Chapter 3: Structure
Parings: Naru/Sasu. (pshhh like I write anything else.-_-)
Rating: K-T (first) M-NC-17 (later)
Disclaimer: I do not own the sheer genius "Naruto"; Shippuden of other. The honours go to Masashi Kishimoto and his genius brain that created this masterpiece.
Summary: Remember the summer camp you went to; that quaint place out in the woods, by a lake, sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories and eating s'mores? Well this summer school, sure as hell, isn't that. Three months, a military camp chock full of teenage delinquents, illegal alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs, annoying shrinks, escape plans, a Shitzu from hell, and new relationships; welcome to camp. NaruSasuNaru.
A/N: Guys, this story showcases Sasuke's ability as a tactical genius...even though he is an insufferable one.Surfing through the stories on here I was astonished that very few stories show his main strength so I figured to make one.
A/N2: I got this AWESOME review from 'Valune'. I read it like 16 times... no lie... I counted.
Dense creeping fog was blanketing the air when the call for calisthenics blazed through the dorms. At the 'wake-up' shriek Sasuke had been cruelly yanked out of a dream and fell off the bed clocking his head one right on the hard floor. Pushing off the cold wooden floor his mind instantly conjured up more than a hundred very creative ways to kill someone... anyone. Under five minutes he was dressed in his army pants with a snug black t-shirt and his boots and made his way out to the main courtyard.
The foggy courtyard was beginning to lighten up with the scanty rays of weak pale sunlight filtering through the thick dark clouds. People emerged from the mist covered barracks like ghosts from the netherworld and assembled in motley groups; boys on one side, girls on the other.
The delicate tissues in his nose tingled, Sasuke shifted; fog. The cold fog that was bothering his nose was seeping up from somewhere in the west. His brows furrowed and then he remembered; while driving up to the camp, through the forest line, he did see a huge body of water, a lake or something.
"Recruits!"
The Uchiha jumped. Damn it; did these people get off scaring them to death? He squinted through the thinning fog and groaned internally.
Maito Gai was standing, fully clothed in his green suit, perched on a hillock; with a freakin' bullhorn.
"We will start this morning youthful activities with a trail run of four man teams. The trail is ten miles and each mile is marked with flag. For this activity you will all be fitted with ankle trackers that will trace your progress and will deliver a small shock to you if you stray from the trail. The trail is to be followed very carefully; any stragglers or defectors will be made to run the course again until completed. After fitted you have five minutes to assemble into teams and stretch out."
Sasuke glanced around sceptically while getting into the line for the ankle cuffs. Obviously he was to work with the blond but who else? He glanced over the homicidal looking redhead whose blank green eyes happened to be glancing his way and shivered.
No. Hell NO!
"Pants leg up." He was ordered.
The tracker was a slim band made of pure metal with a section that sparked blue when it was securely closed. He ran a finger over the band and felt a small indent with a tiny key hole so small the key had to be the size of a senbon needle.
He snorted while continuing to scan the group before him. The jumpy boy with the red triangle tattoos was about ten feet away looking slightly calmer than the night before, he was a maybe. His gaze skimmed over the huge fat redhead, the slouchy guys with his hands firmly stuck in his pockets and the thick built purple tattooed...yeah total pass.
Against his will his gaze drifted over to the girls and snorted at the platinum haired girl who had clearly doctored her outfit because the pants were sporting purple glitter...okay so clearly a glamour queen. He shivered. Skimming over her he spotted two he instinctively knew could handle the course; the girl with the twin buns who was doing a stretch clearly made for a contortionist with a slight unflustered grin on her face and the other with the knee length hair that was now caught up in a high ponytail and severely banded back.
"Uchiha." He snapped back to the blond who was gesturing to two people now joining them, "This is Kiba and that is Suigetsu."
Great; the jumpy guy and the blue haired maniac, could this get any worse? Sasuke groaned internally while outwardly he just snorted while facing the trail, "Whatever."
"Ready!" Gai shouted, "On three...two...one."
The pace was measured but Sasuke, who hadn't done any kind of strenuous exercise in months (if you didn't count typing on his keyboard) was breathing heavy by the first marker. He dared to glance over to Naruto; the blond wasn't even breathing hard, in fact he looked like he was strolling in the park.
