Viva Forever

~ Chapter 4 ~

“Sasuke, don’t be rude,” the woman admonished him sternly.

“Sorry,” the boy murmured an apology to his mother but did not offer one to the waif he brought home.

Mrs. Uchiha wiped her hands in the white apron fastened around her slender waist and made her way over to the new child. She could tell he was afraid just by looking into his eyes and she smiled as warmly as she could before crouching down before him until they were about the same height. “What’s your name, dear?”

“Mmm, Neji,” he stammered in reply and as kind as this woman was to him he was too bashful to look her directly in her face.

“That’s a very nice name,” she said enthusiastically.

“It sounds like a girl’s name,” Sasuke cut in as he climbed a kitchen stool so he could reach the cookie jar on the counter.

“Sasuke!” was her sharp reprimand.

“Well, it does,” the cheeky boy insisted and lifted the ceramic head of the panda-shaped jar to procure one of the confections hidden inside.

After warning her son not to spoil his dinner by eating too many of the sweets she turned back to the little guest and tenderly stroked his glossy, black hair. “What is your family name, Neji?”

“It’s Hyuuga.”

“Hyuuga,” she echoed and after reciting the names of all the other families that lived in the area she came to the conclusion that he wasn’t from around here. “Do you know your address or phone number by heart, Neji?”

The boy shook his head. “I don’t know my new address or phone number yet,” he admitted with slight embarrassment. “I just moved here.”

“Well then, welcome to the neighbourhood Neji, ,” the woman beamed. “My name is Mrs. Uchiha and you’ve already met my son, Sasuke Uchi- SASUKE!”

“Un?” the boy jumped, looking very much like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and, sure enough, he sat in the chair, eyes wide, with one in his mouth and two in each hand.

His mother got to her feet and snatched the junk food he held in his greedy, little palms then tossed them back into the jar. “I said don’t spoil your dinner,” she angrily reminded him and took his hands so she could dust away the crumbs with her apron. “Go upstairs and play with your friend, I’ll call you and your brother when dinner’s ready.”

“ ‘Kay ma,” and he obediently jumped down from the chair and went over to stand by Neji while he munched on his newly obtained prize.

“Don’t worry Neji,” the woman assured him with a confident smile and a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. “If there are new people moving in then the neighbourhood watch would be the first to know.”

Neji wasn’t exactly sure what a neighbourhood watch was and assumed that it was a man in a tall tower that spied down on everyone through large binoculars, but if he could spot his parents from up there then he was sure he’d be reunited with them in no time.

He turned to face Sasuke who was eyeing his mother as she turned her back to make a telephone call and the second the woman became occupied with the person on the other line he quickly scaled that chair again and scooped up a handful of cookies before darting out of the kitchen.

“Here,” he said to the boy that had followed him and shoved two in his direction.

“Thank you,” Neji said graciously and began to stuff his mouth, but Sasuke hadn’t done it to be kind. He did it as a silencing payment.

“Come,” was his one word command and he led the new kid up the stairs and onto the second floor but they stopped when the hallway bathroom door opened and out emerged a tall, dark-haired teenager.

“ANIKI!” Sasuke screeched excitedly at the sight of his older brother.

Itachi shot him a purely annoyed look but when he saw the other child behind him he smirked mischievously. “Oi, Sasuke. You have a new girlfriend? Are you going to take her into your room to kiss her?” he teased, knowing very well how his younger sibling felt about cooties.

“I’m not a little girl,” Neji shouted with a pout. “I’m a little boy!”

Itachi affixed his irritated glare on the just as noisy and just as annoying brat then flicked the water droplets from his just-washed hands at the boy.

Neji shrieked and brought his arms up to cover his head and Sasuke scowled up at his disrespectful, brother. “Itachi, you better be nice to Neji,” he warned in a tattle-tale tone. “Neji is a guest in the house and you have to be nice to him. It’s the rules.”

A low growl bubbled at the back of the elder Uchiha’s throat and he wiped the excess moisture in the lap of his pants. “Like I give a rat’s ass,” he spat then barged between the two boys and disappeared into his room.

