Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Everyone Else is Doing IT ❯ Training Woes and Tasty Grass ( Chapter 13 )

Everyone Else is Doing IT

(part 13)

SasuNaru

 

Naruto and Sasuke bond unconventionally over XXX Yaoi fanfiction. Neji turns out to have an interesting talent or two. Gaara is Gaara. Psychotic and unpredictable, with a penchant for black.

 

______

 

“You are beyond late, Naruto.”

 

Naruto nodded absently as Shikamaru greeted him thusly.

 

Sasuke, he thought, his stomach leaping in a burst of butterflies as he relived those not-so-private but oh-so-wonderful kisses. Images of the dark-haired boy floated before his eyes. Sasuke with a faint smile. Sasuke with the mocking look of challenge he often adopted as he playfully taunted Naruto. And finally, a look he'd discovered only recently, flustered Sasuke - featuring wide obsidian eyes, a creased brow, and the faintest of blushes coloring those high cheekbones. Naruto found that he loved flustered Sasuke. As soon as he'd seen that look on his dark haired friend, he'd compelled to goad him into flushed-and-embarrassed Sasuke. It wasn't a conscious decision. It was an impulse. And he'd soon discovered that the best way to get that reaction was to invade Sasuke's personal space.

 

Uncharacteristically, especially for the stoic Uchiha heir, Sasuke would not only flush and stammer, he would get this wonderful mix of uncertainty and desire in his gaze and he would back-pedal. As far as Naruto knew, the dark-haired boy had never given ground to anyone or anything in his life. That he would do so now was something to be explored.

 

So he had. And he came to the conclusion that there was more than just rivalry between them.

 

It had surprised him, at first, but almost as quickly, he got used to the idea. Granted, it took the help of those yaoi sites to make him able to perceive such things in the first place…

 

“Uzumaki,” Asuma, their instructor, prompted. “Your reason for missing the 2nd half of training yesterday?”

 

Naruto broke free of his thoughts, reluctantly abandoning a series of `what-if's regarding his plans for the evening. He was wondering if something might happen, like last time. He both wanted it to, and dreaded it. Ah, emotional stuff was so confusing!

 

“Uzumaki?” Asuma's voice was harder this time.

 

“Y-Yes…” Whoops, got caught into internal monologue-ing again. “Um…” Reason for missing training? “Well, you see…” Gaara kidnapped me so he could molest me? He could say that, but then there'd be questions, and he really didn't want to relive the experience. Especially not when Gaara was right there next to him, his pale eyes surveying him surreptitiously.

 

“I- ah…. ate too much ramen…. and I got sick and I had to go home. I couldn't even move afterwards.” There, that was a paradigm of how not to lie effectively.

 

Shikamaru squinted an eye at him; apparently he wasn't convinced.

 

Asuma looked put-upon, his cigarette drooping sullenly from his mouth. He scratched his head, his brown eyes looking back at the blonde blandly. “You got sick.”

 

“Um… yeah.” Way to go, Naruto! his inner voice cheered sarcastically. Now you've left no room for anything BUT doubt in their minds.

 

A random flurry of wind gusted by, accentuating the awkwardness of the moment.

 

“Naruto…” Shikamaru said. “I've seen you down 12 bowls of ramen at a time with no problem. How much did you have to eat to give yourself a stomachache?”

 

Think, Naruto, think! “Er - sixty?”

 

“You don't have the kind of money it would take to buy all that.” Shikamaru didn't bother pointing out that not even Naruto would be able to consume that much ramen - nothing human, or even demon possessed, could handle that much. Yes, that was obvious. So he voiced not the improbability of the statement, but the monetary difficulties that would arise were such a thing even possible.

 

“Tsunade gave me a raise,” Naruto persisted.

 

The pony tailed boy stood lazily, weight on one foot, a hand hooked in a belt loop of his pants. He managed to look bored, but his eyes were focused in thought. The sun glinted dully off the small gunmetal hoops adorning each of his ears.

 

Between the earrings, the fishnet, the hint of kohl surrounding his sharp eyes, and his dizzying intellect, he gave off the impression of genius/punk. He was probably the first to manage something like that.

 

“No, she didn't. And what is that huge bruise on the side of your neck?” Shikamaru was nothing if not observant.

