askerian | Teamwork: F**ing END OF CHAPTER 6. Halleluia.

Still needs a little epilogue for some closure, but wtf. I'll write that tomorrow.

Now I need to have this monster chapter betaed.

joisbishmyoga, where are youuuu?

previous: http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/124903.html#cutid1

Please comment on characterisation, eventual plot holes and weird WTF-inducing grammar, if you love me. ;_;

The wake-up call the next morning came in the form of a loud knock at the door that made the doorknob rattle, then said door slapping against the wall as it was negligently kicked out of the way. Sakura sat up in a leap, startled out of her pleasant dream.

At first she didn't recognize the tall, white-haired man who was standing there, hands on his hips and watching them with a weird expression on his face.

"Knew you'd be here, brat."

"What are you doing here?!" Naruto exclaimed as he too straightened up.

The man -- Jiraiya-sama, one of the three legendary Sennin, she recognized him now that she was waking up -- straightened up and arched an eyebrow.

"Why, I'm the seal expert, brat. Were you expecting someone else?"

"What, YOU are the seal expert old Tsunade talked about? Can't be!"

"And why is that, you little pest?" the old man asked as he stepped closer to the bed.

"Maybe because it sounded like she actually respected you!"

There were people crowding behind Jiraiya, and she leaned over Sasuke protectively, eyeing them worriedly, wondering what they wanted.

Her movement drew Jiraiya's attention and he stared at her and Sasuke with amused interest. Sakura wondered what he wanted at first, and then she recognized his expression as a repressed leer. It was then that she realized -- she was leaning forward, wearing a too-large shirt, her bare leg peeking out from under the sheet, and as from what people could see of Sasuke, he could as well have been naked under the blankets. Naruto had been curled around both of them, between their heads and the headboard. The situation was unmistakably intimate.

"Congratulations are in order from what I see, son. Mind if I use that in my next book?"

Naruto gaped. "Use what-- Oh! Uh, I really think not -- you'd have to ask them, but that would surprise me. You sure your usual readers would appreciate?"

Blushing, Sakura drew the sheets higher, hiding Sasuke's chest and her own cleavage. "W-what book?"

Naruto looked sheepish and mildly embarrassed. "Oh, I never told you? He writes the books Kakashi-sensei likes so much..."

Jiraiya almost preened, drawing himself up proudly. "Yes, my books are widely known indeed!!"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

"I could make a very original scene with this -- the pure, innocent maiden, unable to choose between her two handsome suitors, giving away the flower of her womanhood to --"

The bedside table hit Jiraiya's face with a satisfying thud.

"PERVERT!!!"

"... I see the wild, untamed wench would fit the theme better..."

Under her, Sasuke was painstakingly shaping the seals for a katon. She didn't stop to say good morning ; instead, she jumped off the bed and stalked toward the old man, who was straightening up, blinking dazedly at the broken table on the floor, and grabbed his collar to bring his face closer.

"Jiraiya-sama. With all the respect due to an elder and a genius ninja, if I have ONE reason to suspect that you alluded to our team in your perverted books, I will KILL YOU. And I can be really creative."

He blinked, then started to laugh. Sakura came down from her towering fury to realize how ridiculous the whole thing was. She wasn't even a Chuunin yet, and she was threatening one of the three legendary ninjas of Konoha as if there was a chance in hell she could manage to hurt him!

/Hey, he did get the table in his face/ Inner Sakura commented smugly.

Shut up, you! It's the last time I'm listening to you, she replied, flushing darkly. If Inner Sakura hadn't echoed her anger, she would never have behaved in such a way. She let go and stepped back, mortally embarrassed.

Then Naruto started to laugh too. "Guess that's your reply, pervert-sennin."

"Serves you right," Tsunade commented as she stepped inside. "Enough playing around -- Naruto, Jiraiya will check on your seal now, take your shirt off. Sasuke, lay down and rest, don't make me tie you up. Sakura, get Sasuke some water. Everyone else," and then she turned to face the men still watching through the door, "leave. Now."

Picking up the water jug she'd knocked over when she threw the table, Sakura left the room, head low. She was blushing -- she couldn't believe they'd been caught sleeping in the same bed by that perverted man, and Hokage-sama had been there too! And then she'd behaved like a fury with no respect for her betters... They were used to it from Naruto, true... Except, of course, that Naruto was a very special person indeed, if only because of all that raw power, and that she... was pretty much as banal as you could get.

She took her time in the bathroom, regaining as much of her composure as she could gather, then went back, ignoring the Jounin shadowing her. Kakashi-sensei was leaning against the wall. He smiled at her in that "ahh, why the hell are you worrying" way of his, and she managed a sheepish smile in return.