Sasuke rolled his eyes rather dramatically then turned back to Neji and took his hand in his. “Come on. My room’s this way,” he said as if it was the greatest room in the house. And Neji believed that is was.

Sasuke’s room was any young boy’s paradise.

Because he was so obedient and constantly maintained good grades, his parents allowed him to keep a television in his room so that he could play his many video game systems. He was also given his own computer to type up his school reports but his mother and father both agreed, as responsible parents, to forego a telephone line and internet connection until he was much older.

Sasuke didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he used it very often, only to practice his typing, besides, anything he needed to research he could find in the volumes of encyclopedias that filled the bookshelves on either side of his workspace.

On a table next to that he proudly displayed his Transformers figurines, like trophies and in the cubby space below it were stacks of books that contained his baseball, Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering cards.

In the middle of the room was a large, four-poster bed that had been in the family for generations and was so high that Sasuke needed a step stool to climb up on it. He loved that bed though. He could jump on it for ages and his parents would never know because it didn’t squeak.

At the foot of the monstrosity was an enormous trunk, made to resemble a treasure chest one would expect a pirate to hide his booty and that was where Sasuke stored his most valuable possessions… namely his toys.

He kept his room rather tidy for a boy his age and the hard-wood floor shone with its polished surface, an indication that his mother waxed it regularly. The walls were decorated with a light-blue wall paper, patterned with vertical lines and trimmed with pictures that told a redundant story of a rocket flying through space and passing a smiling sun, a surprised moon and giggling stars. Mr. Uchiha had never got around to changing the paper, at his wife’s request, now that their son was quickly growing up and his room was no longer a nursery but he hoped they never got around to it any time soon because he’d hung the planes and space-ships that he’d made from his hobby kits from the ceiling and they matched the theme quite nicely.

“Wow!” Neji exclaimed breathlessly as he took in the sight of the marvelous room. “I really like your bedroom Sasuke.”

“Thank you,” the other boy grinned, his chest puffing out with pride. Sasuke climbed up on his bed, careful not to damage the last two cookies he held in his hand and the Hyuuga, although older, was a little too short and had trouble scaling it, especially with his kimono on.

“Should I toss you a rope?” Sasuke teased while looking down at him and feeling very much like the King of the Hill.

“Your bed’s too big,” Neji whined and grabbed the thick quilt to try pulling the rest of his body up.

“No, you’re too small,” the younger boy corrected and gave him a hand which he took graciously.

“Oof!” they both puffed when they fell onto the bed. Sasuke had pulled a little too hard and lost his balance before falling backwards and Neji slammed, chest first, into the soft mattress.

“Don’t smush them,” Sasuke frowned and shoved Neji, a little too roughly, off the cookies he’d laid there and was relieved to see that they were still intact. He was a boy after all and was used to rough-housing with other boys and even his own brother but he didn’t know Neji wasn’t used to that sort of treatment since he’d only played with his little cousins up until this point.

“Oww,” the little guest whined and rubbed his shoulder where it still smarted.

“Come on, I didn’t push you that hard,” and he rolled his eyes at the drama princess.

“But it huuurts,” Neji sobbed while rubbing furiously at the area with his other hand.

“Let me see,” was Sasuke’s impatient demand and he crawled over to the other boy and tugged at the collar of his kimono to pull it off his shoulder and reveal the pale skin beneath. “It’s not red or anything,” he observed then started poking it with his finger. “Does that hurt?”

“Only when you poke so hard,” Neji snapped and tried to shield his tender flesh from that abusive digit.

“You’re such a baby,” the Uchiha child tsked and released the cloth so the other boy could pull it back into place.

“I am not,” Neji yelled in his defense. “You’re mean!”

“And you’re silly. Here!” and before Neji could find a scathing retort, Sasuke shoved another cookie at his chest to shut him up. And it worked.

“These are nice,” his guest admitted with an appreciative nod, completely forgetting why he was angry at Sasuke in the first place.

