Chapter 25: Chaos

Naruto carried Gaara down the stairs and peered around the corner of the building. The street wasn't too busy. Not too many people should notice them.

"You ok, Gaara?" Naruto asked the boy on his back.

"Mmm." Gaara gave a sleepy moan.

"Hang in there. We'll find Shikamaru." Naruto darted into the street with Gaara dozing on his back. To keep from being noticed, Naruto tried to hide around corners as much as possible instead of running straight down the street.

Shikamaru wasn't nearby so Naruto moved closer to the Hokage building, figuring he must already be there. Maybe the people inside told Shikamaru to wait to speak with her because she was busy preparing for the meeting. Even if he told them it was an emergency, they probably still told him to wait. That must have been what was taking so long.

Every now and then he felt Gaara slide on his back and had to stop to make sure he didn't fall off. He hoped they didn't run into Kankuro. Since it was so close to the meeting, he must have been out searching for his younger brother. Naruto didn't mean to worry him, but he couldn't let Kankuro find Gaara in this condition.

"If I thought he threw a fit before, I can only imagine what he'd do to me if he found Gaara like this."

Keeping an eye out for anyone he knew, Naruto moved quickly from one building to the next. He didn't want to use the rooftops just in case Gaara fell. He didn't want to put Gaara in danger.

There weren't too many people down this street either. He started to jog down the street, then quickly ducked behind a building when he saw Sakura coming his way. Knowing he couldn't stay put, Naruto went down an alley and out into another street.

"Naruto!"

He flinched, instinctively hiding behind a folding sign in front of a store.

"Naruto, help!"

Realizing it was Shikamaru's voice, he stepped out from behind the sign.

What he saw made him want to laugh and shut his eyes in horror at the same time.

Shikamaru was in front of him with Lee. Dancing.

Lee was the one doing most of the actual dancing. He had grabbed Shikamaru's hands and was forcing him to dance with him in a violent tango. Shikamaru had to step with him or fall on the ground. Lee was moving so quickly and pulling his arms so roughly that more than once Shikamaru's feet left the ground and he was dragged across the dirt.

It was less of a dance and more of Lee swinging his partner from side to side while he tried to get away.

"He won't stop!" Shikamaru shouted, still trying to pull his hands free. "He just grabbed me and wouldn't let go!"

Lee snared him before he even reached the Hokage's building. Shikamaru had been forced to dance ever since.

"Lee, knock it off!" Naruto ordered him, but Lee wouldn't listen.

"I tried using my shadow on him, but he has my hands. I can't do anything." Lee swung Shikamaru into the air and back down. Shikamaru could feel his shoulders popping. Lee had some rhythm but his method was painful. Shikamaru tried to keep up, but even in dance, Lee went overboard. "Help me!"

"Uh… Ok. Uh…" Naruto looked around. "Um…"

"Just snap him out of it!" Shikamaru shouted.

"Oh, right. Of course." In order to do that, Naruto had to set Gaara down. He balanced Gaara on his back with one hand as he raised the other and snapped his fingers. "Lee, sleep."

Lee didn't do anything but dance.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted again.

"I'm trying! He must not have heard me!"

"Do something!"

"O- ok…" Naruto stepped closer. "Lee…"

Lee made a grab for his hand. To avoid being grabbed, Naruto jumped back. Lee quickly grabbed Shikamaru's hand again and continued his dance. He flung Shikamaru over his head and back to earth. He pulled Shikamaru in close, pressing his body close to his as he danced, his legs kicking Shikamaru as he struggled to keep up.

This didn't look like dancing anymore. Not when one partner was fighting to get away and the other one kept stepping on him.

Gaara lifted his head. "What's going on?" he mumbled.

"Lee's forcing Shikamaru to dance with him but he doesn't want to," Naruto explained. "If I put you down, I can use my Shadow Clones to stop him."

Gaara blinked sleepily at the two ninja before them. "I'll help."

He raised his hand. The ground under Lee's feet began to move. Sand was beginning to rise from the earth. Gaara was using the few grains of sand he had on hand to ground up the minerals in the earth to make more sand. He intended to trap Lee's feet to keep him from moving.

Slowly, more sand started to rise and wrap around Lee's ankles. Gaara twitched his fingers and the sand hardened around Lee's feet, stopping his legs from moving.

No longer being kicked, Shikamaru was able to find his footing and tried pulling his hands free. Lee kept swinging his arms, making Shikamaru spin. Lee refused to stop dancing just because his legs were rooted to the spot.

