Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Romeo and Juliet. I do own the Naruto plushie, though…
Author's Note: I'm back! Sooner than I expected to be with this chapter, but I decided that I was just going to put it up and leave it alone. If I'd looked at this chapter any longer I swear I would have just deleted it all and started over. Honestly, I don't like it. Compared to the last chapter, which is one of my favs, this one just drags a bit and is basically to wrap up certain loose ends before the last chapter or chapters, I haven't quite decided yet. I honestly do not know where to go from the end of this chapter, so the next chapter may or may not be the play. If you're curious to know, I'll probably post up my decision in my bio at some point when I get into writing the next chapter. Check my bio out if you want to know, or just send an email, I love getting mail!
Anyway, I just have to gush about getting 500 reviews! I can't believe it! This is my first fanfic that's done so well as to warrant 500 reviews and I almost cried. No, I'm serious. Haha. So, thank you all so so so so so much for reviewing and sticking through this horrendously long and dragging story! I love you all so much it's unexplainable in words. Your support keeps me writing, so thank you all so much.
So, about this chapter, uhh, I tried to keep everyone as in-character as possible, expecially in the last scene with Gaara. That was a hard scene to write, that along with the Neji scene, so I'm sorry if they suck, I wrote them a few times before deciding the best way to go. Um, Tsunade finally makes an appearance. I had meant to bring her up a long time ago, but I forgot. Heheh…But she's here now, and I hope I made her in-character enough…It's been a while since I've watched the anime with her in it, so I don't really remember how she acted…But I think she turned out okay. Uh, the chapter's a bit shorter than usual, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in, so it's just going up as is. Hope you all enjoy it, and thank you so so much for your lovely support! I love you all so much. Enjoy the chapter and have an awesome day, or night (depending on when you read this…). From yours truly, SilverRose88.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sasuke squinted his eyes as light shone in from the window. He tried moving up into a sitting position, but his throbbing head willed him back down. Opening his eyes, he looked around and found one of the servants standing at the foot of his bed.
Almost scaring the Uchiha senseless, Sasuke jumped up and then clutched his head from the pain, muttering curses under his breath. He looked up and said, "What do you need?"
"Your brother asked me to wake you. He says you're being quite rude by sleeping in on your guest."
Sasuke stared at him as if the man were speaking another language. "Guest? What guest?"
The man only smiled secretively, glanced at Sasuke's desk and then with a bow, walked out of the room.
Sasuke stared after him for a moment, wondering what the hell was going on. He didn't remember going to sleep at all last night and he couldn't recall how he'd even gotten home. Hadn't he been at a party the night before? And why was he still in his clothes from last night?
Sighing, Sasuke turned to where the servant had looked to, and almost at a heart attack at what he saw. He knew that jacket, and he knew who it belonged to; but what was he doing here? Sasuke leapt out of bed and in record time showered, brushed his teeth, and changed. He ran down the stairs and into the dining hall, where he heard loud laughter echoing from.
Barging through the doors, Sasuke stormed in and almost froze at the sight before him. Naruto was sitting with his brother looking at, of all things, baby pictures…of him.
Sasuke didn't remember a time he'd moved so fast; he dashed to the two and snatched the picture album away from his brother.
"Why, Sasuke, you're up!" Itachi said.
"What the hell have you been doing?" Sasuke demanded.
"Just showing Naru-chan some pictures!" Itachi said happily.
"And who said you could?" Sasuke yelled. "This isn't something you go showing around to people!"
"Why not? You were such a cute little baby!" Itachi said, pinching Sasuke's cheek, which in turn only earned the older Uchiha a punch in the nose from the younger one. Itachi fell to the ground and Sasuke turned to face Naruto, ignoring his brother completely.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Naruto looked a bit embarrassed as he glanced away for a moment before meeting Sasuke's eyes. "Uh, because I was…um, worried about you," he replied quietly.
"Worried? About what?" Sasuke asked.
"You got sick at the party last night. I brought you home last night, or should I say this morning?" Naruto scratched his head, then shrugged. "Whatever."
"I got sick?" Sasuke asked, and once Naruto nodded, he groaned. "That's why my head hurts like hell."
"I guess."
"How long have you been here then?"
"Uh, about seven hours. I just got up an hour ago," Naruto replied.
"Where'd you sleep?"
Naruto blushed. "Your…bed?"
Sasuke looked surprised, but then he slowly smirked. "Oh, really?"
"I'm sorry!" Naruto exclaimed.
Sasuke stared directly at Naruto and replied, "I'm not."
"Aw, Sasuke, how cute," Itachi said, slinging an arm over his brother's shoulders.
Sasuke stiffened immediately. "Haven't I killed you yet?" he asked.
Itachi shrugged, still grinning stupidly; Sasuke punched him again.
"Uh, is he okay?" Naruto asked, staring down at the older Uchiha who was sporting a rather bloody nose.
"He'll be fine," Sasuke replied, rubbing his hand. He turned to Naruto and said, "Why didn't you just go home after dropping me off?"
"I-I had no way to get home; it was four in the morning, and besides, I was…worried about you…" Naruto replied, looking embarrassed again. Then he grinned and said, "And, anyway, it was a promise that I'd look after you if you ever got sick, remember?"
Sasuke nodded. "I remember. Well, thanks then, Naruto."
The blonde waved a hand in dismissal. "No big deal," he replied. He glanced away for a moment, then said, "Uh, Sasuke, think you could give me a ride home?"
The Uchiha nodded again. "Yeah, sure."
"I'll go grab my jacket from your room," Naruto said as Sasuke said he'd go start the car.
