Chapter 26: Feeling Free

"I'm going to do a cartwheel." Neji did as he said he would. For no reason other than for the sake of doing it.

"Neji, you might what to…"

"I'm going to go punch my uncle in the face."

"What? No!" Naruto grabbed his arm. "Don't do that!"

"Why not? I feel like it."

"But it will really piss him off. What about the main branch and all that stuff? You don't think that could ruin things for you?"

"I don't care." Neji started walking, pulling Naruto behind him. "I don't care about anything. I just want to do what I want. Feels good."

"Let's think for a second."

"Don't wanna." Neji pulled his arm free and started walking towards his uncle's home.

"Neji!" Naruto started to chase after him, then remembered Gaara.

He went back and pulled Gaara to his feet. Gaara stood for a moment, then closed his eyes and started to fall over. He mumbled something in his sleep but Naruto couldn't make it out. He lifted Gaara into his arms and chased after Neji.

"Neji, come back!"

Neji stopped but not because Naruto asked him to. Shino was running in circles around him, fleeing a butterfly.

"Get it away! I'm scared!"

Neji stopped to stare at him and laugh. "You look pathetic, Shino. Very manly to run from a butterfly."

"It's a bug and I'm scared!"

Naruto felt Gaara shift slightly in his arms. He mumbled something else then snored.

"You ok, Gaara?"

Gaara opened his eyes. "Yeah…"

"Can I set you down for a second?"

"Sure."

Naruto put Gaara down and he was able to stand on his own. He yawned and stretched and ruffled his hair. "What's all the racket?" he asked sleepily.

This was an improvement. Naruto was thrilled to see Gaara standing on his own. Apparently, all he needed was a nap.

Hearing Neji tease Shino again, Naruto hurried through an explanation. "Neji's lost it and I'm trying to get him to listen to me and Shino's afraid of a butterfly."

Gaara gave Shino a tired look. "I thought he was an entomologist."

"A what?"

"He likes bugs and studies them," Gaara said softly.

"Oh. Yeah, he is."

Gaara yawned again. "Why's he afraid of a butterfly then?" Gaara rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up.

"It's a long story." Naruto had to get both of them under control. "Gaara, can you help me stop either of them from leaving?"

Gaara nodded his head. "I can try." Gaara lifted his hand and faced the two ninja.

Frowning in concentration, he made the ground under them move. Little by little, sand started to rise up from the soil. He was making more sand and let it gather under their feet.

Neji started to walk away and Gaara curled his fingers, making the sand move suddenly to the side. It was like yanking a carpet out from under him. Neji and Shino both fell over.

"Thanks, Gaara."

Gaara's eyes drooped slightly. "You're welcome…"

While Neji was on the ground, he started moving his arms and legs back and forth, making a sand angel. Shino quickly got to his feet, muttering about the possibility of ants crawling on him from being in the soil.

Naruto stepped forward. "Ok, guys, listen up. I want you to focus on me for just a second, ok?"

"Bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs," Shino muttered over and over again. "I can't stand this. They're everywhere. Creepy crawling things…"

Neji stood up and put a handful of soil on Shino's head and laughed as he freaked out. "What?" he called after him. "At most, there's only one worm on you."

"Get it off!" Shino ran in circles again.

Naruto glared at him. "Neji!"

Neji wiped his hands off on Naruto's jacket. "What? It's funny to watch."

"Yeah, it might be, but…" Naruto shook his head. "Never mind that. Neji, slee- ow!"

Neji started pinching Naruto's cheeks with his thumb and index fingers.

"What are you doing?" Naruto struggled to say and his cheeks were pulled in either direction.

"You sound funny," Neji snickered.

Naruto slapped his hands away. "Did that command also make you a complete idiot?"

"Between us, you're the dumb one," Neji told him. "Your cheeks just looked so inviting. I had to do it."

Naruto growled. "I really think that command made you stupid."

Neji shrugged. "I'm just doing what I feel like. It's very freeing. I feel like a whole new person."

"Yeah, no kidding." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Sleep."

Neji was off doing something else now and hadn't heard him.

Naruto rubbed his temples and summoned Gaara. "Come on, let's go after him."

Gaara didn't move. He just stood where he was, blinking tiredly.

Naruto grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. "Come on!"

Gaara was losing energy again. The short time he spent standing had been very taxing on him. Feeling drained, Gaara struggled to keep up as Naruto pulled him down the street. Naruto halted, causing Gaara to slam into him from behind. He almost fell over but he managed to stay standing.

