I've decided to start every chapter with an IRN (or in recent news) note. Because I'm cool, obviously. And that was recent news, right there. But besides that there is no recent news because I'm mass producing today, so I wrote chapter one and then immediately started chapter two after saving the first one.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own vanilla-frosting flavored shampoo, body wash, and lotion.
Warning: I think I forgot to add this part in the last chapter. This is slash (yaoi, shounen-ai, boy-on-boy, sticks on--yeah, I'm gonna stop right there.) So I've warned you now, and I don't want any 'ohmiGAWD those two boys are kissing that's so nasty!' because I WARNED YOU, dammit.
Summary: Sasuke is seasick, and we meet the counseling partners. Shit is officially the word of the day.
Chapter Two: We'll Be Alright
It was eight fifteen in the morning. At this time Sasuke would usually have just gotten up for school, but today he was sitting on the sidewalk in front of his school in the morning sunlight, leaning back against his duffle bag and half asleep. All around him his equally unfortunate friends were in the same condition: asleep.
Kakashi was notoriously late, so they'd all met up here and settled in for a long wait. But when he arrived not a few minutes after eight thirty they were startled from their slumber by the honking of a horn that sounded like it was coming from an extremely large car.
Sasuke sat up, startled, and came face-to-bumper with a black van that had been parked right near the curb, where he'd been sleeping. A yelp escaped him and he scrambled backwards, getting to his feet hurriedly. He glared at Kakashi through the tinted windshield, grabbing his bag and backpack and making his way around the monster van. Sakura was already in the van, chattering excitedly at Kakashi about what the camp would be like. Neji was tossing bags into the trunk, apparently the person appointed to load the trunk, and Ino was talking with him cheerily. Sasuke left his bags with Neji and went to find a seat next to Kiba, who was asleep again.
The trunk slammed shut and the noise level from the front of the van increased as Ino propelled herself energetically into the van, greeting Kakashi with an exclamation of surprise, saying something about him being almost on time. The van started up, Neji sliding in to sit by himself, and the doors were shut. With the van rumbling beneath them as they backed away form the curb, Sasuke decided to follow Kiba's example and go back to sleep.
—
Sasuke woke to the sounds of Sakura and Ino laughing as the door was pushed open and they scrambled out. The engine stopped beneath them and Kiba stirred beside him, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"Are we there yet?" was his groggy question. Sasuke nodded and got out, Kiba behind him.
As the seven teenagers circled around the back of the van to get their things, a new voice called out a greeting.
"Hey!" A slender woman of her twenties, with dark hair and red eyes, was jogging towards them. "You must be the counselors from Konoha High, right? I'm Kurenai; I run Camp Hideaway."
"Yep," Kakashi answered cheerfully. "I hope they behave for you."
"Ah, we'll be fine," Kurenai assured him flippantly. "If you'll follow me to the docks, guys, we'll get our stuff onto the boat and get going!"
"Oh, shit," Sasuke moaned as he picked up his bags and trailed after the energetic woman. Kiba walked beside him, grinning. He elbowed Sasuke in the ribs, earning a grunt and an unspoken death threat.
"C'mon, Sasuke. It won't be that bad," Kiba said, trying to cheer him up. Sasuke wondered if the brunette was high. "I mean, look! You can see the ocean and everything!" He pointed out in the direction that Kurenai was leading them.
Sasuke could see from there that Kiba was right; blue waves lapped at the pier, sunlight reflecting from their peaks. Foam brushed the pebbled shore, uncovering bits of wet shell that sparkled in the light. The boat rocked gently in the water, covered in a sheen of glistening liquid. Ahead, sitting in the ocean like a distant buoy, a green crest of land thrived under the warm sun.
Sasuke felt like throwing up–from premature seasickness or nervous anticipation he didn't know–already, and they hadn't even boarded the boat yet. But they were awfully close to it as Kurenai instructed the teenagers to put their belongings in the box at the back of the boat and then, when they finished that, to get on.
Sakura was the first on, and the first to lose her footing and nearly slip from the edge of the boat. Kurenai, who had been standing by just for that purpose, caught the pinkette and steadied her, easing Sakura into the boat. While she laughed it off as pure clumsiness Ino took a safer route, not practically jumping from the dock. Then Neji and Kiba got in without much trouble, and Sasuke, albeit reluctantly, followed. Kurenai came aboard with practiced ease.
"Take her away, Asuma!" she declared. The boat driver, a subdued-looking brunette who seemed like he'd rather be smoking himself to death than ferrying teenagers around to islands, revved up the boat and then they were off.
The motion of the boat rocking as it bumped over the water was quickly becoming too much for Sasuke to handle and his face quickly paled. Although you couldn't really tell, seeing as he was already pale to start with.
