offensive team. With Kiba, he had the element of surprise on his side. Ha! He'd have Neji beat piece of cake!
"Sakura, Ino; the both of you will be on defence. Stay just at the border of our safe zone. Apprehend all enemies on sight with caution." Sasuke confidently smirked at the two starry-eyed females. Those two would make an efficient team. Despite their little rivalry, Sakura and Ino had a long running friendship (not too dissimilar from what he and Naruto had). Teamwork between those two was blatantly admirable. Plus, it didn't hurt that they were both trying to impress the dark-haired lad. It was expected that they would try extra hard to please Sasuke.
"So what do I get to do?"
Ah, yes. How could Sasuke forget?
"You keep an eye on the flag." Naruto made a face at the task Sasuke chose for her. Keep an eye on the flag?! Super boring!
"Why can't I go on offence with you?! Flag-watching is so lame! I might fall asleep!" The spunky blonde stuck out her tongue as a means to show her dislike for her role.
Sasuke sighed and tried to explain his reasoning on the matter. "Naruto, keeping watch of the flag is the most essential role. You're our last line of defence."
"But Sasuke!"
"I'm counting on you."
The little girl jerked in surprise. After taking in the information, she nodded with understanding. "I'll do my best." Naruto beamed and gave a thumbs up. Sasuke could only smile back at his favourite blonde.
His team was now organized and ready for the game. "Okay. The game officially starts once Shikamaru shoots the arrow helicopter." The five children positioned themselves in accordance with the task they were given and looked to the sky to await their signal.
Sasuke knelt to the ground in anticipation. He dug his nails hard into the bark of the tree he was using as a support. He physically and mentally prepared himself for the game. Failure was not an option.
Naruto simply stared at the sky waiting for the LED plaything to appear. The girl couldn't care any less about winning. She was already having a good time and the game had barely started; to her, that was the most important thing.
The arrow helicopter shot up through the air like a rocket taking flight. By the time the toy reached its highest peak, Sasuke was already nowhere to be found in their immediate vicinity. Naruto stood smiling as she watched the toy gracefully fall down from the sky.
Today would be a good day, she assumed.
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"Sasuke, their base is just up ahead. There are two people close by. The closer of the two is a couple of steps that way. The second guy is further on the other side but I can't pinpoint where." Kiba, who was crouched low to the ground in the same manner as his companion, pointed to the locations as he whispered the information to the in-the-zone Uchiha. Sasuke nodded while he formulated an efficient course of action. Suddenly, the team leader spotted a rock the size of his fist within his range. An idea just hit him; pun kind-of-slightly-but-not-really intended.
Sasuke reached for the rock and started to blatantly look around in search for something. Hmm... He could only do this once so he had to be sure.
"What are you doing?" The brown-haired subordinate questioned. When no answer came, Kiba curiously gazed at his puppy, thinking that maybe the dog knew what the darker haired boy was up to. Akamaru cutely scrunched his face up in confusion as he let out an almost inaudible whimper. Apparently, they were both in the dark.
Not soon after, a pleased expression graced Sasuke's baby-ish face. He had possibly found what he was looking for.
"Sasuke?" Kiba probed one last time before Sasuke raised his rock-wielding hand and forcefully threw the object to a large shrub just a ways away. Once the rock had impact, a handful of birds tweeted noisily in fear. What had Sasuke done?! He just successfully handed their position to the other team on a silver platter!
"Sasuk-!"
"Run." The command was so firm that Kiba feared to question any further; so run Kiba did with Akamaru in tow. Sasuke repositioned himself behind the closest tree he could find and waited. He was glad to hear a flurry of footsteps coming his way not long after his little stunt.
"I saw K-K-Kiba run that way." It was Hinata.
There affirmative grunt from the person Hinata was addressing confirmed to the little Uchiha that the girl was talking to Shino. By the looks of it, Kiba and he were up against the enemy scouting team. The footsteps resumed as a sign of the beginning of the pursuit for their dog-adoring classmate and Sasuke took this chance to scurry to the direction Kiba pointed as the other team's base.
When the enemy flag was in sight, Sasuke used all his might to sprint to the item. He was only a few more steps away from the flag when a blur of white and brown attempted to pounce on him. It was a very good thing that Uchiha Sasuke had commendable reflexes. He managed to skid and roll away from the person who tried to catch him. That was definitely a close call.
Sasuke, currently crouched onto one knee, looked up to his pursuer. "Hn." No surprise there whatsoever. In a way, he sort of expected this to happen. A few paces away from where Sasuke was bent over was the form of none other than Neji whom was slowly recovering his stance from his failed attack. Neji, once fully stood up, dusted off the dirt from his khaki shorts. "I'm disappointed, Sasuke. You couldn't have assumed it would be that easy to get our flag." The Hyuuga boy smugly grinned at the younger genius.
