Chapter 3:
Sasuke was overcome with strange new feelings he was unable to decipher. Overnight, he had become obsessed with fish, hated water, was frightened of dogs and was fascinated by anything fluttery. He simply could not resist the urge to dance with the butterflies or bat at something shiny. He had no idea why he could not control himself or even why he had actually succumbed to these urges. It was mind boggling!
Sasuke couldn't sleep that night, but he was certainly making it up this morning. It was 10:30, the latest he had ever slept in when he wasn't very ill. As a child, when he got sick, he usually slept until noon. But then he had a good reason to. Now he was nothing short of lazy. He snuggled deep into his warm, soft, comfy blanket and sighed blissfully. It felt so good to sleep. It was so nice and warm. He should sleep the day away more often. He loved the feeling of the sun on his back. It was a good idea leaving the window open last night.
"Sasuke!"
Scratch that.
Naruto was standing outside on the street shouting up to his window. "Sasuke! Wake up you lazy bum! Let's go!"
He buried his face in the pillow. There was no way he was leaving this bed anytime soon.
"Come on! Kakashi-sensei is waiting for us! For once he's on time and you're late! Come on already!"
He didn't budge an inch. There was nothing Naruto could do to tear him away from this bed.
"Wake up!"
The only thing that got Sasuke out of bed was Naruto's shoe soaring through the open window and into his head. Sasuke threw off the covers and stormed over to the window. "What do you want, you freaking loser?!"
"Ah, good, you're up." Naruto smiled brightly at him. "Come on, let's go. We got training to do. You sure are lazy today, huh, Sasuke?"
"I'll show you lazy!" Sasuke threw Naruto's shoe out the window, striking him in the head.
"OW!"
Training was rewarding but tiring. All the running and jumping and throwing and dodging and all the jutsu… It was a lot of work.
Before long, it was time for a lunch break. The three of them walked over to a nearby tree and sat down. Naruto and Sakura pulled out their lunchboxes while Sasuke stood there and watched. He had left in such a hurry that he had forgotten to pack a lunch for himself. What a disappointment!
But Sakura was always willing to share with him. A fact he wasn't too happy about. Rather than give her the satisfaction of knowing how hungry he was and the fact that he had no food on him, Sasuke played it cool and simply sat with his back to the tree.
In no time at all, his stomach started to growl. He was so hungry. But he couldn't allow himself to ask her for scraps. But soon a familiar smell drifted through the air.
He sniffed and followed the smell back to her open lunchbox. His mouth started to water. He peered over her hand and spotted what was making his nose twitch: Fresh salmon. He licked his lips and inched closer.
"Is that… what I think it is...?"
She looked up at him. "Oh, hi! It's leftovers from this morning's breakfast. I thought I'd bring some for lunch."
"Is that… salmon?" he drooled.
"Yup!"
He gulped. The urge was too great. He was drawn to it like a moth to flame. "May I… have some?"
Her eyes got as round as dinner plates. She never thought that Sasuke would ever ask her for food before. Was he actually willing and wanting to share lunch with her? "You want to share?" Her voice was unusually high.
His pride got in the way of his imploring, so he made the idea of begging more diplomatic. "If you're offering…"
Overjoyed, Sakura picked up her chopsticks and dig into her lunchbox. She tore off a chunk of fish and hovered it in front of his mouth. "Say 'ahh'."
As desperate as he was, there was no way in hell he was going to let her feed him like a baby. Ignoring her gesture, he took the fish off her chopsticks with his fingers and ate it. The moment the salty salmon touched his tongue, Sasuke's eyes sparkled. It was divine! Not waiting for her to offer him more, he reached inside and took out another piece. The second piece was even better than the first. Sakura didn't even seem to mind him digging through her food with his fingers. She was just so happy to be sharing with her crush.
After all the fish was eaten, Sasuke told himself that enough was enough and stopped eating. He quickly grunted a 'thank you' and moved to the other side of the tree away from her. He couldn't believe he had just done that.
The raven-haired boy looked up at the sky. Sunlight was shining down between the leaves, warming his legs. He could just barely see the clouds peeking through the branches. There was something pleasant about this time of day that he liked so much. Though he had never noticed it before, he found it all so strangely relaxing.
Normally, he avoided stretching around Sakura out of fear of her noticing his abs when his shirt lifted up. But with her being on the other side of the tree, he decided that it would be ok just this once and stretched his hands up toward the sky. His back arched and his knees bent. He threw his head back and let out a moan of pleasure. It felt wonderful. He allowed his arms to fall back at his sides with a sigh. That felt so good. He was nice and limp now, feeling much more relaxed.
For the first time that day, he was fully aware of what he was doing and no longer cared. Not when it felt this good. His stomach was satisfied, his body was warm and relaxed and he felt great. He felt good. Good and sleepy. That's right. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night and Naruto woke him up before he was finished napping this morning. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take just a little nap. Who could pass up such a perfect opportunity on such a perfectly warm day under a perfectly shady tree? The situation just screamed for it, and who was he to deny fate?
And so, Sasuke stretched out on the grass and allowed his eyes to close. Unbeknownst to him, Sasuke was slowly slumping to his right, exactly where Naruto was sitting, slurping up instant ramen. Drawn to his warmth, Sasuke fell onto Naruto's shoulder. The blond jolted with surprise and looked down.
"Uh…"
Sasuke snored lightly.
Naruto nudged him. "Ahem."
He snuggled closer.
"Sasuke?"
He rolled onto Naruto's lap and curled up into a ball. He looked very comfortable there. But Naruto wasn't having it. He jabbed him in the forehead with his chopsticks. Sasuke merely batted his hand away and hid his face. Naruto poked him again and this time Sasuke reacted with a moan of discomfort. Sasuke was just as obstinate in his sleep as he was wake.
