Summary: When Sasuke refuses to tell Neji whom he has a crush on, the Hyuuga becomes determined to figure it out. He has a theory of who it might be, and now the only thing to do is to test it…

Dedicated to and requested by: E D G E 'vanilla

With thanks to my awesome beta chronicxxinsanity

A Theory Well Tested

The gossip that followed Sasuke around made the Uchiha want to punch someone. Mainly Naruto for subjecting him to it, but he would also settle for anything else that would squeal under his rage.

"Look, it's the Uchiha. Naruto brought him back."

"And the traitor returns, with his tail between his legs."

"I heard that it was a huge fight, and that Uzumaki walked away without a scratch on him."

"No, that isn't how it went. Naruto was hurt, but it was because the Uchiha used a bunch of underhand tricks. In the end he lost anyway."

"I heard he was going to destroy Konoha."

"I was told that Naruto stopped him from killing himself. He always seemed emo to me…."

Sasuke wanted to yell and scream and kick at something. He wanted to torture someone mercilessly until they pleaded for it to end, and then continue until they were dead. He wanted to-

"You know, seeming as you are going to such great lengths to hide your frustration, it might be a good idea if you kept your sharingan de-activated."

Sasuke raised his head to find himself looking into the pale eyes of Neji Hyuuga. Oh joy.

Sasuke realised that his vision was remarkably good, and, slightly belatedly, let his eyes return to normal. He hadn't even been aware that he was using his Sharingan. It had been a while since he had felt rage like that; the anger that he felt for Itachi was a steady fury, not something that made his temper flare enough for him to activate his eyes subconsciously.

Besides, his hatred towards his brother was a lifestyle, not an emotion.

"So, what's got your back up?" Neji asked casually. The way he spoke of Sasuke's problems so dismissively made the triggered the activation of Uchiha's Sharingan again. He switched it off almost immediately, but Neji still noticed.

"You are in a bad mood, aren't you?" He commented. For some reason, this only made Sasuke angrier.

"Leave me alone!" He hissed at Neji, and stalked off in the opposite direction. Neji followed him breezily, his light footsteps- Wait! Breezily? Since when did Neji do anything breezily? That boy was about as un-breezy as a rock!

"Why are you following me Neji?" Sasuke demanded angrily. Neji was unfazed in the face of Sasuke's fury - he was probably the only person who could be. Everyone else would be cowering away, or at least a little uncomfortable. But Neji was his normal, indifferent self.

"Tsunade's orders." Neji said simply. Before Sasuke could explode - or whatever he was about to do - Neji held up a hand. "Let me explain. You see, you were allowed to return the village, but Danzo and the other elders weren't happy about it. They made Tsunade have someone monitor you, just in case you think of running off again."

Sasuke looked furious at this piece of information, but Neji continued regardless.

"Whoever monitors you has complete control over you. If at any given time you don't do as they say, they have permission to incapacitate you, or request backup in order to do so. Tsunade has assigned only the genin who participated with you in the Chuunin exams, as well as Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, Gai-sensei and Iruka-sensei, to monitor you. She was under the impression that you would react less violently to this of it was people that you knew."

Neji observed Sasuke, who was literally shaking with rage, for a moment, before concluding: "She may have been wrong…."

Neji watched as Sasuke processed this information quickly, no doubt wondering how he could get out of this predicament. Then Sasuke froze, and Neji, who had been walking behind him, almost ran into him.

"Neji? Does that mean that Ino and Sakura will be…monitoring…me?" Sasuke asked fearfully. Neji was confused. What was so terrifying about them?

"Yes, it does. I think that it is Sakura's turn tomorrow afternoon. She was surprisingly happy about it…."

Sasuke cursed. "Do you know what that means?" He demanded of Neji. "It means that she can make me do whatever she wants me to do. She will probably make me go out on a date with her or something…." He groaned as though just the thought of that was painful.

