Another chapter for you. Also, if you didn't know, I'll be updating every WEDNESDAY. So, keep in touch.

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"This plant seems to be more trouble than it looks," The elder Uchiha stated, staring at the flat plant.

Sasuke sighed. It had been a few days since he had first received the thing, and the problem was it hadn't perked up in the slightest bit. There was plenty of sunlight, water, and food. But it didn't seem to want to leave its cozy bed of vines.

"I think that's how it grows," The younger one said, glancing up from a form he was currently writing out, eyes watching his brother as he made his own observations.

"I believe your right. It's healthy after all." The taller man threw a trademark smirk. "Maybe your presence just makes it want to hide."

"..." An angry silence. "...Is that all you came to say?"

Itachi chuckled, going over and setting down a tray of something. Sasuke glanced up, surprised to find...fishcakes. "You should thank me, younger brother. I went out of my way to buy you some Naruto. No need to thank me, of course." He waved slightly, walking out of the room.

Shaking his head, the young raven glanced at the fishcakes, then over at his strange plant. Sighing, he picked up his food and went over to the lab table, staring down at the strange plant he had. The plant sat there, the rose bud tilted up at if peering at him, just like when he first pulled that box lid off and looked inside. It had been staring right back. Shaking his head, he was about to eat when the phone rang.

Groaning, he walked back over to his desk and picked it up. "Yes?"

"Mr. Uchiha, there's some papers that you are supposed to pick up in Itachi's office."

Hmph...Itachi, is that why you tried to sweet-talk me with the fishcakes? He thought, dismissing the person on the phone and stalking off outside his abode. Of course his brother would do something like make him walk all the way to his office when it was inconvenient. Just because he could.

And it wasn't just some papers, it was more like a folder of them. The older brother had just shrugged at the heated glare and said, "I'm not the one assigning papers."

He got himself a cup of joe on the way up, he damn well needed it. And it cheered his mood up to see the intern almost piss his pants at the harsh order to get the coffee. Yes, he smirked to himself, that had been fun.

Heading back into his office, he carefully balanced the papers in one hand and the hot beverage in the other. He grumbled to himself, walking to where his work was awaiting him, sparing a glance at the plant-

And the sight that he met with caused him to halt abruptly, eyes wide and unable to process what was going on before him.

His mystery plant was sitting there, as normal, but the large head was perched up, looking towards the left. And one of its vines was...actually moving! It traveled down the length of its pot and over to where his fishcakes lay, the tendril slowly wrapping around one and pulling it towards the plant. It pulled it up to the face of the plant, and the bud suddenly opened into a large mouth, ready to eat the Naruto. And it wasn't even like a venus fly trap mouth...it was, animal-like, with a tongue, throat, and even saliva dripping along the edges...not to mention those sharp canine teeth as they bit a piece off the treat it snuck over.

Sasuke, a bit out of it, let his fingers loose enough to drop the coffee onto the floor, causing it to shatter and spill everywhere.

As the loud noise filled the room, the plant instantly froze. Then, it started to curl into that tight ball of vines as it did when it first arrived, the petals closing off that hidden bud, and mouth, again.

"W-wait!"

As Sasuke stumbled over to the animate vegetation, the creature didn't cease to keep hidden with its vines. But, the vine holding the half-eaten fishcake was held up, presenting itself to the botanist as he neared. This confused the raven haired man. Was it...trying to apologize?

He slowly reached out, grabbing it from the tendril. And just like that, the vine pulled itself into the cacoon of plant, officially ending any movement. Sasuke stared disbelivingly at the cake in his hands, then at the plant, not sure what just happened.

But, it did really did happen. Sasuke Uchiha vowed to himself that it would not be the only time either.

--

After that day, his weeks with the plant were not as progressive as he'd hoped.

Between paperwork and other assignments, he tried to get the plant to move again. He had went out and bought fishcakes everyday, and set them in front of the pot, watching. But it didn't matter, because it didn't move, or even twitch. Sometimes Sasuke would sit there for hours, watching it, and it never even inched a bit. And it really pissed the botanist off.

