REVIEWS:
The Book of Counted Sorrows: XD Glad you liked it! And thanks for reviewing! Yeah, My cousin used to hold me at arms length so I couldn't move (he was tal, long arms, I was short, short legs) oh, the wonders of teeth XP thanks again for reviewing!
SilenceToBeBroken: XD I take it you liked it? Good! Thanks for reviewing hun! I'll update ;
Yenni2110: The SasuNaru's coming, just at a slower rate x3 and I'm glad you liked this kiss, I thought it might've been too rushed ; and I think I'm going with ItaHina, I'm starting to like it –grin- thanks for reviewing!
Heosic-chan: I couldn't NOT have Dei-chan in a high school fic XD he's in his zone! And I'm glad you like the IM conversations, sometimes they turn out wrong, sometimes they're awesomely awesome XD Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it
Kawaii-Kunoichi: Glad you liked it, and sorry for the mistakes .; Thanks for reviewing, and I'll try re-read my work/do it when I'm awake ;
Kimika: oh yesh, the heating up between Sasuke and Naruto … meh, inspiration will (hopefully) hit me at some point XD and yeah … HURRAY FOR DARKAGES XD thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it!
Corvin: XD So glad you liked it darling! And thanks for reviewing!
Kuro666: I don't know why, but I love having my yaoi boys make out, then someone burst in on them o.o; I do it so well too XD eh heh! Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you don't think I'm rushing things! Glad you liked it too!
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shirleysama: I wonder what would happen if one poked Gaara –thinks-get's ideas- eh hehehehee…Thanks for reviewing, glad you liked it, nyah!
Wolf Citrus: Thankies for reviewing Wolf-chan! I think that's so cute XD I'm glad you don't mind! Good luck with the history project o.o; I do that though, yaoi is much more important than humanities (I don't do history anymore –dances-) Glad you liked it XP
ItaHina it is at the moment!
NejiGaara
All For Our Best Friends
Disclaimer: I is not owning Naruto. That is all.
--
Tuesday…oh, the joys of Tuesday…Gaara sighed and sat up. Three hours of sleep, and Maths first thing: fun. By now, most of the school will know about his and Neji's little charade and be nattering about it. Let's try start with getting to the breakfast table, shall we?
He slid down the banister, too lazy to walk, and headed to the kitchen. He was met with two older siblings nattering to each other, of course when he got in the room all talking ceased, and the main focus was on him. Kankuro had come home and gone to bed yesterday, so didn't have a change to welcome back his little brother.
"So Gaara, how did your date yesterday go?" Gaara groaned and sat down, Temari standing to get him some cereal.
"Wasn't a date, we were hanging out. The four of us, and later, three more joined us," he started to eats as Temari set a blow in front of him.
"Generally on dates, one kisses his/her other; tell me Gaara, did you kiss Neji?" Gaara's face flushed horribly. "I thought so," she sat back down with a triumphant look.
"Shut up, Temari…who asked you?" Kankuro let his arm swing over his little brother's shoulder.
"Don't be like that little brother, Temari's right!" Gaara would've let his face fall into the blow if it wasn't full of food.
"Yeah, whatever, just drop it already, nothing happened before you ask, and it wasn't a date," Gaara said, making Temari scoff.
"We believe you, Gaara-kun…" she agreed sarcastically. "So, seriously, how did it go?" Gaara shrugged slightly.
"Fine," the other two looked at each other.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing much…arcade, movie, the usual."
"What did you eat?"
"Rice- I mean, sushi," Gaara's couldn't help the pink to tinge his cheeks again, especially at the smirks. "Yeah, Sushi…"
"What did the others eat?"
"Naruto had ramen, Sasuke and Neji had rice," then Gaara noticed his obvious mistake.
"So you did eat rice…just not from a bowl," Temari said, Kankuro laughing at the look on his poor little brother's face. "Am I not right?"
Two choices: Lie and say she's wrong, getting consistent teasing, or just tell the truth and get them to shut up, but loose some pride…
"Shut it, know it all…" Temari grinned and crossed her arms across her chest. "What about you and Shikamaru, sucked face yet?"
Gaara ducked from the large pan that was thrown at him and stared at his sister, who was blushing heavily.
"Point one: I don't going out with Shikamaru. Point two: unlike some people, I don't suck face with anyone; I do it with special people after a certain amount of time…"
"My pride was at stake," Temari rolled her eyes.
"How was your pride at stake?" she asked, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth.
"Naruto and Sasuke where taunting us, saying we didn't do anything," Gaara explained, Kankuro patting him on the back sympathetically.
"I don't understand you men and your pride…Gaara, you're cooking tonight, right?" Gaara glared at his elder sister.
"Yes…why?" she laughed slightly and shook her head.
"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking, maybe you could invite Neji over…you know, let us get to know your new boyfriend a bit better…"
"No, hell no! You think I want to die of embarrassment?" the redhead asked, plopping his bowl in the skin.
"What do you mean? Kankuro's going out to night, and I was thinking of spending sometime at my friend's house, this is a wonderful time for you and him to bond!" she rested her hands on her hips. "Of course, if you don't invite him, I can always invite him when we're all home…"
"Fine, I'll invite him!" she nodded and patted her little brother's head.
"Good boy! Right, are you going now?" Temari asked, Gaara nodded and set off for jogging. It was five o'clock, and the other two had started getting up a bit earlier to see him off in the mornings. As soon as he got out the house, he saw Neji walking up t the house with an iPod in his ears. Gaara walked up to him and pulled one of the head phones out, smirking slightly.
"Music this time?" Neji nodded and looked towards the house, giving a polite wave. Gaara turn to see Temari standing by the living room window waving back. Gaara growled in annoyance and dragged Neji off down the street.
"Huh, what's wrong?"
"Just come on and get out the street," Neji smirked and Gaara soon found arms around his waist.
