Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.
A/N: I have updated, and I have nothing to shield myself from your rants other than my sincerest gratitude. That and I'm sorry. I lost my muse. Took me three years to get it back! \(^o^)
I've made some changes with the previous chapters. They're not reallyt that important except the one which I added to explain why the Hyuugas didn't notice that Gaara is Gaara. He's wearing sand prosthetics. I also edited it on the last three chapters.
Anyways! This chapter will focus more on the plan and SasuSakuInoLee thingy! I have to do something about them. Enjoy!
Chapter XII: That Night and the Morning After
And thus, they had witnessed how the great Uchiha Sasuke murdered every single artist in the karaoke machine by transforming their hit songs into incomprehensible poems. The regular dictionary could never come up with adjectives to describe this horrendous performance. The boys came up a theory that perhaps when the good Lord showered musical talents among his people, Sasuke was busy hunting Itachi. Only Kiba and Sai seemed to be enjoying the fiasco though, seeing the way they cheered and took pictures of what was left of Sasuke's reputation.
About half an hour later, Kakashi-sensei and Inori entered the scene with stupefied looks on their faces. Sasuke welcomed them with a squeal accompanied by fly-away kisses. They found the boys on one corner of the room, cowering behind the make-shift shield they called table.
"Welcome to the music selection from hell," Naruto greeted them. The rest of the boys offered them with lackadaisical smiles, malfunctioning eardrums and ice-cold tea.
Itachi stared as his brother. He only had one explanation for this in his mind, and it involved alcohol and his crazy genes. God, anything but this. It was a good thing he was past puberty. He promptly excused himself, unable to stomach what is happening to his foolish little brother.
Kakashi stared at the fiasco that was Uchiha Sasuke, and shrugged. Calmly, he took a sip of his iced tea. He knew a long time ago that his dear student would eventually crack one of these days.
"Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend! No way! No way! I think you need a boy one! Hey! Hey! You! You! I could be your boyfriend!"
"This is too much," Shino concluded.
"So," Shikamaru started. "How about we go home? It's getting very late." Everyone nodded in understanding, wanting to get away from the scene as soon as possible. They attempted to sneak quietly to the door, but their plan was futile. Sasuke noticed them right away.
"Aww~!" Sasuke whined. He jumped—no, flew to Neji's side and started tugging at the shoulder vigorously. "Neji-kun, sing with me," he said, with all the flowers, rainbows and puppies of the world.
Neji remained unfazed. "No, thank you," he replied smoothly. Byakugan activated, he hurled Sasuke to the far-off corner of the room.
"Somebody should take care of him," said Chouji staring at how Sasuke regained his consciousness with the stupid smile on his face yet again.
"I agree," said Shino. "He might molest someone along the way."
"So whose gonna take him home?" Naruto grinned as he asked the question.
"Not me!" they all said in perfect unison and attempted to get to the door.
He frowned. "Look, guys. I know he's acting a little bit more feminine than usual but he's still our same old friend."
"Hokage-sama, give me a kiss!" Sasuke practically squealed as he draped himself on Naruto' back. To prove his point, he puckered his lips, awaiting for the kiss.
Fortunately, Kakashi decided to intervene. With careful hands, he disengaged the intoxicated fellow from their seemingly mortified Hokage. "Now, Sasuke-chan, I think that's enough."
Sasuke grinned at him. "Kakashi-sensei, I love you more." He hugged Kakashi even closer. The Copy-nin was obviously trying very hard not to use Sharingan on him. But paternal instincts got better on him. With deft fingers, he unlocked Sasuke's hold on him.
"Thank you," Kakashi managed. "But you don't know how badly I didn't want to here that." He pressed on Sasuke's palm which made the boy drop unconscious. "All clear, gentlemen. The eagle has fallen. Asleep that is."
"You're so great, Kakashi-sensei!" Lee said with fists clenched and tears streaming down his face.
