The Definition of Piety

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, I feel a lot more confident now. Ok, I know that this is supposed to be a Gaara/Neji fic, but please don’t get discouraged. I am just focusing on Sasuke and Naruto now, so I can fully focus on Neji and Gaara later. So, don’t worry Gaara/Neji fans, it will happen…eventually.

Anyways…

Special thanks to:

lexjamandme

XoXgaaraXoX

ChrissyCrimson

HumanInfitltrator

lo

jess249

Wren Elessedil

Shikyaku

Dreamfool

yaoilovergirl


You guys honestly keep this story going.

TillThatTime


A Conversation

Sasuke awoke to his vision obstructed by a mass of blonde hair. It fell delicately into his squinting eyes and the soft strands brushed teasingly along his cheeks. His lips were pressed against the scalp of the boy that lay beside him, burrowed into his arms. The memories of the previous night were clear in his mind as he lay perfectly still for a few agonizing moments. Naruto had had a nightmare. He had pulled the other boy to him in order to stop the incessant thrashing and whimpering.

He had protected Naruto the only way he knew how from the visions that haunted him in a place that Sasuke could not reach.

To hear those cries were unbearable, even to a cold hearted bastard such as himself.

He had acted on impulse.

Dammit.

He felt the other shift under him and he stiffened. He absolutely did not want to be caught in this situation. To him that would be far worse than if Naruto had merely caught him masturbating.

His breath caught when Naruto merely snuggled up closer against his chest, and the hands that had been resting idly now intertwined with Sasuke’s own that were wrapped protectively around Naruto’s mid section.

The light snoring that emitted from the blonde continued.

Sasuke hesitantly let out the breath he had been holding, noticing how it fluffed the blond hair before him.

Sasuke shifted his gaze to the other occupants who were in the room, only to register that they were absent. He almost sighed in relief, but then became fully aware of the fact that they had probably seen him snuggling against Naruto when they had left the tent earlier that morning.

Again, dammit.

Seeing no point in rushing out to meet the accusing eyes of Naruto’s most obvious fan-boys, Sasuke allowed himself to lay in that warm position for a few more moments, watching as Naruto’s breath came out even and deep, though he was not ready to admit his reluctance to leave the embrace.

Feeling that he could ignore it no longer, seeing as how Naruto could awaken at any moment to notice Sasuke’s chest firmly pressed against his back, he began to carefully untangle himself from the sleeping shinobi. In his attempts his nose once again brushed against that mass of blonde hair and he unconsciously inhaled deeply, the familiar scent of Naruto lingering in his senses even after he had successful freed himself from the comforting entanglement.

As he stood, his eyes continued to linger on the other’s sleeping form, paying attention to the fact that Naruto’s body curled in on itself in the absence of Sasuke’s own body heat.

Sasuke felt his heart clench tightly in his chest.

Tearing his eyes away from the sight in what he assumed was annoyance, he stealthily made his way over to his bag in order to pull out some clean clothes. The first thing he pulled out was a vaguely familiar shirt, and it didn’t take him long to see the smeared, dried remains of his submission to sexual frustration.

He grimaced and quickly stuffed the soiled material to the bottom of the bag, while pulling out a clean shirt and shorts. He quickly stood and began to dress for the day, never once noticing the pair of barely open cerulean eyes that followed his every move, or the present blush on those tanned, whiskered cheeks.

He stepped out into the warm morning air, his eyes directly jumping to the two figures that sat quietly chatting beside the calmly crackling fire.

Upon seeing his exit from the tent, both Gaara and Neji stopped in their conversation to look at the stoic Uchiha.

There was no morning greeting from either side.

As Sasuke looked them over, he noted that their expressions were as impassive as ever but there was no mistaking the look of knowing in either’s eyes.

He merely glared in response to their seemingly innocent stares.

Fuckers.

“Not one damn word.” He hissed threateningly to Gaara and Neji, before turning on heel and stomping off in the opposite direction.

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They were already running behind schedule, and Neji and Gaara’s frequent rest stops were not helping the matter. Sasuke had hopped that their little act would have ceased after the day before, but he was wrong.

Oh, so wrong.

“I would like for us to stop so I can relieve myself.” Gaara’s serious voice cut through the comfortable silence that they had been traveling in for the last hour. His three other companions stopped dead in their tracks. Naruto gave Gaara a blank look, his blue eyes widened a fraction more than usual. Sasuke resumed his habitual ritual of eye twitching, and Neji had to hold back a snort, because Hyuuga Neji did not snort.

