Naruto 1. The Mission!

_**A/N: **_**Ok, so this is pretty much my first fan fic that I have ever posted on here.**

_**Warning: **_**Shounen ai in first few chapters (Meaning boyxboy love, kissing, cuddling, and all that cute stuff. Don't like, don't read.) There'll probably be yaoi in later chapters (boyxboy sex, so don't bother reading it if that's not your thing.)**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not own Naruto…Sadly, but I wish I did. The story line, and any OC's that appear though, are all mine, unless otherwise noted. **

**Chapter 1: The Mission**

I was walking towards Tsunade's office, my infamous glare set in place, ready to burn the unsuspecting passerby into smithereens. But, that didn't really matter to me right then. All that mattered to me was that he was going to be there. Along with Sakura and the pervert Kakashi, of course, but he was still going to be there. They were going to be given a mission as Team 7, just like back when they were still a team…before I had run away. My was lost deep in thoughts as soon as that sentence crossed my mind. So much, that I didn't look up until a light annoying voice spoke "Sasuke-kun?" to me. I then realized that I had made it to the Hokage's office without even knowing it.

He nodded towards Sakura, and was really glad that she had finally given up on me a year after I had come back. That was last year. That gave me more of a chance to concentrate on my little blond, to plot and plan until I came up with the perfect way to capture his innocence and make him mine. I smirked internally at that thought, as I quickly looked around the room for the noisy blond. I hadn't heard a word out of him yet, and that was rather strange. My mood fell as I saw that he wasn't here yet. Even Kakashi wasn't there, so we probably had to wait quiet a while. So, instead of completely sulking, he turned to acknowledge the female Hokage.

She seemed less uptight today, more cheerful. Though she still wasn't smiling, she wasn't glaring either. "Good morning, Uchiha." She said to me, while nodding in approval. _Uchiha._ Unlike Naruto, Sakura, or even Kakashi, she still referred to me as Uchiha. Well, I was sure that would change over time. Not that it really mattered to me.

"Well, hello there, sorry I'm late but I was -" His useless blabber was cut of but a sharp look from the Hokage.

"Screw it, Kakashi, lets start. I am sending the four of you on a mission, for three months, and you are not allowed to come back before that time limit. Got it?" She looked around for contradictions from any of the team, and was met with only curious eyes for what they were about to do. I had let go of my glare, but my face didn't betray anything. "I'm sending you guys on vacation! Enjoy your time there! I bet Naruto would love that!" When she mentioned his name, he was back at the center of my thoughts. I'd nearly forgotten him…nearly.

"Tsunade-sama," I paused. It was a big step for me, to call her by her name. Only the other three did that. "Where is Naruto, anyways? Wasn't he supposed to be here too?"

And as soon as I asked that question, as luck would have it, he popped in through the door. That little bit of sunlight on this nice day was all I really wanted right now. "Oi! Tsunade-baachan! What do you want this early?"

"Naruto! Speak respectfully to shishou!" Sakura knocked him over the head. Kakashi sighed, Tsunade laughed, and I smirked. Old habits just die hard. They were acting like thirteen year olds again, and it was just too cute to see Naruto, as he looked up and pouted at her, his cerulean blue eyes sparkling. I knew that pout, and I nearly went over and hugged him. That was just what it made you want to do…Hug and protect, and other sweet and cute things. So, of course, Sakura forgave him almost instantly, smiling once he turned at his behavior.

"Ok, so you guys can leave in an hour, and…" Tsunade turned to glance at me before continuing. "Have fun!"

That was an obvious dismissal. Kakashi was out before she even finished, no doubt to pack his precious Icha-Icha Paradise books. Sakura nodded and left the office through the door, going to get her stuff as well. Naruto just stood there looking confused, and smiling sheepishly, his bright eyes sparkling. I really wanted to jump him right there and then. So, I resisted the temptation, and was about to take my leave as well.

"Where do you think you're going, Uchiha?" The Hokage whispered behind me. But, I heard her as clear as if she were right next to me. "Wait here. I have to talk to both you and Naruto." So I turned back and glared at her. I had nothing against her, personally. It was just something I did; so natural, some would call it second nature. "Anyways, Sasuke, you can explain what your mission is some other time to the little idiot." She grinned at that. I glared even harder. I almost didn't notice that she had called me by my name, for which I lessened the glare almost immediately. "I just want to warn the two of you there are only three bedrooms in the house where you'll be staying at. Sakura will have her own room, and unless one of you wants to share with Kakashi, you two are stuck together…That won't be a _problem_, will it now, boys?" She looked at us almost expectantly.

I internally gulped, cringed, and then all out started screaming. How the hell was I supposed to share a room with the cutest dobe in the world and not jump him? I had no idea. I was freaking out. But, of course, on the outside, I just kept my glare even and blank. I didn't know if I should have hated her or loved her at the moment. The Hokage was just so damn helpful, yet just so damn torturous all at the same time. Finally, after a bit of silence, I nodded and was about to leave, when the dobe spoke up.

"Why can't Sasuke-teme share a room with Kakashi-sensei?" he asked oh-so innocently. Damn hormones.

"Because, dobe, if I did, I'd most likely get raped, or have my brain scarred for the rest of my life." I really wanted to say 'Because I'd rather be with you" but that was just too unlike me. If I said that out of nowhere, they would think that I was high on something illegal. Well, at least Naruto would. I wasn't so sure about the Hokage. She was grinning evilly right then.

Without waiting for anyone to say anything more, I stalked out of the office. I wanted to run out, but it was just too un-Uchiha like to do that. It was harder to be an Uchiha than it looked.Once I was back home, it wasn't that hard to pack. I just needed a few clothes, and a few weapons. I took some food with me just in case, and of course, some money. I packed a few books to serve as distractions when needed. Once I was done, I just looked around my room. I felt like I'd forgotten something, but of course, I couldn't remember what. I was just about to head outside to go for lunch, when a bright knock echoed through the hollow house. I grunted, took my things, glared at the wall, just to have something to glare at, and then went downstairs to see who was about to bother me.

When I opened the door, I barely remembered to put my glare back in place instead of staring at him. He was smiling with his eyes closed, so I couldn't be dazed by them, but I still was infatuated with him.

"Oi, Sasuke-teme, are you done packing yet? I'm hungry, and I kind of have no money left with me…So…uh…" Naruto didn't seem to know how to complete the sentence, but I got the drift. We had been friends for over four years by now.

"Why should I take you out to lunch, dobe?" I smirked. I knew I would have gladly said yes, but it was part of my roll as an Uchiha to act like a bastard. And that was just what I was going to act like.

"Why not? Come on, teme, I'm really starving!" As if on cue, the blonde's stomach growled. He looked up, patting his stomach and grinning foolishly. Two minutes later, we were seated at Ichiraku's, both eating miso ramen. I had just barely finished my bowl, when I looked over to Naruto and saw him having eaten ten bowls of his ramen already. I sighed and nodded my head. Yeah, I knew this was going to happen. "Thanks, teme, you're the best!" He smiled at me as I paid for the food.

We made our way to the village gates in silence, both devoured in our own thoughts. Well maybe one of us was…I was just staring at him and his sexy seventeen year old body. He was just staring up at the sky and grinning inconspicuously. Like he didn't have a care in the world. Knowing him, he probably didn't. Oh why was God so cruel? As we walked in silence I started wondering about how someone could possibly manage to look so sexy, gorgeous, and adorable all at the same time. When my mind was pleasantly starting to enter the range of dirty thoughts about the beautiful blonde right next to me, I was rudely pulled back into reality. Damn it!

"Sasuke-teme! Are you listening to me?" His voice was too cute though, so my annoyance just vanished.

"Hn."

"What's the mission?"

"To go on vacation."

"Vacation? You mean like relaxing?"

"Hn."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Do we get free food?"

"Hn."

"Awesome! I hope they have ramen!"

With that, I could tell that the cute blonde's thoughts dove into ramen. Mine would have gotten back into the gateway of dirty thoughts about Naruto, but then, Sakura had to call out to us. "Sasuke-kun! Naruto! Over here!" I looked up at her, annoyed, and, again, glaring. She cringed, but continued to smile at us.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved at her, while running up her. The air to my right suddenly felt a few degrees cooler. "Where's Kakashi-sensei? Is he late again?"

"No, Naruto, we're just early. But, we'll probably have to wait for Kakashi-san…" She pouted at that. Kakashi wasn't really our sensei anymore, but Naruto still liked to call him sensei.

As I caught up with them, Kakashi appeared right behind Sakura, meaning to surprise her, just like the old days. But, that didn't work. She was older, and the blood-curling scream that was sure to have issued from her had it been a few years ago, was now absent. Kakashi looked kind of upset, but that was only for a moment. Sakura looked like she wanted to hit Kakashi. Naruto looked surprised, but he was smiling that golden smile of his. I didn't really care. I only had eyes for the angel standing in front of me. Sadly, right then, we had to leave. The whole trip to the vacation house, I hardly ever took my eyes off of the cute little angel.

**TBC**

**A/N: Ok, so that was the first chapter. So what did you think? R&R, please. I don't mind constructive criticism, just as long as it's not all out flaming. If you want, I don't really care, so go ahead. I need at least five reviews before I can put up the next chapter though, so please review!! Ja-ne!**


	2. The Vacation House

**A/N: Ok, so it has been a while since I updated. Sorry! But here's the second chapter of I Can't Believe You're Gay!**

**Warning:**** Fluff between guys…Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto…Or any part of the story other than the plot and the vacation house.**

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**Chapter 2: At the Vacation House**

I was just about to ask something, but changed my mind. All around me was silence. Dead silence. They were all staring up at the house before us, and seemed awed. I didn't really know why. It seemed normal enough to me. Maybe a bit small, but hey, I was flexible. Ok, maybe I wasn't, but I knew how to deal w/ small spaces. Maybe it was too small for their tastes? After all, it did only have _three_ rooms.

After a while, when we were inside the house, the silence was getting kind of annoying. It even had Naruto quiet. And, as we all know, the loud blonde is rarely ever quiet. When, finally, a rustling wind broke the silence, I was beyond glad. But, of course, I didn't show it. Uchiha's never showed any emotion, no matter what. I just kept glaring as I was about to make my way up to the room the dobe and I were supposed to be sharing. The silence chose to be broken right then.

"WOW!!" That was Naruto screaming. Internally, I winced. My ears hadn't really used themselves for a while, so it sounded magnified. I turned to glare at him questioningly. "This place is so big!" He continued. _No it isn't. It's kind of small, actually._ It surprised me that he thought that. I turned to glare at the others, expecting them to agree with me. I was surprised yet again. Sakura had a look of awe in her eyes, but she seemed ready to scream something, just like Naruto. Kakashi had put down his book, from the front of his face. He looked around questioningly.

"Yes, it is! I've never seen a house this big, since Sasuke-kun's! I wonder how big my room is? It's probably giant!" She ran off past me towards what she assumed to be her room. A loud resounding "WHOA!!" was heard throughout the house. It annoyed me. This was a small house!