"Not shy about this, are you?" Neji asked making the small boy shiver at the warm breath on his ear. Of course, that gave Neji a fist on the cheek, but he thought it was worth the blush.
"Shut up, Hyuuga, I hope you're not getting carried away, remember: this is all for Naruto and Sasuke. Once they're good friends again, we can 'break up' and pretend nothing ever happened!" he fumed, watching Neji sigh and put his music back in.
"I guess, you're real boring sometimes, you know that?" the two started to jog. "Though I have to say, you sound like your in denial."
"I'm not in denial about anything."
"Admit it, you want me…" another attempt at hitting the taller boy.
"If anyone wants anyone here, I don't want you, you want me, you're just too egoistic to admit it," Gaara said, jogging slightly ahead. He almost fell at what happened next. Neji let a hand come in contact with Gaara's butt.
"Who wouldn't want that?"
"Perverted, arrogant asshole!" Neji held onto his, now red, eye, wincing in pain. Gaara was angry and breathing heavily, blush evident on his once pale cheeks. "I swear, you touch me like that again and I'll have your head!"
"Gee Gaara, you're acting like a girl…" the redhead tried again, swinging his fist in the air, though Neji evaded it, catching Gaara as he stumbled. The short boy stood and pointed an accusing finger at Neji.
"You pervert, get your filthy hands off me!" Neji held up his hands.
"What do you mean? You fell onto me; I'm not going to leave you to fall onto the floor am I?" Neji asked innocently. Gaara continued to jog in a silent angry.
"Whatever Hyuuga, you do that," he replied, Neji soon jogging next to him. The two were in silence, Gaara's anger dying down, and Neji's music filling the air. It was surprisingly good, a lot better than Gaara had imagined.
"Hey, Neji…" he looked at the older boy and dead panned when he got no reply. "Neji!" still nothing. He grabbed the wire and tugged, pulling out the plug and leaning up to the pale ear. "Hyuuga!"
"Ow, no need to shout, I'm right here!" Neji complained, rubbing his ear.
"Well, you couldn't hear me with that damned music!"
"What do you want?" Neji asked, getting Gaara to shut up.
"I wanted to know if you wanted to come round for dinner tonight…" Gaara would kill his sister when he got home.
"I never knew you cooked!" Neji exclaimed.
"Yeah, and?"
"I just never knew…surprised."
"When you live with two other teenagers, you learn to cook, or starve."
"Ah, I see…" Neji said, nodding slightly. Gaara betted he couldn't cook and has maids and whatnot to do it for him.
"So, do you want to come, or am I cooking for myself?" Neji blinked at the question.
"Yourself, you mean Temari and Kankuro aren't going to be there?" Neji inquired. Gaara shook his head.
"No, Temari's at her friends tonight and Kankuro's going out…you know, this would be a good chance for us to get Sasuke and Naruto closer," Gaara suggested.
"Oh, ok…that sounds like a good idea, I'll ask him today at school…" Neji almost sounded…disappointed?
"Cool, that's a plan then. Is there anything you and Sasuke don't eat?" Neji shook his head.
"No, not really…though please, no ramen," Gaara sniggered at Neji's plea.
"Shame and I was just thinking of a nice hot bowl of ramen would be nice for dinner…" Neji glared at the redhead.
"Don't even think about it," he stated, leaving no room for argument. "We're almost finished…" Neji pointed out as they neared the street corner.
The two slowed into a walk as they got to the gate, Gaara turning to face Neji, who raised an eyebrow. The redhead glared harshly.
"Whenever we get past this gate, you do something embarrassing, so you're not coming into the garden," Gaara said and smirked. "Besides, your eye's already black, no point in you coming in now." Gaara yelped as he was spun round a few times and then found himself pressed against the door, someone pushed up against him. And he stared into white eyes.
"Hyuuga…get…off," he demanded, but they both feel back as the door opened. They looked up into shocked eyes, which soon began to sparkle almost.
"Oh, my little, little brother's finally growing up! Kankuro, get the camera!"
"No Kankuro, just ignore her!"
"No way little bro, this is too good to miss!"
"Put it down now!" the two younger boys cringed as the flash of the camera blinded them, Kankuro standing at a safe distance to run away. The eldest boy handed the camera to Temari and ran to his room, laughing all the way. Gaara was yelling obscenities across the house, while Neji was sitting on his lap in slight confusion. Gaara growled and sat up, glaring at Neji.
"Up you, I have to go catch Kankuro!" Gaara snapped, Neji stood and Gaara scampered off up the stairs. "Kankuro! Open this door!" Neji turned to Temari.
"Sorry if we caused a fuss…" he said, though she just shook her head grinning.
"No, no, please, you're welcome anytime! It's nice to see Gaara show any emotion at all! I hope you're coming for dinner tonight, so he says?" she asked.
"Yeah, I am…Naruto and Sasuke are coming round too I think," he said making her nod.
"I see, so you guys double date a lot then?" Neji stared stupidly for a moment.
"Do we what?" he managed, looking shocked. Temari laughed at the response.
"Oh, so you're shy too huh?" Temari asked getting Neji to divert his head. "Gaara was telling me about how he ate rice on your date the other day…" Neji wasn't an idiot; he could pick up the hint.
"R-rice? Aha, really? Fun…" he looked to the side slightly and scratched his neck. "Well then, I best…umm…be off! Got to … feed … the rabbit…yeah, bye!" he said before running off down the street. Temari laughed sadistically and shut the door.
"Oh, I love being eldest…Gaara, leave Kankuro alone!"
"But the camera!" he shouted back.
"I don't care, shower and get ready for school!"