The first flag was passed and Sasuke was already sweating. Maybe Itachi did have a point when he told him to get out of the house sometime...bastard. The other guy, Kiba seemed to be on the same level of the blond but behind him he heard heavy pants coming from Suigetsu. All right then, at least he wasn't the only one who wasn't fit to the bloody teeth.
Sweat was dripping down his back by the fourth flag and soaking his hair; he lifted a hand to brush the offending stands away and snagged his left boot on a protruding root. Luckily he caught himself in time because if he tripped he was sure to smash into the blond.
Naruto glanced up at him for a nanosecond then just faced the trail doggedly. The sixth flag was in sight when the Suigetsu paused to brace himself on a tree while a team or two overtook them. His face was fully flushed red and he was panting like a dog. Sasuke glanced at him, his mind did a quick scan and shifted in time to avoid the deluge of vomit that erupted from the hunched over teen.
His nose wrinkled. Disgusting. The vomit was grey with flecks of green stuff. He heaved again and this time flecks of dark red appeared.
Blood.
This guy was either a vampire, had cancer or a drug problem and based on the track marks running along his inner arm, Sasuke went with the drug problem.
"Suig-" Naruto asked blond brows drawn together but the pale teen waved a hand.
"'M aright." He mumbled while straightening up, "Let's finish."
They took the trail again and while Sasuke was glad for the slight rest he was annoyed that they had fallen behind. The eighth marker was passed when Sasuke caught a glimpse of light brown hair flitting through the trees.
Neji.
Hell no! Not even over his dead and decaying body was he going to allow the poncy Hyuuga bastard to best him. His fatigue magically left him. Teeth grit he sped up, feet pounding the ground and eyes narrowed. It seemed that his attitude caught on because the other three were running faster.
Neji was running smoothly although detached from the others; the redhead, the boxer built purple tattooed guy and the spikey haired guy with the shades on.
Typical. Neji was so condescending he didn't even class them as worthy of his time or attention.
The ninth flag was passed. He sped up, pushing his muscles to the limit. Gai was ahead of them running backward while he shouted encouragements on the bullhorn. The words went through one ear and out the other; he had one goal in mind; trounce the Hyuuga.
Neji's hair was in a braid and whipping around on the wind; Sasuke was severely tempted to grab it and pull, hard. But no, he wanted to beat him fairly.
Fifty more meters... thirty five...twenty...
Neji glanced around, spotted him and smirked.
Sasuke glared...hard.
Ten...nine... eight...seven...
A stretch of field was in sight and three of four teams were already on it having finished the trail. Sasuke pushed hard and was almost at Neji's side when his left knee gave out. He fell just as Neji crossed over. A haze of murderous fury wacked him and pushing off the ground he ran/limped across the chalk line and slumped against a wooden post.
He closed his eyes and breathed; acerbically giving the moon-eyed bastard ten seconds to approach him.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Neji's aristocrat voice drawled beside him.
Right on frikin' time. He snorted internally. It is so pitiful to know someone so completely that he could predict their every move. He opened his eyes to glare at the Hyuuga.
"Honestly," Neji said, "I'm utterly not surprised."
He snarled. "Fuck you Neji...or hasn't it occurred to you that you are right here beside me?"
Pale grey eyes danced, "Yes...but I'm not here for something stupid and juvenile."
Sasuke's smile was poisonous while he leaned forward. "Tell me Hyuuga why are you here and not peeking under Hanabi's skirt?"
The glare that he received just made him smirk more but the following retort wasn't what he suspected, "It's obvious that you are still a petty insolent child. Take my advice and try and grow up Uchiha."
Neji spun on his heel and walked away.
"PONCY BASTARD!" Sasuke shouted after him; Neji didn't even turn while he held up his middle finger.
"So I take it you know him." Naruto said sarcastically.
"Yeah." Sasuke snorted massaging the tension out of his knee. "...The frikkin' love of my life."
"Assemble!" Gai was on the bullhorn again. Standing beside him was a woman with black hair and dark blue training suit and her arms wrapped in white bandages. Sasuke happened to meet her eyes and had to stifle a gasp. Her eyes were a red as Itachi's.
