AN: ya…. Everything comes together in this chapter… hope you guys like it...
Oh, and… I have forever shamed poor Lee… you guys will see this and then kill me. Have fun reading… LOL Creamate me and spread me across the ocean, blowing in other people's faces. LOL
Chapter 3: Everything comes together
Shikamaru's face had taken on its patented "WTF!" expression as he looked at Naruto. He was opening his mouth to ask what the hell his problem was when Chouji nudged him, which actually felt more like getting elbowed in the gut. This caused his question to come out like, "Naruto, what the--umph, hey!" The glare came free of charge, though it was more directed to Naruto than anyone else.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had no trouble gripping the blond by the shoulders and tugging him off the other (which caused Chouji to almost choke from his scarf, which was very loosened and ruffled now). Once pulled off and dealt with, Naruto was flat on his ass, and Sasuke was smirking at him mockingly; "You've got issues, moron."
Naruto glared up at Sasuke with a large frown. "What the hell was that for, BIMBO?" Naruto rolled to a side and rubbed his sore ass, still glaring up at Sasuke.
Chouji just sat there, staring at the two of them, a confused look on his brow. His head turned to Shikamaru slightly and asked in a low whisper, "Do you think we should get out of here...?" Naruto began to mumble curses and threats as he went to stand and hit Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't lose his cool all that often--if it was anybody else. But everyone knows that Uzumaki Naruto has this way about him that makes you do things you wouldn't normally do. And thus, he proved this once again; by making Sasuke lose his cool.
"Bimbo! If anyone here's a bimbo, it's you!" Sasuke easily dodged Naruto's punch and grabbed him furiously by the front of his jacket.
Shikamaru watched them with widening eyes and a tiny little knowing smirk coming to form on his mouth. He turned to Chouji and answered, muttering, "In a sec... I wanna see how this goes." Shikamaru, like most geniuses, was a very strange person.
Chouji poked Shikamaru's side and answered. "I agree..." Chouji took a relieving layback on Shika's side as he watched Naruto's reaction.
Naruto looked at Sasuke like he was mad before glaring at him angrily. "You're a BIMBO so deal with it." Naruto said this matter-of-fact like and then grabbed Sasuke's arms that had his shirt in a death grip. Naruto wasn't really all that mad; he just wanted to press Sasuke's buttons. And he also knew what Shikamaru knew. Which made him give a smirk towards Sasuke now. "You're awfully grabby today Sasuke..." Naruto almost purred the comment out as he looked at Sasuke with lidded eyes now, a small smile on his face.
Shikamaru would have snickered if he thought he could get away with it. But he knew he couldn't, 'cause Sasuke would instantly round on he and Chouji, and that wouldn't be fun. Nope, watching and containing mirth on the inside would be the best idea. He reclined, until the back of his neck rested on the edge of the bench.
Sasuke's eyes widened, first in fury at being called a 'bimbo' like it was a fact of life. But then they widened to almost comical proportions, and he blushed something furious. Whether this was due to what Naruto said or how he said it or how he looked wasn't exactly clear. What was clear was that Sasuke was embarrassed, and that he'd yet to release Naruto's front. "W-what are you insinuating, dobe!"
Chouji also had to hold back all laughter as he watched the two. His face was scrunched up to look like confusion as he was really just laughing his ass off in his head.
Naruto stared at Sasuke like he had lost his mind. He really thought he had made this flirting more clear to the other boy... Sasuke was a moron apparently. "Oh, you're stuttering over me..." Naruto said it in a sing-song voice as he betted his eyelashes as Sasuke.
'If only we had a camera right now,' Shika thought with a smirk. This would make great black-mail material if there was ever the off-chance he needed Sasuke to do something...did we mention that Shika was an evil genius? Not as evil as Chouji, but still so.
Sasuke's grip tightened a fraction before it released itself all together--Naruto was still gripping his arms though. And Sasuke's face was still as bright at a fresh, ripe tomato. He practically hissed out, "I don't know what you're talking about, now let me go."
