Author's Note: Please scroll to the bottom for my apologies regarding the immense lateness.
Neji shifted onto his stomach and sighed into his pillow. The room was silent except for the violent pounding of the rain against the windows. Such gloomy weather suited his brooding mood.
Sure, Neji was typically a touchy kind of guy, but no one had ever seen him so testy, vulgar and downright psychotic. Two days ago, he was still his normal Neji-like self. Then that happened.
xxx
Two Days Ago:
"Chocolate Supreme! Three scoops!"
"Don't you think that's a little much, Naruto?"
"Speak for yourself, teme! What kind of a man can't handle a little ice cream?"
"I was referring to the amount of sugar, dobe. You're hyper enough as it is."
"What did you call me?"
"Dobe. Dobe, dobe, dobe."
"Teme..!"
"Oy! Get off of me!"
"Naruto! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!"
"Sakura-channnn! He started it!"
"..you okay? That stupid Naruto.."
"Hey, sorry we're late."
"Yo, Neji. Don't you think three scoops is way too much for Naruto?"
"Why, can't you handle a little ice cream?"
"See, someone agrees with me!"
"I think he meant that Naruto shouldn't have so much sugar."
"Oh, well if you put it that way.."
Naruto sighed in exasperation. Everyone was against him, weren't they? Sitting on a bench with a sour expression, he angrily attacked the ice cream cone in his hand. The rest of the group stepped up to buy their ice cream, and upon turning around afterwards found themselves watching Naruto munching on the last bit of the cone.
"What the- you already ate it?" Sasuke frowned in disapproval, brows knit together like always.
Naruto glanced up, wiping his fingers clean on a napkin. "Huh?"
Gaara stared at the blonde boy with an expression of disbelief and awe. "He can eat it that fast and not get a brainfreeze? I wonder if that's considered an elite skill somewhere.."
"I doubt it." Neji took a seat and closed his eyes to fully enjoy the cold treat. He completely blocked out the voices around him, savoring the milky taste. He hadn't had ice cream in so long..
"What the hell are you doing! You already had yours!"
"So? Just let me have half of it.."
"No! Get away from me!"
"Why don't you just buy another one, Naruto?"
"I don't have anymore money, and- argh, damnit! I only want a little bit!"
"Naruto, what're you-"
Splat.
Neji opened his eyes and lowered his ice cream from his mouth.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
An awkward silence filled the air as Neji lifted his hand and removed the cone from atop his head. He blinked as the chocolate ran down his face, his hair, his shirt. Naruto backed away and Sasuke coughed nervously into his hand. Just as Sakura opened her mouth to no doubt make a loud, scolding remark, Gaara teetered backwards and burst out laughing.
Under normal circumstances, Neji probably would have joined in when Naruto and the others began laughing as well. But this.. wasn't normal. Gaara laughing heartily was certainly not normal. He'd already forgotten about the ice cream; that wasn't important. The redhead before him was still at it, a hand pressed over his chest in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart. Neji's eyes refused to leave him as he sat down, reaching up to wipe off Neji's face.
"It really went everywhere," Gaara commented with an amused grin. The long haired Hyuga found himself unable to move as the shorter boy continued to mop up the mess with a handful of napkins.
Naruto chuckled uneasily at Neji's blank expression and reached back to tug a lock of hair. "Sorry, sorry.. you aren't mad, are you?"
"Of course he's mad, you idiot. Not to mention you owe me money for that ice cream now."
"Eh?"
"Really, Naruto! Don't you ever think before you do something?"
"..Not really."
xxx
Neji had eventually stood and stormed away, leaving the rest of the group completely mystified. When he had walked home and gotten into the shower, all he could think about was that captivating laugh. It had been nearly two months since he had started tutoring Gaara, and despite the frequent bickering, they'd somehow managed to become friends. Yet, even as friends, he'd never seen the redhead laugh quite like that. The sincerity, and the smile afterwards.. all of it had left Neji aghast. Not just the laugh, not just the smile, but the way he didn't want it to stop; the way breathing suddenly became a forced task.
