This is the redone Chapter 8. Hopefully it's better. I feel better about this one, and I really hope you guys agree. Note: They are not together yet in this version. I was going to still have the whole be-togetherness, but when I wrote it out, it seemed to go this way by itself. So, I followed my instincts and here it is…

On a side note, kawaii kitsune-kun, Prosopopeia, and xxphatxbaybeexx: Thank you guys for your awesome encouragement. You really lifted my spirits and gave me a bit more confidence in my skills. :deep breath: I just need to let the inspiration come. Oh and xxphatxbaybeexx: Don't worry about "making" me do something. I was already contemplating redoing these last two chapters. I just wasn't happy. Your review just gave me the answer I was looking for. Thanks!

Reviewer answers from Chapter Seven:

Kawai Kitsune-kun: Hahaha, you're now my most constant first reviewer. And this chapter now doesn't have smooching...but one very soon will. Without rushing of course. :wince:
Rebel-blah-blah-blah, Yugi-obsessed, Buried Fire: Thanks for your compliments, guys! It's a great encouragement.
Ithiely-chan: Sasuke is so going to survive…he definitely gets the good stuff in the end. :koffNejikoff:
Sodesne: Hahaha, I was just kidding. Having Uchiha reviewers as partners can't be easy :Sasuke glares:
Sherlockian Slytherin: Thank you! It's good to know I'm improving.
Prosopopeia: :rofl: I don't usually tell this story from Neji's POV, but that was just too priceless a line to forego. It hints at good stuff to come…
Xxphatxbaybeexx: I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Shikani: Yes, I'm evil and I know it. :grin: Here's an update…but swirly eyes don't work on me…eh, what?
YoungSasuke: Good! And I will be updating soon…like now.
Ramen-Ou: Haha, yeah, that's why I love him.

:deep breath:prays: Please be better.

Chapter 8- "Ray of Hope"

Sasuke was up before dawn, out in the small garden behind the inn. He hadn't slept well. Every time he had neared sleep, some minor thought would awaken him. Of course, minor in this case was defined as a handsome seventeen-year-old, whom Sasuke was crushing on, appearing at random intervals in his mind. Finally, after hours of trying to ignore the one thing that cannot be ignored, Sasuke rolled himself out of the sheets and went outside. The air was damp and just slightly cool. Ignoring the dew still clinging to the grass, Sasuke sat down looking across the serene garden. As befitted the Hidden Grass village, the fauna was lush and vibrant, from thick grass to arcing flowers to majestic cherry trees. The small brook that bisected the garden bubbled and gurgled its way along, blissfully unaware of the mental torment the human sitting next to it was experiencing.

I should win a prize for most screwed up life. Not only am I the last surviving member of a proud and ancient house, but my family was killed by my eldest brother. I carry an advanced bloodline which makes me the target of every insane criminal ever born, and I am the romantic target of every girl (and a few boys) who crosses my path. As if I didn't have enough to deal with, I am now gay and threw away the love of the boy whom I am now in love with and who is now dating my teammate. My life sucks.

"Ohayo, Sasuke."

Sasuke's entire body tensed, Did I mention how much my life sucks? "Ohayo, Neji."

The pale-eyed Hyuuga just stood in the doorway, looking at the Uchiha who would not look at him. Sasuke kept his gaze fixed on the shifting branches of the cherry trees. Now was not a good time for Neji to see him. The grass rustled a bit, betraying Neji's near-silent approach. Sasuke stayed still, barely acknowledging the other boy's presence. Neji seated himself at Sasuke's side. A slight breeze ruffled Sasuke's hair, carrying with it Neji's scent: it was a heady scent like the intoxicating fragrance of a moonflower. Sasuke took a deep breath and had to stifle a tremor that coursed through his spine. Neji smelled far too good for any peace of mind to be maintained.

"I preferred it when you were mad at me," Neji said, suddenly breaking the silence.

"I did too," Sasuke said without thinking.

"Then why aren't you mad again?" Neji asked, an odd tone in his voice.

Sasuke curtailed the sharp pain that had somehow gotten into his chest, "Go away."

Neji shifted and leaned back against the building, "Do you hate me this much?"

The flat way in which he said it made Sasuke's throat close. No! he wanted to scream. I'm like this because I love you! He wanted nothing more than to turn the boy beside him and throw himself on top of him; he wanted to kiss his lips and run his fingers through his hair. He wanted to whisper, "I love you," but what came out was…

Nothing.

The Hyuuga nodded and pulled himself upright, "Then there is nothing more to be said…ever."

Sasuke looked off into the trees until he heard the door slide shut. He was once again alone in the garden. Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT! He started to breathe hard from his internal screams. Why? Why the HELL can't I say something? He shook his head briefly before resting it on his knees. He knew exactly why he couldn't: Naruto. I know the dobe's never had much love, and I will not be the one to take away his. Sasuke kept his head buried in his arms until he had conquered the pain.

