Disclaimer: Someday Naruto may be mine but today is not that day.

Warnings for this fic:
—Yaoi xD boyxboy action because that's the best kind. It is, however, in the mildest, most innocent form of hardly descriptive kisses.
—Profanity. Mainly, the word fuck and a lot of it.

Chapter One: Russian Roulette
Friday Night

Vibrant laughter filled the air of the busy pub. People were dancing to the band playing on the stage. Girls were shaking their asses and guys were predictably following with their dicks. There was the occasional man groin to man butt and girl groin to girl butt but that was what made this pub cool. It was perfectly alright for anyone of any sex to sluttily wave their butt and beckon anyone else of any sex to predictably follow with their pelvis. It was even alright if some of the dudes were lacking dicks and some of the chicks happened to have them. It wasn't a typical gay bar, though. It was just a 'come as you are and have a few drinks as long as you're tipping' bar.

Tables were filled with people of all kinds chatting, laughing, and drinking. One of these tables housed the four subjects of this story or, rather, the two pairs of friends. Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji. Gaara and Neji had been friends for forever. Neji was intense and focused but the man could really tell a joke when he had a few beers under his belt. His long, dark hair was often tied back in a low ponytail and his skin was nicely tanned. He was handsome which made up for his lack of charm. Something about hair and tan skin drives girls wild. Too bad none of them ever noticed that he was gay… very gay.

Naruto got a lot of attention, too. It's that tan skin and long hair, I'm telling you. Naruto's hair wasn't as long as Neji's, though. It was blond and shaggy but at a reasonable length. Naruto's winning quality was his overwhelming charm. He was clumsy and often had a thick-skull but he was so damn cute. Not to mention, the boy really had a way with his words. As often as he put his foot in his mouth, he could be a real smooth talker if he really tried. Up until a few months ago, he would have sworn that he was perfectly straight. He would have been one of those predictable guys following slutty asses all around the bar with his dick. Now a days, though, he didn't much enjoy the attention he got. He would rather chat with his friends over a beer than woo the ladies who were drawn to him like moths to light.

Gaara, on the other hand, loved the attention he got. He was a natural redhead and was very, very vain. He always prided himself on being rather attractive for a ginger. He would get up and dance with all the girls if they asked and, trust me, they did ask. He never identified as gay or straight or bisexual. He just really enjoyed attention and the girls gave it to him as much as the boys. He'd say he was attracted to everyone, although, he'd never slept with a girl. Sure, he'd make out with them but he'd always end up taking a boy home with him. Don't get him wrong, though, he was all talk and barely any game. He very rarely took anyone home. That was mainly due to the fact that he thought he was far too superior to anyone he could meet in a pub to go home with. He could easily come off as arrogant but he was just confident. If anyone got to know him better, they'd see that he was just a nice guy in a slut's body. He couldn't help it if the beers and the bars brought out the freak in him, right?

Sasuke was usually unpleasant, to say the least, but he somehow managed to gather a fan club, nonetheless. Sasuke always attracted guys, though. Girls would flirt and wink at him but never really go in for the kill. The guys that Sasuke would attract, though… well… they'd stick to him like glue. I bet they'd even bend over and take it right there in the pub if he told them to. Sasuke was typically very cold and distant. He was never one for idle conversation but he did enjoy it with his friends and only his friends. Of course, the three boys he sat with now were his only friends and Gaara and Neji were barely that.

Sasuke was a hard one to place. Sometimes he hated the attention he got but sometimes he'd let the boys hang around. Sometimes, he'd even take them home with him. Sasuke never picked anyone up but there was the rare occasion on which he would actually talk to his pursuers. He'd flirt with them and when Sasuke flirted, you just didn't stand a chance. He was mesmerizing when he gave you the attention of those smoldering, Uchiha eyes. The lucky people who actually brought that out in Sasuke would practically drag him out of the door, not wanting to waste another second in the bar when they could be between his sheets. Sasuke was pale with jet black hair and deep, dark eyes and he was ridiculously handsome, gorgeous even. It was just his attitude that had everyone wondering how he attracted anyone without a death wish.

Sasuke and Naruto had been friends for years, too. Thus, we meet our pair of twosomes. Naruto had shared a dorm with Neji during their freshman year at university. Neji was impartial to Naruto but Naruto thought Neji was too serious and so they didn't get along very well at all. The same went for Sasuke and Gaara. Sasuke had lived in his apartment off campus from day one but he was partnered with Gaara in one of his classes. Gaara was too obnoxious for Sasuke. The pair of them were magnets for attention. People were constantly swooning all over the pair of them and Sasuke hated how much Gaara egged it on. Since he was forced to work with the guy, he couldn't escape the constant onslaught of admirers. Both Sasuke and Gaara had pretty high social statuses, thanks to their fathers. That, of course, didn't help them at all. Well, it helped Gaara but not Sasuke.

