Commiseration

This takes place two years and a couple of months after Sasuke goes to Orochimaru. So the guys are around 15(Naruto), 16 (Gaara, Sasuke), and 17(Neji)

Um, this should be a three-shot. I'll have the rest posted soon.

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Commiseration

On a calm midsummer's afternoon, Hyuuga Neji sat, meditating, in a small clearing in the woods of Konoha. The young Hyuuga tensai, having reached the rank of jounin already; was fully alert, regardless of his meditative state, which was the reason that he heard the light rustling in the trees nearby.... That and the fact that Naruto's loud yelling had served to make him more-so aware.

“NEJI! TSUNADE-BAACHAN'S LOOKIN' FOR YA'!”

Neji, having been successfully interrupted, began his short sprint to the Hokage's office, his rise in chakra level indicating to Naruto that he had heard the blonde's message.

When Neji arrived at the Hokage's office, he nodded in recognition to the ANBU guard at the door and entered. He was surprised to find the Hokage was sitting at her desk, fully awake, and actually working. He cleared his throat and the Godaime lifted her head at the
sound.

“Neji-san. I have a very important mission for you and I need you to leave right away. You should stop by your home and grab some clothing. A yukata should suffice for the dinner. You will be dining with the Kazekage, however, so it should be a nice one. You will also be escorting the Kazekage and his guest to Konoha and you will have to keep him entertained during his stay. He will have some meetings with me and some of the feudal lords, but he is mostly here to enjoy Konoha.”

Neji could easily read between the lines. He knew Gaara's visit was a peacekeeping method, though he found it unnecessary considering the young Kazekage's relationship with Naruto-the future Hokage. He furthermore couldn't understand why he was chosen for this mission and not Naruto, a question he placed forth. The Hokage, having anticipated such musings from Neji, promply answered, “Naruto must stay here with Sasuke. Those two need each other, even if they're being too stubborn to realize it. Plus, you need something fun to do, as does Gaara. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.”

Neji was a genius, so he could easily understand most of the Hokage's reasoning. His genius, however, prevented him from understanding something so stupid. Why would the Godaime think it a good idea to place Gaara in his care if the goal was to entertain the red-head? Neither he nor Gaara were very fun guys, though, he supposed, they both might enjoy some training. With that in mind, Neji bowed reverently and left the Godaime to pick up some clothes and head to Sunagakure.

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Neji had begun his trip to Sunaga a little before sundown. Now, after almost ten hours of traveling, he had made it to his destination. He was at the entrance gates, where he presented his passport and mission scroll to the two jounin guards.

“Ah, a Hyuuga,” one of the jounin, a slightly tall male with a ponytail commented upon reading his passport.

Neji, now used to being judged on his surname alone, disregarded the statement.

The other jounin, a shorter female with pigtails began, “You are to present yourself at the Kazekage tower. The Kazekage should be there to receive you, though he sleeps more now so you may want to be careful not to rouse him,” she finished with a wry smile laced with ill-hidden amusement.

Neji nodded and headed towards the tower, fully aware that the kunoichi's amusement lied in the prospect of him waking Gaara only to be killed for doing so. Neji was, after all, a good friend of Naruto's, and thus, he knew of Gaara's newfound fondness for sleep and the consequences of waking the former insomniac. The Hyuuga could not easily forget the day Naruto returned from a visit to Sunaga grumbling about a moody Gaara that had given him a sound beating for waking him up before noon.

Neji arrived at the tower and was lead to the Kazekage's office. He was surprised to find the Kazekage was still awake, preparing for his trip to Konoha, no doubt. The Kazekage looked up and bore his eye's into Neji's. Not one to mince words, Gaara got to the point, “Why haven't you killed the Uchiha yet?”

Neji smirked knowingly and shook his head. “You know full well that doing so would break Naruto. He needs the Uchiha right now and there's nothing we can do but make sure the idiot is around him.”

“Have you forgotten? 'That idiot' tried to kill him multiple times. He'll try again.”