Naruto looked at Sasuke sadly before letting him go. Naruto turned and again stalked off for the door, which would lead him to a less stressful place for the moment. His head was spinning. Why had he done that? And in front of Chouji and Shikamaru no less. Did he even really like Sasuke that way...? Damn hormones... God, he was one big fool...
Chouji watched Naruto head for the stairs with his head hanging low with his own sad expression before nudging Shika not-so-lightly. "What do we do now...?" He whispered to Shika in a desperate move to try and help Naruto. They where friends after all... Or at least he thought so. Yes. They where friends now at least.
No matter how annoying the blond got from time to time, he was a loyal friend to both Shika and Chou. That's what Shika knew, and he might as well return the sentiment somehow. He did so in his usual blunt way. "You're so ignorant it's becoming a pain in the ass, Uchiha."
Sasuke spared the pony-tailed boy a destructive glare, his eyes flashing red once again from anger. His head was filled with conflicting emotions--okay, I'm totally lying; he was just confused and annoyed beyond all belief. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, and he wasted no time and following the dejected blond toward the stairs.
Problem was, he bumped into something on the way.
Something that felt a hell of a lot like--he glared up into cool pale-green eyes. "What in the hell are you doing here!" he shouted at Gaara.
Naruto turned just in time to see Sasuke bump into Gaara. Which made Naruto snicker madly. This was going to be fun...
Chouji looked at them with wide eyes. "Uh-oh..." Somehow he knew this wasn't good...
Naruto stalked up to Gaara and Sasuke with a wide smirk on his face. "Hello, Gaara." Naruto said, swinging an arm around him and casting a smirk to Sasuke. "How was your day?" He asked Gaara this with a very flirty voice. Hoping that his plan would work out... Though not sure of either of the two's reactions to this...
Shikamaru nodded in agreement with Chouji, "You can say that again..." He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to stick around anymore. Gaara, who was scary when unprovoked, was downright petrifying when he was annoyed. The moment sand started swirling, he might have to bolt.
Gaara himself, meanwhile, crossed his twigs-for-arms across his chest and glowered at Sasuke; did we mention that Uchiha had fallen onto his ass when he bumped into Gaara's sand wall? Well, he did, and Gaara looked rather forbidding from Sasuke's POV. Gaara himself didn't say anything, but the tiniest of all twitches at one corner of his mouth was seen--or not, depending on how good you were at spotting those things--when Naruto's arm wrapped around his shoulders.
When that had happened, Sasuke was on his feet again in an instant, glaring at the red-head like he wanted him to walk off the roof. Which he did, actually, so it's a good thing he got his point across. "What in the hell are you doing?" It wasn't directed specifically at anyone...for all any of them knew; he could have been talking to himself. But he wasn't, of course...
Naruto gave a glare at Sasuke, what a dope... And that snug boy always made comments about himself... Sheesh. Naruto thought to himself, letting go of Gaara and folding his arms across his chest. "Who? Me or Gaara? I'm pretty sure you should know what I'm doing and as for Gaara. He's... Taking a walk?" Naruto asked this and turned towards Gaara about an inch, staring at the other boy with a questioned look.
Chouji nearly coughed as he stared at Naruto in disbelief. God, Naruto was one big lump... He defiantly was digging himself in too deep by now. Chouji could only wonder at who would pounce at Naruto first, Gaara or Sasuke?
Sasuke fumed silently, his fingers unclenching and twitching longingly toward his shuriken-pouch. Oh, no matter how cute the blond was from time to time, Sasuke couldn---woah woah woah! Wait a damn minute! When the hell did Sasuke manage to get himself out of denial? Aww man, everyone's favorite idiot's growing up. And trying to kill the love of his life. He really is just like his brother, isn't he?
Gaara's hoarse voice, little used and very quietly when so, made itself heard. Somehow, by some magical force of law, Shikamaru and Chouji could hear it too, even though they were a little ways off, still at the bench. "I was...looking for you… Uzumaki".