--
"Math first, right?" Kiba asked, shutting his locker and putting on indoor shoes. Naruto nodded at the question. "Man, I suck at Math…"
"You suck at a lot of things Kiba," Naruto teased, the two turned at the sound of someone's locker closing behind them. Kiba blinked in shock at the unusual reaction between the two.
"Uzumaki…"
"Uchiha…" and the dark haired boy left. No spite, just a 'hello' of sorts. Naruto turned to his friend, whose eyes were still wide, mouth open slightly. "There are bugs around here you know…" the mouth clamped shut.
"You just…" Kiba started, unable to find the right words. Shikamaru came up behind them and looked at Kiba, who turned to him. "You know what just happened?" he asked loudly.
"No, I don't…"
"Naruto and Sasuke greeted each other! Like … nicely!" Shikamaru turned to Naruto at Kiba's words, who was blushing lightly.
"Oh, come on, now with Neji and Gaara, it would be mean to not at least try to get along a bit…" he reasoned.
Shikamaru smirked. "Are Neji and Gaara pulling you both together?" Naruto fumed at the thought.
"Oh, hell no! Get a life, Nara," he said before grabbing his bag and walking off. Shikamaru turned to Kiba.
"Where's Gaara?"
--
The redhead struggled to stand, holding his side with one hand and wiping his busted lip with the other. Three tall men were facing him, cracking their knuckles. One man smirked and bragged a bat from the dumpster, picking Gaara up and holding him against the wall, making the other two laugh wickedly. The man leaned into Gaara's personal space and let out a snort.
"I was right; it's the puff with the weird tattoo…" he said, brushing the hair out of Gaara's face to show the red symbol for love. "Did your boyfriend give you that?"
"Get lost; I don't have time for you…" Gaara said, cringing as the hand gripping round his collar tightened and a frown appeared on the man's face.
"Do you realize your situation?" he asked, throwing the boy across the alley. "We could kill you, faggot!" he snapped before bringing the bat down onto Gaara's head. The boy flinched and dropped onto his side, letting the others kick him in his side, stomach and cock. He gasped at the harsh blows.
"Do you?" the man screeched. Gaara nodded, just wanting out of this situation. "Well then, don't spread your homo-infection any more then, understood?" that pissed Gaara off. Standing, he shot a menacing glare at the three and growled low in his throat. Two backed off a little, but the 'leader' stood in place.
"What do you mean my 'homo-infection anymore'?" he hissed.
"You and you boyfriend, that Hyuuga boy," he replied. Gaara felt his eye muscle twitch and he swiftly planted a punch in the guy's face.
"Neji Hyuuga is not my boyfriend!" he yelled back, red in his cheeks. He shot out the alley, knowing that he couldn't take them all on, and pegged it into the direction of school. "I swear Neji, when I next see you; it's your entire fault!"
--
Sakura and Ino looked at the empty seat beside them. Maybe Neji did something this morning that made Gaara go home? It was evident he did something to get that giant black eye. Of course, when Gaara came stumbling into the room, bloody, swollen face, limping and clutching his side you could see Neji hadn't made the redhead not come to school. The whole class was silent, staring in awe at the small beaten boy. Sakura shot up, Ino just behind her and they ran to the front to nurse the injured boy, who promptly collapsed.
"Gaara-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, catching the boy. Ino helped her steady him and the green eyes fluttered slightly. "Gaara-kun, what happened?" she asked.
"I need…to see…Neji…" he said, groaning slightly. He was panting heavily, so they assumed that he'd ran to school. Ino turned to the teacher.
"Sensei, can we take him to the medical room?" she asked, the teacher nodding, slightly dumbfound. Ino lifted one of the pale arms over her shoulder, Sakura copying her act.
"Can we also get Hyuuga Neji-kun, sensei?" the teacher nodded again getting a small smile from Sakura. The girls practically dragged Gaara out the room and down to another door with the letters 'M01' wrote on. Sakura knocked softly and opened it, getting a gasp from people in the room.
"Gaara!" someone shouted. The long haired male running up to the door and taking the lithe boy from the girls. "Gaara, wake up!" he shouted again, worry shown on his face. The short boy groaned and opened his eyes somewhat, smirking.
"Nice bruise on your eye, Hyuuga…" he managed. Neji shut his eyes tightly.
"Oh yeah, well you're one to talk!" he said, looking away. "Idiot, what did you do?" when he got no answer, he looked to find Gaara asleep and immediately left without permission, hurrying to the nurse.
"Chiyo-sama, it's Gaara!" Neji shouted, opening the door, the old lady turned very serious and motioned to a bed.
"Put him here and tell me what's wrong!" she said calmly. Neji carefully placed the fragile boy on the bed and watched as Chiyo checked something's.
"I-I don't know, I think he's been…beaten up…" Neji stuttered, not wanting to believe himself. Chiyo nodded and shook the boy.
"You must know him well, is he insomniac?" she asked, opening his eyes to look. "Why does he wear so much makeup to look like a panda or raccoon?" she muttered to herself and got some baby wipes, cleaning off the black. Neji cringed at the sight of Gaara, bloody, beaten and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"I don't know really…" Neji made a note to learn more about Gaara. She nodded slightly.
"He is, he has 'insomnia lines' under his eyes, which would explain the makeup…he should go home and have rest really, it's not good for him to push himself," Neji took in all of her words. Why was he so…concerned? "He's gotten into a fight…looks like you have too though," she pointed to the black eye.
"Err, I made him angry…" he explained, making her chuckle. "Can I…can I stay here?" Neji asked, feeling his face heat up.
"Just this once," she said, getting a few ice packs. "Here, you need to find the places he's bruised the most, generally stomach and sides, I'd take off his trousers and shirt if I were you, looks like he lost his jacket…" she said and shut the curtains round the bed.
