SasuNaru

Locked up with You

Disclaimer: I do not own characters or place.

--

Neji woke with a start as he heard someone rapping on his door. Sitting up groggily, he dragged himself to the door, opening it and looking at the blonde standing outside.

"Morning Neji," she chimed, grin plastered on her face. "How are you?"

"Tired."

Ino's eyes softened and she nodded, stepping to the side. "Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you," she said. "About your visit."

Neji nodded and looked back into his room a moment. "Should I change?"

Giggling, the nurse nodded. "I'll meet you in the lounge."

Gaara watched the girl as she came back round from the corner and frowned, sinking further into his chair and lifting his book to cover his face.

He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Sasuke," Gaara noted, glaring somewhat. "What's wrong?"

"Does Kiba have the presents?" the dark haired boy questioned.

"Yes, but he's sleeping-"

The redhead's attention was taken up by the Hyuuga, who was walking through the room to the offices, Ino at the door.

Sasuke let Gaara get distracted, knowing what the problem was. Gaara would be concerned about Neji right now, as Hinata's trip might get cancelled.

"Oi, Gaara," he called. He may let him get distracted, but he wasn't going to stand there like a lemon for more than two minutes.

The sea-foam eyes turned back to the book and he grumbled: "Go wake Naruto or Kiba up."

Sighing, the Uchiha walked down the hall into the dorms, eyes softening somewhat. It had been a while since he'd been in these rooms.

Opening his old dorm, he was greeted by snoring and the mumbling of sleep-talk. He crept over to his old bed, plopping down on it and looking at the one next to it.

The blond breathed deeply, and the sun that came through the window Gaara liked to keep open was playing on his face. Personally, Sasuke thought the moon light complimented his own features better…but Naruto made the sun look good, not the other way round.

"Kyuubi…" the boy muttered, frowning. "What…?"

Lifting his leg up, Sasuke prodded a tanned arm, the sheets screwed and limbs failing.

Blue eyes fluttered open. "Hmm…Kiba?"

"Dobe, get up."

The boy sprang up, looking at Sasuke with wide eyes. "Teme!"

Kiba snorted.

Naruto calmed down a little, relaxing. "What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering about the 'party' today," Sasuke admitted. "Won't Neji be too pissed on whether or not he can see his cousin?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side cutely. "Will he not get to see her?"

Sasuke lay back on the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. "If he sees her, he'll be angry because he doesn't like to see her, but if he doesn't see her, he'll get angry because the doctor's being unfair."

"So…it's a loose-loose thing?"

"Pretty much."

Naruto frowned, lying back against his elbows. "How awkward."

"That's Neji for you."

The blond boy ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we've bought the presents for him, so we might as well give them to him. Besides, maybe it'll cheer him up?!"

Sasuke smirked at the warm grin on the other's face. "Maybe."

"It is time for breakfast yet? I'm starved!"

The Uchiha got up, walking to the door. Blue eyes followed him as he turned, looking into them expectantly.

"Are you coming then, or shall I eat by myself?"

--

Shikamaru sighed from inside the office, looking out the door. There was Kiba, peering into the breakfast room with obvious distaste. Standing, he walked away from his computer and up to the boy, tapping his shoulder.

Kiba jumped. "Shikamaru!"

"What's so interesting?" the nurse asked, looking over the top of mused brown hair.

"It's Naruto and Sasuke…I never knew Sasuke ate with people."

Shikamaru raised a brow at that, causing the other to fluster.

"Well…I guess Neji was wrong then."

"How do you mean?" Kiba asked, looking back at the table where Naruto and Sasuke were sitting, Naruto chatting away while Sasuke simply ate in silence.

"Neji didn't think Naruto would be able to befriend Sasuke," Shikamaru explained. "He reckoned Sasuke was 'beyond hope'."

Kiba nodded and started to walk back into the lounge.

"Kiba," Shikamaru called. "Don't you want to eat?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

--

"Should we really be doing this?" Gaara hissed under his breath so the others could hear. "We could get in deep shit."

