Mad World

Chapter 4 - Ticklish Feelings

"So, how has your day been so far?" Sakura inquired.

Naruto was happy to see her, but at the same time nervous. He kept glancing at Sasuke and then hurriedly looking away when he was caught staring. It was like, any moment Naruto expected him to blurt out the secret that Naruto had begged him to keep. However, this wasn't very likely because he was heavily engaged in a conversation with Kakashi, whom Sakura had dragged along for lunch. Naruto liked Kakashi. He was funny, and very nice. That, and during the few weeks that Sakura had been gone recently, Kakashi had come to visit him in her place. He would read to him at bedtime, come see him at meals, and come to his art group when he could. Of course, he couldn't ever live up to Flower girl's standard, but Naruto decided that if he had to pick a plan b, Kakashi would be a very good one.

"It's been okay." Naruto answered Sakura, "I went to group discussion this morning, and while I was there Sasuke cleaned my room for me."

"Did he now?" Sakura smiled, turning to Sasuke with a teasing look. "I didn't know you were such a good maid, huh, Sasuke?"

"Beg pardon?" Sasuke spared her a look filled with dispassion.

"You cleaned Naruto's room for him while he was at group discussion? That was very nice of you."

"Hn."

That was that. Sasuke went back to talking to Kakashi and Naruto resumed his conversation with Sakura. It was in the middle of Naruto asking Sakura how her other friends were doing, when Sasuke left for the restroom, Kakashi kindly showing him where it was. Naruto shrugged it off, but Sakura seemed a little suspicious.

"Flower girl, you're just being silly. He has to take a break from glaring at the world to go to the bathroom every once in a while." Naruto told her firmly. Sakura sighed, but she kept her eyes trained on the door, and the clock.

"How are you two getting along?"

"We're getting along fine." Naruto replied quickly. Then, he scowled as he remembered something, "And thanks a lot for leaving me alone with him last night! Flower girl, you know I don't like being alone with him!"

"No, I didn't know. You never told me that. For the record, if you're getting along fine than what's the problem with being alone with him?"

Naruto bit on his bottom lip a little, wondering if he should tell Flower girl. This really had been bothering him. But yet, he was a bit embarrassed to tell anyone about it, even if it was just Flower girl. Well, he might as well give it a shot.

"Whenever I'm alone with him, and he looks at me, or is close to me, my tummy get's this tickly feeling that I really don't like." Naruto mumbled, fiddling with his lunch, "And when you're there, he pays attention to you, so I don't have those feelings."

"Um, Naruto…" He looked up at Sakura, hoping she was going to tell him she'd be taking the afternoon off so she could stay with him. But instead her face was slightly red and very serious, "Can you describe more what these 'tickly feelings' feel like to you?"

"I get really warm, like I'm wearing too many jackets, and like I want to throw up. But I kind of want more of the tickly feelings, but at the same time I don't. And they make me shiver, like I'm really cold." Naruto thought that, as he explained it, he continually contradicted himself. But Flower girl knew a lot, so she'd probably understand.

"Are you sure that's what you're feeling, Naruto?" Flower girl asked him nervously. Naruto glared at her, yes he was sure. He'd just told her, hadn't he?

"Those feelings you're describing fit the bill for a crush, do you know what that is?" Naruto shook his head, no. "You know how a married couple loves each other right?"

"Yeah. They kiss and make funny lovey-dovey faces." Naruto imitated one, making kissy faces in a mocking way.

"Well, a crush is like those types of feelings, only not as strong. You usually get them when you're younger."

Flower girl stared intently at the table, picking bits of Naruto's French fries off his plate. He didn't bother to stop her, she needed to fidget. Naruto started eating again too. He would have preferred her not knowing over her telling him this. How could Naruto have lovey-dovey feelings for Sasuke? He was a boy! Those were the type of feelings that boys and girls had for each other when they were older. It was the strict woman-man arrangement that had gone on forever. Naruto had never questioned this conspiracy, and accepted it as a part of life he would one day have to participate in. But he'd never heard of two boys having those kind of feelings for each other. That and the thought of the other boy being Sasuke just made Naruto sick.