“Yep,” Sasuke agreed with a nod as he chomped on the last one. “My mom makesh thu besht cookies.”

“My mom doesn’t make cookies,” Neji sighed solemnly.

“Oh? Does she make cakes then?”

Neji shook his head “Nope!”

“Pies?”

“Uh uh!”

“What kind of mom doesn’t make pies?” Sasuke gasped as if that was the most blasphemous thing he’d ever heard. “You must have done something pretty bad to get your mom to not make any snacks for you.”

“My mom does make snacks,” he said while popping the crumbs from the bed into his mouth. “She makes celery, and carrot sticks, and hummus.”

Sasuke leaned back and stared at the boy with wide eyes. “Those aren’t snacks!” he shouted incredulously. “Those are things your parents make you eat when you can’t have any dessert. No wonder you’re so skinny,” he muttered and glanced at the boy’s thin wrists and ankles.

“I’m not skinny,” Neji shouted back.

“Yes you are!” Sasuke roared just as loudly then he rubbed his chin and raised a curious eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not a girl?” he then asked.

“No, I’m not!” and the little boy crossed his arms over his chest while trying to hold back his tears. Why was he always saying such cruel things?

“But…” and Sasuke held up one hand to count off each point on a finger. “You’re small like a girl, weak like a girl, skinny like a girl, dress like a girl, look like a girl and even have long hair like a girl.”

“So,” and he pouted. “Samson had long hair and he was a boy.”

“Who’s Samson?” Sasuke asked quizzically.

“Samson, from Samson and Delilah. He had long hair and it gave him super-human strength,” Neji answered smugly.

“Well, you better cut yours ‘cause it’s doing nothing for you,” Sasuke laughed.

“You’re horrid!”

“And you’re still a baby. Come on!” Sasuke invited him to his feet as he stood on the bed and Neji took his hands to let him help him up. “This is fun,” he said and started jumping up and down.

Neji had never jumped on a bed before. His mother had always told him that he would fall and hurt himself but watching Sasuke and witnessing for himself just how much fun it truly was he couldn’t help but try it.

“See, told ya,” the boy said with a cocky grin when he heard Neji giggling and he let him go so he could jump in his own corner of the bed. Neji moved to his own corner as well since Sasuke’s bouncing disrupted his own. Their laughter filled the room and got louder the more dizzy they became until they both collapsed in breathless heaps of frenzied giggles.

“My head is spinning,” Neji squealed.

“Yeah,” was all Sasuke could say until his brain stopped sloshing around inside his skull. His head was too heavy to lift just yet and he still needed to catch his breath but he wasn’t allowed that reprieve because Neji crawled over to him and started tugging on his shirt.

“Nnn?” he acknowledged both Nejis groggily.

“Sasuke, can I use your bathroom?”

“Yeah, hang on,” he groaned and rolled over to the edge of the bed to slide down and once his feet were firmly planted on the ground his vertigo seemed to fade. Neji, on the other hand, had twice as much trouble getting down as he did getting up and when he looked over and realized just how high up he was he whimpered. Sasuke didn’t seem to notice he was suffering from acute acrophobia and was starting to go along without him so Neji got onto his stomach and carefully threw his legs over the side.

He’d hoped he’d reach the step-stool eventually but had miscalculated by just a few inches and dropped to the floor instead and at the resounding thud that shook his floorboards, Sasuke turned and he broke into hysterics when he spotted Neji on the ground. “You’re so clumsy,” he teased and walked over to help him to his feet.

“Owww,” Neji rubbed his sore behind and Sasuke rolled his eyes again. Why was this kid such a baby?

He escorted him to the upstairs room his brother had occupied just moments ago and flipped the switch to bathe the tiled room with its while illumination.

“Are you going to need help climbing up on the toilet seat?” Sasuke joked.

“No, I won’t,” Neji frowned after lifting the lid and hiking his kimono up to his waist. He hooked his fingers into his underwear and tugged them down to his ankles before turning to back the bowl and Sasuke faced the other direction as he took a seat on it. He was just about to leave to give the other boy his privacy but the trickling sound of water hitting water made him freeze in his tracks and he whipped around to face the young child again.

