Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way! Nope! None!
2nd
Gomi-kun: Whatever.
Sky-eyed Kitsune: Ignore Gomi-kun. He's got a stick up his ass today; more than usual -.-
Gomi-kun: x.x
Sky-eyed Kitsune: Anyways…yes! This is the chapter before I introduce new characters and more of Naruto's suitors! Muahahahaha! –evil lightning in backround—
IMPORTANT!!!
Reviewer Replies:
To Gemstones: Weeeee! I looooveeee your reviews!!! –hands cookie— Actually, whether or not Naruto breaks Neji's heart is yet to be seen. This was labeled as a sasunaru fic because they're my fav pairing, but whichever pairing really wins is fifty percent up to the reviewers! (The other fifty being how I feel that day…-.-) And Neji isn't out of the race yet! XD I want to introduce all the characters first, so that's when I'll ask for votes. But for right now, tell me which of Naruto's suitors you want to see first!!!
To blueserenityx3: Actually, Neji and Naruto WILL see each other again, but when is up to me…muhahaha! Don't worry, I love sasunaru too! It's coming; every suitor mentioned in chapter one will get their chance! Promise! Bear with me people, this is going to be a very loooooooong story:D
To Teng-A-Ling: Ah, I know! I'm so mean to Neji for only giving him three days to romance our very-sought-after Naruto! T.T But they will meet again!
To Kawaii-Ningyo: Thank you!!! Fear the fluff! XD Yes, I read nejinaru once and thought that it was so cute! Yay for the uncommon:D A vote for Gaara and Sasuke again!
To Destiny Writes: Wahoo! Another nejinaru fan! X3 Thank you for the review!
Chapter Dedication
This chapter is for Gemstones and Destiny Writes, my lovely, lovely reviewers! I love reading your reviews! They make me really think about my story!!! LUV YOU!!!! XD
I'M SORRY, MORE IMPORTANT CRAP!!!
All righty, so the score so far as to who you want to see in the next chapter is as follows:
Sasuke: 3
Gaara: 2
Itachi: 0
Sai: 0
Chapter 6: Mr. Wonderful
"Show me what it's like to be the last one standing. And teach me wrong from right, and I'll show you what I can be.
Naruto grunted and rolled over in his bed, pulling his pillow over his head.
"Say for me, say it to me. And I'll leave this life behind me. Say it if it's worth savin' me."
Naruto closed his eyes tighter, begging for more sleep. Naruto always had a song stuck in his head when he woke up in the morning, but why was it Nickelback this time? And why did it sound so loud?
"Heaven's gates won't open up for me; with these broken wings I'm falling. And all I see is you."
Naruto suddenly growled with realization- it was his cell phone.
"These city walls ain't got no love for me; I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story and oh, I scream for you."
Naruto sat up, his pillow falling off of his head. He rubbed his eyes, unknowingly smearing some eyeliner left over from the night before so that he looked akin to a blonde raccoon, and looked around the room to catch a glimpse of his phone. He did NOT feel like leaving the snuggly comfort of his covers.
"Come please, I'm calling. And all I need from you…"
Naruto huffed when he couldn't spot it, and swung his legs over to the floor, cringing from the cold wood beneath his feet and instantly missing his soft fuzzy orange blanket.
"Hurry, I'm fallin…"
Naruto perked his ears up and followed the noise.
"I'm fallin…"
Naruto smirked when he found the phone under his bed, and he pulled it out, avoiding dust bunnies that hid themselves from the light. He stood up and looked at who was calling.
"I'm fallin…"
"Neji!" Naruto suddenly cried, realizing that the ringtone was over, and he flipped open the phone quickly, hoping it hadn't moved to his mailbox yet. The last thing he needed was to brush off Neji.
"H-hello? Neji?" Naruto said quickly.
"Hey Naruto."
Naruto almost fainted from relief. Then he remembered how tired he was.
"What're you calling so early for Neji?" Naruto asked, yawning as he spoke and stretching out his arm with his hand not holding the cell phone.
"It's 11:30 am Naruto," Neji said a bit flatly, and Naruto suddenly felt embarrassed.
"Oh, uh…" he said, scratching the back of his head.
"I just woke up, haha!"