Finally, Sasuke and Kakashi returned and sat down. They looked at Sakura and Naruto and then back at each other again. Kakashi was the one that broke the silence, "I have a feeling we missed something really important while we were gone."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, getting us lost. You were supposed to be the one showing me where it was!" Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto didn't respond to either of them, and he scooted a little bit away from Sasuke. The tickles had come back, and now that he knew what they were, Naruto wanted to avoid them even more. A few seconds later the bell rang and everyone started standing up and saying goodbye. Flower girl went back to the hospital and Kakashi left, hugging Naruto briefly and apologizing for having to go. Sasuke was the only one who stayed and Naruto felt like yelling at him, 'Go away! I don't wanna have the crushes for you!' But of course, to yell something like that would be to admit it, and Naruto didn't want to ever tell Sasuke about that. EVER. They returned to Naruto's room, and suddenly Naruto wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. What did one do with a scowling, glaring, tickly making Sasuke? Naruto had no idea. He shuffled over to his bed and clambered onto it, curling up into a ball.

Sasuke followed him, (much to Naruto's dismay) and fell back onto the bed. He lay near the pillows at the top with his arms stretched out horizontal on either side. His right arm lay a few inches behind Naruto's back, as he was lying on his side, facing out towards the rest of the room. The top of Naruto's hair was brushing against Sasuke's ribcage. Again with the almost touching, not touching, could be touching. It was frustrating. Naruto hated it. He glared childishly at the room, but mostly he wanted to glare at Sasuke. But he couldn't really without proving that something was wrong. Then Sasuke would ask about it and Naruto would avoid the topic and it would just be weird.

"So, while Kakashi and I were 'in the bathroom'." Sasuke began, and Naruto giggled, "We somehow found our way to the administrative offices and asked if we could take you out for the rest of the afternoon, as long as we had you back in time for dinner."

Naruto gasped, rolling onto his belly and then instantly propping himself up on his hands and knees. He stared at Sasuke expectantly.

"And after we got them to say yes, we kindly asked them where the bathroom was and went there." Sasuke turned his head and made that funny smile of his at Naruto. It wasn't really a smile, but it wasn't his 'mean smile', it was more of a 'haha I know something you don't' smile. Naruto liked it.

"And…?"

"In ten minutes or so, Kakashi will be back and we'll sign you out. Then, you and I are going to go to a park and play good guys and bad guys." Naruto was smiling so much it hurt, "But there is one condition."

"What?"

"You can't tell Flower girl, because she might get sad."

"Like about the dream thing?"

"Yeah."

Naruto wasn't sure he understood how the two were related. Flower girl wouldn't be sad or mad if they went and played good guys and bad guys, would she? It didn't make sense to Naruto. However, he didn't dwell much on it as he was just far too happy to concentrate on potential worries. He beamed at Sasuke and wiggled from side to side on his hands and knees. Finally he asked Sasuke what he'd been wanting to for the past few minutes.

"Sasukeeeee."

"What, dobe?"

"I know you're all about the no touching thing, but can I hug you please? Just this once?" If it had been Flower girl there would have been no 'asking' process. Naruto would have simply tackled her upon hearing such fabulous news as a day out of the sanatorium. But Sasuke was…weird.

"No." Sasuke laughed at the idea and resumed staring at the ceiling.

Naruto pouted, but, deciding it was worth the risk, he dove on top of Sasuke. The look on Sasuke's face was worth the soon to come reprimand. Naruto had practically belly flopped the short distance and landed on Sasuke's stomach with a loud 'oof' sound. Sasuke coughed and glared as Naruto hugged him thoroughly. Naruto listened as Sasuke made his customary 'You're touching me' remark and ignored it with ease. The ticklish feelings were back, but he truly didn't care. He hadn't been outside the sanatorium in a little over a year. This was truly something to be celebrated. After Naruto had refused to get off of him Sasuke grunted in annoyance but didn't bother shoving him off.

Sasuke relaxed completely beneath him and shut his eyes as though he were going to sleep. Naruto followed his example, but as soon as he let his guard down, that was when Sasuke struck. He lifted Naruto off of him and tossed him lightly down the bed so that he was on the opposite side. Naruto scowled at him and made to crawl back to his position but Sasuke gave him a warning glare. He then, also, pointedly said, 'I threw you once, I can do it again'. Naruto sighed and flopped over on his back, and then on his side, facing away from Sasuke. This was when the door to his room opened and Kakashi entered.

"C'mon you two, we only have five hours."

