003; naruverse fanwork challenge
Title: Naruto Uzumaki and his Merry Ninja
Prompts: smudge, time's running out, assume the position!, sherwood forest or 221 baker street, euphemism
Fandom: Naruto
Characters/Pairings: Team 7, genfic
Rating: T
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1,458
Summary: In Sherwood--er, Nara Forest, there lives Naruto Uzumaki and his band of Merry Ninja who steal from the rich to give to the poor! Too bad things don't always work as planned.
Notes: Written for naruverse. I really need to work on characterization... I'm getting there, though! I think.
The land of Konohagakure seemed to be the best in the world. The lands were covered in beautiful plants, and it was overrun by the richest clans alive, who donated regularly to the government to keep their country beautiful. However, not all was as it seemed, for in Konoha’s lush green forests, there lived a group of do-gooders, known as the Merry Ninja.
It was the afternoon of a hot June day, and the do-gooders were up to their usual good deeds.
“Come on, guys! We’re running out of time!” the leader of the Merry Ninjas, Naruto Uzumaki, shouted as he waved a parchment around. “We have fifteen minutes until they pass through the forest! We need to be ready by then!”
“We know!” his second-in-command, Sakura Haruno, yelled back.
“If you know, then get into position! No rich person shall ever come through Sherwood Forest without being robbed!” Naruto announced triumphantly.
Sakura appeared beside him in a few seconds and bonked him on the head. “Okay, first of all, for the last time, it’s the Nara Forest, not Sherwood Forest.”
“B-but Sakura-chan-”
“Second!” she interrupted, glaring at him, “Even though it’s pretty much what we are, could you not make it sound like we’re a bunch of petty thieves?”
“We’re not petty thieves!” he argued. “We’re doing this for the good of the poor!”
“Of course we are,” she agreed.
“We are!”
“Did I say we’re not?”
“Well, no but…”
“Exactly. You just made it sort of sound like we were.”
“Oh,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “My bad.”
“S’okay. How much longer, again?”
“How much longer for wha-oh. Oh!” he jumped up, yelling into the trees. “Everyone, get over here! We've got ten minutes!”
Merry Ninja flew out from various places in the forest and landed in a circle around Naruto and Sakura. Naruto looked around at all of them, frowning when he noticed that two were missing. “Where's Kakashi and Anko?”
A random Merry Ninja shrugged. “Last I saw, they were doing the dirty under one of the trees.”
An awkward silence greeted his words.
“Right. They'll show up,” Naruto said hastily. “So, um, do you all remember the plan?” he questioned, looking around at all the ninja.
“Akamaru runs in the street to make the driver panic,” Kiba Inuzuka said, gesturing to his oversized beast of a dog, “and while he's freaking out, we snip off the harnesses and let the horses run wherever there little hearts take them. So with no escape, the noble's as good as ours.”
“Wow, you were actually paying attention!” Naruto laughed.
Kiba snarled in response, Akamaru mimicking him. “Looks who's talking.”
Sakura stepped in between the two of them. “Let's hold off on the testosterone war until after we pull this off, alright?”
“Yeah, fine,” Kiba shrugged, calling Akamaru off. “So we gonna go?”
“Yup! Into position, everyone!” Naruto cheered.
The Merry Ninjas quickly disappeared into their usual hiding spots along the road that traveled through the middle of Sherwood-er, Nara Forest. Naruto made sure everyone was where they should be before he hid himself. Now all that was left to do was wait.
About two hours later.
“That's it!” Sakura exclaimed in annoyance, dashing over into Naruto's hiding spot. “It's been two hours already, and there's no carriage in sight. Just where did you get that information?”
“Two hours?” Naruto repeated dubiously. “It's only been fifteen minutes or something.”
“Two hours,” the rest of the Merry Ninja chorused boredly from their hiding places.
“Oh. Uh. Hm.”
“Yeah. Let me see that letter,” Sakura demanded, sticking her hand out.
Naruto dug his hand into his pouch and withdrew the paper, handing it over to her. “Shino sent it, and he's always right about this stuff. He's got eyes and ears everywhere!”
Sakura frowned as she looked at it. “Why's the ink all smudged?”
“The carrier had to bring it during that freak rain storm last week,” Naruto explained. “It got a bit wet, but it's still readable.”
“I guess,” Sakura replied, still frowning. “...Naruto.”
