Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Innocent Illusions ❯ Fake and Real ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: This adorable chapter is dedicated to my little brother. He's turning eleven and since I have no money, I'm giving him this chapter instead of a real present. Sorry! But I hope he's happy because I gave him a really good chapter.

Enough of this talk. Story time!



Disclaimer: I do now own Naruto and Co.


Innocent Illusions


"This looks great!" Naruto smiled hungrily as he eyed the food. "Which one do you like?"

Sasuke glanced at all the food on the blanket before turning his head in a dismissive way.

"I don't like sweets." Naruto looked at the food before sorting them out. He put the all the sweet things onto his plate and left the other food on the plate in the middle. His hand waved toward the food in a presenting manner.

"Okay. There! No sweets. Which one do you wanna eat?" Sasuke's eyes scanned over the remaining food before turning his head away.

"None."

Naruto gave Sasuke a confused look before picking up one of the salmon-flavored rice balls.

"Come on. This one is delicious! Eat it!" Naruto put his cupped hands that were holding the rice ball in front of Sasuke's face. "Bad things happen to you if you don't eat so you better eat this." Naruto commanded.

"I told you I didn't want to." Sasuke ignored the sour look on Naruto's face when he answered.

"You barely eat anything! At the club, I never saw you eat anything. You drink tea a lot but that isn't food. So I command you to eat this, damn it!" Naruto shoved the rice ball straight into Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke smacked his hand away and sent a glare toward Naruto.

"Hey! Don't blame me! You were the one who was making it all complicated by not wanting to eat." Naruto mumbled as Sasuke wiped some of the sticky rice off his face. The rice ball remained intact so Naruto tried to use it again. "Just one bite. Okay?"

Sasuke sent him a glare before speaking.

"How do I know you haven't poisoned them? Your friends don't seem to like me. What if they poisoned it?" He said accusingly. Maybe, if Naruto had paid attention, he would have heard the amusement in Sasuke's voice.

"That's a stupid question." Naruto retorted.

"Why are you so determined to make me eat the food then?"

The question made Naruto want to rip his hair out in frustration. Why does Sasuke have to be so aggravating?

"Look! It's not poisoned, okay? I just want you to eat it 'cuz this is a picnic! A picnic involves people eating!" Naruto let loose a growl when Sasuke sent him his 'I don't believe you' look. "The food isn't poisoned. I'll eat one for you!"

Naruto grabbed one of the other rice balls and bit into it. If Naruto wasn't so busy glaring at Sasuke as he ate, he probably would've stuffed his face with the rest of the delicious rice ball. He placed the rice ball onto his plate before giving a victorious look to Sasuke.

"See? It wasn't poisoned. Now you eat yours!" Naruto placed the rice ball in front of Sasuke's face.

"How do I know you didn't poison my food?" Sasuke smirked at Naruto and waited for an answer.

"What the hell is wrong with you all of a sudden? Just eat the damn food and get it over with. It isn't poisoned!" Sasuke sent Naruto another look which caused Naruto to rise to the unspoken challenge. "Here! I'll take a bit out of your rice ball."

Naruto dramatically raised the rice ball to his mouth and chomped down. He 'mmmm'ed his approval while looking at Sasuke as if to say 'Ha! Ha! You're missing out on the greatest food ever!'.

After Naruto swallowed the food in his mouth, he sent a triumphant smirk toward Sasuke.

"See? I'm not dead! So now you have to eat it!" Sasuke looked at the food that Naruto was placing in front of his face.

"Your saliva's on it. I don't want to eat that." Sasuke crossed his arms and turned his head away. "Take that out of my face."

"What... you... Huh?" That was all Naruto could manage to say as he tried to assess the situation. "Wait!"

Sasuke looked boredly at Naruto who in return narrowed his eyes and tried to give him an evil glare.

"What?" Sasuke said, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Naruto jumped up and pointed at Sasuke. "You... you planned for that to happen!"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow up and looked at Naruto. "What do you mean?"

"You knew I was going to take a bite out of the rice ball so then you wouldn't have to eat it! You planned for that to happen!" Sasuke sent an amused smirk toward Naruto which seemed to make aggravate Naruto even more.

"I already told you that I didn't want to eat." He turned his face to the side. His face turned stoic again but for some reason, there was a hidden smugness in his expression.

"Why you..." Naruto, controlled by his anger, grabbed the nearest thing next to him (which just happened to another rice ball) and flung it at Sasuke.

Sasuke's head was turned so he didn't have anytime to react before it hit the side of his face.

Naruto watched with his jaw dropped as the rice ball slid down Sasuke's face and plopped onto the floor. A few of the sticky rice stuck to Sasuke's face and hair.

