Gaaaah! I know everyone hates me and everything! I'm really sorry for taking so long to update! But I've been struggling with this story and trying to find ways to make it better for the readers. Need to shove in some plot as well.
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By: Hiki-chan
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Naruto was having a boring night. Sure there was food, sure there was ramen (lovely, lovely ramen!) but it was boring! Gosh, parties like these were always so dull and draggy. He would rather be lazing around at home. It was however, amusing to watch Gaara glare at all the other guests and watch them flinch away in pure fright. Yes, Naruto was sadist at heart. Gaara was not happy being here and he made sure everyone knew about it.
He was introduced to the Hyuuga's by Neji. He was introduced to Hinata and her sister Hanabi. Thankfully, it wasn't as awkward as he thought it would turn out to be. Hinata was everything like a heir should be, Naruto concluded, she was poise, polite, delicate yet firm in her speech and she was able to command respect. Though she did end up stuttering a few sentences when he grinned at her, sometimes Naruto wondered if he would ever figure his secretary out.
Hanabi was quieter; she did not speak a word unless spoken to. Naruto had sort of given up speaking to her after a few attempts.
There were a few who had tried to approach Hinata, asking for a date or dance which she would politely refuse. Those more insistent ones, Naruto soon learned that Neji was a rather protective cousin, were aimed a well practiced glare by Neji who decided to stand next to his cousin. His presence had soon warred off any potential suitors.
Naruto was highly amused when he noticed his best friend's darkening mood. He wasn't really sure what Gaara's deal was but he suspected it had something to do with Neji. He was not blind, especially not to his precious people. Something was going on between Gaara and Neji, but Naruto wouldn't question it until he knew Gaara was ready to tell him. He was just awesome like that.
It was only when Rock Lee arrived where Naruto felt his spirit lift, just a little.
"GOOD EVENING MY CHERRY BLOSSOM! YOU LOOK AS GORGEOUS AS THE MOON SHIMMING IN THE NIGHT SKY!"
Okay, maybe a lot.
He found Sakura, Gaara and his own reaction rather amusing. Shaking his head, Naruto took hold of Gaara's arm and dragged him to the side, out of the way of Lee and Sakura.
"G-Good evening, Lee-san." Sakura smiled, her eyebrow twitched in embarrassment.
Lee smiled so brightly Naruto swore even Gaara flinched back slightly. A bouquet of roses was brought forward into the pink-haired girl's arms. "For you my lovely! I knew you would be coming so I, LEE THE GREEN BEAST had specially plucked prize-winning roses from the golden garden of the Rock's mansion!"
Naruto had a soft murmured 'Is he for real?' come from Gaara and he hid a snigger.
Sakura glanced down at the roses, they really were prize-winning. "How thoughtful, Lee-san." A real smile crossed her face.
The blond swore Lee's face had exploded in happiness. "YES! THE CHERRY BLOSSOM HAS ACCEPTED THE SECOND GIFT OF ROCK LEE! KONOHA'S GREEN BEAST!"
"Lee."
Naruto's mouth fell open in pure shock when a man came from behind Lee. Was this man for real?! Seriously, he was almost an exact duplicate of Lee, minus the fact of some minor differences like height, the shape of the face and eyes.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee twirled round and gave the man a winning beam. "She has accepted round two!"
"Lee," Gai put his hand under his chin, his eyes totally serious. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lee!"
Round eyes widened at his sensei, "What is it, Gai-sensei?"
"Lee," The taller of the two held his two hands up in the air, "your present is UNBALANCED!"
Lee did a dramatic double-take.
"While your present may have covered the beauty and elegance of this young lady, you have FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!"
Lee's face was a pale white. "W-What is that? Gai-sensei?!"
"CHOCOLATES! FINE CHOCOLATES MY DEAR LEE, EVERY LADY NEEDS TO HAVE A BALANCE OF FLOWERS AND CHOCOLATES!"
Lee gasped loudly as tears streamed down his face. "OF COURSE GAI-SENSEI! HOW COULD I FORGET?!"
"Don't ever forget my dear Lee." Gai had this closed-eyes contemplative but somewhat cool expression on his face.
The younger Rock took a deep breath and turned back to a rather dazed Sakura. "Please forgive me Sakura-san, it seems like I'm not experienced enough in the concept of romancing!" Lee turned away as more tears streamed down his face. "I have... let you down my fair blossom."
"Ano... Lee-san," Sakura smiled nervously especially since most of the guests were watching. She could hear Naruto sniggering away at the side and promised herself to hurt him later. "It's alright. The flowers are more than enough, they're lovely."
Lee turned back to face her, his watery eyes wide and filled with adoration. "R-Really? Sakura-san?"
"Lee-san, the flowers are good enough." Sakura smiled sweetly at Lee. Lee... had this charm that was somehow appealing to her. Weird.
"As expected of a kind-hearted lady!" Gai suddenly burst out, as he suddenly appeared in front of Sakura with his perfect good-guy smile blinding Sakura momentarily.
"I'm so happy Sakura-san, you forgive me for this devastating mistake?!"
Sakura's head tilted a little, "Of course."
