Chapter 25: Lapses and Childishness

Being a baby was exhausting. Hard to believe when your day consisted of drooling, eating, sleeping and suffering occasional lapses. But it was nonetheless true. Being a baby was so tiring… and they didn't even have to do anything!

Right now, it was naptime. This was Sasuke's second nap of the day and Neji's first. He was even more worn out than Sasuke it seemed. They were tucked in up stairs in Sasuke's bed to sleep for a while. Despite Sasuke's protests about not needing a nap, a little warm milk and he was out like a light. Right now, the only thing coming out of his mouth was drool. Neji had been so tired lately and requested this nap. He just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He had passed out the second his head hit the pillow.

An hour had passed and the two babies were just beginning to stir. Neji was the first to wake, kicking his legs in an effort to sit up under his own power. He finally succeeded and sat up looking around. Sasuke was still asleep, but it looked as if he were about to wake any second.

Neji turned back around and crawled to the edge of the bed. No one was around. He sat on his heels and whined. No one came. He whined louder. This time he heard footsteps coming towards the room. He sat back happily and waited.

Tenten appeared in the doorway and Neji smiled. She came over to the bed and stood over him. She was so tall! She towered over him like a building. "What's the matter, Neji? Why were you whining?"

He reached out towards her, silently asking to be picked up. When she didn't get the message, he whined.

"What?"

"Uh!" he grunted impatiently and bounced.

"You want up?"

"Uh!" he bounced happily. She finally understood him. She reached down and picked him up. He snuggled up to her, sucking his thumb.

Sasuke was now starting to wake up as well. He slowly opened his heavy eyes and looked up. The first thing he saw was Tenten holding Neji in her arms. Neji was sucking his thumb and resting his head on her shoulder. Man, he looks stupid… With a yawn, Sasuke sat up in bed still looking very groggy.

"You can keep sleeping if you want, Sasuke," Tenten said.

"Nah. I've slept enough."

Tenten looked down at Neji. "And you haven't said a word yet since you woke up. Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer.

She bounced him a little to get his attention. "Neji? What's up?"

He looked her right in the eyes and said, "Mama."

She blinked. "You… You think I'm your mom?"

He patted her face with a smile. "Mama."

"Oh, no..!" she moaned. "He's having another lapse..!"

Sasuke would have laughed had he not been so worried himself. Not so much for Neji, but for himself. When was he going to have another lapse? What would he say? What would he do?

There was a flash of pink and Sakura appeared in the door, hurrying toward Sasuke. "Oh, hello, you cute little thing!"

"Ten feet, Sakura!" Sasuke blurted out before anything else could happen.

She stopped in place. "Oh. Right. Sorry." She looked at Tenten. "What's up?"

She sighed heavily. "It's Neji. He just called me 'mama' again. He's in another lapse."

Neji looked at Sakura curiously, sucking his thumb again.

"Great."

"Hey, I thought you guys said that Tsunade was close to a breakthrough. What gives?"

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Maybe there's a problem or something. How should I know?"

"Then go down there and ask! Find out what the hell's going on! I thought we'd be back to normal by now."

"So did we."

"I want answers!"

"Sasuke, calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down! I am calm! I'm fine! I just want to know what the hell's taking so damn long!"

"Here, have some milk." She handed him a bottle.

"I don't want any-!" The moment his eyes caught sight of the bottle, his words were lost. He reached out for it and started to drink. This doesn't change anything..! I still want my normal body back. No more of this baby stuff… Even though this milk is really, really good. He guzzled it down. Mmm! Milk is awesome!… Wait, what was I talking about again? He couldn't remember.

Naruto appeared in the doorway with Lee and waved at Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Naruto, I thought you were cleaning up the kitchen!" Sakura called without turning around.

The blond ninja gulped and disappeared. "I am, I am!" Lee followed after him.

Sasuke gave Sakura a questioning look.

"I told them to clean up the kitchen while you two were napping. It's about time they got around to it, huh?"

Sasuke said nothing and continued drinking.

