These chapters just keep on coming. Once again, thanks to my reviewers. You guys give me enough courage to actually post the chapters and not hide them away to collect dust on my computer. I love you all. :)

Chapter 11: Liberation

The next few days flew by for Neji. Sasuke had stopped bothering him in class, and Naruto didn't even show up for a few days. When he did, he was strangely quiet and subdued. Neji didn't give it much thought and figured that their fight had finally gotten resolved. It was good for them and better for him now that he didn't have to worry about being put in an uncomfortable position again. He had hung out with Gaara over the course of the week, but still felt like he didn't know the boy any better. It was nice spending time with him, though. Gaara had a lot of interesting stories to tell of places he had been and the things he had seen.

Even if there was no need for it anymore, Gaara still waited for Neji after class. They would walk out together, and often stopped to laze around by the lake while the afternoon was warm. Gaara still refused to go swimming for some reason, and Neji often ended up diving in on his own while the redhead watched from the shore.

Neji was starting to like the thought of having a friend. He supposed that Sasuke and Naruto were his friends, but after the way they had treated him, he felt emotionally distant. He hadn't spoken to either of them in a while, since he was always off spending time with Gaara. He was surprised when he heard a familiar voice intrude into the sunny afternoon while he was swimming in the lake.

"What, can't he swim, or is he afraid he'll turn to mud?"

Neji quickly turned around to see Sasuke in the lake with him. When did he come in? The dark-haired boy treaded water lazily, watching the sand-nin sitting on the shore.

"I don't know," Neji admitted, still slightly surprised that Sasuke was there. "Why are you here? I see you're talking to me now. Did your PMS end or something?"

Sasuke made a face. "Very funny Hyuuga. I'm free to swim where I want and talk to whom I please, when I please."

Neji shrugged and brushed the wet hair out of his face. "You're really had the split personality thing going for a while." The brunette narrowed his eyes. "Or you still aren't trying to use me against Naruto, are you? Because I told you I'm finished with that."

Sasuke looked him straight in the eye with a dark look. "Naruto and I broke up a week ago."

"Oh." Neji cursed himself for being unable to say anything more constructive. At the same time, he was shocked at the news. He really hadn't expected the fight to break the two up, especially since it seemed that both were partially enjoying the excitement of it. "Well…I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Sasuke said, returning his gaze to the shoreline.

Neji turned to look and saw Gaara sitting where he was before, except some dirt seemed to be swirling around him. Neji found it odd, since there wasn't any wind. The redhead didn't move or stand, so he figured it was nothing serious. He turned back to focus on Sasuke. "So who broke off?"

"I did." Sasuke said, bringing his attention back to Neji.

Neji was once again surprised. He would've sworn that Naruto would have been the one to finally get fed up. Then again, Naruto was so unbelievably stubborn that maybe he wouldn't have resolved to end the fight in such a dramatic way. Still, Neji could find nothing to respond to Sasuke's statement and simply shrugged his shoulders again. Sasuke wasn't looking at him to see this. Instead, he was watching Gaara again.

"How the heck do you trust that creep?" he asked suddenly.

Neji was getting thrown off a lot today. "What?" he asked, wondering if he heard correctly.

"I mean look at him. Look how he sits. Look how he watches you. It would personally freak me out. I mean, do you even know anything about him?"

Neji folded his arms. "For your information, he has been very kind to me, and hasn't made me feel uncomfortable like some people."

Sasuke seemed to ignore him. "I don't trust him," he growled, as if that remark was absolute.

Neji found himself getting slightly irritated. "I never took you for a prejudice one, Uchiha."

"If prejudice means disliking him, then I'm guilty." Sasuke shot a deathglare at Gaara on the shore, and Neji couldn't see from such a distance, but he was pretty sure that Gaara returned it as well.

"You don't have to speak ill of my friend in my presence," Neji said, annoyed.

Sasuke gave him a skeptical look. "THE Hyuuga Neji has a friend? I thought you were in a social class of your own."

"Look at the kettle calling the pot black," Neji retorted.

"Touche."

Neji began to swim towards shore.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke questioned, paddling behind him.

"I've been in the water for nearly half an hour now. I don't want my skin to wrinkle." It was vain, but Neji liked to keep his looks as a high priority.

"Then would you mind coming with me to get something to eat?"