Was he peeing?

“What?” Neji asked, thoroughly taken aback that his host was staring at him as if he’d just defiled something sacred.

“You’re sitting to pee?” Sasuke screeched in disbelief.

“Doesn’t everybody?” Neji asked and reached out to take a few sheets of toilet paper while kicking his legs playfully as they dangled before him.

Sasuke shook his head slowly. “Uh… Nooooo.”

Neji tilted his head slightly to one side. “Really?”

“Really! Only girls sit when they pee! Didn’t you know that? I knew it! You’re a girl, aren’t you?”

“I am not a girl!” he said in frustration and he wondered how many times he was going to have to say that before he finally believed him.

“Yes you are,” Sasuke argued and pointed an accusing finger at him. “Only girls sit to pee.”

“Then… how do you pee Sasuke?” Neji asked and he wondered if he’d been doing it wrong the whole time.

“I stand up like all boys are supposed to do,” was his cocky reply.

“Oh,” and Neji pondered it for a bit, still unable to see how that would work. “My mom didn’t potty train me like that,” he finally admitted.

“That’s because your Dad is supposed to do it,” he replied, drawing from his own experience and it only made sense for dads to teach their sons how to go to the bathroom while mothers taught their daughters. No wonder Neji got it mixed up.

“But my mom said this was the easiest way,” he said and he spread his legs a bit and lifted his skirt higher so he could see properly to dab away any excess moisture. While he was occupied with that task, Sasuke leaned closer so he could get a better look at his private area.

So, he was a boy after all.

Neji’s was much smaller than his own but there was no mistaking the tiny member that hung between his legs.

“Okay, you win. You’re really boy,” Sasuke admitted his defeat and finally turned around to give the boy the privacy he was due.

Neji wasn’t sure what it was that made him suddenly change his mind but he was glad that he did.

He dropped the soiled paper into the bowl and clambered off of it before flushing, returning the cover back to its place and fixing his clothes. Sasuke heard the tap turn on and listened to him hum as he washed his hands and he wondered how long he expected to stand there doing that. Sasuke knew the importance of washing one’s hands after using the bathroom but this kid was just wasting water.

“Okay, I’m done,” he smiled and tapped the taller boy on his shoulder and Sasuke stepped out of the way to let him pass.

“What do you want to do now?” he asked, applying a lesson in etiquette by asking his guest their preference.

Neji shrugged. It was Sasuke’s room, after all so he should be allowed to do whatever he wanted.

“Wanna play Smash Brothers?” he then asked when Neji said nothing.

“Okay.”

Sasuke helped him onto the bed again by pushing him up while he set up the system and turned on the television. He climbed up then with two wireless controllers of which he handed one to Neji, and if the awkward way he held it was not enough to tip off the Uchiha that he’d never seen one of these machines before then the awful way he played certainly was.

“You suck,” Sasuke murmured matter-of-factly after Neji suicided off the stage for the fourth time in one minute.

“Which one am I again?” he asked and frantically searched the screen for the character he’d selected.

Sasuke sighed loudly in exasperation then quickly KO’d Donkey Kong so he could give Neji his full attention. “You’re Jigglypuff… rememeber?”

“Oh,” and he continued to press random buttons before he mewled, “How do I do that move where I inhale the monsters again.”

“Nooo, that’s Kirby,” Sasuke corrected him. “You’re Jigglypuff. The other pink one.”

“Ohhh,” and he nodded when he recognized the creature’s signature bow that he’d found so cute but his game play still suffered as the round character jumped all over the place while swinging wildly in mid-air. “Where’d Jigglypuff go?” Neji asked with concern when the cute, little ball refused to respawn.

“She’s dead,” he said quickly and luckily avoided Kirby’s stone drop by rolling out of the way at the last minute. “You used up all her lives.”

“Can I get more?” Neji asked innocently, still tapping buttons in hope that she might reappear.