 

“N-Nothing!” Naruto stammered, his face turning red at Shikamaru's level gaze. How could he have forgotten the hickey? How could he have forgotten to cover it up with a band-aid, a turtleneck, or something?? He glanced at Gaara unintentionally, since he was the one who'd made the mark. The redhead looked equal parts annoyed, amused, and possessive. Naruto felt a quaver of misgiving as their eyes met, and possessive came to the fore. Eek.

 

“Shouldn't we stop wasting time, and start training?” he suggested quickly. “Maybe I should train with you today, Asuma-sensei?” he asked hopefully. He did not want to be left to Gaara's devices, and Shikamaru was bound to ask more questions.

 

“That would be useless,” Gaara said. “We are far more suited to each other.”

 

Quaver/Shudder/Fear. Naruto froze like a rabbit encountering a fox. The double meaning was not lost upon him. Pale aqua eyes held him in place just as solidly as the sand had the day before. They were pale as tinted glass, his eyes. Transient as mist. Mist trapped in a delicately colored globe, held suspended, and framed by the darkest of blacks.

 

Gaara was going to eat him alive.

 

“He's kidding,” Naruto said desperately. “We're nowhere NEAR on the same level.”

 

Asuma scratched his chin, and contemplated. He looked at Shikamaru, who shrugged.

 

Naruto inched away from the redhead.

 

“Well,” Asuma said finally, “I think you are about the best match we have for Gaara…”

 

Noooooooooooooo! Inner Naruto wailed.

 

Gaara smiled subtlety. You're mine.

 

“…but, perhaps we should focus on teamwork as well as one-on-one combat,” their instructor finished.

 

Inner Naruto cheered with joy.

 

Gaara frowned violently.

 

Shikamaru shrugged.

 

 

---

 

Despite their instructor's intentions, they more or less ended up fighting one-on-one anyway, just in the same vicinity. Occasionally, one of them would break from their own fight to land a helpful blow to their teammate's opponent to break a stalemate or try to give their teammate the upper hand.

 

Once, Shikamaru shadow-bound one of Gaara's legs momentarily while Naruto regained his feet. The redhead did not take kindly to this, and tried to crush the brunette under a fist of sand. Naruto launched a few clones at the sand-nin as a distraction while Asuma hurriedly knocked Shikamaru, his opponent, out of the way just in time.

 

Unruffled, Gaara returned his attention to his blonde prey. His eyes narrowed, and he wet his lips.

 

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt sand slip into his pant leg and form a cuff around his ankle. He tried desperately to shake it off, but nothing happened except the cuff tightening and his leg becoming immobile.

 

More sand followed, as Naruto sent clones after the redhead. It flowed up his skin, over the cuff. Not a quantity that would be easily noticed by the other two ninja, who were deep in concentration within their own battle, but enough to make Naruto wildly uneasy.

 

Ankle. Calf. Knee. Up the back of his leg. Trickling. Distracting. Then the sand curved up around his cheek, threatening to do unspeakable things, and Naruto's attacks fell apart. This gave Gaara the opening he needed. The clones paused stupidly, looking back at the original in horror. Gaara's sand blasted upward in short eruptions, impaling and dispatching them, before streaking towards Naruto who was beating at his clothes in panic.

 

The wave of tumbled silica granules hit Naruto like a sucker punch, knocking him backwards about 20 ft, into the trunk of a large tree. The air in his lungs left him explosively as his back impacted the rough bark. He slid to the ground in a heap, trying in vain to get his bearings, as his head swam dizzily.

 

A haze of dust, kicked up from the attack, obscured his red-tinged vision, but he knew without seeing that Gaara was approaching.

 

He felt Kyuubi's chakra envelop him, surging forward to repair its shell. Breathing was rather painful. He'd probably cracked several ribs.

 

Gaara was being pretty rough with someone he supposedly liked. But then - Naruto had seen what the sand user deemed acceptable to do with people he didn't like…

 

Naruto looked up, his head still ringing unpleasantly. His stomach heaved at the motion. He probably had a mild concussion as well. Fantastic.

 

A Gaara-shaped form coalesced out of the silt-laden air. As it moved forward, it took on detail, and color.

