blak-flame - I have so much fun writing these things

Blak – flame: I feel like its been so long! n.n kay, so basicly im going to be building up gaara's and neji's relationship for the next…two chapters, atleast. Those are the only ones I have have plans for, and they may be short, sorry if they are. …yeah. I could have updated sooner, I was watching heoes, I wuv peter and mohinder! XD …yeah.

The Yaoi Pimpette: aw! Thank you! Arent they cute? Thanks, though, I hope you like this chapter too. Unfortunetly not much is going for three chapters in a row..maybe I could consolidate? We'll see n.n

Sen the crazy cat lady:lol, sorry it took so long, but atleast its here now…I suppose. Haha took me long enough to sit down at the computer and start, too many distractions…kinda…

MasterTabby:/gasp/ I love ur stories! Really, update, would ya? Pwease? Tanks, doe

BlaclMagic213: :P hey, you! Haha, I kno, it was choppy, nothings gonna really happen for a bit, cause I wanna fit some things in before…well…youll see

And now, onto the chapter!

Chapter: …Ten: shopping

Gaara fiddled with his sleeves nervously, he did not want to be there at the moment.

"Pick something, Gaara! I don't know what you like and you hardly have clothes that fit you even a little bit!"

"I don't need new clothes, though."

A slightly frustrated brunette rolled his eyes; couldn't Gaara see he was trying to be nice?! It was Thursday and they had finally gotten around to a mall, unfortunately Neji had to overcome the stubborn little red-head so that he get him clothes.

Sighing, he walked into a thrift store, Gaara hesitated but followed. "Here, clothes here are cheap; can I get them for you now?" Without waiting for a reply he picked out a pair of pants and held them up to Gaara to see if they were about right. Not that he could even really tell with how baggy The Sabaku's pants were on him. Scowling slightly he gave them to Gaara and told him to go try them on to see if they fit while he kept looking.

"NEEEJJJJIIIII!!"

The Hyuuga looked up from the rack he had been shifting though, suppressing a cringe when he saw two ecstatic friends, also known as Naruto and Lee, and one not so ecstatic Uchiha. "Neji, are you shopping? What're you doing here?" Naruto bounced in place, shooting questions at him, before Sasuke hit him on the side of the head. "Of course he's shopping, dobe, and it's a mall don't be so surprised to see people you know here."

"Well, soo-oorrrryy, teme!" Neji ignored their bickering as Lee leaned forward, inspecting the pants Neji was holding, nodding to himself. "Neji, my youthful friend, I'm afraid those pants don't look quite big enough for you." The green beast nodded in agreement with himself.

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, clearly being driven mad from being around the bushy browed boy. Naruto frowned, looking around a little, then turning back to Neji confused, "Neji, where's Gaara? Aren't you two dating? He should be here with you!"

Lee nodded furiously, sending his bowl cut flopping, "Naruto's right, you two should be here together, Gaara-kun needs the clothes more than you do!"

Neji stared at Lee a moment, was he being scolded? By Lee? …Wait…The pale boy's face immediately erupted into a blush, "N-Naruto, we're not dating."

The tan blonde looked at him blankly for a minute, "You're not? You two are practically glued to the hip…"

Sasuke smirked, "Maybe he's in denial."

Lee snapped his fingers, putting both hands on the brunette's shoulders he said seriously, "Neji, denial solves nothing and I'm sure it must hurt young Gaara's feelings."

Neji shot Sasuke a dirty look, but was interrupted as Naruto popped up in between both of Lee's arms. "I got it!" Naruto exclaimed looking very proud of himself, "Neji, you never actually came out of the closet, did you?! Neji, you know we won't judge you. You're our friend; we just want you to be happy." The boy who had not yet 'come out of the closet' stared at the blonde in annoyance and he was about to say something else, but someone tapped his shoulder.

Shaking Lee's off Lee's hands, which were still on his shoulders, he turned around to see a small pale red-head. Gaara was holding out the pants to him, a completely blank face. "YOU"RE SHOPPING FOR GAARA!!" Lee shouted at the top of his lungs, which mind you is very loud, causing many people to turn their heads and an employee started walking over to ask them to quiet down.