Neji paddled around to face Sasuke. "Are you positive that you broke up with Naruto and you aren't just trying to trick me to get the upper hand in your little fight?"

"Look, Neji, I told you we were through and we are. What's your problem with my request?"

Neji sighed. "I just find it a little hard to swallow after the way you've been treating me lately."

"I just asked if you wanted to get a bite to eat. If you don't want to go, then I'll go alone. You don't have to get all bitchy about it."

Neji's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Sasuke. I guess I got a little paranoid. Sure, I'll go with you. I'll ask Gaara if he wants to come along."

Sasuke folded his arms. "I didn't invite him."

Neji glared. "Well I'm not running off and leaving him to go and do something else. That's rather unfair and mean. So if you really don't want to be in the same building as him, then you can forget about me coming as well."

"Fine, fine. He can come." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

The brunette raised his eyebrow and walked out of the lake. Gaara was standing to meet him, and handed Neji a towel. Neji dried himself off and grabbed his shirt, pulling his pants over his slightly damp swim trunks. They were dark pants anyway, so if any wetness seeped through it wouldn't be all that noticeable. Neji wasn't going to walk all the way back to his house to get changed, and didn't feel comfortable changing with both Gaara and Sasuke there. Neji tossed Sasuke his towel as the nin stepped out of the lake. Sasuke caught it and nodded a thanks before drying himself off with it. While he was busy doing that, Neji turned to Gaara, whose lip corners seemed to be turned down more than usual.

"Sasuke and I are going to get something to eat. Want to come?" he offered.

Gaara folded his arms and nodded once.

Neji smiled. "Great. Almost ready Sasuke?"

Sasuke was pulling on his shirt and nodded.

Neji smiled at the two of them and began to walk off into town. Gaara and Sasuke walked on either side, keeping the brunette in between them. Neji thought it was a good idea anyway, since he couldn't miss the glares the two where shooting at each other. On the way to the restaurant, the saw Naruto sitting in a ramen booth. The blonde watched as they walked past.

"You want to invite him too? He looks a little lonely," Neji suggested to Sasuke under his breath.

Sasuke kept walking straight ahead. "He doesn't eat real food anyway, and I'm not going to a ramen bar."

Neji shrugged and gave a slight smile to Naruto before following his two companions. Naruto wasn't even looking anymore, and instead was digging his face into another ramen bowl. Well, he appeared fine anyway. Neji followed Sasuke into a restaurant, Gaara close behind him. It wasn't a fancy place, but it also wasn't a cheap and dingy eatery. Sasuke slid into the booth, gesturing to the spot next to him. Neji sat down, and Gaara took his place on the other side of him. Suddenly, Neji felt very uncomfortable, trapped even. He picked up the menu and began to leaf through the contents. Gaara left his menu untouched in front of him.

"Aren't you going to have anything?" Neji asked, worried. Gaara appeared malnourished as he was, and a meal would probably do him some good. The sand-nin noticed the Hyuuga's concerned look, and flipped through the appetizers to ease it. Neji smiled and turned back to his menu. Sasuke had already apparently decided and had already folded his menu neatly in front of him.

Neji was struck with indecision. The restaurant had gotten in some new dishes since he had come here last, and they all sounded delicious. He shot a helpless look at Sasuke. Sasuke smirked and pointed at an item on the menu. "I'd recommend the steak. I had it a few days ago, and it was well worth it."

Neji nodded and closed his menu. "Thanks. I'll go for that then."

They each gave their orders to the waitress, Gaara only taking a side-order of mozzarella sticks.

"You sure you don't want anything else?" Neji asked. "If you're short on cash, I can lend you some."

The nin shook his head and assured Neji that it was alright. "I'm just not hungry."

Neji shrugged and left it at that and began to have a conversation with Sasuke. It was nice. This was the first time he'd talk to Sasuke in a while where there wasn't a tinge of tenseness. Neji also tried to get Gaara involved in the talk so as not to make him feel left out, but it was apparent that Gaara was not much of a speaker. He instead sat and listened as Neji and Sasuke laughed and talked about various things. Their orders arrived, and Neji was impressed with how his meal looked. It didn't taste all that bad either, and Neji had to remind himself to at least chew five times per mouthful in order to keep from stuffing his face rudely.

