Alright, so this is my next attempt at a story. This will almost definitely have multiple chapters. Give me some time though, because I'm slow with ideas. I really have no idea where this came from, but it wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to write it down. And then it wound up here.

Anyway, there are several pairings in here, most of which are gay. I really don't care if you don't like this kind of thing - no one is forcing you to read it. If you do like it, however, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. I know I'm not a stellar author, but I like to think that I'm better than some.

Details:
Pairings - NejiGaara, SasuNaru, ShikaKiba, KakaIru, LeeSaku, ChoujiIno, and ShinoHina (the last three aren't mentioned much, don't worry)
Rating - T for now, but I'm pretty sure it'll be moving up. I just have to see if I can write a decent lemon. -crosses fingers-
Disclaimer - I don't own this. Obviously. If I did, all the male characters would be doing depraved things to one another for my entertainment, and the females would be burning somewhere.

Prologue

"Gaara? I'm home..."

The words played over and over again in my head. By nature, I'm cynical, I know that. I never needed or wanted the usual romantic things relationships entailed. They all seemed fake and unreal. I preferred the unusual. The random, spur-of-the-moment, unique things that made whatever this was, special.

So why did something, so ordinary, so everyday, so simple, have such an effect on me? Maybe it was the fact that no one had ever seemed to want to come back to me before. Or maybe it was the fact that Neji considered me - me - to be something worth coming back to. A home. And it made me happy. Something as simple as that.

Something As Simple As That

It was dark when my alarm went off that morning. I was torn between discovering the cause of the lack of light and turning the damned alarm off. The rise in volume from said satanic! object made the decision for me. I eyed it coldly, wondering if shooting it would be considered an over-reaction. Maybe. Closing my eyes, I blindly threw an arm out, groping for the off button that would end the assault on my senses. In doing so, I knocked a stack of...something...off my nightstand.

Dragging myself out of bed, I bent to retrieve whatever it was. It turned out to be a stack of photo's taken at a party the week earlier. The topmost picture was one of a small red-head with bright green, kohl rimmed eyes smirking at the camera. He was wrapped around a taller boy with long brown hair, pale silver eyes and delicate features.

The red-head was me. And the brunette was my boyfriend, Neji. Yes, you heard correctly. My boyfriend. I'm gay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete flamer - I don't shit rainbows at least - but nothing about females has ever really done it for me. Anyway, I continued to flip through the rest of the photos. There were several more of Neji and I, as well as some of the other couples, and groups of all our friends.

A boom of thunder pulled me out of my daze, and simltaineously answered the question of the darkness. It made me happy at least. Days like this had always been my favorite. Standing up and stretching, I grabbed a pair of jeans out of a pile, yanked the studded belt from the pair I'd worn the day before, and randomly selected a t-shirt out of an open drawer.

Once out of my room, I headed down the hall and sped through a shower and the other menial daily things everyone goes through to get ready. As I returned to my room to grab one of the photo's I wanted to give back - I didn't really want to keep the picture of Shikamaru and Kiba sucking face - memories washed over me, as they'd always had a habit of doing. I knelt by the bed and let them take me.

xxx

It was three years and six months to the day since Sasuke left for that exclusive private school in some remote part of the country. Ever since, Naruto hadn't been the same. Of course there were days you could hardly tell the difference, but the old, always hyper-active blond had disappeared. And I didn't think it was just him growing up. It happened much too quickly for that to be the case. And besides, it was right after Sasuke Uchiha left. I don't believe in coincidences. I guess my point is, after Sasuke left, Naruto was different. And not in a good way. I didn't really miss the hyper-activity, but it was kind of unsettling for the blond to be so quiet for such long periods of time.

One good thing to come out of Sasuke's departure was that we didn't have to deal with Sakura or Ino or any of the other rabid fan-girls much any more. Once they figured out Sasuke didn't speak to us either, they basically stopped following us around. On the other hand, there's Naruto. Like I said before, the blond was different after Sasuke left, and if was just because they were 'best friends' then I would go on a date with Lee.

The blond was obviously, painfully, head-over-heels in love with the raven-haired asshole. Gods only know why. Apart from being drop dead gorgeous, the boy had almost no redeeming qualities. I guess Naruto saw something though. That was his talent after all.

But I digress.

