A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages! But I do live in NZ and have school now. But I promise I'll update more often! Yeah I wouldn't trust me with that either...
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is legally owned by anyone else. Everything else in the world, sure let's say I own all that crap.
Hey Tenten, welcome to the fanfic. Hope you survive the experience.
The first week back at school was confused and resulted in no work being done until Friday. Gaara was so caught up in his worry about D'gani's first week and trying not to worry about D'gani's first week, that he barely noticed how disorganised the teachers were. His Performing Arts teacher informed them that they would be recreating a scene from a movie of their choice, in pairs, in front of their entire year. Gaara obviously decided to work with Neji and this resulted in them barely being able to restrain themselves from molesting each other several times on the teacher's desk.
"We should probably actually try to get some work done this period," Gaara said quietly to Neji when the teacher glared at their most recent bout of containment induced giggling.
"I guess you're right," Neji sighed and pulled out a piece of lined note-paper to write, yup you guessed it, notes on. "What movie should we do?"
"Have you ever seen The Princess Bride?" Gaara asked with a smirk.
"Yes! I love that movie! What scene do you want to do?" Neji replied, smiling lightly as possibilities announced themselves.
"The one at the top of the hill between Buttercup and Wesley? Just before the fire swamp." Gaara's question was answered by Neji grinning madly and writing some of the afore-mentioned notes, funnily enough, down on his note-paper.
After Performing Arts, during Lunch, Gaara and Neji decided to spend some time with Neji's friends for a change. Gaara couldn't help but wonder why Tenten was shooting him filthy looks the entire time, or why he found Deidara's laugh so familiar. He put the familiarity down to the one other time they had met, but he couldn't fathom what he had done to so deeply offend the brunette girl. Neji didn't seem to notice so Gaara ignored it too.
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully and after school Neji, Gaara, Haku, D'gani, Naruto and Sasuke decided to go out for milkshakes. Gaara contemplated D'gani's face as he sipped his lime milkshake slowly. His friend had been unusually subdued for the past two weeks and Gaara was worried that he might be depressed. Neji was staring at Gaara staring at D'gani while sipping his banana milkshake. His boyfriend had been so preoccupied by his friend's silence the past two weeks and Neji was slightly jealous of D'gani getting so much of Gaara's attention. Haku was silently observing Neji staring at Gaara while Gaara pondered D'gani while D'gani examined the window while he drank his vanilla milkshake through its white straw. Neji was so possessive of his redhead sometimes; it worried Haku that he might do something stupid because Gaara was paying such close attention to D'gani.
Amidst all the other's watching, Sasuke was wondering why only Naruto really seemed to be taking part in the conversation and why his friends were all staring at each other. He put it down to whatever had happened to D'gani that had made him break up with Rai and go to live with Haku. Naruto completely ignored the fact that he was being ignored and continued to have an animated conversation with himself. The boys returned to their respective homes after about half an hour more of the staring, worrying and rambling that had been their Friday afternoon.
Neji sighed when he got home. He decided to go onto his laptop to take his mind off of his boyfriend. Neji signed into windows live messenger and almost immediately was sent a message by Tenten.
Almostperfectgirl: Hey Neji
MessengerofFate: Hey Ten, how are you?
Almostperfectgirl: I'm good. How's u?
MessengerofFate: I'm okay I guess. I have a shitload of history homework to do though...
Almostperfectgirl: How bwt I cme ova 2moro and we do it 2getha? Unless ur busy...
MessengerofFate: No I'm not busy. Come over about 10ish?
Almostperfectgirl: Sure! I gotta go now. See u 2moro.
MessengerofFate: See ya!
Almostperfectgirl has gone offline.
Gaara sat with D'gani after they got home, just waiting for the usually loud and happy boy to say or do something, anything to break through the heavy silence that encased the room in a dark cloud. But no sound came from the boy. No sign of life or feeling left the teenager, making Gaara gasp in exasperation and walk over to the stereo and put on a mixed cd he had made with D'gani the year before. The song Mulder and Scully by Catatonia started to play, evoking a reaction from the still boy. He turned to face the stereo with a strange face on but sang along.