~*~*~

Naruto and Lee were on their hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor and picking up every shard of glass they could find. This was a huge pain! Every time Naruto thought he had gotten every piece of glass off the floor he found another, and it usually stuck him in the hand while cleaning. He cursed and tossed it in the trash in the corner.

"Why do we get stuck doing all the hard work?" he asked.

"Because they are girls and know more about taking care of babies than we do. Besides, it is our mess. We should be the ones cleaning it."

"Whatever… Ow! There's another one!"

"Be careful, Naruto."

"I'm trying to!" He continued scrubbing the floor. His back was starting to ache.

Lee stood up and picked up a mop. "We have swept the floor! Now it is time to mop!" He gripped the mop tightly. "I may not be able to go outside to train like I normally do… But this can count as training as well! Naruto!" He turned.

"What?"

Lee jabbed a finger in his face. "I issue a challenge! I will clean this side of the room before you finish yours!"

Naruto blinked. "Huh? You mean… Are you betting you're a faster cleaner or something?"

"What do you say, Naruto? It will not only make the work go by faster, but it is also a form of training! What will you do?"

Naruto looked at the mop in Lee's hand then down to the brush in his. He looked around the disaster area of a kitchen. There wasn't too much left to do. And his side was a little cleaner than his, maybe. He smirked. "You're on!"

The two got to work and began cleaning the kitchen as fast as they could. Naruto was scrubbing so hard, he nearly wore a groove in the floor. Lee was mopping with the speed of lightning, sending soap suds in every direction. They were both determined to be the winner. Though there wasn't an official prize, there was still a drive to be the best. They had to win!

Naruto glanced over at Lee's side of the room. He was making great process. He could win. He was winning! He couldn't allow that! Naruto looked around and spotted something that might give him an edge. He grabbed three more brushes and strapped them to his knees and other hand. He crawled around the floor, the brushes on his hands and knees working their wonders on the floor. Now he was moving four times as fast!

Lee looked over and saw this. There was no way he was going to let Naruto win. He was the one who challenged him! "I will not be outmatched!" He grabbed a second mop and a rag. He put one mop's handle in his teeth, took the other in his other hand, and started to pushed them around, mopping up the floor twice as fast while his other hand began dusting off the countertops. He was now doing two jobs at once. Now he was ahead of his opponent.

Naruto gasped. No way! Oh, yeah? Then try this on for size! "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five clones appeared out of a cloud of chakra and got ready for their jobs. Naruto pointed to each one and gave them their orders. "You, dust! You, sweep! You, mop! You, scrub!, And you, wash! GO!"

His clones ran around to do their jobs, leaving Lee in the dust.

"Ha! In your face!" Naruto laughed.

Lee gawked at the clones for a moment before toughening up. "I will not lose! Prepare yourself, Naruto!" Lee bent down and started to remove his leg weights.

"Oh, no, you don't!"

"Huh?" The two looked up and saw Tenten coming down the stairs.

"Lee, you can't take those off! You'll move so fast, you'll brake something else!"

"Ah! I did not realize that! I am so sorry, Tenten!" He strapped them back on. "I will defeat Naruto under my own strength!"

"No, you won't!" she scolded. "No more competitions! We don't need anything else broken!"

Naruto and his clones looked up. "But we'll be careful!"

"No! Just clean normally. Take it nice and slow."

"But-"

"Do it!"

Naruto sighed and his clones disappeared. "Fine, have it your way. But I was this close to beating him."

Sakura walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I need another bottle for Sasuke. Excuse me, Lee." She squeezed by and, balancing Sasuke on her hip, she tried to prepare his bottle."

Lee dropped the mop he was using and rushed over to help, not realizing that he had dropped it on Naruto's head. "Sakura, please, allow me to help. I will make the bottle for you. Do not worry."

"That's ok. I got it, Lee."

"But I cannot allow myself to sit back while you are struggling with a child in your hands! I will do it!" He got to work.

"Thanks, Lee. How thoughtful of you! Naruto would never be this considerate."

His blond head snapped up. "But… but I offered you help just a little while ago!"

"But you always screw it up. And if I ever see you try to help out with the babies, I have to get after you to do it! It's not consideration if I have to tell you to do it."

"But I meant about the time during our mission! Remember? I offered you some of my food."