Suddenly a look of glee came over Naruto's face as he quickly grabbed Sasuke's hand and ran off towards another aisle, tearing it apart as he went. Meanwhile, Lee practically shoved Gaara and Neji down as he ran off to find clothes for the young boy himself. The long haired Hyuuga barely had time to register what had happened, before grabbing the unsuspecting Gaara and pulling him out of Lee's way.

The red-head looked up at Neji, his eyes wide as if he'd just seen a ghost. The elder boy scratched his head, "Hehe…I guess Lee and Naruto are going to pick clothes out for you…"

If the circumstance hadn't been so terrible, Neji would have laughed at the expression of horror on the younger boys face. "B-But…they…" Neji put a comforting hand on Gaara's shoulder, interrupting his stuttering, "I know, but…maybe they'll pick something out that-"

Just then Naruto came back with a pile of brightly colored clothes, most of which were a ridiculous shade of orange that would not look good on the young Sabaku at all. Lee was standing behind him, with jumpsuits and way too much green for any one person. "Never mind…Hey, Naruto, where'd you put Sasuke?"

"Teme? He's right here," Naruto pointed to a pile of clothes behind him. Gaara couldn't help but gasp, 'Sasuke' was a pile of clothes that looked like they could suffocate the blue haired Uchiha. Neji rushed forward, throwing clothes everywhere, trying to save Sasuke before it was too late.

The Hyuuga's pale hand picked up an orange-red t-shirt and there sat a disheveled Sasuke gasping for air. When the Uchiha finally caught his breathe he glared at Naruto, growling the boys name. Naruto laughed nervously, looking for an escape. "S-sorry, teme…" As the spiky haired boy pulled himself out of the pile of clothes that could just about blind somebody, Naruto quickly ran away, Sasuke stalking after him.

The three remaining sat there for a minute, then shrugging they turned around. "Alright…well…I guess…You don't really want to try all these on do you, Gaara?" Neji silently prayed that he'd say 'no'.

"N-No, that's ok."

Neji sighed in relief, as Lee thrusted his pile of clothes at Neji. Smiling one of the bushy browed boys legendary dorky smiles, he said, "I'd better be going now, I'm meeting Ten-Ten at the food court. Have fun on this youthful day!" He shouted as he ran off.

Scowling Gaara quietly said, "That was weird."

Neji silently nodded his head, "You have no idea how odd our friends are."

"Who's Ten-Ten?"

"Ten-Ten's a friend of mine, I used to date her, before I realized that she wasn't exactly, well, my type. Maybe we'll see them here."

The red-head frowned slightly at the slight jealousy he felt towards a girl he hardly knew. "Oh."

Neji looked questioningly at the boy beside him, was he jealous? "I think we might want to get out of here…let's look somewhere else."

Gaara looked up, surprised at the elder, "Why?"

Neji laughed, looking around he felt bad for the employees, Naruto's and Lee's rampage had left a mess and he for one didn't want to stick around to get in trouble for it. "Something gives me the feeling we're not very welcome here anymore."

Both boys quickly left, Gaara doing his best to hide behind the taller from the glares that some employees were sending them. They wandered around aimlessly for a while, not really wanting to go back into a store to shop. Neji frowned, there was obviously something wrong with his small red-headed friend, "Alright, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," The young Sabaku shifted away from Neji from the harsh tone he had used.

Feeling bad, he used a slightly lighter tone, "Sorry, but it's obvious there's something wrong, and quite frankly its making me uncomfortable."

"O-Oh, sorry…it's just…she…" A blush slowly crept its way onto the shorter boys face.

Neji sat there, confused for a second, but when he realized what was bothering Gaara he also blushed slightly, "Ten-Ten…Gaara, I dated her a long time ago/ It's over and done with, she…well, I dated her before I knew I was gay." Smirking slightly, he took Gaara's hand and started walking again. "Haven't you ever dated someone before?"

A heavier blush was now present, "No…I didn't really have any friends in Suna."

Neji looked down at the source of his affection, how could such a small cute boy not have had any friends? "Well, you have friends here, in Konoha." Neji stopped, turning to face the younger boy, "You have me, too."

