Cause and Effect

Chapter 7

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"Ugh, I'm so bored." Kiba complained, walking into the kitchen and looking through the refrigerator with only half of his attention. "Hey, Tenten. What's up?"

"Eh," Tenten was making herself a sandwich. "Shino's on the phone with his mother. I don't think his parents like me."

"Why not?" Kiba snorted, grabbing the juice and almost drinking from the container before he realized he wasn't alone and would probably get himself in trouble. He pulled out a glass instead. "Want some?"

"Sure. Want a sandwich?" she offered, and he nodded, looking over her food preparation with apparent satisfaction. "I don't know, I'm probably just being paranoid, but when I ask him, he won't really look straight at me, so I think maybe he just doesn't want to hurt my feelings. My parents liked him."

"Do they know about the bugs?" Kiba asked, taking a gulp of juice before putting the container away.

"It's not a big deal." Tenten pursed her lips. It wasn't like Shino was asking her to deal with something unreasonable. He really liked all of his pets, and she thought it was sweet how devoted he was, and even though she hadn't really felt one way or the other about entomology before knowing him, she cared about him, so she cared about them. "I like 'the bugs,' so I don't care what my parents think of it."

"Well, Hinata's visiting her dad this weekend," Kiba spoke in a tone of forced bravado. "It sucks not having her around."

"Have you met him?" Tenten asked, interested to know if Hinata's father could possibly approve of Kiba. He was a good guy, and he clearly was devoted to Hinata, she knew that, but he was a bit rough around the edges, and even the most lenient parents would probably take a while to warm to him.

"Eh…no," Kiba chuckled as though it was no big deal. "Hinata says he's really protective, and she wants to ease him into the idea of her having a boyfriend. And she still needs to talk to him about the whole 'not taking over the business' thing…so yeah."

"Doesn't she have a little sister? And there's Neji, too." Tenten paused, thinking it over. "Although I don't know how interested in that Neji is. I think he's interested in Gaara and literature…in that order."

"Neji," Kiba frowned. "Neji wouldn't really go out of his way to help me, that's for sure. I think he's still hoping Hinata realizes I'm a no-good bum and dumps me."

"Neji's just…" Tenten pursed her lips. "Well…you know Neji. I'm sure he likes you, he's just a little…distant."

"So like, you're nice and everything." Kiba frowned slightly, accepting the sandwich she'd just made for him and helping her put the rest of the food away. "Why wouldn't Shino's parents like you?"

"I'm not the right type of girl for him, apparently." She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "At least, that's what they kept hinting at not very subtly the whole time I was there visiting."

"What's the right type, then?" Kiba frowned, biting into the sandwich and leaning against the counter as they shared their snack.

"Hm," she grumbled slightly. "I think they don't like that I'm coming from a middle class background…they kept making comments about how much money Shino has, how that must be nice for me. And I think they hate that I like his pets. They want a nice girl from a rich family who will make him give up entomology and focus on the family business."

"But like, doesn't his family have a pharmaceutical company?" Kiba would have sounded much more intelligent if he wasn't talking with food in his mouth. "Can't a lot of insects…can't you like, derive stuff from them or whatever…for medicines and stuff? Seems like the bugs are good for that."

"Well, it's not like his parents are willing to make any concessions." Tenten explained. "And it doesn't matter, he's not about to experiment on his friends like that. They don't understand that he's not interested in taking over their business, and that he has his own life, and his own opinions. I think because he's so quiet, they just assume he's fine with doing whatever they say."

"I think Hinata has the same problem with her father." Kiba nodded in understanding. "And also, I think she's a little afraid of him."

"Sounds like trouble." Tenten frowned. "So, do you think he's less protective than Neji, or more?"

"Hm," Kiba munched on the last of his sandwich, considering this. "I'm pretty sure more."

"Sorry about that," Tenten sighed and gave him a heartening smile. "Maybe he'll just like…decide to disown Hinata and you guys can elope."

