[FFML] [Naruto][AU]Clients Lie chapters 1&2 (sequel to People Lie)

[Nugar]

Hmm, first time I sent this seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle,
so here's attempt two.


I actually had a lot of this written back when I posted People Lie,
but took my sweet time posting it for whatever reason.  Enjoy.  As
always, comments and criticisms are very welcome.

And, somehow, in the time since I posted People Lie, I've forgotten
how to best send this to the list and keep my formatting intact.  So
if this looks like hell, sorry.








        "Team seven," Iruka called.  "Naruto Uzumaki."

        Naruto sat up slightly straighter.  Finally.

        "Hinata Hyuga."

        "Thanks," Naruto muttered under his breath.  He'd specifically asked
to be partnered with Hinata.  After all, she was the one who'd saved
his life.  They worked well together.

        "Sasuke Uchiha."

        "What the hell?" he said out loud.


                                Clients Lie.



        "Sasuke, break left.  The cat just hid under the little bush, but
Kohta is shadowing you at 5 o' clock."  Naruto's voice sounded even
and unhurried, but I knew what our opponents didn't:  it was really
Hinata, henged into him.  I guess her own opponent, 'Ken', wasn't
pushing her yet.

        I moved left, as suggested, tossing two senbon with tiny flash bombs
attached over my shoulder, and quickly set myself to cover the
straightest trail leading away from the bush, should the cat try to
bolt.  'Kohta' was behind a tree when I threw the senbon, so he
wouldn't have seen them.

        Heavy rustling in the trees to my right revealed a half dozen Narutos
spreading out in a circle to heard the cat, and three more with their
attention directed the opposite direction, no doubt on the watch for
'Ken'.  At least one of them was Hinata, and one of them might be
Naruto, just like it was just as likely they were all clones.

        Abruptly, 'Hinata', and even I didn't know if it was really Naruto or
just a clone, scampered along tree branches on the other side of the
cat, flinging kunai at 'Kumeta', who was hot on her trail.

        I couldn't get used to the stupid names Naruto came up with.  All of
our 'enemies' today were clones, henged into caricatures of bandits or
shinobi.  Their mission was to kill the cat.  Our mission was to
capture it, alive.

        This was Naruto's solution to the problem of Kakashi-sensei
frequently being off on other duties, leaving us to complete these
simple D rank missions by ourselves.

        Simple minded thinking from the liar.

        I wouldn't have resented it nearly as much if I didn't know his
clones would actually kill the cat if we failed.  Fail Naruto's
'training', fail the real mission as well.

        Hinata just nodded and agreed, like she always did to Naruto's
suggestions, leaving me to put up with their antics.

        "Flash," I said quietly into my radio, then closed my eyes and
triggered the two flash bombs at the feet of my opponent.  The clone
reeled in shock and blindness as I darted around behind him, then
plunged a kunai in his back.  It disappeared with a burst of smoke.

        Once, I'd stabbed Naruto that way, when he'd been hiding as a clone.
The memory made me smile.

        "Damn it, Sasuke!" his voice crackled over the radio.  "The idea was
to have to fight them the whole way!"

        I smirked, pleased.  But I will admit I was impressed when suddenly
'Hinata', changed course, her opponent still following, and shadowed
the fleeing, paniced cat from above as her opponent threw senbon,
effortlessly weaving and dodging around the needles.  Only the real
Hinata could do that, so how was Naruto…

        Ah.

        Kawarimi.

        Naruto-as-Hinata had swapped places with the real Hinata, each
dropping their henge as they did so, seamlessly taking the place of
the other.  That struck me as a really good idea, the enemy could get
used to fighting one with a certain fighting style, then if he
suddenly spotted a weakness or the fighting styles were a poor match,
a substitution could be made, surprising the enemy with all new
skills.

        Damn that Naruto.

        Kumeta was closing with Hinata, and I knew from previous experience
that she would abide by Naruto's restrictions and not kill the clone.

        So I did it for her with a flicked kunai, and kept pace to sheild her
from other enemies.

        "Great, Sasuke!" Naruto called.

        'Great?'  A moment ago he was cursing me for disrupting his plan.
Show some consistency, you clanless bastard.

        A split second after that, Hinata landed in front of the startled cat
and snatched it from the ground with one lightning grab.

        "Taju kage bushin no jutsu!"

        What?!

        I glanced back, and Naruto…  fled?  at the front of a huge pack of
clones, all throwing senbon at him, a veritable hail of needles.

        The first wave struck… and a moment later a log, spiked with senbon,
was trampled under the feet of over three dozen clones.

        I couldn't fight that many all at once.  Naruto was too close to my
own skill for me to take him on in numbers.  But I had to keep them
from reaching Hinata.  I moved to intercept.

        Naruto suddenly stood in my path, moving quickly enough I hadn't seen
him until he emerged from behind a tree and leaped.

        "Wait, Sasuke," he said, moving his left hand over his head in an
'over me' gesture.  The clone army obediently leapt over us in a wave,
a rainbow of Narutos, though the only colors represented were orange
and black.

        I glanced at him as I followed the wave moving towards Hinata.

        "She's been working on something new, some family technique.  This is
a good time to test it," he offered, not looking at me.  Together, we
leapt for a good view of the upcoming fight.

        I did not often interfere in his treatment of Hinata.  It was their
business.  My own thoughts on the matter…  Well.  Hinata was certainly
getting stronger.  She could even land hits on Kakashi-sensei if he
fought close.

        I know Hinata saw the incoming wave of Narutos, and I believe she
knew that it couldn't be good for her.  I just barely caught a glimpse
of her as she shoved the screaming, hissing cat inside her grey jacket
and pulled on the drawstrings, temporarily trapping the cat inside as
she took some sort of formal stance.  Then, as the first wave of
inbound senbon reached her, she seemed to blur, even to my eyes.

        "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho," Naruto said quietly, sensing my interest.
"Some family technique she's been working on, but she's trying to use
a variation."

        I didn't know what the variation was, but as I watched Hinata start
slowly turning in a circle, her torso whipping like mad in all
directions and her arms a windmill around her, sending senbon flying
by harmlessly or deflecting them away, I marked it as something I
intended to learn.  Without an area effect jutsu, I'd be hard pressed
to avoid that many senbon, myself.

        "It's weak as defense," Naruto muttered, seeming somewhat disappointed.

        Harsh.  But true.  She wasn't using her feet for anything but
movement, and her movements were taxed as she sought to deflect the
needles aimed at her legs as well.  Additionally, if she was that
fast, she should be catching the senbon and sending them back at the
attackers.  That would be a technique worth knowing.

        And, slowly, kunai began to be mixed into the hundreds of senbon
hurtling towards the kunoichi.

        I knew Hinata was helplessly in love with Naruto.  I knew he knew it
as well.  But unlike me, he actually returned some of her attention.

        When I first met them, I thought that, despite their skills, they
would be a hindrance to me, too wrapped up in pointless things like
'love' to fight.  I will admit, I was wrong.  Hinata followed his
orders, as I knew the liar wanted me to, but she would offer up her
opinons on things as well.  And no one, not me, not Kakashi-sensei,
was harder on her when training.

        Here I stood, watching Naruto do his best to kill the girl in love
with him.  He'd do it, too.  I had no doubt.

        A smile tugged at my face as I imagined myself throwing the kunai and
some of the more insistent girls who chased me in the middle of that
rain of steel.

        "Glad you're enjoying the show," he said mockingly.

        I scowled and looked back at Hinata.

        "She lost to you in less than five minutes yesterday," Naruto continued.

        Five minutes, yeah.  She wasn't on my level yet, though she was
easily the best kunoichi to come from our class, and probably better
than most of the males.  Naruto…  Naruto might be on my level.  One of
these days, I'd press the issue.  I was curious how long it'd take me
to beat him.

        Both of our eyes widened as there was suddenly a change in the
pattern of deflection.  Her movements weren't as smooth, not quite as
quick.

        "She's taken…"

        "a hit," I finished.

        "She's got to improve if she's going to be anything but a set of eyes
for us," Naruto said grimly.  "And the quickest way to improve is to
fight for your life against impossible odds."

        He took a deep breath.

        "DON'T LOSE, HINATA!" he shouted, and with a roar from the clones,
the rain of deadly steel doubled.

        Naruto wore two pouches, these days, and even with dozens and dozens
of clones, he must have packed them to the very limit with senbon,
which he rarely used.  For training like this, it made sense.  Despite
his lethal intent, I doubt he really wanted to kill her, and senbon
did the least damage of the three common thrown weapons.

        Hinata's movements changed again, and again, brief bits of
hesitation, a gradual slowing, a redoubling of efforts, as she was hit
again, and again.  Her spin grew faster, her legs dancing, and she
began slowly winding through the trees, trying to get out of the
circle of clones.

        With luck, and, admittedly, a bit of skill on the Hyuga's part, none
of the needles or knives would hit the struggling cat in her jacket.

        Without so much a warning as a slight decrease in volume, the attack
suddenly stopped, and Hinata stopped her mad whirl, one arm extended,
the other crooked back and to one side.  She was perfectly still,
except for the rustling and yowling under her jacket that said the cat
was still alive, and very, very unhappy.

        Her left forearm had nearly half a dozen needles buried in it, four
in her back, and the worst looking but least disabling was one stuck
right in her left cheek, close to her mouth.  I kept my face
impassive.

        "Way to go Hin-"

        She exploded into motion, and suddenly, for a shining moment, the air
was alive with senbon flowing outwards, and then she wasn't there any
more.

        Two dozen clones died in an instant as the senbon hit, their speed
leaving Hinata's hands far greater than anything the clones had
managed.  And then she was among them, and she began to kill.

        Naruto's words choked off, then he recovered.  "Not bad.  I suppose
that makes up for the pitiful technique.  And she kept the cat safe,
so we didn't even fail the mission."

        I frowned at him.  The fool really needed to come up with a way to
train his pet kunoichi that didn't run the risk of us failing a
mission.  Even a D.  I did not intend to be on a team that failed
missions.

