Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Teamwork for Two	By : WonderMint Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 2386 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Naruto, its characters, and its world setting is the creative work of Masashi Kishimoto, may her drawing hand never cramp. I own no right to the characters or settings herein and seek no profit therefrom.

Chapter List
- 1-The Setup
- 2-The Deadliest Game
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    The morning began innocently enough. As usual, Sasuke and Naruto were alternately ignoring and insulting each other, waiting in their usual spot on the bridge. Sakura tried to stay out of their disputes, as they now bored her more than anything. She only spoke up when Naruto was particularly unfair to Sasuke, unable to control her inner childish impulses which more often than not led to violence. Her Sasuke was her Sasuke.   Nothing changed that.
   Well, he did seem more surly. Something was eating Sasuke from the inside, and he seemed even more distant than when they took their first steps as Genin. Of all the abuse Sasuke poured on Naruto's head, it was clear that it was only a fraction of his irritation. He was distant, distracted, impatient with both of them.
   Finally, their teacher appeared, perching comfortably on the thin red railing. "Sorry," he said, his good-natured smile evident from under his mask. "I saw a rainbow-colored unicorn in the forest, and tried to catch it so my wishes would come true!"
   "Liar!" All three children forgot their troubles for their morning ritual. It was idiotic, but not challenging Kakashi's daily excuse would have been to give it sanction. Make it real. Acknowledge that their sensei had ridden a unicorn to see them, rainbow trailing behind is it leapt over the river and through the woods.
   Sakura saw an opening, and she was kunoichi enough to take it. "What's your wish, then, Kakashi-sensei? You owe it to us to at least tell us what was so important as to keep us waiting all morning!" She pointed accusingly while she said it, hoping her bearing was enough to demand a verdict.
   "Ah... well. My wish..." Kakashi was looking devious, now. Dangerous. "My wish is to see you all work as a team, and achieve your true potential. And since I caught it, it looks like I'll be getting my wish." All three children just stared, mouths wide open. Did he really say such a stupid thing? Their teacher raised a finger to signal a transition out of nonsense-land. "Yes, today we'll be training all of you on your weak points, so you can show your true potential! We'll break into teams to focus on your individual problem areas." He was smiling far too much. Far, far too much.
   A shadow appeared behind Naruto and Sasuke, an enemy on the attack. Sakura detected a moment of disorientation marking a strong genjutsu in effect, and turned in time to see a duplicate of Kakashi finish a string of seals and touch one hand each on Naruto and Sasuke's backs. They fell immediately, eyes closed in a deep sleep. The other Kakashi caught them and slung them both onto his shoulders.
   "Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing!?" Sakura was shocked and terrified to see her teammates attacked by their own teacher.   Her kunai was in her hand without thinking about it, running through scenarios. This Kakashi might well be an imposter, or not. If he was truly Kakashi, and she attacked him in error, she was unlikely to hurt him. If he was an imposter, or if he were truly Kakashi but acting on some evil motive, she had better act to save her friends. The risk-benefit analysis quickly concluded, she prepared to attack.
   "Just what I said. We're breaking into teams, Sakura-chan." The original Kakashi had vanished, and only the second spoke to her now. His eyes were serious, his face calm. "Remember our first training together? This is like that. They have some teamwork problems to sort out." Sakura breathed a little easier, put away her kunai. Those were real words of wisdom, and she found herself nodding along with it.
   "What about me? We train as a team." Sakura had never forgotten that lesson, either.
   "Aaah..." he appeared to consider for a moment, his visible eye closing as if in thought, but this was the fake consideration he did to either humor or infuriate whomever he was speaking to. Sakura twitched an eyebrow to indicate she hadn't the patience for it. Kakashi gave up and shifted the weight of the teens balanced on each shoulder, then turned to walk away. "I appreciate your team spirit. But this isn't a weak point for you, Sakura. Meet me back here after lunch, after I give the boys their instructions. Eat light, we'll be doing some intense taijutsu today." And then Kakashi vanished, and Sakura wondered what the hell her teacher was going to do, and whether it was better for her not to know.
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   Sasuke woke up quickly, without the grog usually associated with sleep, but with all of the disorientation. "Rise and shine, Sasuke! Or maybe just shine." Kakashi was in front of him, crouched on his heels with his knees drawn up. That silly smile was on his face, so saccharine it reached to his uncovered eye. "Don't try to mold any chakra. I will explain in a moment."
   He took some time to poll his senses. He was lying down, his cheek resting against something rough but not hard. He tried to get up but his arms wouldn't move. Nor would his legs. When he looked down, he found his entire body, from his toes to his neck, was bound like a spider's prey in a thick rope, and his hands were bound securely to his back. He flexed his fingers, and found that they were tightly contained in some kind of mittens. He couldn't even touch his restraints. He tried to shout, and found even his mouth bound by a huge piece of sticky tape. Was this some kind of sick joke?
   He looked up now, to see that he was resting on Naruto's lap. Definitely sick... maybe not a joke. Naruto was bound similarly, propped upright against the foot of some kind of furniture. Sleeping, as Sasuke undoubtedly had been moments before.   Kakashi was in motion already, and when he touched Naruto and muttered "Kai," the outragiously blonde boy blinked quickly awake.
   "Good morning, sunshine!" Kakashi was still playing innocent, and Sasuke's stomach twisted. He had trusted this man! The taste of betrayal was mixing with his breakfast in his stomach, and he felt sick. "Don't try to mold any chakra, Naruto, this is very important. Now listen."
   Naruto's eyes wandered in much the same way as his had, and then he found Sasuke's gaze and seemed to become transfixed. A sorry sight he must have made, lying bound in Naruto's lap like some kind of present. Sasuke's teeth were grinding against each other so hard he wouldn't have been surprised if a snowy powder was coating the tape by the time it was pulled off.