It was no secret between the two shinobi that Naruto was a very important friend to both of them and that they both held an intense hatred for anyone that could hurt him. Perhaps, there was also some jealousy involved along with fear; both envious of the fact that Sasuke was the only one that could repair their jinchuriki friend and equally fearsome that such repair would be impossible; the Uchiha was more broken than even Naruto.

“We can't do anything about it. If he leaves again, Naruto will not recover."

Gaara remained silent. He could give no retort. He was completely aware of the circumstances and he knew that, regardless of Sasuke's selfishness, Naruto would not back down. Gaara cleared his mind of such thoughts, deciding they could be dealt with when he discussed it all with Naruto. He concentrated on the task at hand instead.

“Follow me.” Gaara murmured to the Hyuuga tensai.

Gaara silently led Neji towards the Kazekage's housing that was adjacent to the tower. The large structure served as the home of Gaara and his siblings. It also quartered visiting shinobi from other villages.

Gaara stopped before a slightly opened door and motioned for Neji to enter. Neji nodded in acknowledgment and stepped into the room.

“Breakfast is unscheduled. You will not see me before noon. You will be expected to attend a dinner tomorrow night. We will leave at three in the morning the next day,” Gaara informed him.

Neji nodded once again and watched as Gaara walked away from the door and headed to his own room. He noticed it was three doors away from his and closed the door. He undressed and slept.

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Neji awoke at sunrise the next morning. Knowing where the training grounds in Sunaga were located from his previous visits, he dressed and headed towards them.

After training for about three hours, he returned to the Kazekage's housing for a meal. He found Temari in the dining room when he entered.

“Hyuuga,” she greeted with a smirk, “enjoying your stay?”

He nodded before giving his polite response, “It's been calming.”

“How is everything in Konoha?”

“It's fine.”

A maid came in at his reply and offered to serve him. He requested miso soup with the traditional rice and she turned back towards the kitchen to retrieve it.

“How's the Uchiha?” The honored name was said with slight contempt. Neji noted that Temari's bitter tone was due to the fact that she too revered Naruto. The boy had saved her brother, after all.

“He is recovering. They both are.”

Temari knew the plural referred to Naruto and Sasuke. She couldn't help the coldness that laced her tone as she countered the comment with a parting, “He doesn't deserve it.”

As the blonde woman left, Neji wondered, did if she meant that Naruto didn't deserve the pain or that Sasuke didn't deserve the comfort.

The maid returned with Neji's requested food and he dully noted that it was still two hours till noon.

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He knew it was a dream. He knew he could wake up from the nightmare, yet he did nothing to stop his mind from imagining it.

Sasuke was draped above Naruto. His friend. The only friend he'd ever had and the very person he swore to protect. He could do nothing, as he laid bleeding, a mile away from them. He saw as Sasuke grabbed the kunai. He felt rather than saw Naruto's eyes widen in mild surprise. He was still unable to do anything as Sasuke placed the weapon to his very own aorta. He and Naruto watched on as the last Uchiha took his life. He watched as the blood poured out of him and onto Naruto. He watched Naruto grab the kunai and replicate Sasuke's actions.

He was shaken from his stupor of observation as he felt something warm streaking his cheeks. He had only ever felt such sensation, years ago, when he came in contact with the blood of his victims. He touched his face, prepared to see crimson liquid staining his fingers. He was again surprised as he noted nothing blemished his fingers. He only noted the clear wetness that his tears had caused.

As he mourned the loss of his friend, of the tragedy that had befallen the blond boy and his raven counterpart, the Kazekage looked up to see lavender eyes staring down at him. He noticed the long silky hair that threatened to caress his tear-traced visage. He noticed as the tears that brimmed the sorrow-laden eyes fell upon his own cheeks. He awoke with the sensation of strong arms wrapping themselves around him. Commiseration communicated through an embrace.

As Gaara stood, disturbed by the stubborn tingling the dreamed hug had left him with, he noted he had woken up an hour early. He dressed and went downstairs for breakfast; prepared to deal with the widening of eyes he was sure to encounter.

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It was noon. After eating his breakfast and wandering around the mansion aimlessly, it was finally noon. Neji had been bored for the past hour and forty-five minutes. He had been waiting for the clock to strike twelve so he could train with Gaara. After all, he hadn't gotten a good spar since before the battle a month ago; when they brought Sasuke back.