"Yeah, I wish." Kiba realized what he'd said and frowned. "I mean, no, I want her to get along with her dad and all that, but it's just…this is really frustrating. My family really wants to meet her, and I know they'll get along. And I really…I mean, she's so amazing, and I just want to be with her. Why can't her dad just be okay with that?"

"Life's not meant to be easy." Tenten shrugged slightly. "Otherwise there wouldn't be a suicide rate."

"Geez, that was a little morbid." Kiba arched an eyebrow at her. "All that time around scorpions is making you weird."

"Sorry, I didn't really mean that, I'm just—" she cut herself off at a loud slam of the front door, and they watched as Gaara stormed past with an expression of such high dudgeon, they felt very glad they were safely out of his path.

"Great, is this the start of another fight?" Kiba shook his head and finished his juice. "We might have problems, Tenten, but I wouldn't trade for anyone else's problems. Right?"

"I don't know, when he looks like that, they usually have really loud sex after whatever it is gets sorted out." Tenten told him thoughtfully. "So it can't be that bad."

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Gaara was having a rotten day. Naruto didn't feel like badmouthing Sasuke anymore, which was unfortunate, but since he seemed happy, it was okay. However, he'd been late to class and his professor had made an example of him, making him stand at the front of the room while people stared at him all through the lecture. He hated people looking at him. Then, to blow off steam, he'd tried to accost Neji for some nice empty-classroom sex between classes, but he'd stayed after to discuss something with his professor, and by the time he gave up, he ended up nearly late to his next class. Then, he'd realized that he hadn't printed out his lab report yet, and had luckily gotten an extension from the lab instructor to turn it in by four. Lab was over at 3:30, which gave him plenty of time to email the report to himself, run to the computer lab and print it off.

However, his computer had lost its charge, and he'd been unable to access the report, so he had to run back to house for his charger. However, Neji had a printer hooked up to his computer, so it seemed like he could still pull it off, just emailing the report and printing it off that way. It was currently 3:50. He would need to be fast, or be forced to come up with some more apologetic excuses. He hated apologizing, and he hated excuses. And he hated today.

"Neji, I need—" he stopped himself short when he barged into their room to realize that he was the only one home. Well, that was for the best. He'd just get distracted if Neji was there being hot, like always. That would have to wait for later when he could afford to relax. He looked around for his charger, and after a few minutes, had his computer plugged in, and had located the report. He emailed it to Neji without thinking, the way he usually did when he was supposed to print something out, and wondered suddenly if there was a password on Neji's computer. Or on his email.

Biting his lip, he set down his own laptop, and picked up Neji's, opening it up, and breathing a sigh of relief when no password prompt came up. He could just have called Neji, but he didn't want to take the chance he might be in class, or might just not have his phone on him. Now for the email…

Thank you Outlook.

Neji's email was already sitting open, even showing his own email at the very top, and Gaara clicked to open the attachment, printing it off and about to set the computer down when a new message came in. He didn't recognize the sender, but that wasn't the really odd part. It was the subject line.

Re: Sasuke...Hot!

What?

He blinked at it, and feeling a little guilty, clicked on the email. It was a link to some website. Maybe it was just spam. But it seemed so weird…why would it have that subject line? He glanced at the clock. 3:55. He didn't have time for this…but still…he forwarded the email to his own email account. He'd see what that was about later. He marked the message as unread, deleted his own email with the lab report, closed the computer, and licked his lips, telling himself not to feel guilty. He was just curious. Who had sent that? And what was it?

He grabbed the lab report and ran out of the room, knowing he didn't have time to dawdle. He had to turn this in fast or he'd be stuck making more excuses.

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Neji felt rather tired by the time he got home. He'd been thinking all day about how all he wanted that morning was to stay in bed and make out with Gaara all day. Stupid classes, always ruining all his best plans. Oh well, tomorrow was Saturday, and he could dedicate that day to staying in bed as long as he wanted. And now that classes were over, he could get started right away. It was just after four, so Gaara would probably already be home.

