Thank youz. Thank youz.
Kamiah; You gave me an awesome idea to use Itachi for, so this next chapter is dedicated to you.
x]
Chapter Two
Pink Fluffy Madness
“Y-you!? What are you doing here?! Why are you wearing THAT?!”
Uchiha Itachi stood proudly in disgustingly pink and yellow polka-dotted glory, seemingly unaffected by the sudden bombardment of questions. He shrugged, allowing his floppy, white-tipped ears to hang stylishly over one of his eyes.
“Hmm, don’t you like it?” He said quite simply, his voice echoing somehow around the deserted courtyard. “I’ve been told the style quite suits me… though I suppose we’ve all got different tastes, haven’t we?”
He could hardly believe it; he was actually conversing about fashion with the highly feared Uchiha Itachi, who was dressed somewhat remarkably. Struggling to his feet, Naruto couldn’t remove his widened eyes from the pink fluffy sight above him.
“I’ve several more at home in a variety of colours!” The fluffy Uchiha continued, stretching his arms out as if to model his bizarre costume. “Flashy isn’t it?”
Naruto paused, contemplating whether the amazing spectacle before him was actually a hallucination. He stared, jaw dropped, body motionless, as a puffy hand was lowered in his direction.
“What are you doing down there?” Itachi questioned, sounding genuinely puzzled. “Surely it’s not very comfortable?”
This was definitely a hallucination, without a doubt – the bunny suit said it all. Naruto gave a short laugh, accepting the offered hand as it pulled him to his feet. He smiled weakly, giving the Itachi-Bunny a wary glance as he attempted to compose himself again.
“Oh, I apologise; I’ve not answered your questions!” Gasped Itachi, in the most monotonously bland voice he could muster as he jumped in a dramatic half-flail. “Well, in response to them; Yes, it is indeed me. I’m here because I have important business to take care of and as for the bunny-suit…” He hesitated for a few moments, cupping his chin in what looked like deep, intellectual thought.
“It’s flashy?” Naruto offered, choosing to play along with the ridiculousness for now.
“Aah yes – couldn’t have put it better myself.” Itachi concluded with a twisted smile, as he fiddled with the sequined detail around his sleeve. After a last sharp pluck of achievement he turned to the confused blond, eyes darting around in a suspicious manner. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Err…” Naruto began, uncertain of whether he should be communicating so casually with a figment of his imagination.
“I was just wondering… are you perhaps lost?” Itachi whispered, glancing around in fear of any possible eavesdroppers. “You have a very vacant-looking face.”
“Vacant-looking?! And no, I just took a wrong turn back there!” Naruto growled, clearly offended he was being insulted by a guy dressed in a pink bunny suit. “Or maybe a couple of wrong turns…” he added as an afterthought.
Itachi merely smiled in response; his carefree attitude becoming increasingly disturbing – this guy was unreal in both mannerisms and appearance. Bob’s pills had undoubtedly taken effect; though Naruto was slightly surprised by the fact his hallucination took the form of Uchiha Itachi.
“Not to worry; I know the way out!” Itachi said, attempting to put cheer in his voice but failing miserably. He made a swift grab for Naruto’s wrist, and practically flew down the nearest alleyway without a word of warning.
“Hey – wait – what are you doing?!” Naruto yelled, caught off guard as he was dragged roughly down a series of similar-looking alleyways. “I didn’t ask for any help!”
His words passed by unnoticed by Itachi, who continued on his speedy path of guidance, only stopping at every other fork, quickly deciding on which route to take. Naruto could barely maintain the speed let alone his balance; he’d tripped numerous times on raised cobblestones and debris only to be pulled once more into a forceful sprint.
--
“STOP!”
Naruto felt the vice-grip vanish from his wrist, as he fell forward, panting heavily. His lack of stamina came as a nasty discovery. All strength abandoned his drained body and he found that he wasn’t able to move from his current position. Crouching slightly, he raised his head to locate the crazed Uchiha, finding that he was alone in the town square.
Had he disappeared?
What a relief… Naruto thought, feeling motivated by the fact he was in familiar surroundings once more. He gave himself a few moments to regain his strength, waiting for the rushing warmth to embrace his body.
The Uchiha was nowhere in sight. The hallucination had obviously ended.
The huge fountain situated in the centre of the square was lit-up in spectacular radiance. Naruto felt drawn towards it somehow. He rose to his feet, staggering slightly as a strong breeze whipped briefly across the square, sweeping along spirals of leaves as it passed.
He wandered towards the majestic fountain, mind still dwelling on his recent bizarre experience. Seeing Uchiha Itachi in that state had been an unexpected result of consuming the pills, but even so… it didn’t make sense. What relevance did his peculiar behaviour and clothing have to his current state of mind?
Upon climbing the smooth, mosaic steps of the fountain, he silently took a seat beside the cascading waterfalls, absent-mindedly watching ripples form on the water’s surface. He almost felt content, just sitting there with the gentle sounds of falling water playing beside the symphony of bird chirps, announcing the fast approaching morning.
The sky above had lightened, casting small fragments of light, which outlined the edges of each surrounding building in a golden hue. Naruto didn’t notice. He was far too caught up in thought. The pills had proved to be of little use, aside from the small amusement he’d found in the bunny-costume.
Removing his gaze from the hypnotizing ripples to the bag of pills, he quickly stuffed them into his nearest pocket with a grunt. He’d have to discard them later – somewhere no-one would find them. On that thought, he returned to his stare to the fountain, spotting several glinting coins planted in the grit beneath. He leaned in closer, trying to identify the value of the coins.
