MY Naruto fanfic!

I don't own Naruto, but wish I did!

Summary: When Naruto returns from a mission he receives a 'gift' from the girl he was sent to bodyguard. The gift you ask? Well, let's just say that Sasuke better start believing in hypnosis real soon, because Naruto's looking for a test subject.

Obey Me Sasuke:

What a weird mission! And an even weirder girl, too, Naruto thought as he glanced down at the box in his hands. Definitely weird.

Two days ago he had been sent out on a mission to escort a young girl to a village not too far away from the Leaf Village. It was a dangerous road that she was too scared to take on her own. Luckily Naruto was there to take care of any unwanted trouble. To show her gratitude for his bravery, the young 13-year-old girl gave Naruto a gift. What exactly that gift was remained a mystery to the blond.

He hurried home bubbling with excitement. He was about a block away from his home when he nearly bumped into a raven-haired boy. "Watch it, loser!" growled Sasuke. "For a ninja, you're not very alert, are you? Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Naruto glared at his rival and snapped, "That's none of your business, jerk! And who are you calling a loser, loser?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, grunting, "tch, whatever. By the way, Kakashi went off on a mission with Gai so he won't be training with us tomorrow… or the next few days for that matter. Thought I should tell you."

"WHAT?" the blond exclaimed. "But he promised he would after I got back from my mission!"

"Well, that's your problem. Try training by yourself for once." Sasuke turned and went back on his way laving a pissed off Naruto in his wake.

Still muttering to himself, Naruto finally made it back to his house. He looked down. Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about the gift! He scurried over to the table, pushed the discarded ramen containers aside and sent it down. What could it be? What could it be? He was so excided he could barely untie the ribbon that bound it shut. Once loose, he opened the box only to discover another wooden book inside. Is this some kind of joke? He wondered. He took that smaller box out and unhooked the clasp. He opened it and looked inside.

He found a small scroll and what appeared to be a jewelry box. "What the heck..?" He opened the small black box and took out the treasure: a pendulum. It was a small polished emerald stone which hung from a long silver chain. It sparkled in the light as he turned it over in his hands.

What a strange gift. Jewelry? I guess she didn't have anything else more manly than this. Naruto looked back at the box and took out the small red and green stripped scroll. He unrolled the top part of the scroll to read its title: Personal Hypnotism kit.

Naruto's eyes bugged out of his head. A hypnotism kit? Just for him? SWEET! Trembling with excitement, he unrolled the scroll and read on. The beginning was boring. It basically defined what hypnotism was and gave some background. Now he was reading the section on how to use it. It went into great detail of what a trance was and how it worked. Let's see… a trance is a state of calm… mind relaxes… thought wonder off… a wide awake sleep… blah blah blah… Then it got to the part on how to hypnotize people. Now we're talkin'!

This book is for beginners, so you'll only be able to learn how to put one person in a trance at a time. Once you've mastered that, you'll be able to entrance a small group of people. About 1-3 at best.

Naruto frowned at this. Aw, man! No crowds and they say that that would be difficult, too! Oh, well. At least I can learn how to hypnotize one person. He read on.

An hour later he had read through the entire scroll and even reread the hypnotizing one person section as well. He flopped down on the bed, mind abuzz. With his newfound power he could definitely have some fun while his sensei was away. The only issue now was the question: who should he attempt to hypnotize first?

Who would be the most fun? He could hypnotize Sakura into loving him. That would be nice. Then thoughts of an angry Sakura coming after him flooded his mind. She was too smart to be hypnotized. She'd see it coming a mile away. Come to think of it, he was already on a lot of girls' hit lists. He had made many female enemies after sneaking into the girls' locker-rooms and bathrooms a few too many times to perfect his sexy-jutsu. Plus, a lot of girls never forgave him for accidently stealing Sasuke's first kiss from them. Ok, so any attempt to get near a girl was a death wish. So he focused on the guys, instead.

Shikamaru always seemed half-asleep anyways, but he was super smart. Surely anyone with an IQ over 200 was immune to hypnosis, right? Neji was the same way. That guy was too smart for his own good and he would be the first to suspect something. What about Lee? He would probably fall for it. Although, keeping him still was like trying to light a wet fuse. If he couldn't focus… Nah, Lee was out of the picture. Kiba could work. However, the book said nothing about hypnotizing animals, so even if he could successfully put Kiba into a trance, what about Akamaru? He'd most likely defend his master by biting Naruto on the hand or something. Shino? No way, that was a disaster waiting to happen.

If not them, then who? WHO? Looks like instead of mischief- making tomorrow, he'd be training with Sakura and Sasuke… SASUKE! That was it! Sasuke Uchiha would be perfect. The way that jerk was always so rude and mean to him, all those nasty words, always out-shining him; he was fool not to try it.

Naruto chuckled evilly to himself with the thought. Come tomorrow, Sasuke, you'll be my rival turned servant.

Naruto leapt down the street at exactly 10:00 the next morning and raced to Sasuke's favorite training spot. He always trained at this time of day. The perfect ambush.

"Naruto!"

He turned around and found Sakura waving at him. He greeted her with his trademark smile.

"We don't have training today," she told him. "Kakashi-sensei is off on a mission."

"Oh, I know that," Naruto said. "I was just going to find Sasuke."

Sakura looked at him. "Oh, don't you know? Sasuke's on a mission, too. He left yesterday."

"WHAT?" He couldn't believe it. Now what was he going to do?

"Don't worry, though," she went on. "He'll be back this afternoon. He's not traveling that far and it was only a C-rank mission."

Naruto's spirit picked up. "Really?" This was great news. He'd do it this afternoon instead. It wasn't that big a deal. Easy.

He waited for Sasuke's return. It won't be long now. It's only a little after 3:00. He'll be here any second now. Naruto had read through the scroll once more to make sure he knew what he was doing. With the pendulum in his pocket, he was ready for Sasuke.

There he was! As Sasuke passed under the tree Naruto was perched on, the said ninja jumped and landed with ease in front of his rival. "Hey, Sasuke! How's it going?"

The raven-haired Uchiha barely blinked, as if he had anticipated this from the very start.

"What do you want?"

Naruto smiled with glee. "I just wanna hang out. Maybe we could train together."

Sasuke glared at the blond then said, "I'm training alone today. I was just one hair out of place during my mission; I can do better. Almost isn't good enough for me. Go away." He continued to walk down the street ignoring the other's protests. "You're annoying."

Naruto had to rethink this. He pondered for a moment then, "Got it!"

Sasuke jogged back to his house huffing and puffing. That was a great work-out. As he mopped the sweat from his brow, he noticed someone standing in front of his house. It was Naruto.

Rolling his eyes, he stepped forward. "What could you possibly want now?"

Again the blond smiled. "I just want to show you something." He cupped his hands together, begging. "Please?"

The Uchiha folded his arms and said, "Very well, show me."

"Not here. IN your house."

"Anything worth showing me you can show me out here."

"No, not out here. People might see." Seeing Sasuke raise an eyebrow he added, "It has to be done in private."

Sasuke glared at him and groaned, "Fine, but be quick about it." Naruto clapped his hands together and chuckled as Sasuke unlocked the door. Idiot.

Once inside Sasuke removed his ninja gear and his shoes. He turned to face Naruto. "Well, what is it?"

Naruto giggled mischievously and took out the pendulum. "This!" he declared proudly.

Sasuke blinked. "And?"

"It a pendulum for hypnotizing people!" he blurted out. He got the reaction from Sasuke he wanted.

"Oh, puh-lez!" Sasuke moaned, shaking his head. "Don't tell me you believe in that stuff."