“Nope. You have to wait for this round to end before you can join the next one.”

“Oh,” and his tiny shoulders drooped in disappointment. He placed the controller aside since he didn’t need it right now and stretched out on the bed to watch Sasuke play. “You’re good at this,” he remarked, awed by the other boy’s skill.

“Thanks,” Sasuke replied and not once did his eyes leave the screen or his fingers mis-press a button and even when Itachi appeared by his door to tell him to bring the boy downstairs his concentration did not waver. “Got it!” he acknowledged his brother and paused the game so he could get off the bed then help Neji down by holding him by the waist.

He took him by the hand and led him down the stairs where four adults were gathered in the brightly lit living room. He hadn’t realized just how late it was until he realized his father had returned home from work and he heard his mother say ‘Here they are’ to the other two strangers, but they did not remain anonymous for long because Neji squealed happily and let go of Sasuke so he could run towards his parents.

“MOMMIE. DADDY!”

“Oh Neji! Thank God,” his mother got down on her knee and opened her arms wide to welcome her son into her embrace. She’d been so delirious with worry that she couldn’t hold back her tears.

“Thank you so much for finding our son,” Mr. Hyuuga bowed low before the Uchihas.

“Actually, Sasuke found him,” Mrs. Uchiha disclosed and gestured to the shorter of her own two sons.

“Oh, well I believe a reward is in order young man” Hizashi smirked and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. “Here,” and he gave the boy a crisp, thousand yen note.

“Whoa!” Sasuke’s eyes enlarged as he held the bill with both hands while thoughts raced through his head on what he should spend it on tomorrow.

Mr. Uchiha laughed. “Now Sasuke, don’t spend it all in one place,” but little did he know that those were his exact intentions.

“Oh, my poor baby, you must have been so scared. I was so worried about you,” Neji’s mother stammered as she cuddled the boy against her chest and anointed his head with her tears. Sasuke tried not to make a face as he watched the woman smother her child like that. If his mother had done that to him in front of another kid he would have tried to push her away but Neji seemed to like it and that only made him weirder in Sasuke’s eyes.

“Ohh Neji, don’t you ever do something like that again, promise me,” she cupped his head within her hands and looked down into his face, waiting for him to agree to their pact.

“I promise,” he nodded and was immediately pulled back into his mother’s warm embrace.

“I’ll never let you out of my sight again,” the woman swore then rained kisses all over his nose, forehead and cheeks.

“Once again, thank you for finding our boy,” Hiashi bowed again before the two adults. “Neji’s never done anything like this before and needless to say we were surprised when he just darted off like that. I do hope he wasn’t any trouble.”

“Of course not,” Mrs. Uchiha assured him with a laugh. “He was such a polite gentleman and a joy to have around.”

“And you know how boys are,” Fugaku cut in, reflecting on the many headaches he’d endured raising his two sons. “I’m sure he just wanted to do a little exploring.”

“We are forever in your debt,” Hiashi’s wife sniffled and wiped at her damp cheeks with one hand while firmly holding Neji’s in the other.

“Please, it was nothing,” Mikoto reiterated.

Haruko* then turned to look at the young lad who had been the brave hero that rescued her missing baby and as she smiled at him Sasuke looked up at her fearfully and hoped she wasn’t going to hug him and kiss him next.

“Ahh, Mikoto,” she turned her attention back to the other woman to ask a favor of her. “If it’s not too much trouble could Neji spend some time with Sasuke? He has no other family here and it’s going to be a while until he makes friends of his own but in the meanwhile, so he won’t be lonely, can they play together?”

“That’s fine with me,” Sasuke’s mother assured her completely understanding her plight but her son really wished she had asked him first because even though they got along just fine upstairs he was against being forced to be friends with someone he wasn’t sure he even liked well enough.

The adults started talking ‘adult talk’ and laughing at things that didn’t make the least bit of sense to him. Itachi laughed along with them and Sasuke wondered why it was that he was only nice when other adults were around.

