Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto and have not contributed to it. Nope.

2nd Disclaimer: The songs mentioned in this chappie are not mine! They belong to their various mentioned artists!!!

Sky-eyed Kitsune: Yo!

Gomi-kun: ...

Sky-eyed Kitsune: Can you not be yourself for three seconds and act happy?

Gomi-kun: You're happy enough for three nations, plus me. -.-

Sky-eyed Kitsune: T.T You're soooo mean!!!

Gomi-kun: Deal with it. I'm just the translator.

This chapter goes out to yearofthejazz, who was the first person to favorite my story! Thank you!!! X3

I would like ten reviews for this chapter or chapter one in total so that I know this fic isn't completely hopeless. If I get ten, I'll upload the next chappie:3

Sky-eyed Kitsune: Now, ONWARD!!!

Gomi-kun: Onward...yay...

Chapter 2: Frenchie Frenchie

Naruto ran a hand through his golden locks thoroughly as a pair of deep ocean blue eyes stared back at his own. He sighed for the billionth time that night. He had changed into and out of every single shirt and pair of jeans he owned, but he didn't seem to want to wear any of them…that is, not tonight. His date, yes date, with Neji was only fifteen minutes away. Naruto turned on his heel and observed himself in the mirror. From bottom to top, he wore red and grey sneakers, form fitting dark blue jeans, a silver studded punk belt around his slim waist, a black tee-shirt that fit around his lithe frame nicely that read, "Ninja of the Night" in small, bloody orange words, and a black bracelet with a guitar pick hanging off of it around his left wrist. The black shirt illuminated his golden tanned skin and seemed to make him glow, the three straight scars on each of his cheeks appearing more predominant.

To say he looked good was an understatement. He looked hott. Of course Naruto being himself couldn't tell the difference between clothing. So he shrugged, observing that he had no time for another wardrobe change, and retired to the bathroom sink to brush his teeth. Suddenly there was a knock at his bedroom door as he grabbed his toothbrush. "It's open," he said, and Iruka walked into the room, Naruto's black kitten Cyclone tumbling in after.

"Hey, just wanted to let you know not to run on the wooden floor. I just waxed it," he said, sitting down on the side of Naruto's made bed. (Naruto was actually a neat person.)

Naruto nodded. He was in a better speaking mood, but not by much.

"I'm going out, is that ok?" he asked, squirting some toothpaste out onto his toothbrush.

"Sure," Iruka said as Cyclone pawed at his leg, and he lifted him onto the bed.

Iruka looked back at Naruto.

"Wow, going on a date?" Iruka asked, and Naruto in return stayed silent, though a light pink blush spread across his cheeks.

Iruka laughed and said teasingly, "Aw, little Naruto's got his first date!"

Naruto sent him a glare as he brushed his teeth.

"So which lucky fangirl did you choose? They've been trying to get at you forever, or so you tell me."

Naruto almost choked on the toothpaste in his mouth. He had never thought to tell Iruka that he was going with a guy! And Neji, no less! Iruka laughed at his adopted son's reaction as Cyclone jumped onto his shoulder and tugged at his chocolate hair with his premature kitten teeth.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Naruto cursed mentally.

"Shit! He's early!"

Naruto tried to say "Coming!" but what came out instead through his toothbrush was,

"Mrrfrrg!"

"It's ok lover-boy, I'll show the little lady in."

With that Iruka got up, Cyclone clinging to his left shoulder, and went to answer the door.

"No! Nononononononono!!!" Naruto screamed in his head.

Iruka pulled opened the door.

"It's nice to meet…Neji?"

Neji stared back at Iruka, who was baffled.

"Neji?" Iruka repeated, letting him in and closing the door.

Cyclone hopped off of Iruka's shoulder and onto Iruka's, nuzzling his cheek affectionately and purring. Neji scratched behind his ears.

"Umm…Naruto is almost ready to go on his date," Iruka said, hoping Neji would take the hint and leave before Naruto's date would show up.

