Insomniac's Dream
Playing Cupid
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italic'>Thanks so much for the gorgeous reviews!!! I
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Alicefreak, rosekyo,
Raining-Roses, cadywise, Prism0467,
Oh, and I’m glad everyone likes the zoo as I do. :)
Playing Cupid
on Gaara's doorstep soaking wet and muddy. He pounded on the apartment door for
nearly a full minute before Temari finally answered.
she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Naru-kun, it's almost one o'clock
in the morning. What are you doing?"
talk to Gaara."
the pleading and anxiety in his voice and eyes and relented. "All right,
come on in. He's in his room, but I don't think he's fallen asleep yet."
sharply before practically running into the redhead's room. Gaara looked up
quickly from the book he was reading and yelped when Naruto practically threw
his body on top of his.
doing?" Gaara sighed, resigning himself to yet
another long night. "Come on, Uzumaki, you're soaking wet. What
happened?" When Naruto wouldn't answer, he gently eased him to the
bathroom and started a hot bath. "You're covered in mud. I'll throw your
clothes in the wash while you sit in the tub, okay?"
soap to the pile of clothes in the washing machine, he realized that for no
other person besides Naruto would he have paid this much care. For most of his
life, he had been kicked around and spat at, so he treated
others with the same respect they had given him. But Naruto...Naruto was
different. Naruto genuinely seemed to want to help others--someone truly
altruistic.
couple towels in the dryer for a few minutes before going back to the bathroom.
After making sure Naruto had scrubbed all the mud from his body and letting out
the water, he helped him stand up and wrapped him in the warm towels. He lay
Naruto down on the bed before climbing under the covers with him.
he asked softly, pushing the damp blonde locks away from his blue eyes.
"Naruto, what happened?"
onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "I--I kissed him.
every part of my body went out to his... I felt like I was on fire..."
a good thing?"
face Gaara, sky blue meeting sea green. "I don't know. I mean, he's
leaving tomorrow, and we didn't even get to talk about what happened. It's
like...every time we kiss, we're interrupted and we
don't get to talk about what happened. I...I really want to tell him how much I
love him, but I can never find the right words...and it never seems like the
right time..."
between them and took Naruto's hand in his own. "You'll find the right
time. Tell him Saturday. You two will be spending the whole day together,
right? Something will present itself, ne?"
"I suppose...but...Kisame's always there."
smart. You'll figure something out."
dryly. "It's funny. I just met him Friday night, and I've already fallen
head over heels in love with him. Ne, ne, Gaara! Have
you ever been in love?"
sleep, baka. You have work in the morning."
Teme!!! Whowhowhowho
sound like an owl."
"Fine, I see how it is. I pour my heart out to you, and this is how you
repay me. You know what this means? I'm stealing your clothes! I can't sleep in
a towel you know!"
over so Naruto wouldn't see his smile. He was just glad Naruto was back to
normal. Because when Naruto smiled, the whole world lit up. A happy Naruto
meant he was able to sleep at night. "I think I heard the washer go off.
I'll go put your clothes in the dryer." He jumped when he felt Naruto's
arms wrap around from behind. He smiled but didn't say anything when he heard
Naruto whisper "Arigatou" to the floor.
nearly noon the next morning, realizing that he had slept a solid nine
hours--the longest he had slept since the first time Naruto had spent the
night. He had fallen asleep wrapped in Naruto's strong arms feeling safe and
not having a care in the world. Throwing his pride down the drain for this
miracle, he decided to try his best to get Naruto and Sasuke together.
checked into his hotel in Otogakure when his cell phone rang. "Moshi
moshi, this is Uchiha Sasuke."
moshi, Sasuke-kun, it's Gaara."
"Gaara?"
you calling me? And how'd you get my number?"
from Naruto while he was sleeping."
really weird."
the phone. He had half a mind to hang up until he remembered the look on
Naruto's face when he first arrived at his apartment at one o'clock in the
morning. "Whatever," he mumbled.
are you calling me?"
his teeth, hating himself for what he was about to do. "Do you have any
orange scented soap?"
I'm in Otogakure right now."
asking to borrow some?"
