Naruto and Kiba woke to the sound of the alarm clock going off. As Naruto stepped out of his room, he noticed that no one was awake yet. "Come on; let's get a shower before everyone else wakes up." Naruto said. "Sure." was all Kiba said as he grabbed his cloths. They walked into the facilities room and got into separate shower stalls. As Naruto turned on the water, he heard Kankuro call something out. "Last stall's mine." Kankuro called as he got into the shower next to Naruto. "Damnit Kankie, why?" he heard Gaara whine before the sound of him plopping down on the plastic covered sofa could be heard. Naruto finished his shower before Kiba stepped out. He got his things together and called out "Stall 2 ready." Gaara got his things and went into the stall as Naruto went to his room and finished getting dressed. Within a few minutes, Kiba got out of his shower and went back to the room as well. As they got dressed, Naruto could hear Sai's and Asuma's voices in the common room. "I wonder why those two are here." Naruto said. "I don't know, perhaps someone is going to be assigned something to do with the control desk." Kiba said as he slipped on his shirt and walked out into the hallway.
After Naruto finished getting dressed, he too walked out into the common area. "Here are your new ID badges. When you go to your community duty assignment area, these will let you in." Asuma said. Naruto looked at his then at Kiba's. "Why is mine red and Kiba's green?" Naruto asked. "I'll explain those later." Asuma said. "So, Naruto, any popcorn recently." Sai said without any tone to give away his true intention. "No, I haven't." Naruto growled expecting an insult to flow from Sai's mouth. "Oh, I figured you would have had some." Sai said as he looked into a corner of the room.
As soon as Gaara and Shikamaru entered the room, Asuma started giving the assignments. "Gaara Subako, you'll be working in central supply. Kankuro Subako, you'll remain as a traffic controller in the processing facility. Kiba Inuzuka, you'll be floor 5 assistant secretary. Shikamaru Nara, You will be assigned to the floor five maintenance crew. Naruto Uzumaki, you'll be the floor 5 controllers assistant." Asuma said. Naruto looked at Kiba and smiled. They would both be behind the controller desk for working. "Looks like I'll be near Naruto." Kiba said. "What exactly will I be doing for the maintenance crew?" Shikamaru asked. "Assorted cleaning duties." Asuma said as he handed Shikamaru his work schedule. Shikamaru went pale before whining "Why Me?" "Why you? Because Kabuto recommended it. You see to have a very anal sense of organization and cleanliness. And he told me about the mushroom incident." Asuma said. "Ha, I always knew you were anal." Naruto said. "Well Naruto, you'll have Sai as your superior until you are done with the training, then you'll work closely with myself, Sai, and Shino, the other floor controller." Asuma said to Naruto. "Will I have to go to room 8 at all?" Gaara asked. "Yes, you'll have to stock there along with the other offices." Asuma said, Gaara went pale. "I don't think I'll be able to do this." he said before standing up and walking into his room. Kankuro followed him closely.
Kankuro looked and found Gaara sobbing on his bed. "Gaara, I know you have an aversion to that room, I do too. If you don't feel comfortable in there, I am sure someone else like Naruto or Kiba would gladly put the things away for you." Kankuro said behind his brother. Since the day that Kankuro was almost processed but survived, Gaara could never look at the hallway extending from behind the control desk the same way. "I know I can do this, all I need to do is face my fears." Gaara said, wiping a tear from his face. "That's the brother I know. Come on, I know they're worrying about you right now." Kankuro said as he lead his brother back out into the common room.
"You know, if you can't do the duties after a week, you can apply to be reassigned to another position within the facility." Asuma said. "See Gaara, if you can't handle it, you can do something else." Kabuto said to Gaara and Kankuro nodded. "You could have started out as a tarp remover like I did. That's a job I wish on no one." Kankuro said. "What do they do?" Gaara asked, Naruto and Kiba obviously wanted the answer as well. "They remove the tarps from the trucks that enter the processing plant. They are also responsible for grading material quality and directing them to the right dumping area." Asuma said. Gaara got a disgusting look on his face. "Ya, I'd rather stock supplies then do that." he said with disgust clearly evident in his voice.