"Damnit." Neji sat up, rubbing his forehead. Every time he tried to figure out why he was so agitated, the answer was always something he didn't want to accept. Ever.
He glanced to the digital clock on his nightstand and found himself wishing he hadn't wasted away the day sulking in his room. It was already six, meaning the weekend was almost over. Meaning tomorrow, he'd have to go to school. Oh, how wonderful life can be.
"Maybe I'll just skip tomorrow," The troubled teen decided aloud. A knock on the door jerked him out of his thoughts. Naruto again! Hadn't he told everyone to stop letting him in the house? Clambering out of bed, he unlocked the door and whipped it open. "What the hell are you-"
"Yo."
Gaara.
Neji took a step back in surprise. Gaara simply walked past him and dropped onto the older boy's bed.
"Why haven't you been coming over? I had some questions about Friday's test." He scooted backwards until he could lean comfortably against the wall. When Neji said nothing, he rolled his eyes and glanced in his tutor's direction. "You're not still mad about the ice cream thing, are you?"
"I was never mad." Scowling, Neji shut the door and leaned against it with his arms crossed. Who did Gaara think he was, strutting into his room like that? What nerve.
"Then what the hell is your problem?"
"Who said I have a problem?"
"Well, you've been sitting in your room for the past two days, yelling and cursing at whoever comes over.. Are you trying to say you don't have a problem?" He continued on when Neji failed to respond. "It doesn't matter what the problem is, just get over it. You're bad enough being a conceited prick. This whole pouting thing doesn't work for you."
"I'm not pouting! And who are you to call me a conceited prick? Tch! Get out of my room!" As soon as he opened up the door, Gaara calmly walked out, though Neji didn't miss when he muttered 'Gladly' on his way.
"Ohayo!"
Neji lifted his head as Tenten sat beside him, placing her books on the desk. "Ohayo," He greeted. After Gaara had stopped by the night before, he had seemingly gotten over his foolishness and decided to forget about the weekend's events.
"What happened this weekend? I tried calling, but your uncle said you weren't taking any calls."
"Nothing.. I just.. felt sick or something, I guess." He ignored Tenten's skeptical look and heaved a sigh. "Tenten.. Do you think I'm conceited?"
"Who, you? Nooo, of course not!"
"Thanks, I-" Neji stopped when he looked up and realized she was smirking. What the.. Here he was, being serious, and she decides to be sarcastic.. Gee, thanks a lot, 'friend'.
"I'm just joking," She shook her head slightly, laughing at his pathetic expression. "You aren't conceited. Maybe a little antisocial, but that's it."
"Oh."
Tenten leaned towards him, brown eyes wide with curiosity. "Why, what happened?"
Neji hesitated, wondering if he could really confide in her. "Gaara.." He started, avoiding her gaze. "He came by to check on me last night, but we ended up fighting and I kicked him out."
"You should apologize to him," She decided immediately. "Right after school."
"What- ? You don't even know what we fought about! What if he had threatened to murder me in my sleep or something?"
"Did he?"
"Well, no... But that's not-"
"Then you need to apologize." Tenten nodded sagely, patting his hand reassuringly. "Everything will work out if you do what I say."
Neji rolled his eyes, resting his chin in his hands. "You make it sound as though we're in a relationship or something."
"Aren't you?"
"I- you- what! No!"
"You aren't friends?"
"...Eh?"
"Aren't you and Gaara friends?"
"Oh.. Yeah. Friends."
Neji adjusted the bag on his shoulders, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He'd walked to Gaara's house straight from school, having to cancel his piano lesson to do so. As he stood facing the white door, memories of his first visit caused the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards into a smile. Back then, he'd been annoyed that Kurenai-sensei had picked him of all people to tutor the rude, short-tempered redhead. Now, he was desperately hoping the younger boy wasn't too upset with him.
"Cominggggg!"
That voice.. Suddenly, Neji began to feel uneasy. That voice could only belong to one person: Temari. Just as he began contemplating whether or not to jump and hide in the bushes while he still had the chance, the door creaked open and a tall boy with a bored expression stood eyeing him warily.
"Who're you?"
People sure like making friends these days, don't they?