No!" Gaara took a deep breath, starting over. "No, it's just that, if
you have some, use it for Saturday. Naruto goes crazy for anything scented
orange. Or colored orange. Orange is his favorite
color and scent, but his favorite flavor--besides ramen, of course--is
chocolate strawberry."
should eat a popsicle in front of him," Sasuke
reiterated, his tone sarcastic. "Gaara, what the hell are you trying to
pull? Why are you telling me all this?"
you...love Naruto--a lot. I can tell. You're not obvious, but when you smile...it's
like he's the only one in the world for you." He ground his eyes shut,
hating playing Cupid. "Look, Naruto's my best friend, and I want to see
him happy. I think you'll make him very happy."
doesn't even like me in that way," Sasuke said sadly. "He's not gay.
He said he thinks your sister's hot."
he?" Gaara was suddenly seeing red. How dense could Sasuke be? How could
he not tell that Naruto would give his life to him.
And speaking of Naruto--why the hell would he say Temari's hot
whatever. But... No, never mind. You know best."
his phone and saw he was no longer connected. "That was weird,"
Sasuke muttered to himself as he began unpacking.
really sucked at this whole cupid thing. But...he really needed to see Naruto
happy. He resigned himself to making another phone call.
moshi!"
"TEME!!!! Why are you calling Hinata's phone
how easily it was to rile that dog up. "What's it to you? Where is she,
anyway?"
literally growling. Gaara almost laughed when he heard Hinata in the background
asking who was on the phone. "No!! You tell me
why you're calling her!! Teme, I'll kill you
Hinata, don't hit me--OUCH! Akamaru, why are you biting--OUCH! OW
STOP IT!!"
was Hinata's voice that Gaara heard next. "Moshi moshi, is this
Gaara-kun?"
Gaara-kun, let me move to a quieter room."
HIIINAATAAA~!!!!!"
intense," Gaara remarked.
"Yeah, it is."
much Hinata had broken out of her shell when she had finally gotten over her
crush on Naruto and had started going out with Kiba. Apparently
Kiba's outgoing personality had rubbed off on her, and she was a lot more
outspoken than when Gaara had first met her. "Oh, Hina-chan, you're alone
now, aren't you?"
the bed sheet he was gripping in his hand. Why had he started doing
this...? "Hina-chan, you remember when we were on the boat, with
Sasuke-kun...?" Gaara shook his head. Sasuke-kun?
Hina-chan? Hinata must have been rubbing off on
him, too.
course, Gaara-kun.
That was only a couple of days ago."
Well, did you notice anything between Naruto and Sasuke?"
lightly. "That would be like asking if the sky is blue, Gaara-kun! Of
tension between them? If we had left them alone at all, they definitely would
have--you know..." Hinata trailed off, her more timid personality kicking
in. Gaara could imagine her blushing and tapping her forefingers together
nervously.
well..."
me to help you play Cupid and get them together?"
yeah..."
"That's so cute, Gaa-kun! Of course I'll
help!"
Thanks. Well, I already called Sasuke and told him that Naruto likes orange
scented soap. He has some apparently..." Gaara broke off when he heard
Hinata was laughing. "What?" he demanded irritably.
she said between giggles. Gaara distinctly heard Kiba in the background
shouting, "He's making you laugh!! WHY IS HE
MAKING YOU LAUGH?!" However, Hinata ignored him
and stated, "You've obviously never done something like this before. You
were right in calling a professional like me."
dumbstruck. "Y--You've done this before?"
together is my specialty!"
was the last time you talked to Naru-kun and where is he now?"
"Uhh, well, he stayed over last night but left before I woke up this
morning... He's at work right now. I think he gets off at seven."
There was a sharp snap as Hinata clapped her hands together. "Okay, I'll
go talk to Naru-kun. Then, you go to the bookstore around seven and invite him
out for dinner. Bring him to Ichiraku's, I suppose, and Kiba and I will meet
you there--totally unexpectedly, of course, so act surprised to see us!"
see you later, Gaara-kun."
Hina-chan."
knock on his door right as he closed his phone and Temari entered looking
somewhat confused. "I just got a call from Shikamaru," she said,
"who just got a call from Kiba who was wondering why you were calling
Hinata..."
"Oh. Well, apparently I'm going out to dinner tonight."
