A/N: I am so, so sorry for the late update. See, I got a new laptop (HOOORAAAAAAAY!) and I'm still trying to get used to it. Lame excuse, I know. Or maybe I just suddenly sucked at writing. Naaaah. Anyway, I'm gonna try to write this all in one sitting. Thanks for all your support! Oh, and Sakura's team is called, in fact, Team Sakura. HELLZ YEAH, BITCHES. Sakura has her own team now. Who's your Chuunin?

Chapter 4: Naruto's Mind Tricks

Summary: In which Naruto shows how deceitful he really is.

Disclaimer: I own a new laptop and the NEW NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: ULTIMATE NINJA HEROES 3(not the game, of course. Just a copy of it) but not the series. Nor do I own WWE/Edge. HAVE YOU SEEN RANDY ORTON? That guy's hot. But also not mine.

It was nearing dusk but Team Sakura still has not found the Rock ninjas. The Chuunin was starting to get worried for her team. Sasuke and Naruto, apparently, turned the mission into a silent competition somewhere around mid-afternoon and either refused to slow down, let alone stop. All of them are running low on chakra and on patience, as well.

"Stupid Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "What kind of pathetic team captain doesn't know the whereabouts of the enemy?"

"I'm not the team captain, you retard!" Sasuke retorted.

"So you're calling me pathetic, then?" Sakura said, a nerve throbbing on her forehead.

"Sasuke-teme said it!"

"Oh, passing the blame on to me again, are we?"

"Will you two stop fighting?"

Naruto suddenly stopped, causing Sasuke to be surprised at his abrupt action, or lack thereof, and crashed into his backside. Sakura could only stare at the two men grappling each other as gravity gained the upper hand and pulled both men facedown into the ground.

"Are you…are you guys alright?" Sakura nervously asked when neither one moved for about four seconds.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, ATTACKING ME FROM BEHIND?" Naruto cried in an outburst of rage.

"Why did you stop?" Sasuke countered.

"I WAS TIRED OUT!"

"Well, what are you blaming me for?"

"I THOUGHT YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE FAST REFELXES!"

"And I thought you're the one with the unbelievable stamina!"

"Okay, you guys, stop!" Sakura interfered before this could get any worse. "This inane fighting has got to stop!"

Naruto let an angered expression stay on his face for a while before exhaling heavily. "Sorry, Sakura-chan…and Sasuke-te—"

Sakura shot him a warning glance.

The Kyuubi boy gulped. "I mean, Sasuke."

"Well, how about you, Sasuke-kun? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Sakura turned to the other man.

Sasuke was silent.

"Well?"

"It would be for the best if we separated from here. We'll be able to scout more of the area that way. I'll take west," Sasuke replied.

Naruto and Sakura gaped at him, not believing how shameless this guy could be. Naruto was the one to react first.

"What's wrong with you?" he demanded. "Don't you really have anything to say for yourself? Well, you know what? YOU'VE GOT SOME BALLS THERE!"

Sasuke smirked. "At least I have some."

It took a while for the words to register to Naruto. Meanwhile, Sakura felt verbally violated. This long-term fight just turned for the worse. Naruto's face made a show of contorting into a variety of different facial expressions and as a grand finale, he let out a shrill shriek.

"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Then he charged towards Sasuke. Neither Sakura nor Sasuke expected Naruto to pull a move similar to WWE Superstar Edge's Spear on Sasuke, which caused the latter to eventually fall unconscious.

Well, that's what could have happened if Sasuke didn't move out of the way and instead knocked Naruto out, who fell unconscious. Because as Naruto stated before, Sasuke had really fast reflexes and knew that if a certain orange-wearing blonde ninja rampages his way towards you, you'll be out of it before you even hit the ground.

The air was enveloped with silence for a good three seconds before Sakura erupted into a fury.

"What the hell, Sasuke-kun!" she cried. "Are you totally possessed?"

The Uchiha silenced the Haruno (1) with a piercing glare. "Do you want me to knock you out as well?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to glare. "You already did that before, thank you very much."

"I'm…sorry," Sasuke said.

"You could apologize to me and not him?" Sakura pointed to the knocked out ninja.

"Will we still scout the area?"

"With him out cold? No, that wouldn't be a good idea," Sakura said, already making plans to camp where they are. "I'll be looking for some supplies and firewood. You stay here and guard over him and for any enemies that might come."

