askerian: Serious Karkat in a red long-sleeved shirt (NaruGaara_Chibi furries_headchomp!!)
askerian ([personal profile] askerian) wrote2007-10-07 09:10 pm

Teamwork -- Naruto's interlude

HOMG FINALLY COMPLETE. You cannot believe how hard it was to write.

So in the end I went the somewhat crackish route. Crack cannot steer me wrong. I wuvs crack. ♥

Not betaed, if you see anything plz tell me~



Inuzuka Tsume is a scary-looking woman. A wild, choppy mess of hair, crazy-looking slit eyes with no visible irises, strong shoulders, claw-tipped hands with tendons and veins in sharp relief -- except from the fact that she has boobs, she looks like Kiba with lipstick.

It would be hilarious, if she wasn't terrifying. Naruto's pretty sure she wouldn't have much of a problem about going straight for his throat with nothing but her teeth. The way she rakes him with her eyes, missing nothing and finding everything wanting, the way she circles with her hands on her hips... And then there's her huge, scarred wolf-dog, who sits there, totally still, and waits for the permission to eat him.

"Ma'am?" Naruto says, and laughs, a little nervously.

There's more silence as she straightens up. She's not tall, not really -- Naruto is taller than she is -- but, maybe it's the mane of wild hair, or the creepy eyes; he doesn't want to cross her anyway.

"Do you know what you're here for?" she rasps.

"Er, yeah? I've got problems with the bastard fox..."

She shakes her head, not quite like he's wrong, but like she didn't expect much and wasn't disappointed. "That's what they told you, huh?" The wolf-dog grunts, vaguely contemptuous; Tsume shifts her weight onto her other foot, crossing her arms over her stomach like she's getting ready for a long, boring talk. "Don't expect miracles, kid. I don't know who thought up that brilliant idea first, but I'm not going to be able to fix every single problem you've got."

Naruto scowls. "If you can't help me, then what am I doing here?"

"I didn't say I couldn't help at all. But I have no miracle cure. You're not an Inuzuka and we're not demon carriers. You've got issues I can do exactly jack shit about."

"Great," Naruto grumbles under his breath. "So I'm wasting my time, huh?"

The wolf-dog curls up his lip, flashing yellowed fangs at Naruto. "It's the other way around, punk."

Naruto jumps. "You talk? -- Hey! Don't call me that!"

He glares at the wolf, who gazes back lazily, like he's vaguely wondering which part of Naruto's body would be tastier. Inuzuka Tsume snorts. "You don't listen well, do you."

"I listen just fine!"

The woman sighs, arms unfolding, and in three long steps, she's in front of him, with her hand clamped on the back of his neck to pull him down at her level. Meep.

"Don't make me shake you. What are you, a puppy?"

"... 'm not," Naruto grumbles, avoiding her eyes. She lets him go; he straightens up, disgruntled, and glares at her stubbornly.

"Good. I'm past the age to housebreak them." She gives him an amused look, not impressed by his attitude at all; Naruto sighs and relaxes a little, though he's still tempted to sulk. "Now I said I couldn't fix everything, but there are still tricks you ought to learn anyway. Come on."

The wolf on her heels, she strides toward the side of the house; there's a path between the wall and the fence, with a training field behind.

"The report says you get claws. You'll learn to use them right. Sense of smell as well. How's your night vision?"

Naruto scrambles to follow. "Um, okay? I get by. What do you mean use them right? It's not hard. Pointy end goes into people? Just like a kunai."

She snorts, smirks. "Not really, no. For one thing, you can't have it knocked out of your hand."

"Yeah, but you can't throw it either."

"There are advantages and inconveniences to both. As there are to sense of smell, hearing, night vision, detection of quick movements, sense of balance, etcetera. You'll learn how to use all of those properly, and how to know when it's better not to."

"Okay," Naruto says, and thinks privately that it doesn't sound as immensely useful as he hoped for, but hey, as long as it keeps the Council happy. At least it's not gonna be too hard, right?

+

As it turns out, he's wrong. And the Council isn't the only one who gets to feel like it's doing something for Naruto's little problem.

After Kyuubi's latest stunt, Naruto is perfectly happy to keep the bastard fox locked up in the darkest, dankest corner of his inner world for the next century, but...

"How are you supposed to learn anything about something you pretend doesn't exist?"

Damn Tsume for making sense. So she makes him drag out the red chakra, just like Jiraiya did, and then she makes him manipulate it -- he's never done anything so hard and tedious since he learned to tree-walk.

