Sweet Balls & Ramen

Pairing : NejiNaru
Rating : PG
Warnings : Shounen-ai
Summary : On a sunny morning, Naruto goes off into the forest to train, and stumbles upon an annoyed Neji. They get into a fight, and a little something more.

A/N : This is like, my first ever Naruto fic. So if the characterisation, canon or whatever else is not quite right, I'm working on it. ' Comments would be most appreciated!

It was an impossibly bright morning. The warm rays, reflecting off the proud, grave impressions of the four great Hokage etched into the great mountain face, seemed to shine even brighter when they did angle into the village of Konoha. The people had risen from their slumber and the brown streets gradually thickening with villagers young and old.

Sandal-shod feet planted themselves firmly onto the ground. Small, callused hands rose and adjusted the headband so it sat firmly and securely on its perch of ragged blonde hair. The symbol of Konoha, the leaf design with its pointed head and whirls that seemed a reminder of the neverending cycle of growth and regeneration, MUST be right at above his forehead.

"RIGHT!" Uzumaki Naruto punched his fist into his palm. "I'm gonna train hard today! But first - " His face, so serious just a split-second ago, abruptly dissolved into an impish and altogether mischievous grin. "Gotta feed the tummy FIRST!"

There was a dizzy blur of orange and yellow and blue and Ichiraku Ramen was likely to see one of its long-time customers for the day.

The kneeling figure was so still it might have been a statue. The skin, so pale it looked as if it had seen too little light of the day, and the hair as dark as the night, only accentuated the pristine features of the boy.

He sat with his head held up proudly, his fall of waist-long hair held back loosely by a cord. Such mornings in the forest clearing were his secret pleasure where he enjoyed the silence and rare solitude. His mind would wander far and beyond the boundaries of the forests. Sometimes, the thoughts that his mind stray into would pain him for those were accompanied by the lined, burdened yet smiling face of his father. Yet he never allowed his head to bow in the slightest. Pride let him continue living, even with the shame branded into his forehead.

Lifting a hand, he touched his fingers to wretched pattern of the bird in the cage. It still ate at him, it still reminded him of the deep divide of his clan and it still burned whenever he thought of his father. But...ever since his defeat in the Chuunin exams, it seemed to hurt a little less each day.

Gathering up his ninja headband, he tied it around his forehead, covering the seal. There might come a day when he would be free of it, but for now, he would replace it with other purposes.

He got to his feet unhurriedly. He was training harder than ever these days. That last Chuunin defeat at the hands of a school near-dropout would be his last defeat. His hands paused in securing his headband. Perhaps...dropout wouldn't be the most appropriate name for that boy.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He remembered how the boy had stood so defiantly even battered and bloodied, and how he stood there in front of the three towering spectators stand, spent yet victorious as the crowds learned his name and acknowledged his triumph.

Hn. His lips curled at the corners. It wouldn't be long that his own name - Hyuuga Neji - would ring even louder than Uzumaki Naruto's, and far greater than any member of the Hyuuga Clan.

Squaring his shoulders, Neji closed his eyes. He let the darkness envelop his mind, wrapping warm comforting fingers around his thoughts. Slowly, he began to remove them one by one, leaving behind a growing void which he protected, allowing no other stray strand of emotion or conscious thought to enter it. He let the Chakra build in his body, the flows of energy rising and rising, cackling power that he moulded behind his closed eyes.

He knew the energy was at its peak when he felt that one fleeting moment of silence.

His eyes flew open, veins rippling around them. "Byakugan!"

Naruto settled his hands on his balloon of a belly and grinned to himself. One of the greatest joys in life was a sated stomach, he thought in satisfaction. Now he was gonna dive headlong into training, training and more training! The thought of Sasuke and his indifferent, arrogant gaze suddenly popped into his mind, and new fire blazed through his veins. Naruto nodded determinedly to himself. Beat Sasuke!

He had an idea where to go to carry out his training. He would go to the forest where there would be no one around. Sometimes he liked training when there were others around, since he kinda like having people around him. But then people didn't actually like him as much as he liked them and even when they were there their eyes weren't really on him. So sometimes, he liked to train alone.

His feet slowed a little, just a tiny bit, but not a second later, Naruto was running as hard and fast again. He had no time to be thinking about all these kinda things! And he was gonna start his day's training by running all the way to the woods. Along the way he nearly collided into Konohamaru and his two followers and to them, Naruto could only wave and yell 'training!' so they know why he couldn't stop and play with them. He also saw the group of Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji together with Asuma-sensei at a barbecued pork shop. Shikamaru raised a lazy eyebrow at him as he ran past.

