Walk On

By RedMirage aka Kei-Chan

Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, I wouldn't be here!

Pairings: Sasuke x Naruto, Neji x Naruto, Gaara x Naruto, Zabuza x Haku, Lee x Sakura...others still a secret. :P

Warnings: AU and contains yaoi. Run if you can't stand it.

Rating: PG - 13 but may rise to R later in the story...

Summary: A teahouse romance... A library romance... And a gathering of two attracted individuals under the Sakura trees at a secret location. With Naruto as the ultimate uke... Who will finally win his heart and body? Inspired by Kiss wa Ichinichi Sando Made, a yaoi manga by Nabako Kamo.

Chapter 3: Electric Tingle, Jealousy and Catfights! Meow!

Naruto was happily reading a book on a comfortable couch in the silent library when he felt someone sitting down next to him. He twisted his head to the side to find that it was Neji. Feeling a warm tingle spread through his body at the sight of Neji, he felt confused. 'Why do I have this kind of warm feeling whenever I see Neji-san?' Naruto wondered to himself.

"Good morning, Neji-san!" Naruto said with a foxy grin.

"Morning to you too, Naruto-kun." Neji said with a lazy smile. "Every time I see you, you always have a book in your hand. Another book by H. Kaito?"

"Yeah... It's another book by H.Kaito. I just absolutely adore this author's works. Have you read any of them before?" Naruto asked excitedly, a curious gleam shone in his eyes, as he wanted to know more about Neji.

"I'm very familiar with his works too. In fact, there is nothing about the books by H. Kaito that I do not know about." Neji said with ease. 'I know everything because I am H. Kaito but no one except Hinata-chan knows.'

"Really? You're also a fan of his? Oh wow, that's great! Now, I have someone to discuss with me about these books." Naruto was really excited, knowing that someone like Neji shares the same passion as him.

Neji smiled warmly at Naruto. The last time, he had literally run away from Naruto in an uneasy panic when the boy had triggered a strange warm feeling in him. After he spent some time to calm himself down and analyzed his feelings, he came to the conclusion that he is interested in Naruto in some way. He had decided then to find out exactly what kind of attraction is he feeling for Naruto and thus resolved to find ways to spend time with the blonde which was rather easy since both of them love visiting the library. He had came into the library this morning with the intention of spending some quiet time reading instead of outside in the campus, where horde of fan girls were waiting for a chance to pounce on him, but instead found Naruto snuggled comfortably on one of the couches reading a book. He had walked up to the boy unnoticed and sat beside Naruto to draw his attention. Neji thought Naruto looked really adorable when he was concentrating hard on a certain task. Soon he found Naruto's pair of bright blue eyes focused on him while greeting him cheerfully with a sunny grin. Neji could never figure out how Naruto could always appear so happy each time they met.

"I remembered that you borrowed Fate and Destiny last time. How do you find the book?" Neji asked. He was curious about Naruto's thoughts on the book, as he had based it loosely on his own life.

"It was rather sad how the main character believes that everything that had happened to him have something to do with fate. Although there are many things that are out of our control, we still have the freedom to express our own ideals and give our very best to achieve it. I always thought that if one works diligently and fight for what we want; someday the goal could be achieved. To leave everything in the hands of fate and destiny seems as though one is giving up easily without a fight. But it was still a good read though," Naruto replied seriously.

Neji was stunned by Naruto's answer. Although the little blonde had seemed easy-going with his cheerful attitude, he obviously had his own strong beliefs that are not easily swayed. He was sincere in his beliefs and not showing fake optimism like so many others that Neji had known. Although it was a serious clash with his own opinions, Neji found it refreshing and utterly appealing to have someone who is such an opposite of him where personality is concerned. He was sick and tired of everyone trying either to create his downfall because they were jealous for reasons unknown or to get into his good books by agreeing to whatever he said. For so long, Neji was hardly able to have a proper conversation with anyone besides his own cousin, Hinata. The girls were always giggling and the guys either act the same as the girls or gave him hateful looks of jealousy. It did not take a long time for him to practically ignore nearly everyone who tried to reach out to him thus making everyone thinks that he is cool for his polite but distant manner when approached by someone.

"I enjoyed it too and I had agreed with the what the author had written. Some people never really had a chance to choose what they really want to do. From the day they were born, everything had been decided for them. They could not go against the responsibilities that they are burdened with or the expectations that people had for them and that was their fate. Sometimes, it does not matter what one wants but what is good for everyone. Many people can try their best but things may never change. That was what I believe in and what the book is about," Neji said firmly.