He learns -- tries to learn -- to pull it to his nose in a handful of seconds, to heighten his sense of smell; she makes him track things across the field, and if he steps out of the path his target took, or even just if she feels like it, she throws stinking things at him. Vinegar, bleach, horse manure, moldy cheese; she says it's so he learns to turn off his sense of smell quickly, in case it's ever targeted, but he really thinks she's just that evil. Maybe she's taking revenge for that fart in Kiba's face six years ago.

He tries to learn to pull the red chakra to his hands, his feet, but to keep it inside his skin, change his flesh to fit it instead of letting it bubble over. He started out needing at least five minutes to grow full claws, and one time he got real frustrated and his arms got kind of furry, but now he goes from blunt nails to talons in under thirty-five seconds, and it's not awesome, but it's the best he can do. Sometimes the skin on the underside of his fingers and the heel of his hands hardens, too, and he can see it makes Tsume frown, but he thinks his control is already fine enough and he's not going to bother working on narrowing the affected area; it's easier to lean on his hands with pads, and anyway his calluses were almost just as thick already.

Tsume doesn't give a damn that sometimes his mind gets kind of hazy. He's got to do the drills anyway -- claws in! Claws out! Night vision! Nose! Let go! And if he gets angry, even black Kyuubi-rage, she just grabs him by the back of the neck and shakes him out of it.

In matters of chakra level, Naruto is stronger than she is. He's faster, too. Yet he still hasn't managed to dodge her neck-grab-and-shake trick even once. He thinks it might be a secret mom power.

As for the animal instincts that come sometimes, Tsume says she can't do much -- it's not a jutsu you learn, it's an ingrained habit that the members of your pack teach you -- but the first time Naruto tries to sniff Inuzuka Hana's crotch, he ends up kicked clear across the field and chased through half of Konoha by three snarling dogs; after that, fox-hazy or not, there is no second try.

Sadly, his chakra-manipulating skills don't progress as well as his socialization; so one morning he arrives at the Inuzuka's, and Tsume is grinning. He almost starts running the other way.

"I asked Hatake for advice," she says, and Naruto does start moving the other way, except her black wolf-dog is standing in his way.

They herd him down the road, right outside the village. Tsume is whistling, and Kuromaru's tail wags. Naruto is mildly terrified.

She unlocks one of the gates into the Forest of Death, gesturing at Naruto to get in first, and then when he trustingly walks in, she locks the gate behind him.

"I hid three things in this forest, kid. Find them and bring them back, and you pass."

Naruto relaxes enough to grin. He's survived the Forest a couple of times now. It will be fine. Go in, track her scent, go out. Easy as pie. "What do I gotta find?"

"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

And then she walks away, leaving Naruto behind the fence.

"Hey, no fair! At least give me a clue!"

Tsume laughs, rough and low, and her dog's tongue lolls out of his mouth. "No clue. But I'll give you a tip, pup. There are many creatures born in this season." She pauses, smirks thinly over her shoulder. "Oh, and don't worry for your teammates, I'll tell them not to fret for at least a week."

Naruto has the strong feeling that he's going to die.

+

By "many creatures born this season," Tsume apparently didn't mean cute little fawns and bunnies. She meant baby giant tigers -- which means their mother is out hunting.

She also meant giant centipedes, and blood-drinking wasps, and a bazillion metric fucktons of snakes.

He spends his first night running from tigers, and his morning pulling leeches from his legs. Next time mommy tiger comes after him, fuck the adorable giant kittens. He only finds fruit to eat, and ends up with a mild case of the runs. By mid-afternoon, it starts drizzling.

He trips on his first item -- an empty kunai pouch -- while busy swearing up a storm about the scent trail being erased by the water.

The second day, nothing, apart from an impressive nest of snakes. The half-erased scent trail he finds turns out to belong to some Inuzuka cousin or other -- the dog is female -- and -- it takes him a while to find a dry patch of grass to compare -- to be at least a week old beside.

After the fifth time the swarm of humongous spider-bees come after him, he learns to stop wasting his chakra with tree-sticking. The bitches feed on it; it's like broadcasting offers for an all-you-can-eat free buffet in Chouji's neighborhood. At least, the claws make for nice traction even on the wet bark, and he thinks he'll even learn to switch directions faster once he gets over his wondering what happens if his claws get stuck in the wood. He tore off nails before and, well, there's a reason it's a form of torture.

The second night, he gets some sleep all the way up in a tree. It's barely dawn when a vulture pecks him awake, mistaking him for a corpse with yummy fresh eyes. At least Naruto has a nice breakfast, even if the grilled chicken is a little gamey.

The third day, he decides to get fish. The decision comes to him after he jumps in the water to get the infestation of fire ants out of his clothes, but hey, no need to waste such an occasion.