"My bed is made for two and there's nothing I can do, so tell me something I don't know. My head is full of you, is there nothing I can do? Must we all march in two by two by two?" D'gani sung powerfully with tears running down his cheeks. As Gaara had suspected, the music had a much greater effect on the boy than his words ever could. D'gani crawled over to where Gaara was seated on the floor and pulled him into a tight embrace before whispering in his ear "Thank you. I needed to be reminded of what's truly important. I'm going to be fine now." D'gani gave Gaara one last squeeze before moving back to sing along to Head Like a Hole by Nine Inch Nails.
Gaara smiled at how his friend was now smiling and behaving normally again, or at least as normal as D'gani ever got. Gaara smiled and picked his book; Blood and Gold by Anne Rice. It was the fourth time he'd read it but Marius was his favourite character in the Vampire Chronicles so he felt justified in his mild obsession.
Neji laid back in his king-sized bed and wondered if he should be meeting Tenten tomorrow. But then he reasoned that Gaara would probably be busy fussing over D'gani and wouldn't mind not spending the day with Neji. Neji's cell phone beeped once, letting him know that its battery would run out soon. He supposed he had better recharge it but suddenly couldn't be bothered moving to get it. He suddenly heard a knock on his door and called out.
"Come in!" Hinata walked shyly into his room and bowed her head when she realised that Neji seemed to be already preparing for bed.
"Uh, N-N-N-Neji-niisan? I have a q-q-question t-to a-a-ask you." Hinata stuttered quietly. Neji couldn't imagine why he made the girl so nervous or how she could be so well-behaved and at the same time get stoned with her friends on a semi-regular basis.
"Yes, Hinata? What is it?" Neji asked in the kindest voice he could muster.
"How d-d-d-do y-you know if y-y-y-you l-l-like someone?" Hinata blushed a deep scarlet and wanted to just run out of the room apologising for being so stupid. However she was stopped by Neji's warm chuckle. It wasn't mocking or cruel, it was mere amusement that she would ask him such a question.
"It's been bothering you, huh?" Neji asked kindly and Hinata nodded her head slightly. Neji motioned her to come sit on the bed next to him. "So you think you might like someone, but you want to make sure before you act on it. Is that it?" Hinata nodded an affirmative again. Neji sighed and wondered how on Earth he was going to help the poor girl out. "Well," He began eventually. "How does this person make you feel?"
"He makes me feel like the only thing in the world that matters is us and our feelings. He makes me feel as if I were floating on a cloud. He makes me feel like I have rabid pelicans running rampant in my stomach." Hinata blushed profusely as she snapped out of her reverie and realised what she had just said. Neji looked very surprised. Not only had his cousin just said an entire sentence without stuttering once, she had just articulated exactly how Gaara made him feel.
"Sounds like you love him," Neji said with a smile. "And what you just said was lovely. You should write poetry." Hinata blushed even deeper at this praise and Neji's smile just widened. Hinata stared at Neji and his sincere smile for a few minutes before smiling a small smile herself and leaning forward and tentatively hugged her cousin.
"Thank you Neji-niisan. I hope you and Gaara-kun are happy together," Hinata whispered into her cousin's ear before abruptly leaving the room, still blushing severely. Neji grinned at how much more outgoing his meek little cousin had become in just that conversation. He once again leaned back on his large bed and thought of Gaara. He hoped they'd stay happy together too...
Gaara woke up late on Saturday and found D'gani lying next to him on D'gani's mattress that still lay next to Gaara's bed. How he had managed to find his way out of his own bed and onto D'gani's was beyond him but was glad that his friend didn't look mad. "Good morning, Gaara." D'gani smiled when he saw his friend was awake.
"Uh, D'gani? What happened?" Gaara's face took on a slight pink tinge as he imagined himself falling on top of D'gani in the middle of the night and crushing the poor boy.