A little over an hour later, Sasuke re-entered the inn, fully in control of his emotions. Right. He stomped upstairs and pushed the door to their room open.

"Oi, dobe. Where's Neji?"

Naruto laid his head back on the pillow, "He went somewhere."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the ridiculous bear cap the blond was wearing, "Where?"

"How should I know? I haven't seen him since he woke up."

Sasuke crushed the surge of emotion. I will get over this. He turned to leave, shutting the door behind him. Locating the innkeeper, he ordered some breakfast and sat at a table in the main room, eating slowly. Soon, Naruto tramped down the stairs, making a ba-boom sound on each step.

"Ohayo," he greeted Sasuke, leaning over and brushing his lips across his cheek.

Sasuke started, "What the hell?"

Naruto glared at him from under long lashes, "We're supposed to be lovers, teme."

Sasuke glared back, "Usuratonkachi."

Naruto rolled his eyes and scooted in beside the Uchiha, grabbing chopsticks and eating from the bowl of rice. Sasuke felt more than saw Neji enter the room. He kept his gaze light as he looked up and saw the Hyuuga step through the door. Naruto saw him and waved vigorously. Neji raised a hand slightly and moved towards them. Leaning over Naruto, he kissed the top of his head affectionately. Naruto grinned and pulled a chair out for Neji, shooting a look at Sasuke which declared, This is how you act, teme. Sasuke forced himself to listen as Neji spoke quietly.

"Najino went to the Kage of this Village immediately. They gave him an apartment for the night. We simply need to find the apartment and make him vanish."

Naruto scratched his head, "But he could be anywhere!"

"We should split up," Sasuke said. "We each take a third of city and try to detect his chakra or the place where he might be hidden."

Neji nodded, "Meet back here at noon."

Sasuke strolled casually through the streets of Hidden Grass, looking much like a teenager out for a walk rather than the high-level chuunin he truly was. It was almost noon, and he had covered most of the section assigned to him. There was no sign of Najino. Sasuke turned the corner, preparing to head for the inn. As he turned, he felt a flash of chakra. Like any good shinobi, Sasuke had learned to identify a person's signature chakra. This signature was definitely one of a unique type: blond, energetic, hyper, and definitely possessing a foxy-tinge. Naruto! He ignored the amazed looks of the townsfolk as he sprung into the air with chakra. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, he tracked the chakra until a giant blast showed him the exact location. Leaping to the ground, he drew three shuriken and sent them flying at a shinobi attacking his fellow Leaf.

"Sasuke! Najino saw me…he's still around here somewhere!"

Sasuke felt a slight premonition, ducking as two kunai slashed through where his head was. Activating the Sharingan, he drew his own kunai, spinning to see where the attack came from. A flash of cloth vanished around a corner. Sasuke dashed after it. Skidding around the corner, he used chakra to walk up the other wall, directing his momentum forward. His red-tinged eyes caught Najino moving quickly across the rooftops. He launched the kunai, attempting to distract the jounin. The man simply dodged and continued on.

Without warning, the missing nin came rocketing back towards Sasuke. The younger shinobi tried to dodge, but the man's full force slammed into him. Was this some kind of body slam attack? As Sasuke hit the ground, he caught a glimpse of a white-clad figure on the rooftop. Neji! He must have hit him with Jyuken or some NinJutsu. The jounin twisted, slashing at Sasuke's torso with the kunai. Sasuke grunted in pain as the throwing knife drew a line of blood across his ribs. Kicking the other nin off of him, Sasuke rolled up, latching onto the man with his Sharingan. The jounin began to make hand seals. Sasuke grinned coldly; the Sharingan easily detected the move and Sasuke's own hand seals matched Najino's exactly.

"Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

"Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

The two dragon fire attacks collided in the air, exploding outward and throwing chips of stone from the walls in thousands of directions. Sasuke latched the Sharingan onto Najino. Using the Sharingan as a GenJutsu this time, he copied the movements of the jounin perfectly. Najino's eyes widened as Sasuke mimicked his every move as he did it. Najino gritted his teeth and began a hand seal sequence. To his shock Sasuke began the same hand seal sequence just before him. Sasuke finished first.

"Soushouryu!"

