Konoha's Dream Team

Chapter 14

Life was pretty good for Naruto. Granted, Kakashi putting them in the Nijuu Shoutai had pissed him off a little. While it would be awesome to go fighting Akatsuki, there was still the fact that they couldn't do missions because they were on stand-by...

So, naturally, Naruto spent most of that time either sparring with Sasuke, Hinata, or Kakashi, or overseeing Konohamaru's training. Unfortunately, that became boring quickly...

But all-in-all, life was good. Since he came back from his training trip, he had noticed that he received considerably less angry stares from the villagers. Some of the shopkeepers even greeted him now, which was cool. And Kurama wasn't as much of a dick as he used to be. And Naruto had still managed to avoid catching the gay from Sasuke.

While he knew that homosexuality wasn't contagious, he loved how annoyed Sasuke got when Naruto claimed that it was.

"Well, well," Naruto heard, making him look over his shoulder to see Team Ten approaching, minus Chouji. It was Shikamaru who had spoken, smirking at him. "Heard you also got signed up for that troublesome Nijuu Shoutai thing."

"Yeah," Naruto said, nodding in greeting to Ino, who smiled at him. "You too?"

"Yeah, Asuma-sensei signed us up," Ino said. "Chouji and I are in Ninth Platoon with Raidou-senpai and Aoba-senpai, and Shikamaru is in Fourth with Asuma-sensei, Izumo-senpai, and Kotetsu-senpai."

"Wow, you're not one team?" Naruto asked in surprise. "Why not? Don't you work best with each other?"

"That's right, you've been away," Ino said in realization. "Team Ten has been split up for a whole bunch of missions, and most often we've been paired up with others. Chouji and I work better with Raidou and Aoba than Izumo and Kotetsu do, so we've been swapped."

"Cool. So, you guys looking forward to kicking some Akatsuki ass?" Naruto asked with a grin, which made Shikamaru scoff, while Ino looked a bit hesitant.

"Get real," Shikamaru muttered as he reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Personally, I'm hoping you and your dream team end up saddled with that responsibility. I don't really like getting my ass kicked, even if I do a bit of kicking on my own."

"Yeah, I don't feel entirely comfortable at the thought of fighting guys like that..." Ino muttered in embarrassment. "I'm just not as strong as you and your teammates..."

"Yeah, Ino's greatest weapon is her harpy scream, but I don't figure it'd do too much against the Akatsukyeowch!" Shikamaru yelped in pain as he was smashed into the ground by Ino's fist of righteous fury.

"Shut up, Shikamaru!"

"Geez, that's what I get for agreeing with my teammate..." Shikamaru muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. "So, anyway, Naruto, what are you up to?"

"Trying to get rid of my restlessness," Naruto answered with a frown. "Because of this Nijuu Shoutai thing, we're on stand-by, so we can't go on missions. Hell, I can't even leave the village. And sparring with the team isn't as fun and refreshing as it used to be."

"Maybe you need to spar with some new blood," Shikamaru mused, which made Naruto grin at him.

"Are you volunteering, Shikamaru?"

"I'm not stupid," Shikamaru muttered. "I'd get killed within five minutes."

"I think you're underestimating your tactical skills," Naruto said, before looking over Shikamaru with a pondering look on his face. "But you do look kinda fragile. I guess it's for the best."

"So, you've got nothing to do, then?" Ino asked suddenly, smiling brightly. "Nothing planned?"

"No?"

"Good. Would you like to go get a bite to eat with me?"