Chapter 12:

Naruto was beginning to rethink his kind gesture from earlier. Yes, they loved the warm futon, but now they wouldn't leave it. Sasuke was still snoozing, but Neji had been up for the past five minutes, simply enjoying the warm spot he was nestled in. It was nice to bask in the sun and snuggle into a nice, warm, soft futon in the afternoon.

Naruto sat on his bed, watching them. He was bored. "Can we do something fun?"

Neji glanced at him. "Go right ahead. I'm not stopping you."

"So, you're just going to stay there all day?"

"Why not?" He rolled onto his other side. The futon felt so warm against his cheek. He purred happily.

Naruto got off the bed. "This is so boring. I want to do something fun with you guys. Please?"

"Give me one good reason to leave."

Naruto didn't have to. Sasuke did it for him. He rolled over rather quickly and slapped Neji in the face with his arm. Before he could get out of the way, Sasuke kicked him in the back with his heel. Normally he wasn't so vigorous in his sleep. Perhaps he was having a vivid dream of some kind. Either way, Neji wasn't going to put up with it. He crawled off the futon and onto the floor.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Wanna go for a walk?" Naruto suggested.

"Do I look like a dog to you? I don't want to go for a walk."

"I'll buy you some fish."

Neji reached for his shoes. "Let's get this over with."

Grinning triumphantly, Naruto looked to Sasuke. "Wanna come, too?"

Sasuke drooled and let out a snore.

"Leave him," Neji advised. "He's out and staying that way."

"Ok, let's go!"

The streets were as busy as ever in town. Everyone was bustling to get their shopping done and children were running around playing their little games. A white cat pounced onto a trashcan and Neji stopped to watch it curiously. Naruto pulled him along.

As they passed by the Yamanaka flower shop, Naruto took a peek through the window and spotted Sakura talking to Ino behind the counter. "Oh, hang on a second! I have to give something to Sakura. I better do that now while I'm here." He pulled Neji into the shop with him.

At the sound of the bell chiming above the door, Ino abruptly stopped talking and looked up. "Oh, it's only you." Then she spotted Neji. "Oh. Oh, Neji… What, uh, what are you doing here?"

"I kind of wish I knew myself," he muttered while indicating to Ino that it was not his decision to come in here and that it was Naruto's fault that he was.

Sakura turned around. "What brings you guys in here?"

"I have something for you, Sakura." Naruto rummaged around in his pocket for something. "Hang on. It's in here somewhere." He dug even deeper, grunting with effort. This was going to take a while.

"Your pockets aren't that deep, weirdo." Ino leaned across the countertop looking both bored and annoyed.

"I got it, I got it."

Meanwhile, Neji was having a look around at all the flowers in the store. He noticed a couple plants hanging above his head. "What are these doing in here?" he asked Ino.

She made to move around the counter. "What ones are you talking about?"

"These." He pointed to the ferns hanging from the ceiling. "Last time I checked, these weren't considered flowers."

"Oh." Ino chuckled. "We have a few other plants in here that aren't considered flowers, but we sell them anyway."

"Why? It's a flower shop."

"Yeah, but people buy them anyway so as long as we're making money…"

That was enough for Neji. He continued to explore around the shop, looking at all the flowers it had to offer. So many flowers, so many colors… The sweet aroma tantalized his senses making him come closer for a better look. He sniffed several different flowers. Roses, orchids, daffodils, and several others he didn't know the names of. They all smelled so sweet but so different.

"Got it!"

Neji turned and saw Naruto ripped something out of his pocket. Thinking that this meant that they were about to leave, Neji started toward the door.

"Oh, wait… That's not it…" Naruto frowned and searched his other pocket.

Frowning himself, Neji went back to smelling flowers. He moved to the other side of the shop, walking up and down the aisles slowly. Something to his left caught his attention and he had to investigate. He moved close to the strange plant.

It was rather odd looking. It looked more like a weed to him than a fern or flower. Sitting in a pot were flowers with sturdy stems with opposite heart-shaped, and grayish-green leaves. The flowers themselves were tubular and spotted with tiny purple dots, their petals ranging from white, blue, and lilac clustered toward the tip of the stems.

He moved his face closer and took a sniff. The scent tickled his nose making him shiver. It was like smelling a mint plant. He took another whiff.

That second whiff was a huge mistake. No sooner had he done so did he start feeling really, really weird.

"Here it is!" Naruto finally handed Sakura the piece of paper trapped at the bottom of his pants pocket. "Kakashi-sensei wanted me to give that to you. He told me not to read it."

"Why not?"

"How should I know? Anyway, I put it in my pocket and must have forgotten about it. I was supposed to give it to you yesterday, but… Well, you got it now."

Sakura carefully unfolded the small piece of paper. "Why'd you have to shove it all the way on the bottom like that? It's all crumpled up and covered with lint."

"Sorry."

Sakura held it between her thumb and forefinger and read it. "Oh, I see… Thanks for giving it to me."

"What's it say?" Naruto tried to steal a peek at it, but Sakura pulled it aside.

