Women's Lib 1/5

[AngelOfDeath]

Hm. This is rather difficult for me to explain, but rather important as well. You see, I have neither seen nor read Naruto. All I have seen is most of the easily found Sasuke/Sakura fanart, and that doesn?t exactly make me an expert. So I asked someone who was (so far as I?m concerned) a few questions about personalities and general physical characteristics, and this is what pops out of my head just for them (but you all get it too). I mean, there ought to be more SasuSaku out there. I never watched/read any Naruto and I still feel pretty strongly about that. Heh.

The other thing I feel I should mention is that my limited knowledge of the 1970s Japanese women?s liberation movement comes from only a very few sources but I tried to be somewhat accurate even so. Not much out there in English really, and I didn?t have all that many books at my fingertips. Mostly I was just remembering details from Ripples of Change, (a film from the organization Women Make Movies?google it if you?re interested) which I recommend if you are lucky enough to be near a library that carries it. My knowledge of auto mechanics, however, is absolutely non existent. I sidestepped that just a little. Sorry.

So, enjoy! This was an interesting exercise considering I mainly just stay in the Gundam Wing and Rurouni Kenshin fic realms. (I still love you most Enishi!)

Disclaimer: I don?t own Naruto! Don?t sue me I?m ever so poor!


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It was the second set of furious poundings that finally seemed to lure a very unimpressed looking Sasuke to the door. Naruto wished his friend was more inclined towards receiving visitors, rather then pretending he wasn?t home which appeared to be his favorite game (if one judged preference on the basis of frequency of occurrence). The brown bag at Naruto?s feet rustled as he nudged it with a toe somewhat ruefully. It didn?t exactly hold good news for either of them.

?. . .? The door cracked open and a sliver of Sasuke?s face was illuminated by the afternoon light. Naruto?s face beamed at him and with a small sigh Sasuke opened the door. ?Yes??

Naruto, bag clutched to his chest, tried to think of the best way to present the proposition to his friend. Not that they had much choice. Kakashi had been terribly explicit with the mission parameters. If they were going to be apprenticed to the greatest auto mechanic in the whole of western Japan, then Naruto wished they would talk more about cars and less about women. The pinups everywhere in the shop were a constant distraction (to Kakashi) and sometimes when he was instructing them he would get this look on his face. . . but Naruto had faith that someday they too would reach the level their teacher was at despite their sporadic lessons. Both he and Sasuke had proven to be naturals. Unfortunately, this mission would not utilize any of those skills. Honestly Naruto wondered exactly what sort of skills this actually was exercising.

?Kakashi gave me some very specific instructions for the two of us, and he even bought us the materials we need.? The bag protested a squeeze with ominous crinkling. ?You see, we need to infiltrate a possible source of information. Just a fact finding mission, he said, and then he laughed a lot.?

Sasuke didn?t invite Naruto in so much as Naruto pushed forward with the bag held out like a shield. After a grunt of annoyance, Sasuke closed the door and stood with crossed arms in the entranceway and waited for Naruto to finish talking and leave. Naruto cleared his throat and gave his biggest smile. From the bag he pulled out a long black wig. A woman?s wig. Sasuke?s brain clicked into high gear: needed materials, infiltrate, woman?s hair.

?No.?

Naruto hadn?t even finished taking the wig from the bag. ?But we have to!? His lip folded out in a pout. In some strange way, he thought it might even be fun. Too bad the dark haired man didn?t quite see it the same way. Sasuke stalked back into the apartment, leaving Naruto holding a wig and looking into the darkness at Sasuke?s retreating back.

?I don?t have to do anything.?

?Kakashi said that if we didn?t do it, and bring back proof then obviously we weren?t taking our apprenticeship seriously.? He called into the gloom. There was a long moment of silence in which Naruto twitched and shifted from one foot to the other.

What if Sasuke refused to do it? Then Naruto would be all alone and it certainly wouldn?t be as fun at work. Not that Sasuke really added much to the atmosphere. He rarely talked, and most of the time he was obsessively drilling himself on engine sounds or reading magazines to keep up with current innovations. But it was still like having a partner, a companion, who understood what you were going through. Naruto didn?t want to lose this friend before they even got to spend any quality time together. The frown came unnaturally to the cheerful young man who normally was incapable of defeatist thinking. When the silence was nearly unbearable and Naruto had turned around to let himself out, Sasuke came stomping back over from a back room. He thrust a defiant hand into the bag and pulled out the wig.

?When and where??

