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Read and Review no Jutsu!
Who Says Konoha is Peaceful?
Chapter Six: Friends support each other, right? Right??
Ten seconds.
That was Naruto's remaining lifespan: Three seconds so Sasuke could burn off that damn article of clothing, five to get out of Sakura's room so it wouldn't get trashed, and two for the actual murder. Ten seconds.
A look of horror spread across Naruto's face. "Oh SHIT!"
"Exactly," Sasuke sneered, lowering into a fighting stance.
Naruto blinked at him. "No, no – 'Oh shit!' as 'Oh shit, Sakura's home, and she's suspicious!'"
Sasuke hesitated. "What? How would you know, dobe?"
"She killed my bunshin!" Naruto failed his arms for emphasis. Sure enough, just then they heard a door slam, soon followed by footsteps. "Oh yeah, she's definitely back! Crap! Let's get out of here!"
"...I'm still going to kill you later, you do know that, right?"
The two hurried over to the window. Naruto had one leg out of it when Sasuke yanked him back inside.
"The hell was that for, teme?!" Naruto hissed. "You WANT to get caught?!"
Sasuke motioned with his hand. "Look, idiot! Her parents are right below us!"
So they were. Naruto looked from Sasuke, to Sakura's parents, to the bedroom door, and back to Sasuke again. The footsteps had reached the stairs.
"Hide," they said in unison.
Naruto dove under the bed. He quickly realized that Sakura's room was so tidy because she just shoved everything under said bed. There was barely enough room for him under it even though the bed itself was a good size. Naruto was certain his butt had just discovered some old shuriken...
Sasuke leapt over to the closet. He yanked it open...and let out an exasperated groan. There was no way in hell that he'd fit in there. The thing was one solid mass of scrolls, weapons, clothes, and ninja gear. There were no other decent hiding places, and genjutsu wouldn't work – Sakura was better at noticing genjutsu than Sasuke was at performing it. The raven cursed as he heard the footsteps drawing closer. There was only one option left...
Naruto had just finished removing the last sharp and pointy object from his behind when he was violently slammed right back into the pile of junk. Naruto yelped in protest and shoved at the offending body in retaliation. There was a mad scrabbling of arms and legs, and Naruto let out another yelp as stiff, bristly hair scraped past his face. Naruto realized that it was obviously Sasuke who had so rudely intruded upon his hiding place and was now crushing him against junk and the dusty floor.
"Teme! What's the big idea?! Get off, you're squishing me, you big—"
Sasuke had clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth. "Be quiet!" he hissed. "Mask your chakra!"
Naruto, quite taken by this indignity, retaliated in the only way that made sense to him.
He licked Sasuke's hand.
Sasuke jumped and let out a startled grunt as his head connected with the underside of Sakura's bed with a thunk. However, he didn't release his hold on the blond. In fact, his grip tightened, and he added nails. Not to be outdone, Naruto twisted his arm up and yanked hard on Sasuke's bangs in retaliation. Then he slapped his hand over the Uchiha's mouth as well. Sasuke growled but decided not to lick Naruto's hand in return. Who knows where that thing could've been?
The doorknob jiggled and both shinobi froze as Sakura entered her room. Sasuke's hand tightened even more over Naruto's mouth. Naruto watched Sakura's feet travel around the room. He desperately hoped that she'd leave soon. Having Sasuke squashing him wasn't exactly comfy; there were fingernails in his cheek, an elbow in his back and a bony hip stabbing his thigh. Not to mention Naruto could feel Sasuke's chest move against his back every time the guy took a breath. That was slightly...strange. Naruto distracted himself by making faces against the hand that was still stubbornly covering his mouth.
Eventually, Sakura stopped pacing and sat down at her desk. "Ugh, Naruto..." she muttered quietly. "What were you trying to pull? Guess I'd better write this down..."
Sasuke and Naruto's ears perked. Hopefully, that meant the diary was coming out. Both boys craned their necks in an attempt to see where she drew the diary from. Naruto scowled because Sasuke's bangs kept falling into his eyes. He couldn't exactly blow them out of the way, so he settled for head-butting the raven's chin. Sasuke responded by pinning that blond head down with said chin. Naruto growled softly from beneath the hand.
"Kai," she muttered, making a hand seal. A book entitled Floral Arrangement for Beginners poofed into a familiar pink, sparkly book. Sasuke mentally slapped himself. Not five minutes ago, he had actually picked that book up and set it down!
Dammit! Of course she'd hide her diary with a genjutsu! It's her specialty! Why didn't I think of that? Sasuke thought in irritation. This entire mission was a waste of time!
The scritch-scritch sound of a pen on paper began and continued for a few minutes. Eventually, Sakura sighed, set the pen down, and shut her diary. She made another hand seal, and it transformed back into the book about flowers. As if by a miracle, Sakura's mother then called her to help wash the dinner dishes. Sakura stood up, stuck the diary in a bookshelf, and left the room.