 

Red, red, red. Naruto was struck again by the impossible color of the sand-nin's hair, and chose to focus instead on the black, black cloth and fishnet covering the other boy's chest, even as he watched the red dance on the corners of his vision. His chest rose and fell easily as he breathed, unlike Naruto's.

 

Suddenly, black cloth and ivory flesh were a blur of motion and Gaara's face came into view as he crouched down in front of Naruto.

 

“You heal fast, don't you?”

 

“…” Naruto decided not to dignify that with an answer. Sure, he was healing, but not fast enough and it still HURT.

 

Gaara caught Naruto's chin in his hand, forcing him to look up. Naruto saw the kunai only a second before it sliced into his cheek. Warmth trickled down his skin from the cut, before it began to sting. Naruto stared blankly in shock.

 

Gaara leaned forward as if to kiss him, still holding his head immobile with strong fingertips. His lips brushed by Naruto's, feather-light, a mere breath of touch, bypassing them to lick the blood off his cheek.

 

Too weird! Naruto struggled, caught between the tree and the psycho, but he was held firmly in place. His heart knocked painfully into his aching ribs as he suffered Gaara's ministrations.

 

“Healed, already,” Gaara said to himself, reaching up to brush the area he'd marked but a second ago with reverent fingertips. “…you wouldn't break…”

 

Naruto blanched. What did I ever do to attract these types?? he asked The Powers That Be.

 

“Gaara, leave Naruto alone,” said a bored voice.

 

Gaara's hand trailed down Naruto's cheek, tracing his jaw… his throat… his collarbone… before he answered, “We train for real life situations, Nara.” Gaara's hand felt heavy where it rested on his chest. “You won't always be around to save him.”

 

“Well, I'm here now, and I'm telling you to lay off.”

 

Gaara turned slowly to face Shikamaru. “Is that a threat?”

 

Naruto caught the tail end of one of those creepy smiles that was part anger, part glee. He had to stop this before it got started. “No it isn't,” he answered Gaara's question before the pony-tailed boy could speak.

 

“But - ”

 

“I'm fine, Shikamaru,” he said to the dubious look on his friend's face. “I just got careless.” He glanced at Gaara. “It won't happen again.”

 

He collected himself, got to his feet, and evaluated his remaining damage. His head felt mostly clear again, and his ribs felt marginally better. Mostly, he was noticing now, he was exceedingly hungry.

 

“How about lunch?” he asked Shikamaru. “It's almost time, isn't it?”

 

The brunette looked up at the sky. By his estimation, it was just after 11:30. But there was no rule in the ninja handbook that dictated lunch had to be taken at noon, so he nodded.

 

Though, if such a rulebook existed, it would likely be full of useless things such as a mandatory time frame for lunch, and in abundance. And it would be written by people who knew next to nothing about being a ninja and what it took to survive, so that it would be nothing but a thorn in the side of people who DID know what they were doing. Yes, Shikamaru thought, someone would likely compile one in the next 5 years.

 

---

 

“Tsk, Tsk, Sasuke-kun,” Lee chided. “When fighting a worthy opponent, you must never let your mind stray from the task at hand.”

 

Sasuke huffed. He was indeed thinking about something else. “That is solid advice, Lee,” he conceded. However, I don't even need half my brain for this. He regarded the pink menace balefully.

 

“Do not underestimate Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun. She is a formidable ninja, in her own right.”

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and half-heartedly dodged a wide kick thrown by the girl. And what `right' would that be, Lee? The only thing she's formidable at is being useless.

 

It was such a pathetic match-up, that even the rabid fan girls couldn't muster a single `Oh noes, Sasuke-kuuuuun!'

 

Sasuke decided to pass the time by challenging himself to evade her attacks with the most minimal effort possible.

 

After a while, that became mind-numbing as well.

 

“Oh, come ON, Sakura!” he said with exasperation. “Where are you aiming??”

 

At this rate, the day would never be over, he would never see Naruto, and he would die of boredom before the sun had a chance to set. Now, he was really hoping Naruto was up for sparring later. His muscles twitched, complaining about the lack of use, and worse than that, he was beginning to feel fidgety. Why was it that Naruto was one of the only people who could offer him a real challenge?

 

“Sas…u…ke,” Sakura sniffed, “Why…are you so MEAN?!”

