Silent Treatment

Chapter Two: Ignored

"Yo!" Kakashi Hatake suddenly appeared on the bridge, crouching on both legs. "Sorry, I'm late. You see, I ran into this little girl and-" Kakashi started.

"Liar!" Sakura shouted. However, instead of glaring at her sensei angrily, she looked confusedly at Naruto. Normally, it was both her and Naruto that yelled at Kakashi. It felt as if something was missing. Kakashi, too, looked at Naruto. Weird, he thought to himself. Some argument must've happened.

Naruto was just staring off at a spot of dirt, as if he had no idea what happened. When the Uzumaki said nothing, Kakashi just shrugged it off and continued, "Anyways, we have some more D-rank missions to do today."

He paused, expecting Naruto to complain about how they always got boring missions and nothing was challenging enough anymore. However, Naruto just kept staring at the dirt, not letting out as much as a groan.

Something was definitely off about the normally loud-mouthed genin, but Kakashi said nothing about it. As long as it didn't interfere with the mission, it wasn't the jounin's place to investigate. "First off, we have to capture a missing feline named Mishi for a client," Kakashi explained. "She's a ginger-colored tabby. Mishi went missing last night, and she's a lazy cat, or so I was told. She must still be in the southern section of the village. Are we clear?"

Sasuke let out a barely audible "Hn" as usual, and Sakura replied, "Yes sensei!" Naruto just nodded, instead of yelling an optimistic "Let's do this, believe it!" as he normally did.

Sakura and Kakashi looked at Naruto in concern. It wasn't like him to be so quiet. Naruto was usually so loud and talkative that Sakura had to punch him to shut him up. In response to their concerned looks, Naruto just smiled a little to show them he was fine.

The Uzumaki then turned to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha was still staring at the spot on the bridge from earlier. He didn't look concerned at all. Hmph, that bastard looks like he doesn't care one bit. Naruto thought. Well, I'm willing to keep this up until he apologizes, or even begs, and this is just the beginning. That teme will realize soon enough just how much he needs me to be a chatterbox. He'll be forced to beg, and that's the only way I'll accept his apology! That's what I'll do. Naruto smiled at the thought.

Sasuke was just as shocked as the others when Naruto didn't interrupt Kakashi to say something idiotic. However, he was smart enough to figure out what the Uzumaki was thinking. He's probably trying to make me sorry for what I said earlier. Ha, as if I'd give up to him that easily! The dobe can't go on for too long without speaking, and he'll break eventually. When that happens, he'll realize that I really meant what I said. I just have to show that I don't care at all. Sasuke almost smirked at the thought, but stopped himself. He couldn't show any emotion.

"Well then, let's go!" Kakashi said, and the four ninjas disappeared in search of the tabby.

Naruto managed to stay quiet for the day, even though he had the urge to yell out something- anything at all- multiple times. Every time he got that urge, he would resist by thinking of Sasuke's face when the Uchiha finally decided to beg.

Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto kept silent for so long, but he wouldn't apologize. He knew what Naruto was trying to do. There was a part of him that wanted to hear Naruto's voice. Despite what he had said, it really made him happy hearing Naruto chatter on and on. However, that didn't mean he would apologize to the dobe. No, no way.

Naruto was getting more and more discouraged because Sasuke hadn't seemed to care that he wasn't talking. Did the teme really mean what he said? No, that can't be true. Naruto refused to believe it. He knew that Sasuke, despite how rude he was, cared for him. Maybe it was just because losing Naruto's voice wasn't enough. Maybe Sasuke would beg if he lost something bigger- Naruto himself. An idea found its way into Naruto's mind. What if I prank the bastard into thinking I've gone missing? Naruto thought, a smile forming on his face. Or, even worse, that I died? I could prank the teme into believing something serious happened. Then, the arrogant idiot would definitely care. I have a lot of planning to do tonight, but it'll be worth it. On top of never hearing my voice again, I'll get Sasuke to think that he'd never see my face again either! It'll be fun seeing the emotionless Uchiha break into tears! Naruto barely stopped himself from doing an evil laugh.

He looked up to see that they had walked back to the Red Bridge, where they started. The Sun was just letting out the last of its light before setting. The villagers were heading home to cook dinner. Speaking of which, Naruto's stomach growled. He hadn't had lunch with the rest of the squad because that would require him to order his food in the restaurant they went to, and he wasn't planning to fail Operation Silent Treatment over something as stupid as that. He had to eat dinner at Ichiraku first. Then, he'd start planning for his prank on Sasuke. After all, it's not good to work on an empty stomach.

"Alright," Kakashi said, breaking the soothing silence. "Tomorrow we will meet here at our usual spot at seven, as always. We did good work today."

Yeah, as if, Naruto thought sarcastically. They had those stupid D-rank missions he despised so much all day. They were not very important, were boring, and took a lot of energy. All three genin were quite exhausted. They were covered in dirt and scratch marks.

"Dismissed," Kakashi stated, and the three turned around to leave. Sasuke yawned as he left for his Uchiha mansion.

Yeah, Sasuke, you'd better go home and get some rest. After tomorrow, when I'm through with you, you won't be able to sleep for a long time, Naruto thought happily. You're going to have to go through much more than simply being ignored.