askerian: Serious Karkat in a red long-sleeved shirt (T7_Seven - Punky)
askerian ([personal profile] askerian) wrote2008-03-29 04:43 pm

teamwork 3 -- repost, beta needed

Okay, writing sum Teamwork today. But oh man it's going so slooooooooooow. How come some days I can write three pages in one hour and today I needed three hours to pull out enough words for one paragraph? I don't get it.

I was thinking I'd post some to ffnet so people would stop whining that I've abandoned the fic it's not like i've ever abandoned a big fic so they really have no valid reason to be afraid ahaha, but Saro is in Paris which means she cannot beta, and finding myself a replacement just seems too difficult. I don't know who to ask. x__x So once again, i'm relying on the kindness of my trusty F-list. If you feel like reading this again, yay! and if you feel like pointing out some grammar/vocabulary/syntax mistake or other, double-yay!

Also, I've got a problem, I kind of think there should be a downtime scene between those two -- they're "end of first chuunin test" and "beginning of second chuunin test" and that's all action and team and meeting OCs stuff, it's too dry. I need me some inter-team romance or at least cute stuff. It's probably going to be Naruto POV because his next scene is small... Or Sasuke. Problem: what could happen? They're on a Mist Village island, supposed to be training, and probably being spied on by a bazilion rivals and Mist nin. If you have a prompt or a suggestion, I will love you forever, because I can't think of anything. I'm drawing a huge blank.

(Sakura)

It was only when she saw Sasuke's body, crumpled and still at the end of the trail, back and neck twisted at impossible angles, that she realized it was supposed to be blood. Just overhead, faintly twitching hand all but brushing her face, dangled Naruto, with his eyes open sightlessly and a jutting spear of stone protruding from his mangled body.

She had to admit, their genjutsu specialist was good. She let the green glow dissipate, joined her hands. "Kai."

When she gathered chakra again, she was unsurprised to find the bodies and the blood trail had disappeared. Note to self, if she ever made such an ambush, find a way to add the cloying scent of warm blood to the tableau -- adding scent to genjutsu was horribly difficult, but there was no rule that said they couldn't hide a freshly sacrificed rabbit around the scene.

She wound the useless grappling wire around her hand, craning her neck to take a better look at the slide through which she'd fallen. Of course, now there was a slab of stone blocking the way, high enough that she wouldn't get any good leverage to move or break it, and so awkwardly angled explosive tags on a kunai would bounce right off and deflect the strength of the blast back down the shaft.

"I guess we're expected to just keep going and leave our teammates behind, hm," she mused -- out loud, to hear her own voice and break the oppressive, sterile stillness of the cave. She started down the tunnel, a hand on the wall, the other hand still haloed in green. "This has Mist nin written all over it..."

Okay, so Sasuke had been on her right during the fall, Naruto on her left, she hadn't twisted around all that much... Presumably, they all had to emerge at the same place at the end of the test...

Right on cue, the wall on her left started shaking. She flattened a hand against it; the vibrations were sharp, short. She'd broken lots of rocks during her training with the Hokage. She hoped it meant what she thought it meant -- that the wall was thin -- cocked her fist, and shoved her whole body into the punch.

The timing of her release of chakra was slightly off; her knuckles screamed in pain. Just a contusion and split skin, thankfully, no break, no crushed ruin of cartilage and bone slivers. Gritting her teeth, she kicked at the hole in the wall of the cave until it was wide enough to squirm through.

She didn't need her green chakra to see; the tunnel was awash in red-orange firelight.

"Naruto!"

He was still at the bottom of the slide, standing there with his eyes scrunched closed, flickering tongues of red chakra licking up his legs and arms. He mumbled endlessly under his breath -- "Not true, not true, I know it's not true--" but his hands wouldn't complete the release seal. She ran to him, caught his wrist and his shoulder firmly. "Kai!"

The next second, it was dark again, and she was being enveloped in a bear hug that might have broken a few bones if she'd had the misfortune of being a civilian.

"You're alright!"

Sakura hugged back, hard, closing her eyes. He must have been so scared. "Yes."

"--I knew it. From the start! Heh."

"Of course."

"... I'm fine, too," he assured her, voice breaking briefly.

"Mm-hm."

"So..."

Sakura still didn't let go. He needed to feel her right now.

Naruto sighed in her ear. "I know better, too. It smelled all wrong and stuff, but even when I raised my chakra I couldn't shake it off. And all I could think about was how the guy said there was no rule about no killing off people in the exam now..."

She nodded, trying to seem casual. The last thing she needed was him feeling down right now, which would happen if she made a big deal out of his failure. "To keep a genjutsu like that on three people at the same time, the caster is probably very good."

"Heh. ... I suck. Even with Kakashi's training against genjutsu, I keep falling for it."

Sakura tried not to remember in too many details the last time Naruto had fallen for a serious genjutsu. He'd been taken in hook, line and sinker, yes -- and then the pain and despair from believing the illusion had made him go feral on the caster. They'd had to identify the man by his toe prints. It was a good thing he hadn't quite bought into that one.

"Hey, none of that. You have a natural weakness -- just like I have a natural advantage. It happens; you did a good job compensating for it. You would have shaken off a more normal-level genjutsu. That guy was good, really. Besides, with Sasuke and I breaking it, he had more power to throw into yours."

Naruto gave a little unconvinced laugh, and slowly relaxed his hold. "Uh huh. Just gonna go with 'Kakashi's training is lame', I think."

"That works, too," she allowed sheepishly.

Naruto straightened up. "Hey, where's Sasuke?"

"The third tunnel, I guess. We should go get him." She just hoped he was still waiting; he might have decided to take the situation in his own hands by now.

