Author's note: I'M BAAAAAAACCCCCKKKK! YEAH! Okay, just that... enjoy...

NARUTO'S FIRST DATE CHAPTER 10

"What?"

"L-like I said... Ki-ba.. uh-dared me to k-kiss you..." Naruto repeated.

Neji felt his whole face turned red and hot until it reached a certain degree that could make a boiled egg. Damn that Kiba! He played with my feeling! he thought furiously.

Damn that Kiba! He played with my feeling! Naruto thought as he broke his eye contact with Neji and started gazing at the floor again.

"Ah..." said Neji, unsure about what to say.

"... just 'ah'?"

"Well... um, I'm..." Neji tried to find a suitable words. He felt like he started to understand Hinata better.

"MAKE IT QUICK, WILL YA? AND DON'T TRY TO CHEAT!" Kiba shouted from the kitchen.

Naruto flinched. Neither of them spoke after it, it was dead silence, dead and uncomfortable. Naruto nailed his gaze at the floor, he didn't dare to look at his companion. Of course, he himself didn't mind at all about the kiss. Actually he wanted it. But Neji? No, he certainly didn't want something like this, Naruto told himself. His friend, Hyuuga Neji wouldn't want his first kiss to be taken by a person like him... right?

Neji let his gaze roamed over Naruto's feature. "Naruto?"

Relax, relax... this is only a dare, this is only a dare... I'm sure Neji would understand... Naruto took a deep breath and lifted his head to face Neji. He reached out and cupped the Hyuuga's cheeks.

Wait... Neji's eyes widened as Naruto leaned in.

But Naruto's movement stopped, only a few inches from Neji's lips, but Naruto's hands refused to move from Neji's pale cheeks. Neji could felt that the blonde was very very hesitated, and slightly shaking.

Do it or not do it or not do it or not do it or not do it or not do it no do it no Naruto chanted in his mind, but hell, he was THIS close. Maybe, just maybe... Neji wouldn't mind if it's just a peck.

Naruto decided that this was a bad idea and started drew back. But to his surprise, a strong hand grabbed the back of his head, stopping his movement.

"Neji? What's—" Naruto stopped his sentence when he saw Neji closed his eyes slowly and leaned forward.

Whoa whoa wait! Don't tell me he's gonna...! and their lips connected.

HOLY SHIT! Naruto's eyes widened into not-so-normal size, comparing Lee's wide, round eyes.

It was fast, Neji drew back as soon as Naruto regained his mind back. Naruto felt his cheeks grew warmer. Neji looked straight at him, his face was stoic as usual, save for the slight pink that tainted his cheeks. Naruto froze on his spot. That was... real?

"Naruto, I—" Neji started.

"HE DID IT!" Lee's high-pitched voice squealed with amazement as he jumped in. He grabbed his teammate's collar and shook Neji's body violently.

"YOU DID IT, NEJI-KUN! OH MY GOD YOU KISSED NARUTO-KUN OH MY GOD GAI-SENSEI WILL BE THRILLED OH MY GOD WHAT WILL TENTEN SAY OH MY GOD NEJI-KUN KISSED SOMEONE OH MY GOD MY COLD-HEARTED RIVAL NEJI-KUN OH MY GOD THAT WAS YOUR FIRST KISS OH MY GOD YOUR FIRST KISS OH MY GOD I SEE IT WITH MY OWN EYES OH MY—"

"Stop it Lee..."

"GOD..." Lee finished and inhaled a deep breath. "Anyway, I must congratulate you!" Lee moved his hand to Neji's and shook it.

"There's NOTHING to congratulate about!" Neji snapped and snatched his hand from Lee's grip, now he was annoyed. Sometimes this teammate of his really knew how to piss someone.

"Now, now... calm down you guys! By the way, Neji... that's great..." Kiba grinned while he walked in casually, followed by the others.

Naruto blushed deeper, but then something hit him and he found his voice back.

"Wait, aren't you guys in the kitchen? How did you know that me a-and Neji..."

"Oh that's easy! I was so bored since you guys took so long so finally we decided to go back here, but then we came on the doorway just in time to see you guys ahum-- kissed!" Temari explained.

Neji and Naruto's face color turned in a deep crimson.

"Aaaaaah, I wish I had brought a camera with me..." Temari sighed disappointedly.

Goddammit... thought Naruto. He felt like shrinking and dove into the nearest hole.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The game continued for another rounds before everyone stated that they were tired and decided to sleep. But it looked like sleep didn't want to accompany Naruto this night. He kept rolling and rolling in his sleeping bag, sometimes he accidentally banged his head with Chouji who slept beside him.

Gah... he rubbed his head for the ninth time this night and sat up, annoyed.

Silently, he shifted his gaze to the sleeping Hyuuga beside Shikamaru. Naruto silently wondered about the Hyuuga prodigy and stretched out his body to get a better view.