        Hinata landed in front of us heavily.  Naturally, since she had to be
exhausted.  With quick, jerky movements, she opened the front of her
jacket, removed the flailing cat, and hurled it at Naruto with a
convulsive movement.

        Naruto came alive as the cat flew at him, and with a deftness close
to my own, the cat was quickly wrapped up in cloth and tied, only its
screaming head left in the open.

        Hinata sank to her knees and breathed heavily.  I saw that all of the
senbon, even the ones in her back, had been removed already,
doubtlessly thrown at the tormenting Naruto clones.  The little hole
in her cheek was bleeding.  Her lips were red with her blood, and with
her pale skin framed in dark hair, she looked like a geisha with
powdered skin and painted lips.

        It actually looked good on her.

        Naruto pulled medical supplies from his black and orange jacket.
"Come on, lets see how bad it is."

        Hinata hesitated, looking at me.

        Odd.

        But, after that inscrutable look, she slipped off her jacket.

        …Oh.  That was it.

        Instead of a normal shirt, underneath she wore fine armored mesh, and
a brief, very brief, set of wrappings around her breasts for support.
I was remined forcibly that she also had the largest breasts of any
kunoichi our age.

        But she also had dozens of short, ragged lines across her breasts and
stomach, cuts from the cat's claws that weeped blood, red standing out
starkly against black wire mesh and pale white skin.

        I did NOT blush.

        But I did turn away, giving her some privacy.

        "Kind of moot, Sasuke," Naruto said as he worked.  "We may not have
yet, but we will eventually be given long missions in the field
together.  Can't turn your back on a comrade, any halfway decent ninja
would look for an opportunity like that."  From the sound of things, I
believe he slipped her mesh armor off, and then I could swear I heard
cloth rustle as chest wrappings fell away.

        I did NOT look.  But a mental image came to mind, and I willed
it to go away.

        "I don't mind you seeing," Hinata said quietly.

        But I knew she did mind.  Only one person could make her say
something like that.

        Naruto.

        I had to get out of here.

        "I'll carry the cat back and turn it in," I volunteered, picking up
the squirming feline.

        "Wait, we're supposed to complete missions as a team-" he protested,
but I was already leaping away.


        o/~


        "I think we made him uncomfortable, ne, Hinata-chan?" Naruto said
lightly as they watched the last Uchiha flee through the trees.

        Hinata nodded shyly and swallowed the hot, coppery blood leaking in
from her cheek.  She was blushing furiously, and if anything, that
made the hole in her cheek bleed even more.  Fortunately, despite the
fact the needle had peirced her cheek, she'd actually caught it with a
snap of her jaw, which kept it from burying itself in the back of her
throat or knocking out teeth.

        Naruto sighed theatrically.  "I swear, that guy is so uptight, if you
shoved a lump of coal up his ass and showed him a tit, you'd have a
diamond."

        Hinata giggled at the thought, then hissed as Naruto applied a harsh
smelling antiseptic ointment to the ragged scratches on her breasts
and stomach.  But other than tightening her muscles at the sting, she
made no motion to get away, resist, or even cover her chest, even when
his calloused thumb traced a long, curving cut that came within an
inch of her left nipple.  She wondered what he thought of the
under-outfit she'd picked out for the day.

        "Tell me what you need to work on," he ordered quietly, not pausing
his treatments.

        She nodded seriously.  "Footwork.  I was too slow to move outside the
kill zone.  I also need to be able to deflect with my feet.  Juken
doesn't use kicks, so if I go against my family and use kicks, I will
have an advantage."  She waited to see how he would respond, licking
blood from her lips.  Really, despite the massive amount of chakra
she'd just expended forcing herself to move so fast, she wasn't too
tired.  Kneeling in front of Naruto, bare from the waist up, her
breasts on display…  it was all very exciting.

        She couldn't quite stop the thrill that ran up her spine.  She was
sure Naruto noticed it, and she blushed more.  Naruto always noticed
how she was feeling.

        "You also need to be faster with your hands.  If you'd caught the
senbon and used them for attack, you could have quickly reduced the
attackers to a manageable level," Naruto admonished.

        She flushed.  "But you said not to kill your clones."

        Abruptly his hand had her chin in a grip like steel, and he turned
her so he could look her directly in the eye.  "When your life is on
the line, rules do not matter.  Do what it takes."

        Her white eyes watered, and her breath came in short hitches and
gasps.  She nodded as best she could with her chin in his hand.

        "I need you," he added after a moment, his grip easing, his face
softening.  "Don't die on me now."

        Her heart skipped a beat.

        He leaned in and kissed her, licking her own blood from her lips with
his tongue.  She would have swooned…  but Naruto didn't put up with
that sort of behavior.  He let her go.

        His lips were stained red.

        "So how much damage did you take in your arm?" he asked,
breaking the spell.

        She gasped, then touched her lips, her finger coming away tinged
pink.  "Oh!  Uh…  very little.  I couldn't catch them all, but I could
move where they would hit and cause the least damage.  No tendons, no
blood vessels, just muscle tissue and skin."  She paused, then added,
"The same with my back."

        Naruto nodded.  "I'll get there in a minute.  First I'll wrap your
arm."  He used more ointment, then wrapped her forearms, both of them,
in cotton bandages, all the way down to her hands, which were also
nicked and scratched from contact with sharp points and edges as she
slapped kunai and senbon away, despite careful application of chakra.
His control was rock solid, despite the interesting things moving her
arms did to her other assets.

        But Hyuga were trained to notice eye movement.  Rather than being
embarrassed that he looked, she felt pride.  He liked her body, and
wouldn't let her believe that she was plain and dark.

        Naruto said she was the most beautiful girl in Konoha, and Naruto was
the only opinion that mattered.

        Her back he took his time with, massaging medicine into the deep
muscle tissue of her back while she lolled her head in obvious
pleasure, and as he applied sticky bandages to each of the puncture
wounds, he kissed the side of her neck.

        "Mmmm."  She arched the side of her neck into his kiss as the massage
turned from working soreness out of her muscles into gentle caresses
that left her skin pricking and sensitive.

        Naruto might have caused her to be hurt more than any other person in
her life, including her father, but he also never failed to make it up
to her, in some ways equaling the pain with pleasure.  She had lost
her body modesty months before.

        Now, she just wanted him.

        He slid around in front of her again to dress her cheek, dabbing a
powdered blood clotting agent into the hole in her cheek, which
stopped the bleeding almost instantly.  Her good behavior faded,
though, as she began stroking her cheeks against his hands as he
attempted to dress the wound, her eyes half lidded as she kissed his
fingers.  Blood and medicine and the faint fishy tang of the blood
clotting agent, and Naruto kneeling there, looking at her with that
mature, ageless face he had she loved so much.

        He smiled at her as he finished, then held his arms wide in
invitation.  She practically swarmed into his lap, despite being
slightly shorter, he always made her feel like the most petite girl
wrapped in his big strong arms.

        He chuckled good naturedly at her antics as he turned the
conversation over to Sasuke and how they would deal with him, and she
missed the predatory gleam in his eye, despite her focus on him.

        She'd already offered herself to him.

        One day, he'd take her.


        o/~


        Hinata woke gasping and flushed, biting her sheet as she writhed on
her narrow futon.  For several long moments, all she could do was lie
there, breathing deeply until her heart calmed.

        …wow.

        Now THAT was a dream.  Mmm…

        But it was starting to get light outside, and she could use the
labeled training dummies while most of her clan were still asleep.  It
would go a long way towards reinforcing her image as a dutiful but
somewhat inept and worthless daughter.

        She had an image to maintain after all.

        So leaving her sweaty, tangled sheets behind, she slipped on a pair
of shorts and a shirt and stepped into the cool morning, leaving
behind her dreams of how she and Naruto would christen his office desk
when he became Hokage.


        o/~


        I woke up to the sound of a rock bouncing off my window.  Repressing
a groan, I rose and grabbed my clothes, intending to slip out the
front while the annoying person stared at my window.

        No such luck.

        "Hey, Sasuke!  Wake up!"

        Oh, it was Naruto.  Well, it certainly could have been worse.  Last
time this happened, it was some brown haired academy girl in glasses,
with a scroll of poetry she'd written about me.

        Creepy.

        It wasn't even that bad of poetry.  Kunoichi training or not, it took
some talent to have a passage with the line 'I want to bathe you with
my tongue' in iambic pentameter.  Was even kind of sensual.

        But creepy.  Yes, definitely creepy.

        "Oi, Uchiha!"  The tapping on my window grew faster, and with some
irritation I twitched the curtains out of the way to reveal Naruto
hanging off the outside wall, rapping with one knuckle.  Instead of
his usual orange and black clothes, he was wearing shorts and a white
t-shirt.

        "What?" I asked, not bothering to hide my irritation.

        "How would you like a free meal?" he asked seriously.

        I just looked at him.

        "Oh, come on, I'm offering you a job, not trying to seduce you," he
complained.  "At least open the window and hear me out."

        "Hn."  I walked away to start getting dressed.  I usually showered at
night.  Kept my bed cleaner.

        "Damn it, Sasuke!"

        I put on a fresh shirt.  I didn't have to see him to imagine that
frustrated expression he put on when things didn't go the way he
wanted, though, since I wasn't looking, I wondered if he bothered.

        "Alright, alright.  Just listen.  You've got to be tired of these
pathetic D rank missions Kakashi's giving us, right?"

        "Hn."

        He took that as encouragement.

        "Yeah, me, too.  So I've been doing a little reconnaissance, you
know, a little mission planning.  And I think I know what mission
we're supposed to get today."

        I didn't say anything.  I had clean shorts laying around here somewhere…

        "So I propose we get it before they contract it out.  It's an easy
job if we use jutsu, but knowing Kakashi-sensei, he'll tell us not to
and it'll take all damned afternoon.  But if we go knock it out this
morning on the side, not only will we still get the money, it'll be
easier, and we might get something more interesting this afternoon!"
He paused.  "Or nothing at all, which would be cool, too."

