Only In Fiction

Chapter Nine

"I think…" Hyuuga Neji began, glancing over at Sasuke who looked up from his coffee to give him his full attention. "I think you should come over for dinner for once. After all…" Neji eyes focused on his sister and Uzumaki-kun who laughed ahead of them. They were walking several steps behind them, and were far enough that the pair ahead couldn't hear their low voices. "I think you should bring Uzumaki-kun with you."

Sasuke snorted, sipping from his coffee cup. The stands coffee wasn't as good as the coffee from the café, but it would do. "Why should we come?"

Neji gave Sasuke his most insulting look that tended to make Sasuke shiver. It was that devious, mischievous look Neji always gave Sasuke when he wanted something that would push Sasuke beyond the boundaries. "Be~cause," Neji said in a lyric voice, "you know how much I hate it when you upset Hinata, so I recommend you accept her request otherwise," he cracked his knuckles, and that was all he had to do to understand the threat.

Damn Neji, he'd planned this some how. "Fine, whatever," Sasuke replied in surrender. There was no way he was going to get out of this.

For some reason, Sasuke's heart went a flutter when they headed to the patio of Neji's and Hinata's place, watching Uzumaki-kun smile and laugh with Hinata-san as Neji pulled out his rather large telescope. Sasuke missed the old days they used to stargaze with that old telescope, and was rather surprised Neji still even had it after all these years. Sasuke also admitted that Neji had picked the right night to stargaze, since the sky was so clear.

An arm wrapped itself around Sasuke's waist, startling him enough to focus on Hatake-senpai who smiled causally down at him. "You look lost there, kiddo," Hatake-senpai commented, squeezing Sasuke a little before dropping his arm. "Iruka even said that after dinner."

"I have a lot of things on my mind, Hatake-senpai," Sasuke muttered as Umino-senpai joined them, smiling behind his cup. "What brings you two here anyways? I feel like you're all trying to prevent me from going home."

"We heard from your beloved brother about what happened, and we've all been worried. Even Haruno-san was worried, but since work is keeping her back, she couldn't come by."

"It seems everyone is busy these days," Sasuke whispered to himself, knowing the two adults held him loud and clear.

"That isn't true, Sasuke-kun," Umino-senpai replied, resting his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke had never admitted that Umino-senpai was the ideal father in his opinion. It was just something that screamed "fatherly" whenever Sasuke saw Umino-senpai, though Umino-senpai was only four years older than him. "I think it's just that you're only seeing that is because you are trying your best to shut us out once again."

Why was Hatake-senpai and Umino-senpai so father-like to Sasuke? There was something about them that made Sasuke feel a little safer than he did around other people—besides Neji and his brother of course. "I have not," Sasuke muttered, hearing the two adults laugh lightly.

"Oh yes you have," Hatake-senpai chuckled, moving ahead. "Now, I must see what the other kiddo's are up to before they break something," Hatake-senpai winked at Sasuke and Umino-senpai before moving towards Neji and Uzumaki-kun.

"I'm curious," Sasuke began when Umino-senpai and he were alone. "What makes you so interest in Hatake-senpai anyways?"

Umino-senpai smiled weakly before running a hand through his hair. "It's hard to explain, really. It's something better experienced than explained," he admitted, his eyes trailing after Hatake-senpai. "It was weird, that day when he admitted his feelings for me. I didn't know how to think or what to think about. Then again, there probably shouldn't have been a moment to think, just to respond. It was whether I could accept Kakashi as my lover or not. It was just impulse when I answered, and when I did, I wasn't even sure I cared that way. You may think of Kakashi as a pervert "old" man, but deep down, he's sweet and cares greatly for you and your brother. That part about him is never going to change."

That was true, because the way the man managed before his romantic life, social life and work life was a complete miracle.

"Besides, the sex was great."

He could have done without that. "Umino-senpai…" Sasuke groaned as he face palmed. Umino-senpai began to laugh when he saw that action. "Seriously, senpai, I could have done without knowing about your sex life."

"What's wrong with our sex life?" Hatake-senpai commented as he stepped back up to them. "Is it me, or is it chilly out here?"

"It is rather cold, actually," Umino-senpai replied, pulling his jacket tighter. Obviously, he hadn't seen or noticed what was underneath the comment.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but if you're cold Iruka, then I can think up many ways to keep you warm."

Sasuke choked, not believing he was hearing this. Actually he could, the main reason he choked was the expressions and actions the group did once they heard the comment. Hinata-san's horrified (ok, she's a yaoi fangirl, yes, but gosh, she doesn't want to see it in reality) face, the way Neji shook his head and the way Uzumaki-kun looked rather confused all wanted to make Sasuke laugh, but he decided that wasn't the best thing to do. Instead, he put all his focus on Uzumaki-kun. You've lived a sheltered life, haven't you Uzumaki-kun? "I don't get it," Uzumaki-kun finally said, looking between everyone warily.

"Don't ask," Neji and Sasuke said in unison, not wanting to have to go through the "joke" inside that comment. That was the last thing either of them were willing to explain. "Seriously," Sasuke began glaring at Hatake-senpai who smirked at him. "Must you have a sick mind all the time? Or do you just do it on purpose to piss me off."

"I think both of them are the suitable answer," Hatake-senpai replied, grinning at Umino-senpai who rolled his eyes. "At least you don't live with this side of me like Iruka does."

