Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Camp Winthrop ❯ Day One: Disappearance ( Chapter 3 )

Kat: OMG. I'm not dead. Ho'shit.

 

Soriko: -rolls eyes- It's only been six years since you updated this thing.

 

Kat: Yeah, I KNOW! -weak grin-

 

Warnings: Not-so-subtle yaoi hints, poor writing, YAOI, cursing (I think…), YAOI, cleaning supplies, explosions, and YAOI. And did I mention YAOI? And not, like, good yaoi. Like, totally-random-and-thrown-together-yaoi.

 

Kat: Tch. Sorry this took so long, all. I was… uh… busy. Yeah. That's it. Some of the pairings might change. I'm getting ideas. Uh oh! -scary-

 

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Day One

 

Part Three

 

Disappearance

 

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Millions of peaches!

Peaches for me!

Millions of peaches!

Peaches for free!

LOOK OUT!

 

~ 'Peaches', by the Presidents of the USA

 

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Kitchen

 

`I take back that thought,' Sasuke mentally grumbled, reaching into the scalding hot water for the next pot.

 

“AAAUGH! HOT! HOT!” Naruto squealed, wrenching his hand out from beneath the faucet. The water running from the tap was steaming, and the blonde's fingertips were singed bright red. “Damn it all,” he snuffled, turning the tap to cold, and rinsing off his hand.

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, his tongue burning with a nasty remark, but he held it in for the sake of the moment. After all… he wasn't the only one wearing a hairnet and apron.

 

Perhaps an elaboration would be most helpful. When the source of the earlier explosion was found, it was in a place none other than just outside the boy's bunk room. Of course, seeing as Ibiki was already struck dumb with sick fury, he decided that all the boys would have to suffer for this ridiculous and dangerous action. In fact, his exact words were:

 

“THEY ALL MUST DIE!”

 

Foam. Foam.

 

But then, Iruka, being of sound mind and body, decided that death was a bit too much for the boys, and offered the suggestion that they have Kitchen Duty for the rest of the week. Although in truth, the teacher thought that this was much too harsh! They didn't have any proof that the boys had done such an atrocious crime (he didn't like the look of that Deidara, though), so they shouldn't be punished!

 

But unfortunately, the loveable Umino was overthrown by Ibiki (who was really scary when he was covered in potatoes!). Kurenai was also in a state of disarray. The sound from the explosion had surprised her so much that she had spilled her bitter coffee down the front of her shirt. Normally, she would have sided with Iruka in a heartbeat, but now… oh… now it was personal.

 

Gai merely threw his fist into the air and laughed uproariously about that “BLASTED YOUTH!” Kakashi refused to remove his nose from his book, and Asuma was perfectly content staying out of the raging warpath of a man covered in potatoes and a pre-menopausal woman with a coffee stain in her “favorite shirt.”

 

So now the entire boys' cabin was crammed inside the surprisingly large kitchen, cleaning plates and trays and silverware and pots and anything else the teachers could come up with. Several were still out in the cafeteria area, cleaning off tables and sweeping and mopping the floors.

 

Haku sighed, and picked up the bottle of “Ultra Shine” brand soap. He turned it upside down, and began squeezing the blue substance into the sink, amongst the small cups and dirty water.

 

“It's typical, really!” he said, still squeezing. “Leave us scrawny ones to do the dishes and make the big ones put tables away!” He sighed again, dreamily this time, and murmured, “Oh, Zabi-poo! When shall I see you again?”

 

Sasuke's eye twitched in a mixture of horror and disgust, and he turned away from the scene.

 

At that moment, the top of Haku's soap bottle chose to break off, allowing a stream of soap to spill into the sink.

 

“Woah, snap!” Haku cried, flipping the bottle right side up again. A third of the soap was now resting in the bottom of the sink. “Crud…”

 

Gaara, meanwhile, was working next to Neji, washing bowls and trays. He had pushed up his sleeves, put on an apron (a… PINK… apron…), and put on a hairnet. It was mortifying. Gaara's only comfort was knowing that Neji looked just as ridiculous as he did.

 

He reached for a bowl on Neji's side of the sink, and accidentally grabbed Neji's fingers instead. Instinctively, he jerked away, feeling his face burn. Neji felt a smile worm its way to his face, and he playfully grabbed at Gaara's hands as well. A grabbing match ensued, but ended quickly with Gaara's hands interlaced with Neji's. They both laughed, before realizing that they still had a sink full of dishes left to wash.

 

Woe. Angst.

 

This was exactly how Kisame and Zabuza felt as they shoved another table up against the wall, leaving room for Sasori and Itachi to mop. Another group of boys was doing the same thing farther down, close to the doors.

 

`This is so boring,' Kisame thought. `To think, I could be making out with Itachi right now.'