Shino found the butterfly again and was screaming his head off as Neji laughed at him.

"Guys!" Naruto called but neither of them were paying attention. "Gaara, can you use your sand to bring them over here and hold them down?"

He didn't respond.

"Gaara?"

Gaara had his eyes closed but he was still standing. Naruto poked him and Gaara almost fell over. He was perfectly balanced, falling asleep yet again. Feeling himself lean to one side, Gaara opened his eyes and stopped himself from falling. He closed his eyes again and rested his head on Naruto's shoulder.

"Just when I thought you were better. Gaara, come on."

Gaara opened his eyes, giving Naruto a tired look. His eyes started to close again. He had no strength.

"Gaara, please stay awake."

His eyes were closed, but Gaara was saying something. It appeared that Gaara was trying to answer him, but Naruto couldn't make it out. He moved closer and told Gaara to speak up. Gaara spoke a little louder, but what he was saying confused Naruto even further.

He was counting.

"Gaara?" Naruto gave his shoulder a shake. "What are you doing?"

Gaara lifted his head but didn't open his eyes. "Hide and seek…"

Was he remembering what they did today? Naruto had no idea why he was doing this.

He shook him again and Gaara opened his eyes. He looked at Naruto. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I think I was having a dream…"

"You're either daydreaming or sleepwalking and I can't be bothered to find out which it is right now." Naruto looked back at Neji and Shino. "I'll just use my clones to grab them and make them hold still."

Gaara fell against Naruto, falling asleep yet again. He tried to climb onto Naruto's back to get more comfortable but he was too tired to pull himself up. He started sliding and would have fallen if Naruto hadn't caught him.

Balancing Gaara, Naruto summoned some clones to stop Neji and Shino. The trigger should work even if a clone performed it.

When Naruto unleashed them, Neji greeted them happily with his fists. He didn't stop until all the clones pursuing him were popped. The ones chasing Shino couldn't get him to stop screaming long enough to hear the trigger.

Naruto focused all his attention on Gaara. He begged him to wake up but the only response he could get was Gaara chewing on the collar of his jacket. He wouldn't open his eyes anymore, but sometimes he would mumble. When he wasn't doing that, he was trying to snuggle against Naruto in an attempt to get comfortable.

The last of Naruto's clones popped and now Neji was going after him. He stopped when he saw Gaara trying to sleep in Naruto's lap.

"Aw, ain't that cute?" Neji cooed.

Naruto tried the trigger again. He snapped his fingers but Neji talked over him so he never heard him speak.

"Why don't you give him a good-night kiss?" Neji teased. "His cheeks are so kissable."

Naruto snarled. "Just shut the hell up, Neji!"

Neji bent down and shoved Gaara in Naruto's face. "Kissy, kissy. Pucker up."

Naruto took a swing at Neji's head and almost hit Gaara. "I'm sorry I ever messed with your head. You're weird like this. But you weren't supposed to hear that command. I thought I snapped you out of it."

Neji lowered Gaara, cocking his head to one side. "Say what?"

"I hypnotized you, Neji. Why do you think you're acting this way?"

Neji dropped Gaara on Naruto's lap.

Thinking he finally got through to him, Naruto stood up and Gaara rolled off his lap. Naruto quickly bent down and picked him up, letting Gaara rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, ok? It's just that a lot of you have been hard to deal with recently and I had the opportunity and I just couldn't help myself."

None of this was registering to Neji. Since he was still under hypnosis, he felt as if everything he was experiencing was in a dream. What Naruto was telling him made little sense and he honestly didn't care.

Instead of getting mad, as Naruto expected he would, Neji flicked Naruto's ear and poked the tip of his nose with his finger.

"Did anything I just said to you make any sense?" Naruto snapped. "Or do you just not care enough to listen?"

"I barely listen to you anyway," said Neji.

Naruto growled and Gaara opened his eyes. He tried to stand, lifting his head off Naruto's shoulder, but his eyes felt so heavy.

Seeing the perfect opportunity, Neji smirked.

Naruto tried to get his attention. "Neji-"

Neji shoved Gaara into Naruto, making sure their lips made contact.

"Mm!" Naruto's eyes went wide.

Gaara opened his eyes slightly, feeling something on his lips. Then his eyes went as wide as Naruto's and he pulled away.

"Neji!" Naruto spat.

Neji was laughing hysterically. "You should see your face! Ha ha!"