Thinking back to that time, while walking towards his room, Neji remembered his fright. The Uchiha had pinned Naruto and Naruto seemed frozen. Everyone was frozen. He himself was lying on the ground, completely spent, and he could only see the events play out before him. As Neji reached his room he shook his head slightly. It was not the time to remember how close they'd been to losing Naruto... To losing their convictions.

Before Neji had twisted the knob, he sensed the Kazekage's chakra heading towards him. He bowed, knowing it'd be easier to get Gaara to train with him if he behaved with some respect. Judging from the look on Gaara's face, however, Neji's reverence went unnoticed. But really, what more could be expected from someone so stoic. The Hokage had really fucked up judgment; putting him on this mission.

“Kazekage-sama. If you have nothing else to do as of now, would you mind training with me?” Neji flatly said.

Gaara, predictably, responded with a nod of his head.

The two shinobi walked on, Neji following Gaara, the latter leading the former towards the residence's training grounds. Once they arrived, Neji's expectations of a sand filled area were demolished at the sight of tall trees growing amongst lush grass and bushes. He even saw a few flowering plants scattered... And was that a pond with a tiny waterfall? Needless to say, Neji was surprised.

“We're actually going to train here?” Neji queried.

Once again, Gaara nodded in response. He had been experimenting with landscapes since he'd fought with Naruto. Moreover, he wanted to be somewhere other than a desert at times.

Neji placed himself into his fighting stance and the fight began, Gaara hurling the first attack.

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The fight had lasted more than three hours. Neji was near a tree, trying to catch his breath while willing himself not to lean on the tree. It would make him look weak. Gaara was in a similar position; completely winded and willing himself not to lie down on the floor. He was adamant about the Hyuuga not defeating him.

They unconsciously watched each other. It soon turned into full-blown staring.

Neji wondered if the fact he noticed Gaara looked cute, with his head tilted downwards and his lips parted, was due to some lack of air or over-exertion.

Gaara wondered if the fact he wanted to reach over and touch the Hyuuga's hair was an after-effect of the hour of sleep he missed or that weird dream he had.

The two were broken from their wondering, staring-filled stupor by Temari. “Gaara, Hyuuga. You have to get ready for the dinner. It starts at five-thirty so you two should get cleaned and maybe rest awhile.”

Gaara said nothing as he walked back inside. Neji followed, not wanting to get lost in the huge palace-like home.

“Hyuuga,” Gaara remarked as he stopped in front Neji's door and turned to him.

Neji, one foot already in the room, lifted an eyebrow in question, prompting the Kazekage to continue.

“How closely are they watching him?”

The him, without question, referred to Sasuke.

“No one but Naruto trusts him now. We all take turns.”

“Who watches at night?”

“I usually do. Sometimes Hinata will.”

Gaara nodded his approval, pleased that the two Byakugan wielders guarded Naruto at nigth, when the most dangerous situations could arise. Gaara was still hesitant to trust that the Uchiha could be kept from attempting to kill Naruto. There was always the possibility that a friendly spar could take a turn for the worse.

“Gaara.”

Gaara, heretofore lost in his musings, looked up at Neji's voice. He saw a steady certainty in the Hyuuga's eyes and he noted the comfort they radiated... It was so much like his dream.

“He will be fine. Sasuke doesn't have the same animosity in him anymore. Something's wrong with him but I think he's willing to fix his bond with Naruto.”

“Hn. The Uchiha has never known what's good for him. He wouldn't start acquiring such wisdom now.” Gaara said before walking towards his room.

Neji couldn't help agree with Gaara's parting words, thinking all the while that, however much he wished his own words were sincere, Gaara's were much more practical and correct.

He headed into his room and carried his thoughts with him as he took a shower and settled for a restless cat-nap.

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At the dinner, Gaara was dressed in a pale, cream-colored junihitoe and Neji wore a midnight-blue kimono, foregoing the obi for small, imperceptible pins. The council members were present, as were Gaara's siblings. Neji sat to the left of Gaara. Neji supposed it was because Gaara wanted to speak to him.

