Suna's Kekkei Genkai
Chapter 15: Sleep overs are fun
Gaara stared at Tsuande with a funny expression. It was a mix of anger, exasperation and a large twinge of fear. She was pacing in front of him giving him the wrap up pf his new training schedule. When she finished his mouth hung open and his eye twitched.
"You're not serious," Gaara said hoping she wasn't.
"Of course I am," she said smiling a false sweet smile. She pointed down the clearing. "Run run run!"
Gaara didn't move.
"Now, before I follow behind you with a whip and chain," she said in the sweet voice through gritted teeth.
Gaara groaned and slowly stood and stretched, then started moving around the clearing (it's actually not really a clearing I've realized cause it's like as big as a track). Tsunade frowned at his unwillingness to run and snuck up behind him.
"I'm serious," she said in a low, cold, monotone.
Gaara 'eeped' and started running.
"HI NEJI!"
"Hi Kankurou," Neji said, unmoving.
"Damn it, you didn't jump!" Kankurou said moving in front of the Hyuga.
"Kankurou, you've been jumping out at me for the past six months you've been living here, I think I would've gotten use to it by now," Neji said.
"Pft! Whatever," Kankurou said. He'd get him later when he wasn't expecting it. "So are we training today?"
"Gaara and I were going to do something."
"That's why I'm here, Gaara asked me to tell you how Tsunade-'obaachan' burst into our house and dragged him out," Kankurou said.
"Oh, ok," Neji said, brushing it off.
Kankurou gave him the look that meant that his older brother/friend mind was coming up with something that would embarrass Neji to all get out. Neji saw this and became uncomfortable before Kankurou had even said anything.
"Why don't you ask him to spend the night?" Kankurou asked slyly.
"..." Neji frowned. He hadn't been expecting that. "He doesn't...sleep..."
"Which means he wont mind going all night!" Kankurou said grinning his head off. He couldn't believe he was saying such things about Gaara. That weren't very nice. They were perverted...but they made Neji make those funny faces so nothing else really mattered to him.
Of course Neji made one of said funny faces and turned a darker shade of red then Gaara's hair.
"WHAT?" he screeched.
Several birds flew, startled out of the tree they were resting in.
"I'm kidding!" Kankurou said giving him a hard swat on the back. Neji relaxed slightly. Kankurou paused to let him relax a bit before continuing. "You wouldn't have the guts to do it anyway..."
Neji started the process all over.
Kankurou laughed his head off then looked over at Neji. "So...you wanna train some?"
Neji gave him a death glare rate 12 out of 10 and stood. "You want to...train!"
"Yeah," Kankurou said, suddenly serious. "Orochimaru's getting serious. He's still pissed that we took Sasuke from him. He wants him back. It's war in the not funny sense."
Neji became serious too. Kankurou's butt whooping could wait a bit. "Alright, lets go."
later that night around...8 something
Naruto, Sakura and Neji stepping into the Sand House after dinner so visit like they did almost constantly. They found Temari furiously scrubbing pots she had used for dinner in the kitchen, Kankurou dying on the sofa from eating said dinner, and Gaara feeling like he was dying sharing the sofa with his brother. They sat down on the floor near Gaara's head and lightly poked him.
"Eat something bad?" Neji asked.
"No," came the pained reply from the pillow his face was buried in.
"Gaara's hurin'," Kankurou said looking up slightly.
Neji raised an eyebrow. "Where?" Neji asked.
"Everywhere," Gaara mumbled.
Naruto chuckled knowingly. "She's a nasty old hag isn't she?" he asked.
"Mmph.." was Gaara's reply from the pillow.
"Hey," Sakura said, glaring at Naruto.
Temari came in looking less furious now that the dishes were sparkling clean (actually they lost all their finished and she was going to go out tomorrow to get new ones but that doesn't matter). She sighed, leaning on the sofa and reached down to scratch Gaara's back gently.
There was a silence, during which Kankurou gave Neji several pointed looks and Neji gave him 'shut the hell up' looks. Kankurou rolled his eyes and have him a 'ask him or I'll kill you' look and Neji replied with a 'I'd like to see you try' look. Kankurou raised an eyebrow.
"Hey Gaara, Neji wants to know if you wanted to sleep over his house tonight," Kankurou said.
"…I don't sleep," Gaara said after a pause. He could have sworn something crashed next to him.
"Spend the night then," Kankurou said. "It'll be fun."
"… 'spend the night'…?" Gaara asked looking up. "What's that?"
Naruto fell over as Neji sat up. "Bwhahaha! You don't know what—"
Sakura glared at him and bopped him on the head. "You stay at someone's house for the night and you play games and watch movies and stuff," she explained.
