OOOOH! Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be finally posting this chapter! This is the big turning point in the story, adds a bunch of mystery and pretty much turns everything quite dark. I had been thinking about making it take this turn for a while now but I only decided to do it a month or so ago. Because really it could have gone either way and still stuck with the summary, but it will turn out so much better this way. So I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!

Rating: T

Pairings: Deidara/Naruto, Neji/Naruto (I'm pretty sure that Deidara won't be showing up in chapter 11 so it'll pretty much be a Neji/Naru chapter.)

Warnings: Shonen-ai is pretty much all right now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto at all, but I do own Matsumoto Nanami!

Learning to Love Again

Chapter ten

"Deidara..." the name tasted horrible in his mouth, almost like he was tasting his own vomit. He could feel the disgust that echoed in his body just because of the man's name. To even think about the man himself made him want to leave the room so that he could get some fresh air. Deidara made him sick. But not only did Deidara make him sick but he made himself sick as well. "What about him, Naruto?" he could hear Nanami's question but couldn't bring himself to immediately respond. He was just too absorbed by his thoughts.

He couldn't actually believe that he had done it; he really didn't even want to think about the horrible events that had passed since he and Neji had returned from their mission days ago. Naruto was simply finding himself more and more repulsed with his thoughts and actions that had finally led up to this meeting so that he could get some kind of guidance. "Naruto..." Nanami's voice was hesitant, wanting to break the silence that her patient had created so that they could get down to whatever problem he seemed to be having. "I did something, Nanami..." Naruto's voice was rough, weighed down with his repressed emotions about this entire matter.

Nanami adopted a concerned look, "What is it? Did something happen with Neji?" Naruto was still for a moment before he shook his head, after a moment nodding before quickly shaking his head again just before he sighed exasperatedly and lowered his head into his hands. "Nothing happened with him...but he is involved indirectly I guess..." Part of Naruto was beginning to think that coming here had been a bad idea. "What happened, Naruto?" her voice was so kind that he grimaced, tasting his disgust once again. He didn't deserve her kindness nor her caring; what he deserved was to be punished for the crime he had committed against his lover.

"...Neji..." it was all that she caught of his mumble as his fingers gripped his blonde locks tightly, she noticed that it looked like Naruto wanted to pull his hair right out. "What was that?" Nanami watched as Naruto's fingers tightened even more as his entire body tensed up, this only caused her to become more concerned than before. "...I cheated on Neji..." his voice was still low, barely a whisper, but this time she could hear his words and they shocked her so deeply that she seemed impassive.

Silence enveloped them for minutes as Nanami ran the words in her mind time and time again. She couldn't really believe what he had just said, though she knew that she had no reason to think Naruto was lying to her, especially about something like this. "...Who Naruto?" seconds after she asked the question she found herself almost recoiling into her chair from the obvious answer. No...he couldn't...not now...not...again... She wanted to believe that she was just thinking incorrectly but she knew entirely too well that she was right on the money.

Naruto shook as he sat in his usual spot, forcefully holding back his tears by biting his lip, not noticing at all the blood that filled his mouth slowly nor the little dribble of the red substance that was beginning to trickle from the side of his mouth. "...Naruto...you didn't..." it was said in a near pleading tone. "Please...tell me that you didn't..." though he wanted to do as she asked he couldn't speak, and Naruto knew that his silence spoke volumes.

The sigh that left her in such an exasperated and disapproving manner just made the Kyuubi container feel even worse. "He came back..." finally he spoke in a whisper, swallowing thickly and recognizing subconsciously the metallic tang of his own blood but not really understanding just why the taste was there. "He came back for me..." Nanami could only watch him from her chair as she took off her glasses and set them aside, on top of her forgotten notebook. After a moment she stood up slowly and moved so that she could sit next to him. "Naruto..." the bluenette placed her hand on his shoulder like she had done many times in the past, making the blonde jump just slightly before his hands fell to rest between his spread knees.