Sakura and Naruto disentangled, a little awkwardly, and she went to kick more chips of stone off the hole she'd made. Even then, Naruto barely managed to wriggle through, and left a few scraps of skin and orange cloth behind.

"Ow."

"Oh, don't whine." She started knocking against the other side, trying to find a place where the rock was thin enough, and he put his ear against the wall to listen for a reply.

"I hear him! He's knocking too. 'O... K... question mark?' Yeah!"

Naruto knocked back a yes.

"Huh. 'S... O... S... L... O... W' -- Hey, fuck you. F, U... Sakura, how'd you make a K again?"

Sakura showed him. On his skull.

"Oww!"

"Like we have time to waste with that!" she huffed, exasperated. "Move aside."

She gathered her chakra. Her hand was healed by now; she tried not to tense in anticipation of the same kind of pain. Tsunade-shishou would get annoyed with her if Sakura let something so silly make her hesitate. She tapped the wall with her fist, lightly, to judge the distance, and then took a step back, and swung forward, targeting what she hoped was the weakest point.

This time, the timing was perfect; the whole tunnel shook, dust and gravel raining down on them. Sasuke was standing in the rubble a second later, and running down the middle tunnel the next second, leaving them befuddled behind.

"Ceiling! Run!"

Oh, crap. Naruto and Sakura rushed after him, deafened by the echo of what seemed like a hundred rocks crashing in the passage behind them.

"Shit," Naruto laughed, panting. "I think we just ruined the test for everyone that was left."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, still Sharingan-red, and strange-looking in the light of the torch in his hand. "They've got Stone jutsu users. How do you think the trap appeared, and the ride down was so smooth? They'll fix it."

"Huh, maybe." Naruto peered at a tunnel branching off the main one, then dismissed it with a sniff that said there was nothing there but stale air and decay. "Still, if the test was whether we'd be able to keep going and leave our teammates behind, then I'm gonna kick some asses."

Sasuke shook his head and checked another side-tunnel. "I doubt it, the Hokage wouldn't encourage that kind of mindset."

"Snuff out the torch! I think I see..." Sakura squinted past the glow of the flames. At first she couldn't catch whatever it was that had attracted her attention, but then Sasuke moved the torch behind him to dampen the light, and there it was, up and through a crack, the light of the outside world. They had to contort themselves to get through. Afterwards, there was another tunnel, but a smooth, clearly man-made one, and one they didn't need the torch to see.

"Woohoo!"

Sakura shook her head, amused, as the two boys started to race to the end of the tunnel. "Slow down! It would be just like them to put traps just before the exit."

There was only one trap, but it was a doozy -- a huge boulder fell off a hole in the ceiling and started rolling toward them, attempting to herd them at the pressure plates on the walls.

Naruto didn't even slow down, just popped out a clone and kept rushing to meet it, Rasengan in hand.

Sasuke didn't slow down either, because with the sharingan he could tell it was an illusion.

Naruto burst out of the cave ready to fight; Sasuke followed more sedately, but from the way she saw him dodge to the side and keep his back to the cliff, he wasn't ready to stand down just yet. She was outside with them a couple of seconds later, squinting in the daylight. They were in another, smaller canyon, with a trio of chuunins in face masks and Mist getups waiting around. One of them was sitting at the edge of a seal pattern, and glared at them briefly as they passed him by to join the main examiner, who was crooking his finger at them.

"The message?"

Sakura recited it, quietly enough to keep from being overheard, clearly enough to make it obvious that she remembered it to the comma. The man grunted, made a note on his clipboard. "Go left."

Exchanging long looks, and wondering when the other shoe would drop, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura went left. The canyon veered sharply; beyond the bend, a few dozens jounin-teachers waited for their pupils. It wasn't until she saw Kakashi-sensei waiting there with his eye scrunched up in a smile that she breathed out and accepted that they had passed the first test.

"Good job, good job. I'd treat you, but we might miss the curfew."

Sakura eyed the white, cloudy sky. It wasn't even noon yet. "Liar."

Kakashi continued blithely, undisturbed. "Besides, you might want to use the free time to train more. Tomorrow the risks will be a lot more real."

"A lot more?" Naruto gave Kakashi an outraged look. "They were real enough today! Did you hear what that guy said? It doesn't matter if some of us get killed--"

"It's always been that way for the second stage, Naruto. The only change is that now you can still advance to the tournament even if you leave your teammates behind." Kakashi's voice was bland, casually uninterested. But then, they already knew what he thought about people who abandoned their comrades. "The first test has always been for weeding out people who aren't suitable yet -- or at all -- and shouldn't even think of taking the risk."

Sakura stared at her teacher, mystified. "But the examiner said... Oh!"

Sasuke made a face. "I see. He said people who lose their team members can still go from stage two to stage three. He never said it was the same for stage one."

"... What an asshole."

Sakura winced, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Well... It's part of the test, I guess."

"Still an asshole." Naruto would probably have kept muttering, but the sound of his stomach groaning its hunger distracted him. "And I still think you should treat us, sensei."

He slanted a suspicious glare at Kakashi, who grinned, unconcerned. "Ah, it would be my pleasure! Sadly, I don't have any Water Country money."

"Liar!" Sakura and Naruto yelled at the same time, by reflex.

"He's not lying," Sasuke countered, hands in his pockets; and when they blinked at him, he reminded them, "Water Country money doesn't exist. It's the same currency we use back home."

When Sakura whirled around to yell at Kakashi some more, of course, he had disappeared.