Naruto leapt up and hurried over to Kakashi eagerly. He was so excited he could barely stand it. In fact, he started bouncing up and down in place. Kakashi shared a triumphant look with Sasuke, and the both of them led Naruto outside (after signing him out of course). Once outside Sasuke and Kakashi bickered over whether or not they should simply walk to 'the park' or teleport there with jutsu. Eventually they decided it would faster and easier to teleport the three of them, and Kakashi was the one who performed the technique. Naruto felt, at that moment, that teleporting was one of the strangest feelings in the world. Well, next to 'crushes'. Those were definitely odd. But teleporting was the second weirdest.

The area they arrived in didn't quite look like a park. But it triggered a strong feeling in Naruto that he couldn't quite understand. It was like he'd been there before, something important had happened there. He looked up at the shining sun in the clear blue sky, and then around at the tall trees and the bright green grass. Kakashi waved goodbye to Sasuke, and hugged Naruto before leaving them alone to play their game. When Kakashi left, that was when Naruto figured it out. This was his dream. He looked at Sasuke and grinned, gazing at his surroundings and realizing that everything was perfect. Every detail was in place. How could Sasuke have known exactly where he dream was? Even Naruto didn't know that it actually existed. He'd thought it was just some place conjured up for his dream. But apparently not.

"Alright, do you want to be the good guy, or the bad guy?" Sasuke asked.

For Naruto there was no real question required, "Bad guy, of course. Cuz you get to do the evil laugh!"

Naruto then demonstrated his evil laugh and Sasuke shook his head. Then their game started. Naruto chased Sasuke all over the clearing and through the trees a bit. Sasuke proved to be a tough opponent when it came to 'good guys and bad guys'. In the end, Naruto got him and they both collapsed onto the grass, exhausted. The sun was starting its descent, and the sky was turning a sort of pinkish purple. Naruto took in a deep breath, and let it out, closing his eyes in pure happiness. This was a good day. The peaceful moment was interrupted by Kakashi appearing. He told them that he was there to take them to get ramen. Naruto turned to Sasuke and saw how proud of himself he looked.

They did in fact go for ramen, and it was very good. Naruto liked it immensely. After Kakashi took them back to the sanatorium he simply dropped them off and allowed Sasuke to take him back to his room. Once inside, Naruto ran around his room, bouncing up and down happily. He had just had more fun than he had in a long time. Sasuke watched him with a bemused expression and motioned for him to come over. He did so, and Sasuke scratched the back of his head, looking at him in a questioning manner.

"So…I know it probably wasn't exactly the same, but did I do a good job? Was that what your dream was like?" Sasuke peered down at him hopefully. Naruto nodded to him, smiling.

"It was exactly the same, I loved it." Naruto threw himself at Sasuke without hesitation and murmured against his chest, "Thank you."

Sasuke wedged his hand between his chest and Naruto's forehead and pried him of like he was peeling off a scab. Naruto giggled at Sasuke's antics, but frowned when the bell rang, meaning he had to go to dinner. He'd just eaten! He wasn't hungry! Sasuke gave him a pointed look, and Naruto sighed. He waved goodbye and goodnight to Sasuke who returned the gesture with a small nod. Then, Naruto was out the door, and Sasuke was out of sight.

Sasuke sat down at the lunch table in the cafeteria and talked eagerly with Kakashi. This was actually the first time he'd spoken to the man, despite the fact that he'd been home a little over a week now. Sakura was keeping Naruto and herself busy with their own conversation which left Sasuke to begin planning with Kakashi. Naruto had made him promise not to tell Sakura about the dream, but he had mentioned nothing about not telling Kakashi. Plus, it was only fair, as Kakashi had been a part of the dream too. There they formulated a plan to recreate the dream in real life, and take Naruto out of the sanatorium for the day. It took a while, but they managed to convincingly leave the cafeteria and 'go to the bathroom'.

During that time, Kakashi led Sasuke to the administrative offices so they could beg for a day out for Naruto. It was not easy. The administrator put up a good fight, but ultimately with Sasuke's manipulation and Kakashi's 'good man' reputation they managed to win him over. On the way back they really did stop at the bathroom, as Sasuke actually did need to use it. Then, Sasuke took Kakashi back to Naruto's room where he showed him the picture of the dream, and of Kakashi.

Kakashi picked up the picture of himself that Naruto had drawn and glanced up at Sasuke, "He really drew this for you?"

"He told me that in his dream, a 'grown up' he thought was his dad came and got them and took them to get ramen."

"Dad?" Kakashi scoffed, yet he never took his eyes off the drawing. "That's Iruka."