Kakashi beamed. "I know! And I shall be known in Shinobi History as the man who defeated Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sai smiled half-heartedly. "Kakashi-sensei, you're already known in Shinobi History. And there's already a guy who defeated Uchiha Sasuke before you." He gave an emphasis to their Hokage who was still under a state of complete distress after his ordeal with Sasuke.
Kiba patted him on the back, but erased the concerned look when he brought out the pictures he took a while ago. "But still, the whole Konoha will be distraught once they see these." Kiba emitted an evil laugh.
"Kiba-kun!" Kakashi took the pictures. "How much each?"
"For you sensei: fifty percent discountable."
Naruto chose that moment to clear his throat. "Let's change the subject, shall we? Who'll take Sasuke home?" When no one answered, he growled. "Fine, who's broke?" Lee and Shikamaru proudly raised their hands. "How much bushy-brows?"
Lee paused for a moment. "30,000 ryou."
"Alright Sai, the scroll," he ordered. His advisor politely summoned one as well as a brush and ink. "Lee and Shikamaru, D-rank mission: Take Uchiha Sasuke home and be with him until he's sober. The rest of you bring out 30,000 ryou each. And yes, that includes you Sai." They all grunted in chorus but know better than to go against their Kage.
"Are checks allowed?" Sai asked. When Naruto approved, he quickly wrote one.
"I didn't know you were penniless, Lee," Neji muttered under his breath.
"Love can be financially constraining," he replied.
"And it's very troublesome," Shikamaru quickly added.
"It is?" The question unexpectedly from Naruto that everyone paused in whatever they were doing. They waited for the genius' answer with unabashed patience.
"Yes, it does," said Shikamaru. "Most of the time, it asks too much of you like it's about to wring your neck out, like your not even trying hard enough. It's very frustrating, you know."
"Oh…" Naruto looked away from for a moment.
"But, you shouldn't worry so much, Rokudaime-sama!" said Lee, his trademark smile and thumbs up in place. "After all, love isn't measured by the number of cuts you have but by the number of wounds you're willing to endure."
"Then I must be the king of endurance," Shikamaru concluded.
Upon reaching the gates, they were greeted by the Hyuuga guards. They cast wary eyes at Temari. She wasn't really in the mood to brush those looks aside so she said to Hinata, "Are your guards like this all the time?"
Hinata, startled by her clansmen's reaction, spoke softly, "Ren-san, I would suggest you stop staring at her like that. She's Temari-san, Kazekage-sama's sister."
"I apologize, my lady," Ren said. "It's just that a fellow Sand ninja arrived a little while ago and created quite a ruckus."
Temari raised an eyebrow "Sand ninja? Why would a Sand ninja come here?"
"I heard that he was under the order of the Kazekage himself, and that he's Neji-san's subordinate. No one really knows much about him, my lady," said Gozaburo.
"And he's name?" inquired Hinata.
"He goes by the name Yashamaru, my lady."
Temari's eyes widened a bit before narrowing into dangerous slits. "I don't recall any Yashamaru on the same trip as us. I would like to see this Yashamaru of yours."
She didn't know how long she sat there thinking about her frustrated love affair, but Sakura already made up her mind. She realized that she needed a lot of things.
She needed to end this once and far all. She had been deluding herself far too long, and it was not helping her. She needed to be fearless. She needed to be free. She needed closure.
She needed to talk to Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee right now. With a smile of her face, she sprinted her way to Sasuke's pad first.
Hinata stayed by Temari's side as one of the Hyuugas went to fetch this so called Yashamaru. If the person they're about to deal is spy using the name of the Kazekage, then it was best to be by Temari's side. She wanted to be there to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.
Temari didn't bother to hide her annoyance. Granted, it wasn't really in her character to hide anything that annoyed her—except in missions—but this situation was different. She knew it wasn't in her brother's character to assign random ninjas to spy. He's secretive, yes. But he opens up whenever something bothers him.
Someone dared to use her brother's name. And she vowed to find out.