He knew it was impolite to interrupt big people when they were engaged in conversation but he couldn’t even talk to Neji since the other boy seemed to have fallen asleep while clutching his mother’s leg. By the time his boredom had reached unbearable heights the Hyuugas bid the Uchihas farewell and Sasuke rushed back upstairs to finish his game.

Neji was put straight to bed since his mother decided he’d had too much excitement for one day and, that night, he slept in his parent’s bed but not because he was afraid of the dark but because his mother was holding fast to her word and was in no hurry to leave him alone for even one minute.

Even though they lived just a few blocks away, Sasuke never came to look for him and even though it was his mother that suggested they spend time together she never allowed Neji to go outside by himself.

It wasn’t long before Neji grew bored, being cooped up inside his new home and since his parents were still making preparations to enroll him in one of the local schools his education came in the form of home-schooling from his mother.

Haruko closed the book she was dictating from and realized that her pupil was not even paying attention to her. “Oh darling, I’m sorry. All work and no play makes Neji a bored boy, huh?” and she reached out to stroke his cheek. “I have an idea,” she smiled suddenly. “Why don’t you go over and play with Sasuke for a bit then I’ll come get you for dinner?”

That put some life back into his listless eyes and, after promising he was going to go straight to the Uchiha property, he darted out of the house and took the fairly familiar road to the large house near the end of the street. Unfortunately, when he got there, Sasuke wasn’t home but his mother said he could find him at the park and she ordered her eldest son to take Neji there so he wouldn’t get lost.

“Yes mother,” Itachi obliged and obediently took Neji by his hand and walked with him off the property but the second they were out of sight from the kitchen window where his mother was dutifully washing dishes, he yanked his hand away from Neji’s grasp and quickened his pace. It was hard keeping up with Itachi’s long strides but the park was not too far off and by the time Neji spotted Sasuke among the other children playing baseball, Itachi had already disappeared.

He wanted to call Sasuke’s name and get his attention but was too intimidated by the other children so he made his way over to the shade of a few trees and sat among the fallen sakura blossoms. He saw him waiting his turn in the line with the other boys that were up to bat and watched as they poked fun and taunted the pitcher whenever he made a bad throw. Neji saw them laugh and made jokes amongst themselves and he became envious of them and wished he had the courage to go over and join in their merriment.

It was Sasuke’s turn now and while Neji wasn’t familiar with the rules of baseball, the confidence on Sasuke’s team and the frustration on the other was enough to let him know which group was winning. He smiled proudly as the dark-haired boy walked over and got into position and his heart raced as he brought the wooden bat to his shoulder and squinted at the pitcher.

Neji crossed his fingers and nibbled anxiously on his lower lip while he waited for the throw. The suspense nearly choked him as he watched the catcher make hand-signals to the bowler. He nodded and brought the ball up to his ear then quickly released it. Sasuke swung but missed by just a few centimeters and the boy behind him caught it.

“Strike one!” he cried out and tossed the ball back to the pitcher.

Sasuke didn’t seem at all phased by his miss but Neji was terribly disappointed.

The Uchiha took his stance again and the catcher and bowler communicated amongst themselves silently about which throw to try next. After they agreed on trying to disorient him by sending a slow ball he reared his arm back and Neji held his breath. The controlled pitch came straight at the batsman but he must have been expecting they’d try something like that and he swung the bat with great precision and sending the round object flying towards the out-field.

“YAY SASKE!” Neji forgot himself and released his breath on a loud cheer while applauding until his palms were sore. “I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT.”

The players turned to see who Sasuke’s cheerleader was and when Neji noticed many pairs of eyes on him he quietly shrunk back into the shade.

“Hey Sasuke, who’s your girlfriend?” the boy at home base teased after Sasuke and his team cleared the field. The other group were much more interested in ribbing the Uchiha over his fan and had completely forgotten about retrieving the ball as they converged upon him.

“Looks like you’ve got another stalker,” another joked.

“Sasuke’s got a girlfriend, Sasuke’s got a girlfriend,” a third sang while a few others made kissy-face noises.

