A Story of Resolve.
Nothing to gain, nothing owned.

0o0o0

Given the task of retrieving his teammates, Naruto decided to go get Sasuke first, for once thinking very clearly about his course of action. Even though Sasuke lived farther away than Sakura, Naruto was smart enough to realize that if he should show up at Sakura's house at six in the morning, things would not end well.

Naruto also realized that Sasuke was not terribly fond of Sakura's advances. Well, neither was Naruto, but that's beside the point.

The point being, that Sasuke would rather deal with him than Sakura, and Sakura might not beat him to a pulp if he brings Sasuke to distract her...

0o0o0

Taking a sip of his orange juice, Sasuke was just putting bread in his toaster when he heard a knock at his door. Slightly upset at the intrusion on his morning ritual, Sasuke walked from his small kitchen and went to the front door.

Reaching the locked door, Sasuke leaned in close, and repeated his favorite phrase for visitors.

"If your selling, I'm not buying. If your looking for donations to your organization, I'm not giving. If you are in danger of dying and you need medical attention, there's a hospital down the street. If you are homeless, and need food, there's a shelter two blocks past the old library. If you are from a prestigious clan, and wish for me to marry one of your heirs, I'm not selling. If you fit any of those criteria, please leave now, or I will call ANBU to escort you off the premise."

Surprisingly enough, Sasuke got a response other than the sound of retreating footsteps.

"What the hell's a criteria? Open up Sasuke!" Upon recognizing that voice, Sasuke replied.

"...no."

"C'mon man! There's been a change in plans! Open the door!" It seemed Uzumaki was as stubborn as ever, and would not leave him to his breakfast.

Repressing a sigh, Sasuke cracked the door to see Naruto standing there, looking as if he could barely contain himself. "What the hell are you talking about Naruto? Why are you here?" Sasuke asked, opening the door wider.

"I ran into our new sensei, and we're going to start this exercise thing a little earlier." Naruto casually shoved Sasuke aside and walked inside, taking no time at all in making himself comfortable on Sasuke's couch. "He told me to get you and Sakura and meet up at the bridge near Ichiraku."

"Good, the sooner the better." Sasuke responded, deciding to let Uzumaki's intrusion slide this time. He was looking forward to showing this supposed Jonin what the Uchiha were capable of. Sasuke took another glance outside the door, then around Naruto. Something was missing. It was much too quiet. Or at least as quiet as things can get with Uzumaki around.

"Where's Haruno?"

Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head. "Still asleep probably. I sure as hell ain't wakin' her up by myself!"

"So that's why you came here first? So I would be there too, so that she might not beat you to a bloody speck? You only came here first to use me for your own devices?"

"Yup, pretty much."

Normally, Sasuke would be offended, but for once, he was actually sort of impressed. Uzumaki didn't seem like the type to think ahead...or think at all for that matter. It seemed that despite all the evidence to the contrary, Naruto did in fact have brain activity.

0o0o0

Naruto could see Sasuke in pensive thought.

'The poor guy must be having a hard time wrapping his head around my strategy.' Naruto thought. 'It must be difficult, realizing just how much I rock. Hell, at first even I had trouble understanding just how much of a winner I am!'

"Hurry up Sasuke! You can admire my brilliance later! Let's go get Sakura before-

-POP-

Naruto stopped mid-sentence, and sniffed the air. "Sweet! We havin' toast?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a dead serious expression and asked, "Why the hell should I feed you?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke with a dead serious expression and replied, "Because I can't eat and talk at the same time."

"Please, help yourself to some toast."

While Naruto stuffed his face with toast and drowned himself in Sasuke's sweet, sweet OJ, Sasuke went to his room and quickly gathered his supplies.

Kunai? Check.

Ninja Wire? Check.

Soldier pill? Check.

Sasuke was interrupted by a loud belching noise originating from the kitchen.

Earplugs? Check.

Ready to go, Sasuke came out of his room and saw Naruto waiting at the front door. "Left you some toast on the table." Sasuke simply nodded and went into the kitchen, took two huge bites of his own toast and a swallow of orange juice, and headed out the door. After taking a moment to make sure all his locks were in place, Sasuke turned to see Naruto impatiently tapping his foot. Seems the moron was ready to go.

Hesitantly, Sasuke glanced at Naruto and asked, "Hey, do you have any idea of what this exercise is?"