Naruto joined Sasuke in the car a few minutes later and the two drove in silence to the blonde's apartment. Naruto was discreetly watching the Uchiha from the corner of his eyes, taking in the other boy's profile and thinking about everything that had happened the night before; particularly his newly discovered feelings. He knew that it would be pointless to try and deny the truth, especially since it was so obvious now. He still wasn't sure how he'd gone so long without figuring it out before, but now he knew the truth and he wasn't going to deny it. He loved Sasuke, as weird as it sounded, and that was that.
Of course, he realized, there was still the part of finding out if Sasuke felt the same way. Naruto guessed he did; the Uchiha acted like it, if the kiss and the date from the night before were any indications. But, did Sasuke love him, or just really really like him? Naruto felt something akin to fear and anxiousness in the pit of his stomach as he thought about that. What if Sasuke didn't love him the way he did?
"What are you staring at, dobe?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto jumped slightly and looked away, blushing. "Uh, n-nothing."
"You were definitely staring at something," Sasuke said, sounding amused.
"No, I wasn't!" Naruto replied, blushing even more.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "If you say so, dobe."
"Don't call me dobe, bastard!" Naruto exclaimed, then glanced away again.
Sasuke realized he'd been doing this a lot that morning and wondered what was up. But before he could ask the blonde anything, Naruto turned back to face him.
"Uh, Sasuke…what-what are you doing tomorrow?" the blonde asked, looking and sounding a bit embarrassed.
Sasuke just stared at the blonde for a moment before answering, "I'm going to work in the afternoon…Why?"
Naruto shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but Sasuke realized he looked disappointed. "Oh, nothing really."
"Remember what I said about lying to me?" Sasuke said. "What's up?"
Looking even more embarrassed, Naruto glanced away again and replied quietly, "I just thought we could…maybe…do something tomorrow since it's the last day of break."
Surprised and not bothering to hide it, Sasuke again stared at Naruto for a moment. However, Naruto took the Uchiha's silence in the wrong way and said, "But it's not a big deal. If you've got to work then that's more important. I, uh, was just thinking since I had nothing to do tomorrow anyway so--"
"Will you shut up for a moment, dobe, and let me talk?" Sasuke said.
Naruto glared at him again for being called dobe, but Sasuke just smiled.
"I'll call in sick tomorrow. I'd rather spend a day with you than go to work, so don't look so disappointed, all right?" Sasuke said softly as they pulled up in front of the blonde's apartment.
Naruto grinned and replied, "Okay! Great!"
"What time do you want to meet?"
"Uh, around two? I have to take care of something in the morning," Naruto replied.
"Take care of what?"
"Nothing important," the blonde brushed off. "So is two o'clock okay?"
"That's fine," Sasuke answered.
"And, uh, Sasuke? T-Thanks for last night. I had a really fun time," Naruto said, looking embarrassed again.
The Uchiha smirked slightly. "It was my pleasure, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yep! Bye!" Naruto got out of the car and waved, watching as Sasuke drove off before walking up to his apartment.
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Naruto rang the doorbell and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer. He sighed, as he went over what he wanted to say, but was brought back to reality when a voice called his name.
"Oh, hey!" Naruto replied.
Neji stared at Naruto looking a bit surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Did Hinata-chan give you my message?" Naruto asked.
Instantly Neji's look of surprise turned to a look of reluctant realization. He nodded curtly. "Yes, she did."
"Then you know why I'm here," Naruto said.
Neji sighed. "Come on in, Naruto."
The Hyuuga led Naruto into the house and to the living room. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"Nah. I can't stay long anyway. I'm meeting Sasuke in half an hour," Naruto replied, not even bothering to hide the truth.
The Hyuuga instantly stiffened at the Uchiha's name and asked, trying to keep the spite out of his voice, "Another date?"
"I don't know, truthfully. We're just hanging out," Naruto replied. "But that isn't the point. Neji, did you really mean what you told me at the party or were you just really drunk?"
"I may have been a bit drunk because that wasn't how I had planned on telling you, but yes, I mean every word I had said," Neji replied.
"That's what I thought," Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair and said, "Well, look Neji, since you didn't give me much room to speak during your confession, I'll clarify everything now. I'm sorry, but I just don't see you in that way."
The Hyuuga hid his pain with great difficulty. "How do you see me then?" he asked.
"As a friend. Nothing more, and nothing less," Naruto replied.
"But I told you, Naruto, that my feelings are not going to change," Neji said.
"I know, I know, but--"
"And I told you that as long as you didn't know about who you like, that I wasn't going to give up on you," Neji said.
"B-But I do know who I like, and I'm sorry Neji, but it's not you!" Naruto exclaimed.
Neji froze at that statement, staring at Naruto and praying desperately that he had heard incorrectly. "Y-You do? You like someone?" he stammered.
Naruto nodded slowly.
"Who?" Neji demanded angrily.
Naruto bit his tongue. Crap. He hadn't wanted to tell him like this, but it didn't seem as though Neji would get the idea unless he came clean.
Heaving a big sigh, Naruto replied quietly, "S-Sasuke."
Neji's entire world seemed to come crashing down on him and for a few minutes all he could do was stare blankly at Naruto, void of all feelings and coherent thoughts. But then everything started up again, and the Hyuuga's pain and hurt was overshadowed by the intensity of his anger and jealousy.
He let out a bitter laugh, surprising Naruto, and said, "Hah. So you've settled on Uchiha, huh? When did you figure that out?"
"D-During the party," Naruto replied. "Look, Neji, I'm really sorry, but I--"
"Have you told him yet, Naruto?" Neji asked.
The blonde shook his head.
"Why not? Afraid?"
Naruto looked away but didn't answer.