"You just don't want to be moved out your cosy room," Sasuke teased, not as quiet as Gaara.

"Don't worry!" Naruto whispered. "They're too busy to notice."

Kiba chuckled. "Not like there's much they can do except spank us."

Green-blue eyes glared. "They can take away your leave."

The four were positioned outside of the nurses' office, listening to the four in there talk, specifically about a certain Hyuuga visiting another. Kiba, Naruto and Gaara were lined up against the door frame, peeking into the room, while Sasuke stood against the wall, not caring at all. It was only Neji.

Sakura stood, brushing her skirt down. "Well, I have to take Naruto in to see Tsunade-sama. I hope I can make her change her mind about Neji."

Gaara was the first to react; he pushed the other two towards to lounge, panicking. These two took a moment to gather their bearings, however. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's sleeve and dragged the boy with them.

When Sakura entered the lounge, she giggled at the site of all four huddled round the TV.

"Wow," she said. "It's strange to see you out of your corner, Gaara."

He nodded, looking away.

She motioned to Naruto, who got up. "Tsunade-sama wants to see you."

The blond followed the nurse, glancing back at the others. Gaara was on his way to a lone book, Sasuke was going in the direction of his room, and Kiba was turning on the TV.

--

"Naruto, it's nice to see you again," the blonde woman said, looking down at some files and papers. "How have you been?"

"I'm good…what about you, Tsunade-baachan?"

A fist landed on a table. "You disrespectful little brat."

Sakura was up in an instant, patting Naruto on the shoulders and smiling nervously. "Tsunade-sama, Naruto's had a hard week! He has no right to call you that," the grip on his shoulders tightened. "But please, be lenient."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, relaxing in her chair a little. "Only for you, Sakura."

The pinkette blushed and giggled. "Thank you."

The older woman looked down at her reports. "Sakura says you've been making progress. There was a bit of trouble not too long ago, but apart from that everything's fine. Do you think you've been making progress though?"

Naruto shifted a little in his seat. "I don't know…I don't feel much different to how I did when I was at home."

Tsunade nodded, jotting something down. She scanned over the report again before raising an eyebrow. "It says here that you're making friends with the Uchiha."

Naruto flustered. "I guess…I'm not sure you could call it a friendship."

"What would you call it?"

The boy grinned. "No idea. Probably rivalry. There was a boy at home who I used to fight with a lot, we were close."

A smile filtered across Tsunade's face. "I have a couple of friends like that."

"Who are they?"

The lady blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Why do you want to know that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Because it would be nice to know more about you, Tsunade-baachan."

Sakura coughed.

"Orochimaru and Jiriya," she said. "You remind me of Jiriya, actually. Much like Sasuke reminds me of Orochimaru."

"Ah, where are they now?"

She looked at him a long moment, before her eyes zoned back onto the report. "So, from what I read here, you're doing well. I think the medicine your on at the moment suffices, and I think later you could go for a walk around. There's a chapel, if you like to go to Church on Sundays."

"I'm not Christian."

Tsunade smirked. "But if you are like Jiriya, I assure you; you'll be going to the chapel. Whether it's for you or someone else."

Sakura nodded to Tsunade. "Thank you, you wanted to see Sasuke?"

The woman nodded.

Guiding Naruto out, the pinkette followed him down the hall, hands tucked at her lap.

"Sakura, who goes to the Chapel?"

She giggled. "A few people. Haku goes to the Chapel; I've seen Gaara down there once or twice."

Naruto nodded. Tsunade was probably talking about Gaara. If he did ask, Naruto would be happy to go with him.

That was it.

--

Sasuke had told Tsunade. Kiba had told Haku. Sai had over heard Haku and told the others. Gaara had told Ino. Ino had told Sakura and the redheaded nurse. Naruto had told the kitchen maids. When several people had told Shikamaru, he already knew; he wasn't seen as intelligent and observant for nothing.

Neji was the only one still oblivious by the time came.

Kiba sniggered at something Sasuke said about Tsunade.

"At least she gave you leave because of it," Gaara pointed out.