"Hyuga Neji. And you are?"
The boy leaned heavily on the door, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Shikamaru. You're the guy tutoring Gaara, right?"
"That's right."
"Did I hear someone say Neji?" Temari popped up next to Shikamaru, her hands resting on her hips. Flour covered the apron she wore, and various puffs of white were visible among her arms, face, and hair. "Oh, it is you. Would you like to try my strawberry eel cake?"
Strawberry EEL cake? What is with this family!
"... No thanks. I'm only here to see Gaara."
"Well, he's been in bed sleeping all day. He had a high fever last night, but he still walked all the way to your house since you weren't coming over. Not that it's your fault, or anything."
Sweatdrop.
Could she be any more evil?
"I see. I'll come by tomorrow, then." Neji turned and walked down the steps, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt that began settling in his stomach. In bed for the whole day? Was he getting worse? The long-haired boy reached back to rub his neck worriedly. Gaara had been pretty sick the past week.. Going out for ice cream on Friday was supposed to be a big thing- And he'd ruined it. Uncharacteristically smacking himself on the forehead, Neji silently swore and mentally kicked himself.
"Maybe I really am a conceited prick.."
xxx
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Shikamaru watched as his blonde friend smiled sadistically while shutting the door. Mental note: Wrath of a woman equals: Bad, very, very bad.
"He should have tried my cake." She started for the kitchen, pausing when Gaara descended the staircase.
"Who was that?" Gaara gripped the railing tightly. His muscles ached, his head felt heavy, and he was hardly able to stand. Being sick really had it's 'perks'..
"Neji. I sent him home since you need some rest."
The redhead scowled and started to make some murder-based threat, but decided against it when he realized that he really did need to just take it easy for a while. He sighed and turned to go back up the stairs, pausing to glance back and eye his sister's questionable appearance. "If you're doing 'that' again, I'm not eating it."
Temari raised a brow, crossing her arms. "What do you mean, 'that'?"
"You know, where you mix a bunch of disgusting things together and try to insist that it's edible when the neighbor's dog passes out from the stench."
".. Jerk."
"Just a little more.. Whoa, look at all those juices spewing out. Cool! Alright, just crack the skull and- PIG BRAIN!" Naruto held up the gooey object in triumph and grinned widely.
"I find it a little disturbing that you're enjoying this, Naruto." Neji reached up to wipe his forehead against his arm. Dissecting a pig was definitely not on his 'Things to do before I die' list.
"How can you say that? You're the one who wants to be a doctor," He pointed out, setting the brain next to the other various things they'd removed.
"A psychologist doesn't have to dissect things, idiot."
"Oh, right."
Neji peeled off his gloves, letting the other boy clean everything up. The good thing about Naruto's enthusiasm was that they were able to finish the assignment in one day. Dissecting would probably be one of the things Gaara would be good at..
Great. Thinking about him again.
The Hyuga hunched his shoulders and let his head droop in shame. Thinking about him this much had to be wrong. "There has to be something wrong with me.."
"Eh? What's wrong with you?" Naruto dropped into the chair beside him and quirked a brow. "Don't tell me you're going to puke or something."
Neji frowned and continued to stare at the tiled floor. "No, it's not like that.. Naruto, have you ever found yourself thinking about someone all the time?" He glanced up when Naruto started to grin again, backing up his chair a bit. "What?"
"So you've got someone you like, huh?"
Like?
Do I like him?
"Do you think that's what it is? That I like them?"
"Well, I suppose you know that you like them if you want them to be happy and you want them to like you. When you'd rather stand butt-naked in Antartica than go a day without them.." Neji resisted a smile as Naruto got a wistful look in his eye.
"That's an interesting way of putting it."
"Well, I'm not good at coming up with cheesy lines like that." Naruto shrugged his shoulders, reaching over to pat his friend's back comfortingly. "Either way, you shouldn't get so worried about it."
Neji shook his head, laughing softly. "How is it that you're a dunce any other time, but when someone needs you, you know just what to say?"
"It's part of my charm." He smirked, then glanced down at his hands and frowned. "Oh, whoops. I forgot to take my gloves off.. Now you have pig guts smeared all over your back."
