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In the Mountains	By : Ljiljana Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1060 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Chapter Five

The house was not very big - only one story � but it was
beautiful. It was painted white, and had dark red roof sloped almost low enough
to touch, in the way they were now making them in the mountains. Rich vegetable
garden was on the right and flowerbeds on the left side of a narrow pathway
from the little gate to the front door of the house. When we were almost half
way through, a bush quivered and a head of long dark hair appeared over it.

�Neji? Is that you?� A sweet, female voice called.

I considered her carefully. Hinata looked even more like
Neji then I remembered - same eyes, same long hair and a cute little nose. She
was adorable, soft where Neji had some hard lines. I had some trouble breathing
evenly � she was just too good to be envious of her.

�Naruto!� Hinata said as soon as she spotted us, smiling
warmly.

I felt horrible. Hinata sounded like she was welcoming a
dear old friend and I had problems remembering her. Not knowing what else to
do, I grinned one of my best fake smiles at her:

�Hinata!�

Neji let out a small, amused chuckle next to me.

Hinata took off her yellow gardening gloves and waved toward
the house, into the surprisingly pleasant freshness after such a short standing
in the direct sunlight.

�I�m s-sorry.� She said when we were on the small porch,
avoiding my eyes as if that could help her speech disorder. Memories overflowed
me; Hinata answering a question in class in broken sentences, blushing
furiously at some not so gentle teasing, smiling at me vulnerably when I helped
her pick up some things that fell out of her hands. �I expected you a little later, so I was
wee-weeding the garden. Sasuke is probably in the living room.�

My heart skipped a bit at that, so I kept as quiet as I
could. Better safe then sorry.

Sasuke indeed was in the living room, bent over a book. He
didn�t get up when we walked in, he just lifted his head enough to glared at
Neji, and ignored me.

Hinata turned to me.

�I�m sorry, I have to wash my hands. Please, sit down.�

I looked around. Sasuke was sitting in one of two armchairs,
placed across from each other. I wanted to take the other one, but Neji was
watching. It might seem as if I�m afraid we�ll fight or something if I sit to
close to Sasuke, so I took the sofa between the chairs.

The situation was awkward, at the very least. Sasuke was the
host, and this was partly Neji�s house, but both of them turned and looked at
me. I really had nothing to say, but I had to try anyway.

�Lovely�� I started and choked on laughter. There must be something funny about me trying to have
a civil conversation under Neji�s conscientious eye, and even though I couldn�t
point out exactly what, I had to laugh. Sasuke and Neji both stared at me
without any changes in the expressions. I collected myself after couple of
moments. �Lovely home.�

Neji nodded. Sasuke snorted:

�It�s just a summer house.�

It was clear he was not about to help me with this. So I
said, smiling at him:

�Your summer house is three times as big as Iruka�s and mine
apartment.�

I lied; it was small house, as I said before. Our apartment
was only slightly smaller. Neji, of course, was uncomfortable right away, in
that way rich people always were, when they had nothing helpful to say to the
poor ones. Sasuke just raised his eyebrow at me:

�You moved into someone�s garage in the meantime?�

We never moved, not since I live with Iruka. The school he
works at is near our place, so it�s convenient to stay where we are.

�No. We live at the same old place.�

�Hn.� Sasuke said, which told me clearly that I should have
remembered earlier that he was over at ours to see Iruka once or twice before
he dropped out of school.

Sasuke threw a longing look at the big, thick, black book on
the table. Neji seemed even more uncomfortable with the situation, like this
wasn�t his idea in the first place. I decided to try again, for the sake of my
job.

�What�s that book about?�

�Pharmacoepidemiology.�
Sasuke answered and thrust the three-tons-heavy book into my hands. I
flipped through it quickly � text, text, oh,
a diagram, text. Bo-ring.

�Pharma�What?�

Sasuke tapped twice on the hard cover of the book, over the
word �Pharmacoepidemiology� with two fingers of his right hand. Slight
vibration of the gesture reached deeply into my bones; he bent a little towards
me and in combination with it, his leveled voice made me have to repress a
shiver.