"I didn't mean for anything to happen... I love Neji..." it sounded like he was now trying to convince himself of it. "I wish he hadn't come for me..." Nanami could almost feel pity for her patient and hugged him, completely expecting the lack of reaction on his part. Naruto shook his head before he pulled himself up off of the couch and out of her embrace. "Thanks for listening..." he said quietly as he began walking toward the door, wanting to get out now before the conversation went on further and he heard the guidance that he no longer wanted. "Naruto," she stood up and followed him slowly, "if he makes contact with you again...call me." He nodded once before walking out the door without another word.

Nanami stood still for a moment before she walked over to the window that she sometimes found herself watching Naruto from when he left her office. For a little while she only stared out at the road and trees but then she saw the form of her friend walking slowly in the direction of his home. She sighed as she watched him and shook her head, "Please, Naruto...don't make us do this..." she knew that her plea was most likely in vain no matter how much she prayed.

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He knew he was a horrible person for this, he truly did, but it didn't stop him for even a moment as his lips once again found Deidara's as they moved closer and closer to the bed that they had been finding themselves on almost daily since Naruto and Neji had returned from their mission. "This is wrong, Dei..." it wasn't the first time that Deidara had heard that so he only chuckled and rolled his eyes before kissing Naruto gently. "What happened to your lip, un?" he asked, not responding to the statement that had been made seconds before. Naruto looked down like he was attempting to look at his lips to see what was wrong but after a moment he simply ran his tongue over the pink flesh, feeling the gashes that his teeth had left not long ago. He shrugged nonchalantly before bringing his marred lips to mesh with his lover's perfect ones.

"If it's so wrong," Deidara began, finally getting around to saying something, "then why don't you push me away, un?" there was no answer to that nor any attempt to push the Akatsuki member away as Deidara laid them both down on the bed, shaking his head in an amused manner at Naruto. "...We shouldn't be doing this here," Naruto finally whispered as the elder's lips found their way down his neck and to his chest. No attempted response came from Deidara as he was too focused on what he was currently doing to even worry about the things that Naruto constantly said whenever they found themselves alone together. "I really..." Naruto's voice was weak, "I really think that...we should stop seeing each other..." those were the words that caused Deidara to look up at Naruto for a moment with his eyes narrowed slightly, but just seconds later he was back to stripping the clothing off his lover as if nothing had been said.

"I want you to leave with me, Naruto, un," it was the first thing that Deidara had said in nearly five minutes, which was a bit unusual for him. Naruto looked at the man hesitantly, not wanting to respond to his words, but knowing that he would have to. "Dei..." his blue eyes found themselves looking at the man's chest instead of his eyes, "...I can't..." A sigh found its way out between Deidara's parted lips as he looked down at Naruto disapprovingly. "I can't leave here without you, un," Naruto didn't speak. "I can kill him," finally blue eyes were locked together as Naruto glared at his lover angrily for suggesting the same thing for the fourth time. "Then you won't have any reason to stay here, un."

Deidara was only trying to be helpful in his own twisted way, Naruto knew that and was...sort of touched by the caring that the man conveyed the only way he knew how, with violence. "I have friends here, Deidara," the man nearly flinched back when he heard the entirety of his name leave the young blonde's lips in hatred, but ended up only shrugging in an uncaring manner as he smirked. "I can kill them too, un," Naruto's glare only became sharper after hearing those words leave the Akatsuki bomber. "If you kill anyone, Deidara," Naruto began in a threatening whisper, reaching up as he spoke to grip Deidara's bicep tightly, "I will never go anywhere with you."

Deidara nodded with his eyes downcast as the message got through to him quite clearly. "I love you, un," he whispered out, quickly forgetting everything that had just been said. Naruto didn't return the words which only caused the elder to sigh before he leaned down and kissed the jinchuriki softly. "You don't have to say it but I know that you feel the same, un."

"I'm home," Naruto's eyes widened when he heard Neji's sudden call from downstairs. His eyes glanced at the door momentarily before switching quickly to Deidara, panic in his gaze. Deidara only smirked before he leaned down and kissed Naruto once again, not disappearing like the younger expected, and was hoping for, but only continued to carry on what he had been doing before all the conversation began between them. "Dei..." his name was said impatiently as Naruto heard Neji's light footfalls coming up the stairs and down the hall toward their room. "Why do you care if he sees us, un?"