Shikamaru was sure by now that it was save to say that Naruto did have a thing for guys, but there was still the chance he liked girls too. Otherwise he was a damned good acto---never mind, there was the off chance he liked girls too. But he had to say, Naruto sure liked flirting with death. He was doing so, literally, what with the way he was practically leaning on Gaara.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at Gaara. Wha...? "You, Gaara of the Sand, where looking for me?" Naruto said this with an exaggerating tone of voice. "Oh, I feel loved." He had thought of hugging Gaara but stopped at that idea. It wasn't a very good idea... So he thought.
Chouji stared at them, really confused now. "Hmm?" He said to himself as Naruto rounded on him once again. "ARE WE GONNA FIGHT OR WHAT, FAT-ASS?" Chouji sighed at Naruto, not wanting the attention at the moment.
Gaara stopped himself mid-nod at Naruto's outburst. He frowned slightly, his eyes swiveling to take in the two forms he had until then ignored. He recognized them, though not by name, and vaguely, vaguely, vaguely wondered if he should kill them. Of course he didn't, 'cause Naruto wouldn't like that... he wondered if he could kill Uchiha though, that'd be fun.
Sasuke doesn't deserve attention at this point, because he was whining for it a lil' while ago. Whiners are best unacknowledged, and if they whine even more, just push 'em down some stairs. It works out, trust me. Dammit, we gave him attention!
Chouji was up in a heart beet and gave a large punch to Naruto's face, Naruto totally unaware until it hit him. Naruto's body flew back, about to hit Gaara's as a very upset looking Chouji stood, arm still outstretched in the attack position.
A very unaware-of-what's-happening Lee began his happily assent up the stairs in search for Shikamaru on hokage biddings. His hair fluttered around his face as his bright smile, perfect I might add, gave him a happy look. He did a twirl at the base of the steps, feeling as light as a feather in mirth, before trudging up the stairs.
Shikamaru was, for a split second, impressed with the speed with which his friend had moved. The exact moment after that though, he was inwardly calling him an idiot. 'Punching Naruto is one thing, sure--but in front of Gaara!' Shika scrambled to his feet and quickly made his way to Chouji's side, grabbing the end of his scarf in case he had to pull him out of harms way. He tugged it reproachfully just in case he had to do such a troublesome act to save Chou's ass.
Now, Naruto's body would have hit Gaara if not for a rather important factor. Gaara's ultimate defense, his sand-wall. It flared up the instant just before their two bodies made contact, and for the first time Gaara was rather upset about that. Of course, Sasuke wasn't. You see, when Naruto hit the wall, he bounced back and landed on our beloved subtle-attention-seeker. And it was a rather... compromising situation.
Chouji's eyes glared at Naruto angrily, then it hit him. He just hit Naruto... In front of the other two guys that could easily kill him... Great. Chouji continued to glare, even as a small smirk crossed his face when Naruto fell on Sasuke.
Naruto groaned once he landed at his destination, pulling a hand up to rub his sore spots before it hit him. On top of... of... SASUKE. Naruto stared down at the other boy with wide eyes; waiting for the punch to hit him, if there was going to be one... that is.
Lee's eyes went shut as his arms went out in a happy way, rounding the last bend and slowly floating, almost, up the last stair case. His tight green jumper showed off certain parts of his body at the odd angles he was twisting at the moment. He only had a few more stairs to go...
Shikamaru stared, slightly amused and slightly annoyed, because he's Shika. The position in which Naruto had landed was amusing, as was Gaara's expression...sort of...well; there wasn't much of an expression there, so it was kind of hard to be amused by it. But he was anyway.
Sasuke had died and gone to heaven--that was great; 'cause he was so sure he'd wind up in hell. But hell wouldn't have been nice enough to have given him a certain blond-haired, whisker-tattooed (he'd really have to ask if those were natural or not, it was starting to bug him) genin laid out on top of him. He could totally ignore the pain in his head from where it had connected with the ground in favor of the bright blue eyes staring down at him...question though, why was Gaara there? And Shikamaru and Chouji were likely there too; they were a few seconds ago. He hadn't died after all, how sad--but he was in hell now.