Naruto thought carefully about Neji's words and realized that what he said was partially true. It is never easy to change something but Naruto truly believes that dreams should never die because you never know what will happen. 'Just like the two of us," he thought, somewhat amused by the notion.

"We are two completely different people but we are still able to meet and get along with each other. I guess that this is the fate in which Neji-san believes in but if we didn't try by ourselves to get to know each other, it would be useless to meet too. Thus I guess that you need both elements for things to work," Naruto said with a smile smile.

Deep soft laughter could be heard from Neji, resonating in the quiet library. Neji said, "What you said is true. It has been quite some time since I had a conversation with any depth involved in it. It was mostly other people trying to make a conversation with frivolous topics. I enjoy talking with you. Naruto-kun." Neji reached his hands out to brush away some of Naruto's blond locks that had fallen upon his eyes. "You have a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes that shine as clear as the sun. Never try to hide them," Neji said huskily.

What was once a warm tingle that Naruto had felt when he saw Neji turned into an electrifying one when Neji touched him. Naruto was shocked at his own response to Neji's touch and felt his face grow hot both from embarrassment and pleasure. "I won't." He nearly squeaked out his answer. The nearby clock chimed to indicate lunchtime and Naruto remembered his appointment with Sasuke. Looking with a hopeful smile at Neji, he asked, "Neji-san, I had a lunch appointment with a friend of mine. Would you like to join us?"

"I'm afraid I can't since I have a meeting with some members of the student union soon. Why don't I meet you for lunch tomorrow instead? You could find me here at lunchtime." Neji replied, unable to resist the cute puppy look Naruto had directed at him.

"Sure! That would be great. I will see you tomorrow here then. Bye, Neji- san!" Naruto replied happily before he practically skipped out of the library. He feels absurdly happy that he would be having a lunch date with Neji tomorrow. 'Date? I did not just thought something weird again about Neji-san, did I?' Naruto wondered to himself wildly. Shaking his head and berating himself for thinking too much, Naruto quickly made his way to the cafeteria to meet Sasuke. He was going to be late!

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Sasuke glanced around the crowded cafeteria for a sign of Naruto. In front of him was a pack of assorted sushi. Soon, he spotted Naruto navigating his way through the large crowd and towards him with a bright foxy smile on his face. 'He really looks like a fox smiling like that. A very cute fox,' Sasuke thought to himself.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun. I hope I'm not late." Naruto said.

"You're not late. I was here early." Sasuke said with a slight grin. 'To make sure there is a place to sit on my lunch date with you.' He added on mentally to himself.

"I'll go get some ramen," Naruto said before running to his favorite stall, eagerly ordering three bowls of his beloved noodles from the old man who had already prepared his favorite customer's noodles. He came back quickly; expertly balancing three bowls of ramen on the tray and set it noiselessly onto the table.

"You're really suited for your job at the teahouse, dobe," Sasuke said teasingly.

Naruto blushed a faint pink before replying, "I thought so too."

Both boys dug into their meal and started chatting on trivial topics when another bowl of ramen appeared beside Sasuke suddenly. Sasuke cast an irritated look at the person who dared interfered his date with Naruto and found to his immense wrath that it was none other than Gaara.

"Hi, Naruto. Do you mind if I join you for lunch?" Gaara asked coolly. He looked down at Sasuke with a small smirk.

"Oh...Sure! I didn't know you like ramen too, Gaara." Naruto said readily.

"Well, I enjoy it occasionally," Gaara said. 'This is one of the rare times where I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest.' He thought to himself. He had seen the two having lunch and had a sudden evil idea of a great way to make the Uchiha upset. "What ramen are you having, Naruto?" Gaara asked again after making sure he had eaten some of his ramen and drank the soup.

"I'm having miso ramen. What about you?" Naruto asked, not noticing that Sasuke was seething in front of him.

"I am having the new special, spicy chicken ramen. Do you want to try some? It's really good!" Gaara replied with a smile.

Naruto was amazed that Gaara was smiling. Normally, no one could even get the guy to look anything other than bored. Happy that Gaara was in a rare good mood, Naruto jumped at his offer. He took the spoon from Gaara and sip the soup, realizing that it really taste wonderful.

"Wow, it's superb. I think I will try it the next time!" Naruto said excitedly and still oblivious to the boiling anger of Sasuke.

With his eyes on Sasuke's livid onyx eyes, he said with a huge smirk, "I'm glad you like it too, Naruto."