"Yeah, but she was meant to be working, not chatting to Shizune about how 'irresponsible' and 'delightful' her patients could be." The Uchiha said. "She's the irresponsible one."

Naruto grinned. "Where do you go for your leave?"

Kiba and Gaara answered for him: "The Chapel."

Sasuke gave Naruto a weird look. "Why, wouldn't you always go to the kitchen, for your bottomless stomach?"

The blond fumed. "I do not have a bottomless stomach!"

"You managed four bowls of cereal this morning, and still had room for more."

Gaara joined in. "And you normally eat most of my food."

"There are people around the world who don't get food. I am not going to waste what I have; I am going to be thankful for it."

"By stuffing your face? I like that!" the brunet of the group exclaimed, swinging an arm around Naruto's shoulder. The blond grinned.

Neji then entered the room, pausing at the sight of the others. Gaara, Naruto Kiba and Haku were around a table with a few presents on, Sasuke standing away from the group somewhat. The four nurses were with the kitchen maids, who were at another table with a cake on. The other patients were sitting next to the two groups, chatting among themselves.

Gaara was the first to speak. "Happy birthday," he said, motioning to the stuff.

Sakura stepped forward next. "Hinata's scheduled to come and visit you at six for an hour. With Hanabi."

Neji stood in silence, taking in the scene. "When…why…what's going on?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's a birthday party, moron. Now open the damn presents, I had to spend money on you, and I don't want it going to waste."

Haku went over to him, pushing him forward with a grin. Shikamaru stepped forward and lit the lone candle on the cake.

"Sorry, one candle is all we were aloud," Ino explained. "Better than nothing though, right?"

Neji nodded, not saying anything.

"Blow it out then!" Sakura squealed, getting out a camera. "Get in the photo people!"

Sasuke had to be dragged into the picture by Naruto, who hooked an arm round the Uchiha's. Kiba and Haku did a joint effort of making Shikamaru stand still and not hide, though Ino helped massively.

"Gaara!" Sakura snapped at the boy who hadn't made an effort to get in the photo. "Get in the picture!"

Neji looked over to the boy, who stared back with uneasy eyes. After a moment, the redhead trudged over, standing next to Neji.

"Happy white day," Gaara said.

A stray smile found the Hyuuga's face. "It's not white day, fool."

Gaara shifted closer against, shoulders bumping. He leant up to the pale ear. "I seem to keep missing it though," he said.

Snap.

Then there was cake. Lots of cake, as they managed to split it between everyone, though it helped that Sasuke didn't like sweet things, and Gaara wasn't aloud a large amount, something that Kiba and Naruto took joy in teasing him about.

Shikamaru looked at his watch and cringed. "Hurry up with the presents would you? Smoke break starts soon."

Ino knocked him over the back of the head. "I'm sure you can last another hour!"

Kiba grinned. "Yeah, stock yourself up on cake till then!"

Naruto looked at Neji expectantly. "Are you going to open them up then?"

The Hyuuga looked down at all the gifts and nodded, reaching forward for the first one. They were all the same paper, as they'd been wrapped up by Shikamaru and Ino at the latter's house.

"What's this for?" he asked, holding up the black and silver frame.

"It's a photo frame," Sasuke informed.

Neji glared. "I don't have any photos, dumb ass."

"Then I guess you'll have to get one, numb nuts," Sasuke said passively, well aware that Sakura was watching this exchange. He couldn't take any risks if he wanted leave.

Sakura brightened, jumping up. "I'll be back in a moment, don't wait for me."

Neji made on with the next gift, revealing a box of milky white chocolates in a white box that had a silver design on it.

He looked at Gaara, who couldn't fight the blush. "You better share those…"

The next gift was simply a card with a photo of a bird on it; Shikamaru.

"Open the biggest one next," the nurse said, fiddling with his watch so it wouldn't beep.

Kiba grinned. "It's from both of us and the nurses."

It was big. Very big indeed. Everyone watched curiously as the wrapping came off to sow a box, lid flipping open as the paper was all that held it shut.

Neji's eyes widened somewhat. "A violin?"