A jolt of pink shot rapidly across the water’s surface, disrupting the order of the waltzing ripples. Naruto blinked, seeking out the cause of the disturbance, squinting as his eyes met their reflective doubles. Vaguely, behind his own reflection he could make out something brightly coloured – something fluffy – with ears!
“You went wandering!”
Gulping, Naruto resentfully turned his head around to find a certain someone he wasn’t overly pleased to see.
“Honestly, how am I supposed to help you if you keep running off?” Itachi groaned, stamping his foot in impatience. “I’ve been looking for ages!”
“I thought you’d gone…” Naruto said wearily, rubbing his temples in hope of vanquishing the pink menace. “You’re not real…”
“I think you’ll find I am.”
“Definitely not.”
“Oh, but I am!”
“I’m not buying it…”
The forceful impact came as an unpleasant shock, knocking him backwards into the fountain’s swallowing pools. Naruto coughed violently, spluttering grimy water, as he hit the surface, his body shuddering in protest to the sudden change in temperature.
“Now, you see…” Itachi jeered, apparently finding his last action not humorous in any aspect. “I’m completely and utterly real. Did that hurt? I bet it did – serves you right.”
Naruto attempted to show his disapproval vocally however, a coin shot out from his mouth preventing him from doing so.
“Oh my, you got lucky!” Itachi said, retrieving the coin and pocketing it. “We’ll be rich in no time!”
“This is unbelievable...” Naruto said, nursing his throbbing head. Surely the pills had lost effect by now? And surely hallucinations weren’t able to throw such hard punches? He didn’t bother getting up from his slumped position directly beneath the artificial waterfalls; instead he closed his eyes tightly, urging his mind back to the world of reality.
“Are you alright?” Itachi asked, crouching down to give the retreating blond an encouraging poke. “I didn’t hit you that hard,” he said, examining his fist in curiosity “one of my softer punches, I’d say.”
Naruto ignored him, as he rambled on in detail how to knock someone out for several hours, waving his hands to demonstrate the required actions.
“Timing is crucial; you’ve got to catch them when they least expect it. I myself like to count down before delivering the blow, so I normally count to ten and- you’re not even listening, are you?!”’ Aggravated that his ‘pearls of wisdom’ weren’t being appreciated, Itachi made a grab for the dozing boy’s neck, snarling from beneath his smirk.
“Eh?” Naruto gasped, suddenly wide awake “oh yes, I agree – a very good point.”
Itachi loosened his grip, seemingly calmed by Naruto’s fake praise and interest. “If you’d like to know more, just ask; I’ve all the time in the world.”
An unnerving feeling of bitterness swept over Naruto, as he imagined himself being followed by the bizarrely-dressed Uchiha for the rest of his days. “Say,” he began, scavenging around for the appropriate words. “Didn’t you have business you needed to take care of?”
At the mention of business, Itachi’s ears pricked up as if they’d been hit by a sudden stroke of lightening. His smirk changed to a troubled frown and he began scratching his head in deliberation. “You’re right,” he breathed, becoming surprisingly anxious. “I’d forgotten all about it…”
“Better go sort it out, eh?” Naruto suggested, seizing his chance to lose unwanted company. He needed to act fast; already the town square was bathed in the cool, indigo tones of dawn and the air grew dense with morning dew.
“I must leave you now, my sincerest apologies,” Itachi stated politely, looking toward the town gates in anticipation. “Before I go, there’s something important I need to tell you.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, come close; it’s highly important that you keep this to yourself.”
Naruto stood with difficulty, as his clothes were drenched and his body had missed out on a night’s rest. Gingerly, he walked over to Itachi, half-expecting another punch.
Certain they were alone, Itachi took a deep breath and began to speak...
--
“That can’t be!”
Sasuke stirred, fighting the growing temptation to submit to sleep once more. His eyes flickered viscously, pleading to be rescued from the harsh, tormenting light. With an effort he forced them open, and tried to make sense of his situation.
“Who did this?!”
As his vision steadied, he began to recognize a few familiar buildings and it became apparent that he’d been sleeping in the town square.
Not again, he thought, gasping for water as the loathsome taste of vomit filled his entire mouth. For the third time this week he’d awoken to find himself in the very same spot with a banging headache and foul-tasting breath – it had almost become part of his daily routine.
“I don’t believe you!”
That incessantly annoying voice – who did it belong to?
It drilled through his battered head, amplified several hundred times in spite. The voice was irritatingly familiar, yet he couldn’t put a name to it.
“I bet you’re behind this!”
Judging by the brightening sky and the lack of people around the square it was still early hours; he’d been lucky – just like the last time. The voice bothered him and he sought out the nearest cover – the fountain.
“It doesn’t make sense – it just doesn’t make sense!”
The voice grew louder as he crept towards the fountain and he wondered whether he should choose another hiding place.
“If the village knew, they’d help!”
Much to Sasuke’s dislike the conversation was becoming progressively more interesting and he impulsively sped after it, curiosity burning.
“Why is it confidential? Everyone has a right to know!”
Selecting the precise moment, Sasuke peered from behind a water-spouting statue, making sure to remain still as his angered head wrestled him down. Regardless of the short distance between himself and the conversation, Sasuke was still unable to make out the voice of the other speaker.
“As you wish,” said the voice with finality, reluctantly defeated. “I’ll let you know what happens.”
Sasuke grinned in achievement, locating a perfect peeping spot however, the grin rapidly disappeared as the speaker was identified.
“Naruto?!”
-
Well, that ends Chapter Two.
x] Hope you all enjoyed.
- Day