"But he did draw this picture to show me what he looked like." Kakashi ignored him so Sasuke added, "Well, obviously if he remembers anything he's going to remember it wrong the first time. Keep in mind he remembers me as his best friend."

"But you were best friends." Kakashi told him. Sasuke chose to ignore that. If Kakashi could be selectively deaf, than so could he.

Kakashi set down the paper back where he'd found it. He sighed through his mask and looked up at Sasuke. He appeared as though he were going to say something, but was thinking better of it. Sasuke grumbled, 'what?'

"You have no idea how much this would hurt Sakura if she found out about this." Kakashi paused, "She was the one, that through it all visited Naruto every day. Some of the others did meet him, and visit him once or twice, but she was the one who put forth the effort."

"And he doesn't remember her at all." Sasuke finished.

"And then, after all this time he tells you about this dream, what is she going to think if we really do make this 'dream' happen for Naruto? How do you think Sakura is going to feel?"

Sasuke headed for the door, throwing casually over his shoulder, "So we don't tell her."

"What about Naruto? Do we tell him to not tell her, too?"

"Exactly."

"Sasuke-"

"Kakashi, I need your help for this. The best chance I have of getting Naruto to remember more is to try and bring him around things that are familiar and that he's already starting to remember." Sasuke growled, "To completely recreate this dream I need you to be there. Stop worrying about Sakura and think about how happy we'll make Naruto by doing this."

"Why do you care about making him remember you if you left him in the first place? Wasn't it your goal to sever your ties with him?"

Sasuke froze. Kakashi had to say that, of all things. He whirled around and marched right up to his former teacher and hissed, "How dare you say that? You don't know anything about me, sensei. You never have, and you never will."

When they reentered the cafeteria and sat down there was a palpable tension. Sasuke could feel it rolling off the both of them in waves. His bickered with Kakashi about getting them lost, to try and lighten the mood, and maybe find out what happened. But both Sakura and Naruto dutifully ignored him. After Kakashi and Sakura left he and Naruto returned to his room. On the way Naruto walked a little bit ahead of him, and when they arrived there was the first to hurry into the room. He decisively shuffled over to the bed and collapsed upon it. Whatever it was that had happened at the lunch table while Kakashi and he were gone, it had been something big. Sasuke went over to the bed and crawled up next to Naruto. He ignored him, not starting a conversation at all. So naturally Sasuke was forced to start it, even if he was revealing his surprised plan for the day, Naruto still radiated awkwardness.

Yet, when Sasuke managed to fully explain his and Kakashi's idea, Naruto had looked so happy that Sasuke felt truly proud of himself. Of course, Naruto just had to throw himself at him, nearly knocking all the wind out of him. Sasuke was just glad he hadn't choked on his own vomit. The force with which Naruto had landed on his stomach, theoretically, should have pushed all of the contents of his stomach out of his mouth. Thankfully, however, this was not the case. Instead he merely couldn't breathe. A less messy, but ultimately uncomfortable position. When he tried to get Naruto off of him, he refused. So, he had to sneakily find a way. He had an idea. Pretending to fall asleep he waited for Naruto to relax. Then, he picked up the blonde and tossed him to the end of the bed. He made sure Naruto stayed there until Kakashi showed up. That was when the fun filled day truly started.

Sasuke and Naruto played 'good guys and bad guys' for hours. Eventually Sasuke allowed Naruto to 'get him' and they collapsed onto the grass in exhaustion. It was in this moment that Sasuke really did feel exhausted, both emotionally and physically. He'd put so much into the past several days he wanted to just curl up and sleep for a week. But Sasuke knew he couldn't do that, at least, not yet. He still had to finish the dream. Kakashi took them to get some ramen, and for a brief moment in time, Sasuke felt like everything was normal. Naruto ate bucketfuls of ramen, several of them. Though technically, for Naruto, because of the memory loss, this was the first time he'd tried ramen. As to be expected, he loved it.

Kakashi provided transport back to the sanatorium, but then quickly left them. Sasuke guessed he probably still wasn't happy with Sasuke's comment from earlier that day. They headed back inside, and Sasuke signed Naruto back in. Once in the room, Sasuke watched as Naruto happily ran around his room. How he still had energy after their afternoon in the training grounds, Sasuke had no idea. He motioned for the hyperactive blonde blur to come over to him, and he did so. In an act of total unreasonableness, Sasuke asked Naruto if he'd done good. He made sure he'd gotten the dream right. Naruto assured him he'd loved it, and then, he just had to hug him. Sasuke scowled. Granted Naruto had always been rather physically affectionate, Sasuke still had to get used to it again. It would take some time. Sasuke pushed Naruto off of him and glared, though not nearly as harshly as usual. He didn't have the energy. The bell rang, and Naruto scampered off to dinner. Even though he'd already eaten, it was required for him to be there.