"Oh yea, sorry I'm kind of early," Neji said, taking Cyclone off his shoulder and into his arms.

Iruka paused.

There was an awkward silence. Well, at least to Iruka it was.

"Neji…you're Naruto's-" "IRUKA!!!"

Naruto burst out of his room into the hallway, forgetting his guardian's warning about the slippery floor. Thus did he slip on his left foot, and go speeding past Neji and Iruka on said foot straight into the broom closet, the door shutting behind after a loud crash.

Iruka blinked.

Neji's eyes widened.

Cyclone mewed.

The duo walked over to the broom closet and opened the door to find a very disheveled Naruto splayed over the mops, cans and bottles at littered around him. He looked quite pitiful, but Iruka and Neji couldn't help but burst out laughing. Iruka's was loud and tear-filled, and Neji's was softer. Naruto scowled at the two of them and tried to release himself from the mess.

"Here, let me help you," Neji said, reaching a hand out to Naruto.

Naruto gripped his hand, and Neji pulled him up and out of the closet. Unfortunately Naruto was light and the pull was strong, and so this is how Naruto came to be flush up against Neji who hand his hands placed on Neji's hips. Icy white and cobalt clashed as their very close gaze hung for a moment, before Naruto turned bright red and broke away, mumbling an apology. Neji was a bit pink around the cheeks himself.

"You ok?" Neji asked quickly.

"Y-yea," Naruto replied, looking at the ground

Iruka watched this spectacle carefully from the corner of his eye as he straightened up the closet and closed it.

"So he really is Naruto's date…" he thought to himself, and then smiled softly.

"They looked good together."

Naruto dusted himself off and gave his hair a quick sweep through his fingers before turning to Neji.

"Ok, let's go..."

Naruto trailed off a bit at the end. This was his first good look at Knute since his slide-by glance. He wore black tennis shoes with relaxed, but not baggy black pants, small silver chains hanging off them to the left, a red belt, a deep maroon button-up shirt, a black jacket over it, and a small chain around his neck holding a guitar pick, similar to Naruto's black bracelet. His long chestnut hair was held in a loose pony tail, a few strands falling near his ashen eyes. Damn, he looked good. Naruto suddenly stopped.

"Wait, did I just think that?" he thought. "Oh no, no way! Neji's my best friend! And he's a GUY! Why would I think that? But…damn! Look at the guy!"

The same thoughts were running through Neji's very own head at that moment. (Minus the questioning of preference.) Naruto looked hott. Definitely. Suddenly the two of them became very nervous. This was it. Time for the…date.

"We'll be back by midnight at the latest," Neji said, regaining his composure much more quickly than Naruto, who still had a blush tinting his face.

"Ok," Iruka replied. "Sounds good. Don't come home drunk."

Naruto's lack of equanimity quickly fizzled out as he shot his guardian a half-hearted glare. Then with a quick wave the two were out the door and walking to Neji's car. Iruka smiled at the closed door. He had never known Naruto to date any of his fangirls…so maybe girls weren't his preference? Behind Iruka Cyclone slunk past, dragging one of Iruka's expensive black dress shoes quietly between his tiny teeth. He was almost home free, when Evalon, Iruka's calico cat of three years, saw this and let out an elegant, "meow".

"Drop it," Iruka said without turning around.

Cyclone froze and released the shoe from his now agape mouth, and mewed innocently.

Naruto and Neji sat in silence all through the drive to the dance. But it wasn't a comfortable silence like their normal ones at school or when they were with the rest of the band; it was awkward. Naruto sat looking out the window of the black Toyota supra while Neji kept his eyes glued to the road.

Naruto ran his hand against the light tan leather on the side of his seat. He, Kiba and Shino had all saved up for a whole year to buy Neji the car, working extra hours and keeping it all a secret, so that Neji would be surprised on his birthday. Neji had never had a birthday party or gotten any presents before, simply for the fact that his parents were always busy. (They made plenty of money.) So in the start of their sophomore year when Neji got his license, Naruto devised the ultimate surprise party and present.

