Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply

A/N:Look guys, I'm really sorry for how long this took me, but I had a lot of personal problems going on in my life and I can only hope for understanding. However, now that my college finals are over and personal drama seems to be slightly down, I will update more frequently. I will never fully abandon this story, so don't worry about that. Sorry for the lack of personal response but I'm pretty wiped out. Anyways, hope you enjoy.

TillThatTime

Uncomfortable Silence

One elegantly arched eyebrow twitched in barely retained irritation, this one marking the sixth time in a series over the past five minutes.

"No."

"Yeah, but Sasuke-"

"No."

"Aw, come on, I just-"

"I said no."

"If you would just listen for one second, baby-"

"What did you just call me?"

Pause.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I meant stubborn jackass-prick."

Seventh eyebrow twitch.

"I could kill you." Obsidian eyes rolled back in frustration as a blonde mop of hair fell unceremoniously into his lap.

"Naw, you wouldn't! You love me too much."

"I'm not a matchmaker." Sasuke growled out, choosing to ignore the previous comment, knowing it would be a losing battle to challenge the validity of it.

Azure eyes lit up in blatant mischief as Naruto practically leered at Sasuke. "Yeah, but you would look awfully sexy with wings and cute, little red panties."

He was clocked upside the head for that one.

"I just want to help." The blonde pouted as he rubbed his scalp where a lump was already beginning to form.

"It's none of your business, dumbass." The dark-haired man huffed, as he pulled the blonde's head grudgingly back into his lap and began to run his fingers soothingly over the bump.

Naruto sighed in contentment as rubbed his head unconsciously into Sasuke's lap and against those fingers. "But I know there is something between those two. I think it's love…"

There was a snort at that comment. "You think the obsession you have over ramen is love too."

"There's not a purer form!" Naruto hissed, his mood changing drastically as he looked ready to attack if his beloved was insulted further.

His was turned suddenly and his back was pulled against a warm hard chest and he shivered as he felt hot breath fan over the shell of his ear. "Don't you dare make me jealous over food."

Pale lips met full pink ones in a demanding kiss, and sharp teeth sunk into Naruto's bottom lip, tugging at it harshly and wrenching a broken moan from both of them as Sasuke's mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood as he ran his tongue tenderly over the small hurt in an unspoken and not very remorseful apology.

As their lips parted, Naruto's eyes opened slowly to stare at Sasuke in a daze, a lone trail of saliva sliding along his chin. There was only a slight pause before a grin split across his face. "You'll always be second."

He now had two lumps.

"Baka."

Naruto whined for a second, clutching his head in pain while he simultaneously moved himself away from the fuming, and obviously rather possessive, Uchiha. Once he figured he was a safe enough distance and the sharp pain in his head had died down to a dull throb, he straightened back up to stare almost seriously at the other boy. "Now, back to
the matter at hand."

"I want no part in this." Sasuke stated unwaveringly, leaving no room for argument in his tone. He couldn't believe he was even having this ridiculous conversation. It didn't matter at all to him if those two idiots were freaking out over each other. Gaara and Neji could shit kittens and throw them at each other for all he cared.

He shuddered at the mental image that train of thought provided.

"I think they just need a push in the right direction. You've seen the way they look at each other. It's sooo obvious!" Tan hands waved dramatically in the air as Naruto tried to prove his point, obviously impressed with his own "awesome" skills of perception.

"Have you seen the way they look at you?" Sasuke mumbled, his eyes connecting with blue ones, which quickly became confused by the comment.

Naruto's head cocked to the side as he stared a Sasuke in blatant delusion. "Huh?"

"Hn…forget it." He rolled his eyes. "Clueless idiot."

"Hey! What did you call me!?"

"Nothing, baby." Sasuke mocked, a smirk coming across his lips.

Seemingly missing the sarcasm in Sasuke's voice, or just choosing to ignore it, Naruto grinned brightly back at him while Sasuke shook his head. "I think we just need to get them to spend more time together."

There was a growl of frustration as Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair in annoyance.

"Are you really going to keep going on about that?"

"Are you really going to keep being a bastard and not help me?" Naruto shot back, his
eyes defiant as he crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

"Stubborn jackass."

"Pot. Kettle. Black. You hypocritical bastard."

"Oh, big word for an idiot."

"What!? I'll kick your ass, teme!"

With a screech, Naruto was on his feet raising a fist in the Uchiha's direction, waving it around in what he supposed was a threatening manner.

"This conversation is over. Now sit down, Usuratonkachi." Naruto just glared back at him defiantly, fist still raised, and Sasuke could almost see the idea flit across those blue eyes. Suddenly Naruto's hard expression softened and Sasuke watched in horror as that full bottom lip protruded and Naruto's eyes grew large and heavy with crocodile tears.

