Full Circle

Full Circle

chapter 11

Neji looked out the window as the car pulled up into the long driveway of the Uchiha mansion. It looked an awful lot like his own family's home. Big and traditional. He'd done a little research of his own on the Uchiha family and they had seemed very respectable but some of the things that Naruto had written to him about disturbed him a little. This 'friend' of Sasuke's mainly. Something wasn't right about 'that' situation.

Ah well, he'd be getting some answers to his concerns soon enough. It was time to meet this fiance of Naruto's and make his own judgments. The chauffeur opened the door for him and he politely thanked the man, who bowed and went to retrieve his bag from the trunk. Neji walked up to the door without a hint of the trepidation that Naruto had felt the first time he'd followed that path. He boldly rang the bell and stood straight and properly as he waited for the door to open. A moment later the door opened and Neji stated his name and business to the butler, who let him in without question.

"NEJI!!!" No sooner had he entered the foyer than a tanned body practically tackled him. Naruto had obviously been anxiously awaiting him and come running at the sound of the bell. With a smile as the surprise faded, he wrapped his arms around the blond and hugged him back.

"Neji, I missed you!" The Hyuuga's smile grew wider. Then his eye caught a glimpse of the dark haired young man, standing off to the side, face impassive but dark eyes focussed intently on them. This must be Sasuke then. He seemed... stiff. Neji would say nothing until Naruto introduced him though, as he recalled that Naruto himself had mistaken someone else for Sasuke.

That burning sensation in Sasuke's chest was back as he watched the blond boy plaster himself against a very good looking brunet. He ground his teeth un-noticeably, forcing himself to stand here calmly while his fiance finally released this 'Neji' character and began bouncing up and down ecstatically, his mouth running a mile a minute. The way the long haired boy was smiling indulgently at him wasn't helping either.

Naruto had excused himself, pleading fatigue and went to his room as soon as Sai had brought him back from dinner yesterday and he'd been quite distant this morning as well. It could be brushed off as preoccupation with his friend's upcoming visit of course, but he'd had a feeling that something might be wrong last night. And now, here Naruto was back to his cheerful self and giving the Hyuuga an extremely warm welcome when he'd hardly said two words to Sasuke today. He didn't know whether to be worried or pissed.

"Oh. Neji, this is Uchiha Sasuke," said Naruto finally. Sasuke offered his hand and the Hyuuga took it firmly. Sasuke squeezed 'more' firmly and Neji added a little pressure himself, looking him straight in the eye. Sasuke stared back and squeezed harder and so did Neji until both their hands were in pain.

"Come on. Sasuke and I will show where you'll be staying." At Naruto's interruption, they finally let go. Neji smiled to the blond and told him to lead the way and Naruto started off through the house, chattering happily. The two brunets followed, each subtly flexing their sore hands.

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After Neji had gotten situated, the excited blond boy had convinced them to go out for some ice-cream even though it was still really early. Naruto and Neji seemed to be having a perfectly grand time. They were reminiscing and relating past events to Sasuke, who nodded at the appropriate time but wasn't paying attention to the words so much as the happy, teasing tones, the facial expressions and the general interactions of the two.

Sasuke was fairly certain at this point that Naruto's 'best friend' had a crush on the blond. Maybe not a huge one but enough to irk the Uchiha considerably. Itachi would be extremely amused if he were here right now. He'd be sending him that look that silently yet oh-so-clearly said 'I told you so little brother'. If Sasuke was asked why he was pissed off right now, he'd probably tell the questioner that it was just 'rude and disrespectful' of the Hyuuga to come into his home, accepting his hospitality and then look at his fiance that way, right in front of him.

Sadly, the way Neji looked at Naruto wasn't nearly as bad as the way Sai looked at Naruto and Sasuke really had no right to be offended by Neji when he'd been letting Sai get away with it all this time. In fact he'd been encouraging Sai. Sasuke winced. If he really thought about it, Neji probably had more right to be angry with 'him' for the trap he'd set for his dear friend.

Sasuke had done a lot of thinking after his brother's little talk with him and he could no longer pretend that his 'plan' had ever been anything but unacceptably mean. Itachi felt bad for simply failing to prepare his wife for the inevitable outcome of their marriage. How much worse was Sasuke for actively trying to lie to Naruto and lead him into a potentially harmful situation?

He didn't particularly like the idea that he might have 'feelings' for his fiance, but Itachi's assessment of his recent behaviour had been pretty bang-on. Did Itachi really know anything about lo... uh, the subject anyway though? What Sasuke was feeling right now wasn't necessarily 'jealousy'... per say... Ok so maybe it was, but the way this guy was acting just struck him somehow.

Neji seemed like he was usually the stoic, standoffish, unemotional type. Yet around Naruto, he smiled and talked about himself and went along with whatever activity the blond suggested. It was obvious that he felt close to Naruto and cared about him. Actually that behaviour seemed familiar. A little too familiar. Damn!

They stepped into the ice-cream parlour and an entire table full of girls instantly took notice. They all recognized the Uchiha of course and it was rare enough to see him out and about, especially at an ice-cream parlour, but here he was with two other ridiculously good looking guys! The Gods must have been feeling extremely generous today. They sat there, mouths agape for a long moment before the squeal came, in perfect synchronicity.

"EEEEEEEEEEEH SASUKE KUN!!!!"

The three boys found themselves under attack as the large group of girls jumped out of their seats and stampeded towards them forming a rather effective coral. Sasuke sighed heavily. While he hated the 'well bred young ladies' that his parents had tried to get him to associate with, they at least had the ingrained decorum to remain seated and just giggle amongst themselves while they stared at him. It might be highly annoying but it didn't literally obstruct him like 'this' crowd.