"Well, this morning when I got up, you grabbed hold of my shirt as I turned around and muttered something about not letting Neji get away. I tugged lightly and you fell off your bed. As you were falling you muttered something that sounded a lot like "Oh my sweet Neji, what have I done?" Now where do you think that came from?" D'gani teased Gaara lightly, enjoying the embarrassed groan that escaped Gaara.
"Oh, god! I didn't!?" Gaara moaned into a nearby pillow.
"No, you didn't, but it would have been hilarious if you had!" D'gani cackled as Gaara hurled the pillow at him.
"You bastard!" Gaara cursed as he chased D'gani out of the room and down the hall, brandishing his pillow violently. He eventually pinned the other boy on the couch and began to tickle him to "death". "That'll teach you not to play tricks on people!" Gaara said dismissively, climbing of the giggling boy.
"If you say so, Princess Buttercup." D'gani giggled madly as this initiated yet another game of tag around the house.
Hinata answered the doorbell when it rung and was slightly surprised to find Tenten waiting on the other side. She politely showed Tenten up to Neji's room before quickly leaving. She never had liked Tenten very much.
"Oh, hey Ten." Neji greeted his friend when he answered Hinata's knock. "So, we should probably do the posters on our favourite artists first. Who have you picked?" Neji asked the girl as he pulled out some paper and felt-tip pens as well as some colouring pencils and some books about famous artists.
"I was thinking of doing Leonardo Da Vinci (A/N: how cliché). Who are you doing?" Tenten asked as she pulled out a book about her chosen artist.
"Friedrich. I love his paintings. Or maybe Caravaggio. His David and Goliath collection is amazing. But definitely something from around the Romanticism period of the Renaissance era." Tenten stared at Neji in wonder and was mentally squealing like the pathetic fangirl she is. Neji didn't seem to notice the stars in Tenten's eyes and instead turned around to start a rough plan of his poster.
"Wow, how do you know all that stuff about art?" Tenten's voice was filled with sycophantic undertones and the answer she received was definitely not one she wanted to hear.
"Gaara taught me all about it. He knows a lot about art and history. He also paints and draws and writes really well. I probably should have invited him to help us today. He knows enough about Leonardo Da Vinci to write his biography!" Neji didn't notice how stiff and angry Tenten had become. Nor did he remember to charge his phone.
"Come on! Pick up!" Gaara glared as he again only got Neji's answering machine. He couldn't even call Neji's home number because the boys had never seen it as necessary to exchange them. D'gani looked at Gaara for a few moments as the redhead angrily flipped his phone off and started pacing restlessly.
"Gaara?" D'gani tried. He was completely ignored as the redhead's pacing increased in velocity and area. "Gaara!" D'gani tried again, with as little effect as before. D'gani gathered all the power he had acquired from being the lead singer of a rock band and yelled at the top of his lungs. "GAARA!!!!!!!" Gaara jumped at the sheer volume of the small boy's voice.
"What?" Gaara stared bemusedly at his friend's look of exasperation.
"If you want, I will drive you to Neji's." D'gani replied, rolling his eyes and trying to be patient.
"Really? Thank you so much!" Gaara all but ran outside, followed by a chuckling D'gani.
Neji was busy on his poster. He had nearly finished it and was surprised to see that Tenten had barely started hers. "Having trouble thinking of ideas?" He asked her sympathetically. She shook her head slightly and leaned in closer. Too close. She pressed her lips against his as Gaara and Hinata walked into the room. Neji froze and Tenten exploited this moment to make the most of this opportunity. Gaara's eyes filled with tears and he turned and ran from the room, followed by Hinata. Neji had overcome his shock and shoved Tenten away from him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He spat at her.
"You should be with me, Neji! A girl! Not some weird demon-freak boy!" Tenten wailed as Neji ran from the room after his love...
A/N: Ooooooooh! A cliffy! Anyway, please read and review if you have any opinion of my story. Or don't. I don't want to be one of those authors that only updates id they get heaps of reviews. But I do love the reviews and they could potentially make what you want to happen come close to happening. Ah the shameless bribery!