Naruto beamed at him, glad he was cooperating with their teacher and sticking with the program.

?Wouldn?t you rather hear what??


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?I think you know I?ll have to kill you after this.?

Naruto laughed and threw a friendly arm around Sasuke?s shoulder, ignoring the coldness of the statement or indeed the way his body stiffened at the unasked for contact. In the bobbed wig, Naruto didn?t look much different, even if the frilly white blouse and the bellbottom pants seemed to be a bit overboard. Kakashi must have had fun picking out the clothes, and contrary to all logic, Naruto didn?t seem to be particularly disturbed by the costume. Then again, at least he had gotten to wear pants of some sort. Sasuke hadn?t been so lucky.

?I?m sure Kakashi choose these clothes for a reason. Besides, I think that there are worse colors than purple. Don?t look so angry, you?ll attract attention to us. . . oh! Look! There?s a ramen shop across the street. I think some dinner later would be nice.? Unconsciously, Naruto slipped into a girlish pose and twirled hair about one finger. Sasuke tried not to let himself gag on his irritation.

?Let?s just get this over with.?

Sasuke brooded about the whole nature of this so called mission and decided that it was a true and total waste of his time. If it weren?t for that fact that he felt obligated to stay in the garage, then he wouldn?t have given a second thought to walking out. Naruto could take care of himself. It was rather stupid that the best up and coming mechanics in the city were cross-dressing to get into a woman?s liberation movement rally. When Naruto had pulled out the flyer, at first Sasuke was more than a little surprised.

Why would Kakashi send them someplace to look at women who probably could barely be called women? And he had ordered them to take pictures no less ?to make sure they had gone? but really so he could have pictures of lots of young girls. Pitiful. Why couldn?t the lecher do his own dirty work? And of all things why was it that he, Sasuke, had to wear the skirt and long wig while Naruto pranced around with hardly any disguise at all?

He was much prettier.

Oh god, did he just think that? They needed to get in and out as fast as possible before they were tainted any more by all this feminine nonsense. Or worse, they could be cornered and be forced to talk about children or cooking or whatever it was women spent their time thinking about. If it didn?t have an engine, he didn?t really care. This contributed nothing to his life?s goal.

After they entered and sat down, Naruto struck up a conversation with the woman next to them, much to Sasuke?s displeasure. Instead, he ignored the two of them chatting and fiddled with the camera to make sure the pictures would come out right. It was a cheap finicky thing that made this odd clicking noise long after it should have taken the picture. If this ruined all of the supposed evidence then there would be hell to pay.

?. . . but when she put it like that, I couldn?t really refuse her.? The girl?s voice carried a lilt to it that betrayed some nervousness. Naruto?s fake hair bounced as he nodded.

?We saw a flyer.? Naruto had better keep that loose tongue of his under control. Getting mobbed by a gaggle of angry women did not seem like the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Somehow Sasuke figured that women?s lib girls would be some of the least forgiving of this sort of ?mission.?

?Yeah, that would be Ino?s doing. She was very adamant that we advertise. She?s one of the speakers. The one with the long hair and the, um, tight pants.? The girl seemed to flinch slightly as she pointed out her friend. ?I?ve known her for just about ever it seems like, and I don?t think she?ll ever change. Where are you from??

Naruto seemed to pause a little too long and Sasuke realized that they didn?t have any story to give! How positively idiotic of him not to prepare a statement, especially when he was with someone as talkative as Naruto. At least some names. Naruto?s eyes were lighting up just now and Sasuke knew he was just going to ram his foot into his mouth. Best to nip this as quickly as possible.

?We?re visiting from the country. Small village, you won?t have heard of it. Staying with a cousin.?

The girl leaned forward in her seat to see the source of the curt explanatory voice. Sasuke looked up from his camera and into her green eyes giving nothing away with his own glance besides low level hostility. Her long hair was tied into a bun at the back of her head, and as she tried to catch his eye once more he focused back down at his lap and the camera.

?But Sa. . .? Naruto began.

?Sana. I?m Sana Uchiha, and this is my sister Haruko.? Sasuke interrupted before he gave them away. As it was he was trying to lighten the pitch of his voice without letting it crack.

The girl leaned forward some more and tried to make sense of the odd tension that was practically coming off in waves from her neighbors. ?I?m Sakura Haruno and it?s a pleasure to meet you both. If you need someone to help show you around I?d be glad to. I mean, these things are all about solidarity right? If we don?t take care of one another then who will??