"Can we go faster?" Ino asked over the dull growl of the engine. Asuma nodded in compliance and the growl became a literal roar and jets of water spewed out behind them. Likewise, Sasuke was clinging for dear life to the railing and also spewing. But in this case it wasn't water as much as...well, you know.
"Does he get seasick often?" Kurenai asked loudly, looking to his classmates for guidance.
"Uh..." Kiba recalled their eighth grade class trip to marine lab, where Sasuke'd spent almost the whole three days losing his lunch over the sides of various boats (1). "Yeah, he does."
"Well, tell him we'll be there in no time," Kurenai commanded, grinning wickedly. "Or maybe we'll do a couple of circuits of the island, just for fun..." at this suggestion Sasuke, who'd just lifted his head, immediately leaned back over, twitching convulsively. Kiba patted the brunette's back consolingly.
"You hear that?" he said, mock-sympathetically. "Just a few circuits, that's all..." Sakura leaned over to smack Kiba upside the head.
To Sasuke's relief the boat slowly came to a stop soon afterwards, knocking gently against the dock. He opened his eyes and straightened up, the sick feeling leaving him as he did so.
"How are ya?" Kurenai asked him, and now Sasuke was wondering if the whole damn world was high on something. This woman was all too energetic. "We'll get you off the boat ASAP. Let's go, Sasuke!"
"I'm going," Sasuke answered irritatedly, standing up. He was feeling fine now, despite having just puked his guts out a moment ago. He retrieved his bags from the dry box in the back of the boat and filed off of the boat.
"Now, the counselors from Suna High should be here in a minute, so if you guys can wait–" Kurenai's voice was drowned out as a second boat pulled up to the other side of the boat violently, thunking into the side of the pier. Sasuke, who was close to the edge, wobbled dangerously. "Ah, here we go! Welcome to Camp Hideaway, guys!"
The first one off the second boat was a turquoise-eyed redhead who was wearing way too much eyeliner. Next was a sleepy brunette, and then a blonde girl who was talking animatedly with another girl who looked like she'd be at home juggling knives. And then was a blonde, who as soon as he scrambled onto the dock was loud and obnoxious. Behind him was a third brunette with streaks of paint of his face.
"Hiya!" Kurenai greeted them in the same bright tone. "Welcome to Camp Hideaway!"
"Hi!" the blonde boy returned, equally happy. He turned swiftly to say something to the brunette with the face paint and knocked into Sasuke.
There was a moment of silence that Sasuke shattered with a rather well-timed "Oh, shit," and then he lost his balance and toppled into the water. Something banged against his head, something that he couldn't see because he was currently trying not to get saltwater in his eyes as he sunk. Eventually Sasuke righted himself, ignoring the burning sensation on his forehead, and breached the surface of the water.
Gasping for air, Sasuke looked up at the blonde boy crouched at the edge of the dock, peering down at him.
"Sorry."
—
Naruto vaguely remembered bumping into someone as he'd turned to say hello to the head counselor. So, from the way the brunette in the water was swearing so colorfully, he could only guess that that was who he'd knocked down.
But when he'd knelt down to see if he needed help, that was when Naruto had gotten a clear view of his victim. And he had to admit, he was hot; pale-skinned and dark eyed, slender and dripping wet. Naruto grinned; just the way he liked them. From the way he was reacting, the kid probably had a temper to go with the fire in his eyes.
"Are you okay, Sasuke?" came the voice from beside him. Naruto looked to his right to see a pink-haired girl lean over the edge, calling to the soaked brunette. "You're kinda bleeding."
"What?" the brunette touched his forehead, his fingers coming away red. Streaks of blood mingled with seawater, running down and coating his lashes in maroon liquid. "Aw, dammit."
"Well!" Kurenai said enthusiastically. "Sasuke, we'll get you patched up in just a minute, okay?"
"Just peachy," Sasuke replied, sarcasm lacing his voice.
"Now, just a quick thing before we get Sasuke fixed up," Kurenai continued like she hadn't heard him, and she very well might not have, "You will be partnered with someone from a different school. You and your partner will be in charge of exactly twelve students. So...Shikamaru and Neji, you will have Duck Cabin; Temari and Ino, you get the Dolphin Cabin; Sakura and Tenten, Strawberry Cabin; Kiba and Kankuro, Dragon Cabin; Shino and Gaara, Turtle Cabin; and Naruto and Sasuke, you have Unicorn Cabin." As she spoke she made random hand gestures to indicate their partners, and as she waved a hand at Sasuke and the blonde idiot Sasuke almost had a heart attack.
"I hate unicorns," Sasuke told Kurenai as he waded onto the shore, shaking himself to get rid of the excess water. "And I hate the ocean, and I hate him!" He pointed at Naruto, a look of disgust on his face.
"That's the spirit!" Kurenai replied, again too peppy with her answer. "Naruto, take Sasuke back to the cabin, and there should be a first aid kid in the counselor's room. Wash the cut off and fix him up, 'kay?"