Minutes later, a Hyuuga appeared with a young man bearing the Sand insignia. Hinata studied him carefully. He did not appear harmful. If anything else, his face looked positively angelic. Hinata noted that he was looking intently at her as well, as if assessing her. And then his gaze shifted to Temari. She followed the suit.
Hinata watched how Temari open and close her mouth, and blink for a couple of times. She appeared—much to Hinata's surprise—shocked as she stared back at this man.
Frowning, she asked, "Temari-san, do you know this person?"
That question caused Temari to snap out of the stunned state she found herself in. Clearing her throat, she replied, "Yes, in a way."
"So, is this person a ninja of Suna?" she added, hesitant with the unknown tension surrounding the room.
"He is," Temari answered right away. She noticed a flash of hesitation flash across Hinata and she mentally scolded herself for answering too quickly. "He's a trusted ninja of Suna, I assure you." Hinata nodded in understanding. Temari was thankful that she didn't pry some more. "Excuse me, Hinata but would you mind to leave us for a while? There is this thing that I want to discuss with him."
"I understand. I'll bring tea afterwards." Whatever they were about to discuss, Hinata was sure it was pure business.
Temari waited until she was out of hearing range before she lashed out at Gaara. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"
"Data gathering," Gaara answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "I wanted to find out who this Hyuuga Hinata that Uzumaki Naruto is so fond of."
"Look. I don't usually interfere with whatever you do but this is ridiculous."
"Why?"
Temari felt a headache coming out any moment. "You do realize that you almost compromise the whole peace treaty because of your data gathering, right?"
"No one noticed. Also, Hyuuga Neji is an excellent ninja when it comes to keeping confidential matters such as these."
"Fine," Temari said defeated. She took a deliberate number of breaths to calm herself. "And what have you found out so far?"
"Nothing. The members of this clan are not feeling to divulge any information regarding her. But when it comes to first impressions…" Gaara let his voice trailed off as he tried to find the words. "She seems rather plain."
She decided to disregard the comment—mainly because she somewhat in conformity to it and partly because she didn't want to press any further. "How long do you intend to stay?"
"Until tomorrow morning," he answered flatly. "You can make excuses for me, right?"
"I suppose I could." Temari looked away; still unsure of what his brother is thinking. It just wasn't like him to be this impulsive. But he is her brother. She made her mind up that she would help him regardless of how troublesome that was.
Light footsteps broke the silence that they found themselves into as Hinata came back bearing tea. With a smile, she entered the room and began preparing the tea. "Are you finished with your talk?"
Temari nodded back at her, smiling. She drank half of her cup before saying, "Hinata, I'll be going back now. It's getting late."
"I'll escort you to the gates."
"No, don't. I'm sure one of the other Hyuugas could do it. Stay here." Proving her point, she quickly found one who was wandering outside the room and persuaded him to take her to the gates. With a bow, she left the two occupants of the room.
An uncomfortable silence followed afterwards. Gaara was contemplating whether to speak or to go away. He did neither and it made him uncomfortable some more. Silently, Hinata poured a cup of brewed tea and offered it to him. Gaara stared at it.
"The tea would be put to waste. Might as well drink it," she said.
He bowed his head slightly and accepted the steaming cup. "Thank you," he said, and he looked away from her. This was the first time he was alone with a woman, except for his sister. Gaara never felt more unsettled in his life. "Does Temari spend time with you often?"
"Not really." He heard her reply. "Most of the time Temari-san is with Shikamaru-san. But we bonded eventually because of her numerous trips here. Temari-san is a very nice person."
"She doesn't intimidate you?" He decided to study her reaction to that.
With a calm voice she added, "There are many times when she's not afraid to speak up her mind. But we can't help it because it is in her character." Hinata seemed amused, much to Gaara's surprise. "Temari-san doesn't care about title, that's why spending time with her always seems natural."
Gaara couldn't help but agree. He noticed that he did not feel that anxious anymore. This person managed to cast all his inhibitions away, not because she was saying things he liked to hear but because she was saying things sincerely. Although he had just met her moments ago, he could bet that this person would not lie to him.