"Such forgivingness!" Gai exclaimed, now his own tears pouring down his cheeks. "Lee, you have chosen well! And I, GAI, AM TOUCHED AND PROUD OF YOU MY SON!
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
Naruto watch this 'heart-warming' reunion with a big sweat-drop as he wondered why Lee called his own father 'sensei'.
--
Naruto chuckled when he thought back to just now. It really was amusing to him, but at least Sakura seemed to get used to it, seeing that she was dancing with Lee now. The blond smiled to himself, her happiness was his happiness and the same went for Gaara. His two best friends in the whole world. As childish as that sounded it was true. The people who had accepted him for who he is and not who was in him.
Clear blue eyes lidded when a strong gust of wind blew pass him. Right now, Naruto was right out in the open at the magnificent fountain that the Hyuuga's had owned. He had been strolling along the garden alone because Gaara wanted some time alone, being the understanding friend he was, he didn't question Gaara about it.
He didn't ask Sakura to come for a stroll because she was busy with Lee and besides, it was nice to spend a little quality time by himself. A nice night tonight was. Just like it was... 19 years ago.
Clear blue eyes widened and flashed red for a moment before Naruto put a hand to his temple, his head throbbing.
Guilt... now wasn't the time to feel guilt. He was suppose to be over this. Naruto's breathing got heavier as bad memories clouded his mind.
Monster
No... he was not.
Monster
No! Stop it, he was not. He is not.
Monster... Creature of the dark.
Stop it... Stop it!
It was all your fault...
It wasn't! It wasn't!
All your fault.
No, no, no, no! NO!
You killed. You Killed.
He didn't! He didn't! It wasn't him!
You killed, you killed HER.
STOP IT!
"Usuratonkachi?"
Darkened blue eyes dilated before it reverted back to its natural clear cerulean color. Naruto took in short breaths, trying to calm himself down. He could feel a warm soothing flame swirling inside his body and knew that his demon was trying to alleviate his sudden stress and pain. His headache cleared.
"T-Teme?"
From the corner, Sasuke stepped out into the open and frowned at Naruto's state. The blond looked terrible. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing." Naruto answered a little too quickly as he wiped the sweat off his brow.
It wasn't nothing, Sasuke knew. He saw the blond in that pained condition and had spoken to see the blond snap out of it. Che, it wasn't his problem if Naruto didn't want to say anything about it.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, trying to get his bearing altogether. He had to appear nonchalant to stop Sasuke from feeling suspicious.
Sasuke easily saw through it but didn't comment. Instead, he rose an eyebrow, "What? Are you the only one allowed to take a stroll?"
Naruto felt the warm spread throughout his being, he turned away from Sasuke and smiled a little. "Tch, teme." At least Sasuke was there to snap him out of his hazy memories.
The raven took a few steps towards the blond and stopped. "You okay?"
There was a scoff from Naruto but the smile still stayed, "I didn't know you cared."
"If I didn't care then I would have left your hand inside the vending machine and allowed it to rot."
"I thought you did that just so that your employees still could use the vending machine instead of having it wasted by having my hand stuck there."
Sasuke bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anything back. He knew the blond was kidding, but it still made him mad that Naruto thought of him as that kind of person.
Then again... his actions didn't really do anything to prove himself to not be that type of person.
Instead of getting angry, Sasuke took the comment, twisted it and threw it back to Naruto. "That's true. It would have been such a waste after all."
"Teme." The blond bristled and was about to pounce on Sasuke but he stopped when he heard voices.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to talk to you."
Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened at the same time as they recognized the voices. Not wasting any time, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled the blond into the bushes at the corner.
"Teme!" Naruto hissed as the sharp branches left small cuts on his hands and face.
"Shut, Uzumaki," Sasuke hissed back. He had cuts on himself as well so the blond had no right to complain.
Naruto glared but didn't say anything as two figures came from around the corner to the fountain. Sasuke and Naruto huddled together from behind the bushes as their friends came into view.
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Neji pulled Gaara towards the fountain. It was quiet here, no one would disturb them.
"Let go off me!" Gaara hissed angrily as he yanked his hand out of Neji's grip.
"I said I need to talk to you." Neji insisted and tried to reach for Gaara's hand.
Gaara growled and took a step back. "I'm here already Hyuuga just say what you want."
Neji bit his bottom lip in irritation.
The redhead made a disgusted sound at the back of his throat, "If you have nothing to say to me Hyuuga, I'll be off."
"Wait Gaara!"
"I told you to stop calling me that." Gaara said between gritted teeth.
Neji didn't answer to that. "I just want to talk to you.
"You dragged me all the way from inside to here just to talk?" Gaara scoffed in a very sarcastic fashion.
"I wanted to talk to you in private." The taller of the two insisted.
Gaara glared up, "I don't want to have anything to do with you."
Neji clenched his fist, unaffected by the glare. Instead, he crossed the small space between them and trapped Gaara by taking hold of his wrists.
"What are you doing Hyuuga." It wasn't a question; it was a threat, a warning.
"This." And with that, Neji bent down and captured Gaara's lips with his own.