�It�s about drugs and people who use them.�

I looked through the book again. There was probably nothing
helpful in the walls of text, not that I was in any condition to read.

�Like heroin?� I asked, keeping my gaze safely on the book,
trying to put my fogged mind back into functioning.

�Like Plavix. Ibuprofen. Proventil.� Sasuke answered with an
edge in his voice. On my blank look, when I finally dared to look at him, he
added shaking his head, as if that was
supposed to mean something, �Those are all brand names.�

I glanced at Neji. He was listening carefully. I felt even
more pressured so I looked back at Sasuke, almost begging with my eyes to give
me something to continue the conversation. He raised his eyebrows, and luckily
said something that made sense:

�Aspirin? You heard of that, didn�t you?�

�Yes. It�s for headaches and fevers.� I said, and then it
clicked. �Oh. You mean, it�s about that
kind of drugs!�

Sasuke took the book away from my hands. I was grateful, it
was very heavy, and I didn�t know what to do with it. In retrospect, I could�ve
had beaten the crap out of the both of them and leave the message to find when
they wake up �leave me the fuck alone!�

Conversation came upon a dead end once again and neither
Neji nor Sasuke were helping. Thankfully, Hinata came in with a tray of
lemonade and cookies.

She gave us each a glass � cold liquid felt so good sliding
down my throat, sweet and refreshing at the same time - and left the plate with
cookies on the coffee table. When she made sure all of us can reach it, Hinata
set on the armrest of Sasuke�s chair, and brushed something I couldn�t see from
his shoulder. Something hot and aching settled at the bottom of my stomach on
that simple, casual gesture. I refused to call it jealousy.

�Naruto,� Hinata then asked, smiling softly. �How do you
like it here?�

Out of sheer joy that she is capable of small talk, I almost
forgot about my not-jealousy.

�It�s great!� I said, eager to talk, to distract myself from
the way Sasuke leaned slightly in her direction. �Everything is beautiful and I
just love the lobby of the hotel.�

Hinata�s voice ringed with laughter.

�Oh, you should see how it�s like sitting in the lobby when
there is a thunder storm outside!�

It occurred to me before that a thunderstorm would be nice
to watch through the wall of glass. It would feel as if you�re outside, but
without the wetness; almost like back in the orphanage when I was eight years
old and younger kids were fighting over who would get to be closer to me. They
were afraid because windows in the dorms were too big, you could see clearly
every flash. I liked storms; they made me feel wanted.

Then something I never really wanted to see happened. Sasuke
looked up at his wife and smiled.

�You were so scared when we happened to be there last time;
you covered your face with your hands like a little girl.�

Hinata flushed beautifully.

�Yes, I was afraid. But he�s not me, is he?� She answered
and then turned to me. �I remember you used to go home on foot from school,
even when there was a rain storm outside.�

I gaped at her. Is it possible she remembers me so well? It
was years ago. I did like the storms, but I walked home because we lived close,
not that Hinata would have any way of knowing that.

Neji and Sasuke were watching her, too. When she noticed,
she flushed even worse, and tried to hide her face behind her palm. After
couple of seconds, Sasuke turned to me:

�It looks like my wife had a crush on you in high school. I
wonder what other dark secrets she kept from me.�

He was teasing her. I couldn�t resist but look carefully his
face, searching for a clue to his feelings, but there was no trace of jealousy
or possessiveness there, only mild enjoyment in Hinata�s discomfort. She was
very embarrassed, and practically trying to hide behind Sasuke from me. I
probably could have come with dozen clever or at least typical responses for
that, but the word that came through my mouth was the only thing that was on
the top of my mind:

�Why?!�

Hinata dared to look at me on this, frowning like I asked
something amazingly confusing, and, after she apparently made sure I really
wanted to know, said:

�You picked up my books when I dropped them.� Her words were
flat, suggesting that is perfectly reasonable to like someone for that reason.
�And they treated you worse then they did me after Mr. Umino first brought
you.�

Oh. So, it was pity. She was just very young and she
confused pity for liking. I relaxed a little � this, I�m familiar with. I even
regained my balance enough to joke.