"Sasuke kun, I didn't know you liked ice-cream!"

"What your favorite flavour?!"

"Sasuke kun, who are your friends?!"

"SO CUTE!!" one squealed over Naruto.

"I 'love' your hair," another said to Neji.

"Are your friends single Sasuke kun?!"

"Can I sit with you Sasuke kun?!"

"Hmm, You're quite the popular one Uchiha," said Neji

"Wow! I've been in here before and I got some attention but nobody ever actually 'mobbed' me before." Naruto commented.

"They probably figured that if you're with me then you must be rich too. That tends to tip the scales. Now you know why I don't like to go to places like this." said Sasuke.

"Well, did you tell them you're gay?" ...Sasuke blinked

"Uh... no."

"Well then..." Naruto prompted with a shrug. That's right! He was engaged now! He had a perfect means to fend them off! He quickly put an arm around Naruto's shoulder and pulled the startled blond close. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak the noise died down and the girls watched him attentively.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto. He's my fiance," he announced. Jaws dropped. Neji snorted disdainfully. "And this is Hyuuga Neji," Sasuke added

"Uzumaki Naruto?!"

"FIANCE!!!!"

"Sasuke kun... You're GAY?!"

"Completely," Sasuke nodded. He took the opportunity to shove past them, pulling Naruto up to the counter. "You can go first," he told him.

"What can I do for you today?" the guy behind the counter asked the blond, looking him over with interest. Sasuke grit his teeth.

"Hello again!" Naruto said cheerfully "I want two scoops of death-by-chocolate please!" The girls who were still watching, sighed at the cuteness even through their disappointment over Sasuke kun's engagement.

"Again?" the attendant teased. "How 'do' you manage to stay so fit?"

"Did you not just hear me say he was my fiance?" Sasuke growled. Naruto gave him a very strange look and he realized that the blond had come to expect him to ignore this type of thing. A wave of regret of a completely different sort washed over him. One that had little to do with guilt and was more a sad sense of loss. At this completely 'stupid' moment, he finally got the fact that his disgraceful 'plan' affected himself, just as much as Naruto. A relationship of any kind, even a friendly one, involved the 'both' of them and he had been setting the precedence in that relationship.

Neji was a little confused about all this as well. This wasn't fitting in with what Naruto had described to him before. Was the Uchiha putting on a front just because Naruto's friend was here now? Did he think that Neji would influence Naruto in some way or was he trying to avoid having his ass kicked? He watched the Uchiha more warily than ever as they each got their ice-cream, including a small plain vanilla for Sasuke and mint-chocolate-chip for Neji, and sat down at a table out on the patio. The group of girls inside just switched tables though, following them out there. Sasuke and Neji both snorted at the idea that they were probably hoping to catch some romantic action between Sasuke and his new fiance. Naruto, on the other hand, just waved at them as they came out and then turned his focus to his ice-cream.

"Mmmm my favorite!" he exclaimed, getting another chorus of sighs from the watching females.

"I thought cannolis were your favorite," said Sasuke.

"Ah, you've discovered his long time affair with the fabulous cannoli," Neji smirked.

"It's an open relationship. We still see each other but then things get heated and I end up biting his head off and inevitably everything goes to shit." The blond burst into giggles at his own joke and the two other boys stared with eyebrows raised and tried to suppress their own smiles.

"That was crude," said Neji.

"And lame," added Sasuke.

"You love it," Naruto accused and two smiles broke through fully, until both brunets caught each other's eye and glared.

A few minutes later, Neji went off to the washroom and Sasuke was left alone with Naruto, who was still working on his ice-cream. He swirled his spoon around in melted vanilla for a second before clearing his throat.

"So, Hyuuga seems like the cool, suppressed type," he prompted. Naruto looked up.

"Yeah, maybe a little. Not 'nearly' as much as you though. He may be more quiet and introverted than me but he's actually really nice and personable with everyone. He talks to people and smiles at them and has lot's of friends. He goes out and does things all the time. I'd say you're a lot more broody and closed off than he is."

Sasuke nodded, frowning in thought. Was that Naruto's way of saying he didn't like him as much? Wait... He'd thought that Hyuuga had a crush on Naruto because he acted in a similar way around the blond to the way he himself acted. If that behaviour wasn't nearly as much of a difference from the norm for him as it was for Sasuke, did that mean that Hyuuga didn't really have a crush? Or was it that Sasuke had a much bigger crush? ...This was kind of disturbing.

"I guess he seems more hard edged than usual because he's a little wary of you," Naruto was saying. "I did warn you that he wanted to make sure you were good enough for me."

"Ah... That's fine. He has every right." Naruto gave him an oddly penetrating look at this response and he somehow found himself feeling unaccountably guilty.

"Are you finished eating Naruto," said Neji as he came back from the washroom. Naruto looked down into his bowl. Scooping up one last bite, he stuck it in his mouth and nodded. "Good. The staring is becoming unnerving."

"Ok, let's go back to the house and you can meet everyone else. Takara should have been dropped off by now and Sai will be over after lunch."

"This should be interesting," two brunets thought as they left the shop, and the table full of girls, who suddenly burst into excited chatter as if they thought the boys couldn't still hear them.



(A/N; Alright, that's it for now. Next chap, Neji meets the family... and the non-family. It should be quite eventful. And if not much happened in this chapter, who cares. At least you got a two-for. Later!)