"I can't go through this with you right now, Deidara!" Naruto was exasperated, "Just...go!" He began to get more and more desperate as he heard Neji get closer and came to the realization that Deidara wasn't going to be leaving. Finally, he found the strength to shove Deidara away from him just as the door began to open. A disappointed Akatsuki member sighed and shook his head at his lover, smiling just a second later and disappearing just as the door swung open. Naruto heaved a sigh of relief, getting a raised eyebrow in response from his lover who was smiling at him from the doorway. Neji's smile only lasted for a brief moment as he began taking in the man's appearance, "...Were you hoping for someone else?" he asked jokingly.

Naruto was frozen for a good couple of moments, just simply staring at the brunette from the bed. They both continued to watch one another in silence before Neji smiled again and walked over to his very eager looking lover. "If you were so interested then you could've called; I would've gotten home much quicker," Naruto glanced around him quickly, finding air beside him and so gave Neji a confused look, wondering just why the man was saying such things to him. After a short second he realized where Neji was looking and gave himself a quick glance as well, his eyes widened slightly as he blushed. "I—ah—uh...Neji...I—" Naruto couldn't really get out a word, much less a sentence as the Hyuga got closer to him, finally getting onto the bed and taking up his dominative roll. "...Um...Neji?" Neji just smiled down at Naruto before connecting their lips in a kiss.

The kiss was quick, mostly because Naruto pushed away the brunette. Neji's eyes narrowed just slightly in concern and he opened his mouth to question Naruto, yet his words never got the chance to leave him as the phone rang. Both men looked over at the small ringing device before looking back at each other. Naruto urged him with a look to pick up the phone and Neji sighed and reached over, keeping in mind to ask Naruto about what was the matter once this call was finished. "Hello?"

"Neji, it's Nanami..."

"Oh, well Naruto's rig—"

"No, Neji, I need to talk to you." Neji's eyes narrowed and he sat up, resting on his heals, Naruto watching him carefully with a slightly puzzled look. "Okay then..." he heard the sigh that Nanami emitted form the other end of the line and got concerned. It was already extremely unusual that she would call them, but for her to call and want to speak with him...well Neji knew that it could probably only mean one thing. "We've come across a problem..." he didn't want to heard that. Not now...not again.

He didn't make a move to speak, he wanted to hear Nanami speak further, "it seems that he is losing the battle once again..." This time Neji sighed and looked down at Naruto for a quick second, "Don't tell me that. I need to know that everything is going to turn out better this time..." he said it even though he knew it wouldn't make a difference. Facts were facts. Nanami was silent for a moment and Neji already knew what was coming next, "In the morning meet in Hokage-sama's office... The details need to be sorted out..." Neji didn't lower the phone after she hung up without saying goodbye; he only sat there, paralyzed and staring into the curious eyes of his lover.

"Neji, is everyone okay? Who's on the phone?" lavender eyes closed before Neji let his hand drop, coming to fall at his side limply. Naruto jumped when the phone crashed to the floor and the battery pack popped out of it but he kept himself together and sat up when Neji got off of the bed and began walking back to the door he had walked in only minutes before. "...Neji...?" the elder didn't respond to his lover as he left the room and Naruto didn't make any move to go after him.

Naruto... I can't do this anymore...

TBC...

A/N: And there is chapter 10! Can't wait for 11, can you? ;) Well it'll be up very soon probably, I'm gonna get started on it today sometime so I think it should be up within the next couple weeks. And sadly, we are going to be at the end of this story soon. Not sure when but I know that it'll probably be somewhere between 13 and 17 chapters in all. This story will not be more than 20 chapters. So anyway, please review and let me know what you think! And to all those that voted on the poll, thank you so much! :D And thank you all so much for reading!

SandXDemonX13

TTYFTDS