IY: No time. Enjoy!
Kit: Yeah. Reviews are welcome. Thanks to peepsolez, Laura, and Em-chan01.
Disclaimer: No own!
XxX
"All right, guys. Let's make camp," Kakashi ordered, glancing at the setting sun.
They had spent the day walking along the road that led to Grass, going at a moderately brisk pace. Team Seven would've usually traveled through the treetops, but seeing as their charge was a civilian, they had to stick to the more tame way of traveling.
"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed happily in reply, quickly letting go of Machiko's legs which caused her to drop to the ground.
"No offense," he added, seeing her hurt look. "I'm not saying that you're heavy or anything, it's just that I'm not used to carrying people around on my back."
"Oh." The actress smiled. "Well, that's okay then, Naruto-kun. Thank you for carrying me; I'm afraid I'm not very fit."
Sakura, on the other side of the clearing that was to be their campsite, snorted.
Sai sidled up next to her. "What's wrong, dog?"
The kunoichi glared at him but didn't even attempt to punch him, which caused Sai's brows to rise.
"Now I'm sure something's wrong. What is it?"
Sakura frowned, turning her body slightly so that she could keep the other two in her sights. "That Machiko is what's wrong. She's hanging all over Naruto!"
The brunette tilted his head. "Is that bad?"
"Yes!" Sakura hissed, scowling.
"I understand that you acted that way with Sasuke-san when you were younger, and Yamanaka-san does that every time she sees me…" Sai said slowly. "So does that mean that your behavior was bad, and that Yamanaka-san's behavior is still bad?"
The pink-haired girl blinked. "What? No! That's… That is a completely different situation!"
"Is it really, Sakura?"
Sai and Sakura both jumped guiltily. "Kakashi-sensei!" they chorused.
"Hai?" he drawled out, somehow managing to look intimidating while hanging upside-down from a tree branch.
"Eh, since when have you been there?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, I've been here all along, you were just so angry you didn't notice." He let go of his chakra, flipping in order to land on his feet.
He started to walk towards the chatting pair on the other side of the clearing, but paused once he was next to them.
"Remember, it doesn't matter whether you like your client or not. You must still complete your mission to the best of your abilities."
Sai and Sakura nodded, the kunoichi a lot more reluctant than the brunette.
Kakashi continued past them, calling out, "Naruto! Unseal our equipment and food supplies!"
He received an enthusiastic "Hai, sensei!" in reply.
XxX
The next morning, after they had packed up and erased all traces of their stay, the group started out again. Kakashi immediately took point, reading his orange novel and leaving the rest to their own devices.
"That was so amazing, Naruto-kun! I still can't believe you managed to-" Machiko broke off, tilting her head. "What's it called, again?"
"Seal."
She giggled. "Right, right. Seal. Anyway, I can't believe you managed to seal all of our things into one little scroll!"
Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "Well, it's a little hard to learn Fuinjutsu, but once you do, it's easy! And I had a really good teacher, so that made it even easier!"
Machiko hooked her right arm through Naruto's left, peering up at him with apparently avid interest. "Really? Was it Hatake-san?"
The blond looked at their linked arms nervously, but shrugged off his uneasiness in order to answer.
"Eh, no, actually. I left the village for almost three years to learn under one of the Sannin, the 'Legendary Frog Hermit' Jiraiya." He grinned, "But I just call him Ero-sennin!"
Machiko's eyes sparkled with delight as she giggled. "I didn't know Jiraiya-san was a legendary shinobi!"
Naruto looked surprised. "You know Jiraiya, Machiko-chan?"
Sakura, who'd been guarding the back along with Sai, sped up her walking until she was in step with them. She flipped her short pink hair as best she could and laughed gaily.
"Why, of course she does! Don't you remember, Naruto? She starred in his trashy Icha Icha movie!"
The blue-haired woman frowned. "I co-starred, and it was not trashy, Haruno-san. I'll have you know that there was no nudity involved," she said icily, blue eyes shooting daggers at the kunoichi.
Naruto gulped, feeling the tension in the air. He shot a desperate glance towards Sai, begging without words for rescue.
The brunette stepped up to the challenge admirably. "Mizuhara-san, please, could you tell us how you managed to keep your clothes on in an X-rated film?"
Machiko swung her glare around to Sai, but it faltered once she noticed that he was merely asking out of curiosity and not sarcasm.
Tightening her grip on Naruto's arm (while looking smugly in Sakura's direction), Machiko smiled at the brunette shinobi charmingly.
"Well, Koyuki-chan and I weren't too keen on exposing ourselves to the general public, so we demanded a rewrite of the script. Jiraiya-san didn't want to lose us, so he agreed to let us keep our lingerie on and to cut down on the number of erotic scenes!"
Naruto whistled. "Wow, you must be good to be able to scare Ero-sennin into censoring his porn with the threat of losing you."
The blue-haired actress beamed at his compliment. "Thank you, Naruto-kun! You're too kind."
Machiko then proceeded to snuggle into his side, causing Naruto to falter in his steps momentarily.
Sakura glared at the cuddling actress and slowed her footsteps, falling into her rear position once again. "Slut."
She never took her heated green gaze off of the blue-haired woman, and only upped the power of her glare when Machiko turned around to stick her tongue out at the younger girl.
"Sakura…" Sai started hesitantly. (Even he wasn't socially retarded enough to not pick up on the murderous vibes the girl was giving off…)
"What?" Sakura hissed.
"Eh, well, you've been glaring at Mizuhara-san for quite a while now… And I was wondering… Well, if you were planning to stop anytime soon?" Sai asked hopefully.
The pink-haired girl grit her teeth and snapped, "No!"
The brunette ANBU sighed.