I turned back around to see Kakashi exiting the house. He was just grinning, with his Icha Icha Paradise book back in front of his face. Apparently he thought the house was big too. So that just left me and the dobe. And Sakura, of course, but she was on the second floor. It was a three story tall house. I seemingly glared at the dobe for a while, before turning around and heading up to the third floor. Naruto's and my room was there, and we had the floor all to ourselves. I had to try hard to stop a blush from coloring my face. He was just too damn sexy! And why did he have to always tempt me with his body? It sometimes felt like it was on purpose. And that wasn't fair.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding when I saw the room accommodations. There were two beds, both queen sized. At least we didn't have to share a bed. I wouldn't have gotten any sleep for three months, without going insane first.

I looked around the room and saw that it was big enough to hold a party in without all the people feeling crowded. There were two windows, both on the opposite side of the room. There also seemed to be two closets, and from further inspection, I found that they were both large walk-in closets. The walls were pretty bare, and made of wood, expect for the exceptions of a few paintings of ocean scenery. Some depicted fish swimming, while others just showed vivid sunsets with a few natural wildlife. As I made my way to the bed away from the window, I noticed that there were a lot of wall lights. They were all covered in red blown glass with random seeming designs, swirls, waves, and crossed lines. There was something very fluid about them. The ceiling also had a few lights, but they were orbs poking out of the wood. They were covered with plain arc shaped glass, trapping them within the ceiling. There was also a dark line through the ceiling, but I couldn't figure out what it was at first.

On both of the corners of my bed against the wall, there were two small tables, each with lamps. The design on the lamps were, again, fluid, like it was in motion. It was a red and black color, with bits of white here and there. At the foot of the bed, there was a couch without a back. It had a red satin cushion on it, with a few pillows to top it. The legs were made of gold. The bed itself had the same design as the lamps, wall and ceiling lights, and the cushion at the foot of the bed. The comforter was a deep red color that somehow seemed bright. The pillows were the same. The layout of it all seemed very fluid.

After a while, I decided that I liked it. It was all quiet and serene somehow.

At least, that's what it was like until Naruto entered the room.

When he entered the room, all the quiet and serene feelings disappeared, to be replaced by happiness and sunshine. I had originally planned to glare at him, but one look at his face told me that it was not possible at the moment.

Naruto seemed genuinely happy, and was smiling a broad, wide smile. He had his normal orange jumpsuit on, with his normal sandals. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and I grinned. "Wow, Sasuke! Isn't this room awesome? It's so big!! And so is the house! I've never seen anything this big! I wonder how big the bathrooms are?" He then turned to look at me, and immediately frowned. "Why do you get that bed? Well, I don't really care, they are both really big! And that one's by the window! Cool! I want that one!" He continued babbling like that, and stopped listening after a while. I laid down on my bed, and took out a book, to just read, while staring intently at the blonde across the room. He never did shut up, even when he saw me reading a book.

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"Sasuke? Hey Sasuke?" I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was cerulean eyes locked on mine, with childlike innocence. I blinked and then moved, causing the younger boy to move farther away from me. The air right beside me was suddenly a few degrees cooler. Again. Ignoring my protesting body, I pushed myself up to face him.

"What, Naruto?"

"Well…You know how to cook right?"

"Hn."

"Well…I'm hungry."

"So?"

"Can you make me something to eat?"

"I thought you knew how to make ramen?"

"Well…I do…But I forgot to bring any with me…"

"And what am I supposed to do about that?"

"Please Sasuke?" He used his puppy dog face, complete with the pout and water eyes.

I stared at him for a while, before giving in. "Fine."

"Yay!" He jumped on top of me and hugged me, knocking all of my breath out. Letting go, he walked over to the door and motioned for me to follow. Once he was out of sight, I groaned and placed my usual glare back where it belonged. On my face.

When I got down to the kitchen, I immediately started gathering the materials for macaroni and cheese. I didn't really care if Naruto wanted ramen at the moment, I wanted macaroni and cheese, and that's what I was going to have. After about fifteen minutes, the food was steaming hot, and I was ready to eat. I set out two bowls full of macaroni and cheese, and grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers. Setting myself down to eat, I looked up at Naruto. He was starting down at the food in disgust, and wonder.

"What's that?" He asked in a small voice.

"Macaroni and cheese."

"…What's macaroni and cheese?"

"You've never had macaroni and cheese before?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know how to make it."

"Well try it."

"But it looks disgusting."

"Fine, then, starve."

I started eating, and felt bad for being a bastard to my dobe. Yes. _My_ dobe. Even if he wasn't at the moment, he would be soon. But I had to be a bastard to him. It was my job, and I had to keep it up. After a moment of undecided quiet, he finally sat down and picked up his spoon. Unsure, he fiddled with the spoon before finally picking up some of the macaroni and cheese and putting it in his mouth. And then, his eyes popped open in surprise. He chewed quicker, and swallowed his food. "Sasuke! This is delicious!" Smiling happily, he continued eating the macaroni and cheese, while I started at him, mystified.

He had just complimented my cooking, and for some reason, that made me happy. Very happy. I think I actually started grinning around that time, because when he looked up, he was staring curiously.

"You're actually grinning, Sasuke?"

I wiped the grin off my face immediately. "Hn." I got up, and took our empty bowls to the sink, washed them, and put them back in the cabinets. I could feel Naruto's eyes on me the whole time, but I didn't want to face them. Naruto may have been dense. But in some things, he was extremely insightful. And I didn't want him to find out that I was in like -not love, because _I_ could never feel love towards him- with him. Not yet, at least.

I started to make my way back towards the master bedroom, with him on my heels. For some reason that I didn't know of yet, I was always extremely aware of him. More than I needed to be, and I had still never figured out why that was. He yawned behind me. I noticed that, and I didn't know why I cared. Sure, he was sexy and I wanted to screw him, but I didn't feel anything after that for him. Did I?

"Sasuke…I'm sleepy…"He yawned again.

"Hn." I kept walking towards our bedroom, when I felt his soft blonde hair on my back. I froze up. _What is he doing? Does he want to get screwed into the wall right now?_ I waited for a while, but nothing happened, so I turned around to figure out what the dobe was thinking of doing. All I saw was his head against my back, with his eyes closed. _He's asleep? Damn dobe!_ I picked him up by his body, and pretty much dragged him to the room, but he didn't wake up. Closing the door behind me, I laid him down on his bed. When he fell down on the bed, I was about to walk away towards my bed, but found his hand clamped on mine, instead.

Startled, I gazed back at him, and saw he was still asleep. And he looked really adorable. His soft blonde locks were hiding part of his face, and he had his eyes squeezed shut. His mouth was pulled up in his signature pout, and his whisker-like marks just added to his cuteness. He looked really peaceful and happy, like a five year old. And he had a firm grip on my wrist. I just stood there and watched him sleep, his chest rising up and down with each breathing motion, every tiny movement of his body.

Soon after, I started getting sleepy too, just by watching the boy sleep. I carefully pried his grip from my hand, and brushed some of his locks away from his forehead. Once I was back in my bed, I turned to stare at him once again, and grinned sheepishly. The last image I had in my head was of his peaceful face, actually calm and serene, while still happy and full of sunshine.

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**TBC**

**A/N: So what did you think? Please review! I need them to put up the next chapter!**


	3. How Can Things Get Any Worse?

**A/N: Ok, so this is the third chapter. I started it a while ago, but got writer's block in the middle of writing it. This doesn't have exactly the ending I wanted, but it's about as close as I can get with writer's block. I may edit this once it's gone. Oh, and also, I decided that this was taking place in a semi-AU, meaning the world is still Naruto's world, but with a few modern things in it, like modern music, music players, sleepovers, etc.**

**Warning:** **Shounen-ai fluff, don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto…If I did, the story would be…different than it is now.**

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Chapter 3: How Can Things Get Any Worse?

"NARUTO?!" The scream had echoed throughout the house and throughout the forest too. Sometimes, I could swear that Sakura's voice was stronger than her kicks and punches. I was immediately in a pissed off mood. It was probably about eight in the morning, and that was too early for me to wake up. And I couldn't go back to sleep either. Oh no. Someone just had to make my day worse. That someone just had to be Kakashi. At eight in the morning he came into _my_ room and started to talk some nonsense about being out in nature and enjoying ourselves while we had the time.

That was three hours ago.

Now, he was making us go hunting. Easy, isn't it? No! He just had to make it so we couldn't use any of our weapons or ninjutsu! Or even genjutsu! Or any of our ninja senses! "You have to be trained like humans," was all he told us. And if I could right now, I would burn him down to cinders. And send him to hell. But I couldn't. So that was that.

Overall, I was having a very bad day. This was going to be a long three months.

Could things possibly get any worse? I was sure it wasn't possible.

That was until tonight.

You see, after our little hunting session, Kakashi decided to have us "relax." Like last night, he left us. Again. Yes, by now, it was around seven in the evening. As I was about to head off to bed for my much needed sleep that I missed this morning, Sakura decided to intervene. Apparently she had other ideas.

"Hey, Naruto, you wanna play truth or dare?"

"It's no fun with only three people, Sakura-chan!" I stared at him, horrified. On the inside, of course; on the outside, I was still glaring. I did not plan to play truth or dare with either of them.

She grinned. "Who said we only had three people?"

"Huh? Only you, me and Sasuke are here, Sakura-chan!"

"Well…I invited some of my friends over to spend some of our vacation time with us. Turns out they were just as bored as we were."

"Ooh! Really? Who did you invite? Do I know them?"

"Yes, you do, Naruto. Guys, you can come on in!" When she said that, the calm and serene house turned into a zoo. Literally. With animals of the human species. Loud animals. For the most part anyways.

As blinked, the whole living room was filled with all the people I knew. There was Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji there, all sitting together. Next to them were the Sabaku siblings, Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari, who kept shooting glances at Shikamaru. Neji, and Ten Ten were there. Along with Lee. We were also joined by Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. The small group of the three of us had turned into a group of fifteen people! I knew there was no way that I was going to back out of this party. _Damn!_

Soon after, everyone arranged themselves into a circle, and I had to sit in between Naruto and Neji. Who kept looking at my dobe strangely. And I didn't like that. If looks could have killed, Neji would have been dead by now. Naruto was smiling happily, glad to be at a party with that many people. Especially during vacation. He was having fun, I could see that. Next to him sat Gaara. Who had the same look in his eyes as Neji. And was staring at Naruto. My glare intensified, if that was possible. After Gaara was Sakura, then Shikamaru, followed by a very happy looking Temari, a snacking Chouji, a flustered Hinata, sitting next to Kiba. Shino was as quiet as usual, and as creepy as usual too, and sat next to Kiba and Kankurou. Ino was next, also sitting by Lee. She looked kind of pissed with her seating arrangements. Ten Ten sat between Lee and Neji. And I was glad that that was all of us. This was going to be a long truth or dare game.