"Of course I do!"

He rolled his eyes. "Naruto, even you can't be that stupid. It's complete nonsense!"

"Is not!" he argued back.

Sasuke shook his head. "It's all staged, you idiot. It's not real. Genjutsu is the only thing that comes even close, and that's not even the same kind as the one you're talking about. Genjutsu deals with illusion. When caught by Genjutsu your body either freezes or you lose consciousness. No part of that makes you bark like a dog when a bell rings or act like a chicken."

"Well, I say it does!"

"Genjutsu is real, hypnosis isn't. End of story."

Naruto smirked. His plan was coming together. "Ok, then. I bet that I can hypnotize you!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You heard me. I'll hypnotize you. If I can hypnotize you then you'll have to believe that it's real. How about that? If I can hypnotize you, then you'll have to admit that I'm right."

Sasuke smirked back. "Fine. But when it doesn't work, you have to leave it alone and never speak of it again. Got it?" The blond nodded. "And if I'm not 'feeling sleepy' within ten minutes, we give up."

"Deal," he agreed. Naruto mentally whooped and cheered at his words. His plan had worked perfectly. He knew Sasuke better than most people gave him credit for. Both boys were extremely competitive and Sasuke would never turn down a challenge, especially from Naruto. If Naruto ever made a bet with him he'd take it. In addition to that, when it came down to proving the other wrong than of course Sasuke couldn't resist. Sasuke was always so confident and always had to be proven right, so there was no way that he would back down from this challenge. Knowing Sasuke so well, Naruto also knew that if he had beaten around the bush Sasuke would have suspected something. Naruto was a bad liar and Sasuke knew that; so over all, in this situation, it was best to tell the truth.

"Ok, now sit on the bed." Sasuke gave him a look that practically screamed 'what the hell are you plotting, you dirty idiot?' "Oh, relax. I think it would be best if you were sitting down when this happens so that you won't fall on the floor and hurt yourself," he explained.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and sat on the edge of his bed, feet planted firmly on the wooden floorboards. Naruto whipped out the pendulum and told Sasuke to relax as he swung it back and forth. Sasuke folded his arms and said, "just don't do that stupid voice all those actors use when doing this. You know, the creepy 'you are getting sleepy' voice." Naruto nodded and continued to swing the sparkling pendulum at arms length in front of the Uchiha's face.

This is so stupid. Only a complete moron would believe in this stuff. Back and forth. Back and forth. Utterly ridiculous. Back and forth. Back and forth. I can't believe he thinks this'll really work. Back and forth. Back and forth. The stupid idiot.

This was getting boring. He could think of better things he'd rather be doing than humoring the boy. Sasuke wondered if it had been ten minutes yet. He had every intention of asking his comrade, but for some reason he no longer felt like it. He just didn't feel like talking at all, actually. The pendulum continued to swing from left to right, catching the light and sparkling. It was nice to watch. So pretty…

Sasuke's mind started to wander off. That pendulum was so wonderful to look at. It was beautiful. He couldn't tear his eyes away to even look at the clock, nor did he want to. Watching the pendulum was the only thing that was important right now to him. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"Sasuke…" He could hear Naruto's voice echo off the empty chambers of his mind. "You're getting sleepy… Very sleepy…"

He couldn't make sense of it at first. He didn't really understand what Naruto was saying, but he didn't care. He inhaled and exhaled deeply feeling much calmer.

"Your eyes are getting heavy…"

He liked what Naruto was saying, even if he couldn't fully comprehend it. Naruto's voice was very soothing. It made him feel calmer. Relaxed.

"Sasuke… you're falling into a very deep sleep…"

Sasuke's eyelids began to droop. His name sounded so good coming from the blond's mouth.

"…very sleepy…"

He was. That mission really took a lot out of him. Plus, he had been training very hard. He hadn't gotten much sleep at all in a long while. His eyes were getting heavier and heavier. Every time he blinked it became harder and harder to open them again. So very tired…

Naruto continued to speak in that soothing monotone voice and Sasuke continued to relax further. His body started to feel heavy, but at the same time weightless. It was a nice feeling. He liked it. His head bobbed a little. He blinked furiously trying to stay awake. It was no use. His eyes kept sliding in and out of focus. He couldn't think. He couldn't even remember what he was doing. It didn't matter.

"Let yourself go, Sasuke… Let your mind go blank for a while… Relax…rest… and sleep."

His head nodded again. He couldn't fight this anymore. Sleep was about to overtake him. Giving the sparkling pendulum one final stare, he closed his eyes, slumping in his seat.

Naruto lowered the pendulum and looked at his rival. He stared in disbelief and then jumped to his feet, doing a silent victory dance. I DID IT! I actually did it! I got the oh-so-powerful Sasuke Uchiha to go into a trance! Sasuke's form was a little too top-heavy. His body started to tip over forward. Naruto caught him with ease thanks to his finely tuned ninja reflexes, and laid him down on the bed face-up. Sasuke looked so peaceful laying there flat on his back. He almost wanted to just let him sleep the day away, but that thought was short-lived. Forget that! Time to have some fun! He pulled the scroll out of his bag and read what to do next.

Ok, I got him in a trance, now what? He skimmed the section and was left disappointed. According to the book: for first-timers, it was best to first establish how to wake him up and put him back into a trance without the need for the pendulum. Also, the first command he gives him shouldn't be something completely out of character. It had to be something that he might do on a dare or if he were drunk. Something simple. AW, this means I can't make him act like a monkey. It also said not to give him too many commands at once, or it might overload him. He thought for a moment then put his plan into action.

Naruto crouched down next to Sasuke and spoke in the same soft monotone the scroll suggested he use. "Sasuke, can you hear me?" The raven-haired boy gave a sleepy nod. According to the scroll, this was normal. "Who am I?"

He mumbled through a contented sigh, "Naruto."

The blond ninja smiled. "Good. From this moment on, whenever I say the words 'rise and shine' you will awaken from this trance and remember nothing of what happened. Understand?" The Uchiha nodded. "How do you feel now?"

There was a moment's pause then he answered in a dreamy, robotic tone, "… relaxed… calm… peaceful… mmm… wonderful…"

"That's great. Whenever I say the phrase 'go into deep hypnosis' you will return to this wonderful, happy, peaceful state that you're in right now. This is your trance-state. The one when you'll do whatever I say. Alright?" Again Sasuke nodded sleepily. Naruto sat back and thought. What should he make him do now that he accomplished this much? What should he have him do now? It had to be something simple. He had to make sure it worked. Then he had an idea. Leaning forward, he spoke, "Sasuke, when I snap my fingers, you'll stand on one foot and say 'Naruto is the greatest ninja of all time'". He sat back and snapped.

Sasuke instantly sat up, swung his legs over the bed, and stood up on one leg. Naruto held his breath. With his eyes still closed, he opened his mouth and said, "Naruto is the greatest ninja of all time." Naruto stuffed a fist into his mouth to keep from laughing. He was afraid that any loud noise might be enough to wake the Uchiha. Stifling giggles he told Sasuke to lie back down. He obeyed. This is great! But now I have to make sure that the 'deep hypnosis' thing works.

He knelt next to the bed were Sasuke lay and whispered, "rise and shine."

Sasuke didn't respond at first, but then he stirred. His eyelids fluttered open and he sat up. Rubbing his eyes he looked around and spotted his teammate sitting on his right. "Wh… what happened?" he asked as if coming out of a long, peaceful dream. When the boy didn't respond, his usual irritated expression crept over his face. "What the hell are you staring at, loser? Now answer me."

He was defiantly back to normal. "What do you mean by 'what happened?'"