"Oh," Gaara replied turning to stare at the wall. Everyone else wondered why they were waiting on baited breath for his answer, but they were. "Ok, I'll spend the night."
Hello! It is SNG! I would just like everyone to know…. (glares at everyone until they pay attention) that I WROTE THIS SCENE(s)! Therefore, I get all credit except for one scene!
I DEMAND CREDIT THIS TIME, DAMMIT!
P.S.: It's my fault H-R took so long to update… I was busy with my fics and didn't get around to writing this one… Sorry! (bows)
Kyuubi: What a mood swing.
Neji looked around his room, satisfied that he had made it as clean as it could possibly get. He'd made the bed, washed the windows, scrubbed the floor, straightened his desk, folded all his clothes neatly in his dresser (Why he thought anyone would look in his dresser is a mystery) and had even made sure the pictures on his wall were dead-center.
Why was Neji going to such trouble?
Simple: Gaara was coming for a sleep over.
Well… actually, Gaara was coming to hang out all night while Neji slept.
A thought occurred to the rather skittish Neji. Oh no! If he just spends the whole night to himself while I sleep, he'll get bored and think I'm a bad host! Neji groaned, pulling at his hair. What to do, what to do…
Light bulb: Ding!
Neji smacked his fist into his hand in a flash of insight. How perfectly simple.
"Hinata-sama!" he called, running out of the room and across the hall.
Hinata opened the door to her room, smiling. "Yes, Neji-nii-san?"
"I need your help," he said desperately. "Please? I'll do anything you want, just help me out this once, ok?"
Hinata would have raised an eyebrow at him if he hadn't looked so pathetic. "Um…"
"Please, Hinata-sama!" Neji wailed, getting down on his knees and clasping his hands before his face.
Now that was just scary. "Um… Ok…"
"Thank you!" Neji jumped up, kissed her hand, and ran away down the hall. "Thank you, Hinata-sama!" he called over his shoulder before disappearing out of sight.
What just happened? Hinata wondered curiously before going into her room.
Gaara knocked on the door to the Hyuuga house. He wasn't really sure what this whole "sleep over" thing meant, but the word "sleep" in the title made him think, before even setting foot in the house, that he would get very bored, very fast. So, he'd packed a few 5000-piece puzzles and a book in a backpack Kankurou had lent him, so he could have something to do while Neji slept.
Hanabi opened the door, looking up at the Sand Nin. "Hi, Neji-nii-san's boyfriend!" she cried, after a few moments of starring.
"Er… Hi."
Neji suddenly appeared behind Hanabi and pushed her out of the way, giving her a Barbie. She squealed with delight and ran away down the hall. Neji turned back to Gaara and smiled. "Come on in." He stepped aside to let Gaara pass.
Neji closed the door once Gaara came in, then ushered him into the living room. "Go ahead and sit, I'll be right back," the dark-haired leaf nin told the sand nin before leaving the room.
Gaara looked around and found a rather large, over-stuffed chair that was to his liking (it reminded him of 'his chair' back at his house) and sat down, moving around slightly until he was comfortable.
Suddenly, Hanabi came in with her Barbie and looked up at Gaara blankly.
Gaara looked back.
It was a 'blank look' contest.
"Are you really Neji-nii-san's boyfriend?" she asked suspiciously.
Shukaku: We won the starring contest! Hell yeah!
"Probably," Gaara said calmly.
"Then why is—"
Neji and Hinata suddenly reentered the living room; Hinata was carrying a basket, and Neji had an armload of towels. "Hanabi, go play with my old dolls," Hinata said, setting down the large basket full of… stuff… that she was carrying.
Hanabi shrugged and left.
"Hi, Gaara," Hinata said kindly, taking a towel from the pile Neji was holding.
"Er… Hi."
"We're going to have lots of fun," Hinata said cheerfully, tucking the towel up around Gaara's neck. "Sleepover fun!"
"…What?" Gaara raised an eyebrow.
Ten minutes later found Neji and Gaara sitting in plush recliners in bathrobes with cotton balls between their toes and mud masks on their faces, with cucumbers over their eyes. Hinata was currently painting Gaara's toenails with some black nail polish.
This is… oddly…. Refreshing… Shukaku mused
"What color are you painting them?" Gaara asked, since he couldn't see what she was doing, for the cucumbers.
"Pretty pink colors," Hinata said casually.
"What!" Gaara sat bolt-upright, starring at her as the cucumber slices fell away.
"I'm kidding," she said, showing him the bottle of black polish.
Shuddering slightly, Gaara sat back and replaced the cucumber slices while Neji chuckled to himself.
After Hinata finished painting Gaara's toenails, she went back to the basket and got a most fearsome weapon, then approached her cousin.
Neji, seeing her through the cucumbers with his Byakugan, gave her a fearful look. "Hinata-sama…. What's that for?"