Kunoichi
(Naruto)

The ferry going to the Survival Test's peninsula was full enough that Naruto kind of wondered how it didn't tip over. The first test had cut out a lot of the participants, but there were still more than enough teams on the boat to make it feel a little crowded. And here Sakura and Shikamaru had been so sure there wouldn't be many people this time around.

The second test would still happen on the same island as the first; but from Kakashi's quick explanatory map, the island was roughly eight-shaped, and there was some kind of wall at the smallest part, preventing people from crossing. It was nice, though; it meant they couldn't just walk there, and that meant a boat trip. The semi-permanent mist was gone, and the combination of the sunlight and the spray from the waves made the trip really quite pleasant. Naruto's jacket was tied to his waist, leaving him in his fishnet top; he could see that he wasn't the only one who'd had the idea to shed a few layers of clothes -- that, or Grass and Sand's sense of fashion really needed to spread to Leaf.

He would have felt guiltier if he hadn't caught Sakura sneaking glances at a loincloth-wearing pretty boy from Stone. As it was, though... Well, it was her own fault for trailing after Sasuke when the guy decided to go check out god-knew-what in the shadowy depths of the ship. Naruto was content to stay in the sun and do some sightseeing.

And what a sight the deck's crowd was.

'... I'd hit that. Oh yeah, and that one too. This one... Hmm, maybe.'

/She'd only be good as a toothpick./

Ghhk. 'What the hell are you paying attention for?!'

Kyuubi shared a ripple of feeling like a lazy yawn. /Bored. Look again./

Mildly disturbed, Naruto complied. Being aware that the fox was there with him, looking through his eyes, made it a little harder to enjoy. It wasn't like Kyuubi could get out, though, even if he tried -- and he wasn't trying. Kyuubi didn't even feel particularly restless, which was kind of strange to Naruto; the fox was rarely noticeable when he had no anger to vent and no potential sex or violence to watch unfold.

But if Naruto asked again, Kyuubi would only reply /bored/ a second time and that would be it. Like the fox ever bothered explaining himself! Naruto didn't especially feel it was worth the headache he'd get if he tried to force the answer out of him.

There weren't a lot of girls, comparatively speaking; it was kind of sad that most guys still left him cold, because they tended to be less shy about undressing a bit.

-- Oh man, hot.

'Wow. Niice,' he thought as a busty girl with a neckline so plunging it unveiled her bellybutton sauntered past. He'd definitely do her. Well, if he wasn't shacked up. And if she were available. And interested. And her teammates weren't lugging around clubs the size of two Narutos. Details, details.

/Looks fleshy./

'Hee, yeah, fleshy, that's a good word for it -- uh.' Naruto's goofy daydreams faltered, darkened by a horrible suspicion. '...Kyuubi?'

/Could feed for a whole week on that much meat./

A heavyset guy tapped Naruto's shoulder. "You okay, man? You look a little green. Try to aim over the guardrail, 'kay?"

Naruto gave him an awkward smile and hurried off, getting the vague feeling that he'd gotten himself marked as a target by anyone close enough to notice his bout of seasickness. 'You asshole! You killed my hard-on. I was trying to get a nice fantasy going there, and you -- urgh.'

/Now this one I would fuck./

Naruto forgot to berate Kyuubi in his hurry to pinpoint who had caught the fox's attention.

A long mane of fawn-colored hair that made like a living pelt -- like a tail, almost, swishing with every quick, decisive movement its owner made; and an easy, practiced grasp on a strange handheld weapon that protruded from the knuckles in a set of serrated claws. Okay, he could see the appeal. If you were a psycho, violence-loving, undiscerning canine. '... That's a guy.'

/So what? Not trying to breed./

'He's got a beard! Urgh. You've got no taste. How 'bout this one? She's kinda wild looking, too, isn't she -- and she's actually pretty. Great legs!'

/Diseased. She spread them too often. Dip your dick in that at your own risk./

'How the hell can you tell anyway -- wait, don't tell me, not sure I wanna know.' Naruto redirected his attention on a slender girl with long black hair in a tail, a katana in hand; she gave him a dismissive look from underneath her wide-brimmed hat and then ignored him superbly. 'This one's kinda pretty... Kinda squinty-eyed, but nice lips.' Kyuubi didn't even deign reply; vaguely peeved, Naruto insisted. 'Come on, she's got a nasty glare and pointy weapons, you should be all over that.'

/Bah. Good chase, but barely snack-sized./

Naruto seethed. 'Stop talking about eating people already, asshole.'

Kyuubi smirked in the dark. /I meant her packmate's cat./

'... That's it, I'm not talking to you anymore. Go back to your hole and be bored, I don't care.' Naruto stomped ahead, like he could actually leave the fox behind. Argh! He needed to find someone to chat with, so he could stop futilely trying to do the guy bonding thing with a goddamn fox demon.

When he caught a glimpse of a leaf symbol on a headband, he was over there in a flash. He would have welcomed even that little brat Hanabi. It wasn't her team; it was one of the two others they'd never gotten to meet during the first test.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know they made teams with three girls."

The trio of sixteen-year-old Konoha genin sitting on the guardrail gave Naruto a long glare he could only describe as annoyed and weary. What had he said now? He scratched his head, confused.

"Uh, sorry," he apologized, just in case, and tightened his grip on the guardrail when the ferry lurched in the waves. "Everyone says the same thing all the time, don't they?"

The one with the sleek, smoke-gray hair down to her ass glared at him, and the curvy blonde rolled her heavily made-up eyes, a smirk on her pouty lips. "Juuust a bit. It was only hilarious the first twenty-seven times or thereabouts."

"Okay, my bad -- hilarious?"