 

“Why are YOU so bad at this?” Sasuke could be bitchy when he was fidgety. He knew this, though he'd never admit it aloud. But, it was her own fault for boring him into dementia.

 

“Gah!” she shrieked. “Just because you're hot, that doesn't mean people won't get fed up with your attitude!”

 

“If they get fed up, does that mean they'll leave me alone?” he glared pointedly at his group of admirers. “Because I still have more than my fair share of stalkers!”

 

“Sasuke-kun, please,” Lee interjected with a nice guy smile. “Do not be so harsh…”

 

“Shut up, Lee,” Sakura stormed, effectively destroying the spandex-clad boy's will to live.

 

She thrust her hands on her hips. “I-I don't even know I like you! You're… you're rude, and arrogant….”

 

“…and sexy,” the fan girls chimed in dreamily.

 

“You stay out of this!” Sakura snarled at them.

 

“Well, why do you?” Sasuke demanded. “God knows I've done nothing to encourage it. Yet, decent guys like Lee and Naruto decide to like you, and you won't give them the time of day. Does that sound rational to you??”

 

Sakura crossed her hands over her chest, and said, “Hmph.”

 

Sasuke heaved a sigh. He should have known reasoning would get him nowhere.

 

His attention was caught suddenly by a movement near the ground. Lee, tears streaming down his face, was uprooting handfuls of grass, sobbing, “Ten fistfuls of grass, and if I can't eat that… fifty fistfuls of grass… and if I can't eat that…”

 

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stupid girls,” he muttered. Three little words had reduced Lee, a fighter of unparalleled skills, to the mess he saw before him.

 

It was probably about time to go and meet Naruto now, but Sasuke couldn't leave Lee like this, it was too sad. He sighed, and crouched down, looping one of Lee's arms around his neck, and helping him stand.

 

“W-whyyyyy, Saaa-sasuke-kun?” Lee whimpered. “W-Why do they always go for the j-jerks? Why c-can't the n-nice guys ever get a-ahead?”

 

Why indeed? Sasuke wondered, ignoring the jerk comment since the bowl-cut haired ninja was so obviously distressed.

 

---

 

“Hi, Sas - !” Naruto cut himself off. Upon closer inspection, Sasuke wasn't alone. “Er... what happened to Lee?” The normally hyperactively energetic nice-guy ninja looked… wilty.

 

“Sakura,” Sasuke replied. He looked put-upon, and apologetic. “I know we were supposed to hang out, just us, but I just couldn't leave him there. He was eating grass.”

 

Naruto nodded. “Sakura has that effect on people.”

 

“What do you see in her?”

 

Naruto shrugged. “Can't remember anymore.” He added with a wink, “Besides, you know what they say: Black is the new pink.” And Sasuke had definitely replaced Sakura as the focus of his more… scandalous thoughts.

 

“Dobe,” Sasuke muttered, covering the smile that rose to his lips. He felt a little flutter of encouragement and well-being shoot through him. Maybe having Lee along wouldn't mess things up after all.

 

---

 

They made their way to the Ramen restaurant, Naruto chattering away, and Sasuke dragging Lee like a sack of oats.

 

They secured a table and put in their orders as soon as the waitress came by.

 

“And what do you want, hun?” the waitress asked Lee with concern.

 

Naruto looked apologetic, “He'll have the same thing I - ”

 

“SAKÉ,” Lee said, his head lolling on the wooden table miserably. “Saké.”

 

Sasuke and Naruto shared a look. Naruto shrugged.

 

“He just had his heart ripped out by the girl of his dreams,” Sasuke explained to the sympathetic waitress. “I think he's entitled.”

 

“Oh, the poor DEAR,” she cooed with concern. “Girls these days…” she said, shaking her head. She patted Lee on the back, and a tear rolled down his cheek. “I'll bring him the house's finest, no extra charge.”

 

 

---

 

“Geez,” Naruto griped some time later, “They didn't have to throw us out like that. The poor guy's just having a rough time.” He shifted his burden, and pulled the unconscious Lee's arm more securely about his neck. For looking so skinny, the green-clad ninja was actually pretty heavy.

 

“What did you expect them to do when Lee went on a rampage? I'd have hit him upside the head with a broom to knock him out too.”

