Author's note:
Personally I think this chapter is coming out rather quick, the reason for that: the goal to get to 400 reviews was reached!
So now, those that review, get to pick a one shot choice, which the choices will be where the review response would usually be, which it won't now since I'm answering by review reply.
As always, I own nothing.
Enjoy!
Chapter 25: 6 Gun Quota
Neji was unsure, which was not normal for the Hyuuga. He was used to being confident and always knowing what to do, but with the arrival of a certain Sasuke Uchiha in his life, all of that went out the wind. He found it odd how his emotions couldn't just be precise. He wanted the raven, he was attracted to hi, but he was not in love with him.
He knew Sasuke was in love, though it was not with him – he was in love with Naruto. He had heard that Sasuke didn't jump because of Naruto, he didn't' know if it was true but he had a feeling it was. If that wasn't enough, Neji saw it first hand; he saw how Sasuke heard the blonde's explanation for cheating, even when many didn't think he deserved it, true love after all is not about not having to say sorry it's about accepting the person – loving them – flaws and all. True love didn't just walk away when it was too hard, at least not with out being pulled back in.
Even more so he saw the look Sasuke gave Naruto. The look is one that ay Sasuke admirer would kill to get, but the one he only saved for Naruto. It was the look that some how said "I love you, and will no matter how much you screw up, I'm yours." It was the look that he some how knew no one else could pull from the Uchiha. Even when the raven seemed distant and mad at Naruto the look still shined through his eyes. Even when the blonde was at the front door after cheating, or just the blonde's name came up in conversation, at least a hint of that look came into the dark eyes that many saw as just emotionless orbs.
In short Neji knew that Sasuke loved Naruto and there was nothing that he, or anyone else, could really do about it. Yes, he could take this opportunity to maybe break them up, but what would that do? Make Sasuke a shell of what he is now? Maybe. Depress Sasuke? Most definitely. Break him beyond the point of point of giving up? most likely. But what's worse: he may actually succeed in killing himself.
The way Neji saw it was: the raven was on the edge, the blonde could love him and pull him to safety, or they could spread rumors and he could jump off. Neji knew the fine line, he also knew that, unfortunately, Sai and Sakura were too clouded by their own lust to notice – or care.
Neji knew this wasn't just all one-sided though. He knew Naruto loved, and needed him too. The blonde may not have been jumping – or at least trying to – off a building, but he knew he was inside. He saw the change in demeanor when they weren't doing well, right before Sasuke attempt, and he saw how pained his look was when he showed up at his door – even if he didn't want to admit it at the time.
So now he was torn. He had the two sides: his obvious attraction, and his knowledge of the love that Sasuke and Naruto shared. Neji knew which was right, though he didn't really want it to be, and it wasn't until pacing his room for a while that he came to a conclusion: If it isn't love, it isn't enough to break what is love a part. He felt he couldn't be selfish nor shallow, and he couldn't just sit by and let others either. It was his time to stand up and do something for someone else, because other's emotions are not ours to control, it is not our choice which people are together, if destiny didn't want them to be together then every other time they broke up they would have been done for good – they never would have truly fallen in love.
Neji sighed, he really needed to talk to Sai and Sakura, with what Itachi had told him the previous night, it was enough to make both of them take action to break the two up, and he had to stop them. He didn't bother looking at his clock, he really didn't care what time it was, the sun was up and that alone was enough for him, sure it was Saturday morning, but he just really didn't care, he needed to talk to them as quickly as possible. So he picked up the phone and quickly dialed the pink haired girl's number, though why he had it he wasn't sure, but it came in handy for times like this.
"Hello?" A some what tired voice
"Sakura?" He asked, though he knew it was her.
"Neji?' she asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, I need to talk to you," he announced.
"Uh, you already are," she said, somewhat confused.
"In person," he said.
"Oh, right…why?"
"We'll go over that when we talk; can you get Sai there too?" He asked, again having a feeling he knew the answer. "It has to do with Sasuke and Naruto."
"Uh, yeah, sure, when and where?" she asked, perking up at the mention of Sasuke's name.
"In an hour, at the café by the school," he said.
"Okay, we'll be there," she said.