"Just what I said." Sasuke got up from the bed and made his way towards the blond. "I don't remember anything. Last thing I recall… we were talking about… about… Ah, I can't remember that either, but you did say that you wanted to show me something. What was it?"

Naruto gulped, hoping that this would work. If not, he was a dead man. He approached Sasuke and said, "Go into deep hypnosis." Sasuke looked confused at first, but then his eyes drifted closed and his head fell forward. He swayed for a moment, but Naruto reached forward and caught him before he could fall. Sasuke's head rested on the blond's shoulder, a light snore escaped him. He helped Sasuke over to an armchair and set him down. He was a lot heavier than he looked.

Time for another test, he thought. This time, something that he wouldn't do unless he had no other choice. Let's see… Oh, I got it! "Sasuke, when I clap my hands you will wake up, without coming out of your trance, and feed me whatever foods I ask for." Sasuke nodded, his chin hitting against his chest. Naruto stood back and clapped.

Sasuke's eyes opened and he stood up. He looked at the blond through half-lidded, glassy eyes, awaiting orders. Naruto rubbed his hands together and looked around. "Sasuke, feed me that strawberry." The Uchiha followed the boy's gaze to the table. "Yes," he mumbled. He made his way over to the kitchen and picked up the small, red fruit. He held it out to the blond, his free hand cupped underneath the strawberry just incase it fell. Naruto opened his mouth and Sasuke popped it in. It worked! He's actually feeding me! "Feed that banana to me." Sasuke pealed and fed it to him, obediently. "Now that grape. Feed me that next."

The hypnotized Uchiha obeyed. Every time Naruto listed off fruits Sasuke would mumble a 'yes' or 'sure' and hand feed it to him. Bored with fruit, Naruto started to ask for other things. He nearly cleaned out Sasuke's fridge, which included his favorite food- rice balls. He thoroughly enjoyed this. Now this is what I call service! He only stopped when he was full and Sasuke's fridge was down to only a few items. Licking his lips he addressed his zombie-like friend. "Ok, Sasuke. Ahem… Rise and shine."

Blinking rapidly, Sasuke gave his head a wild shake and looked around, confused. "What's going on? Eh, NARUTO?" The blond smiled innocently. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"N-nothing! I was just leaving. See ya!" He sprinted to the door, fumbled with the knob and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. That was THE best time of his LIFE! He had wanted to do more, much more, but the scroll did say not to do too much at once or it might overload him. I'll wait 'til tomorrow. I'll give him a night to recover, and then I'll have some real fun! With that thought in mind, he rushed home, looking forward to tomorrow.

Team 7 trained by themselves that morning. With the absence of their sensei, there wasn't much else they could do. Naruto was in a good mood until Sasuke ruined it with his usual attitude coupled with insults directed toward the young knucklehead. The next hypnotic-suggestion was going to feel so good after this. Naruto could hardly wait. When Sakura left, Naruto saw his chance and grabbed it. He invited Sasuke over to his house claiming that he needed help with something. Once safely inside, Naruto said the phrase and the Uchiha collapsed on the bed in a deep trance.

Oh, I'm going to enjoy this! Naruto leaned down and gave is command. "Sasuke, whenever you hear me say 'your master calls to you', you will become my obedient slave. This means that you will do whatever I say and obey my every command. You are willing to do this because you like it. You want to please me. And seeing me happy gives you pleasure. You want to serve me. Do you understand?" Sasuke paused for a moment as if contemplating this. At last, he nodded. Naruto smiled at the thought of Sasuke becoming his slave. But then he started to get mixed feelings. Maybe he shouldn't have done that. Maybe this was wrong and cruel of him. Then he recalled all the memories of every mean and cruel thing Sasuke had ever done to him, the most recent being this morning's training practice. Now reminded of why he was doing this in the first place, Naruto shook the other thought from his mind and was convinced that he deserved this. "Rise and Shine."

His teammate woke up and stared at him. Then a look of rage crossed his face. "What did you do?" he hissed. As he stood up from the bed Naruto called out to him.

"Sasuke, your master calls to you."

"What are y-ohh…" Before Sasuke could even finish his question, he completely zoned out. His eyes glazed over and he bent down on one knee like a knight bowing to his lord. Naruto waited for something to happen. It did. He addressed Naruto in a gentle voice saying, "yes, my master? What is it that you wish of me?"

This was almost too good to be true. He was actually waiting for orders from the blond ninja. This was a dream come true. Deciding not to waste another moment, Naruto gave his first instruction to his new slave. "Sasuke, I'm hungry."

He bowed his head and asked, "What would you like to eat?"

"I want ramen. Boil some for me would you?"

"Yes, master." Sasuke straightened up and made his way to the kitchen. 'Master', I like that! Naruto thought as Sasuke cooked up his lunch. The ramen was the best he had ever had. Knowing that Sasuke had fixed it made it taste even better. But this was only the beginning…

Naruto not only made him cook all his meals for him, but he also had Sasuke clean his entire apartment from top to bottom. Naruto lived like a slob, but he had been meaning to clean up for a while now since the dirty clothes, empty ramen cup and bugs were becoming too much for even him. He hated cleaning, but he didn't mind having Sasuke do it all while he sat down and watched. After a few hours or back-breaking labor, Sasuke was finally finished. The apartment was so clean that it sparkled. Looking down at the filthy and exhausted Sasuke, Naruto couldn't help but to feel a little bad. "Ok, Sasuke, now I want you to go home, take a shower and get some sleep."

Nodding and saying, "at once", Sasuke left for home. Naruto flopped down on his newly made bed and chuckled. Now this is the life…

The morning light shined brightly through the curtains of the young Uchiha's bedroom. Moaning, he turned away from the light and wrapped the covers around himself. What a weird dream… Last night he had dreamed that he was a maid and cleaned and cooked for his least favorite dimwitted person in the world. He stretched and poked his head out from underneath the covers and looked around. He was in his own house, in his own bed, in his own clothes; but something was amiss. How did he get here? He couldn't remember traveling back home at all. The last thing he could remember was walking across the street after training with- Naruto!

His whole body ached. God, it feels like I just went ten rounds with Gai, Lee and Kakashi at once! He rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. His main objective for the day? Find Naruto and ask him a few questions.

Once he found him, Sasuke realized that he wasn't going to get any straight answers out of the blond buffoon. Everything changed when it was time for lunch. "Hey, Sasuke, what do you say we get some ramen? I'm starved."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the thought. "I'm sick of ramen. You eat it all the time. Pick something else."

"But I want ramen!" he insisted. "And I want you to treat me to it."

Sasuke spun around and laughed, "You're crazy if you think I'm doing that!"

"Please, Sasuke?" Sasuke folded his arms at the blond's request. "Your master calls to you."

The Uchiha blinked and his eyes glazed over in an immediate trance. He turned and smiled at the blond and said, "Yes? What is it that you want?" Naruto repeated his request and Sasuke gave a nod. "Of course."

He bought Naruto everything he asked for with a smile on his face. Naruto wolfed down ten bowls of ramen and while asking for elevenths, he ordered Sasuke to buy one for himself. After calling Naruto a generous master, he did as he was told. "By the way, Sasuke, while we're in public could you not call me master?"

"Sure, no problem." Sasuke defiantly seemed happier than usual. He was more cheerful and smiled a lot when he was near Naruto. Maybe this hypnotism wasn't such a bad thing after all. It made Naruto happy. It made Sasuke happy. Everything was better. What's the problem?

