NejiGaara
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Happy Puppy Karaoke Bar
--
Pale fingers ran through flowing purple hair, and off-white eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Trained ears picked up the sound of soft breathing that used so sooth the intelligent man to sleep. Something was wrong, anyone could see that. Even the dense blond who slept loudly in the room next door, or the observant redhead that was lodging in the room down the hall. Something was wrong. And it had to do with the beauty in his arms.
He could never deny that she was beautiful; soft eyes and shining hair that matched her olive skin. She wore clothes that showed off the curves that he had seen without the obstruction of fabric. She had her flaws. One of them being her homophobia and her insistency that everyone conformed to a certain standard. But everyone had flaws. He had flaws. He was in love with someone else.
He looked down at her, the eyes that were covered by their lids and the rosy lips that were parted slightly. He sucked in a large breath and sighed, wishing for the Christmas to end. It wasn't that many days. Just a few more.
Yet each day seemed so long. Each night seemed so painful.
He had a hospital visit booked for his uncle for Christmas day with his cousins. The amount of trouble he had to go through to get them to let him visit his own uncle on Christmas day was insane, but he did it. He, his cousin's husband and the two females would go in for an hour. Being able to have four of them see the man was also a lot of trouble. However, he managed it. And a few days after, his troubles would go back to Suna, and his life would carry on.
But they wouldn't go back. Not completely. The feelings wouldn't.
He had forgotten the metallic taste of the tongue piercing, the gentle tug of the boy sucking his tongue back into his mouth greedily. The quick-paced, impatient rolling of the other tongue against his, contrasting against his girlfriend's slow, paced strokes. He had forgotten the feeling of a man against him.
"I wish Naruto had told me..." he murmured, staring at the beauty's face. "At least then I could've been ready."
Of course, there was no answer. Just soft breathing.
"I missed him..." Neji continued. "So much."
There was a knocking on his room door. Mitsuki groaned and rolled over, out of his grasp and against the wall. He sighed and crept out of bed so not to disturb her anymore. He walked to the door, yawning from lack of sleep. There was a dark haired boy on the other side.
"Hey loser," he greeted. "Naruto wants you downstairs for a 'group meeting' or something. Now preferably unless you're busy?"
Neji's eyes narrowed at the onyx ones that shot a look into the room and at the bed. "No, I'm not busy. I'll be down in a second."
Sasuke walked off without another word.
Neji shut the door, turning to face the bed. With one last look at his girlfriend he grabbed his shorts and pulled them on, taking his dressing gown off its hook before leaving the room and heading downstairs. He walked into the kitchen, tying the rope around his waist and finding three other men sat around the dining room table eating toast.
"Neji! Finally!" Naruto exclaimed, unfazed by the bags under the pale eyes. "I was wondering when you'd come down."
"Shut up," Gaara ordered calmly. "It's too early in the morning."
"Someone's grouchy," Naruto accused. He was met with a growl. "Anyway, Neji, sit. We're talking about today's plans."
Neji raised a brow, taking a seat next to the hot-tempered redhead and opposite his best friend. "Plans?"
"Yeah," Naruto nodded with a mouth full of food. "We haven't actually done much as a group since Gaara got here, so last night I contacted some people-"
"Oh god," Sasuke rubbed the left side of his face with his hand.
"-And I organised a group outing-"
"You're kidding me," Neji said.
"-To...the Karaoke Bar!"
Gaara's head snapped up. "Seriously?"
Naruto grinned. "Yup! The one and only Happy Puppy!"
"You have got to be kidding me," Sasuke groaned.
"Teme! Be enthusiastic!" Naruto encouraged. "It'll be fun!"
"Locked in a room with a bunch of hyperactive idiots?" Sasuke huffed. "What's fun about that?"
Naruto fumed. "You calling me an idiot?"
"Yes."
"Who's going to be there?" Neji asked wanting to avoid a fight.
"Sakura, Kiba, Ten-ten, Shino, Chouji, Lee, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, Yemime," a large, suspicious grin. "And us!"
"Fourteen people?" Sasuke asked. "They let that many people in?"
"Fifteen if Mitsuki-baachan is coming," Naruto said, his face scrunching up. "And I believe the maximum is twenty. They have the super-sized rooms."
"They're damn expensive too," Gaara pointed out, passing Neji a plate.
"Yeah, but we have money," Naruto said with his classic grin.
Sasuke raised a brow. "Where?"
"In your wallet."
Neji rolled his eyes and started to take toast and fillings from the middle of the table. "Karaoke. You're kidding right?"
"There's a flaw with your plan, Naruto," Gaara started. "My siblings aren't in Konoha."
Naruto grinned brightly, once again. "Here's the great part," he said. "They said they'd come down!"
Sasuke raised a brow. "And where will they stay?"
"At your place."
Sasuke grunted. "You've got this all planned out, huh?"
"Yup! Shikamaru helped a lot."
"No wonder..."
Neji sighed and moved towards the door. "If the troublesome trio is reuniting then I'm going to go prepare myself for it," he said. Gaara huffed slightly, knowing full well who the trio was.