�How come I never noticed that?�

All three of them now turned to look at me, with various
states of amusement on their faces. Then Sasuke suggested:

�Because you�re an idiot?�

�Oh, I missed you too.� I snapped sarcastically. If I was
able to be impassive about the situation, I would have restrained myself, but
that conversation in that nice little living room was making me pleased and sad
at the same time, and emotional strain was not helping. �No one else in the
world can explain things to my rotten little brain quite like you.�

�You�re welcome.� Sasuke said, nodding once to me. The nerve
of that guy!

I snapped again, �That wasn�t a �thank you�.�

�Yes, the sarcasm was evident.�

�Then why are you welcoming me?� I wanted to know. You can
never be sure with him.

�It is a polite thing to do.� Sasuke told me reasonably.

�Polite? You wouldn�t understand polite if you read a book
that size on it.� I said, pointing at his brick of a book on the coffee table.

�At least I�m literate enough to read a book.�

Hinata stood up, shaking her head.

�You made my husband regress in age, Naruto. You�re both acting like a couple of children.
Neji, do you want to see those roses?�

Neji got up on his feet immediately; I couldn�t help but
think that they chose the worst possible moment to go out. I just couldn�t help
it, I had to ask:

�Any family heirlooms we should try not to break?�

�Oh, no, don�t worry.� Hinata said, waving her hand with a
smile. �I locked them all in the attic.�

Who knew that little, shy Hinata actually had a sense of
humor? In fact, it only then occurred to me that, except for that little lapse
in the porch, she wasn�t even stuttering. As did we all, she changed, too. All
for the better; in the chest area, also.

They walked out of the room, leaving Sasuke and me alone. My
toes felt cold.

After a moment, Sasuke opened the book and started reading.
I kept quiet for a while. It was better and easier if we didn�t talk.

I got bored quickly after I ate all the cookies and drank my
lemonade. I considered drinking Sasuke�s lemonade, too, but Hinata
unfortunately didn�t bring extra sugar. To stop myself from openly staring at
Sasuke, which I really, really wanted to do, I got up and started looking at
various things on the shelves around the room.

The blinds were open, letting in the beams of the summer sun
to caress nice and well-kept furniture. The room was too warm, and too bright;
I had to squint against the reflection of the light in glass of the cabinet
with family pictures and some other items.

The silence was heavy; silence was always very hard for me
to handle.

�Where was this taken?� I asked when I realized that there
would be nothing else in that stillness to distract me from my thoughts.

Sasuke glanced at the photo I was showing.

�Home. My family home.�

�Oh.� I said. �It looked familiar.�

It really did, the photo was taken in front one of those
garden fountains, that rich people were fond of having in their front yards,
when Sasuke�s house was made. I think I
had to duck under the little baby angel from the fountain once, when Sakura
sent me sneaking into Sasuke�s yard for one thing or another and Itachi walked
by.

�Do you have any books with pictures?� I asked after some
more silence.

Sasuke glanced at me incredulously.

�How did you manage to finish collage?�

�I know how to read, I�m just tired of it.� I informed him.

�I never would have guessed.� He said and shook his head.

The book must have had a cure for cancer in it, because he
went right back to it. I tried to be patient and considerate - and really, it
probably was for the best not to talk
� but I couldn�t stand silence. So I found something else to ask soon enough:

�What�?�

�What can I do to make you quiet for five minutes?� Sasuke
snapped in the middle of my question.

I could think of several things, all very inappropriate
under the current circumstances. The reason I resisted voicing them was not so
much that I was considerate of his sensitive ears, but the thought that Neji
and Hinata might be listening in. So I thought about his probably rhetorical
question seriously.

��Feed me chocolate.�

He turned completely to look at me.

�And that would help?�

For someone as smart as he supposedly was, that must have
been the stupidest question he had ever asked. Of course it would help. At the very least while I�m chewing.

�It�s chocolate.� I tried to explain, but I was failing if
his expression is anything to judge by. �Chocolate can help with anything.�

He cocked his head on the right.

