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PART 6; Here Comes the Sun (Do-Do-Do-D... I'll shut up.)
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When Naruto awoke for what felt like the 50th time, he decided that he hated everything in the world. He couldn't choose what he hated most at the moment, though. There was that horrible bright sun beating down on his face, for one. There was also that annoying pain he still felt below his rib cage where Sasuke had bruised him (apparently the Kyuubi decided to sit hyper-healing this one out, the ruthless bastard!) And there was also a rapping at his door, the current reason for him being launched from blissful sleep.
Whoever the hell that was, this had better be important. Anywhere from Sakura begging for his love to Sasuke admitting what a douche he truly was would suffice.
However, when a pair of monstrous eyebrows was the first thing to meet his groggy line of vision, this immediately registered in the category of unimportance. He was sorely tempted to slam the door on Rock Lee, but he wasn't a jerk like Sasuke, so he'd at least hear what the guy had to say before doing that.
"Yo, fuzzy eyebrows," said Naruto, his demeanor a picture of sleepless hell, complete with eye baggage that could rival Sabaku no Gaara's. Well, no, maybe not quite that bad. We'll just say that's how he felt.
This obvious turmoil didn't seem register in Lee's mind, as he clearly had something more important to address. With an ecstatic grin, Lee wasted no time in clapping the sluggish Chuunin's shoulder with one hand while giving Naruto a thumbs up with the other. His large, white teeth reflected the light of the sun Naruto hated so much right now.
Lee wasted no time in explaining his sudden appearance. "I have fantastic news, Naruto-kun! Hokage-sama assigned me the task of leading three of our finest to Sunagakure for an important month-long mission concerning the progression of the Kazekage and insisted that you be on the band of shinobi that's to accompany me."
Huh? Something about the old lady and sand cakes. Could this asshole turn down the glint in his grin some, maybe? Naruto hadn't even gotten his first bowl of ramen in yet.
His stomach growled. "So hungry- say that again, brows?"
"Naruto-kun!" Lee decided to turn up his volume, and if Naruto didn't know any better, he'd say the exuberant man before him had summoned a backdrop of flames. Lee was flailing about now, not that it did anything to catch Naruto's attention. He was currently occupied by a large crack in the floor, wondering if the one in Sasuke's head were as big. "You're to accompany two shinobi and myself to Sunagakure via Hokage-sama's request." He jutted his finger west and the Flames of Youth were now in his eyes, as well.
After a few moments of that display, Naruto decided that now would be a good time to slam the door. None of what Lee said had registered because all Naruto could think about at the moment was how badly he wanted to go back to bed.
Just as Naruto reached up to slam the door shut, Lee's hands braced themselves on either side of the frame in and instant. Leave it to his legendary reflexes. At least the stupid flames were gone, now. "She would like for us to head out in a few hours if possible. Please get packing right away, as I need to find two other willing candidates to bring along as soon as possible," Lee concluded with a soft smile.
Naruto wouldn't respond, and then it finally occurred to Lee that he wasn't acting quite like himself. It must have been a trick! A clone? A spy!? This spy knew of their mission, now. Oh, Gai-sensei was going to be so disappointed with Lee's careless slip.
Lee had no choice but to beat the crap out of this doppelganger Naruto to make sure he kept quiet.
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A few minutes later, Naruto was fully awake, and thoroughly bruised.
To make up for the little mishap, Lee brought him a large cup of steaming ramen and grinned nervously, a few cuts of his own marring his, err, youthful features.
"You'll have to forgive me for misjudging you, Naruto-kun. I wasn't aware of the fact that you just weren't a morning person. TenTen has the same problem, so I should have known. I should run five-hundred laps around the village for making such a terrible mistake. What do you think?"
Naruto was too busy eating to think.
Half a cup of ramen later, Naruto said, "I've gotten better, haven't I?" The last time he tried to knock Lee around, he got his butt whooped. "Next time, I'm going to defeat you."
Forgetting all about the self-discipline he thought to inflict upon himself, Lee grinned and said, "I look forward to challenging you in the future, then."