The kiss however was short-lived when Gaara wrenched his hands away with a mighty tug and shoved Neji. The Hyuuga stumbled back a few steps before he was met with an impact where Gaara punched him.
"You're an asshole." Gaara bit out harshly, taking a few precautious steps away from Neji. However, his face sported a tinge of red. "I hate you. Stop coming after me. Get it through your thick-skull." With that, Gaara turned away and was about to walk away but Neji spoke again.
"You don't hate me Gaara. I know you better than that."
The redhead clenched his fist together, highly irritated with Neji. But instead of saying anything he took a step away, intending to ignore the Hyuuga.
"You're going back?"
"I'm finding Naruto and getting the hell out of here." Gaara replied, his voice was soft and deadly.
"What does Naruto have that I don't Gaara?" Neji almost yelled but it came out as an intense whisper. "Why do you care so much about him other than him being your best friend?"
Gaara paused in his step before he turned back slightly, his green eyes blazing with hatred. "Don't you dare compare yourself to Naruto."
Neji opened his mouth but couldn't really find the words to say.
"Naruto will always mean more to me than you ever will." And with that said, Gaara left.
The Hyuuga gritted his teeth together but didn't say anything before he took off in the other direction.
-
When the two of them were gone, Naruto sunk onto the ground right along with Sasuke.
"What just happened?" The blond muttered in a daze.
Sasuke didn't reply. He tried to understand what had just taken place.
Naruto didn't seem to mind the lack of response from the raven. Neji had kissed Gaara. He had actually kissed Gaara. Whoa... Inside, the blond shuddered. Gaara was exceptionally cold towards Neji. The words and the harsh tone had made Naruto almost want to run away. He knew, Naruto knew that Gaara was considered a very dangerous man to those who didn't know him, but what could have happened between Gaara and Neji?
Sasuke didn't fair any better. Although he would admit it wasn't his business to nose into his friend's business, the fact that it had to do with the dangerous Sabaku Gaara of Sand. There was definitely some prying that needed to be done. The raven sighed and turned his head in the directly Neji had gone. Though now wasn't the best time since Neji was in a bad mood. However, seeing a jealous Neji was unsettling.
"Teme get your duck-butt hair out of my face!"
Sasuke growled lowly and turned back, "What did you say, dobe?" He threatened. Only now then did he notice how close Naruto and him sat.
Naruto grinned mischievously at the threat, momentarily forgetting about what had just happened. "Did I stutter?"
"You-" Sasuke glared at the grin, he had to calm himself down and not react to any of the idiot's words. "Tch, thankfully for you dobe, I am mature enough not to threaten you with a picture of your hand stuck in the vending machine."
Naruto blinked once, before he blinked again. "What?"
Sasuke smirked, he had the blond now. "Apparently there was a security camera there. And it taped you trying to get your hand unstuck from the vending machine."
The blonde's mouth fell open. No. Way. "T-T-Teme! You're kidding, right?!"
"Would I kid?" Sasuke had this self-satisfied smile on his face that made Naruto want to hit him hard. "I had the pleasure of watching it over and over how you got stuck and how you tried to get out of it."
Naruto flushed in embarrassment. Oh help him, if anyone had seen that... someone like Kiba, Naruto would never hear the end of it. The scene of him trying to get his hand unstuck must have been hilarious especially since he was cursing and swearing while tugging his hand in vain. Yeah... then it would have shown the part where Sasuke arrived and had helped him by pulling him out of that predicament... then...
His face burned at the memory. If Sasuke had watched the tape over and over, did it mean that he also saw the part where they accidentally kissed? Naruto thought maybe his cheeks had exploded in the sheer heat that his blood was pumping up to them. Did Sasuke watch the part where they kissed over and over?
Mistaking Naruto's reddening cheeks as embarrassment to his hand being stuck in a vending machine, Sasuke continued smirking.
Naruto glanced up to glare heatedly at Sasuke. That smirking bastard, he would make him eat those words if it was the last thing to do.
"What's the matter dobe? Vending machine's got your tongue?"
A blond eyebrow twitched. Oh the Uchiha was so in for it. With a hiss, Naruto pounced on Sasuke.
The Uchiha growled and the both of them immediately began to fight. Both tried to roll on top of the other to get the upper-hand. That was until they heard a soft cough.
"Ahem. Gentlemen?"
Naruto froze in his struggle while Sasuke almost choked on his own saliva.
"O-Otou-san?"
To be continued.
Whew... finally done with this chapter. Sorry once again for the slow update! I'm still struggling with the plot.
I've been wanting to write a fluffy oneshot... (for a contest on Aarinfantasy) but I'm at a lost. What to do, what to do?!
On the side note, I'm glad that people enjoy this story and I'm also touched that some have been trying to cure my lack of inspiration. Unfortunately, it's not working that well. Stupid Sasuke! GAAAAH! D: It's just my personal opinion but how dare he compare team hebi/eagle/hawk(whatever) with Naruto and the others!?
-cough- Anyway, I'll take this opportunity to thank those who had pushed me to update this story through reviews and PMs. Thank you. 8D