The Challenge

No I’m not dead

When ever an author starts posting again after an extended absence they always declare that they were not dead. Well I too was not dead. There were moments, thought, that I thought I might be dead.

I haven’t updated since April 4th, 2009. Why? Writer’s block kicked my ass, at least, partially. There are other stories that I have been able to work on. Every time I either picked up a pen and paper or opened a word document for “Challenge” my mind went completely blank. It is stupid because I have the entire plot planned out.

Chapter Fourteen: “Just Dessert”

He couldn’t pin down the exact moment he became intrigued by the white eyed girl but it started around the time his brother started watching her equally white eyed cousin. For his entire life it had always been his job to watch over his brother as charged by their older sister. Of all the situations Gaara had thrown himself into the middle of this was the worse. In his mind it was all very petty and juvenile. So he took to watching Hinata instead.

She didn’t show it but he knew that it must be difficult being stuck in the middle of a developing love triangle especially when the ones involved were friends and family. It was bad enough for him that his brother got involved with Neji. For now everything seemed stable but had the potential to become toxic if not resolved. From the outside he could already see the toxic elements beginning to boil.

At first he thought the whole situation was cute with his brother following after the Neji kid who was chasing after the blond who disappeared every morning with Sasuke. Gaara didn’t talk about what was going on but he observed from the outside and saw most of it. His currant thought process involving Hinata came from his brother’s strange silence. He knew Gaara could take care of himself but he also knew he had the tendency to get in over his head. Since the danger wasn’t immediate he concerned himself with his own interests, namely Hinata.

The past couple mornings and lunches Gaara seemed to disappear and strangely Neji stopped eating with his friends. He didn’t make the connection until he walked in on Gaara changing and saw the bruises on his wrists, upper arms, and back. Most were distinct hand prints and he had a good idea who inflicted them. Luckily their sister lived with their mother and attend another school because if she saw those marks there would be hell to pay. Until then he had planned to stay out of the situation but now he would go against his earlier plan and get involved.

XX***XX

After confirming that the last question on the last test was correct he went back to the top of the page to count the red circles. When he didn’t find any he wrote a 100% at the top. It was only then that he saw the name. “Wholly shit, no fucking way.”

“Now, now sensei what a dirty mouth you have.” Kakashi stood behind him and wrapped long arms around Iruka’s shoulders. “Maybe I should wash your mouth out.”

“Naruto scored perfect on a test, He’s never done that before.” He whispered in complete shock and awe. “Run out side and see if the sky is falling.”

Kakashi leaned forward to look at the test, bending Iruka forward in the process. “It’s because of Sasuke.”

“I guess.” This turn around surprised him because there for a while his assignments were getting worse but here was this perfect test. For only a moment he played with the idea that maybe the boy cheated but then felt guilty for entertaining such a thought. Except he knew that Naruto wasn’t stealthy enough to cheat right in front of him and get away with it. Kakashi had to be right, Sasuke was to blame for this school work turn around.

XX***XX

Itachi peeked over his newspaper and tried not to snicker at the look of confusion on his brother’s face. He was currently pouring over two cookbooks looking for a dessert that would be simple to make but not too sweet so he could eat it too. Fifteen minutes ago he dog-eared the recipe for cheese cake but was also looking for something else just in case. By the looks of it he was not finding any alternative.

“Do we have a spring form pan?” Sasuke asked suddenly.

“Not in the house but there’s a box of mother’s cookware in the attic, maybe there’s one in there.” He must have settled on the cheesecake. It was an easy recipe that tasted more savory and less sweet.

“I don’t even know what a spring form pan is.” Sasuke confessed, sighing and flipping back in the book to read the cheese cake recipe again.

He watched his brother read the recipe and write down what they needed to buy. The concentration on his brother’s face intrigued him because he’d never seen Sasuke work on something so hard outside of school work. He also hated sweets so it was out of character for him to try and find a sweet dessert that he could also eat. His own sweet tooth was considerably larger that Sasuke’s so the excess cake wouldn’t go to waste.

Sasuke slumped back in his chair looking up at him. “It doesn’t look very hard. Most of the preparation is mixing and measuring with little to no cutting or heating.”

A flash of quilt ran through his spine. Sasuke put up with being treated like a small child better that he’d be able to. At his age there should be no problem with him using knives or the oven and range. Unfortunately with Ebisu-san making surprise visits he couldn’t risk Sasuke getting hurt in avoidable accidents.

“Are you going to put something on the cake, like fruit?” Using the conversation he killed his feelings of quilt.

“I don’t know, Naruto doesn’t seem the fruit eating type. Maybe a chocolate or caramel glaze, but that would involve melting.” Quilt zinged him again.

“Let’s make a trip to the store. What do you need?”

XX***XX

Sasuke held his breath as Naruto pealed the lid off the plastic container holding the piece of caramel cheese cake. The blond held a plastic fork tightly with his other hand and started licking his lips. When the lid was off Naruto beamed a bright smile in his direction. “This looks so good, you make this?”