Gag me. Sasuke chose not to express his thought aloud, even as he saw out of the corner of his eye the way Naruto was getting a certain starry eyed look. Extend a kind word or two to the boy and he?d just fall all over himself to be your friend. Sasuke hoped this Sakura person had an idea of what she was getting herself into.

?I agree with you entirely, erm. . .?

?Oh call me Sakura, we?re all friends here right? They are always talking about how formality is just another barrier to keep us from becoming individuals to one another.? She rolled her eyes a bit at that. Obviously she had heard a lot of things these days, not all of which she had bought into quite yet.

?And you have to call me Na. . Haruko!? Just a little slip, maybe only Sasuke noticed it, with luck. The stomp on the boy?s foot had been well timed. Maybe the pain would remind him to keep his story straight.

Just as Sasuke had finished fiddling with the camera the lady who Sakura had identified as Ino stepped up to the microphone and the hall quieted down as the feedback forced many of them to clap their hands to their ears in pain. Once the technician had adjusted it and handed it back to Ino, she tossed back some of her hair with a confident swipe and began to speak.

?Welcome fellow activists. I?m glad so many of you turned up tonight for this, for with every new face I see I know that our message is spreading that much further. . .?

Sasuke tuned out about right there and for the first half hour fixated instead upon the world inside of his mind where he was taking apart an engine and cleaning every piece of it before reinserting the parts. When he lost focus on that, he instead tried to imagine the modifications he was going to do the next day on a special order that Kakashi had entrusted to he and Naruto. Then the Naruto in his mind brought him to the Naruto sitting next to him. Damn. He tuned in long enough to hear something about ?not being a second class citizen? before he decided to scout for suitable picture subjects for Kakashi. If the pictures weren?t acceptable there was the possibility of a couple outcomes: either Kakashi would give up on the whole prospect, or else their lecherous mentor would force them on some other insultingly awful mission.

Might as well do things right if he was going to do this. Sasuke looked around at the women, many of whom were nodding at the angry words spouting forth from the woman on the podium who Sasuke didn?t remember seeing up there before but who seemed very adamant about whatever she was saying. Many were acceptable, and had that fresh college look that Kakashi was probably seeking but which only made Sasuke sneer at their innocence. The plight of women didn?t bother him too much. Most likely none of them had felt the prejudice that he had and you didn?t see him up there on a podium complaining to the world. No, he was solving it without anyone else?s help.

He forced his fists to unclench as the tension slowly eased back. It was best to shove the memories away. Now was not the time for that. As he swept his eyes over the room again, his glare passed by a yawning Naruto and instead focused in on the girl they had just met, Sakura. For a long moment he paused. Some hair had fallen from her bun and she was maintaining polite attention to the speaker, softly nodding and making the tendrils sway. It wasn?t enthusiastic attention, but she wasn?t near sleep like Naruto. There was just something so clear about the way her green eyes held to the stage. The hairs fell around her face, softening the lines, and it was only natural to follow the strands down her body from her chest to her skirt and those rather nice legs that were crossed with one foot gently bouncing a shoe off the end of one toe. . .

Sasuke halted himself in shock. Obviously Kakashi was influencing him in terrible and unforeseen ways. He had just checked a girl out. There were prettier girls he had met, more captivating conversationalists, and even a mechanically inclined one every once in a while but none of them had ever spawned such a thorough evaluation. Usually if he remembered their name it was a banner day as his antisocial nature was legendary. He couldn?t put his finger on it, but this girl was different somehow. Rather than making him want to know her better, this simply made him want to get as far away as possible.

The last speaker must have finished because all the women rose up with a cheer. Naruto, startled from his sleep, easily jumped up and caught the excitement even if he had no idea what he was cheering about. Sasuke watched women turn to one another and start animatedly talking while they filed out and he began to take pictures somewhat frantically, simply trying to capture what he could on film. He heard Naruto and the Sakura girl speaking to one another behind him.

?It was so powerful. I mean, I?m sure most of the women here at one time or another have gone through something like that. It?s painful to think that you have all of this personal power and agency but all that men will see you as is someone to pour the tea.? She didn?t sound angry like some of the other women, just annoyed. ?I?m actually glad Ino dragged me here. It?s good for women to hear that they are powerful too and deserve respect for their skills.?

?Yeah.? Naruto looked skeptical. He scanned his mind for anything he had ever done to a girl to make her feel bad and automatically massive guilt set in. Suddenly he felt very male and very culpable. Suddenly apologizing to his new friend probably wouldn?t make any sense. ?We should do something about it!? He said it with an emphatic jump, fist raised to the ceiling.