�Caries?� He asked.

��Okay, that�s one thing chocolate can�t help with.�

That must have come out as a challenge, because he
continued:

�Cancer?�

�Okay,� I said, irritated. �Chocolate can�t fix illnesses.�

No matter how much I tried to compromise, he just continued
to push.

�Drought? Flood?�

�Oh, shut up!� I snapped in the end. �It can help keeping me
quiet. That�s what you�re after, isn�t it?�

�I�m just proving the point.� Sasuke shrugged and closed the
book.

�Do you have chocolate or not?!� I demanded.

He led me to the nice, well lighten kitchen through the
narrow hallway and provided chocolate in some shiny paper wrapping from one of
the cabinets. I bit into it right away, without bothering to check what�s
inside, and almost ended up chocking.

�What the hell is this?!�.

�Chocolate.� Sasuke said calmly, with an expression of
someone not-very-amused. �As you asked.�

�This is� What�s inside? Cherry? Chilly pepper?�

Sasuke smirked. It was answer enough. I threw shiny paper
with insulting piece of not-chocolate away from me, on the kitchen desk.

�Who the hell would eat something like that? Perfectly good
chocolate, ruined.� I complained.

Sasuke took a chair across from where I was standing and put
a big peace of chocolate in his mouth, probably to show me that he would eat something like that. I
waved him off:

�You�re a nutcase, you don�t count.� He simply ate some more
chocolate, and smirked yet again, holding my gaze. I wanted to wipe that smug
expression from his face. I also wanted, at the same time, to know if the
spiced chocolate would taste as horrible if I tasted it from his mouth.

That thought made me lick my lips.

Sasuke must have seen something on my face, because he
straightened his lips and set up abruptly in his chair, swallowing behind his
hand at the same time. It was a silly thing to do � it made no difference
because I could not stop looking at him � but to be perfectly honest, it just
made me want to kiss him more.

Hinata and Neji walked in then, I have no idea if it was for
better or for worse. If they were surprised we were in the kitchen, they didn�t
show it.

�Naruto?� Neji asked, looking at me more closely then I was
comfortable with. �Are we going back?�

�Yes. If you want.� I said loudly, to cover the fact that I
felt caught red handed. The little
voice in my head was yelling at the same time: �Yes! Yes! Please! Sasuke eating sweets can�t be good for anyone�s
health!�

�Just one thing�� Neji started, but I wasn�t about to let
him linger on this. I wanted out!

�We�re alive!� I announced.

Neji said, �So I see.�

�Do we get to hear the catch now?� Sasuke sneered at him,
making Hinata frown.

�Oh, hell.� I said, in somewhat faint tone. He�ll make me
spend more time here, among books without pictures, my old hideouts framed and
with an exotic-chocolate-eating-Sasuke, isn�t he? �There is a catch?�

�No�� Neji denied.

�Oh, thank God!�

��But I do want to ask you for a favor. Both of you.�

�That sounds like a catch to me.� Sasuke told him. Neji
ignored him, and turned completely to me.

�Ten-Ten is spending a lot of time with the kids.� He said.
Okay, so far nothing new. �She thinks that they are not enthusiastic enough
about self defense classes.� Well, if you wouldn�t call them �self defense
classes�, maybe� Wait, what? Is my job jeopardized? I cut in:

�We talked about this. I told you they probably won�t be;
that�s why we have the movie marathon this afternoon.�

�But that is not the same as seeing a real thing.�

Sasuke said, very sharply, �No!�

�What?� I asked, confused.

�A little demonstration would probably help�� Neji started
in a very reasonable tone, only to be interacted by Sasuke and me both this
time saying, firmly, �No!�

Though I was probably yelling.

It was a bad idea. It was a really bad idea, close personal contact is not something I believe
I could pull of without consequences � hell, I barely managed chocolate.