Both boys exhaled in relief. Sasuke waited until the footsteps had faded before removing his hand from Naruto's mouth. The Uchiha slid out from under the bed first, once again clambering over the blond in the process. He quickly swiped Sakura's diary off the bookshelf. Naruto emerged a few seconds later, shaking the dust out of his hair and clothes, his expression suggesting that he couldn't decide between a scowl or a triumphant grin. They looked out the window, and swiftly headed off after determining that the coast was clear.
"Well, that was fun," Naruto commented as he and Sasuke traveled back to the blond's apartment. "Although, it is kinda depressing that you can fit into Sakura's lingerie."
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke grumped. "Don't give me more reasons to murder you."
Naruto wasn't listening. "By the way, you really need to eat more! I swear, your hips are so damn bony, I thought my leg was getting amputated! And couldn't you find your own hiding spot?! Why'd you hafta steal mine?! Y'know, I enjoy getting mashed into the floor by Mr. There's-a-Stick-Constantly-Shoved-Up-My-Ass. 'Bout as much as I enjoy getting stomach flu!"
Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's childish comment. They traveled back in relative silence, until Naruto decided to open his mouth again. With the way he had been silent – and the way he hesitated after opening his mouth – he had obviously been in deep thought.
"Ya know, Sasuke... It wouldn't bother me or anything... I wouldn't like hate you or stop talking to you or anything if you were...well...you know..." Naruto fidgeted, trying to think up a good euphemism for what he was trying to say.
Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow - Naruto leaving him alone sounded pretty good, actually. "What, dobe? If I was what?"
"Er...well..." More fidgeting. Naruto made several unintelligent noises before blurting, "Ifyoulikedguys."
"Wha—" Sasuke missed a step and nearly impaled himself on a fencepost. "What?!"
Naruto stopped running along a ledge and walked back to where Sasuke was picking himself off the ground. The blond looked more comfortable with himself now. "Well, I don't care. Your life, man. If it makes you happy—"
"We just went over this!" Sasuke exclaimed in disbelief. "I am not—"
Naruto put his hands up defensively. "Hey, hey, I said I don't care! They say that people can't help it and all, so..."
Sasuke slapped his hand over his forehead. "You are a fucking IDIOT!"
"HEY!" Naruto burst out. "I'm bein' a good friend here! Show some appreciation, you bastard!"
"I already told you, dobe – I do not like guys!!" Sasuke ground out.
"But you said you didn't like girls!" Naruto protested.
"I don't like either!" Sasuke insisted.
Naruto crossed his arms. "Well you gotta like SOMETHING!!"
"Tch."
"Guess ya just like flyin' solo, eh?" Naruto waggled his eyebrows. "Actually, with your ego, I wouldn't be surprised if you made up a bunshin or two and--"
Sasuke socked him in the face.
Sakura had been enjoying a nice, quiet evening when the doorbell rang. Her mother answered it and called her down. Sakura prayed it wasn't another angry girl wanting to confirm another rumor. She walked downstairs to find...Naruto.
Oh lovely.
Naruto smiled that annoying huge grin of his. "Sakura-chan! How are ya?"
Sakura fidgeted. She desperately hoped that he hadn't heard some of the more...extreme rumors. He looked pretty oblivious, but then again, this is Naruto we're talking about. "H-Hello, Naruto. It's rather late, is something wrong?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, uh, girls like shopping, right? You wanna come to the mall with me? I need to get the Teme a present, and I have no idea what he likes."
Sakura raised an eyebrow to mask her shock. You have got to be kidding me! The nerve! Is he rubbing it in my face?! Tcha, I'll KILL him!
Naruto mistook her reaction. "Heh, okay, yeah, you're right; this is Sasuke we're talking about. Bastard doesn't like anything. How about just something that he won't throw at me or try to kill me with later? I can settle for that. C'mon, I'm clueless!"
Sakura sighed. She supposed she should at least attempt to be supportive; after all, she didn't want to destroy her friendship with Naruto. "What's the occasion? It's not his birthday or anything."
"Well...uh..." Clone-Naruto hesitated, unsure of what to say. "It's, um, a secret! Yeah, a secret!"
"Naruto—" Sakura started, then paused. Maybe it was better to be ignorant. "Never mind. Fine, I'll come with you. It's what friends do, right?"
"Yeah!" Clone-Naruto grinned hugely, rather surprised that the plan was actually working.
Five minutes later, the two arrived at the strip of shops and little boutiques that made up Konoha's shopping center. Sakura lead Naruto around, pointing out items that, per the blond's request, could not be used as projectile weapons. Naruto turned down everything. This rather irritated Sakura, but to Clone-Naruto, it was a necessary delaying tactic.
