East of the Sun

k.

Naruto's got a pretty good life. Nice job, decent pay, a roof over his head, and best of all, great friends and an even better partner. He really doesn't have anything to complain about. But there are two things that will never, ever happen in his life, as much as he wants them to. He's tried asking for them on numerous occasions, but nothing ever came out of it.

He's starting to regret that he even thought of asking.

East of the sun and west of the moon,

Sasuke's starting to burn a little. The heat in the backs of his legs is starting to get uncomfortable, a little too intense. But he's stuck, and can't move, and any second, he knows he's going to fall. He's sure of it.

This isn't how he planned on spending the day.

This isn't how he wants to spend any day.

Someone is going to have to pay, dearly.

We'll build a dream house of love, dear.

Tsunade will admit it readily if asked. She's biased.

Neji figured that out a long time ago.

Naruto and Sasuke have had three days off in the past month, but Neji's last day off was five months, two weeks, and three days ago.

He's not bitter. He's really not.

Really, really not bitter. Really.

Because while he's suffering, there are other people worse off.

Like Shikamaru.

And Chouji.

And Lee and Sakura and Hinata and Ino and Kiba and Tenten and Shino and everyotherdamnninjainthevillage.

Except, of course, Naruto and Sasuke.

So while Neji smolders with rage at the injustice of it all, he can take comfort in the fact that there are many, many, many more who envy him.

Neji's never had it so good.

Sort of.

Near to the sun in the day, near to the moon at night.

There are six windows in the front, eight in the back, and two and three on the left and right sides of the house.

When the sun is at it's brightest, Sakura can't really see anything.

She lives in a glass house, with a few patches of white stucco placed strategically to keep the house from falling down.

She really hates it.

Lee loves it.

She thinks she can take it, but sometimes, she starts to doubt the power of true love when insects swarm the windows and the June bugs crash into the house, tok-tokking against the glass while she counts to a hundred, and lists all the reasons she loves Lee in her head.

Weird taste in architecture is not one of them.

We'll live in a lovely way, dear,

Shikamaru's never made such a good investment in his life.

Summer in Konoha, the sun is shining, and Shikamaru's flat on his back on the nearest roof, face turned towards the sun.

But every summer, he always gets burned, and ends up at Tsunade's.

It's not his fault.

He falls asleep so easily, especially when it's warm outside, and the skies are clear.

He tried a hat first.

It didn't work.

So, ten plates of dumplings later, Shikamaru's got a solution.

Chouji holds the umbrella up, and Shikamaru holds the roof down, and Chouji gets fed as many dumplings as he wants.

He doesn't burn anymore.

And the best part?

Shikamaru usually gets to share.

Living on love and pale moonlight.

Shino's a quiet sort of guy.

He notices things, even when they aren't so noticeable.

But he tends to miss really, really obvious things.

What he hasn't missed is this: he has never been inside Naruto andSasuke's house. Ever. Everyone else has, but he has never once stepped inside.

He's pretty sure that Sasuke's behind it, not Naruto.

It should hurt, but it doesn't.

He gets along fine with Sasuke. He knows he creeps Naruto out, a little bit, but other than that, they're on good terms.

He thinks he's got it. And he'll find a way inside, if it's the last thing he does.

Plan in hand, he gets up, but doesn't notice the trail of bugs he leaves behind.

This too, he hasn't noticed: Sasuke hates insects.

Just you and I, forever and a day,

Kakashi believes in impossibilities.

Jiraiya will never write another book as good as Icha Icha Tactics.

That's the first thing.

He told Iruka this, and Iruka looked at him like he'd just said the dumbest thing in the world, and then asked him to eat lunch.

Kakashi also believes that impossibilities can happen, sometimes.

This is one of them.

Iruka's his best friend, and Kakashi thought he'd never have another.

In Kakashi's world, there are impossibilities and possibilities.

He hopes they never change.