Neji walked closer to the blonde and said, "Uchiha hasn't even told you his feelings has he? How can you like him without knowing his feelings for you?"
"I-I don't know," Naruto replied. "I just do."
"And that's exactly the same with me. I know you don't like me, especially now that you've admitted liking Uchiha, but until you and Sasuke get together, there is nothing keeping me away from you. I can still change your mind, understand?" Neji said.
The blonde swallowed and said, "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
Neji laughed. "No, not really."
"Then, fine. I understand. But you have to understand, Neji, that my feelings are not going to change either. No matter how much you wish them to," Naruto replied.
The Hyuuga just stared at him, choosing not to reply. That was something he wasn't going to try to understand or believe until he saw it happen for himself. And, he wasn't going to give up without a fight, even if Naruto knew who he liked. To him, not even trying to fight for the blonde he loved was more painful than giving him up without a second thought.
"I've got to go and meet Sasuke now," Naruto said, returning Neji to reality. "I guess I'll see you at school."
"Do you need a ride there?" Neji asked.
Naruto turned to look at the Hyuuga who seemed really willing to help and replied, "Yeah, that'll be nice. Thanks."
"Let me just grab my coat," Neji said.
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Sasuke paced the front lobby of his house, waiting impatiently for Naruto to arrive. They had only planned to meet at the Uchiha's house and would decide what to do then. But the blonde was ten minutes late and he was getting annoyed. He tried not to be; it was thanks to Naruto he didn't have to go into work that day, but he couldn't help it. Hadn't the blonde caught any of his punctuality from the months they'd known each other?
He had woken up early that morning and had called in sick to work. His manager had lapped up the fake act like a puppy; Sasuke imagined it was because his manager was a bit frightened of him. His interview proved that one evil glare can work wonders.
Sasuke paused as he heard a car, but then dismissed it, knowing it couldn't be Naruto because the boy didn't even own a car.
He resumed pacing, thinking about how Naruto had basically asked him out. Sasuke smirked slightly, remembering how Naruto had looked rather embarrassed, but adorably cute, about it. He was glad Naruto had asked to hang out, even if this wasn't a date, he was just happy to be with Naruto for yet another day. It was the first time in a long long time that Naruto had asked him to hang out; it was usually the other way around and this fact shined a ray of hope upon the Uchiha. If Naruto was asking him to spend the last day of break with, maybe it meant Naruto was realizing some of his own feelings. The blonde had also agreed to the date, hadn't he? He hadn't sat and wondered about it, but had answered rather immediately. And not only that, he'd kissed him back too, right? He hadn't pushed him away or ran off, he'd kissed him back wonderfully and perfectly. And, he hadn't said he didn't want it. He'd told Sasuke he hadn't wanted Neji's kiss, but he didn't say that about the kiss they'd shared, had he? And, he'd also brought him home because he'd been worried about him, too, right? So, did all of this mean Naruto was starting to like him back?
Sasuke sighed, hoping that this was true, but feeling in his gut that it was only wishful thinking.
The Uchiha almost jumped at the sudden doorbell ringing and practically fell over in haste to answer it. He froze, however, when he found Naruto waving to Hyuuga, who was driving off in his car. Sasuke's anger surged and for a while he stared after Neji's car, glaring spitefully at it as it turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
"Eh, Sasuke?" Naruto said, shaking the Uchiha from his thoughts.
"Oh, sorry," Sasuke replied, turning to face the blonde. He then smiled, all trace of his previous anger gone. "How are you?"
"I'm good," the blonde replied as he followed Sasuke inside. "What about you? Oh, did you have to wait long? I'm sorry I was late. I had to talk to Neji about something."
"And what did you talk about?" Sasuke asked.
"About what happened at the party," Naruto replied easily. "I told him there was someone else I already liked and that he wasn't that person."
Sasuke stopped in his tracks at the blonde's statement. "You like someone? Who?" he asked trying, but failing, to sound casual.
The blonde turned to him with a sly look on his face. He grinned secretively and replied, "Wouldn't you like to know."
Sasuke stared at him wondering what the hell that meant. Naruto hadn't made any attempt in hiding his ever-long crush on Sakura, so why was he being oddly secretive about this one?
"Come on, tell me," Sasuke urged; not knowing was killing him. "Is it someone I know?"
Naruto glanced at him. "Maybe."
"You're not telling me, are you?"
"Will you tell me who you like?"
Sasuke stared at him and then slowly smirked. "Come now, don't you already know?" he asked softly.
Naruto blushed and glanced away.
The Uchiha's smirk grew. He stepped closer to the blonde, which made Naruto step back. "So, you really don't know who I like?" Sasuke said. "I thought it was obvious by now…Wasn't the party any indication?"
The blonde's blush grew as he remembered the events of the party. He knew Sasuke liked him; that much was obvious. He just wanted the bastard to admit it. If Neji could, why couldn't Sasuke?
"Uhm, uhm, sooo, what do you want to do?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke blinked at the sudden change in topic. He backed off and said, "I don't know. Are you hungry?"
"Of course I am! I'm always hungry!" Naruto replied.
"Well, we can go out and eat, or, if you want, I can make us something and we can eat here," Sasuke suggested.
Naruto instantly perked up. "Can you make something? I'm craving for some of your excellent cooking!"
Sasuke blushed slightly from the compliment and replied. "All right then, come on."
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After an hour and half of cooking and various food fights, all of which were initiated and lost by Naruto, and had gotten Sasuke so annoyed that the Uchiha had shut the blonde in a closet until he was finished, the two were seated at the counter in the kitchen since they preferred it there than the overlarge dining hall, munching their way through plates of lasagna, breadsticks, and fish fillets.