"It's ok. I was wondering, since this is our last day, do you want to spend it together?"
"Hmmm…I know! Why don't all of us spend it together?"
"All of us?"
"Yea you know, like the band! I won't see Shino and Kiba for a while either."
"Ok, sure." Neji inwardly cursed. This was his last day to woo Naruto, dammit!
"So where are we going?" Neji's inner tantrum was put on hold by Naruto's voice.
"Um, there's a surf contest taking place on the beach in about s half an hour, and there's a carnival after."
"Really? That's so awesome! Kiba and I are gonna enter the contest! But what will you and Shino do? Are you ok with just sitting on the beach and watching us."
"We'll be fine, don't worry about it," Neji said, his inner self rubbing his hands together. Oh yes, he'd be just fine. That would give him a chance to scan Naruto's beautiful tanned chest and have a pretty little view of his a-
Neji slapped himself mentally. When did he get so perverted!?
"So uh…" Neji said, shaking his head. "We'll all meet at the beach in about fifteen minutes?" They were all lucky to live so close to the beach.
"You bet! Oh wait…Iruka's got the car today," Naruto said flatly.
"I'll come pick you up."
"Really? Awesome! See you in five- thanks Neji!"
Neji pulled up to Naruto's house and beeped his horn after checking briefly in his mirror to make sure he looked ok. Naruto sped out the door and Neji almost had a nosebleed.
Naruto wore a sleek black wet suit with orange stripes down the side. The suit outlines every muscle over his firm chest and clung to his lithe frame perfectly. His scars and hair shone against the black, golden untamed spikes that fell around his face and dark fox-like whiskers.
Neji covered his nose, just in case. Naruto had a small bag over his shoulder with a spiral symbol on the front, which Neji assumed held his change of clothes, and a black and orange surfboard with the image of a snarling red demon fox on the nose. He looked like a surfing god.
Naruto tied the surf board to the roof of the car expertly and hopped in beside Neji.
"Ready?" he said, smiling at his friend. Neji looked at Naruto and crystal white clashed with ocean blue. Naruto's eyes were never the same, never that sparkling blue that made the sky curl grey with envy. The fire two weeks back had resurfaced some bad memories that Naruto just couldn't seem to escape, and the scars left on his cheeks from so many years ago only served as a reminder to him.
Neji wanted to look at that brighter than sky blue again. He wanted Naruto to be free from fake smiles and forced happy go lucky attitudes.
Neji smiled a bit.
Naruto's cobalt eyes seemed a bit brighter today.
Neji's mind finally registered that he hadn't answered Naruto, and he grinned and shook his head as he pressed on the car's accelerator.
"Awesome!" Naruto cried as he and Neji pulled into the parking lot near the beach. The festivities were abounding as surfers, judges, and enthusiastic audience members chatted happily in anticipation.
Neji and Naruto stepped out of the car, and Naruto yelped and jumped back in.
"What's wrong?!" Neji said, startled.
"The road is really hot!" Naruto cried, and Neji rolled his eyes.
"Where are your shoes?" he asked.
"In my bag, but I don't want to take them out until I have to. It took me forever to stuff my clothes into this little bag."
Neji sighed. He walked up to Naruto and turned around so that his back faced him.
"C'mon, hop on," he said a bit begrudgingly.
"Huh?" Naruto said, a look of utterly adorable confusion on his face, then his eyes lit up and he grinned. He wrapped his arms around Neji's neck and placed his legs at his sides, Neji holding them.
"Heh, I would never pin you as one to give piggy-back rides," Naruto teased, and Neji blushed.
"Oh shut it," he huffed. He turned and let Naruto grab his surfboard before the two made for the beach.
"Shinoooooooo!"
Shino sighed and rolled his eyes as he lay sprawled out on his grey towel over the sand, his bare chest soaking up the sun; God knows he needed it.
Kiba was ranting, as usual, about something Shino wasn't listening to. Sure Kiba looked hot in his black swim trunks and red dog-collar, but now he was just pushing it.
Suddenly Kiba burst out laughing, clutching his sides and rolling around in the sand like a maniac. Shino sat up and turned around, and couldn't help from letting a chuckle escape his religiously silent lips.
