Itachi untangled himself his red silk sheets and stood up. He tugged a dark blue t-shirt over his head and pulled on a simple pair of jeans.

'Don't want to dirty up any of my good clothes.

Then he strode purposefully into his little brother's room, slamming the door open and flicking on the lights.

"Wake up."

Sasuke grumbled and rolled onto his side, pulling the covers over his head, he had been hoping that yesterday was a bad dream. Itachi sighed and marched over, yanking the covers off of him, grabbing his ankles, and pulling him off the edge off the bed.

"I said wake up!"

Sasuke's head smacked into the wooden floor while cold air assaulted him from all directions.

"I'm up, asshole!"

He got to his feet, clutching his aching skull and muttering obscenities under his breath. Itachi smirked at him,

"You have ten minutes to grab your things and get in the car."

---

When Neji awoke that morning Gaara was not in the tent. Panic stricken, he'd jumped up and rushed outside, prepared to battle a rapist to the death. Instead he had found the little redhead sitting by the fire, warming his hands. He sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance.

"What are you doing up so early?"

Gaara glanced over his shoulder at the newcomer.

"I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep."

Neji nodded slightly, settling down next to him, and holding his hands out towards the fire as well.

"Nice day out."

He commented offhandedly. The redhead turned his face up, as if noticing the crisp cloudless sky for the first time.

"Yeah it is."

He turned and smiled contently at Neji. "I've never been out in the woods like this before, it's really pretty."

The Hyuga's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the boy, utterly shocked.

'There it is! A real smile!'

A gleeful feeling of accomplishment spread through him, warming him from the inside out.

'God, he's so beautiful when he smiles…'

As hard as he tried to fight it Neji couldn't help but feel yesterday's crush creeping back up on him. Sensing the brunette's good mood, Gaara inched forward a bit. And acting solely on a whim, he reached out to lay his hand down on top of the Hyuga's, laughing inwardly at himself as he did so.

'Once a hormone crazed schoolboy, always a hormone crazed schoolboy I suppose'.

Neji's eyes widened and, momentarily taken aback, he just sat there, attempting to process what had happened. Gaara gave the hand a light squeeze, shooting the older man a questioning look. The gesture seemed to snap Neji out of his stupor and he quickly turned his hand over, intertwining their fingers.

---

The two brothers's slid into the car and settled into their seats. This time Itachi took the wheel, clearly demonstrating who was going to be in charge of their newest adventure. The elder Uchiha grinned excitedly, the same jitters he always got before an expedition rushing through his body. Sasuke, on the other hand, was experiencing some very unfamiliar feelings of self-doubt and apprehension. As the car pulled out of the driveway and onto the open road he stared longingly at his bedroom window.

'I could be in there right now, asleep and worry-free.'

---

Neji remained seated next to the redhead, dumfounded by the sudden change in attitude, but happy nonetheless. Gaara's hand felt small and warm in his and he was more than willing to accept this turn of events as an astonishing stroke of luck. With a new rush of confidence Neji untangled their fingers so he could fling an arm around the boy's shoulders. Pleased, Gaara let his head fall against him.

'I can't believe I'm doing this…I can't believe how easy it is to trust again. Then again, it's not like Nejis going to hurt me.'

Gaara found himself chuckling lightly at the thought of the Hyuga being intentionally cruel. Thus far Neji had acted more protective and kindly than both Temari and Kankuro combined. Feeling a sudden rush of warmth for the other man Gaara tilted his head up in order to examine his face better. At the same time that he looked up, Neji looked down at him, suddenly bringing their faces so close that their noses brushed. Both males felt themselves blush at the close proximity but neither moved, they were each too enraptured by the other's beauty.

Neji rapidly found himself getting swept up in the moment once again. He tentatively moved forward about half an inch. When no interruption came he decided to go for it, not allowing himself a chance to change his mind he leaned in and pressed his lips up against Gaara's At first the impulsive action startled the redhead, but after a few seconds he allowed his eyes to slide shut, losing himself in the kiss. Mere seconds later it was over and the two reluctantly parted. Gaara smiled bashfully up at Neji who in turn cupped his cheek and raised one eyebrow incredulously.

"Was that okay?"

Gaara smiled, running one finger along his upper arm playfully.

"Yeah, it was. It made me feel like my old self again."

And it was true, for the first time since it happened Gaara stopped thinking about Itachi and Sasuke. The arm around his shoulder tightened lovingly.

"Glad I could help."

---

Sasuke was slumped over, forehead pressed against the cool glass of the window as he watched the scenery whiz by. They'd only been driving for ten minutes and already he was ready to shove his brother out of the moving car. Itachi had been relentlessly babbling about all the fun he was going to have with "his pretty little toy," and about how much smarter and stronger and wiser he was than Sasuke. BlahBlahBlah…He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

"Itachi, please,"

He groaned,

" will you stop talking?"

---

After the kiss Gaara was so happy it felt like he was walking on clouds. So when Neji suggested they go on a quick nature walk he agreed, previous fears forgotten. The pair started off together down a familiar path.

'This will be a great time to make him open up'

Neji realized with a certain amount of self-satisfaction. His arm was still looped around the redhead and one of Gaara's arms had snaked around his waist. All in all they looked like a couple, out on a peaceful camping trip. Neji was raking his mind trying to think of a good conversation topic.