Neji stood still for a few moments, before gulping, puffing out his chest and unbuttoning the shirt, carefully taking it off. Gaara was out cold; he made no noise or signs of noticing Neji. The white shirt was tossed to the bottom of the bed and Neji let his fingers unbutton the trousers and unzipped them, feeling heat pour off his face.
Gaara was soon on the bed clad in boxers, bruises all over. Neji placed the icepacks on the larger ones, hoping to ease them a bit. Chiyo soon came back in with cream and handed it to Neji.
"Seeing as you're here, make yourself useful and put that on him, should help the bruises too," she explained before going out. He took the lid off and rubbed some on his hands, before letting them wander over Gaara's body. It looked like a battle ground or something. It wasn't too long before the pale body was covered in the cream, Neji sitting on the foot of the bed: it seemed like hours to him.
"I heard my little brother was here, what happened?" he heard from the door, it sounded like a male voice. The curtain was soon re-opened to show Kankuro looking panicked, though it died down once he saw Neji. "Thank goodness…"
Temari burst into the room, running past the two taller boys and hugged her little brother's limp body. "Gaara!" she cried. Kankuro pulled her back and she looked down at her self.
"What's he covered in?" she questioned, Neji held up the cream in response. Temari hugged the Hyuuga boy. "Oh Neji, thank you so much!" she said.
"Temari, calm down, I'm sure he's fine…" Kankuro said, pulling his sister off Neji. "It's not like it hasn't happened before."
"But we were meant to get away from it, Kankuro! Now look, he's back in bed all bloody and…" she hugged her big little brother and sighed. "Calm down, right?" he nodded and rubbed her back.
"It's … happened before?" Neji asked, frowning. Kankuro nodded and looked at the swollen face.
"He used to get in fights back in Suna; we tried to get him out of it by moving…but I guess it didn't work," he explained. Neji paused for a moment before turning his focus on Kankuro.
"Well, I don't think he did get in a fight really … though, if he didn't, there's one way to check … it's just, a bit-" he paused and let himself blush slightly. "Err, unorthodox I guess." Kankuro nodded and made his sister turn from Gaara and Neji, though she protested. Neji bite his lip and let his fingers prod around the hem of the patterned boxers, pulling out a note.
Kankuro looked confused. "Who would put a note … there?" he let his sister look back at them. Neji shook his head.
"Homophobes…there's these punks that have a weird way of expressing themselves." He explained and opened the paper up.
Hyuuga,
I thoughts you might find this…seeing as you now fag and all! I is sure your bedmate will tell you, but I want to makes something clear! Don't you go giving peoples your virus, puff-ball, or you two become no-balls!
Neji sighed and crumpled the note before turning back to the pale face. "Assholes…" he muttered, standing and going to the bin. "Fucking assholes…"
"What is it?" Temari asked while holding onto Kankuro.
"Gaara got beaten up, not caught in a fight…every town has its nasty people I guess," he said while running a hand through his hair. The bell rang loudly to signal the next period and Chiyo came back into the room.
"Ok, you two can go … though I think you wanted to stay here, right Neji?" the boy nodded. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid you'll have to go, I'll be in trouble if you were here just to look after Gaara, that's what I'm here for."
"Yes Chiyo-sama, I understand…" he said and turned to the redhead, leaning down and giving him a light peck on the forehead. "Get well soon I guess…" he whispered.
--
Naruto growled as he fell again, mumbling into the grass. He had athletics for PE: running around many times, basically. Then there was the Gaara issue; he'd heard his best friend came in late and beaten up. Sighing, the blonde got up and carried on running, looking to his left as someone ran up beside him.
"You're being more out of it than usual, dobe," Sasuke noted, smirking at the angry face.
"You're still being as much of an asshole as usual, teme!" Sasuke tutted and shook his head playfully.
"Now, now, watch you're language mister," he teased. Naruto huffed and looked away. He looked back at the Uchiha as the boy sped up slightly, Naruto following suit.
Everyone started to slow down as the two sped up. Anko-sensei shouted at them to keep at a pace, but they were too focused on beating the other. If you looked properly, you'd be able to see their joyful looks. Naruto grinned at the feel of wind blowing against him, ruffling his hair and piercing his skin. Just to run with Sasuke again was enough for him.
For course, nothing really goes right when you're a teen, and when you're not paying enough attention, you trip. Depending on how you see it, Sasuke was there to 'save him' and grabbed for the tanned hand, though he just managed to get himself pulled down as well. Of course, when you bash into someone and you're faces connect; guess what connected for these two boys?
Sasuke's … kissing me?
I'm … on top of … Naruto…
"Mph- get off me, teme!"
"Ugh- idiot gems!" their teacher watched on in amusement, letting herself laugh slightly: she could use this to her advantage…
"Uzumaki, Uchiha: no PDA in school!" she bawled across the field, making the two boys turn different shades of red.
"I'm not showing any sort of affection towards him!" they both screamed back, pointing at each other after jumping five meters apart.
"Fine then, I'll re-phrase shall I? No making out on the football pitch!" she laughed at the looks on their faces. Maybe moving both Gaara and Neji up a class was a good thing?
--
Gaara winced at the bright light and opened his eyes, seeing a shadow fall in front of the light. He blinked a few times before a well built face was shown, white eyes looking down at him. A small smile graced the delicate face and Neji helped Gaara sit up. There was pain all over his body, and he felt cold.
"How are you?" Neji asked making Gaara turn his attention from the physical pain, to the human pain.
"Why don't you take a guess?" Neji looked down slightly. "Yeah, thought so."
"Sorry about … whatever happened to you …" Neji said, scratching his neck. Gaara looked down and found he was undressed to his boxers with a blanket covering him, clothes neatly folded at the end of the bed. Neji didn't comment. However, when Gaara reached around the side of his boxers to get something out the hem, he found it wasn't there.
"I took it out, I figured that was probably what it was: same thing happened to one of my other friends," Gaara nodded at the answer, but froze as it sunk in.