"Enough, Lee!" Shikamaru said, pulling in the opposite direction. "Stop it!"

Gaara's arm suddenly dropped and the sand around Lee's feet did the same. Lee began to dance as enthusiastically as before.

"I'm sorry…" mumbled Gaara. "I can't… anymore…"

Naruto felt Gaara slide and bent to keep Gaara from falling off his back. "Gaara?"

"I'm so tired."

"Gaara."

"Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted. "Put Gaara down and snap Lee out of it!"

"R- right." Naruto walked over to a building and lowered Gaara to the ground. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Naruto got as close as he could to Lee and tried getting his attention. "Lee, slee-"

"Get them off!"

Before he could get out the trigger, someone else showed up and ran into Naruto at full speed.

"Now what?!"

Shino landed on top of Naruto with a panic-stricken look on his face. "They're everywhere! I can't get rid of them!"

"What?"

"The bugs!" Shino got off Naruto, rubbing his arms. "I hate them. I'm scared of them. They won't leave me alone. They're everywhere I go."

Naruto sighed. "Oh, yeah. I told you that, didn't I?"

Shino looked uncomfortable in his own skin. He kept rubbing his arms and looking around anxiously. Naruto felt bad about giving him this command now.

"Alright, I'll fix this. Shino…"

Before he could do anything, Shino screamed and ran from a fly.

"Shino, wait!"

"Never mind him!" Shikamaru cried. "Lee's the one who's killing me here!"

"One thing at a time!"

"Now, Naruto!"

"Alright, alright!" Naruto tried getting close to Lee again. "Lee-"

He grabbed Naruto's wrist and swung him around, now having two dance partners.

"Lee, stop!"

Being swung from one arm was worse than being swung by one. Shikamaru was dragged across the ground and thrown into Naruto.

Naruto kept trying to snap his fingers and say the trigger but Lee didn't hear a word he was saying. "Lee, stop it!"

Lee kept dancing, swinging them around like tennis rackets. Finally, Lee lost his grip on Shikamaru mid-swing and flung him into a building. He grabbed Naruto by both hands and whipped him around as he had done Shikamaru before. Now Naruto couldn't snap at all.

"Lee! Stop! This hurts! Lee! Lee!"

"I'll save you, sir!" Sai came flying out of the air to rescue him.

"Never mind!" Naruto shouted. "I'd rather have Lee!"

Sai kicked Lee in the face and scooped Naruto into his arms. He carried Naruto far from Lee and set him on the ground. "Are you alright, Naruto, sir? Did that green freak hurt you? I hope not."

"I'm fine, Sai."

"I knew nothing could keep down the greatest ninja in the world," Sai gushed.

Naruto growled in annoyance.

With Shikamaru free from Lee's grasp, he must have been on his way to see the Hokage now. Which meant Naruto could go back to keeping an eye on Gaara.

He went over to the redhead and pulled him to his feet. "Are you ok, Gaara?"

Gaara stood on his feet, nodding. "I'm ok." He didn't seem injured, but he wasn't fine. He swayed on his feet and his eyes kept drooping.

Naruto helped walk Gaara further away from Lee, worried he might grab Gaara next if he was within reach. Sai followed closely, as usual.

"Sai, could you not follow me so close?"

"I can't stand to be apart from you," Sai said, cupping his hands together. "You're the best ninja in the world and I admire you so much. I simply adore everything you do."

Naruto wanted to punch him but didn't, and not just because Gaara was resting his head on Naruto's shoulder. Though he was able to stand, Gaara was still very tired. He had to lean against Naruto for support.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked gently.

He yawned and tried to make himself comfortable on Naruto's shoulder, falling asleep on his feet.

Naruto scooped Gaara into his arms and carried him further down the street. He didn't know what he was doing. He just wanted to keep Gaara safe.

"You look so cool carrying Gaara like that," Sai gushed. "Ah, it would be an honor if you would carry me like that."

"Alright, that's it." Naruto stopped walking. "Stay there, Sai. I'll be right back."

Naruto carried Gaara over to another building and set him down. He leaned Gaara against the side of the building and gave his shoulder a little shake. "You going to be ok here for a minute, Gaara?"

Gaara snored.

"Gaara, can you hear me?"

"Uh-huh."

"You going to be ok here for a minute?"

Gaara nodded his head. "As long as I have sand… I can do anything…" he mumbled sleepily.