Very soon he left the streets behind, and the clean paved paths of before turned to dirt tracks as he neared the woods. He didn't feel the least bit tired; his body practically full to the brim with energy as he pounded step after step over the dirt-trodden tracks. It made him feel alive and like the world was at his feet.

The moment he reached the woods and the sunlight from above was filtered into shards by the forest canopy, he leapt up and landed lightly on a solid branch. Face scrunching up in boyish concentration, Naruto stalled for a moment before giving himself a big nod and pointing in the northeast direction. There! That way!

Squaring his shoulders, Naruto took off, leaping and twisting through the air as he bounded through the forest canopy.

The forest loomed and receded in shimmering sheets, each becoming lighter and lighter as the sunlight filtered right through them. The colours of the world faded in swatches and he saw right through them, forest flora and fauna giving up their secrets as eyes pierced right through them. A doe and her group of little bunnies. He counted them. Six. Refocusing his Chakra, his vision lanced through the treetops. Mentally, he began charting an X-ray map of everything that he could see with his Byakugan.

A flock of birds resting amongst the branches. Eight of them.

Fluffy-tailed squirrels. Five of them.

Uzumaki Naruto. Ten of them.

Neji stumbled backwards, his Chakra ebbing from his eyes, his concentration miserably shattered. Part of his rigid upbringing meant that Neji was taught to keep his emotions under lock and key for the most part. Right now however, that thought was far and away from his mind as he glared into the treetops. Was it just him, or why was he always running into Naruto?! Or better still, why was Naruto always running into him?!

Ten of them, no less.

He saw all of them, identical copies of the orange-clad, blue-eyed, blonde-haired fox-kid, swinging through the treetops like colourful monkeys of sorts. They were still some distance away from him, so Neji had a little time to think about his next course of action under such trying circumstances.

He could, of course, choose to leave the scene and go somewhere else where he would not be disturbed. He could also step aside and let the other boy - boys - swing past. A little murderous flare lit up Neji's bottomless eyes and he held up his palm. He could use the Jyuuken, his mind smirked.

In the end however, Neji did nothing. There was no way in hell he would admit that he had basically run out of ideas of how to deal with ten Narutos under non-combat circumstances. So he just stood there waiting for the dramatic appearance of the other boy - boys.

Neji wasn't disappointed.

With a whole symphony of Naruto whoops and yells, ten orange-clad, blue-eyed, blonde-haired fox-kids burst out of the treetops and across the clearing. They careened across the open space, linking hands, somersaulting, and then one by one they looked down.

From the ground, Neji slowly raised an eyebrow. He refrained from smirking openly.

"GYAAAHH!!!" Yowls of surprise burst from the ten Narutos and in comical slow-motion fashion, they lost the formation and began falling from the sky like orange raindrops.

Calmly, Neji walked over to each falling Naruto copy and punched it into puffs of nothingness. When he reached the last one, his fist was caught in one callused palm, and suddenly, a scowling Naruto was in his face.

"OI! This is the real one here!"

"Oh." Neji retracted his fist loftily. "Did I hurt you?"

"WHAT did you say?!" Naruto had recoiled and righted his stance so he was now squaring off with Neji in a most wary manner. That didn't hide the fact that he was obviously peeved with Neji, the way his face was scrunched up.

Neji sighed inwardly and turned away. He wasn't prepared to squander a whole morning's worth of exercise on Uzumaki Naruto. Quite ignoring Naruto, he headed back to the clearing. In that commotion just now, he had seen a disturbed flock of birds taking to the sky. No doubt those were the ones he had been practising his Byakugan on earlier.

He had been wrong. There were ten birds. He had missed by two, something which was unforgivable for any true Byakugan user. Now at the clearing, Neji gazed into the open space. There was another issue with the Byakugan: its blind spot. For the larger part of his life so far, Neji had not needed to worry too hard about the blind spot, but in future, with missions getting more and more dangerous and involving an increasing number of lives including his own, he would need his Byakugan in perfect condition.

Neji was so engrossed in his own ruminations he would have forgotten Naruto's presence had not the younger boy suddenly popped up before his eyes and nearly startling a yelp out of him. The annoyance had disappeared from the blonde's face, leaving behind an intense, childlike curiosity.

"Ne, ne..." Naruto began excitedly, his cornflower blue eyes gleaming in interest. "What are you up to?"