Gaara's eyebrows would have furrowed, but it would have been a rather hard thing to do, considering he didn't have eyebrows. But his eyes did narrow, and he was definitely frowning. Uchiha was a problem that would have to be dealt with later. He was about to make some sort of comment or rude gesture or throw sand into Sasuke's eyes, he was, really!--but he was interrupted with a noise from behind him.
At that moment, Lee came bounding into their little... heaven... or hell? Either one. His eyes widened when he noticed everyone's situation, all happy movements from before came to a crashing halt. Chouji and Shikamaru looked like they just got away from a wild boar, Gaara was about to kill, and Naruto and Sasuke where... OMG. What 'where' they doing...?
"What's going on here?" Lee practily screamed in confusion, staring at Sasuke and Naruto with wide eyes. "Oh... Oh..." Lee turned to walk away, Chouji heaving a chuckle as Naruto hastily picked himself off of Sasuke.
"Why... Hello Lee... Why are you here...?" Naruto said one hand behind his head as he stood there nervously. Lee stopped, though didn't turn around. "I-I-... Had to deliver a message to Shikamaru and... Well... I was told to look up here for him..." Lee nervously twitted his fingers as he looked at the floor like it was the most interesting thing ever.
The thing about Lee is, he tended to do things to the atmosphere around him. It became care-free and such. People either giggled or edged away in fear when he entered a room, or wherever else.
Gaara had opted to edge away. Not too noticeably, mind you, just so that he wasn't too close to the green-jumper-clad-boy. He preferred orange, thanks--though that wasn't a mental image he needed. Okay, think of Naruto...much better.
Sasuke, like Naruto, moved like lightning until he was away from Naruto. He blushed lightly, pale pink on anybody else and just pink on him, because he's so pale and all. He cleared his throat slightly, taking on his cool-pose like usual and looked anywhere but at everyone else...which was rather hard, because they were all around him.
Shikamaru snickered, jutting his hands into his pockets comfortably. Lee's presence had shattered the tense atmosphere--he was Lee after all. Loud, determined, and disturbingly happy. "How tiresome...what does Tsunade-sama want, Lee?"
Lee's face brightened up immediately at Shikamaru's voice. "She wanted for me to give you a mission." Lee said this, saluting to Shikamaru. Chouji gave a small glare at Lee, who ignored it and ran over to Shika. "Okay... It's this..." Lee leaned in close it Shikamaru, beginning to whisper the instructions for only him to hear. Chouji looked like he was about to pound poor Lee... oh well.
"She wants you to try and get Naruto to take a breather. I think you've noticed it too right? The tension between him, Sasuke and Gaara. She wants you to figure out a way to change that." Lee leaned away from the smarty as he smiled.
Naruto stared at Lee with an accusing look. "Hmmm...? I want to know what's going on too..." Naruto almost pouted, never mind... he was pouting.
Shika was oblivious to Chouji's glares toward Lee. He was aware of but one thing--Tsunade was just as insane as Naruto. 'Get rid of the tension between those three? Me? Why, why not someone more qualified--like a jounin?'
Sasuke and Gaara were practically flanking the blond one, who was pouting so adorable it melted their cold hearts. It totally felt weird, like there was something trickling down their innards. They had no idea what Shika's mission details entailed, and frankly, they didn't care. But they would, soon, oh they would.
Naruto glared more before turning to Gaara, bored of Lee and Shikamaru already. "Gaara..." He pouted as he walked up to the other boy. "Can I have a hug...? Pweesey?" Naruto wondered if he would actually do that. Inside, Naruto was snickering madly. Though on the outside, he looked like a lost puppy wanting attention.
Lee was moving a little too close to Shikamaru for Chouji's liking. Chouji coughed loudly as Lee went to physically touch Shika. "Shika... Shouldn't you be starting on the mission...?" Lee gave him a glare as they stood there, glaring each other down.