Naruto and Sai walked out into the hallway and towards the control desk. "First, I am going to show you how to enter mission reports since we have a few teams out right now." Sai said as he opened the gate and lead Naruto into the area behind the counter. He opened a second gate with his ID card and Naruto was instantly shocked by what he saw. On the computer monitors were not only security cameras from the floor but also progress reports that were coming into the organization from the agents in the field. "If you see anything come across in red text, let me know. The only time anyone is permitted to use red text is if it is an urgent situation. If you see an operative number flashing blue on the mission profile screen, also let me know, that signifies an arrest. Only a pod master can reset it once it has been activated. The button is some times pressed on accident but there are times where the person is actually arrested." Sai said.
"Is it always this busy here?" Naruto asked as he took a seat in front of one of the flickering screens. "For the most part, the missions are over before twenty one hundred and the teams are back before midnight. But there is always someone here, no matter what time of the day it is. We not only handle the missions and progress reports but also the phone traffic for the floor. When someone calls here, they are asked which floor is the person they are trying to reach on, from the lobby, the call is sent to the control desk and from the control desk to the pod. If they are able to give the name of the person they are calling, it is sent to the person's cell phone." Sai said.
"Cool." Naruto said as he looked at the screen. "Sai, team 5-6 has completed their mission and are en route back." Naruto said as he saw the red text. "What color?" Sai asked. "Red." Naruto said, Sai picked up a radio and called out to the pod. "Pod 5-6, control." Sai said. "Control, pod 5-6." a voice came over the radio. "Pod 5-6, we got your update in red status, is there a problem?" Sai said. "Yes, we have a code 4 and will need medics waiting." the voice said. "ok, confirmed medics for a code 4, out." Sai said before typing this information into his terminal. "Sai, what is a code 4?" Naruto asked. "It's an injury, but not a severe one. Possibly a rolled ankle or something like that." Sai said as he looked at his screen. He looked at the team ID and his eyes widened. "Pod 5-2, you are showing a code blue, please confirm or deny." Sai said into the radio while sending the information to Asuma. "Control, code blue is negative, accidental activation." a voice said over the radio. "Ok, confirming code blue accidental activation, out." Sai said as be clicked on the team number and canceled the code.
Naruto noticed on his screen that one team, pod 5-6, showed green. "What does green mean?" Naruto said. "Click it, someone is transmitting a mission report." Sai said. "Pod 5-6, mission report received, medics are on standby at entrance 4-north, confirm?" Naruto said. Sai looked at him and smiled, Naruto was a quick learner at this. "Control, please verify your identity." the voice said. "What exactly am I?" Naruto asked. "Support controller." Sai said before turning back to his terminal. "Pod 5-6, this is support controller Uzumaki." Naruto said into his radio. "Confirmed and welcome to the team Naruto." the voice said. "How did he know my first name?" Naruto asked Sai. "Are you kidding me, since you KO'd that processing agent, everyone knows your name." Sai said.
"Control, this is Agent 5-2, requesting processing orders." a voice said over Naruto's radio. He looked over his screen and looked in the box that said "Processing orders". He let out a sigh of relief that there were no pods or names listed. "Agent 5-2, control shows no orders." Naruto said. "Control, please identify yourself." the person said. "Agent 5-2, support controller Uzumaki." Naruto said, Sai raised an eye brow. "Control, identity received, will be confirmed with master controller, welcome to the team Naruto." the person finished. "Who exactly was that?" Naruto asked. "That was Izumo." Sai said.
Before long, said person was standing at the desk. "Ah, support controller Uzumaki, clearance and ID please?" Izumo said. Naruto got out his ID card and handed it to him. "It seems you are a natural, being that this is your first day doing this." Izumo said handing Naruto his ID back. "Oh, Izumo. Asuma said next time you feel the need to relieve yourself, don't do it into the chute in room 8, someone was down there cleaning and got hit by it." Sai said, scratching that item off of the list. "Understood." Izumo said, Naruto looked as if he was going to laugh.