After considering it for a moment, Gaara asked the ultimate question. "My lady, what is the Hokage to you?"
Hinata might as well choke her drink. She produced a fitful of coughs. Gaara noted that she was reddening a little more than what was supposed to be. He couldn't understand why she was acting this way. Flustering, she asked, "Why did you suddenly asked that?"
"I… I was just curious because I have never met a man like Uzumaki Naruto before." It was true anyway.
Settling her cup down, she started playing with her fingers. "The Hokage… He… He's a very powerful person."
"Uh huh…"
Hinata mentally scolded herself. She would not sully Naruto's name because of that. Eyes downcast, she continued, "He's also a very responsible and hard-working person. He serves as a foundation and inspiration to Konoha. He's very dedicated to the village. He values everyone of this village, and is willing to give his life for them; although he does like to play pranks on people especially on his advisors. He complains everyday about the papers he's supposed to sign but uses his Kage-Bunshins to do his tasks much more quickly. He loves this village very much, although he would rather talk about ramen than political affairs. He's a very amazing in more ways than one."
"You like him don't you?"
"For a very long time," she admitted.
"Why don't you tell him then?"
Smiling, she shook her head. "I don't really think that's possible. He's the Hokage and I'm—"
"The heiress of the most powerful clan of this village," he continued for her. Hinata could but only stare at him. "There are no hindrances, if ever."
"That is true but suppose," she replied. "Suppose he doesn't feel the way? If I were to confess then it would change everything between us."
Gaara did not let his confusion show at that. He could only conclude that love is indeed a troublesome thing, especially if the other person does not know of it. He was not an expert on advices but he was sure this one would help her.
"My lady, if you don't mind I would like to share with you this saying from my village." Hinata looked up at him. "True love is fearless."
She gaped at him. "Th-thank you for that," she said politely, stuttering a bit. She quickly noticed that they were with their tea. Time sure flew fast for them. "Well, I think it's time for us to retire for the night."
Gaara noticed as well, and nodded in understanding. Quietly, he helped Hinata with the cupsand carried the tray for her.
As they were walking, Hinta let the words drift to her. True love is fearless. She recalled a long time ago when she vowed to never settle for anything less than true love.
This was probably one of the moments Shikamaru wished he wasn't a well-known ninja in the village. He couldn't possibly be a cool adult like he always wanted if he was walking with Lee and Sasuke, especially if the latter was draped so casually on Lee's back. Some of the villagers couldn't help but smile and laugh at the picture they make.
This really was the most troublesome D-rank mission they had. Ever.
"Shikamaru-san."
Shikamaru spared him a glance. "Yep?"
"Sakura-san and I… We… We just had our first argument." Eyes downcast, Lee looked positively disheartenedand ashamed of himself. Shikamaru silently snickered at him. He wanted to say that it's about time for them to have one— because he believed that every single couple should atleast fight once a month or the relationship isn't healthy. But he knew better than to say that. Lee really loved Sakura, and he would never do anything to hurt her. He was probably having an internal conflict.
Love is so troublesome, he thought.
"Look, there are three things that I learned about women because of Temari." When Lee made a move to grab his notebook, Shikamaru stopped him. "Don't write them. Memorize these with your heart." He mentally noted that Lee looked at him as though what he was about to say was the core foundation of true love. It freaked it somewhat so he quickly burned the memory.
"One, women are always right even if you know they're wrong. Don't ever contradict that. Two, whenever they're in a bad mood, never talk back to them because usually they don't listen. And when they do, they're about to vent all their frustration to you. And three, the most important of all, always be first to say sorry even if there is nothing to be sorry about."
Lee gaped at him in awe. "Wow, Shikamaru-san."
Minutes after their talk, they arrived at where Sasuke resided. Shikamaru made Lee carry Sasuke immediately to his unit, while he went to the reception to get the spare key. Sasuke left his key at home. Lee thought they really didn't need it since they were ninjas and lock-picking was a piece of cake for them, but Shikamaru said something about the troublesome building alarm system for lock picks. Sasuke lived in a very private building, much to their chagrin.
