Title: El Bimbo

Author: sky75rk

A/N: sixth chapter already… this chapter is quite short that's because I'm having trouble thinking of the next scenes… any suggestions?

Maybe I shouldn't put any notes here… I don't even say anything that's worth your time… sigh… on with it…

Sixth Channel: The Worth of Me

At this question, the blonde boy was taken aback, but then realizing what Neji meant, he glared back, his stare equally defiant as the Hyuuga's. "Why? How much can you give me Neji?"

"W-what?"

Naruto sighed and stepped up; he pulled the chair and then sat on it. "You asked me how much I am, right? I'm merely asking how much you can give me. If I were to sell myself to someone, I have to make sure that I get the correct amount,"

"That's not what the Naruto I know would say," the pale-eyed Hyuuga countered, trying to ignore and forget what he just heard from the blonde youth that sat just a few paces away from him. "That's not what he would say. He won't sell himself short to anyone!" Neji said still, repeating it over and over, convincing himself.

Naruto shook his head. "Why are you talking about me in the third person? I'm Naruto. I'm real. I'm not some jutsu,"

"No! Naruto would not say what you just said," he pressed.

The blonde rushed to where Neji was and slapped him on the cheek. "Stop priding yourself with the things you think you know! They mean nothing! You don't know anything about me!"

/every time I try to grasp something real they disappear/

"What do you mean I don't know anything about you? You're Naruto!" Neji pushed back the blonde that was spanning him and rubbed his red cheek.

"Yes, I'm Naruto. I'm everything you think I am," the sarcasm in the blonde's voice was rolling off his tongue a thousand fold and Neji felt like he was being washed away. "I'm just some boy with a demon sealed inside me,"

/and when I open my eyes, darkness is all that I'm seeing/

"No!" Neji was wide-eyed, stunned at the blonde. "That's not what I meant!"

A smirk. "Really now?" Naruto did not smirk.

/no one even hears my screams for acceptance and freedom/

"I mean," Neji's mind was void of any thoughts. He didn't know what to say to Naruto at the moment, and he wasn't sure if he could continue this conversation. "Look, Naruto. If ever you need anything, I'm just here. We're all here for you," the Hyuuga said, wanting to comfort the obviously broken boy. He sat next to Naruto who was leaning on the wall and he also leaned on it, stretching his legs and still rubbing his sore cheek.

Drained of all his energy, Naruto inclined his head and rested it on Neji's shoulder. "What do you want me to believe? Do you actually think that after hearing those words, I'd expect you to come save me? To play my angel in a flowing ethereal dress?"

Neji allowed a small smile. "Do you want me to be?"

"No," the rush of the answer was not anticipated by the Hyuuga, who sucked in his breath and let the reply slide into the back of his mind. Suddenly, a deep throated chuckle was heard from the leaning boy. "What you say are all lies. Sprouting from the mouth of the devil himself," Naruto's eyes were closed, and his smile was overwhelmed by anguish. "Redemption is something I can only hope for but cannot have,"

An angry frown now settled on Neji's face. "Why do you deprive yourself of something you can have? Why do you deprive yourself of the only thing you know you need?" He didn't understand. He didn't all. He knows that Naruto was containing a huge amount of burden upon his shoulders and it's killing him slowly but he couldn't comprehend the reason for his feelings toward his life.

Something was definitely not fitting in the picture.

"Because this is my destiny. This is my fate. Once a demon will always be a demon," At this point, Naruto decided to stand up and walk his way out the door, the stare of the pale-eyed Hyuuga smoldering his back.

"You never let that hinder you before. You told me that you don't believe in things like fate and destiny," Neji retorted, his stare still on Naruto's back. "And you never considered yourself a demon,"

Naruto placed his hand on the door knob. "Think what you want. I'm out of here,"

/this is the way I'm always going to live/

The notebook the blonde went to recover was left forgotten.

/always/

Sasuke lunged himself at the Sand-nin and punched him square at the jaw. "What do you think you're doing?" he tried to land another punch but was blown away by the sand that was protecting the red-haired boy. "You have no right to just lead me around like some leashed puppy!" he got up and channeled his chakra to his feet to propel himself faster. "Don't act like you're my owner!" Sasuke crouched and slid his foot to outbalance Gaara. Gaara merely jumped backwards and landed on a tree branch. Not discouraged, Sasuke charged and threw two shurikens. "I'm not your property!" he hissed dangerously, cutting through the air like a double-edged knife.

Gaara just stepped aside and dodged the Uchiha's attacks. "I didn't say you were," monotone replied to irate ones.

