Surival Training, Team Work Skills

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: The characters? Yah...They're not mine

Wow! I am on a roll! Oh well, I best not question it lest it suddenly disappear. *knocks on wood* Anyways. Here is Chapter Three.
Enjoy!

(I also had a question asking about angst...Hmm. I don't really know to be honest. I have a basic idea for the story but perhaps for suspense and story line reasons I might add some. You'll just have to see. And I also got a comment on the Naruto/Sasuke battle in the chapter before. I do believe that I said Naruto 'dove on Sasuke'. In other wards he straddled Sasuke. Who in turn brought his knee up into Narutos back...and you know the rest)

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Sasuke watched in pure amusement as Naruto screamed. The blonde haired boy leapt odd the ground and clung to the branch of a tree directly above him. Much as a cat might cling to the ceiling in a cartoon to escape having a bath.

"It...It's a chipmunk," Sasuke pointed out, trying desperately not to laugh.

"Scary!" Naruto whimpered. He was absolutely terrified. Staring down at the cute, fluffy, tiny little chipmunk like it was a demon from the deepest, fiery pits of hell and might devour him whole any second.

"Yo - You're afraid of th-the chipmunk?!" Sasuke could barely contain his normally carefully cold exterior and composure at the image before him and such a comical piece of information.

"No!" Naruto protested feebley, but he was still glaring at the chipmunk like it would eat him.

"Then come down!" Sasuke replied as he slowly regained himself.

"I...uh...No?" Naruto shivered at the very thought of doing something like that.

'You know...he's kind of cute like that...' Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto hang from the tree. It was not until several seconds later that he registered EXACTLY what had just gone through his mind. The Kyubi boy watched in confusion (momentarily forgetting the EVIL chipmunk) as Sasuke proceeded to hit his head off the nearest tree in an attempt to rid of those nasty EVIL thoughts. Startled by Sasukes sudden movement, the chipmunk started and scampered off. Naruto (eventually) came down from the tree.

"I'm not afraid of chipmunks," Naruto grumbled.

"Scaredy Cat," Sasuke replied with a smirk. Yes, if banging his head off the tree had not worked then making fun of Naruto would surely do the trick. Or in the very least it would make him feel slightly better.

"Am not!" Naruto whined.

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"Scaredy Cat!"

"Sasuke!"

"Scaredy Cat!"

"NOOOOOO!!"

"We should finish the shelter."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at Sasukes abrupt change in subject.

"The shelter. Lets fix it. Do I need to spell it out for you? I'm sick of getting rained on and I have a cold now. If we're going to be out here forever then we need somewhere to sleep," Sasuke pointed out. Naruto blinked, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"WE CAN BE SNUGGLE BUDDIES!!!" Naruto pounced on Sasuke and grabbed him in a bone crushing hug, rubbing his head on
Sasukes shoulder affectionately. He was teasing. Of course he was, that was what Naruto did.

"N-nani?!? Get off me!" Sasuke proceeded to blush bright red and punch the fox kid in the face.


Sporting a bright look and a black eye Naruto returned humming an overly happy tune and carrying big leaves to cover up their shelter a little more to it could be rain proofed.

"I'm back Sasuke, I got some nice big leaves!"

"That's good N-Naruto..." Sasuke paused when he saw the leaves Naruto had returned with. "Ah! Drop those idiot!!" Sasuke yelped.

"Okay..." Naruto frowned. He thought he had been doing a good thing getting the leaves. What was Sasuke so upset about. Regardless the blonde dropped the leaves and watched curiously as Sasuke jumped away from one that nearly touched him.

"That's poison ivy, dobe!" Sasuke yelled.

"Eh? Poison whatta?" Naruto replied thickly, scratching the back of his hand.

"It gives you an itchy rash and you're not allowed to...STOP ITCHING YOURSELF IDIOT!!!" Sasuke yelled again. Naruto pouted.

"But!"

"Shut up. And don't you 'but' me! Just stop itching," Sasuke snapped. Orangeish red dots began to break out on his skin.

"How the hell did you get so covered!?!"

"I fell in it..."

"Fell in it?! Fell in it or made love to it? You've got rash in places..." Sasuke chocked that thought off with a blush, the rest of it and its implication was more then Sasuke could manage. Naruto only starred innocently at him, wondering what was going on.

"What?"

"There's cream that can help sooth it. Special leaves...Be right back, I'll go find some...watch the shelter," Sasukes voice cracked at the end of the sentence. Before Naruto could answer, or ask any of his own questions Sasuke was in the forestry out of his vision.

"I hate you Naruto, you're so damned stupid!!" Sasuke muttered beneath his breath, his voice full of forced venom.

"And what the hell is wrong with me? Thinking he is cute? And that..." cough, "rash...."

'Wonder how far it really DOES go...I mean I saw dots...'

"Ah!" Sasuke seriously considered hanging himself for that horrid thought. It was WRONG! So totally and completely WRONG!

