The Definition of Piety

A/N: Thank you to:
Shikyaku
shai69
XoXgaaraXoX
jess249
zaden
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Your reviews made me smile! Ok, after this chapter the chapters will start to get longer, I promise. I hope you enjoy

Dinner Conversations


It was surprising how easily conversation came for the two usually stoic boys, although it was not like most normal conversations shared between two people. There were no unnecessary quips or indirect comments. The questions were short and to the point and the answers that followed were usually even more so. Both were used to blunt lines such as “there’s no way that you can defeat me.” or “I’ll kill you.”–at least that was what their vocabulary had consisted of in the past-- but still, it was a start.

They sat in a small restaurant that few were familiar with near the outskirts of Konoha. Though there were not many people in the unknown restaurant, Neji and Gaara attempted to ignore the stares of the people who were there. After all, it was not every day that one could see the pride of the Hyuuga clan treating the Kazekage of Suna to dinner.

They sat at a dainty table, their food barely touched and their heads titled towards each other as they conversed quietly. While most dinner conversations jumped restlessly from topic to topic, these particular boys only had one subject that they felt needed to be shared.

Naruto.

“So, when did you fall in love with him?” Was Neji’s blunt question, and he fought down the heat that threatened to color his cheeks as he tried to gauge Gaara’s reaction. He wondered briefly if this was more about the subject at hand or trying to make the impassive boy blush. To his slight disappointment, Gaara’s face remained as emotionless as ever and he quickly berated himself for feeling disappointment at all, but, hell, the Kazekage was a tough shell to crack.

“When I was twelve and he proved to me that bonds are worth more than the exhilaration of breaking them or killing those who have them.” To most this answer would have been slightly disturbing, but Neji merely found himself nodding in understanding. Gaara paused for a moment, bringing his cup to his full lips, before continuing on. “His method was quite...persuasive.”

“Did he beat the shit out you?” Neji would have liked to have added slightly more class to the inquiry, but he always seemed to be saying the wrong thing around this man.

“More or less.” Was the simple answer and Neji felt a slight upward tugging on his lips as he realized once again he had had no effect on the other youth. “It wasn’t until after I was laying on the ground, unable to move, and watching him continue to crawl towards me that I realized that strength cannot be measured by how many people die by your hands, nor is closing yourself off the key to power. At the time I didn’t know what love really was, nor did I have any desire to welcome it, but the first and only time I ever felt something that could only be described using that word, it was because of him...so, if you want to say that I fell in love with him because he beat the shit out of me, I guess that would be an appropriate observation.” Gaara raised his cup to drink once more and Neji found himself in awe. He had never heard the Kazekage utter so many words at once before, and never in his life had he felt that someone could say something that was so similar to the way that he felt. “So, Hyuuga, when did you fall in love with him?”

Neji coughed slightly, and turned his head to the side attempting to hide the blush that he knew was forming on his cheeks and giving away his slight discomfort.

“Did you expect me not to ask you as well?” Though Gaara’s voice still held his usual tone of disinterest, Neji could not help but notice the slight edge of amusement that had not been there before. Was the Kazekage actually teasing him? With his pride kicking in at full force, Neji turned back towards the younger boy to stare directly into teal eyes, all traces of embarrassment gone.

“I guess you could say my interest of him began after we fought against each other in the Chuunin Exams...it grew from there.” Neji threw out nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t spilling out his inner thoughts to a boy he didn’t know very well.

“I believe he beat the shit out of you as well, Hyuuga.”

Neji felt his lips twitch into a smirk. “More or less.” His words were met with Gaara’s own smirk. “All my life I had believed that my destiny was unchanging and that there was nothing I could do about it. I felt that no matter how strong I got that I would still only be viewed as less where it really mattered, and that I was condemned to a caged life, at the mercy of the people that, at the time, I hated the most. Naruto changed that.” He didn’t feel like he needed to explain further, after all, when it came to Naruto, both of them already understood anyways.

“Neither of us will ever have him.” Neji had resigned himself long ago to this fact, but hearing it said aloud by someone who knew it as well as he did, was a low blow to his gut. He had accepted it, accepted that he would never win against Uchiha Sasuke, but he still didn’t want to hear it.

“I know.” Was all he managed to say and the pair fell into silence, trying to remind themselves once again that this was something that they had both already known. The few other costumers began to dwindle even more in number as the night wore on, and still they continued to sit, food already cold, silence hanging heavily in the air, and neither caring enough to break it.

It was Neji who finally decided to speak in the silence that was quickly becoming something that was quite uncomfortable.

“Uchiha doesn’t deserve someone like him.” He spoke softly, though there was a slight edge of malice in his voice.

“I’m not sure if anyone does.” Gaara replied, leaving no doubt that he meant that that included himself as well.

“But at least someone else could realize that and treat him the way he deserves to be treated.”

“Are you talking about yourself?” Gaara questioned, no hint of delicacy in his voice.

“Do you not feel the same way?” Neji quickly retorted, and Gaara fell silent. It was no use trying to persuade someone to believe differently when you felt the same way. Neji cleared his throat quietly, slightly embarrassed by his small outburst. “I...I know how I would treat him. I know that I would be able to give him the care that he has deserved all of his life. If I had him I sure as hell would make it worth it to him for choosing me.” His eyes fell towards the table, studying the plain print of the tablecloth. “But I also know that he will never choose me. He loves him. Why, I have no idea, but he does. I can’t change that and neither can you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to kill the bastard ever time I see his smug face, and it isn’t because he has the thing I want the most. It’s because he insults me, you and everyone else who has ever loved Naruto by crushing what’s given to him so freely.”

“You know he loves Naruto.” Neji was not surprised that Gaara had figured it out as well.

“Yes, but he wont let himself. I don’t understand him. No matter how much of a genius I might be believed to be, I still don’t understand how he can throw it all away like that.”

“And people say that I have emotional issues.” Gaara said dryly, picking disinterestedly at his cold food.

“Tell me about it.” Neji agreed, before he realized what had been said and who had said it. Once again he had to fight the urge to look at the red head in total shock. “Did you just make a joke, Kazekage-sama?”

“Of course not.” And Gaara said it so flatly that Neji couldn’t help but chuckle softly. The younger boy let a smile grace his lips. It was small but it was there, and in the back of Neji’s mind he noted to himself that he would like to see the Kazekage smile more often. It was simple, but...refreshing.

“I don’t want to see him hurt anymore.” Neji said after sometime, the previous light feeling already becoming overshadowed by graver topics.

“Nor do I, but if the Uchiha continues to push him away, it’s not something that can be helped.” Gaara said objectively, attempting to keep rationality in the conversation, though he was fighting a losing battle in trying to stay impartial.

“Should we use Naruto’s method and beat some sense into him?” Neji asked, only half joking.

“No, one of us might kill him in the process.” Gaara answered back...also, only half joking.

“Well, then should we try to help him figure things out at least?”

“Would it be appropriate to meddle in things that are no really our business?” Gaara questioned, though his already flimsy resolve was breaking.

“No, but when it comes to Naruto, I say fuck morality.” Neji did not hesitated in his answer and there was no trace of jesting to be found in his lilac eyes.

Gaara felt a smirk forming on his lips as his resolve fell completely.

“I think we will get along quite well, Hyuuga.”