"Hey Neji!" Tenten greeted him as he walked in. She was standing with Kiba in the kitchen. "Do you know what's up with Gaara?"

"What's up?" Neji repeated, frowning.

"Well, he came crashing through here like ten minutes ago, he looked really pissed." Tenten explained. "Did you do something?"

"It isn't always me." Neji grumbled defensively. "I'll go see what—"

"Oh, he left again." Tenten told him. "He just flew in here, slammed the door, flew back out, looking like he was ready to kill the whole time."

"Hm," Neji wasn't too concerned. Gaara often looked ready to kill to the untrained eye. He probably had forgotten something at home he needed, or something like that. He was a rather serious student. He dismissed their curious looks and went back to his room, pausing outside his door as he heard something he had never before heard.

Shino was yelling.

He must be on the phone, since Tenten was in the kitchen. It wasn't loud, or she'd probably have heard it and come to check on him. From the sound of it, his parents were oppressive.

Join the club.

Not that he had any living parents, but his uncle could be rather demanding, and he still privately dreaded having to explain to his uncle that he had finally fallen in love with someone, and that it was not, in fact, a nice girl from a good family. Well, at least Gaara was from a good family. And Neji thought he was nice. He got the feeling most people didn't agree with him in that assessment. Shrugging, he entered his room to leave Shino to his own problems.

He wondered what had gone wrong for Gaara, but when he saw that his printer was on, he got a pretty shrewd idea. Gaara could be a little absentminded at times, and he was always forgetting to print out his reports and things on the day they were due. He always did them right away. Neji shook his head with a small smile. Of course he didn't wish misfortune on his lover, but he was sure everything would be fine, and in any case, Gaara always got really worked up when something like that happened, and there was only one sure fire way of helping him calm down.

Neji smiled in anticipation of Gaara's return.

He picked up his computer, remembering he was waiting for a response from one of his professors about a paper that was due next week, concerning length and formatting of the bibliography. He flipped the computer open and scanned the five new emails. Fencing tournament reminder, overdue book notice, Hinata…he clicked on the second newest email when he saw his professor's name and scanned the information quickly, nodding to himself. It was like he had thought, but it was nice to clarify and avoid being marked down for something stupid and avoidable. His eyes drifted over the inbox again, and locked on the newest email.

Re: Sasuke…Hot!

He frowned, looked at the sender, and decided it must be spam. He didn't know anyone with that username. Well…he didn't think he did. He clicked on the email from Hinata. He had to smile as he read her long explanation of how she would be visiting her father this weekend, and that she would miss him, and she would give his regards…blah blah blah. She was a good girl. He couldn't help but like her, despite the vast differences in their personalities. Plus, anything that got her away from Kiba for a weekend was a good thing. He hadn't said anything to his uncle at her request, but honestly…

Re: Sasuke…Hot!

What a weird subject line. He should just delete it. Neji clicked the first overdue book notice and reached over, shuffling through the stack on his nightstand until he found the errant book, and repeated the process for the other one. He set the computer down and put the books in his satchel so that he would remember to return them. Maybe he could just give them to Tenten to take back. She worked in the library, didn't she? He wasn't sure.

He sat back on his bed, looked at the computer, and picked it up. He clicked on the fencing tournament email, and even though he already knew all the information, he looked at it a while, thinking it would be nice to finally take Gaara to one of these. He didn't really like the idea of people coming to cheer him on, and tried to keep it quiet to avoid Hinata finding out and bringing a whole squad of girls to shriek encouragement that only made him feel uncomfortable, but Gaara would be fine. Plus…not that he was vain, but he did look rather dashing when he fenced, and Gaara had only seen him in the gear a few times, since usually he changed in the gym, rather than getting stared at all the way across campus, or being late to practice because Gaara decided that it was an excellent time to fuck him against the wall or over the dresser. Not that he really minded being late for that. If you had to pick a reason…

Re: Sasuke…Hot!