 

At that moment, Itachi was overcome with a sneezing fit.

 

“I've got something to tell you! I've got news for you, yeah! Gonna put some wheels in motion, yeah! Get ready, `cuz we're coming through, yeah!” Deidara sang as he scrubbed a plate, his hair surprisingly up off of his face and shoved into a hairnet. He looked out into the cafeteria, and yelled, “How ya doing, Sasori?”

 

Sasori, who was in the process of helping Itachi sweep, turned to Deidara, and gave him the iciest glare he could manage. Deidara gave him a thumbs-up, and went back to singing.

 

“Hey, now, hey, now! Hear what I saw, now, yeah! HAPPINESS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, YEAH!”

 

SPLUNK!

 

“Hey, who threw that, yeah?” Deidara demanded, bending over to pick up the sopping wet sponge that had slapped him in the arm.

 

“Well, it CERTAINLY wasn't me,” Naruto said, pulling at his hairnet, and looking guilty. Sasuke sighed, and knew that it was his duty to silence the blonde once and for all.

 

He picked up the spray nozzle that came out of the sink, pulled it up until the hose was almost to its end, took aim, and fired.

 

SPOOOOOSH!

 

“AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!” Naruto screamed, putting his hands up to block the unrelenting blast of water. Sasuke released the pressure off of the handle, and chuckled darkly as the rest of the boys erupted into barking laughter.

 

Naruto furiously wiped at his face, and glared at Sasuke with red-rimmed eyes.

 

“YOU BASTARD!” he bellowed, before taking a flying leap.

 

The force of Naruto's body slamming into his own caused Sasuke to topple over, and hit the ground hard. The blonde then began furiously pummeling every part of the Uchiha's body that he could reach with his clenched fists.

 

Sasuke was momentarily struck dumb by the open attack, and for a full five seconds did nothing. Then he realized what was happening, and began to hit back. The two rolled around for a while, punching any free area they could reach, while the other boys formed a circle around them, chanting in barbaric voices:

 

“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

 

Gaara, Neji, and Haku hung back and rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

 

“Shouldn't you two be in there separating them?” Haku noted, rubbing his temples, and glancing at Neji and Gaara.

 

“Are you nuts?” Neji said, crossing his arms.

 

“We'd get killed,” Gaara stated matter-of-factly, shrugging. “Best to just let them kill each other.”

 

“Ah,” Haku said, nodding. “Gotcha.”

 

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto were continuing their assaults on each other. When Naruto punched, Sasuke kicked. When Naruto kicked, Sasuke punched. Both were completely blinded by their animalistic fury, neither realizing how completely and utterly ridiculous they looked.

 

It was a fascinating sight, really. Two boys wearing hairnets and aprons rolling around on the ground, attempting to strangle each other.

 

This went on for some time, until someone reached down, grabbed both boys by the backs of their shirts, and hoisted them into the air. The hands then proceeded to knock the boys' heads together, before setting them down again.

 

“Oh, for GOD'S SAKE! You two are honestly the most RIDICULOUS sight I have seen in ALL MY LIFE!” Itachi shrieked, clenching his fists. Kisame had been the one to pick up the boys, and now the smaller sophomore was giving a full-out bitch-fest on their behavior. “I mean REALLY! We're here FIVE MINUTES and you're already trying to KILL EACH OTHER!”

 

“He started it!” Naruto protested vehemently, pointing at the younger Uchiha with one bruised finger. Sasuke stared at the blonde, before deciding not to grace him with a reply.

 

“I don't care WHO started it, Naruto,” Itachi snapped, giving the younger boy a full-blown Death Glare. “All I care about is the fact that we are in ENOUGH trouble as it is! Why do you have to go and make it worse? What if Ibiki had walked in on that little scuffle, hm? Or Iruka? What would he think of you then?” He paused for a moment to let the words sink in. Naruto blushed, and stared at his ratty sneakers.

 

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. But then Itachi turned on him.

 

“And YOU!” the sophomore cried, giving Sasuke the same look he had given Naruto. “For God's sake, Sasuke, why did you go along with it? I thought you were smarter than that!” Sasuke crossed his arms, and gave Itachi a defiant glare. The older boy scowled. “You'd better hope I don't call Dad.”

 

That did it. Sasuke broke his stare, and looked at the ground.

 

“As for the REST OF YOU!” Itachi growled, looking up at the crowd of boys who had gathered to watch the fight, and were now staring dumbly at the sight of a petite, red-faced 16-year-old guy give a speech that could rival most of their mothers'. “For SHAME! Standing there while these two attempt to MURDER each other? Get back to work! There's nothing else to see here! SHOO!”

 

The crowd quickly dispersed back to the sinks, all fearing to be the next target of Itachi rage.

 

Itachi, meanwhile, took several deep breaths, and tried to find his center. After calming the acrimony swirling through his system, he looked down at the two boys.