"It was the vegetables, and that's only because you hate them. That doesn't count."

"Ok, but what about me holding the door open for you when we got there?"

Sakura thought. "No, you didn't! The man who hired us did!"

"Oh, yeah… But I let you go in first!"

"That's because I was in front of you!"

"Still… And aside from the mission, I ask you out on a date all the time!"

"Hmph! That's not being considerate. That's being annoying!"

Naruto crumpled to the floor. "Sakura..! That's hurtful..!"

"Don't whine."

"I'm not..!" he whined.

Lee finished putting the top on the bottle and handed it over to Sasuke. "Here you go."

But Sasuke didn't take it. He was too busy sucking his thumb to notice. Lee waved a hand in front of his face. That got his attention. Sasuke looked up at him. He stared at him for a few seconds before reaching forward. But instead of taking the bottle, he ran his hands over Lee's stomach, feeling his abs.

Lee shivered. "Sasuke..! That- that t- tickles!"

Sasuke giggled and did it even more. Lee pulled away and Sasuke reached for him. He was clearly in another lapse.

Sakura looked down and noticed this with a sigh. "Poor little Sasuke… He slipped into it just as we were coming downstairs." She took the bottle from Lee and helped Sasuke drink.

~*~*~

"Just be thankful it only lasted a few minutes. Mine lasted a half hour." Neji leaned against the arm of the couch.

"Still…" Sasuke groaned. "Haven't you noticed that these lapses are coming around more often?"

"Yeah, I t'ought so, too." Neji shut his eyes with embarrassment. "Damn, not again! I thought I was over that!"

"You lisped again?"

"Yeah."

"Hm. At least I haven't yet today, Negi."

Neji turned to him. "What did you just call me?"

"N- nothing!"

"You just called me 'Negi' didn't you?"

"Sh- shut up!" Sasuke turned away, blushing.

Neji chuckled. "I knew it. So much for not doing it today."

"Hey, I said 'yet' today."

"Yeah, but it looks like you couldn't even last that long."

"Shut it."

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sasuke spoke. "Uh, Neji?"

"What?"

"Do you… Have you… I mean, have…" Sasuke turned away. "Have you had any… strange feelings lately?"

"Such as?"

"Such as things, you know? Like strange urges."

"Why, have you?"

"Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't be asking. So have you or not?"

Neji tried to think. Strange urges or feelings? What would qualify? "I'm not sure. But I have been wanting to suck my thumb a lot more and I really like milk a lot more than I used to. What have you been suffering?"

Sasuke blushed and looked away. "N- nothing. Never mind."

"No, what?"

"Forget it!"

"Tell me. I won't laugh."

Sasuke groaned. "Oh, ok..!" He turned back around but kept his eyes down, avoiding Neji's gaze. "Lately… I've been… I've had this powerful urge to hummfumda…"

Neji moved closer. "Huh? What was that? I couldn't understand you."

"I said I've had this powerful urge to hug something! There, I said it!"

Neji blinked and sat back. "Wait… You've been wanting to… hug something?"

Sasuke shut his eyes, embarrassed. "Hug, squeeze, latch onto… Whatever you want to call it. But I've been wanting to do it a lot lately. Hug a stuffed animal, my pillow, a blanket…" He shuttered. "Even Sakura…"

Neji snorted with laughter.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!"

"I promised nothing! And I didn't laugh… yet. I'm trying not to."

"Then don't! Jerk…" He turned his back to Neji. That was so embarrassing to admit. It wasn't an easy thing to say out loud to someone. Wanting to hug something… How embarrassing! He couldn't believe he just said that. And Neji laughed at him! Him! Come on, it's not like he never did anything humiliating or childish. After a few minutes, he turned back to Neji. He was sucking his thumb and looking around the room. "Neji?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you sucking your thumb?"

"Hm?" He looked down and pulled his thumb out of his mouth. "Oh. I didn't realize I was…" His cheeks turned rosy.

Sasuke sat back on the couch. "I thought Tsunade was almost finished. How long does it freakin' take? I thought we'd be back to normal by now. Jeez! It's been a whole day! She said in a matter of hours! What's taking her so long?"