And so, there they were sitting on the cold floor as they rested their backs on the front door of Sasuke's unit. He was with his ultimate rival for love, Uchiha Sasuke, who was silently snoozing at his side, head propped on his shoulder. A highly-skilled ninja who was trained with the best of the bests—Lee thought that he had no chance of winning with this handsome piece of flesh and blood, regardless of how nice and pleasing the personality he has. And that was the only thing he knew he had that Sasuke didn't—a pleasing personality.
He knew long ago that it took more than pleasing personality to please the woman you love.
But Lee is determined. He may not be the as great of a ninja as Uchiha Sasuke, but he could make Sakura smile. And for that, he would not give up the fight just yet.
"Sasuke-kun," he said to the sleeping fellow, "I wouldn't give her to you that easy."
To his surprise, the man roused from his slumber and stared directly at him. Lee's eyes widened at the thought that he heard what he said. But he is a man. He would never back down on his word. That had always been his ninja way. So Lee stared back, and wished he could tick the other man off like what he did to several unknown ninjas of the past.
He was prepared to fight for the love of his life until his last breath.
It never crossed him that Sasuke would grab his head with both hands. He thought that perhaps it was going to be a head-butt so he prepared himself. He had a thick skull, he knew, so he might survive.
It never crossed him that Sasuke would kiss him, until their lips met.
Downstairs, Shikamaru got the key from the land lady after explaining that their drunken friend left his key locked up inside his pad. He was about to go upstairs when Sakura barged in.
"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison.
Shikamaru decided to answer first. "I'm on a troublesome D-rank mission from our Kage. You?"
"I need to talk to Sasuke and Lee." She sounded like she out of breath.
Shikamaru frowned. "Well I'm not sure if you could talk to Sasuke right now, but Lee's upstairs." Sakura looked skeptical so he told her about the ramen incident and their supposed-to-be mission. After the explanation, they went directly upstairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura in deep thought. Shikamaru concluded that perhaps it had something to do with the argument that Lee was so troubled with. He knew that women didn't like it when someone talks about their love life, but he also knew that Sakura needed to hear this one from him.
As they walked their way on the stairs, he said them mildly, "Lee's a good guy." The words were plain and simple, but they were true. They gave some sort of a light mood for the two. She managed to smile a bit, and nodded in agreement. Shikamaru knew she would give contemplation on that, and he was glad for that.
But when they reached their destined floor, the light mood quickly disappeared. The building was built in a way that the end of the stairs was facing directly to the units. Coincidentally, the same staircase they were standing on ended with it directly facing Sasuke's pad. There was Sasuke and Lee by a front door kissing passionately.
The first thing that came to Shikamaru's mind was "Oh my God." The second thing was that the kiss somehow reminded how of those on Ino's Korean DVD collection she made the boys watch on one torture session. The third thing was that Sakura was on his side and that he needed to stop her from potentially killing the two.
Too late, because Sakura already landed a punch on Sasuke's face. Shikamaru watched as the guy crashed to the nearby wall. Said wall was destroyed in the process, but Sakura didn't seem to care as she continued to beat the life out of Sasuke. She was screaming profanities as well, coming up with new words and interesting combinations. He couldn't help but wince. He took baby steps to Lee, who was clearly in a state of complete shock.
Shikamaru nudged him. "Are you okay?"
Lee blinked, and then touched his lips. "Was that his tongue?" he said absent-mindedly.
Those were all the words he needed to hear to take steps away from Lee. From his side, Sakura dropped the bleeding Sasuke and shriek—at the highest tone Shikamaru ever heard—before giving a rough punch on Lee's stomach. Several punches followed after that.
After that, she went to Shikamaru's side. In her deadliest tone, she warned him, "Don't call the hospital or those two will never see sunlight again." With a stifled cry, she exited swiftly.