 

“You two should probably go back to the bunks before I kill you myself,” he said, his voice back to its usual monotonous drone.

 

“You can't tell me what to do!” Sasuke snapped, clenching his glove-covered hands into fists. A small twitch of irritation skirted over Itachi's face.

 

“You, know, Sasuke,” he said quietly. “My cell phone is the only one with service out here. I'm quite certain that Dad wouldn't want to be interrupted from work…”

 

Sasuke turned pink and said, “…Come on, Idiot, let's go.” He stripped off the gloves and hairnet, and hung his apron on a hook by the door. Naruto did the same, casting wary glances back at Itachi, who would from that point on be known as `Super Nova'. He scampered out the back door, fearing for his life.

 

 

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“Okay… what the fuck was THAT?” Neji hissed, looking back at Itachi again, before looking over at Gaara. The redhead shrugged, his eyes wide.

 

“I don't know,” he said, picking up another dish, and wiping it off. “But I'd really prefer for it to never happen again.”

 

“I'm with you on that…” Neji mumbled, his eyes shifting nervously from Itachi to the murky water in the sink, and back again. “Christ. Didn't know guys could PMS.”

 

Gaara choked.

 

Meanwhile, Shino was having a hard time getting Kiba to come back to life.

 

“Didn't Hinata look pretty today?” Kiba said, before sighing dreamily and completely out of character. He dropped another cup onto the counter, and smiled like someone with too much Benadryl in his system.

 

Shino shook his head morosely. Those filthy doxies had enslaved his friend's mind! What was he to do? Hey… was that a caterpillar on the window?

 

Deidara had gone back to his song, but now chose to hum it instead of sing it. Boy-howdy, but Itachi could be scary sometimes! While he was mulling this over, Sasori came and began drying the wet dishes that Deidara had already washed.

 

“What're you doing, yeah?” Deidara asked, looking over to Sasori.

 

“Pretending to be mopping. Shhh,” Sasori said, pressing one thin finger to his lips, before continuing to drag the cloth over the plates.

 

“Oh, okay, gotcha, yeah,” Deidara said, nodding, and just enjoying Sasori's presence.

 

 

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The Grounds

 

Sasuke walked beside Naruto for the entire way up to the cabin. The blonde was stewing, his cheeks puffed out in a sign of irritation. Sasuke jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, before turning them into fists.

 

“Why did you have to do that, huh?” he growled, glowering over at Naruto, who looked up, surprised to hear Sasuke speak. “What's your problem, exactly? Can't take what you dish out?”

 

“Wh-what?” he said, his blue eyes widening. “Are you KIDDING me? I didn't do ANYTHING! YOU were the one who had to go and be a bastard AS PER USUAL, and SPRAY me!” He turned slightly red in the face, sniffled, and snapped, “That water was REALLY hot, Sasuke! It hurt! Why did you do it? Why do you ALWAYS HAVE TO DO IT?” Then he turned on his heel, and stormed off the path towards the woods.

 

“What? Naruto! Come back!” Sasuke shouted, not completely sure why. “I didn't know the water was hot!” In truth, he really hadn't known how hot the water was. It had been a little warm, yes, but hot? Sasuke hadn't realized. “I'm sor… I'm… s… Oh, fuck it.” The blonde had already disappeared into the trees.

 

Wait… hadn't Ibiki said there were man-eating wolves in the forest, or something like that? Wasn't it probably dangerous for Naruto to go into the woods alone, especially on a day as dreary as this? It would be dark in a few hours… It was already almost three o'clock…

 

Sasuke bit his lip, and contemplated his options. No, best to let the boy blow off some steam. He'd be back… wouldn't he?

 

Making a firm decision to tell someone if Naruto wasn't back by sundown, Sasuke continued on into the barracks alone, feeling something familiar tugging at his gut. What was that feeling, again? Ah. Yes. Guilt.

 

He'd be back. He had to come back.

 

 

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The Chevy Citation drove up the gravel pathway slowly and loudly, stalling several times before coming to a complete stop. The driver's door was immediately opened, and a tall man with an odd hat stepped out and stretched. This man was known as Mr. Yamato. No one was sure if it was his first name, or his last name. He was just… Yamato. One word.

 

Like Madonna.

 

“Good GOD that was a long drive,” he said, cracking his back. He glanced around the camp, his eyes widening in surprise, and then confusion. “… Where is everybody?”

 

“Oh, I'm sure they're around,” said the man in the passenger seat. He forced his own door open, and stepped out onto the gravel, brushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. This man was none other than Yashamaru Kaze, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and Sasori Sabaku's uncle. Gasp. “The buses are right over there.” He pointed down the path, where, sure enough, the two long, yellow buses stood silently. Brooding. Plotting. Calculating.