Flashback—

"Hmm…wonder what Neji wanted to talk to me about…" Naruto thought.

Neji had asked him to stop by his house after work to talk about something. And whatever it was had sounded pretty important. This, little did Neji know, was the perfect place for Naruto to let loose his plan.

Naruto lifted up his head suddenly at the sound of a clicking door.

"Ah! He's here!" he cried to a crowd of people behind him, among them Kiba and Shino.

"Take cover!"

The various people scrambled around, shushing each other and ducking behind furniture and doors. Naruto stood where he was though, leaned in a relaxed way against the arm of a couch. A door closed and Neji walked down the hallway to his family room. Neji had a fairly large house and his parents were frequently gone, so it was big and empty. Naruto joked the first time he had been to Neji's house that you could hear an echo in it when someone spoke.

And so Neji entered the still family room, it looking as normal as ever with the exception of Narto being there. Actually…that wasn't so abnormal at all. Naruto often visited Neji at his house after school and on the weekends, so it was like his second home. And with Naruto around…the house felt a lot less empty.

"Hey," Neji said, removing his employee tag covered with buttons and chains and throwing it onto a coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting. I had to stay after at work for a bit to close down the store for winter break."

"It's ok," Naruto replied, waving the matter away. "What'd you want to talk about?"

At this Neji turned a bit pink at the cheeks and looked to the ground.

"How uh…how long have you known me for, Naruto?" he asked tentatively.

Naruto cocked his head to one side and thought.

"Ummm…a little over one year!"

Neji nodded.

"We've done a lot of stuff together, huh?" he continued.

"Yep! A LOT of stuff, that's for sure!"

"And we're friends."

"Yea, course! You're one of my best friends Neji!"

Neji gulped and looked at the floor. This was it.

"Naruto…since I met you I…feel a lot happier. Back in my old school, I used to ditch and skip classes to try to get my parent's attention. But that never worked…so they moved here with me. I intended on skipping out during my time at the high school down here too, but that suddenly changed when I met you."

Neji looked up to make sure that Naruto was still listening, and found his deep ocean eyes locked on him. Neji returned his gaze to the floor and continued.

"When I first met you I hated you…because I was jealous of the way you were so unconditionally happy all the time. That's how I wanted to be. But after we became friends, I found myself opening up more, and getting up to go to school because I didn't feel the need to cry for attention from my parents, because I had you. Kiba and Shino too. But I realized that I wasn't going to school everyday for them. I was going to see you."

Neji looked up at Naruto again and couldn't help but smile fondly. This bright little ball of sunshine had somehow squeezed his way into Neji's life, and now his heart. And with him he had brought Kiba and Shino, his two best friends.

Naruto stared on in awe. What he heard Neji saying was so sad…but made him feel so happy.

Neji finally found his legs and moved toward Naruto so that they were a foot apart.

"Naruto," he quietly. "You've really changed my life a lot for the better. And now, my view of you has changed.

"C-changed?" Naruto stammered. He suddenly found that his voice couldn't work.

Neji smiled and leaned his forehead down a bit so that it was touching Naruto's.

"Yep," Neji said softly, and Naruto felt his breath cascade across his cheeks.

Suddenly he smelled something.

"The ocean?" he thought to himself.

He breathed in again and realized that the scent was coming from Knute.

"Neji smells like the ocean…"

The ocean was one of Naruto's favorite smells by far, himself being an avid surfer like Kiba. He wondered briefly how Neji could smell like the ocean when he didn't even like to swim, when he heard his name again.

"Naruto…"

Naruto locked his eyes with Neji's own pallid ones.

"The color of snow…"

"Naruto," Neji repeated, his hot breath brushing over Naruto's face again as he did so.

Naruto suddenly felt very relaxed and his eyes closed involuntarily, Neji's forehead still resting on his own.

"I…I think I lo-"

"SURPRISE!!!"

Neji leapt back five feet from Naruto and landed his bum on the hard wooden floor of his house. There were at least 30 people in his home, minus Naruto and himself. They were all people he knew from school, including his old one. Neji looked to Naruto, who had a big grin on his face.