"Why are you so averse to going on a date with her?" Neji asked curiously. "I am given to understand that she is pretty. Lee very rarely stops talking about her beauty."

"She's not my type…" Sasuke muttered sullenly, before beginning to walk off in the other direction without warning, which Neji thought was rather rude.

"Then what is your type?" Neji asked. He usually wasn't one to pry, but he had always found the stoic Uchiha something of great interest; an enigma, if you will. And Neji had rarely met an enigma he couldn't solve.

"Mind your own business, Hyuuga." Sasuke growled. The flush that rose to his cheeks at the question was painfully obvious. Sasuke wished there was a way that he could stop his face from heating up.

Neji didn't miss the use of his clan name. It seemed that his question had struck a nerve, but for the life of him Neji couldn't work out why. Although a certain piece of trivia did spring to mind that might be relevant…

"Did you know that before your clan was killed, the Hyuuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan were negotiating over a betrothal between you and Hinata-sama?" Neji asked suddenly.

Sasuke turned so quickly that he tripped over his own feet and went sprawling into the dirt. He gaped at Neji from his position on the ground.

"What? Why?" He asked incredulously. Neji shrugged.

"Something about giving both our clans more influence. I am not sure of the fine details as I was very young at the time. Anything I know about that is second-hand knowledge."

Sasuke seemed to realise that his mouth was still hanging open and snapped it shut. He tried to remember when he had last displayed so much emotion; he came up blank.

Schooling his face once again into an impassive expression, Sasuke picked himself up off the ground.

"Well it's a good thing that that is no longer happening, then, isn't it?" He muttered as he began walking. Neji mentally crossed Hinata off the list of "Girls That Sasuke Uchiha Might Be Interested In".

"So if you don't like any of the girls in the rookie nine," Neji began, "then who do you like? Is it Tenten?"

"No!" Sasuke growled out rather forcefully. Neji searched his face for any twitching or blinking, or any other sign that he might not be telling the truth. All Neji found was an expression of annoyance.

Neji sighed in defeat. "Alright, I give up. Who is it?"

Sasuke glared at him. "Who says that there is anyone? Is it so hard to believe that I don't like any of the girls in the village?"

Neji contemplated his question for a moment. "Yes, actually, it is rather difficult. So, you don't like any girls in the village…is it Temari?"

The last part was said with triumph and enthusiasm that was rare for Neji to express, but the normally stoic boy seemed too wrapped up in his guessing game to remember such things as composure.

"No, it isn't!" Sasuke exclaimed, vexed. Who would have thought that someone like Neji Hyuuga could prove as annoying as Naruto?

Neji felt only a brief disappointment before he once again began to examine Sasuke's statement.

"So you don't like any girls in the village … is it possible that you like a boy in the village?" Neji asked curiously.

Sasuke didn't answer, instead choosing to walk faster as if hoping that by doing so he could leave Neji behind and avoid these awkward questions.

"I was right?" Neji asked, but he didn't really need confirmation. Instead his mind whirled with all the possible boys that the Uchiha could be crushing on. Perhaps…

"Is it Naruto?" Neji asked.

"No!" Sasuke said, extremely annoyed now. "Stop guessing; I am not going to tell you."

For a moment, Neji was quiet, and Sasuke thought that he might actually drop it. But then he spoke again.

"Fine then, have it your way. It will be much more fun to work it out."

Sasuke kicked out even harder, hitting Naruto square in the shin. He channelled all his anger into his blows, in the hope that it would prevent him from exploding. Before him, the blonde let out a strangled yelp and jumped back.

Sasuke was going to follow up the blow, but faltered. He could feel the eyes trained on his back. He knew that they were there, and it sent shivers up his spine. Even when doing things such as training with Naruto (whose turn it was to monitor Sasuke), that damn Hyuuga still watched him.

