Chapter 3: Mixed Emotions

Leaves crackled merrily as the blonde fox-child flew through the trees with all the grace of a lemur. Naruto swung from branch to branch, cornflower eyes searching for a silver-eyed Hyuuga. He located Neji perched on top of the water of a nearby lake. The Hyuuga apparently seemed to be concentrating fiercely on accumulating chakra, so Naruto, more polite than others assumed, stepped back and watched from the leafy canopy of a nearby tree.

Neji's hair swayed back and forth in a passing breeze as he held up two fingers to his lips. Summoning his chakra, he expelled the contents out of his body and whirled around in a Kaiten. As the water spewed up from the fierce circular rotation, Neji infused his chakra into the drops so they hardened and pierced the ground. Neji slowly came to a stop and rested his hands on his knees. Sensing a familiar chakra presence, he turned and looked directly at the blonde hidden in a tree.

"Watching over my training, now are you?" Naruto leapt down and walked out to Neji on the water.

"Just came at a choice moment. Anyway, I came to ask you something."

Neji listened quietly as Naruto explained, only raising his eyebrows slightly when Naruto revealed that he contained the Kyuubi. After a few more inquiries, Neji consented.

"It's been getting a little boring here anyway. Very well, I shall accompany you." Naruto grinned happily.

"Now all I have to do is get Sasuke-teme to come as well, and get permission from Tsunade-baachan!" Neji halted.

"We're bringing Sasuke too?" Naruto nodded, a little crestfallen.

"Yeah, Kyuubi thinks that I should take people with advanced bloodlines." Neji nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's go and visit Tsunade-sama now."

"We have to pick up Sasuke first." Neji rolled his eyes subtlety.

"Silly of me to…uhm…forget." Naruto giggled. Neji really did have a streak of humor in him.

"Yeah, I was a little reluctant as well when Kyuubi told me that he wanted Sasuke to come along, but if he prefers it, then I shall do as he wishes."

The duo traveled quickly through the streets of Konoha, searching for the raven-haired youth. Finally, Neji's Byakugan picked up a trace of Uchiha on top of a nearby building, so the pair made their way to the structure. They found Sasuke leaning against a rail, arms folded and eyes closed in the way he traditionally stood.

"Naa, Sasuke-teme." Sasuke opened one eye lazily, observed the speaker, and closed it again.

"What do you want, dobe?" Naruto scowled.

"We're going on a mission." This time both of Sasuke's eyes opened, and an eyebrow was raised.

"Funny, I never heard that from Kakashi-sensei."

"No fool, this is a personal mission assigned by someone MUCH more powerful than Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke snorted in disbelief and smirked.

"And which important person would honestly put aside the time to see someone like you?"

Sasuke looked up, fully expecting a string of curses and a "Sasuke-teme" but none came. Instead, he was shocked to find that Naruto was smirking a cunning and knowing smirk, and was even more stunned to find that the Hyuuga next to him was also harboring the same expression on his features. The two exchanged a secret look, implying they knew something that Sasuke didn't. The Uchiha found that extremely annoying. Naruto finally spoke up.

"That's for us to know and for you to find out." Sasuke sent a sizzling glare at the blonde, and when the smirks still stayed pasted on their faces he sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, I'll come with you. Is Sakura coming as well?" Naruto frowned.

"Fool. Couldn't you have figured out that this wasn't a normal mission since Kaka-sensei didn't assign it? That and the fact that Neji is with us? Anyway, we have to ask permission from Tsunade-baachan to give us three weeks leave."

"Since when do you, of all people, ask permission?" Naruto shot forward and glared at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, this is an IMPORTANT mission! Get serious already!" Sasuke's smirk widened.

"Since when am I never serious?"

"Since now!"

"All right, all right. I'll go with you then." And the group of three made their way to Tsunade's office.

After getting past two particularly inquisitive Anbu, Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji stood at the door of Tsunade's office. Sasuke immediately reached for the doorknob, only to be stopped by Naruto.

"What?" Naruto smiled a vulpine grin.

"She's sleeping."

"How do you know?"

"She's always sleeping, and the only way to wake her up is….okay, I'll demonstrate."

Neji quickly stuffed his fingers in his ears and cowered for dear life, frantically motioning Sasuke to do the same. The Uchiha followed suit, elegant features showing blatant confusion. Naruto barged in the door, dodged the fist that came at him out of reflex (Tsunade was still sleeping), and bounced up to Tsunade's ear. Using a nearby document as a megaphone, he inhaled sharply and screamed in the Hokage's ear.

"OIIIII! TSUNADE-BAACHAN! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, SLEEPING ON THE JOB LIKE THIS? YOU'RE SO IRRESPONSIBLE!"

Somewhere far away, all of Orochimaru's glass jars containing slimy unidentified substances promptly shattered. The snake-summoner growled and vowed to find the insolent bastard who disturbed his rest and give them a long, extensive, if not extremely painful talk. Kabuto silently mopped up all the spilled matter, trying desperately to see through his cracked glasses when the room was shaken by another blast. This time Orochimaru's chair splintered completely and Kabuto's clothes fell off, ripped to shreds by the awesome sonic power. The snake-summoner stood up, wobbling slightly, and damned the person to hell that possessed such a good set of lungs. Orochimaru would be walking like a drunk for a few days; the sonic power had apparently rearranged his inner ear.

Back in Konoha

"YOU, UZUMAKI NARUTO, ARE THE LOUDEST BRAT I HAVE EVER SEEN IN KONOHA! WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO DISTURB MY REST, DAMMIT?"