It was a couple weeks before Sasuke went to see Naruto's place, the blond preferring to escape Neji and hang out at Sasuke's place. He'd even slept over a few times but when Sasuke finally did go over to see Naruto's place and meet Neji, Neji had overheard him complaining about Gaara. Neji interjected immediately to defend his friend. His resolve to stand up to the Uchiha made him tolerable. Anyone who stood up for their friends like that, especially to Sasuke, was alright in his book. Naruto, on the other hand, thought that Gaara sounded like a riot and begged to meet him. Of course, they hit it off immediately and dragged their tightwad best friends along for the ride. Eventually, they all grew to appreciate each other and Sasuke even called Gaara and Neji his friends.

They now sat at their table in the pub, happily drinking their beers. Sasuke was deep into his eleventh beer and feeling rather happy at this point. He always had a good tolerance for alcohol because he had started drinking young. Being in the never-ending shadow of Uchiha Corp. would do that to anyone, though. He was full of smiles tonight and he even made a few jokes and they were good. Neji had loosened up quite a bit too, although, he hadn't even had half the beers of Sasuke. Naruto and Gaara were having too much fun watching their friends like that, so they made it a point to stay reasonably sober. Suddenly, Gaara's phone rang and he had to step outside to take the call. Neji watched him leave until his red hair was through the door, then he stared at the spot where it had disappeared.

"Hey," Sasuke said, "what's that look for?"

Neji snapped his head back. "Nothing. No. What? What look? Who? Not a thing. 'Nother beer?"

Both Sasuke and Naruto stared at the boy, completely unconvinced, with the same brow raised comically high in suspicion. Neji was definitely nervous. About what, they didn't know but they had caught him in something. "Hey," Sasuke said, dropping his eyebrow, "just"—Sasuke hiccoughed—"tell us." Naruto tried to nod to show his agreement but Sasuke was so amusing drunk that he had to look the other way to keep from bursting out in laughter. If you knew an Uchiha personally, you'd know that they do not allow drunken hiccoughs to escape their mouths nor do they smile as much as Sasuke was smiling tonight. It was just hilarious.

"Okay!" Neji exclaimed as if Sasuke had really pressured him into it. He was clearly dying to get it off of his chest. "Look… with Gaara, I kind of—"

"Back! Sorry, it was my sister," Gaara said loudly as he sat back down with a smile.

Neji snapped his mouth shut and cleared his throat profusely. All three boys looked at him skeptically. "What?"

Gaara chuckled. "What were you saying?"

"Uhhhh,"—Neji panicked—"No! Uhh, no! Noooo. It was Sasuke! Um, yeah. Sasuke was saying how he… he uhh… he liked someone." Neji looked at Sasuke, desperate for support.

"Really?" Gaara exclaimed in pleasant surprise. He didn't believe Neji for a second but the drunken ruse was too tempting to ignore.

Sasuke's eyes darted nervously to the blond beside him and he began acting as nervous as Neji. It must be contagious. "Ohh… Uhh… Yeah… Nooo…" Sasuke stole another quick glance at Naruto who was watching him, holding back laughter. "It's nothing." He cleared his throat nervously.

Neji raised his own skeptical brow at Sasuke. He had only pawned it off on Sasuke to save himself some trouble. He hadn't expected Sasuke to actually like someone. Sasuke met Neji's eyes and they shared a silent moment of understanding. Neither of them wanted their secrets to be discovered, not like this. From an objective, sober point of view, the two seemed to share a rather intimate moment and neither Gaara nor Naruto could contain their laughter. Their two usually very composed friends were clearing their throats nervously and stuttering. It was all so out of character and completely amusing. However, both Naruto and Gaara held an edge to their laughs, trying to make them seem more genuine than they were, for both boys were wondering what had just transpired between Sasuke and Neji and both boys weren't sure if they liked it very much.

"Ahhhha! You guys are really funny sometimes," Naruto said as his laughter ebbed. He had to try much harder to not seem so tense now that the honest amusement had died.

"Seriously," Gaara added, feeling just as skeptical but much less tense than Naruto, "you look like nervous school girls! No, but seriously, guys." Gaara's voice returned to a more serious tone. Both Neji and Sasuke's eyes widened. Were they about to be put on the spot again? "Calm down," Gaara said, now taking their reactions as further confirmation that something was definitely conspiring between them. This made Gaara want to scowl but he chuckled instead. "I just have to go pick up my sister from a party. She's smashed and needs a ride," Gaara informed. "You guys wanna come?"