Naruto was complimenting the cooking every chance he got, which only made the Uchiha's cheeks grow redder and redder. Sasuke took it upon himself to change the topic from his 'insanely amazing cooking skills', as Naruto put it, to something more pressing.
"What do you want to do now?"
Naruto looked thoughtful as he chewed on some lasagna and after swallowing, replied, "Well, there's this festival going on in the next town. I passed a sign on my way here and thought it seemed cool. If you want to, we can go check that out."
"Do you want to?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto nodded slowly. "But if you don't--"
"We can go. It sounds interesting, and besides," Sasuke turned to stare directly at Naruto, "I want to spend as much time as I can with you."
He smirked as his statement successfully made the blonde blush.
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"Whoa, it's so big!" Naruto exclaimed, staring at the festival grounds with awe.
"Well, what did you expect?" Sasuke said. "Come on, quit gawking and let's get tickets."
"Sorry, it's just that I've never been to a festival before," Naruto said as he continued to stare avidly at everything around him.
"Really? You haven't? Even I've been to festival before," Sasuke said, looking surprised.
"Well, there was one once in our city a long time ago, but well, that was the year my parents died, so…I wasn't really up to going alone," Naruto replied, a sudden depressed expression on his face.
Sasuke felt his heart go out to the boy and he reached for Naruto's hand, clasping it tightly in his own. Naruto turned to look at him in surprise, a light blush on his cheeks.
Sasuke smiled at him and said, "Don't look so sad, it's not like you. And, besides, you're not alone this time."
Naruto's eyes widened and the blush grew hot on his cheeks. He stared at Sasuke for awhile, digesting everything the Uchiha had just said. Then he reached his free hand up to Sasuke's forehead.
"Do you feel okay? That doesn't sound like something you'd ever say in your life."
"Very funny," Sasuke said, swatting the blonde's hand away. "And yes, I feel fine. I meant what I said too, all right?"
Naruto nodded and grinned. "Yeah, I got it."
"Good," Sasuke said. "Now let's buy tickets and get going."
Naruto cheered excitedly as they bought tickets, which Sasuke insisted on paying for, and then made their way into the festival.
The blonde instantly began pointing at everything and anything around him. He practically pulled Sasuke's arm out of its socket as he dragged the Uchiha to the Ferris wheel.
"Can we go on this ride, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
The Uchiha, amazed at the blonde's excitement, could only smile at the cute look on Naruto's bright face. "Whatever you want."
"Yes! Let's go." Naruto pulled Sasuke into the line and onto the cart.
"Don't be so jumpy, dobe. You'll knock the cart over," Sasuke warned.
Naruto stopped squirming excitedly and sat still, staring at Sasuke sitting opposite him. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Forget it," the Uchiha replied.
Naruto looked at him, almost curiously for his head was tilted to the side in an assessing position. Sasuke felt suddenly uncomfortable by the blonde's blatant staring and tried fighting the blush off his face.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing, really," Naruto replied, grinning. "Just thinking how I like you so much better when you're like this."
Sasuke stared at him; he could feel the heat in his cheeks as his surprise stopped him from trying to fight off his blush. "W-What?" he stammered.
"You're just being so nice. I like it. That's all," Naruto said.
"Hn. When am I ever not nice to you?" Sasuke asked, regaining some of his previously lost composure, but still feeling a bit flustered. Had Naruto inadvertently said he liked him?
"Well…" Naruto began but Sasuke cut him off.
"Never mind. I don't want to know your answer," the Uchiha said, then turned to stare out over the rest of the festival grounds.
Naruto grinned again and stared discreetly at the Uchiha, watching the bother boy with keen interest. Naruto found it rather funny how he was enjoying himself so much more knowing how he felt about he Uchiha. He also thought it was odd how he didn't feel awkward around Sasuke like he thought he would after realizing his feelings. Instead of feeling awkward, he felt absolutely at ease, like this was how it was meant to be. Thinking of it now, he wondered why he'd been so afraid to admit his feelings, when obviously, it was the right thing to do.
"You're staring again," Sasuke said, surprising the blonde. "Am I that fascinating?"
"Yup! I just can't get enough of you," Naruto replied, not even fazed by what he'd admitted. He'd decided before that he'd had enough of Sasuke teasing him; now it was his turn to get some revenge.
The Uchiha blushed and glanced away. (Naruto grinned triumphantly.) Had he really meant that? Sasuke wondered. It wasn't something he'd say without meaning it. Hell, it wasn't something Naruto would say at all; honestly, it sounded like something I would say to him. …
However, before the Uchiha could question the blonde, the ride had come to an end and Naruto was yet again pulling his arm, dragging him off to the game booths.
"Can we play some games, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"Sure," the Uchiha replied. "You can pick one."
"Uhm, let's try that one!" Naruto pointed to a game where they had to knock over the tower of bottles with a baseball.
"I'll go first!" the blonde said as he paid the one dollar and received three balls. "All right! I've so got this!"
"You're kidding, right? I've seen you throw and you're not that good," Sasuke said.
"Shut up!" Naruto said indignantly. "I'll prove it to you!" And so he threw his first ball, which bounced off the back wall and then hit the blonde on the forehead.
"And your reflexes suck, too," Sasuke said, smirking.
"Not another word, you bastard," Naruto gritted through clenched teeth. He touched his head and muttered, "Ow, it hurts…"
"Let me see. It didn't hit you that hard," Sasuke said, turning the blonde to face him. He then brushed his fingers over the tiny bump, which credited to the blonde's instant blush.