Love will not die, we'll keep it that way,

Kiba's on Hinata's side, all the time.

Kiba can't say the same of Hinata.

She doesn't really like to go along with some of the things he comes up with, so more often than not, he's on his own.

This time, though, Hinata is on his side.

Neither of them can deny Shino when he asks for anything, because he asks so rarely.

But this, this is ridiculous.

Kiba's never felt like such a huge idiot.

Jar of aphids under one arm, Hinata standing on his shoulders, Kiba is ready to kill Shino, and he's pretty damn sure that Hinata is too.

Or at least give him one big ass-kicking.

Shino sucks at coming up with plans, and in the grand scheme of things, this plan definitely qualifies as the worst one ever, other than the time Shino punished Kiba by feeding Akamaru beans.

Shino's bugs are dead meat. Dead.

The full moon's out, and Kiba could have been romancing Hinata, singing big band songs in his creepy singing voice, and giving her flowers from Ino's store, but instead, he's stuck on a ladder, while Hinata's feet are leaving imprints in his shoulders.

Shino's bugs are definitely next on his list.

Hinata's beckoning for the aphids now.

Lid opened, aphids shoved through the window, Shino's stupid plan is done.

Tomorrow, Kiba's going to tell on Shino, and watch Sasuke and Naruto beat him up while Kiba sings to Hinata.

There's another full moon tomorrow.

Up among the stars we'll find

Sasuke's left revenge behind him, but there are moments where he'd give anything to turn tail and just run for his old pal when Naruto's not looking.

Right now, Sasuke's having a moment.

There's a swarm of aphids around the hallway light, and Sasuke is not going to sleep until every single one of them is gone.

But he'll be damned before he listens to Naruto, and calls Shino to get rid of the black mass crowding the light.

Because this whole thing positively reeks of Shino, and Sasuke knows the bastard planned this.

There's only one good thing about the whole mess.

He won't admit it, but seeing Naruto in a winter hat, with long pants, and a hooded shirt in the high heat of summer is almost worth the black things crawling around the light.

Almost.

His legs are starting to cramp.

What Sasuke hates most, though, is that he's standing on a ladder, with the aphids close enough to his face that he can see their little legs working as they run frantically from the wet, soapy cloth in his hand.

It's disgusting, and all Sasuke can think about is running for the shower.

He can't take this anymore.

Stupid Shino.

The little asshole's won.

A harmony of life to a lovely tune,

Naruto's just as grossed out as Sasuke, and there's a reason why he was the one holding the ladder, and Sasuke the one cleaning up.

Forty aphids in, Sasuke finally caved and Naruto inadvertently got his wish.

Shino's inside their house, and Sasuke's wearing a hat.

A really odd hat, granted, but a hat nevertheless, if a plastic bag with the handles folded up to make a captain's hat counts.

Vanity vanishes pretty quickly when you're facing the possibility of having dead bugs fall in your hair.

This has to be the worst end to a day off, and Naruto's got the feeling that it's all Neji's fault.

Bastard probably cursed them when Tsunade refused to give him the day off, cause Naruto never thought he'd see the day Shino was actually invited inside.

He never wants to see this sight again. Ever.

He's never seen anything as freaky as watching Shino sing, and little aphids flying towards him.

He's going to ask Tsunade to never give Neji another day off.

And tomorrow, he's going to help Sasuke look up his old friend, revenge.

East of the sun and west of the moon dear,
East of the sun and west of the moon.

I wrote this for Kate, who still owes me waffles and socks.

Okay, remind me to never write anything like this, ever again. I had a lot of fun writing it, but I'll be the first to admit, it really sucks. I just wanted to work in the aphid incident, which happened to me on Canada Day, and all the other parts just snuck their way in.

The song is "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," and my personal favourite is the Sinatra version. Big band music is fun, isn't it?

I hope you enjoyed my personal take on summer in Konoha.

Now go have fun in the summer sun, if it's summer where you are!