 

“Guess you're right. I didn't think he'd spaz out like this though… I mean, I know he's upset and all, but I just thought he'd cry into his drink, not try to wreck the place...” Unbeknownst to Naruto, Neji and Ten-Ten were well aware of this tendency, and kept Lee and alcohol as far apart as possible.

 

Sasuke shifted Lee's other arm where it lay around his own neck, trying to make the boy less cumbersome to carry. Lee's head flopped forward onto his spandex covered chest. “You don't happen to know where Lee lives, do you?” Sasuke asked.

 

Naruto thought for a moment, and shook his head. “Not a clue.”

 

Sasuke sighed. “Well, I guess he'll just have to stay with us at my house for the night.”

 

Naruto looked disappointed, but readily agreed.

 

---

 

They put Lee in the room they judged could suffer the most damage, and not be too much of a problem, and went upstairs.

 

Naruto yawned, stretched, and flopped down on Sasuke's bed. “Man, what a day.” What a week.

 

“Why don't we get cleaned up and crash,” Sasuke suggested tiredly. “I don't think I can handle this day being any longer.”

 

“I don't think I can move,” Naruto said, closing his eyes. “Sooooo tired.”

 

“C'mon,” Sasuke yawned again, “…Dobe.”

 

“Mphh.”

 

“I can't sleep without a shower. Not after not having one this morning, since we were at Neji's and woke up late.”

 

“Oh, `s right. I forgot.” Naruto made no move to get up.

 

“Shower now and sleep in the bed, or don't shower and sleep on the floor,” Sasuke offered.

 

One blue eye opened. “…you're mean, Sasuke…. anyone ever tell you that?”

 

“Yes, just today in fact.”

 

Naruto sighed and rolled over across the bed, and rolled, and rolled and let himself fall onto the floor in a heap. He dragged himself to his feet, accepting the hand Sasuke offered him.

 

20 uneventful minutes later, Naruto trudged back into Sasuke's room and flopped back onto the bed, face first, and proceeded to await the return of his dark-haired friend. His wet hair was going to make the pillow damp, but he didn't care. Sometimes you were just too damn tired to care.

 

8 minutes later, Sasuke entered the room. Naruto looked up, deciding he liked the way Sasuke's hair looked wet. It was iron straight, fell in slick, severe lines to either side of his face, and was smoothed down in the back as well. It made him look younger somehow. Vulnerable. “What do you DO in there that takes so long?” Naruto asked him as he threw his towel at a laundry bin.

 

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and made it look elegant. “Same thing you do, I'm sure.” He opened a drawer to look for a shirt to sleep in.

 

Naruto watched him, thinking it would be a shame for him to put one on. After all, despite his exhaustion he was enjoying the view. The smooth line of Sasuke's back shifted subtlety with the interplay of hard earned muscles as he rooted through the drawers, and the glimpses Naruto got of his flat stomach and the defined planes of his chest were making it hard to do anything but stare.

 

Sasuke found a white shirt, which he deemed satisfactory, and had it pulled up over his arms already before Naruto suggested he go without.

 

“Do you always sleep with a shirt on?” the blonde asked.

 

Sasuke paused, elbow-deep in white cotton. “…no,” he said cagily.

 

“So, you just dress like a prude for sleep when I'm here?”

 

Sasuke's eye twitched. “I don't dress like a prude.”

 

“You sure? I mean, look at you… long pants, a shirt, I'm surprised you don't wear socks to sleep too.”

 

“Just because I sleep in more than boxers?” he inclined his chin at Naruto, who was wearing just that.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Hn.” How ridiculous was this? Who cared what he wore to bed?

 

“Unless… you're just afraid you'll get cold at night?” Naruto said patronizingly. He grinned drowsily, “'Cuz if so, I can help keep you warm.”

 

“Dobe,” Sasuke scoffed, refusing to let Naruto make him blush. The blonde was leering at him playfully, albeit sleepily, making Sasuke's pulse start tripping anxiously.

 

Sasuke threw the item of contention back into the dresser with misgivings. He wasn't sure if Naruto was really making a pass at him, or if he just said stupid things when he was tired. Either way, he was concerned about sharing a bed with Naruto with the two of them dressed so sparingly.