Sasuke turned a bit pink as well, but said without embarrassment, "You're fine, dobe. Now try again."
"Don't call me dobe!" Naruto snapped, but he conceded and threw another ball. This one hit the tower and knocked off three bottles; the top two rows.
"Hah! See that! I got some!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Now get the rest," Sasuke said, handing Naruto the last ball.
Naruto heaved a sigh and then threw the ball. To his surprise, it hit the last two rows straight in the middle and knocked the last seven bottles over. "Yes! I got it!" Naruto cheered triumphantly.
"What prize do you want?" the vender asked. "You can choose any one of those smaller prizes there."
"Hmm," Naruto said, thinking deeply as he scanned the selection of prizes. "I want that one!"
The vender handed him a money pouch in the shape of a green frog.
"Ah, it's so cute!" Naruto said, grinning.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's not hat great."
"No one asked you, bastard!" Naruto said. Then he asked, "Are you gonna try?"
The Uchiha glanced at the game booth, then at the blonde who looked pleadingly excited, and then back at the booth. He sighed.
"All right, I'll try," he replied.
Naruto grinned again and Sasuke paid for three balls. As the blonde rooted for the Uchiha, Sasuke had thrown the first ball, which knocked every bottle down; as if that was a big surprise. And of course, the next two shots made it as well.
Sasuke turned to Naruto, smirking.
"Don't even say it," the blonde warned him.
"Choose your prize. You can have three small ones, or one large one. Your call," the vender said.
Sasuke looked around at the prizes ranging from tiny stuffed animals, to games and trinkets, to the giant stuffed animals.
He glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eyes and saw the blonde eyeing a giant fox plushie and Sasuke immediately turned back to the vender.
He pointed at the fox and said, "That one."
The vender handed it to him and Sasuke turned to Naruto as they started walking off.
"I never pinned you as the kind of guy who'd like stuffed animals. Is it some secret fetish or something?" Naruto asked with a grin.
Sasuke glared at him. "No, dobe. I don't have fetishes," the Uchiha replied. "And, this isn't for me. It's for you. I have no need for stuffed animals." Sasuke handed the fox to the blonde, who took it looking immensely surprised.
"Wha? F-For me?"
"Yeah, I got it for you. I want you to have it," Sasuke said, smiling at him .
Naruto blushed incredibly, his cheeks a bright pink, as he hugged the fox to his chest like a little kid. He looked so cute, Sasuke had to refrain from jumping on him.
"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, hugging the other boy quickly.
"Hn. No problem," Sasuke replied, fighting his own blush. He then grabbed the blonde's hand and said, "Come on, let's check out there's anything else worth seeing. Otherwise we can go."
"All right," Naruto agreed.
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"Great job, boys!" Iruka told Naruto and Gaara as they finished a scene. "Especially you, Naruto! I'm really impressed by how much you've improved."
"Heheh." Naruto grinned, embarrassed, but looking pleased all the same. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei."
The brown-haired man smiled at him, and then called up the next group.
The blonde, still grinning, sat down in a seat in the auditorium and Gaara sat down beside him.
"You really have improved, Naruto. I've noticed that too," Gaara said.
"Thanks. I feel like I have gotten better as well," Naruto said. "But it's all thanks to you, Sasuke and Neji. If the three of you hadn't rehearsed to much with me, I'd still be stuck on scene one."
"Well, it was fun rehearsing with you, Naruto. I didn't mind it at all," Gaara said, staring directly at the blonde.
Naruto blushed despite himself and said, "Thanks, I guess…And you're way great, Gaara! You, Neji, and Sasuke are the best in the class."
Gaara just gave a slight smile and asked, "Are you doing anything this weekend?"
"I'm working Saturday and Sunday," Naruto replied. "Why?"
"I wanted to hang out or something. Are you free Friday night?"
"Yup! Let's do something after school!"
"You mean after set design. We're all staying after to help, remember?" Gaara said.
"Oh, man! Why'd I sign up for that?"
"Because you're too impulsive."
"Heheh, I guess you're right," Naruto said. "Anyway, yeah, after that we should hang out! We didn't get to that much at Kiba's."
"Because you were on a date."
Naruto blushed. "Yeah, I was."
"I know," Gaara said, keeping the jealously and anger from out of his voice. The party had been five days since the party and no matter what, Gaara hadn't been able to get the fact that Naruto and Sasuke had been on a date out of his mind. It was eating at him like a virus and he wished for it to go away, but every time he saw the Uchiha, it came back to him with full force, making his anger and jealously all the more greater. Knowing that Naruto had gone out with Sasuke, as well as Neji, only meant that he was again the last in getting a date with the blonde and it was hanging over his head like an impending doom. He wasn't going to let either one of those bastards win, and therefore he needed that weekend to work his way back into Naruto's eyes.
"Hey, Gaara, there's something I have to--" Naruto began but was cut off by Sasuke ho had returned from practicing, Neji following after him.
"Hey, dobe, you left this in my car on our date Sunday," Sasuke said, tossing Naruto his frog money pouch which the blonde caught easily, looking delighted.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, Sasuke, I was wondering where it was!" Then, he stared at the Uchiha, realizing something the other had said. "W-Wait a minute, d-did you say date?"
Sasuke smirked and nodded as Gaara and Neji stared angrily at the smug expression on his face. "Wasn't it a date?" he asked the blonde. "We did spend the day together, didn't we? I even won you that stuffed animal."
"I didn't ask you to win it for me," Naruto reminded him, not noticing the horribly twisted looks on Neji's and Gaara's faces at the mention of 'winning a stuffed animal.'
