Team 8

Chapter 14: Preliminary Mayhem

Naruto scowled as both teams gathered themselves after the battle. Everyone looked like they'd been beaten with a stick. A large, dirty stick. The dark marks on Sasuke's skin had faded away, but the boy still seemed a little... off... to Naruto.

Kiba groaned and rolled onto his side before vomiting. Naruto wrinkled his nose at the smell. Akamaru whined piteously as he circled his partner. Shino was only just beginning to sit up, and Sakura was clinging to the Uchiha like a terrified barnacle.

"Crap," Naruto muttered and went back to the cave, looking for his backpack. He pulled out his partially depleted first aid kit, wondering where all his spare kunai had gone. When he emerged from the cave, Shino was shakily climbing to his feet with Hinata's assistance.

They'd tended the worst of their wounds when Kiba, his equilibrium finally restored, looked around and frowned at the scroll the sound team had left behind. "That looks like an Earth scroll," he said as he slowly climbed to his feet and spat. "We got a Heaven scroll, so we could use this," he said carefully. "What about you guys?"

"Looks like you got lucky then," Naruto replied glibly. "Good thing, too, because I don't think your team could handle the Konohamaru Corps right now."

Kiba whirled around, instantly furious. Naruto noticed that nothing set off the Inuzuka faster than an insult to his 'pack'. "You want me to 'handle' your loser butt, Uzumaki?" the larger boy snarled.

"You'd have to catch me!" Naruto shot back with a cheeky grin and dived into the underbrush.

OoOoO

Hinata was more than a little perturbed with her teammate. Sure, it was nice that he was bouncing back so quickly from his ordeal, but this wasn't really the place or time for him to revert to his academy behavior. She wondered for a moment if he'd been struck on the head during either of the last two battles.

Shino-kun let out a quiet sigh as Kiba chased Naruto out of the clearing. She was tempted to activate her eyes to track them, but her head ached abominably, so she refrained since they were still within earshot.

Not that it was hard to do – they were making a lot of noise out there. Evidently a full-blown wrestling match had ensued.

"Can't you control him?" Shino and Sakura both said simultaneously. Both of them looked sharply at each other and Sasuke muttered something that sounded like "Idiots!" under his breath.

After a couple of minutes, a somewhat rumpled-looking Naruto was hurled back into the clearing. He shot to his feet as Kiba stalked toward him. The Inuzuka, however, was intercepted by a pink-haired kunoichi that had evidently had enough of his foolishness. She let him know this verbally and by grabbing his ear and yanking it hard enough to turn him around.

Akamaru whined in sympathy as he trotted along behind his humbled partner.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kiba, but refrained from further childishness when Hinata grasped his forearm. Shino didn't say or do anything, but his irritation was a palpable weight in the air.

However, the Aburame didn't make a habit of voicing his displeasure in front of others. It wasn't until Team Seven had made their goodbyes and left for the tower that he spoke.

"Your pupils are not dilated, and I do not recall our opponent utilizing any psychotropic chemical attacks, so I would appreciate an explanation of your behavior," Shino said, his frustration showing in how he bit off the words.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "The scrolls?"

"Yes. The scrolls," Shino replied. "I presume there is some reason you wanted Team Seven to think we had an Earth Scroll?"