You guys are so damn STINGY! No reviews for the last chappy! (Fans turn around with murder in their eyes) Just kidding just kidding! sorry! sorrysorry! Actually I got a few reviews, so thank you who reviewed for your utter loyalty and support! And for those who don't review, the more reviews I get, the faster I update!

Chapter 7: Revealing Feelings

Somewhere Far Away

Orochimaru paced restlessly around his damp dark room. Kimimaro was late; something the Kaguya had never been known to do before. Kimimaro had always stressed punctuality, especially on missions Orochimaru gave him. The snake-summoner clenched his teeth and walked with long strides from one corner of the room to another. Kabuto silently watched as the snake-man paced, and made himself known by a tiny cought. Orochimaru looked up, staring most evilly at the medic-nin.

"Yes?"

"Kimimaro has returned." At the news, Orochimaru turned and beckoned the Kaguya to enter.

"Come in." Kimimaro walked slowly into the room, expression unreadable. Orochimaru looked around.

"Where is the Kyuubi?" To this he received no response. Orochimaru tried again.

"Where is the Kyuubi?" Still no response was uttered from the silent Kaguya. Orochimaru stopped and stepped closer to Kimimaro.

"You failed to bring him back, did you not?" A nod ensued from the grave man.

"Why?" Kimimaro simply stood and looked at Orochimaru with a stone cold gaze.

At this the snake-man turned and slid a hand up Kimimaro's neck, stopping briefly at the jawline before stroking his cheek in slow lazy circles. Kimimaro continued to stare straight ahead with a dead expression in his emerald eyes. Amber ones stared down the Kaguya's before Orochimaru chuckled and removed his hand from Kimimaro's ivory skin.

"Kimimaro…I know full well that you could have taken the brat effortlessly, but why did you fail?" Silence followed.

"Perhaps…you didn't capture the blonde…because you saw in him…a little of yourself?" Something flickered in Kimimaro's eyes before they froze over with ice once more. Orochimaru laughed.

"I see. I know I can trust you, Kimimaro, but not with this case. You are not capable of bringing one so like you to be tortured and killed. Very well then, I shall handle this myself." Kimimaro stood stock still, quite like a statue, yet displaying no emotion towards the snake-man's decision. Orochimaru disappeared, chuckling evilly as he left.

Back In Konoha

"TSUNADE-BAACHAN! WE'RE BAAAAAAAACK!" Naruto skidded in with a Grand Finale entrance. The woman at the desk rolled her eyes and addressed the blonde.

"So did it go well?" Naruto nodded energetically.

"Yup! We ran into a little trouble on the way and I got captured by a sound-nin but other than that, it was fine."

"Good. You deserve a rest."

Naruto turned to Gaara.

"Will you be leaving now?" The redhead nodded.

"I hope to see you again soon." Naruto encircled the panda-eyed boy with a hug, and Gaara melted away in a swirl of sand.

"Now off to Ichiraku!"

Naruto stopped at the academy on the way, plucked a resisting Iruka from the papers he was grading, and set off for Ichiraku. His old sensei congratulated him on the mission's success, and the two happily ate their way through Iruka's bulimic wallet.

It was later that evening that Naruto made his way to the waterfalls. Cerulean eyes checking right and left for any intruders, he made his way to the third waterfall and pulled back a boulder to reveal a hidden cave behind the cascading water. Crawling inside the small crevice in the rock wall, he pulled back another chunk of wall from the cave to reveal a few small scrolls and books. Pulling out a scroll, he unrolled it and began to read.

Neji wandered the streets of Konoha, searching for a certain fox-child. Eyes searching right and left, he decided to check Ichiraku.

"Excuse me, oji-san, have you seen Uzumaki Naruto around here by any chance?" The old man looked up.

"I thought I saw him go towards the forest just a while ago." Neji nodded.

"Thank you." He turned and leapt towards the forest, searching worriedly for the blonde.

Once in the forest, he activated Byakugan and searched for the kitsune. Locating a tinge of red chakra near the waterfalls, he hopped towards the trace of chakra, following its signature. Leaping gracefully through trees, he came to a stop in front of one of the large waterfalls where the chakra proved to be the strongest.