Shikamaru seemed oblivious that Lee had been trying to touch him, but even he couldn't ignore the way he and Chouji looked like they wanted to kill each other. He looked at them awkwardly for a moment before saying, "...Uhh, right, mission...yeah, I should start it..." The problem was, he didn't want to die in the process.
Sasuke choked and spluttered once he registered the words that had left Naruto's mouth. And he about died when he saw the expression on his face. An expression that wasn't directed to him. He was just about to throw a temper-tantrum, because no matter what people thought that's what he always did when he didn't get his way. There was a problem though, that stopped his words half-way through; "Naruto, you idi--"
What cut him off? The fact that Gaara, without changing his expression and without a word, had moved his arms fluidly and pulled the blond to his chest. His arms wound themselves tight around Naruto's back and his chin rested on the blonde's shoulder. He smirked in Sasuke's direction, as if laughing at him. And he totally was. Only, on the inside...
Naruto's eyes widened considerably from Gaara's touch. He stood there for a moment, not doing anything, before he giggle and wrapped his arms around Gaara in return. "Hehe..." He said to no one in particular, just enjoying the hug. Though... The thought of why Gaara was hugging him nagged at the back of his head... Oh well... Don't think about trivial things at the moment... Think about Gaara hugging 'you'! YAY!
Chouji turned from looking at Lee with daggers for eyes, just in time to see Gaara wrap his arms around Naruto. Chouji's mouth fell open and he stared at them with total shock.
Lee, who had been still glaring at Chouji until the other looked like he had seen a pig flying, turned to see what the shock was about. Lee fell backwards then, right to the ground... The shock was way too overwhelming for the poor boy...
Shikamaru just about had a heart attack from the shock of seeing Gaara actually hug Naruto. Just because he had asked him to. Of course, this made a tiny little part of his brain speak up, 'Gaara's whipped.' He promptly locked that part of his brain up just in case the red-head could hear his thoughts. The fact that Lee had just fainted didn't even register to him. How sad, poor Lee.
Sasuke died from the shock. I'm kidding, that's just my wishful thinking. But he did start to shake in fury, not only from the sight, but because Gaara was mocking him. Sasuke should be the one who Naruto was hugging! Sasuke should have his arms wrapped around him. Naruto was his teammate, dammit!
Gaara could have died happy, but that would have left Naruto to Sasuke, so then he wouldn't have been happy. So he didn't die--besides, he still had to kill Sasuke and anyone else interested in the blond who was not him. He did see the way the others reacted, to which he only glared the death glare of doom and smirk, whilst tightening his grip. He almost smiled when the green one fainted, but he was Gaara, he wouldn't do that. Come to think of it, who taught Gaara how to hug, anyway? Ah, who cares?
Chouji couldn't help himself as he watched Lee faint as a smirk crossed his face. He rally didn't mind that the fearsome Gaara was warming up to Naruto; he liked to see tough guy-Sasuke in pain anyways. This was becoming really funny at the moment... Chouji could only wonder at whom the Blondie preferred... Hm...
Lee just laid there. A face of horror and shock still etched on his face.
Naruto felt the arms tighten and came to a realization. 'OMG! I think Gaara... Like-Likes me!' That made him let go of the other boy immediately, a confused look on his face. He let Gaara hold him if he wished, but Naruto was off in his own little world at the moment.
One of Shikamaru's hands found its way out of his pocket up to his head, where he scratched it nervously. He had finally noticed the K.O.-ed Lee, saw Chouji's smirk, took in Sasuke's shaking, and realized that Naruto must have actually realized how the red-head felt. Ok, great, maybe that would make his so-called "mission" easier...maybe they'd get it all sorted without his interference. Right...slim chance of that happening without mass-destruction to Kanoha. He sighed and returned to his bench, lying back down to look at the clouds again. 'I'll get started on that mission later...'