"Happy birthday!" he cried happily, and everyone brought out all of the hidden balloons, sodas, and presents for the party. Neji was dumfounded.

The party winded down at around midnight, at which time Neji was still shell-shocked. The gifts had been great, and the party was awesome. But now he was glad that it was only himself and the band left. He was too tired to deal with anything else.

Yet here was Naruto, dragging him down to his garage with a blindfold over his eyes, Kiba and Shino following suit.

"Don't look!" Naruto said, leading Neji down a set of cement stairs as Kiba and Shino followed.

"All right already, geez!" Neji said. He was tired and cranky, and didn't feel much up to Naruto's antics at the moment.

Suddenly the pulling stopped and Naruto released Neji's arm.

"Ok, you can look now!" he said, and Neji undid his blindfold. He gaped at the black Toyota supra shining under the overhead lights. He walked up to it slowly as if it were a mirage, and touched the hood. The black paint seemed to ripple under his touch. He noticed a small tag on the left side mirror, and he pulled it off to read it.

"Hope this makes up for 15 years of missed birthdays." –Naruto, Kiba, and Shino

"This…this is for me? THIS IS FOR ME!?" Neji shouted in his bedazzlement and the trio grinned widely in response.

Neji looked back to the car.

"But how…?"

"It was all Naruto's idea," Kiba said proudly, grinding his fist against Naruto's golden mop of hair.

"It's not a big deal…" Naruto said, a bit embarrassed to be in the spotlight.

"He threw the party too," Shino added, and Neji flashed a huge grin.

"Naruto…guys…I don't…I…thanks," Neji stuttered.

The trio grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

Kiba stretched out his arms and yawned.

"I'm gonna go home and sleep. You with me Shino?" he said.

Shino nodded and followed. Naruto glanced at his watch.

"Holy crap! It's past midnight! Iruka's gonna kill me!" he cried. He ran to the door, Neji following close behind. He was out the doorframe when he suddenly stopped and turned to Neji.

"Oh yea, what did you want to say again?"

Neji blushed, forgetting about his confession.

"I…I…." he stammered. "I was gonna say…you're my best friend too."

Neji knew it was a total lie, but somehow now he couldn't dredge up the confidence to spill his heart out anymore. Naruto smiled nonetheless.

"Thanks!" he said, and dashed for home.

"Naruto."

Naruto was brought out of his nostalgia by Neji's voice.

"You wanna listen to the radio or something?"

Naruto blinked a few times as Neji's words reached his ears, and then he nodded and pressed the button for the radio.

Naruto and Neji tensed up and their hearts jumped in their throats as the song "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey blasted in the speakers.

"You gave me a reason for standin' still. Cause I want you, and I feel you, crawlin' underneath my skin. Like a hunger, like a burnin', to find a place I've never been…""

The lyrics bounced around the inside of the car, and suddenly Neji and Naruto shared a mutual feeling of discomfort. They both simultaneously reached for the button to change the channel, and their hands over lapped each other. They shot up their gazes to meet each other's eyes at this, then blushed and looked away quickly. Naruto's hand tingled with the sensation of Neji's touch, but he ignored it and flipped to a random channel.

"Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why; without you it's hard to survive…"

Naruto and Neji's eyes widened as Cascada flowed through the station.

"Cause every time we touch I get this feeling, and every time we kiss I swear I could fly…"

This time it was Neji to quickly change the song.

"Come away with me and we'll kiss on a mountain top. Come away with me and I'll never stop loving you…"

Naruto and Neji both sighed inwardly. Nora Jones. Better than Cascada. They made a silent agreement to leave the station as it was, since it seemed like the radio was torturing them with love songs.

The song was soft and slow, and made the atmosphere surprisingly much more relaxed. Naruto took on a placid face, his blush dissipating.

"And I wanna wake up with the rain falling on a tin roof, while I'm safely in your arms."