Naruto was sitting in the middle of the room, inside a series of concentric circles, slumped forward as if he'd fallen asleep. Jiraiya was facing him. There were runes and patterns all over the floor, and Sakura wondered how they'd drawn them so quickly. It looked complicated. Sasuke's bed had been pushed toward the far corner, and he was propped up against the headboard, watching the scene through sleep-heavy eyelids. A few Council members were there -- Kagami-san wasn't there, though Aburame-sama was, standing with Akimichi-san and two old people, a man and a woman, that she didn't recognize.

As she circled the design carefully, trying not to step on any of the patterns, she heard Jiraiya and Tsunade talking softly as Jiraiya examined the seal.

"...about the harmonization of the chakra signatures?" the Hokage was asking, a small frown marring her features.

"The resonance is even more advanced than last time I checked," Jiraiya replied, mildly annoyed.

Sakura stumbled, fighting not to let her eyes open wide -- from where he was, Sasuke couldn't hear, but he was watching her, now, and she wasn't sure she wanted to explain what she'd heard and why she found it so ominous. She'd heard some of it before, and Naruto's confusing explanations had hinted at something like that, but hearing it being described so clinically made her shiver.

Jiraiya snorted and scowled at Naruto. "Told you to avoid strong emotions, didn't I, brat? You're going to speed up the process." His only response was a snore. Even asleep, Naruto managed to lack respect.

One of the Council members -- one that she didn't know, the old man with a narrow, serious face -- frowned. "What process?"

Jiraiya gave him a long, considering look, then shrugged.

"The seal's process. Naruto's absorbing the Kyuubi. Power first -- then instincts, then personality. By the time the brat's thirty-five, there won't be a Kyuubi left."

Sakura shuddered, and hurried to the bed. Sasuke was looking as impassible as usual -- she could have believed that he hadn't heard, except that he actually let her hold his hand. Naruto's head was lowered and he seemed deeply asleep, so there was no checking with him to reassure herself.

"What does that mean?" the old woman asked, alarmed. "That the boy is becoming Kyuubi?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Hell no. It means that piece by piece, the Kyuubi is dissolving. Naruto will absorb some aspects of him -- the chakra reserve, some instincts, maybe some memories -- and change them to make them his."

The two unknown Council members exchanged an alarmed look, and Akimichi-san straightened up slightly, his eyes fixed on Naruto's lax body. Jiraiya continued, appearing not to notice the reaction.

"As he is the fundamental personality, and was left alone to mature until he hit puberty, he will keep his moral sense -- what makes him the person that he is -- but he'll gain no more will to destroy Konoha or randomly devour passersby than he already has."

"Do you mean to tell us that there will be no side-effect at all?" the old woman asked, clearly doubtful.

"No, because there will be some. He'll have nightmares, bad memories, maybe a few fits of temper -- nothing worse. True, he'll gain some insight into a monster's mind, but if any, that will probably disgust him even more. And he will need to learn to control or anticipate some of the instincts."

"Some time with the Inuzuka family might help with that," Tsunade commented thoughtfully. Jiraiya nodded. "The dog family? Yes, it could work... Anyway, the core personality cannot be twisted or damaged by an outside force. The seal prevents it."

"And what if he's already corrupted? Who will vouch for the core personality?" the old nobleman asked, glaring at the dozing young man.

Tsunade and Jiraiya answered back at the same time, with the same final, cutting tone. "I do."

Taken aback, the man blinked, and needed a few seconds to regain his composure.

"... And this is the opinion you wish to present to the Council?"

"Yes," Jiraiya replied.

Sakura stopped wondering how someone so perverted could have such a flattering reputation. When he felt like it, Jiraiya was indeed the very essence of noblesse and moral fortitude.

"... Sakura... Can you read their lips?" Sasuke breathed with some reluctance. Surprised, she looked at him. His pupils looked a bit weird, as if he had trouble focusing right. She wondered if that was a side effect of internal bleeding, and regretfully shook her head. They were too experienced to let that happen. Akimichi-san's body was blocking the view.

She watched with frustration as Tsunade-sama herded the Council members out of the room, leaving with them. She wanted to know what they'd been saying, but now they would have to wait until the decision was made. /Godfuckingdamnit./

Jiraiya stretched, hands on the small of his back as if it was aching, then strolled through the sigils on the floor and kicked Naruto's knee. "Hey, brat, wake up."

Spluttering, Naruto woke up in a leap and lashed at his assailant, but Jiraiya evaded the clumsy attack easily, punching the back of Naruto's head as retaliation. Inner Sakura rolled her eyes at the casual bullying that ensued. /If that's how much Naruto will ever mature in his whole fucking life, I should dump his puerile ass right now./

Sasuke was frowning, looking put out by the display. He was tense; that couldn't be good for the wounds. She cleared her throat, trying to attract Naruto and Jiraiya's attention, then when that failed, threw the water jug at them.