"But, I guess, then, yeah, it was a date," Naruto said, knowing that he'd wanted it to be a date in the first place, but hadn't known if the Uchiha had felt the same way. He was immensely glad Sasuke had seen it as a date.
Sasuke smirked superiorly at Neji and Gaara, who'd both noticed how easily Naruto had agreed on the fact that it had been a date.
Gaara turned to the blonde and said, "So, we're set for Friday, right?"
"Yup! Do you have any ideas for what we should do?" Naruto asked.
"It doesn't bother me either way," Gaara replied. "I just want to spend some time with you and that's all I'm looking forward to."
Naruto blushed causing Sasuke and Neji glared at Gaara. The blonde glanced away, and sighed. He was going to have to talk to Gaara soon too. But if the redhead acted like Neji had, then talking about the problem might not do him any good either. All he knew was that he had to at least tell Gaara that there wasn't anything other than friendship between them, and that their would never be anything but friendship between them. He hoped that Gaara would take it better, but somewhere in his gut figured the redhead would be worse; Naruto knew he had a rather violent temper sometimes and didn't accept things very well.
But just as the blonde was about to reply to the redhead's statement, the auditorium doors swung open and a mature looking woman with long blonde hair strode into the room.
She stopped in front of Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Gaara, and said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot you were in this class, brat."
"Don't call me a brat, you old hag!" Naruto exclaimed as his three suitors stared at him in surprise.
"I'm not an old hag!" the woman retorted.
"You look old to me," Naruto snapped back.
"Shut up, shorty."
"Don't call me short!"
"Naruto, stop calling the principal names!" Sasuke exclaimed, clamping a hand over the blonde's mouth and despite the blonde's protests, pulled him out of the way. "Sorry, Tsunade-sama."
"Let go of me, bastard!" Naruto said, pulling Sasuke's hand off his mouth. "I'll teach her a lesson for calling me short! I'm not short!"
"Yes, you are," Sasuke said and Tsunade smirked.
"See? Told you, brat. Even Juliet here agrees with me," she said.
Sasuke blushed at being addressed as Juliet and turned to glare coolly at the principal.
She only smirked at him as well, and then called out loudly, "Now why is Romeo and Juliet both up here? I want them on stage, let's see them perform!"
Her loud voice caught the attention of Kakashi and Jiraiya who walked up to meet here. "Ah, Tsunade-sama, you made it! We've been wondering when you'd come see the play."
"I finally found some time," she replied.
"Why? Are casinos closed on Tuesdays?" Naruto asked, which in turn resulted in a smack on the head. "Hey! You can't hit your students!"
"Shut up, brat!" Tsunade exclaimed. "Go up and get ready to perform a scene. I want to see you and Uchiha perform."
Naruto grumbled under his breath and followed Sasuke up to the stage. "Stupid old hag, bossing me around," he mumbled.
"She is the principal," Sasuke pointed out.
"Your point?"
"How is it the two of you seem to know each other so well?"
"I was in her office almost all the damn time during my sophomore year. Got into a lot of trouble that year because I just didn't feel like doing anything. Ask anyone and they'll confirm it," Naruto replied. "Her office ended up being like my home away from home, you know? I was in there so much that I found out some her secrets too. She's a gambler, and she looses all the time. What an old hag."
Sasuke shook his head. "I can't believe you got into that much trouble. You're not like that anymore."
"Nope. I saw the error of my ways. Actually that was kinda when I met Neji, towards the beginning of my junior year. He, in some weird way, reformed me, and so did some other people. Everyone got sick and tired of me getting into trouble so much because it annoyed them, so I sorta ceased my fun."
Sasuke only nodded, not able to think of what to say since his mind was stuck on the fact that the Hyuuga had helped reform Naruto. The very thought made his blood boil and he wanted nothing better than to punch Neji right in the face.
"What scene does she want us to perform?" Sasuke asked as they got up on stage.
Naruto shrugged and yelled, "Oi! Hag, what scene do you want us to do?"
"The death scene at the end, brat! It's my favorite part of the play!" Tsunade replied.
Sasuke was the only one who seemed to notice her smirking slyly along with Jiraiya and Kakashi. He got a rather sinking feeling in his stomach; the principal was psycho, too.
"Uh, the-the death scene?" Naruto repeated, looking a bit embarrassed. He and Sasuke hadn't rehearsed that scene in a long time since every time they did something seemed to go wrong. But now, Naruto assumed it wouldn't be that bad. He knew how he felt now, and he wasn't going to have to second-guess his feelings or intentions, and well, if they were made to kiss, Naruto could live with it. He wanted to kiss Sasuke again; he'd been craving it so much after realizing his true feelings.
"Ready, dobe?" Sasuke asked, snapping the blonde back to reality.
"Don't call me dobe, bastard!" Naruto exclaimed. He sighed and replied, "Yeah, I'm ready. I start, right?"
Sasuke nodded and took his position as the 'dead' Juliet on top of the tomb prop. Naruto turned to the class watching them both intently in the auditorium seats. Iruka nodded at him to begin and he cleared his throat and began to recite.
"Ah, dear Juliet, why are thou yet so fair? Shall believe that unsubstantial Death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee her in dark to be his paramour? For fear of that I still will stay with thee, and never from this pallet of dim night depart again. …Eyes, look your last; arms, take your last embrace; and lips, O you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing Death. Come, bitter conduct; come, unsavory guide; thou desperate pilot, now at one run on the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark. Here's to my love."
Naruto pretended to drink from the goblet and then continued, "O true apothecary: thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die." And before he could even think about it, Naruto kissed Sasuke on the lips and fell over as dead; not noticing the hushed gasp throughout the class, the smirks on his teachers' faces, and the rather surprised look on Sasuke's face.