"Hn. And you couldn't have assumed it would be easy to tag me, Neji. Maybe you're just not as good as you like to think." Point for Sasuke basing from the small snarl on Neji's part.
"It's on now, Uchiha."
And the battle for Team Neji's flag began.
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"Ugh! Sasuke, when this is all over, I am gonna smack you so hard that you won't even remember who I am!" Naruto slumped to the ground out of sheer impatience and boredom. Sure, she understood that her duty as a flag keeper was really important but that didn't mean it wasn't boring as crap!
With lack of anything better to do, she began to play with the gem around her neck. Like a shallow-minded bird, the blonde stared with awe at the pretty lights the crystal reflected.
Out of completely nowhere, Lee appeared in all his energetic glory. "Ha! Hello there, Miss Naruto! I've come to take your flag!" The blonde made a face at the older boy's antics. Who announces their presence at a stealth game?! Who?! The sound of Naruto's facepalm was accompanied by a similar sound just behind her. Huh... It was that loud of a facepalm that it echoed into the trees?
"I, Rock Lee, will lead my team to victory!" Cue in Lee's Good Guy pose with matching tooth gleam. So, apparently, Lee's glimmering teeth were not just from the kids' imagination.
"Lee, go back to your base before you hurt yourself." Naruto stood up from her place and scratched the tip of her nose as she placed all her weight onto one leg.
"Oh, Miss Naruto!"
"Stop calling me miss!"
"Oh, Miss Naruto!" Insert Naruto's second facepalm of the day. The guy just didn't listen! "Miss Naruto, you must forgive me. I shall be taking your flag now whether it is with your consent or not.
Naruto playfully glared at Lee while she took a fighting stance. "Bring it on, buddy."
"Dynamic Entry!" The bowl-cut haired boy began to run to gain momentum. Unfortunately, he didn't see the rock that was just ahead of him; and as fate dictated, he just so happened to step on the exact same spot the rock was on. "Ayeeeeee!" Rock Lee stumbled and, ultimately, hit the ground face first. Poor guy.
"Lee! You okay?" Naruto, with clear concern on her features, jogged to the fallen boy. Lee sat up with streams of tears falling from his eyes (and an unattractive river of snot from his nose too). Naruto fondly smiled at the older child. The gross sight was endearing to her in a weird way.
From the opposite side of Naruto's current position, Tenten showed up and grabbed Team Sasuke's flag in a blink of an eye.
"Hey!" Naruto sprinted to Tenten in a desperate move to try and tag the older girl.
"Tenten?" Lee whimpered pathetically.
Tenten winked at her teammate and easily dodged the attack Naruto sent her way. The brunette ran to her comrade and pulled the boy to make a hasty escape. "I've gotta hand it to you, Lee. You messed up with stealth but at least we got the flag all thanks to your klutziness." The girl with cute buns on her hair looked back to the boy she was pulling. Lee's little mishap turned out to be okay in the end. Now, they just had to get back to their base and the win was theirs for the taking.
"Crap!" Naruto muttered as she regained her bearing. She should have figured that it was impossible to have anything echo in a park! That smack she heard back then was Tenten. She should have noticed! "Get back here!" Using all the strength she could pull from herself, the blonde chased after Lee and Tenten like there was no tomorrow.
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Neji stood firm beside their team flag. It would seem that the boy had lost his visual on the enemy team's leader. In an effort to rectify this problem, he used all five of his senses to try and locate Sasuke. Unbeknownst to him, the little Uchiha was just behind him, hiding in the bushes.
Sasuke kept himself concealed by lying beneath the nearby shrubbery. He was so close to the flag; so close that it was unbearable! He only needed one slip up, and he could take the flag and make a break for it.
"Come on, Uchiha! Face me like a man!" Neji shouted into the air. Hn. Like Sasuke would actually do that. This was a game of wits and stealth; not some lowly brawl. Patience. An opening was bound to come sometime.
"Ahhhhh!" By the luck of the Irish, that opening came fast! It would seem that Kiba was still being pursued by the female Hyuuga and bug boy. The holler from metres away had caused Neji to lose his guard. Sasuke chose that brief moment to rush out of his hiding spot, harshly pull the flag, and sprint away from the older boy.
"My win, Hyuuga!" He taunted as he looked back, clearly enjoying the outright shock on Neji's face. But his elation from victory was short-lived because just when he was about to leave the immediate vicinity, Tenten and Lee shot out from behind the bushes. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as Sasuke saw the two kids run past him with a familiar pink flag in their possession.
No.
They couldn't have!
Sasuke skidded to halt his fast moving form and gazed back with an expression of total horror. As he did so, Tenten successfully touched their base and proceeded to jump around in joy.
Team Neji won.