Figuring he must have been dreaming, Naruto ignored Gaara's sleepy mumbles. He was probably sleep-talking anyway. He was snoring a moment ago.

Naruto stood up and pulled Sai away by the arm. "Sai…"

"Naruto?"

"What could it possibly be this time?!" he shouted to the newcomer.

Neji frowned at him. "Sorry if I caught you at a bad time, but why is Gaara sitting unconscious over there?"

Naruto looked from Gaara back to Neji. "I told him to wait there."

Neji gave him a suspicious look. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. Stop assuming things."

"Yes," said Sai, cupping his hands to his face. He looked like a lovesick schoolgirl. "Naruto can do whatever he wants. He's so amazing, isn't it? You're just jealous you're not as incredible as he is."

Neji raised his brow at Sai. "I'm on my way to train with my uncle right now and it's sad when this is not the strangest thing I've seen on my way there."

"Everything's fine!" Naruto shouted. "Sai, get over here."

He pulled Sai away from Neji, but Neji listened in on their conversation, curious. Naruto wouldn't be this emotional if something weren't going on.

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Sai, sleep."

Sai closed his eyes.

As did Neji.

"When you wake up, you will no longer be my admirer. You will be your normal self," Naruto told Sai, unaware that Neji had been caught up in the hypnosis as well. "You will be blunt and speak your mind and do whatever you want."

Sai and Neji nodded their heads.

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Awake."

They opened their eyes.

"Well, Sai, how do you feel?" Naruto asked him.

Sai cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Do you feel like following me around?"

"No more than usual," Sai told him. "Why?"

Unsure of what this meant, Naruto asked him another question to test if Sai had returned to his normal self. "Do you admire me?"

"If you're asking if we're friends, I would like to think so. What's this about?"

"Nothing. Nothing." Naruto was so relieved. "Just go about your business."

"Alright." Sai scratched his head. "I feel a little funny. I'm not sure how to describe it. I'm just not sure what I've been doing up until now."

"Go figure it out somewhere else," Naruto told him.

Sai walked away, trying to figure out how he got here in the first place. He felt like he was forgetting something but he wasn't sure what.

Naruto sighed. "Finally. I'm glad that's over."

"You're certainly agitated," said Neji.

"I'm fine, Neji."

"Normally when people say that it means they're not and you're no exception to that rule. Although you tend to think you are most of the time. Running around like an idiot and thinking you can get away with things because of who you are, though you have no real social power or status."

Naruto looked at him. "Where did that come from?"

Neji shrugged. "I just felt like speaking my mind. But it's no secret that I think you're an idiot. I'm still pissed you beat me in the exams a couple years back. But I am a Jonin now and you're not, so I think we see where we stand."

Naruto was confused and angry, but didn't shout back. What had gotten into Neji all of a sudden? He was never this blunt before. Which led to a startling realization.

"Neji…"

Neji pulled something off Naruto's jacket. "You had a hair on you and it was bugging me."

"Neji…" Naruto knew something must have happened, and not just because Neji liked to keep his hands to himself.

Neji spun around in a full circle.

"Why'd you do that?"

"I felt like it." Neji started to grin. "I feel really weird, but good weird. I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I feel very free."

"Are you saying you're going to say and do whatever comes to your mind?"

Neji nodded. "Sounds about right. I don't know why this feeling's come over me all of a sudden, but I like it."

When Naruto gave Sai the command to be blunt, he had no idea that Neji would pick it up as well. He thought he was only talking to Sai, not Neji as well. He knew Sai was the kind of person to say and do whatever came to mind, but not Neji.

"The same trigger… The same command…" Naruto gasped. "I didn't snap you out of it completely. You're still hypnotized! Which means the triggers still work! Oh, no! I only meant to give that command to Sai, not you!"

The command also worked differently for Neji. His mind interpreted to command differently than Sai's. Put simply, Neji no longer had any inhibitions. He was free to do whatever he wanted because he could no longer think of consequences to his actions. This left Neji with a feeling of absolute freedom. He could do anything he wanted.

And he would because the part of his brain that held reason and told him not to do whatever he pleased had been shut off. Neji would now act upon any and all whims.

The best part of this for Neji was the fact that without being able to think of any possible consequences, he felt no stress. He had no negativity anywhere in his body, leaving him with a very giddy feeling. He had become happy-go-lucky as an effect of the command.

Which meant that Neji was a completely different person now.

Oh, great.

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