He cocked his head to the side in confusion. The red chakra appeared to be floating right in front of the waterfall in midair, yet he could see no Naruto. It came to him a second later, and he cursed himself for the mental stall. Naruto was probably hiding behind the waterfall in some sort of cave.

A sudden splash startled the blonde from his reading and Neji came through the thin sheen of water that separated Naruto from sight. Shaking himself to get rid of the water, Neji crouched down next to Naruto.

"It seems I can never hide from those eyes of yours, hmm?" Neji smiled.

"How did you discover this place?" Naruto laughed.

"It was actually really funny, the way I discovered this. You know that this is the tallest waterfall in the forest, right?" Neji nodded.

"When I was five, a few villagers mobbed me in my bed and carried me into the woods. They took me to the top of this waterfall and dropped me off the edge so they could kill me. There were sharp rocks at the bottom, so I threw my hand out to prevent damage. I grabbed onto a bush and hung there behind the waterfall. I saw a cave in the rock wall so I decided to spend the night there, just so they could think I was dead. They must have thought they had killed me, because they left. I stayed here for the night and a week after, calling this place mine. When I came back to the village, Sandaime punished all the villagers who threw me off the waterfall." Naruto laughed.

"I got lucky. Ever since then, this cave has been the place I go to whenever the villagers get too brutal." Neji's eyes overflowed with remorse and empathy.

Forget-me-not eyes widened in shock as Naruto was once again pulled into an embrace by Neji. The Hyuuga stroked the kitsune's hair as he enfolded his arms around the fox-child.

"Naruto, you went through so much more pain than I did." Naruto scowled.

"I told you Neji, I don't live on the past anymore. I live in the present, where things are better, where at least I have friends." He was silenced by two slender fingers on his lips.

Neji gazed deeply into the fox-child's eyes, a deep understanding look infused in the opalescent pupils. He slowly leaned in to the blonde, closing the distance between them.

"I know."

And with that, Neji gently pressed his lips to Naruto's in a chaste kiss. Naruto murmured in surprise against Neji's lips, but eventually the blonde gave in to the electric tinglings dancing along his spine and pulled Neji even deeper into his lips.

At this signal, Neji reached around and grabbed two handfuls of Naruto's heavenly hair, pressing the boy down onto the ground, kissing him with fire and lust in his touch. Naruto moaned in pleasure and slid his tongue over Neji's lips, asking for entrance. Neji opened his lips to allow Naruto access which the blonde accepted with full force. The kitsune gained dominance and explored every sweet crevice of Neji's mouth, stroking the roof of the Hyuuga's mouth with his tongue.

Something snapped in Neji and he threw Naruto to the ground, kissing him hungrily like he couldn't get enough of him. He kissed the blonde almost furiously, claiming his lips and delving into his mouth. Naruto moaned once more, setting the Hyuuga on fire. Neji removed his lips from Naruto's, letting the blonde breathe. Naruto tried to get up but was forced down by Neji once more as the Hyuuga attacked the kitsune's neck.

Neji lowered his lips onto the creamy soft skin, licking the slightly salty surface before biting down hard where Naruto's neck ended and his shoulder began. Naruto emitted a muffled yelp. Neji sucked, licked, and nipped the spot until he drew blood, lapping up the coppery fluid with short strokes of his tongue. Naruto bit back a yelp of pain.

"Neji?" A muffled reply came from somewhere near his collarbone.

"Hmm?"

"Why'd you bite me?" Neji withdrew his lips from Naruto's shoulder.

"To mark you as mine, Naru-chan." Naruto giggled at the nickname.

"Come on." The fox-child stood and bounded out of the waterfall, Neji following suit. The two dashed playfully around and around the three waterfalls, skipping over rocks and plants and occasionally using Kawarimi whenever one got in a tight spot. Naruto laughed, eyes sparkling with joy. He raced Neji up the rock wall, then plunged down with a splash into the lake below.

Neji landed softly on the water, eyes searching for any telltale bubbles on the surface of the water. Finding none, he activated Byakugan, searching for the crimson chakra. He immediately grew worried when he found no trace of Naruto. The blonde must have gone outside the limits of his Byakugan; but how did he manage to swim fifty feet away so fast? The pond wasn't very deep; what had become of the kitsune?

Neji suddenly stumbled, losing his chakra concentration. He tumbled with a splash into the water and was pulled under by a dark form. Struggling for air, he thrashed frantically and broke free, only to discover Naruto swimming beside him, laughing madly.