"Well you know, Neji-nii-san… They are getting out of hand…"
Neji's eyes went temporarily bug-eyed. "No! Hinata-sama!"
"Hold still, Neji-nii-san… It won't hurt that much if you just—"
"Get away from me! Hinata-sama!"
Hinata sighed. "Gaara, can I borrow some sand?"
"Why?"
"I need to hold Neji-nii-san down."
Neji's jaw dropped. "That's not fair!"
Gaara, however, ignored him and put sand around him before Neji could run away. "There."
Hinata smiled her thanks, even though Gaara couldn't see it, and turned on Neji. "Neji-nii-san… This won't hurt a bit."
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Neji screamed bloody blue murder, turning his head away from her as she started. Oh god…. Father! I have disgraced your name! I'm sorry!
After Neji's eyebrows had been successfully plucked and evened out, Hinata washed off their mud masks and declared she had another game to play.
Neji sat in his chair, eye twitching. "Oh god… oh god…"
Gaara, meanwhile, felt his face. "Wow… smoothness…"
"Oh god… Why couldn't she do it to you?" He looked at Gaara.
Gaara indicated the fact that he had no eyebrows.
"…Right. What are we doing now, Hinata-sama?"
"Hide and Seek!" she said cheerfully. "Neji, you're 'it'. Gaara and I will hide."
"Why am I always 'it'?" Neji muttered to himself while Hinata and Gaara left the room.
(A FEW MINUTES LATER)
Hey, Kid, Shukaku said as Gaara walked down the halls of the Hyuuga manor.
"What?"
I just realized a serious flaw in your plan to walk around and not be noticed.
"What's that?"
HE CAN SEE THROUGH WALLS, DAMMIT!
Gaara stopped dead. Pause…Shit! He paused for a moment, then made the seal to summon charka. "Henge!"
Five minutes later, Neji and Hinata (who Neji found posing as a potted plant) walked down the hall and found a very adorable kitten with red fur and raccoon-markings.
Neji frowned, picking it up and holding it at arms' length. "When did we get a cat?"
"Chichi-ue is allergic to cats," Hinata pointed out, looking at the cat.
Neji frowned at the kitten. "Let's put it outside before Hiashi-sama breaks out in hives again—Oh, man…" He groaned.
The kitten had pulled a Puss In Boots, blinking huge green eyes up at Neji; eyes that had the power to stop an army.
Neji yelped, closing his eyes and turning his head away. "Dammit!"
Kitten: Blink blink.
"I can still see it, dammit!" Neji shouted, realizing that he still had his Byakugan activated.
"Aw, let's just keep him and hide him from Chichi-ue," Hinata begged.
Neji frowned, looking at the cat. "Doesn't really act like a cat to me.."
Kitten: …'Me-ow?'
Neji: Sweatdrop. "Gaara, un-do that Henge."
Gaara appeared in a puff of smoke, frowning.
Damn your inability to do a proper Henge! Shukaku hissed.
Hinata emitted a very unladylike yawn and looked at the wall clock which magically appeared for the very purpose of her having a time mechanism to look at. "I'm going to go to bed now," she informed her cousin and friend. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night, Hinata-sama," Neji said as she went down the hall.
"Good night," Gaara added before she disappeared around the corner.
"Come on, let's watch some TV," Neji said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder.
"Ok." Gaara followed him back to the living room.
Gaara turned the TV off and looked over at Neji. The Hyuuga had tried his hardest to stay awake with him, and had lasted until four fifteen in the morning. Gaara didn't mind that Neji had gone to sleep, though; he hadn't expected him to stay up at all and was surprised when he tried to.
The normally poised Hyuuga was slumped on the sofa like a rag doll, sleeping soundly with his head on Gaara's shoulder. After a few minutes of starring at the top of Neji's head, Gaara tried to move him, but found he couldn't, as Neji was about six inches taller then him and twenty pounds heavier. However, Gaara didn't want to have to wake Neji up, so he called some sand to him and gently lifted Neji off the sofa and carried him to his room.
Neji's room wasn't exactly what Gaara had thought it would look like. It wasn't plain, or anything, but it wasn't overly decorated, either. Across the room from the door was a futon with black covers and a whole mess of pillows. Against the wall to the right of the bed was a tall dresser with a few random things on it. Against the wall to the left was a book case with a whole bunch of scrolls and books, as well as a few framed pictures. Next to the book case was a beanbag with a few opened books dropped around it. Above the bed was a large window. At the foot of the bed was an isle with a blank canvas and a bucket next to it with a few bottles of paint in it, as well as some brushes.
Gaara carefully laid the still-sleeping Neji on the bed and sat near the foot of the bed, on the floor, watching him, hundreds of questions flashing through his mind. Gaara frowned when he saw Neji shivering.