"We're in a hospital; please control yourselves," she demanded sternly. Naruto, his wet bangs hanging in his face, looked suitably sheepish. Jiraiya chuckled. The old bastard was entirely dry.

"The old pervert started it," Naruto whined, giving her a pitiful look. "It was his fault."

"Honestly," she sighed. "Do I have to make you both sit in opposite corners of the room?"

"No need. I'm leaving. You can discipline Naruto, though, he needs it."

Naruto spluttered, and Sakura blushed. "I didn't mean -- you're not unwelcome or anything --"

Jiraiya smiled, amused, and she felt stupid for assuming that she could push such a man to leave with a few mildly derogatory words. "I have to go and see how the meeting's going. I want to make sure there's no wild interpretation of my diagnosis going on. Kakashi," he added, turning toward the man Sakura had forgotten was even there, "this time try to use the bathroom attached to this room, not the one at the other end of the hospital."

Kakashi's visible eye curved up in a smile. "Yes, Jiraiya-sama," he replied in a falsely chastened tone. Chuckling, the old man walked out, leaving Team Seven and its teacher alone.

Kakashi shrugged as he closed the door behind him, then gave the three of them a long, considering, surprisingly serious look. "I apologize for the lack of privacy," he commented quietly.

"We understand," Sasuke replied.

You did enough, Sakura mouthed silently. She nudged Naruto before he could say that he didn't understand; he only needed to think about it for two more seconds before he got it. Kakashi had risked too much by letting them run away on him, twice now. True, two of his pupils were judged elite rookies, but after all he was an elite himself. He could pretend that they'd gotten the better of him the day before, when they were running away from Konoha, and he could even give convincing arguments -- he could even find 'proof' -- but he could give as much proof that he'd been outmaneuvered by his team as he wanted, no one would actually believe him. Sakura gave him a grateful, respectful bow.

Kakashi waved it off, and gave the three of them a long, weighting look. Sakura started feeling uncomfortably aware of her hand in Sasuke's.

"So."

"... So?" Sasuke replied coldly. He didn't let go. Even despite her nervousness, Sakura was thrilled.

"I am not going to ask what happened. It's private and your own business. But what I'm not going to do either is letting my team break up over it. So tell me that you -- the three of you -- can deal with whatever happened without compromising the balance of the team, and I won't pry any further." He gave Naruto another serious, weighting look, then his eye flicked back to Sakura and Sasuke's hands.

Sakura's cheeks were burning. She tried to find her words, but ended up stammering. And she couldn't hope that Sasuke would even try to explain.

"I'm gonna be best man at Sakura-chan and Sasuke's wedding!" Naruto blurted out.

Sakura spluttered. Kakashi-sensei was blinking at them, now!

Sasuke's knuckles rapped on Naruto's head sharply. "Idiot!! I only asked her yesterday--"

"She said yes!!"

"But it was yesterday! Give her at least a week to change her mind, you moron."

Kakashi coughed. He was amused. Sakura wanted to die. "Children..."

"You can come, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto added, stepping away from the bed to put himself out of reach. "Maybe you can give Sasuke away or something."

"It's the woman who's given away, you -- cretin!!"

She attempted to get Sasuke to lie down again, with little success.

Naruto was laughing his ass off. "I know, but I wanted to see your face! I'm sure you'd look so cute in a cute little kimono, Sasuke-chan..."

"Naruto, I don't really want to learn anything of your kinks, you do realize," Kakashi commented lazily.

Sasuke was attempting to beat Naruto to death with his pillow. Naruto was laughing too hard to dodge. Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself down and checked the jug to see if there was any water left. No such luck. Maybe she could grab Naruto's butt again. But that wouldn't calm Sasuke down and in his position she couldn't grav him too and she was such a horrible pervert. Kakashi-sensei was looking and she was thinking about fondling her boys!! She was turning into a slut.

"Sakura? You okay? You're all red." Naruto was peering at her, nose to nose.

"I'm fine, you idiot, and I think Kakashi-sensei learned a great deal more than he asked about! Learn to hold your tongue, for god's sake," she growled, eyeing him threateningly.

"Sakura's right," Kakashi commented. She felt grateful for the intervention. "And now, I'm going to take a nap on that chair. It looks very comfortable, and I'm getting too old for such long nights. Try to keep it down." And with that totally unbelievable comment, Kakashi sat down, closed his eyes, and in under ten seconds had started producing amazingly realistic snores. Sakura didn't know if she should keep on feeling grateful, or beat him over the head for his total lack of subtlety.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto sat on the edge of the bed, ignoring the unfriendly way Sasuke was eyeing him.