"Ah, I knew you had a thing for him! And you called Hinata for
relationship advice. How cute~!"
not it at all. Tell Shikamaru to tell Kiba to keep his damn nose in his own
fucking business."
all right, fine... Geez, who pissed in your orange juice?"
when he heard someone enter the shop. Kimimaro was on his break, and Naruto
really didn't want to deal with any customers at the moment,
so he was glad when it was Hinata. "Ah! Hina-chan!
What's up?"
Naru-kun," she said, tapping her fingers together nervously, "I--I
was wondering...well..."
wrong?" Naruto asked, suddenly very worried. "Are you and Kiba okay?
He's not abusing you, is he? Kuso...! I'll kill that
bastard!!"
that's not it! No, Kiba's treating me just fine... It's just that... Well,
because I'm with Kiba all the time, I feel like we haven't gotten to talk
recently...just the two of us..."
what did you want to talk about, Hina-chan?"
was wondering, actually, if... Well, I think Sasuke-kun is very cute, and I'm a
huge fan of his... And--And I was wondering if you had his number..."
about Kiba?"
and tapped her fingers more vigorously. Inwardly, however, she was silently
cheering. 'Yes! Everything's going according to plan!' "Ah! No! I--I would
never...on Kiba-kun..." She shook her head violently. "A--Ano... I--I
just wanted to see if I could get his autograph, but I was too shy to ask him
in person. Oh! Naru-kun! Maybe you could ask him for
me! Are you seeing him any time soon?"
"Yeah, he's in Otogakure at the moment, but we're hanging out on Saturday!
I can tell him then!"
then?"
turn to blush. "Oh... Umm... No, no, it's not.
Well, I mean, it might be--no, I mean... Ha, ha!"
He rubbed the back of his head. "Of course it's not a date, Hina-chan!
What would make you think that, ha, ha, ha!"
"Naruto-kun... Do you have a crush on Sasuke-kun?"
fell out of his chair, catching himself at the last minute. He stared into
Hinata's kind face, knowing that even if he denied it, she would find out
anyway. He grinned and said, "Am I that obvious?"
giving up her innocent girl facade. "I'm sure Sasuke-kun hasn't noticed.
wearing Saturday?"
her. "Uhh... I don't know. Why?"
back. "N--Naru-kun, are you serious...? Ah, of course you are." She
shook her head softly. "Don't worry, Naru-kun, we'll find you something to
wear in that pitiful mound you call a wardrobe. We'll steal something from Neji
if we have to."
closet!"
mean...why are you helping me?"
bright red. "Because you're my friend, of course!
And...because the thought of you two together..."
She turned even redder and began tapping her fingers together once more.
Naru-kun, hold on!" She quickly grabbed his phone and added Sasuke's
number to her own before tossing back the blonde's
phone. "Ja ne, Naru-kun!!"
around. "Women," he muttered. "It's like they're a different
species..."
unknown number and seriously debated picking up. However, he was supposed to be
going out to dinner with the director of the new movie, and he really wanted to
delay the torture for as long as possible. "Moshi moshi, this is Uchiha
Sasuke."
other day plotting to go to Otogakure. You might want to cancel all plans and
stay indoors for the night. Apparently they're bringing duct tape, rope, and a
video camera."
you, Hinata-chan." He made a mental note to call the director later.
"Is that all you called to say?"
is."
the phone as if it were from another planet. Well, he was used to these sorts
of strange questions. "Ah, peaches, I suppose. Why?"
Ano sa, what's your favorite color, Sasuke-kun? Oh!
you been talking to Gaara?"
phone when he realized the line had gone dead. "Weird," he muttered.
Taking to mind what Hinata had said about Sakura and Ino, he knocked on the
door across the hall. Kisame stuck just his head between the door and the
frame.
just received a tip from a friend, and I don't think I'm going out
tonight...unless you want to deal with fangirls."
"What do you think I trained for?"
them is that blonde from the flower shop...and there might be more."
"I'll call the director and cancel dinner, saying that you're very tired
from the long trip. Then we'll order take-out to my room."
million, Kisame. I owe you one."
mention it."
very slow day at Kyuubi Bookstore, so Kimimaro and Naruto decided to close shop
at six. They were counting the money in the register when Gaara entered the
shop.
when you're done counting, I'm taking you out to dinner."
a strange look. "Why?"