“Shut up!” the target of their taunts roared and fought the urge to swing his bat at their heads. “She- I mean he’s not my girlfriend. He’s not even a girl.”

They broke into fresh laughter then but this time it was directed at Neji.

“No way that’s a boy,” the catcher exclaimed and dragged his face mask off so he could get a better look at the small form under the tree.

“Isn’t that a girl’s kimono?” one of the fielders asked.

“Oh man, what a sissy.”

“I can’t believe he left home dressed in that.”

“SHUT UP!” Sasuke yelled and swung an arm but only as a warning. “Leave ‘im alone. He’s new here.”

“Ooooooh,” all the boys jumped in and wiggled their fingers at Sasuke.

“Stupid jerks,” he muttered under his breath and walked over to where Neji sat.

“Hi,” the Hyuuga greeted him sheepishly.

“Hey,” Sasuke returned nonchalantly. “Do you wanna play?”

Neji beamed widely and his eyes danced at the proposition.

Sasuke wanted him to play a game with him!

“I… can’t,” he suddenly frowned, even though he was happy that Sasuke asked him all the same.

“Why not?” Sasuke asked and tapped his bat against his shoulder blade.

“My mom says I shouldn’t play sports,” he explained. “She says I’m too frail and I might hurt myself.”

Sasuke arched a dark eyebrow. He wasn’t too sure what Neji meant by that but if those were his mother’s wishes then he shouldn’t encourage him to disobey her.

“Okay, let’s do something else then,” suggested the taller boy.

“But what about your game?”

He turned to glance over his shoulder and saw his school chums still snickering at him and he suddenly didn’t feel like playing anymore.

He turned to face Neji again. “My mom says I have to be your friend until you make new ones so it doesn’t matter to me,” he said with a shrug.

Neji didn’t take it as an insult as he gleefully reached out to take Sasuke’s hand and let him pull him to his feet and Neji thought it an honour when Sasuke asked him if he wanted to hold his bat for a while before he shoved it inside of his backpack.

He took him to the nearby pond where the boys went swimming on Saturdays and held their paper boat races. Sasuke helped him out of his sandals and held one of his hands while he used the other to keep his kimono out of the water so he could wade around and splash about with his feet.

Afterwards, he showed him around the neighbourhood and pointed out places of interest, such as the school he attended, the arcade and the ice cream parlor!

With his allowance, Sasuke bought a blue icicle pop for himself and a pink one for Neji (but only because he picked that colour).

“How can you do that Sasuke?” Neji asked in awe as he watched the other boy bite into the cold treat.

“Do what?”

“Bite it. When I do it, my teeth hurt.”

“That’s because yours are sensitive,” he explained and demonstrated the durability of his own by taking another bite. “My mom and my brother have sensitive teeth too but me and my dad can eat anything hot or cold,” he boasted.

“I wish I had strong teeth like yours,” Neji pouted and licked at his bar before the sticky juices ran down his fingers.

“Well… you’re pretty weak all around so I’m not surprised your teeth are too,” Sasuke joked.

“Does yours taste like blueberry?” Neji asked as he eyed the rapidly disappearing sweet.

“Not really,” Sasuke muttered and he suddenly wondered why it didn’t. It was blue, wasn’t it? “Here, try it,” and he held it out for Neji to take a lick.

“It tastes kinda like mine,” the other boy noted, not picking up a discernable difference. “Here,” he offered his to the other as well but Sasuke made a face when Neji pushed the offensive pop before him.

“Yours is pink, I don’t wanna eat it.”

“Hi, Sasuke!” a high-pitched female voice called out to him.

“Shit!”

Neji had never heard Sasuke use such naughty words before and would have threatened to tell his mother, but his grip suddenly tightened around his tiny fingers and Neji winced at the sharp pain.

“Hello, Sasuke-kun,” the girl waved at him as she came closer, devoutly followed by her entourage. “How are you?” she asked of him while completely disregarding the other person standing next to him who was quietly lapping at their lolly.

“Fine,” he muttered but it came out as more of a grunt.

