(AN): Hey guys! Once again, thanks for the lovely comments! I finally finished chapter 3 and i'm currently working on chapter 4. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Taa-Taa!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and gang.

Chapter 3: Sasuke's secret

Homework, homework, homework. Fuck. I hate homework! It's so stressful too since it's my last year. I have to have good grades to get into a good college. Well, that is what my uncle keeps telling me. Anyways, I'm in the library right now with Sasuke and Shikamaru. I didn't go here on my own free will, they both dragged me here. It's Friday after school and I'm in the library. Can you believe that?

I looked over at Sasuke; he was pasting stuff together for his science project. He was not in a good mood today, and I'll tell you later why. Shikamaru was busy memorizing formulas for his calculus class. And me? We'll I'm just about done writing my rough draft for English. We are supposed to write about our favorite author and how their books affected our lives. I know what you're thinking, sounds like junior high stuff right? Well, I'm not complaining.

It's been almost a month since school had started and things are going pretty smoothly. For now.

Oh yeah, just today, Iruka sensei told us that his first and third period history class is going on our first official field trip. Its good news for me because Sasuke has Iruka for third period so he will be coming too.

Iruka told us that we would be camping near the most beautiful historical sight in Kanoha. When I heard the word 'camping' I literally fell out of my chair. I have never in my whole entire seventeen years of my life been camping in the wilderness. This doesn't count but back when Sasuke and me we're kids, we would camp out in my backyard. We were safe because we were in the premises of my house. In addition, that's the only camping experience I had.

Iruka mentioned that he would be providing the tents. He figured that the rich kids would bring their huge pimped out tents so he decided to provide them instead. The thing is though there isn't enough for everybody! Damn that Iruka!

So Iruka tried to be clever and told us instead of two people to a tent that it would be best if it were four people to a tent. My classmates started whining. To tell you the truth I was too. Being that close to a stranger, so close you can literally smell their body odor. That's just disgusting.

The good news came later. Well, you see, Iruka also decided to assign the students to go in which tents. He told us he wanted the guys and girls in separate tents. Of course, my classmates whined again.

He read names off one by one. Remember, he was also naming the kids in his third period and I figured he would tell the assigned tents later on to his third period students.

Then he called my name. "Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Kenta Julius, and Andrew Blight are in tent number ten!" he said.

Woohoo! Sasuke is in my group!

Someone in class spoke up. It was Kenta. "Sensei, I think you forgot about what Andrew and I requested yesterday."

"Oh shoot, I forgot. Sorry boys." Iruka said as he started correcting something on his paper.

"Ok guys, forget about what I told you before." he said.

He looked down at his paper again, "Kenta Vitara, Andrew Blight, Ai Takuya, and Joshua Draven are in tent number ten."

"Next group is…" He double-checked the paper. "Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Gaara Sabaku are in tent number eleven."

At that moment when he said our names, Gaara and I just looked at each other and looked away. No words spoken. Maybe we were both too shy to say anything.

Iruka then mentioned, "Sorry Gaara, I switched you and Naruto with Joshua and Ai."

"Its fine" Gaara told him.

At least Sasuke is in my group. Thank god. But, I don't think he will be too pleased with the changes. Anyways, this field trip was going to be next weekend. I'm somewhat excited to tell you the truth. This would be like my first mini adventure into the wilderness. I can just imagine myself dressed in an Indiana Jones outfit. Haha.

"Damnit!" cried Sasuke.

"Neji can you ask the librarian if she has extra scissors? The one I was using just fucking broke." he said angrily.

"Dude, calm down." I said as I made my way to the front desk.

I bet you know why he's so upset right? Yes, it was because Naruto was put in our group. Ever since that kiss he had, he's been a little on edge lately. He would totally avoid Naruto. He told us never to mention Naruto around him ever.

As I make my way to the front desk, I saw a group of kids around my age sitting at one of the tables. When I came closer, I realized it was Naruto, Gaara and Sai. Sai was smiling to himself as usual.

I pretended not to notice them until I saw from the side of my eye Naruto nudging Gaara when they both noticed my presence. You could also tell Gaara was kicking Naruto from under the table.

"Just say it!" Naruto said in a loud whisper. Which I heard.

"Fine!" Gaara whispered back while he gave Naruto one last hard kick under the table.

Gaara coughed trying to clear his throat. "Hi Neji." he said quietly.

I turned my head towards the red head and pretended that I just noticed them. "Oh hey what's up? Nice seeing you here." I said, trying to be polite.

"Uh, yeah." he said blushing. Naruto and Sai were trying to hold in their giggles. Gaara looks somewhat cute when he blushes. Hmm, did I just say that?

Just recently, I found out from Ino that Gaara and Naruto were old childhood friends. Naruto lived next door to Gaara before Naruto's parents died. He moved to Kanoha where his adopted parent lived. Guess who? Yup, Iruka sensei.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming up from behind.

"What the hell is taking so long Neji!" cried Sasuke. He stopped walking when he noticed Naruto and his group.

"This is a library idiot, why don't you stop yelling… its making my ears bleed." Naruto cried.