"You were fishing around my boxers?" that came out worse than it was meant to, but it was stating fact. Neji blushed violently.
"You're siblings came in and thought you'd had a fight, so I decided to prove that you didn't do anything!"
"Ok, so you went fishing around my boxers in front of Temari and Kankuro?"
"No, Kankuro. Temari was sobbing on his shoulder saying something about how you were getting into fights, again?" Neji made the end sound almost like he was inquiring something. Gaara didn't say anything. "Again, Gaara? I hate to pry but…"
"Then don't pry. What I did in Suna- no, what I do at anytime is none of your business, and my past is not for me to share with you," he then decided to change topic. "You say one of your friends got beaten up too?"
Neji nodded. "Yeah, Haku, when it was first made clear he was gay, they beat him up; almost castrated him…then when Zabuza came, Haku got beaten up again and had a note stuck to his boxer hem for Zabuza to find…who, in turn, tracked them down and made sure they'd never touch Haku again. There's a wall where you can actually see cracks, as if something was forced into it: that was those creeps."
"You mean, I might get beaten up again?"
"Unlikely, but yeah…if we ignore them, and if you did anything stupid, say: punch them in the face," Gaara looked away innocently. "Go figure…unlike Zabuza, I can't take three men to myself."
"Ditto, I can take on two at a time, not three at a time…three in a row maybe, but…" the two looked at each other, nodded, and started a plan.
"So, I think tomorrow night would be the best."
"But we need to wait for you to get better, maybe Saturday?" the two looked up as the door swung open, revealing two boys who were panting slightly. The fair haired one ran to the bed and jumped, falling onto Gaara's lap.
"Gaara!" the redhead groaned in pain. Blue eyes met green. "Hey, what happened to your eyeliner?" he asked, the redhead wiped under his eyes and pulled his fingers back before glaring at Neji.
"Wasn't me, it was Chiyo-sama!" Neji said, holding his hands up in defense. Gaara sighed and rubbed his eyes slightly.
"Stupid of hag…"
"I heard that young man! You're lucky I'm not sending you back to your lessons!" came a voice, the old lady appearing a few moments later. Gaara twitched his none-existent eyebrow. Neji then remembered something.
"Tonight…" he started, unsure of where to go. Gaara nodded.
"Yeah, dinner still…Naruto, you coming over for dinner tonight? You two Sasuke," Gaara asked. Naruto grinned, but then paused.
"But…wouldn't it be better if it was just the two of you?" the blond asked.
"No," Gaara stated simply. Naruto shrugged and nodded, grinning again. Everyone turned to Sasuke with hopeful looks. The blunette sighed and nodded, getting Naruto to shout with joy.
"The four of us, yeah?" he asked, getting Gaara to nod. Sasuke then remember something else.
"Hey, are you two going to be going to the Valentines dance together?" he asked, getting the two in question to blush. They exchanged glances.
"I…don't often go to those things…" Gaara explained, scratching his cheek slightly. Naruto grabbed his best friend's shoulders and stared him in the eyes.
"How can you not go? Think about poor Neji, I bet he wants to go, right Neji?" the Hyuuga flinched at the two glares he was getting. Agree with Naruto and go to the dance with Gaara, or not go and get rid of the risk of being punched again…
"Err, I guess…" he said, head staring to thump. "Though, I was planning on asking later…" Naruto grinned and grabbed Sasuke's wrist.
"Come on Sasuke, let's leave them alone!" he said, running out the door getting the young Uchiha to yelp in shock. The two left stared dumbly at the door. Neji turned to Gaara again, but quickly diverted his eyes. Gaara couldn't help but smirk.
"What's wrong, Hyuuga, not like you two be all nervous and shy…" Gaara said slyly. Neji flustered a bit more and pulled a face.
"Whatever Gaara," he said, before silence fell again. Gaara was now slightly pink, the awkward atmosphere in the room making him uncomfortable. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, but he really wanted to.
"Umm, so…" Neji started, fidgeting a bit. "Y-you want to go to the dance…or…" he looked at the floor. "I mean, you don't have to go, but…um…if you want t-to, we could go…" he slotted his fingers into each other, trying to find the word. Gaara turned his head away to hide his blush.
"Well I guess I'm going to have to really, I mean…I'd have Naruto breathing fire down my throat otherwise!" he said. Neji couldn't help but let a broad grin adorn his features which would easily compete with Naruto's, and Gaara was struggling to keep a smile off his own face. The redhead glanced at Neji out the corner of his eye.
Green eyes widened unnaturally as a soft kiss was planted on the pale cheek. "It's a date!" and with that, Neji ran out the door in fear of another black eye, and Gaara sat there, completely stunned. He didn't notice as his right hand came up to touch the tinged cheek, or the faint ghost of a smile that crept onto his face. In fact, he was too busy repeating the same line over and over in his head:
'It's a date! It's a date!'
--
Neji trotted into the class with a grin still in place, sitting down next to his best friend, who was giving him funny looks. Neji hummed happily to himself and went off into a daze about a certain redhead.
"Neji-kun, you seem happy today!" Sakura noted, arm linked around Ino's and standing in front of the two boys. Sasuke was still giving Neji a weird look.
"I'm absolutely wonderful, and how are you, Sakura-chan?" the girl grinned at the additional '-chan' to her name.
"I'm fine thanks!" she replied.
Ino stepped in. "What's got you all happy, Neji-kun?" she asked with her same curiosity as always.
"I haven't a clue in all honesty, I'm just really happy!" he said. Sasuke rolled his eyes and decided he wanted to take a jab.
"I think someone has a date to the valentines dance, he's just too emotionally retarded to realize that's why he's so happy," Sasuke said to the girls, Neji's blush came back from earlier.
"W-what?" he stuttered. The girl's brightened up.