“Yes, except Itachi melted the caramel.” It was embarrassing that Itachi had to help use the stove but Naruto didn’t notice as he began to eat. Naruto slowly broke off a piece with the fork and brought it to his mouth. Sasuke watched with bated breath fearful that it tasted funny or wasn’t sweet enough. He mentally kicked himself for not tasting it himself first or at least having Itachi eat a piece. The bite disappeared past Naruto’s lips and he knew it was too late to grab the cake and run. Instead he hid his face in his hands afraid to see disgust on the blonde’s face.

The groan he heard made him slowly part his fingers to peak at Naruto’s reaction. His head tipped back as he swallowed and licked bits of the gram cracker crust from his lips. Sasuke pulled his hands down to get a better look.

“This is the best thing I have ever eaten, better that ramen.” He took a second bite and moaned making Sasuke blush. A rush of relief relaxed his shoulders and made him exhale the deep breath he’d been holding. Closing his eyes he took some deep breathes and listened to Naruto enjoy the dessert. When he opened his eyes Naruto was holding the fork hovering a piece of cake in front of his face.

“Oh no, that’s okay.” He held up his hands but Naruto insisted by pushing the piece against his lips.

“Come on it’s good, you should eat some.” The piece pressed harder smearing caramel sauce on is lips. Having no other choice he parted his lips and pulled the bite off the fork. “Good huh?”

The sourness of the cream cheese diluted the sweetness of the added sugar and the caramel topping. His teeth crunched the crust mixing the unsweetened gram crackers with the rich cheese cake. Naruto was right, it was good. “Yeah.”

“If I had known you could make stuff like this I would have aced more tests sooner.” Sasuke laughed and licked the caramel from his lips causing the blond to sigh and pouted at him. “Damn, I wanted to do that.”

“Not here, you idiot.” He slapped Naruto’s shoulder. They were in the middle of the cafeteria because there was no food in the library and he refused to let Naruto eat it before lunch. Kissing in private was okay but he wouldn’t do it in front of the entire student body. “Besides, now you’re sweet and I don’t like sweet things.”

Naruto licked creamy caramel from the fork and smirked. “Maybe I’ll change your mind.”

XX***XX

Leaving his lunch behind Neji stormed out of the cafeteria and headed towards the roof access. On the way he passed Gaara, away from his brother for once, and it only took one hard look to get the red head to follow. As soon as the door closed behind them Neji had Gaara pushed face first into the wall biting into his neck causing a grunt of pain from the other boy. The sound went strait to his crotch.

“You’re worked up today.” Gaara managed to say through the sharp pain.

“Shut up.” He groaned into the smaller boy’s neck.

At lunch he caught sight of Naruto and Sasuke sharing what looked like a homemade piece of pie. He lost his appetite at the look of ecstasy on Naruto’s face when he took a bite. If that wasn’t bad enough he was feeding it to Sasuke who’s face turned red with that disgustingly cute blush. The whole scene looked so adorable that he had to get away.

“Did you see that face Sasuke made? Did you see Naruto smile at that cute blush? Can you blush like that?” Gaara turned his head just enough to catch his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that the fiery red head chose his words carefully to piss him off. It was working perfectly.

Instead of words he showed Gaara his anger through actions. Using his entire body to keep Gaara in place he secured both his wrists in one hand to hold them above his head. With his larger body he easily overpowered the red-head but there was more to it than that. Gaara’s muscles stayed loose allowing him to manipulate the limbs as he wished. He wasn’t doing anything to Gaara that the other boy didn’t allow.

“It’s stupid, you know, wasting all this time on someone who doesn’t want you. When was the last time he spent time with just you.”

Neji couldn’t take it anymore and put a hand over Gaara’s mouth silencing him. He had enough anger of his own and didn’t need Gaara urging him on. Sure he wanted to hurt the redhead but he also wanted to get off. Gaara could take a beating, he’d seen it, but they needed to go back to class after the lunch break ended. With this in mind he diverted his actions from the painful to the pleasurable.

XX***XX

As he zipped up his pants Neji watched Gaara spit in a corner while trying to catch his breath. If they had more time he would have make Gaara swallow as punishment for his smart mouth. Class started in a couple minutes and he still had to collect his books from the lunch room.

“You can do whatever you want, you should know that by now.” Gaara stood and made his way back to him. “Pining away for a friend is juvenile. I always thought you were better than that.”

The red head grabbed his bag and walked through the door to the stairs without looking back at him. The truth was he knew he was better but it didn’t stop the tightness in his heart when he laid in eyes on Naruto or the pain when he watched him with Sasuke. He figured he could make this thing with Gaara work but anger was keeping them together and he had no idea how long he could make that last. On the other hand he could wait for Naruto to finally conquer his latest challenge and move on. Either way he had an outlet for his frustration because Gaara never mention that he didn’t want him anymore.

XX***XX

This chapter his short because I’m getting back into the plot. The exchange between Gaara and Neji seems forced because it is. In the beginning there was a rushed, angry lemon between them but I don’t like that they are stealing my story. Luckily they are center stage for only one more chapter then there is nothing but Naruto/Sasuke in the horizon.