The idiot was actually pouting.

Like…seriously?

Smirking inwardly, Naruto eyed the other boy, waiting for his reaction to his brilliant plan. There was no way that Sasuke was going to be able to resist him now. It was so simple, and he had him right where he wanted him.

Hook, line, and sink-

"Your face might get stuck like that." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Why, you-!" And suddenly Sasuke found himself being tackled to the ground by a mass of blonde and orange. There was flurry of vibrant curse words and phrases such as, "Get off me, jackass!" and "I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Fuck loving you, I'll rip you to shreds!"

By the time the struggle finished, Sasuke had effectively pinned Naruto to the ground, the blonde's wrists held high above his head with Sasuke's hands as he growled up at the other boy and continued to struggle.

"Calm down, Naruto." Those words were spoken softly, all hints of malice and play gone from Sasuke's voice completely, and Naruto found himself stilling almost instantly under those words and the weight of Sasuke's body atop his own. He watched in an almost awed fashion as Sasuke switched his pinned wrist to one hand as he let the other travel down through a tuft of dirt covered hair until his fingers tips were tracing each one of the scares that adorned his lover's face, his hand stilling as it came to cup one flushed, tan cheek. "Why do you want to help them so much?" Sasuke whispered, looking intently down at the dazed shinobi.

"They're my friends, and they deserve happiness just as much as I do, and I think they can give that to each other." Was the answer, almost as hushed as Sasuke's own voice, as they shared a private conversation that would only reach their ears.

"What if they don't want it?"

"They do, I know it. Together, they…make sense. Honestly, I don't know what's holding them back." Sasuke had to roll his eyes at that last sentence, for he already had a pretty good idea why.

He heaved a sigh of reluctant resolution, and hesitated before speaking. "I'm not going to help you do whatever you're planning to do, but I wont stop you either."

Naruto's face broke into a wide grin almost instantly and Sasuke marveled at how he felt his own lips curve slightly upwards at the sight of it.

"So, what are you planning exactly?" Sasuke asked, almost afraid to hear.

"Well, I think they need more time together, but we are only a day away from Suna, so we need to stall. I'm not sure exactly how we-" There was a huff. "I mean, I am going to do that, but it shouldn't be too difficult. Oh, like maybe I could stop to go to the bathroom more…or say I need to take a break. I mean, that's stretching it, because I'm pretty much made of awesome and I don't need a break, but-"

Sasuke began to tune out the rest of what his lover was saying as the familiarity of the situation began to wash over him.

Tch, the blonde really was a clueless idiot sometimes.

He focused instead on how delightfully tasty Naruto's lips looked as they moved as he spoke.

"- so, what do you think, Sasuke?"

"Whatever." And with that Sasuke leaned down and sealed his lips over the rambling younger boy's own, not really wanting to listen to anymore of his "glorious plan" and feeling that there was much more useful things that Naruto could be doing with that mouth of his right about now.

Almost immediately Naruto seemed to forget the things he was saying as he sunk into those lips and the ground beneath him. He let out a slight mewl of pleasure as Sasuke released his wrists and wasted no time in letting his pale hands travel over and under Naruto's orange jacket and shirt to allow his fingers to slide across the heated and sensitive skin near Naruto's navel.

A pink tongue flicked out between those parted lips to trail against sharp canines, and Sasuke hissed as those teeth sunk into his wandering muscle at the same time Naruto thrust his hips up against Sasuke's own, emphasizing the action with a feral growl. There was another hiss as Sasuke felt fingers entwine almost brutally into his black hair as his head was yanked back, and their lips parted with a slick sound, only to feel that wet and talented muscle leaving a hot trail along the column of his throat moments later.

"Are you going to hold good to your promise?" The words were breathed against the over-sensitized hollow of his throat and Sasuke's eyes fluttered closed at the sensation. Naruto's voice held an odd combination of dominance and uncertainty and Sasuke let his own hands raise and bury into blonde locks, massaging tenderly at his lover's scalp, his gentle actions in complete contrast to Naruto's own.

"Just say when." He felt Naruto's soft and unmistakably relieved laughter against his throat, the action leaving behind puffs of warm, damp air that felt pleasant on his skin.

Sasuke allowed a rare smile to grace his lips as he settled one hand on the ground, ready to push himself upwards so he could get a better look at his lover, only to freeze when a kunai was suddenly embedded into the ground only a mere centimeter away from his hand. He looked up sharply, ready to attack any enemy, when he noticed the Hyuuga standing a few meters away from him.

"Oops, my hand slipped." Neji said, his face holding a contradictory combination of innocence and a smirk.

