Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit is being made.
The hum of several washing machines chugging away reverberated in the small laundry room. Hands folded before him, Sasuke frowned gently at the machines as he waited for his load of whites to finish, his colors already spinning away in a dryer.
Today's Saturday... he mused, his frown deepening. Naruto had been on cloud nine for most of the morning, trotting up and down the hall and shouting into random rooms that he was going to that damn concert. The last two days had been bad enough, knowing how he felt about the blonde and living only a few doors down from him, but today, having Naruto declare just how much fun he was going to have with Neji tonight...
Sasuke had cheerfully gathered up his laundry and practically sprinted for the laundry room before he pulled out an Uzi and let it rip.
Sasuke's frown turned into a scowl as he imagined the two of them on their date. Naruto appeared oblivious to the implications of his little rendezvous with Hyuuga, but there was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that Neji would take advantage of the situation.
It figures that as soon as I figure out how I feel about the idiot, Neji decides to come out of the fucking closet. That smirk when Neji had left yesterday...Sasuke had wanted to rush over and rip the other boy's teeth out. I've never been so mad in my life. Sighing lightly, he straightened and ran a hand through his hair. Hell, I've never even been jealous before. How long have these feelings been there?
Lips tightening with determination, Sasuke stood and walked over to his washer, waiting as the last few minutes ticked off on the timer.
If Hyuuga thinks I'll just sit back and take this, he's got another think coming. I'll be damned if I let Naruto end up with that...prick! Lifting a hand, Sasuke rested it on the cold metal and splayed his fingers. I still have more leverage than Neji, since Naruto and I are already close. Not to mention that little report we're doing together. A small smile crossed Sasuke's face. After all, we may need to spend a lot of time together to make sure we get a good grade on the project, and of course we could spend a lot of that time in each other's rooms...
Chuckling lightly, Sasuke ran his fingers over the lid of the washing machine. Just you wait, Naruto. I'll get you yet.
"Ok, that's just creepy."
Jumping, Sasuke spun about to see Naruto staring at him with a quirked eyebrow, his laundry bag slung over his shoulder.
"It's not every day you see someone caress a washing machine and chuckle evilly." He set his bag down, still watching Sasuke warily. "Quite frankly, I think I'm scared."
Fighting the small blush that was trying to claw its way onto his face, Sasuke turned back to the machine. Luckily, the timer had just hit zero, so Sasuke was able to avoid answering by throwing open the lid. He ignored Naruto as he began to pull his whites out of the bin.
"Still giving me the cold shoulder, eh?" Rolling his eyes, Naruto picked up his bag, moved over to an empty washer, and started haphazardly throwing in his clothes.
Sasuke glanced over at him. "You're doing your laundry? Shouldn't you be preparing for your...concert?" he questioned coldly.
Naruto didn't look up, rummaging around in his laundry bag for more colored clothes. "Well," he eventually replied, "it's been piling up for a while...and besides—"
He straightened, turning to look solemnly at Sasuke. "Someone told me you'd be down here."
Sasuke blinked at him, wet clothes forgotten in his hand. "You came looking for me?"
"Yeah, I guess I did." Naruto stretched his arms backwards, trying to crack his back. "You haven't said a word to me since you flew off the handle on Thursday in the library. It bugged me."
Sasuke's heart jumped in his chest. "I see." Looking away, he bent to place a pile of wet clothes into a laundry bin so he could regain control of his face. It wouldn't do for Naruto to see him grin like an idiot. He'd probably think that Sasuke had lost his mind.
Straightening, Sasuke schooled his face into an impassive mask and looked over at him, his hand reaching into the washer.
"Did it occur to you that maybe I had nothing to say to you?" That's good, keep it slow. He clasped a piece of clothing and pulled it out of the washer, watching Naruto's face.
"Sasuke, I know you. There's a difference between you having nothing to say...and..." Naruto trailed off, his face contorting.
Confused, Sasuke frowned. "What?"
Naruto lifted a hand to cover his mouth, his eyes dancing with mirth. "I-I...um, think you have a...slight problem, Sasuke."
Eyebrows furrowing at the snickers that were escaping from Naruto's mouth, Sasuke glanced down at his hand. Then he stared. And kept staring.
A pair of his briefs sat in his palm...and they were stained bright green.
...Was it too much to ask to be smote by God right here? Right now? Just one little lightning bolt?
A dark blush covering his entire face, Sasuke unwrapped the green sock—not his. If he could get his hands on the guy who left it in the washer...—that had buried itself in his underwear. Beside him, Naruto had collapsed onto the ground in convulsing fits of laughter.