        "Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.

        "'Cause I was gonna tell you yesterday after we turned in the cat,
but you ran off," he said a bit petulantly.  "It's your fault I had to
find you this morning."

        "Hn."  Now for shoes.

        "Look, the job is clearing a lot on the edge of town.  It's covered
in brush and there's a lot of bricks and stuff on the ground.  I'd get
Hinata, but she's doing some sort of family thing this morning, and
you've got better skills for it anyway.  Just hit it with a fireball
and I'll pick up everything."

        I glanced at the window.  He smiled at me.

        "Hey, I've already talked to the people, and they'll give us each a
seven course meal ticket to Aishitoba's.  That's better than D rank
pay any day.  One katon jutsu and a few minutes with my kage bushin
and we're done."

        That was pretty tempting.  Aishitoba's was high end.

        "…Alright," I agreed.

        "Great!" he said enthusiastically, then paused, looking at me.

        After a moment, I got irritated.  "What?" I asked curtly.

        "Are you gonna get ready?"

        "I am ready, fool."

        He looked contrite.  "Oh.  I thought you still needed to comb
your hair."

        I ground my teeth.


        o/~


        Hinata kneeled primly at the low table, using nothing but pure will
to ignore the soreness in her shoulder muscles and arm as she served
herself a bowl of rice and some grilled fish.  She also poured a cup
of steaming tea, and took a drink.

        Her sister, Hanabi, kneeled on the opposite side of the table,
ignoring her own food at the moment while she stared at Hinata.

        "Hmm?" Hinata asked.  "Hanabi-chan?"

        She just… stared.  "Hinata-neechan…  your face...  it's leaking…" she
said quietly, and her eyes kept sliding away, indicating discomfort.

        Hinata felt of her at her lips, then felt the trickle of tea hit her
jaw line.  She blushed and dabbed at it with a napkin.  "Oh!  Thank
you, Hanabi-chan.  I didn't know."

        Hanabi's chopsticks clattered to the table as Hinata held a finger
over the hole in her cheek and took another long drink of tea with a
serene expression.

        "I'm sorry," she mumbled, standing quickly and rushing from the scene.

        Hinata watched her go, then ate her rice happily as she smiled after
her departing sister.


        o/~


        "They know me as either Naruko or 'that damned brat'," Naruto
explained candidly.  "And they don't like 'that damned brat' very
much.  So remember, I'm Naruko," she said, making her voice cute and
breathy to go with her gorgeous young female body, "and he's Naruto."
She waved a hand negligently at the male clone walking beside them,
who looked exactly as Naruto usually looked, with the black and orange
jacket over black pants.  Naruko was currently wearing a long, chinese
style dress of some rose colored fabric, which he'd slipped on over
his shirt and shorts after he'd performed the jutsu.

        Sasuke glanced at his teammate, both of them, even if it was only
one, dubiously.

        Naruko shrugged, and the movement did interesting things to her
anatomy.  "Wouldn't be my first choice of how to go about it, but we
use what we have."

        "Hn."

        Naruto, privately, got a kick out of every time he got the stoic
Uchiha to respond, even, no, especially his short, wordless sounds so
brief they couldn't even be called grunts.

        "There we go," Naruko said cheerfully as they approached a clean,
well lit supermarket.

        Inside, an elderly woman swept the aisles, and a man of roughly the
same age moved boxes behind a counter.

        "Good morning, everyone!" Naruko called cheerfully as she walked in,
followed by Sasuke and the clone.

        "Oh, hello, Naruko-chan!" the woman replied, straightening.

        Sasuke wondered at the split second glare she directed in his
direction, no, at Naruto's clone behind him.  It hadn't been friendly.

        "I'm here to help you with that lot you want cleared, and I brought
some assistants like I said I would," Naruko continued as if she
hadn't seen the dirty look.  "This is Sasuke Uchiha, and this is…" she
paused and tapped her lips cutely.  "Well, I suppose Uzumaki-kun needs
no introduction here."

        "You're da-aaaah, quite right, Naruko-chan," the older man growled as
he walked over beside his wife.

        Naruko gave him her cutest, most innocent smile.  "Oh, don't be an
old grump, Aida-san.  I promise Uzumaki-kun will be on his best
behavior.  In fact, I think there's something he'd like to say to you
both."  She paused and cleared her throat, "Ah-hem," then clasped her
hands and smiled at her male self.

        The clone stepped forward and bowed low.  "Aida-san, I apologize for
putting saltpeter in your rice bins.  It was a juvenile prank and I'm
sorry.  But now that I'm a Konoha shinobi, I will not be pranking
anymore, and I will do my utmost as a ninja to protect this village
and all its inhabitants."

        Both of their attention was on the clone, but Sasuke watched the real
Naruto.  There was an glint to her eye that belied her cute, smiling
appearance, hinting at something seething below the surface.  Sasuke
rather thought he wasn't sorry at all.

        "There, you see?" Naruko said smoothly, stepping forward to intercept
their glares, which quickly softened as their attention turned to the
friendly young blonde.  "He's sorry, and he'll make it up to you by
helping us clean up the lot.  I'm sure he's not a bad boy, just a bit
mischievous.  Every town has at least one."  She cocked her head
sideways and smiled.

        Sasuke wanted to retch.  Naruto was a dangerous ninja, not as
dangerous as him, perhaps, but formidable just the same, and no one
with that kind of skill should…  pander like that.

        "I'll forgive him if you insist, sweetie," the woman said grudgingly.
 "But be careful that your forgiving heart doesn't get you in trouble.
 Some people are just born bad, and they can use honeyed words to fool
you."

        Naruko bowed.  "Thank you, Aida-san.  I will remember that."

        "Well, okay, but he better not slack off and make you do all the
work," Aida said gruffly, his hand on his wife's shoulder.

        The clone took his cue and pushed around Naruko.  "Hey, I'd never do
that to Naruko-neechan!  Just you watch, I'll do more than my share of
the work!"

        "…we'll see," he growled.


        The lot wasn't very far away from the grocery store, and something
had once stood there, but had long since been torn down and hauled
away.  True to Naruto's word, the lot was covered in patches of wiry,
prickly bushes and long grass, and even a few small trees.  Beneath
the vegetation lurked innumerable bricks and stones which would also
have to be removed to make the lot suitable for building on again.

        Naruto and Sasuke walked in silence, while Naruko kept up a cheerful,
meaningless conversation with Aida, demonstrating a detailed memory of
their grandchildren, as well as his back aches and the Aida
matriarch's bursitis.

        Despite the wrongness of his teammate turning himself into a
simpering female, Sasuke had to respect the effort and skill shown.
If they ever went on a mission that needed someone to go in
undercover, he was sending Naruto.

        "Okay, we're here," Aida said, remarkably cheerful from his
conversation with Naruko, as he sat down a bag of mixed box drinks his
wife had sent as refreshments for the trio.  "When my son died in the…
 twelve years ago, I didn't have the heart to try and rebuild here,
but now the grandkids are growing up and needing a place to work, so
it's time to break new ground," he said, scratching his chin
thoughtfully, then brightened.  "Old Miura let me keep some tools in
his building over there, so I'll go get some axes...  Hmm?"

        "Oh, I'm sure we won't need them, right, Sasuke-kun?" Naruko said
brightly.  "Why don't you show Aida-san what you can do."

        Giving her a dark look, he walked to the edge of the lot, considering
it thoughtfully.  Then, before he allowed himself to grow irritated
with the whole mess, he raced through a set of seals and leapt into
the air.  "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"

        A stream of fire burst from his lips, hitting the ground and curling
back around itself, forming a gigantic ball of fire that almost
touched the boundary markers for the lot itself.  Grass, bushes, and
trash alike was incinerated in the blast, leaving nothing but a fine
black soot.

        "Wow!" Aida said appreciatively.  "You are strong, young man, but I
guess that's to be expected of a member of the famous Uchiha clan."
He nudged Naruko, who bent willingly with his touch and took a step
away, as if unbalanced.  "You've got yourself a fine boyfriend there,
Naruko-chan," he said, grinning.

        Sasuke's head whipped around in shock.

        "I hope he treats you to a nice night on the down in addition to
Aishitoba's for your date," he continued.

        "Oh, don't tease me, Aida-san," Naruko replied playfully.
"Sasuke-kun is a bit too young for me, after all.  Besides, I already
have someone."

        "Oh?" the old man replied, clearly intrigued.  "What's the name of
the buck who's captured our dear Naruko-chan's heart?"

        Sasuke watched as Naruto giggled, giggled, and put her hand on the
older man's chest.  "Ah, Aida-san, a lady does not kiss and tell."
She winked.  "Besides, it wouldn't be appropriate… at this stage in
our relationship."  Before he could reply, she turned to the others.
"Uzumaki-kun?  Could you tell me if the stones are cool enough to pick
up now?"

        For a moment, he wondered why Naruto kept referring to his male self
with the more formal last name, then decided it didn't really matter,
and put it out of his mind.

        The clone, for his part, picked up a scorched stone thoughtfully,
then nodded.  "Sure, Naruko-neechan.  They're warm, but not hot."  He
smirked at Sasuke.  "Now it's my turn!  Kage bushin no jutsu!"

        How…  it was a clone, dammit!  Naruto might be able to create
hundreds of clones, but a single clone shouldn't be able to do it.
Admittedly, the clone barely produced two dozen copies of itself, but
it still spoke of a hidden power.  When they'd done their brief tree
walking exercise the third day they'd spent with Kakashi-sensei, he'd
told them all that Naruto made up for his lack of a powerful bloodline
like the other two by having more chakra than all of them combined,
even including Kakashi himself.

        It didn't make him a better fighter, but it did mean he didn't get
tired like the others.  A useful trait in a teammate, Sasuke would
admit.

        The small army of clones spread across the lot and immediately began
picking up stones and bricks, under the doubtful eye of old man Aida.

        "See?" Naruko said brightly.  "I told you he was useful, and wanted
to make amends.  Now if you'll excuse me…"  She took over a section of
the lot close to them, and also began picking through the rocks.

