Chapter 12: In Full Bloom

As the day turned to night, Naruto found himself feeling tired and wanting to go home to rest. He could cause more mischief tomorrow. All this excitement was starting to wear him out a little.

"Naruto!"

He stopped and saw Sai running up behind him. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about you."

Sai stopped just short of him, panting. He must have run all over the village to find him.

"Naruto, what are we doing now?"

"We?"

Sai nodded. "I thought we could hang out for a bit if you wanted. Just the two of us."

"Two of us?" When he said it like that it almost sounded like a date. "Uh, well…"

"My treat, of course. Anything you like."

That made it sound more tolerable. "Well, when you put it that way… Alright. Let's get some food."

Sai grinned broadly, something he rarely ever did. It was a little weird, but he had a nice smile so seeing him grin like this made Naruto happy. Sai looked truly happy. It was nice.

Sai treated Naruto to dinner. Since it was Sai's treat, Naruto ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. Naruto was too busy eating to notice Sai watching him with admiration. He couldn't take his eyes off Naruto. Everything he did was absolutely wonderful. The way he ate his ramen, his taste in food, everything was amazing.

Only when Naruto pushed his empty bowl aside did he notice Sai's gaze. "Uh…"

Sai smiled at him.

Naruto felt himself starting to sweat. The way Sai was looking at him… It was creepy.

"You're so cool, Naruto. I've never met anyone like you before. You're amazing in every way."

"Uh, thanks." Naruto stood up. "I better get going."

"I'll follow you."

"You don't have to."

Naruto started walking and saw Sai's shadow following him. He picked up the pace but the shadow was still there. He started jogging and heard Sai's footsteps behind him. He started running. He turned his head and saw Sai running alongside him.

"Ahh! Go away!"

"But I want to be with you, Naruto. I just admire you so much."

He must have worded the command wrong. He thought Sai would be quiet and submissive, not obsessive and devoted. He would do anything Naruto said but he didn't want to leave his side. This was going to drive Naruto crazy.

"Sai, listen to me." Naruto stopped running and Sai halted beside him. "I want to have some time alone, ok? I will talk to you tomorrow, ok? Go get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok!" Sai ran off and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

The next morning Naruto awoke to Sai peering at him through his bedroom window. Naruto quickly closed the shades and got dressed, thinking of what new commands he should give his hypnotized friends.

He left his apartment and was followed closely by Sai. He told Sai to get him some breakfast and he quickly ran off.

Naruto wandered the streets until he found Kiba begging Shino to play fetch with him. Shino refused.

"Hey, Kiba, over here," Naruto called. He took the stick from Kiba and threw it. When Kiba ran off to retrieve it, Naruto moved closer to Shino. "Morning."

"Morning," he answered.

"Has he been bugging you all morning? No pun intended."

Shino shrugged. "I don't do fetch."

They watched as Kiba began asking people on the street if they would play fetch with him. After getting too many strange looks and watching people move quickly away, Naruto decided to show Kiba some mercy and change the command.

He waved Kiba over. Knowing that he had given the same trigger to Shino, Naruto had to be quiet so Shino wouldn't pick up the same command. He thought about given everyone a different trigger, but it would be easier to keep track if they were all the same.

He snapped his fingers in Kiba's face and whispered in his ear, "Sleep."

Kiba rested his head on Naruto's shoulder as his body pitched forward.

"When you wake up, you will no longer want to play fetch. Instead, you will be terrified of flowers." He snapped his fingers. "Awake."

Kiba opened his eyes and stood up straight.

At the same time, Sai showed up with a pork bun for Naruto's breakfast.

"Which one of you wants to do me a favor?" Naruto asked.

Sai's hand shot into the air. "I will! I will!"

"What's the favor?" Kiba asked.

"Just keep an eye out for Sakura and let me know where she is. Ok?"

"I'm on it!" Sai flashed away.