"You know—" he gasped, "it figures—that you're—a 'tighty whitey' sort of guy—but THAT?" Unable to control himself any longer, Naruto clasped his stomach in both hands and rolled on the floor. Sasuke's face turned purple.
Utterly humiliated, the Uchiha gathered the rest of his whites—which had thankfully escaped without incident—and threw them into his laundry bin, storming over to the dryers (once he'd stepped over the laughing Naruto) and throwing them in. He punched in the time and started to leave the room.
I'm never going to live this down...
"S-Sasuke! Wait!" Swiping at his eyes, Naruto sat up. "I-I'm sorry I laughed at you, really. Come back."
Sasuke didn't turn, his fists clenched at his sides. "What do you want?" he ground out.
Taking several calming breaths, Naruto climbed to his feet. "I just...wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out tomorrow. As a peace offering?" He smirked when Sasuke finally turned to look at him, a surprised expression on his face. "I'm not sure why you were mad at me in the first place, but you're easier to deal with when you're only pissy towards everyone else."
Sasuke stared at him for a good ten seconds before allowing a small smile to settle on his face. "Alright. What time tomorrow?"
"Sometime after one o'clock. No way in hell am I getting up any earlier than that on a Sunday." He grinned. "I'll come pounding on your door."
Sasuke's smile turned into a dry smirk. "Just make sure you don't show up at five, dobe."
Naruto winced. "Did you have to bring that up? I'll be on time, I promise."
"You'd better." With that, Sasuke walked out of the laundry room, hands shoved into his pockets. Warmth was spreading from his heart. So Naruto doesn't like it when I'm mad at him, and he wants to spend time with me? Seems like a good sign.
After checking that no one was around, Sasuke let himself grin for the first time in years.
He didn't stop until he got to his room.
Neji had never been so nervous in his life. Which really wasn't saying much, since as a rule, he didn't getnervous, but it still made the situation that much more poignant. He'd prepared for about thirty minutes before finally leaving to pick Naruto up, rummaging around in his closet (what was he supposed to wear? It was a rock concert, so his normal clothes wouldn't do...Ah! Jeans!), and once they'd left, he'd been a constant bundle of nervous energy (well, for him). What should he say? Was he making a good impression? How far should he push tonight?
Across from him and completely unaware of his companion's turbulent thoughts, Uzumaki Naruto was talking animatedly about some old childhood crush while attacking the hamburger in front of him. The fact that Neji had chosen a fairly nice restaurant didn't seem to faze the blonde at all; he'd demanded a hamburger after looking at the menu for about thirty seconds, claiming that he was in the mood for meat and he wanted it now.
Neji had nearly choked on his glass of water when he'd heard that.
Working on his plate of pasta, Neji watched bemusedly as Naruto talked around his food. The boy was hovering on the edge of disgusting, but he seemed to have it down to an art: swallow just enough before speaking so that your companion doesn't see everything in your mouth. Then eat more.
"So anyway, the guy bets me that—" pause, quick gulp of orange soda, "—I can't make a basket from the other end of the court. If I lost, I had to do his homework for a month—which I'm not sure would've been a good idea, since I was flunking most of the classes he would've made me do—and if I won, he had to give me his girlfriend." Naruto grinned. "Needless to say, when I made the shot, he was in big trouble."
Neji allowed himself a small smile. "You took his girlfriend?"
"Hell no. Girls aren't prizes." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "But the fact that he gambled her and lost was enough for her to give him the can."
"Which is what you wanted in the first place," Neji mused. "Did she end up with you in the end?"
"With a face like this? You bet she did." Naruto laughed, taking another bite of his burger. "Didn't last long, though. She became a Sasuke groupie."
At the mention of the other boy's name, the small smile dropped right off Neji's face. He'd hoped the other boy wouldn't come up, though it figured that his annoying presence would continue to follow the blonde. Before he could think of something to change the subject (he wasn't much of a conversationalist, after all), Naruto pinned him with his gaze and swallowed the rest of his mouthful.
"Speaking of Sasuke—" Neji stifled a groan. "—Why do you two hate each other so much?"
Neji didn't reply, turning his attention back to his food. Naruto frowned.
"Seriously, what's the deal? You two have been at each other's throats for as long as I can remember." The blonde leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't care so much, but I thought Sasuke was going to take my head off when he found out we're hanging out tonight. Am I going to get caught in the middle of something?"
You ARE the middle of something. "I'm not sure why we fight, exactly," Neji slowly replied, "but I'd rather not talk about him tonight."
Naruto sighed. "Ok, ok."
After a moment's silence, Naruto reached out and snagged Neji's hand. Startled, Neji watched as Naruto began to examine his palm, spreading the other boy's fingers and running his own over the lines crisscrossing his skin. A shiver ran down Neji's spine.