        Sasuke felt the old man's eyes come to rest on him for all of about a
second before he 'hn'ed and stalked forward to pick up rocks with
Naruto.  What an annoyance, he'd just been brought in to use a fire
jutsu, not scratch through the dirt and get sooty.

        At one point, he could swear he caught a glimpse, some shred of
intent, like someone was watching from a nearby building.  But despite
covert glances around, he couldn't spot anyone.  It was probably just
a Konoha ninja checking to see who was using a flashy technique like
the grand fireball.

        Whole or usable half bricks went in a pile in one corner, everything
else went to a steady stream of clones making runs to the edge of town
to scatter the rocks where they wouldn't get in anyone's way.

        "Wow, good job, Naruko-chan," Aida said appreciatively about fifteen
minutes later, when most of the work was done and only a few clones
remained scratching around for the smaller rocks.  "I have to admit, I
wasn't sure if I should let you have the job, but you did a better job
than I could have expected if I'd paid for a shinobi team."

        Naruko giggled, and, much to Sasuke's surprise, blushed on cue.  "Oh,
I wouldn't say that.  I just wanted to help out."

        Sasuke had stopped, and was waiting patiently for their little
exchange to finish, but while he did so, he noticed something.  One of
Naruto's clones had a sour expression on his face, like he was tasting
something foul.  Ordinarily, Naruto guarded his expressions like
precious treasure, and Sasuke knew that everything he said and
everything he did was an act, no matter how smooth or perfectly
delivered it was.  Sasuke was no fool, he saw Naruto for the
accomplished liar he was.  But that clone, the one raking dirt into a
large hole left behind by a section of wall, had an open, unguarded
expression that spoke of barely restrained hostility.  Deep inside his
heart, Naruto must really not like the guy.

        Interesting.

        Sasuke would remember that little flaw in the kage bushin.

        He smiled benevolently at her.  "Well, you certainly did.  And here
is your reward."  He pulled out two slips of paper, meal tickets to
Aishitoba, and handed them to her.

        "Thank you!" she replied brightly.  "I'll just give these to
the boys and-"

        "Wait, you're going to give yours to the Uzumaki brat?" he
spluttered, interrupting her.

        She put on a confused expression.  "Well of course.  He did do a lot
of the work.  I didn't do anything at all."

        "But…" he began, then sighed and nodded.  "You're right, Naruko-chan.
 You're absolutely right."  His expression firmed.  "But don't you
think you didn't do anything, you were a big help to me.  In fact,
here.  I've actually got another one, but I want you to have it."  He
wagged a finger at her as he pulled another ticket out.  "And no
giving it away, okay?"

        "Thank you, Aida-san!" she gushed.  "I don't deserve it-"

        "You do, now take it, with our blessing," he said, closing her hand
around the ticket.

        "Naruko-neechan!" the  clones called.  "We're done!"  And all but one
popped out of existence.

        "And just in time, too!" she called back at herself, before turning
back to her employer.  "Well, Aida-san, thank you very much for
letting me help."  She glanced at Sasuke.

        Knowing his cue, and resenting it anyway, Sasuke sketched a short bow
and murmured thanks.

        "Yeah, thanks, old man!  Glad I could help you and Naruko-neechan.
No hard feelings, alright?"

        He bowed and thanked them in return, and if his movements were a
little stiff and his smile a bit tight, no one called him on it.

        Naruko waved one last time as they walked away, together.

        "You split yourself in two, so he'd pay you twice as much," Sasuke
said without preamble.

        Naruko grinned at him and tapped the side of her head.

        Sasuke shook his.  "Always thinking, Naruto."

        She giggled and cocked her head sideways, for all the world to see as
a cute, airheaded young blonde.  "Beware the stupid act.   It is,
after all, just an act."

        "Hn."  He glanced at her.  "You really hate those people."  It wasn't
a question.

        Naruto didn't trip, didn't make any sort of outward indication of
surprise, but there was something, a hesitation, a tension, that spoke
volumes to Sasuke.  His first impulse was to deny it, but Sasuke
wasn't the type to just fish for information without being pretty sure
of himself.  So he'd respect his teammate's deduction skills.

        A more genuine, but cruel, smile twisted her sensuous lips.  "Yeah, I
wanted one for Hinata-chan, but I really just wanted to screw the old
man out of more money.  Aishitoba's is gonna taste sweet."

        They walked along in silence for a moment as Naruto handed payment
over to his teammate.

        "Saltpeter?"  Sasuke wondered what would make Naruto go so far as to
steal another man's sexual potency.

        Naruko grinned.  "Every day for almost a year and a half, before he
got wise and hired someone to catch me.  His wife thought he was just
old and impotent."

        Sasuke shook his head.  But a tiny smile tugged at the corners
of his mouth.

        "Tiger penis and rhinoceros horn soup doesn't do a whole lot of good
when it's loaded with saltpeter, but it still costs the same."

        It was sort of tame, for revenge.  Nothing at all like what Sasuke
would perform when he got the chance.  But there was still a certain
artistry to it he could admire, and from various comments and rumors
about what had really happened to Mizuki-sensei, Sasuke suspected
Naruto was capable of more.

        "SASUKE-KUN?!"

        With a start, he glanced around, shaken out of his musing.

        Oh...  hell…

        Two young girls sprinted towards him from several blocks away, one
leggy blonde, one shorter, with pink hair.  Sakura and Ino, the only
other two girls in the academy who were good enough to make genin,
despite spending most of their time and energy annoying him.

        "Sasuke-kun!  Who is that… HARLOT?!"  They were getting closer.

        With another start, he glanced at Naruko, smiling beside him.  He'd
actually forgotten that he was currently in the shape of a girl.  A
girl walking with Sasuke.

        Aw hell.  This wasn't going to be good.  There were so many potential
misunderstandings-!

        "Don't!" he hissed, glaring at the blonde.

        "Whaaaat?" Naruko protested, giving him a look of surprised innocence.

        "Whatever you're thinking, just… don't."

        "You're no fun, Sasuke-kun," Naruko complained, giving him doe eyes.
But as the girls drew near, she added, "Want me to get rid of them?"

        "…I got it."

        "Sasuke!  Who is this girl?!  Don't tell me she's...!" Sakura cried.

        "Sasuke, say it ain't so!" Ino added a second later.

        Naruko stepped forward, throwing out her voluptuous breasts
aggressively.  "That's right, girls!"

        "Whaaaa?!" they cried together.

        "YES!" she added, striking a pose.  "Everything you fear has come
true!  You've wasted your opportunity, girls, and while you sat on
your hands, I snapped him up!"

        Sasuke gave him a look that simultaneously spoke of betrayal, fear,
horror, and murder.

        "NOOOoooooo!"  Tears streamed down their faces.

        "Ohhh YES!  And you better not lay a hand on him, or I'll kick
your asses!"

        "Sasukeeeeee!" Sakura whined.

        "How could you let this happen!"

        "Sasuke had no choice in the matter!" Naruko proclaimed.  "Naruto was
no match for my feminine wiles!"

        "Maybe we can still have a threesome, I'm willing…  wait, WHAT?!"
Sakura spluttered.

        "Yes, that's right!  Naruto's mine!  All mine!" she claimed, grabbing
her clone by the arm and jerking him close.  "You can't have him, so
there!"  She stuck out her tongue.

        "So…  you're…  not… dating… this…" Ino began, the tears gone
instantly and hope renewed filling her eyes.

        "Take me away, Naruto-sama!" Naruko cried, jumping into his arms and
flinging her head back with wild abandon.  "Take me back to your love
shack and ravish me!"

        "…Okay," he agreed.  He slung her over his shoulder, displaying her
pert rump to the stunned trio, gave it a little slap, gave them a
wink, and jumped away.


        o/~


        Naruto sat cross legged, upside down, hanging above the bridge Team
Seven met their sensei at.  His expression was the very picture of
serenity.  Truly, he had achieved Nirvana.

        A rock bounced off the back of his head.  He disappeared with
a puff of smoke.

        "Hn.  Didn't think so."  Sasuke walked onto the bridge and leaned
against the rail, opposite from where Hinata sat.

        "You're not mad, are you, Sasuke-kun?" Naruto asked, landing lightly
beside Hinata.

        Another thrown rock, and this one, too, was dispelled.

        "In my defense, I didn't do what you know I was thinking about, and
you know it," yet another Naruto continued, walking up the bridge from
the other side of the river.

        "Che."  He looked away.

        "You're smiling, Sasuke-kun.  Did something happen?" Hinata
asked softly.

        "Hn."

        "Well, I'm glad to see you're all lively this morning."

        They looked up to see Kakashi crouching on one of the bridge
supports, smiling at them.

        "That's a good thing, too," he continued, "because we have a mission.
 C rank.  It should last about a week, including travel time."

        Sasuke glanced at him, startled, and missed Naruto's comparable look
of shock.  He darted his eyes back and the blond, who gave him an
enigmatic smile and tapped his head.  Grudgingly, Sasuke nodded.

        Well played, Naruto, well played.

        Naruto repressed the urge to fidget.  A C rank!  He'd been trying to
corner all the D rank missions since the third day since they were an
official team!  Finally, it worked!  And it made him look good in
front of Sasuke!  Hot damn!

        "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what is the mission?" he asked calmly, before
Sasuke could beat him to it.
        "A village near our border with Rain has been having some sort of
trouble with wild animals attacking their cattle.  Our mission is to
guard, track, and eliminate the animals responsible."  He smiled
benevolently.  "Think of it as an assassination mission, much like you
would receive as a jonin, only our target is an animal of some kind."

        It was so cute, the way their eyes gleamed at the thought of
killing something.

        "The village is Tomahigiro, a small and not very prosperous village
on the edge of a swamp.  Naruto, you should get poisons and… and some
medical supplies.  Hinata, you get maps and hunting gear, and Sasuke,
you get a selection of traps.  All of you will need camping gear and
food suitable for up to two weeks in the wild."