"Neji, that's so sweet, did you just ask him?" Sakura asked
"Oh, this'll be his first valentines dance, right? He never went before!" Ino asked, bubbling away. "Though, from what I've heard he's already had his first kiss, huh?" she winked at the Hyuuga male, then returned to her seat as the class started, Shizune-sensei standing at the front.
"I heard Gaara is in the infirmary, is that right?" there was nods from the class, and Neji's mood dropped ever so slightly. "I see…Naruto-kun, do you want to give him any notes?" the blond nodded. "Better take good ones then, hum?"
Some people in the class giggled at their teachers attempt at making the blond pay attention. She set out the tasks and told them to go in threes, Ino, Sakura, Naruto and Chouji going together as a four. They were given sheets and told to do a task, everyone getting down to it.
"Hey Naruto, is Gaara really going to go to the dance with Neji?" Ino asked, shocked the redhead would go to a social event. Naruto nodded.
"I'm sure of it, Neji asked him at break…though they still won't spend more than the jogging they do in the morning together, me and Sasuke always get asked to go with them if they do something together!" he said, frowning.
"Oh, they're both shy I bet!" Sakura squealed, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "I bet they're both new at this, and don't know what to do, wanting their best friend's to stay with them so it's not awkward…so adorable!" she said, Ino nodding. Chouji shook his head slightly.
"I'm still trying to get my head around the face that Gaara's actually going out with someone…" he said, Ino pinching him somewhat.
"Even Gaara has needs, Chou!" she said, waving her hand for effect. "It was bound to happy at some point!" they all looked at the door as it burst open, revealing Shikamaru standing in the door way panting slightly. He caught Shizune's eyes and laughed sheepishly
"Aha, wrong room!"
"Shikamaru, shouldn't you be in science right now?" the lady asked with an annoyed look. A loud shout was heard from down the hall and Naruto and co. burst out with laughter, even Shino was smirking a bit. "Who was that?"
"Can I hide?" he asked, only getting a raised brow from Shizune, who walked up to him and held out her hand. He looked around for an escape. "Give it to me Shikamaru," she said sternly. He produced a book from behind his back. It had rainbow colours on and looked like it had been used quite a lot.
Suddenly, Shikamaru was sent crashing to the floor and Temari was behind him, arms crossed and not looking happy. The younger of the two looked up and gulped. Shizune-sensei sighed in irritation and passed to small book to Temari, and then got Shikamaru to stand. She gave them both serious looks.
"Stop this childishness; it's a bad example for the younger students! Shikamaru, I would've thought you'd know better than to aggravate Temari- and you should both be in your lessons!"
"But Temari has a free now," Shikamaru pointed out, only getting a glare off the older woman.
"Well then, she can walk you to your science class, can't she?" Temari bowed slightly.
"Sorry to have disturbed you!" she said before forcing Shikamaru's head into a bow.
"Sorry! Get off!" he said making her let go of him. Temari grabbed Shikamaru's elbow and dragged him off down the hall. Shizune sighed and turn back to the class.
"Get on with your work now, show's over!"
--
Gaara walked through the halls, heading to his history class. When he got there, most people were already in, so he apologized for being late and took a seat. Morino-sensei excused him and told him to look at someone's notes. He turned next to him and saw a very girlish looking guy sitting there, looking empathetic.
"How are you doing? I bet it hurt right? Those guys give it to you hard most of the time…" he said clearing out the face he was indeed a boy. Gaara nodded.
"I'm guessing you're Haku then…" he said, getting a smile out of his new history partner.
"Yeah, I take it you've heard about me?"
"Neji told me…" Gaara said. Haku smiled again. The boy was quiet, sweet and friendly really.
"You look like you've just been hit by a truck though too…" Haku noted, letting his hands fly to his mouth. "I'm sorry!" Gaara shook his head.
"I don't mind all that much…" Haku grinned and rested his head against Gaara's for a moment.
"Well, welcome to the gay community!" the long haired boy said.
"Gay…community?"
"You think there's only about four of us? Hell no!" Haku said, grinning. "I'm a gossiper, though I've heard you are one yourself…"
"If it came from a gossip girl, don't listen."
"Does that mean you didn't go to the movies on a double date last weekend?" Gaara blushed at Haku's innocent words.
"No, I didn't! It was a little trip to the mall as you do with friends! Where did you get that?" Gaara snapped.
"I have my sources…" Gaara shot Haku a glare. "Kiba and Ino said the same thing 'Neji and Gaara, Sasuke and Naruto: double date," he responded. Gaara snorted.
"Oh, want to know what else I heard?" he asked, making Gaara curious.
"Go on then…"
"That Neji asked you to the dance at break; is that one true?" Haku asked. Gaara blushed violently. "I'll take the redness of your face as a yes…see, not everything us gossipers say is lies! Though, that explains why Neji was so out of it today…I remember when Zabu-kun first asked me to go the dance with him, I was off on cloud nine for two weeks!" Haku said.
"Well, it's my first dance…so…yeah," Haku shook his head at Gaara's words.
"Not to worry, I'll run through some safety rules with you, ok?" Gaara nodded. "Rule number one: take it slow…don't ever dance first. Rule number two: demand a nice hotel. Rule number three: no glove no love."
"Wait, you make it sound like we're going to rent out a hotel room and screw each other!" Gaara hissed.
"Well duh, why else do you think it ends at ten rather than twelve?" Haku asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Gaara felt his head pound at the thoughts going through his head.
Neji…dance…hotel…sex…Neji…me…
He promptly fainted.
--
Naruto, Sasuke and Neji were sitting in the nurse's office, looking down at the knocked out Gaara. Naruto looked up at Neji.
"How did this happen again?" the blond asked.