That's when he had an idea. If things were this good with just Sasuke under his power, imagine what it would be like if he had more? It was settled. He'd look for more people to hypnotize. The question now was who? He had already been through this before and found problems with just about everyone he could come up with. However, Naruto did notice that it was getting easier to hypnotize Sasuke. He was giving in to more demeaning commands every hour and it had been so easy to put him into a trance. The scroll did say that it came easier with practice. The more he hypnotized people, the easier and more powerful it became.

Finally, after pondering over the matter for a few minutes, Naruto had an idea: Rock Lee. He could be an easy target. If he could manage to convince him to look at the pendulum for a few minutes he'd be hooked. He looked at his watch. 12:47. He knew where Lee was training at this time of day. Ordering Sasuke to follow him, Naruto sprinted down the street and into the woods.

There he was. Lee had his back turned to Naruto as he punched and kicked the trunk of a tree. The knucklehead ninja smiled and saw his chance. "Hey, Lee!"

The green beast turned. "Oh, Naruto. I did not see you there. Have you come to spar with me?"

He shook his head. "No. Actually, I wanted to help you train a different way."

Lee's ears perked up. "Really? You want to help me train? That is so kind of you!" His eyes began to fill with tears immediately. Wiping them away, he asked, "What kind of new training technique have you discovered?"

Good thing Lee was so gullible. Naruto pulled out the pendulum and swung it in front of Lee's face. "If you stare at this long enough, you'll be able to train harder and get stronger." His lie worked. Lee couldn't contain his enthusiasm. After jumping up and down and cheering, he bent down and stared at the swinging pendulum. They waited. Nothing seemed to be happening at first, and then Naruto noticed Lee's drooping eyelids. It was working. Within a minute Lee's eyes came to a close and his head fell forward. That worked out better than he had hoped. It only took Lee three minutes to fall into a trance, when it took Sasuke nearly fifteen. They were both strong willed ninja; maybe he had gotten better at this which is why Lee was so easy to hypnotize.

Before Naruto had time to celebrate, Lee's head suddenly snapped up and his eyes opened. Naruto froze. Lee wasn't doing anything. He just stood there and stared off into space. Taking a closer look, Naruto saw that his eyes were dull and lifeless as if an invisible curtain had been draped down behind his eyes. This unseen vial gave Lee's eyes the same look that Sasuke's had. He was in a trance.

Now to test it… Naruto wanted to see if he could give commands without the use of trigger-words, like the scroll had he could. "Lee, if you can hear me nod." Lee's head bobbed up and down robotically. Inspired by Lee's jumpsuit, he gave his first command. "Lee, act like a frog." The green beast bent down and croaked. He started to hop around and catch invisible flies on his tongue. Naruto roared with laughter. He looked ridiculous. "Now bark like a dog!" He obeyed. "Act like a cat!" He did as he was told. After several more animal impersonations, Naruto ordered him to stop. Now what can I make him do? I already made him act like every animal I could think of… A bird! No, wait I already did that…

He was too preoccupied to notice that Lee had started to act strange. Lee had been ordered to stop, but not much else. Without warning, Lee put his hands on the ground and kicked off with his feet, putting himself into a handstand. He started to walk forward.

Naruto whirled about in time to see Lee doing laps on his hands. He rushed to his side and grabbed him, forcing him to the grass. "Lee, why are you-?" A closer look reviled that he was still in a trance but not much else. Lee's right hand crept up and landed on his stomach. From there, his hand wondered up to his own mouth and began to suck on his fingers. Now this was weird. Naruto had never seen anything like this. Was this normal? Why was he doing this? Maybe everyone reacted differently to hypnosis and this was how Lee responded. Anything was possible. "Lee, can you hear me?" Lee nodded, still sucking his fingers. "Lee, you're getting very sleepy. Go to sleep." Lee's eyes fluttered closed and he snored softly. Naruto set him down in the grass and straighten up. Now that was weird…

He hurried back to Sasuke who was waiting for him under a tree. He perked up the second he saw his master and jumped to his feet like a lonely dog awaiting his master's return. He walked by Naruto's side and smiled all the way back home. After witnessing Lee's antics, Naruto hoped that it wasn't going to get any weirder than that.

He couldn't be more wrong.

"A little to the left… That's it, right there…" Naruto was lying on this stomach getting a massage from his entranced teammate. He had been given the royal treatment all day. Sasuke waited on him hand and foot giving him anything and everything he wanted. He never knew that Sasuke could give such good back rubs. It felt great. This treatment had been going for hours. As much as he loved it, Naruto had something in the back of his mind that told him that something bad was going to happen any second now. He ignored this feeling until something did happen.

Sasuke's hands froze in the middle of Naruto's back. He turned around to face his friend. He was moaning. His dark eyebrows twitched. Something in Sasuke's brain was screaming for control. His eyes kept sliding in and out of focus. He was going to wake up!

Naruto slide off the bed and walked around behind Sasuke. What can I do to keep him from waking up? Thinking fast, Naruto put his own hands on Sasuke's shoulders and squeezed. His teammate let out a sharp hiss, but Naruto continued to rub him in a relaxing massage. Sasuke seemed to be getting calmer. His whole body relaxed and he let out a content sigh.

His eyes were still glazed, an indication that he was still in a trance. The scroll said that if the person under hypnosis was told to sleep while in a trance, then when they woke up they would be back to normal. Maybe I should give him a break… Naruto thought sadly. He had been hogging Sasuke a lot lately. Out of a 24 hour day cycle, he had Sasuke in a trance about 12 or 14 hours. Sasuke needed his freewill back. I guess I should let him rest for a while. "Sasuke, get in bed and go to sleep." Sasuke nodded and crawled into his bed and closed his eyes in a dead sleep.

Naruto left soon after back to his own house. Fun is fun, but I have been taking advantage of Sasuke a little. If I just let him rest then I'm sure that things will be back to normal soon. I'll have some fun tomorrow but not for the whole day. I'll just have to find other people to hypnotize, that's all.

If only things were that simple.

Giving Sasuke the day off and a good night's sleep was probably the best idea he had so far. The next day Sasuke felt refreshed and ready for anything. Sakura had already left for a mission that morning leaving the two boys by themselves. Everything was normal. Sasuke and Naruto trained together for a while, insults included and then went back into town for lunch. Everything seemed fine.

Naruto was deep in thought pondering who he should hypnotize next. Just about anyone would do. But the images of Lee's bizarre behavior yesterday kept creeping into his mind. Why did he act like that? He had so many questions but no answers. That's when he felt something.

He felt hands. Warm, strong hands crept over his back. He tensed up, holding his breath. A moment later he realized who the hands belonged to.

"…Sasuke…?" Naruto hissed through his teeth. The Uchiha, who was the only person who could currently be groping him, didn't respond. Instead, Sasuke's hands wondered further up Naruto's back, laying his palms flat against the orange jacket. "Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?"

Again, no response. Sasuke wrapped his arms around the other's torso, hugging him close. Lithe fingers danced on Naruto's chest, tickling the boy. Naruto's breath caught in his throat. Ignoring the boy's stiffening body; Sasuke laid his head down to rest on Naruto's back, his hands roaming the expanse of his front. He trailed his hands down Naruto's stomach and slipped two fingers below the hem of this orange jacket to touch the soft skin below it. Eyes wide, Naruto jumped away from him, spinning around to kill the horny genin.

Sasuke's eyes held no emotion. He didn't even seem to realize that his teddy bear was missing. Naruto was taken aback by this. "What is wrong with you?" he growled.

Now aware of the absence of the other's warmth, Sasuke inched forward. Naruto backed away. "Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was light and airy.

Naruto blinked, confused by the ninja's ever increasingly strange antics. What the hell is he doing? Sasuke approached with a dreamy look on his face. "S-stay the hell away from me!"