Once everyone was situated in their places, Sakura continued to explain the rules. "Ok, so first of all, we all know we're playing truth or dare, right?" Everyone nodded. "Well then, we can pretty much dare anything…And to make it more interesting, we're going to make you guys kiss a person of our choice, every time you either truth someone. Square on the lips! And you only get two chickens! No dare-backs…Other than that, lets start!" She smiled at us, and Ino started snickering. Of course. I should have known. It was both their ideas. And they pretty much controlled the game. That meant more trouble.

"I'll go first!" Ino volunteered.

"Ok then, Ino-pig, you have to kiss…Chouji!" Sakura pinched in.

Ino shrugged, pecked Chouji on the lips, and continued with the game. "Kiba! Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!" He threw back at her.

"Ok! I dare you to lap dance on Neji!"

"No problem!" Kiba sounded sure of himself. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Neji grow stiff. _Hah! Take that, Hyuuga! _I smirked openly. After about thirty seconds though, the Hyuuga's pain was over. Ino, Sakura, and Ten Ten had started snickering out loud, and groaned when it ended. I was glad when it was over. "Who do I have to kiss?" Kiba asked a few moments later.

"Hinata-chan!" Someone shouted out. Both Kiba and Hinata were immediately flushed red. Their kiss was sweet, and extremely short. Hinata nearly started hyperventilating, while Kiba was looking everywhere but at her. I raised my eyebrow in surprise, but it lasted for no more than a second.

"Naruto. Truth or dare?" Kiba's voice was quiet and controlled.

"Dare! Totally!"

"I dare you to sing "Sexy Back" for us! While dancing to it!" Kiba forgot all his nervousness, and was excited again. Someone had brought a CD player, and it started blaring the music to the song. Naruto proudly walked up to the center of the circle, unknowingly followed by three pairs of lustful eyes. He started moving his hips in motion to the music, while tapping out the beat with his feat. When the vocals began, I could feel my eyes widen. Naruto's voice was singing along perfectly to the song, without missing a single note. In the dimmed light of the room, he looked really sexy. I knew I had to stop staring at him before I jumped him, but I just couldn't take my eyes away from his face, his soft lips, moving along gently to the beat of the music.

When the song finished, I remember having to remind myself to close my hanging mouth, as he came and sat back down right beside me. He smiled sheepishly at me, happy that just about everyone seemed surprised. Apparently only Sakura and Ino had known about his angel-like voice. The others were just as surprised as I was. Beside me, I saw Neji start to smirk soon after. Gaara just stared blankly at Naruto, even more desire clouding his eyes. I continued to glare.

"Naruto…You have to kiss Gaara!" Ino yelled.

He hesitated for a while a look of victory stole over Gaara's eyes. When I looked over to Naruto, he had a look of disgust in his eyes, before he pecked Gaara on the lips. He was about to move away, but Gaara secured his hand behind the blonde's neck, making him unable to move. Everyone could see Naruto fighting for his freedom, to end the kiss, but apparently Gaara had other plans. From what could be seen, they were having a one-sided make-out session. Soon after, Naruto just stopped moving altogether, staying motionless and staring angrily into Gaara's closed eyes, as he waited for him to finish.

Once Gaara seemed to need a breath of air, Naruto punched him in the stomach, and went back to his seat. Well, he just stared at his seat, and then said, "Sasuke, will you please switch with me?" His voice sounded angry and barely controlled. I nodded to him in response, for once, not having either my glare or smirk in check, then scooted over next to Gaara. He sat down on my left this time, next to Neji. His hands were clenched in fists, so tight, his knuckles were pale white against his tan skin. Neji smirked wider, and had a look of minor satisfaction on his confused face. I glared a warning at him, for I could see that Naruto was already trying his best to keep his temper cool.

As I turned back to Naruto, I had an undeniable urge to comfort him, though I didn't comply. He seemed really hurt as he became calmer. He sat curled up in a ball, clearly excluding himself from the group, even though he was part of the circle. I turned back to the circle, but watched him from the corners of my eyes. It was Gaara's turn, and he was told to kiss Kankurou, who clicked his tongue in disgust. After a short kiss, he turned back to his seat, and was told his dare - or truth - I wasn't really even paying attention anymore, so I couldn't be sure.

The game continued, a buzz in my ears, always avoiding Naruto, and me. No one seemed to want a repeat of the incident or me burning holes in their back. Later on, I remembered getting up and out of the circle, grabbing a glass of water, and then going up to our room as the game went on. Through half lidded eyes, I remembered looking at the strange lights while a shadow moved into our room. The shadow seemed somehow sad, and I wanted to know why. But I was simply too tired to ask. Part of me warned that it was Naruto, and asking would probably be the better solution, but I was barely awake to listen to that part. Before I slipped too deep into unconsciousness however, I heard someone start to speak.

They seemed to have a rough yet somehow calming voice. "You're so lucky, teme. You can have all the girls you need chasing after you. None of them ever even look at me. I wish I had it as good as you did. Life would be so much easier that way."

After that, I had minor recollections of movement and light changes, but I was far too sleepy to pay attention anymore.

That night, I dreamt of Naruto.

The dream was more of a memory of a day in the past that most people had seen. It was graduation day. Everyone was becoming genins. I was the top amongst the everyone, while Sakura was the smartest. I knew I had the power to do anything I wanted socially. But that was when he'd caught my eye. He was just sitting there, head down, on a swing, underneath the tree right in front of the school. He looked really lonely and sad there, just by himself. No one bothered to talk to him because of the demon inside him. I didn't know that then. For a moment when the sun shined through the leaves, and he looked up, he looked like an angel to me. But it was quick moment, disappearing as soon as it came. It could have been a trick of my eyes for all I knew. That was the first day that I had actually ever noticed the dobe for being more than just what he was - a dobe.

From then on, no matter how hard I tried, I always seemed to be strangely aware of him. I got to know him, and I found out that I was in like with him. I also lusted after him, but that didn't really matter. Why? I didn't know. The last image in my head was that of our accidental kiss on the day of the meeting.

However, just as soon as I was starting to yearn for the kiss again, something woke me up. That something hovered over my bed in a dark shadow.

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TBC

**A/N: So what did you think? Was it any good? Please review! I really need them to know whether I should continue with the story or not.**


	4. ChangeIs It Good or Bad?

**Ok, so hi peoples! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time! It's been like two months, hasn't it? Again, I'm sorry...**

**Anyways, on to the story, and previous disclaimers apply!**

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**Chapter 4: Change…Is It Good or Bad?**

I couldn't really tell what, or whom, the shadow actually belonged to, so I glared up at it, like usual. It didn't help that is was pitch black and my sharing an wasn't as effective. I cursed Naruto in my head for turning the light off, but I knew that if it had been the morning, I would have killed him for leaving it on.

As my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, I started to feel power return to my body after its deep sleep. Normally, I would have been acutely aware of my surroundings, but I was on vacation now, and it was with Naruto. I hadn't even realized that I was starting to fall into a pattern of deep sleep. I cursed my body for being slow, since the pace I was used to recovering at, from sleep, was a lot faster. If the thing hovering above me was going to strike, I knew I wouldn't have enough time to move out of the way. But, it didn't seem like it was intent on doing something like that anytime too soon. Actually, it looked rather wobbly, like it had just gotten out of bed to walk around and was still sleepy.

My suspicions were confirmed when the form above me collapsed on top of me, knocking the air out of my system for just a moment, before instinct kicked in and I immediately sat up, pushing it, whatever it was, next to me on the bed. It took me a moment to realize that it was a person, more explicitly described as Naruto. Thoughts jumbled up in my head, as I remembered the dream from the previous night, my desperate longing for his lips, and some wondering what he was doing in _my_ bed. If he wasn't careful, things could turn out to be very…interesting. I shook my head, so as to clear it, but of course, instead of that working, my thoughts were just shoved to a corner of my conscious mind, where they still waged war, but were less a bit less intrusive.

I stared at the still form of the sleeping blonde, feeling my heart react violently to his warmth. That was strange, but again, the most pressing question remained as why he was even on my side of the room.

"Sa-Sasuke…" He whispered, and my body immediately froze up. Was he awake? Did he notice my sneaking hand, as it wormed its way up to his hair? Wait a minute. What the _hell_was my hand doing, sneaking its way up to his hair, accompanied by the desire to pet and stroke it? No, Sasuke, no. This was a bad idea. If he woke up, he will kill you. Ignore how soft and silky his hair looks. It's not worth it. Sasuke! NO! STOP!

I used my other hand to hold my sneaking one in place, since it had apparently developed a mind of its own. I acknowledged the desire to pet him, which was strange, but held still. I really needed to know whether he was awake or not at the moment. Because, if he was, I would have to use the other bed. I may have been focusing all my attention on him, but that didn't mean I didn't notice the small…ah…problem I had in between my legs. It also didn't help when he scooted closer to me, and murmured my name again, and this time in an agonizingly sexy way. By this time, I'd realized that he had wound his had around part of my shirt, and was clenching it tightly. It went in accordance with his following words.

"No…Don't, Sasuke…Please…Stay…" What _was_ he dreaming about? My curiosity nearly got the better of me as I almost woke him up and demanded an answer. Almost.

I didn't know what time of night it was, and frankly, I didn't really care. Mostly, ignoring my small problem, I was in heaven at the moment. For most of the rest of the time, I was laying down, staring at him, somehow at peace with myself. He seemed to do that to me, and I liked every moment of it. Sometime during the night, I snuggled up closer to him, and feel asleep, but I didn't know when. The next morning, when I woke up, I was smiling, happy that the first thing I saw was the peaceful face of the sleeping blonde. I just laid there, staring at him, inappropriate thoughts mingling with sweet ones in my head, like some sort of peeping tom. But I didn't care.

At least, that was until he woke up.

When he opened his eyes, all of my confidence and peace flew right out the window, and I panicked. Inwardly of course, though if you looked close enough, I swear you could see the havoc in my brain through my eyes. Outwardly, I was just glaring at him.

I knew I had expected some sort of reaction from him, but definitely not the one I got.

"Sasuke? Huh? What the HELL? ARE YOU TRYING TO MOLEST ME? OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU LIKE A GAY RAPIST OR SOMETHING? GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU PERVERT!!" He didn't need to tell me twice. Before he had finished, I was out of the bed, standing still and not facing his way; apparently, my small problem had grown a bit larger during the course of the morning. But what the hell was that? Is that the first thing he said in the morning to everyone he saw?

"Hn." I knew that my reply, unlike my thoughts, were calm, so I oh-so-calmly made my way over to the bathroom, desperately in need of a cold shower. Remember that time I said that I liked the way he was affecting me? Well, I was wrong. Change was bad. Very bad. Especially when it left you confused out of your mind, since there was no place left in it for you to be confused in.

I sighed as soon as the cold water washed over my skin, somehow both a relief and a disappointment. I'd never realized how much I liked the warmth of Naruto. When I was content with my enjoyment of the shower, I stepped out, nearly slipping on the wooden floor, before I caught my balance on the shower curtain. After glaring at myself in the mirror, and getting dressed, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, where I was met with a strange looking Sakura, and a Naruto that looked like he was about to throw-up.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun." She didn't even look up as she said that. Instead, she was staring intently at Naruto, trying to figure something out. His face was almost green.