        They nodded seriously.

        "The area is pretty wet, so we'll be doing some special training
while we're there, similar to the tree walking exercise we did last
week."

        "Water walking, Sensei?" Sasuke asked.

        "That's right, it's another genin level skill.  Unless Naruto already
knows this one, too?"  The sneaky little blond read every scroll he
could get his hands on, and already knew most genin level techniques.
He'd even managed to mostly teach tree walking to Hinata before
Kakashi had gotten around to bringing it up.

        Naruto shook his head.  "No, Sensei.  I've read of it, but I've never
tried.  There are more trees than water around here, after all."

        "Good," Kakashi said happily.  "We'll all learn something, now won't
that be fun?"  He paused, and his voice deepened, his demeanor
becoming more serious.  "Oh, and one more thing.  You might want to
prepare yourselves.  Some of you might not come back alive, or at the
very least, you will see horrible things.

        "The animals that have been attacking the cattle, no one knows what
they are.  But they say that the cattle have been torn apart with a
savagery unseen in man or beast."  He seemed to loom over them, his
words heavy as he invoked images of horrible, bloody violence.

        His students just…  looked back at him evenly.

        Abruptly, he was back to smiles.  "Maa, that's what they say, anyway.
 You have until noon to get ready.  Meet me at the gate of Konoha, and
don't forget anything."

        They all nodded solemnly and jumped away, hurrying to their
assigned tasks.

        Kakashi shook his head and sighed.  "Why did they give me all the
homicidal ones?  If I didn't know better, I'd say there wasn't a spark
of humor in the whole group."  He paused.  "That, or my jokes aren't
funny."

        He paused, considering.

        "Nah."


Begin chapter two       o/~


        "Ne, Sensei, this is it?" Naruto asked, looking at the shallow stream
dubiously.  The sun was dipping low in the sky, and they'd been
running at top speed, a mad waste of chakra, but Kakashi, presumably,
had his reasons.

        "It is," Kakashi replied mildly.  "We'll be spending the night here,
so why don't you go ahead and set up camp, first.  I'll observe."
Picking  a nearby tree, he leapt into its branches.

        They were still deep in the Fire country, and the area was heavily
wooded with massive trees.  The little stream didn't so much wind
between them as trickle over their roots, forming shallow, but steep
banks and the occasional deeper pool.

        Naruto's first response was to make a dozen clones and send them to
scouting the area, while he began digging a small, concealable fire
pit.  "Hey, Sasuke, can you handle the tents?"

        "Make your own tent, Naruto," Sasuke spat back, quickly
assembling his own.

        "I'm going to dig a latrine, so unless you want to switch…" he warned.

        Sasuke grunted.

        Hinata, for her part, activated her Byakugan and began wandering
around the camp slowly, ostensibly looking at the ground, but really
her attention was elsewhere.

        Kakashi-sensei in the tree.  No traps.  No dangerous plants or
animals.  No sign of human contact anywhere, not a footprint, oddly
bent stem, or scuff mark anywhere.  Small fish, char, in the streams.
Some plants lining the banks, not very close to the water, and dotted
between the trees' roots.

        "I don't think anyone has been here in a long time," she said
quietly, glancing up at Naruto, who was jamming rocks together in a
circle around his pit.  "There're aren't any signs."

        "That's not quite true," Kakashi offered from his perch.  "If you
look in the trees, there are a couple of branches with footprints on
them.  Someone came through earlier today."

        Hinata blushed.  "A-ano, that was Naruto-kun."

        "Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, raising one eyebrow.

        She nodded.  "I recognize Naruto's tracks."

        He smiled.  "Very good, Hinata.  Naruto has a tendency to crouch and
touch his hands when he lands, it's very distinctive, and a good thing
to know about your team mate."

        She flushed.  "I'm not very good, Kakashi-sensei.  I can't
immediately identify yours or Sasuke-kun's tracks."

        He smiled at her.  "All you need is practice.  You've got a
tremendous advantage, after all."

        "No kidding," Naruto snorted as he picked up the small folding shovel
he'd used to dig the fire pit and walked behind a big local tree to
dig a latrine.  "Makes me look sort of plain, surrounded by all these
powerful bloodlines," he said jovially.

        "Naruto!" Hinata gasped.  "You can't mean that!"

        He shrugged and winked at her.  "It's okay.  I may not have the eyes
like you three, but I have my own tricks."

        She nodded.

        Kakashi watched curiously, wondering if he'd told Hinata the secret
of the nine tails.

        "Hey, see if you can find something edible, okay, Hinata?" he added.

        "Okay, Naruto," she said obediently, activating her byakugan and
moving purposely away from the camp.

        "You give a lot of orders, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said wryly.

        He grunted as he began digging.  "It only makes sense, Sensei.
Hinata knows plants and fungi."

        "Hmm, that's interesting."

        Naruto nodded.  "Yeah.  And she's really good at finding them, too.
Sasuke or I might stumble across them, but I only know the basics, and
Sasuke hasn't admitted to any detailed horticultural studies.  So it
makes sense for Hinata to do it."

        Kakashi watched them all with interest.  Naruto had some sort of
relationship with Hinata, which, honestly, he wasn't sure was
appropriate.  But Hinata wasn't complaining, indeed, he'd even asked
her a few questions about the blond once.  She described him in only
the most complimentary terms, and if Kakashi was any judge of people,
which he was, he figured she honestly believed he only had her best
interests at heart.

        Naruto, however, was far too wily a conversational opponent to get
information from he didn't want you to have.  Kakashi eyed him warily,
aware that he sometimes seem to take more vicious options by choice.
But, of all the three genin, he thought the most, learning quickly and
looking underneath the underneath, and creating quite a few layers to
hide behind as well.  In any ordinary group, he'd be the uncontested
leader, if not for Sasuke.

        Sasuke, at least, was someone Kakashi could relate to.  Solitary,
quiet, and an utter genius at learning new techniques.  He also didn't
take orders well.  He listened to Kakashi with a quiet acceptance,
willing to learn, silently disdainful of orders he could have figured
out himself.  Naruto's orders, however much the blond couched them as
suggestions, were seen with both hostility and caution.  Sometimes
he'd take a different path just out of spite, but Naruto was getting
especially clever at making sure that not only were his ideas the best
ones, they were also the only workable ones.

        Wearing him down through patience.

        Interesting.

        Either Naruto honestly did not think he could win in a fight versus
Sasuke, or in a surprisingly sophisticated turn he was using diplomacy
rather than brute force.

        Time would tell.

        "Not a bad camp," he said finally.  "But I do have to ask a question.
 Why are there only three tents?"

        "That was all we brought," Sasuke replied plainly.

        "Cause we didn't want to share one big one?" Naruto replied
sardonically.

        "Ano…"  Hinata blushed.

        He raised an eyebrow.

        "Well, that one's yours," Naruto said pointing, "the one on the other
side is the one Sasuke brought, and the one in the middle is
Hinata's."

        "And you?"

        He shrugged, a small smile on his lips.  "No point in carrying a tent
if I don't need one, right?  I packed extra gear, and didn't bring a
tent."

        His eyes flicked to Hinata.

        She was blushing furiously, and tapping her fingers together, but she
looked up, directly at Kakashi.  "U-u-um, I asked Naruto-kun to sleep
with me, Kakashi-sensei."

        Sasuke twitched slightly at her word choice, and even Kakashi had to
still an involuntary response.  He wondered if she'd deliberately
chosen those words without Naruto's help.  He was obviously a
tremendous influence.

        "Oh?" he replied mildly.  "And I suppose your father is okay with
these sleeping arrangements?"

        Expecting some sort of guilty reaction, he was much surprised when
her blush faded and she gave him a look loaded with killer intent.

        "My father is my problem," she said, deadly quiet.  "And what he
doesn't know," she paused, "won't hurt me.  As a fully fledged Konoha
shinobi, my sleeping arrangements are my business."  She gave him what
could only be described as a Look, capitalized.  "Right,
Kakashi-sensei?"

        He shrugged, impressed by her ferocity.  "To a certain extent, I
suppose you could say that.  However, that does not mean there won't
be consequences."

        She nodded firmly.  "I'm counting on it."

        "Well, with that kind of attitude, what can I say about it?" he
mused.  "Let's train."  He hopped down, a jump of nearly thirty feet,
and landed lightly on his feet.

        "Now, I'm sure you're aware that higher level shinobi can walk on the
surface of water with their chakra."  He took a number of steps onto
the surface of the stream, standing easily on the very surface.  The
stream was slow moving, but it was still noticeable how it slowly
carried him away.

        They walked along side, keeping pace.  Hinata activated her byakugan
to watch closely.  Sasuke just stared at Kakashi's feet.  Naruto had a
look of concentration on his face.

        Kakashi walked a few paces back and forth.  "The technique involves a
continuous flow of chakra. Similar to tree walking, you have to mold
chakra in your feet, or where ever you touch the water, but unlike
tree walking, you have to release the chakra into the water in a
steady stream, or you'll sink."  He smiled at them as he slowed, the
stream forming a large, nearly still pool.  "Now you try."

        None of them moved.  But Kakashi was glad to note they each had an
expression that spoke of thought.  Sasuke looked serious.  Hinata had
her eyes wide.  Naruto looked like he was about to murder someone.

        Sasuke was the first to step onto the water's surface.  And through
it, his foot hitting gravel.  He pulled it out with a grimace of
distaste, and hesitated.

        "Go for it, Hinata, if you're ready," Naruto said quietly, not
looking at her.  "You can do it."

        Nodding, she took several wobbly steps, sinking slowly deeper into
the water with each one.  Her face screwed up in concentration, but it
was no good, she was standing on the bottom of the pool.  She climbed
out slowly, then turned and stared intently at Kakashi's feet.

        He smiled encouragingly, then turned to look at Sasuke, who was
trying again.  The water was obviously firmer under his feet, but not
enough, and once again he sank with a splash two steps in.