I looked at my friend. Poor guy, he was lost for words but you can tell he was about ready to kill anything that moved.

"Don't tell me what to fucking do dobe." he managed to say. He gave Naruto that famous Uchiha death stare.

"Stop staring at me like that." Naruto said angrily. Sasuke never took his eyes off Naruto.

I didn't want trouble. "C'mon Sasuke, lets leave now." I said as I tried dragging him back to our table.

"No, we will leave." cried Naruto. "Guys lets go."

They all stood up to go and started heading towards the exit. Gaara turned to look at me and smiled. I smiled back at him. Damn, whenever he does that it makes me feel… weird. Is that normal?

Then, something unexpected happened. Naruto walked next to Sai. Sai smiled at Naruto and the duo started holding hands as they left the library.

Whoa, when did this all happen? Was Sai and Naruto a couple? A gay couple, hmm, how interesting.

"Lets go home now, I'll just finish my project tomorrow." said Sasuke. This time, instead of looking angry, he looked more disappointed.

We told Shikamaru that we were going to leave but the braniac decided to stay until he got the formula embedded in his brain. Since he was our ride home, Sasuke and I had to walk. Both of us didn't mind because we lived kind of near. It was like a fifteen-minute walk to be exact.

Both Sasuke and I bid farewell to our friend and started heading home. It was getting late.

The first few minutes were quiet. Neither of us talked.

Sasuke had his hands in his pocket and was thinking of something. He looked troubled.

I wanted to know what that something was. "What's on your mind?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh, oh its nothing." Sasuke said quietly. I knew there was something wrong. I knew when he was lying.

I tried again. "Something's bothering you. I know it."

"Well it's nothing of your concern Neji." he said annoyed.

"Fine. Be that way." I said back. I gave a loud sigh.

Sasuke looked at me and rolled his eyes. "Fine I'll tell you. Geez, your an asshole Neji, you know that?"

I smiled. "Ok tell me."

"Can I ask you something first?" Sasuke said.

"Sure." I said.

"What do you do if you started to have feelings for someone, but you don't want to ruin your reputation because of it?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Oh shit! Who's the lucky girl?" I asked curiously.

"Shutup, just answer the question." he pleaded.

I thought for a minute. "Well, if you really did have strong feelings for that person then why would your reputation matter?"

Sasuke didn't say anything for a while and just continued to walk.

"What if this particular person hates you?" he asked.

That's a tough one to answer. "Well, I don't really know what to tell you man." was the only answer I could think of.

Sasuke frowned and gave a small sigh.

"You didn't answer my question… who is this girl?" I asked again. "Is it one of the groupie girls that hang out around us? Or one of your classmates? Maybe one of our friends from…."

"It's not a girl Neji." Sasuke interrupted. I stopped walking and turned to face my friend. I grabbed his wrist to stop him from walking.

"What do you mean it's not a girl?" I asked. What the hell is going on today?

Sasuke wasn't making eye contact with me.

"You know what I mean.," he said.

"Tell me who it is." I asked. Sasuke didn't say anything and continued to avoid my eyes.

"Sasuke, if you're afraid that I'm going to think of you differently then you're wrong. You were my friend ever since forever. You're still going to be the same Sasuke I knew from before." I said, trying to be a friend.

"Neji, stop getting sappy with me. Anyways, fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me that you won't tell a soul. Or I'll seriously kick your ass." he warned me.

"Why would I tell anybody?" I assured him.

"Naruto. As in, Naruto Uzumaki." he tried to say quietly.

I couldn't help it but I laughed. I know, it was mean.

Sasuke got angry. "What's so damn funny?" he demanded.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to laugh." I said while trying to hold in my chuckles. "I mean, it's just that you two hate each other."

"Well, sometimes he just pisses me off. Like today at the library. He tried to badmouth me. It just gets me upset when he talks to me that way." Sasuke mentioned.

He frowned again and looked at the ground while kicking a pebble around. "Plus he has that fucking Sai now. That bastard." he added.

"Well Naruto doesn't even know you have feelings for him. He probably thinks you hate his guts also." I said.

"I mean, he gave you a kiss and you just stood there." I added. "The guy probably felt stupid."

"I don't want him to know how I feel. He has Sai now. Plus, I don't want people to talk shit behind my back if they find out.," he told me.

"What the? I told you not to worry about your reputa…"

Sasuke cut me off. "Alright well there's my house… I'll talk to you later." he said as he walked quickly away.

I just stood there like an idiot. Sasuke can be a bitch sometimes.

I continued to walk towards my house. The skies began to turn an orange color. The sun was setting soon.

Many things started going though my head. I asked myself questions like, 'How long was Sasuke attracted to guys?' or 'How long ago did this thing for Naruto started?' or 'Did he ever like me at some point?'.

Come to think about it, why was Sasuke upset when he found out that Naruto was sharing a tent with us? Shouldn't he be happy or something? Damn, Sasuke sure is weird sometimes.

Instead of taking the regular route home, I decided to cut through the local park.

I loved the park, it was beautiful. Most of the Kanoha special events happened here. I would come here and sit under a tree whenever I felt upset. Seeing smiling and laughing faces made the negative feelings go away sometimes. And the good thing was, it was just a block away from my house.