"So, how you feeling, bastard?"

"Like my insides were turned to mush. How do you think I'm feeling, moron?"

/My, what cute little pet names. Not./ But then, expecting Sasuke and Naruto to be romantic with each other was maybe a bit... delusional. /Totally hallucinating, you mean./

"Oh, and thank you so much for burning my chakra pathways, you utter imbecile. Now I can't even mold enough chakra for a simple kawarimi."

Naruto looked guilty for a few seconds, then scowled. "Hey, it was that or letting you die. It worked!"

"It shouldn't have. What did you do anyway? The doctors weren't sure."

"Uh, poured some of Kyuubi's chakra inside you. It heals me; I thought maybe it had a chance of healing you. It worked enough to stop the damage at least."

"Yeah, by cauterizing it. Idiot."

"Well, how was I to know?"

"My chakra pathways are configured for optimal Sharingan use. Not for weird healing powers. Your body's used to demon chakra; not mine."

"Right, got it, next time I'll let you die. Bastard."

"Idiot."

If it was their way to say "sorry I worried you", or even, god forbid, "I love you", she hoped they remembered that she was a girl and not a macho jerk, because if ever one of them attempted to assure her of his tender feelings by insulting her, she'd castrate them.

"You're going to wake up Kakashi-sensei," she interrupted, giving them a stern look. Naruto mumbled something about him not being asleep for real, but she glared him into submission.

Naruto fell silent, and some awkwardness fell with it. Sakura played with the edge of the sheet nervously, not looking up. Naruto was swinging his legs restlessly, and Sasuke wasn't even beating him into keeping still or getting off his bed.

"So..."

"What did the Hokage say, about..." Sasuke suddenly asked, nodding toward her belly. Sakura flushed, and pulled nervously on the large t-shirt she was wearing.

"Umm. More or less what Naruto said. The fetus is going to leech away most of my chakra. I'm going to need to train and meditate a lot in the next six months to compensate. I have to make my reserves raise." She managed an awkward smile for him; he was watching her closely, his black eyes as expressionless as ever. She didn't want to talk about the possible effects of chronic chakra exhaustion on her body right now.

Sasuke didn't move an inch, but it felt like he was slumping anyway. "So it's Naruto's."

Sakura froze. She hadn't even thought of what that could mean for Sasuke. Would he take back his offer to marry her now? Would he pull away from them--? Oh no. Oh god, please no.

Naruto shrugged and put one of his feet under his other knee with fake nonchalance. "Why, 'cause it's draining her? Nah, just means it's Kyuubi's."

They both started.

"You know what he said. It's gonna be his, regardless. I don't know what the fuck he did to the baby, but... yeah, it was his heat in the end. It's normal that he affected the baby. The old hag couldn't tell what he meant?"

Sakura shook her head, mind still reeling from her unexpected panic attack. "N-no, she... just confirmed what you said. The fetus is too small to see anything else right now. We -- a few months longer."

"No problem. After all -- whoever's the father, it doesn't matter, right Sakura-chan, Sasuke-bastard? We're in this together. You said so."

Sakura waited, her heart in her throat, as she stared at Sasuke's bowed neck, at the dark bangs hiding his face. Finally, after a small eternity, he looked up again. His expression was still as distant as ever, but his words erased all tension inside them.

"... right. We said so."

Naruto leaned toward them, his large, callused hands playing with the fold of bed-sheet Sakura was twisting.

"And if the Council decides to get rid of the child...?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper despite her best efforts.

Naruto's hand was on hers now.

"We'll abduct you and move to another village," Sasuke replied, as unconcerned as if they'd been talking of the politics of the Grass Country a century ago.

Naruto's tongue flicked quickly at his dry lips. "And if they decide... that I'm dangerous and must be put down?"

Sasuke's foot nudged Naruto's hip.

"We'll spring you out, burn the Council house down, and move to another village."

Naruto snickered and grinned at Sakura. "We actually like that crazy pyromaniac bastard. We must be insane."

"Yes, but--" she almost stopped talking there, it was so awkward and heavy and sappy -- "but at least ... we'll be warm at night. Right?"

Naruto's teasing smirk turned into a soft smile, and the corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted, just barely. She leaned against Sasuke's side, carefully; she didn't want to hurt him.

"Right."

She felt Sasuke's lips against her temple, his breath in her hair, making her shiver, and then Naruto's lips were caressing hers. She closed her eyes, briefly, enjoying his tenderness. And just before Naruto kissed Sasuke, she heard him whisper, "Burn, baby, burn." She was laughing as Sasuke bit him.

Teamwork: F**ing END OF CHAPTER 6. Halleluia.

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