It took Sasuke a moment to get his head on straight. He hadn't expected Naruto to openly kiss him in front of the entire class. But, deciding he'd ask the blonde about it later, he slowly sat up and began his lines.
"O comfortable friar, where is my lord? I do remember well where I should be: and there I am. Where is my Romeo?
"Go, get thee hence, for I will not away," Sasuke said, then glanced off to the side where the goblet was clutched in Naruto's hand. "What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end, O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips: haply some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with a restorative."
Sasuke gently lifted the blonde's chin and pressed his lips against Naruto's. He pulled away a moment later, amidst another bout of hushed whispering along with (though only he could hear) the angry growls of Neji and Gaara. But he paid the audience no attention and continued with his lines.
"Thy lips are warm!" he said. "Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger," he pretended to hold a dagger before him, "this is thy sheath," he 'stabbed' himself in the chest, "there rest, and let me die." And he fell forward on top of the blonde.
The class was quiet for almost an entire minute before Tsunade clapped and said, "Wonderful! That was great! Brat, I didn't know you could act!"
Naruto almost sent Sasuke flying off him in his haste to get up. "Shut up, you old hag! I can too act! I'm the best in the class!"
Tsunade snorted. "Yeah, right," she replied just as the bell rang.
"All right, class, great job! See you tomorrow!" Iruka called out as the students began filling out the doors.
Naruto made his way off the stage, but before he could get off, Sasuke had grabbed his arm and pulled him backstage. "Hey, what's your deal?" the blonde questioned. "We're going to be late for class."
"Dobe, we have lunch next," Sasuke reminded him.
"All the more reason not to be late!"
"You can go in a second, all right? I just want to ask you something."
"Fine, what is it?" Naruto asked.
"What was that all about back there?" Sasuke said.
Naruto stared at Sasuke blankly. "What was what?"
"That kiss. You kissed me. Right in front of everyone," Sasuke said. "Why-Why'd you do that?"
The blonde knew very well why he had done that, but he couldn't tell Sasuke the reason. However, he could tease him a bit about it. "Why? You didn't like it?" he asked sounding upset.
Sasuke almost leapt back in horror. "No! I-I liked it, I--" The Uchiha paused. "Wait, this isn't about that!"
The blonde pretended to look confused. "This isn't about that? I thought it was…You wanted to know why I kissed you, so I wanted to know if you liked it…I mean, I assumed you would…Was I wrong?"
You were far from wrong… "We've always skipped over the kisses when we perform in front of the class. So, why did you kiss me today?" Sasuke asked again, staring directly at the blonde.
Naruto shrugged and then pinned Sasuke with a smoky gaze. "Why'd you kiss me back, Sasuke?" he asked instead.
The Uchiha just stared at the blonde, trying to form a sentence in reply, but nothing came to mind. Naruto slowly smirked.
"Maybe I kissed you for the same reason you kissed me," he said softly. "Ever think of that?"
Satisfied by the confused yet surprised look on the other boy's face, Naruto's smirk grew as he kissed the Uchiha on the lips once again. He ruffled the boy's hair and said, "Got to get going now. Can't be late for lunch. Later, Sasuke." And with a wave, he walked off the stage, leaving a very confused Uchiha behind.
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"God, I'm so glad to be home! Tsunade-hag made us work our asses off today. She's even stricter than Iruka-sensei! Whys' she hanging about set design anyway? Isn't there a bar or casino open somewhere?" Naruto complained as he walked into his apartment.
"Well, she is the principal, isn't she? She can supervise if she wants," Gaara replied as he shut the door behind him.
"Supervise? She was a damn dictator! And Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei are her lackeys."
"Can't really argue with that. But she's just making sure everything will be finished in time for the big performance. Iruka-sensei's already having kittens that the play is in less than a month and not everything is complete."
"Yeah, this play will be the death of him," Naruto laughed and handed Gaara a drink from the fridge. "So, what do you want to do? There isn't much to do here, but…"
The redhead shrugged. "Doesn't bother me."
"Thanks for a dazzling answer, Gaara," Naruto said as the redhead gave a small grin. The blonde plopped down on his bed and hugged his giant fox plushie to his chest. He glanced down at it as if asking the animal if it had an idea.
"Where did you get that? I've never seen it before," Gaara asked, nodding down at the fox.
"Oh, Kyuubi? Sasuke won it for me when we were at the festival last weekend," Naruto exclaimed, grinning and feeling no remorse at letting the redhead know. He didn't feel like he had to hide it anymore. "Isn't he cute? I love him!" The blonde grinned even more and hugged 'Kyuubi' tighter to his chest.
Gaara stared in anger at the fox plushie in the blonde's arms and wanted nothing better than to tear it to shreds. However, he clenched his fists tightly at his sides and slowly calmed himself down. He didn't want to lash our at the blonde, definitively not on that day; that day he wanted to spend real quality time with Naruto. That day he wanted Naruto to forget all about Uchiha and focus solely on him. He was tired of keeping his secret from the blonde and he couldn't go on any longer. He needed Naruto to know before things between the blonde and Uchiha got any further. The pair had gone on two days within the same weekend and Gaara wasn't going to let that get happen again.
"Gaara? Something wrong?" Naruto asked, shaking the redhead out of his thoughts.
Gaara shook his head. "No, nothing. Just thinking about what we could do."
"Did you want to watch a movie?" Naruto asked, getting up ad walking over to his box of DVDs, still clutching the fox plushie like a little child.
Had the fox not been from Uchiha, Gaara would have found that sight adorable. However, under the circumstances, he found it revolting, and the desire to tear the fox to shreds started up again. But he resisted the temptation, knowing that Naruto wouldn't appreciate it much.
