Chapter 4:

It was the beginning of the week. A Monday. A Monday morning. A Monday morning at 6 freakin' AM.

Normally this wouldn't have been seen as a problem for one Neji Hyuuga, but it just so happens that this particular morning, a certain someone who Neji would see rather as an acquaintance rather than a friend, decided to become Neji's personal alarm clock. One who has bounds of endless energy. One who is dressed in bright green spandex and abused the idea of teeth whitener. (Any ideas??)

"Good morning my youthful friend!!!" yelled a relatively hyper Lee. (Wait…he's always like this). "I do hope that you are ready to experience this joyous day!!! I personally came to awake you from your slumber, for it is time for you to return to the dojo for work, is it not?!"

Neji winced inwardly. 'Why does he have to be so loud in the mornings?!' Neji thought to himself. 'It's still dark outside!'

"Um…Yeah. That's good and all Lee but I think that this may be a little bit too earl-." Neji trailed off as he realised something. Blinking rapidly to make sure that it wasn't a dream; Neji stared long and hard at Lee with a glare that painted suspicion all over his face.

"Err…Lee. How did you get in here?" Neji asked with a brief sigh following the question.

Lee looked puzzled for a second but then gave a blinding smile in understanding. "Why, Sasuke let me in of course!!!"

Neji's eye twitched slightly as Lee answered him. "Oh, it was Sasuke that let you in, was it?" Lee continued his smile. "Of course!! Who else could it be?"

"Oh, I don't know. I suppose that was a stupid question." Neji said with a slight twitch of the mouth, which could (but then again, probably couldn't) be interpreted as a smile. 'I just thought that he broke in through the window. I wouldn't put it past him.'

Neji closed his eyes as he prepared himself mentally for the abuse his ears was going to receive for now until 5'O clock. (If he was lucky. If being the keyword…)

Reluctantly dragging himself out of bed, Neji signalled to Lee to leave the room with a brief flick of his wrist. Bounding (…. Yes, bounding) out of the door, Lee unnecessarily slammed the door shut behind him.
With a groan, Neji flopped himself onto his bed, quite un-Hyuuga like, and proceeded to muffle his scream into his pillow.

Once he was done, Neji sat upright, eyes narrowed at the door, a pillow clutched to his chest tightly. Sighing once again, Neji concluded that after being woken up at 6 in the morning, the day couldn't get any worse.

Time-skip:

He was wrong. Dead wrong. Four and a half hours later, both Neji and Lee were in a 'competitive' spar according to the one dressed in green spandex and gravity-defying eyebrows. Neji just wanted to go home.

Rolling his eyes at Lee's relentless number of kicks that were unfortunately aimed at his face, yet not hitting their target, Neji decided to end this spar quickly.
Evading the next kick with a side step to his right, Neji brought down his right palm onto Lee's airborne leg and then swung his left leg in Lee's direction. This caused Lee to falter back a bit to try and regain his balance. Will this was happening, Neji then bent back his left leg and forced both arms in an open palm motion back and then pushed forward, aiming at Lee's unguarded area, his stomach. Not expecting the hit, Lee lurched back and skidded to a halt on one knee just before the wall behind them. (1)

A clap echoed from behind where Neji was left standing, followed by a too familiar voice.
"Well done, my youthful students!!!" Neji groaned in his mind. 'Not him too!'

Another man very similar to Lee in looks and personality approached the pair, still clapping with a large smile upon his face.

Neji sighed as he rolled his eyes. 'Fuck it. I'm not dealing with this.'

"I see you have improved since the last time my dear student!!" Gai said as he clapped his hand onto Neji's shoulder.

Neji scoffed. "What? Did you think that I would become weaker?" Gai I looked astonished, extremely large eyebrows raised and all.

"Why of course NOT!!!" At this comment the air around Neji seemed to tremble. Neji winced slightly as eardrums were abused. "Of course that's just like my student to become even stronger over a small period of time!!!"

As Gai was still ranting and raving while flinging his arms about, Neji somehow managed to sneak off to the entrance of the building. Once he'd got outside he let out a huge sigh. 'Over 3 years with that guy, and I still haven't gotten used to him.'

Now finally free of the overly energetic martial arts teacher and his equally energetic loyal pupil, Neji proceeded to walk to his house and take a long, deserved shower.

'I really don't get paid enough for this.'

Shuffling his feet along in a quite un-Hyuuga like manner, Neji unfortunately wasn't watching where he was going. This proved to be a bad manoeuvre as he immediately went colliding into someone's chest.

'Aw, shit!' Neji thought as his butt collided with the ground; painfully. Wincing as he realised that he just made a complete fool out of himself in front of a complete stranger, Neji placed his hands on the ground and pushed up in an attempt to save at least the little slither of dignity he had left.

Dusting himself off, Neji swiped the curtain of chocolate brown hair that was obscuring his vision. "Look, I'm sorry for bumping into you. I didn't see where I was goi-" It was at this point that Neji decided to look up and he soon recognised the face of the person he bumped into.