"...NARUTO!"
Gaara opened the door, lifted a brow and stared. "Why are you standing wet and half-naked on my doorstep?"
Frowning, Neji stepped past him into the house. "We had to dissect pigs in Biology, and Naruto accidentally wiped pig goo on me. Then of course, it started to rain while I was walking here, since apparently having a dead animal's guts wiped on me isn't enough of a punishment for being a conceited prick."
"Ahh, so you've finally realized the truth.." Gaara shut the door and turned to face his friend with a grin that quickly faded away. "I thought we weren't dissecting pigs until the end of the year.. I was looking forward to it."
"I knew it," Neji murmured to himself. "She said that she wanted to get it out of the way since it was a big project... That way, we can just do nothing for the last few days of school."
Gaara headed down the hall, fetching a towel from the dryer and tossing it towards the brunette. "Right.. she probably just doesn't want to have to do any grading during the last week."
Neji shrugged, drying off and afterwards towel-drying his hair. "Well.. Are you feeling better today?" He draped the towel across his neck, rubbing the chill from his arms.
"Somewhat." He disappeared into the laundry room again, returning with some dry clothes. "Here. They might be a little small since they're mine, but I think they'll fit better than Kankuro's."
"Thanks.." Neji went into the bathroom he was directed to, stripping off his wet clothes and redressing in the warm pajamas that he'd seen Gaara wear so many times before. Something about the fact that he was wearing Gaara's clothes made him feel slightly giddy.
After stepping outside and placing his things by the door, he followed the drone of the television into the living room to find Gaara sprawled on the sofa. Dropping into an unoccupied chair, the tall teen jerked back in revulsion when one of the characters shot his own severed hand with a shotgun, resulting with blood spraying everywhere.
"What the hell are you watching!" Gaara chuckled in amusement when the same character began laughing with (yes, with) random objects in the room.
"The Evil Dead 2. Haven't you seen it?"
"...No." Wow, he'd thought Gaara was a bit strange, but this was just plain weird.
Coughing into his hand, Neji tore his eyes from the screen and focused on the reason he'd gone there to begin with. "Do you think you could turn it off for a minute?"
"What for?" Gaara held the remote protectively against his chest as if he expected Neji to leap out of the chair and steal it.
"Well, I wanted to talk to you.." The redhead clicked the 'mute' button and shifted to better see his guest.
"I'm listening."
Neji leaned forward and rested his arms over his knees, clasping his hands together. "About this weekend.. I'm sorry. I overreacted on Friday, and-"
"Don't worry about it." He pressed the mute button again, tucking a pillow behind his back. "We all do that sometimes. It's probably stress from school or something."
"Yeah.." Neji blinked in disbelief, completely bewildered. That wasn't the reaction he'd expected at all. Was this why he liked him so much? Gaara always seemed to be full of mysteries and surprises. As he watched the younger boy laughing at the film, he felt a smile creep its way onto his face. He certainly wanted Gaara to be happy, and he certainly wanted to be liked. If feeling that way made him this happy, there's no way it could be wrong.
A/N:
Yay, Neji has admitted his feelings! Aren't you happy and excited? This chapter was mainly about Neji, so that's why Gaara only has short appearances. Oh, and I'm fairly certain all of the characters are OOC. Oh well. XD Don't hate.
Wow, I basically suck. It's been, what, a month and a half? XD I'm really, REALLY sorry. I have no excuse. Seriously, all I was doing was watching anime. Oh, but these past few weeks I've actually been busy (honestly). Sooooo.. I hope you forgive me. I was in a bit of a slump, but yay, I'm out! -does a dance-
Ahem.. July 3rd was me and Neji's birthday! Happy birthday to us!
Alright, since I was originally going to make this chapter longer, I already have the next chapter pretty much laid out in my head. Therefore, you can HOPEFULLY (I'm not making any promises here, people!) expect an update by next week.
Anddddd.. HOLY CRAP. Thanks for all of your lovely reviews. I truly appreciate it! Oh, and feel free to make death threats so that I'll update. Just don't be scary, or else I'll cry.