"I'm not sure, Haku said they were talking about some stuff and Gaara fainted…"
"Probably lack of sleep…" Sasuke sneered, getting Naruto to bop him on the head. "Ow…"
Haku came into the room, a large man behind him who must've been in his last year. Haku walked up to stand by Neji and looked down at the small boy, his boyfriend next to him.
"How is he?" Haku asked, Neji sighed. Naruto looked at the new people.
"You're … Zabuza? And Haku?" he asked, getting a nod from the younger one. "Whatwere you talking about that made him faint?" Haku shrugged gently.
"The dance, hotels, sex, that sort of thing," he said leisurely. Sasuke and Naruto stared at him incredulously. "Come on, what do you people do for fun?"
"Video games!" the two answered at the same time. Haku sighed slightly and looked down at Gaara, and then to Neji, whose eyes were wide and face getting darker.
"Neji-kun, you ok?" he asked. The Hyuuga nodded stiffly. Haku clicked his fingers. "I get it! I bet you two have never gone further than holding hands, huh?" Neji growled at the kick at his pride.
"We have!" he countered, blushing at the smirks he was getting. "Just…not that far…" Neji's blush came back at full force.
"Oh yeah, they've never held hands, but we forced them to kiss," Naruto supplied.
"Though I have to say, they ended up making out in the food court," Sasuke commented, taking great pleasure in his friend's pain.
Everyone silenced as they heard a groan from the boy on the bed, green eyes fluttering open. The boy looked around and quickly turned his gaze away from Neji, to what happened to be Naruto giving him an evil grin.
"Let's go get some food…" Gaara muttered hungry.
"What kind of food?" Haku asked, getting two large amounts of red to match Gaara's hair.
--
"And there's the bell class! Have a nice evening!"
"Have a nice evening Tsunade-sensei," the class chorused before filing out the room. Naruto turned to his best friend in curiosity.
"Hey Gaara, what are we eating tonight?" Naruto asked.
"Not sure- not ramen though, Neji said that neither he nor Sasuke want that…" Naruto whined a bit before they met Shikamaru and Kiba at the gate, Shikamaru looking unusually depressed. The two walked over and made a group of four.
"What's wrong, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked only getting a grunt off the boy. Kiba smirked slightly.
"Temari's got a date for the dance, and it's not him," the dog boy explained, getting a glare off his friend.
"That has nothing to do with anything! Temari can go do what the fuck she wants for all I care!" Shikamaru snapped. Gaara cleared his throat. "Sorry…"
"It's ok…"
"So, if it's got nothing to do with Temari, what's wrong?" Naruto inquired.
"I don't know I haven't got that far…" he said, turning slightly.
"Are you sure she's just not trying to make you jealous?" Gaara asked.
"Why would she want to do that, Shikamaru doesn't have the balls to ask her out anyway," Kiba said, stabbing at the smart boy's pride. If course, no matter how much IQ you have, your pride generally over runs it.
"That is so not true!" Shikamaru contradicted. "I could go up to her right now and ask her out!"
"So you do like her?"
"And she is the problem?"
"And you do want to date my sister?" Shikamaru cringed and realized what he just said.
"No, I'm just say, if I did want to I would, but I don't want to," Kiba shook his head in a motherly fashion.
"Shikamaru my friend, you know what you're in?" he looked to Gaara and Naruto.
"Denial," the two said matter-of-factly. The young Nara boy scoffed at the thought.
"Ch, yeah right: if I'm in denial, Gaara's not a virgin," the redhead fumed slightly and Kiba shrugged.
"You never know how far he and Neji have gone!" the boy said, making Gaara's blush furiously again.
"Shut it, dog breath," Gaara snapped, effectively getting the boy to shut up and mount his bike.
"I'll be off then, see you guys later!" he said, kicking off the ground and heading off. Shikamaru sighed and the three started to walk down the street. The three turned as they heard a person calling Gaara's name, seeing two people run up to them, one tall and one girlish.
"Haku…" Gaara noted, almost dying. "What is it?"
"What, can I not greet my new friend?" he teased, a smile on his graceful face. Gaara swung his bag over his shoulder and started off again.
"I have to get home as soon as possible, I'm cooking dinner tonight," he said, though the four behind him easily caught up, Naruto and Haku by his side.
"So, what are we eating tonight?" Naruto asked. Gaara just shrugged in response.
"Oh, you often go to eat at Gaara's house, Naruto?" Haku questioned.
"No, not often: there'll be Neji and Sasuke also, right Gaara?" the boy in question nodded. Haku sighed dreamily.
"I wish we went on double dates…such a shame…" he said, then remembered his boyfriend was walking behind him. "Though, I don't mind too much, ha, ha! I'm just going off into another fantasy!" Zabuza didn't buy it.
"Haku, if you want to go on a double date that much: go find someone. I don't mind as long as you're happy…" he said, making his younger lover squeal in delight.
"OH, Zabu-kun, you're so nice to me!" he exclaimed, hugging the taller man. They finally reached the bus stop and Shikamaru waved.
"I'm stopping here then, see you guys later…" he said.
"Bye Shikamaru!"
"Later…"
"Bye, bye Shikamaru!"
"Bye…"
And that left four of them. After a while, they came to some apartment blocks that were slightly old and worn. Haku and Zabuza declared their stop, leaving Naruto and Gaara.
"How about lasagne?" Naruto suggested.
"Maybe…think of something else too."
"Rame-"
"No."
"Kotmis Satsiv?"
"You mean Kotmis Satsivi?"
"Yeah, that one…"
"Sure, why not…I'll have to go shopping I think."
"Or that Pilaf with Rabbit…or Pelmeni?"
"I'm surprised you remember them. No, Pelmeni was a one time thing; I'd have to go shopping one way or another…"
"I see…" Naruto turned to the redhead and grinned, stopping. "This is my stop! See you later at…"
"I think six thirty would do, if Neji comes online don't forget to tell him."