The fourth day he starts getting a little better at sharing his attention between the trail he's following and the predators following him, and so when the fangy monkeys try it, he's ready to kick ass. He finds the second item hidden in an eagle's nest; getting the parents away long enough to get to it while keeping his eyes unpecked needs some creative use of Kage Bunshin, but he's pretty alright with that part. Pulling the old dog collar free from the nest without breaking the eggs is something else. Surely eagles can't count anyway.

The fifth day, nothing. The track doubles back every ten seconds almost and crosses the river a dozen times, or maybe he's losing count because he can't keep track of which end goes in which direction anymore. In the end he has to step back and circle the area as widely as he can to find the track again. By now, it's starting to fade, so he keeps going even when it gets dark.

Getting whipped in the face by vines that might actually be snakes or strange man-eating flowers is good incentive to learn to activate his senses of sight and smell in tandem, but in the end, the trail stops at a pond and nothing he does helps him find it again. He has a small screaming fit that frightens his corner of the forest into complete silence for at least ten minutes, which is creepy enough to calm him down.

The sixth day is better left unmentioned.

The seventh day, he braves the leeches in the pond, to make sure that the item he's looking for just didn't fall in from some overhead branch. It didn't. But there's a tunnel under the slimy surface and prickly plants that wasn't dug out by a beaver.

The item is a little plastic tube with a note on it. The note says "Good job! Now inject the antidote before the poisonous algae does you in."

Naruto starts to laugh, vowing to kill Inuzuka Tsume the second he's safely back out of that goddamn forest.

At least the trip out goes faster than the trip in, though still slowly enough that he has some time to notice everything he learned to do. Pop out the claws in five seconds or less, switch from scent to night eyesight and then back, hold onto both together, learn to track properly...

Sure, he kind of used almost all of what she taught him before, instinctually. But sometimes -- when he was angry -- the Kyuubi-influenced stuff was easy; sometimes it didn't even come to mind as a possibility. Now he doubts he'll ever forget he can do all that. And the more tightly he controls where the chakra goes and how much of it he uses, and the less headaches he gets, and that's worth the whole training by itself.

She's waiting when he reaches the gate. He howls an incoherent threat at her, but he's so tired it comes off as some kind of dying moo.

"... 'm done. Tell me it was all Kakashi's fault."

Tsume chuckles softly. "Not really. It's an old method of nin-dog training."

Naruto gives her an incredulous look. "You're training me like you would a dog?"

Kuromaru snorts. "If by dog you mean a puppy."

Naruto utters a short, shrill scream of frustration, grabbing his hair with both hands. "Here are your stupid items, now get me out of here!" He's famished, he stinks to high heaven, he's bruised all over and his clothes are ruined. If she doesn't approve, they're going to have words.

"Good!" she grunts.

Naruto feels like melting in relief and taking a nap on the spot. He grins, proud and exhausted.

She grins back.

"Now you're ready to do it with a blindfold."

[identity profile] uminohikari.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
ILU &hearts.

Surely eagles can't count anyway.
*is so amused*

He howls an incoherent threat at her, but he's so tired it comes off as some kind of dying moo.
What a beautiful image. XDD

"Now you're ready to do it with a blindfold."


I think I missed something in Teamwork universe. =/ *goes back and reads*

[identity profile] uminohikari.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Like, the entire sequel. *facepalms* I totally did not realize one existed?

[identity profile] uminohikari.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
um. Basically all of Teamwork 2? ...I'm an idiot?

[identity profile] mydarkseclusion.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG TEAMWORK YAYS. ♥

The last line. THE LAST LINE xD. I was laughing so hard.

Loved you description of Inuzuka Tsume. Kiba with lipstick... sad thing is, it's totally true.

...What happened on the sixth day? O_O I MUST KNOW.

[identity profile] m-a-foxfire.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
XD So much win and crack. That's the Naruto-verse training from hell I know and love.

...Aw, giant kittens.

[identity profile] book-people.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, god. My sides hurt from the laughing. ♥

"Now you're ready to do it with a blindfold."

Ahaha. He's never going home again. By the time he's doing it entirely on sound, the tiger babies will have learned to hunt and will eat him. I hope Sasuke and Sakura unbend enough to give him a last smexing...

Also: heheeeee! They're training Naruto like a puppy. I don't know why that tickles me so much, but it does!

Adi

[identity profile] book-people.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Naruto better hope nobody finds out about this, or he'll never live down the nickname "pup". ;D

Adi
ext_2686: (Peanuts - Snoopy dance!)