They would have proceeded to jabber along like old pals, but one look at the clock and Lee bolted himself upright, nearly knocking the table over in the process.
"Naruto, you must prepare for our journey immediately! Time is wasting!"
Naruto's face scrunched with confusion as he placed down his now empty cup of noodles. "Where are we going again?"
"Sunagakure! Per request of the Kazekage himself," said Lee, as if he weren't repeating himself for the third time. He proceeded to describe the mission in detail, and now that Naruto was actually listening, he was glowing with excitement. It'd been awhile since he last saw Gaara. In truth, he wanted to save meeting his friend again for the day he became Hokage. He had it all planned out in his head, those two standing together in their robes and hats, Naruto's arm around the other boy's shoulder as he informed residents of Suna AND Konoha that they were standing before the two greatest leaders in the history of their villages. Gaara would actually be smiling, and afterwards they'd both have plenty of pretty girls feeding them ramen. Gaara could definitely use a pretty girlfriend.
"Gaara-kun is your friend, isn't he, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto's face broke into a very wide grin. "Of course! You saw how I saved his butt that one time, and when I become Hokage, we're going to be like brothers and have the strongest alliance ever. Nobody will be able to touch us." Naruto laughed. "I'm the coolest friend he's got."
Another shoulder slap and glinty grin combo came his way from Lee. The older boy couldn't be happier to hear those words come from Naruto's mouth. "Well said! Please prepare as quickly as you can, and don't forget to bring warm clothes. We'll reach the desert by nightfall, if you can keep up with my speed."
"I'll totally own your speed, fuzzy eyebrows! I'll be shaking hands with Gaara by the time you're done eating my dust!"
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One hour later, Naruto was all packed and ready for Suna. Lee, eager to get going as quickly as he could, returned to his apartment with Shikamaru on tow. Trips to and fro the sand-strewn oven that was Suna was Lee's favorite way to train, apparently. Even Shikamaru, in all his nonchalant glory, had a hint of excitement in his bored looking eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out why, thought Naruto with a snicker. There was a certain tall, blond, fan-wielding kunoichi probably ready and waiting for them at Suna's entrance.
There were supposed to be four of them going, Naruto recalled, and yet Shikamaru was the only one standing beside Lee. Before Naruto could even ask, Lee lead the Chuunin out the door in a rush and explained.
"Hokage-sama wanted you and myself to head out to Suna specifically, Naruto-kun. I thought it fair for you to invite the last person to accompany us."
Naruto would have chosen Sasuke in a flash, but there were several problems with that. Sasuke was not an elite ninja; in fact, as far as Dead Lasts in his graduating class went, Naruto was only second to the last remaining Uchiha, who at this point in time was merely a Genin (they had the wonderful Orochimaru to thank for that one.) In other words, it would take a significant amount of argument and bottles of sake to get the old hag to agree. Even Naruto knew this.
Second of all, Sasuke was acting strange the previous night. He came in, punched Naruto awake, and then he just sat there, staring into space. He was shaking a little bit, but that's nothing a little cold air billowing in through the window couldn't cause. Naruto gave the other boy a few pats on the shoulder to get his attention, only to freak him out entirely. Next thing he knew, Sasuke was gone.
Naruto suddenly wasn't sure if it was a good idea to leave Konoha. Then again, it was only a month. Hell, maybe Sasuke'll finally find himself a girl to make babies with and stop acting all weird.
"Yosh!" said Naruto, slamming his fist into his palm.
"Have you thought of someone to accompany us?" asked Lee.
Naruto grinned. "Not at all."
And thus came the sweat drops of WTF.
T B C
A/N: Uwwaaa! Well, you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder (or will it?)
Okay, to be fair, I'll warn you guys right now that it may be over a month before the next chapter is written and posted. I've got a lot going on right now (two final exams to prepare presentations for, senior activities, prom, graduation, preparing for college, blah-blah-blah.) Fun stuff. Real fun. -cries- But I appreciate the support. Just don't pressure me into posting more anytime before mid-June because it's probably not going to happen.
Thanks for all the reviews, guys. :)