"What business is it of yours?" Neji frowned. What was it with the other boy? Naruto's moods and temperament changed faster than the weather. It seemed he was already moving on to another mood before the previous one had even registered!

"Tell me!"

I most certainly would not, Neji vowed silently.

"I KNOW!" Naruto crowed suddenly, his persistence flagging not one bit. He did a quick flip so he was right in Neji's face again. "You're TRAINING in SECRET!"

Well, now it isn't quite a secret anymore, Neji turned away in irritation. He still had not forgotten his loss to this...this Naruto. Between berating himself over it and pushing himself even harder because of it, Neji also couldn't forget the flaming boy who stood so proudly even half-dead as he was in that match. What...right did Naruto have, fighting against fate?

The seal throbbed fiercely in Neji's forehead and he quickly stopped thinking. Calm, calm...he would achieve nothing from unnecessary emotion.

"NE..." Naruto continued, his face now scrunched up in unusual seriousness. "I'll train with you."

"No!" Neji barked even before he could censor himself. Not that he really wanted to, really. "NO."

"Why not?! We can help each other improve!"

"Well, who needs the improvement?!" Neji returned, trying to turn away from the other boy and failing spectacularly. "I'd probably DEPROVE if I train with you."

"You smug bastard! How would'ja know until you've actually done it?!"

"I don't even need to try!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"YES!" Neji couldn't even remember the last time he had shouted like this. His image was going to be ruined at this rate.

"Good!" Let's start the training."

Neji opened his mouth but not a peep came out. Then he shook his head in amazement. "That was truly low."

Naruto sniggered unrepentantly as he adjusted the headband on his blonde spikes. He squared his shoulders, rotating his arms with a most disturbing gleam in his eyes, and there was a curl to his lip that looked like...

A slow smirk curled the corners of Neji's lips. Oh hoh...they were both remembering that match. Naruto had won, but he had nearly lost as well. Neji had sealed all sixty-four tenketsu in his body, driving him to use that unholy red, wild, raging Chakra. Neji had forced him to that point.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Neji smiled grimly as he was suddenly surrounded by a good twenty or more Naruto copies. The original was lost among them as he stared around the grinning, impish faces of Naruto times twenty. "Do you always start your fights like this?" Neji said in mock condescension.

"Wanna find out?" A cacophony of identical Naruto taunts. "Come get us!"

And Neji did. All the earlier thoughts about training in utmost privacy were just about thrown out of the window as the Naruto copies whirled around him. They might be copies but they had enough of the real thing to pose some threat. Neji was moving, constantly, without rest as he pursued and took down each copy, punching, kicking, trying to weed out the real Naruto. The copies reacted enthusiastically, attacking in clusters, backing off then coming at him one after another.

Neji parried a blow, sandals skidding across the uneven ground. He had just enough time to look up, see another copy with arm raised and hand fisted.

"Think AGAIN!" The copy yelled.

Pale eyes widened. Not a copy! Neji threw up his own arms, seemingly to defend. At that the last instant, when he could practically feel Naruto hurtling towards him and hear the combat cry and just the split-second before contact, Neji snagged an orange-clad leg.

And twisted.

A yelp burst from Naruto as he was flopped over and onto the ground. There was an even louder puff as he dissipated into thin air.

So...it was a copy.

Well, fuck.

Arms shot towards Neji but the Hyuuga descendant was already blocking. The dust stirred around skidding sandals as both boys struggled to gain purchase - and advantage - over each other. Neji gritted his teeth. His arms were intertwined with Naruto's; it was too awkward for him to use the Jyuuken. Neji wanted to scream at himself. How had he managed to allow Naruto so close to him?!

Grimacing and snarling like young sparring tigers of sorts, the two boys glared eye-to-eye as they flung and block kicks from each other. When that didn't break the deadlock, they shoulder-charged, trying to throw the other off-balance.

"When I get free, you'd PAY for this!" Neji snarled, agitated at the futility of his attempts at disentangling himself.

"A bit - " Naruto panted heavily as he moved with Neji, keeping those dangerous palms away from himself. "Too late for that!"

One of them would have to let go. Neji chose to do it. He'd be damned if anyone thought he was running away. Once free, he was going to keep his vow and pulverise this infuriating -

Neji froze his movements, hands and arms slackening. Just a bit more of slack, a bit more, and he'd have the room to make his real move. He rocked backwards, intending to break free.

"HEY - wait!" Naruto suddenly sounded...anxious?