Once again, Sasuke ignored him. "Naruto…" Sasuke whispered. He took a few more steps, closing the gap. He placed his hands on Naruto's chest once more. "…you're…warm…" He rested his head on his friend's chest and sighed contently. "…and nice."

It was all Naruto could do to keep from screaming. "Wh-wha-what?" he stuttered. "What the hell are you saying?"

Sasuke snuggled into Naruto's warmth sighing peacefully. "I feel…good. I'm happy when I'm with you… You make me feel…nice. And peaceful." Naruto didn't move a muscle. Everything was tense, but this didn't seem to bother Sasuke in the least. Sliding his head upward, he rested his forehead on Naruto's shoulder and purred in his ear. "…I like you… a lot… Naruto…" He moved his head closer, pressing his cheek to Naruto's face.

That was all he could take. That was more than enough! Naruto pushed against Sasuke's shoulders shoving him backward. As Sasuke recovered, he looked back up at Naruto with a look of longing in his glassy eyes and reached forward attempting to stroke his face. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Naruto backhanded Sasuke across the face sending him careening down to his knees. "Geez, Sasuke, snap out of it! You're really starting to freak me out!"

The Uchiha sat up shaking his head. He pressed a hand to his reddening face and winced. "OW! What the HELL is your PROBLEM, jerk!" His eyes had returned to normal, filled with hatred for the blond.

"ME? What's my problem? What the hell did you think you were doing, huh?"

Hand still clasped over his face Sasuke shouted back, "What are you talking about? What did you hit me for?"

"Because you were trying to molest me, that's why! PERVERT!"

Sasuke had never looked more confused and angry in his life. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"You were touchin' me and rubbin' against my body like the sick, horny pervert you are!"

"I have no recollection of that!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute, time out! You don't remember doing that?" A look of concern spread over Naruto's face. "Then what's the last thing you do remember?"

Sasuke scratched his head with his free hand. "I dunno… I think it was when we were walking back into town to get some lunch. After that things get kind of fuzzy."

Naruto was in a panic. Something had happened to Sasuke. He was starting to act weird, too, just like Lee had been. The only problem was the fact that Naruto hadn't put Sasuke into a trance this time. So why was he acting this way?

He was so preoccupied to even notice that Sasuke was starting up again. The raven-haired boy was studying the grass intently. Each blade of grass was so green; so interesting. His hand dropped to his side as he stared at the grass. A minute later Sasuke had dropped to the ground and started nibbling on the grass. Naruto looked down in time to see this strange act take place. "No, Sasuke, don't!" He grabbed hold of the back of his blue shirt and pulled. Sasuke was stubborn. He wouldn't budge an inch. Sasuke disregarded this action and continued eating the grass. "Persistent bastard..!" Naruto pulled harder refusing to relinquish his hold.

"Uh, Naruto?"

He recognized the voice from behind him. "Not now, Shikamaru." His eyes widened with realization. He spun around, releasing Sasuke's shirt in his alarm. There stood Shikamaru staring at Naruto with his hands in his pockets, a bored yet quizzical look on his face. Naruto panicked. "Ok, look! I can explain everything!"

Still looking composed despite Naruto's yelps; Shikamaru turned his head and watched Sasuke for a moment. Rising an eyebrow he turned back to Naruto. "Umm… Why is he eating grass?"

He swiveled around and stared at Sasuke as he chewed and swallowed a mouthful of grass, still looking quite tranquil. He bent down going back for more, oblivious to the awkward stares he was receiving.

"Uh…" Naruto had to think on his feet and fast. "Well, you see… he, uh… He… has… he has an upset stomach, and, uh…. He's trying to settle it, by eating grass." Naruto smiled, feigning complete innocence.

Shikamaru wasn't buying it. Unconvinced, Shikamaru spoke in his usual uninterested tone. "Maybe that might work for dogs, but I doubt that Sasuke would try it in place of medicine. You wanna try that again?"

Naruto sighed and told Shikamaru everything. From the mission, to the girl and the gift; to Sasuke and Lee all the way up to this point. "…but the thing is, I don't understand why he's acting like this. I mean Lee maybe, but he didn't gobble up grass or try to cuddle me. I just don't get it. And that was only Lee's first time. I've been doing this to Sasuke, but he's never acted this way before."

The gears in Shikamaru's head started to turn. "Have you thought about going to the fifth for help or something?"

"Are you crazy?" Naruto snapped. "She'd kill me if she ever found out! I can't go to her. It's a secret. I can't let anyone know. Imagine if Sakura found out. She'd murder me!"

"Well, then it looks like you're going to have a big problem on your hands." Shikamaru seemed very unconcerned about all this. It was starting to get on Naruto's nerves. "What about the scroll? Did it list any kind of side effects or anything like that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it didn't. It just told me what to do and how to do it."

"Then where's this pendulum thing now?" Naruto dug around in his pocket and pulled it out. "So that's it?" Shikamaru asked examining it closely.

"Yup. But now I don't use it much on Sasuke anymore since I gave him commands and trigger words."

"That's pretty…"

"Yeah, I know it's pretty cool; easier, too. But I don't know why he's acting like this."

"…so pretty…"

"Are you even listening to me?" Naruto glanced back at Shikamaru only to discover that he was falling into a trance. "How did..?" He looked at his hand. The pendulum's jewel was swinging from between his fingers, catching the light as it swayed. Shikamaru's brown eyes became heavier and heavier with each swing. Naruto had to come up something. He tried pulling the pendulum away, but Shikamaru followed it, his eyes magnetized to it.

Trapped, Naruto blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Sleep." Shikamaru's eyes closed and he collapsed onto the ground with a soft thud. This would work; after all, if he was asleep he couldn't tell the Hokage. And when he wakes up, he won't remember a thing. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief or even come up with a plan, Naruto felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around finding himself face to face with a very angry looking Sasuke.

"I…AM…GOING…TO…KILL YOU!" He lunged forward attempting to wring the blond's neck. He chased a terrified Naruto into the woods bellowing, "What did you do to me? Come back here! I want answers!"

Naruto managed to put two and two together to figure out that Sasuke had woken up from his spell to find himself eating grass and found Naruto with a pendulum in hand and an entranced Shikamaru before him. Sasuke had already pinpointed who was to blame based off of that much.

Wait a minute. Why am I running? Naruto didn't need the pendulum. He just needed that phrase. Turning on his heel, Naruto screamed out the words he so desperately needed. "Your master calls to you!" Sasuke froze mid-step and knelt down at Naruto's feet. That was a close one. Sasuke wouldn't hurt his master, now would he? Would he?

He didn't. Sasuke was the perfect slave, showing Naruto the utmost respect and serving him hand and foot. Still concerned for Sasuke's wellbeing (for once), Naruto didn't keep him like this for very long. After about a half-hour, he sent Sasuke back home to do as he pleased. Now that Sasuke was out of the way, Naruto hurried back home to take a look at that scroll. Maybe he did miss something and he just didn't catch it. He found nothing. Not a single trace of anything even remotely useful. He sat back to think. Lee was acting weird once during his first time under hypnosis. Sasuke only just started acting strange today. Shikamaru was surprisingly easy to hypnotize, but other than that everything was fine. What am I getting all worried about? It was probably just a fluke. Everything will be fine. Things will get back to normal. After all, thing couldn't get any worse, right?

Wrong.

Mornings always seemed to bring nothing but trouble in Shikamaru's opinion. He was used to his mother's fist pounding on the other side of the door shouting through the wall to get up now. This morning however, he didn't hear any orders, pounding or shouts. Was she out? Was it still night time? He opened his eyes slowly.