"Hey! You're that guy that I ran into the other day!" yelled the not-so-mysterious-blonde. Neji eyes widened a fraction as the event of the unfortunate day came rushing back to him. "You." Neji almost growled (but of course, Hyuuga's do not growl.)

The blonde blinked in a confused fashion. "Me?" The guy said while pointing a finger towards his chest. At this question, Neji abruptly dropped his glare and straightened his posture, as he had unknowingly leaned forward in an almost ready-to-pounce position.

The guy soon recovered and gave a bright smile in return. "Err…." Neji trailed off not knowing what to say next. "I know!" They guy said as he thankfully (for Neji) broke the awkward silence. "How about I take you out for a coffee since you crashed into me and all. That fall looked like it kinda hurt."

Neji raised an eyebrow at this proposition. "I'm the one who crashed into you, yet you're the one who wants to treat me to something as compensation?"

The guy scratched behind his head as he gave an awkward grin. "Err….yeah?" Neji placed a hand on his hip, as he assessed the situation.

'I guess one small coffee wont hurt. And besides, I could use the break anyway.'

"Neji shrugged as his mind was made up. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." At this, they guy's face lit up. "Really? Cool! I know this awesome place that sells the best coffee!" After this statement left the guy's mouth, he took two hasty steps forward and grabbed Neji's hand loosely. Too confused to think about the gesture, Neji followed along quietly.

'What, hold on a minute….I don't even know his na-' Neji's train of thought was soon interrupted by said person.

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Naruto Uzumaki!" Neji nodded his head, as he seemed to take this new piece of information in.

'Naruto? That's name's……..different. Not that that's a bad thing….' He stopped that trail of thought quickly. 'Great now I'm arguing with myself.'

"-our name?" Neji blinked rapidly as he realised that Naruto was still speaking to him. "Sorry, what?" Neji asked as politely as he could, considering he had been blatantly ignoring him. At this response, Naruto only gave a short laugh. At this sound that spilled from Naruto's mouth, Neji felt his stomach turn a bit. Not that it was anything horrible to hear, but just for the fact that it was so full of life.

'Wow,' Neji thought. 'When's the last time I heard someone around me laugh like that?' Neji's thought trailed off. 'Excluding Lee and Gai-sensei.' He added quickly in his head.

Too wrapped up in these thought, he almost missed what Naruto had to say, again. "What I said was, what's your name?" the blond said with another of his bright smiles.

"Oh, my name is Neji." Neji said as he gave Naruto a slight smile. This, in turn, caused Naruto to smile back. "Err, got a last name to go with that?" At this question, Neji spluttered a little bit as a tinge of red appeared visible on his cheeks.

"Well, obviously. I just didn't think that it would be necessary." Neji replied curtly, trying to save himself from that slight slip-up. Naruto gave a light chuckle. "Yeah, sure." By this point, the red hue in Neji's cheeks had died down, leaving only the remains of the embarrassing feeling in his stomach.

"Hyuuga." Stated Neji in a slight grumble. Naruto simply 'hmmed.' at this statement as he twisted his head around to look at Neji's face. Neji rolled his eyes, not doing anything to mask it. "My last name. It's Hyuuga. And can I please have my arm back." Surely enough, Naruto still had a loose grip on Neji's hand. Eyes widening a little bit, Naruto let go as if he'd just been shocked. "Oh, err, sorry about that man." Naruto said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.

Neji simply rolled his eyes again and proceeded to continue walking. No more than two seconds later, Neji felt the feeling of Naruto hand on his own, yet again. Whipping his head around quickly, causing strands of brunette to flay, Neji gave Naruto a glare. Opening his mouth to protest, Naruto cut him off. "Um, this is the coffee shop I was talking about." Shutting his mouth in an instant, Neji looked towards the building that they were currently standing outside. And sure enough, it was a coffee shop.

Gritting his teeth as he counted to ten in his head, Neji dropped the killer glare that he had previously aimed at Naruto. Loosing his sheepish grin in an instant, the blond gave Neji a smile as he grabbed Neji's hand, once again, and pulled him inside the shop.

'What is up with this guy and holding hands? He's fucking obsessed!' Neji thought as he followed Naruto (although with not as much enthusiasm).

Opening the door to the local coffee shop, Naruto walks inside (still with his grip on Neji's hand I might add) heading straight for a vacant table in a small corner of the place. A small table for two it was, Naruto sat down, or dragged down in Neji's case, in the two empty seats. Almost as soon as the pair took their seats, a peppy blonde waitress walked up to the table.

"Well, hello! My I take your order?" she asked with a large smile on her face. Neji narrowed his eyebrows at her discreetly. 'Fake.' He thought simply. Leaning back with his arms crossed, he watched as Naruto took his order. He either didn't know that her smile was as strained as a balloon or he just didn't care. Shrugging to himself, Neji placed his chin on his open palm and briefly stared out the window.

"Well, I'll order a glass of milk and a bowl of ramen please." Naruto stated. At this request, Neji hastily turned towards the seated blond but said nothing. The girl quickly jotted down the order and then moved onto the brunette as if Naruto's order was completely normal for a coffee shop.