After what seemed like hours, Naruto was slumped over his terminal. "You know, the shift ends in a few, you can go if you want." Sai said. "Thanks." Naruto said in a tired tone. Naruto turned around and found Kiba standing with a smile. "It seems you forgot to pick up and sign the mission repots you received today." Kiba said as he set the stack of papers next to Naruto. Naruto got out a pen and started signing the forms. By the time he was done, it was time for both him and Kiba to quit for the day. It was Thursday so they had regular classes the next day and had the weekend off. "Finally, done. Sai, is there anything else I need to do with these before I leave?" Naruto asked, his eyes already starting to close from exhaustion. "No, I'll turn them in for you, but remember you'll have to do it next time and I'll show you where they go." Sai said before picking up the stack and walking into a back hallway.
As Naruto got up, Shino walked into the control desk area. "How were things today?" Shino asked Sai. "Good, no teams are still out, Naruto here is a quick learner and really helped out today. Other then that, nothing too major." Sai said as he stretched his back. "I guess you'll have the shift to yourself, if things pick up, call me." Sai said, Naruto's eyes widened. He had just got done spending 12 hours directing traffic and taking mission reports and Sai was volunteering for a second shift. "How hard is night shift?" Naruto asked. "Pretty slow, I mainly listen to music and work on school work when I am working it. Sai likes to play games with the other controllers, and I am sure you'll find something to keep yourself occupied." Shino said before logging into his terminal and putting on a head set.
Naruto staggered to his pod and opened the door. Kabuto looked at him and smiled. "I heard, normally it isn't as hard as it was today, the days controller for floor 8 called off so you were taking care of all the traffic for floor 5." Kabuto said with a smile that Naruto was able to do this. "You mean that Sai had a floor to himself as well?" Naruto asked, amazed that everything got done. "Ya, he did. Kiba will be back shortly and Shikamaru is taking a nap. Gaara is already on a mission for central supply and should be back soon." Kabuto finished. Naruto walked in and dropped himself on the couch. "Where did Gaara go?" Naruto asked. "He went to the airport, some supplies came in but weren't in early enough to be delivered by the delivery company so they went to pick it up." Kabuto said. "What did he have to pick up?" Naruto asked, noticing that Shikamaru was walking out of his bedroom. "Some paper, I think it was a pallet and a half." Kabuto said. "So, how was your shift?" Naruto asked Shikamaru. "So many damn recycling bins." Shikamaru said with a sigh. "Well, at least it sounds like it was easy." Naruto said. "Ya, next time I have the sort belt." Shikamaru said with a shudder and Kabuto chuckled. "Just be sure to wear gloves." Kabuto offered as advice.
Naruto let out a sigh and yawned. "I think I'm going to skip dinner tonight and go to bed." Naruto said. "OK, I'll tell Kiba where you are when he gets here." Kabuto said. Naruto barely made it to his bedroom before passing out. He didn't hear Kiba come in, nor did he feel Kiba and Kabuto undress him and put him under the covers. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock above the bed, it read 03:57. Naruto looked to his side and saw the mess of hair on top of Kiba's head. He reached out a hand and laid it down on Kiba's shoulder, waking him a little. "You were sleeping with your cloths on when I got here, Kabuto and I undressed you." Kiba said after opening his eyes and noticing that his boyfriend was awake. "Thanks, did you guys save any dinner?" Naruto said. "Ya, it's in the common room." Kiba said as he got up with Naruto.
The two walked into the common room and found Kabuto sitting on the couch. "Ah, hunger woke you, didn't it Naruto?" Kabuto asked. "Yes, it did." Naruto said. "We saved you a few chili dogs, they are in the fridge." Kabuto said. Naruto nodded. "I think I'll save those for tomorrow night, I want a light snack for now." Naruto said as he walked out into the empty hallway. The lights were set so that every third light was on and the control desk stood out like a beacon at the end of the hall. Naruto walked up to the vending machines at the end of the hall by the control desk and got a breakfast burrito and a box of orange juice. "You know, it's very rare for anyone to be up this time of the night." Shino said from behind the desk. "Ya, I skipped dinner and wanted something lighter then chili dogs." Naruto said. "Ya, good choice." Shino said before going back to his duty.
He got back to the pod and warmed up his burrito. Kiba had already gone to bed and Kabuto was no where to be found, most likely in bed as well. After Naruto finished eating, he put the remains in the trash can and went back to his bed. He crawled in next to Kiba and accepted the slow embrace of sleep taking him.