Okies, this is the prologue to a birthday fic for a friend, based entirely on the pairings she likes. Therefore, feel free to heap all of your blame for this onto her. Ciao! -pokes tongue out-
Disclaimer: If I was Masashi Kishimoto, I wouldn't be writing fics and posting them here, would I?
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Neji frowned as he watched Naruto training outside in the cold for the fifth night in a row; he just wasn't any good, why bother trying to change that? Admittedly he had gotten a little better, but he still wasn't anywhere near good enough to beat most of the other Konoha Genin, let alone achieve that ridiculous dream of becoming Hokage.
The brown-haired boy's frown deepened when Naruto had to stop to catch his breath – he had become distracted by his own thoughts, not realising that maybe the village's outcast was pushing himself a bit too far. Sighing, Neji resigned himself to going down to check on him, claiming that he too had been training and had noticed his low chakra output with his byakugan.
He was just about to let himself drop from the tree when another figure appeared in the clearing.
Sasuke Uchiha, the Leaf Village's sole surviving inheritor of the Sharingan.
He and Naruto regarded each other suspiciously for a moment, before Naruto broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Why're you here?" he asked, glaring at his team mate.
"Kakashi sent me out here to make sure you hadn't killed yourself yet," Sasuke answered, his voice laced with boredom as he rolled his eyes. "Apparently you can't hold your own against a forest clearing."
Naruto's glare grew in intensity as he forced himself not to punch the taller boy in the face.
"Yeah well, if I don't train as much as I can, I'll just be stuck at your level forever."
"You're not even at my level now."
"No, you're right. I'm better."
"Prove it."
One furious glare at his team mate later, and Naruto was training again with even more determination than before. Sasuke smirked and leaned against a large boulder, watching the blonde train with an idle interest.
Neji's sharp eyes saw the smirk and his sharp mind clicked instantly; Sasuke had purposely baited Naruto to try harder and push himself to improve even more. He suppressed a small laugh as he realised that Kakashi probably hadn't given any notion at all that Sasuke should look for Naruto.
Once again, Neji found himself disturbingly absorbed in his thoughts; so much so that he didn't notice Sasuke's head turning towards him until his dark eyes locked onto Neji's pale ones, seeing him clearly despite the darkness.
There was no challenge in his eyes, only a quiet smugness – evidently he had known that Neji was planning to stop Naruto pushing himself so hard, but he also knew that the blonde hadn't pushed himself nearly as much as he wanted to and could.
Neji gave him a short nod of acknowledgement before silently heading back to the village. Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk and returned to watching Naruto train, ignoring the feeling in deep at the back of his mind that told him to warn Neji to stay away from Naruto while he was training.
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"Gaara…" Temari called hesitantly through the darkness; something told her to keep her voice down, although she wanted to find him as soon as possible in case something happened.
They had been searching for at least three hours, but aside from the occasional rustle of leaves there had been very little sound or movement from the Konoha forest. Kankuro had been about to shout his brother's name as well, but a shape cutting through the darkness stopped him; he could just make out the pale gourd of sand and the dark shape of Gaara in the shadows. Keeping as quiet as they could, he and Temari walked towards Gaara – he gave no indication that he knew they were there, but they could tell that he had sensed them.
It wasn't until they were next to him that they saw what had occupied him for so long – Naruto was training in the clearing, with Sasuke watching nearby.
"Care to explain?" Kankuro asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. Gaara remained in silent contemplation for a moment before answering.
"We're the same…" the smaller boy answered, his naturally soft voice quieter still in the night. "Exactly the same, but he's still different from me somehow. He interests me."
"We should go, before they notice us," Temari thought out loud.
"They're no threat to us," Gaara answered absently, but turned and began walking back to Konoha.
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Yeah, I know it's only little, but I figured since I'm already late I should probably put something up. Expect more in... let's say two weeks? 'Tis half term from college so I should have the time. Maybe. Assuming I actually get my arse in gear for once...