Chapter 7: Peek-a-boo!

Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto who was back to making faces at him. "If it didn't work before, what makes you think I would find it funny now?"

Naruto growled. "Well, sorry! It's not my fault that you're such a boring baby! I'm trying to entertain you, and it's not working. So could you at least give me some kind of hint as to what you'd find funny?"

Sasuke folded his arms. "Why don't you stick your hand in the blender?"

"Very funny." Naruto looked around the room. "Do you have any toys?"

"What do I look like to you? A baby?" Naruto went to open his mouth. "Don't answer that!"

Naruto smirked and went over to the shopping bag and pulled out the stuffed animal Sakura had bought. "How's this? Wanna play with it?"

"No," he said flatly.

Naruto then picked up the baby blanket. "I think I liked you better when you were asleep. Here, take a nap."

Sasuke grabbed the blanket from the blond and scowled. "I'm not really a baby so stop treating me like one, you moron!" He threw the blanket in his face.

The blanket covered Naruto's head, hiding him from view. "You don't have to be so mean, you know. I'm trying to help you."

He heard Sasuke gasp. "N- Naruto? Wh- wh- where are you?"

Taken aback by this, he asked, "What are you talking about? I'm right here."

"Where?" Sasuke's voice was loud as if he were talking to someone in another room.

Naruto pulled off the baby blanket. "Here."

Sasuke jumped. "How- how did you do that?!"

"Do what?"

Sasuke studied him up and down. His eyes were wide. "That! How did you do that?!"

"What?"

"Don't give me that! You disappeared!"

Naruto looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about? No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did! Just now!"

"But all I did was this." Naruto draped the blanket over his face again.

He heard Sasuke gasp again. "See? You just did it again!"

"Did what?"

"That!"

Naruto removed the blanket from his head. "I just had this stupid thing over my head after you threw it at me. I didn't do anything. What are you talking about?"

Sasuke let out a frustrated growl. "You disappeared! You just freaking disappeared! I saw it! You were here then you weren't! You vanished using some kind of jutsu, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't." A thought popped into Naruto's head at that moment. Wait… Maybe to him, I really did somehow. But I didn't use a jutsu. I just put the blanket over my head and… Wait a sec… Isn't that what moms do all the time when playing with their kids? Isn't that peek-a-boo? He got ready to try it again. He lifted the blanket up with both hands. "Like this?" he asked just before covering his face.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked around the room in confusion. Naruto had vanished again. How the heck did he do that? "Where are you? Stop messing with me!"

Naruto couldn't believe it. Sasuke seriously thought that he had vanished right before his very eyes. That was hilarious! Sasuke was so stupid! He was acting like a… baby.

Naruto quickly lowered the blanket and shouted, "Boo!"

Sasuke jumped and nearly fell over in surprise. "Don't do that! And stop messing with me. I know you're doing something. Just tell me, already."

Naruto's face broke into a huge, smug smile. "Oh… I didn't do anything..!"

"Don't give me that! What did you do?!"

"Nothing..!"

"Tell me!"

"What..?"

"Tell me, you stupid moron!"

Naruto laughed out loud. He couldn't take it. It was just too funny! Sasuke was so easily tricked as a baby. He loved messing with him. This was fun!

~*~*~

"I'm back!" Sakura called from the door.

Naruto turned. "Hi!"

"Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto pointed to an armchair. Sasuke was sitting on it staring up at the mobile spinning above his head. It circled like a vulture, emitting peaceful music as it did. Sasuke watched it open-mouthed, completely mesmerized by it. The music itself was keeping him calm and mellow. He either didn't notice Sakura come in or simply didn't care.

Naruto scoffed. "It was the only way I could shut him up. Good thing you bought it. It really works."

Sakura watched Sasuke for another moment before turning to Naruto. "Have you noticed any change in him at all?"

"Other than the fact that he's a baby?"

"Yes, besides that. Has he acted any different?"

The peek-a-boo incident popped into his mind at that moment. "Why? What'd Grandma Tsunade say?"

Making sure Sasuke was still distracted, Sakura pulled Naruto into the next room. "Well, according to Lady Tsunade…" She bite her lip.

"What?"

"Well, while researching the jutsu, she discovered something."

"What?"

She paused before going on. "Turns out that the longer you're under the jutsu's effects, the more it'll affect you."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "I don't follow."

"Naruto, basically what it means is that the longer Sasuke's in baby form, the more he's going to start acting like a baby. The jutsu effects his mind as well. Soon he'll have the mentality of an infant."

At first, Naruto was shocked and a little worried. But then his face broke into a huge grin and he started to laugh. "Hahahaha! Are you serious?! So Sasuke's going to be a real baby? For real? So he's gonna be all 'goo-goo, gaga' and stuff? Sweet!"

Sakura punched him in the gut. "No! Not sweet! Don't you get it? Sasuke's going to turn into a real baby who can't comprehend a real conversation! He won't be able to talk or do anything!"

"I'm not seeing a down side."

She glared at him. "It's easy to know what he wants now because he can talk. Soon we'll have to guess on everything. Also, if he thinks he's a baby, we may have to start investing in some diapers."

His smile faded away. "Hell, I'm not changing any diapers!"

"You see my point now? It'll be harder. The changes will be gradual. That's why I'm asking if he's done anything out of the ordinary."

Naruto scratched his head. "Well… A few minutes ago, something did happen."

Her eyes widened. "What?!"

He shrugged. "Nothing major. We were just playing peek-a-boo with a blanket and he thought that I really disappeared. But I-"

"Naruto, why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because you just got in, and it's not that big a deal. I mean, he could still talk and all. He knew what was going on. He just thought that I vanished was all. That moron even asked me what jutsu I was using. He wouldn't leave me alone, so I used that baby mobile thing on him to make him shut up. And it worked, too."

"Naruto…"

"Good idea, Sakura. That thing keeps him calm and quiet. Glad you got it."

"Naruto, listen to me! Don't you understand?"

"Understand what?"

"What happened to Sasuke? With the game and the mobile?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, what?"

She groaned. "Naruto, with babies, if you cover your face so they can't se you, they really think you vanished. If they can't see you, you're not there. It's like you're invisible."

"That's stupid."

"That's baby logic. That's going to be Sasuke's mentality soon. And with the mobile… Those things keep babies calm and most of the time puts them to sleep. If it's working on Sasuke now, then that means that we don't have much time. It means that the changes have already begun."

Naruto looked around, confused as to what to do next. "Well, what do we do?"

"Stay here." Sakura walked towards the door again. "I have to go tell Tenten what's going on. Lee and her need to know."

"And Sasuke?"

"Don't tell him. It'll just upset him."

"But what about Grandma? Is she close to a cure yet?"

Sakura stopped, hand on the doorknob. "Yet just yet. This jutsu is tricky. She can't afford to make a mistake. She's still researching." She opened the door. "I'm going to tell Tenten and Lee. Wait here until I get back. And remember, not a word to Sasuke."

With that, she turned and left.