"Then why the hell did you have to assail Naruto?" Sasuke recovered immediately and began striking Gaara back, using taijutsu as his method. "Why did you have to do that?"

Gaara stopped and gazed at Sasuke with cool green eyes. "Because you didn't want to come with him,"

"What?"

"You withdrew your hand when he pulled you away, but he didn't take the hint. I just made him understand your rejection,"

"Rejection?" the dark-haired boy said incredulous. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

The red-haired ninja from Sand didn't answer. Gaara turned around and walked away, leaving the dark-haired boy more annoyed than ever.

Sasuke felt like he didn't have enough sparring to vent out his anger, but bewilderment on his part clouded his anger. Whenever I'm hanging with Gaara, I always get confused. Without a sparring partner, he went back to the village.

Naruto closed Neji's door behind him softly and leaned on it, breathing heavily. He clutched his chest and found himself thinking of dying on the spot. But that would only mean spoiling Neji's doorsteps. He thought back, struggling to get on his feet and move, return to his apartment and rest the pain away.

Naruto flinched and found breathing harder to do every passing minute. No, not now; I still have work to do. He willed himself to calm down and convince himself that it was just the effect of the argument he had with the Hyuuga. He stumbled and waved his hand around to see if he can reach something to break his fall.

Feeling nothing, he resolved to just let himself drop to the ground and feel the rocky ground.

But the fall didn't come.

Instead, he sensed that someone caught him. He looked up and aimed to see who broke his fall and in the obscurity of the night, the only thing he saw was a pair of concerned eyes and dark hair, wisps of hair being blown away by the wind, before warmth consumed his being and lulled him to sleep.

-Continued-

A/N:

I think that those people who thought that Neji would actually 'buy' Naruto, might be so shocked to see that I didn't really make Neji 'buy' him. Heh, I just thought that it wasn't like Neji to do that, and frankly, I'm trying to keep the characters in their own attitudes… yah know… so they're not OOC… although I failed at some points…

Anyway, this is my reply to my very NICE reviewers… although it would probably boost my moral more if really many people would come to read and review right? But! I guess I should probably be thankful that I have YOU guys!

tins: hey… I'm not really mean… I just want to keep things in suspense!

bloodofakiller: Wow, you're my first real constant reviewer! But you didn't review on the third channel, which made me kind of sad, because before I posted the fourth channel, I was waiting for you to review… well, that's in the past now… and about the pairings, I'm still having a hard time deciding. I really like Neji, but I like Sasuke with Naruto… I'm still thinking about it, but you would still love this story even if it didn't turn out to be NaruSasu right? –teary eyes-

Agacissko: yah know I update real fast… I mean, faster than most people… I post the next chapters after every two or three days, well… except for this one… which I posted almost a week after… anyway, about Naruto being a bitch to Neji OR Sasuke? It isn't a bad idea… at all, but, I've already read stories with Naruto being a bitch, but there are a few differences with it… wait! You just gave me a MAJOR idea for the next chapters… THANKS!

ArrowHeart: Yup, I know that the left ventricle pumps blood to the body via the aorta, but yah see, I read in a book that the RIGHT ventricle is actually the one pumping blood to the lungs… but I guess, if I want to paralyze Naruto or something, I have to go with your fact. Since if I totally block the passageway of the right ventricle which supplies blood to the lungs, Naruto'll have to die, right? What if I just make this vague picture of Naruto having a heart problem instead of detailing it to avoid confusion? Whaddya think?

Silent Victory: This chapter is the answer to your question about Naruto being sold to Neji. But even if I did make Neji accept the proposition of Naruto, I don't think that Neji would actually use Naruto in that way… or at least not if I make it… -loud laugh- but you have to wait for the upcoming chapters to see whether Neji would get Naruto or Sasuke will realize how big of a loss Naruto is… 'coz even I don't control the flow of the story… yah know, I just 'release the ink that flows within my heart'… heh…

Ly: wowzers, we're the same! I don't like Sasuke, but I love SasuNaru… but this is not a SasuNaru, it's NaruSasu… meaning Naru gets to be the aggressive one! Heh… yah liked Naruto's entries? Thanks… that's a really nice compliment… -smiles brightly- anyway, you better hang on to read the next chapters if you want to see who gets who…

Strawberries and Napkins: I think that it is within Neji's principle not to lie to people he likes… that's why he didn't deny the fact to Naruto… oh yeah, thanks for also being a constant reviewer! And yeah, I can't stand it when people get sad too, esp. when it's my fault…

Review?