"Hn. What's up with Naruto?"

"I don't know. He started looking all green when I told him that Kiba and Shino had started going out."

"Why does that even matter?"

"It does! Those two are, like, made for each other!"

"Why is Naruto green?"

"I just told you I didn't know!"

"Maybe he doesn't like gay people?"

"Shino's the only one who's actually gay. Kiba's bi."

"And that makes a difference?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Well, gay relationships?"

"I don't know anything about that. I never thought _Naruto_ to be the type to be against gay's."

"Hn." I nodded at that, agreeing myself, even though I hoped he wasn't. It would ruin all the plans for my cute, and extremely fuckable dobe.

"Why don't you just ask him?"

"Why should I?"

"Fine, I'll ask him."

"Hn."

"Hey, Naruto, what's up?" She raised her voice considerably, since the conversation between us had been whispered. We were close, but I didn't like show it, and she knew that.

"Huh?" He looked up, as if dazed by something.

"You've been looking kind of sick since I mentioned Kiba and Shino. What's up?"

"Oh. That. Well…"

"What?"

"…Um…Well…Don't you find it kind of disgusting that they're going out? I mean, they _are_ two _guys_, and all, and it just doesn't seem right…" He trailed off. I was shocked. Naruto had never struck me as the type to judge by anyone's sexuality.

"You don't like gay people, Naruto?" Way to ask the obvious, Sakura.

"…Uh…Well…No…I hate them." Ouch. Now that hurt. And Sakura could tell that it did, because she turned to me with eyes full of sorrow and comfort. I knew she wanted to reach out to me, and tell me that he didn't mean it, it was all shone through her bright green eyes. But, of course, that would be unlike something for me to accept.

"Oh. Why?" She continued the conversation, but didn't look at Naruto anymore. Her eyes were glued to me.

"It goes against nature. All laws of it. Kyuubi taught me that if you're going to mate with some, have it be someone you can build an immediate family with."

"Oh." I realized that males couldn't have children…But, did that have to mean he was so disgusted with their relationships?

"I'd much rather that Kiba go out with someone like Hinata, you know? That way, the two of them wouldn't have to worry about all the hate they'd face if everyone knew they were together."

"Well, that's stupid!" I slammed my hands down on the table, got up, and left the room, fuming about this new arrangement.

One thing I knew for sure: I was going to make Naruto like me, gay or not!

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**TBC**

**Ok, so I realize this chapter is short, but I was kind of letting myself get used to writing again. So, again, sorry!**

**I'll put the next one up as soon as possible, and please don't forget to review! **

**(Oh, and for those of you who have the time, check out my other new story: Vulnerable. You could just find it from my profile, but here's the URL anyways: .net/s/4644493/1/Vulnerable Plz, review on that one two!)**


	5. Searching and Planning

**Okay, I swear I feel like a big liar sometimes! I hate that! I really really really mean to update when I say I will, but I always end up either being too busy, too lazy, or just getting writer's block every time! So I'm really sorry that this update is a week and a half late! I'm really trying, you know? And at least it's the winter holidays (YAY!!! :D) so that I can write more, since I have NOTHING to do this year. I probably won't update everyday, but I will update more often than usual during these two weeks! So look forward to that!**

**Also, last story, I noticed that when I tried putting in the URL for my story Vulnerable, I forgot the first part of the URL, or it just didn't register. So, here it is again, for those of you who wanted to read it, but couldn't get to it: .net/s/4644493/1/Vulnerable Enjoy it, and please remember to review it please! (If it doesn't show up this time either, then just put in "http : // www. fanfiction" before the rest of the URL, and it should get you there (without all of the spaces).)**

**This chapter of the story is a bit different than the others: Only a part of it is in Sasuke's POV, because I also wanted to practice writing in thrid person, since I haven't in a while. So, enjoy the difference! I'll probably do some other chapters like this, so expect that too! And thank you for all the people who have reviewed, or even read the story! It makes me feel happy that people like it, so please continue reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...How many times do I need to clarify that? It's really starting to get annoying...**

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Chapter 5: Searching and Planning

**Naruto's POV**

Naruto was still a little dazed from the news he'd gotten about Kiba and Shino, but that was nothing compared to how shocked he felt at Sasuke's reaction. What the hell was his problem? As Naruto (and Kyuubi) had pointed out, homosexuality wasn't natural! It went against the laws of nature. After all, males and females had been created so they could procreate, not have sex with others of the same gender. That being, Naruto could not understand why Sasuke had gotten pissed over what he had said, when voicing his opinions. To him, it just didn't make sense, at all.

_Nee…Kyuu, do you know what his problem is?_ Naruto reached deep into his mind and prodded Kyuubi's conscious.

_**Huh? Kit, you just woke me up, damn it! **_Kyuubi responded, though Naruto could tell it was just playing around. Since Kyuubi really had nothing else to do, it spent most of its time sleeping. That was one of the reasons it had that much energy.

_Well, that's too bad, Kyuu! Now answer my question!_

_**Heh…Maybe he's just gay - **_

_Nope, can't be. I've known him for who knows how many years, Kyuu. I would have noticed something by now, if he was. It has to be something else!_

_**Kit, let me finish at least! Ah, never mind, I forget what I was about to say…**_

_Nice, Kyuu…_

_**Anyway, kit, yes, he can be. You've known him officially for five years, and it'll be six soon. And I bet he knows that. No, kit, you would not have noticed anything, with your poor observation abilities. And who knows? Maybe it is something else.**_

_Gah, this is driving me nuts, Kyuu! I never thought that he'd get __**that**__ pissed…I haven't seen him that pissed since that time…_

_**Whatever, kit. Why don't you just make up with him? It'll makes things easier on your pea sized brain.**_

_Shut it, Kyuu! My brain is not pea sized! And that's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that?_

_**Because your brain is pea sized, kit. **_

_I thought I told you to shut it?!_

_**You know you love it. Anyway, I'm going back to sleep, kit. Call me if something **__**important**__**happens.**_

_Huh? Kyuu? Wait a sec! _But it was too late. Naruto could feel Kyuubi slowly worming his way back into the dark recesses of the seal that Naruto had never visited. Sometimes he wondered what it was like, but most of the time he was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of the seal.

Naruto got out of his seat, and stretched. He was just about to stalk off to find Sasuke, when he was interrupted by Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto, you okay?" She asked in a sincere voice, but Naruto noticed it was a little flowery.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan, I'm fine!" He replied happily, though a little suspicious of her tone.

"Where're you going?" She asked again, as if trying to buy some time.

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**Sakura's POV**

"To find that bastard and knock some sense into him! And beat him up! Bye, Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled widely at the thought of that, though Sakura knew that neither would get beat up. Or maybe both would. It was not completely impossible to tell the outcome of their fights, but sometimes they could be a bit unpredictable. She heard him run off in the direction of their room, and stumble a few times on the stairs. Smiling at that, she whispered a lonely 'Bye, Naruto' after him. To most people except Naruto, it was no secret that Sakura had once fallen in love with the blond. But most also thought that she'd gotten over her crush too. She let them believe that, without ever telling anyone that the one she claimed to be like a brother to her was someone she wished to be more. It was probably better that way.

She had given up hope of ever being able to get together with Naruto after she'd noticed that Sasuke was in love with him, no matter how many times the Uchiha refused that it was love. She knew he was just in denial, since it would go against his precious pride. Damn cold-hearted bastards. Yes, she'd gotten that off of Naruto, but she couldn't help it. She liked him too much. But she'd always secretly also thought that the two of them (the Uchiha and Naruto) belonged together. She was a highly active member of their secret fan club. She had believed she had no chance of ever being the one for Naruto.

However, now that she'd found out that Naruto had admitted that he hated gays, she wasn't so sure. Naruto might still fall for Sasuke in the end, and knowing Sasuke, he would surely try his best, but there was an even chance for her too. She just had to fight from a safe distance, so she wouldn't die in the battle for her love. She knew the Uchiha would go to great lengths for something he considered **his**. Excited, she started pacing back and forth in the large (mostly) wooden kitchen (1) while planning for the months ahead.

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Naruto's POV

He'd searched everywhere. _Everywhere._ And he still couldn't find that bastard. He'd disappeared without a trace. It was almost as if he'd never existed. Except all his clothes were still there, but Naruto had overlooked that. Inside his head, he was panicking. To him it was highly possible that Sasuke had tried to go to Orochimaru. Again.

Naruto had thoroughly searched all the places in their room that Sasuke could have been, he'd searched most of the surrounding forest, and the rest of the large house. Three times. And that bastard was nowhere to be found. It was really pissing him off. Growling in disappointment and anger, Naruto quickly used a Rasengan to break a tree before searching all the places. Again.

_**You know, kit, I don't think you'll find him by patrolling the area. Even with your mass shadow clones, he's unlikely to be found anywhere near the house. **_

_Well then what the hell do you suggest I do, Kyuu? Where else can I look? _Naruto was really starting to lose his temper with the bastard, and had noticed that some of Kyuubi's chakra had leaked into him, even though he didn't really need it.

_**You could try the river. It's a bit secluded, so it's likely that he's there. **_

_Wow, Kyuu. That's another really good idea from you! Two in the same day! I must have done something really good or really bad to get this from you. _

_**Nice sarcasm, kit, but I won't fall for it. You did nothing of the sort, I just have some plans of my own that will be put into action soon. And yes, they involve the Uchiha brat, so be nice to him.**_

_Ugh, I don't think I even want to know, but considering it involves me, will you tell me, please, Kyuu?_

_**You did realize that even before you asked, the answer was going to be no, right kit?**_

_Yeah…but, I tried…_

_**Whatever, kit. Just go find him, and make up with him.**_

_You say that as if I'm his boyfriend. That's sick. _Naruto made a sickening noise at that, but didn't get a reply, so instead, he headed off towards the river to look for the bastard.

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Sakura's POV

Sakura ran up and down the house, making sure that everything was perfect. Her room was clean, and so was the rest of most of the house. She'd never been a neat freak before she'd met Sasuke, but he had eventually rubbed off on her. Which was why the afternoon sun found her looking around her bathroom, making sure everything was in its place. The bathroom that was only accessible through her room was somehow switched from a despairing state to one of beauty and luxury. At first, it was only moderately clean, if that. Not as bad as Naruto's side of the room, but still pretty bad. At least it was clean enough to not be disgusting to use.

Now, it shone like an undersea passageway, the kind of place you saw in the showings of "The Little Mermaid." Though there were no pictures of mermaids in the décor of the bathroom, there were tons of other sea animals floating around. She'd somehow even managed to get an aquarium in there, consisting of fish, plants, and rocks she'd found in the river. The marble sink was clear of all items, except for a mosaic of little dolphin statues. The three-faced mirror reflected the rest of the bathroom, but was originally sea themed to begin with. Its frame was designed as small fish running helter-skelter across a brown sea background, with a whale every now and then. It was profoundly intricate, she'd noticed. The shower curtain was a common dolphin and other fish patterned item, with blue sunlight in its picture. The tiled floor had been covered in some places with a deep shade of blue colored carpet. The walls had sea blue wall paper with some clownfish, angelfish, and even some guppies, along with corals of almost every color and size. There were blue colored towels laid in some places, while hung in others, just waiting to be used. Even the originally yellow lights Sakura had played with, to make it seem a blue color, by putting some translucent blue film over it.