So, three years and six months to the day since the Uchiha left, he turns up out of nowhere. At my door no less. At two in the fucking morning. Needless to say, I was not pleased to see him.

"What the fuck is your problem, Uchiha?" I growled.

He smirked at me. Asshole.

"No one else was home. I went to Kakashi-sensei's house first, but no one answered. And I don't really want to talk to anyone, so I came here instead."

"I'm flattered, really, but it's late, if you hadn't noticed, and I was trying to sleep." I was too tired to deal with this. I didn't know how to tell him that Kakashi was now living with Iruka, or that what he really needed to do was go see Naruto. I was never very good with words. All I knew was that he needed to leave before Neji woke up. I was not ready for those introductions quite yet.

I ran a hand over my tattoo and through my already messy hair. "Uchiha, go somewhere else. I don't want you here, but I can think of several people who would love to know you're back. Not the least of whom is Naruto."

I watched in amusement as a mixed look of desperation, sadness, fear and longing crossed the bastard's face. So, he liked the hyper-active idiot as well? Interesting. And not my problem - I'd let them work it out for themselves, the same as all the other couples had done.

"I don't care about any of them, and I sure as hell don't want to see any of them. I just need a place to sleep for the night. I'll be gone by morning." He looked like he was about to bolt, and it was then I noticed that he was also dripping wet. My gaze shifted past him to the outside and watched the rain pour as I thought about my options.

"Fine. One night. You'll tell everyone you're back in the morning. And I'll grab you something dry. There's absolutely no way you're ruining my couch." He snorted and walked past me into the house, heading hurriedly for the linoleum in the kitchen. Better than nothing, I guess.

I crept silently into my, our, room and yanked a pair of Neji's flannel pajama pants out of a pile on the floor. I felt bad about giving the Uchiha something of Neji's, but I was much shorter than both of them, while they were relatively the same height.

Exiting the room as silently as I'd entered, I tossed the pants in the Uchiha's direction. He caught them, held them up, and looked at me for a moment.

"Wishful thinking, Gaara?" He smirked. I scowled in return.

"No. Put your wet things in the sink or something, just don't leave them on the floor. There should be a blanket on the couch already. Just stay there - don't go wandering around." I turned on my heel and stalked off in the direction of the bedroom. I almost made it too, but then his slow drawl sounded behind me.

"So, you and Neji? Never saw that one coming. From him at least - I always knew you were a flamer." I ground my teeth and mentally kicked myself. The Uchiha was observant. And a genius. How did I think he wouldn't figure it out? Don't ask me why I didn't want the Uchiha to know about our relationship - everyone else did - but I didn't. Maybe I just wasn't ready to be mocked by the hypocritical asshole.

I flipped him the bird and closed the bedroom door behind me. Looking across the room at the rain pouring down on the opposite side of the window, my gaze dropped to the figure on the bed below it. Neji was still on his side, long hair splayed around him, blankets resting dangerously low on his hips. I could see the silhouette of the trail of hair that led down below the blankets, and I knew he was still naked from our 'activies' earlier that night. I rubbed my ass at the memory.

Crossing the room quickly, I crawled under the covers and curled up next to him, my head tucked below his chin. I twirled a strain of his hair in my fingers, and he murmured appreciativly before pulling me closer. I sighed and closed my eyes. I needed to sleep, if I was going to deal with the drama that was sure to come the next day.

xxx

I woke up that morning to a lot of shouting and crashing...and what sounded like shattering glass. Shit. I stumbled out of bed, tripped over the blankets that were pooled on the floor at my feet and launched myself through the doorway.

What I found was chaos. Neji had Sasuke pinned to the wall by his neck. The end table at the side of the couch was overturned, and a glass that had apparently been resting on top had shattered all over the floor.

Neji noticed me standing there, and turned slightly to talk to me.

"Morning Gaara. Look who decided to drop in." I shifted uneasily. Those two had never really gotten along. And coming from me, that was saying something.

"Yeah, I know. He turned up in the middle of the night. It was pouring rain, so I let him sleep on the couch." I directed a glare at the Uchiha, who was slowly turning blue. "He was just leaving."

Said Uchiha made an impolite gargling noise, and managed to give me his patented glare of death. I still like to think that mine is more frightening.

"Neji, I think you might want to let him down now. I'm not really up to dealing with Naruto if you kill him." Uchiha looked panicked - as usual - at the mention of Naruto's name, and Neji released him; sending him crashing to the floor.