"I'll bring you to Ichiraku's. Are you still complaining?"
lit up. "Who said I was complaining? Come on! What are you waiting for?
Let's go!!!" Without warning, he grabbed onto
Gaara's arm and took off sprinting toward Ichiraku's.
Gaara would have told Naruto that he could walk on his own and didn't need
Naruto's help, but he had figured out quickly from
experience that words meant little to Naruto.
ramen shop, Naruto immediately spied Hinata and Kiba. "Oyyy
called before pulling Gaara to sit with them.
ribs, and he grunted in agreement.
the restaurant before ordering his meal. He chanced a glance toward the doorway
and spotted a familiar pair before waving them down. "Haku
you be a little quieter, Naruto?" Kiba growled.
his tongue. "Not a chance!"
made their way through the busy restaurant over to the foursome.
"Hello," said Haku with a smile. "We were just going to order
our meal to go and get out of here, but how is everybody?"
immediately launched into a detailed description of his life. Haku smiled
patiently as he waited for the blonde to finish, but
Zabuza wasn't as thrilled with this unexpected detour. He kept silent as long as
he could before roughly cutting Naruto off with a sharp, "We have to
leave--now," and dragging Haku back out of the restaurant.
observed Naruto. "I thought Haku had Zabuza totally whipped. I guess I had
them figured wrong."
were halfway through with their meals, Hinata had strategically maneuvered the
conversation toward Sasuke. "So," she started coyly, "I heard
Sasuke-kun's in Otogakure. Is he there for another photo shoot, or...?"
said Naruto around a mouthful of noodles. "He's going to be in another
movie. I don't remember what it's called."
Seven Suns," Gaara interjected, sounding bored. "It's another one
of Itachi's plays and is almost as poorly written as Insomniac's Dream."
pouted Naruto. "I liked Insomniac's Dream!"
eyes. "Baka. You never saw the original play.
Besides, you only liked the movie because it had Sasuke in it. I bet you don't
even know what the storyline is."
ever-present grin took on a lecherous appeal. "What can I say? I liked
what I saw."
would have thought that he'd become your neighbor," laughed Kiba. "I
can't believe a bum like you gets to live next to someone that filthy rich. Did
he ever tell you why he moved?"
"I never asked. But, why do you keep asking me about Sasuke? Every time I
talk to any of you, we always end up talking about him." He turned his
nose up in the air and huffed, "What if I don't want to talk about him,
huh? Ever think about that? What if I don't even like
him?"
laughing so hard he nearly cried. "Baka! It's so
obvious that you love him! Why don't you drop the act and commence with the
fucking?"
as Kiba-kun put it," added Hinata, glaring sideways at her boyfriend,
"he's right, you know. I think Saturday's the perfect chance for you two
to get together. But, you know, do whatever you think is right. You know best,
Naruto-kun."
sarcasm."
was laying it on pretty thick."
want to open his eyes when his alarm went off at six in the morning. Not a
morning person, he loathed being up before the sun. Although,
in all fairness, the sun was scheduled to rise at 6:08. Yawning and
stretching, Sasuke stumbled out of bed and into the shower. He barely bothered
with his hair, knowing that the costume designer would fret over it anyway. He
was out the door by 6:30 and met Kisame in the lobby.
m--m--m--morning," Sasuke said around an enormous yawn.
that," Kisame scolded. "If I'm driving, I don't want to be yawning
and fall asleep at the wheel..."
seemed like days fooling around with the wardrobe artist, the make-up artist,
the hairdresser, the vocal instructor, the director...it was only nine o'clock,
and Sasuke was still one cup of coffee shy from being totally awake and alert.
stop moving until they finally stopped filming at eight that evening. He went
out for dinner with the director, who talked incessantly about the film, as if
Sasuke hadn't heard every detail while Itachi was writing the original play,
and then again while they were consulting Itachi as
they turned it into a cinematic event. By the time he
was finally alone in his hotel, he was exhausted and immediately climbed into
bed.
just as rough, yet he wasn't as tired by the end of it. When he arrived back at
his hotel room that evening, he had just enough energy left to check his phone.