"Ok! See you at six thirty then!" Gaara nodded and headed off to his house, ready to get a shopping list.
--
Gaara wiped his forehead and let out a breath, looking into the oven. The chicken was still roasting: maybe he'd made the walnut sauce too fast? He had no time to ponder on this as the door bell rang. Cursing, he ran to the door and opened it to see Naruto in the door. Letting the blond in, he told him to sit on the couch.
"The others aren't here yet then?" Naruto asked making Gaara shake his head. "I'm not late!" there was another ringing of the door bell. Gaara walked to the door, opening it to reveal Neji and Sasuke. He welcomed them in and told them to sit with Naruto. The fact he was wearing his sister's 'kiss the cook' apron was quite embarrassing. The boy excused himself and ran off to the kitchen.
When he felt someone's hands snake round his waist, he became aware of the person who followed him. He turned his head slightly to see Neji standing behind him.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing…" Gaara snorted and wriggled out the grip, only to have it tighten. "Come on, if you want to keep this up, we're going to have to start acting like a couple, let's practice."
"No, now get off." The oven made a 'ping' and Gaara managed to get out of the tight hug, reached to get the chicken out the oven, and got out a knife. He pointed it at Neji.
"Living room: now," the Hyuuga nodded and left, leaving Gaara in peace. He heard a small 'crash' an 'ouch' and a yell as he got closer, opening the door on a very strange sight.
There was Sasuke and Naruto, the blond boy on top of his best friend, straddling his stomach. Sasuke was sprawled out under him, moaning slightly. Naruto's hands were keeping him up, lying against Sasuke's chest, and Sasuke's knees were bent against Naruto, pushing the other forward somewhat. Naruto's jacket was tossed aside next to them and both boys looked slightly messy, Sasuke's jacket undone and it looked like that was why Naruto's hands were on his chest.
"S-Sasuke? Narut-to?" Neji stuttered, the two blushing. Naruto jumped off the Uchiha and shook his hands.
"Not what it looks like!" the blond exclaimed, the other sitting up too and trying to act calm.
"Stupid dobe: tripped over a wire and fell on me…" Sasuke explained, trying to keep his blush under control. Neji stood in the door way for a few moments before Gaara called them to the kitchen. The three walked through with slight awkwardness, making Gaara raise a none-existent eyebrow.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you later…" Neji mumbled and sat stood in the doorway with Sasuke. Naruto sat down at the small table and Gaara sat next to him. The two looked at their new friends.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"You…eat in the kitchen?" Sasuke inquired, looking baffled. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Not everyone has a house big enough for a dining room, your highness," he replied sarcastically. The Uchiha sneered and sat next to Naruto, Neji next to Gaara. They looked at the well arranged chicken on the plate.
"What's this called?" Neji asked his 'boyfriend'.
"Kotmis Satsivi…it's Russian; chicken in walnut sauce," Neji nodded and put some on to his plate, the others doing the same.
"Let's eat!"
--
Gaara opened up his instant messenger and looked down the list, trying to see if anyone worth talking to was on.
'Sasori wants to talk to you'
Sasori: hey Gaara
Blood in the desert: hey, how are you?
Sasori: I'm good I guess, though, there's a rumour going round…
Blood in the desert: if Deidara said it, it's probably not true.
Sasori: A few people have said it actually…
Blood in the desert: what?
Sasori: I got told that my little cousin has a date to the valentines dance.
Blood in the desert: …no comment.
Sasori: so it IS true, hum?
'Dei-Dei has been added to the convo'
Dei-Dei: So, Gaara got a date or not?
Sasori: yes
Dei-Dei: HA! You own me cash dude!
Blood in the desert: you betted on it?
Dei-Dei: Sasori-dono said that you were emotionally retarded and would never go on a date.
Sasori: Dei said no one was stupid enough to say no to the Hyuuga
Dei-Dei: it's true! Such a nice piece of ass!
Blood in the desert: enough out of you: my boyfriend, not yours.
Gaara stared at the computer slightly before he realized what he'd written.
Blood in the desert: Though he's an asshole.
Dei-Dei: XD aha! Gaara-kun's the jealous type- like you, right Sasori-dono?
Sasori: except Gaara's the girl in his relationship and you're the girl in ours.
Blood in the desert: I'm the girl?!
Dei-Dei: goes by height I'm afraid…
Sasori: ok Gaara, we need to give you the talk.
Blood in the desert: the what?
Dei-Dei: no matter what anyone else says: just cause you can't get pregnant doesn't mean you can't get infections, like HIV or something…
Sasori: No glove, no love.
Blood in the desert: So I've been told …
Sasori: Also, squeeze whatever you can out of him: he's rich, I'm sure he won't mind.
Dei-Dei: I did the same to Sasori-dono, guess what happened to all his money XP
Blood in the desert: not a bad idea…anyway, I'm off.
--
Kitty: THAT TOOK FOR FREAKING EVER!
Rouge: calm down, you're going to give me a headache …
Kitty: eh heh…fingers crossed that I can write up the valentine's chapter for the 14th! I'm not too sure, so much work to do by then, so if it's late, I'm very sorry ; Rouge is here to visit me, and will help me write (if she can)
Rouge: oi, watch it!
Kitty: R+R please! Wish me luck! Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit 'WOAH, what's going on Oo', but I've been writing this on and off, so it's like … yeah
Rouge: re-read it then.
Kitty: that's what you're here for –grins- and I have a friend who got beaten up for being gay DX I wanted to go round there and kick ass!
Rouge: but you're a little weakling, so we'll leave them be.
Ja ne
Kitty
::Rouge::
Preview –
"So, what are you going to wear?"
"Something…"
"Oh my gosh, let's go shopping, this isn't going to work!"
"Can we not?"
"Err: no!"