It really looked liked the kind of place where you didn't want to touch anything, because you were afraid to ruin its perfection.

By the time Sakura was satisfied with the appearance of the whole place, she was dead tired. But, she had asked the girls to come over for a sleep over, and she needed to prepare _everything_ just right. So, she set about the tedious task of finding something those teens would eat.

A few hours later, she had set everything up perfectly, and was welcoming a shy Hinata, a pumped Ino, a curious TenTen, and an indifferent Temari into the house.

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Sasuke's POV

I was damn tired of waiting for Naruto to come find me as I knew he would. Who would have guessed that it would take him longer than a few hours to figure out his location? The dobe really had stayed true to his other nickname: usuratonkachi. He really was a moron.

I'd noticed several times that he'd passed by the river, but I always hid my chakra signature carefully during those times. But, even then, the dobe, with how strong he was now, he should have been able to sense me. Once, a bit after midday, I'd seen Sakura come down to the river, dangerously close to me, and looked around in it. I'd hidden my chakra signature with even more precision than usual, because her being Sakura, she was sure to notice. Every few moments, she'd reach in an grab a colorful fish that I couldn't identify, and put it in a large bucket that she had with her. Then, after about thirty fish or so, she reached in and pulled some plants out, along with some pebbles that you usually saw at the bottom of fancy aquariums. Her actions piqued my interest, but I kept hidden. However, once she was done, she looked up, a little past my direction, before smiling and going back into the house.

That whole ordeal was strange. I'd really wanted to get out of hiding and ask her what she was doing, but that risked showing the dobe where I was. I did get the feeling that she knew I was hiding there, though. She was better at perception than the dobe could ever be.

However, other than that incident, nothing interesting had happened. Except for a loud crash that I'd heard a distance away. Soon after, the dobe appeared out of nowhere and started calling out my name. Right, dobe. Like that was going to get to me to magically appear. When he didn't get an answer, he seemed deep in thought, with his chin resting on his hand. Now that was a rare occurrence.

After that, he quickly made the hand signs for kage bunshin no justu, and 11 clones appeared around him. They all split up, looking for me, and randomly destroying a large number of bushes and trees with a lot of jutsu's that should never be used in a forest.

Soon enough, a clone got to the tree that I was hiding in, and kicked dangerously close to my head. Of course that made me move, which revealed me. Damn it, I was found.

A loud echo of "SASUKE!!" was shortly heard after I landed smoothly on the ground. And I was glomped by a dozen Naruto's. I tried to choke out that I couldn't breathe, but I didn't have enough air to do so. I would have blushed with such close contact with him, but instead my face was quickly turning blue with the lack of oxygen. So, I did the first thing that came to my mind: kick the one closest to me.

"Damn, that hurt!" A Naruto yelled out, before poofing into smoke. The rest of the Naruto's, all except one, did the same. "Damn, bastard, what the hell was wrong with you when you stomped out of the kitchen?" This time, it was the actual Naruto talking to me, still glomping me. And I could still barely breathe.

"Get - off - me - dobe!" I managed to choke out. And with some resistance and a lot of time, he finally did as I told him to. It was a good thing too. My brain and finally registered how close I was to him, and I was starting to battle a hard on.

"Don't call me that, teme!"

"Hn." I replied, and started walking in the direction of the house. It was getting dark, and I was hungry, seeing as I hadn't eaten since last night. Of course, I would never admit that to anyone.

The dobe, predictably, followed me. He may have been the 'Number 1, Most Unpredictable Ninja' in the Fire Country, but not _everything_ about him was unpredictable, I'd noticed.

"So, what was up with you then, huh, teme?"

"…" I stayed quiet, just because I felt like being stubborn. I was still brooding from earlier.

"Teme, answer me!"

"…"

"Damn it, teme, are you mocking me? Looking for a fight, eh?"

"…" Again, no answer from me. By then, we were at the house. I was in a gloomy mood, and I intended to stay that way, until I figured out a way to make Naruto mine. Slowly, I opened the door to the house, expecting a silence and darkness to meet us. That was the usual.

But, no, of course nothing could be usual when dealing with Team 7. Well the other two members of it, anyway.

Instead of being greeted by darkness, or a happy Sakura, we were staring into a brightly lit, foreign room. Inside it, there were five females, lying on their back, laughing about something.

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_(1) Now that's an accident just waiting to happen. Lolz._

**Yay! Another chapter done! Please remember to let me know what you think of this one, okay? Even though it's mostly just making way for the plot, I still need to put it in there, so review, okay? Thanks for reading and bearing with me this long, I really appreciate it! :D**

**I really want you guys to also read Vulnerable, if you like SasuNaru! That one also has (will soon have) NejiGaa in it, so look forward to that too!**

**I will update as soon as I can during the winter holidays, which should be pretty soon, since I have nothing to do, so look forward to that, okay? **

**And, I haven't forgotten about my Christmas fic! Please give me any ideas on couples that you would like to read about, it would be well appreciated, since I want to write something other than Naruto fics, and this would give me a chance. If you don't already know, I'm going to do a Christmas SasuNaru fic, and another fic (MAYBE fics) of any other pairing that you guys could possibly suggest! I'll choose the pairing depending on how well I think I can write it, so please let me know okay? And I've decided that instead of a Christmas fic, it'll be a New Year's fic! So you guys have a bit over a week to review, since CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY HERE!!! WHOO HOO!!**

**Okay, remember to review! Ja-ne!**

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	6. Brooding and Insults

**Okay, so, today, I was finally able to check my email, and when I saw I had reviews, you wouldn't _believe_ how happy I was! I eagerly read through them, and started writing this next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!**

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**Chapter 6: Brooding and Insults**

I glared at them, shocked on the inside, but keeping my emotions well in check. It certainly wouldn't do to lose to my anger at the moment: I could find plenty of time to take it out on something later. What I did want to do was know what a hoard of females was doing in our vacation home. The cursed vacation was supposed to last three months, and time had passed slowly over the past two weeks. All of me really hoped and wished for some destructive war to break out over Konoha, so we would be called back to fight. It was rather frustrating to just sit it a room all day without being able to fight anyone new or interesting, and thus, being bored.

Which is why I came to wonder what was happening to my head when I saw the females.

Four of them, the ones furthest away from my suddenly homicidal hand, were laughing as if there was supposed to be no tomorrow. Sakura tried to calm herself down, clutching at her sides, but failing miserably. Next to her, Ino had her head buried in the pink-haired kunoichi's shoulder, which was considerably wet. The blonde also had one arm around the pink female's waist, as if claiming her and trying to calm herself down at the same time. Both their hair's mixed and clung to each other in a mess that I would not try to separate anytime soon. Or anytime at all, actually.

On the right of the blonde kunoichi sat brown-haired TenTen, and an older blonde, Temari. Temari lay on her back, clutching her sides, with tears streaming down her face, in a complete mess compared to all the other times I'd see her. In fact, if it hadn't been for the unmistakable fan right next to her, I wouldn't have recognized her. TenTen lay, still rolling around on the floor, like a little girl, even more tears streaming down her eyes.

Hinata-san, the one closest to me, and in the least danger from death tonight, had a slight blush on her cheeks, with her hand covering her mouth, as she merrily giggled along with the others. In my opinion, that was how all females should behave, quiet, but strong.

I was getting a headache, I realized. I had been in the room, in plain sight, for no longer than a few minutes, without being noticed by five battle-groomed kunoichi's, who had found something funny enough to let their guards down. If I were to even think about killing them now, they would have been dead in a second. Well, maybe not Hinata-san, but the others would have been.

I had no intention of staying and asking them to entertain me with their quaint sense of humor, and was about to leave, when the only other loud mouth present had to open his loud mouth.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? What's so funny? Tell me!" The dobe next to me demanded, in a very childish and cute way. Wait a second. Did I just think the dobe was cute? Yes, there was definitely something wrong with me, and god damned it if I didn't march back to Konoha this instant. I was _not_ homesick, just bored.

The females all turned to look at Naruto, all with surprise in their eyes, save for Hinata-san. Then, truly only a females could, they burst into giggles. Again.

Inwardly groaning, I turned around and left, but not before I heard Hinata-san speak.

"Nothing, Naruto-kun. We were just laughing because we needed to laugh." I imagined she smiled up at him, one of her dazzling smiles that used to be unnoticed by Naruto before. I knew he stared at her sheepishly now, probably thinking how much hotter and more beautiful she'd become since she had been thirteen. I may have been gay, but I definitely noticed such things. I was still a man. Sadly, for Naruto, that smile was probably emptied of all the feelings it used to contain when she was thirteen, as well.

However, it wasn't exactly sad for me. Now, the only other contestants I had in winning Naruto's heart -

I stopped myself right there. Since when did I want to win his heart?

The answer was rather simple: I didn't; I wanted his body instead. Shaking my head in disdain, I moved on, out of hearing range of the small party in the living room. I needed some peace and quiet, and our room was the perfect place for it.

I would have gone and hidden again, but I knew there was no point: even in the dark, I always had the annoying dobe following me around. It was very irritating. Whoever went to so much trouble to get laid by one of the hottest people around?

Me, apparently, answered a part of myself that had taken it upon itself to become like the dobe. Great, now I had his words following me everywhere. Grumbling, inside, I shoved that little annoying voice in a corner, making sure it wouldn't be able to make its way back out.

Once in our room, I sat on the window, and started my brooding session. I still had good four hours until midnight, so I knew I would get a good long brood in, unless I was interrupted by someone.

Whoever interrupted me had better have a damn good reason to do so: as anyone could obviously tell, I wasn't in a pleasant mood.

* * *

Hour after slow sulky hour passed by, and the moon rose higher in the light night sky every moment.

My brooding session had proved itself successful, so far. I still had another hour or so to go before I could retire to sleep.

Instead of staring at a wall like I usually did, I glared at the forest that was outside to my left. The river lay nearby, the crescent moon shone brightly over it, giving light to the dark around it. Everywhere else was pretty dark, though bits of rebellious sunlight peeked through the clouds here and there near the west horizon. I would admit it was beautiful, but I was too busy to notice more than typically made observations. In front of my eyes lay the Konoha forest, however, what I saw was completely different. I saw darkness, blankness, and plain nothingness. It was rather frightening, but I ignored it as well. Now, I sat, trying to sort out my thoughts into some kind of system, easily accessible, but that was proving neigh impossible.

My mind kept turning back to the dobe jumping on me.

I scolded myself for getting a hard on as soon as I realized he was on me, but thanked the gods that he let go almost immediately: it would have been embarrassing to be caught with one in public, especially if the one to catch you is the dobe; it would be even more embarrassing to try to explain to the dobe as to why I had one.

