Begin Anew

Sango: okay, so i want to thank you all for your wonderful reviews and omg its Tachimaru-san. with cookies!!! i love tachimaru-san. i havent heard from u in ages (kinda-but not really).

and i love haruhichan for saying that i effin rock! just 4 that YOU effin rock! wooo...



>_>



...anywhooo



this is kinda late by some standards and it has another little twist. tiny, really. but i still want reviews and cookies. lots and lots of cookies.







[AN::: SLIGHT edit! please read. this is will go with the next chapter...]






on with the show!







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







Naruto looked hot.





That was the first thing Neji realized the second he opened the door. He felt stupid for realizing it now after all this time. But then he felt angry for having thought that. He wasn’t supposed to be interested in the blonde. He wanted Sasuke and only Sasuke. He wanted to claim and dominate the raven. He wanted to be everything Sasuke wanted and more, more than the blonde in front of him had ever been. He wanted to make them both see that Sasuke was his, and he was Sasuke's--his future, his dom, his everything and the blonde before him was the past, the pain; something the raven should regret.





And though he knew he didnt honestly believe that Sasuke should regret his time with Naruto, that the blonde did what he did for a reason, the thought helped him keep things in focus. He wanted to stay mad at the blonde, to not be attracted to him. And thinking about how the Uzumaki had hurt Sasuke incensed him. How Mr. Ice Prince was actually a needy person that needed to be dominated, controlled, cared for.





While on one side (the slutty side) it was good for Neji, it made the Uchiha vulnerable—too vulnerable and thoughts of last night, of how he didn’t know for certain if Sasuke really wanted him or just anyone to dominate him began to spring their ugly heads, but Neji beat them back furiously. He didnt want to think that the Uchiha just needed somebody, anybody to take over. He wanted to keep believing that the Uchiha really wanted him. And only him.





But now was not the time for that; they had more important things to worry about.















Ten awkward minutes later, Naruto didn’t know what to do anymore. There was an uncomfortable and tense silence that even the blonde didn’t know how to lighten. Neji kept brooding on the other side of the room, sitting on a love seat while Naruto slouched on the bigger couch, not really watching the T.V which was turned on to some nature channel. Seriously, who watched nature channels at 11am? But it didn’t matter, neither male was paying attention to the man with the British accent rattling on about...whatever.





Naruto got up to put his coffee mug in the kitchen sink, ignorant to Neji’s intense eyes practically glued to his ass in the tight jeans the blonde wore. Neji forcefully tore his eyes away from the blonde’s backside as the tan man disappeared into the kitchen, not wanting to be caught staring at the blonde’s crotch when he returned. He hated that he loved how the blonde’s hips swayed slightly; how great his ass looked in the form fitting jeans; how they hugged all the right places, but still left plenty to the imagination. He was abruptly startled from his thoughts as Naruto returned and asked for Sasuke.





Sasuke.





Right.





Why did he feel like he was betraying the raven—cheating on him?





‘Gee,’ a part of him answered sarcastically, ‘maybe because you keep raping Naruto with your eyes? Or ‘cause you completely forgot about Sasuke!’





He ignored the patronizing voice and went to pick up his phone from the coffee table, immediately checking for text messages.





Nothing.





‘Damn it.’





He sighed.





Sasuke was still mad at him.





“You called him right?” Naruto asked, wanting to make sure the brunette had done as he said he would.





“Yes. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message.” His brow furrowed as he saw Naruto smile slyly.





“What?” Neji asked slightly curious.





The blonde looked like he was hiding a secret, the smile a mirror image of the one on the Mona Lisa.





“How many times did you call him?” Naruto asked instead, his secretive smile still there.





Neji frowned slightly.





“Twice.” He answered finally, curiosity winning over the voice that told him that it was none of the blonde’s business.





Naruto’s smile became smug.





He smirked.





“He’s mad at you.” With a laughed huff he sat back down on the couch, sprawling lazily, arms resting on the head rest, legs falling wide open—a man’s way of sitting.





“Come on, whadyado?” he asked in a singsong voice, smirk growing.





Neji bristled.





How did Naruto know that?