"Why not just get him more shuriken or kunai? For a shinobi, it's probably the most practical gift," Sakura finally suggested. "I think he'd appreciate a practical gift the most."
"Probably," Clone-Naruto nodded. "But they're expensive. I can barely afford enough for myself."
They continued to wander around. Naruto turned down item after item, and Sakura was starting to get impatient.
"OH WOULD YOU JUST PICK SOMETHING?!" Sakura exploded violently. Several small children ran away in terror.
"Um...uh..." Naruto said intelligently.
"Fine, whatever. I'm going home," Sakura grumped.
"No, wait!!" Naruto jumped in front of her, blocking her exit. Sakura looked at him uncertainly.
"What, Naruto?" Sakura demanded, crossing her arms. "What's going on? It's like you're stalling or something!! Like you don't want me to leave!"
Naruto tried to mask his surprise. "Sa-Sakura-chan?!
Sakura rubbed her temples. "You know, if you just wanted to hang out, you should've just said so!
Well, that works, thought Clone-Naruto. "Okay. Wanna go get some ramen?"
A vein popped on Sakura's head. All that, and he just wanted to hang out?? The nerve, making me stress and waste time! She socked him as a punishment.
...And was very, very surprised when the blond poofed out of existence in a cloud of smoke.
"A...A bunshin?!" Sakura gaped. "Why the hell did he send a bunshin?!" As Sakura slowly walked home by herself, her initial confusion gave way to anger. But she was too emotionally worn-out to stay angry for long; by the time she got home, she was just depressed again.
Later that evening, as she was washing dinner dishes, Sakura couldn't stop thinking about how the whole Sasuke-Naruto fiasco would affect their teamwork on missions and the like. The rosette sighed for the umpteenth time that evening. As if it wasn't complicated enough as it was...
In her opinion, whoever decided on the two males to one female ratio deserved to be dragged out into the street and shuriken'd – and then, for good measure, thrown in a dirt hole. As a female, Sakura enjoyed showers and sanitation, both of which were unattainable in most field settings. It was not fun being sweaty and smelly around one's crush. Sleeping arrangements were often awkward and consisted of squeezing into caves or small, discreet tents. Naruto snored and kept flopping from side to side (rather annoying), Kakashi-sensei got cuddly (rather disturbing), and Sasuke was a kicker (rather amusing, but also rather painful).
However, that's not to say having male teammates was all bad. During the colder nights, the three teens would all spoon together, and Kakashi-sensei would actually encourage it as a way to keep warm (Kakashi, however, never joined them; he summoned his nin-dogs curl around him). Sakura enjoyed it for the obvious reason that Sasuke was included (much to the raven's dismay), but also because Naruto, with all his extra chakra, was actually quite warm to sleep against.
Plus, being around males was quite amusing. They had no idea how to react to anything feminine. Especially Sasuke. Since he refused to ask for any type of aid, he developed the annoying habit of going through Sakura's medicine bag himself to find wound ointment or bandages or items of that nature. Once, Sasuke had stumbled across a bizarre piece of equipment. He had spent nearly an hour trying to figure out its purpose, eventually deciding that it was some sort of obscure weapon – Naruto had suggested for torture. Sasuke spent another hour debating whether or not it was worth sacrificing some pride to ask Sakura what it actually did. After Sakura had explained that it was, in fact, an eyelash curler, he refused to speak to either Naruto or Sakura for the next week.
Sakura set a bowl aside to dry and allowed herself to smile at the memory.
The smile slipped off her face as she turned her mind towards the present. How would an inter-teammate relationship pan out? Of course, ninjas need to put emotions on hiatus while on duty, but hormones were powerful things. What if they got...touchy? Sakura didn't even want to think about that.
They might be too focused on protecting the other during battles; Sakura feared that she'd be forgotten and left out. It was dangerous to not hold all teammates as equals. Not to mention, Sakura was horribly jealous – and with good reason. She thoroughly believed that the boy of her dreams had pushed her aside for not only another male, but Naruto. Sasuke and Naruto were supposed to hate each other! Sakura feared that her envy of Naruto would cause even more tension – a deadly thing among ninja comrades. Basically, Team 7 would not be able to function properly.
Sakura was brought out of her thoughts when a plate slipped from her hands to shatter on the tiled floor. She looked down at the gleaming ceramic pieces. It wasn't fair...
Sakura made a mental vow that, whatever the case, she would not allow this new drama to hurt her friendship with Naruto and Sasuke. She decided that she would to do whatever it took to keep Team 7 together as a functional ninja squad.
After all, friends and comrades are supposed to be supportive of each other, right?
(Sorry. Got kinda intellectual at the end there:dies: )
Well, hoped you like it! By the way, I re-did a bit from the earlier chapters. It's nothing major, I just attempted to fix some OOC moments and bad grammar. Just lettin' ya know.