Chapter 21: Playmates

Naruto corralled all three of them into his apartment and sat them down on the couch. So far, Gaara wasn't causing him too much trouble and neither was Neji now that he had changed his command from what it was before to simply being his servant. However, Sai was getting on his nerves with his command. One servant was more than enough.

Now that Naruto was getting bored with that command, he decided to change it. All of them, actually. He was curious about this and couldn't resist. He wanted to see it just to satisfy his curiosity. And for the sheer fun of it.

"Ok, everyone. And..." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Sleep."

They all slumped on top of each other on the couch. Naruto stood back and watched them with a smile on his face. They actually looked pretty cute like this, he had to admit. Seeing Gaara slumped onto Neji's chest and Neji slumped against Sai and Sai resting his head on Neji's was a pretty cute sight. They looked a little bit like kittens sleeping in a basket together. They all looked so comfortable.

Naruto shook that image from his mind and set to work. Seeing Gaara act young again made Naruto realize that he needed some playmates. "When you wake up from your trance this time, you will be five years old. Understand? You will be five years old." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Awake."

They started to wake up. Neji's eyes were a little brighter than usual and had a strange innocence about them. Sai's eyes were about the same but they seemed to sparkle a little as he looked around the room.

"Hey, guys," Naruto greeted them. "How are you doing?"

Neji looked around. "Where are we?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly higher than usual.

"This is my place," Naruto told him. "I scheduled a play-date for you."

"A play-date?"

"Yup." Naruto pulled Gaara forward and showed him off to the others. "This is Gaara. I thought it would be fun if we all played together."

Gaara smiled at the idea but he backed away nervously into Naruto as he looked at the two faces staring back at him. He was being shy.

Neji turned away. "Playing is for little kids."

"You are a kid," Naruto told him. He hoped Neji wasn't resisting the trance. He should have believed he was five years old like the others.

Neji shook his head. "I'm a Hyuga. We do not play. I've already begun my training which means I'm not a little kid anymore."

Just like with Gaara, the command had thrown Neji back in time. He believed he was his childhood self from when he was five years old. Apparently he was serious even back then.

"Just play a couple games, ok, Neji?"

"I said playing games is for little kids and I am not a little kid." Neji folded his arms defiantly.

Naruto growled. "I had no idea you would be this much of a brat."

"What did you call me?" Neji snarled. He picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at Naruto's head. "Don't call me a brat!"

Gaara ducked and hid by Naruto's legs. Suddenly, Neji didn't seem like a very good playmate for him. He turned his attention to Sai who was watching everything unfold with quiet indifference. Seeing this person being so quiet gave Gaara hope that he would be a good playmate for him.

He approached Sai and gave a shy smile. "Hi. I'm... I'm Gaara."

"Hello."

"Did you want to play with me?"

Sai shrugged. "I suppose. I'm not sure how to."

"You can play games with me."

"Ok," said Sai. "How do you do that?"

"Um..." Gaara wasn't sure how to answer that. "You've never played games before?"

"Not really. No one plays games with me. We're always too busy training."

Naruto turned his attention away from Neji to introduce the two of them. "Gaara, this is Sai. He can be a little weird so be patient with him."

Sai pointed at himself. "Ok. So my name is Sai now. I understand." He gave Gaara a smile. "So show me how to do these games you want to play."

Gaara smiled. "Ok. Let's play."

Neji scoffed at them. "Playing is for little kids."

"You are a little kid, you brat," Naruto told him.

"I told you not to call me that!" Neji threw another pillow at him. "I am not a little kid!"

"You sure are acting like one!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" Neji kicked Naruto in the shin.

"Ow! Brat!"

Neji stuck his tongue out. Though he was raised to be proper, that behavior was only directed towards adults or people of stature. Since Naruto didn't fit either criteria and didn't seem very mature himself, Neji saw no reason to show Naruto any respect, especially after being called a brat several times. Upbringing aside, Neji still had the mind of a five-year-old for the time being, so his behavior was perfectly understandable.

Gaara tried to show Sai how to play different games with him. Sai nodded and tried to do as he was told. He seemed interested in playing with Gaara but was also confused. They played awkwardly for a little while until Neji came over to show them the proper way to play the game. It seemed he was getting in on the game as well. He just couldn't resist the allure of games.