As he watched the blonde sift through movies, Gaara mentally went over how he would tell the blonde about his feelings. He didn't want to just blurt it out unexpectedly, but that seemed like the only way to get it off his chest. He knew he had to get it out right the first time. There wouldn't be any other chance to confess his feelings, so he had to do it perfectly this time. And, he had to make Naruto believe it, he had to make Naruto understand.
"Let's watch Silence of the Lambs. I'm in the mood for a good thriller," Naruto said, opening the case. "Is that okay with you, Gaara?" he asked when the redhead hadn't replied.
Naruto looked up at Gaara when again the boy had failed to reply. He noticed a plethora of conflicting emotions raging in the redhead's green eyes and said quietly, "Ga-Gaara?"
"Naruto, I have something I have to tell you. And if I don't get it out now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand it," Gaara said quickly.
The blonde stared blankly at his friend before getting to his feet and staring the redhead directly in the eyes. "O-Okay, what is it?" he asked, though he had a vague idea of what this was already about.
"I-I love you, Naruto," the redhead replied and then sighed deeply as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Absolutely not expecting the word love to come out of Gaara's mouth, Naruto could only stare in shock at the redhead. Sure, he knew Gaara had some feelings for him, but he had never assumed it was as strong as love. He'd been surprised when Neji had confessed love, but with Neji he could sort of understand. With Gaara, it was just weird. The two of them had been best buds since elementary and now Gaara was telling him he loved him? How did that work?
"Y-You-You what?" Naruto stammered.
"I love you, Naruto," Gaara answered, finding it much easier to say it the second time around.
"You do? B-But when? How? I-I don't get it--"
Gaara laughed softly. "I don't quite get it myself either, Naruto, but I just love you. It's as simple as that. It was a long time before I really truly accepted how I felt about you."
"B-But how long have you felt this way? I mean, we've been friends for a long time, Gaara, it's weird how you skipped over the line to love," Naruto said.
The redhead swept a hand through his hair and replied slowly, "I-It started the summer I moved, back when we were, what, twelve?"
Naruto nodded and Gaara continued, "That summer I began to realize how much I enjoyed having you around, how much I loved seeing your face, and how much fun we had together. I realized that I missed you far too much, and that it hurt me to be away from you."
The blonde swallowed, not prepared for such a confession to be made from the redhead. If Gaara felt this deeply about him, it was going to be a lot tougher rejecting him.
"And then, I returned. And seeing you again was like a dream come true. Hadn't you ever wondered why things between us hadn't returned to normal the instant I came back?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah, I wondered that. But I just assumed it was because you felt odd being back here after all those years," Naruto replied.
Gaara shook his head. "But that's not true. It was strange being around you with all of these different feelings. I distanced ourselves because I wanted to deal with what I was experiencing, I was trying to get rid of those feelings. But then, he showed up. Your new best friend, Uchiha."
Naruto cringed slightly, hearing the redhead's spite and jealously loud and clear.
"I hated seeing you with him, and I hated being shunned. I couldn't stand it. And then Neji appeared too. There were two bastards chasing after you, but I knew you first. I hated that," Gaara said angrily, clenching his fists again.
"I wasn't going to let either of them get you, so I threw away the idea of separating myself from you and did the exact opposite. I wanted you to see me, I wanted you to be with me, and I didn't want to let you out of my sight."
Gaara sighed and continued, "It took me awhile to realize I really loved you, but now I know, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. It would have killed me if I'd kept it in."
Gaara took a few steps closer to the blonde so that they were about a few inches from the other's face. "Naruto, I love you, I really do, and I'll be damned if either one of those bastards gets you when I've loved you longer."
The blonde could only stare at Gaara for a while. He hated what he was going to do, but there was no other way around it. He could never see Gaara in any other way than a friend, and he didn't want to hurt him, but what else could he do?
"Gaara, I-I'm sorry…I-I already love someone else. I, uh, I love Sasuke," Naruto said quietly, glancing away slightly and looking interested in the ramen cup on the floor by his bed.
Naruto felt Gaara visibly stiffen and could practically hear the redhead grind his teeth. He held his breath, wondering what was going to happen; he knew Gaara could be rash and this definitely seemed like one of those moments.
"Uchiha, huh? You love Uchiha?" Gaara said, surprising Naruto at how calm he sounded.
The blonde let out his breath and nodded.
Gaara snapped. "Dammit, Naruto, I won't let you!"
Naruto turned to face Gaara quickly. "G-Gaara, I--"
"How can you love him, Naruto? How could you possibly? That bastard's been a jerk to you ever since he arrived here and dammit, I have loved you longer than he ever could! I have known you longer, been friends with you longer, and yet you love him! He doesn't deserve you, Naruto! I won't let him win!"
"Gaara, I'm sorry, I--"
However, the blonde couldn't finish his sentence, seeing as how he suddenly found his mouth occupied. His eyes widened in shock as the redhead pressed his lips urgently against his own and was kissing him fiercely. But Naruto pushed the redhead back before the kiss could get any further and pinned Gaara with a withering stare.
"Gaara, I told you, I'm sorry. I don't see you in that way, I-I never will be able to. I'm really sorry," Naruto said, feeling horrible as he did so, but knowing it had to be done.
The redhead stared at the blonde, trying not to let his sorrow show. Instead, he replied stiffly, "Well, I'm sorry as well, Naruto, but I can't give you up like that. I-I wouldn't know what to do. I've loved you for far too long to just let you go so easily."
And before the blonde could utter another word, Gaara had swiftly walked out the door, slamming it shut softly behind him.