Surprised to see he had a voicemail, he turned on the television without paying
much attention to see who it was from.
stopped when he heard the voice on the other end.
moshi, Sasuke!
It's Naruto! I just wanted to see how things were going and to make sure
they're treating you like the movie star you are! Also...I
heard a rumor that Ino and Sakura are in town, so if you could give me a heads
up and let me know you're still alive, that would be great. Well, I've
stood up and did a little jig. He saw he had a couple texts from Naruto as
well, but they were all just a "Hey!" or "How's it
tired to participate in an actual conversation, Sasuke texted, "Hey,
Naruto, I just got your messages. I've been really busy,
but thankfully I haven't run into that infamous pair. I'll see you
Saturday!"
fell back against his pillows, and fell into a deep sleep.
Friday morning to his phone ringing. He fumbled in the dark and finally found
it. “Ahh… Moshi moshi…”
Hurry up and get dressed. We have a lot to do before you have to go to work in
three hours.”
time is it?
and stretched. “What exactly is it that we have to do today, Hina-chan…?”
my house as soon as you can, okay?” And without another word, Hinata hung up
the phone.
himself to whatever Hinata had planned for him, he rolled out of
He took the bus across town to the Hyuuga residence. Staring up at the large
manor, he always felt strange getting invited here by
either Neji or Hinata. It was almost as if there could never be enough
happiness generated to fill every nook and cranny of the mansion and therefore
always had a frigid sort of atmosphere.
his hair, Naruto pressed the doorbell for the gate surrounding the manor. Only
a few seconds passed before the gate swung inward, the iron bars slamming home
with an ominous bang once Naruto had cleared them.
he called out through the unsettling silence.
from the main house and beckoned Naruto towards her. Nervous, the
would have been faster to cut straight across the lawn towards her, but he was
afraid the gardener might ask Hyuuga-san to cut off any extraneous appendages.
whispered once he had reached her, afraid to break the solemn atmosphere by
speaking any louder. “Hina-chan, what’s going on? Why did you ask me to meet
you here? You know your house gives me the creeps…”
her eyes. “There’s only one way to get over your fears, Naru-kun, and that’s to
face them. But for now…we’re going to pick out an outfit for you for Saturday!”
his head sideways. “Eeeehhhh??
Couldn’t we just go to the mall for that? Besides, I have plenty of clothes at
home—” Naruto realized that Hinata had been literally dragging him toward
Neji’s room, and he realized there was no longer any point to protest.
Naruto realized with a start that he had never actually set foot inside Neji’s
room before. He gazed anxiously around, wary of
anything that might try to kill him. Hinata turned on the light, but Neji was
nowhere to be seen. Hinata huffed. “Well, he already
gave me permission for you to borrow some of his clothes. Let me find
something…” She disappeared into Neji’s walk-in closet, leaving Naruto standing
uncomfortably still in the middle of the room.
his room and paused, staring curiously at Naruto. Hinata emerged from the
closet with several shirts, which Neji laughed at. “Hinata, this is Naruto-kun.
You don’t have to be so stingy about which clothes to lend him. Those are my
casual, every day shirts. Here, let me get him something…”
open mouthed at the shirts Neji brought back into the closet. Three months of
pay wouldn’t even come close to buying one sleeve
of those shirts—and Neji called them casual
backward. “N—Neji, I can’t even afford to touch
that! What if—what if I spill something—?”
to kill you,” Neji answered calmly. “Now try this on, baka.”
at how the fabric felt akin to water as he pulled the shirt over his head. ‘Oh
yeah, I could definitely get used to
this…’
front of Neji’s full-length mirror, and his jaw dropped. He let out a low
whistle before commenting, “Hot damn, I am one sexy beast.”
could resist you now…”
Naruto several times. “You know what, baka? You look better in this than I do.
Consider it a gift. You can keep it.”
finished writing this chapter at like 6:30 in the morning because I couldn't
sleep...so I didn't even try. Well, I did try, but I gave up at 5:30, pulled
out my laptop, and started writing. Anywho, so, I got to watch the
never been all that impressed with sunrises, ’cause all the mountains get in
the way. Maybe one day I'll meet a gorgeous sunrise, but for now, I'd rather
avoid insomnia and sleep in until at least noon.
their date!!! :D Please review!!
:)