Sasuke's anger was almost at his limit. 'How dared he made use of dobe's naivety and made Naruto have an indirect kiss with him!' He screamed mentally. His fist was clenched and arms folded but he really wants to take a swing at Gaara for what he did. He glanced over at the dobe who is still happily eating his noodles, clueless to everything else. 'How innocent...and he belongs to me!' he screamed again mentally. Glaring at Gaara, he was about to shout at the bastard when Naruto gave a loud shriek, causing him to focus his attention on the blond once more. What he saw nearly made him passed out from experiencing too much anger and shock all at once.

"Naru-chan, I missed you so much!" A guy with long black hair tied up in a high ponytail squealed happily. His arms were wrapped around Naruto's neck as he pulled Naruto's head to his chest.

Naruto looked up to find Haku's smiling face looking back at him upside- down. When he got over his surprise at the sudden appearance of his best friend, Naruto twisted his body and jumped up to give Haku a huge bear hug.

"What are you doing here? I thought you are supposed to be in Shinjuku," Naruto squealed back happily.

"As I said, I missed you. Besides, didn't you email me to drop you a visit?" Haku said gently as he cupped Naruto's face in his hands.

"But that was just yesterday! You must have planned way back for your visit. But I'm so happy you are here anyway so nothing else matters," Naruto replied gaily.

Haku noticed both Gaara and Sasuke glaring at him and gave a smirk to both boys. "I didn't think that you would have two guard dogs hanging around you so soon just after you begin college. What happened to Shino? You fired him or something?" Haku asked Naruto, glaring right back at Sasuke and Gaara.

Both Sasuke and Gaara growled slightly at Haku's remarks, their eyes turning murderous. Naruto realized that if he wanted to avoid any bloodshed, he had better separate all three people from each other as soon as possible. "What are you talking about? Gaara and Sasuke are both my friends so stop being so rude to them. Also, Shino is my childhood friend whom I trust with my life. No one will ever replace him!" He said hastily to Haku. Turning around to face Sasuke and Gaara, he gave an apologetic look before saying, "I'm sorry about Haku. He usually isn't like that. I think I'll cut our lunch short since I want to show him around. Umm...I will see you guys later." Naruto said weakly. He took Haku's arm and was leading the guy out of the cafeteria when Sasuke grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Dobe, is this guy your boyfriend?" Sasuke asked tensely.

Naruto twisted around in a flash with a look of utter shock upon his face. "What makes you think that? He is just my best friend! I knew him way back in high school. I'll see you guys later," Naruto replied quickly. His face was red from what Sasuke was implying through his question and he had literally dragged Haku out of the cafeteria.

Sasuke let a sigh of relief upon knowing that Haku is only Naruto's best friend. However, he still dislikes the fact that the guy had behaved so intimately with his dobe and also his rude comments. Glancing coolly at Gaara, he gave a soft sneer before turning to walk away. It seems that he would have to put in much more effort to woo Naruto.

Gaara ignored Sasuke and walked in the opposite direction. He had thought the Haku guy was a major sissy with a foul mouth with his squealing and lousy attitude. After all, which decent guy, with the exception of Naruto who is just too cute and hyper for his own good, squeals? Shaking his head, he decided that he had enough of noisy humans for one day and headed to his favorite tree to seek his much needed solitude.

No one noticed a pink-haired girl watching the whole incident from a corner with an amused face.

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Naruto walked tiredly to a small bench in the school garden and sat down with his back leaning heavily against the bench. Haku was so full of energy and made Naruto skipped his economics class to accompany him everywhere around the school. Although Naruto was happy to see his best friend again, he felt exasperated at being dragged all around the school by Haku at bone- breaking pace. 'And people always said that I was the hyper one who needs to slow down. I pity those gang members that is under Haku's control.' He thought sourly. It was only after Zabuza came using some force and a little seduction before Haku reluctantly said goodbye to Naruto with a glomp at his ass and ran after his bodyguard/boyfriend eagerly. Naruto closed his eyes and felt himself relaxed at the soft breeze of the wind on his face.

"You seems to be really tired, Naruto-kun," Naruto heard a soft high voice saying. He opened his eyes and a beautiful vision of a girl with long pink hair and wide emerald eyes was standing right before him. Instantly straightening up his sloppy posture, Naruto eyes suddenly lit up with energy and he greeted Sakura loudly, "Sakura-chan! You are taking a walk in the garden too?"

Sakura smiled prettily and said, "No, I was waiting for someone. He should be coming soon."