"Why did you do that?!"

"I felt like it."

"Stupid question."

Gaara put a hand to his lips. "S- sorry…"

"It wasn't your fault. Neji shoved you." Naruto glared at Neji again. "Grow up, would you?"

Neji couldn't stop laughing. He found it so amusing. "Oh, it feels good to laugh like this. I don't know why I don't do it more."

"Don't do that again!" Naruto barked.

"I kind of want to. If I time it just right, I think I can make you use tongue."

"I'll kill you!"

The accidental kiss was still fresh in Naruto's mind, but Gaara had already forgotten all about it. He was starting to nod off again. Gaara tried to keep his head up with his hand, but it didn't do any good.

Neji tried to push Gaara again, but Naruto pulled Gaara away from him. "Stop messing around!"

"Aw, I missed." Neji started giggling. "Oh, this is so much fun for me."

Naruto started lecturing Neji, then had to pause, wondering if this was how Sakura and just about everyone else felt when they lectured him when he was younger. Now he had a point of reference.

Neji poked Gaara's cheek and Naruto slapped him on the wrist. "Knock it off!"

Gaara opened his eyes slightly. He tried using his sand again, but it was too much for him and Gaara started to drift off again.

It was hard to tell if this was a dream or not, he kept drifting off so much and the things he witnessed made little sense.

Closing his eyes felt good, though. He wanted to go back to sleep. He enjoyed it. It was hard for him to stay awake anyway. Not just because he was losing strength and felt tired, but because of Naruto. He had such a comforting scent. He could still smell the shampoo from the bath. Even though Naruto sounded annoyed, Gaara found his voice soothing. And his body was so warm.

"Get back here, you idiot!" Naruto yelled after Neji. "Maybe if I hit him hard enough, he'll wake up."

Gaara started to slide and Naruto caught him. He called his name but Gaara was too tired to respond. He just wanted to sleep. Naruto patted his back, hoping to wake him up but it wasn't working. Gaara leaned forward and nuzzled Naruto's neck as he made himself more comfortable, settling in for a nice nap.

Naruto kept trying, but nothing he did was working.

He put Gaara on his back and chased after Neji again. He was on his way to his uncle's now, but Shino kept distracting him, running every which way to escape even the most harmless of bugs.

Gaara mumbled, dozing on Naruto's back.

"Gaara, please, wake up."

Gaara slumped to the side and snored.

He couldn't take much more of this. Shino was making such a fuss and Naruto wanted to stop Neji before he did something stupid. At the same time, he had to get Gaara some help before the meeting. He also had to keep him out of harm's way.

It would be easier to make clones without Gaara on his back, but Neji popped all of them last time, treating it like a game. He didn't really need clones for this. This wasn't a strength or number issue. All he had to do was get them to pay attention long enough to hear him use the trigger. Then he could tell them to go back to normal and that would be the end of it.

But which was more important?

Shino was just making a fuss. As long as he was away from bugs, he would calm down. Neji was more easily distracted in this state. Even if he did reach his uncle's before Naruto could stop him, Naruto could explain that it wasn't really Neji. Technically, he wouldn't be lying. Since Neji wasn't acting like himself, maybe his uncle would see reason and let whatever Neji did slide. Gaara was the one in need of help. He had a meeting to go to and all his energy was being sapped.

Neji and Shino's situation was easily solved. All they had to do was hear Naruto use the trigger. A trigger wouldn't work on Gaara anymore and Naruto had no idea what was going on with him.

"Get it away!" Shino cried, running hysterically.

Gaara snored, using Naruto's shoulder as his pillow.

There were so many things going on at once. He had to pick something.

Naruto set Gaara against another building and went to try to solve the issue.

"Guys, enough! If you all just pay attention to me for one second..."

They weren't listening. Shino tried using Neji as a shield to keep the butterfly away from him and Neji kept making fun of Shino.

Naruto tried snapping his fingers but no one was paying any attention.

Figuring he could resolve this issue later, he went back to check on Gaara again.

He appeared to be sleeping but Gaara kept mumbling something in his sleep.

"What's that, Gaara?" Naruto was curious as to what Gaara was saying. Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he was more awake than Naruto thought. "Gaara?"

"Ribbit."

"Huh?"

Gaara moved from a sitting position into a crouching position and started croaking like a frog.

"Ribbit."

Naruto stared, mystified at Gaara's strange actions. "What's this now?"

D8

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