Chapter 13:

"Stop licking your arm!"

"I can't help it!"

"You'll never get dry that way." Naruto turned the key in the lock and opened the door. "Come on. I'll get you a towel."

But Neji was still trying to lick himself dry. It made no sense to him either, but his cat mind was telling him to do it.

"Sasuke, we're back!" Naruto hollered into the room.

The Uchiha looked up. He was finally awake. "Oh. Good morning."

"It's afternoon, Sas… AHH!"

His sudden outburst caused both Neji and Sasuke to jump.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Sasuke sat frozen on the floor looking up at him with large eyes. "What?"

"That!" Naruto pointed to the couch Sasuke was in the middle of tearing up with his nails. "What do you think you're doing?! You're ruining my couch! Stop it!"

Sasuke looked from Naruto to the couch, unaware that he was doing anything wrong. That being said, Sasuke went back to clawing at the shredded cushions.

"I said stop!"

Sasuke flinched at his pitch. "What's your problem?"

"Stop scratching up my couch!" Naruto finally ran over and kicked Sasuke away. There were four perfect claw marks running down the cushions were Sasuke had been scratching. He had really done a number on it. It needed repair and Naruto couldn't sew. Now he had to find a way to either patching it up or find someone to sew it for him. Sakura could sew, but like she'd go out of her way to come over to his house just to fix a couch Sasuke ruined.

"Way to go, cat-boy!" Naruto punched the side of this couch in his fury. "I can't believe you did that! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Sasuke raised a brow. "Since when did you turn into my mom?"

His face softened. "Oh, God… I do sound like one, don't I?"

"It's a little creepy."

Neji licked his arm and ran it over his head, grooming himself quietly off to the side.

"Would you stop that?"

"I told you, I can't help it."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto went to find some duct tape. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you guys. It's one outburst after another with you, Neji. I mean, in the shop and now here…"

Sasuke turned. "What happened in the shop?"

Neji's face started to turn red. "None of your business!"

"Oh, come on. What happened?" There was a little bit of mischievousness in Sasuke's voice. "Tell me."

"Nothing!"

"Talk!"

"No!"

"He started hugging me in the middle of the street and told me he loved me," Naruto called from the other side of the apartment.

Sasuke's face lit up with joy while Neji's was bright red. "Oh, really?"

"Stop teasing!"

"I'm not teasing." Sasuke's tone was defiantly teasing. It made Neji's blood boil.

"Shut up!"

"Aw, you love Naruto, do you?"

"I said shut up!"

"How cute!"

"Shut it!" Neji stomped his foot on the ground. "Hey, you're the one who's clawing up the couch!"

"So what?"

"So..!" He had nothing to follow it up. But he didn't want to look like an idiot so he came up with something fast. "At least you weren't clawing up the bed so we'd have something to sleep on during our naps."

"It's a futon, not a bed," Sasuke corrected. "Get your furniture straight."

"You're not straight."

Sasuke's words were drowned out by Naruto's loud laughter. Unable to come up with a retort, Sasuke turned his head with a frown. Neji smirked, proud that he had found a way to shut him up.

"Screw you, Neji," Sasuke muttered.

"So, I'm right, huh?"

He should have quit while he was ahead. Now he really had Sasuke ticked off. He pounced on Neji and the two started to duke it out right there in front of Naruto.

"Hey! Knock it off!" As entertaining as this was, Naruto didn't need anything else broken. "I said stop it!"

Sasuke swiped Neji across the face and Neji grabbed him around the waist and pinned him down on the floor. When he tried to punch him, Sasuke kicked him in the ribs and took another swipe at his face.

Unable to do much else, Naruto performed the proper hand signs and transformed into a large brown dog. He stood between them and barked sharply.

Screaming in terror, the two abandoned their fight and scrabbled up the wall instead. Sasuke jumped onto the table while Neji took refuge on top of the nearest bookcase he could find.

Naruto quickly changed back, showing them that there was nothing to fear. "It's ok, guys. It's only me. Calm down."

"I hate you, Naruto!" Sasuke screeched. "Never do that again!"

"What he said!"

After the two had a chance to calm down, Naruto got ready to fix himself some dinner. Seeing as how the two were still his guests, he decided to make a little extra for them, too. They all sat around the table, shoving all the trash off to the side Naruto had neglected to toss out and waited for their meal to be done.

"So why did you act that way?" Sasuke asked, genuinely curious this time.

Neji shot him a look, still thinking that this was more teasing. "How the heck should I know?"

"Well, what were you doing at the time?"

"Nothing. I was just smelling some flowers and the next thing I know, I'm acting like a total loon. It's the strangest thing. I couldn't help myself."

"Were you in pain?" Naruto asked.

"No." Neji drew circles on the tabletop with his finger. "Aside from the pain of humiliation, that is. But no. It almost felt like I was in a dream. Nothing bothered me. I felt free and giddy." Just admitting it made his face blush.

"Well," Naruto said, stretching his arms over his head. "It's all over with now. Water under the bridge, I guess. Let's move on."

The timer on the stove dinged.

"Yes! It's ready!" Naruto leapt up from the table and hurried over to the dish.