It seemed to happen as if it were slow motion. Sasuke turned his head slowly towards Naruto and sent him one of his famous 'Sasuke' scowls. The tension was so thick in the air that Naruto forgot that he was supposed to be breathing as he sat there speechless about what he had down.

There was a heated stare that lasted a second between Sasuke and Naruto, but it was ruined when Naruto... burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

His lungs gasped in air before it was forced out as his body shook by the force of Naruto's laughs. Sasuke sat still as he watched Naruto's amusement with a scowl on his face.

"Did you... see... the look... on your... face?" Naruto said as he breathed for air between the gaps in the words. "It was hilarious!"

Eventually, Naruto's laughs died down, and Sasuke's glare could start affecting him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen." Naruto sat up and wiped away an imaginary tear. "But come on! If you just ate the damn food, it would be in your stomach instead of your hair."

Sasuke sent another glare toward Naruto. Of course, Naruto didn't mind and glared at him back.

"You could at least say it's okay. I apologized. It's the polite thing to do." Naruto lectured.

Naruto continued to stare at Sasuke with an amused expression on his face. The glaring continued for a few more minutes until Naruto thought up a plan. "You know, I won't hesitate to throw food at you again if you don't talk."

Naruto picked up some rice and held it behind his back.

He was waiting for an answer. Too bad it never came.

"I'm giving you five more seconds to talk or I'm gonna throw it at you and start laughing my ass off again. Five... four... three...," Naruto whipped the rice at Sasuke before he finished counting. He wanted to catch Sasuke off guard. A countdown would be too obvious, of course.

This time, though, Sasuke dodged the attack.

"What the?" Sasuke looked boredly down at Naruto which caused another pack of sticky rice to be thrown at his head but Sasuke managed to dodge it again. "That's not fair!" Naruto accused.

He picked up another rice ball and threw at Sasuke who just dodged it again. Naruto didn't want to resort to his usual ninja tactics so he had to throw the food as if he were some amateur.

"Hold still!" Naruto threw another one which missed. Sasuke made an unexpected move. He ran straight toward Naruto.

The rice ball fell from Naruto's hands, and his personal space was provoked when Sasuke's face stood only an inch away from his.

Naruto's body was paralyzed as Sasuke's eyes seemed to be searching for something. His eyes traveled around Naruto's face before landing onto his eyes. They stared at each other until Sasuke broke the tension.

"Hn." A smirk appeared on Sasuke's face, and one of his hand gripped Naruto's shoulder as his other hand moved towards Naruto's face.

Naruto closed his eyes by instinct before opening them when Sasuke did nothing. He looked up at Sasuke before the corner of his eye caught Sasuke's hand.

The hand crept closer to Naruto before his fingers bent into an 'O' shape. Before Naruto could stop if from happening, Sasuke flicked his nose.

"What the?" Naruto rubbed his nose before jumping up. "What'd you do that for?"

Sasuke just sent him another smirk causing another rice ball to be thrown at him.

"Why you little..." Sasuke backed up every time Naruto threw a rice ball at him. Soon, Naruto had to run after Sasuke which started the chase.

Sasuke watched Naruto running after him with a smirk on his face.

"Are you even trying to catch me?" Sasuke taunted while Naruto threw another piece of food at him.

"Are you even trying not to be the ass that you are?"

Sasuke gave a deep, low chuckle at Naruto's comment, the action causing Naruto to stare at Sasuke. What the hell? What is up with him today? He's not... himself...

Sasuke's fake laugh somehow reminded Naruto of Sai. The friend always had fake smiles and fake laughs, and Naruto was always able to tell when Sai was faking or not. Somehow, after that, it gave Naruto the ability to sort out real emotions and fake emotions in people. Sasuke was no different. He was giving a fake laugh. But... why?

Naruto, deep in thought, didn't notice that Sasuke had stop running which meant he rammed right into Sasuke.

"Idiot!" That was the last thing Sasuke said before he and Naruto rolled down the steep hill.

Sasuke landed on the floor somehow gracefully as Naruto landed on top of him.

"Ow." Naruto moaned as he laid his head on the ground but wait... this isn't the ground! Naruto looked down and saw Sasuke.

His transformation's hair acted as a small curtain around them as they looked at each other before Naruto jumped off him. "Eww! Get off of me!"

Naruto rubbed his arm and saw there were only a few scrapes on his arm. Then, he proceeded to glare at Sasuke even though it wasn't really his fault. But it's so much easier when he pretends it was Sasuke's fault.

"See! I told you bad things happen to you when you don't eat!" Naruto watched as Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off.

"Didn't I tell you before?" He looked up and gave Naruto another scowl. "Watch where you're going."