"None of your business."

Whining like a child, Naruto pouted and turned towards the door. "Let's go, Neji." He looked over and spotted Neji batting at a plant by the wall. "Didn't you hear me? I said let's go."

Neji rubbed his face against the cluster of flowers, purring.

Losing his patience, Naruto went over and dragged Neji away by the back of his jacket. "Move it!"

Naruto pulled him out into the street before letting go. He was about to continue their walk when he noticed that Neji wasn't acting quite like himself. He seemed rather weird.

"You ok?"

Neji's face was slightly pink and his eyes were clouded. But the thing that creeped Naruto out the most was the goofy smile Neji had plastered on his face.

"Uh… Neji? Why are you looking at me like that?"

There was no other way for Naruto to describe his behavior: Giggly. He kept giggling and never stopped smiling. He looked like he was high on something.

"Neji?"

Without warning, Neji suddenly threw himself into Naruto's chest and nuzzled him.

Face burning red, Naruto pushed him away, looking wildly around. "Damn it, not here! Someone will see!"

But Neji didn't stop. He tried to do the same thing all over again. Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, Naruto pulled Neji into an alley and behind a bunch of trashcans and boxes. There, no one would see them.

"What is up with you, Neji?"

Purring, Neji nuzzled him again. "Hi, Naruto…"

"Uh… hi?"

Neji giggled. "Your jacket's soft."

"Thanks?"

Neji clawed his way up Naruto's body to look at his face. "And your hair is so yellow. It's like a banana."

Naruto inched away from him. "Are you drunk or something? 'Cause you're really starting to freak me out."

Still very giddy, Neji giggled and patted Naruto's head. "You're hair's soft, too. I like it."

"That's, uh… nice. But could you get off me now?"

Neji blinked and smiled with his face an inch from Naruto's. "Hi."

"You really need to stop that."

"Stop what?"

"That!"

Neji giggled. "Hi, Naruto."

"See? That's exactly what I mean."

Neji rubbed his face against his chest. "I love you, Naruto."

"Ok!" Naruto pushed against Neji with all his might. "Now that really needs to stop!"

Neji lifted his head and locked eyes with him. "Wow, your eyes are so blue! How do you do it?"

"Seriously, are you drunk or something?"

"Nope. I feel great." Neji hugged Naruto tightly and purred. "I love you, Naruto. You're my best friend!"

"That's nice, now get off."

"I mean it."

"Uh-huh. Off now, please."

Neji nuzzled him. "Wow...!"

"Now what?"

Neji sniffed his head. "You smell like apples. What is that shampoo you're using?"

"Uh… apple?"

"Cool…"

Neji slumped against Naruto's body still purring his head off. He kept poking and nuzzling Naruto's body and would spout off nonsense whenever he could. It was very creepy and Naruto didn't know how much more he could take. Whatever had made Neji act like this was beyond him, but it really needed to stop.

"I love you, Naruto...!"

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time."

"I love you."

"Uh-huh. I know." Naruto turned his head away. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation with a Hyuga.

Neji rubbed his cheek against Naruto's face affectionately. "I love you so much!"

"Please stop saying that."

"I mean it… I Love you. I… Why the hell am I saying that?" Neji stopped rubbing against Naruto, blinking. He seemed to have woken up, or at least started to. "I feel weird. Why am I doing that? Why am I saying those things?"

Cautiously, Naruto brought himself to look at the Hyuga. "You… yourself again?"

Neji returned his gaze to Naruto. A second passed before he started hugging him again. "I love you!"

"Not this again…"

Once again Neji stopped. "Why did I just say that?"

This was turning into a royal pain. Did Neji honestly have no idea what he was doing or was this all just a really bad, sick joke? "Are you doing that on purpose or something?"

Neji gave his head a wild shake. "I really have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what's going on with me." He hugged Naruto again. "But I know that I love you!" Face red, he pulled away. "What am I saying?! I don't mean that!" He hugged him again. "But I do!" He pulled away. "No, I don't!" He hugged him once again. "Yes, I do!" He stomped his foot on the ground. "No, I don't!"

Naruto stood there not knowing what to think. One minute, Neji was hugging him, then the next he was pulling away trying to resist the urge. "Decide, Neji. Either hug me or let me go. I can't take being squeezed on and off like this much longer."

"Don't you think I'm trying?! I don't know why I'm doing this!" He really seemed to be fighting against these strange impulses. Naruto took pity on him.

"Want me to help?"

"Yes! Anything! Please!" Neji wailed. "I don't know how much more of this I can take!"

"Ok, but you asked for it." Naruto grabbed a bucket from under a drainpipe and doused Neji with it. "There, fixed."

Neji screamed and shook his whole body, trying to get dry. "Don't do that! Never do that again! Look at me! I'm all wet!"

"God, you're worse than Ino when she works up a sweat during training." Ignoring Neji's complaints, Naruto grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the house. "Come on. Let's get you dry."

Aw, he's cute!

Please review! ^-^