Well…maybe it's from someone in the house. Like a joke or something.

He clicked on the email and frowned at the link that popped up. He clicked the link and felt his eyes go wide at what he was seeing, his mouth dropping open slowly, and watching in amazement as he saw Sasuke and two other men having sex. He looked younger, maybe, Neji wasn't sure. He was so pale, and when he was naked it made him look innocent, despite the fact that he was doing something that was anything but. The other two were okay looking, but the way Sasuke arched his back, the way he looked with a flush of pleasure on his cheeks, the way he cried out.

He is really hot…I wasn't really enjoying it when we were together, since all I cared about was getting Gaara…but he's so hot. Maybe that's why Naruto puts up with all his shit.

The door opened and Neji blanched, closing the window in a hurry, closing his computer and looking up, feeling extremely guilty as Gaara yawned and stretched, not really seeming suspicious of him as he climbed onto the bed, not even seeming to question the fact that Neji was hard, just kissing him hard. Neji gratefully accepted his advances.

It's like porn, it's not like that's cheating, watching porn.

But I don't know if it's okay to watch your friend you used to fuck in porn. I don't think Gaara would be very happy.

And then it occurred to Neji that hopefully, that had been filmed at least a year or so ago, or Sasuke was in serious trouble. Although…he couldn't really show Naruto. He would feel horrible, showing him something like that. If someone sent him a link of Gaara with someone else…even if they hadn't been together, it wouldn't be something he'd want to see.

What if someone has video of me? What if they send it to Gaara? He'd probably find whoever I'm with and kill them.

Neji wasn't sure if he was even joking about that.

"Want to come to see me fence next weekend?" he asked, gasping as Gaara ground against him while unbuttoning his shirt.

"Sure." Gaara sighed contentedly as Neji shoved his pants down. "Do it hard. I had a bad day."

"Do you want top?" Neji asked as Gaara nearly ripped his pants off.

"I want you in me." Gaara answered without hesitation, and if he hadn't already been ready, that would have been enough for Neji. He reached for the lube, and Gaara knocked his hand away. "Right now."

"O—okay." Neji always felt a bit nervous about going in without any preparation. Gaara always seemed fine afterwards, but he had done it a few times like that to Neji, and it felt amazing…but it also hurt. It was worth it, if you wanted it bad enough, but still…

He could see what Gaara was wanting, and he flipped their positions, so he was over Gaara, and Gaara twisted so he was on all fours, sticking his ass up in a silent plea. Neji couldn't refuse that. He spit in his hand, slicked it over himself in a hurry, and plunged into him, going as slowly as he could without irritating Gaara. He wanted to give the other what he wanted, but he didn't want to injure him, despite whatever Gaara felt he could handle.

"Dammit…" he gritted his teeth, gripping Gaara's hips tightly, and waiting for the redhead to turn and blink at him in that way that meant "what are you waiting for?" before pulling back and moving back in…and again…it was amazing. All those times they'd had sex, but he was still so tight, still felt so good, still knew how to drive him crazy.

"Harder," Gaara demanded, and he picked up the pace, unable to stop himself grunting as he moved in and out, unable to resist the sounds Gaara was making, unable to slow himself as he felt his momentum build, and then Gaara cried out so loudly, they could probably hear it upstairs. He kept slamming into him, with Gaara crying out so loudly Neji knew he should be embarrassed, or worried about what the others would think, but all he could think was how hot it was, how unbelievably hot everything Gaara did always was. He wanted it to last, but the sad part about doing it this way was he could never last long, and soon they were lying in a tangle of limbs, Neji pressing kisses to the back of Gaara's neck, to his shoulder, and back over his flushed cheek.

"God I love you," Neji breathed as his heart still hammered away in his chest. "Sorry you had a bad day."