"Heh," Shino said as Neji approached them piggy-backing Naruto.
"I would never have pinned you as one-"
"I already made the joke," Naruto said grinning, and Neji blushed heavily, sporting an indignant look.
Kiba stood up still gasping and catching his breath as he tried to make a comment when Neji growled,
"Say one word and I'll shove your collar down your throat, mutt."
Kiba ceased his laughing and turned a bit blue.
Naruto released his grip from Neji, who let his legs go slowly so that he didn't trip getting down.
"Thanks!" Naruto said happily, and turned to Kiba.
"Can you jot my name down real quick for me on the surf contest sign-up sheet? I need to wax my board," Naruto said, and Kiba nodded and ran off to the judges table, dragging an unfortunate Shino with him for company.
Naruto suddenly whipped around to look at Neji, and a fox grin slipped across his face like a shadow. Neji could practically see the lightning flash in the background, and before he could utter a syllable he found that the world was spinning and Naruto suddenly had him pinned down, a hand on each of his wrists and his legs straddling him.
"N-Naruto!?" Neji stuttered, still getting over the shock. Naruto flashed him his fox grin and dipped his head down to brush his lips against Neji's. He suddenly didn't care who saw. Did this make him gay? He pushed the thought out of his mind and focused on the mission at hand.
Naruto moved to Neji's neck, making sure that his lips just barely brushed his pastel skin.
"Thank you, Neji," Naruto purred, his warm breath sweeping over Neji's neck and sending a shiver up his spine.
Suddenly Naruto jumped off Neji and grabbed a circle of wax from his bag and his surfboard, rubbing it down from the nose, over the deck and to the tail.
Neji blinked as he lay in the sand, the wind ruffling his black tee-shirt. Something was wrong here. Wasn't Naruto supposed to be kissing him senseless, regardless of the people around him? That was definitely the indication of his intentions, or that's at least what Neji's body interpreted it as.
Neji sat up and watched Naruto run the wax over the rails of the board merrily. He Neji just dreamt that up? Neji rubbed the back of his neck where the lips of an angel had only been a few seconds ago. No way, he couldn't have day dreamed that up! Then Naruto gave Neji a side glance and a smirk, and Neji knew he hadn't imagined things. So, Naruto was seeing how much he could seduce Neji before his breaking point, eh? Neji grinned at Naruto's back.
He wouldn't give in so soon.
In fact, he could join that game.
"Welcome surfers and beach dwellers!" a female judge suddenly boomed from a microphone, and the crowd cheered and turned their attention to the judge's table.
"Surfers! We'll be calling your names completely at random, so be ready! And just for added fun and difficulty, we'll be adding a song to the background of your run. Try and move with the song if you can and show us what you can really do! The length of each song will be about one minute and thirty seconds, and that's how long you have to wow us!"
At this a few inexperienced surfers grumbled and the seasoned ones grinned at the challenge.
"Ok, let's get this party started!!! Our first surfer up is…Kiba Inuzuka!"
"Yahooooo!" Kiba cried, jumping up from the sand in victory and grabbing his white wolf surfboard.
"Go get 'em Kiba!" Naruto cheered as Kiba crashed into the waves.
The song "Who Let the Dogs Out- Remix" by the Baha Men blasted in the speakers, and Kiba jumped on his board with ecstasy.
He was experienced, but not nearly enough to take his eyes from the waves to try to bust a quick dance move on his board. Overall he had a good run, barking like a dog at one point with the song and getting the crowd to join in. Shino just rolled his eyes and hid a small secret smile.
The surfers overall weren't terribly skilled with the exception of one very beautiful, yes beautiful, young man about a year older than Naruto and his band with long dark bluish black hair tied back into a long pony tail. Then again, anyone was bad compared to Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki!" the judges suddenly called, and Naruto stood up from his tanning spot on the sand. (Again, the surfer's weren't the most talented, so why watch when you can take and look like a sex god?)
He grabbed his snarling fox surfboard and ran into the water with anticipation.
"Good luck!" Kiba called, waving, and Neji and Shino wished their silent regards as well.
Naruto's fangirls (how did they follow him!?) and several other girls on the beach squealed as they took in the sight of the walking angel, and Neji snarled at them.