Uchiha stood gracefully, and turned away from Neji, towards me. He was opening his mouth to say something - most likely impolite - when the front door slammed open. Standing in the doorway was Lee, twinkling in the weak morning sun. Oh God, it was too early for this. I made break for the door, intent on pushing Lee back out and slamming said door shut, when he noticed Uchiha, staring wide-eyed at the scene. Oh God.

I grabbed Neji and waited for the explosion.

"Sasuke! You are back! Oh, this is wonderful! Just wait until I tell Naruto and Sakura! They will be so happy to know that you are back!"

Uchiha was staring open-mouthed at Lee. Apparently, he had forgotten how obnoxious he could be. Lucky bastard.

Lee didn't appear to notice the tense atmosphere, and continued to babble; as per usual.

"...and even though I am over-joyed at your safe and youthful return, Sasuke, Sakura is no longer yours. That is right - I, Rock Lee-"

We sadly didn't get to hear anything more about Sakura and him - mores the pity - because I'd finally lost patience with the obnoxious teen - it never seemed to take long - and had shoved him out the door. Kindly of course. I turned around after locking the door - and shoving the kitchen table in front of it for good measure - and found Neji standing over a very dazed looking Uchiha. The raven-haired boy blinked slowly.

"You know, I'd actually managed to forget how irritating he was. But it sounds like a lot changed after I left. Is there anything else I should know about?"

I was all for letting him figure everything out for himself - more entertainment for me and mine - but Neji decided to be nice for once. Figures.

"Of course things changed Uchiha. Did you expect everyone to stop and wait for you to come back?"

Okay, so it was Neji's own special kind of 'nice'. Still... Uchiha's mouth dropped open and his eyes darkened. Seemed like he still had the old temper. I, on the other hand, smirked and added my own comment.

"Well, actually, that's exactly what your fan-club planned on doing. They were even writing letters of protest. I think there were a couple marriage proposals, too, actually." Neji broke in: "At least until you told them all he was gay, you mean."

Neji smirked at Uchiha and then at me. I smirked back and tried to figure out if I could use him as a body shield - Uchiha had the old 'Kill! Kill!' look in his eyes again. In the past, I could've beaten him - most of the time at least - but he'd gotten much taller over the years, and I...hadn't. Either way, I didn't really feel like testing anything this early in the morning. Hell, the only reason I usually had to be conscious at this hour was if Neji and I were going at it.

Sensing all this - because he's a genius and amazing - Neji decided to get on with the update and save my life in the process.

"After you left and the fan-girls got over it, a lot of people got together. Took some of them a while, but anyway. Lee finally bagged Sakura - poor bastard - Ino's is with Chouji - we know, we were all surprised too - and Shikamaru and Kiba are both together. Hinata's with Shino, too, and Kakashi is...dating...Iruka."

At this, Uchiha's eyes widened considerably, and I was thankful Neji had chosen to use 'dating' instead of 'molesting'. I didn't really want to have to deal with a dead body at the moment.

After a few seconds, Uchiha's eyes returned to normal and he cleared his throat, continuing like nothing had happened.

"And I guess there's you two as well. But you haven't said anything about the Dobe." I didn't miss the hopeful expression on his face, and I doubted Neji did either. This could be potentially entertaining.

I picked up where Neji left off.

"Naruto? Well, he's not with anyone-"

Instant relief flashed across his face, though you could tell he thought he'd hidden it well.

"He was pretty depressed after you left though. Kept talking about going after you; bringing you back home. But that stopped after a while. He's pretty mad at you now, if you want to know the truth." The look on the Uchiha's face said that he didn't. "A lot of people are pissed, actually. Naruto stopped laughing after you left."

Alright, so that was a bit of an exaggeration - and a cruel one at that - but it was worth it for the pained, guilty expression that settled into the Uchiha's eyes. Besides, he deserved it - Naruto had been hurt by Uchiha's departure. And Naruto was a friend - an annoying one but a friend just the same. I exchanged a glance with Neji, and saw that he agreed with me. Lets see if they could do this with minimal help from us.

I was not hopeful.

And that's it for the moment. I hope you liked it, or even had something to say about it. Anyway, reviews are love, and I'll try to get the next chapter up sometime in the (not so) near future.
Kisses...