The tall, Amazonesque brunette grunted, and shifted her spear from one solid shoulder to the next. "Mostly it's the fact that there's only two girls on this team."

"--Oh." Naruto stared at the trio, caught by surprise. They were all dressed kinda girly to him. Blondie had cleavage, and gray-hair's face was way too delicate, even with the heavy scowl. Naruto stared up at the brunette and gave her -- him! Him! -- a disarming smile. "Sorry?"

The blonde one snickered. "... I lied, it's still hilarious."

"Oh, fuck you," the grey-haired one snapped.

In Naruto's head, Kyuubi laughed. The rest of his response was graphic, hinting strongly that he had no problem taking up grey-hair on the offer; Naruto reddened as he finally understood.

"Wait -- you're a guy? And you're -- oh man, I should have known, you've got too much hips to be a guy and -- argh, wait, I'm not saying that you're fat, I --"

The guy with the long, sleek gray hair was watching him with narrowed eyes, the kind of look that on Sasuke always heralded imminent, painful revenge. The strong girl with the spear had no expression at all, which seemed almost worse in a way. Naruto grinned painfully wide and took a cautious step back.

"...You're both very pretty either way?"

The brunette arched an eyebrow, and chuckled, more patiently amused than offended.. "Thanks. It's fine, I tell myself it's not that I look like a guy, it's that it's hard to look girlier than he does."

"Beni, one of these days I'm going to hurt you." Grey-hair-prettyguy turned to look at Naruto, looking like he'd found something stinky stuck to his shoe. "Just for the record, I'm straight."

Naruto flailed his arms. "I'm straight too!"

Kyuubi was still laughing at him. /Does the ice-bitch know?/

"Uh -- wait, I'm -- I mean, I like hot girls and you only look like a hot girl and -- argh! That came out all wrong."

The curvy blonde, who'd been watching the last bout, chuckled and waggled her eyebrows at him. "Yes, coming out in the middle of a chuunin exam has got to be pretty wrong, as far as appropriate places go."

"I didn't -- hnn."

Naruto whined; pitying him, she patted his head. "Aw, poor guy. Jin-kun, leave him alone already, it's not his fault he's got good taste." She turned to Naruto, and grinned. "My name's Kigane," she said; Naruto blurted out his name in answer. "Don't listen to Jin, he secretly likes to flaunt it."

Naruto would have believed it, what with all the bangles on the guy's arms and the flowing, embroidered tunic. He wore purple, for god's sake, how could he not mean it?

"I damn well don't," Jin snapped anyway.

"He's just stressed because of the exams, is all." Kigane patted Naruto's shoulder. "You don't look very stressed at all; are you that strong?"

"Eh. Eheh. Yeah, I guess. We went through the survival test just fine the last time we passed it. Just got unlucky and couldn't finish the tournament. It was the year Sound attacked, so..."

Kigane's eyes -- a very pretty blue-green, he noticed -- widened in shock, and her lips parted slightly. Naruto couldn't help but glance at them, somewhat guiltily.

"Wow. That's cool. Did you fight during the invasion? We would have, but we were still at the academy, and -- well. We didn't see any action." Kigane pouted, tugging on a golden curl peevishly.

A few steps away, even Beni-the-brunette and Jin seemed to be paying attention, and Kigane's enthusiastic curiosity and obvious admiration made Naruto straighten up a bit. "We did. Went personally after the team of infiltrated Sand genins who'd been in the exams, as a matter of fact."

"Ooh...!"

/What a ten colors bitch./

Naruto blinked, cut off just before throwing himself in a grand retelling of his exploits, cautiously edited of anything demon-related. Usually, Kyuubi's interruptions made more sense than that. 'What?'

/Blonde bitch has a litter of ten different colors./

'--Kigane? She's sixteen, she doesn't have any kids yet -- especially not ten of them!'

Naruto could feel Kyuubi snorting in contempt. /Kitsune saying. Kind of vixen whose litters turn out to be from ten different fathers, but canny enough to get them all hunting to feed her anyway./

"Naruto?" Kigane tilted her head and peered at him curiously, before waving her tiny hand in front of his eyes. "Helloo. Anyone home?"

"--Ahh, sorry." Naruto grinned, and secretly berated Kyuubi for being an asshole. So she was a bit of a flirt, so what? He didn't mind that. It was so rare when a pretty girl wanted to flirt with him! It wasn't like he'd ever cheat on Sakura and Sasuke. The attention was nice, that was all. "Uh, What was I saying again?"

Kigane giggled, teasing him, but not cruelly. "You were going to tell us about the time you fought those Sand nins." She poked his shoulder. "So? I want to hear the story!"

"You'll hear it another day."

Naruto startled. He hadn't heard Sasuke coming; but there he was, standing at Naruto's shoulder and looking displeased. The way he scowled at Naruto, Naruto knew who he was most displeased at. Sakura was standing behind them, and smiled politely at the group, but it was the polished, "I am a civilized being" smile; not any kind of sincere one.

"Hello! We're Naruto's teammates. Sorry, we'll have to take him back now. We have to go and say hello to the last Konoha team before the ferry lands..."

Jin shrugged. "Don't bother, they're assholes."

The tall brunette gave him a heavy-lidded mocking look. "You're just sore because they hit on you."

"You're sore because they didn't hit on you. No one ever does."

/Can say he's not female as much as he wants, he's as catty as any bitch. Too many females, got to his brain./

Sakura still smiled politely, though now it looked a bit like a wince. "We should still at least say hello. It can't hurt. Well, it was nice to meet you!"

She waved, and turned around to leave. Naruto was still hesitating when Sasuke's hand clamped down on his shoulder to push him along.