Gaara was asking them to stop…so he could take a piss.

There was something very strange about this.

Now, it wasn’t that they believed that Gaara didn’t have a bladder, it was just that it was unexpected and slightly unnerving for someone like Subaku no Gaara, the Kazekage of Suna, to ask for a potty break. He seemed more likely to hold it until a more appropriate and private time.

Like perhaps when he got back to Suna.

“Don’t you think that maybe you should have done that before we left?” Sasuke bit out, his irritation making itself clearly evident.

“Perhaps, Uchiha, but that does not change the fact of the current issue. So, if you don’t mind-”

“I do mind.” Sasuke growled, quickly becoming fed up with the act.

“Excuse me?” Gaara questioned, a hairless eyebrow raising.

“You heard me, Kazekage-sama. I don’t know what it is that you and Hyuuga are trying to pull, but-”

“I’m not sure I know what you are talking about.” Gaara’s voice remained level as always, but Neji had to clench his teeth in order to keep from fidgeting. Naruto just seemed to look dumbfounded between the three.

“Don’t insult me or anyone else here by playing dumb.” Sasuke seethed, his fist itching to connect with the Kazekage’s pale face.

“You’ve got quite the temper, don’t you, Uchiha? Perhaps that’s why you’re so keen on betraying the people around you.” Gaara’s voice had become noticeably icier while addressing the Uchiha.

That was enough to set Sasuke off. He lunged himself at the other boy, only to be blocked by Naruto’s body, which he collided into.

They fell to the ground with a dull thud, the air quickly being knocked from both their bodies. All four boys remained frozen for a few moments, as Sasuke and Naruto tried to regain their breath. Sasuke stiffened even further when he felt Naruto shift until his smooth lips were against the shell of Sasuke’s ear.

“Please, Sasuke, stop fighting.” Naruto’s voice was a whisper only meant for Sasuke to hear, but he could hear the plea clearly. He raised up slightly to look into that face that he knew so well, only to find Naruto’s lip sliced open and blood flowing lightly.

It had probably happened sometime during the collision.

Sasuke, almost as if he didn’t realize what he was doing, reached a trembling hand down to gently wipe away the trail of blood with his thumb, eyes staying connected to the blue ones below him. Naruto shivered slightly at the contact, and his eyes fluttered closed.

And just like that, the connection was broken. Sasuke blushed slightly and looked away.

Neji and Gaara just stared on in shock at the intimate interaction between the two boys.

Neji, who had been silent this entire time, was the first to break out of his trance and stepped forward to help the two fallen boys to their feet.

Naruto and Sasuke brushed themselves off quickly, refusing to make any eye contact. Sasuke looked towards his feet, his shoulders sagging slightly, before letting out a sigh.

“Alright, lets take a ten minute break and then we’ll keep moving.”

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It was much to everyone’s silent relief when they decided to stop for the night. The day had been spent in a uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere that had reached the point of being near smothering only with Naruto’s desperate attempts at conversation to ease some of the tension. Neji and Gaara’s unnecessary breaks had died down to the point of being almost nonexistent, but they were still further behind then they should have been after two days of traveling. Hell, they hadn’t even reached the desert yet.

Gaara and Neji were not really sure if their plan was actually working. Of course, there were these moments of interaction between the subjects of their matchmaking that seemed to be genuinely a progression forward, but when those would end, Naruto and Sasuke would just refuse to look each other in the eyes. Giving Gaara and Neji the feeling of taking a step forward only to take one back, and never really getting anywhere.

“Where are you going, Teme?” Naruto asked, looking up from the fire that he had previously been staring at intently, only to find Sasuke heading off into the woods.

“Nowhere special, dobe.” Sasuke answered in his usual coldly dismissive tone, before continuing on into the seclusion of the trees.

Naruto mumbled a dejected “bastard”, and Neji and Gaara just chose to keep to themselves.

They watched Naruto through the corner of their eyes as he continued to sit and fidget nervously, his eyes darting in the direction that the Uchiha had taken off in. It was obvious that Naruto desperately wanted to go after Sasuke, it was only a matter of his pride and better judgment that was keeping him from doing so.

After about half an hour of watching the little blonde in barely covered amusement, finally Neji decided to speak.

“Just go, Naruto.” He told the twitching shinobi, trying to hide his smile as he watched Naruto jump automatically to his feet. Unlike the stubborn Uchiha, Uzumaki Naruto did not need to be told twice. He sprung off quickly in the direction that the older boy had taken.