Naruto, reminded of the bar scene, huffed and turned around. "Well, I was distracted."

"What?! You could've killed both of us because you were 'distracted'." Naruto wrinkled his nose as he heard the unconcealed sarcasm in Sasuke's voice.

"I said I'm sorry. Okay?" Sasuke looked like he wanted to say more but kept his mouth shut.

"Whatever." He said before he walked up to Naruto.

Naruto didn't know why but Sasuke started to run his fingers through the strands of fake hair on Naruto's head with a soft tenderness. It was different from the laugh from before though.

The tenderness... the soft touch... it was real.

It made Naruto forget about the fake laughter coming from Sasuke before.

"What are you-" Naruto's question was answered as Sasuke flicked some grass that had been in his hair onto the ground.

"Let's go back now." Sasuke said as Naruto nodded in agreement, and they walked silently up the hill.

Naruto sat down on the blanket and without a word, dropped some food onto the plate in front of Sasuke.

"Eat." He said, and this time, Sasuke listened.

Naruto had to admit it. He had fun today, and he was reluctant to leave even though it was getting dark.

But eventually, the duo had to split apart.

Naruto went home and immediately went to bed. He was too exhausted to make himself any ramen today. And his head would be too deep in his thoughts to even taste the scrumptious noodles.

It... it was a nice day. Naruto thought before he went to sleep.


~*~*~*~*~*~


Red eyes glowed in the darkness as he made his way through the damp cave. He ran until he was at the end of the cave and kneeled down to where the scroll was placed.

He picked it up and unrolled it to find it was blank. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Ah, I see you've finally came." The voice, it seemed, came from everywhere. So the location of the man couldn't be found. It was too dark in the cave for Sasuke's eyes to work properly. "It's been a while."

"I was busy," Sasuke shouted into the darkness. "You didn't hold up your side of the bargain."

"Information on your brother is very hard to gather. You should be grateful, Uchiha." The man said in the same monotone voice. "You bring news. Tell me now."

"You know what I'm going to do. You should know what I'm going to say next." The sarcasm in Sasuke's voice was unappreciated by the dark figure.

"Should I remind you again that I do not like to waste my time." Sasuke sighed before he told the figure of his recent discovery. "I see. How can you be so sure?"

"I placed a genjutsu on her today. When she was unsuspecting, I used my sharingan to search the depth of her power." Sasuke explained.

"And?"

"It is suppressed but it's not hidden that well. I can't tell you if how much power she possesses but it may rival the nine-tailed demon." Silence filled the dark cave as the figure absorbed the news.

"I see. So why have you not brought her to me yet?"

"I don't know if she knows of her capabilities. If she does use her power on me, I might not fare very well. I will gain her trust before taking her without making a scene." The young Uchiha stated obviously.

"Are you sure you are capable of such a task?" Sasuke's face showed no emotions but it was clear he was ticked.

"Don't question me. I know what I am doing. She doesn't suspect a thing." Another silence filled the cave. "What?"

"Your acting is not that good, Uchiha. Are you sure your emotions are not natural?" This time, a scowl showed up on Sasuke's face.

"You do not know my abilities. It won't be long before I bring her to you."

"Do not get attached, Uchiha." The voice warned while Sasuke scoffed at the statement. That will never happen.

"Whatever. But I suspect you to hold up your side of the deal."

"Yes. In return for the power..." The figure paused before continuing the grim statement. "... your brother will die a gruesome death."

"And?" Sasuke waited for the voice to continue.

"And your friend will be protected. But only if the girl is as strong as you say. Now leave. I will call you when I need you." Sasuke nodded.

"As you wish." Sasuke said obediently although it left a bitter taste in his mouth to follow another's orders before vanishing.

Another dark figure appeared before the first one.

"To think, after all that boy was put through, he still has a heart." The figure smirked before continuing. "Why use him? He is clearly becoming attached to the little subject."

"It is expected." The other figure said calmly. "I planned it to happen."

"And he doesn't even know the truth about the 'girl'." The figure sneered at the direction Sasuke had left. "A shinobi must see through all kinds of deception."

"You couldn't have told the difference either when you saw the girl. Don't mock him if you have done the same." The other figure stated calmly causing the other figure to quickly change the subject.

"Why use him? He clearly won't help us achieve the power we want." The other figure remained stoic to the question. "How are you so sure?"

"I underestimated the forces last time. It won't happen again. And as for little Uchiha... He is a pawn. He will be discarded when he is not needed anymore. He will fulfill a role in my plan." The calm figure looked at the other man. "And you will play yours."

The last words were spoken between the two, and the cave was soon empty once again.


~*~*~*~*~*~


A/N: And the plot thickens. Review.