"Fuck you, Hyuuga."
"If you're offering..." Neji smirked.
Naruto nudged Gaara as the long haired male left. "You two are sparking man!"
"Shut up, Naruto."
"Seriously though...it's going to piss me off to just watch!"
"Well, you won't have to watch for much longer," Gaara said, getting up and putting his plate in the sink. "Seeing as I'm only here for a holiday."
"It's already pissing me off," Sasuke admitted.
Gaara smiled innocently. "Here's the great thing about that: I don't give a shit about you."
Naruto pouted. "Gaara! Be nice!"
"Yeah, Gaara, be nice."
"You too, teme."
Gaara pulled a face.
"Whatever," the man stood. "You coming round to my place to get ready for your guests then?"
--
Naruto smiled happily as he leant back against his lovers' strong chest, his eyes shut as his head rocked back onto Sasuke's shoulder.
"This is nice..." Naruto muttered, chuckling as Sasuke's pale lips brushed against his collarbone. "We should do this more often."
Sasuke picked one of the red rose petals out of Naruto's hair, putting it back in the water with the others. The scented candles filled his senses and he buried his face into Naruto's neck. "We could if you lived here."
"We talked about that, Sasuke-teme," Naruto said with a smirk. "You don't exactly live as close to my University as I do."
"So it would take an extra, what? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Come on baby..." he ran a hand over Naruto's chest. "I hardly get to see you as it is."
"You practically live at our shared house. Kane's started to complain about that you know."
"So, put him out his misery. We have cars."
Naruto huffed. "I'm not damaging the environment just so I can get more sex!" he stated. "Besides...I don't want you to pay for everything."
Sasuke stared at him, raising a brow. "I don't pay for everything."
"Baby, can we just not talk about this right now?" Naruto cupped his boyfriend cheek. "I just want to be with you. Technicalities be damned."
Sasuke hummed thoughtfully as Naruto kissed him tenderly. "Don't think I'm going to let this go that easily."
"I know..." Naruto smiled seductively. "I just have...other things on my mind right now."
Sasuke smirked and started to suck on Naruto's bottom lip before gliding his tongue into the mouth.
The door bell went.
"You should probably get that..." Naruto murmured as those tantalising lips trailed down his neck and to his spine.
"Probably."
The door bell went again.
"They'll leave," Sasuke said, feather kisses working their way down Naruto's spine. "Trust me."
"Mm, I do..." Naruto replied.
There was a loud knocking.
"For fuck's sake!" Sasuke growled, scrambling out of the bath and grabbing a towel. "Stay there, I'll be back."
He stormed down the stairs, the towel wrapped loosely round his waist as he flung the door open, unamused.
"Hey there, little man! Long time no see!"
Sasuke stared at the blond woman, feeling a twitch forming in his brow. "Temari?"
"It was so nice of you to let us stay here!" she continued, pushing past him. "Wow, you're house sure is big!"
"What are you doing here so early?"
Shikamaru followed in after her, raising a brow at the boy. "It's already three, what time were you expecting us?"
"It's three."
Kankuro chucked, last one in. "What you been doing to lose track of time?"
"Sasuke? Who is it?" came a call from upstairs.
The three newcomers smirked. "Ah, that's who you've been doing."
"Your guests, Naruto! Get your ass down here!"
Almost instantly there was a blond blur throwing itself at Shikamaru, a blue dressing gown wrapped round it. "Shikamaru! I missed you so much!"
Shikamaru stumbled and looked for help at Sasuke. The boy smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.
Shikamaru patted the blond on the back. "Yeah. Hi Naruto."
Naruto grinned brightly at the others, letting go of his long lost friend. "You guys are here early! I thought you weren't coming till three?"
Sasuke coughed. Naruto gave him an innocent look.
"It is three!" Temari stated. "Jeez, what were you two doing?!"
Kankuro grimaced. "I'm not sure I want to know..."
"I am."
Sasuke cleared his throat. "I'll show you to your rooms. Follow me."
"Like a real host," Temari said. "I feel like royalty! In such a big house!"
Shikamaru raised a brow. "You're so easily pleased."
"Shut up, you!"
Kankuro sniggered. "It's true."
Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temples as he led the four loud adults up the stairs to the guest rooms. This was going to be a very, very, very long holiday.
--
He was right when he thought that. He was ready to send everyone home and go back to school when they were only half way through their karaoke session. He had to stand there and listen to terrible singing as his ears bled and watch the most ridiculous dances from Kiba and Naruto. And the way Mitsuki sat there and flaunted herself to Shikamaru was sickening. The fact that she did it right in front of Neji was worse.
Neji didn't seem to notice though. He was having too much fun. Which was what Sasuke found the strangest. In the past couple of years his best friend had slowly returned to being the quiet, plain and reserved person that he once was. But since Gaara came he had changed. He was blushing, and there was life in him. And now he was openly having fun.
He knew he wasn't the only one to notice it.
"Gaara!" Kiba said with a giant grin. "It's your turn!"