As Naruto made his way through the mass of trees, he allowed his naturally heightened senses that he had honed over the years to lead him in the direction of the Uchiha’s familiar scent.

He wanted to talk to the bastard. He was tired of having the obvious dangle in front of their noses without either of them doing anything about it. Well, that wasn’t true. Naruto had tried many times to let the Uchiha know how he truly felt about him, but every time Sasuke would just push him away.

However, something told him that there was more than just disdain in those obsidian eyes, so if he had to beat the affection out of the stubborn jackass then he would do it.

He just wished that it would come easier than that, though.

But of course, nothing in Uzumaki Naruto’s life had been particularly easy. He shouldn’t expect any different this time around.

It didn’t take him long to find Sasuke, sitting on the ground, close to a lake Naruto hadn’t even known was there, and he held back in the bushes to watch the pondering Uchiha. Sasuke sat the same way that he had since the first time Naruto had met him. Knees spread, and elbows resting against them to prop up a pointed chin. Sasuke’s eyes were closed in deep concentration, and not for the first time in his life, Naruto was reminded that some things never change. It was endearing and yet aggravating as hell all at the same time.

For awhile Naruto was content to just watch the other boy, finding that he could never get enough of looking at Sasuke. Even if he were to spend the rest of his life, as he hoped, beside the frigid prick, it would never be enough.

But Sasuke’s sharp voice nearly made him jump.

“I know you’re there, dobe.”

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“What do you think they are doing right now?” Neji suddenly asked, turning to face the pale boy sitting beside him.

They had been idly chatting about really nothing of importance, finding that conversation came easier then normally when it was with each other. However, Sasuke and Naruto’s lack of presence had begun to bother the Hyuuga Prodigy, until finally he blurted out what he had been wondering about.

“There are many scenarios that I can think of.” Gaara admitted. “None of which are that pleasing to think about.” He added as a sort of afterthought, and Neji couldn’t help but smile, something that was increasing in occurrence while around the other boy.

“I wish I knew what they were doing.” Neji stated, his mind shifting to scenarios that he was sure were running through Gaara’s head as well. He grimaced.

“Well, why don’t we go find out.”

“What? Do you mean like spy?” Gaara just gave Neji a pointed look that silently answered his question. “I don’t think that that would be very ethical.” Neji scolded, his fingers picking at the material of his clothes.

“Since we’ve started this can anything we’ve done be considered ethical?” Gaara pointed out, his eyes never leaving Neji’s as he inched forward, his hand coming to rest on top of Neji’s own, halting the nervous jitters of the other boy.

Neji’s gaze shot down to their connected hands and he felt a chill run throughout his body. He closed his eyes, attempting to shake away the feeling, before returning his stare back to those sea-green eyes.

“No, I suppose not.” He agreed, his heart racing faster than normal. “Let’s go.”

And suddenly that hand was pulling him to his feet.

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Naruto emerged from the bushes, a grin plastered on his face as he laughed nervously. “I just wanted to see what you were up to.”

“You don’t have to fake your smiles around me.” Sasuke told him, as if he hadn’t even heard the other boy. Naruto’s mask dropped immediately, his eyes falling to the ground as he made to sit by Sasuke. “So what do you want, baka?” Sasuke asked quietly, his face turned away from Naruto, his words being the only thing that proved that he registered the other boy at all.

“I wanted to talk, Sasuke.” Naruto’s voice was soft, not nearly as boisterous as it usually was, and there was a slight tremble to it that Sasuke had not missed.

“I don’t think that there’s anything to talk about.” Sasuke said, hopping that Naruto would not press the issue.

But he knew Naruto better than anyone. It was a fool’s hope.

“Why do you always do that, Sasuke!?” And suddenly Naruto was on his feet. He had never been the type to reel in his anger for long.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sasuke knew that he was losing, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to try.

“That is what I’m talking about, bastard! Why are you always acting so guarded? Why do you keep pushing me away, Sasuke? Why can’t you just let me in for once? Don’t you think that you owe me that much?” Naruto’s face had turned red from the anger, and his fists were now balled tightly by his sides.

Something in Naruto’s words made him snap.

“Maybe I don’t want to let you in, you little idiot! Maybe I would prefer for you to just stay the hell out of my life. I know in the past that’s been hard for you, but can’t you just fucking listen to what I want for once, Naruto?” Sasuke was on his feet as well, his hands tightly fisted in the material of Naruto’s orange jacket. He saw the pain he felt mirrored in those blue depths, but he couldn’t stop.