Pale face framed perfectly by the most beautiful ebony hair Naruto had ever seen in his life, that hair even beat those girls' hair in the shampoo advertisement. His eyelids were closed, covering those bottomless opalescent eyes from Naruto's view. Naruto's gazed moved to Neji's slightly parted lips. He silently congratulated himself cause he's the first one who kissed those soft and sexy (he blushed at the thought) lips.

"Mmmh..." Neji mumbled slightly in his sleep. Naruto smiled and reached out to touch the Hyuuga's cheek.

Soft... Naruto mentally noted. He trailed down his fingers down to Neji's chin, and up again along his jaw line.

"Dammit, he's so beautiful... why do I have to like him?" he muttered in a super low voice.

"Naruto..." Neji muttered, Naruto quickly withdrew his hand. Shit, did I wake him up?

But Neji didn't open his eyes, or showed any other signs of waking up.

Phew.. just dreaming, I suppose. Naruto mentally thanked the God. He watched his new crush again, he entangled his fingers in Neji's soft silken locks, playing with it for a moment before he did the thing he never thought he will do.

He leaned forward and kissed Neji's cheek.

Wait, what have I done? I suppose to kill this feeling! He blushed and quickly withdrew, he looked around his surroundings, afraid that maybe someone saw that. He sighed happily when he spotted none.Naruto shook his head, thinking in the middle of the night was not a good option for him. Suddenly he felt so tired.

Luckily Neji didn't flinch, or even react. Naruto sighed in relief, he laid back on his side and closed his eyes.

Should I confess it?

That was his last thought before sleep overtook him.

This is getting more and more interesting... Gaara dissolved his third eye from the bedroom, smirking. Being a matchmaker was not as bad as he thought before. He walked from bedroom, back to the living room where his siblings slept.

I have something to tell to that dog boy... he took out the picture from the polaroid camera, waving it slightly.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Naruto spent the next day trying to evade Neji as often as possible. He didn't know why, his heart will start throbbing faster whenever he's with Neji, he will blush every so often, and will start stuttering like an idiot. But maybe the main reason he was evading the handsome brunette was because of that KISS.

It was training again, everyone was doing their own training they chose. Shikamaru was meditating (at least, that was what he said, everyone knew that he was asleep). Lee was doing three hundred times sit up ("The springtime of youth!"). Kiba was doing combos with Akamaru, Chouji was running laps around the small clearing while Neji was training with his Jyuuken katas. Naruto took the furthest place from the prodigy and started working on his own chakra training.

Temari watched all of them with excitement, her deep green eyes scanning their movements.

"They're improving a lot every day, aren't they?" she asked to her youngest brother who sat next to her, hands crossed on his chest.

"Hn..." Gaara responded.

Temari smiled at him. Gaara had changed a lot since their last encounter with those Konoha ninjas. Even though his outside appearance didn't change a lot, but Temari knew that deep inside, Gaara was more humanly now. He talked more and showed expressions more often than before. And somewhat, Temari could guess that Gaara already considered the Konoha ninjas as his 'friends'. A one simple word that never came out from Gaara's mouth before. And it seemed that the redhead was excited about something, she wondered what...

The blonde boy ahead of them stopped his movement, he sighed and looked around him, searching for someone, he finally found it on the back of a random tree, a Inuzuka boy with his dog. Gaara noticed and smirked. So, maybe this was a right chance to watch the improvement of their 'mission', the 'Make Neji and Naruto Get Together Plans'. Gaara stayed at his position beside Temari, but his eyes focused at the two boys, following their movements like a hawk.

Will their plan works?

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto slapped the Inuzuka boy on his back playfully. The Inuzuka tensed and swirled around, he quickly clasped his hands together in an apologizing position.

"NO PLEASE NO! I SWEAR I'VE GOT NOTHING TO—oh, it's just you... sheeesh, don't surprise me like that!" Kiba sighed.

Naruto quirked his brow at Kiba's action. "Whaddya mean?"

"No! Nothing!" Kiba grinned nervously, he quickly hid something behind his back.

"Ah-ha... you're hiding something..." Naruto smiled mischievously and tried to get a peek on whatever Kiba was holding.

"No! Nothing!" Kiba swirled and tried to run away, but Naruto was faster, one hand grabbed Kiba's hood while the other snatched the thing from Kiba's hand.

"Oh, hey!" Kiba paled.

"What's this?" Naruto examined the white envelope. "Don't tell me it's a love letter for you! Ha! What kind of girl who wanted to write one for you anyway?" Naruto teased. But Kiba didn't get annoyed like always, he just paled.

"What's with you?" but Naruto shrugged it off because he was too curious with the white thing in his hand. He ripped it and took the content.

A picture.

"Don't tell me this is the picture of Kiba's crush or some—" Naruto stopped dead when he saw the picture. His face flushed red.