Neji swiveled around in his chair to look. "What are we having?"

"You'll see."

They waited a couple more minutes before he finally came back to the table with his arms loaded. He set a bowl of milk in front of each of them and then another bowl filled with, you guessed it, ramen.

Sasuke looked from the hot bowl of soup to the bowl filled with milk and said, "You've got to be kidding."

"What?"

He jabbed a finger at the bowl of milk. "If you think that I'm gonna lap this up with my face, you can forget it!"

"Not your face. Your tongue."

He glared at him. "I'm not a cat; therefore, I will not drink like one. Get me a freaking glass. I'll drink out of that."

"But you have before…"

"Just get me a glass!" Sasuke pounded his fists on the table.

"Alright, alright, geez…"

Meanwhile, Neji was taste testing the ramen in front of him. He lifted the noodles to his mouth and took a small nibble, succeeding in burning his tongue. "Ow! Hot!" He threw down his chopsticks and fanned his mouth with his hands. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"It can't be that hot," Naruto said coming back to the table with a glass for Sasuke. "Wait, do cats have sensitive tongues or something?"

"Bingo."

"Oh. Then just wait for it to cool off a little more."

"Just get me an ice cube," Neji mumbled miserably.

A few minutes later, they were all eating their ramen quietly. Naruto was already on his third bowl, while Neji and Sasuke barely touched theirs. But their milk was disappearing fast. Despite asking for a glass, Sasuke ended up lapping it up with his tongue anyway.

Naruto lowered his chopsticks and watched Neji play with his ramen, stirring the broth with his chopsticks. "What's the matter? It's shrimp ramen. Shrimp is fish, isn't it?"

"I already picked out all the shrimp pieces." He looked very depressed.

"What's the matter? Are you sick or something?"

He lifted his eyes to Naruto then cast them back down.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."

Neji turned away. "Just never mind…"

With a loud sigh, Sasuke pushed his empty bowl aside and drained his glass. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At least you had the right mind to go out and buy fresh milk. Now I know I won't be poisoned." He brought his hand up to his mouth and started to lick it clean.

"Why do you do that?"

He glanced up. "Do what?"

"Never mind." Naruto collected their bowls and put them in the sink. "Ok, so now what do you want to do?"

"Nothing," Neji muttered and sat back in his chair.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes. "I vote for a nap."

"Again? You slept more than Neji did today!"

"And?"

"So, you're just going to take another nap right after a meal just like that?"

"Your point being...?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke set his head down on the table. "Good night."

"Wait, not there!"

"Hm?" He lifted his head.

"You can't sleep on a table!"

"Why not? I sleep wherever I drop."

"Find somewhere else to sleep."

Sasuke got up. "Fine." He walked to the other side of the house while Naruto finished cleaning up.

Neji didn't move from his spot. He just sat there with his hands folded neatly in his lap, gaze cast downward.

"Don't tell me you're still upset about earlier," Naruto wondered. "It's in the past. I've gotten over it and I was the one who had to suffer the most."

Neji said nothing.

"Get over yourself!"

He sighed and got up from his chair. "It's not just that. Yes, I'm still embarrassed, but I'm also upset about a few other things."

"Such as...?"

Neji frowned and stormed over to the futon on the floor. "You just don't get it!"

"You're acting like such a girl!" Naruto shouted after him. "At least tell me what's going on instead of leaving me guessing!"

Neji laid down on the futon and shut his eyes without another word.

"I don't get you." Naruto went over to his bed, only to discover that someone was already in it. "Sasuke, out! When I said to find another place to sleep, this isn't what I meant!"

At long last, all was quiet. For the most part anyway. Naruto was snoring loudly from his bed, his mouth hanging wide open. Other than that, everything was still. Neji cracked open his eyes to have a look around. It was night. He wasn't aware of when he had fallen asleep, but that wasn't important now. He had imposed long enough, and decided to leave and finish sleeping at home.

He rolled onto his knees and stretched his arms straight out, arching his back in a much-needed stretch. He yawned and turned his gaze over to the bed where Naruto slept. His nightcap was down over his eyes and his chin was covered with drool. Lying atop his sprawled-out body was Sasuke, snoozing peacefully. He finally found a warm spot to sleep for the time being.

As Neji started for the door, a flicker of light caught his eye. He turned.

Outside the window, there were numerous flickering lights grabbing his attention. He blinked and cocked his head to the side. They would flash these odd greenish-yellow lights and then just as quickly go out again. Then another flash would go off in the dark in another direction.

Fireflies.

Neji pressed his nose against the window, fogging up the glass with his breath. The fireflies were calling to him with their pretty lights. Suddenly, he wanted to play. Feeling frisky, Neji opened the window and wandered out onto the landing outside. The fireflies danced around him, their lights flickering to life near his face. Happy with his new playmates, Neji started to bat at them with his hands. He jumped up, trying to catch them in his hands, but they escaped every time. Then they started to flicker away.

"Wait, don't go." Neji gave chase, jumping over the railing and landing on his feet in the middle of the street. He raced after them happily, running down the dark streets of the village.

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