Naruto waited until he heard the speakers crackle with music and took off on his board into the surf, but paused when he heard what song it was.
"Hey Mr. Wonderful, oh you're so incredible! Hey Mr. Wonderful, so wonderful to me! Hey Mr. Wonderful, oh you're irresistible! Hey Mr. Wonderful! A miracle to me!"
Naruto shot the judges table a "wtf!?" look, but they waved at him to continue as the crowd burst out laughing. Hey, the song fit him.
Soon their laughter morphed into cheers as Naruto rode the waves with such fluidity that he looked like a god upon the waves, like the board wasn't even there separating his feet from the water. He even did fake macho poses for the song, gaining him some extra creativity points. The droplets of water and the sea spray went pass him like diamonds against the sun, the ocean seeming to obey his every silent command he gave with his board. The guys rooted him on, the girls swooned, and Neji thought he'd pass out. Yes, he looked that good.
The crowd clapped loudly and screamed happily when Naruto came back to land and a trophy was thrust into his free (and sopping wet) hand. He grinned and made a peace sign to the crowd, knocking the poor girls who weren't already on the ground to the sand. But they soon regained consciousness, hounding Naruto and cooing over him. The rest of surfer's were envious and jealous of the attention he got from the girls, but Neji was jealous of the fact that someone was with his Naruto!
"Heh, thanks…ok, can I go now?" Naruto said to the mass of girls before him, holding up his hands a bit to protect himself from being glomped. He was thankful that even though he was a little bit shorter than the majority of males his age, he was still and inch or two taller than most girls.
Suddenly Naruto was yanked through the crowd, an angry ashen arm streaming him through the rabid fangirls. He was suddenly face-to-face with Neji, who placed a protective arm around Naruto's waist and sent a death glare to every fangirl within his radius. They pouted, but back off nonetheless. Naruto laughed a bit.
"Possessive much?" he said.
"Yes," Neji said, glaring at a blond haired girl goggling Naruto. Naruto smirked. He and Neji weren't officially together in any way since Naruto still couldn't completely sort out his feelings, yet he was still killing off everyone in his line of sight who sent Naruto a flirty look.
Neji suddenly placed his pale hands on Naruto's hips and pulled him close so that they were almost flush up against each other. He buried his face in the crook of Naruto's neck, Neji smiling at the sun-kissed skin just exposed by the wetsuit where a red spot Neji had left dominated the area. He brushed his lips against it, guessing it was still a bit sore, and Naruto hissed at the contact.
"Still hurt that much?" Neji asked, his hot breath flushing Naruto's skin.
"Yea. You bit down pretty hard you jerk!" Naruto said with half-hearted anger, and Neji smirked.
"Sorry," he said, giving the spot a quick kiss. "Just want to alert anyone that might have their heart set on you after the move that they've got some serious competition."
Naruto laughed again.
"Yea right, who would-"
"Everyone Naruto."
Neji lifted his head so that his forehead was pressed against Naruto's damp one.
"I mean come on, Naruto," he said. "You've got fangirls throwing themselves at your feet and fainting every time you spare them a glance. And don't think I haven't noticed the looks some of the guys give you in school. Even Kiba used to."
"Kiba did?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Yea, a while back when I first met you before he fell for Shino. Actually, he flirted with you a lot."
"But I didn't notice anything weird…"
"You have to admit you're a bit oblivious to these things Naruto."
Naruto pouted.
"I guess so…"
"Ok, remember at that sophomore party when Kiba spiked the punch bowel and asked you to-"
"Agh! Ok, I remember the flirting now!" Naruto shut his eyes tightly. "You couldn't pay me to redo that!"
"What if it was with me?"
Naruto turned bright pink and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so he shut it.
Oh how Neji wanted to capture those lips in a kiss, Naruto's sweet taste mixing with the sea salt from his surf ride. But he had to stay in the game!
Neji dipped his head down slightly to brush his lips against Naruto's teasingly, who in turn jumped a bit but also parted his lips a little and moved his eyes to half-mast, waiting for the ocean to engulf him again in Neji's kiss.
After a few seconds Naruto realized that Neji wasn't making a move. Then suddenly Neji walked back off towards Shino and Kiba who were chatting about his run. (Ahem, actually, Kiba was babbling and Shino was pretending to listen.