Vaguely aware that Naruto was starting to babble some more incoherent stuff, Neji dug back in his heels stubbornly.

"Wait - I said WAIT! My hand is stuck in your BELT!"

Neji knew a moment of sheer horror, before he felt the answering pull on his belt, but it was too late. He was falling backwards, balance completely thrown off, the answering tug at his belt as Naruto's weight was tested. Then the smaller boy was crashing like a boulder into him.

The sky was really blue that day.

...Wait.

Those were eyes.

And there was a strange sort of sensation on his face. Neji gasped. Or rather, he tried to, but it came out sort of muffled by the soft warm pressure against his li -

It felt like someone had emptied a bucket of ice-cold water over Neji. And again...and again.

He, Hyuuga Neji, was caught in a liplock with him, Uzumaki Naruto.

You've got...to be fucking kidding me.

As if in reply, Naruto's cerulean eyes widened into enormous saucers.

And then, the two boys sprung apart with mortified bellows.

A pale arm and its orange counterpart rose and pointed accusingly at each other.

"Sweet balls!"
"Ramen!"

They shrieked at the same time.

Neji turned his face and began gagging. Heavens help him, he could still taste the other boy all around his mouth! The warm and spicy taste with a twang of ramen. He lifted his head, mustering all his indignation into the glare he directed at Naruto.

The blonde boy was making all sorts of faces as he licked his lips. His face seemed to turn even greener as he gestured animatedly at Neji. "I can't believe you ate sweet balls!"

A furious blush crept across Neji's cheeks. Naruto tasted him...too? The blush got worse, turning into streaks of red on Neji's skin. Damn his pale skin! "So WHAT about sweet balls?!" he retaliated. Exactly. What about sweet balls? Neji happened to like that snack.

"You don't look like the sweet-balls type!"

A small spiral of Chakra began gathering at the centre of Neji palms. He was REALLY going to beat the crap out of Uzumaki -

"Why is this ALWAYS happening to me?!"

Neji was still simmering about the presumptuous of Uzumaki Naruto, when it struck him. Always happening...did this mean that Naruto was experienced with kissi - Now it struck Neji even harder. He had lost the first fight of his lifetime to Naruto. And now, he had also lost his first kiss to - to -

The Chakra burned even more lividly in Neji's palms. Opposite him, Naruto was scrubbing his mouth with the back of his hand with quick, huffy movements. There was a huge kink in the middle of his forehead which almost made him look like some cranky old man for an instant. Neji readied himself, palms out. He was remembering his plan to pulverise the insolent Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hey, you know. You don't taste half-bad."

The Chakra dissipated as a look of utter bewilderment settled on Neji's usually austere face.

Naruto suddenly turned towards him. He was grinning again, widely, brightly. "I like sweet balls too. Not as much as ramen. But they're not bad."

The tension seeped from Neji's stance. Would nothing ever get Uzumaki Naruto down? And does Naruto think of anything else but fighting and food?! Neji looked on disapprovingly at the other boy. He was...not quite so angry now, but that didn't mean he was suddenly friends with Naruto! Even if they had kissed. Dark eyebrows knitted in a childish scowl. He would NEVER forget the kiss EVER! And he would still pay Naruto back in kind one day, Neji vowed silently.

"Ne. Hyuuga Neji."

Neji raised an eyebrow. Few people addressed him so insolently. He restrained the reflex to strike when Naruto stomped up to him and peered hard into his face. What did the blonde want now?

"You look much better when you smile."

The treetops rustled, shifted, rippled.

Five orange-clad, blonde-haired boys sailed through the branches, landing lightly on them, before taking off again. In such quick motion, they looked identical. But on closer look, the boy in the middle was somewhat different and it was his cheek, reddened like it had been struck before.

An unrepentant smirk curled the corners of the boy's lips, and he raised one hand to rub at the bruise. After he had spoken, the little smile that had been present on Hyuuga Neji's face promptly disappeared and instead, Naruto got a cheekful of fist.

I'd pay that back one day, Naruto grinned to himself. His hand went past his cheek to brush tentatively against his own lips. His head tilted thoughtfully.

"Tastes different from Sasuke, naaa..."

His knuckles were still tingling where he had decked that idiot of a Naruto.

Neji sighed as he stared around him, not quite caring if he was heard or not. His training had gone totally awry. Then he bowed his head, peeved that thoughts of that accidental kiss still reverberating around his brain.

"Well..." Neji conceded quietly to himself. "It's not THAT bad..."

fin
September 2004