I was about to continue thinking about the dobe, when the dobe in subject came out of nowhere and crashed onto the floor. Had I been fully alert (which I was, I _never _let my guard down, of course not) I would have immediately jumped up, ready to kill whoever was attacking. Instead, I turned to glare hard at him, though in truth barely noticing him. He'd been running down the hall and had missed jumping over the small rise in the doorway, which had brought him crashing down on the floor, face first.

Soon after, I turned back to staring out the window, though barely there, still not completely aware of what had happened. I could see it was getting awfully close to midnight, so I'd have to stop soon, an idea I didn't like: I enjoyed my brooding sessions a lot. It was disappointing to say at the least when the clock downstairs struck midnight.

I got out of my sitting position by the window and headed towards the bathroom, so I could get dressed for some sleep. Unlike the past few days, I planned to sleep in tomorrow, and not be interrupted during the night. It was really rather, as Shikamaru would put it, "troublesome."

"Hey, teme, help me up!" Naruto whined from the floor. He still hadn't gotten up? I could swear it had been at least fifteen minutes since he'd fallen. I'd never realized how lazy he really was! Not.

I ignored him; if he planned to be lazy, I didn't plan on helping him out at all.

"Teme!" He continued to whine.

"…"

"Fine, keep being an asshole. Remind me why I went to look for you today, again?"

"…" How should I know, dobe? You're the idiot here.

"Asshole!"

"…" By then, I was inside the bathroom. In a few quick moments, I was in my bed, with the dobe still whining about me being an asshole, and me helping him, and other things, but after the second complaint, I stopped paying attention.

I was in the state of half sleep when someone (I didn't know who at the moment) came up to me and punched me in the face. It was a powerful punch, with traces of slight chakra behind it. I swear I felt bone crack with the punch, and I had a nasty feeling that it was not the attackers' bone. I would have yelped in pain, but Uchiha's don't yelp. Instead, I settled for flinching, and turning to my side. I allowed myself a loud curse.

"What the hell, dobe?!"

"I _asked_ you to help me up." His voice was strangely controlled, as if he were trying to hold on to his anger, and was barely succeeding.

"Well, you could have gotten back to your bed by yourself without my help!"

"Asshole, I can't believe that I even bother talking to people like you!"

"Then shut up! God knows it'd be a blessing around here!"

"Shut up, teme, before I rearrange your face!"

"You want to go at it right now?"

"…" Silence. Then, "Gah, this is why I _hate_ people like you!"

I did not just flinch at the word hate.

"You're okay with gay people, for one thing, and you don't act human at all! Why did you even have to come back from that psycho freak's place? I know you had fun being raped everyday there, so you should've just stayed! I'd have stopped looking for you eventually, cause I would have figured out how much of a mistake it was to look for you in the first place! I wish I'd realized that years ago! I wish you'd never been born, Uchiha! I wish Itachi had killed you on that night when your clan was wiped out! Go. To. Hell."

That did it. He had just insulted me, and no matter how sleepy I was, no matter how much I was still in a daze from my brooding session, I didn't take insults lightly. And, this was payback for my now broken nose. I would have to ask Sakura to fix it later. Now, I had to focus on the fire that engulfed my already enraged mind.

I swiftly moved my foot up to his face, kicking him cleaning up near the jaw bone. Hoping I'd broken it, I smirked, pleased when I felt a crack. The two of us got ready to fight each other once more.

* * *

**Another chapter down! (And god knows how many more to go!) **

**So, this was more of a filler chapter, but the fight is needed in the story, and I couldn't think of any other way to put it in. Also, I have a request! Does anyone know when Sakura's birthday is? I want to put it in the story, except I can barely stay online for longer than a few minutes, so I can't really look it up right now (my computer is being stupid =.=;;). So, if anyone knows, will they please let me know? Or at least look it up for me, please?**

**I have another request! Does anyone know how to take care of a sick person? I don't know, cause I've never done it, and I have sketchy memories of when people used to take care of me (I was almost always out cold -.-;;). So, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know, okay? **

**Also, if you have anything at all to say in general, just clicky the review button! **

**AND PLEASE REVIEW! I WAS SOOOO HAPPY THIS MORNING WHEN I SAW THE REVIEWS I HAD FOR THIS STORY!! :D Ja-ne~!**


	7. The Fight and its Consequences

**Okay, so the next chapter has (­**_**finally**_**) come out. I don't know how long its been since I last updated and I'm really sorry for the **_**long**_** wait. I completely forgot to update because of everything that was going on…I hope you guys forgive me!!**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Naruto. (stupid disclaimers…how many times do I have to repeat that?)**

**Chapter 7: The Fight and Its Consequences**

_Punch! Block!_ _Kick! Dodge! _We both repeated the same routine over and over, not daring to use any jutsu's or get too serious. But we could both _feel!_ I could feel his anger and frustration flowing into me, mixed with a bit of sadness. He could probably feel what I was feeling, whatever that may be. I wasn't really too sure myself. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was the fight and its outcome.

We kept at it for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably only just a few minutes. It wasn't long before all the girls came rushing in, no doubt alerted by the loud thuds of our feet and the falls. They didn't really do anything to stop the fight. They mainly just stood in the doorway, looking bewildered and wondering what to do.

Hinata was the first one to do something about it. She immediately moved in between us, too fast for either of us to stop our attacks; him, a punch, and me, a kick. My foot met resistance. Strong resistance. Soon, it became numb. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the nerves around Hinata's eyes become more prominent. Her byakugan was activated. She'd cut off my chakra points, and from the looks of it, some of my nerves too. No wonder my foot was going numb.

It was a while before anyone said anything. The only sound was the quiet swishing of the wind. Then, the moron whined.

"Hinata-chan! Why'd you have to stop us? I'd nearly beaten him!" I scoffed at the last statement while Naruto dropped his­ arms awkwardly to his side. I was already standing straight up.

"You guys nearly broke down the house!" That was Sakura, exaggerating, again. "We could hear you all the way downstairs!" Ino nodded, shock still plastered on her face.

"Dudes, I thought you guys had stopped fighting seriously like that?" Temari asked, after Ten Ten had whispered something in her ear.

I shrugged and started walking towards the window, planning to leave again. This time, I was going to go back to Konoha, and find something to do.

"Oh no you don't! I've had enough of you randomly walking out on me! This time you're going to stay here and let me"

Naruto got cut off as I turned to glare at him. We both knew that it'd been a long time since it had actually affected him, and, instead of flinching, he glared back. That was good. That was normal. It showed that everything between us wasn't destroyed. But it meant more than that.

I still hadn't forgiven him for what he'd said to me. I doubted that I ever would. He knew that, and he was okay with it. But I knew that he hadn't meant all of what he'd said. And for now, that was enough.

It wasn't long before I turned away, but only after he'd dropped his gaze first. I took that as acceptance from him. I leapt out the window and disappeared into the night.

***

Naruto stared out from his bedroom window, searching for something. Even he didn't know what it was. There was a desolate, lost look on his face. His eyes were as beautiful as ever, but there was something vital missing from them. It was obvious to everyone there was something wrong with him. But no one knew what to do about it.

It had been nearly a month now since the time Sasuke had left. Soon after, Naruto had felt at a loss of what to do or even think, but he'd tried his best to ignore the threatening feeling inside him. Instead, he'd continued through the vacation, hoping that time would pass quickly if he had fun, and that it would end soon.

Naruto loved vacations, but even he could start to feel the effects of not doing anything for such a long time.

He missed going on missions with his friends, and missed being able to protect Konoha. Even now, he felt helpless not knowing what was going on with Konoha. Or even all of his friends.

Sure they all visited from time to time, especially Ino, but he wanted to be in his home with them, not somewhere far away where he only got to see them when they decided to stop by.

And they all seemed to be going on secret missions, so Naruto couldn't even find out what he was missing.

He liked talking to Sakura, but there was a time when you got sick and tired of seeing the same person every damn day. Kakashi was, for some reason, mainly absent. Naruto had once tried to imagine what the pervert was doing with his free time, but had decided to stop thinking as soon as his mind had started to wander.

All of the events of the past month and half had led to Naruto's current state. He was bored out of his mind.

And, he'd figured out what to do about it.

_Kit,_ _what are you doing?_ A sleepy Kyuubi asked, a bit pissed at being woken up due to movement from his host.

_Just watch Kyuubi, I just had an awesome idea!_

_Really? And that would be…?_

Naruto didn't reply, but grinned, blocking his thoughts from the reaches of Kyuubi's chakra.

He was jumping from tree to tree, heading for his destination eagerly.

Naruto knew that Tsunade would never allow him back to Konoha, especially if she'd arranged for him to be on vacation. Which was why he wasn't going to Konoha. He'd made sure no one knew where he was going. He'd only left Sakura a vague not. Knowing her, she'd probably get pissed off at being left alone, destroy the house, and go back to Konoha.

He'd let her do that.

Two days had passed by since Naruto's departure from his vacation. He was glad to have something to do. But even more, he was glad that he'd reached his destination.

Suna. He'd been wanting to go and see Gaara for a really long time, and had finally done so. He'd missed the red haired boy.

_And your brilliant idea was what exactly, kit?_ Kyuubi asked, only mildly curious.

_Well, you see, Gaara doesn't know that I'm here, right?_

_Er…right…_

_So, I wanted to surprise him! I think his birthday is coming up soon. I'm sure I can find a cool ass birthday present for him if I hung around him for a couple of days._

_Oh? I'm still waiting to see the brilliant part of this idea, kit._

_Well…um…I don't know! We're just here, okay?_

_Thought so._ Kyuubi nodded in satisfaction, and made to go back to sleep.

But then, his nose picked up a scent which made Kyuubi smirk. The notion didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. Sadly, his nose was not as advanced as Kyuubi's.

_What, Kyuu?_

_Nothing, kit, nothing…_ But Kyuubi kept smirking, making Naruto feel extremely uncomfortable. He hated it when Kyuubi did that. He also knew that there was nothing he could do to make Kyuubi tell him what was up.

So, Naruto continued towards Suna, just waiting to see the look on Gaara's face.

**TBC**

**Yeah, I know that this was a really short chapter. I promise that the next few will be longer…(or at least I'll try to make them longer). I'm going to update Chapter 8 along with this one, and maybe Chapter 9 if I'm up to it. **

**Please review and keep reading! It makes me really happy! :D**


	8. What Happens in Suna

**YAY!!! Two chapters updated in one day! This is a complete and total miracle! Lolz, well enjoy!**

_**Warning:**_** There is slight boy on boy action in this chapter…Don't like, then why have you read so far into a **_**SasuNaru YAOI **_**story anyway?**

_**Disclaimer:**_** Me no own Naruto. :P**

**Chapter** **8: What Happens In Suna…**

Naruto could feel his head inflate when Gaara dropped a tray he was holding as soon as the blonde had yelled his name.

Three cups rolled around on the floor, spilling out their translucent brown contents in a wet mess. The Kazekage looked shocked, blushed, and bent down to pick up the cups and the tray. Behind him, Naruto saw Temari and Kankurou snicker in a teasing way. Naruto wondered why. Gaara was just surprised. There wasn't anything wrong with that.

