I had to rewrite this four or five times, and I'm still not entirely sure I'm happy with it. To everyone who's afraid this will end up being NejiNaru, dont worry. Neji is here for a little longer to piss off Sasuke. I wanted to put a lot more stuff in this chapter, but in the end all of it mashed together just looked awkward.
I dont own Naruto.
Neji sat in front of the mirror, combing his long, black hair. He had a certain method of doing it, first he would brush it out normally, then he would flip his head over and brush it from underneath, and then flip it right-side up and comb over it once more. He always felt a little stupid and girly doing it, but hey, who was he to argue with the results? And it had to look especially good tonight, for his date with Naruto.
"So who's the newest victim?" a voice from behind startled him, and he turned to see his cousin Hinata leaning against the doorframe. They had gotten much closer since Sasuke had left the village, and Hinata was the first person Neji had come out to. "Let me guess... Shikamaru maybe? You could never keep your eyes off his ass."
Neji growled a little. "Shouldn't you be blowing dog-breath behind the bathhouse about now?" He was referring to Hinata's boyfriend, Kiba. Neji hadn't liked the guy with being his cousin, especially since he had discovered they were a couple by walking in on them making out, just as Kiba had been taking off her bra.
"Ha ha, very funny Neji." she blushed a little, walking up behind him. "So really, tell me, who's the unlucky bastard tonight?"
"Not that it really matters, but its Naruto." He smirked at her reaction. She blushed even redder and her eyes widened.
"N-Naruto?" No matter what she did, she couldn't help stuttering. God she hated it... she was able to control it most of the times, but when she was really flustered her old habit came back to bite her on the ass.
"Yes, Naruto. Why so flustered, Hinata? I thought you stopped liking him long ago?"
"I-I-I did..." her voice trailed off, why did she always get so embarassed when her former crush's name came up? But then she picked up again. "Neji, are you really sure you're ready to start dating again? I mean, you and Gaara-"
Neji cut her off. "Gaara doesn't want me anymore, okay? I think I deserve a shot at being happy with someone without you bringing him up every five minutes!" he snapped.
Hinata just nodded, and started heading out of the room. But then she turned. "I know you still love him, Neji, I can see it in your eyes, and I can hear it in the way you talk about him." Neji whipped around to yell at her, but she was already gone. Cursing her, he turned back to the mirror to finish his hair, and a look of sadness washed over his pale face. Gaara. Neji could never seem to forget about him. They had been dating for about seven months, and Neji had never been happier, when all of a sudden, Gaara had said he needed some time to think about things and stopped talking to him. That was two months ago, and yes, the dark-haired boy was still mad for the Kazekage. He would take him back in a heart beat, but he knew that wans't going to happen anytime soon. So, he would settle for the next-best thing, a firey blond named Naruto with the best ass he'd ever seen!
Speaking of which, he had better get his ass out and to Naruto's house if he didn't want to be late.
Sasuke had a giant problem.
His blond was going out with some other freak tonight and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it. Why? Blame the fucking Hokage.
Flashback, about two hours
Sasuke had been walking own the street, muttering to himself about "sons of bitches" and "boyfriend stealers" and dreaming of ways to hurt Neji when he was practically tackled by Shizune.
"WHAT THE HELL?" he screamed at the woman. Shizune didnt even flinch. Working for a hungover Tsunade had only made her develop a tolerance to bitchy people.
"Ah, Sasuke, just the person I was looking for. Hokage-Sama requests your presence immediately." Shizune gave him a smal tug on his arm.
"WHAT? Why?!" Sasuke was seriously pissed at this point.
Shizune shrugged. "The hell if I know. Probably needs you for office duty. Now move!" She gave his arm a good hard yank, nearly ripping it out of its socket until Sasuke decided to shut up and walk. He could still feel pain in his arm by the time they reached Tsunades office.
"Here he is, Hokage-sama." Shizune presented the Uchiha to the (very hungover) Hokage.
"Thank you Shizune. You're excused." Shizune picked up a few papers and backed out of the room.
As son as she had left, Sasuke demanded "What do you want, Old Bag?"
"Brat! Show a little respect! You're almost as bad as Naruto." Tsunade gritted her teeth, massaging her throbbing head. "First, you can get me some asprin. Then, I want you to read and file those mission reports. Yes, all of them, Uchiha." she added, seeing the look on his face.