        Naruto formed a seal with his hands, then stepped forward.  All eyes
were on him.  One step.  The water seemed solid.  Two steps, and he
wobbled badly, nearly losing his balance.  His other foot came forward
again, and at first it sank, then it rose, then it sank, he grunted in
exertion…  and fell over with a loud splash.

        Sasuke's chuckles weren't very loud, but they stood out.  Hinata
glared at him.  Kakashi smiled silently.

        Naruto climbed to his feet with an air of wounded dignity, doffed his
jacket, leaving himself in a white t shirt, and tossed it onto the
bank.  "I should have done that before," he admitted, turning to the
others.  "You might want to do the same.  No point getting your
clothes wet."

        Hinata nodded and started taking off her jacket.

        Sasuke stared, obviously so.

        Naruto's eye twinkled.  "Actually, I was talking to Sasuke-kun."  He
formed a seal, and suddenly, it was Naruko standing there, her
voluptuous breasts heaving under her thin, wet, white cotton shirt.
"I'm sure both us girls would love to see Sasuke's manly chest..." she
cooed.

        "Hmph!" he said, looking away.

        Kakashi sighed in embarrassment for his students.

        Naruko gave Hinata a sultry smile, then dispelled the jutsu and
became a boy again.

        Sasuke, to cover his embarrassment, strode boldly onto the surface of
the water, making it four, then five steps before sinking up to his
knees.  He glanced at the other two in triumph.

        Hinata looked down, as if in shyness, but she also formed the same
seal Naruto had used.  Hesitantly, she stepped out onto the water.  It
held firm.  Then, she took another.  And another.  Soon she was in the
middle of the pool, near Kakashi.

         "Woo hoo, Hinata-chan!  Nice!" Naruto called.

        "Ma, ma.  Very good, Hinata.  Your control is very good for a genin,"
Kakashi said in praise.

        She blushed.  "I can see how much you're using, and I tried to use
the same amount."

        Kakashi looked up to see Sasuke, ankle deep in water, glowering.
"Ah, Sasuke, when you develop your Sharingan, you'll be able to see
chakra as well," he offered, mollifying the boy.

        "Really, Sensei?" Naruto asked.  "The Sharingan lets you see chakra
like the Byakugan?"

        Kakashi nodded.

        "Can you see through stuff, too?"

        Kakashi shook his head.  "No, the Sharingan is related to the
Byakugan, some say it is an offshoot, but many of the abilities are
different.  I don't know all the details of the Byakugan, I'm sure
Hinata-chan would tell you more than I know, but the Sharingan excels
at copying jutsu, as well as creating and dispelling genjutsu."

        "Really?  So which one is more powerful?" Naruto pressed, walking two
steps into the water before he sank once more.

        "The Sharingan," Sasuke said quietly.

        They all glanced at him, except for Kakashi, who looked at Hinata
instead.  The Hyuga were usually just as proud of their eyes as the
Uchiha.

        "Really?  Then how come you're still on the bank, and Hinata is out
there with Kakashi?"  Naruto didn't sound like he was mocking the
black haired boy.

        Sasuke's hands tightened into fists.  "I haven't developed my
Sharingan very far… yet.  But I will."  He walked into the water,
momentarily so distracted he didn't even mold chakra.

        Naruto made a splash of his own.  "So why haven't you?" he asked,
honestly curious.  "If you want it so bad."

        Sasuke's head jerked.  "The Sharingan…  usually evolves in combat,
according to my family's scrolls."

        "I can see that," Naruto admitted.  "The path to strength seems to
often start over the bloody corpses of your enemies."

        "Ma…" Kakashi interrupted.  "That's a violent view of things, Naruto."

        Abruptly, his face was all smiles.  "Oh, don't worry, Kakashi-sensei!
 I only said 'seems'.  I know that the path to true strength begins
with friends, and ends…"

        They all looked at him expectantly, Sasuke disdainfully, Hinata
hanging on his every word.

        "…with lots of friends!" he enthused.

        *SPLASH*

        They all jerked their heads around to see Hinata flailing beneath the
surface.  Kakashi chuckled.  Even Sasuke had a smile tugging at his
lips.

        Her head burst out of the water as she got her feet beneath her, the
shallow pool only coming to about chest deep.  She coughed and
spluttered.

        "Well, you got the idea down, but you still need to master it.  Can
you climb onto the surface from there?"

        Hinata nodded, wiping water from her eyes.  "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

        That was easier said than done, however.

        Summoning his chakra, Sasuke concentrated, then took two small steps.
 Rather than taking more, he paused, making sure his footing was good.

        Naruto, too, tried again, making it five steps into the pool, the
overbalanced and fell in with another splash.  He sat up calmly,
crossed his legs, formed a seal, and began concentrating.

        Hinata slipped back into the water, having gotten both arms
and one knee out.

        Sasuke sank again.

        With a grunt and a nearly palpable wave of chakra, Naruto popped to
the top of the pool like a cork, actually flying several inches into
the air, before landing slightly sideways and falling over again.

        Hinata, carefully, climbed back onto the water's surface and shakily
regained her feet.

        "Nice, Hinata!" he called.  "Now, can you tell me what I've
been doing wrong?"

        "You're using too much chakra," she replied immediately, then her jaw
closed with an audible click and she looked aghast.   "Not that…!  I
mean…!" she spluttered.

        "Cool, thanks," he replied, ignoring the rest of her stuttering.  He
regained his seated position and started concentrating again.

        Sasuke grit his teeth, standing up to his knees in water.  Finally,
he spat, "Fine.  What am I doing wrong?"

        She blinked, turning to watch him.  "Umm, could you try again?"

        He nodded, irritated.  Again, three steps in, he started to sink, and
by the forth, he had lost it.

        "Well?" he asked, looking at her expectantly.

        "You're using too little chakra, only a little more than you use
climbing trees," she explained.  "You have to use about twice as much
to begin with, then make more of it flow."

        Naruto opened one eye, dropping his hands into the water by his side.
 "That's useful information.  I wonder why our sensei didn't tell us
that."

        Kakashi chuckled benevolently.  "And miss the fun of watching you
figure it out on your own?"

        "Fun, huh?" Naruto asked.  "That's what you call determining how fast
we learn by trial and error?"

        Kakashi grinned at him.  "Yep."

        Naruto frowned.  "Well, at least some of us learn faster by
watching."  He motioned at Hinata, then Sasuke.

        Everyone turned to see Sasuke take another slow, deliberate step onto
the water.  He was about a third of the way to the middle, and his
footing seemed stable.

        "Yeah, that's Sasuke for you.  Learns everything damned near
immediately," Naruto said quietly, but there was actually a note of
deliberate pride in his voice.  "Way to go, Sasuke."

        Sasuke sniffed.

        "Very good, Sasuke.  Most people take two or three days to get that
far," Kakashi noted.

        "Huh," Naruto mused thoughtfully, his body completely motionless.
"So this is what it's like to be surrounded by geniuses of powerful
clans.  It's hard to compete."

        Kakashi looked at him thoughtfully.

        "Ah, well," he said after a moment, with a small, rueful grin.  "I'll
get it soon.  Until then, I'll have to console myself with the fact
that my talents lie elsewhere."  He lifted both hands, displaying a
dripping kunai in each.  Three fish dangled from the left, and two
were impaled, dead, not even twitching, on the right.


        o/~



        Sasuke ducked, blocked Hinata's two fingered strike with a sweep of
his forearm, flipped backwards and used the distance to leap over her
head, landing with a small splash as his chakra charged feet disrupted
the surface of the water for a second on landing.  He threw an elbow
backwards, aiming for the center of her back.

        She twisted effortlessly, and he hissed in displeasure as her hand
brushed his side beneath his arm.

        "That's a cripple," Kakashi called.  "Sasuke, you can't use your left
arm, now."

        Obediently, he let the arm hang limp as he flew backwards to the very
edge of the pool, the boundary of their sparring session.

        Unfortunately for him, the small confines of the water were a
tremendous advantage to Hinata, who specialized in extremely fast,
close combat.  They were sparring gently, to leave each other in shape
for the mission, which meant that he couldn't use his devastating wide
area fire jutsu, either.  He was starting to reconsider his self
imposed restriction on kunai.

        "Hey, Sensei, I think I've got it," Naruto said, appearing at
Kakashi's side.

        The white haired jounin glanced at him, unsurprised.  Naruto had been
quiet, but far from quiet enough to fool him.

        "I see you've gotten better at controlling your splashes," he noted.

        Naruto had the grace to look embarrassed.  "Yeah, well, I know I
can't use as much chakra as I want all the time, but it's still tricky
to reign it in."  He paused, watching as Sasuke kicked and punched,
putting Hinata on the defensive.  "Easier than when I learned tree
walking, though.  Took me a week to get that down."

        "The unforeseen curse of a large chakra capacity," Kakashi noted.
"And only adequate control."

        Naruto looked at him.  "Hey, I thought you said I had good control?
I mean, I know I'm not as deft as Hinata, or even Sasuke, really, but
I'm not that bad."

        "That was before I actually watched you learning something new.  You
gain skill quickly, it seems, but you start off rather slow."

        Hinata parried and blocked her opponent's attacks, exceeding his
speed with her hands as she even deflected his kicks and sweeps.  Not
once had she lost her balance since the match had started, but she was
hard pressed to penetrate Sasuke's defenses when he used all his limbs
to defend and attack, and she only used her hands.

        She lunged, taking him by surprise for a moment, letting her
deceptively gentle touches be brushed aside as she spun slightly,
aiming an elbow for his heart.

        His 'good' hand was on her jacket, and she was lifted bodily as he
heaved, her elbow striking harmlessly to the side of his head, and
then she was flying.

        Sasuke was waiting for her where she was going to hit the water
again, his body stiff, his leg cocked for a devastating kick that
would power through her defenses.

        Hinata's eyes were wide.  She could see the tenketsu on his leg as
clear as day, even in the fading light of the evening.  His kick would
hurt, but she'd disable his leg, and soon the match would be hers.
She grew closer, readying herself to strike.