"This Kurenai Asuma...she will be training the girls." He nodded her over to the girls. "While I do the boys;" he gestured to an obstacle course behind him. "Everyone will be running this course with their roommate. The aim for this exercise is to foster trust between you."
Sasuke just tuned out the rest of the sermon, letting it go through one ear and exit the other. Trust was one word he couldn't even comprehend; to him the only person anyone should trust is their own damn selves. Everyone else was either a blatant enemy of one in waiting. A lesson learned the hard way.
"Trust is for idiots." He murmured scanning the field. The usual obstacles were in palce; twenty feet rock wall climb, tire jump, rope shimmies, and barb wire crawl.
He was judging how long it would take for him to go through when Naruto brushed against his arm facing Gai. Damn it...he really needed to pay attention.
"...ree minutes to complete the basic course; each team will run it for five full runs until you are finished or calisthenics is over."
Sasuke glanced around and noticed the tree line ended abruptly west. He squinted and concentrated; he could hear the sibilant crash of water. Oh...the lake. Brilliant.
"Uzumaki and Uchiha."
Damn it. Rubbing the last stains of tension out of his knee he faced the obstacle course. Gai shouted; he sprinted.
(*)(*)(*)
He was going to be sore tomorrow; that was damn sure. Even the slightly warm water of the shower hadn't assuaged the building pain.
Flopping in seat in the mess hall his head flopped back and he groaned. The muscles he didn't even know existed in his body were still throbbing like a Zulu drum. Under lowered lids he glanced at the blond who was casually rolling his shoulders like hadn't been through a piece of hell fifteen minutes ago.
One part of him admired how Naruto had run through the obstacle course like it was nothing and the other part was completely pissed off at his poor performance.
He glanced over to the people who were serving the food and his stomach immediately revolted. Scrambled eggs, bacon fried and chicken strips. He swallowed the bile that raced up his throat. He skipped over that section and sighed a silent 'thank you'. Heaving himself out of the chair he placed two slices of wheat toast bread on his tray with an apple with and a glass of orange juice. How people ate meat he would never understand.
Sitting in a corner he had already chosen as the best vantage point in the room he carefully surveyed the others. It seemed the 'trust' exercise Gai was blathering about seemed to be working. Halting tentative conversations were springing up like weeds among some but there were still others who stood silent and were just observing.
Smart.
Naruto flopped down beside him and promptly chomped into his bacon. Sasuke squashed down the reaction to vomit.
"'aat's 'rong?" he was asked while given a perfect view of half masticated bacon.
"You." He snarled. "I really have no desire to see your cannibalism so please, shut your damn mouth."
The blond swallowed, "You're a vegetarian?"
Sasuke glanced pointedly down to his tray and back up while rolling his eyes, "Really...how did you guess that?"
"You don't have to be a dick all the time ya'know." Naruto scowled, "It was just a question."
"Yeah...and you don't have to be a complete moron...so please be quiet, I'm trying to think."
"About what?"
Sasuke slowly shifted his head to stare at the nonchalant blond who had just completely ignored his request, "...You were exposed to radiation as a child, weren't you."
Naruto smiled humourlessly brushing of the crumbs from his fingers, "Yeah that... and atomic bombs, tear gas, anthrax and gunshots." He mumbled.
Sasuke stopped dead.
No. Way. In. Hell.
"What?" he asked trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Come again?"
The blond sighed and rolled up a sleeve and burnt into his inner arm was a fierce eagle with its claws clutching an anchor and a trident. The seal was of the America's Navy.
"Twelve years...lifelong army brat."
So that's why.
He grunted. "Great. But still... shut up."
Naruto slipped quiet. Sasuke eyes ran over the tables. Curious; the guy with the purple tattoos on his face was always beside the homicidal looking redhead even through the redhead completely ignored him.
A ring cut through the air. Breakfast was over. School time.
Fuck.
(*)(*)(*)
The school sector was situated slightly downhill from the auditorium, rows of one story buildings with shingled roofs and stone pathways between them.
There were three classes in the row separated in the row of buildings, cleverly named 'A' and 'B'. He was assigned to 'A' and with the absence of the blond he suspected that he was placed in 'B'. The first class was modern languages. Coincidently Sasuke knew enough English to write an encyclopaedia in the language but didn't care to. The other languages were French and Spanish; cookbook languages.