Gaara frowned lightly when Naruto let go of him and he loosened his grip. Okay...so that hadn't really gone according to plan...whatever plan that was anyway. Slowly and very reluctantly, his eyes maybe that little bit dimmer than usual, he released the blond from his arms. But that didn't mean he couldn't maintain physical contact. He did so by cupping Naruto's chin with his hand and looking down into his eyes.
Sasuke, though, ruined any moment that could have been born because he feels unusually talkative today. Plus he was a manipulative bastard, and so he asked the question he had originally come here to ask. "Oi, Naruto, did you want to get some Raman?" A very subtle way of asking him on a date, he had to admit--of course, he managed to forget that if the blond agreed, he'd have to pay for both their meals, which would cost him...a lot.
Naruto looked at Gaara with as little expression as possible for the boy, which wasn't much. His face showed some shock, relief, confusion, and... uneasiness. His head whipped around to see Sasuke when the other boy had talked and sealed his fate. Naruto's eyes where wide and bursting with joy.
"FOOD...?" Naruto nearly jumped the other as he went to attack Sasuke. Naruto grabbed him by the scruff, "You pay...?" Naruto asked in a serious manner. Sasuke must be really stupid to offer Naruto a meal and then pay for it.
Chouji just shook his head at them before turning to see Shikamaru laying and watching the clouds. He walked over and sat next to him, watching Naruto and Sasuke and also watching for Gaara's reaction to Naruto.
Shikamaru wearily cast a half-hearted glance over at the others at Naruto's shout. If he and Sasuke got food, Gaara would follow, and then he'd have to do so too, which would mean having to leave the comfort of this beloved (now more than before) spot. That whole process sounded so annoying...of course, there's no way Naruto would let Sasuke off now that he had offered the food, and so it was inevitable.
Sasuke started to doubt his sanity and over-all decision-making-process. But he knew Naruto; there was no way he was getting out of this. And he looked so remarkably... happy... you can't say no to a happy Naruto. Well, some people might be able to, but Sasuke couldn't. So, with a resigned sigh as he accepted his fate and despretely hoped his savings would be enough, he snorted. "Of course, dobe, now do you want any or not?"
Gaara's eyes narrowed to slits and at his feet, some of the sand particles that had been carried up on sandals and other shoes over the years swiveled agitatedly at his feet.
Naruto stared at him for a moment, processing the situation. "Is this a date...?" He asked, a small smirk crossing his face. If he could get Sasuke to say yes... Oh... Blackmail...
Chouji stared at the swirling sand at Gaara's feet before shaking his head sadly at Naruto. If Sasuke said yes, Gaara was going to kill him and Chouji knew that for a fact.
Lee groggily sat up; rubbing his head and taking a wary look around the room at everyone. Shikamaru was watching Naruto and Sasuke, as they where... Talking about a DATE! Lee felt his head clear again as he fell over again, not even being able to stand up yet. Chouji heaved some laughter as he watched Lee fall over.
Shikamaru considered sitting up so he could see the others better, because this promised to be amusing. But it also promised to be painful, so he decided against the fact and closed his eyes. Why couldn't Naruto flirt with less dangerous people, like...? Lee? The mental image that produced caused Shikamaru to wince.
Gaara stood poised, ears alert and eyes boring holes into Uchiha's skull. He was frowning deeply, in a mixture of both jealousy and anger. You see, that wasn't really a good mix, especially for someone with a demon inside of him, a thirst for blood, and control over sand... which is a lot more destructive that you might think. As everyone present knew.
Sasuke didn't seem to care. All he was aware of was the light flush of his own cheeks and the coy smile of the blond clutching his shirt. "If that's what you want to call it, then yes."
Naruto's eyes widened considerably as he jumped away from the other. "WAIT WAIT WAIT!" Naruto repeated, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You..." Naruto gave a gasp, putting his hands to his head and plopping himself on the ground. He then put on a very thoughtful expression, looking at Sasuke with a penetrating gaze. "Wait..." He said again, hands in the air, his brain trying to compute it all. "You... You... Like me...?" He stared wide-eyed at Sasuke, waiting for any kind of reply from him...
