Chapter 2:
It wasn't until the next day that things really started to get weird. It was a typical day, bright and sunny. Kakashi had just taken his squad out to the training grounds for some drills. It had turned into yet another 'catch Kakashi' competition. They were told to capture Kakashi before lunch. The rules were very simple: use what you could and tie him up once captured. That was it.
The three genin were ready. Kakashi was given a five-minute head start and the others had to come and find him. Sakura took charge and told them what they should do. However, every time Sasuke had something to say, she would immediately stop and go with whatever he had to say, telling him how brilliant he was.
Five minutes later, they set out on a Kakashi hunt. They moved in triangle formation: Sasuke on the left, Sakura on the right and Naruto in the middle. Within minutes, their sensei was spotted and they attacked. As expected, a head-on attack was a huge failure, but that was exactly what they wanted. They were going to try to get Kakashi to let his guard down and lure him into a trap they were setting up ahead. So far, he was moving straight for it.
Sasuke smirked. This was working out very well. Now all he had to do was get into position and jump on Kakashi when the time came and they would win for once. This was too easy.
Something fluttered out of his peripheral vision and he turned his head to look. It might have been an attack set by Kakashi. But it wasn't. It was just a butterfly.
He rolled his eyes and looked straight ahead again. It was only a stupid little butterfly. It was no big deal.
But then, why couldn't he put it out of his mind?
He looked back at it. It fluttered closer to him. Sasuke stood on the tree branch and watched it flutter. It was rather pretty. It was fun to watch. The wings were so colorful.
Sasuke had completely forgotten about his current mission and watched the butterfly instead. It danced this way and that. As it came closer to his face, Sasuke leaned forward, unable to take his eyes off of it for a second. For a moment, the butterfly landed on the tip of his nose before flying off again. His nose twitched and he leaned back, blinking curiously. The butterfly was getting away. Sasuke crouched low on the branch and crawled after it. When it got to the edge of the branch, Sasuke stopped, realizing that he could go no further. But that didn't stop him from watching it.
It danced on the air, teasing him. Sasuke crouched low, preparing to pounce. As the butterfly made its way to the other side of the tree, Sasuke leapt from his perch in an attempt to grab it in his open hands. He missed and plummeted to the ground. But he didn't mind at all. He landed in the grass on his feet, completely unhurt and turned his head skyward.
The butterfly was still there, fluttering freely.
A strange feeling came over Sasuke at that moment and it was one that could only be described in one word: playful. He was feeling playful for the first time in God only knew how long. He had missed it so much. It felt wonderful. He felt wonderful. Smiling like a fool, Sasuke began to chase after the butterfly, feeling every bit as free as his target.
Meanwhile, Sakura and Naruto were in place and ready to win for once against their sensei. As Kakashi came into place, Sakura used a flurry of tiny exploding tags and a smoke bomb. The plan was to disorient Kakashi and lure him closer. Naruto was up next. He and several clones jumped out of their hiding places and jumped on him.
"Sasuke, now!"
No movement. No sound. Not even a word from the third member of their team.
"Sasuke! Are you deaf, you idiot?! I said-"
Kakashi wrapped his arms around the real Naruto and restrained him, while holding a kunai to Sakura's neck. They couldn't make a move. He had won yet again.
That being said, he released his hold on Naruto and put his kunai away. He smiled at them from behind his dark mask. "So close. It was a good try. Maybe next time. So, who's hungry?"
Naruto pouted. "It's not fair! We would have gotten you if Sasuke had showed up like he was supposed to!"
Sakura's face turned a little pale from worry. "You don't think he's hurt, do you? It's not like him to not show up at all like that."
Kakashi looked back into the trees. "It wouldn't hurt to find out. Let's have a look."
Sasuke was having a wonderful time playing with the butterfly. He never felt so alive. Not a care or worry in the world. He chuckled and laughed every time the butterfly went near him, tickled him, or fluttered over his head. Basically, he was giggling a good part of the time.
"Sasuke! Sasuke, where are you?"
"Hey, jerk, get out here!"
Hearing the familiar voices of his friends, Sasuke snapped out his odd state and turned around, letting the butterfly go. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi walked between the trees and over to him. "Oh. What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?!" Naruto snapped.
Sakura pushed past him and over to her crush. "Oh, Sasuke, are you hurt anywhere? Are you feeling ok? Do you have a fever?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"It's because of you that we lost!" Naruto shouted angrily. "And you call me an idiot!"
Sasuke blinked. "Oh. Oh! I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I just…" He looked back into the tree he had been perched in what only felt like moments ago. "I must have lost myself," he said more to himself than anyone else.
"As long as you're ok."
Kakashi looked at his watch. "Well, how about some lunch?"
This time, Sakura got to pick where they were going to eat. She picked a nice little restaurant that served sushi. Naruto put in his usual request for ramen but was outvoted. Sakura filled up her plate at the self-serve sushi and salad bar and picked a table. Naruto pouted about how he hated this stuff while piling up his plate with the very food he was criticizing.