"I wonder ho he's stayed sane this whole time," Sasuke muttered, turning to move back into the house. "Hyuuga-senpai, I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, yeah," Neji muttered, moving away from the telescope. "I think I got it in the right angle. If you look through it, Uzumaki-kun, you could probably see Mars."

"Really?" Uzumaki-kun replied in a excited tone. "Awesome!"

"Now what the hell are you doing?" Sasuke snapped as they sat down in the living room, just out of site of the patio that was connected to the kitchen and family room. "I don't understand why you've called everyone over, and I'm completely surprised my brother isn't here either."

"I can explain," Neji said, sitting down across from Sasuke. "We all know what happened…that day, and because your beloved bastard of a father was spotted again, we thought it was best to keep you away from home. Bring Uzumaki-kun was on a whim as well."

"A whim, what do you mean, a whim?" Sasuke demanded annoyed how once again everything was kept a secret.

"Gaara tends to mutter a lot of shit in his sleep, especially when he's exhausted. The last few days he's been kept on hills because of his little brother being in trouble, though he hasn't see his little brother since he was at the Orphanage; he has been talking about how he's in danger. It's just small mutters, sometimes I can't catch everything he's saying, but it sounds like your family has something to do with it." Neji crossed his arm, his eyes narrowing. "I did some research into his "little brother" background and where he's ended up."

"Alright, and what does this have to do with Uzumaki-kun?" Sasuke demanded.

"What did Gaara call his little brother, Sasuke?"

"I don't know, it was a long time ago when he mentioned the name."

"His name is Naruto," Neji stated, getting a questioning look from Sasuke. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke stopped breathing for a moment, trying to take it in carefully. Uzumaki-kun…was Gaara's little brother. It was plausible, since Uzumaki-kun was a orphan after all. "Ok, so you're saying our Uzumaki Naruto is his little brother."

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Neji agreed with him. "Sasuke, do you remember who Gaara had stated as the killer of his brother's parents?"

"My father…" Sasuke whispered, remembering the conversation well now. "My father was behind their death."

"Uzumaki-kun's actually surname is Namikaze, did you know?"

"What, impossible," Sasuke stood up, beginning to pace behind the couch. "Impossible, how could he be a Namikaze? Since when did the Uzumaki family have any relationship with the Namikaze family?"

Neji stood up and walked over to his bag, pulling out a large file and waving it about as he sat back down. "I thought that too, so I did a thorough research into Naruto's background. His father, Namikaze Minato, did indeed marry an Uzumaki member, and her name was Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina."

"T-The Hot-Blooded Habanero?" Sasuke choked, knowing the name well. "Dear god, he married the Hot-Blooded Habanero? She was a freaking Yankee!"

"That, too, made me surprised, but it seemed they were both childhood sweet-hearts," Neji said opening the file. "It makes sense though, since Naruto is very like his mother in the personality sense, and very like his father in looks. Unfortunately, the Uzumaki family never got along with the Uchiha family, and the Uchiha family—no offense—were to stuck up to even consider being allies with them. What makes this tale so tragic is that the Namikaze family was up there with the Uchiha family, in fact, Naruto's father got on very well with your father. I also found something interesting out about your mother while I was looking into this."

"What about my mother?"

"Did you know she was best friends with Uzumaki Kushina, Sasuke?" Neji asked a small smile on his lips. "Your mother was the only one I know that got along with the Uzumaki family besides the fact that more than fifty percent of them were either Yankees or Yakuza's. It makes you wonder what kind of person your mother really was, now doesn't it Sasuke?"

Actually, it did. "So how did Naruto survive this whole attack?"

Neji's eyes darkened, startling Sasuke. "He barely survived, Sasuke. Naruto most likely witnessed something so horrifying that it took him a long time to heal. Gaara said to me that when Naruto first arrived, he was impossible to communicate with. You could say, there was nothing left inside him. However, after some time, Naruto began to "work" again, or that's what Gaara said. Soon enough, Naruto actually forgot what happened, and grew up to what we see today. Behind Naruto's feisty personality that we've clashed with so many times over the years is the side you've been seeing the most. A very gentle, kind personality that is fiercely protective. Did I tell you Naruto nearly bit my head off when I told him to stay away from you, and not get caught up in what was going on? He became very defensive of you, which completely and utterly worried me."

Sasuke leaned back in his seat—having sat down while Neji had spoken—and closed his eyes. It made him feel so much more better knowing Naruto had actually jumped to protect him, but he too was worried about Naruto getting caught up in this. However, he couldn't shake it all off any more. He needed to know more. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because you are Uchiha Sasuke, and you have fallen in love with Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke only stared at Neji. F-Fallen in love? Maybe it was possible that he had fallen in love with Naruto, but even he wasn't sure if it was right. "Come again?"

"You, Uchiha Sasuke, are in love with Uzumaki Naruto," Neji stated clearly. "Don't say you're not, because I know you better than anyone. You might not believe its love just yet, but I can tell your very attached the blonde."

"I don't believe it," Sasuke said, a slight, weak laugh in his voice. "Love? Are you feeling alright Hyuuga-senpai?"

"Sasuke, just think about it," Neji stood up, handing the file to Sasuke. "Have a read through it. It'll become something of interest."