Sasuke signed out, and went back to the estate, completely worn out. However, he managed to force himself to sleep in his parents' room. The alarm clock was in there. He set it for six, that way he could get up early, eat breakfast at home, and get to the sanatorium in time to wake Naruto up. This also was his defense mechanism to ward off being woken up by Sakura. One time being woken up by Sakura was enough for him. To be honest, if she insulted his manhood again, or woke him up and followed him around his house, he would punch her. So what if she had a vag? She was a ninja, she was strong, and she could take a hit. Technically, all of these things made it no longer wrong for him, as a man, to hit her, a woman. At least, in Sasuke's mind it made sense. He was sure there would be someone who would try and argue with him.

Sakura had gained her insane strength from Tsunade, she had picked up the same technique. Orochimaru had found a way to deal with it, and he had explained it to Sasuke at one point. What was it? Sasuke honestly couldn't remember. He removed his shirt, and fell into bed easily passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Over the next few days, Sasuke developed a steady rhythm. He woke up at six, showered, got dressed, and ate breakfast. Then, he went to the sanatorium and signed himself in. Off he would go to Naruto's bedroom, (which he now had no trouble finding) and he would wake Naruto up. They would go to breakfast. While Naruto went to various activities to which Sasuke could not accompany him, Sasuke went back to Naruto's room and cleaned it for him. Depending on the day, Sasuke would, after lunch with Sakura, go to art group with Naruto. Those lunches with Sakura were becoming increasingly awkward, and tense. Sasuke wasn't quite sure why, but he knew that he'd find out soon enough. Sakura could only keep something to herself for too long before she snapped completely.

Naruto was trying desperately to get him into coloring. Sasuke was resisting this movement at all costs, but to no avail. By the third day, Sasuke was sitting next to him, intently coloring a pony. But, all of this was paying off. Naruto was remembering more about the boy in his dreams, and about his 'dad'. Whenever he remembered something new, he would draw a picture about it, or tell Sasuke. They were always little things, like what kind of food they liked. But sometimes there were things that Naruto remembered that had Sasuke leaving the room for a minute to calm himself down. One such thing that required calming was when Naruto remembered a night spent out on a field beneath the stars with Sasuke and Kakashi and some girl who he considered unimportant. He remembered how they'd felt like such a family, and that it was important because neither he nor the other boy had had a family. Kakashi, and that girl had become their family. Though Naruto still hadn't figured out that Kakashi was the 'dad' figure, or that Sasuke was 'that boy' he was making remarkable progress.

One night, when Sasuke came home, there was someone already waiting for him. Sakura was sitting in the kitchen, drinking some coffee. Sasuke glared at her, and was sorely tempted to hit her before he asked her why she was in his house. But he held himself back.

"Why are you here?" He snapped.

"I have something important to tell you, Sasuke."

Sasuke waved her off and started walking away from her when she added, "It's about Naruto."

He paused and waited for her to tell him what she needed to so she could leave. She hesitantly said, "I think Naruto has a crush on you."

Sasuke laughed out loud at that one. That was just the craziest thing he'd heard yet. "Good night Sakura!"

"No, Sasuke, wait! He told me about it that day that Kakashi had lunch with us!"

This had Sasuke interested. Something like that was definitely big enough to have put Naruto out of sorts. He poked his head around the corner to look at Sakura. She further explained how Naruto had told her about the 'ticklish feelings' he'd been having. Sure enough, all the feelings he'd described to Sakura sure sounded like a crush to Sasuke. But the whole idea made him want to laugh it off and pretend it didn't exist, because technically, Naruto was mentally a seven year old. If Sasuke were to take advantage of the situation, not saying he wanted to (he most certainly didn't), that would make him a very, very bad man. After Sakura had told him everything he needed to know, and then some (such as how little she'd slept and how much she'd been thinking about the whole idea), he roughly shoved her out the door and locked it. Sasuke went to bed, and had a lot of trouble sleeping.

TBC…