Sakura laughed. ?Well, if you?re going to be in town for a while longer you could always come to the retreat. I know it would be going back to the country again, but it?s going on a couple days next week and actually I wouldn?t mind some company besides Ino. I don?t want to go alone, really, and this is all new to me too.?

If Sasuke had been paying closer attention he would have halted this dangerous conversation before Naruto and his helpful ways got them into even more trouble. As it was, Sasuke was pushing forward trying to take pictures and make a hasty retreat from the hall. ?Of course we?ll go!? Naruto cried, grabbing Sakura?s hands and swinging them a bit in a playful manner. It had been ages since he had been invited anywhere and a retreat sounded like fun. What a lucky day to make a new friend and to get invited to something fun like camping. ?Just tell me when and where, and we?ll be there!?

From the purse slung on her shoulder Sakura took out a pen and found a scrap of paper to write down some more details. While she looked inside her large bag, Naruto located Sasuke with a wave and the young man bore down on them with a firm scowl.

?What is taking you so long? Let?s get out of here.?

?Did you take all the pictures??

?Enough of them. Now we leave.?

?Can you take one of me and Sakura?? Naruto posed with a smile as Sakura looked up in surprise just as the flash went off.

?There, now let?s go.?

Sakura wrote down some information quickly and handed the scrap of paper to a delighted looking Naruto. ?I put my number down just in case you have any doubts about what to bring. Just bring a few snacks and some sleeping bags, you know, that sort of thing, or so Ino led me to believe. I?m so glad there will be at least one friendly face there. I put the date, time, and meeting spot for the bus.?

?You can count on us! Bye Sakura!? Naruto waved as he was nearly dragged away by Sasuke.

?Bye Haruko, Sana!?

After they had gotten a safe distance away from the building, Sasuke considered removing his wig, but then that would mean he would just be a man in a dress. Disgruntled, he decided maybe the wig was fine where it was for now. With the mission finished and the pressure gone, Sasuke felt as if a great weight had been released from him. The sooner he got home and changed the better. Naruto still looked disgustingly pleased with himself, and he kept looking at the piece of paper Sakura had given him and singing a little song to himself. It was better not to ask, Sasuke found himself more annoyed than anything. The less he thought of Sakura the better. She had disturbed his thoughts enough for a lifetime.

?Do you have a tent, Sasuke??

?What??

?I said, do you have a tent? I have a sleeping bag and a backpack but I don?t think I have a tent.? There was an almost unusual bounce to his step. Sasuke suddenly felt very wary. What exactly had Naruto and Sakura been talking about?

?No.?

?That?s too bad. Do you think Kakashi would have one??

Sasuke was silent. A slow cold feeling of dread was spreading through his body as if his heart had somehow frozen over. Somehow, Sasuke was sure that piece of paper held his death sentence.

?. . . then again, maybe I won?t even need one. I could sleep under the stars. It?s such nice weather in summer. . .?

Naruto started humming again and didn?t say any more on the way back to Sasuke?s house to change. Even though curious, Sasuke didn?t question his companion. It was none of his business, and Naruto would probably forget whatever it was Sakura had said to him soon enough. While Sasuke was right enough about Naruto?s careless manner, he was wrong about the nature of the boy?s memory. This was one thing he wasn?t going to forget anytime soon. What was probably even more unfortunate about Sasuke?s calculation was that while he himself refused to care about what other people did, Kakashi was a different person altogether in that regard. . . .


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Kakashi was not late today to work. For today Sasuke said he would bring in the film he had had developed and that was not to be missed. All those pretty little college girls all excited and sweaty from being at a rally. . . he truly envied his young pupils. If he had been a little younger or even a little prettier then perhaps he could have gone himself, but he also knew he would have given himself away promptly while enraptured with all the young beauty before him.

Once Sasuke came in and plopped the packet of pictures onto the workbench, both Naruto and Kakashi descended on it while the dark boy simply walked away to inspect a wrench he had been thinking of replacing. It just wasn?t catching the sides of the bolts like it used to. Darn shame. He?d had it for years. Oh well, he had no use for tools that didn?t work. Sasuke?s important thoughts were intruded upon by the admiring sighs of Kakashi and the gleeful yelp from Naruto as he found what he was looking for.

?Look! It?s Sakura! Awww. Her eyes closed. Sasuke, why couldn?t you take a better picture of us??