"Ow!" he protested, as soon as they were out of earshot. "What's gotten into you?"

Sasuke gave him a quick, exasperated look. "I know what you would have gotten into."

Naruto blinked. Had Sasuke really just implied -- did he really think -- what? "Fuck you. I thought Jin was a catty bitch for a guy, but you're even worse."

Sasuke's eyelid twitched.

"Guys -- we're being watched, remember?" Sakura smiled, not in a friendly way. "The first one who throws a punch, I will throw overboard."

Naruto would have been alright with her warning, if she had glanced at Sasuke even for an instant before she stared at him meaningfully. But no, just him, of course. He huffed, cheeks puffed up as he gave Sakura a sulky look. "Why are you two so twitchy? I was just chatting." Now he was starting to feel mildly guilty. "It wasn't -- I mean it was really just chatting."

Sakura's expression darkened, suddenly a lot more displeased. "I assumed it was just chatting. Are you telling us it really wasn't?"

"What? No! I'm saying the other way around! Why are you hearing wrong?"

"I'm hearing that you're protesting a little too much," she retorted, glaring.

Naruto stopped walking and stared at the deck guiltily. "Okay, so maybe she was flirting a little and I let her. It wasn't so bad, was it? It wasn't anything solid, she didn't say 'let's hook up' or anything."

He glanced at Sasuke for support, but Sasuke glared at him, too.

"She wasn't going to, idiot."

"Hey, don't call me idiot! You didn't even talk with her, anyway, so what do you know?"

"Naruto," Sasuke replied with fake patience, "I don't need to. They're a team comprised of a pretty boy from a strictly spying-oriented bloodline, a girl with no calluses and a lot of cleavage, and a weapons specialist flashing too much thigh. It should be obvious."

Naruto growled in frustration and threw up his arms. "What should be obvious?"

"They're an espionage and infiltration team. They're not ninja, they're goddamn kunoichi."

Naruto blinked. "Uh -- what? What's the difference?"

"The difference is their training isn't geared toward frontal assault, but toward backstabbing, poisoning, and leading people to their doom by the balls." Sasuke gave him an irritated glare. "Looks like she had a good hold on yours, too."

Naruto's cheeks burned. "What the fuck is your problem, are you jealous or something?"

Sasuke visibly bristled, taking a threatening step forward; Naruto stood his ground. Sakura winced and quickly insinuated herself between them, her hands on their shoulders to keep them apart. "Guys, please -- guys, Kakashi-sensei told me to thump you if I needed it. Remember? We can't afford it right now. So don't make me -- please -- Sasuke, I swear I will."

Sasuke huffed and turned away, arms crossed defensively. Naruto's figurative hackles slowly came down. At least this time he wasn't the only one being treated like a misbehaving kid.

Trying to look good for the competition, Sakura gave a little wincing smile, which did a horrible job of hiding the way her eyelid twitched in anger. Naruto scowled at the deck, and tried to make his lower lip stop jutting out. He wasn't going to be pouting over it.

"...Sasuke-kun, Naruto was just making friends, he had no way to guess."

Sasuke snorted in dismissive contempt; Sakura gave a tired sigh but apparently decided not to push it with him.

"Naruto... It's okay, just remember next time." Sakura gave him a tired smile. "That type of team is at a disadvantage in all-out fighting, so they'll usually try to gain an edge before the fighting starts -- they're gathering intelligence to find our weaknesses. It's -- no one's going to fall for a classical 'poor girl who twisted her ankle, please protect me, you handsome stranger' attempt, right? It might work in a real-life situation, but not in an exam -- we all know everyone we're going to meet is a ninja."

Naruto gave her a sour look. Now he felt positively stupid. They'd been nice, and they were from Konoha too, and he'd just--

/Eh, who cares what they wanted. Got the bitches fawning over you, who cares if they didn't mean it. You're strong enough to make them put their cunt where their mouth is./

Naruto did a full-body twitch. 'Nrgh -- mental picture --my brain -- really, really hate you.'

Somewhere deep in his mind, Kyuubi smirked at him again.

'Not a rapist, damn it. Also, I'm pretty sure that's not how the saying goes.'

/That's how it goes for me./ And that was all the fox-demon cared about. Kyuubi in a nutshell, really.

Naruto sighed heavily and slumped against the guardrail, staring dispiritedly at the sea below. Being so pitiful that Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox-demon himself, offered what could be construed as support -- in a very twisted, bastardly way, of course -- only made him feel even worse.

"... Naruto?" Sakura sighed, and patted his shoulder. "It's okay, you're not the only one it ever happens to, I mean, it's only their job!"

"Yeah?" Naruto muttered, unconvinced. "When's the last time you fell for something like that?"

Sakura twirled a lock of hair around her finger nervously. "Um. Er. I guess... Kabuto?"

Naruto flailed his arms in a brief explosion of frustration. "That doesn't count! Everyone trusted him."

"I didn't."

Naruto glared at Sasuke, who now leaned nonchalantly on his elbows facing the sea. "That's because you're a paranoid bastard! I don't want to always think that everyone who smiles at me is thinking of the best way to stick a knife in my back. It's not a way to live."

"It isn't?" Sasuke countered coldly. "I find it's a great way to not get dead."

Naruto growled at him, an animal threat rolling out from deep in his throat. At his side, Sakura froze.

"Naruto..." she whispered.

Naruto didn't want to be distracted, not when he was still deciding where to bite the asshole. Sasuke was really asking for it -- a good, hard, painful bite that would remind him to watch his mouth for the next days...

"Naruto, your eyes," she mumbled worriedly. "I don't know why it's -- just stop, okay?"