        And then his right arm made a wide sweeping motion, pulling a wire
she hadn't noticed, and suddenly her feet were flying out from under
her, leaving her to hit the water flat on her back.  His leg flashed
out, a fraction of an inch from her throat, and she gasped…  getting a
breath of water as her concentration failed and she sank beneath the
surface.

        "And, that's a kill," Kakashi said happily.  "Very good use of ninja
tools against an opponent who can see the finest wire, Sasuke."  He
glanced back at Naruto.

        "Yeah, yeah.  You can't always use brute force.  I got that."

        Kakashi smiled.  Such a bright student.  Too bad he was so
bloodthirsty.  He glanced at the sky.  "Well, we seem to have burned
the usable daylight.  We'll have to see how you do in the morning
before we leave, Naruto."

        Naruto grimaced.  "Yeah.  I took too damned long.  Sorry,
Kakashi-sensei."

        He shrugged.  "Maa, you'll just have to get faster.  Now, I believe I
smell roasting fish?"

        "Stuffed with pepper seasoned rice," Naruto agreed.  Cooking was, of
course, another skill you could learn from a book.


        The meal was well received with compliments from Kakashi and Hinata,
and a 'hn' from Sasuke, who otherwise ate without complaint.

        "I have a little test for you tonight," Kakashi began once the meal
was through.  "This will determine your most likely training path for
the future."

        "What kind of test, Sensei?" Hinata asked.

        "A test to determine your chakra affinity," he explained.  "I trust
they explained elemental chakra types to you in school?"

        They all nodded.

         "Well, I've brought several sheets of chakra paper, made from
special trees influenced by chakra over a long period of time."  He
rummaged around in his pouch, then held up a sheet of dirty tan paper
for his students to see.  After a few seconds, it crinkled into a wad.

        "When it crinkles like this, that means I have a lightning affinity,"
he explained, rummaging around in his pouch with his free hand, then
handing a second sheet of paper to Sasuke.

        It immediately crinkled, and Sasuke held it up with a raised eyebrow.
 "So I will be able to use lightning jutsu?" he asked.

        "Not just lightning jutsu, but you will be able to use them very
well," Kakashi corrected.  "If it gets cut in two, that indicates a
wind type.  Water: it gets wet.  Fire: it bursts into flame.  Earth:
it crumbles into dust."  He held up two more folded sheets of paper
with a smile, then handed them to Naruto and Hinata.

        Naruto looked at his sheet of paper dubiously.  "Um, Kakashi-sensei?"
he hazarded.  "You gave me a page from a book."

        "Hmm?" Kakashi replied.  "I don't think so.  What does it say?"

        "Uhh," Naruto began, tilting it to catch the firelight.  "'But we
mustn't, Minoru-kun, someone might see,' Akira protested weakly,
gasping as the boy's hand slid into her panties'?!" he read, his voice
rising perceptibly toward the end.

        They all stared at him.

        "That's what it says," he protested.  "Look," he said, brandishing
the page.  'Akira's too large uniform slipped off her shoulders and
puddled at her feet, her cute and shy face looking to one side as she
bared herself,' it's what it says!"

        "Ah," Kakashi exclaimed.  "I understand.  That's a page from Icha
Icha Blushing Maidens.  For the chakra paper to turn into that…" he
paused.  "It means you have the elemental affinity of hentai."

        Naruto stared at him in complete disbelief.

        Kakashi shrugged theatrically.  "Well, you are planning on sharing a
tent with Hinata."  He turned to the young kunoichi.  "You might want
to take that as a warning, Hinata-chan.  Most girls your age don't
want to share a tent with a boy of such… obvious tendencies."

        Sasuke snorted in quiet laughter.  Hinata blushed.  Kakashi didn't
bother to keep the grin off his face.

        After a moment, Naruto snorted and threw the wadded up paper back.
"Sensei, you idiot."

        Kakashi laughed and handed him another piece of paper, which he took
cautiously, turning it over to look at both sides.  He turned once
again to the embarrassed girl.  "So, Hinata-chan, what do you have?
Not more ero, is it?"

        She blushed madly, like the setting sun, and shook her head.  "Ano,
Sensei, it doesn't seem to be doing anything," she admitted
hesitantly.

        "Hmm," he replied thoughtfully.  "It should react to the smallest
amount of chakra.  Try deliberately channeling chakra through it."

        She frowned at it, but it resolutely refused to change.

        Naruto, meanwhile, muttered something about a perverted sensei and
forced a large amount of chakra through the paper in his hand.
Immediately, he had two.

        "Ah, a wind element user," Kakashi noted approvingly.  "Wind is very
powerful in combat, especially short to mid range."

        "Good," he replied, pleased, then looked thoughtful.  "Though I kinda
liked the hentai one…"

        Hinata held her other hand over the paper, frowning in concentration.
 Nothing happened.

        A small flare of light caught their attention.  The paper in Sasuke's
hand had burst into flame.

        "Ah, very good, Sasuke.  Two elemental affinities, that will be a
powerful advantage to you.  I was surprised by the lightning, but
flame is to be expected of an Uchiha.  Your clan has been known for
powerful katon jutsu for generations."  He glanced back at Hinata, who
had pumped so much chakra into her hand it glowed to anyone sensitive
to it.  "And you, Hinata, you can stop now.  I've heard of this, but
you're the first Hyuga I've trained, so I'd never seen it before."

        "Sensei?" she asked, looking up.

        He shrugged.  "Ma, you might want to ask your father about it, but it
seems that your clan, with almost nothing but pure chakra jutsu,
rarely develop elemental affinity.  Have you ever seen any clan
techniques involving elemental type jutsu?"

        She shook her head.  "No, Sensei, only those related to the Byakugan
and a few other techniques."

        He smiled gently at her.  "Well, that's okay, then.  It won't be an
hindrance to you.  It seems that your clan techniques really are what
you're suited for."

        She nodded.  But he saw a dark look pass momentarily over her
face.  Odd.

        Another flare of light caught everyone's eye.  The paper in Naruto's
hand burned with a clean yellow light.

        Kakashi's eyebrow raised.  "Another fire type?"

        Naruto grinned, then pulled a burning twig from behind his back.
"Something like that," he said with a smirk.

        Kakashi nodded at his little joke.  Two students with two elements
this early in their training was pretty unlikely, anyway.

        "Well, it's been a very informative day.  Sasuke has a lot of chakra
for a genin, and very good control," he said, gesturing at the dark
haired boy, who's head moved imperceptibly, indicating he'd been
beginning to nod off.  "Naruto has an incredibly large chakra
capacity, but his control is only fair.  He tries to make up for his
lack of efficiency by simply using more chakra, which sometimes causes
problems."  He turned to Hinata, whose liquid white eyes glimmered at
him in the firelight.  "And you, Hinata, have less chakra than the
other two, but you use it with precision.  You are clearly going to be
a talented close range fighter."  He shifted his position slightly.

        "Sasuke will perform well at any distance, so what he chooses will
largely be up to him.  Naruto, though…  Hmm."  He paused, then smiled.
 "Well, we'll find out in the morning.  Be thinking about it, Naruto,
but no sneaky extra training tonight, okay?  You may have plenty of
chakra left, but you'll need to be as prepared as possible when we
reach Tomahigiro tomorrow night."

        Naruto nodded, and Hinata rose and began tidying up the campsite area.

        "Oh, and one more thing.  I don't have to tell you that resting
tonight also means you need to sleep in that tent, not anything else,"
Kakashi warned.

        Naruto's serious face blossomed into a grin.  "And deny my very
elemental nature?  Sensei, how cruel."

        Kakashi frowned at him, then shrugged.  Naruto and Hinata might not
be taking the wisest course, but Naruto was both clever and cautious.
He'd just have to keep an eye out for immediate trouble.

        Not that the current situation didn't scream trouble to his
senses, anyway.

        "Sensei, what order do you want the watch?" Sasuke asked.

        "Very good question, Sasuke," he replied happily.  "I hadn't planned
on warning you, but since you ask, I'll be taking the first watch.
I'll wake…  mmm, Naruto at midnight, he can relieve-"

        "Me, Sensei," Hinata said quietly.

        "Okay, Hinata, at two," he agreed easily, "and you can take it from
four till dawn.  Any questions?"

        They shook their heads.

        "Sounds good, then.  Sleep tight."  His voice wasn't quite mocking.

        Taking up a comfortable position on a branch overlooking the camp,
Kakashi pulled out a worn copy of Icha Icha, then hesitated, watching
Naruto and Hinata enter their tent, and the way Sasuke hesitated
before entering his.

        His students worried him.  Sasuke had a lust for revenge so strong it
could well destroy him, and a distrust of his team that Kakashi
couldn't entirely blame him for.  Hinata was so dependent on Naruto
she was almost hopeless, except that Naruto was so ruthless he pushed
her to be stronger, faster, than was good for her.  Without Naruto,
she'd crumble, and with Naruto, she might well break.  Naruto, for all
his cleverness, had a mean streak a mile wide and a lust for power
that would either make him one of the most feared shinobi in Konoha,
or a missing nin.

        The biggest problem, he reflected, was that every single one of them
was in such a hurry to grow up they had sacrificed their childhoods on
the black altar of death.  Sure, they were older than he'd been as a
chunin, but he'd been different…

        Well, no, maybe not all that different.  Perhaps that was why he'd
been assigned to the trio.

        Nodding softly to himself, he made a silent promise that this time,
he'd keep them safe, both from the dangers without, and the demons
within.

        Then he cast a simple dojutsu that gave him powerful night vision,
and flipped his damaged book open to his current page.  It was a shame
to hurt such a precious work of literature, but the book was worn and
the bindings loose, and the look on Naruto's face had been more than
worth it.  The little trickster needed to be reminded that other
people manipulated situations, too.


        Naruto crawled into the little tent, removing his jacket as he did
so, intending to use it as a pillow.  The fire had been banked,
leaving them in the pitch blackness of the nighttime forest, so he
pulled out a tiny flashlight, adjusted it for flood, and turned it on,
blinking at the sudden glare.