He was in his own unexciting bedroom. Normal enough, right? Only he wasn't staring at the ceiling like he usually did when he first woke up. He was staring at the floor. His entire room was upside down. What the..? It took him only a second to figure out what was wrong. He was hanging out of bed upside down with his head on the floor, his arms dangling limply at his sides and everything from the waste down was on the mattress. He straightened himself up and cracked his neck. That's the first time he had woken up like that before. What could have resulted in that?

Suddenly, Shikamaru was overcome by a new feeling that he wasn't aware of until now: he was stuffed. It felt as though he had just finished an enormous dinner. Strange, he didn't remember eating dinner last night. Come to think of it, how and when did he get home last night?

That's when his mother pounded on the door. "Shikamaru, get out here now!" She wasn't in a good mood, but then again, when was she? He opened the door to find his mother glaring at him. "What is all over your face?"

He blinked. Drool, wasn't it? He whipped his mouth off on the back of his hand and gawked at it. It was food. What kind he still wasn't sure, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what his mother was so upset over.

"Just what do you have to say for yourself?"

Shikamaru was in shock. "I-I…" He had nothing to say. He had no idea how this could've happened. He had no recollection of what had occurred last night, but he knew one thing: he had had a midnight buffet. Something must've happened to him last night. How else could he have woken up in an awkward position with a bloated stomach, food remains all over his face, crumbs on his clothes, his hands covered in some sort of sauce and without a memory of what had transpired? He must've done it.

"Well? How do you think it feels to have to go out at the crack of dawn to go grocery shopping because your son ate you out of house and home, huh? Everything was gone, Shikamaru!" He said nothing and avoided her eyes. At times like these, it was best not to look her straight in the eye. "Well, since you don't have any missions going on, guess what you're going to be doing? You want to eat? Fine! Then you cook it all! Today, you're going to be helping me cook and clean in the kitchen all day long to make up for this. Now get started!"

He shut his eyes in horror. What a DRAG!

Naruto skimmed through the scroll again and found nothing even remotely useful to explain why they were acting like they did. However, he did find something under the 'when in a trance' section. It explained that each person reacts differently to hypnosis and while in a trance it's like they're in a world of their own, like a dream. They like being in trances for this reason because it's relaxing and makes them feel good. Them moving around while in a trance and doing bizarre things could be a result of a sleep-disorder, very much like sleepwalking or talking.

"Ah, good!" Naruto sat back in relief. "So I do have nothing to worry about. It's just a part of the trance. Why didn't I think of it before? Lee's been known to sleepwalk even after being knocked out during a fight and standing back up. This was probably just one of those things. But what about Sasuke?" He felt around in his pocket and traced his fingers along the outside of the pendulum. "Oh, I know! He must've gotten a look at the pendulum and entranced himself. Just like Shikamaru, he only had to look at it for a few seconds before it worked on him. Sasuke must've only been half-hypnotized which is why he acted that way. I get it now! So it's not a big deal. Everything's fine. Heh, I got all worried for nothing."

Unfortunately, he did have something to worry about.

Shikamaru had climbed on top of his roof to escape from his nagging mother. Who ever thought that cooking and cleaning could be so much work? I'm exhausted! He let out o huge yawn feeling very heavy-eyed. If I could just rest for a minute… Without another thought, Shikamaru laid down on the rooftop, flat on his back, and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Choji was walking by happily munching down on some chips. He had to get home. He dad was waiting for him to do some important work with him. Shoving another handful of barbeque-flavored chips into his mouth, he looked up. Something had caught his eye.

It was Shikamaru. He was walking across a two-story rooftop, seemingly in a daze. Choji watched as his friend made his way closer to the edge of the roof. Choji was perplexed. What is he doing up there anyway? He was used to seeing ninja on rooftops before, but this was different. Shikamaru always slouched when he walked, but this time he looked more like a zombie. He was walking slumped over as if some unseen force was leading him over the edge.

"Shikamaru?" Shikamaru paid no attention to his friend's call. He inched his way closer to the edge of the roof. He brought his leg up and brought it down on nothing but air. "Shikamaru!" Choji could feel his heart jump into his throat as he witnessed the fall. Abandoning his precious chips, Choji sprang into action; his best friend was more important than food at the moment. "Expansion jutsu!" Choji inflated his body and prepared for the impact. Shikamaru came tumbling down and bounced off of Choji's gut, landing in the dirt. Choji deflated himself and scurried over to him and bent down at his side. "Shikamaru, are you ok?"

He didn't answer. Shikamaru was reaching for the forgotten bag of chips in front of him. Bag in hand, Shikamaru began chomping down on the salty snacks. Nearing the end of the bag, Choji intervened. He tugged the bag out of his hand and hid it behind his back. Nonetheless, Shikamaru relentlessly made grabs for the bag. Choji swallowed the leftovers and handed it back to him. Shikamaru felt around in the bag, but his fingers only touched the bottom and some crumbs. Desperate for more, he stood up and started to walk into town.

"Shikamaru, stop it!" Choji's pleas fell on deaf ears. He grabbed Shikamaru's arm and pulled him back. "Please, answer me." Shikamaru was unresponsive. As Choji forcibly turned him around, he understood why: his eyes were half-lidded and unfocused, his body was limp, and he was drooling slightly. He was sleepwalking.

Choji grabbed Shikamaru by both shoulders and shook him while screaming in his face, "SHIKAMARU! WAAAAKE UUUUP!" The violent shaking had worked. Shikamaru woke with a start wide-eyed and confused.

"Wh-wha-what? Huh? St-stop it!" Choji, convinced that he was fully awake, set him back down. "What am I doing here?"

"You were sleepwalking," Choji explained. He told him everything he had witnessed.

When it was all said, Shikamaru couldn't believe it. "But… I've never done that before. Why would I start sleepwalking now?"

The chubby ninja shrugged. "I don't know, but you should be carful. I mean, I'm not always going to be around to save you, you know."

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem!" Choji looked at his watch. "Oh, crap, I gotta do! I'm running late! I'll see you later, Shikamaru." With that, he turned on his heel and hurried down the street.

The genius was grateful to friend, but no less confused. He sat down to think it over. Just then, he heard something: laughing. It was coming from the trees to his left. That sounded like Naruto… He gasped. Wait a minute! I was with Naruto yesterday before all this started happening. Could he be behind all this? After all, I can't remember a thing about what happened with him, I just remember being with him. He stood up and followed the sound of his laughter. Time to investigate.

Naruto was rolling in the grass laughing his head off. A few minute ago, he had gotten a hold of both Neji and Lee and hypnotized them at the same time. Lee was lumbering around on his knuckles, under the impression that he was a monkey; while Neji flapped his elbows, walking around hunched over, peeking at the ground with his nose, clucking like a chicken. This was great! Naruto only had the pendulum out of a few seconds before they started getting drowsy. Both Neji and Shikamaru were so easy to hypnotize. Could it be possible that people of higher intelligence were easier to hypnotize? It sure seemed that way. The scroll also mentioned that the more he used hypnosis, the more powerful it became. Either way it was fun!

"Ok, ok, Neji! Do your best impression of Ino!" Naruto managed to choke out between giggles.

Neji straightened up, shifted his weight to one foot and he stuck out his hip. His hands wondered behind his back, finding the tie which bound his dark brown hair at the end. His delicate fingers fiddled with it for a moment then slipped it out, allowing his long brown locks to fall free. He fanned his eyelashes affectionately and giggled. "Hi, there, big boy. Now aren't you cute?" His voice was very feminine and Ino-like, especially the giggle.