"You had your turn a while I ago. I should be the one to look for—"

"I thought my instructions were clear."

"…fine. But hurry up. It's too dark already," Sasuke said.

"Hn. Nice to know you care about me…Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, amused, before disappearing into the forest. Again.

What was that supposed to mean? Sasuke thought to himself.

"If you're thinking about what that means, it means she's thinking you're starting to have feelings for her."

Sasuke looked to the ground. "Dobe."

Naruto rubbed his head and sat up. "Man, that was some punch."

"Aren't you supposed to be unconscious?" Sasuke asked, sitting down.

"I pretended to be. I was hoping to get some priceless stuff from you guys but then all you talked about were getting supplies," Naruto scrunched up his nose.

"You are an idiot. Sakura was worried about you," Sasuke reprimanded.

"Yeah? She didn't say that."

"She yelled at me," Sasuke's brow furrowed at the memory.

Naruto almost doubled over at that statement. "She did not!"

It was as if he expected Sasuke to say, "Oh, yes, she did, girlfriend!" (2)

"Yes. Yes, she did," Sasuke slowly said.

Oh, well. Close enough.

"Y'know, Sasuke, sometimes you have to open your eyes and see what's there," Naruto said, acting like a bartender who was asked for advice.

"What are you talking about?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You better move before Sakura could like another person."

"I thought you were the one who wanted to kiss her," Sasuke said.

"Argh! You're not getting it!" Naruto exclaimed, exasperated. "Think of this as a kind word of advice from your concerned best friend. Sakura likes you, yes? She luuurves you. The fact that she yelled at you says something. I think you should be a man and go hook up with the girl before she lets you go. Can you imagine her going after another guy?"

"I wouldn't really care if she likes someone else," Sasuke said.

"Okay, let's pretend you are."

"How would that help anyone?"

"I just want to know your goddamn opinion!"

Even Naruto would admit, playing matchmaker is fun but it starts to get annoying and tiring after you've tried to hook two people up for six years.

"Okay, fine."

"Finally. So, for example, you like Sakura. And you're too much of a wuss to make your move. Then she starts to like someone else, let's say…Lee—"

"What makes you think she'd go for someone like Lee after she liked me?" Sasuke cut him off, visibly offended.

"For example, teme," Naruto patiently repeated. "Anyway, so she now likes Lee. And they're getting all mushy with each other while you just stand there like an idiot in the background, still waiting for the girl to make the move. What do you do, then?"

Sasuke seems to muse over this. "Wait. If she still claims she loves me after running off after Orochimaru for three years, then planned the destruction of Konoha after killing the Sannin, what would stop her from loving me now?"

Naruto smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. "Well, you know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"I think this is enough talk about Sakura for today."

"Aw, come on! It's starting to get fun!" Naruto whined.

"Perhaps this was how Lee got Hyuuga to date Tenten," Sasuke muttered.

"What was that?"

"How could have come up with this bet? I thought you were starting to get interested in Neji's cousin," Sasuke said.

"I thought you didn't care."

"You're insisting on having this heart-to-heart, I might as well include this."

"Hm. Hinata's nice. This is just a game anyway," Naruto shrugged. Then a grin spread on his face. "Thinking of her makes me wanna go home."

"Oh, please. Don't."

"A girl we're fighting fooooooooor!" Naruto sang. (3)

"Someone's already awake."

"Ah, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke looked up to see Sakura carrying the water thermos, an armful of firewood and three fish she carried around using chakra strings. He stood up and got the load from her. As Naruto saw this gentlemanly display, he grinned as Hook-Up-Sasuke-teme-and-Sakura-chan Plan No. 21 brewed in his head.

This could be easier on my part than I expected.

The next day, Team Sakura headed out at 5:30 a.m. At first, Naruto complained but complied all the same. They planned to separate at 8:30, when they were fully awake.

"So, listen. Let's review our plans. Sasuke-kun would take west. You'll keep an eye out for the Rock nins and provoke them in battle. Naruto, who'll take east and I, who'll go forward, will act as back-up. Both of you would have to cover me the most 'cause I need my chakra for healing any injuries you two may have," Sakura explained. "Naruto, it'd be best if you don't provoke the enemies if you spot them. Conceal yourself before they sense you and contact me and Sasuke-kun immediately. The radio transmitters' frequencies are all set."

"I still don't get why the bastard could fight them off while I still have to call you both," Naruto said, still sore about waking up so early.