Naruto sat back and admired his work. Three of his friends were now playing with each other on the floor. This went on for a few minutes, then Sai got up and left the group. "Where are you going?" Naruto asked him.

"I'm bored."

"But you were just playing with them."

"I know. But, the game is going on for a while and Neji keeps saying that there are other rules we're ignoring and the more he explains, the more boring it gets. So I don't want to play anymore."

Gaara looked sad. He still wanted to play.

"I'm sure there's something you guys can still do together," said Naruto.

"But I'm no good at these games. I've never played them and there are so many rules."

Naruto tried to think. "I have an idea." He grabbed something from the other room and came back. "Hey, Sai. Do you like to... draw?"

Sai's eyes lit up at once. "Yeah!" he said with a big smile on his face.

"Well, I happen to have some paper here and some pens you can-"

Sai snatched them away and sat on the floor. He rolled the paper out on the floor and started drawing with the pens.

Curious, Gaara came over and asked to join him. Sai handed him a pen and shared the paper with him.

Finding himself alone, Neji came over to watch them draw. He just observed at first, then he asked to use one of the pens to make improvements on some of the drawings. Gaara didn't fuss but Sai whined about how he liked the drawing the way it was. Sensing a fight, Naruto intervened and gave Neji his own sheet of paper to draw on so he wouldn't mess up Sai's. Neji drew for a little while, then got bored and wanted to do something else.

"Who wants to play hide-and-seek?"

Gaara nodded up and down. "It'll be lots more fun with more people. Let's play."

"How do you play?" Sai asked.

Neji explained the rules. "One person covers their eyes and counts to a certain number, like ten. Then, while the counter is counting, everyone else finds a place to hide and hides there. It's the counter's job to find everyone who's hiding when they stop counting. If the counter can't find someone, then the one he can't find wins. If the counter finds everybody, then they win. The counter is it. That's what he's call."

"I thought he was called the counter," said Sai.

"The person who is it counts, but he's not called counter. He's called it. So when you say 'I'm it' then that means you count."

"Neji said he's it so he counts!" Gaara said, pointing.

"I was just making an example."

"Neji, count to ten while Sai and I hide."

Neji sighed. "Alright. Just to show you how it's done." Neji covered his eyes with his hands. "One… Two…"

Gaara grabbed Sai's hand and pulled him into the next room. "Come on," he whispered gleefully.

Naruto watched as they played their game. Gaara looked so happy.

Neji managed to find both of them in the bedroom. Though they thought they were small, their teenaged bodies were difficult to hide. It was fun seeing them squeeze their bodies to fit behind bookcases and under tables. Now that it was his turn to hide, Neji emptied out a chest in the bedroom and hid inside. Sai found him only because he noticed all the clothes and gear on the floor.

It was fun seeing them run through the apartment, giggling and having a great time. Gaara even asked Naruto not to tell Sai that he was hiding behind the couch Naruto was seated in. Sai found him anyway.

But soon they all grew tired of playing and gathered in the living room to take a break. Neji even commented that he should probably get home, still thinking he had a curfew.

Not wanting them to fuss or get agitated when they weren't allowed to leave, Naruto decided enough was enough and turned them back to their proper ages.

As long as they were all gathered on the floor, now seemed like the perfect opportunity. Naruto used the trigger and they all went back into a trance. He returned them to their normal ages, but he didn't want to release them just yet. So he allowed the previous command to take effect again and woke them all up.

Gaara was back to how he was before but still under hypnosis so Naruto could give him a new command anytime. Neji went back to being a silent servant and Sai had returned to being Naruto's number-one fan.

Naruto went over and asked Gaara how he was doing.

Gaara sat on the floor, scratching the side of his head. "I'm a little dizzy. What happened?"

"It's nothing. These guys just decided to come over. Don't worry about it."

Gaara looked down at his hands. "Why am I covered in ink?"

Naruto looked at Gaara's hands. It must have been from the pens they were using to draw. Gaara was also covered in dust after their game of hide and seek. The apartment might have been recently cleaned but it wasn't totally spotless. There were still plenty of dust bunnies under the bed and behind the bookcases. Children at play often made messes even in a clean house so this didn't surprise Naruto too much.

In fact, it gave him another idea.

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