Kiba stretched lazily. "I guess there's nothing better to do. I'll keep an eye out, but I'm not searching. Akamaru and I have stuff to do. Let's go, boy."

Naruto moved closer to Shino. "Have you seen Sakura at all?"

"No. I haven't been looking, either."

Naruto had just about given up on that date, but he had to keep Sai out of his hair for a bit. He was also curious and wanted to make sure she wouldn't stumble upon his mischief making.

Moments later, Kiba came running down the street as fast as he could. Sakura and Ino were behind him, Ino with a flower in her hair.

"What is your problem?" Ino called after him.

Sai showed up a second later and pointed. "I found her, Naruto, sir."

"Did you just call him 'sir', Sai?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe he's still drunk," Ino whispered.

"Thanks, Sai. Keep your mouth shut, ok?"

Sai nodded, buttoning his lip.

Sakura gave Naruto a suspicious look. "What are you up to, Naruto?"

"Nothing. Everything's fine."

"Hmm…"

Naruto leaned over to Sai. "Sai, ask Ino for the flower in her hair and bring it here."

Sai nodded and went over to Ino. "Ino, may I have the flower in your hair, please?"

"Why?" she asked. "Is it for something important?" She blushed and fidgeted playfully. "Is it for someone you like?"

"Yes," he said with a smile. "It's for Naruto."

"Huh?"

"He wants the flower in your hair. Please give it to me."

Ino reluctantly took the flower out of her hair and gave it to Sai who took it to Naruto.

"Good. Now go chase Kiba with it."

"Ok." Sai ran after Kiba with the flower in his hand.

Ino and Sakura looked at each other. "Ok, what's going on?" they asked.

"Nothing. Just a joke," said Naruto. "A private joke. What?"

They didn't believe him.

To avoid letting the truth get out, Naruto made up an excuse and ran off before they could question him further.

The girls then looked at Shino who had been observing the entire time. "Well? What has Naruto been up to?"

Shino looked at them. "I couldn't say. He never mentioned anything."

"Even if he didn't say it," said Sakura, "has he been doing anything weird lately? Anything that would make you wonder what he's up to?"

Shino, hypnotized not to question Naruto, did not consider anything to be suspicious or worthy of his attention. He overlooked everything he did.

"No, not really," he told them.

"Everything seems fine?"

"From my point of view, yes." Shino began to walk away.

If he didn't call anything into question, then maybe they had the wrong idea. It didn't seem that way to them, but Shino was usually the first one to take notice of such things.

Neji had finally put the matter out of his mind and carried on as he normally did. He ran into Hinata carrying heavy grocery bags out of a store and offered to help. He took all the bags from her and followed her back to her house. Aside from her thanking him, they didn't speak during most of the journey. Then Hinata asked how Neji was doing to fill the silence.

"I'm doing alright. How about you?"

"Oh, I'm ok. I was going to make dinner tonight but I realized that I might have gotten too much." She started to fidget. "I was thinking about giving some to a friend, but… he might, I mean, they might not…"

Neji knew she was talking about Naruto.

"Whatever you make is fine. You're a good cook."

"Really? Oh, but what if he doesn't like it? Or if I'm being too forward."

"You're not, Lady Hinata."

"What if… I was thinking… I wanted to make it look nice. But it might be embarrassing."

"No one's going to laugh at food made by a thoughtful friend. Trust me."

"Even if I make it to look like his face?"

Neji burst out laughing and Hinata turned red.

It wasn't because of what she said. Neji caught a glimpse of Naruto leaping overhead and the tickling feeling returned. He couldn't help it.

"No, no! Lady Hinata, I'm not laughing at you. It was something else. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it…"

Before Hinata could recover, she nearly got mowed down by Kiba who ran by screaming his head off.

"Stay away from me!" he cried.

Neji grabbed Hinata by the arm and pulled her back as Sai came running after Kiba with his arm outstretched, holding a flower.

"What in the world is going on in this village?" Neji pondered.

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