Sasuke could not believe the cruel joke life was playing on him. Naruto was going out with Neji tonight, and he couldnt even be there to keep an eye on him because the head-drunk of the village had given him a shitload of work to do!
"Look Old Bag, I can do it some other time, but not tonight. Tomorrow, next week, any other time, but not tonight!" Sasuke then turned on his heel and made for the door, when he felt himself being slammed against the wall, and pinned there by two large, claw-like hands.
"You listen to me, brat, and you listen good. The only reason you are out of jail is because of me. The only reason you are not locked in a cell somewhere is because of MY kindness. In case you dont remember, I as good as own your ass. This is the first time in a long time, I've asked you to do anything for me, and god dammit! Unless you want me to chuck you out of the village, you're going to do it! Understand?" Sasuke could feel Tsunades hot breath on the back of his neck. Even though he couldnt see her face, he still felt afraid. One thing was certain, the Hokage was a scary, scary woman when she was mad. "Now, are you going to file those papers for me or not?" Tsunade seemed to calm down a little.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Isn't it Iruka's job? Why the hell do you need me?"
"Iruka-Sensei has taken the night off, and I told Shizune to get the first person she found. Now, I'm taking off. I expect all those papers to be filed by the time I get here tomorrow." And with that, she released him, grabbed the bottle of asprin, and headed out the door, leaving Sasuke alone with a giant stack of misson reports.
End flashback
Sasuke sighed and glanced at the clock. Nine forty-five. Naruto and Neji would probably be out having some dinner about now, probably laughing and talking about mindless bullshit. The raven sighed, his heart hurt. "Funny, I call him the idiot, but its because I was stupid I lost him." Sasuke mused out loud, followed by a sad, bitter smile. "No, you can't lose what you never had. Fucking Uchiha." he ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Oh look, I'm talking to myself! Great, am I going crazy now?" He shoved a report into a floder and slammed it shut. One down, another seven billion to go. Damn, this was going to be a long night.
Naruto chewed nervously on his tongue. The movie had been great, and after dinner had been awesome, but then Neji's cell had rang, he had excused himself to anwser it and, well, the evening had gone downhill from there. Neji had gotten extremely quiet, and only mumbled one-word anwsers. Finally, he spoke up.
"Do you wanna head off?" Neji glanced up at Naruto.
"What?"
"I meant, do you want to call it a night Neji?" the blond asked, a little anxious.
Neji didnt quite know what to say. The call he had recieved had interrupted his entire train of thought, and it had become difficult to focus on Naruto. He felt so guilty guilty about it.
Naruto sensed Nejis discomfort and piped up again. "Look, Neji, whatever conversation you had is obviously weighing heavily on your mind. We can do this again some other time... that is, if you want to." he traied off again.
"Jesus, Naruto, I'm sorry. I just, I dunno. Yeah, I'd love to get a second date." Neji flagged down a waiter and before Naruto could protest, paid the entire bill. "C'mon." he grabbed Naruto's hand and led him out onto the street. "At least let me walk you home..." he murmured in the blond's ear, giving his hand a little squeeze.
Naruto blushed. "You shouldnt have had to pay for the entire thing, I feel bad now." he squeezed the dark-haired boy's hand back.
"Oh, come on, it was my treat! Besides -" he cupped Naruto's pink face in his hand. "What kind of gentleman makes his date pay?"
"Gentleman? Neji you are the one of the last people anyone could call a gent -" he was cut off by a pair of lips on his own.
"We're here." Neji breathed, pulling away from Naruto. "I guess I'll see you later, then." he let his hand slip away from Naruto's and started walking away.
"Bye." Naruto murmured breathlessly, before turning and heading into his apartment building. He wondered why Neji had pulled away from him so quicky, but pushed it out of his head before the depression formed in his mind again. It was only ten o'clock, but he figured he might as well go to bed anyways. He really didn't have anything better to do.
Neji was being torn apart by his emotions. He had a date with one of the hottest guys he had ever met, who he really liked, and he was pretty sure he had just blown it. One stupid phone call had made him go all weird, made old feelings wake up and intensify. Sure, he really liked Naruto, but on the other hand, he couldnt help but think, Why had Gaara called him out of the blue like that?