Sasuke and Neji squished themselves into the farthest corner they could find, fingers still shoved in their ears. Naruto sure lived up to his name of being the Konoha's Number One Loudest Ninja. Both boys hit the floor once again as Naruto retorted back at Tsunade.

"BECAUSE YOU ARE ALWAYS SLEEPING ON THE JOB, SOMETHING NO DECENT HOKAGE WOULD DO!"

Tsunade was about to answer back, but at the sight of the Anbu with the cracked masks and Neji and Sasuke cowering on the floor, she lowered her voice to a normal business-like maner. Folding her fingers together, she surveyed Naruto with a curious look.

"So…why are you here?" Naruto looked up and motioned for Neji and Sasuke to enter the office.

"Can we have three weeks leave, Tsunade-baachan?" Tsunade cocked her head to the side.

"Why?"

"An important mission requires us to be there." Tsunade quickly pulled out a drawer, briefly skimming the mission records. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"I see no urgent mission." Naruto walked up to the Sannin.

"It was assigned to me by a special person. You see, this mission is so very crucial if we want to save the world." Sasuke looked at Neji questioningly. The Hyuuga motioned him to wait.

"Oh? Which special person?" Naruto smiled silkily.

"He's not exactly a person, but you might know him all the same. He's been with me my whole life long. You know, the furry one?" Tsunade's eyes widened and she gasped.

"Not…him?"

Naruto nodded. Sasuke fidgeted nervously, itching to know who this mysterious person was. He looked over at Neji only to find that the Hyuuga was staring intensely at the fox-child with a knowing look in his pale eyes. The Uchiha could sense something else as well; something far deeper lay hidden in Neji's eyes, but Sasuke couldn't quite place what it was. It lingered a few moments longer, then disappeared. Sasuke felt a bit left out. Apparently all the others seemed to know who this mysterious enigma was.

Naruto, sensing the tension and confusion radiating from Sasuke, gave in to temptation and gave the Uchiha an I-know-something-that-you-don't look. Sasuke growled menacingly at the blonde, who paid no attention and turned back to Tsunade.

"So do we have your permission?" A slow smirk spread over Tsunade's face.

"Since when did you, Uzumaki Naruto, former prankster and bender of rules, need permission from higher authority?" Naruto smile happily.

"Thank you, Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto bounced up and gave her a brief hug, then dragged Neji and Sasuke out the door. Sasuke wriggled out of the fox-child's grasp and turned to face the blonde.

"Who is this person you're talking about, and why does everyone seem to know who he is except me?" Naruto grinned evilly.

"Cause you're not worth informing Sasuke-teme." Naruto stuck out his tongue. Sasuke scowled.

"I'm just kidding. You will find out in due time. Patience is a virtue, you know," Naruto shook a finger at Sasuke teasingly. Sasuke huffed.

"When are we leaving, Naruto?" Neji asked.

"We should leave this evening, so you might want to pack."

The Hyuuga nodded. Sasuke immediately stalked off to the Uchiha mansion to gather his belongings. Naruto was about to leave for home as well, when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He spun around to face Neji, a questioning look in his eyes. Neji was staring at him in a strange way; Naruto could see an odd fire in the boy's eyes and a strange energy emitting from the Hyuuga.

"What is it Neji?" Neji drew closer to the boy.

"Naruto…" The fox-child gulped. Neji's voice had more emotion to it than the usual monotone.

"Y-yes?"

Neji came even closer still, so only a few inches separated his face from the blonde's. Naruto wanted to run, wanted to hide from this weird mood Neji was in, but his feet wouldn't obey his body's call for retreat. Neji stared at him intensely, eyes boring into the cerulean ones opposite him. The Hyuuga started to close what distance was left between them. Naruto swallowed nervously and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Neji went right past the fox-child's lips and straight to his ear. He stopped, nose brushing the silky gold locks. The smell of Naruto's hair was irresistibly enticing. It took all of Neji's hard-earned self-control to refrain from kissing the boy then and there. He laid his lips against Naruto's ear and whispered in a husky voice, his breath tickling the other.

"Naruto…." It came out as a low whisper. He felt the boy nod in indication that he heard.

"Why do you prize the Uchiha so…?" He felt Naruto stiffen.

"I-I don't…it's just that…he's been my teammate for so long…a-and…" Neji nodded, nose brushing against the skin of Naruto's cheek. He leaned in and spoke again.

"Do you…see him as more…than a friend?" Naruto waited for a long time before replying.

"I…he is my teammate…so I could consider him a friend." Neji's arms gripped the boy's shoulders.

"Do you harbor any feelings for him? Any deep feelings even you may not know about?" To this one, Naruto didn't reply. Neji waited for some time before speaking once more.

"Do not forget…the way you felt here and now."

Abruptly Neji withdrew and walked away silently, fighting to keep his composure. It was the hardest thing he did back there, implying his love for the boy, but he knew Naruto knew what he meant. And he doubted the fox-child would forget anytime soon. He knew and accepted that he loved the blonde, loved him more than a friend and comrade. He knew that if Naruto would cease to be, he would cease to be as well. Naruto was his savior, the one who pulled him from the clutches of darkness, and for that he loved the boy who managed to alter his views on life so drastically.

His thoughts turned to the Uchiha. The Uchiha loved the blonde as well, for Neji could see the stir in his eyes whenever he talked to Naruto. Sasuke just didn't want to accept that his feelings for Naruto were love. Neji smiled as he walked towards the Hyuuga mansion. He would do anything in his power to make the boy his, and his only. If the Uchiha was simply too stubborn to accept his feelings for Naruto…then so be it. Neji would claim the boy as his.