He stole a glance over at Neji. He was also much calmer. Naruto stared at him under the dim lights of the streetlamps outside passing by and shining briefly through the windows. Neji really was a very handsome guy, and Naruto couldn't help but love the peaceful look on his face.

"So all I ask is for you to come away with me in the night…"

Neji turned his snow white eyes to the right and locked gazes with Naruto. Then he smiled softly. Naruto returned the smile whole-heartedly, and as Neji turned back to the road, the tenseness in the air had vanished.

"Come away…"

Neji made a right turn and pulled the car into a parking lot.

"With me………"

He turned off the car. The high school's blasting music could be heard banging through the building walls and echoing into the night. The windows lit up with colorful flashing neon lights and were adorned with Halloween decorations. Naruto and Neji looked at each other. Did they really want to go anymore? Once they left the car, everything could become tense again.

Neji smiled at Naruto got out of the car. Naruto followed suit, and the atmosphere became stressed yet again. They walked side by side to the building. Wait…Naruto had never actually considered the people around him and what they would think about his date…with a guy. Actually, "the people around him" as far as Naruto cared were Kiba and Iruka. No one else mattered to him. They were either egotistical jocks or obsessed fangirls. Now there was a plus! If the fangirls saw him with Neji and thought they were both gay, they might back off for good! But oh, how nervous he was! This was his first date, with his best friend no less! What was he supposed to do!?

Suddenly Naruto felt something warm wrap around his hand and entwine with his fingers. He looked down, and found Neji's hand interlaced with his own. Naruto blushed heavily as he looked up a bit to Neji, who also had a small tint of pink across his cheeks.

"We're going to get hounded in there by fangilrs, so as long as they think we're a couple, they'll back off," Neji explained. "At least for tonight."

Naruto nodded at his knowledge as they continued walking to the campus hand in hand. Naruto felt himself grow more nervous with each step They had to act like a couple…more than just dates, but…a couple! Naruto swallowed nervously. Suddenly he felt the warmth around his hand spread up his arm and relax his body as Naruto gave it a gentle and comforting squeeze. He didn't say a word, so Naruto gave his hand a light squeeze back as thanks, and Naruto would have sworn that his saw the smallest hint of a blush appear across Neji's pale complexion.

The music was loud and bumpy as it resounded through the auditorium to provide the bodies on the dance floor with melodies to move their feet to. Of course everyone was there; who would miss a dance? The school barely had any, so what better way to spend a Friday night than with earsplitting music and a few drunken friends?

That's right, drunk. Yes, they were all underage and in high school, but the seniors found it hilarious to spike the punch with alcohol (snuck in of course), and kick back and watch the poor unsuspecting freshmen to make fools of themselves, all heading for a one way ticket to hangover heaven the next morning. This is exactly why everyone found Marcus Blunt, a smashed freshman, jump up onto one of the tables and start to sing "I'm Too Sexy". This was also the reason why when Neji walked in with Naruto, he knew he wouldn't be touching the punch.

As they past through the crowd of people chatting and gossiping, and some slurring here and there, Naruto's fangirls were eying the golden haired sex god hungrily. Neji of course saw this, and he removed his hand from Naruto's to slip it around his waist defensively as if to say, "Back off, he's mine!" Neji's own fangirls were keeping him under surveillance, but they were smart enough to stay away from his killing radius. Naruto laughed slightly, catching Neji off guard as to what was so funny.

"Possessive much, Neji?" Naruto joked. Suddenly though Neji's eyes widened and he blushed. Naruto, realizing he had implied that they were going out, also turned red and shifted his gaze to the ground.

Neji released his arm around Naruto's slim waist, and Naruto, unbeknownst to himself, whimpered inwardly at the loss of contact. Suddenly a group pushed through the crowd and zeroed in on the couple. Yes, it was none other than Naruto's fanclub. Not all of them of course, as the others were dancing. No, these were the hard core members. Neji recognized the pretty blonde on in the front with the short hair as the leader by the way the group followed her every move.

"Hiya cutie," she said, pursing her lips and winking seductively at Naruto, who merely blinked apathetically.