Maybe he had been crazy, imagining the plant had moved. Maybe he was working too hard. it had been a while since he had a break. Maybe he needed one? He mused as he came back from a quick bathroom break, glancing over at the plant. It still wasn't moving. But..

One of the fishcakes was gone.

He stared at the empty space in the packaging, then at the plant, as if daring it to moved. No such luck. Well...it at least proved that he wasn't completely insane. The fishcake was gone, right?

And so he decided to not let it get to his head too badly. He worked his days as usual, and he would bring in Narutos in the morning and set them in front of the plant, not bothering to look. It seemed to be a habit. And sometimes when he left to go take a bathroom break, or when he was really immersed in paperwork, he'd look and find that some of them were 'missing'. So he continued, thinking that maybe if he fed it enough treats, it would earn his trust and move for him.

And maybe he was just crazy for thinking that a plant had a brain.

Sasuke sighed as he brooded over more papers, always glancing up once in a while, disappointed that the plant was still playing hide and seek. This was hopeless. He needed to use the bathroom though, and most likely the damn plant would eat one and pretend it didn't even budge later.

But as he stood up, he decided to have a change of plans.

He walked towards his the door past his lab area, the way he had to go when picking up tool or supply shipments. He went through, and closed the door behind him. Well, not completely. He left a tiny crack open, and quietly he peered through the crack, watching the oh so innocent and normal plant with annoyance. He was also glad it wasn't a public hallway. The last thing he needed was people to stop and stare at him, wondering why the hell he was huddled up against the door peering inside.

A few seconds passed, and the raven felt a little silly for doing this, but he stopped thinking as the plant moved.

It slowly poked its head up, turning itself towards the door as if to make sure it was really alone. After a second, it turned away. Satisfied, the vines leisurely slid out of the pot, reaching down and snatching up a fishcake, the creature munching on it.

Quietly, he slipped the door open, and with inaudible footsteps he approached the back of the creature, glad it was facing away from him. He watched as it almost seemed lazy with his movements, clearly used to eating those fishcakes. The thing must have really liked them, the way it gobbled them up.

"Naruto..huh?"

The plant froze again. And Sasuke frowned, wondering what it would do. It didn't curl up, bit it did wrap the petals around the head again, closing off the bud. It tilted down, as if hiding and ashamed, then the tendril with the treat held itself to Sasuke. It felt guilty, he supposed. Maybe that's why it always hid from him...?

"Look, I don't care if you eat them, alright? I'm not mad." What the fuck was he doing, even talking to a plant anyways...

The thing seemed to perk up at that. It slowly unshielded its head, and with a hesitant turn towards the botanist, it began to eat again, a bit less enthusiastic than before.

Sasuke marveled at the thing, a bit confused and..surprised. "Can you understand me?"

The plant continued to eat, turning its head and at least acknowledging that the Uchiha was speaking. That didn't really say if he understood english completely.

He decided not to bother, and instead studied what the plant look like when it wasn't closed up. The head looked like a large muzzle almost, a soft green color. The flower petals were black with red tips on the outside, but now that they were open, on the inside they were a glorious shade of sunny yellow. It was startling, since he was used to seeing the plant curled up. He also took a notice that the head, plus the two of the longer top petals, looked almost like a fox, with ears and a muzzle.

"Hm..." he watched a tendril reach to check if there was anymore to eat. "You really likes those, huh? Naruto?"

The plant tilted its head, not seeming to understand.

"That's what I'll call you..Naruto." The Uchiha told himself, sighing and rubbing his hand through his hair. He was relieved to finally have some kind of breakthrough in this. Maybe he could learn even more about this plant. Hell, this was already a breakthrough. This plant...it was so animated, and it had some form of intelligence. He would have to see how far the intelligence went, but he could do it.

He was Sasuke Uchiha, after all.

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R/R