“Mm-hm?”
“It says here the carriage is supposed to pass through the forest around 2:45 PM.”
“No, it says 12:45.”
“...Naruto.”
“Mm-hm?”
“The number one in your 12:45 is a smudge mark!” she screamed at him. “You've had us sitting here for two hours because you can't tell the difference between a smudge mark and an actual written line!”
“Really?” he leaned over her shoulder to squint at the message. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could easily tell that the one was just ink streaming down from the letters above. “Crap.”
“Good job,” Sakura said sarcastically. “You know, it's-”
“Carriage incoming!” a ninja called out from his hiding spot, cutting Sakura off.
“Assume the position!” Naruto yelled as he disappeared into his hiding place, Sakura ducking down beside him. The carriage steadily drew closer, and soon it was within their line of sight.
“...that carriage kind of looks familiar,” Sakura whispered uneasily as she looked at it.
“Of course it does. The nobles always ride the same carriages, and we've stolen from all of them by now,” Naruto whispered back.
“That's not what I meant. I think that's-”
“Figure it out later,” Naruto interrupted, sticking his hand out the side of his hiding place and signaling to Kiba on the other side of the road. Right on cue, Akamaru leapt out from the side and gave the horses the fright of their lives.
“What the hell?” the carriage driver shouted as he tried to gain control of the horses that were currently freaking out on him.
“Bingo,” Naruto grinned as two Merry Ninja blurred in and out of the road, slicing cleanly through the harnesses as they went. Akamaru leapt behind the horses and barked loudly, making them neigh in agitation and start running down the road at light speed.
At Naruto's signal, they surrounded the carriage.
“You're completely surrounded,” Naruto said in a tone entirely too cheerful for the situation. “So just step out, nice and easy, and we won't hurt you.”
The door opened with a bang and an irate Sasuke Uchiha-second Uchiha heir and an ally of the Merry Ninja-stepped out. “What the hell?”
“Told you it looked familiar,” Sakura muttered.
“Sasuke?” Naruto asked incredulously, ignoring her. “What are you doing here?”
“Traveling through? What does it look like I'm doing?” he snapped back.
“But it was supposed to be some guy named Sakechi coming though,” Naruto said confusedly. “Unless Shino messed up...”
“Or you did,” Sakura replied, annoyed.
Naruto turned to look at her. She was reading over the letter again. “How did I mess up this time? I mean, the time I get, but I couldn't have read the name wrong!”
“Apparently, you did. It's smudged. Sasuke Uchiha?”
“...oh.”
“'Oh' doesn't cut it,” Sasuke growled. “I'm one of the Konoha representatives to Suna this year. Do you realize how screwed I'll be if I'm not there on time?”
“I-I'm sorry! I'm sure they won't mind if you're a teensy bit late,” Naruto said nervously.
“Going back to Konoha on foot to get more horses, then restarting the trip again will make me more than a 'teensy bit late',” he said, doing a horrible impersonation of Naruto on the last three words.
“Well, I'd help you out, but I can't really do anything...”
Sasuke's eyes glinted.
“Uh,” Naruto retreated back a step. “Whatever you're thinking, don't do it.”
“Haruma, why don't you take a break and stay here with these people until I return,” Sasuke said to his carriage driver, completely ignoring Naruto.
“Sir?” Haruma seemed confused.
Sasuke cocked his head towards Naruto as he walked back to his carriage. “He's always bragging about how strong he is. He'll replace my horses.”
“...like a rickshaw driver, sir?” Haruma questioned, still not understanding.
Sasuke's eyes adopted that evil glint again. “Precisely. You can handle the, uh, 'Merry Ninja' for a while, right Sakura?”
“Yeah, sure,” Sakura sighed. “Don't kill him, okay?”
Glint. “Don't worry about it.” He glanced back at Naruto. “Come on.”
“Uh, isn't there a better way? You know, one that doesn't involve trying to indirectly rip my arms out of my sockets?”
“You got me into this mess, now you're getting me out of it,” Sasuke said simply as he climbed into the carriage. “Now drive.”
Naruto grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the poles on the front side of the carriage. “I hate you, you bastard!”
“That's nice,” Sasuke replied from inside. “Giddy-up, now.”
And the two disappeared into the sunset, Sasuke smirking as he gazed outside his window and Naruto working out his shoulder muscles and wishing he had ramen.