I started to survey my surroundings. The usual kids playing in the playground and the parents watching. The older kids playing soccer at one of the fields. Families who decided to have an evening picnic. The whole atmosphere just made me smile.

Since dinner at the Hyuuga residence wasn't starting until the next hour, I made the choice of staying in the park for a while.

I chose my usual sitting spot. Under a huge sakura tree near the man made pond where kids usually play with their sailboats. Ever since I was little, it was my spot.

I sat down and breathed in the fresh evening air. The reflection of the setting sun can be seen on the glistening surface of the pond. I began to digest the sights of the park. Times like this are what cause me to think about my dad. It was he who first took me here. You can say that this might be one of the reasons I go here as well.

I almost drifted off to sleep when I noticed a boy walking to one of the park benches near me. It was my classmate Gaara again. He was holding some kind of notebook.

He never noticed me sitting under the tree. I took that opportunity and I continued to monitor his actions. Come to think of it, I sound like a freaking stalker right now. Ah, its one of my bad habits really.

Anyways, Gaara sat down and began to open his notebook. He took out a writing material and started to write or draw something in it. I'm guessing he's probably drawing since he keeps looking around for something to draw.

A soccer ball started rolling towards me, which took my eyes off the red head. One of the kids yelled if I could throw it back, which I did. I continued to see what Gaara was doing. As I looked, our eyes met. Damn, he probably looked at who was yelling and probably saw me. I tried to play it off.

"Oh, hehe, hey. What are you doing here?" I said as I got up from my spot.

"Umm, I just came here to sketch." he said rather timid.

I sat down near him. "That's cool that you draw, I can't draw for crap." I chuckled.

He smiled.

"Do you come here often?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I come here sometimes on my free time." I told him.

"Oh, that's cool." Gaara said.

"Would it bother you if I saw some of your artwork?" I asked.

He looked hesitant at first. "Umm, sure. I'll show you some." He then started flipping through his notebook… or I should now say 'sketchbook'.

Gaara showed me the first drawing. "This was a sketch I did when I was still back at my old town.," he mentioned.

It was magnificent. It was a picture of sand dunes with a setting sun in the background. Everything was shadowed and highlighted perfectly. This boy was talented.

"Holy shit that's really good Gaara." I said to him.

He blushed a little bit. "Thanks." He continued to flip though the sketchbook. Gaara showed me the second picture.

This time it was a realistic picture of what I'm guessing is his family. Like the last one, this picture was absolutely gorgeous.

"This is a drawing of my family. Um, here is my brother and the one over there is my sister. The one to the side is my father. I'm in the middle." Gaara said.

"You're good; you should draw a portrait of me." I jokingly said.

He smiled. "Oh, uh, sure." he told me.

We sat there in silence for a while until I looked at my watch. Damn, time to go home.

"Well, I have to get going. Dinner is almost starting. My uncle will bitch if I'm late." I told Gaara.

"I guess I'll see you around.," he told me.

I then began to prop myself up from the bench when my hand accidentally went on his. I sat there and I looked at him. For some reason, I didn't take my hand off his and he didn't even bother to take his hand away.

We somewhat just stared at each other. I had that strange feeling in my stomach again. It felt kind of good to tell you the truth.

I felt my hand holding his kind of. I couldn't take my eyes off his emerald ones. What's happening to me?

I finally snapped from my trance and I took my hand quickly away from his.

"Sorry." I said. "See yah."

I stood up and walked away. Leaving Gaara there just like how Sasuke left me standing a while ago.

When I got home, my annoying uncle greeted me. He kept asking me why I didn't call our driver to come and pick me up instead of me walking back to the house.

"I'm not a kid uncle. Anyways, it was a short walk. Its no big deal." was what I told him.

Dinner was normal except that Hinata cooked dinner instead of the cook. She explained that she wanted to practice her cooking. The food was actually not that bad at all.

After dinner, I went up to my room. I hopped on my bed and just laid there. I was exhausted.

Suddenly my cell phone started ringing. I reached in my back pocket and flipped open my phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"Neji, its Sasuke. Hey… I'm sorry about earlier.," he said.

"Oh, don't worry about it." I told him.

"Can I just ask one favor? Try to pretend I never told you anything. Okay? I just want to get him off my mind right now.," he explained.

"Uh, sure man, whatever. I'll try. Oh… you would never guess what happened to me at the park earlier." I said to Sasuke.

"Okay?"

"I kind of held Gaara's hand. Well, it was more like an accident. I think it was." I said.

"Haha, are you serious? Neji I didn't know you swung that way.," he laughed.

"Whatever, I don't. Actually, I should be the one saying that!" I joked.

"Fuck you dude.," he laughed. "Well I'm going to go now. My brother is home. Later man."

I stared at my ceiling. I kept repeating what Sasuke had said in my head.

I don't swing that way. I know I don't. Or… do I?

(AN): So how was it? I know the Tent situation was somewhat expected. But c'mon! Four sexy boys in one tent! Fan-service! Anyways, please comment and review. I would truly appreciate it.