Naruto cocked his head to one side. Wasn't Neji supposed to be kissing the daylights out of him? Something wasn't right here…then Naruto's eyes lit up and he grinned as realization hit him. So Neji was going to play his game, huh?
"He'd better be prepared for one hell of a challenge!" Naruto thought evilly as he ran over to join his band.
"Whoa check it out!" Naruto cried gleefully as the four of them walked through the carnival. They had to admit, it was huge!
"What's that? Oh wow, look over there!" Naruto was pointing at everything and anything, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Oh man, what the heck is that!?" Naruto shouted, and pointed to the far distance of the fair.
"Uh, it's a Ferris wheel Naruto," Kiba said, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't you ever been to a carnival before?"
Naruto's expression scrunched up thoughtfully.
"Hmm…I think so, but the memory is kind of cloudy."
"Cloudy?" Shino asked. Finally something that was interesting!
"Yea," Naruto said, rubbing a hand over his golden locks in reflection. "I think I was about seven. I was with my…" Naruto suddenly took on a somber look and let his hand fall to his side again.
"…my parents."
Neji glared at Shino and Kiba, who turned their gaze to the ground shamefully.
Neji grasped Naruto's hand in his own.
"So uh, what do you want to do first?" he asked, and Naruto's face brightened considerably, though Neji could tell that the grin was half fake.
Naruto and Kiba dragged Neji and Shino through every stall, looking at the trinkets for sale and the games to play. They had been by the water guns, the darts, the basketball hoops, and anything else there possibly was. Neji and Shino had become particularly enraged during a very competitive game of whack-a-mole. They had also gone on many rides and audience games such as the cheesy haunted house and the DDR contest which Kiba won with flying colors. (Shino was busy hounding off the fangirls at the time.)
Shino had drawn the line at the rollercoaster, stating, "If I wanted to kill myself I would just go jump of a bridge, not put myself through this torture." Neji had agreed wholeheartedly. But what made Neji's blood really boil was when they had passed by the human auction, meant to be a funny tradition at every LA fair. While the group passed by they had, ahem, "volunteered" Naruto and pulled him up on stage against his (quiet) will to be auctioned off. Of course every girl there started bidding like crazy like cats fighting over the last pink toy mouse. Neji had in the end out bought everyone, being unable to grab Naruto off the stage. The girls left sobbing.
The shops weren't very interesting, and had only been glanced at, though Naruto's eyes did lock on a silver necklace with a red swirl on the end, which on closer examination turned out to be a crimson nine-tailed fox with its tails wrapped around its body.
The group had left the fair at about sundown to catch a late night horror movie. Kiba and Shino ended up making out half way through, neither having much of an affinity for scary movies other than to use them as excuses to kiss. Naruto on the other hand, was too scared to do anything but quiver in his seat. Neji shot a glance at him from the corner of his eyes and saw this. Frankly he didn't blame him; the movie was as scary as hell. He wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders and pulled him close to his chest, Naruto smiling and snuggling into him for comfort.
"Cya guys!" Naruto called to Shino and Kiba as they dropped them off at Kiba's home in Neji's car.
"Hey, are you guys gonna be at the airport?" Naruto called, and Kiba laughed.
"What kind of friends do you take us for?" he shouted back. "Yea, course we will!"
Naruto grinned as he and Neji sped off back to Neji's home.
Neji pulled up to his mansion and sighed contentedly.
"Pretty fun, huh?" he asked, and Naruto nodded.
"Hell yea!" he said, and Neji smiled. "But what are we doing at your place? It's already midnight."
Neji got out of the car and opened Naruto's door.
"I just want to show you something," he said, holding out a hand to Naruto.
Naruto took his hand, closing the car door, and Neji led him to the back of his house. Naruto contemplated the possibilities of what Neji wanted to show him, and by the time Neji stopped leading him, he had nothing.
Naruto looked up and saw a ladder by the huge house's back sliding glass door. He gave Neji a quizzical look, who pointed to the roof, indicating Naruto to climb. He did so, and the duo reached the top of the house in a matter of seconds.
Neji sat down on the black roof tiles, Naruto settling down next to him.