Prompts: smudge, time's running out, assume the position!, sherwood forest or 221 baker street, euphemism
Fandom: Naruto
Characters/Pairings: Team 7, genfic
Rating: T
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1,458
Summary: In Sherwood--er, Nara Forest, there lives Naruto Uzumaki and his band of Merry Ninja who steal from the rich to give to the poor! Too bad things don't always work as planned.
Notes: Written for naruverse. I really need to work on characterization... I'm getting there, though! I think.
The land of Konohagakure seemed to be the best in the world. The lands were covered in beautiful plants, and it was overrun by the richest clans alive, who donated regularly to the government to keep their country beautiful. However, not all was as it seemed, for in Konoha’s lush green forests, there lived a group of do-gooders, known as the Merry Ninja.
It was the afternoon of a hot June day, and the do-gooders were up to their usual good deeds.
“Come on, guys! We’re running out of time!” the leader of the Merry Ninjas, Naruto Uzumaki, shouted as he waved a parchment around. “We have fifteen minutes until they pass through the forest! We need to be ready by then!”
“We know!” his second-in-command, Sakura Haruno, yelled back.
“If you know, then get into position! No rich person shall ever come through Sherwood Forest without being robbed!” Naruto announced triumphantly.
Sakura appeared beside him in a few seconds and bonked him on the head. “Okay, first of all, for the last time, it’s the Nara Forest, not Sherwood Forest.”
“B-but Sakura-chan-”
“Second!” she interrupted, glaring at him, “Even though it’s pretty much what we are, could you not make it sound like we’re a bunch of petty thieves?”
“We’re not petty thieves!” he argued. “We’re doing this for the good of the poor!”
“Of course we are,” she agreed.
“We are!”
“Did I say we’re not?”
“Well, no but…”
“Exactly. You just made it sort of sound like we were.”
“Oh,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “My bad.”
“S’okay. How much longer, again?”
“How much longer for wha-oh. Oh!” he jumped up, yelling into the trees. “Everyone, get over here! We've got ten minutes!”
Merry Ninja flew out from various places in the forest and landed in a circle around Naruto and Sakura. Naruto looked around at all of them, frowning when he noticed that two were missing. “Where's Kakashi and Anko?”
A random Merry Ninja shrugged. “Last I saw, they were doing the dirty under one of the trees.”
An awkward silence greeted his words.
“Right. They'll show up,” Naruto said hastily. “So, um, do you all remember the plan?” he questioned, looking around at all the ninja.
“Akamaru runs in the street to make the driver panic,” Kiba Inuzuka said, gesturing to his oversized beast of a dog, “and while he's freaking out, we snip off the harnesses and let the horses run wherever there little hearts take them. So with no escape, the noble's as good as ours.”
“Wow, you were actually paying attention!” Naruto laughed.
Kiba snarled in response, Akamaru mimicking him. “Looks who's talking.”
Sakura stepped in between the two of them. “Let's hold off on the testosterone war until after we pull this off, alright?”
“Yeah, fine,” Kiba shrugged, calling Akamaru off. “So we gonna go?”
“Yup! Into position, everyone!” Naruto cheered.
The Merry Ninjas quickly disappeared into their usual hiding spots along the road that traveled through the middle of Sherwood-er, Nara Forest. Naruto made sure everyone was where they should be before he hid himself. Now all that was left to do was wait.
About two hours later.
“That's it!” Sakura exclaimed in annoyance, dashing over into Naruto's hiding spot. “It's been two hours already, and there's no carriage in sight. Just where did you get that information?”
“Two hours?” Naruto repeated dubiously. “It's only been fifteen minutes or something.”
“Two hours,” the rest of the Merry Ninja chorused boredly from their hiding places.
“Oh. Uh. Hm.”
“Yeah. Let me see that letter,” Sakura demanded, sticking her hand out.
Naruto dug his hand into his pouch and withdrew the paper, handing it over to her. “Shino sent it, and he's always right about this stuff. He's got eyes and ears everywhere!”
Sakura frowned as she looked at it. “Why's the ink all smudged?”
“The carrier had to bring it during that freak rain storm last week,” Naruto explained. “It got a bit wet, but it's still readable.”
“I guess,” Sakura replied, still frowning. “...Naruto.”
“Mm-hm?”