Neji had watched Sasuke like a naturalist observing a newly-discovered species ever since that day that Sasuke refused to tell him who he liked. It was day three and counting, and his incessant looking was getting more irritating by the hour. It almost made Sasuke want to just yell out who it was for the entire village to hear, provided it meant that Neji would stop staring at him.

But the Uchiha would never tell anyone that. He had too much pride. Besides, the fact that the Hyuuga wasn't picking up any hints as to who it was had to be getting on Neji's nerves by now. 'Serves him right,' Sasuke thought sadistically.

But Sasuke was only partially right in his assessment. Yes, Neji wasn't entirely sure who it was that Sasuke liked, and yes, he was getting annoyed with the Uchiha's impassiveness, but he actually had some idea as to who it might be.

He had ruled out Naruto, because Sasuke had said that it wasn't him. He had also quickly ascertained that it wasn't Lee, Chouji, Kiba, or Shikamaru, as he treated them very much the same: with an annoyed indifference that only Sasuke Uchiha could pull off.

He doubted that it was Kankuro or Gaara, as Sasuke hadn't had a lot to do with them, and had only ever seen them during the Chunin exams. While it was a possibility, Neji had a feeling that it was someone from Konoha.

Unfortunately, that left Neji with two choices: Shino or himself. Shino seemed to be the only one that Sasuke didn't mind being around. Maybe it was because the Aburame was so quiet that one sometimes forgot he was there. But no matter the reason, Sasuke appeared to accept Shino's presence with the minimal amount of fuss.

And Neji himself was the only person, apart from Naruto, who could pull some sort of intense emotional reaction from the Uchiha. It also seemed that having Neji watch him annoyed Sasuke more than it would have, had it been anyone else.

So, by process of elimination, Neji had very nearly discovered who it was that Sasuke was interested in. And Neji had a dubious plan as to how to discover if he was correct.

Neji's theory was that it shouldn't be too hard to work out whether Sasuke liked him or not if he dropped some not-so-subtle hints that he might like him back. These not-so-subtle hints could also include all but throwing himself on the Uchiha. Then, even if it turned out that Sasuke wasn't interested in him, it would leave only Shino, and Neji would still have his answer.

There were only two problems with his…experiment. The first problem would be Neji's injured pride if it turned out that Sasuke like Shino and not him. Neji was reserved, impassive and distant, and did not make a habit of doing stupid things like throwing himself at other boys only to be rejected. The second problem would be the awkwardness if Sasuke liked Neji and thought that Neji liked him back, only to find out that it was all a test to satisfy the Hyuuga's curiosity. Neji wasn't entirely okay with toying with Sasuke's emotions - and probably his pride as well - just to tell him later that he didn't feel anything for Sasuke.

Provided that his theory was correct, that is.

So now Neji had to ask himself a question. Which was more important: His morals, or satisfying his curiosity?

Neji watched as Naruto took advantage of Sasuke's distraction and pinned him onto the ground. Sasuke squirmed beneath the blonde but couldn't get free, and in the end he had to give up, going limp and glaring up at Naruto. Neji smirked; he had no doubt that it was him that had distracted Sasuke enough to allow Naruto win. Being watched constantly by the Hyuuga seemed to irk the Uchiha to no end.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed, throwing her arms around the dark-haired boy. She was immediately thrown off, but this didn't seem to faze her much. It made Neji wonder how accustomed she must be to rejection from the Uchiha.

"Don't touch me." Sasuke stated. Sakura pouted slightly, but cheered up almost right away. "Would you like to come on a date with me, Sasuke-kun?" She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"No. I wouldn't." Sasuke said through gritted teeth. It seemed that Sakura annoyed him even more than having Neji watch him. The Hyuuga decided to take pity on him, and get rid of Sakura. Besides, there was something that he wanted to try out….

"Sakura!" Neji called out. "I'm glad that I found you. Tsunade says that she needs you at the hospital right away. A mission went wrong and they don't have enough medical ninja to see to everyone. I have to keep an eye on Sasuke in your place."