 

“Come on, Sai,” Yamato said, before closing his door, and walking around to the trunk. The back door was pushed open, and a freshman slid out of the car, carrying a black bag, and wearing a dark jacket and darker jeans. His face bore the look of someone who would rather be swimming in an, and I quote, “algae-filled, disease-ridden puddle” then be where they were at that moment.

 

“Did you have to drag me along?” Sai grumbled, looking over at Yamato as though he were a sick cow.

 

“Yes,” Yamato said, rolling his eyes. “Now come over here and take your sleeping bag.”

 

Sai dutifully walked around to the back of the car and picked up his sleeping bag from the mess in the trunk. He happened to look up just in time to see a boy in a bright orange parka disappear into the forest, walking quite fast.

 

“What's he doing?” he said to himself, with a frown.

 

“Yashamaru, catch,” Yamato said, picking up a sleeping bag. Yashamaru turned, his eyes wide and his hands out in front.

 

“Yamato, don't-!”

 

But Yamato had already tossed the sleeping bag over the top of the car, in Yashamaru's direction. It slammed into the man, knocking him flat to the ground.

 

“…Ow…”

 

“Oh God, are you okay?” Yamato asked, running around the car to where Yashamaru had fallen.

 

“I told you not to throw it…” Yashamaru moaned, sitting up, and rubbing the back of his head, the sleeping bag sitting defiantly in his lap.

 

“Sorry,” Yamato said, grinning weakly. “I almost forgot… a flower has more strength than you…”

 

“Hey! That's not true!” Yashamaru protested, getting to his feet. “I'm stronger than most flowers! I mean, I'm no tulip, but I can shake a stick at most daisies!”

 

Yamato burst out laughing, the sudden sound drawing Sai away from his musings.

 

“Can we go, now?” he asked, blinking owlishly.

 

“How about,” Yamato said, “you and Yashamaru stay here and watch the car. I'll go find Ibiki.”

 

“Fine by me,” Yashamaru said, leaning against the front end of the Citation, and shrugging. Sai frowned.

 

“Whatever.”

 

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Sasuke paced back and forth across the long hallway, his thoughts blurring, and the words coming from his mouth making no sense.

 

“He's gonna get lost out there and die or get eaten by wolves or get bitten by a rabid mouse or…”

 

And so on and so forth.

 

He bit his lip, and looked at his watch. It was 3:05. The others would be getting back soon. What would he tell them when Naruto was still missing? He hadn't thought of that…

 

“Oh… shit…” he hissed, before grabbing his jacket, and hurrying down the stairs and out the door. He'd have to do it himself.

“Stupid bastard,” Naruto choked out, pushing the numerous branches out of his path as he walked. “I'll show him a thing or two about water!” He sniffed, rubbed his eyes, and kept walking.

 

Boy, it was sure getting cold…

 

“That was just too typical,” he continued, ducking past a stump, and stepping over a bush. “Sasuke-bastard got his way again.” He then continued in a high falsetto, “'Oh, Naruto, this is all YOUR fault, I HATE you, I've always HATED you, I don't LIKE YOU like you LIKE ME!'”

 

He gasped, and clasped a hand over his mouth. No one was supposed to know about that, and he'd said it quite loudly. He continued walking, slightly red in the face.

 

Sasuke just didn't seem to get it. Stupid bastard… maybe if he took his head out of his ass for one measly minute, he'd see how much Naruto didn't hate him. Not exactly, anyway.

 

He continued his tromp for several more minutes before stopping.

 

“What am I doing?” he asked the air. “This isn't going to get back at Sasuke! It's cold and ucky and there's a bunch of bugs!” He swatted two mosquitoes as he said this. “I need to go back and put a frog in his pillow! That'll just PROVE how much I don't hate him! Right?” He looked around. “Oh, alone, that's right.”

 

He turned, and started to walk back to camp. After walking for quite a while, he paused.

 

“I should have made it back by now…” he murmured, looking around, and beginning to feel a cold ball of fear form in his stomach. “M-Maybe I'm just going the wrong way…” He turned, and went in a different direction for a few minutes. When this brought him similar results, he looked around. Nothing seemed familiar. He bit his lip, and looked up at the sky. Nothing but dark gray clouds. It was going on four o'clock… the sun would set soon… then it would be-

 

“I'll just keep walking,” he said, his voice cracking, and his hands clenching. “No problem! Just keep walking! Heh heh… heh…”

 

As much as he desperately tried to deny it, Naruto knew deep down exactly what he was.

 

He was lost.

 

 

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Kat: -collapses- Eight pages… and only three thousand words… WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS?

 

Sai: Penis.

 

Kat: I… what?

 

Karene: … I like this boy!

 

Sai: -grin-

 

Kat: … Okay… -whispers- Get me out of here…!