“It says here the carriage is supposed to pass through the forest around 2:45 PM.”
“No, it says 12:45.”
“...Naruto.”
“Mm-hm?”
“The number one in your 12:45 is a smudge mark!” she screamed at him. “You've had us sitting here for two hours because you can't tell the difference between a smudge mark and an actual written line!”
“Really?” he leaned over her shoulder to squint at the message. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could easily tell that the one was just ink streaming down from the letters above. “Crap.”
“Good job,” Sakura said sarcastically. “You know, it's-”
“Carriage incoming!” a ninja called out from his hiding spot, cutting Sakura off.
“Assume the position!” Naruto yelled as he disappeared into his hiding place, Sakura ducking down beside him. The carriage steadily drew closer, and soon it was within their line of sight.
“...that carriage kind of looks familiar,” Sakura whispered uneasily as she looked at it.
“Of course it does. The nobles always ride the same carriages, and we've stolen from all of them by now,” Naruto whispered back.
“That's not what I meant. I think that's-”
“Figure it out later,” Naruto interrupted, sticking his hand out the side of his hiding place and signaling to Kiba on the other side of the road. Right on cue, Akamaru leapt out from the side and gave the horses the fright of their lives.
“What the hell?” the carriage driver shouted as he tried to gain control of the horses that were currently freaking out on him.
“Bingo,” Naruto grinned as two Merry Ninja blurred in and out of the road, slicing cleanly through the harnesses as they went. Akamaru leapt behind the horses and barked loudly, making them neigh in agitation and start running down the road at light speed.
At Naruto's signal, they surrounded the carriage.
“You're completely surrounded,” Naruto said in a tone entirely too cheerful for the situation. “So just step out, nice and easy, and we won't hurt you.”
The door opened with a bang and an irate Sasuke Uchiha-second Uchiha heir and an ally of the Merry Ninja-stepped out. “What the hell?”
“Told you it looked familiar,” Sakura muttered.
“Sasuke?” Naruto asked incredulously, ignoring her. “What are you doing here?”
“Traveling through? What does it look like I'm doing?” he snapped back.
“But it was supposed to be some guy named Sakechi coming though,” Naruto said confusedly. “Unless Shino messed up...”
“Or you did,” Sakura replied, annoyed.
Naruto turned to look at her. She was reading over the letter again. “How did I mess up this time? I mean, the time I get, but I couldn't have read the name wrong!”
“Apparently, you did. It's smudged. Sasuke Uchiha?”
“...oh.”
“'Oh' doesn't cut it,” Sasuke growled. “I'm one of the Konoha representatives to Suna this year. Do you realize how screwed I'll be if I'm not there on time?”
“I-I'm sorry! I'm sure they won't mind if you're a teensy bit late,” Naruto said nervously.
“Going back to Konoha on foot to get more horses, then restarting the trip again will make me more than a 'teensy bit late',” he said, doing a horrible impersonation of Naruto on the last three words.
“Well, I'd help you out, but I can't really do anything...”
Sasuke's eyes glinted.
“Uh,” Naruto retreated back a step. “Whatever you're thinking, don't do it.”
“Haruma, why don't you take a break and stay here with these people until I return,” Sasuke said to his carriage driver, completely ignoring Naruto.
“Sir?” Haruma seemed confused.
Sasuke cocked his head towards Naruto as he walked back to his carriage. “He's always bragging about how strong he is. He'll replace my horses.”
“...like a rickshaw driver, sir?” Haruma questioned, still not understanding.
Sasuke's eyes adopted that evil glint again. “Precisely. You can handle the, uh, 'Merry Ninja' for a while, right Sakura?”
“Yeah, sure,” Sakura sighed. “Don't kill him, okay?”
Glint. “Don't worry about it.” He glanced back at Naruto. “Come on.”
“Uh, isn't there a better way? You know, one that doesn't involve trying to indirectly rip my arms out of my sockets?”
“You got me into this mess, now you're getting me out of it,” Sasuke said simply as he climbed into the carriage. “Now drive.”
Naruto grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the poles on the front side of the carriage. “I hate you, you bastard!”
“That's nice,” Sasuke replied from inside. “Giddy-up, now.”
And the two disappeared into the sunset, Sasuke smirking as he gazed outside his window and Naruto working out his shoulder muscles and wishing he had ramen.