Gaara nibbled slightly at his mozzarella sticks, and didn't get too far with them. Neji noticed and forked up some of his mashed potatoes and gravy. "Here, you can try some of mine. It's really good." Without giving Gaara a chance to protest, he shoved his fork at the redhead's mouth. Gaara opened it automatically, and Neji spooned the potatoes in. "Good?"

Gaara choked slightly in surprised, but swallowed the food and nodded, smiling slightly at Neji. Sasuke glowered from Neji's other side. "You can try a bit of mine if you'd like," he offered.

Neji smiled. "Thanks Sasuke, but I'm going to have a hard enough time finishing my meal. Your stuff looks good though." They finished the rest of their meals in silence, and Neji felt a slight bit of tension redescending over the table. Neji shifted uncomfortably and tried his best to break it. "I'm stuffed, but does anyone want to split a dessert?"

"Sure," shrugged Sasuke. "Your choice. I'm not all that picky."

"Gaara?" offered Neji. To his disappointment, the sand-nin shook his head. "Ok then, let's see what they have," Neji said, picking up the dessert menu. "The apple crumble looks good, and so does the cheesecake, but I'm actually dying to try their new sundae. It's on sale too. All right with you Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded. "Sounds good."

"You sure you don't want any?" Neji asked, putting on his best pouty face for Gaara.

Gaara just smirked and shook his head. Neji shrugged and ordered the sundae. It came a few minutes later, and looked absolutely mouthwatering. Instantly Sasuke and Neji's eyes locked and they both said at the same time "I get the cherry."

Sasuke smirked at Neij. "What makes you think you're going to get it Hyuuga?"

Neji grinned back. "Because it was my idea to get the sundae in the first place."

"Well, it was my idea to come to this restaurant," countered Sasuke, cocking an eyebrow at the brunette.

"Well I'm cuter," Neji said, sticking out his tongue.

Sasuke folded his arms. "Now that's a tough one, but I'd have to say I'm a notch or two above you."

"Jerk," smirked Neji. "You wish you were."

Sasuke smiled smugly back and plucked the cherry off the sundae. Neji opened his mouth to protest, but was surprised to have the cherry pop in. "Fine, you win. Enjoy. I'll start on the sundae while the hotsauce is still warm." Sasuke picked up a spoon and began to eat, giving Neji an amused look. "You wanted that cherry so badly, so are you going to eat it or sit there with your mouth hanging open?"

Neji laughed slightly and ate the cherry. "You just surprised me." In all that, the Hyuuga had completely forgotten Gaara's presence. "I'm sorry," he apologized, turning back to Gaara. "I got a little carried away there."

Gaara shook his head and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it."

Neji smiled and returned to eating the sundae before Sasuke finished it all. This was nice. Neji forgot all about the stress he had gone through in the previous couple of weeks and just allowed himself to enjoy the rest of the night. He had thought it would've turned out more disastrous, but a food fight hadn't even broken out between Gaara and Sasuke, to which Neji was very grateful. The three paid their bills and left the restaurant, Neji being in rather high spirits. They reached a crossroads, and Sasuke pulled Neji aside just as he was about to go on the path towards his home. Gaara stood patiently a few feet away with his arms folded, not going down his own street.

Sasuke spoke in a low voice to Neji to keep Gaara from overhearing. "Neji, do you want to drop by my place for a bit?"

Neji blinked. "I take it this offer is only directed at me."

Sasuke's look darkened. "Yes."

The brunette nodded, and felt rather uncomfortable again. "Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm tired so I think I'll just go home and sleep."

Sasuke nodded and turned away to hide the disappointment on his face. "Anytime you want, feel free to drop by."

Neji nodded politely. "I'll keep that in mind." He really wasn't sure if he felt comfortable enough to go to Sasuke's house. Not after that one night he stayed there. He turned and walked down his street, noticing that Gaara only began to leave once he saw Neji going. Once home, Neji yawned and curled up in his bed, feeling better than he had in a while. He smiled and nuzzled his face into his pillow, glad that he was at least on regular speaking terms with Sasuke again.

Lol, Gaara reminds me of me sometimes when I'm at restaurants. I usually end up not being hungry or eating stupidly beforehand. Except unlike Gaara, I will not turn down a dessert. :D Still, the company is always worth it, regardless if I get a meal or not. There certainly seems to be an unpleasant clash between Gaara and Sasuke. Things will probably get interesting…