It wasn't long after Sakura's reply when an energetic shout of Sakura's name could be heard from a green blur rapidly approaching them. Naruto was frozen in his seat when the green blur turns out to be a man with a bowl haircut and thick eyebrows. He was dressed in a weird-looking green bodysuit and was currently giving Sakura a hug and then a full kiss on the lips. 'A kiss on the lips! What the hell is this about?' Naruto yelled mentally. Naruto had decided that he had a crush on Sakura on the second day of college and was planning on ways to woo the lady when a weird little green man appeared out of nowhere and literally swept Sakura-chan off her feet with a kiss! He was still staring in shock when the couple finally finished their passionate making out session in his presence.

Sakura looked at Naruto in concern before she started introducing both guys to one another. "Naruto-kun, this is my fiancé, Rock Lee. Rock, this is my college friend, Uzumaki Naruto."

Lee put his left hand out to shake his hand with Naruto while he smiled widely, showing his gleaming white teeth. "So you are Naruto-kun. Sakura said that you were a man-killer in the campus with all the gorgeous men vying for your attention!" Lee said enthusiastically while pumping the hands hand out by Naruto firmly.

Naruto could hardly registered Lee's words until he heard something about him being a men-killer. His eyes widened even more as he stared at Sakura with his mouth opened, all color draining from his face. Sakura decided that Naruto was most likely having an information overload and asked Lee sweetly to help them buy some drinks so she could talk alone with Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, are you feeling fine? I know that you may find it weird and hard to accept that Lee is my fiancé all of a sudden because you like me, don't you?" Sakura said lightly.

Naruto blinked his large blue eyes a few times before he shook his head a little. "I do find it hard to accept. I never thought you would have a fiancé. Lee-san is a little...weird but he seems to be totally devoted to you." Naruto said a little weakly.

Sakura gave him a beautiful poignant smile. "I used to reject Lee all the time when he asked me out on dates. But he slowly worked his way into my heart to become someone irreplaceable. I only finally accepted his 999th try to get me to go out with him. That happens to be a date for the prom. Later, I found out that he records all the days, starting from the first day of high school until the day I accepted him, when he asked me for dates and was rejected. Now, he is the man I love most in the world... Naruto-kun, do you like guys?" She asked seriously.

Naruto was caught off guard by the question. Why would he like any guys when he is a man himself? Then, he thought of Neji and felt a sudden jump in his heart. 'Don't tell me I really like guys!' he thought in a panic. His face was a mix of confusion and fear. Sakura observed him carefully before placing both her hands on his shoulders to calm him down.

"Naruto-kun, I am not saying you are a homosexual because I know that you feel attracted to girls too. But have you ever thought that you are actually a bisexual? Besides, there is nothing wrong with two guys being in love. The society has opened up and the people are more open-minded now, you know." Sakura consoled him with a slight giggle.

Naruto thought carefully about Sakura words. It is true that he felt an attraction to both sexes. He felt it with Neji and sometimes with Sasuke and Gaara too. However, if that was so, why didn't he notice all that when he was in an all-boys school? 'Because everyone couldn't be bothered with you with the exception of Haku, you clueless idiot!' his mind retorted. "So I'm what Sakura said. I'm a bisexual?' he asked himself again. 'Yes! Get over it already!' his sub-consciousness snapped back impatiently. Taking a deep breath, Naruto felt himself slowly come to accept this fact. After all, he had suspected before but he just never want to discuss with anyone about it because he felt awkward about it. At least now he could be certain about those weird feelings he have when he met some guys he is attracted too. He felt a headache coming on. No matter how easily he could accept this new information about his sexual orientation or about his crush, Sakura, he still felt that he knew too much for his own good in one day. In fact, he is going to have a lunch date with Neji tomorrow and he feels a little fearful of it now! He needed to rest to know what to do without causing any sort of embarrassment tomorrow.

Naruto gave Sakura a weak smile. "Thanks for helping understand so many things, Sakura-chan. But I still need some more time to absorb all these new information. I think I will go home now to have a good rest and clear my mind. I hope you are happy with Lee-san," he said softly. Standing up, he waved his hands at Sakura before walking away.

Sakura stared at the direction in which Naruto had gone. Her face suddenly lit up in excitement. Lee stood at her side, holding out a bottle of green tea to her and asked, "Sakura, why do you look so excited?"

"Lee, I could feel that a very interesting love drama is going to unfold in our school. It would probably be full of trials and tribulations for two men who are in love to try to be together. But in this particular case, one of the men vying for the uke would have to win the fight first. In fact, I just gave one of the main characters a push! I hope he could find the same kind of happiness I did," Sakura said breathlessly, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Lee let out a small sign and said to Sakura, "You must be reading all those yaoi love drama stories of yours again. But I agree with you on the last part. Everyone deserves to find the happiness we did." He wound his arms around Sakura's waist, his chin resting on her head. 'Everyone,' he whispered.

