Disclaimer: I do not have any hold on either Gaara or Neji. Too bad.

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First Try

"Gaara?"

"Hmm?" The redhead in question cracked a sleepy eye open, wondering what his lover wanted now, just when he was about to go to sleep.

"Will you marry me?"

After a breath for that to sink in, both of Gaara's eyes flew open in surprise, staring across the little space that separated him from pearly white eyes.

"W-What?"

Neji smiled, charmed by Gaara's off balance. "I asked if you would marry me."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Are you teasing me?" After all, they had only been dating (if you could even call it that) for a month or so. Even though that was considerably longer than Gaara's usual relationships, it was hardly time for marriage proposals.

There was a small laugh from Neji's side of the bed (always the left side), but his tone wasn't teasing at all when he said, "Don't try to avoid the question, love."

Gaara frowned. "I'm not, but this better not be your version of pillow talk." He bit his lip as he thought (a nervous habit, he refused to admit that it was because Neji had told him every time he did that he wanted to kiss him), but after a few minutes he only asked, "Do you have a ring? Or is this supposed to be romantically spontaneous?"

Neji's arm reached over and patted Gaara's hair, an endearing gesture the redhead would not have tolerated from anyone else.

"You can say no, little Gaara, and not worry about me dumping you or anything. As if I would do that voluntarily in any situation. This isn't an ultimatum - it's just a question to get you thinking about marriage. Just to let you know that it might not be a stretch for me to ask for real."

"And when will I know it's for real?"

Neji smiled again, eyes bubbling with mirth. Gaara couldn't understand those people who called his boyfriend emotionless; they just obviously did not know the Hyuuga well. Anybody who did realized that while Neji didn't wear his heart on his sleeve (obviously not, since his heart belonged to Gaara), his feelings, his dreams, his personality, was just under the surface. Anybody who looked deep enough would find them with no trouble at all. Gaara himself though, that was another story.

"You won't, but just know I will ask again if you don't give me a definite answer and hopefully, a reason why."

"You want a reason even if the answer is affirmative?"

"Of course." Neji pressed himself to Gaara in a warm hug. "I'll be happy marrying you for any reason, but I'll be much happier if it's one of the right reasons."

"So…what do you classify as wrong?"

"All questions, aren't you Gaara, and no answers for poor little me." Neji pulled back a little to give a small pout, one of the rare things that made Gaara chuckle.

"Fine, fine." Gaara took a deep breath, and tried his hardest not to look away from Neji's piercing eyes. "I don't think I'm ready for marriage, but it's definitely not a no, so you'll just have to wait a little longer, Neji, for me to make up my mind." Gaara suddenly smirked, a streak of possessiveness showing through as he mirrored Neji's earlier words. "As if I would give you up voluntarily in any situation. You're quite the catch, Hyuuga, and I don't intend to let you go just yet."

Neji smirked back, trying to hide the tinge of pinkness in his cheeks, but Gaara caught it. Neji could be so cute.

"So, back to sleep?" Gaara inquired with a yawn.

"Yeah. Goodnight, my little panda-chan."

Gaara told himself he was too sleepy to think up a retort (truth was, he liked the endearment) and let that pass.

"Goodnight, Neji."

They both fell asleep a little later, content in each other's arms.

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A/N: This is just the start of a series of one-shots with NejiGaa and SasuNaru, other pairing suggestions are welcome. Marriage proposals are fun.