 

The bed seemed daunting now… A place for far more intimate things than sleep…

 

Last time something had happened, it hadn't gone well. Despite this vibe he felt building and thrumming between them, spurred on by the barest of touches, and the intensity that descended when their eyes met… despite all of that… their first time together was a disaster, and the precursor to one of the most hellish weeks of Sasuke's life. (Ignoring, of course, the childhood trauma part of his life - he didn't like to dwell on that too much.) It was one of the worst fallings out they'd ever had. One of the only they'd ever had. And it stemmed from getting close. Physical… Maybe Naruto wouldn't want something like that to happen again, or at least not so soon.

 

That being the case, he was going to have a hell of a time practicing self-restraint.

 

Naruto had scooted under the covers, and held them open invitingly. Sasuke stared at his muscled arms, lightly muscled chest and the smooth expanse of tawny skin. He got into the bed gingerly, wanting nothing more than to slide his arms around the blonde as he slid between the sheets, to kiss his sainted lips and feel them open up to him.

 

He was trying desperately not to remember the gut-wrenching pleasure he'd experienced with this very same person less than a week ago on the couch downstairs, or the exact feel of his mouth as they'd kissed.

 

He was failing admirably.

 

He was overly aware of the blonde's body heat, proximity, and the wonderful smell of soap on his skin. The feeling of the space beside him being occupied. The slight dip in the bed from Naruto's weight. The way the air seemed devoid of oxygen, and laced with crackling static.

 

It was a good thing he was so incredibly tired. If he was lucky, sleep would steal his consciousness before he committed yet another faux pas.

 

Sasuke, deciding darkness would speed him towards oblivion, clapped his hands, turning off the light. It was a new addition to his room, one he was rather pleased with.

 

“Neat, Sasuke,” Naruto exclaimed quietly, only half awake. “When'd you get that put in?” Sasuke could hear the grin in Naruto's voice, even if he couldn't see it.

 

“Recently,” he said cryptically, feeling more pleased with the light than before, now that he knew the blonde liked it.

 

Naruto threw his arm over Sasuke's chest, and settled comfortably against him. “Always thought that clap-lights were cool,” he murmured.

 

Sasuke froze at the sudden invasion of his personal space. Warm limbs… Warm Naruto… Half-naked Naruto… Warm, sleepy, half-naked Naruto… His lust-addled brain entertained thoughts of shifting in the blonde's grip - rolling on his side, pulling the other boy's body into his, and brushing sleep-slowed lips with hot, meandering kisses.

 

Sasuke's body tightened as he took those thoughts further. A heady, passionate kiss… The feel of a lean back beneath his hands… Naruto throwing a leg over his hip, bringing their desire dizzyingly close…

 

Sasuke's body began to thrum with the explicit imagery.

 

Unfortunately, he was too tired to carry out any of these plans. Not that he wouldn't have maybe tried, and risked the embarrassment of not being able to perform - but Naruto was already asleep, his breathing even and deep.

 

Sasuke listened to the steady pace of air in, air out, for several long minutes. He tilted his head up and leaned forward just enough to plant a soft kiss on Naruto's whisker-marked cheek.

 

His body was protesting his acquiescence to let nothing happen. It was protesting violently. But, he could bear it. As long as Naruto was with him, that was all that mattered. They'd work out the rest as they went along.

 

---

 

Neji sprawled in the chair at is desk and sighed. Today, aside from this morning, had been uneventful and he found himself uncharacteristically bored. Restless.

 

Once again, training was comprised of those damn tree exercises and other such useless tasks. Kiba and Hinata made eyes at each other more than usual, apparently being a new couple. Once, Kiba fell off a tree as the dark-haired girl smiled at him unexpectedly. It was disgraceful. Where were the standards of ninja nowadays? Did they let just anybody join up, or what?

 

Neji hung his head over the back of his chair and sighed again, eyes pointed at the ceiling. He was almost never bored. He hated the feeling. But nothing seemed particularly pressing at the moment, and he couldn't seem to interest himself in doing anything.

 

Maybe he could train… spar with someone that would give him a challenge…

 

Lee?

 

No. His exuberance was draining. And at times, wildly annoying. He was a good friend, but right now Neji would just as soon drown himself in the koi pond as spar with him.