He sighed. After filling out a form of the languages he was slightly familiar with he chose a seat under a window in a corner at the very back of the class. Basic tactical position; observe everything without being observed and secure your back. Yes it was chronic paranoia so what?
The teacher, the toothpick chomping guy from last night, gave each of them a lesson plan that detailed the time to be taken to harness the basic structure and grammar for each language. Three languages; three months, every two weeks was a scheduled test and each segment was to be culminated with an exam.
Whatever.
"Any questions." was asked.
Sasuke was severely tempted but someone got there first.
"Yeah, I have one." The spiky haired dark spectacled guy said. "What about the others like Arabic, Russian and Mandarin...this is a military camp, so why not teach those instead?"
The teacher smirked, "Aburame Shino right?"
He nodded; the man replied then, "Aburame if you do get into the military those will be taught to you by specialists; this is just a screening and rehabilitation facility. If you really want to get that opportunity I suggest you work for it."
"How many are chosen for the military?" someone else asked, girl this time; the one with the buns.
"Five to six of the best among you." He replied, "The screening process evaluates you in every sector needed, physical and mental."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. If that meant what he thought it meant he would have to be very painfully careful.
"Okay," the man, Raidou said, "Let's get to work."
(*)(*)(*)
The class was hideously easy, but then again first classes always are. According to his schedule he was to have a psychiatric session at the med centre; room 48.
The room was cool and smelt like aseptic and fresh pine. He had expected the typical desk and chair setup which was supposed to foster intimidation but the room held a small semi-circle dark green couch and a small table between them whose surface was cleaner than a shimmering diamond and about as bare as one too. The walls were muted blue with pictures of famous psychiatrists like Sigmund Freud.
He snorted. Freud was a perfect example of the new age psychosis. The door opened and the short brunet man stepped in with a small smile on his face.
"Uchiha Sasuke." He said, "Please sit."
"Thank you," he retorted, "But I'd prefer to stand."
It was a simple tactic of setting the upper hard as it were. They were many ways to subtly grasp dominance, like hanging the phone up first at the end of a conversation, like giving small pieces of information when asked and getting them to press for it; even something as simple as being taller than someone could throw the game in someone's favour.
He was going to implement all three. He calmly leaned on a wall opposite the man.
"May I call you Sasuke?"
Opening gambit; getting to familiarize yourself with the subject. Sasuke smirked inwardly; 'Thank you father.'
"Yes, you may." He said the simple word declared he was in charge of that decision.
"Thank you," Iruka said, "Tell me Sasuke, what do you like to do?"
Whoa...that was off target. He was expecting something like, 'Do you know why you're here?', but he rebounded and answered.
"I like chess." The open expression on Iruka's face prodded him to continue, "...and I used to like to play the violin when I was younger."
"Why did you stop?"
Sasuke was cautious now; this wasn't the typical screening he was expecting at all. Time to shift tactics. He shrugged casually; "I guess it didn't interest me anymore."
"Can you think of why." He was prodded.
"Nope."
Stonewalled; Iruka would have to change tactics.
"Okay." He said still smiling, "...are you sure you don't want to sit."
'Yes." One word answers.
A sigh, "Tell me Sasuke...why did you set the chemistry lab afire?"
Finally; the real questions. "I hated chemistry."
"No you don't." Iruka said genially, "You scored the highest percentile in the exams last year."
Damn it; background checks. Why didn't he anticipate that?
"Just because I did well doesn't mean I liked it." Touché.
Black eyes narrowed; Iruka didn't have any recording material he was expecting, like the typical pen and paper. He suspected the session was being visually recorded.
"Maybe it was a person?" he tried again.
"No."
Blocked again. "Sasuke I'm trying to understand what is causing you anger. Help me here."
The plea for assistance, pathetic but was really deployed to show calculated measures of desperation and incite some aid that usually came back to haunt the hell out of them...typical.
"I really have no idea."
"Please think."
An idea sparked in Sasuke's mind. Why not throw him a bone?
He sighed and slumped against the wall while and used a hand to massage his forehead. In a weary voice he said, "I don't know...maybe when my parents died in the fire..."