"What?" Naruto flinched as he understood. "-- Oh, shit." He turned to face the sea again and scrunched his eyes closed. Strange, Kyuubi wasn't even angry alongside him, so why was he so -- he didn't know. Kyuubi didn't even feel all that interested, just... Watchful, sort of, but his attention wandering away from the trio. And if the fox-demon wasn't angry, why did Naruto want, not to punch Sasuke, but to bite him?

/Bitch still needs to be taught his place,/ the fox commented absently.

That cinched it. 'Kyuubi, what's going on?' Naruto still wanted to flatten ears he didn't have and snap his fangs at Sasuke's nose, and while it wasn't strong enough to worry him he'd be taken over, it was still alien and strange, and he couldn't remember having felt that need independently of Kyuubi before -- or never so strongly.

"Naruto--"

"Not now," he grumbled, flashing teeth at Sakura without thinking. 'Kyuubi--'

/I really want to eat that goddamn cat./

'Huh?'

Naruto flipped around. A trio of wide-brimmed-hat-wearing ninjas were walking by -- that sneering, narrow-eyed swordswoman he'd checked out earlier, all thin limbs and haughtiness; a brown-skinned guy with short, pale greenish hair and a cocky half-smirk; and a watchful, huge tank of a staff-wielding man. None of them spared a glance for Team Seven, except from the gray cat draped on the big man's shoulder, which stared at Naruto unblinkingly until the trio was gone from view.

'... That was it? You want to chase a cat? What do you think you are, a poodle?'

There was no answer; Kyuubi sank back from the forefront of his consciousness, only leaving behind that strange watchfulness, that perked-ears feeling. Try as he may, Naruto couldn't get anything else out of him, and then Sakura's fist came down on his head, and Sasuke started wondering insultingly loud what was going on in his stupid head. The rest of the trip went by fast with all the bickering.

[identity profile] kanarenee.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Well... lets see.

I have an IDEA, but it really isn't that good of an idea... and I guess you could write it from either Sasuke OR Naruto/Kyuubi POV. Naruto and Sakura both get very... relaxed in situations where they shouldn't-- and having just passed an exam that really peaked an emotional high on Naruto (the genjutsu). It's been a while, but his reaction is still a pretty vivid one to show a possible weakness-- Sasuke and Sakura (lol cliche much?XD). And of course SASUKE would be the one to actually take that into account and try to distance himself enough while still being 'teamly'... and I think that would irritate Naruto (and maybe irk Sakura, but not much, seeing as he's always distant anyway).

Thing would be, even though the three of them think they're alone wherever, Sasuke's worried that someone or somebodies may be keeping tabs on them-- Sakura's already worried about being a hinderance due to the pregnancy, so there's that to worry about, Naruto's reaction to the genjutsu-- and now Naruto and Sakura want to get a bit more cuddly? Not happening in Sasuke's book. Not only could it potentionally get them in trouble and become a liability, but more than likely it'll just solidify someone's plan for some sort of emotional roller coaster ride of underhanded ninja-ness and he doesn't like that thought-- it could be aimed against Naruto for all he knows, and that will obviousy end up bloody AND/OR potentionally cause more problems for the three of them or just Naruto in general due to Kyuubi (since he already walks a thin wire), or it could end up having them leaving the exams without their full group (of 3 or 4 (baby), whichever way Sasuke is thinking about it at the time). Thing is, he's not worried about himself so much as the two of them and it's irritating because he doesn't like them being cuddly and him not being involved (possessive much? XD), so he'd probably try to keep them apart without really explaining why, just in case they are being watched-- because you know, that's a dead give away too.

I see a very irritated Naruto, a very irked but silent Sakura and a very confused/protective/irked Sasuke XDDD.

That's just an idea. :/ I tried to come up with something tha tmight be able to develop into later things.

[identity profile] kanarenee.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
welcome!

I was just spewing something out. At least now you can get your brain juices running so you can think of something, huh?

[identity profile] kanarenee.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I lack AIM T__T I only have MSN, or else I woudl totally add you.

I'm scared to have AIM on my machine due to the fact that the last computer I put it on died the next day, so I feel like ti spreads viruses.

I could look into Trillian or something if you need to talk/spew ideas.

I can sget online again after I get back to my dorm on Sunday. I just lack real internet right now :(
tephra: Photo portrait of a doll with shaggy, dark orange and copper hair, wearing a pink slouchy hat and sky blue glasses. (Default)

[personal profile] tephra 2008-03-29 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Well in that time gap, if they have the facilities to cook for themselves at all Sasuke could do some stealth fluffiness by just making onigiri for the three of them. To an observer it's just a team member doing his rotation on cook duty, but to those privy to the scene way back when (with Naruto swiping onigiri and Sakura having one given to her), it's significant. Naruto might not get the significance, it's pretty subtle, but it's food which is always good and Sakura would be charmed even if she didn't make the connection (though I suspect she would).
tephra: Photo portrait of a doll with shaggy, dark orange and copper hair, wearing a pink slouchy hat and sky blue glasses. (Default)

[personal profile] tephra 2008-03-29 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Filling them with something other than fish might be a wee bit blatant for Sasuke though. ;)

Oh, Kakashi would definitely swipe one. :D
ext_2686: (Office - your biggest flan)

[identity profile] stripedpetunia.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
>>Note to self, if she ever made such an ambush, find a way to add the cloying scent of warm blood to the tableau

I'd use a colon after the 'note to self' part.

>>Just a contusion and split skin, thankfully, no break, no crushed ruin of cartilage and bone slivers.

Put a semi-colon or a double-dash or something after 'thankfully'.

>>They'd had to identify the man by his toe prints. It was a good thing he hadn't quite bought into that one.