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun could take on a hundred ninjas without killing them and not have a scratch on him. While you are, and I admit, skilled and a good ninja, six Jounins are still too much for you," Sakura said. "Oh, and you guys should be cautious of your surroundings. I can't keep much track of you guys since I'm not very aware of the territory. This isn't Fire Country anymore."

Naruto grunted in response. "Whatever. Ch. 'Skilled and a good ninja'."

Hours later, it was already time for the team to dissipate.

"Remember the plan, guys!" Sakura called after them. "And be careful!"

They went off in their own directions.

I hope Sasuke-kun and Naruto are safe. I hate separating like this. If those Rock nins aren't moving around so much, I would've never resorted to this method, Sakura thought. Oh, those guys are so much stronger now. They might actually be worrying about me.

She laughed to herself as she thought about her teammates' growth.

What she didn't know was that a certain teammate was planning something bad for her right now. Well, he doesn't think it's bad at all.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had each traveled approximately one kilometer when Naruto contacted the other two for help.

"Hey, guys, I need…I need help," he said into his radio transmitter.

"Naruto, you idiot! You couldn't even help yourself and you wonder why Sasuke-kun's the one to provoke the attacks!" Sakura chided.

"It better be the ninjas from the Rock Village," Sasuke replied.

"I'm around 1.5 kilometers due east. Or maybe somewhere around the northeast area. I'm at a thick part of the forest," Naruto said.

"Hang in there, Naruto."

In truth, Naruto was perfectly fine. He felt a little bad for tricking Sakura. And Sasuke. Okay, maybe not so much on Sasuke. But definitely Sakura.

"I can't believe they even bought it," Naruto said to himself. "Or Sasuke-teme would. I didn't start that conversation last night for nothing. Or maybe he knows what I'm up to and just going after Sakura-chan. Hm. Reasonable enough."

Sasuke and Sakura were almost to Naruto's location when they met up.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"There's something I don't believe about Naruto's 'cry for help'," Sasuke told her.

"What do you mean?"

"His location. I think I know where he is and where we are. I've heard things about that place," he continued.

"He wouldn't play a trick on us," Sakura quickly came to Naruto's defense. "Even he would think that's a waste of time with what limited time we have."

The pair eventually arrived at where Naruto said he was.

"Naruto?" Sakura called. "Where are you?"

"Can you hear me, Sakura-chan?" came from Sakura's radio transmitter.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"Oh, good. Sorry, Sakura-chan. I really didn't want to do this to hurt you but you're at—"

"Oh, you are dead, dobe!" Sasuke suddenly said.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto," Sasuke said through clenched teeth. "This is the worst thing you could have ever done."

"Okay, I don't know what's going on!" Sakura declared, starting to get nervous from Sasuke's reaction.

"Genjutsu."

"Wh-what?"

"He sent us to a genjutsu. This forest where we're in. He just lured us here. A few years ago, someone released a powerful genjutsu in the form of a forest around here and it stayed. Apparently, we're in it. We can't get out unless someone cancels it," Sasuke sighed. "It wouldn't hold for long so we need to escape quickly.

"I could do that," Sakura offered.

"No. Someone has to do it from outside. We'll have to wait until Naruto decides to let us out. Damn it."

Sakura's lower lip trembled. Her heart stopped before it beat faster and faster.

"We have a…we have a p-problem," she stammered.

"What is it?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror when Sakura leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A few hundred meters away, Naruto realized something.

"Oh, wait a minute. I can't cancel out jutsus."

1. It sounds weird but it works

2. Running gag between me and my friends XD

3. Who doesn't love this song from Mulan?

A/N: HOORAY! ONCE AGAIN, I HAVE WRITTEN A CHAPTER….(insert dramatic pause)…..UNINTERRUPTED! Yay! Was Sasuke too OOC here? I realized that when I wrote Sasuke getting the load from Sakura. Sasuke can be a gentleman. I know he can. Because if he's not, I'll torture him through fic. Oh, wait, I already did that. OH WELL! Something's wrong here. I'm starting to lose interest in this story. Maybe I'll insert another plot here. It's from a plot bunny I got a few days ago. It was very minor so I decided I'll just insert it here. Haha, I love my ending! I miss Part1!Naruto. He's still a little immature in Part 2 but then he got a little grown up. Blech. I think I made fun of this chapter too much. OH WELL!