The food was eaten in silence. Once all had had their fill, customary conversation began. It was then that Gaara turned to Neji for the first time since the dinner began.

“Hyuuga,” Gaara said in his traditional form of garnering Neji's attention.

Neji raised his eyebrow in prompting.

“We will arrive before sundown. You will take me to Naruto.”

Neji could not help but feel slightly displeased at the way he was being ordered. He wondered, however, why it didn't agitate him as much as being commanded normally would. He gathered his self-control and nodded.

Temari asked, “Oi, where are we going to be staying?”

“I was informed we would be staying at the Hyuuga's manor,” responded Gaara.

Neji nodded in confirmation, knowing the reason the Hyuuga's were hosting the Kazekage was because of his 'escort' mission.

“It's gonna be nice having you two out of my hair for a month,” Kankuro remarked, unwittingly letting Neji know, for the first time, that Kankuro would not be joining his siblings on the trip to Konoha.

The four remained generally quiet for the rest of the formal small talk, Temari reminding Kankurou not to burn the house down and Gaara and Neji remarking on the council member's comments.

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It was still early when the dinner ended two hours later. Everyone had retired to their rooms, Neji, Gaara, and Temari prepared for the early wake before sunrise.

Neji was the first to wake and thus, the first to get to the kitchen. Temari walked in soon after, yawning.

“Hey Hyuuga. Do me a favor and go get Gaara. You seem alert so you ought to be able to dodge whatever he throws at you.”

As Neji nodded and began to walk towards Gaara's room, he could only hope that Gaara was as groggy as Temari in the morning. He didn't want to break a sweat this early. He knocked on Gaara's door and slid it open a bit. He saw a figure on a bed. It was strange, he mused, that Gaara should remain so still in his sleep. He looked dead with his pale creamy skin and the dark rings beneath his eyes that excessive sleep had been unable to ameliorate.

Before he knew it, Neji was intently observing Gaara's face, noting every curve and marveling at the 'ai' written on his temple. He pushed the duty he came here to perform to the back of his thoughts and towered over Gaara, content to just observe him. He had never watched anyone else sleep, except his mother, and he didn't have much of a memory of that other than the image of a sleeping woman. Gaara did not remind him of his mother, however. Watching Gaara was unlike anything he had ever done. He stared at the wall in front of him and recalled the staring match of yesterday which caused him to practically blush while remembering his thoughts. Neji allowed himself to admit it; Gaara looked cute yesterday because the teenage redhead was good-looking. Not altogether begrudgingly, Neji accepted that he was attracted to the Kazekage.

Neji broke himself from his thoughts and began to move his hand towards Gaara in hopes of shaking him awake when he noted that Gaara's eyes were already opened. Gaara was glaring intently at the Hyuuga. Neji wondered how long he had stood there with Gaara watching him. Neji opted for acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Good, you're awake." He nodded and started walking backwards towards the door. "Temari sent me up here to wake you. Since you're now awake, I'll just go down to the kitchen now,” he said akwardly.

Gaara did not respond and merely intensified his glare as the Hyuuga walked out the door. Truth be told, he almost had a fit. He had seen those eyes in his dream again. He felt the arms wrap around him as well. He actually anticipated a hug from the Hyuuga when they made eye-contact. He had wanted to touch the silky hair that almost reached him. It was incredibly disturbing, he thought as he dressed in his shinobi garb.

Neji arrived at the kitchen, feeling slightly flustered from receiving such a glare, and began to eat the food on the table. Temari was finishing up her breakfast, it seemed, so they would only have to wait for Gaara to eat. Not long after Neji had served himself adequately, Gaara came down to the kitchen as well.

The three walked to Sunaga's southern gates. They began the trip to Konoha in a light run, jumping along sand dunes. Fortunately, the wind was going their direction; they did not have to worry about sand in their eyes.

With minimal rest stops, the group quickly made it to Konoha. They stopped near
the gates, hearing obscene words being exchanged.

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Review!!! I wanna know how bad my prose is^.^