Naruto clasped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. It was hilarious.

After another minute of this, Naruto decided that enough was enough. Naruto woke them up just as Shikamaru came around the corner. Ignoring a very confused Neji and Lee, Shikamaru addressed Naruto. "I want to talk to you."

Naruto flinched. "Oh?"

Shikamaru nodded. "I want you to tell me what happened yesterday."

Naruto could feel the stares of three sets of eyes bearing down on him. Did they know? What to do? What to do? Smiling, he pulled out the pendulum and waved it. This time, it only took four seconds before all three of them became monotonous zombies.

"Shikamaru, get on the ground and do pushups."

He stared back at the blond ninja for a moment then, "Yes, as you wish." He got down on his hands and did as he was told.

Naruto turned to the others. "Neji, do a dance. Lee, start howling."

Neji began dancing freestyle. It was clumsy at first, but it was no less entertaining. Lee crouched down and started howling like a wolf. Naruto laughed hysterically. For once, he had control and this power came so easy. If he ever ran into that girl again, he'd have to thank her. This was by far the best gift he had ever gotten. "Ok, guys. Continue doing this for five minute then stop and wake up from your trances and remember none of this." That should give me plenty of time to make my getaway.

The rest of the afternoon seemed pretty uneventful. He had managed to avoid Sasuke for the whole morning, thinking that it would be best since the 'side-effects' only seemed to occur while they were near him. Sasuke had finally caught up to him at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Naruto made sure to keep the pendulum hidden so as not to have a repeat of what happened yesterday. Just as Naruto started to let his guard down, Sasuke started acting up again.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. There was Sasuke holding up an apple. He handed it to Naruto. He stared at it. Then Sasuke tried to feed it to him. "Sasuke, stop it." Naruto pushed him away, but Sasuke wasn't so easily brushed off. He kept trying to shove the fruit into Naruto's mouth. "I said knock it off!"

Sasuke blinked then whispered dreamily, "Naruto is the greatest ninja of all time."

Naruto stared at him in shock. That was the first command I gave him! And the feeding me one, too! Something was wrong. Horribly wrong! Sasuke was very distant and glassy-eyed. He had fallen into another trance. Naruto drove his hand into his pocket. It was still there, completely hidden. So Sasuke went into a trance without the pendulum? What had he done?

"Sasuke! Sasuke, snap out of it!" He shook Sasuke as hard as he could, but to no avail. He was completely out of it. He just stared blanking into space.

He had to come up with something; anything! Maybe the trigger words would work. "Rise and shine!" Nothing. Oh, no! Please wake up, Sasuke! Nothing he did was working.

Just then, a scream rang out through the streets. Naruto turned. Lee came bounding through the streets at top speed. He kicked and punched anything that got in his way. Currently, he was beating the juice out of a watermelon stand. When the manager tried to stop him, he was rewarded with a kick to the face. It was almost like he was drunk and performing drunken-fist.

Another cry rang out on Naruto's left. Shikamaru was scarffing down as much melon as he could shove into his mouth. Horrified, Naruto dropped Sasuke and rushed to Shikamaru's side. "Hey, Shikamaru, what are you doing? Stop it!"

Words could not reach the genius now. He was too engrossed in the food at his feet. As the blond approached laying his hand on his shoulder, Shikamaru jumped and rolled into himself; crouching with his body lowered between his legs, hand poised in front of his mouth and snarled. His vicious snarl was enough to frighten Naruto away while he slinked away into his raised knees, narrowing his eyes. His snarl becoming a deep throated growl; his eyes staying focused on Naruto, threatening the blond to even dare take the melon away. He reached forward and picked up the fallen melon slices with his fingers, his growl ebbing as he shoved the sweet, juicy fruit into his mouth. He licked the juice off his fingers before diving in for another bite. He wasn't coming to his senses. He was lost, trapped in a world of his own.

Naruto looked up as he heard a crash from about ten feet away. It was Neji, running through the streets, flapping his arms up and down cawing like a bird. He knocked over everything that wasn't nailed down. "Squawk! Squawk!"

"Oh, no…" Naruto moaned. What had he done this time?

He tried everything he could come up with. Shaking and screaming in their ears didn't work. Reasoning didn't work; if anything, it just made things worse. He even tried using the wake-up word he had programmed into Sasuke, but no matter how many times he said "rise and shine' it just didn't work; not even on Sasuke. Nothing worked anymore. Desperate, he took out the pendulum, but the boys were so unfocused that they couldn't even look at it for a second. They couldn't pay the least bit of attention. Nothing helped. They were stuck in their trances.

Naruto jumped about a foot in the air feeling a hand on his backside. Sasuke was pawing playfully at his ninja tool bag. "Stop that!" he hissed and swatted his hand away. Sasuke was unaffected by the sudden outburst and merely rolled around in the dirt, purring like a cat.

Unable to stop them, Naruto turned to the only thing he could for answers: the scroll. Surely there must be something- anything that could help. He searched franticly for answers. For about the millionth time, he came up with nothing. He looked back in the box that the pendulum had come from in the first place. On the back of the box in fine print was a warning:

May cause Psychosis if used extensively, (abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality").

People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and disorganized thinking. This may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the activities of daily living. If overused, it may also result in permanent entrancement.

Naruto's jaw dropped. So that's what's happening! He had been using the hypnosis so much that now they were suffering from psychosis. The scroll did say that the more he used it, the more powerful it would become and the easier it would be to use. But he never knew that this would happen!

Sure, he could understand why Sasuke was acting so strangely since he had been using it the most on him, but it was only the second time for the other three. Could it be that since the hypnosis got stronger, Shikamaru, Neji and Lee were also affected in the same way? Because it was stronger, they were hit harder? Naruto had no idea. Right now all four of them were running amuck in the streets and it was all his fault.

He gasped, turning pale at the thought of what Tsunade would do to him if she found out; or anyone else for that matter. This was no time to be grieving, he had to stop them, or at the very least round them all up and hide them until he sorted out what to do next. In any case, he couldn't let anyone discover that he was behind all this. Tsunade would murder him, and who knew who else would be hounding for his blood after this incident; not to mention Sakura. He shuddered at the thought.

Gathering his courage, Naruto sprinted to the door, kit in hand, and hoped for the best.

It wasn't easy. Even with all his shadow clones, Naruto still didn't have the means to stop them. Even hypnotized, these ninja were tough. Lee kept fighting, plowing through every shadow clone that got too close to him and continued on his rampage. Shikamaru couldn't be stopped either. He kept eating like there was no tomorrow, even biting Naruto at a certain point. Neji kept trying to fly by throwing himself off higher and higher perches. Each attempt to launch himself into the air sent him crashing to the ground again. This time he was attempting to do it from a two-story rooftop. He jumped.

"NO! Neji!" Naruto dove under him, arms outstretched, breaking the fall. Neji, unhurt having landed on top of Naruto, shook his head and jumped to his feet, running off once more. Naruto rolled over onto his stomach and growled, "You're welcome."

Clearly, Sasuke was a lost cause. He had latched himself to Naruto's back, refusing to let go in a sudden display of affection. Naruto just sat there, eyes twitching, having given up on Sasuke all together. "Clearly this isn't working," Naruto thought aloud as Sasuke nuzzled his face against Naruto's. He purred in his ear, hugging him all the while without a care or worry in the world, much to Naruto's dismay.

"Naruto."

He knew that low, calm voice anywhere. He turned to find Kakashi standing directly behind him with his usual composed expression.

"K-Kakashi-sensei…" he stuttered.