"How 'bout you and me dance when the next slow song swings around?"

"Sorry," Naruto managed to say. Again, he was pretty loose around his friends still, but his voice just became lost around others. "I-I'm dancing with Neji."

The blondie's eyes widened, the fanclub gasped, and Neji grinned victoriously.

"HA! Take that!" his inner self all but shouted.

"Yes, Naruto is my date," Nejo said, supporting Naruto as they both enjoyed the shock on the fangirls' faces. There was silence for a moment, the only sound around coming from the pumping music, when a brave fangirl in back piped up.

"Are…are you two um…going out?"

The group looked horrified at the suggestion. Neji suddenly grinned as a plan formed in his mind.

"Yes," he said strongly, placing a confident arm around Naruto's waist once more and pulling him close as he rested his head on top of Naruto's. "Yes we are." Those fangirls would never bother Naruto again.

Naruto looked up a bit to Neji, slightly baffled, when he caught the gleam in his date's eye and remember their anti-fangirl plan. Naruto nodded to the fangirls in agreement, and leaned back into Neji, resting his hands on the ones adorning his waist. (They both tried to fight down major blushes at this point.) The fangirl's mouths dropped open comically, and Naruto fought to suppress a laugh. Then the blonde in front suddenly smirked and crossed her arms. Wait…what?

"Hmph! I know what you're doing!" she said triumphantly. "You two are just trying to make Naruto look gay to get rid of us! Not working!"

Damn those fangirls were smarter than Neji gave them credit for.

"What?" Neji said innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. We've been going out for two weeks now."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yep."

"Okay, then what day did you start dating?"

"The fourteenth of October."

"Day of the week?"

"Sunday."

"Who asked?"

"I did."

"How?"

"I'd been taking Naruto on dates for about a month, and I popped the question after band practice."

Naruto listened in amazement as the two rallied back in forth, neither giving in. When had Neji gotten to be such a good liar?

The blondie snarled a bit and clenched her fists as her side. None of her questions were even jarring him! He was supposed to stutter and make up some badly told lie! Why wasn't he cracking!? Suddenly the blond got an idea, and a wide grin spread across her face. This would tell for sure!

"Ok, if you two have been dating for two weeks, you must have kissed already, right?" she asked.

The duo blinked. Damn! She was good!

"Yes," Neji said confidently while the bridge of Naruto's nose flushed pink.

"Mind a demonstration?"

Neji looked down to Naruto at this whom also looked up to him. Neji gave him a questioning look as if to ask permission, and finding no argument, he dipped his head down slightly and gave Kira a quick kiss on the cheek. Naruto was painted redder than a valentine. The girls let out a short gasp, but the leader didn't looked impressed.

"Not like that. A real kiss!" Suddenly the fangirls came out of their little panic parties and became fiercely supportive of their leader.

"Yea!" they all cried in unison.

"By the end of the dance, we have to see a real kiss to believe you!" the blonde continued.

"Yea!"

"It can't be a quick peck either, but on the lips!"

"Yea, yea!

"And it has to be long!"

"Yea!!!"

"And French!!!"

"Ye-WHAT!?!?" Even Naruto and Neji turned bright scarlet at this. The fangirls gave their leader a look.

"Tiff, what if Naruto and Neji are going out? We…we can't watch Neji share a kiss with our Naruto! Especially a French one!" the girl on the left said urgently to the leader apparently named Tiff.

"Don't' worry girls!" Tiff cried confidently. "Naruto would never kiss Neji just to keep us away! Only people who have really fallen for each other French kiss!" The group seemed soothed by their leader's words. She turned back to the couple.

"Remember- by the end of the dance. We'll be watching!" With that Tiff turned on her heel and stormed off, the group following. Naruto and Neji moved out of their "couple" mode and looked at each other. A kiss!? A French kiss!? If someone could die of blushing, Naruto would have been dead and buried.

Ten reviews for next chappie please:3

Sky-eyed Kitsune and Gomi-kun