"Naruto...what are you doing?"
"You wanted a change of subject, right?" He continued running his fingers over Neji's palm. "Well, I read a book on palm reading, so I figured I'd test it."
"...I see." Neji swallowed, allowing Naruto's warm fingers to fiddle with his hand. Against his will, his heart started pounding. His hands are larger than mine, and they're callused... The feel of Naruto's rough hands on his skin was making his palm tingle.
"Huh. Interesting," Naruto finally commented. Looking up, he ran his finger over a particular line. "According to the book I read, you're an incredibly passionate person, but..." He switched to another line. "You're also really controlling. You probably wouldn't settle for any mediocre love interest, so when you finally fall, you're going to fall hard."
Neji fought down a slow blush. "...And? What else do you see?" he asked reluctantly, unwilling to let Naruto pull away.
Naruto paused, then looked up at Neji with a solemn look on his face.
"You're going to get lucky tonight."
"WHAT?" Neji blurted, his face starting to turn red. Naruto held the face for about three seconds, then burst out in laughter.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" He laughed loudly for a few minutes, heedless of the other people in the restaurant. "You just...looked so interested in what I was saying! I can't tell the future by looking at your palm." He grinned. "The book didn't cover that."
Neji throttled his blush and threw it in a closet, locking the door. Clearing his throat, he attempted to regain his dignity.
"That wasn't funny, Naruto."
"Oh, yes, it was. You're just being a sore sport." Sticking his tongue out at Neji, Naruto released the boy's hand and went back to his meal. "How much time do we have before the concert?"
Glad for the excuse to look away, Neji glanced at his watch. "We should go get in line in about half an hour."
Looking up, he watched as a delighted grin made its way across Naruto's face.
"I still can't believe I'm going to this concert! Man, do I owe you one!"
Neji blinked. Owe me one? He's thinking of this as a favor? Frowning lightly, Neji mused over how he should react to this. On the one hand, if he's thinking this is just a favor, I certainly can't push things tonight...but on the other hand, he may feel obliged to ask me out later, or maybe I could request his "favor" in another form...
Coming to a decision, Neji smiled.
"Yes, yes you do."
The amount of noise was deafening in the concert hall as hundreds of fans jumped up and down in a mosh pit before the stage. Neji kept his hands stuffed in his pockets as he watched Naruto bounce beside him.
The blonde glanced over at him, a wide smile on his face. "C'mon, Neji! Get into the spirit!"
"I don't think so," he replied, amusement coloring his tone.
Naruto groaned. "Aw c'mon! You can't just stand there!"
Neji chuckled lightly. "And what would you have me do?"
"At least try this!" Stepping forward, Naruto grabbed Neji's hand and raised it into the air, folding down his ring finger, middle finger and thumb. "Now keep it that way."
Amused, Neji looked up at his hand. "You really expect me to—"
"Oh, I'm not done with you yet." Keeping one hand on Neji's outstretched wrist, Naruto moved slightly behind Neji and slid a hand under his hair to gently cup the back of Neji's head. "Huh," he mumbled. "You're lucky. You have great hair for this."
"For what?" Neji was thankful for the level of noise around him, since his voice had emerged surprisingly husky.
"What else?" Gripping the back of Neji's head, Naruto pushed the other boy's head down, then yanked it back up.
It was surprise alone that allowed Naruto to get in two more head bangs before Neji pulled away.
"I'M NOT—" Neji paused, trying to regain control of his voice. "I am not going to do that in public."
"But your hair's so great for it!" Naruto whined. "Mine just stays up in the air!"
"I said no."
Heaving a giant sigh, Naruto turned back to the stage. "You know, I think you and Sasuke are more alike than you realize."
Neji narrowed his eyes at that. A slight frown rested on Naruto's face, sending a little worm of unease into Neji's heart. Is he going to have a bad time because of me? Looking down at his hand, he sighed.
"If I do the hand thing, will that satisfy you?"
Naruto flashed him a grin. "Yup."
Shaking his head, Neji lifted his hand into the air. I can't believe I'm doing this...
By the time two more hours of performance had passed, even Neji was bobbing his hand and singing along with the music. A thrill raced through him, born entirely of doing something completely stupid, and the grins he was receiving from Naruto made it worthwhile.
I must look like an idiot, he thought vaguely, but then he glanced over at Naruto, who was currently trying to pick someone up for crowd surfing. Then again, I am with him. Chuckling, he shook his head again and started singing louder.
The things I do for love...
