Inbred

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Chapter 34

They say time flies when you're having fun and if that was the case then Naruto was going to need to get rid of the barrel of monkeys.

A new term had already started, that meant that he only had one more term left before the exchange programme came to an end. It also meant that in just less than a year he'll have to say goodbye to Hinata, Sasuke and yes, even Neji. He was dreading having to leave behind Konohamaru University and it's...interesting faculty. He knew he'd definitely miss Iruka-sensei and Kurenai-sensei and maybe even Sarutobi-sensei. Gai and Anko-sensei he could live without but in a sick and twisted way he found that he was actually going to miss Kakashi-sensei, he was the man Naruto loved to hate.

The teenaged blond sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his school pants. There was no reason to have such morbid thoughts now. There was still alot of time left, time he could spend with Sasuke, forging that brotherly love and experiencing what it was like to have sibling rivalry. There was also plenty of time to form a closer bond with Neji. Naruto was determined to make another friend of the boy especially since they shared one very important thing in common.

Hinata.

He had more than enough time to confess his true feelings to the girl but never in a million years could Naruto work up the courage to utter THOSE words again. Oh, he had no problem saying the word 'love', he had said it many times to people he truly cared for and respected, but there were different kinds of love and although he knew that the love he had for Auntie Tsunade, the love he had for Jiraiya and the love he had for Sasuke could never substitute the love he had for Hinata he couldn't bring himself to accept or confess it.

In his early years, 'love' had been a foreign concept to him. He had never known a parent's love and had been surrounded by scorn and hatred from people who should have loved him. People used him, manipulated him and took advantage of his innocence all in the name of 'love'. To him, executing power over the weak was 'love'. Naruto soon learned to play the sick little game by their rules and showed everyone how much he 'loved' them in return. It was funny how much more attention he got when he turned the tables on them and this attention, no matter how negative, no matter how painful was the closest thing to the concept of love his frail mind could fathom.

It wasn't until Tsunade found him and took him in did he begin to understand what love was really all about. She was a very independent woman who did everything on her own, she never asked for help and she never accepted hand-outs and Naruto didn't understand why a strong woman like her would want a useless little nobody like him. He didn't understand...at first.

Tsunade was a woman who had alot of love to give and after so many failed attempts at having a child she had bottled it all and focused her attentions on her career (and gambling). But when she took Naruto as her own all those forgotten dreams and all those suppressed longings came rushing out in a flood. Naruto saw a part of her that no one else did, not even Jiraiya was as fortunate as he to see the nurturing and maternal side of Tsunade. The part of her that was eager to pass on her knowledge and share her experiences, the part that wanted to educate a younger generation and encourage a future generation to reach for the stars.

Tsunade was the first person to teach him about love.

He was also blessed to see love, it's intricate workings and the abstract emotions that accompanied it. Truly, love was a complex and remarkable thing. He had seen the way Jiraiya loved his Auntie and he had heard the way Tsunade talked about Jiraiya as if he were her sun and her moon. And Naruto wanted to experience that love for himself, he wanted to be someone's sun and their moon.

He got his chance, but it wasn't what he had expected. He was young and so was she; he was naive but she was experienced; he loved her but she did not love him.

He told her and she laughed in his face.

Naruto thought he had been through every hardship known to man but nothing could have prepared him for the ache he felt in his heart that day. Was this the extent of love? Did love have this much power? He had heard that it was better to love and lost than never to have loved at all, but if losing love could could make a man want to rip his own heart out in anguish then he'd rather bask in hatred.

He eventually got over it, time healed that wound but he was terribly scarred and he was never quite the same after that. Oh, he was the same energetic and hyperactive Naruto alright, but when it came to matters of the heart he always faltered. He had been through many relationships after that girl but you never forget your first, and whenever it seemed as if the other party wanted to become committed he would always break it off.

Auntie Tsunade and Jiraiya had separated as well and it came as a surprise to the boy but it also confirmed for him that love, THAT kind of love he really didn't need, it was too fickle.

