Chapter 21: Slip of the Tongue

"Aww..! Would you look how cute they are?"

"I know, right?"

"Ohh..! Widdle Sasuke! How cute!"

"Ohh..! And look at Neji! How precious!"

Naruto and Lee sat off to the side listening to the two girls coo about how cute the babies were when they were sleeping. It was a miracle that they didn't wake them up yet. But it was only a matter of time.

Neji's hand twitched slightly and his eyelashes fluttered, dreaming about something peaceful.

"Aww..!"

Sasuke sucked his thumb, pacifier forgotten inches away and cuddled with Neji.

"Aww..! That's adorable!"

Naruto scoffed bitterly. "How come she never says that about me when I sleep?"

"Who? Sakura?" Lee asked.

"Yeah! Why does she find Sasuke so damn cute? I'm cute! Look at me! I'm adorable!"

Lee eyed Naruto from head to toe. "Uh…"

"What? You don't think I'm cute?"

"I would not know. I am not a girl."

"Ugh! You're hopeless!"

The girls continued to fawn over the two sleeping babies and Naruto grew even more annoyed. What's the big deal? They're just sleeping! Geez! What's wrong with those girls?

Sakura let out a gasp of joy. "Oh, look, Tenten! Sasuke's drooling! How cute is that?"

Jeez! How is that cute? The last time I did that, Sakura punched me! Then again, it was on her sleeping bag…

"And look! He's sucking his thumb!"

Big deal! If I ever did that, she'd yell at me and tell me to knock it off!

"Aw! Now Sasuke's cuddling Neji! Look! He's hugging him..!"

"So what? I did that once and you hit me with your pillow! And it wasn't like I was hugging you or anything. I was hugging my own damn pillow!"

She turned. "Naruto, are you jealous?"

Blushing slightly, he turned away. "No! What would make you think that?!"

"Shh! You'll wake the babies!"

"But you were being just as loud a minute ago and you're standing over them!"

"Naruto, lower your voice! We weren't being as loud as you are now!"

"Are you kidding?! You were talking way louder than me!"

"No! Now you're being too loud!"

"No way! You're yelling!"

"I am not! And you're yelling louder than I am!"

"But you're yelling way, way louder than I am right now!"

"You're the one who's talking! You're being too loud!"

"Not anymore! Now you're talking so you're being too loud!"

"I am not! You're yelling!"

"No, you are!"

"Mngh!"

They turned back to the bed. Sasuke was stirring. His face was scrunched up in discomfort, trying to remain asleep.

"Naruto, if you wake that baby..!"

"But it would be your fault! You were yelling!"

"But now you are!"

"I am not! You-!"

Lee threw a hand over his mouth to silence him. It was best to shut him up now than to have both of them go at it until one of them woke up the babies.

Sasuke sighed peacefully and went back to hugging Neji. He was like a warm, soft teddy bear. He made a perfect pillow. Neji seemed to agree. He snuggled up to Sasuke and rested his head on Sasuke's. He could still smell the shampoo clinging to his hair. He smelled wonderful. The scent put him into an even deeper sleep, thoroughly relaxed.

The girls went back to watching them sleep, finding them irresistibly adorable.

And Naruto went back to pouting. "Fine! Then I'll see you guys later."

Sakura turned. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Home. You've got things covered here. There's really no reason for me to stay."

"Yes, there is! It's our mission to watch over Sasuke. You can't just up and leave."

"But- but grandma said that there has to be at least one of us staying with him at all times. You're here and so is Lee and Tenten. Why should I stay?"

'Cause I'll break your teeth if you don't! That's what she wanted to say, but instead she said, "What if we need something?"

"You got Lee here. And Tenten, too. Why do you need me? Three should be enough for two babies."

"But what if Sasuke and Neji are both crying and neither one of us can calm them down. We'll have our hands full with them."

"That's what Lee is for."

"But what if he can't do it all? What if… What if he's in the bathroom or something? Or what if he has his hands full trying to get them milk or something and can't do it? We have two babies here, Naruto. Besides, you can do shadow clones. He can't. You can't just leave. We need you."

"But all I've been doing so far is getting yelled at by you! I can't seem to do anything right and you tell me that to my face. All I end up doing is breaking stuff. Why should I stay? To get yelled at some more?"

"No."

"But that's all I've been getting lately! You're girls. You're good at this baby stuff. I'm not! I've never had any brothers or sisters, I didn't have parents who cared for me or brought me up, and I've never babysat in my life. How would I know any of this stuff? I don't know what to do."

Sakura sighed. "Please?"

"Huh?"

"Please, just stay. Tsunade said that she should be finished soon. Just hang out a little bit longer, ok?"

He groaned. "Oh, I don't know…"

"Just think, Naruto," Tenten added. "This is the last time you will ever see Sasuke in this weakened state. Now you're better than him. You can boss him around. He's helpless. Do you really want to pass up on that? This may be your only chance… Soon he'll be back to normal."

A second went by. "Ok, I guess I can stay for a little while."

She knew that would work.

Sakura gave her arm a tug. "Oh, Tenten! You've got to see this! Look! Look what they're doing!" She pointed to the bed.

Sasuke and Neji were hugging each other tightly, tangled in each other's limbs. Neji rubbed his head on Sasuke's, tickling his face with his long hair. Sasuke giggled slightly in his sleep and buried his nose in Neji's warm neck, snuggling even closer.

"Oh! How cute! Isn't that sweet?!"

"They're so adorable."

Naruto's eye twitched. "That's it. I'm watching TV. If anyone needs me, I'll be downstairs."