On the drive home, Naruto insisted on riding with the windows down while they blasted the CD he'd bought at the concert. Again, Neji decided to indulge the blonde, if only for the delighted grin Naruto would give him if he complied. Neji was beginning to think that he'd do almost anything just to receive that happy smile.
A prospect that worried him a little. Neji certainly didn't like the idea of being wrapped about Naruto's little finger, but...
He supposed he could find consolation in the fact that Naruto didn't know just how much power he wielded over the proud Hyuuga.
Parking in front of Naruto's dorm, Neji leaned back in his seat and cast his pale eyes on Naruto.
"Neji, I seriously think you should elope with me. Right now." Leaning forward, the blonde ejected his CD from the car's sound system.
"I'll consider it," Neji calmly replied.
Naruto flashed him another grin. "I'll repay you for this, I swear. I don't really know what you like, but..."
"Don't worry about it." Neji let his eyes roam discreetly over Naruto's body as the blonde gathered his things. He leaned slightly towards the boy, not really sure of what he was doing.
"I guess I'll catch you in class on Monday, right?" Neji watched as Naruto's lips moved, drawn in by the stirrings of temptation. "Iruka should be covering mutants in Genetics..."
Neji's heart started pounding in his chest as he suddenly placed one hand on Naruto's headrest and leaned forward.
At the last second, Naruto glanced away, and Neji's lips ended up brushing against his cheek.
It was at that same moment that Neji's brain came back online.
What the fuck am I doing? Before Naruto could even look over at him, Neji was already sitting straight, calmly gazing ahead. He kept his cool as Naruto blinked at him.
"...Did you just..."
Neji turned his pale eyes on Naruto, his expression cool and collected. "Did I what?"
Naruto blinked again. "Um...nothing." After a moment, he opened the door and climbed out. "Thanks again for this, Neji."
The other boy nodded, watching Naruto carefully. After a moment's thought, Naruto closed the door and leaned against the open window frame, grinning at Neji.
"You know, you should wear street clothes more often. They look good on you." Chuckling at the slow, surprised blink that Neji gave him, Naruto slapped the top of the car. "Be off with you!"
Turning his attention back to the road, Neji put the car in drive and pulled away. His eyes flickered up to his rear view mirror, where he could see Naruto waving cheerily at him.
I guess he didn't notice anything... Breathing a sigh of relief, Neji put on his blinker, pulled out into the main street, and headed for his own dorm.
He didn't see Naruto lightly touch his cheek and frown as he turned to go inside.
Kiba glanced up from his desk as he heard a key turn in the door's lock. Naruto walked in, apparently lost in thought.
"Hey man! How was the concert?" Kiba smirked dryly. "I still can't believe you scored a ticket. Where do you get all that luck?"
"Huh?" Naruto blinked at him, suddenly snapping himself out of it. "What did you say?"
Kiba frowned. What's the matter with him? "I said, how was the concert?"
"Awesome!" A huge grin split Naruto's face. "They played a lot of my favorites, the lighting was awesome, and even Neji was..."
Kiba blinked when Naruto trailed off, his lips pursing lightly. "Neji was what?"
"He's not as uptight as I thought," Naruto finished absentmindedly. Closing the door and throwing the lock, Naruto stripped down to his boxers and flopped into bed, face down. Kiba watched him curiously.
"Did...something happen?" Kiba asked cautiously. "I haven't seen you this quiet since you realized that 'Queen' was named for a reason."
After a pause, Naruto glanced up. "Neji kissed me on the cheek tonight," he stated bluntly.
"He what?" Stunned, Kiba turned towards him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing. I cracked a joke, sent him off like nothing had happened." Naruto rolled over, staring up at the ceiling. "I guess Gaara was right."
Kiba hesitated. "What are you going to do?" He studied Naruto's face. "You don't look too upset over it."
A pause. "That's because I'm not. Not really." He hesitated. "I wonder what that means."
I'm not sure I'm comfortable having this conversation... "Are you...attracted to him?"
"Mm." Naruto made a soft noise of acknowledgement. "I guess. I never thought about it before." He paused. "He's not the one I want, though."
"Then who is?"
Naruto paused for a long moment. "Dunno," he replied thoughtfully. "Guess I'll find out soon enough." He rolled onto his side away from Kiba, ignoring the quirked eyebrow at his odd comment. "Goodnight, Dog Boy."
"Night, Fox Face." After watching his roommate for a long moment, Kiba turned back to the sheets spread out on his desk.
I wonder what he's thinking of...? Shaking his head, Kiba returned to work. Whatever it is, I pity the person he targets. Naruto's smarter than he seems to be...
...And he always gets what he wants.
Naruto's not as oblivious as he seems...dun dun dun. Review.