The genjutsu he hadn't quite bought into was the current one, right? That would make it this one, not that one. *grin*

>>The canyon veered sharply; beyond the bend, a few dozens jounin-teachers waited for their pupils.

That should just be 'dozen' in this case.

>>and an easy, practiced grasp on a strange handheld weapon that protruded from the knuckles in a set of serrated claws.

I can't make heads or tails of this. He has claws and also a strange weapon? Or the weapon is the claws? Is it like brass knuckles but with claws or are they like, built-in?

>>Kyuubi didn't even deign reply

Deign TO reply, I'm thinking.

>>The tall, Amazonesque brunette grunted

'Amazonian' is an actual English word that would work here. Despite appearances, it also doesn't imply actual Amazon heritage, just the body type. (Also I've read this part before but it's still really funny. Oh, Naruto.)

>>guys, Kakashi-sensei told me to thump you if I needed it.

Should be either 'if I needed to' or 'if you needed it'... as-is, it sounds like she's saying Kakashi endorsed therapeutic assaults. Which he might have. But she wouldn't say that, would she?

Alright, pedantic hat is now off.

As for a between-scene, I like what [livejournal.com profile] tephralynn suggested. Another thought I had was just about possible rest periods during training, where they might just be sitting around catching their breath and stretching. A good time for ridiculous, take-our-minds-off-this conversations which generally are just cute and team-y. Maybe Sakura gets so bored with Sasuke's silence and Naruto's non-participation that she tries to start some silly word game (desperation!). Something that surprisingly piques Sasuke's interest enough to play it. I dunno. Hope that at least gets you thinking?
Edited 2008-03-29 19:58 (UTC)

claw weapon thing

[identity profile] w-inds-no-unmei.livejournal.com 2008-04-09 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
When I read her description it makes me think of when I used to play with broken combs as a child. There'd be a space where the missing teeth were that I could stick between my knuckles and which would protrude like a weapon but it was handheld because the back of the comb would be clenched in my fist. Maybe it's something like that? If not then yea the brass knuckle thing would be my next best guess.
ext_2686: (Chuck - Lester against the world)

[identity profile] stripedpetunia.livejournal.com 2008-04-10 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
lmao

Glad I could help. Who cares about LJ anyway? Pffff.

[identity profile] tricia1224.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I can run it through a grammar and spell check for you. I did not notice a whole lot of problems though.

[identity profile] tricia1224.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Never mind. Someone already did that for you. I still love all the interaction with Team Kunoichi.

[identity profile] ryouseiteki.livejournal.com 2008-03-29 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Prompt?
Sasuke and Naruto get into some more friendly rivalry. Who can best spy on their spy-ers (if that is even a word)!

And,
Humidity, not used to it, don't like it (or do, depending on character I suppose). WTF Water dense air, so much hate(love?) for yoooou.

[identity profile] ktoth04.livejournal.com 2008-03-30 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't see any typos :D

Can't wait for more, as per usual of course :)
ext_297788: (Default)

[identity profile] lady-aquill.livejournal.com 2008-03-30 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
aaah. fluffy ideas....hmmmm.
Oh! here's one. how about a community shower? Naruto's idea of course (get them both wet and nekkid at the same time >:D).
Sakura agrees because she's dusty (the cave-in), sweaty and wants cuddles with her boys.
Sasuke gets dragged along glaring, because they must show team solidarity (is that even a word?) for the bajillion spies and mist-nins watching them. I could just see Naruto saying something along the lines of: but what if the mist-nins decide to attack us in the shower? you could watch our backs while you wash our backs!

....>.> ok that's a bit more !cracky then i intended... where do i get these things from......<.<

another idea would for them to spar and buff up Naruto's genjutsu breaking skills. but i don't really see that happening because they're not meant to show any weakness to the other team, right?

...hope that helped....>.

[identity profile] bootoye.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
I loved the re-read here. ^^

I would love to see a little Team Kakashi scene because you do write the 4 of them together so well.

Will the next section be from Sasuke's POV? Not really a plot idea but an idea nonetheless.

[identity profile] garmiet.livejournal.com 2008-03-31 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
(I review as I read.)

I love the details about scent and genjutsu. . . . (*snicker*) “This has Mist nin written all over it.” Oh, those Mist nin. XD . . . . Love the line, “He needed to feel her right now.” . . . . Toe prints? Yikes. I’ve heard of dental records, but wow, toe prints. o_o . . . . I don’t remember this whole dialogue between Sakura and Naruto. I like it. =) . . . . Heh. I remember Sasuke tapping Morse Code. Was the “OK?” added? I like. ^__^ . . . . Oh yeah, I forgot about the ceiling. XD
I like the bit about what each member of Team 7 is doing. I’m curious about what Sasuke found downstairs. . . . “I’d hit that. Oh yeah, and that one too. This one . . . Hmm, maybe.” Hate to say it, but the wording sounds a little awkward to me. I know what he’s driving at, but calling people “that”? õ_ô . . . . Wow, that’s some neckline. I can’t picture it. O_O . . . . Count on Kyuubi to ruin a mood. He makes Naruto think about sex when he’d rather not, or sex with partners he’d rather not have; and when Naruto’s trying to think about sex, Kyuubi’s thinking about food. Man, that’s gotta be annoying. . . . That’d make a great picture to of Naruto having a conversation with the Kyuubi and we see all the people on the ship (at least those that Naruto and Kyuubi notice, heheheh); it’d probably take a lot of time, though. . . . (*breaks down in giggles from reading Naruto’s attempts to make friends with Jin*) This scene with the kunoichi always cracks me up. Better quit while you’re ahead, Naruto! XDDD . . . . I think you mentioned in another LJ entry that you might not do too much with this group. I hope you change your mind, because they’re just waaaay too good to let go. . . . “Naruto startled.” I think you mean “started.” He was startled, but the expression is, “Naruto started.” (Hate to criticize over little details. T_T) . . . . Hah. Love the reoccurring comparison between Sasuke and Jin. ^^ . . . . Sakura seems to be kind of on edge. . . . “Spying-oriented bloodline?” Now I really have to know more about that. . . . Love the extra emphasis on the word meaning of “kunoichi.” I mean, I always thought it was just a female ninja (which included any and all girls in that career), but it’s kind of interesting how it has a meaning about more of a style or areas of being a ninja. It makes me wonder if there was a special class for that sort of thing (I think there was) and how well Sakura, Ino, and the other girls did in it. . . . “Naruto did a full-body twitch.” Lol, I wonder if Sakura saw that and what she was thinking if she did. ^_^ . . . . Love the tension between Naruto and Sasuke about caution and paranoia. Naturally Sasuke would be a little more on edge about that sort of stuff. . . . I wonder if that cat is going to have any significance later on. I’m also wondering what is going on with Naruto, why he was feeling those things when the Kyuubi was pretty calm.

