Rock Bottom - A Team 7 Story [Completed]

Chapter 18 - Naruto's Gonna be Rich

"Kurama got us arrested on the first day dattebayo!"   

The day before the final stage of the Chunin Exam, Team 7 and Kurama decided to meet at Ichiraku's for a progress report.

"Shut up gaki. How was I supposed to know they would find us?"

"We've already gone over this dattebayo! I'm not repeating myself." Sakura and Sasuke watched their teammate argue with Kurama, the several bowls of ramen in front of him forgotten. "You even said my speed and strength training was evading all the ANBU that came after us! You lazy fox you did nothing 'ttebayo!" Kurama ignored his jinchuuriki and turned to his teammates.

"Naruto mastered the bijuu bomb,"

"Did Temari do anything?"

"Temari was just there. And then she ditched us when the ANBU came!" Naruto glared half-heartedly at the table. "So how was your training?"

"Hn. Better than yours that's for sure. Kankuro and I broke into the Uchiha Compound to get scrolls on the Sharingan. We technically didn't get caught..." Sasuke trailed off thoughtfully. Sakura and Naruto leaned closer, motioning for him to continue. "But Kankuro...that blubbering elephant set off every single alarm in the compound. It was a miracle they didn't find us, but now they're searching every square inch of Konoha for those scrolls."

"So where are you keeping them 'ttebayo?" Sasuke blushed and looked down, he opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Sakura.

"Okay, ew. Don't say it Sasuke!"

"What do you mean Sakura-chan?"

"You don't want to know Naruto." The pinkette leaned back in her chair, "Anyway, Shukaku and Gaara helped me with my Kekkei Genkai, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu. Gaara even got me a book on medical Ninjutsu!"

The corners of Sasuke's lips twitched upwards when he saw Sakura turn pink as she mentioned the redhead's name. And apparently, Naruto noticed it too.

"Tell me more about Gaara, Sakura. What's he like 'ttebayo?" The blonde smirked cheekily. Sakura's cheeks flushed.

"I don't know what you're asking. I mean, he's nice I guess." Then the kunoichi smirked playfully. "What about you and Sasuke? Are you seriously asking me about Gaara when you're laying on Sasuke's shoulder like that?" Kurama decided to butt in.

    "Oi pinky! Stop picking on my jinchuuriki!"

"What? They started it." Sakura pouted. "And what are you gonna do about it?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? I am the mighty Kyuubi no Yoko! The most powerful of the tailed beasts!"

"You didn't answer my question." Sasuke's eye twitched as he watched his friend argue with the nine tails.

"Shut up, both of you." The two instantly stopped arguing and looked at the ex-Uchiha. "Sakura, tell us more about your Kekkei Genkai." Sakura nodded and began,

"Shukaku said it allows you to change the shape of anything while keeping the 'structural integrity of the original object intact'." Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Does that mean you can make ramen shurikens 'ttebayo?" The blonde held up a single ramen noodle. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I can, that doesn't mean I will." Naruto pouted, dropping the noodle back into his bowl with a plop.

.

.

.

    Team 7 finished up their ramen and exited Ichiraku's, only to be stopped by Kiba and his entourage, aka the rest of their former classmates."Look! It's the failures! You ready to get you asses whipped tomorrow? I'll make sure to record the entire thing!" The Inuzuka laughed.

    "You better record it dattebayo! Use it for reference, your ninjutsu stinks worse than your dog." Sakura sighed exasperatedly at Naruto's lame comeback. She didn't know why he was getting so worked up over these losers.

    "Save it Naruto, we need to plan for tomorrow since we're going to be fighting the Sannin." Sasuke said as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, guiding him away from the mob of idiots trying to egg them on.

    "Yeah! Run away like the pansies you are!" That's when Sakura snapped. She turned around to face the arrogant shinobi.

    "Shut the fuck up Kiba."

    "What're you gonna do about it? Kiss me to death?" Did he just steal Kankuro's lame pick up line? Naruto felt something flare in his chest nonetheless, and if Sasuke wasn't holding him back he would've already beat the life out of Kiba. But what Sakura did next made him laugh out loud. His teammate smiled in an overly cheerful way.

    "You can kiss my fist!" As soon as those words left her lips she raised a clenched hand and sucker punched Kiba. He stumbled back, clearly not expecting Sakura to get violent. But as soon as he regained his bearings, he glared at the pinkette.

    "Now you're really asking for it. You, me, right here, right now. And let's make a wager. If you win I'll leave you and your little friends alone. If I win, you become my girlfriend."

    "Hell no! Sakura! Beat his ass!" Everyone turned to the source of the voice. It was Gaara, who had happened to overhear their conversation. When he realized all eyes were on him he flushed slightly and turned away.

    Kiba snorted and turned back to Sakura with a smirk. "Do we have a deal. Unless of course, you're too scared."

    "Don't do it Sakura-chan 'ttebayo! He's not worth it!"

    "The Dobe is right, we have to rest up for tomorrow anyway." Sakura turned to her teammates with a grin.

    "Don't worry, this will only take 20 minutes at most!"

.

.

.

    Sasuke internally laughed when he saw Naruto making bets. The fight hadn't even started yet, and it was attracting a huge crowd. Most people naturally bet on Kiba, but then again, nobody other than him, Naruto, and Orochimaru had ever seen her fight.

    Kiba looked antsy, he was obviously excited for this fight. Sakura, on the other hand, looked bored. She clearly didn't want to be there. When Neji Hyuuga began the countdown, she sighed and got into a lazy stance.

    "Begin!" Kiba instantly charged at her, with Akamaru following close behind. Sakura noted that his attack style hadn't changed one bit from their academy days. Kiba was still slow and sloppy. Sakura gracefully evaded all of his punches, deciding to play with him a bit.

    "You're gonna have to do better than that. Don't tell me you're tired already?" The pinkette smirked as she saw the Inuzuka heir growl. And she nearly let out a snort when he bared his teeth.

    "Sakura, stop messing around, we need to go," Sasuke said from the sidelines. The pinkette rolled her eyes.

    "Hai," The next time Kiba threw a punch, Sakura grabbed his outstretched fist and flung him over her shoulder and into a tree. The impact knocked Kiba out and collapsed into a heap by the base of the tree.

    Akamaru whimpered and ran to his master, completely forgetting about Sakura. Said kunoichi turned to the silent crowd before smirking at an equally shocked Neji. "Remember to hold up your end of the deal."

And with that, she started walking home, with Sasuke following close behind her. Naruto, on the other hand, was busy collecting the money he won.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme! If you don't wait for me I won't share my money with you!"

_______________________________________________

Dang, my fighting scenes need a lot of work.. I'll try to make them better and more detailed :)

_izoy_