[identity profile] stripedpetunia.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
HAHAHAHAHA beautiful. ♥

[identity profile] yira-heerai.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
...This was love. ♥

Now when he finally gets to go home, he'll kick off his filthy clothes, grumble about sadistic women and traumatize Sakura and Sasuke by walking across the house to the shower completely naked and so very dirty.

Then he'll gripe about everything he had to do while eating a nice, big bowl of ramen.

Yep.

...I wish I could stop hijacking your story for little bits like this, but it's too fun D: u_u

[identity profile] inane-romance.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
She also meant giant centipedes, and blood-drinking wasps, and a bazillion metric fucktons of snakes.

For some reason, this cracked me up so hard. I was seriously laughing out loud and showed it to my girlfriend (who, like, went into gross-shock). u.u

Hilarious. Good job!

[identity profile] monique-27.livejournal.com 2007-10-07 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
The sixth day is a MYSTERY. u.u-V It is a mystery of such awe-inspiring brillance that it deleted itself from the writer's mind after being created, so that it might keep its awesome mysteriousness more closely. u.u <- BEST. EXCUSE. EVER. (Even though, yeah, I kinda wanna know how it went down too. *lol*)

Is it so wrong that I am deliriously happy about Tsume training Naruto like he’s a puppy? *wibbles*

-- except from the fact that she has boobs, she looks like Kiba with lipstick. <- -- except _for_ the fact that she has boobs, she looks like Kiba with lipstick.

And then there's her huge, scarred wolf-dog, who sits there, totally still, and waits for the permission to eat him. <- And then there's her huge, scarred wolf-dog, who sits there, totally still, and waits for permission to eat him. [or] And then there's her huge, scarred wolf-dog, who sits there, totally still, and waits for her permission to eat him.

Inuzuka Tsume snorts. "You don't listen well, do you." I _LOVE_ how that’s _NOT_ a question. *snickerfit*

The woman sighs, arms unfolding, and in three long steps, she's in front of him, with her hand clamped on the back of his neck to pull him down at her level. <- The woman sighs, arms unfolding, and in three long steps she's in front of him with her hand clamped on the back of his neck to pull him down _to_ her level.

In matters of chakra level, Naruto is stronger than she is. He's faster, too. Yet he still hasn't managed to dodge her neck-grab-and-shake trick even once. He thinks it might be a secret mom power. … Sadly, his chakra-manipulating skills don't progress as well as his socialization; so one morning he arrives at the Inuzuka's, and Tsume is grinning. He almost starts running the other way. "I asked Hatake for advice," she says, and Naruto does start moving the other way, except her black wolf-dog is standing in his way. <- ABSOLUTE WIN!

Go in, track her scent, go out. <- Go in, track her scent, _get_ out.

Naruto has the strong feeling that he's going to die. <- *>.<* OMG I LOVE YOU! *LOL*

By "many creatures born this season," Tsume apparently didn't mean cute little fawns and bunnies. She meant baby giant tigers -- which means their mother is out hunting. She also meant giant centipedes, and blood-drinking wasps, and a bazillion metric fucktons of snakes. <- *LOL* Well, of course she does. *snickerfit* Poor Naruto!

The note says "Good job! Now inject the antidote before the poisonous algae does you in." <- …*omglolnarutolol*

And the more tightly he controls where the chakra goes and how much of it he uses, and the less headaches he gets, and that's worth the whole training by itself. <- And the more tightly he controls where the chakra goes and how much of it he uses, the less headaches he gets, and that's worth the whole training by itself.

"... 'm done. Tell me it was all Kakashi's fault." Tsume chuckles softly. "Not really. It's an old method of nin-dog training." Naruto gives her an incredulous look. "You're training me like you would a dog?" Kuromaru snorts. "If by dog you mean a puppy." … He grins, proud and exhausted. She grins back. "Now you're ready to do it with a blindfold." <- HELL. FUCKING. YES!!! *dies of happy and awesome overload*
edenfalling: stylized black-and-white line art of a sunset over water (Default)

[personal profile] edenfalling 2007-10-08 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, it should be And the more tightly he controls where the chakra goes and how much of it he uses, the fewer headaches he gets, and that's worth the whole training by itself.