   If this explanation wasn't good, damn good, he was going to kill Kakashi before he even got around to Itachi.
   Perhaps it was the poison in Sasuke's eyes which seemed to sober Kakashi somewhat. He dropped his silly act, and resumed his usual emotionless facial expression. "You seem to have forgotten your training, Sasuke. Do you remember the first day of training together? When you failed to collect these bells from me?" He held them up inches from Sasuke's face, as if they were still playing that same game, and all Sasuke wanted was a bell and not to rip the testacles straight off of the man in front of him. Sasuke refused to dignify that with even a grunt.
   "Well. You passed the test that day, but you seem to have forgotten the lesson. Your teamwork..." here his eyes trailed up to Naruto, who seemed locked in a similar cycle of silent anger, "is abysmal. Your inability to work together for even ten minutes is a major liability to the team. Despite your ability as shinobi, you two are holding us back. One of these days, you're going to get a teammate killed. And it might not be one of you. How would you feel if Gaara had killed Sakura?" He looked back at Sasuke. "You chose to go after him alone, as if all that mattered was your little pissing contest with him, instead of going to your teammates to watch your back. She had to go to rescue YOU," he paused, knowing his words were slicing like a knife, "because you thought you were too good to work in a team. I don't know how Naruto managed to save her alone, but he shouldn't have had to. You aren't fit to be a Chuunin, and if this continues, you won't be fit to be a Genin either."
   Sasuke's face was burning with shame now as well as anger. He thought he had been fighting to protect his village, but it was Naruto who had fought to protect Sakura, and done something he himself couldn't. Kakashi's gaze floated up to Naruto again, and Sasuke followed him. He expected some kind of triumph on Naruto's face, ever-delighted if he could best Sasuke, but he was merely enraged.   "Now, now, remember," Kakashi chided quietly. "No chakra. You will regret it if you do." Immediately, Naruto relaxed a bit, angry but in control. "Naruto, you have improvded significantly, and you have protected your team with your life. However, the fact remains that you haven't reached out to Sasuke. Your constant quibbling is an unnessary distraction. Have you ever thought to make even a fraction of the effort to spend time with him as you do chasing after Sakura?"
   Sasuke felt this was somewhat unfair. Naruto was a complete idiot, and never hesitated to start arguments, but they both knew very well what would happen if Naruto offered to take him out for ramen. But there was nothing they could say, they were playing by Kakashi's rules. Naruto merely wilted a bit, perhaps more than expected. He looked... sad. Distant. It pained Sasuke a little to see.
   Wait, Sakura? Where was she? Sasuke was searching the room, looking for her, but other than the grey walls of what appeared to be a tiny, dimly lit holding cell, there was nothing. "Ah, you wonder about Sakura?" Kakashi had the air of someone holding a good secret, the kind they wanted you to find out. "Good, your training hasn't gone completely to waste. However, this is a teamwork training for just the two of you. This training would be far too easy for Sakura, and you would be finished as soon as you started.   No, her weak point is taijutsu, and that is what we will be working on today." His open eye slid upwards a moment as if thinking.   "But, it wouldn't hurt for you two to help her out with her physical training every once in a while, too, instead of always trying to out-do each other." Another moment of silent guilt, this time shared by Sasuke and Naruto both. Had they really never thought to work on her skills instead of their own?
   "Now, as I promised, I will explain your training today. The first rule is... don't use any chakra. This is a test of teamwork, not power. To reinforce that point..." a gloved hand extended towards Sasuke's exposed shoulder, and Kakashi poked him with his index finger. "I have placed exploding tags on your chests. If these seals detect the molding of chakra, and believe me, they WILL detect it, they will both explode at once. So you see, you are protecting not only yourselves, but each other, just like real life, neh?"   His eye crinkled again in a false smile, but his tone remained serious. "I have tried to make the explosions small, but as they are in a sensitive location, I can't guarantee the injuries won't be permanent... or fatal. So try not to die, please."
   At this point, Naruto began screaming behind his makeshift gag. Kakashi poked his nose with the other hand, the jingle of bells following the motion. Naruto quieted immediately, eyes fearful but watchful. "Don't worry, as long as you don't break the rules intentionally, you won't die. Trust me." As if they could trust him now, or ever again! "Now, that being said, the goal of the game is simple. Escape. You have no weapons, no jutsus, and your only allies are each other. Work together as a team, free yourself from your bonds, find the key to the cell, and leave." It was as if he were describing a fun game, not a twisted, deadly trap. "Once you do, come find me, and I'll disarm the tags. Don't think about yelling for help. This is an ANBU prison, and the guards know why you are here. You will not be disturbed. You will get no help unless the seals go off, and please, don't try to use that method to escape. I would be very disappointed in you."
   Kakashi's disappointment was Sasuke's least concern.
   "If you fail in your task, I will return in the morning to fetch you. Consider your lack of food and water until then an added incentive. And," he added in apparent afterthought, "you probably won't be able to use the facilities unless you free yourselves, either." He stood, finally, towering far above his students. "Consider this a simulation of a scenario in which you have been captured by hostiles. If you can't work together to free yourselves from such a simple prison, with no supervision, you have no hope of doing so in a real situation. Besides, there is a reward," He turned, and gave the bells in his hand one last jingle before tucking them away in his pocket. "If you complete this training exercise, you will have learned a valuable lesson about teamwork, and, possibly," he added darkly, "a little Omake." A bonus. The only bonus Sasuke was interested in that moment was skinning Kakashi alive and possibly making a hat with it. But then the silver-haired man walked out, closing a thick solid door behind him, and they heard several clicks as the tumblers of a heavy lock engaged.
   Oh, someone was going to die, alright.
   But first Sasuke had to get free.
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Teamwork for Two