Gaara mutely nodded, his face as red as his vibrant hair. He felt safe when he looked at Neji's pale lilac eyes, he felt good when Neji held him or even if he was just with him. The Hyuuga's long hair fell over Gaara as the owner of the hair started leaning down. Gaara bent forward to meet him, eyes half closed.

Neji pulled Gaara closer to him; lightly running his tongue over the smaller's upper lip before sliding his tongue into Gaara's mouth.

"You know, if you really want to do this, I don't suggest the middle of the mall, where Gaara's family could see."

Neji and Gaara quickly pulled away, Gaara's face even redder, Neji looking around nervously, trying to studder out an explanation. "Well-uh…I was just—it's only you, Kankurou!"

Scowling said boy replied, "Only me? I am Gaara's older brother, and I happen to care about him very much."

Gaara bit his lip, "Kankurou, we're just looking for clothes."

"And you're lucky Temari's not here, you know how she can be," he said snorting. "And since when is swapping spit shopping?" Looking over his brother he added, "You do need clothes, though. I think I'll come."

It was now Neji's turn to snort, "So you can supervise?"

"Yes, actually," He replied matter-of-factly. Shrugging he continued, "Have you gotten anything?"

"No, Naruto and Lee came and tore up the store, so we had to leave." Gaara said quietly.

Kankurou laughed, "Alright, off we go!" He shouted, fist in the air running ahead. Gaara followed silently, Neji hesitated at first, then followed. An hour or so later, Gaara had five shirts, and a pair of jeans. Kankurou had ten shirts, including several with fish-net sleeves, and two new pairs of pants, both of which had chains hanging off of them. Neji sighed, "Kankurou, I thought we were shopping for Gaara?"

Kankurou looked back at Neji with big puppy dog eyes, "Please, Neji? I want it really bad!" Gaara snickered; Kankurou wanted another hat that he saw in a store window, somehow in their shopping for Gaara Kankurou managed to convince Neji to buy him clothes as well.

Neji sighed, "You came to a mall without any money?"

Kankurou blinked, "…I have money, but I'm saving it!"

Neji's jaw dropped, "You had me buying you clothes when you had money!?"

The short haired brunette frowned, "Hey, I caught you kissing my little brother, I practically hooked you two up!" That time Gaara couldn't stop the outright laughter at what Kankurou had said.

"You hooked us up? Kankurou, how did you hook us up?!" Neji exclaimed, bewildered.

Kankurou, being who he was looked around a moment, "Please!?" Sighing Neji muttered something, walked into the store and came back out, shoving the hat into Kankurou's hands, who immediately took off the one he was wearing and shoved the new one on his head.

"I'm not buying you anything else, so don't even ask," Neji said, annoyed.

"Okay!" They kept walking, Neji calming down, but Kankurou remaining just as happy. "You're not doing anything this Friday, are you?" Kankurou asked, curious.

Neji looked at Kankurou, startled, "No, why?"

"You both can come over for dinner, then! Temari misses Gaara; she doesn't get to see him during the day 'less she sneaks in." Gaara pulled at his sleeves, Kankurou noticed and reassured his younger brother, "Don't worry, it'll just be the four of us." Gaara nodded, but still bit his lip. "It'll be great, you guys'll see!"

Kankurou suddenly ran off, this time it was Neji's turn to give Gaara a look, "You have one weird brother."

Gaara shrugged, "You get used to it."

"I get the feeling it isn't just a dinner…should I be nervous? Is this going to be one of those 'meet the parents, if they don't like you, you can't date my kid' kinda things?"

The red-head looked up at the Hyuuga, smiling slightly, "Yeah, probably."

"Great."

Blak–flame - shark bate moo-ha-ha. /snicker/ sry, I felt like doing that. I feel like this one took a long time, I did it in multiple sittings, which for me is weird. I like doing it in one sitting, which usually why I don't have longer chapters. I want to do something else, so then I have to finish and it's not as long as I would have made it. n.n I hope you all liked it, gaara and neji kissed! Yay! And Friday (the next day) Neji gets to see whether or not he will be approved. Ok, so review please, and tell me what you think!