Naruto scratched his chin, a gesture that Sasuke was sure made Naruto think he looked intelligent. It didn't work of course, it simply made him look...itchy.

"I'm almost completely positive that it involves kicking ass."

Sasuke barely resisted rolling his eyes at Naruto's silly response.

"Don't be ridiculous Naruto. Of course it involves kicking ass."

Boys will be boys.

0o0o0

Locating Sakura's house was not difficult.

Naruto himself has passed by her house many times before on his way home from the academy.

Even Sasuke remembered her talking about her home when they sat next to each other in third grade.

He remembered that time quite fondly.

It was the first year of the academy, and being eight years old, she had no real interest in boys. They thought he had cooties, when in fact, it was they, the female populace, who were teeming with the powerful and nonexistent cootie virus.

Those were happier times...

...Then Itachi struck, puberty struck and Sasuke's life got a lot more complicated...

...To get back on point, it was no issue at all finding Sakura's house.

Waking Sakura however, was a different story all together.

0o0o0

"Well, we're here."

"Hm."

"Time to go get Sakura."

"Indeed."

"Time to...wake her up."

"Yes."

"From her bed. Where she is sleeping."

"So it would seem, Naruto."

"Uhh...Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Which room is Sakura's?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he was crazy. "How the hell should I know? I've never been to her house, idiot!"

Naruto closed his eyes in annoyance for a few seconds, opening them as he responded, "Well I thought you would know where her room was!" Sasuke gawked at Naruto's bold statement, fighting the small blush on his cheeks.

Barely keeping his voice in check, Sasuke loudly whispered, "Dammit Naruto! Why would you think that?"

"She's always coming on to you, right? So I figured she might have given you directions for a secret rendezvous!"

Sasuke just stared at Naruto in disbelief, before regaining his bearings. "Naruto, do you even know what a rendezvous is?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto casually, and quite loudly, replied, "Nope, all I know is that Sakura probably wants one with you, seeing as how I read it in a dirty sex novel."

"Okay Naruto, you can stop now, I know which room Sakura is in."

"Aha!" Naruto shouted. "I knew it! You and Sakura are like a beast with two backs!"

Sasuke just stared at Naruto some more. It was quickly becoming a hobby of his.

"Okay, first of all, what the hell does that even mean?" Upon getting no answer, Sasuke continued, "Secondly, That's not how I figured out where her room was..." Sasuke trailed off, pointing his finger in the direction of Sakura's house.

Wordlessly, Naruto's eyes followed the direction Sasuke was pointing, and sure enough, he too found out which room was Sakura's.

The window was open, and the lights were on.

A very sleepy, very disheveled, very angry Haruno Sakura leaned out the window, glaring at the two boys with enough anger to kill a puppy from a distance.

0o0o0

Somewhere, a young white pup called Akamaru whimpered in his sleep. Fortunately for him, the Inuzuka compound was just barely out of range of Sakura's puppy-killing anger.

He didn't die. But he totally pissed on Kiba's bed sheets.

Not cool.

0o0o0

The hate was so strong, so potent, Naruto felt his stomach rumble with uneasiness, and for a moment, he thought he heard the echo of evil laughter.

Sasuke was frozen. There were no words to describe what he felt. Sasuke simply stared. It was all he could do. His keen eyes barely sensed the malevolent pink...aura surrounding his female teammate. He would never look at pink the same way again.

Then, to Naruto's horror, and Sasuke's disbelief, this otherworldly creature spoke in the human tongue.

Although her words were quiet, and they were twenty feet apart, they were still able to hear clearly, as if they were standing right next to her.

"Which one of you woke me up?"

oooo

Words of Resolve:

A little shorter than I had hoped to make it, but I think that Naruto and Sasuke's complete and utter destruction at the hands of Sakura would be a great start to the next chapter.

Anyway...

Next chapter, we discover what Kakashi has in store for our intrepid young adventurers!

Only thing I have to do is...well, decide what that is exactly...

Rest assured, it will not involve drugs, hookers, or drugged up hookers.

I have to put the M rating on first...

ANYWAY...

You may have noticed that Sasuke isn't a complete and total dick. Yeah, your welcome. Instead of turning a character I don't like into a bash-dummy, I've decided to make him into something that I do like. Don't get me wrong, Sasuke will still be a total dick. I just plan on making him an awesome total dick. You will love Sasuke, and when people ask you why, you'll say: "Because he's a dick!"

That is all.