The two scrolls planted next to Najino unfurled in twin smoky dragons and flew to Sasuke's side. The dragons launched hundreds of weapons to Sasuke's reach when he redirected them at Najino. Nunchaku, kunai, katanas, shuriken, bo-staves, and tessen all flew at high speeds towards the Leaf jounin. Najino deflected some and dodged others but one bo staff slammed fully into his stomach, knocking him to the ground. The weapons following it pierced his arms and legs. He stood shakily, preparing to spring away. Neji appeared in a blast of chakra, slamming an open palm on Najino's shoulder. The chakra gathered there blasted Najino into a nearby wall. Sasuke launched three shuriken which sliced across Najino's neck. Shuriken were not large enough to kill, but they let blood out. The missing nin stood shakily, combating the loss of blood. Neji stepped forward, throwing a palm forward. He released a wave of chakra outward, slamming Najino against the wall again. Sasuke leapt forward, planting a kunai in the missing nin's heart. He took several deep breaths. Neji checked Najino's pulse and looked at Sasuke.

The Uchiha wiped the blood from his side, "Mission complete."

Neji looked around, "Naruto's not here yet."

The two shinobi launched themselves in the air, heading back for the square where Naruto had been. They landed and stared in shock. Naruto was whistling, hanging upside from a rafter. Across the square were eight bodies of shinobi. Sasuke leaned down to examine one. He had a chuunin vest on.

"You defeated eight chuunin," Neji said smoothly.

Naruto grinned at them, "Heheh, it was nothing for me! I kicked all their asses. They never had a chance. I guess you guys got Najino."

Sasuke nodded, "We joined forces on him."

Neji turned to walk back to where Najino's body lay, "We need to move before others get here."

Sasuke watched the flickering flames consume Najino's body on the pyre. Konoha's secrets were safe. They had used the powder Kakashi had given them; it made the smoke light and easily dispersed by the wind. No one could track its location in time. Neji and Naruto also stood still, watching the ashes blow away from the burning pile. With their mission over, Sasuke felt an odd sort of relief at its completion, but also a pang of remorse. Once we return to Konoha, Neji will return to his team…and we'll never speak again. Oh, they'd meet in town, or at a briefing, but they would stay silent beyond the first greeting. Or worse, Sasuke would see him every time Neji came to see Naruto. And all the while, Neji would go out with Naruto, fully believing the Uchiha hated him. I will not let this show; Neji and Naruto deserve each other. I will not allow my emotions to ruin their relationship.

"Oi, Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke turned to see Neji and Naruto standing a distance away, looking at him. Startled that he had not seen them leave, he turned and walked towards them, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"We've got to get moving, or we won't reach Hidden Mist before nightfall," Neji said.

Sasuke looked at the horizon, "I don't think we will make it anyway."

Naruto just shrugged, "Oh well, camping out in the wilderness will be fun! Come on, Neji-kun! Keep up, Sasuke-teme!"

He launched himself off, leaping across the fields.

Sasuke growled, "How does that dobe have so much chakra?"

Neji shrugged, "He can go for hours."

The Hyuuga sprung after the blond, leaving Sasuke standing there, slightly shocked. I will NOT think about what that comment meant. He gathered chakra and leapt after them.

"Tell me again about camping in the wilderness, dobe," Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto.

The blond was practically jumping up and down, alternately swatting mosquitoes and complaining about the damp ground.

"These—bugs—must—have—a—death—wish," growled Naruto, punctuating each word with a sharp slap.

Neji looked up from unrolling the thick mat that posed as a bed, "If you burn frogwort herbs on the fire, they should repel most of the biting insects."

Naruto leapt upwards, "Right. What does it look like?"

Neji sighed and started explaining to Naruto the coloring, leaf configuration, location, and other information the blond would never remember. Sasuke busied himself, looking up only when he felt Naruto's chakra flare.

"Does that dobe want to draw attention?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Naruto's…excitable," Neji answered, as if addressed.

"Well, you should know," Sasuke said, still muttering.

Neji turned briefly, "Your point?"

Sasuke kept his head down, Baka! Shut up, already. You just let your mouth run. Where's your self-control?

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

"What did you mean?" Neji demanded, impassively quiet.

Sasuke just fixed Neji with a silencing glare. The Hyuuga shrugged it off, as if it was a troublesome breeze. Sasuke turned back around and smoothed his already flat bed out. Neji's eyes burned in the base of Sasuke's skull. Damn it, can't he just drop it?

"If anyone knows Naruto's habits, you do," the Hyuuga said quietly.

Sasuke looked up, "I'm not a threat."

"A threat to what?"

Sasuke stood and turned away, "Forget it."

Neji grabbed his arm, forcibly turning him around, "No."

Pulled his arm out of Neji's grip, Sasuke glared, "Fine. I'm not interested in Naruto, if that's what you are afraid of."

Neji's eyes seemed to shift, just slightly, "And why should I care if you're interested in Naruto?"

Sasuke growled, pulling away, "I can't believe you."

"What?"

Sasuke turned halfway back, his voice flat and cutting,"You wake up one morning, decide to hit on me, and pursue me for a few weeks. When I reject you, you pick up Naruto, and now you couldn't care less about him. You are just a selfish bastard who doesn't love anyone but yourself."