“We were looking all over for you Sasuke. We heard you were playing baseball and were going to play girls verses boys. Won’t you come and play with us?” she asked, eyeing the hilt of his baseball bat that stuck out from his bag like a sore thumb.

“No thanks. I’m done playing for today.”

“Are you spending your allowance then? Won’t you come with us and buy some ice-cream?” another girl asked.

“No thanks. I’m full and I already spent all my money,” he lied.

“But you had enough to buy for her,” a brash one pointed out and gave Neji a scornful look especially when she saw that they were holding hands.

“I’m not a girl,” Neji yelled as he returned that hate-filled gaze. “I’m a-”

“My girlfriend,” Sasuke interrupted and released his hand so he could throw a possessive arm around his shoulders.

It was no longer necessary for them to hide their jealousy and they could only seethe as Sasuke walked away with the nameless girl in his coveted arms.

“Why did you do that?” Neji finally asked once they were out of earshot and at the gates of Sasuke’s abode.

“My brother says that if you want girls to leave you alone then the best thing to do is to tell them you already have a girlfriend. They never believe me when I tell them but with you there it was much more believable,” was his simple explanation. “Sorry for using you like that.”

“It’s okay,” Neji giggled, readily accepting his apology. He enjoyed seeing the infuriated looks on their snotty faces. “But why do you have to lie to them Sasuke? Do you hate them or something?”

“Yeah, kinda,” he admitted and scratched the back of his head. “They’re always trying to kiss me and it’s annoying,” and he tossed his stick into the outside garbage can after making his confession. “I hate kisses from girls.”

“But your mom is a girl,” Neji pointed out and sucked the tip of his icy pop. He still had a long way to go before he finished his.

“No she’s not,” Sasuke argued. “She’s a mom. There’s a huuuge difference.”

Neji seemed to ponder that for a moment with his treat still shoved inside his mouth then suddenly leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on one of his cheeks.

Sasuke brought a hand up to clap it over the pink, lip mark and a light blush appeared upon his face. “Wh- what did you do that for?” he asked and looked down at the grinning boy with surprise but he did not wipe the wet stain away even though the coldness tingled his skin.

“Well, I figured that if you didn’t like kisses from girls then maybe you liked kisses from boys.”

“N- No I don’t,” the Uchiha stammered his tint becoming even darker.

Neji giggled rather adorably. “You’re cute when you blush Sasuke.”

“No I’m not!” he snapped and crossed his arms over his chest before puffing it out in a masculine manner. “I’m a man. Men are handsome, not cute.”

“Am I handsome Sasuke?” Neji asked him while pointing to his own facial features.

“No, you’re too cute to be handsome,” he retorted and stuck out his tongue to which Neji retaliated by doing the same.

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

* I don’t know what Neji’s mother’s name is, nor do I remember if it was mentioned in the manga but, dammit, she needed one in this fic.


To Tyra: Thanks for following this story so closely. I’m really stoked you like it. I wasn’t even sure I should do it since Neji seems really OOC but even if one person likes it as much as I do then it was worth writing.

To alpha 2nd: Glad you like it (with a capital ‘G’) XD. I try to add a bit of everything into my fics. Humor, angst, drama… you know, so everyone can find a bit of something they enjoy. It’s such a relief I pull it off well because I usually think my humor is corny; my angst is emo and my drama is sappy. I also didn’t intend to list Neji’s psychological problems since he’s got a whole bunch of them but the most important ones are and will be mentioned in the story. Any others are pretty insignificant and he either gets over them or they are not that debilitating.

To ren: Hmm, I suppose this story could work if it was a Sasuke x Naruto fic and while I have nothing against that pairing (happens to love You’re Mine by animehead, Tale of the Two Boards by Pho and Talk to Me by Rasengan 22, just to name a few) there are already so many gifted authors and authoresses…ess covering those two and I wanted to support my favourite couple Sasuke x Neji. I hope you understand, and if anyone else wants to turn this story idea into a Sasuke x Naruto fic of their own then by all means. Go right ahead.