When the room was cleared away, with steaming cups of tea in front of its four occupants, Naruto was finally attended to in a friendly way. Naruto didn't notice the over-friendliness of the blonde girl or the tattooed boy. Nor did he notice their secret knowing looks.

"So, how's it going guys?" Naruto was the first one to start talking, being the loud mouth of the group.

Temari giggled, receiving a stern look from Gaara, before answering. "Not much, Naruto. There's not much going on here these days. Things are kind of calm."

"Yeah, things have been pretty calm. I don't like the looks of it." Kankurou wrinkled his nose in disgust. He took a sip of his tea before sighing in contentment. "Sadly, neither of the two here believe me."

"Kankurou's just being negative. Things haven't been like this since…Well, I'm not exactly sure since when, but it's still nice." Temari answered, at once serious.

"Well, watch then, when something big happens and we're not prepared."

"Who says we won't be prepared? We'll be fine."

"Right…" Kankurou trailed off.

Naruto didn't like the uneasiness in his voice; it made him think that there might actually be something wrong.

Gaara, who hadn't said anything since Naruto had arrived, suddenly spoke up.

"I've taken precautions, Kankurou. Put your mind at ease."

"Oh, yeah? What kind of precautions?" The marked boy challenged.

Gaara didn't reply.

Naruto, feeling the sudden tension in the air decided to intervene. "Hey, have you heard from Konoha lately?"

"Yeah…We have…But why do _you_ need to ask us for info about Konoha, Naruto?" Temari asked, curiosity tainting her voice.

"Well, you know how Tsunade-bacchan sent us on vacation, right? Well, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't let me come back any damn time I wanted to."

"Oh…So you're kind of like exiled?"

"Um…no. I could probably go back…I'm just afraid for my life."

"Ah…that makes sense!"

"Yeah! You get what I mean!"

Temari nodded in agreement, before turning to Gaara. "Well, Gaara, since you're the one with the information, please, enlighten us."

Gaara glared before answering. He seemed extremely uncomfortable for some reason, Naruto noticed. "Konoha is…fine…"

"Really? What about bacchan? Do you know anything about Shikamaru? Kiba? Ino? Neji? Chouji? Sa"

Naruto cut off just as soon as he'd said the first sound of the raven haired boy's name.

The other three noticed, but decided not to push for information.

"They are all doing fine, from what I've heard. They just go on missions like always."

"Oh…Well…Yeah…" Naruto didn't know what else to say. A dark look crossed his eyes that all three noticed.

"Why don't we go shopping in the city, eh Naruto?" Temari piped in, seeing a chance to change the subject.

"Um…what?" Naruto looked up, confused.

"Awesome! Let's go!"

With that, Temari grabbed his hand, threw a meaningful look at Kankurou, and dragged Naruto out of the room.

Naruto had a fun time shopping with Temari. She didn't ask for his opinion on every single thing like Sakura and Ino usually did. She wasn't silent like Hinata either. She actually talked about stuff, even if it was pretty random. But the best thing about Temari was that she didn't just randomly shop around. She actually included Naruto in the shopping. Normally, Sakura and Ino dragged either him, Hinata, or both of them along to just stare at them and tell them how good they looked in something, and then dragged them away from the store before either him or Hinata could even buy anything.

Naruto remembered this as one of the most fun times he'd ever had shopping. Well, with a girl.

They didn't just go shopping for clothes either. They both found food (ramen), and weapons to buy, which left Naruto contended when they went back to Gaara's house.

During dinner Naruto conversed with Kankurou and Temari happily about nothing in particular, while Gaara stayed unusually silent, only speaking once or twice.

The day had been so much fun for Naruto, he was still fully awake by the time it was midnight. Slowly, both Temari and Kankurou drifted off towards their rooms, both yawning tiredly. Gaara was the only one still there.

Naruto looked at him expectantly, feeling bad that he'd mostly ignored the red head all day.

Gaara stared at him for a while before getting up from his seat and walking out towards the roof. Naruto followed, wondering what was up with him.

There was a full moon out that night, and it was especially close to the earth. It lighted up the whole city, even though there was no one out to appreciate it except for the two boys. Naruto stared at it for a moment, trying to memorize all the shadows that he saw along its surface, but failing miserably.

It was a long time before Gaara spoke, so when he did, Naruto jumped in surprise.

"What happened?" Was his simple question.

It took a moment for Naruto to answer.

"W-What are you talking about? Nothing happened…" Naruto felt uncomfortable being probed by Gaara of all people. He still wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Why did you look so sad at the thought of Sasuke's name?"

Naruto flinched at the word, but replied, "I didn't look sad!"

"Yes you did. We all noticed. And just now you flinched."

"W-Well…"

"Well?"

"We got in a fight, and he went back to Konoha, okay?"

"And?"

"And what?"

"Why'd he go back to Konoha?"

"I don't know! 'Cause he's a jerk!"

"…" Gaara stared at Naruto skeptically.

"I told him that Itachi should have killed him when he went insane…"

"…Oh…" Naruto knew that Gaara knew how horrible that was. That was why he didn't look at him. Instead, Naruto stared at the ground, feeling Gaara's gaze piercing through him. After a while, the blonde sighed and crouched down to the ground, feeling desperate to fix the situation somehow.

"That was extremely dumb of you, Naruto."

Naruto heard the lightness in Gaara's voice, and looked up to smile sheepishly at him. He knew that Gaara had never really liked Sasuke, and had only put up with him because Sasuke was one of Naruto's best friends. Or had been. Naruto was sure that he'd screwed up any chance of them still being friends. At that thought, Naruto's face darkened again.

"Yeah…I know…I wish I hadn't said that…" Naruto whispered into the night.

Naruto hadn't heard Gaara move forward, but before he knew it, Gaara was right in front of him. He placed his hands on the blonde's shoulders and forced him to look up at him. Blank, green orbs probed deep into sad, silent blue ones. Naruto felt a bit uncomfortable staring into Gaara's eyes like that; he had a bad feeling that something was about to happen. But even then Naruto couldn't have prevented what happened.

Naruto blinked. Gaara appeared right in front of his face. Suddenly, Gaara's arms around him held him prisoner. Naruto gulped, and Gaara's lips was on his before he could take another breath.

Naruto's first reaction was resistance. But he soon found out that for some reason his arms and legs had become numb. Gaara's strong arms held down his shoulders in a sure grip, making it impossible for him to move. He tried to pull his mouth away, but Gaara didn't allow for that.

Naruto remembered something that had been put in the back of his mind due to the Sasuke incident. The night that all of them had played Truth or Dare and Naruto had been forced to kiss Gaara. Even back then he hadn't been able to pull away. He didn't like how forceful Gaara was being.

It wasn't long before Naruto started to squirm under Gaara's gaze, successfully removing the redhead's lips from his. Once he was free, Naruto pushed Gaara away and stood up, glaring with hateful eyes.

Gaara gazed up at him, his eyes going back to their blank look. Slowly he got up as well.

The two boys stared in opposite directions, though neither looked straight at the other.

Naruto could feel his throat start to itch and his eyes well up with tears. He knew that this time there was no Sasuke to trade places with when he didn't want to be near Gaara. This time, he couldn't run. But he didn't know what to say either. So, he just kept glaring ahead, hating Gaara with every fiber of his being.

He saw, through his peripheral vision, Gaara start to move towards the stairs leading down. Neither of them said a word, and Naruto didn't move either.

Naruto didn't know when the tears started flowing. They just did. His eyes softened to allow the water to flow freely from his eyes. He crouched down again, but this time he held on to his knees, hugging them close to him.

Naruto stayed up on the roof for a long time; he didn't know how long. Everything had become a blur. But after a while he started to feel cold in the chilly night air. The moonlight made him feel exposed, like he was stripped of all protection. He picked himself up, his limbs complaining from the movement after being still for so long, and made his way to the room he was using.

He crawled into the bed, and pulled the covers over his head, feeling alone. He hadn't felt that way in a long time. Naruto curled up into a ball and started crying again. He wished there was something he could do to keep from feeling so weak, before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

Inside Naruto, Kyuubi stirred, feeling pity for the young boy. He hoped that Naruto was ready to handle whatever would happen with the obviously unwelcome presence that he had sensed before.

**TBC**

**Well? What did you think? I didn't go too much into the kiss because Naruto didn't like it. I'll describe it more if it's mutual liking for the kiss. :P**

**Keep reading and reviewing for the next chapter! :D**


	9. Stays in Suna

**Okay, so third chapter updated in a day! OMG, miracles do happen! Well, enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer****: Je n'ai pas Naruto…or something like that…**

**Chapter 9: …Stays In Suna**

I walked around the desert city, my eyes shaped into a glare full of disgust. I did not know why anyone would want to live in a hot and humid place such as this. But the people here did. And they somehow survived.

I could already feel the sun roasting me alive, and I'd only been in the heat for a few minutes. Shaking my head in repulsion I moved towards the Kazekage's place, not wanting to see him either. I still hadn't forgotten the last time I'd seen him and what he'd done…to Naruto.

Even after entering the place I didn't see any reason to want to stay there. At least inside the sun wasn't burning my skin, but it was still extremely humid.

I went up to the brown haired girl sitting at the reception desk and asked to see the Kazekage. When she looked up and saw me her voice immediately turned strangely high pitched. I hated it when that happened. She immediately started flirting with me in an annoying way. Nothing original. She wasn't even that pretty. And there was the fact that I was gay. She had no chance.

I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

I was about to space out again, but I was greeted by a known unwelcome face.

"Uchiha…Welcome. We've been expecting you." Kankurou familiar voice echoed around the room. "Where are the other two?" He asked.

"I told them to stay back at the city. They'll join in later."

"Follow me," he suggested before moving back towards the doors he had come from. I didn't see any sign of the puppet he usually had on his back. He must have felt extremely comfortable in this horrible place.

I trailed behind him since there was no way I could decline his offer.

Kankurou led me into a room which was furnished only with one desk and four chairs. There were two windows on the walls both facing out into the bustling city letting the heat in. I stood by the chair furthest from the sunlight.

Also inside the room was the bleach-blonde Temari and the redhead Gaara. I nodded to the Kazekage in greeting but continued to glare ahead and out the windows. Gaara took a seat in one of the chairs. He was dressed in the official blue and white robes of the Kazekage. Temari and Kankurou each took one of the other available chairs. I kept my place by my chair, preferring to stand.

"Tsunade wants to know what the hell is going on now past the eastern borders of Suna." I got straight to the point; the room was starting to feel really humid.

"Nothing important." The green eyed boy replied. We fixed each other in a glaring contest.

"You know as well as I do that that isn't true!"

"Even if it wasn't, it's none of your business."

"Tsunade trusted Suna to be one of its allies."

"We are."

"Right."

"Gaara, this isn't the time for your jealousy games! Just tell him what's going on!" Temari intervened. The two shared a knowing look before Gaara finally looked away.