"Nah, I think I'll head home," said Sasuke at once. "I'm clearly too drunk right now."

"Yeah," said Neji, "I completely agree."

"Well, I should drive you guys! You're both too drunk to drive," Naruto offered immediately. He really just wanted a minute alone with Sasuke and to keep Neji from having that minute himself..

"Nooo," Sasuke disagreed, completely ignorant of the offer he had just passed up, "I live down the block, Naru. Neji can just crash on my couch. We can walk."

Neji nodded, completely ignorant himself, and smiled brightly. Perhaps, a little too brightly for the two very skeptical boys at the table. "Sounds good to me," Neji said.

"But—" Naruto began quickly, wanting anything but that to happen. Gaara wasn't all for the arrangement either but he also knew better than to waste energy and raise new suspicions with interjecting. Apparently, Gaara knew something that Naruto didn't. In fact, Gaara knew a lot of things that everyone at the table didn't know that he knew. It was partly because Gaara didn't want Naruto to raise suspicions on himself for injecting—after all, everyone would wonder why Naruto was so keen to keep Sasuke and Neji apart—and it was partly because Neji looked happy and Gaara wanted that for him—seeing as Gaara knew what he knew—that caused Gaara to interrupt Naruto promptly.

"Great!," Gaara exclaimed, slapping his arm around Naruto's shoulders. "You can keep me company, Naruto, and crash on my couch! We'll all just meet back up here for breakfast. Well,"—Gaara regarded the drunken state of his two friends—"maybe lunch… late lunch."

Sasuke and Neji agreed easily while Naruto forced himself to shrug and look complacent. Gaara picked up on Naruto's energy immediately but willed himself not to worry about it. He reminded himself that Naruto wasn't aware of the things that Gaara knew. Now just wasn't the time for Naruto to be wedging himself between Sasuke and Neji. Of course, Gaara thought it would never be the time for Sasuke and Neji to need wedging between but, at the same time, if them doing whatever they were doing made Neji happy, Gaara didn't want to complain. It just sucked that it would have to hurt Naruto but, in the end, Neji took precedence over everyone. If Neji's happiness meant Naruto's misery, that sucked but so be it. In any case, Naruto would thank Gaara, in the end. Tonight was just not the night to be getting riled up. Perhaps, tomorrow would be the time but it was not tonight. The boys all gathered their things to walk out together. Once outside, Gaara clapped Neji firmly on the shoulder and smiled brightly at him, though, it did not reach his eyes.

"See you guys tomorrow," Gaara said as happily as he could muster which was a pretty damn believable ruse, if he did say so himself.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Naruto added, looking glumly at Sasuke who stared confusedly at Naruto for a second before realizing what he had passed up.

What was he thinking? Sasuke had just had the perfect chance to be alone with Naruto and he was feeling extremely loose with his tongue to night. Tonight could have been the night but now Naruto probably thought Sasuke wanted Neji. Of course, Sasuke didn't. Well, when he looked at Neji he was rather attractive. He'd probably have sex with him… but no! This was about Naruto, the blond who Sasuke had probably just lost all hope with, at least, for now. Of course, there was no guarantee that Sasuke would have even made headway by trapping Naruto in his apartment and confessing his love for him. He could very well have just driven his best friend away but, at the same time, Naruto was looking pretty glum himself at having lost a chance to be alone with Sasuke too. That could mean good things for Sasuke. Of course, Naruto could have simply wanted to talk about something that had nothing to do with Sasuke or any kind of reciprocation of any feelings Sasuke might be feeling for Naruto. Sasuke sighed as the long moment he was allotted to stare into Naruto's disappointed eyes and try to decipher what lye beneath came to a close. He was just as confused as ever, if not more. Before he could even try to right this giant wrong, Gaara was dragging Naruto away toward the parking lot and Naruto was forced to look away. Neji promptly turned to walk toward Sasuke's apartment and Sasuke rolled his eyes as he turned to walk with his friend.

"Neji," Sasuke exclaimed, slapping him in the back of the head, "you idiot!"

"Ahhh! What the fuck, Sasuke!" Neji shouted back, rubbing his head.

"We just passed up perfectly good chances to be alone with the people we really want to be alone with," Sasuke said begrudgingly.

A disappointing realization washed over Neji. "Oh… fuck," he said quietly.

"Yeah," Sasuke said gruffly, "fuck."

Neji sighed. "I'm never drinking again."

Despite his irritation, the statement amused Sasuke and he was too drunk to fight the laughter. Neji laughed with him and they continued like that, laughing and joking all the way to Sasuke's apartment, forgetting, if even just for the walk home, the objects of their affection and just how out of reach they seemed to be.