This was why he couldn't tell Hinata how he really felt about her. He knew that she wasn't that girl, he knew she wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt him, he knew she deserved to hear those words but Naruto was too afraid to say them.

He glanced at his watch to check the time. It was still pretty early and class wouldn't begin for another fifteen minutes. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Sasuke and Neji walking towards him, side by side. Looking at them now he wouldn't belive that the two were lovers. The Uchiha was his usual moody and unapproachable self while Neji maintained that arrogant aristocratic air about him that made Naruto feel as if he weren't worthy to be breathing the same oxygen he did.

There was no warmth between the two and it seemed as if they were barely tolerating each other's company just because they happened to be attending the same classes. He knew why they were distant, why they avoided physical contact and why they only spoke to each other when they had to and Naruto believed that when they were forced to be like this that it hurt them immensely.

"You ready, dobe?" the taller man asked and Naruto nodded and fell into step beside the other two. "Remember, you're just observing so try not to do or say anything stupid."

It was Saturday and while, Naruto technically didn't have any classes today some of the more senior students did, which included Sasuke and Neji whose report was also due today. Usually, foreign students weren't allowed to sit in on the other classes but Uchiha Sasuke was so damned hardcore that he could pretty much do whatever he wanted so he invited the boy to tag along with him. Neji seconded that motion because every minute he could keep an eye on the blond was every minute he didn't spend alone with Hinata.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. He knew his friend didn't say that for his own benefit. Sasuke didn't care if Naruto embarrassed him during his classes but he was more concerned about Naruto embarrassing himself. He didn't give a damn if people thought that his best friend was dumber than a brick but some of his senseis and other students in the class were pretty brutal and he knew they'd make fun of the boy whether he was at their academic level or not and he'd only end up smashing in a few faces if anyone hurt his best friend's feelings, teacher or no.

They walked in relative silence after that. Naruto would occasionally ask a question about their classes and Sasuke would answer him with one or two-word phrases. Neji hadn't said a word at all and Naruto glanced at the stoic Hyuga through the corner of one eye. It was strange to hear him so quiet, all of a sudden, he had become so used to his voice screaming at the Uchiha in anger or issuing violent threats against Naruto's person. He hardly saw him interact with his cousin, but from that night when they had reunited he gathered that Neji was a compassionate and affectionate person.

That was probably what Sasuke loved so much about him...there was that word again.

It was no secret (between them at least) how much Sasuke loved Neji. Naruto could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at the boy and the way he smiled whenever Neji was around. Naruto made him smile too but it was nothing compared to the way Neji did and Naruto knew that it was the same way with him and Hinata. Even when they kissed their energies emanated their love for one another. Naruto had caught them going at it one night and while he didn't want to stare or interrupt he couldn't bring himself to turn around and head back into his room. It was incredibly hot. They desired one another, longed for one another, NEEDED one another.

It was just like what Sasuke said about the rings. Neji was the wind that sustained him and the air that breathed life into him.

No wonder he had been so desperate to repair their relationship and Naruto thought back to that day when he had confided in him, his best friend, and shared his concerns, but that wasn't what surprised him the most about the Uchiha, what surprised him the most was later that very same morning Sasuke had confessed his love for the other man.

Uchiha Sasuke, the self-dependent man that needed nobody, that man that had everything and needed nothing, the man that trusted no one and kept everyone at arms distance had thrown down his walls and opened his heart to Neji and put himself in the most vulnerable position any man could ever find himself and uttered those words.

Uchiha Sasuke had confessed his love and given his heart to another human being and if Sasuke could do that, why couldn't he?

Naruto cared for Hinata, it was his self-proclaimed duty to protect her at all costs, he'd give his life for her if he had to because...because....

He loved her.

Naruto bit his lip and and his downcast eyes flicked to one corner to glance at the bravest man he'd ever met. He felt like a spineless coward and Naruto suddenly realized that in his own way, Sasuke was alot stronger than he was.