"What's here?" Naruto asked, and Neji pointed up yet again. Naruto looked up and his jaw grew slack. The night sky seemed to open up there, every constellation and little star clear and uncovered from the late clouds. They shone like diamonds against black velvet, twinkling and winking down at the couple as they gazed up.
"N-Neji…" Naruto said in awe, looking back to teen next to him.
"This is incredible..."
"Kind of like you," Neji replied, and Naruto flushed pink.
They sat on their backs there on the roof, talking in between pauses of silence in which they listened to the wind whistle to the trees and the trees replied with soft rustling.
Neji looked over at Naruto, bathed in the starlight, and he smiled at how beautiful he looked. Neji thought that he had never loved anyone so much as he loved Naruto now.
"Screw the challenge," Neji thought as he pulled Naruto gently next to him, who in turn grinned.
"You gave in," he said, his fox smile glowing against the night.
"Oh shut it. This is worth it by far," Neji replied, and he pressed his lips against Naruto's in a tender and loving kiss.
----------------------T-16 PEOPLE! YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING SOON! ---------------------
Naruto wrapped his arms around Neji's neck and pulled him down, his own back falling against the roof. He was thankful that the house was so huge and had a gigantic roof. Neji's taste mixed with the cotton candy Naruto had eaten earlier that day, creating a sweet and salty taste in his mouth that sent him spiraling.
Neji explored Naruto's mouth thoroughly. This would be the last time he ever could for a while after all. He fondled Naruto's silky sunbathed locks, moving his lips in a slow rhythmic pattern against Naruto's. He wanted time to stop here, for the sun to pause in its course, and the moon to hang up in the sky forever so that tomorrow wouldn't come.
Neji moved his hand to caress Naruto's scarred cheek, the other wrapping an arm around Naruto's waist and bringing their heart beats together.
Naruto let out a small groan of pleasure. This was the last time he would taste Neji, and he wanted to savor every bit of it. He let his tongue enter Neji's mouth after it had journeyed through his own for a while, and the ocean and sea spray flooded him all over again from that morning.
------------------------------------------------T16 OVER------------------------------------------------------
Naruto lay against Neji's chest as they rested on the roof about a half an hour later after their heated make out session. They looked up at the stars, willing the night to drag on and postpone the day.
"Naruto…" Neji said.
"Hm?" Naruto replied.
"I love you."
Naruto smiled a bit.
"Neji, I know that this sounds crazy and all…but I'm still unsure," he said. "I mean, I haven't been kissing you for nothing! I mean…I wanted to…but I don't know what love feels like. I've never been in love before. I mean, I must have loved my parents when I was younger, but you know that I lost my memory after the fire incident, so I can't remember what love is. Does that make sense?"
Neji smiled down at Naruto and pulled him closer, laughing a bit.
"All you had to say was that you still weren't sure," he said, and suddenly Naruto felt pretty stupid. He smacked his hand to his forehead and Neji laughed again.
Naruto looked up at the sky just in time to see a white sparkling streak of light tear across the sky.
"Hey Neji look! A shooting star!" Naruto said.
"Make a wish," Neji said, and Naruto nodded and closed his eyes as did Neji himself.
That night a love struck teen wished for the center of his devotion to stay with him, and a golden angel asked to know what love was.
In another state of the sun, the same star passed over the night sky. A dark raven wished for guardian angel to understand him, a painter asked for a beautiful muse, a band leader hoped for a lead singer with a voice among the angels, and a red raccoon wished for love.
These stargazers would soon all get their wish.
Sky-eyed Kitsune: Omg! That was a long chapter after all! Dun dun dun!!! Will these stargazers really get their wishes? Will Naruto find out what love is?! Will Gomi-kun ever stop being emo!?!
Gomi-kun: --from the back—I heard that!
Hehe, anyways, this is your last chance to vote for which of Naruto's suitors you want to see first in the next chapter! Currently Sasuke is winning, so if you don't want to see him first, go vote for your favorite Naruto suitor noooooooow! 0.o
Hurry, cause I might just post the next chapter this weekend!!!
Gomi-kun: OMG. O.o Nuuuu! I don't wanna translate!!!! T.T
Sky-eyed Kitsune and Gomi-kun