Kakashi, who resented one of his precious pictures being swiped, zeroed in on the pretty subject of Naruto?s keen interest. ?And who is this Sakura??

?She?s my new friend. I?m going camping with her next Monday. Oh yeah, can I have next Monday through Wednesday off??

The clatter of metal echoed in the shop and Naruto and Kakashi looked at Sasuke who bent down quickly to retrieve his fallen wrench with stiff hands. There was no way he had heard what he thought he had heard. Naruto simply could not do something like that with Sakura.

Kakashi was a little faster with a line of questioning. ?Pray tell, does this pretty young lady realize that you are, in fact, a boy??

At that new realization, Naruto?s face clouded in sadness. Apparently, this fact had not quite made it in with all the rest of the things he had been considering. ?No. I guess she and the other girls wouldn?t understand, would they??

?Other girls?? Kakashi sat Naruto down on the bench and smiled in an odd manner.

?Oh yeah, they are having some big women?s thing or something. Sakura said it was a retreat. She also said that she didn?t have any friends going, and I can?t abandon her! It wouldn?t be right after I promised we?d go and all.?

The clatter of metal happened again. This time an angry voice followed it. ?What do you mean ?we???

Kakashi looked delighted, already his mind was spinning with visions of girls in nightgowns and maybe, if he was really lucky, of girls swimming or whatever it was they did at their retreats. It had to be worth taking pictures of, if the bevy of beauties in these photos were any indication. Sasuke looked about ready to burst, but Kakashi knew that this would be a good change for his uptight pupil to get his mind off of cars and onto something recreational for once. Without leisure time, it was only a matter of time until he cracked. It was good to be single-minded about what you wanted, but even Naruto had a better grasp on living a normal life than Sasuke did. Kakashi had seen too many people burn out on the path Sasuke was taking. Just because he also happened to benefit from the mission was an added bonus. He giggled to himself as he imagined what the retreat might hold.

?This is fabulous! Naruto, you have done even better on this mission than Sasuke! You bring tears of joy to my eyes.?

Sasuke had turned his evil eye away from a cringing Naruto already and barely gave Kakashi a second glance. No way. Naruto could take care of this himself. It was his mess.

?I have another mission for both of you.?

Sasuke ground his teeth together as he heard the words and began to loudly strip paint from the side of a car. Maybe if he didn?t hear it he wouldn?t have to do it. It was illogical, but he had no defenses against the inevitable.

::brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:: ?. . . opportunity you can?t. . .? ::brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuruuurur:: ?. . . nothing would be. . .? ::brrrrrrrrrr:: ?. . . if only I . . .? ::brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:: ?. . . and that goes doubly for you too Uchiha!?

[bookworm]

Oh! That was nice! Very nice. Can't wait to read more!!!

[csmlee]

Sorry about the late review. I just couldn't find the time to review your fic over the past few days even though I've actually read the entire thing already.

So... first off... *flying tackle glomp* You're finally here! I'm so glad you've finished this fic. I've been waiting for it all summer!

The pinups everywhere in the shop were a constant distraction (to Kakashi) and sometimes when he was instructing them he would get this look on his face.

Kakashi no hentai!!! I can actually see him giggling that ecchi way when he glances at the pin-ups every now and then.

Then again, at least he had gotten to wear pants of some sort. Sasuke hadn?t been so lucky.

*tries to imagine Sasuke in a dress... and dies laughing*

Extend a kind word or two to the boy and he?d just fall all over himself to be your friend.

Naruto is such an adorable kid! *huggles him*

All those pretty little college girls all excited and sweaty from being at a rally. . . he truly envied his young pupils. If he had been a little younger or even a little prettier then perhaps he could have gone himself,

Yeah, Kakashi and his hair doesn't quite work, ne? *grins*

Sasuke ground his teeth together as he heard the words and began to loudly strip paint from the side of a car. Maybe if he didn?t hear it he wouldn?t have to do it. It was illogical, but he had no defenses against the inevitable.

*snickers* Yeah, keep lying to yourself... *snickers more*

Ecchi Kakashi sending naive Naruto and stoic Sasuke to spy and take pictures of young college girls for him. I'm loving every minute of this. *grins* And as I've told you before, if you didn't tell anyone that you've never watched Naruto, I bet no one can figure that out. ^__^

So... the retreat is next! *runs off to read the next chapter*

[Stellar-Soldier]

Um... I dont understand... why doesnt Naruto just go into 'Sexy-jutsu' form?