As for possible downtime between exams, I’m not sure exactly what you wanted. I keep wondering how their little “bite to eat” went (if they went at all). And they probably met some random people in the village and noticed little differences between there and Konoha (it’s a foreign village that has been known to do things differently than Konoha, so maybe other stuff will be different besides just ninja stuff. Maybe some food is made differently or something). I know that sounds like just filler-stuff, but sometimes filler can be good -- stretches the story out and keeps little things interesting. As to how they can train somewhere without being spied on, I have no clue. Maybe they just chatted in their hotel room or something. Maybe they just needed to work out some tension they had (oh my >_>) and screw the training. ((Sorry I’m not much help here, I really don’t know what else to say. *sweat*))

"I'd hit that"

[identity profile] w-inds-no-unmei.livejournal.com 2008-04-09 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
This saying refers to the person as an sex object on purpose and usually can go further along as "I'd hit that...ass...skirt...chick...etc." If you think of it like that do you still think it's worded awkwardly?

Re: "I'd hit that"

[identity profile] garmiet.livejournal.com 2008-04-10 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Sort of, but I guess I get it. õ_ô;

[identity profile] filiaemuses.livejournal.com 2008-04-03 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
I've been lurking for a few months and I finally thought I would pop out and say hi.
Hi.

First of all I have to say that I love the Teamwork Universe- literally squeal at every update. SQUEE! Thank You For Updating!

Do you still need ideas? There is something that has been at the back of my mind for a while. What are the kids going to call Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke? Dad, Mom and Dad? It really made me think when I read the other Team Seven fics you posted where Sasuke and Sakura learned the Sexy no Jutsu. Then what Mom, Dad, and Mom?

I really sat down and thought the whole thing out. About how Sasuke is from a traditional family and would probably be called Tousan (Kaasan), Sakura would be more emotionally close and so would be Hahaui sp? (Chichue?), and Naruto would be right there playing games and evening up teams so he would be Papa (Mama).

I don't know if you could fit the conversation into the exam. But Naruto has a way of being unpredictable, and I bet he could even rile up Sasuke enough that he would bring out the Sharingan just in time for Naruto to teach him the jutsu (Sasuke: *Glare Of Doom*). And of course he would want to include Sakura as well (Sakura: Absolutely not! Who knows what would happen to the baby? Sasuke: *twitch*. Naruto: Right...sorry.)

I just imagine you could make it into a hilarious scene- much like the Team Kunoichi scene. It had me in stitches.
ext_11844: (Canon Error)

[identity profile] amarin-rose.livejournal.com 2008-04-03 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
They're on a Mist Village island, supposed to be training, and probably being spied on by a bazilion rivals and Mist nin.

First thing that pops to mind is that some of the spies see the various couples together (Saku/Naru, Saku/Sasu, Naru/Sasu) and either a) think they are all cheating on each other or b) decide that its close enough for shinbo work, so c) tell each team member separately that whichever lover is cheating on them hoping to d) throw them all off their game.

Of course, Team Seven knows what's really going on, but they (or at least one of them) decide to play into it to throw the other teams off.

Bah, this is why I don't write Naruto fic. -_- But yay for more Teamwork!
ext_11844: (Default)

[identity profile] amarin-rose.livejournal.com 2008-04-07 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
You could have it as flashback scenes after the test, maybe. Or play it under the table, with a few hints here and there, and only do the whole reveal after the test.

Weird wording

[identity profile] w-inds-no-unmei.livejournal.com 2008-04-09 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
I enjoyed reading this again and didn't find anything written wrong except you worded something wrong in one instance. It's still understandable and I guess ignorable for many but it trips me up every time I see it.

Sorry...u.u

It's when Naruto and Sasuke are arguing about Team Kunoichi and Sasuke says: "I find it's a great way to not get dead."

You don't say get dead because dead is like a state you are in. It's hard to explain. But I think it should be "not get killed" or "not become dead."

I could see someone who doesn't care about proper grammar using it like Naruto but Sasuke sounds weird using improper terms.

Anyway just my opinion. Don't kill me. U.U

Re: Weird wording

[identity profile] w-inds-no-unmei.livejournal.com 2008-04-12 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
*Squueee* You replied back to me and called me "hon". It's like speaking with a celebrity! ^_^

Oh and you're very welcome.

(Sorry if you already got this message as anonymous. I thought I was signed in.)