"Maybe there was a problem..?"

"What problem? She's supposed to be the best there is. How could she screw it up?"

"Just be patient. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Hm." Sasuke folded his arms and looked away.

"Found it!"

The babies looked up. Naruto was struggling with something in his hands as he dragged it downstairs. He hurried over to the couch with, you guessed it: the mobile. Giggling like a child, he quickly fastened it to the back of the couch, directly above their heads.

"Naruto, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"You guys look stressed. So I figured that you could use this!" He gave the mobile a pat. "You always calm down whenever it's around."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the ninja towering over him. "Go away, Naruto. I'm in no mood! Besides, I don't want to be treated like child!"

He wasn't listening. Naruto started to wined up the device. Within moments, it started to play soft lullaby music and spin.

"Naruto, I just said that I didn't want… you… to…" Sasuke's eyes caught sight of the mobile and lost track of what he was saying. He just stared at the thing spinning above his head. He sat back into the couch and watched it spin.

Naruto stood back with a satisfied smile. "You were saying?"

Sasuke blinked slowly. "I… forgot."

"Thought so." He dusted his hands off and marched back into the kitchen to finish helping Lee clean up.

Neji couldn't take his eyes off the device either. The slow, rhythmic spinning kept his eyes fixed upon it and the soft soothing music made his mind go blank. "I see what you mean… Sasuke."

"Huh..?"

"You said that you fell asleep the last time you saw this thing… I can see why."

"Yeah..?"

"Mm." Neji nodded. "It's strangely hypnotic."

"Yeah… It is…" Sasuke mumbled dreamily.

Neji watched it spin slowly above his head. "Why is it that babies love these things? Why does it calm them down so much?"

Sasuke yawned. "I guess… for the reasons you just said. It's hypnotic or something."

"Yeah, but it never effected us in our normal states."

"Mm… Maybe it only… works… on… babies…" Sasuke leaned back and slumped against Neji's body.

"Yeah… Maybe…" Neji yawned. He was starting to feel a little sleepy. Strange. He had just woken up from a nap not too long ago. Was he really ready to take another one so soon? Either way, his body was starting to relax.

The music kept playing. The device kept spinning. The babies kept watching.

Within a minute, Neji became aware of a new sensation. He tore his eyes away for a moment to look down. Sasuke's hands were creeping up around his body. "Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"Mm…"

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke hugged him and shrugged. "I dunno…"

The clouds in Neji's mind were beginning to disperse, allowing him to view the situation more thoroughly. Sasuke was hugging him! "Uh… Sasuke..?"

"Hm?" He snuggled into his warm lap and rested his head on Neji's chest.

"I… I think you're hugging me." Neji tried to inch away but Sasuke's grip only tightened.

Sasuke's eyes dropped slightly. "So?" he mumbled. "Maybe I want to."

Neji's face turned pink. "You- you want t- to?" he shuttered, unable to grasp his words.

He nodded, wrapping his arms around him as if he were a teddy bear. "For some reason… I feel like hugging you all of a sudden…"

Neji tried to push him off. "Could you stop?"

Sasuke took one last look at the mobile before shutting his eyes. "In a minute…" He rubbed his face against his chest. "You're kinda comfy…"

"I'm not your pillow!"

Sasuke removed one hand from Neji's torso to reach into his overalls' pocket. He held up a pacifier for Neji to take. "Here. Take this and be quiet."

"But, Sasuke…" He tried to push him off again. "I don't think you realize how awkward this is. You're- Muph!"

Sasuke shoved the pacifier into his mouth, silencing him. "Just shut up. I want to rest for a minute. And you are comfy. Just for a minute, ok?"

Neji sucked on the pacifier and frowned at Sasuke. But we just took our naps! Why must we do this again? His eyes caught sight of the mobile again. He watched it rotate slowly, still playing its soothing lullaby. Without even realizing it, Neji's arms started to wrap around Sasuke's body as well. Sasuke was pretty warm…and soft. He rested his head on Sasuke's, slowly starting to drift off. "Hmm… I guess so… Just for a… minute…"

Aren't they cute?

Please review! ^-^