Flashback
"Why are you shivering?" Gaara asked Sakura as the two of them and Tsunade huddle around a camp fire. Gaara had a sleeping bag and a lot of sand wrapped around him, so he didn't feel the cold, and Tsunade was too drunk to notice, but Sakura was literally blue.
"Because I'm cold!" she answered through chattering teeth. "I hate camping without a sleeping bag! No one should have to sleep without covers!"
End flashback
Gaara grabbed the covers at the bottom of the bed and put them over Neji, who promptly stopped shivering, then sat on the floor next to the bed, taking out one of his puzzles.
Within an hour and a half, he was starring in frustration at the finished puzzle. It was a picture of a bird flying in a flurry of little green leaves. It's confusing, he thought, looking at Neji, who was sleeping peacefully.
What is?
Why does he care so much? Gaara decided to think rather then speak to Shukaku, so as not to wake Neji. Shukaku was silent, as if waiting for Gaara to continue. He's always nice to me… and made sure to stay up as long as he could… and he's always doing nice things for me… but why?
Why not?
Well… because I was… a murderer… and I was never nice to anyone… what made him like me?
If it makes you feel any better, he wasn't exactly the sweetest pea in the pod, either.
But still… what did I do?
Ask him.
He's sleeping.
So, wake him up. He'll go back to sleep after you do. He looks dead-tired to me.
All the more reason for me not to wake him up. I'll ask him in the morning.
Brat, get your butt over there and ask him before I do!
Gaara sighed. He knew Shukaku wouldn't give him any peace if he didn't ask. Besides, Neji would go back to sleep… hopefully. He went over to Neji's bed and shook Neji gently. "Neji…?"
Neji yawned, stretched and rolled over.
Gaara shook him harder. "Neji?"
Neji made a jaw-cracking yawn and stuck his head under his pillow, going limp again.
Gaara frowned. "Neji!" he said in a loud whisper, shaking him hard.
"Huh? What?" Neji lifted his bed-head out and looked around. His eyes fell on Gaara. "Did I fall asleep?"
Nod.
"Oh, man… Ok, I'll stay awake." Neji sat up in bed, but instantly started nodding.
Gaara shook his shoulders gently. "Neji! I need to ask you something."
"Huh?" Neji blinked rapidly. "Ok. What is it?" He made his eyes go very wide, so he wouldn't close them anymore.
"Er…" Gaara sought for words. "Why do you… like me?" he asked, not looking at Neji, but instead, at Neji's hands, which were in Neji's lap.
Neji was awake now. "What?"
"Why do you like me?" Gaara repeated, still not looking at him.
(Clarence: Because we're gay!) (SNG: Hee hee… Couldn't resist. Go see Lee's List Of Manliness to understand.) Neji frowned. "What kind of question is that?"
"Well… I was curious…"
Neji's frown of slight anger turned to a thoughtful one as he scratched his chin, looking out the window, deep in thought. "I guess…"
Gaara looked up.
"I guess, at first, I admired your strength, because you were able to beat Lee, my teammate, in the Chuunin exam," Neji began. "When I heard you and your brother and sister helped rescue our squad from the Sound Nins, I thought, 'well, no wonder we got out of it alive'…"
Gaara looked at his own hands, slightly embarrassed but at the same time a little sad that Neji only liked him for his strength, supposedly.
"…But then, after Kankurou and I started training together, and I saw more and more of you," Neji continued, not seeing Gaara's look, "I started looking at you as a person, and not just another ninja. And I started seeing your qualities, too."
"Quality?" Gaara repeated.
What are we, eggs?
"Yeah. You know, your sense of humor (You have a sense of humor? Shut up!), your care towards your siblings, things like that. I admired these qualities, too, but at the same time, I admired the person who had them, for just being who he was." Neji suddenly blushed slightly. "Then, I started to actually look at you… and I started liking… the way you look…"
Gaara looked up again, confused. "The way I look?"
Neji nodded, turning to give him a small smile. "You have pretty eyes."
Gaara blinked. I do?
You do?
Neji smiled, reading the look. "You do." He yawned again and scooted over. "Come on," he said, patting the bed next to him. "You don't have to sleep."
Gaara climbed meekly up on the futon and laid down, propping his head up with the pillows Neji put there for him. After Gaara was situated, Neji laid his head on Gaara's stomach as a pillow and fell back to sleep.
I like sleep-overs, Gaara informed Shukaku.
Good for you. My brain is melting.
...grins shyly...er...hi...
gulps at all the crazy readrer staring at her..
SHUKAKU SAVE ME!
Shukaku (chilling in a tree): oh hell no I'm coming down to save u those peopel have teapots!
Ur r such a useless demon...