Shikamaru's glance shifted from Sasuke to Lee before he hit the speed-dial. After a few rings, his call was answered, "Chouji, mind coming over to Sasuke's place for a sec? And bring Ino's ointment please. I need you right now buddy."
Chouji took a quick look from the demolished wall, to the knocked down tandem of Sasuke and Lee, and to the recently scolded Shikamaru—courtesy of the landlady— before he asked, "What happened here?"
"Sakura," Shikamaru muttered. With words of troublesomeness, he briefly explained how he met Sakura, what had transpired and how she beat the two guys to a pulp.
Chouji had no words to say. In silence, the two inspect Sasuke and Lee for any broken bones or vital organs. After they had found out that there were no harmful damages done other than sore muscles, they proceeded to carry the two into Sasuke's apartment. They placed the two far from each other to assure that the incident would not be repeated. They locked Sasuke in his room to be sure.
"Sasuke owes me 60,000 ryou for this," Shikamaru said a little while later when they made themselves comfortable at the living room area.
Chouji nudged him playfully for that and handed him a mug of hot chocolate. "By the way, why didn't you call Ino? She'd be very useful here, you know."
"Thought of that," he replied, sipping on his cup. "But then I also thought Sakura would go to her after what happened so I changed my mind."
"Good point."
"Women are really troublesome."
"Big time."
"That Hokage always gives the most troublesome missions."
His friend chuckled. "By the way, what are we going to do about the other mission?"
"Oh, right…" Shikamaru sighed. "I thought of a plan and we already agreed that Shino will be the chosen one. The problem is how we're going to execute it…"
And thus, they had spent the night analyzing their next moves. It had to be fool-proof because their heads were at stake.
Sasuke woke up the next morning with his head feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. His body was aching as well. It was difficult, but he managed to crack his eyes open. He stared at the familiar surroundings of his room. He tried to remember how he got home but found out he couldn't.
He got up, wincing and wondering why his body hurt so much, and strode out of his room. He found Shikamaru, Chouji and Lee in his kitchen, all drinking cocoa and eating pancakes.
Lee was the first to notice him, dropping his fork and staring at him with gooey eyes. "Sasuke-kun, good morning" he said, blushing as he did so.
"What are you all doing here, how did you get in, and why is Lee blushing?" He felt his headache intensified a little.
"Relax," started Shikamaru. "You might as well sit down because I'm not really sure you'll handle the details very well."
Sasuke did as he was told and took a seat. Chouji offered him pancakes which he accepted. He took a sip of cocoa before looking at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru cleared his throat. "We're here because you mistakenly took sake last night and you got drunk."
Sasuke knew where this was heading. He groaned. "Oh no… What did I do?"
"You called us cuties, started singing on the karaoke machine, flirted with Neji, tried to kiss Naruto-sama, then dropped unconscious because of Kakashi-sensei," he narrated.
"You forgot to mention he kissed Lee in front of Sakura," said Chouji. "And that Sakura beat them up."
"Chouji! I was gonna go easy on that one!"
"Sorry…"
"I didn't…" Sasuke could but stare at Lee, waiting for the moment when he would say that the two were only joking.
"There was tongue involved," muttered Lee, reddening much more.
Sasuke felt the weight of the world being drop to him in full force. He banged his head on the table top. "God, I hate my genes so much." He groaned in frustration.
"Well, the good news is we thought of a plan!" beamed Shikamaru.
Sasuke raised his head and glared daggers of death, doom and destruction at him. "You are not getting applause for that."
A/N: I have finished. The following are random but these are my thoughts as I was writing the chappie.
1. My first kiss as a writer is SasuLee. My SasuSakuLeeIno love polygon has gone wild! And no, they won't be together at the end, don't worry.
2. Shikamaru is officially my love doctor. Lolz.
3. Gaara is a NaruHina supporter!
4. Writing with music helps!
5. They are going to get Naruto in the next chapter.
Thank you for reading! And sorry for the long wait!