The redhead smirked lopsidedly and stood, tossing the microphone between his hands, hips cocked under those tight leather hip huggers that were supported by a brown belt and covered by a reddish jacket.
"What song am I singing?" Gaara asked, clearly confident in his singing abilities.
Kiba grinned cheekily and winked. "Girlfriend, Avril. Have fun!"
Gaara rolled his eyes and looked ready to protest, but the song had started. The bubbly beat had started and the feminine background voice was starting to fade in.
"You're so fine I want you mine, you're so delicious!" The room was already peeling into laughter at the sound of Gaara's deep tenor voice against the high notes. "I think about you all the time, you're so addictive! Don't you know what I can do to make you feel alright?"
While it was rather disturbing that the redhead was so confident with the pop punk song, Sasuke couldn't help but crack up into loud laughter at watching him act so openly feminine. Yet he was managing to make the song more masculine, it was still just weird.
Then he caught it. The connection between Neji and Gaara. Mitsuki was so engrossed in Shikamaru that she didn't see it. But when he turned accusingly to Kiba and Naruto, he knew this was planned as they high-fived.
"She's like, so whatever. And you could do, so much better. I think we should get together now," Gaara sang, his green eyes not letting go of Neji's off-white orbs. "And that's what everyone's talking about!"
Naruto and Kiba stood, getting the nerve to join in, and Sasuke suddenly became nervous. He knew what would happen if Mitsuki saw, and it would not be pretty. Especially not as Neji found it just as entertaining as the rest of the room.
"Hey, hey, you, you, I know that you like me!" Gaara sang, strutting forward to run a finger down Neji's jaw. "No way, no way, you know it's not a secret," He continued. However he changed his focus from Neji to Sasuke. Who was unfortunately sat right next to him. "Hey, hey, you, you, I want to be your girlfriend!"
Sasuke froze in fear, his face draining of what colour was there in the first place. Only to almost explode with a pink hue when everyone burst out laughing.
"I can see the way, I see the way you look at me!" Gaara continued, sitting himself on Sasuke lap and smirking. "And even when you look away, I know you think of me," Sasuke cringed at the thought. "II know you talk about me all the time, again and again!"
The redhead stood and started to walk away from Sasuke. "So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear," He winked at Sasuke. "Even better make your girlfriend, disappear!" Sasuke buried his red face in his hands and Naruto crawled into his lap, sticking his tongue out at Gaara.
"Okay, I'm done," the redhead said with a laugh, a adorable red tint decorating his face. "That's enough for me."
"Good," Sasuke said over the groans from the other people in the room. Gaara smirked and made his way over to the Uchida, who quickly shifted slightly to his right. Gaara sat in the space between Sasuke and Neji.
"Well done," Neji said with a slight smirk. "Payback's a bitch, huh?"
"Most definitely," Gaara agreed. "This is going to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be."
"Who's next?" Shikamaru asked, looking at the list. "Delilah?"
Naruto jumped to his feet and grabbed a microphone, saluting the lazy genius. Kiba smirked and grabbed the other, holding it loosely in his hand. "Us."
Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "Okay then, up you go."
--
Neji laughed as he and the redhead stumbled into the kitchen, Naruto and Sasuke retreating to their room and Mitsuki going to take a shower.
"Sasuke's face was priceless," Neji exclaimed. "Especially when you sat on his lap!"
"It was well worth any humiliation I would've gone through," Gaara agreed with a smirk, pouring himself some water. "I can't believe I actually did that though."
Neji grinned. "I thought you looked very sexy."
"Why thank you," Gaara pulled lightly at the middle of Neji's button up shirt. "You don't look too shabby yourself."
The dark haired man's heart seemed to stop with the rest of the world. The only sign that time was still ticking was the large clock on the wall.
Tick.
"Thanks."
Tock.
"You changed," Gaara noted.
Tick.
"Maybe."
Tock.
"Do I get a goodnight kiss?"
Tick.
"I suppose..."
Tock.
Gaara licked his lips slightly, leaning in.
Knock.
The two sprang apart as the door opened, the only female of the house coming in as Gaara took a giant swig of his water.
"Neji! You ready for bed?" she asked, hiding half her body behind the door, smiling coyly. "It's not as warm without you."
"Yeah, I'm just coming," he said, forcing a smile. She frowned slightly but nodded, walking out. "Sleep well, Gaara."
"You too, Neji."
And with that, they parted.
--
Kivea: I'M ALIVE! And well. Amazingly. I finished highschool last week for-EVER so you do not need to worry about me disappearing ANYMORE. For a few months. Which should be long enough to finish this shit 3 so long as you guys want it finishing...?
Okaaai ~ I love you all. Thank you for waiting, and thank you for staying with me. Thanks to my little Insane teddybear for kicking my butt into action too. I missed you guys so much ~ you're like my life. Seriously. I can always count on you.
Ja ne ~
Kivie
PREIVEW:
"Merry Christmas baby."
"Oh my god...is that?"
"You know what's coming, huh?"
"But...what? Why? Huh?"
"Marry me?"