Sakura's face fell. "But it is my turn to monitor Sasuke…" she said, disappointed. Neji shrugged.

"I'm not happy about this either. But if you want to monitor him so much, then why don't you take my shift tomorrow? That leaves me free to train." He paused, before winking at her. "It's Valentines Day tomorrow…."

Sakura let out a squeal. "Okay, it's a deal! See you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun!"

Neji allowed a small smirk to cross his face when he saw Sasuke's horrified expression.

"Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?" Sasuke demanded. Neji shook his head.

"Don't worry; it isn't as bad as you think. Tomorrow Tsunade is going to get Ibiki and Inoichi to interview you and assess the likelihood of you leaving the village again. Sakura will spend her entire shift sitting in a hallway waiting for you to get out. You probably guessed that there isn't really an emergency at the hospital."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. "Why did you do that?"

Neji glanced around, before walking towards the shelter and privacy of some trees, beckoning for Sasuke to follow. To his surprise, the boy did.

When they were out of the prying eyes of the people passing by, Neji leaned back against the trunk of a large tree. He stared at Sasuke for a while, until the Uchiha was shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. There wasn't much point to this; Neji just wanted to put him off balance.

Finally Sasuke seemed to have had enough waiting. "What are you looking at me for? And why are we behind this tree?"

Neji smirked. "Didn't you want to know why I sent Sakura off on a wild goose chase?" He asked, pushing himself off from against the tree and taking a step towards Sasuke. This seemed to unnerve the boy slightly, and he shuffled back a little.

"That too."

"Well you see, I have a theory as to who you have a crush on. I assume that I am correct in my assumption that you would rather I confirmed this theory while Sakura wasn't watching?" Neji took another two steps towards Sasuke as he spoke.

Sasuke nodded and took two steps back.

Neji took another step forwards, and smirked as Sasuke took one last step back and hit a tree. Neji closed the gap between them so that they were almost touching. He rested his hands on the tree either side of Sasuke's head, and was please to note that he was a couple of inches taller than the younger boy. It made it all the more effective as he leaned down.

Well, if the fact that Sasuke wasn't pushing him away wasn't an indication of whom the Uchiha liked then Neji didn't know what was. In fact, far from pushing him away, Sasuke was staring up into the Hyuuga's face, a blush tingeing his cheeks and his breath slightly uneven.

"N-Neji?" Sasuke asked, his voice unusually high-pitched. Neji's head swam as Sasuke's warm breath caressed his cheek. A small part of Neji's brain told him: 'Pull away. The test's over; you have your answer. Pull away.'

But Neji didn't pull away. 'If I pull away,' he reasoned, 'then I might hurt Sasuke's feelings.' Besides, he really liked being this close to the Uchiha. He liked staring into Sasuke's black eyes. He didn't appreciate Sasuke's dark bangs that covered part of his face, so he lifted his hand up and brushed them aside.

The colour that had been disappearing from Sasuke's cheeks came back in full force as Neji's thin fingers brushed against his skin. His eyes fluttered shut before opening quickly again, wider than before, as though afraid that Neji would disappear if he stopped looking at him.

And without really thinking about it, Neji lowered his head and pressed his lips against Sasuke's.

The Uchiha froze for a moment, but almost immediately began kissing back. Neji pulled away as soon as Sasuke began to respond.

"Was I right?" he asked Sasuke, grinning cheekily.

"Yes," he breathed.

All of a sudden there was a commotion behind them. "Neji Hyuuga! You lied to me! And don't pretend that you aren't hiding behind that tree! I can see you!"

"Damn it!" Neji said as he heard Sakura approach. He went to step backwards, but Sasuke grabbed his arm.

"I have a better idea," he said before kissing Neji again, just as Sakura walked around the tree so that she could see everything.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

AN: Review, my duckies! Even if it's just to tell me how mean I was to Sakura, please review!