"And you?!" she asked politely. For a split-second it seemed to Neji as if she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, but it could've just been a trick of the light. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Neji simply asked for a cup of coffee.

As the girl left to retrieve their selected food and drinks, Neji turned towards his unlikely companion, an almost confused expression on his face.

Naruto blinked. "What?" Neji had been looking at him like he had grown two heads. "Is there something on my face?" At this innocent question, Neji almost lost it. "What the hell did you just order?" Neji asked with a straight a face as he could muster. Naruto looked taken a-back. "What? The ramen and the glass of milk?" Neji nodded slowly. "What about it? I always order that when I come here!"

Neji furrowed his eyebrows trying to understand this predicament. "But it's a coffee shop. They're meant to sell coffee and typical foods that go with coffee. Not ramen."

Naruto looked puzzled. "What's wrong with ramen!?" By this point Neji was about to pull out his hair in bewilderment and slight frustration, so he just dropped the subject.

"You're a weird guy Naruto Uzumaki." Neji said in an exasperated tone. Naruto blinked blankly at the brunette and then gave him a smile followed by a laugh, which made Neji's stomach turn again.

"So I've been told. Many times!" And on that note the blonde waitress returned to hand them their food and drinks.

"All right! Ramen!"

Slight Time-skip:

An hour later, the two had left the coffee shop and was now heading towards Neji's apartment. Stopping just outside of his door, Neji then raided his pockets for his house keys.

"Err, having a little bit of trouble there?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face. Looking back at the blond, Neji gave him a typical Hyuuga glare. Unlucky for the brunette, Naruto seemed to be immune to this face.

Sighing softly, Neji brought his hand to run through his hair in slight aggravation. "I must of left my keys in the house this morning." At this point, Neji then tilted his head back to rest on the door. Lowering his hand slightly, he then proceeded to knock on the door. "I just hope that Sasuke is home." At this comment, Naruto seemed to flinch back a bit. "Sasuke?" Neji gave Naruto a puzzled look as he turned towards him, responding with a nod.

By this point, the blond was already retreating off the steps located outside the foot of Neji's apartment.

"Oh, err, I just realised that I need to get somewhere; like right this minute." The blond said as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

Neji only raised an eyebrow at this. "I'll see you around then?" Naruto then said a bit uneasily as he figured that Neji might jus brush him off like the last time.

Neji smirked a little at this. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Naruto then gave the brunette the largest grin he could muster before speeding down the road.

"Cool! I'll see you around Neji!" was all that could be heard from down the street.

Neji simply shook his head at Naruto's antics. 'The guy's crazy, but his company was not unwelcome.' Smiling to himself slightly, Neji almost didn't realised when the door swung open from behind him.

"Neji?" came a voice from his midnight haired boyfriend. Neji turned towards Sasuke as he stepped forward, placing a small kiss on his unsuspecting cheek.

"Hey Sasuke." A bit caught off-guard, Sasuke simply responded with a kiss of his own, on the lips this time, as he pulled Neji into the apartment.

"I thought I heard another voice outside. Where you talking with someone?" Sasuke asked as an innocent gesture.

Although Neji knew that Sasuke meant no harm by this question, he still felt guilty for a reason, which he couldn't comprehend. "Err, no. No one. Just me." Trying to pull of this response with a slight confusion sketched in his eyebrows, Neji then proceeded to walk upstairs to their shared bedroom.

"Oh, okay. I just thought I heard another voice. I must be losing it." Sasuke replied with a short laugh as he followed Neji up the stairs.

"Yeah, sure." Neji retorted absent-mindedly as he sat on the bed in their room. Chucking off his trainers idly, Neji then laid back on the bed. Seeing nothing better to do, Sasuke followed Neji's actions (minus the trainer part…).

Lazily trailing his hands through the brunette locks, Sasuke then placed a soft kiss on Neji's unsuspecting forehead, causing Neji to blush a slight red.

Chuckling deeply, Sasuke then rolled over on top of his boyfriend and continued to then kiss along side Neji's jaw.

Moaning faintly, Neji then halted Sasuke's actions by placing a harmless yet firm palm upon Sasuke's chest.

"Not now okay. I'm quite tired." Trying to pull it off with a slight smile so that Sasuke wouldn't be offended, Neji then rolled over to the other side and laid his head on the pillow.

Blinking a bit taken a-back, Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders and left Neji to his own devices. "That's okay. I'm just gonna be downstairs. Call if you need anything." After this statement fell from Sasuke's lips, the bluenette left the room soundlessly.

Flinching slightly at Sasuke's plain tone, Neji twisted himself, trying to find a more comfortable position. Finally settling for on his back, staring up at the ceiling, Neji let a sigh escape from his lips.

'What is wrong with me?'

Author's Note:

Err, yeah another chapter….after a couple of years. Yeah I know, it's been ages…but I had a minor writer's block. Sorry!!!

(1) Yeah, I'm not that great at fight scene, which is why this 10 second spar was totally crappy…..Please don't hold it against me!!!XD

*Cough* SO anyway, Please read and review!!!