“I mean, sure he’s a bastard, but he always answers his phone.” Neji had no idea how the two things were related to each other, but he listened to the blonde rant as the latter continued saying,





“He must be really mad to ignore two calls and not call back after he got a message.”





Naruto stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles.





“What did you do to make him so angry?” Naruto jested, waggling his eyebrows.





“I doubt that’s any of your business, Uzumaki.” Neji said, becoming increasingly annoyed.





“Hmmm...let me guess...” Naruto contemplated, rubbing his chin with a raised brow, trying to look distinguished.





“The first time Sasuke got so mad at me he wouldn’t answer my calls or texts, he finally confessed—after two weeks—that I was treating him like a girl.” Naruto laughed fondly at the memory, remembering how Sasuke had looked so embarrassed, hiding his face in the crook of the blonde’s neck, snuggling deeper into the other’s warmth.





“Hn.” The blonde huffed slightly, “At the time, he was uke, though we switched after, but he was mostly seme…” he trailed off, and Neji wasn’t sure if the blonde was addressing him or just talking aloud, reminiscing. After a while, Naruto blinked, seeming to snap out of his daze, remembering he had an audience. He put on a fake smile that disappeared immediately.





“Sasuke was so mad at me, ‘cuz he said that I was treating him like a girl, all delicate-like. I told him that I just wanted to make sure he was okay, to make it special for him.” he huffed out another laugh, another memory of Sasuke pulling his hair when they were in the middle of making love and Naruto was being too gently with the raven, the Uchiha wanting faster and harder when Naruto wanted to treasure the raven’s body, worship it. After that Naruto let Sasuke be seme, showing him that being uke didn’t mean being weak, being a girl, just that there had to be a top and bottom in a relationship, a role that was assigned during sex, nothing more.





“He was so mad he pulled my hair. When I teased him about it later, calling him a princess he began throwing stuff at me, almost giving me a concussion when I didn’t dodge the remote in time.” Naruto laughed quietly to himself, lost in thought.





Neji was transfixed, listening intently to the blonde’s recounting of his and Sasuke’s past, even a small part. He’d sat back down, leaning forward on his elbows, wanting to catch every word the blonde said. When he heard how Sasuke had inflicted the blonde physical pain for being called a princess, then lovingly, though a little harshly (wanting to prove he wasn’t a girl), he tended to the blonde, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips.





Neji could see it happening; Sasuke being peeved at the blonde but trying to apologize for hurting him by tending to his ‘wound’. And suddenly Neji felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness—he felt left out. Even though he rationalized that that had been in the past, that it was no longer that way, that Sasuke was… no longer with the blonde.





And even his thoughts stumbled on that last part, wanting to say that Sasuke belonged to him and not Naruto, but he no longer held the conviction to believe that was true. His smile faded as Naruto grew quiet once more, lost in thought, a sad smile playing on his lips from time to time. With each man lost in his own thoughts, the room grew quiet once more, but neither noticed.





The silence was interrupted by the loud shrill of Naruto’s obnoxious ring tone, startling both men out of their reveries. Naruto lunged for the phone and opened it quickly without seeing who was calling to stop the [to Neji] annoying ring.





“Hello?” Naruto asked a little out of breath.





“Uzumaki, where are you?” Gaara’s irritated voice said through the line.





“Well hello Mr. Grumpy.” Naruto groused, pouting at the redhead’s tone.





“And you wonder why they call you an idiot.” Gaara mumbled.





“Hey! I heard that, you jerk!” Naruto exclaimed loudly.





“That’s why I said it.” Gaara said, his smug tone getting a rise out of the overly emotional, and thus easily manipulated, blonde. A loud fake cough sounded behind Gaara and Naruto heard it.





“What was that? Who else is there?” Naruto asked suspiciously.





“Nothing. The reason I called is because we heard from Kiba that Pein is looking for a new plaything and you’re at the top of the list.”





“Yea, so?” The blonde asked miffed. “I’m not going with that asshole even if I wanted to.”





“Kiba also said that Pein was on campus looking for you today.”





“What?!” Naruto yelled, body flying off the couch in his shock. Neji was slightly taken aback by the blonde’s actions. His eyes narrowed as he instinctively flinched away, even though he was on the other side of the room.