"Make certain that you are," he said, hanging up.
He sighed, only hoping that he could get through the thick heads that he knew wouldn't really want to give up the lust which clouded them.
Sasuke smiled, it was a small one but it was there, and Naruto if he was awake would have been able to feel it. The raven woke that morning smiling, as they were laying in bed after the long drive back at five in the morning, so they could sleep in a bed, and he woke up to having his head on Naruto's chest. He felt the warmth and for the first time in a while he felt the warmth and didn't pull away from it, he let himself trust it. It was amazing what one night could do. So he smiled, loving how he felt some trust in the warmth once more, trust in the blonde – even if it wasn't full trust.
The raven laid his head on top of the blonde's chest, listening to his heart beat and feeling his breathing as his chest rose and fell with each breath. It was like a little piece of heaven as he lay there, and that was something he never thought he'd feel again, but there it was and it was only something the blonde seemed to be able to make him feel. For once he was at piece again.
Itachi sat in his room in a hidden building on the outskirts of Konoha. He once again had blood on his hands, and he once again felt no remorse. The first blood had been his parents, and he found it was effective, yes he was on the run but they were gone. They had always told him he was a genius and that he was perfect, in fact demanding perfection, nothing below one hundred percent would do by one point – that was the straw that broke the camels back. If he was perfect then why train to take over the company? Why bother listening to them? Unlike his brother he was perfect, and had to be or he would be punished. Sasuke wasn't as smart as him, or more they didn't take the time to make it so he was once they saw that Itachi was "perfect" and it made him mad. What if he didn't want what they wanted? What if he wanted to grow up like everyone else got to? But no, he had to be what they wanted, so he thought: if he's perfect why bother waiting to take over the company? Why not do it on his terms. And thus became the end of his parents and the start of his life as a killer, as the cold hearted man he became.
This wasn't the life Itachi always wanted, sure he knew how to manipulate people, and no taxes was nice since he really couldn't let people know he was alive, but that was also the part where it wasn't so nice. He wasn't alive, he was dead, a mere shadow, and though he was miserable under his parents control he was smart enough to know there were better ways to go about things – yet he didn't and there was no taking it back. So what did he do? Go on killing those who got in his way and making his brother's life a living hell as of now.
He really did love his brother, he didn't hate him like the younger Uchiha thought, he just got lost, and there was no turning back. He did it for Sasuke too in a way, killing their parents meant that he wouldn't be under their power. And he was suffering now anyway, so taking him away from that – making him a shell of himself – it was just saving him from the cruel world.
He didn't have much anymore, he knew that, yes he had the organization he was with, that was true, but that was it, they weren't close, they just were murders or criminals who stuck together for their own well being – a scratch my back, I'll scratch yours type thing. Though Kisame seemed to do things for him with out getting anything in return, he tried not think about it, he wouldn't make friends, that would make what he's become more real, he burned his bridges when he killed his parents, that was it, there was no more for him except to take the company through his brother. That's what all the criminals wanted, to help run one of the biggest companies, that's why they helped him so much, he was smart enough to know that. But he didn't care, nothing affected him anymore, he was emotionless.
It was his life: to plan and make sure he controlled everything. Some might say he had a control complex, but he would ignore those. He didn't care if some said his need for control was because the lack of control he had as a child. All he knew was that he didn't have that childhood like others and he resented his parents for that, he killed them for that. He felt robbed and so he took it back – just in a harsher manner.
He was indifferent; he didn't care about the murders he's committed – yet if asked he'd be able to name off each one. Starting from his parents as his first killing to his latest brutal murder of Orochimaru, he knew them all he could picture them all like some replay in his mind. His memory was almost too good, remembering every detail of the murder, from how the blood splattered to the look on his victims' face when he did it. Yes, he thought he surely was a sadistic person, but once again, he didn't care.
Did he hate himself for what he'd become? Yes, he did. He hated it so much, but he didn't let it get to him, he was numb, emotionless, it stopped mattering, and it only actually hurt if he let himself think about it, which he really didn't let himself do. It wasn't like he'd like to think about the look on his young brother's face as he watched him kill his parents, sparing him to sit there with the bodies as he escaped into the night, never to be seen except nightmares. Or how he showed up years later to ruin said brother, whose life he'd ruined as he left him to fend with a rapist and abuser. Looking at his brother was to look at the one thing he couldn't do right: be an older brother.
