Chapter 20

"I know how we can get into the bakery!" Naruto said excitedly, after an hour of sitting in Sasuke's room in complete silence.

"How?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"It's brilliant!" Naruto stated proudly. "But I'll have to go buy some things." He jumped up off the bed. "What's your pant size?"

Sasuke looked confused. "28. Why?"

Naruto smirked. "You'll see. I'll stop by later when I have everything."

He quickly left the Uchiha residence, and headed downtown to do some shopping.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"But Sasuke! It's the only way!"

"I don't care!"

"Please! We have to get in the bakery somehow! And he would never suspect it!"

"We don't know what he would suspect! I am NOT going to dress up like some slutty teenage girl!"

"Aww! Where's your sense of adventure!?"

"I am plenty adventurous!"

"Really!? When's the last time you did something completely spontaneous and off the wall?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"Then it's settled! Tomorrow, we're skipping school and doing a covert operation to infiltrate Arashi's Bakery."

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but Naruto cut him off. "Call it payback for that little stunt you pulled to get me into art!"

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut. "Fine! But if anyone ever finds out about this, I will personally dismember you!"

Naruto grinned. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Sasuke growled in Naruto's ear, trying to pull down the short plaid skirt he was wearing.

"Shut up, and act more like a school-girl!" Naruto snapped. He was wearing a matching plaid skirt. They were both wearing button up white shirts, heavily padded bra's and wigs. They were still wearing their dark sunglasses.

"I am going to kill you."

Naruto ignored his friend. They had parked a few blocks over, and were currently walking down the street to Arashi's bakery. They had already received several wolf-whistles.

"I told you it would work! They have no clue that we're guys!"

Sasuke didn't answer, and Naruto could tell that he was sulking.

They finally reached the bakery, and Naruto paused before opening the door.

"Don't forget, you're supposed to be a dimwitted schoolgirl!" He warned Sasuke. Sasuke didn't answer, and although Naruto couldn't see it, he knew his friend was giving him a death glare.

"Just act like Sakura." He added before taking a deep breath and opening the door. He didn't have to look to know his last comment had made Sasuke smile in spite of himself.

The woman at the counter looked up when they entered.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

Naruto flashed her his most charming smile and started talking in a somewhat high-pitched, annoying voice. "Okay. Here's the deal. I totally forgot that today was my mom's birthday. Now, she really doesn't like chocolate, but she loves strawberries."

The woman nodded, pulling out a menu from behind the counter. "Would you like to look through our selection?"

"Yeah." Naruto giggled stupidly. Beside him, Sasuke had yet to say anything. He leaned against the counter and started looking through the pages, talking non-stop the whole time.

"I totally can't believe I forgot. It's the big 4-0 ya know, and mom has totally been freaking out about it. She think's she's getting old. Ooh! That one looks good. Hmm. She doesn't like walnuts though… But anyways, I was writing this paper today and when I looked at the date it hit me! Today is mom's birthday. I nearly had a panic attack. So, I totally told the school that I had a doctors appointment to get a new prescription for birth control, and they all but shoved me out the door, so my mom will never think I forgot." He stopped, reading the description for a cake. "I think I'll take that one!"

The woman looked at the cake he was pointing to and wrote it down. "Would you like to do a personalized message?"

"Yeah. Hey mom, love you lots and have a super birthday!!! With three exclamation points."

The woman wrote it down. "My boss is out for lunch right now, but he should be back in a few minutes."

"Awesome. So. This is a cute little place. I've seen it a few times, but I usually just use the same bakery as my mom. But they totally messed up my last birthday cake. I'm allergic to peanuts, and they assured my mom that it would be totally okay, that they would be extra careful. But then, at my party I totally went into anaphylactic shock and had to go to the hospital. It was the worst birthday ever. So, I decided we needed a new bakery. How long have you guys been here?"

The woman looked like she was growing tired of Naruto's endless chatter, but answered him anyways. "Well, Arashi opened the shop about, I don't know, how long would you say it was, Arashi?"

"About four years."

Naruto slowly turned around to look at the man who had just walked through the door. "I see. It wasn't a family business, I take it." Naruto fought to keep his voice from breaking. "My grandpa owned a barbershop, and he passed it down to my father. But I don't have a brother, so I don't know what they're going to do with the shop, because Eww! I am not going to touch other people's hair for a living. That is just gross."

"I see." Arashi said slowly, his eyes narrowing. "No. It's not a family business. I started it when I retired from the Marines. What are you here for?"

"That's fantastic." Naruto started fidgeting. "You see, I totally forgot that today is my mom's birthday, and I need to get a cake, and-

He was interrupted when the man abruptly walked up to him and pulled off his wig.

Naruto froze.

"Okay boys. I want to know why you're following me."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, but the brunette was far from inclined to help him.

Naruto looked back at the man. "Boy? I'm not a boy."

Arashi pointedly handed Naruto the wig, and he quickly put it on, forcing himself to burst into tears. "Why are you so mean to me!?! I had cancer, and the chemo made all my hair fall out! It's not my fault it hasn't all grown back yet."

"When your hair falls out because of chemo, it never grows back."

Naruto froze again, slowly looking up at the man. Then, he promptly looked past him and out into the street.

"Holy shit! That's a lot of blood!"

When Arashi turned to look, the blonde bolted out the door and down the street. He received even more wolf-whistles, and he distinctly heard someone shout, "Run, baby, run!"

And Naruto didn't stop running until he reached Sasuke's car. Panting, he turned to look at his friend.

Only, he wasn't there.

"Crap! I left my comrade behind enemy lines! Son-of-a-bitch!" Still, Naruto couldn't bring himself to go back for his friend.

And he didn't have to.

It wasn't long before Sasuke came walking up, looking furious.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Naruto yelped as Sasuke lunged at him, successfully tackling him to the ground.

In the background, someone yelled.

"Catfight!!!"