"Okay," Naruto answered, a grin on his face as he picked Sasuke's bags up. He bounded off the pier and over to where Sasuke was already starting up the path that led to the cabins a short distance away. "Sorry about that..Sasuke, was it?"
Sasuke whirled around, shot Naruto a look that could've burned the feathers off a chicken, and kept going, keeping his distance.
"Okay, well. If you won't talk, I will," Naruto said, speaking to Sasuke's back. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm seventeen, and I go to Suna High, but you probably knew that already. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and I like to fight. Detention is practically an elective for me, because it's fun to annoy people, especially teachers. And I like to talk a lot–"
"Like I couldn't tell," Sasuke muttered irritably. He mounted the wood steps after checking the cabin sign–it was still a unicorn, damn it all–and stalked past the bunk beds and into a room at the back that luckily was labeled, or Sasuke wouldn't have found it. The room was much smaller than the main cabin, with two regular beds that were already fully made. There was a window on either end of the room, light streaming in through the glass. A desk stood under one of the windows, and in the chair that sat in front of it was what Sasuke flung himself into, dripping and disheveled. Naruto set their bags down and found a first aid kit hanging from a wall hook.
As Naruto went through the kit to find some antiseptic and a bandage, Sasuke followed him sullenly from under a fringe of dark hair. So far all that was keeping him from screaming was the fact that everyone would probably hear him and think he was crazy. Which he most likely would be after spending a month with this idiot, he thought, rubbing his temples.
Suddenly there was cloth in his face and a hand was on his shoulder. Sasuke, who hadn't had a forewarning, pushed backwards in the rolling chair and tipped it over, landing on his butt on the hard floor. Naruto was standing where Sasuke's chair had just been, looking distinctly bemused. He held a towel in one hand, the antiseptic and bandages on the desk.
"What the hell were you doing?" Sasuke asked, sitting bolt upright. "Don't touch me like that!"
Naruto stepped closer, leaning down until he was in Sasuke's face. "Like how?"
"Don't give me that shit," Sasuke hissed, his hands finding Naruto's chest. For a brief moment he could feel the blonde's heartbeat under his fingers before he pushed the other boy away, glaring angrily. "Just...put the stupid bandage on my head so I can get away from you." He knew Naruto was just trying to help, but Sasuke was attempting to pitch a discreet hissy fit, and damned if he let anyone stop him!
"Aww, don't be like that, Sa-su-ke," Naruto singsonged, drawing out each syllable in a way that made Sasuke want to punch him. But there was a measure of hurt in those blue eyes that made Sasuke feel slightly ashamed.
"Whatever," Sasuke said. He stood up and tilted his head back, uncomfortably aware of the difference in their heights. Naruto gave him a patronizing grin and Sasuke scowled viciously, wincing as the antiseptic stung the wound. That was the slowest part of the procedure, and in no time Naruto had quickly and efficiently bandaged the cut. Sasuke was mildly impressed.
"Make sure you don't hit your head on anything again." Naruto closed the first aid kit and gave him a weak smile and Sasuke remembered his harsh rebuke. The blonde turned to leave, the door half-open before Sasuke squashed down his pride and called after him.
"Naruto..." Sasuke stopped as the taller teen turned to look at him; Sasuke got the feeling that he was waiting for another cruel remark. "I--I'm sorry. For what I said, I didn't really...mean it."
Slowly, Naruto's face brightened and Sasuke was treated to a dazzling grin that made his stomach tie itself in knots.
"S'alright, Sasuke," he acknowledged brightly and Sasuke felt much better for the apology. "C'mon, they'll be wanting to start some ridiculous 'get-to-know each other' game soon, I can feel it."
Sasuke felt a smile come to his own face and laughed, surprising himself. It was rare for him to connect with someone so easily, even if it was over something as simple as a mutual dislike for campfire bonding. "I think we might be alright," he said, and strode through the door Naruto held open for him.
"You think?" Naruto's dry question was answered with a light chuckle as he followed Sasuke out of the cabin. The dark-haired boy was too enamored with this feeling of lightheartedness to notice the painfully longing gaze that followed him back to where the other counselors were gradually assembling.
1 -- This part was based off a trip my class took in seventh grade to go to a marina. One of my friends got sick on the boat while we were snorkeling and she was sick the entire three days.
Anyways. Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, guys! I've been kinda busy (and I know you're pissed because I did oneshots instead of working on this painfully short chapter) but hopefully I'll be able to update more soon. But come August 20th you'll be severely deprived because school starts again (I'm actually looking forward to it...I think I'm going crazier than I already was.), so you'll only get about a chapter every week or so. Don't kill me, please.
And thank you to my first--and only, but please don't remind of that--reviewer, HopelesslyDrowning07!! Here's Naruto, and sorry for the shortness. Hope you liked this chapter too!
(Forty-one hits and one review. Is there something wrong with those numbers?)