Lee was out cold... Poor boy...
Chouji stared at Naruto for a while... Just staring. Naruto was really dumb...
Shikamaru groaned very quietly, "It should be a crime to be so stupid..."
Sasuke looked at the blond like he was mental, which chances of which weren't actually that bad. There was a better chance that he was just very slow, though, seeing as that was a matter of fact by this point. Three quarters of the entire Kanoha population knew Sasuke liked Naruto, the remaining quarter being stubborn fangirls/boys that refused to accept that. A good portion of some of his fangirls knew it too, but they just tried working around it. But... he had thought he'd been kinda obvious... the blond was only now getting it?
Gaara growled low in his throat as some of his own sand sneaked its way out of his gourd. Slowly, stealthily, it made its way... ya right. It stabbed so quickly in Sasuke's direction, only the sharigan could have saved the other boy. Which it did...dammit.
Naruto's head turned to glare at Gaara, everything falling into place. "Oh... Crap..." He said this as he watched Gaara with wary eyes.
"Ummm... Ummmm... Hey Chouji!" Naruto said, throwing himself towards the other boy. "Are we going to fight now...?" Naruto said this with a pleading look on his face at Chouji.
"Fine... On one condition though..." Chouji said with a small sly smirk on his face. "You have to fight top-less." Chouji smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto stared at him and then glanced at Shikamaru like he had told him to do this.
Naruto heaved a sigh. "I hope your boyfriend hits you over the head really hard for this..." Naruto said as he stood and began to strip off his top, still glaring at Chouji. "You know its a good thing you don't really like me, right...? Or I'll get my lover boys to get you when you are asleep..." Chouji just shrugged.
"I thought I'd be doing them a favor..." Chouji couldn't help but wink at the smirking Naruto... They had a plan... Evil morons...
Shikamaru cracked open one of his eyes at Naruto's initial accusation, and promptly closed it again when he saw that Naruto had agreed to the condition. He didn't really want to watch the other two boys lose any respect they still had, it was embarrassing to witness. Just so long as he wasn't dragged into this, he was fine. "Oi, move Rock's body before you start, I don't wanna explain to Tsunade, Gai or Neji what happened to him." There was also the threat of Tenten...he didn't want to imagine how that'd go over.
Gaara had, until that point, been quite content with trying to commit homicide. If Uchiha would only stop dodging though... and it was about that point, when he was getting bored, that he heard Naruto's words. He flushed slightly, which was more like a burning red, at being called a lover-boy. Though he was quite happy when that shirt was gone, even if he only saw the blonde's back from his angle.
Sasuke first bristled with a blush, and then turned to go. Despite working with Naruto with missions all the time, he hadn't seen him shirtless before. It was quite a treat. Though he might have to kill Chouji later on... and bloody Ra was this kid lucky that Gaara had become so distracted that his sand had stopped chasing him down.
Naruto sighed and flexed his muscles, giving a show for Gaara and Sasuke before Chouji stood and they glared at each other. "Go move Lee." Naruto said, showing with his hand in Chouji's direction.
"Never. You do it, moron." Chouji said, glaring at Naruto slightly. "Why would I even think of touching that 'thing'?" Chouji said this with lots of disgust and Naruto giggled with laughter.
"Oh... Was Lee hitting on your lover boy...?" Naruto asked with a smirk as Chouji came at him forcefully, taking his entire bent up anger of Lee out on Naruto. They clashed, Naruto sliding back a little bit from the force, his hands up and blocking Chouji's attack before Naruto himself went to hit. In return being blocked. They jumped back from each other, giving themselves distance and time to react.
"KAGE BUN SHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled out, multiplying into about 20 other Naruto's who all in turn went to attack Chouji.
End Chapter
AN: Sorry… to those who wish to see more… the person I was rping with…. Has now quit… meaning… no more chapters unless I want to just go on… which will be hard…
Oh, well. Sorry everyone. It was a good run…. just have the utmost fun with these 12 pages…