Neji walked to the miffed younger genius and smirked. "I admit you won our little battle, Sasuke. But clearly, I won the war. Although, I must say that you only won the first time around out of luck. But hey, I'll let you have that win at least." The Hyuuga boy patted the top of Sasuke's head in a teasing manner and returned to his rejoicing team.
"T-t-enten! Lee! Waaaaaaiiit! Ha... ha..." A panting Naruto came out from where Tenten and Lee originated from. She slouched and placed a hand on her knee to keep herself up. Using her free hand, she gestured for the two older children to, as she so clearly shouted, wait.
"Gosh... ha ... darn it... ha. I told them to... ha... slow down." As if anyone would actually listen to that command in a game that consisted of a tag portion.
Sasuke grimly eyed his teammate whom should have had kept her eyes on their flag. "You." The nine-year-old boy growled.
"Huh?" Naruto, still somewhat gasping for air in her exertions, curiously looked to her best friend.
"You made us lose." Sasuke clenched his fist due to immeasurable irritation. Naruto simply furrowed her brows as she straightened her posture. "What do you mean I made us lose?" Suddenly, she wasn't at a loss for air anymore.
The rest of the children, sensing that the game had already ended (judging from the loud yells Lee and Tenten were doing), showed up and congregated.
"It means exactly the way it sounds. You made our team lose. I told you to keep an eye on the flag. That was your only job! You probably started watching some unimportant insect and lost focus like the complete imbecile that you are!" The blonde took a step back; the blow of Sasuke's words dealt a hurtful pang in her chest. She was used to Sasuke teasing her with 'imbecile', 'moron', 'stupid', words to that effect; she knew he didn't really mean them those other times because it was all in jest. But this time around, Sasuke completely meant what he said and it absolutely hurt her.
"Hm. Should've known Naruto would be our weak link." Sakura pouted as she stuck her nose high up into the air. Ino just stood in her place, appearing quite ambiguous. All the rest seemed to look at the fair-haired child with pity. Sasuke, for the very first time in history, wasn't on her side.
Naruto snarled at Sasuke in a way she had never done before. "It's not like I purposefully wanted us to lose! I did my best, okay!"
"Hn. Well, your best obviously wasn't good enough! This is what I get for having a dead last teammate!"
"Well, soooo-rry, Mr. I'm-so-great!" Naruto rolled her eyes. These two were effectively making everyone feel awkward. Even Lee and Tenten had to pause their celebration.
"I don't want you on my team, Naruto! Ever!" Sasuke fervently screamed at the girl, causing her to flinch. The silence that ensued had everyone getting goosebumps on their skin. Suddenly, the air just felt a little chillier than it did a few seconds ago.
"Fine. Be that way, Sasuke." Naruto attempted to heatedly glare at Sasuke but the look only ended up making her appear like a kicked puppy. She turned and walked away from the group, leaving the raven-haired boy to play with everyone else.
"Come on, Sasuke. I bet we can win the next round since Naruto's not on our team anymore. Cheer up!" Sakura lightly gripped Sasuke's arm as a means to gain his attention.
"Hn." With that simple grunt, Sasuke ignored the way Naruto walked away dejectedly from the group.
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A couple of hours later, Sasuke returned to the bench he last saw Jiraiya seated on. As expected, the man was still there only this time, he wasn't writing on his notebook anymore. Jiraiya was currently trying to console the clearly upset Naruto by his side; her face had a sour look on and she was glaring at nothing in particular.
The little Uchiha approached the two to proclaim his desire to go home. Jiraiya nodded in response but Naruto totally ignored the boy's presence completely. She merely left her seat and went to the direction of her godfather's car.
The little Uchiha glared at Naruto's back and followed. Hn. As if Naruto ignoring him would make him feel differently.
The ride home was a silent affair. Naruto sat staring at her window the entire time. Sasuke had done the same and looked out to his window but he would peek at the girl beside him every so often. The only person trying to make conversation was the white-haired man whom was on his way to drop Sasuke off. He asked about what they did today, who they were with, and so on, but the only replies he got were of grunts and short answers.
When Jiraiya arrived at the gates of the grand Uchiha household, he unlocked the door to let the little boy out of the car.
"See you tomorrow, Sasuke." Jiraiya said his goodbye in a hushed solemn tone. Sasuke opened the door on his side of the car and stepped out. "See you tomorrow, Uncle Jiraiya." The boy warily looked to the blonde whom was tautly seated behind her godfather. She was still looking out her window; obviously trying not to make any sort of contact with the little Uchiha."
Sasuke pleadingly furrowed his brows for a moment but decided that he was still pretty irritated at the girl. "Hn." To show his annoyance, the little boy slammed the door shut and let himself in Uchiha property.
Once he was sure the boy was safely in the house, Jiraiya drove off with a still angry godchild as a passenger.
Let it be known that this was the very first time Sasuke and Naruto did not settle their fight within a day's time.