"Beat it, asshole." Was the barked reply that Neji received.

"My Uchiha, you must be losing your touch if you didn't even notice I was here."

"You do have a certain knack for spying on people though, don't you Hyuuga?"

"Well, if you don't recall, you're in the middle of our camp."

There was silence.

There was really nothing he could say to that.

"Anyways, I just wanted to say that we should get going." Neji reminded, turning gracefully on one heel and heading off in the opposite direction.

Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other in silence for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed at the fact that they just now realized where exactly they were.

"So…can we still do it?"

Eighth eye twitch.

Third lump.

"Ow, bastard!"

Not a word was spoken as they walked.

Except for the occasional grunt and sniffle from their blonde comrade, who apparently had a cold and therefore was not able to take the quicker route through the trees and instead forced them to walk on the ground, despite the fact that none of the other three members of the party could remember a time the boisterous shinobi had ever been sick, silence hung heavy among them.

Even for someone like Neji, who craved the peace that silence brought, it was uncomfortable to say the last. Yet, he was not going to be the one to break the silence, but rather hope internally that Naruto would become uncomfortable enough to do it for him. He felt too suffocated by his own idiotic display early to even dare open his mouth in attempt to start a conversation in this train wreck of a situation.

Lilac eyes cut to his left as his vision rested on blood colored hair, and even as his eyes focused on the odd beauty of such a shade he mused silently to himself that the color was perfect for the person Gaara used to be. He continued to stare through the corner of his eye- relying on his peripheral vision with out his byakugan activated- as he watched the unruly mop sway back and forth with the breeze from the wind and the uneven rise and fall of the Kazekage's steps. He felt his over-perceptive eyes focus in on the way random strands stuck to the light sheen of sweat on Gaara's forehead, his pale skin in stark contrast to the vibrant color. His mouth became suddenly dry as Gaara's pink tongue unconsciously peeked out to run along his lips, whether in order to wet them or just in thought, Neji was not sure.

The length of time he spent staring at the young leader was unknown to Neji, but he figured if no one was going to object to him doing it, or even notice, then he couldn't be bothered with such things as whether or not it was creepy to stare for a long period of time. His eyes stayed glued to that pale skin and he remembered distinctly how it felt under his fingertips when Gaara had allowed him to run his hands along his cheeks. It was softer than he could have imagined, and it had given Gaara an air of innocence, because it was skin the felt untouched to Neji, even if he was unfamiliar with such gestures himself.

He also could distinctly recall the feel of Gaara as he was cuddled in his…lap.

Gah!

Gods, he was supposed to be a genius! What the hell had he been thinking at the time? Well, obviously he hadn't been.

He had seen the object of his animosity holding onto the object of his unrequited and probably very unwelcome love, so in his rage, he had pulled the object of his very uncomfortable confusion onto his lap.

Brilliant, Neji…you jackass.

He noticed that Naruto had turned to stare at him when he smacked his face right into his palm.

"Mosquito." Was the first thing that came to mind and Naruto just grinned at him and continued to sniffle.

That's when he noticed that a pair of green eyes were focused on him as well. It made his heart speed up in a mixture of feelings that he didn't even want to attempt to decipher. Looking into those eyes that stared back into his own so guarded, it brought back even more memories of seeing those eyes exposed to him, seeing them filled with vulnerability that if he hadn't have seen himself, he wouldn't believe the Kazekage was capable of. And in that moment he could still feel Gaara in his arms, could still feel the slightly erratic heartbeat and the sensation of Gaara's back pressed against his chest, and he wondered slightly how he could have felt all those things through the embarrassment that the situation had brought, but he had, and his cheeks filled with heat as he broke the gaze that he held with the other boy, his fingers tingling with stubborn memories that seemed burned into his mind.

He had been so stupid to pull him into his lap like that.

So, so stupid.

He was lucky that Gaara didn't just kill for the hell of it anymore.

"Let's take a break!" An overly cheery voice sounded from beside him followed by a highly exaggerated coughing fit.

"We really shouldn't take anymore breaks if we want to get into Suna territory before nightfall." Neji informed calmly, though he already had a pretty good idea of what the blonde was up to.

"But I feel dizzy, I think I might be coming down with the…uh, flu. Yeah! The flu!" Naruto whined, clutching at his stomach in an in vain attempt to look like he was in pain.

Neji mentally rolled his eyes. He loved the idiot, sure, but now was really not the time to be playing games.

His conscious tip-toed over the fact that it was the same game he and Gaara had played.

However, that was a different situation. What Naruto was trying to do was pointless, that is, if Neji had guessed his intention correctly, which he was sure he had. Neji and Gaara were a doomed pair. Nothing could come out of the denial that a relationship involving the two entailed.