"There is a" He got cut off by the entrance of an unexpected person. Well, unexpected for me anyway.

A tanned lean boy with hair as yellow as the sun walked through the doors that I had walked through only a few minutes ago. His cerulean blue eyes blinked a few times adjusting to the light. He wore his usual loud orange clothes. His hair clung to the sides of his face in wet clumps, somehow still spiky and in its usual disarray.

For a minute he seemed confused, probably at seeing me. I was just as confused, but I guessed that he'd probably gotten bored with the vacation and ran away to Suna. I wondered how long he'd been there, alone…with Gaara. My eyes flashed red at the thought as a strange anger coursed through my veins.

Naruto must have noticed the red that had flickered through my eyes; he now looked afraid and uneasy. He looked from me to Gaara and blushed a slight pink. I knew it! Something had happened. His eyes lingered on the redhead's passive face for a while, full of confusion, before turning to me again. The pink in his cheeks became slightly more pronounced.

"H-Hey, guys…" He started uncertainly. "I'm gonna go out for the day…I'll be back by dinner, okay?" Kankurou nodded while Temari smiled up at Naruto.

"See you later Naruto!" Naruto flashed a grin back at her before leaving the way he'd entered.

I stared at the stop the blonde boy had occupied just a few moments ago, wishing I had said something. But I knew I'd have time later. I also knew that Gaara had done the exact same thing I had. He was probably thinking along the same lines as me right then.

I turned back to the three sand ninja remembering my mission.

"So?" I asked. I knew they'd know what I was talking about.

"…" Gaara hesitated a while before continuing. I could hear a competitiveness in his voice when he spoke. "When Akatsuki was destroyed, its remaining members scattered. Some we were able to track down and interrogate. There were three who escaped: a boy with a mask on his face by the name of Tobi, a blonde called Deidara, and an Uchiha…" I narrowed my eyes at the mention of the name, but otherwise stayed under control. "There were rumors for a while that they had headed east, so I sent a few spies to investigate. The information they found out is extremely valuable." He paused there, again turning to look at me as if challenging me to deny that I wouldn't keep it a secret. I nodded to show I was listening.

"There have been other rumors saying that the masked boy is another Uchiha supposed to be long dead. Uchiha Madara?" I nodded. I already knew this information.

"…" Gaara stayed stubbornly silent for a minute, the corners of his mouth pulling down in a frown.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Gaara!" Temari seemed a bit angry at him, but she also had a smirk on her face. "We think they are trying to start a new organization, along with some other no-name people. They've already attacked a couple of villages on the border. We've put extra caution around the villages closer to the border."

"We've also started training all our chuunin and jounin for combat against those three specifically. The others from the group, we don't know much about."

"I see…Is there going to be a war?" I asked Temari hesitantly.

"Maybe. We don't know the complete strength of their forces. We might or might not be able to take them completely out. But if they prove to be more of a challenge, we might engage them in war. Or it might just be like the Akatsuki incident."

For a while all four of us stared off into different directions, not sure what else to say. It wasn't a silence I liked, but I wasn't going to be the one to break it.

"So, Uchiha, what else does Tsunade want to know?"

"She wanted you to know that all of Konoha is ready to help you out at your first call."

I turned around and walked out towards the city hoping to be alone for a bit. I had found an unexpected distraction. But apparently I was hoping for too much.

I was followed outside by Temari and Kankurou, both with knowing grins on their faces: they looked absolutely delighted about something or the other. And I had a pretty good guess what it was.

Temari, as always, started.

"Naruto showed up yesterday at around midmorning."

I didn't reply. Instead, I kept walking.

"He wanted to know how people in Konoha were doing…especially you." I could tell a bigger grin had entered her voice. But, I didn't get my hopes up. Knowing Naruto, he probably asked about all the people he could think of and I just happened to be one of them.

"Bet you're happy to see him, aren't you, Uchiha?" This time it was Kankurou that spoke.

"…"

"Fine, deny it if you want to. But guess what happened between those two yesterday?"

I knew I had stiffened visibly. I still hoped they hadn't seen it.

"Well, after dinner," Kankurou continued. "Gaara led Naruto up to the roof, you see? And can you figure out what happened after that?" He had barely finished speaking before I was gone, jumping from rooftop to rooftop searching for a quiet place.

I knew that Naruto hated gay people. If that Gaara had forced himself on him, I would kill him. But then, Naruto hadn't seemed too mad when I had seen him, more embarrassed. So it might not have been something too bad. Or Naruto might have liked whatever had happened.

My head started to spin around in circles, making me confused. I was probably overreacting. But then again, I may not have been. I realized I should have stayed back with Temari and Kankurou. They might've actually told me what happened.

I made to turn back and find them again, but what I saw made me nearly fall off the roof. Nearly.

There was Naruto, smiling happily, walking side by side with the two Hyuuga's. Hinata stood shyly off to his left commenting every now and then on something. Neji was on Naruto's right staring right at him in a really obvious way. Naruto was completely oblivious to Neji's open mouthed gawking.

I felt anger rise up within me again, but tried to quell it. After a while I succeeded. But I followed Naruto, and Neji to wherever they were going.

It was a while before I realized what was wrong.

Just a few seconds ago I had seen Hinata with them. Now, she was gone.

Immediately, my guard went up and I used my chakra to search for hers. When I finally found it, I wanted to hit myself over the head, because she was right behind me.

I turned around to face her slowly, making sure to keep my balance on the rooftop. I did want to fall over just because of an unexpected attack from _Hinata_.

She looked up at me shyly from behind her long dark hair, her pale eyes determined. Like always, she had her hands in front of her, lightly twiddling her thumbs, more out of habit than actual necessity.

"Uchiha-san…" she began, uncertainly. I nodded to show her I was listening. "Please keep chasing after Naruto-kun!" Her sudden statement surprised me, and though I didn't show it, I could tell she knew. I looked at her with questioning eyes. If she saw through my façade at trying to hide that I wanted Naruto, then she should know that Neji and Gaara were after him too…I didn't see why she'd want to stop her cousin from having a shot at the one he'd had his eyes on for a while.

"Well," she continued. "You see, I don't think Naruto-kun and Neji-san are right together. Neither are Gaara-san and Naruto-kun. It makes more sense if you to ended up together than either of them two. Plus, I don't want Naruto to get hurt. He's been through enough as it is."

My eyes widened the tiniest bit as she said this; she was truly very perceptive. I didn't want to say anything so I just nodded at her. She smiled back.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san!" With that, she disappeared.

I stood rooted at the spot for a while, a few questions floating through my head. Why did everyone seem to know that I wanted to Naruto? And why did everyone also assume that I _liked_ him? Because I didn't. He was just _hot_.

But even as I said it I knew that no one would take my excuse. So I decided to ignore that problem for the moment. I had more pressing matters at hand, I realized, as I remembered whom I was following.

It didn't take me long to find the trio again; I just had to trace Hinata's chakra. For a moment it amazed me how caught up Neji was with Naruto. In many ways he was probably a better ninja than Hinata, yet he still hadn't spotted my chakra signature.

I followed them through the many markets of the hidden village, not paying attention to where I was going. I only barely noticed as Hinata excused herself from the group and headed towards what I assumed was the Kazekage's place, leaving the blonde and the long haired boy alone.

I got closer to them, yet still stayed out of noticeable range. I didn't like the idea of the two of them being alone together. Especially since Neji seemed to be taking advantage of the situation by drawing Naruto further away from the central village and pulling him more towards some of its empty desert valleys.

I felt the same strange again that I had felt before burn in me, making me follow them even more carefully. A part of my mind whispered that I was acting like a stalker; I ignored that part. I had a queasy feeling in my stomach that something was about to happen.

Finally, the two stopped walking, Neji stopping a few steps behind Naruto. The scene was eerily quiet; I stopped far enough back that I wouldn't be noticed, but close enough that I could hear every word of the conversation they were about to have.

Naruto started.

"What's wrong, Neji?"

I saw that the Hyuuga's face tinged the slightest pink and he continued to stare at anything but Naruto, subtly.

"C'mon! You can tell me about it!" Naruto encouraged, seeming genuinely curious. Was he seriously that big of an idiot?

After a long moment of silence, Neji stared Naruto straight in the eye, making the shorter boy squirm in unease.

"Naruto…I like you."

What Neji had said was predictable. What Naruto was going to do, however, was not.

Since Naruto hated gay people, I'd expected him to flip out over that simple confession. However, Naruto simply smiled.

"I like you too, Neji! You're one of my coolest friends!"

Ouch.

I looked around to Neji, smirking in success. The dobe may have been an idiot but idiocy had just saved my chances of getting into his pants. Neji would have to try again some other time, when the dobe actually understood what he meant.

Neji stood straight up, and stared Naruto in the face, his expression a mix of uncertainty and hurt. He looked as if he was trying to make up his mind.

Apparently he'd come to the same conclusion I had.

"That's good, Naruto. I was afraid that we'd had a misunderstanding before." Neji smiled at Naruto sweetly, a feat that I knew I wouldn't have been able to pull off.

"Awesome! Is that all that was bothering you? You should have told me earlier!" Naruto literally bounced in place eagerly. "Well, then, let's go back to Gaara's place!"

Neji nodded in return, and if I hadn't been looking for it, I would have completely missed the sad air that surrounded him.

I had to hand it to him. That boy could keep his feelings in check.

I followed them back to the Kazekage's place, but entered well before they did so no one would suspect that I was following them. Except three people already seemed to know: Hinata, Temari, and Kankurou. The last two gave me what was supposed to be encouraging smiles; but, I was sure they were mocking me. Hinata was busy talking to Gaara.

About ten minutes after I had returned came Naruto and Neji.

Neji still had that sad hurt aura around him, but there was something determined in his stance as well. Naruto, as always was smiling brightly. That was until he saw me. Faster than I could blink, his smile was gone, replaced by a fake one that I prided myself in recognizing.

No one else, except Hinata, noticed the quiet change in him.

Along with his expression came other changes: his body tensed a bit, his eyes narrowed and darkened up a bit more.

I wondered at his reaction. What had I done wrong this time?

It didn't take me long to find out.

We started our little meeting with formal greetings, before coming to start to talk about various important topics, ranging from our three-man-cells arrival at Suna to the lives of the people of Konoha. I hadn't said anything throughout the whole talk.

Every now and then I would lock eyes (accidentally) with Naruto for no longer than a moment; then he'd look away.

After dinner, once everyone started drifting off to bed, I hesitated. Everyone, even Neji and Gaara seemed to realize that they needed to leave the two of us alone. When we were the only two left, I looked up to find him staring at me.

This time, when our gazes met, he didn't look away. He only whispered four simple words.

"We need to talk."

**TBC**

**Okay, whew! That chapter is finally done with! **

**I should force myself to write more…Turns out, I **_**can**_** actually write one chapter a day! Yay!**

**I should put the next few chapters soon, since I'm done with the next five…**

**Thanks for bearing with me and reading so far! Please review and let me know what you thought about that chapter, or if you have any suggestions, please tell me! I really enjoy reading reviews!**


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Naruto, Romance