Paying no attention to Naruto whatsoever, Kakashi simply looked around taking in everything that was around him. Neji was acting like a bird, still attempting and failing to fly. Lee was tearing apart a display case outside an abandoned shop, and Shikamaru was still eating twice his weight in food at an outdoor restaurant, getting grease and gravy all over himself. Then Kakashi looked down at Sasuke who was still clinging to Naruto's back with a tranquil expression on his pale face.

With a small sigh, Kakashi then turned to Naruto and asked in a cool voice, "You opened the box, didn't you?"

Naruto gawked at him. Did he just hear him correctly? "Wh…what did you say?"

"The hypnotism kit. Did you use it?"

His jaw hit the floor. "H-how'd you know?"

Kakashi sighed heavily and scratched the back of his head. "I was on my way back from a mission and passed through a village. The very same village that you had to go to on your mission to escort a girl home."

Naruto started to sweat.

"That girl waved at me," Kakashi went on. "I knew her from a past mission. She had offered the same box to me as a gift in gratitude. But I turned her down and told her to give it to someone whom she thought could make good use of it. However, this time when I saw her, she didn't have it. When I asked her about it, she told me that she had given it to a young leaf-ninja boy with blond hair…"

Naruto gulped and held his breath. He looked at the ground, avoiding his sensei's eyes.

"Needless to say, there was only one ninja I could think of to match that description. Now why is it that when I heard the words 'hypnotism kit' and 'Naruto' I immediately thought of the word 'disaster'?"

Naruto's head shot up. "It's not that bad!"

A crease formed on Kakashi's mask indicating that he was frowning. "'Not that bad'?" he repeated. "Neji thinks he's a bird!"

"I would've figured something out eventually!" Naruto argued back.

"Oh, really? Was that going to be after Lee demolishes the entire village, Shikamaru devours everything and needs a stomach pump, or after Neji throws himself off a cliff?"

His student hung his head.

Sighing for the second time, Kakashi bent down slightly. "Aw, don't be like that. You're right, it's not that bad, but it is bad. Listen, what do you say that we fix this mess before Lady Tsunade has our heads, hmm?" He said 'our' mostly because when it came to Tsunade, she liked to blame not only Naruto but also anyone else who happened to be standing nearby at the time, depending on her mood.

"I've been trying to fix it! But no matter what I do, nothing works!"

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. "Did you try the source?"

"The… what?"

"I was just thinking that maybe she could help." Kakashi sidestepped to reveal a very familiar young girl standing behind him.

"It's her!" Naruto shouted recognizing the girl from before instantly. "It's you! You mean she was standing there the whole time?"

Kakashi smiled behind that famous mask of his. "Well, I figured that she might be of some help considering the fact that she's a hypnotist."

"SHE IS?"

Ignoring Naruto's outburst, Kakashi explained. "Yes. She comes from a whole family of hypnotists. They travel and perform all over the place. Her family made that kit and she was given one to give away. It's very powerful which is why they didn't sell them to the public. She was told to give the one she had to someone whom she thought would be worthy. She doesn't need to use a pendulum or any part of that kit to hypnotize someone. She's a natural at it."

Naruto gaped at her in awe. "Do you… do you really think that you can get them back to normal?" he asked.

The girl stepped forward. "I think so. I'll do my best." She looked around. "Is this all of them?" Naruto nodded. "Good. Then since they're all together, I can reverse the effect in one go. Step back, please."

Kakashi grabbed Naruto and held him back. She knelt on the ground in front of them and raised her hands. She waved them rhythmically in a circular motion while chanting something that Naruto couldn't decipher.

Slowly, something started to occur in the foursome. They all started to become very sluggish as if their batteries were running low. Neji's arms fell to his sides as he was suddenly overcome with fatigue. Lee's movements were also becoming less powerful as he, too, got a drowsy look in the eye. Shikamaru swallowed a mouthful of cake, but couldn't seem to find the strength to go back for more. He blinked slowly, his heavy eyes starting to blur. A few second later, he fell face first onto the table in a dead sleep. Lee and Neji both fell to their knees, unable to hold themselves up any longer. They collapsed on the ground simultaneously. Neji landed on his side, resting his head in the fold of his arm, the other pulled up to his chest. Lee landed on top of Neji's legs, flat on his stomach, arms stretched out in front of him. Sasuke, who had already been lying on his back in the street, appeared to be in a comatose state. As he lay there with one arm draped across his chest, the other at his side, his eyes finally fell to a close.

They waited.

"Awaken!" She clapped her hands together and stood up. Slowly, all four ninja started to come back to life.

Neji was the first to react. He gradually opened his eyes and looked around. "Wha...? What am I doing here?" he wondered aloud. He tried to sit up but couldn't. Craning his neck, he discovered the problem: Lee's body was pinning him down. "Lee. Lee, wake up."

Upon hearing his name, Lee began to stir. He rubbed his eyes on the back of his fists and yawned. "Mmm...? Neji? What's going on?"

Before Neji could respond, a loud groan cut through the air. "Oh, God, my stomach!" Shikamaru had just woken up. He was moaning and holding his gut with one hand, and his head in the other. "What happened to me? Ohh, I feel like I just ate a whole restaurant, tables and all."

Naruto rushed to Sasuke's side. He wasn't moving. "Sasuke? Can you hear me?"

Sasuke shifted slightly in Naruto's arms and started to come around. The first thing he saw were two big blue eyes locking onto his. "What the Hell are you doing, loser? Get the Hell offa me!" Sasuke shoved Naruto to the side and squirmed away from him grumbling in disgust.

Naruto, however, couldn't be happier. Everyone was back to normal. He resisted the urge to run up and hug his teammate. His joy was short lived, though.

Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I guess you won't be needing these anymore." He held up the hypnotism kit and pendulum. Naruto felt around in his pockets. Gone. Man, Kakashi's good! "In light of what's happened, I think it's safe to say that you're not ready to handle such a powerful tool."

"But-but-!"

Kakashi handed the kit over to the girl. "Thank you for your help. I know you meant well, but I also know how Naruto can be. I think you should take this back. Give it to someone else who seems powerful, good, and trustworthy. Ok?"

She nodded. "Sorry for the trouble. It was good seeing you again, Kakashi." She said her good-byes and left.

Naruto's attempt to sneak away unnoticed failed miserably when Kakashi grabbed him from behind. "Not so fast," Kakashi drawled. "You have some major cleaning up to do."

"What? But why me? They did it!" He pointed an accusing finger at the quartet.

"Technically, yes, but you were the one who made them do it, thus holding you responsible." Kakashi's explanation left no room for argument. "And since these guys have been catering to your every whim for the past few days, I only think it's far that you do the same for them while you clean up their mess."

Scanning the scene of mass destruction, Naruto felt his heart sink. Buildings were half demolished, food was everywhere, trash was thrown in every direction, the remains of smashed merchandise and display cases littered the streets and this was only one block. He shuddered to think what the rest of the village looked like.

"Have fun," Kakashi patted him on the back. "Oh, and don't worry. I'll keep this quiet from Tsunade." With that, he vanished.

Naruto bent down and started to pick up the shards of glass when he felt four pairs of eyes on him.

"What did Kakashi mean by 'catering to your every whim for the past few days'? So you had a hand in this?"

"Please, tell us what he meant. What exactly happened to us, Naruto?"

He shook violently and swallowed hard. Never mind. Compared to the four fuming ninja behind him, maybe Tsunade wouldn't be so bad…

"Excuse me!" The young girl trailed after her target. "Thank you so much for your help. You're a strong ninja, aren't you? Here!" She shoved the box forward. "Please except this gift as a token of my gratitude."

The red-headed ninja turned, gourd swinging slightly with his movement.