 

Neji tapped his fingers absently on the top of the desk. If Uchiha had still been here, he could have easily goaded him into a fight. It was fun to rattle his cage. And it would be a fight that kept him on his toes, for sure. But… Neji frowned. Thinking of the fight they'd almost had, he had an image of Naruto push its way into his head. He'd been trying not to think of the blonde and how entertaining it was just to be in his presence, or talking to him. It was a sad truth, but thoughts of either Sasuke or Naruto often brought to mind the other. Neji was sure it was the same for anyone that knew the two of them. It was like they were a matched set.

 

Neji pulled himself from his musings as an IM chime sounded. He frowned, distinctly wanting a chance to pummel Uchiha's smug face as he thought of him being with Naruto, and moved his mouse to dispel the screensaver.

 

<IhaveU>:

 

Odd, Neji thought. They didn't actually say anything.

 

<fateHASu>: Yes?

 

That name looked familiar as well… where had he seen it before?

 

<IhaveU>: Nevermind.

 

IhaveU…IhaveU… Neji wracked his brain. Where had he - Oh! Maybe…

 

<fateHASu>: Aren't you a Mod for Best BL?

 

Neji himself was a co-moderator for `Best XXX BL Naruto Slash', the fan-fiction site he wrote for. It gave him something to do when he didn't feel particularly creative.

 

It also gave him access to restricted areas and information. Then, with a little more effort on his part, he was able to create logs of users and corresponding IP addresses to see who was looking at what on the site. That's how he'd discovered that Naruto was posing as Bob. The IP of his computer.

 

Neji had then looked up `Bob's' email and password and had to laugh. Naruto had mentioned not one, but both of his teammate's names as well as his own: username Sasuke-teme, password NarutoRulz, email SakuraThePinkMenace@webmail.com. That `Bob' was Naruto would have been obvious to anyone, given that.

 

<IhaveU>: Yes.

 

That long of a wait, and the response was only one word?? Neji felt his eye twitch with irritation. Why would you IM someone and then not say anything? He made himself stay cordial, though any number of other things he'd rather say to the person hammered through his head.

 

<fateHASu>: Was there something you wanted? I won't be on for much longer…

<IhaveU>: Why do you write.

 

Neji sighed and rubbed his temples. It was late, but maybe he should call Lee anyway.

 

<fateHASu>: I like to. It lets me bend reality to suit my whims.

<IhaveU>: I see.

<IhaveU>: Why Naruto and Neji.

<fateHASu>: It's uncommon. I was also sick of seeing all the Sasuke x Naruto fics out there.

<IhaveU>: Gaara or Neji would be more likely to have Naruto than Uchiha.

 

Something about this conversation was niggling Neji's brain, but he couldn't quite place it.

 

<fateHASu>: Perhaps.

<IhaveU>: You disagree.

<fateHASu>: You seem to know them. Who are you?

<IhaveU>: You knowing that… is unnecessary.

<fateHASu>: Fantastic.

<IhaveU>: Unless, you wish to reveal yourself first.

 

Why was this person insisting on being so difficult? And why weren't they using question marks when asking questions?? It was like having typos staring you in the face, and you couldn't change them.

 

<fateHASu>: Not particularly.

<fateHASu>: Look… I'm not really sure why you decided to IM me, but maybe you should enlighten me soon, before I have to log off.

 

Neji didn't really have to log off, but it was as good an excuse as any. He really didn't know what to make of this person. They came across as intelligent, stand-offish, and socially impaired. Equal parts intriguing and irritating. Usually he would get the urge to figure someone like this out, but just now he didn't feel up to unraveling the mystery.

 

---

 

IhaveU looked at his screen, still finding it difficult to get to the point of why he'd called out his co-Mod. He felt irritated himself, and it was coming through in his responses. He was used to identifying what he wanted, and taking it. But this… this was a request. This required navigation through the complexities of social interaction.

 

He clawed his hands through his short hair and scowled at the screen of the laptop. He hated people. And yet, they could be useful. Like so much clay, they could be bent to your will. If your will was strong enough. But, it was easier just to crush them. Easier, but not always as conducive to obtaining what you want.

 

Ultimately, what he wanted was Naruto.

 

But for now, he needed a way to alleviate this gnawing frustration.

 

<IhaveU>: Teach me how to write.