Sasuke turned and left the Hyuuga standing there in the campsite. The Uchiha needed to breathe, and he couldn't with Neji standing there. In spite of the burning anger Sasuke felt at Neji's callousness, there had been an explosion of emotion in that conversation. Sasuke never exploded with emotion, and certainly, he never let anyone see it. I just lost my control, that's all.

"Hey, Sasuke! Give me a hand here!"

Sasuke lifted his eyes to see Naruto carrying a load of green vegetation, "No."

"Teme! Help a teammate out!"

"Fine."

Naruto dumped half the load in Sasuke's arms, "Why are you out here?"

"None of your business, dobe."

"Baka! Will you just stop with your 'selfish-bastard-who-cares-only-about-himself' act? I was trying to have a comradely moment!"

Sasuke jerked, "What did you call me?"

Naruto scratched his head with a weed-laden hand, "Baka?"

"No, my attitude."

"Oh, the 'selfish-bastard-who-cares-only-about-himself' act?"

"Hai."

Sasuke's jaw tightened, That's what I called Neji. It's true; I treated him almost as badly as he treated Naruto. But it's not the same thing…

"Oi, Sasuke-teme? What's the matter?"

"Naruto, how much do you like Neji?"

Naruto coughed from shock, "What?"

Sasuke looked up, "Do I have to repeat myself?"

Naruto glared at him, "Teme! I just didn't know why you would want to know. And I don't think it's any of your damn business, but I like him a lot!"

Sasuke lowered his head, "Then I'm sorry."

Naruto jumped in front of him, "Alright, teme. What the hell is going on here? What are you sorry about?"

"You and Neji."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Sasuke ignored him, turning to walk around the blond.

Naruto closed his eyes, before opening them to glare at Sasuke, "You are the most arrogant, stuck-up, self-centered bastard I have ever met. Can't you even tell a guy what the hell you're talking about?"

Sasuke sighed, "Fine. I'm sorry about you liking Neji so much."

"What the hell does that mean? Stop talking about Neji like he's some murderer or something."

Sasuke just turned away.

"Hey, I'm not done. Who the hell do you think you are, Uchiha! You just walk out here and suddenly start acting cryptic and making comments about my girlfriend's cousin! What the hell could possess you to just randomly start…"

Sasuke had stopped suddenly halfway through the rant, "Wait…your girlfriend's cousin?"

Naruto blushed, "Uh, well, Neji kinda told me that Hinata likes me. So…I'm gonna ask her on a date when we get back. I mean, we're not official yet, but I kinda think of her as my girlfriend already…HEY! Don't try to sidetrack me when I'm yelling at you, teme!"

Sasuke's brain closed down as Naruto started up again. Naruto…has a girlfriend? He's bi? Or…are Naruto and Neji really together? What…

"I can't believe you could really be that…"

is going on? Could I have…

"…self-centered and arrogant. You may be some…"

…really misjudged their relationship? Are they…

"…genius shinobi from some kick-ass clan, but there's…"

…just good friends, because of Hinata's interest in Naruto?

"…some things even you can't get away with…Sasuke? SASUKE-TEME! Look at me when I'm yelling at you!"

Sasuke looked up and shot an almost-smile at the blond, "Thank you, Naruto."

As the Uchiha turned and walked back to camp, he left behind him one very confused Uzumaki who spent the next twenty minutes trying to decipher what the hell had just happened.

When Sasuke re-entered the camp, he saw Neji leaning over the campfire, stirring something in the pot. The Hyuuga didn't flinch when Sasuke moved into sight, but the younger boy was sure he'd been seen. Sasuke sat down on his mat, still in a slightly euphoric state from learning the truth. Neji and Naruto aren't together. Neji's...not going out with him. But, I blew my chance before...there's no way we'll ever be together as lovers. But maybe I can at least try for friendship. There's a little hope for that, at least. First step, apologize. Damn, I was such an idiot. Okay, how does this sound? Neji, I'm sorry for getting mad at you and calling you an insensitive bastard. I thought you and Naruto were together, but I shouldn't have judged because I did the same thing…no. That is much too personal. Neji said we wouldn't talk about it again. As much as it kills me, I'll respect that. Okay…Neji, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't know what I was talking about. Damn, I sound like an academy student…of course, I haven't apologized since then, so I'm out of practice. Alright…Neji…

"It's all right, Sasuke."

Sasuke's head jerked up, "Nani?"

Neji was looking at him, a soft smile playing around his lips, "It's all right. I forgive you."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "How…"

Neji smiled, "Don't worry about it. Although…don't tell Naruto you thought we were together. You'd never hear the end of it."

Sasuke nodded, "Right."

Neji smiled and turned back to the pot.

"Hey, Neji?"

"Nani?"

"Thank you…for knowing and for forgiving me."

Neji nodded his head once, "You're welcome, Sasuke."