"Hey, Sasuke…"
Sasuke mumbled something into Naruto's leg.
"Sasuke?"
"What?"
"You're kind of sleeping on me."
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his fist. "So?"
"So why are you doing that?"
Sasuke wasn't close to being coherent yet. He was still groggy despite being asleep for only a few seconds. He yawned and tried to go back to sleep.
"I said why, Sasuke. Why?"
"I'm sleepy…" he answered softly.
"Come on! Haven't you slept enough? You're the one who made us late today, after all."
Sasuke didn't answer this time. He was too tired.
Naruto gave him a rough shove. "Sasuke!"
"Oh, my God, what?!" He sprang up and glared at Naruto an inch from his face. "Can't I nap in peace?!"
"Not on me, you can't!"
Kakashi came over at that moment to investigate. "Alright, what's going on here?"
Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke. "He was sleeping on top of me! Make him stop!"
"Alright, alright, Naruto, you're acting like a child."
"I am not! Why is everyone saying that?"
Now fully awake, Sasuke crawled away from Naruto and tucked his legs up close to his chest. Cuddling now?! What was happening to him? Why was he acting like a freaking cat? What could have…?
The potion! That must have been it! He only started acting this way after he had taken it. That must have been the cause.
But if that were the case, then Neji must have been going through the same thing.
If anything, Neji's afternoon was turning out just as bad as Sasuke's. Ever since drinking that potion, he had done nothing but crave fish and milk. For dinner last night, Neji had bought himself a dinner of nothing but fish. He feasted on cans of tuna, packaged sushi, smoked salmon and herring. It was all so delicious!
But later on, he found that he couldn't sleep. He was too wired for some reason and couldn't rest. Since when had he become a night owl? In the morning, however, he found himself in a deep comfortable sleep. He slept in until noon and then he only awoke to eat.
He had some more fish then decided to go back to bed. As soon as he pulled back the covers, he stopped.
"Wait a minute…" he thought aloud. "Since when do I ever sleep in this late? Half the day is shot already. I'm never this lazy! Am I turning into Shikamaru or something?"
But the bed was calling to him. Refusing to give in, he took a stroll onto the small balcony of his house and watched traffic. He had never made it a habit of his to go people-watching like some stalker, but he had done it before. Just observing, mostly. He found it interesting to see what people did, studying their mannerisms.
Looking down, he could see several different people passing by: older women shopping, couples taking walks, old people shuffling around and small children playing ninja. That took him back to his childhood. He was never allowed to play ninja with the other children as he was expected to become one himself, without question. His father often told him not to take part in those foolish games. They had to uphold the family honor and not being of the main branch made it that much more vital to be looked upon with respect. They had an image to uphold, after all. Therefore, he was never allowed to run around and play with other kids. Instead, he was expected to train hard and study. Sad childhood, right? He never thought of it that way. If it hadn't been for those rules he may never have become as strong as he was.
"Hey, Neji!"
He looked to his left and saw Tenten waving up at him. "Hi."
"What are you doing up there all by yourself? Come on! Lee wants to show us something."
He rolled his eyes. "Ugh, not another ridiculous technique he named after Gai... Fine, let's get this over with." He hopped down and joined her.
The walk to the training grounds was, for the most part, uneventful. That is, unless you count the fact that Neji flinched every time he heard a dog bark or howl. Strange, he was never this skittish before. Normally, he didn't mind dogs.
"I'm telling you, he was freaking out!"
Neji looked and saw Kiba telling his teammates about what had happened earlier.
"He took one look at Akamaru and jumped into a tree! I am not kidding!"
Hinata gave him a timid look. "Do you think he is afraid of dogs or… uh… something?"
"Never has been before as far as I know."
Shino spoke up. "He could have had a traumatic experience with one recently. That's been known to cause phobias."
"Yeah, but that quick, Shino?"
"It's been known to happen. They're called sudden phobias for that reason."
Kiba snorted. "I doubt it. I think he's just being a moron. He was fine with Akamaru a couple days ago, right boy?"
"Bark! Bark!"
Instinctively, Neji side stepped and used Tenten as a shield to protect himself from the little dog. There was something about that bark that frightened him.
When they finally made it to the training grounds, they found Lee balancing several buckets of water on his person. One was on his head, he had four on each arm, two in each hand and one in his mouth and he was teetering on a round red ball.
"Don't tell me…" Neji groaned.
"Diz iz a moo tanin exermize," Lee struggled, the handle of the bucket still in his teeth."
"Huh?"
"I think he said 'this is a new training exercise'."
Lee nodded.
Tenten slapped her forehead. "Lee…"
"Diz iz- WHAA!" The ball rolled too far and threw Lee onto the grass. The buckets went bottom-up and drenched him in water. But the one in his mouth ended up flying through the air and sloshed its contents all over Neji.
It took him all but one second for the sensation of moister to kick in and Neji went crazy.
"AHH! Get it off! Get it OFF!" Neji ran around in circles, twisting and turning his body in all directions trying to fling the wet off his body. He hated the feeling of being wet, hated it! It was not pleasant at all. He threw himself to the ground and rolled around in the grass trying to dry himself. When that didn't work, he finally peeled off his jacket and tossed it aside. He sat in the grass, panting. Thank goodness that was over.
"Uh…"
Remembering that he wasn't alone, Neji's relieved expression quickly turned to shock as he looked up into the shocked faced staring back at him. Any words he would have said died in his throat.
He just threw a tantrum over a little bit of water in front of everyone, didn't he? Why did he just do that? How embarrassing! What in the world was happening to him?
HA! They're getting cute! Any ideas, people? I can put something in if you want. Just let me know.
And please review! ^-^