'Less' refers to a numberless amount, while 'fewer' deals with hard numbers. Say I have five pounds of sugar. If you take away two pounds, then I have fewer pounds of sugar, and less sugar overall. It's a subtle distinction that is slowly eroding from spoken English, but it still matters in written English. (Fifty years from now, the difference between the two words will probably be gone altogether, but that prospect depresses me so we shall not speak of it. *sigh*)

[identity profile] monique-27.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
*lol* Ah, dang, I forgot to mention that! You're right, though, they are distinct and they should be used as they were meant to be used; "less headaches" is just plain incorrect [it even sounds wrong to me (not that something _sounding_ wrong makes it wrong - but still *>.<* )] - good of you to point it out! ^^

[identity profile] monique-27.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
*lol* Well, I do try. Only for you, Asuka, love. *loves all over you*

... *is totally not a dorky-grammar-nazi*

:DDDDD

[identity profile] mommyr.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
The whole cracky bit is unmitigated brilliance! Really, it's hard to choose, but the one little section that I love so hard, is thus:

Tsume doesn't give a damn that sometimes his mind gets kind of hazy. He's got to do the drills anyway -- claws in! Claws out! Night vision! Nose! Let go! And if he gets angry, even black Kyuubi-rage, she just grabs him by the back of the neck and shakes him out of it.

In matters of chakra level, Naruto is stronger than she is. He's faster, too. Yet he still hasn't managed to dodge her neck-grab-and-shake trick even once. He thinks it might be a secret mom power.

*loves on you*

Re: :DDDDD

[identity profile] monique-27.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
But when his eventual daughters reach teenagerhood, he get a +10 boost on shotgun handling. >.> <- *FOUND THIS TO BE TERRIBLY AMUSING WHUT*

*LOL*

^.^

[identity profile] kohikari.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
MOM POWERRRS. Yes. There's something about the uterus... >.>

*fangirls*

[identity profile] tricia1224.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
I love your brilliance.
He spends his first night running from tigers, and his morning pulling leeches from his legs. Next time mommy tiger comes after him, fuck the adorable giant kittens. He only finds fruit to eat, and ends up with a mild case of the runs. By mid-afternoon, it starts drizzling.
I love this part.

[identity profile] wanderingscroll.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
*snerk*

Secret Mom Power!

It slices! It dices! It kicks Kyuubi Ass!

[identity profile] schuldlos85.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
oh i looooove this woman!
i wonder if kiba had to go through all this too...
perhaps you could write a little talk between the two boys about trainig, tsume and/or other things

[identity profile] ktoth04.livejournal.com 2007-10-08 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)
LAWL!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hilarious!

You are, as always, made of win :)

[identity profile] venia.livejournal.com 2007-10-12 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice! Uhuhuhu... for some reason, the thought of Naruto elevating his senses gave the silly mental immage of him sniffing Sakura's belly when it will be rounder. XD;;;

Sakura: Ugh, Naruto! *embarassed and ready to hit him for the hundredth time*
Sasuke: stop doing that. It's not going to come out Sooner that way.
Naruto: yeah but..but..the baby... *sniff* OW!

*shipish grin* ...I know.
(it's still intense, though)


[identity profile] mignonne422.livejournal.com 2007-10-18 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi!

*waves shyly*

So first, I'd like to tell you that I'm Obsessed,Obsessed, with a capital O, with your fanfics. I die for teamwork. Sigh. I've been silently stalking your LJ for updates since I discovered the whole naruto fandom a few months ago. And yours was the very first team 7 fic I read and heart!!! I'm in love. Thus mild silent stalker mode.

And to make you even more special, this is the very first post/review of any sort that I've made for anyone related to the fandom. :D

I looove the way you write the team 7 dynamics in teamwork and the characterization. And I loved this! It was soo perfect. I don't even know what else to say. I'll try and get better at the review thing, promise.

Oh, and I love your icons and your artwork and, and, and...

yeah, you're that amazing.

*hands her flower*

So...wanna friend me?

*blushes*

[identity profile] sara-the-lazy.livejournal.com 2007-10-22 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
"bazillion metric fucktons"
I need to use that phrase at some point in speech. Not writing probably :)

I very much enjoyed this interlude. I like Tsume so much, her treatment of Naruto is -great-! The descriptions of the various days were lots of fun. And as usual, you came up with a great last few sentences, with a kickass one to complete the story!

I'm glad that you got through this one, i know you were having some difficulty, but you did well.

~Sara

[identity profile] trishalynn.livejournal.com 2007-11-02 12:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I forgot to mention how much I loved this story, so I will rectify that now.

Even though I haven't gotten to that part of the manga or anime yet, I'm really interested in seeing how Naruto developed as a more "mature" ninja and you've given me just a little bit of a taste of it. I almost am starting to believe that "your" Naruto would give the canon one a run for his money because of how close the bond is between him and the Kyuubi (and that it seems to be less dangerous than in canon, which OMG yay?).

What can I say? I really dig the main character a lot, and I love the way you write him.