This was ridiculous and shouldn't be encouraged. The sooner they got to Suna and dropped Gaara off, the better.

"Look, Naruto-"

"I didn't get to eat breakfast. I'm hungry." A colder voice spoke, and Neji felt his eyes go wide as he turned to stare at the stoic Uchiha.

Sasuke's arms were folded across his chest and he had a distinct look of distaste and reluctance for the sentences he'd just uttered, but there was also a sense of finality in his stance and tone.

Neji just gave him an incredulously look that all but said, "the fuck?" and Sasuke just glared back at him in response, black eyes challenging. To say this was unexpected was a bit of an understatement, because Neji would not have guessed that the Uchiha would actually go along with Naruto's little "intervention". Well, if this little scenario wasn't a declaration for "Stand by your man." Neji didn't know what was. He briefly wondered if people would notice if he walked over to the nearest tree and put himself into a coma and an early retirement.

He looked over to Gaara, wondering what he thought of this entire situation, and almost felt like strangling himself when he noticed the Kazekage sitting calmly against a tree already looking like he was more than ready to settle down. He gave Gaara a look of disbelief and somewhat childish betrayal, and his only response was a blank stare with a subtly hint of amusement.

Too bad killing wasn't considered an acceptable pastime.

"I'll go get the wood." Neji hissed out, before turning and heading into another area of the forest.

He wasn't searching for long before he felt a presence slowly creeping up behind him. He didn't feel threatened, because there was a same sense of familiarity with the chakra that Neji had felt before on the cold night that seemed to be the beginning of this entire charade.

"Is there something you need, Kazekage-sama?" Neji asked, not turning to face his comrade.

There was a rustle of leaves as Gaara stepped out into the clearing and slowly Neji turned to face him, feeling his heart speed up and hating himself for it. Gaara merely stared at him for a moment, studying him with those detached teal eyes. His voice was soft when he spoke, and lacking the accusation that the question would have possessed at any other time.

"You were staring at me."

Neji felt his cheeks heat and he marveled at the way that the Kazekage seemed to be the only who could make him stutter. "I-I-"

"I saw you."

"Kazekage-"

"Why? If you don't want me, why would you stare like that?" And suddenly Neji felt like he was in the presence of a child, and small kid who didn't understand the impact his questions could cause. Gaara looked at him in confusion, genuine confusion of not knowing why Neji acted the way he did, and looking for Neji to just teach him.

But, Neji was just a child himself with it came to this, and they were both left grasping in the dark with questions that the other didn't have the answer to.

"I don't know." Neji cringed at his lack of eloquence, and looked down at his feet.

"You also pulled me into your lap." It wasn't a question and it wasn't an accusation either.

"That was-"

"I think I might have liked it." Neji's eyes shot up in blatant surprise as he almost choked on his sharp intake of breath.

"What?" He asked, the word only coming out as a whisper.

And then Gaara was walking towards him, and Neji only wished he could search those eyes for an answer to what in the hell Gaara thought he was doing. Then he couldn't even ask himself as smooth hands cupped his face and his lips were pulled into a clumsy kiss that was just a simple press of lips but made his knees buckle nevertheless. Their lips disconnected after a moment, but still Gaara let his forehead rest against his own, and deceptively gentle hands moved to grip firmly at his hips, warning him not to move.

"I don't get it. I don't understand what this is." Gaara's words were so low that if Neji hadn't of been so close he would not have heard them. "but…I want you to touch me the way that he never will. It's substitution, I know full well, but it has to be you. I want to know, and I don't like not understanding. I don't want it to be something that I'll never have, something that has always been falsely promised to me and then taken away. I'll never be him to you, and you'll never be him to me, but…if it's not him, then it has to be you. I want you to be my lie, because you're the only one who understands why." Neji stood gaping at those words of unshielded honesty as Gaara's head bent and nuzzled into his neck with far more affection then he thought the detached boy could possess, and Neji stood stark still, his eyes rolling back into his head as he felt Gaara's soft lips against his racing pulse, and then their were words, words he barely understood. "Don't fuck with me." and teeth were sinking harshly into his neck as fingers simultaneously rubbed soothingly at his sides, and he was gasping, gasping for air that never seemed to fill his lungs completely, and all he knew of was that wet tongue hesitantly but honestly trying to soothe away the small hurt that had been caused only seconds ago.

Then without so much as a lingering touch, Gaara stepped away from him, his vacant mask back in place. "Think about what I said…Neji." and after that he turned and left Neji standing there, his legs trembling as he tried to figure out what had just happened, but one realization seemed to make itself known through his hazed mind, and it pressed uncomfortably against his shorts.

He was hard.