 

Back then, he'd taken the computer he now used from his sister. Curiosity at the electronic device she spent so much time with overriding his usual disinterest. She started to protest as he picked it up but, like always, stopped before really saying anything and murmured an apology. She'd been in the middle of doing something on it at the time, which is why he chose that moment to liberate it from her.

 

He'd taken it back to his room and discovered not only the cold, calculating universe of machines but the unfathomable world of human relationships contained in what he now knew to be called fan-fiction.

 

The site she'd been accessing at the time was none other than `Best XXX BL Naruto Slash'.

 

<fateHASu>: Is that a request, or a demand?

<IhaveU>: A request.

 

He'd become increasingly fascinated by what he'd found on the site. Likewise, the nature of his long-time interest in Naruto suddenly became clear to him.

 

<fateHASu>: Why me?

 

That was simple. It all went back to that day… the day jacketless Naruto stirred up the whole of Konoha. He'd been keeping tabs on the blonde. Watching him. He was immersed, fascinated by him, unable to understand the workings of the tortured mind behind the beaming smile. Unable to see how Naruto could still want acceptance so badly from the people who scorned him.

 

It was amazing how their attitudes had all changed that day. How they dogged his every step with adoration or lust, moved only by the attractive exterior they hadn't noticed before. Conveniently forgetting the way they'd shunned him for years. But then, that was exactly the sort of thing you could expect from people, wasn't it.

 

Gaara, however, was not guilty of the same crime. He wanted Naruto inside and out. He wanted to peel back that false smile, rip away that happy exterior, and delve into the pain and torment he knew lay beneath.

 

He'd followed Naruto home. It was an easy thing to get sand inside, through the cracks in the door. Just enough for him to form an eye with which to watch his quarry so he could observe him from a distance.

 

Later that night, he was surprised to find Naruto trying to access the fanfic site he moderated. A quick search found that the login Naruto created as `Bob' came from the same IP address of another login that had been used quite prolifically in the preceding weeks: Ramenluvr. And fateHASu was the author Naruto seemed to keep coming back to.

 

<IhaveU>: It has to be you.

<fateHASu>: Elaborate.

 

Dammit! Gaara put his hands to his head, pressing the heel of his palms into his temples until his head began to swim and the throbbing receded. Why was this guy being so difficult?

 

<IhaveU>: I tried using your stories, replacing the names.

 

It was an easy enough thing to replace the names with another… a few clicks of the keyboard, and Gaara's name could replace whatever meaningless character Naruto had been paired with. But this was not without flaws. Descriptions of hair, eyes, personality, the way the story played out. Things like that would be incongruous with the self-insertion.

 

<IhaveU>: But it isn't good enough anymore. I need to know how you do it.

 

He wanted to be able to write out what was in his head. Write it well. And he needed to learn from this person how to do it. This person whose work Naruto seemed to like so much.

 

<fateHASu>: … Well, at least you're honest.

<IhaveU>: …

 

Neji felt a grudging kinship with IhaveU, though having your stories tampered with was a hard pill to swallow. Not that he could complain. After all, he'd done the same thing with other's stories in the past.

 

<fateHASu>: I used to switch names out in fics too. Not to post or anything, just because no one was writing what I wanted to read. Finally, I got sick of that and tried my hand at being an author.

<IhaveU>: I think we understand each other.

<fateHASu>: Yes.

 

There was a long pause. Gaara wondered impatiently if he was getting his way or not. It was hard to tell. Silence was so ambivalent. He formed a small blade of sand and began boring a hole into the desk with it while he waited for a response.

 

<fateHASu>: For me to help you… you'll have to be more open.

<IhaveU>: What do you mean?

 

Neji noted the use of the elusive question mark. It made IhaveU seem less rude for some reason, when he bothered with using those.

 

<fateHASu>: You'll have to be able to tell me what you're into, what you aren't into, and who your fic is about. What you want to see happen. We'd have to work together to build it from the ground up.

 

In essence, it would be like co-authoring, or even RPing the fic.

 

<IhaveU>: Are you trying to imply that I'm shy?

<fateHASu>: Are you?

<IhaveU>: I don't know.

<fateHASu>: …

<fateHASu>: Well…stay honest like you have been, use those question marks, and I'll try my best.

 

____________________

TBC