He was so busy mentally mutilating himself that he almost walked past the leaves he needed. Sasuke took his sweet time getting them too. His logic stated that Naruto could suffer for a little longer with that rash for inducing these....thoughts in his brain!

When the raven haired ninja finally got back he found Naruto using a tree as a rubbing post. It was a good thing there clothes had dried and Naruto had a shirt on or Sasuke would have had to pick all the splinters out of his back as well.

"Stop itching!" Sasuke commanded, his voice heralding his approach.

"But it's maddening I'm going CRAZY!" Naruto did look a little crazy. His eyes buldged out and Sasuke could have sword he caught
a glimpse of froth, foaming at his mouth ever so slightly.

"That's nice. Now shut up and lay down. Don't scratch!" Sasuke ordered.

"No!" Naruto replied stubbornly.

"Do you want me to help you? Or not?"

Narutos' mind worked furiously on that one a moment. And at length he obeyed, his expression was very pained that he had to do it.

"Now what?"

"I have to crush the veins in the leaf so the juice comes out. That's what you need."

"How long does that take?"

"A minute or so..."

"That's to long!!!"

"Stop your whining and be patient!"

Naruto whimpered, and Sasuke ignored him and continued to work. He was blessed for several moments of blissful silence.

"You done yet?"

"Soon..."

"Okay."

Silence.

"Now?"

"Yes! Now I'm done," Sasuke growled in exasperation at his impatient companion. Sasuke crouched down beside Naruto with one of the leaves in his hand. Held in a bowl-like manner so as to avoid spilling any of the natural salve off. Naruto held still as Sasuke dipped his fingers in the juice and began to rub the oddly coloured stuff onto his back. That is he was still until Sasukes fingers contacted with him, he leapt up with a scream.

"It stings! It burns! Your fingers are FREEZING!"

"It'll go away, now lay back down," Sasukes voice was uncharacteristically patient. It was almost scary how patient he was.

"No! I know what you're doing! That stuffs ACTUALLY poisoned! Bastard! You're trying to poison me via osmosis!" Naruto yelled dramatically and pointed his finger accusingly at Sasuke. The raven haired ninja blinked. Naruto knows what osmosis is. Maybe he does have some strange and alien form of a brain after all!

"Fine, your loss," Sasuke shrugged and carefully put the leaf down on a rock. Naruto began to whine about it immediately.

"SO ITCHY!"

"THAT'S IT!" Sasuke tackled Naruto for the second time that day. Once again the two found themselves rolling around on the
ground. This time however Sasuke managed to get Naruto on his stomach and straddled him. Sitting up on his shoulder blades so Naruto could not struggle or get out from underneath him. And he even managed to get the blonde boys jacket and shirt off so he could get at bare skin.

"RAPE!" Naruto yelled.

'Sounds nice but no...Ah! Those thoughts AGAIN!'

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped outwardly. He was in denial. He would not accept it. He was NOT attracted to Uzimaki Naruto, the blonde
idiot who he had competed with all his life. Sasuke ignored certain temptation and reached over to grab the leaf from earlier. He proceeded to spread the odd coloured liquid on Narutos' back, or at least the bit of it that could be reached above his shoulder blades. The fox boy flailed wildly, whimpered and cursed. But Sasukes dead weight on his shoulder blades and the lack of any true escape attempt proved to be his downfall. Slowly Naruto calmed down and Sasuke slide down to his rump and sat there, so he had full access to his back. And then the complaints stopped. Sasuke began to grow suspicious that maybe Naruto had died from the itchiness. As stupid as the notion was.

"..."

"Naruto?"

"...."

"Naruto??"

"....."

"NARUTO!!?!"

"AH! What???" Sasuke almost had a heart attack at Naruto's outburst combined with him jumping and nearly bucking the unsuspecting raven haired boy off.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke managed to ask as his heart slid from his throat back to his chest and resumed its normal rate.

"I was sleeping," the blonde grumbled in reply.

"Nani?"

"I was sleeping, S-L-E-E-P-I-N-G, sleeping," Naruto replied. Repeating the world twice and spelling it like he were trying to get this
through to a mentally challenged child.

"Uh...okay...why?"

"You're sitting on me....rubbing my back...with freaken lotion...I was thinking that maybe if I went to sleep, that when I woke up it
would have turned out to have all been a nightmare. And I would be back home just getting ready for the mission of the day that
was NOT supposed to be this," Naruto replied slowly.

"Oh...." Sasuke felt crushed inside. Which was weird. What had been expected. Naruto to tell him that Sasukes slender fingers rubbing lotion on his back was just SO relaxing he could not manage to keep his eyes open? That he wanted Sasuke to take him now?...Why the hell did he CARE? He hated Naruto...didn't he? They were RIVALS...right? Sasuke was still working the lotion over Narutos rash as he thought.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping slightly and jolting Sasuke back to reality who was nearly thrown off for the second time.

"Huh? What?" The raven haired ninja asked thickly. Looking around like he expected them to be attacked at any given moment.