As he sat in his room he remembered the latest murder. He remembered smirking down at Orochimaru as he threw him against the wall, punching him in the stomach as he said, "Is this what you do to my brother." He didn't expect an answer and he didn't get one. He just smirked more as he was handed a knife by Kisame, "It's okay, it'll all be over now." Sure the black haired man tried to fight back at first, but it was pointless at that point, by then he was just glaring at him, though the pain was evident in his eyes and through the facial expressions. "I just love the faces you make when you're in pain," Itachi hissed as he drove the knife threw him, not giving him time to respond as it was a fatal blow. Yes, he was a murder, but he was also emotionless, therefore it didn't matter – he felt nothing of guilt from it.
Naruto woke up feeling a finger lightly tracing his chest over his shirt; he smiled as he looked down at the raven tracing away with a small smile on his face. He brought a hand up to brush away the hair that fell into the pale face, making the raven blush at being caught and the blonde give a light laugh before pulling the raven up to kiss him.
"I love you," Naruto said with a smile, gently touching the pale face.
The raven smiled again, laying his head on the blonde's chest he said, "I love you too."
"How long have you been up?" Naruto asked.
"About an hour," Sasuke said, a relaxed look gracing his features.
"Do you want to go get some breakfast?" the blonde asked, figuring the raven must be hungry.
"Now, I like lying here, with you, like this, at least for a little longer," Sasuke said his voice just above a whisper.
Naruto just smiled, "Good, cause I like this too."
Neji sighed, looking at the two people in front of him, he knew it was now or never to convince them. Sakura and Sai could not do what they were planning – what Itachi was planning – he knew it wouldn't turn out well.
"Why did you call us here?" Sakura asked, unsure of what else to say.
"I know what you are planning, I don't want you to go through with it, Itachi visited me as well, I can't let you go through with it," Neji said.
Sai's eyes widened, "Let us? And how will you stop us?"
"Yeah! If we want them to break up then we can!" Sakura yelled.
"Let me put it this way, you break them up like you are planning to, you'll probably break Sasuke, he won't be able to stand another heart break, he almost killed himself last time and I don't know that anyone will be able to stop him if he thinks Naruto betrayed him again, not because he's weak but because he's hardly picked up the pieces from before and you want to break him again. It's like when you drop something and you glue it back together only to drop it again before the glue had time to dry, causing it only to break into more pieces – it gets to a point where it's unfixable. You have to realize Sasuke was broken long before Naruto came into the picture, we all know how he looked before, something had to make it that way, and though we don't know the full story we can only figure that Naruto came in and he was helping him, but he hurt him – he broke him more, but he's in love with him so he took him back, and now to break him again for no reason would seem cruel and possibly make him end his life," Neji said, mostly focusing the conversation toward Sakura.
"And why would I care about that?" Sai asked.
"You think that Naruto wouldn't be affected by Sasuke's death, or just losing him as a boyfriend? Then you think wrong. If he looses him as boyfriend then all his attentions will be going towards showing him that he didn't do anything. But if he looses Sasuke from his life forever, he won't be looking for the kind of comfort you want to give him, he may turn into a shell of himself, or he may just mourn over Sasuke – tuning his back on love and anything to do with it forever. If you really want them, you have to let them be, love isn't ours to command, you must let it work out its self, if they aren't meant to be the universe will work it out, if you are truly destined for them it will happen, but if not you need to move on before the one you are destined for passes by you," Neji said, focusing on Sai.
Sai and Sakura looked at each other, unsure, neither wanted Neji's points to happen, they knew the only way they could make sure they didn't was to not buy into Itachi's plan.
"Fine," Sakura said, she wouldn't loose Sasuke. "I won't go through with the plan."
They both looked at Sai, who still looked to be thinking it over.
"Fine, I guess I won't either," he said, making Neji to smile a little.
"You'll be happier in the end," Neji said.
"But what about the what ifs that we'll think over later in life?" Sai asked.