Because maybe if he hurt him enough, Naruto would actually listen.

“Sasuke-”

“No! I don’t need you, Naruto.” It was such a lie, such a pathetic lie, but it was the only one he could think of. He loosened his hold on the other’s jacket until the fabric fell completely away from his fingers, and then he turned abruptly and began to walk away from his stunned comrade.

“Why?” Naruto’s broken voice stopped him directly in his tracks. “Then why would you hold me like that?”

Sasuke felt his heart stop, and he slowly turned to face the one person who would never let him become the failure that he already knew that he was. Naruto’s face was blank, devoid of the emotion that he couldn’t keep from his voice, but a tear rolled down one whiskered cheek, originating from those cold, shining eyes that haunted the dreams of so many others, and sure as hell haunted his own.

“What?” Sasuke could only beg anyone that was listening that he hadn’t heard correctly.

“If you don’t want me, Sasuke, why would you do something like that? You could have just hit me and told me to shut up, or better yet, rolled over and ignored me. So, why would you put your arms around me instead? How could you do something like that? Are you really that much of a sadistic bastard that you find it fun to toy with me like that?” Naruto’s voice had completely cracked by the end, and Sasuke had to strain to hear him fully. It would have been so much easier if Naruto would have just screamed like he always did. Sasuke wasn’t sure if he could handle the pieces of a broken sun.

“How-”

“Did you think that I didn’t know? Do you think that I’m that dense that I wouldn’t recognize someone’s arms around me? Especially if they're yours? The funny thing about being deprived of something like that all of your life is that you sure learn to recognize it when it happens.”

“What do you want from me?” Sasuke asked in complete defeat. There was nothing left to hide behind. Nothing left that he could say. At least nothing that he was willing to.

“Unlike me, Sasuke, you’re not an idiot.” Naruto had begun to make his way towards the Uchiha, and Sasuke felt he was too frozen to move. “Please, don’t make yourself out to be one by pretending that you don’t already know.”

And then warm lips were on his own, and for a moment Sasuke couldn’t think. His second kiss, both claimed by Uzumaki Naruto. And then there were hands gripping his hair, and teeth tugging at his lip, and wetness against his cheeks. Were those Naruto’s tears? God, he hoped they were not his own.

“Dammit, bastard, kiss me back.” That was Naruto’s voice growling against his skin, but those were his hands winding around a waist, and those were his arms bringing the other boy closer. His mouth parting to let a warm, wet tongue delve into him.

His tongue running along the invader, dancing to a song that they only knew the melody to.

Tasting Naruto.

Not putting a name to it, but knowing that only Naruto could taste this way. Knowing that he wanted to be the only one to ever experience this taste, and that thought made his hands grip at Naruto’s sides a little tighter.

And that was Naruto’s moan that fell from that delicious mouth and danced into his own.

And this was…this was…no!

This couldn’t happen.

Not after all that work.

He pushed the other boy abruptly away, a little harsher than he had intended to.

Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden outburst. “Sasuke?” He was already reaching for the slightly trembling Uchiha, but Sasuke merely took a quick step back, away from those reaching tan hands and those pleading blue eyes.

“Don’t touch me!”

“What?” Naruto’s voice sounded completely at a loss.

“Just stay away from me, Naruto!” And suddenly he was leaving behind a very confused blonde as he disappeared into the trees.

Naruto stared in shock at the retreating back of the Uchiha, long after it had already disappeared from view.

He could still taste him on his lips.

He let out a strangled cry as he fell heavily to his knees, his hands coming up to his face, covering it from the accusing eyes that only he seemed to be able to see.

Neji and Gaara sat in the bushes completely still, both trying to fully comprehend what they had just seen. Gaara was clenching his fists so hard that blood was starting drip from his fingers from where his blunt nails were digging ruthlessly into his skin. It was Neji’s turn to reach for Gaara’s hand and gently uncurl his fingers.

“I don’t know whether to hold you back from killing him, or ask you to do it for me.” Gaara whispered honestly, truly showing his anger for the first time since this whole thing had started.

Though Neji’s hands were gentle as they held Gaara’s own, his eyes were full of barely hidden rage.

But his features quickly changed when he felt something familiar. It was the Uchiha’s chakra. Apparently he may have left the area, but he had stuck around. Probably to watch over Naruto.

Neji’s eyes traveled to Naruto, and though his face was hidden from view, Neji saw his shoulders shaking.

“Actually Gaara, I have a better idea.”