Through the fringes of his hair and the space between his fingers he saw the shrink's face light up. He thought he was getting somewhere. Poor stupid bastard.
"What about it Sasuke?" a gentle voice prodded.
Sasuke was at a crossroads here, one he could play the sympathy card and have the man in the palm of his hand indefinitely or he could shatter the 'poor-me' illusion and confuse him more. Choices, choices.
"I laughed when they screamed." he smirked glancing up, "I wish they had died sooner."
"Sasuke!" Iruka was horrified.
He straightened up, and glanced at the clock. With a bored voice he drawled, "Time's up...can I go now."
He left still smiling at the horror stuck face in the room. 'I'm not your average idiot you can mind fuck into submission. I know all the strategies Umino...my dad was the master of them."
The bell shrieked again. Break time.
Perfect.
(*)(*)(*)
The campus map in hand he carefully made his way around the perimeter, stopping to critically asses the power posts and the length of space between them. The posts were staged running along the wall, never inside and a single cord was running all along them. That meant the majority were underground.
He made his way carefully memorising certain landmarks. There was a slight hillock that elevated him to look down on the auditorium and based on the map the low singled roof building connected with the auditorium by a single walkway was the teacher's lounge. The boy's dorm was about thirty feet away from the lounge.
He shifted and gazed over to see the obstacle course portioned from the main campus by a line of forestry and further off was the sharp drop that led to the lake.
He walked away and followed the wall all around the campus his mind absently tracking the time he had left when he stumbled into a low marked off section in which the ground was furrowed and ploughed. The garden.
There was no wall here and the chain link fence was the only thing that separated it from the fifty meter stretch of bare ground and the forest further off.
His brows furrowed. He was wondering why that place was so barren when a call ripped through the air. Time to go back to class. Damn it.
(*)(*)(*)
The same seat he took at breakfast was the same seat he took at lunch. He took five seconds to scan for the blond and decided that he really didn't give damn about him.
The previous class was mathematics. Honestly Sasuke had never seen people so confused about fractions.
Simple fractions.
He snorted while biting into an apple; he would have bet that quantum physics would have definitely made their heads explode.
Idiots.
(*)(*)(*)
History and sociology passed in without a murmur. It was time for Cali again. Fortunately it was in a sectioned off portion of the courtyard and consisted of footraces and weight training. Short sprinting he could do...lifting dumbbells not so much. He was pretty sure he pulled an arm muscle.
This time he opted for a cold shower to mitigate the cramp he knew was going to follow. Supper was rice and in a fit of fatigue and annoyance he liberally doused the rice with solely ketchup and pepper.
He was ready to go bed when he was reminded that extracurricular activities were next. Damn it! A string of inventive and colourful curses were grumbled under his breath as he took his sweet time to make his way to the designated room for chess and stepped inside.
Three boards were set up and three people were already seated with two lounging along the windows. The redhead, the purpled tattooed freak, the Shino Aburame guy, the girl with the long hair and-
"I'm not late, am I?"
Freaking Neji Hyuuga.
Sasuke went as still as stone. By degrees he turned around to face the cinnamon haired bastard. "No bambino...you're not."
"So still a child then."
The miasma between them was toxic and seemed to suck out every iota of breathing air in the room. Sasuke sneered as Neji simply turned and ignored him to approach the girl watching them with hooded eyes.
"May I?" he asked gesturing to the table. She nodded once and sat down with him. Sasuke grit his teeth.
"You know," a smoky voice half whispered beside him, "I'm available."
The redhead. Not talking his eyes of the Hyuuga he sat down across from the other and studied him just as he was being studied. Pale skin, blood red hair, cutting jade green eyes and, his lips quirked, a blood red tattoo of 'Ai' kanji on his forehead.
Silence.
"Pawn to A4." He said.
"Knight to D6." The redhead retorted instantly.
Whoa. That was offense right of the bat and he admired that. "Sasuke."
A slight smile; "Gaara."
"Well Gaara...lets' play."
***B.P.***
I honestly have no idea why I managed to do this in less than eight hours. But I did. Ya. And guys please ignore Sasuke's taunt about Hanabi... Neji is not like that...oh and:
REVIEW DAMNIT!
***B.P.***