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TBC...

Next Chapter: Lunch date with Neji! What will happen with Sasuke and Gaara? Maybe Itachi will make a short appearance in the meanwhile like Haku to provide more excitement? Keep a lookout for the next chapter to find out!

Before I forget, there is also a little bad news for those who wish for a quick update... my school break has ended and I'm having a crazy class schedule of having to spend up to 10 hours in school sometimes. I also would be having projects and assignments to work on so I will be slower with the update. Most probably about once every two weeks, which I think is rather reasonable. I will try to update as fast as possible seeing how much I like to receive reviews and comments on my stories. XD

Plot and character mumbles: After a long struggle with my bad flu and also a blackout that wiped out my unsaved work, chapter 3 is finally completed!

I think quite a lot of people must be surprised with the role that Sakura is playing. I had read so many fics where Sakura is either a Sasuke-crazed girl or bad third party. Although I'm not a big fan of the lady myself, I thought it would be fun to have something unexpected. Anyway, don't you think my pairing of Sakura x Lee is quite cute and charming and utterly crazy? I always picture Lee as a little green man because of his green bodysuit. Sasuke's fan club president will have to be some other girl that I think most of you would have guess it by now (I mean which is the other lady that has got a thing for Sasuke and it's shown on the anime clearly?).

I hope all Neji x Naru fans are happy with how things are going between the two. But if anyone is thinking that Neji is the likely winner, Sasuke and Gaara haven't done their best yet (they didn't even really start yet). For Naruto to be able to accept that he likes guys too, he has to be attracted to someone. I figure that Neji would at least be a start. Besides, I figured many would be happier to see the other two males working their asses off for Naru's heart! This is a drama I created so no uke or seme would be having an easy time... evil chuckles I hope everyone was pleasantly surprised with Haku's appearance. Don't expect this to be the end of it though...he lives to distract our uke and irritate the semes (and also to love Zabuza). X3

Some explanation: My beta was asking me why the characters (esp. Naruto) were speaking in such perfect English when some of them was speaking in slightly broken language, and suggest that I should explain it here in case other people had the same question. Most of the characters in this fic come from rather good breeding. (Actually, this is about all I could say without providing spoilers.) This is an AU fic and most of the characters come from rather good breedings so the perfect English that they are speaking is actually the equivalent of polite Japanese. The characters are more likely to cuss. You will understand what I mean as the story goes on and you uncover the background of each character.

Finally... some characters profiles for you to better understand this AU fic of mine. Btw, character profiles will only be put up if it does not contain too much spoilers...

Character Profiles

Introducing the loving couple...

Haruno Sakura: She is an extremely intelligent and sweet girl who loves her fiancé, Rock Lee, the most in this world. She finds Naruto's predicament in the love triangle very interesting and extremely amusing. Whenever Naruto have problems in area of love, he confides in her. A lover of Yaoi, Sakura takes much keen interest in this relationship and thinks of it as a full- blown drama waiting to be reviled for her entertainment. She has her sadistic side and it is not good to get her angry with you, as Lee will tell you from personal experience.

Rock Lee: Sakura's beloved fiancé who also becomes friends with Naruto. Hardworking and honest, he made a promise to himself to try his best for Sakura in whatever he does. He is aware of both sides of Sakura (the sweet girl and the sadist) but loves her nonetheless. His family owns the most famous and prestigious Karate dojo in all of Japan and he is the heir. His all-time idol is his karate teacher, Gai-sensei, who imparts not only the karate skills but also the style of having bowl haircut and thick eyebrows.

Not too much spoilers...I hope.

Reviews:

Thanks to IceHeart19 and Teki Star for helping to beta! Also, thanks again to Teki Star for her card. You made my day with it!

Thanks to Manga-lover123, Dark Mimiru-Chan, ysth83, Cookie6, RuBMoOn17, Kisu, Lucifer, theivious racooness, TheTrueSilver, Mister Pineapple, Yaoilover S, Masqued, Jessie-chan, love-chibis, MarronSorrow and Karz for your reviews.

MaroonSorrow: I will revise my previous chapters when I have the time...

Love-chibis: ShikaNaru? I will have to think about it.... because I had plans for Shikamaru but I may changed my mind so you never know...

Ysth83: I'm glad you love it. :D

Lucifer: Thanks for reading! I'm glad you find it cute! I'll put in some smut later... we both know we love it.

IceHeart19: Sakura and Gaara would not be siblings. However, he does have his own siblings.

Please R&R!