"KIIIIIIIIIBAAAAA!" he shouted angrily, but this time Kiba was faster, he snatched the picture back and zoomed away like a rocket, leaving a layer of dust behind him.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Ouch, he saw it..." Kiba flinched at Naruto's loud voice. This was one reason why Kiba was so proud of his speed. At least, for the time being, he was safe from Naruto's wrath.

"I knew I shouldn't take out 'that' at these moment..." he said to himself, slightly panting.

"Take out what?"

"KYAAAAAAAA!" Kiba shrieked.

Neji raised his brow at the startled dog boy. Kiba blushed when he realized what kind of sound he had produced.

"What? My Mommy said that my voice started changing at my current age!" Kiba defended himself.

"Yeah... sure your voice did..." Neji said, teasing.

"Don't say it with tone like that!" Kiba warned the Hyuuga.

"By the way, I heard Naruto shouting your name, what happened?" Neji asked, he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Haaaa..." Kiba leered at the Hyuuga. "So what? Does the almighty Hyuuga Neji jealous? Huh? Huh? Huh?" Kiba waved his finger back and forth.

"Bad Neji-chan! Jealous is bad!" he cooed in a teasing manner.

"No, I just wanna know! And don't use that name or I'll mutilate you!" Neji's face turned red as he turned his face away from his companion.

"Nah... nothing important..." Kiba shook his head. At least, don't let Neji knows or it will screw up the fun.

"So... you said you want to meet me, what's up?" Neji asked the slightly tensed dog boy.

"Ano, Neji..." Kiba called, his tone changed into a serious one.

Neji still have his face turned from the Inuzuka, but Kiba new that he was listening. So he continued.

"Um... maybe I'm not in my place for asking this but, are you planning to let your feeling like this? I mean... remain unknown by him? By Naruto?"

"None of your business..." Neji replied shortly.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Kiba asked again.

"Kiba, I said it's none of your business... and I believe you're not that dumb," Neji talked again.

"Yeah, but..."

"No... I know about his feeling for that Sakura already. If he doesn't like me back, then let it be." Neji stated.

"But that..."

"Why are you so persistent, Kiba?" Neji asked, a bit harsh. "I thought you called me to talk about something serious... if it's just about this, I'll leave..." Neji turned his body and took steps away from Kiba.

Damn, he's leaving... our plan will fail! What should I say, what should I say, what should...

"He likes you, moron!" Kiba shouted to the Hyuuga. Neji halted and turned his body to the Inuzuka, who covered his mouth with his hands.

Ouch, wrong sentence... Kiba mentally scolded himself and he banged his head to the nearest tree.

"Yeah, right... and pigs know how to fly... liar." Neji raised his brow.

"No! I'm serious! He likes you!" Oh well... let's continue this... Kiba tried to convince Neji.

"You're still too young to trick me like that, Kiba..." Neji said again before started leaving the dog boy.

"Oh? And how do you explain this?" Kiba took out the picture Naruto had taken earlier.

Neji glanced at the picture. "So what? It's just the picture--- you've got to be kidding..." Neji turned again to examine the picture again. "Holy shit..." His face turned to a different shades of red.

Kiba grinned triumphantly. "Gaara took this yesterday..."

"You, him... but..."

Kiba grinned again before he opened his mouth to talk. "Well, actually..."

Flashback

"Cool! He really did this?" Kiba asked, uncertain, he swayed the picture right and left.

"Yeah... I saw it," Gaara nodded.

"Whoa, Gaara! You're brilliant! Where's that camera come from?" Kiba smiled when he saw the picture Gaara had taken.

"I found it in the underground storage, old enough... but usable..." Gaara answered, he felt proud of himself.

"There's underground storage in this cottage?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah..."

"Wow..."

"So..."

"Great, thanks a lot, dude..."

"No problem..."

End Flashback

Neji blushed deeper. He eyed the picture carefully. Afraid if he caught the detail wrong.

Naruto

kissing

him

Nope, it's not...

"Sooo... how's that?" Kiba asked. Pleased by the shocked and happy expression Neji showed to him.

"I-I-I..." Neji stammered. Did it really happen? Last night when I'm sleeping? Did he really...

"So, go on and give it a try, he'll accept you for sure!" Kiba patted Neji's shoulder.

"..." Neji didn't answer, he brought his hand to the place Naruto's lips had been the night before.

Maybe... I'll try...

Kiba smiled wider when he saw Neji's look. Gaara must be informed about this...

TBC

Author's note: That's it! Whoo... confession is close... close, close! Gomen for taking so long. Aaah... I'm so tired, since I (ahum) stole the time to write this chapter and posted it (you know that I'm not allowed to use computer except weekends, right?). So I'm sorry if it's kinda rushed. Anyway, how do you think? Please tell me! Review review review... pweeezzee...