"Naruto! How come I couldn't sense your chakra?" Naruto grinned.

"Kyuubi taught me a jutsu that's resistant to Byakugan. It masks my chakra completely."

Neji frowned, a bit peeved that his trump card wasn't so useful anymore.

"Don't worry, I only use it with offending Hyuuga or any other bloodlines that can see through solid stuff." Neji smiled, a little relieved.

"But that doesn't mean you can spy on me in the shower." Neji pretended to look crestfallen.

"It's not like I haven't gotten in my share of peeping before…" Naruto's face scrunched up.

"EWW! YOU HAVE BEEN SPYING ON ME? THE ALMIGHTY HYUUGA PRODIGY IS A FRICKIN PERVERT! Oh boy, I gotta tell Lee!" Neji eyes widened in shock.

"Uzumaki Naruto, if you ever tell anyone else, I will make sure you have a long and extremely painful death! Besides, I was only kidding," Nevertheless, a faint blush stained Neji's ivory cheeks.

Joyful laughter burst from the kitsune's lips and he dragged the Hyuuga back towards Konoha.

"C'mon, let's go back to my apartment." Neji gulped, the blush on his cheeks intensifying tenfold.

Sasuke walked slowly down the streets of Konoha, obsidian eyes downcast and emotionless as usual. Strolling down a ways, he suddenly caught sight of Naruto and Neji heading his direction. Biting his lip, he melted into a nearby alleyway, content to observe from afar. The blonde and the Hyuuga passed by the alley, unaware of the figure lurking inside it, and made their way to Naruto's apartment.

Charcoal eyes narrowed, and Sasuke clutched at his chest once more. So the Hyuuga had finally ensnared the boy. He cursed himself once for not acting sooner, but there still was a chance to make Naruto his. Sasuke stalked back to the Uchiha house, mind contemplating on how to approach the blonde.

Naruto withdrew a key from one of his many pockets and unlocked the door. Neji stared into the apartment, but noticed a thin barrier of chakra coating the walls and the window. He turned and raised a quizzical eyebrow at the fox-child.

"Oh, that's because a lot of the villagers used to trash my apartment when I was away. Some still do, so I have to but a chakra barrier around it while I'm gone. They figured out a long time ago that they can't get through it (although some of them have tried), but I like to have it up just in case." Neji nodded.

"Sasuke should get one like that on his birthday and on Valentines Day." Naruto giggled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's been a ritual for the girls to lynch mob him with presents." Somewhere in the Uchiha mansion, the Uchiha sneezed.

"Anyway, you should come in. It's kinda getting chilly outside." Neji agreed and stepped in the apartment.

Silvery eyes wandered over every detail of Naruto's apartment. The kitchen was fairly small, and Neji was willing to wager that it contained nothing but ramen. Making his way to Naruto's bedroom, he gasped slightly. Naruto's room looked like a forest in multiple flowerpots. Plants littered the windowsill, more plants were set upon cabinets and dresser drawers, and still more plants covered the bookshelves. Naruto was a veritable botanist.

(A/N: I know Naru-chan's apartment really doesn't look like this, but one of his hobbies is watering plants so…)

Neji stepped inside the room, eyeing the beat-up Kakashi doll when he spotted a picture on Naruto's desk. Dusting off the glass, he found that it was a picture of Naruto's team. Now that he looked closer, the blonde's smile did have a trace of sadness in it. No matter how hard Naruto tried, he still wouldn't be able to hide the faint trace of loneliness he harbored. A sudden noise made Neji turn around. Naruto came towards the silver-eyed Hyuuga, holding out a white yukata.

"Here you go. It's the only one I have; Sandaime gave it to me a long time ago. You can have it if you want." Neji nodded his thanks and put on the white robe.

"Thank you Naruto." The Hyuuga looked at Naruto closely.

"The striped pajamas you wear really do match your eyes." Naruto laughed.

"C'mon you, let's turn in for the night." The blonde flopped down on his bed and sighed happily. Neji followed suit, burying himself in the soft pillows and sheets. The two boys fell asleep, content to be with each other.

My summary said NejiNaru, so I have NejiNaru. Oh yeah, for those fans who are dedicated to SasuNaru, this ain't over yet!