Sasuke took his time eyeing all the open bar had to offer. It all looked so good. He had always been a fan of sushi, but there was sometime about it today that made it irresistible in his eyes. He grabbed as much as he could and went back to the table.
Naturally, Sakura sat next to him in the booth while Naruto took the seat across from him. Kakashi chose to sit next to him with his back to the wall, reading his book. He was the only one without food. He claimed he was on a diet.
They broke their chopsticks and dug in.
When Sasuke lifted the fish to his mouth, he nearly wept tears of joy. It was so good! Far better than he ever remembered. This fish was the best in the world! He stuffed his mouth full with the sweet, sweet sushi as if it were going to be taken away before he had time to finish. It was so good!
"Uh… Sasuke?"
"Hm?"
Naruto gave him a grossed-out expression. "Why are you eating like that?"
Sasuke wasn't aware that he was doing anything wrong. Then again, he was eating rather quickly. Was that the reason why Naruto was giving him that look? "What's wrong with how I eat?"
"Slow down, would you? It'll be here all day."
"Shut up! I've starving and haven't eaten all freakin' day!"
"Sheesh! Sensitive, aren't we?"
He gave Naruto a death-glare. "I swear, one more remark about how I eat and I'm gonna put you through the wall."
"Jeez. Sorry." Naruto went back to eating.
Now that was weird. He had liked fish, sure, but never that much. Maybe he was hungrier than he thought and that's what made it taste so good to him. Being really hungry always made things taste better. What did he have to worry about? He was being ridiculous.
He and Naruto left Sakura back at her house and made their way back towards their homes side by side. Naruto was yapping about something, but Sasuke wasn't listening. He knew it was about something stupid. However, he did manage to pick up on one word.
"Kiba!"
Sasuke looked up and spotted Kiba and Akamaru walking towards them down the same street. Kiba waved and his little dog barked in greeting.
Sasuke felt strange. He couldn't take his eyes off of Kiba's dog for an instant. Not only that, but he was starting to shake. He could feel the sweat running down his brow and down his face. His breathing quickened. All of this was involuntary and he had no idea why this was happening to him. Why did looking at that little dog make him feel this way?
Akamaru bounded towards them happily and gave another loud bark.
Seeing those sharp teeth and hearing that bark was all it took to make Sasuke freak out. With a yelp, Sasuke jumped straight up into a tree.
Kiba slowed and stood beside Naruto, looking up into the tree. "What's with him?"
"I don't know. Hey, Sasuke, you ok? What's wrong?"
Clinging to a branch, Sasuke cautiously looked down at them. He had no idea why he just did that.
"Sasuke, what the hell's gotten into you?"
He didn't answer. A ninja clinging to a tree branch for dear life, how embarrassing! Worst of all, he was still shaking. He gulped and tried not to look too pathetic. Warily, he looked down. The little dog was still standing under the tree looking up at him, tail wagging. He yipped and Sasuke hid his face in his arm with a whimper. Akamaru scared him.
Well, there was nothing manly about that statement. Sasuke Uchiha scared of a puppy dog. He was never going to live this down. It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't any witnesses around, but as luck would have it, both Naruto and Kiba were there to witness the whole thing. Come to think of it, he didn't like the look of Kiba's fangs either. They also made him feel edgy.
"Sasuke, come down from there!"
He refused to budge. "I'm quite comfortable, thank you." In truth, he wasn't. Would you be comfortable in his situation? The only thing he liked about this was the fact that he was up high in a tree, far away from the dog. Actually, he really liked being up high. It was comfortable.
Kiba gave a nervous chuckle and called Akamaru to his side. "I can see you have a situation here so I'll be on my way. See you."
Sasuke watched from the branch as they left. Once they were out of sight, he climbed down from the tree.
Naruto looked at him as if he had just grown a second head. "What the heck was that about?"
Embarrassed about the whole thing, Sasuke tried his best to make it look like it was nothing at all. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Later that night, Sasuke paced his room, plagued by the event that happened that day. What was happening to him? First it was the butterfly, then the sushi, and then a sudden phobia of dogs? What did it all mean? He tried to look at it logically, but he could find no explanation. As far as he could tell, he was going out of his mind.
"I've got to figure this out," he told himself. "I can't be losing my sanity. But then why am I acting this way? What's happening to me?"
He poured himself a glass of milk and lapped it down with his tongue. He had no idea what he was doing. It was all so natural to him, he didn't even notice the change in etiquette. As he lapped up the milk, a stray lock of dark hair fell into his face. He licked the back of his hand and brushed it against his hair, guiding it back into place. He licked his hand a second time and did it again. It wasn't until he prepared to do it a third time that he knew that something was amiss.
Gasping in shock, he pulled his hand away and dropped the glass, shattering upon impact with the hard wooden floor.
"Oh, my God, I'm turning into a cat!"
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