An hour passed. And still the babies continued to sleep. Another hour passed and they remained undisturbed, showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. The girls grew worried. It was almost 10:30! They had to wake up some time! Hopefully soon…

"Do you think they're ok?" Sakura asked, worried more for Sasuke's condition than Neji's.

Tenten nodded. "I'm sure they're fine. Just overtired, that's all. They really needed to catch up on their sleep."

"I know, but…"

"Don't worry. They're ok."

"I'm not worried." She looked back at the babies on the bed. "I just don't want to wake them up. They're so cute!"

"I know what you mean…" Tenten looked back at the clock. "But they'll have to wake up soon. They have to eat after all."

"So what do we do? Just… wake them up?"

Tenten sighed. "Let's give them five more minutes to get up themselves. If they don't, then we'll have to do it ourselves. It's almost noon and they haven't eaten breakfast yet."

Sakura nodded. As much as she hated to wake Sasuke, she knew it couldn't be helped.

Lee entered the bedroom and smiled upon seeing Sakura. "Have they woken up yet?"

"No, not yet. What's Naruto doing?"

"Still watching TV. But he is still here."

"Hm. Good thing he hasn't left yet. He hasn't even ducked out for some ramen yet. I'm surprised."

Lee looked over her shoulder at the babies. "How long are they supposed to sleep, Tenten?"

"Babies need lots of sleep, but I couldn't say for sure. But they do have to get up to eat soon. They must be hungry."

Lee walked over and gave Sasuke a poke in the head. "Man… He is out like a light..! Out good and cold..."

"Lee, don't poke him like that!" Sakura hissed.

"Oh! I am so sorry!… How should I poke him?"

"I'd rather you didn't at all…" She sweat-dropped.

Naruto came stomping into the room next looking very grumpy. "Are they awake yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Jeez! What's taking them so long?! You know, I could have gone for a walk and been back by now."

"Did you only come up here to complain?"

"That and there wasn't anything good on TV."

Sakura growled.

A squeaky yawn made them all turn around. Sasuke was beginning to stir. He rubbed his eyes and sucked his thumb again.

Sakura came over and bent down by the bed, watching. When he didn't move, she gave him a very light poke. "Sasuke?" she whispered.

He didn't do anything.

So she flattened her palm on his belly and gave him a small, gentle shake. "Sasuke? Sasuke…"

"Mm… Mhph..!" He frowned and turned away. He wasn't ready to wake up yet. He refused.

"Sasuke, it's time to wake up."

Oh, how he always hated those words. It meant to stop dreaming and come back to reality. Sleep was the only place he wanted to be right now. He batted her hand away and curled up into a ball. When she nudged him again, he rolled under Neji's body, using him as a kind of shield.

Well this was just perfect. When they wanted them to sleep, they wouldn't. When they wanted them to wake up, they wouldn't. Were their jobs as babies to make their lives miserable or something? Because they seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it so far.

Tenten lifted Neji off the bed and into her arms. She patted and rubbed his back in an attempt to wake him up. She bounced and rocked him. He only drooled on her shoulder.

Sakura picked up Sasuke as well and tried the same thing. As she rocked and bounced him, his eyes started to open. He narrowed his eyes at her grouchily and moaned. He wanted to keep sleeping. Why wasn't she letting him?

Neji was being just as stubborn as Sasuke. There was nothing else she could do. Tenten held him out in front of her, letting his legs dangle uselessly. She called to him. "Neji? Come on, Neji. Wake up."

"Mm…"

"That's it. Wake up. Wake up..!" she called to him sweetly.

Ever so slowly, his eyes opened. He looked at her drowsily and she smiled. He smiled back at her sleepily. But what happened next was something no one was prepared for. He opened his mouth to say something and a single word came out.

"Mama…"

All heads spun around to look at him. Sakura nearly dropped Sasuke in her shock. Sasuke was now fully awake, staring at him. Did he just say what they thought he said?

Tenten's jaw dropped. "N- Neji? Is that you? Are you ok?" She shook him gently. "Can you hear me, Neji? Are you alright?!"

"I'd be better if you weren't shaking me like that. What's going on?"

Tenten gave a joyful gasp. "Neji, is that you?"

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" He yawned in her face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Now, what's going on? Why are you shouting at me like that?"

"Because of what you just said."

He looked back at her, still in the process of waking up. "What did I say?"

"You called me mama."

He blinked and chuckled. "What? No, I didn't. I called you Tenten."

"No. I heard you loud and clear. You said 'mama'. I heard you. We all did."

"Oh, really?" He yawned again. "Sorry. It must have been a slip of the tongue is all… I'm ok. Really."

"Are you sure? Are you sure it wasn't a lapse or something?"

He gave her a weak smile. "No, no. I'm sure. I'm fine, really. Look, I just woke up. I'm half asleep. I'm bound to make some mistakes. Hey, we're luck I didn't call Lee daddy or something. For all we know, I could have called Naruto mom."

That was a good point, but they still couldn't help but worry about him.

Before anything else could happen, the babies' tummies growled. They were hungry. This was no time to dwell on what Neji had said. Right now, the important thing was feeding them their much needed and very late breakfast.

Naruto sure is grumpy... But think about it. Wouldn't you be if you were trapped in the same house with baby Sasuke and Neji and a bossy Sakura? Come on, even he has his limits! Lee... He's just very discliplined. But he did have some trouble with Neji... At least the girls are having fun!

Yes, I'm making it a little longer. But it is going to end soon… in a few more chapters. I can't keep them like this forever as much as we'd all love that. ^-^

But really, if anyone has any cute ideas, give them to me now before I end it!

Please review!