It was past two in the morning when Sasuke finally finished with the last of the reports and stumbled home, exhausted but very, very pissed off. The Hokage was a new addition to his list of people to kill, right after Itachi and Neji. Fuck her! He hoped her boobs ended up sagging to her knees.
The Uchiha compound was dead silent when Sasuke finally reached home. It usually was anyways, but there was something extremely lonely about it tonight. The occasional rat scurried out of his way as he made for the front entrance, and on the porch a cat that looked like it hadn't eaten in weeks darted away from him like he had the plague. Was this what he was like? So repulsive that even a starving animal wouldn't go near him? He opened the door to the house, and with a sickening revolation realized how empty the place was. Nobody but him. "Hello?" he called out to no one in particular, paused for a moment, then, "Heloooooooooooooooo?" He felt like such an idiot. Of course he was alone, why did he have to confirm it?
Sighing bitterly, he made for the stairs before stopping. He turned, headed into the kitchen and chopped up some fish and a little bit of rice he had found in the fridge and dumped it all on a pate. He set the dish outside on the front stoop, in case the cat decided to return. Somehow, it made him feel better. But just a little.
Tomorrow, he thought, tomorrow will be better. I'll be in a better mood, there isnt any training so I won't have to deal with Sakura, and I will figure out some way to take Naruto away from Neji! Somehow... His fogged mind couldn't comprehend anything other than Naruto and sleep. Not bothering to climb all the way up to his room and change, he just kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the couch with a nearby blanket, instantly falling into a heavy sleep.
Dream sequence
He was in a giant room all made of mirrors. Smoke was comming from somewhere, and he could see the night sky, angry thunder and lightning with bitter rain pelting his face. In the middle there was a crowd of hooded figures, all gathered around something and flinging their arms up and down in one continuous, jagged motion. He cautiously stepped closer to see what they were doing. Then he saw what they were holding in their hands: swords. All stabbing someone who was lying on the ground, in the same spot, over and over in the heart. All stabbing Naruto in the heart!
"Why are you doing this!?!" he screamed at them, frantically trying to yank the blades from their gnarled fingers. Then, one pushed their hood back. It was Sakura.
"Come on, Sasuke! Don't you want to play?" the eerie grin on her face and the wild look in her eyes made him take a step back.
"Yes, yes, Sasuke-kun! Come play with us! Its fun!" several of the other figures removed their hoods, and Sasuke reconized many of the vilagers whom he had seen hurting Naruto before. All never stopping the continuous rhythm of their arms.
All at once, Sasuke had a sword in his hand. He no longer had control over his body, it was as if something had posessed him. He too joined the wicked crowd in their cruel game, stabbing Naruto over and over in the heart. "No, NO! Make it stop! I dont want this! Make it stop!" He wailed, a long harsh sob escaping his lips. He tried desperately to stop his arms, tried to drop the sword and save Naruto.
"But Sasuke, you love hurting him! I see it all the time." Sakura's wide grin only got more sinister with each word. "Now you have what you want. You love to hurt Naruto, Sasuke, you really do!"
"No..." The raven could barely choke out the word through his sobs, wanting desperately to stop. Then, Naruto looked up at Sasuke, his eyes cold and empty.
"Sasuke,: he whispered. "You've killed me."
End Sequence
Sasuke woke up screaming. His terror filled body seized up and made him tremble and collapse as he tried to stand up. He flew, stumbling to the bathroom, still choking out loud, harsh sobs. Gotta get clean! that was the only thought in his head. He felt so dirty and repulsive, feeling filth and bugs crawling under his skin. Once in the bathroom, he grabbed the soap and a washcloth and scoured his hands and arms until they were red and bleeding. Then he proceded to repeat this process with his face and neck, until he could no longer stand the pain. Curling up in a corner of the bathroom, still sobbing and shaking, he made a promise to himself that he knew he wouldnt break:
He would never, ever do anything to hurt Naruto again
My god I'm awful. I wasn't going to put that dream in there, but I had the worst nightmare last night and it made me feel better to get it written down. I really need to get Sasuke back in character. Anyways, good news! Lemon scene expected in... one of the next two chapters!