"Mm, 'sbetter now." Gaara yawned and stretched under him, looking almost feline, and Neji rolled out and off of him, reaching blindly for a towel. "So…I finally get to see you fencing?"

"If you really want to. The tournaments are long and a bit boring." Neji stumbled across the room, finally found a towel, and returned, cleaning up himself and Gaara.

"Watching you stand around doing nothing for an hour would be enough entertainment for me if I get to have you to myself afterwards." Gaara gave him a wicked smile, and Neji found that he just desperately needed to suck him off. He would have to wait…maybe in twenty minutes? He had a hard time keeping his hands off of Gaara at any time, and for almost a year now, he'd never had a reason to restrain himself. He loved Gaara, and Gaara loved him, and they knew each other inside and out, and somehow, that only made it better.

Sasuke had been hot, but nothing was better than this.

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"Can you peel the carrots?" Sakura turned, and pointed vaguely over her shoulder, smiling as Sai nodded, but took a detour to kiss her before making his way over to the sink. "Did you ever help your mother in the kitchen?" it pained Sakura slightly to talk about her, but she still wanted to know, she still hoped that some day the woman would accept her.

"I did, but you are much prettier, and you give me kisses, so this is much better." Sai smiled brightly, and she giggled, adding a few spices to her sauce before stirring the meat a bit to make sure it didn't overcook.

"Have you talked to your parents lately?" she asked, trying to seem innocent, but as far as she knew, Sai had not spoken to his mother since she brought him here more than a month ago, and it made her feel guilty.

"I spoke to my father the other day." Sai told her. "My mother is still being angry, he said she will 'simmer down' eventually, and that you sounded like a very nice girl."

"That's…that's good to hear." Sakura was genuinely happy to hear that at least Sai's father didn't think she was a horrible demon sent to corrupt their son. "My mom wants you to come over for Christmas…but I don't know, I mean, you probably want to spend it with your family."

"I know!" Sai held up a peeled carrot as though he were having an epiphany, looking ridiculous as possible. "I shall spend the break with Sakura's family, and on Christmas day, we will both drive out to see my parents so there is time spent with both."

"Oh…well…do you think…wouldn't your mom be angry to see me?" she felt afraid, and there was a silence as she focused on stirring the meat, not wanting to hear the answer, not wanting to think about how difficult things had become.

"I do not care what she wants." Sai was suddenly behind her, his breath hot on her neck, and Sakura jumped a little, turning to face him. "I want to be with you, and she will have to learn to like that, or learn not to see me anymore."

"Sai…she's your mother, you can't just cut her off like that! She's known you for nineteen years! I've only known you for one. I'm just…just your girlfriend."

"You are not just anything, Sakura." Sai assured her solemnly, brushing a thumb over the line of her cheek. "I love you, and if I have my way, I will know you for much more than nineteen years. I love her as well, but you show me the right way simply by telling me not to choose you over her, while she demands that I choose her. It shows me that you care about my feelings, that you understand how important she is to me. She does not attempt to understand, and until she can, I cannot forgive her."

"Sai…I feel like I'm stealing you from your family." Sakura buried her face in his chest. "I want to be with you, but I don't want it to be so hard."

"Life is sometimes hard, Sakura." Sai told her thoughtfully. "But overcoming that hardness makes life all the sweeter."

"I love you." She smiled.

"I think the meat is burning." He smiled back at her and she yelped, turning to make the dinner properly. Sai kissed her cheek and returned to preparing a salad as she had instructed him. It was a scene that she had become accustomed to. They often shared chores, and dinner was no different. It was simple and domestic, and it made her very, very happy. He was such a good man. Why his mother could not just trust in his judgment utterly bewildered Sakura.

He's so sweet…

She remembered last December, when she'd decided to just trust her feelings, and to give Sai a chance. It was the best decision she'd ever made.

I love him so much.

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To be continued…