"So, Gaara. You've already told me that you live with your two older siblings, but if you don't mind my asking where are your parents?"

Gaara shifted a bit.

"My mom died giving birth to me and my dad walked out on us when I was six."

"Oh, geez I'm so sorry."

"It's fine... I mean I am sad about my mom; sometimes I wonder what she was like…But I don't really remember my dad too well and from what Temari and Kankuro have told me he wasn't exactly an "upstanding citizen."

Neji nodded understandingly,

"I lost both my parents in a car crash when I was ten."

Gaara laughed dryly.

"Our lives could be a soap opera."

Neji smiled a bit, that statement was unnervingly close to the truth. He didn't have long to dwell on the sadness of it all because Gaara was asking him a question.

"So what did you do after your parents died? Where did you go?"

"I went to live with my aunt and uncle and their daughters, Hinata and Hanabi."

"Do you like them?"

"My aunt is nice enough, but Hiashi, my uncle, is a real bastard."

"Why don't you like him?"

Neji sighed.

"Nothing I ever do is good enough for him. I was a varsity soccer player, the valedictorian of my class, and I even agreed to be the fucking prom king to try and please him. It was never good enough. The only reason he's letting me run the business now is because he had to come to terms with the fact that Hinata is completely incompetent."

"You don't like Hinata either?"

Another sigh.

"I don't particularly like or dislike her. She's just kind of there."

Gaara nodded, then paused, as if something had just occurred to him.

"Wait, you said your last name was Hyuga right?"

"Yeah…"

Neji gulped nervously, he could see the wheels spinning.

"So your uncle…is Hyuga Hiashi?"

"Um, yeah."

"THE Hyuga Hiashi."

"Yes."

"And you inherited the business?"

"Correct."

"HOLY SHIT YOU'RE RICH!"

Neji jumped at the outburst and then hung his head; he hated how wealth could change everything.

"Yeah, I am…"

Gaara blinked his eyes in newfound awe of the man next to him. "Please don't look at me like that, I'm still the same as I was before."

"I know that."

Gaara turned his head to the side and nuzzled Neji's shoulder lightheartedly.

"I'm just surprised that's all. You don't really give off the snotty vibe I'd expect from a millionaire." Neji smirked.

"You have no idea how much that means to me."

After that the conversation tapered off and the two continued walking in comfortable silence. Neji simply enjoyed the sounds of the forest and the feel of the warm body next to him while Gaara daydreamed... He fantasized that Neji was his boyfriend, and had been for quite some time. They were merely going for a stroll in the park and soon they would return to his mansion and snuggle in front of the fire, talking about books, movies, and anything else that came to mind…Silly fantasies had always been something that Gaara was particularly prone to.

Their blissful wanderings continued for about an hour, and Neji absentmindedly wandered off of the regular path, he wasn't aware of that fact until stepped forward, brushing a few branches out of the way, and found himself in a clearing he had never seen before.

His jaw immediately went slack with surprise at the same time that Gaara's whole body was consumed by fear. There, in front of them, was a lopsided wooden shack, one that was sickeningly familiar to the redhead.

"What the-"

Neji started, but before he had a chance to finish his sentence Gaara broke free from his grasp and tore off into the forest, running away from the shack as quickly as his still-injured body would allow. Bewildered, Neji started after his companion. "Gaara! Wait, come back!"

'What the hell is going on?'

It didn't take long for the Hyuga to overtake the boy, wrapping his arms around him as the two tumbled to the ground.

"Neji! Let me go! We have to get away from here!"

Gaara struggled desperately.

"Stop…Stop, just calm down, you're okay. Tell me what's going on."

Neji pulled the still squirming boy into his lap.

"T-that's the place. That's where they took me. Please we have to go!"

Neji nodded slowly, he'd had a feeling it had something to do with that. He stood, helping Gaara to his feet.

"Alright. Let's get the hell out of here."

And they did. Neji wouldn't allow Gaara to run anymore, even though every instinct in his body was telling him to. He couldn't risk re-opening any old wounds. And besides, he highly doubted the people responsible for hurting him had stuck around. When they finally arrived back at the campground Gaara had been in a state of emotional turmoil so Neji had wisely refrained from pestering him with questions. He simply helped the exhausted boy into bed and remained at his side, murmuring sweet nothings until he fell asleep.

Once that had been accomplished the brunette finally had a chance to sit back and reminisce about the hectic day.

'This has been quite an experience...'

There had beenthe initial fear of waking up in the morning to find Gaara gone, the kiss, walking in the woods, talking so openly about their lives, and then finding that awful shack. Neji scowled determinedly.

'Tomorrow I have to go back and see for myself what's in there'.

---

Itachi pulled the car over to their usual parking spot along the road, switching off the ignition and turning to face Sasuke, who was staring at him, awaiting his orders.

"We made it here in good time. We'll go to sleep in the car for tonight. Tomorrow we're getting up bright and early to begin tracking him down."

---

This is one of the shortest chapters I've written yet...I tried to get this chapter out in good time but I was experiencing some major writers block. I know where I want this story to end up, now it's just a matter of getting it there. Please review. - Evie