“My eardrum, idiot.” Gaara hissed at Naruto.





“Sorry.”





He wasn’t.





“Why the hell was Pein on campus?” he asked for clarification purposes for Neji, who mimicked the blonde’s actions as he too flew out of his chair and across the room to lean over Naruto’s shoulder to hear the conversation.





Too close...Neji was too close. And the scent of his cologne encircled the blonde, making him want to lean back onto the strong frame of the tall brunette. But Naruto quickly snapped out of it. There were more pressing issues right now.




“What?” Neji hissed, unable to believe the gall of the orange haired gang member.





“Who are you with?” Gaara asked surprised and a little intrigued.





“I’m with Neji, waiting for Sasuke.” Naruto informed him, though his voice came out slightly husky.





“But...Sasuke’s in class.” Gaara said, his tone showing his confusion.





“What?!” Naruto yelled again, eyes wide, back straightening in shock and anger.





“Stop doing that you moron.” Gaara growled and Naruto heard shuffling on the other line as Gaara switched ears.





“Anyways.” Gaara griped. “Sasuke came to school late and hasn’t spoken to anyone at all.”





“Does Sasuke know that Pein is on campus?” Neji asked over Naruto’s shoulder.





“I don’t know.” Gaara responded, having heard the question.





“Can you go talk to him and then call back?” Naruto asked, a little self conscious for multiple reasons, and it had nothing to do with Neji still so close to him, nope, nothing at all.





“Why don’t you call him?” Gaara asked instead, a little affronted.





“Oh, come on, Gaara.” Naruto whined, totally avoiding the question, but this went unnoticed by the redhead.





“I’m busy Naruto. I’m not some messenger bird.”





“Fine, be that way.” Naruto said, childishly, sticking out his tongue though the redhead couldn’t see. He could almost see Gaara’s smug smile.





“Later.” Gaara said and hung up—he never called back.







Naruto closed his phone and sighed stepping cautiously away from Neji, trying to make it look casual, before falling unceremoniously back on the couch. Neji sat down next to him though more gracefully.





Neither man spoke, too shocked to speak at all. Naruto felt numb. Pein wasn’t playing around. When he said he wanted Naruto, he wasn’t kidding. And threatening that Naruto would pay…was this part of that or was this something else? Naruto was becoming restless and none of his questions were being answered. And they hadn’t heard from Sasuke, which probably meant that the raven hadn’t seen the gang member or he would call them…right?





Arg!





“What?” Neji asked beside him.





“Huh?” Naruto asked, unsure what the brunette was talking about.





“You were mumbling something and you’re pulling your hair and I’m pretty sure you just growled.” The Hyuuga said dubious of his own assessment, though Naruto sat up straighter noticing that his hands were fisted in his hair, a slight throbbing in his scalp making him aware of just how much pressure he’d been using. How had he not noticed this? He sighed, arms falling to his lap as his head rolled back on the headrest, legs falling open, the view making Neji a little distracted.





“It’s Sasuke.” Naruto whispered.





“Sasuke? After everything you heard, you’re thinking about Sasuke? What about Pein?” Neji asked, worried about the real threat Pein proved to be if he was stalking the blonde in school.





“Well, what if Sasuke had seen Pein on campus but was still too mad to call? He could be such a bastard sometimes. I wouldn’t put it past him.” Naruto frowned, knowing the raven could hold a grudge like no one else could and was too stubborn for his own good.





But all his concern was for naught, when his phone started ringing again. The blonde flipped it open, once again ignoring who it was.





“Naruto. Where are you?”





“Sasuke?” Naruto asked surprised, his heart beating faster as he heard the Uchiha’s voice.





“Pein is on campus. Where the hell are you?” The Uchiha demanded.





“I’m with Neji. We were waiting for you. Why didn’t you call back, teme?” Naruto said, his brows furrowed as he sat up in the couch, putting Sasuke on the spot.





“Hn. I’m going over there now.” Sasuke said and hung up, completely bypassing the blonde’s question, which he had every right in asking. Naruto looked at his phone before closing it.







“Well, one thing is certain.” Naruto said as he looked at Neji with half lidded eyes, his expression dry, “He’s still mad at you.”