It was a large size black violin with a silver pattern of birds on the back.

Kiba nodded. "Gaara said you played."

Naruto grinned and pointed to another. "Open that one, it's from me and Sasuke! I know he already bought one, but he went halves on me with this too."

Neji did, not saying anything. It was a large collection of random CDs.

Sakura re-entered the room, a piece of glossy paper in her hand, she took the photo frame and inserted the paper, holding it up for the others to see.

It was the group picture that was taken moments earlier, right at the moment where Gaara was leaning up to whisper in Neji's ear.

Sasuke scoffed. "Oh, the sentimental-ness of it all."

Neji took the frame, ignoring Sasuke. He set it on top of the box and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"You need to do smoke break, Shikamaru," he said.

The man nodded and stood, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. Half the people in the room stood up and followed the nurse.

Sasuke stood and walked over to Sakura, mumbling something. Naruto stood also, and walked over. He caught the word 'chapel'.

"Ah, Naruto," she greeted. "Do you want to come with us for your leave? We're going to the chapel."

The boy nodded.

She motioned for the two to follow her.

Sasuke walked next to Naruto closely. "Neji doesn't handle big surprises very well. I imagine he needs sometime to sort out what he's got before he can thank everyone properly."

Naruto raised a brow. "How do you know him so well?"

"We both come from big families, and both used to attend similar parties and such," Sasuke smirked. "Keep your friend's close, but keep your enemies closer."

Naruto watched the onyx eyes cautiously. "If you try, you don't need to know your enemies."

Sasuke gave him an analytical look. "I'm not going to…run away from them."

"How did you…" the blond started, face paling.

The Uchiha looked forward again, ignoring the boy. "How long is our leave?"

Sakura turned a little. "However long you want it to be I guess."

--

"Happy Birthday, Neji-niisan."

"Did you get any presents from your friends? We didn't know what to get you, right Nee-chan?"

"I got a few nice gifts, yeah."

"You seem well today, Neji-niisan. I'm glad to know you're getting better?"

"How long till you come home?! It's boring without you!"

"I've been here long enough, Hanabi-sama. I imagine you've gotten used to it."

"You're my big cousin though!"

Hinata nodded at Shikamaru, who was relaxing on a chair. "I saw Chouji today, he says hello."

Shikamaru smirked. "I live in the same apartment as him, yet he still has you sending messages? Sorry about that."

Hinata giggled. "He's a very good friend."

Hanabi nudged Neji's foot. "What did you get? What did you get?"

Neji counted them off on his fingers. "A photo frame and a photo, a box of chocolates, lots of CDs…and a new violin."

"What?!" the youngest Hyuuga gasped. "You got a new violin?! Does that mean I can have yours?!"

"No, it doesn't," Neji said, folding his arms across his chest.

Hinata turned to Shikamaru again after watching this exchange. "Thank you very much, Shikamaru. I'm happy to know he's getting better."

The nurse shook his head. "If there's anyone to thank, it's the new patient. He helped Gaara and…I think that was all that was missing. Neji and Gaara."

Nodding, the middle Hyuuga leant forward to whisper something. "It would be nice if I could meet some of Neji-niisan's friends," she said, stumbling over her words a little. "To thank them too."

Shikamaru nodded. "I'll send the message on."

Sakura smiled as she watched the two at the front. Naruto was looking around nervously on the bench, while Sasuke was leant forward, elbows on his knees and hands laced against his lips.

"Teme…" Naruto started. "Why do you like it here? It's…weird."

Onyx eyes didn't lift up from the spot on the floor. "I believe in God."

Naruto's eyes snapped to Sasuke. "Why?"

"Because," the boy said. "I have to."

The blue eyes sort out Sakura, who simply nodded. They then trailed to the small alter that had been set up. And he did something he never thought he'd do.

He bowed his head in respect.

--

Kitty: DX I thought that chapter was bad. I blame writer's block though I hope you guys liked it. It will loose seriousness in the next chapter probably ;;

Shush!

Thanks for reading review please?

Ja ne

Kivea