"First off, watch where your hands are....Second, I'm not itchy anymore. Cool neh?" Naruto replied. His tone slightly confused at how
Sasuke had managed to work his hands down so far as to actually grab has ass without ever noticing he was doing it. Blushing a deep crimson colour, Sasuke eased himself off Naruto with a cough and sneeze.

"We should go finish the shelter now," Sasuke mumbled. Trying to change the subject.

"Yup," Naruto seemed completely oblivious. Sasuke sneezed again as the two walked over to inspect the raven haired boys work.
He was currently working to hide the smallest of nose bleeds which had developed when he realized he had been rubbing Naruto's rump.

"That's pretty sad looking...."

"No it isn't"

"It would fall over if I blew on it!"

"Would not!"

"Okay...if I poked it, sorry"

"It's fine," Sasuke huffed. It was, without a doubt, the saddest looking thing Naruto had EVER seen. It was made of twigs and small
sticks with leaves to stop the rain from coming through. Which he was surprised the rain had not caused it to collapse yet as a matter of fact.

"I will demonstrate!" Naruto proceeded to poke it, ignoring Sasukes screams from behind him. He watched as the pathetic thing toppled over. Even made a whistling noise of something falling in a cartoon to accompany it's descent.

"NARUTO!! I worked hard on that!"

"Told you it would fall."

"Well if you had of left it alone!"

"He have to sleep in that, it would have fallen over if we had of even tried to go in," Naruto pointed out to the fuming Sasuke.

Brief Pause.

Wholey crap! More evidence that Naruto had a brain. That was twice in ONE day. Very weird indeed. He wondered if maybe he got stupid because of Sakura. He did fawn over her like an idiot after all. That thought made a pang of jealousy hit his stomach, and he officially decided he hated Sakura even more.

"If you're so good. YOU build it!" Sasuke snapped.

"But...I'm to HUNGRY to build...We STILL haven't eaten anything yet," Naruto whined. He was really very good at it. It grated on Sasukes nerves and he momentarily forgot his new hatred of Sakura on a more personally level.

"Fine! I will get food and you build!"

"I miss ramen..."

"Tough."

"But...!"

"Shut up and get to work!"

Naruto pouted and skulked off to build a shelter while Sasuke wandered off to find food for the both of them. His stomach was twisting painfully from lack of food as well.


Upon his return, Sasukes jaw dropped. Naruto was done. After two hours, he was done. And it was a damned good looking shelter!

"What do you think?" Naruto asked innocently, who was already laying in his little section. Apparently he had been testing it since it was no longer necessary because the rain had stopped.

"How?"

"Fine for the rope. And this funny sorta grass that was really dead and dry feeling for thready stuff. It was hard."

Naruto exhibited torn and bleeding hands for Sasuke. The fox boy had used the oddly dry grass, probably some sort of dead weed in reality; to sew the leaves (how he had managed it all Sasuke could never begin to imagine and now he regretted not being there to see it done) together and make a tent suspended by a vine/rope from the trees above.

"How will it stay in the wind?"

"I staked the leaves down with some sticks. But I guess in a strong wind the leaves will rip," Naruto gladly explained. Glowing with pride. And he should be! The shelter was amazing. Since they had not seen a cave anywhere around, this shelter would do them wonderfully.

"You got food?"

"Oh, yah," Sasuke dropped a leave bundle before Naruto which was tied shut with twine.

"Awesome!" Naruto ripped it open and dug into the contents within. The way he ate bordered on being disgustingly rabid but
Sasuke was used to it by now.

'Who would have known Naruto was so smart and resourceful...I figured he was going to do a horrible job I could have teased him about. But this is awesome!

'Sometimes I really think he fakes being stupid...' Sasuke settled into his little section. Which he discovered was divided through the centre with a leaf hanging between them. Cute. Naruto had probably put that up specially for him too.

"Sasuke?" Naruto sounded very uneasy.

"What?" Sasuke focused in on the blonde who had once again, pulled him from his world of thoughts. Which was an annoying habit the Kyubi kid seemed to have unintentionally created for himself.

"Is there a reason you're staring?"

"Sorry. I was thinking, not staring..."

"Whoa! Are you sick!?"

"Eh?"

"You apologized to me!"

Sasuke scowled and did not even bother to dignify that statement with a response. That was when a question struck him from earlier events and he frowned.

"Naruto...Why are you so scared of chipmunks???"

"Uh...."
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OOOOOOooooo! Sasuke has realized his feelings for Naruto! But does Naruto feel the same or is all of Sasukes feelings in vain? Could Sasuke be fighting a loosing battle or will the two boys finally hook up and admit they love each other???

TUNE IN NEXT CHAPTER AND SEE!!! *Next episode Dragon Ball Z comminator voice ends here*

ANYWAYS....I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was fun writing so I hope you have EQUAL fun reading it. *maniacal laughter*

I really need to stop writing them on paper in school when I am supposed to be doing work though. Because then I have to take 2 hours to type it all out again when I am supposed to be doing my final projects! >.<

Enjoy,
~White Liger