"Would you rather Sasuke die and Naruto become an emotionless shell and have the: what if you didn't spread the rumors to question, and thinking always that the answer would be that they'd both be alive and happy? Or would you rather not have it so don't have to worry about anyone's life on your hands?"
"Fine, I get it," Sai said.
"So we're all agreed?" Neji asked.
"Yep," Sakura smiled.
"Yes," Sai agreed.
"Good," Neji said as he got up, "That was all."
The long haired teen started out the door of the café, but wasn't really paying attention to anything but the thoughts in his head, causing him to run into a passerby as he walked out.
"Sorry," he quickly said, as he was yanked out of his head, and rubbing the spot of collision.
He looked to see just whom he ran into to see a boy with bright red hair and beautiful green eyes, which were circled with what seemed to be a heavy application of eyeliner. The other teen was glaring at him, obviously not happy to have been knocked down, but wouldn't say a word.
"It was an accident, no need to glare," Neji said, adding a hint of harshness to his voice.
"No need to be a moron and knock people down either," the red head said, though he wasn't sure why he responded.
That was when it hit Neji, the recognition of the boy, it was Gaara, the guy Naruto cheated on Sasuke with, he already didn't like the guy, but he just rolled his eyes and said, "As I said it was an accident, it's not my fault you take any accident – which is not something that happens to me often – as a person being a total moron such as yourself."
Neji really didn't know why the guy made him mad as he did, he was usually a fairly calm person and didn't let what others said effect him – he was usually rather peaceful, but this guy just made him mad.
"What did you say?" Gaara hissed out, lunging toward him, but it was only effective in making them both tumble to the ground.
"Well, I tend to think that people who don't understand the word sorry, which you don't obviously since you got angry, as a moron," Neji smirked.
Gaara was angry, yet some how he didn't get so fired up as to beat the guy to a pulp and he didn't know why, since usually by now the guy certainly wouldn't be able to talk, and at that point he was just pinning him to the ground with the demon in his head usually silent.
"Who are you?" Gaara more demanded than asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Neji hissed.
"Just answer the damn question," Gaara hissed back.
"Neji Hyuuga, now if you don't mind letting me go, it seems this really is going no where," he said.
Gaara surprised himself as he got off the other boy and settled for glaring at him, which even seemed weaker than normal.
"You know, I heard you were scary, but you really don't seem that scary to me," Neji said, dusting himself off.
"Excuse me?" Gaara asked.
"People at school, they are afraid of you, but you don't seem that scary," Neji said.
Gaara didn't know what force was making him speak, but for some reason just this one person was able to get him to talk, and he felt like he had to answer practically everything, "Well, I usually would have killed anyone who talked to me like you were before."
Neji raised a thin eyebrow and smirked, "So, you're saying I make you weak? But I don't even know you."
"That's not how I meant it," Gaara growled out and blushed.
"Okay, if you say so," Neji smirked.
Gaara had enough; he was going to wipe that smirk off his face, though not in the way the other would have expected. The red head grabbed the brunette by the collar, pushing him against the wall outside the café and shamelessly kissed him. The brunette was surprised at this, but gave in as he felt Gaara force his tongue into is mouth and work it against his. The red head made him wither under him as he ran a hand down his side, and kissed him more.
When Gaara pulled a way he had a smirk on his face, which was rare for the usually emotionless teen. He leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Who's making who weak now, Neji?"
A blush quickly appeared on the pale face and for once he was at a loss of words, "I…uh…well…"
"See you later, Neji," Gaara said before walking away and going back to his normal emotionless demeanor, thinking 'I've found my new prey, and his name is Neji Hyuuga.'
Neji just stood there, stunned, though not feeling violated, he felt oddly right, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time he'd be seeing Gaara.
TBC…
Song of inspiration: 6 Gun Quota by Seether
Okay, this chapter I rather like, because I think it gives more insight to Itachi and it has some GaaNeji action as well which I've never really written but was fun to write.
I'm not used to writing Gaara or Neji especially together so please tell me what you think and remember the characters are for the story's sake...though I probably won't go in much on the Gaara and Neji relationship if people do like the idea for
Thanks to all that reviewed and all those who have alerts, favs and C2's on this story! You're all awesome!