        Hinata stared at him as she crawled in on her knees.  Unlike him, she
didn't blink or squint at the light, another quirk of her special
eyes.

        He glanced at her, then resumed shimmying out of his shoes and pants,
leaving him in nothing but a t shirt and boxers.

        As he undressed, she unrolled a single sleeping bag, extra large, and
unzipped it before sitting back and looking at him with an
expressionless face.

        He ignored her as he rummaged through his jacket, checking his
hidden weapons.

        Finally, she could stand it no longer, and, walking on her knees to
his side, she put her arms around his waist, grabbing the hem of his
shirt.  She inhaled deeply, drawing in his scent, musky with the day's
sweat and stream water.  She kissed the back of his neck, like he did
with her sometimes.

        He didn't react on the surface, but she could hear his heart speed
up, just a little bit.

        Smiling, she gently lifted the hem of his shirt, pulling it slowly
upward as he raised his arm and allowed her to take it off.  Still, he
refused to give her any attention as he continued his equipment check,
even as she ran her hand over his lean back and chest, pausing when
her fingertips hit the faint scar where Sasuke had accidentally
stabbed him in a training session.

        Still, he didn't look at her.

        Pouting slightly, she backed off and started getting ready for bed
herself.  She didn't carry but two hidden kunai, one in each sleeve,
and three senbon beside them.  As a taijutsu user, she rarely used
them anyway, and only carried a fraction of the number either of her
team mates did.

        Her jacket was folder in a manner similar to Naruto's, and put
carefully to one side.  Unlike Naruto, she wore her customary layers
of mesh armor, though today she was wearing a plain black sports bra.
She hadn't expected the mission, nor her night's sleeping arrangement,
and mentally cursed her lack of foresight.  She decided to always wear
something sexy from now on, just in case she got to show it to Naruto.

        The mesh shirts she removed as well, placing neatly over her jacket,
and her shoes beside them.

        Behind her, Naruto crawled into the sleeping bag, leaving it
unzipped, one corner folded back across his waist.  He propped his
head up on one hand, looking at her.

        Now was the time.  She carefully slid her pants down her legs,
leaning forward to get them down her thighs, displaying her firm
bottom, clad now only in boy cut black panties. She rocked onto the
side of one thigh to get them all the way off, acutely conscious of
Naruto's eyes.

        She wanted to know what he thought.  But if she asked… she'd be
needy.  Naruto didn't like needy.  So she didn't ask.

        Now wearing only her bra and panties, she hesitated, wondering if she
should take them off.  Wondering if Naruto would approve of her
boldness, or put her in her place with a word.

        "Let's go to sleep, Hinata-chan, he said quietly, patting the
sleeping bag with one hand before turning off the little flashlight
and sticking it in his jacket.

        Feeling a wave of relief, she quickly slid across the narrow gap and
against Naruto's side, curling against him with her face on his
shoulder and her arm across his chest…

        Just like she'd wanted to do for ages.

        He was thin, but his muscles moved like whipcord under his skin.  She
snuggled into his chest with a sign, barely repressing a wriggle of
pleasure when his arm wrapped around her, his hand gripping her side,
right above her hip.

        Oh, how she wanted him to grab lower!

        But he didn't, and she lay there for several long minutes as his
breath slowed into a deep, regular rhythm.  He was probably asleep.

        Her eyes flicked open with a start as she realized there was
something she'd meant to tell him.

        "What is it, Hinata?" he asked, suddenly, nearly scaring her
out of her wits.

        "Naruto!  I…!" she stammered, blushing.  "I…  how did you know I
wanted to say something?"

        "I know you," he said simply, but vaguely.  He felt no particular
urge to let her know that the sudden brush of her eyelashes on his
skin was the clue.

        She blushed in the darkness.  "Well…  I…  I just wanted to say,
Sasuke pulls his wire out left handed."  She held her breath, waiting
for a response as he lay there silently.

        "Always?" he asked finally.

        She nodded fiercely.  "Every time I've ever seen him do it.
Left handed."

        There was another pause.  Then his arm squeezed around her.

        "That's my clever little vixen," he said quietly, and pulled her
closer, her face automatically tilting up.  His kiss was warm on her
lips.

        His vixen.

        Hinata sighed happily and kissed his chest before she settled back
down, his praise making her tingle.


        "Naruto."

        Naruto's eyes snapped open, his mind automatically placing a name to
the voice.

        Kakashi.

        It was nearly imperceptible, but the presence of someone outside his
tent moved away.  He nudged Hinata, who woke with a sudden tension in
her body.

        "Naruto-sama?" she whispered sleepily as he slid over her, climbing
out of the sleeping bag.

        "I'm about to take watch," he replied quietly.  "Check the area while
I get dressed."

        She obediently activated her byakugan, and if she took a moment to
watch him get dressed in the darkness, her scan of the camp and
immediate area was no less thorough because of it.

        "All clear."  She let her technique lapse, yawning.

        He patted her leg, then slipped out of the tent into the blackness.

        For a moment, she thought about watching, but the sleeping bag was
still warm from his presence.  She fell back asleep.


        Naruto paused a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.  It
was still basically solid black, the moon wasn't up and the starlight
was useless under the thick canopy.  But ninja were trained to move in
the darkness, and he silently climbed a nearby tree he'd picked out
while it was light, clinging lightly to the trunk with his chakra as
he found a good spot to hide.

        Sleep was gone from his mind within moments as his senses strained
for any hint of danger.  He didn't expect a serious attack, but
Kakashi might decide to spring surprise training on him.  Naruto would
not be caught napping.

        Really, though, he was glad of the time to himself.  He needed to
come up with a plan to fight Sasuke in the morning.

        Without his kunai and a surprise, disabling or lethal blow, Sasuke
would be quite a challenge.  Naruto had every confidence he could win,
provided he could summon kage bushins, but Kakashi had made several
comments since he'd started training them about Naruto's reliance on
the move.  So, just as a point of pride, Naruto wouldn't use the
jutsu, whether Kakashi forbade it or not.

        He actually kind of hoped Kakashi wouldn't forbid it.  It would be
much more impressive to Sasuke if he kicked his ass without it,
without it being forbidden.

        Sasuke was a proud, prickly sort of ninja.  Naruto hated that type,
except that Sasuke backed up his arrogance every time.

        He wouldn't be using kunai, either.  Actually, he rarely used kunai.
If he used ninja weapons, it was usually wire and shuriken.  He was
devilishly creative with both, controlling up to half a dozen shuriken
with thin wires.

        Add his speed, skill with taijutsu, and fire jutsu, and he was a hell
of an opponent.

        At least his fire jutsu wouldn't be an issue, as a lethal or near
lethal move, they would probably also be forbidden in the sparring
match.  His speed, on the other hand, while not nearly as fast as
Hinata, he also wasn't as one dimensional in how he used it.

        Ordinarily, Naruto would set up traps beforehand, since he knew he'd
be facing him, and where.  Lots of traps.

        But…   that wasn't the solution this time.

        It was beautiful, really.  Sasuke was everything Naruto could want in
a team mate.  Calm.  Collected.  Popular with others.  Breathtakingly
skilled.  Unspeakably powerful.

        Vulnerable.

        His eyes straining into the darkness, Naruto happily whiled away the
time, his mind examining the problem from every angle.


        Hinata woke thirty minutes later, moaning slightly as she flailed in
the too large sleeping bag.

        Naruto wasn't there.

        That was because Naruto was on watch.

        Instead of sleeping with her.

        Frowning sleepily, she gathered up the sleeping bag around her and
left in search of Naruto.


        Sasuke woke at ten minutes till four in the morning.  It wasn't a
difficult ability, it just took a certain discipline in telling
yourself when to wake up.

        He pulled his clothes on quickly, then left his tent to relieve
Naruto at the watch, stretching briefly as he stood straight.

        "Sasuke."  The voice was Naruto's, coming from high to his left.

        Blinking owlishly, he found Naruto's tree and climbed it silently.
Halfway up, he found an unusual sight.

        Naruto leaned back against the trunk, staring at him in the darkness.
 In his arms, wrapped in a voluminous sleeping bag, was Hinata,
nuzzled into his chest.

        He looked away.

        "She was supposed to be on watch," he noted expressionlessly.

        "True."  Naruto didn't elaborate.

        "Are you planning on taking my watch, too?"

        "No.  Just curious if you wanted me to leave Hinata for you," Naruto
replied reasonably.

        "Che," Sasuke spat.

        "Are you sure?" Naruto asked.  "She'll keep you warm."

        "I will be perfectly fine."

        They stared at each other for a moment.  Finally, Naruto shook his head.

        "You should pick one of your girls, Sasuke," he said finally.  "Some
of them would do anything for you."

        "They're too obsessed with me," Sasuke shot back.  "Besides, some of
us can think with our minds, not our dicks."

        "Really."  Naruto shifted Hinata in his arms, letting the sleeping
bag fall away, displaying pale flesh that seemed to glow in the
darkness.  She moaned sleepily as she was moved.

        Sasuke carefully didn't look away, despite the heat in his face.  In
the darkness, it would be invisible.

        He hoped.

        "Enticing, isn't it," Naruto said quietly, looking down at the girl
in his arms with an unreadable expression.

        He didn't reply.  The tension in his body was answer enough.

        "You're a hell of a fighter, Sasuke.  Denying what you want can be as
much of a weakness as enslaving yourself to it."  He grinned, his
white teeth flashing in the dark.  "I know what you want, Sasuke.  I
can get it for you."

        The sneer formed almost of its own volition.  "I want something far
more important than the affection of some girl," he all but snarled.

        Naruto's grin, if anything, grew wider.  "You want many things,
Sasuke, just like I do.  Revenge may be the one you hold on to, but
don't underestimate the others."

        Sasuke stared back, momentarily unsettled.

        "Ah, well.  Time to finish my night's sleep," Naruto said suddenly.
He stood up carefully, keeping Hinata in his arms, and, with a jaunty
wave to the dark haired boy, stepped off the branch without a sound.






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