�An hour ago, you told me you were not sure you could leave
us alone with a bunch of kids in the same room, and now you want us to demonstrate��

Rather pointlessly and not actually helping, Sasuke
repeated, �No.�

�I didn�t think that you would actually jump over the coffee
table to fight as soon as we walked out, Naruto.� Neji made the scenario sound
much more ridicules then I felt it was. �Asking you to do this is what I had in
mind all along, providing you two would get along well enough.�

If he told me that before, I�d made sure we fought like Tom
& Jerry. Neji seemed disappointed, and that was not a good sign.

He was right, a demonstration, if done correctly, could motivate kids. It sure motivated me to join Kakashi�s club when Sakura
threw me across the room. I turned to Sasuke, not sure how to ask him to consider
this. I didn�t have to bother, he read it of my face.

�No.�

Helplessly, I looked at Neji.

�Maybe,� Neji started hesitantly. �We could ask Gaara. He is
good with this kind of thing.�

Oh, crap! I know I said I�ll give Gaara a chance, but this
is really not the way. I don�t want to be so close to him before I find out his
motives for staring at me.

�I�� Once again, the
three of them were looking at me, Hinata and Neji with some concern, and Sasuke
with anger I knew I did nothing to deserve. �Gaara is��

�Never mind.� Neji waved the answer away, but he wasn�t
happy. I glanced at Sasuke again, desperate. He also knew how bad idea this
was; I could see it clearly on his face. But when our eyes met, thankfully, he
took pity on me.

�Oh, fine.� He snapped. Neji�s eyebrows reached his hairline
in amazement. Is Sasuke that stubborn that changing his mind once would get
this reaction?

�Tomorrow, before class?� I asked. Sasuke and Neji both
nodded. I eyed the door next to Neji. �Are we going now?�

�Yes.� Neji answered and walked out first, through the
doorway and narrow hallway. Hinata went second. I waited for a moment and as
soon as her back disappeared around the corner, I took the shiny paper that had
less then half of the chocolate left wrapped in it, and put it in my pocket.
What I wanted to say to Sasuke was �thank you� but I wasn�t good with that.
Maybe giving a second thought to something he liked could take across the
message that I am, indeed, grateful.

Sasuke, who was waiting near the door for me to get out of
the kitchen, frowned at me. I leaned closer to him while walking by, only
inches from his face in the tight space between the refrigerator and the door,
so I murmured quietly enough:

�I think it deserves another try.� He flinched very slightly.
His face was as blank as always but he held our locked eyes. I think if he
hadn�t held his breath, I would have felt it on my face, and broke apart. I was
afraid Sasuke knew that � there was not any kind of physical reaction. His
dark, so very dark eyes were burning with something,
though.

The moment passed quickly, because I slowed the pace but
never stopped walking. I never intended to let my eyes linger on his lips, but
I did; we were so close, I was never good with stopping myself from doing things
I wanted to, no matter how wrong they were. Neji and Hinata were already far
ahead of us, and I heard Sasuke answering softly behind me:

�You changed a little after all. You�re not nearly as
oblivious as you were.�

The walls of the tiny hallway were closing in on me, on us.
All the wetness from my mouth moved onto my palms for some reason. I had to
react somehow; I wanted to say something. The best way to deal with things is
laughter, is one of the first things I consciously learned, so I decided to turn
to it once again. I bent my head enough to look at him, and gave him an almost
sincere smirk:

�Sakura and Ino succeeded where you failed, and beat it out
of me.�

�What did it take? A hammer?� Sasuke asked a little louder,
probably because whispering when we were practically that close to them would
make things suspicious.

I amused myself with the possibility to simply answer �Time� but that was too serious, I needed
to keep the conversation as light as possible. I smiled sadly for a moment, even though he couldn�t see it.

�Oh, no, they didn�t need hammers � they pulled hair. It is the ultimate
strategy.�

That�s all we had time for; if he wanted to answer, it got
lost in the sun that was already low enough to bath the porch in vivid yellows
and oranges.

Neji waited for me to say my goodbyes by the little gate.
Trying to hide my suddenly very sour mood under the cheerful mask, I asked him
brightly:

�Do I pass?�

He answered with one of his rare sincere smiles, and I
decided at that exact moment that Gaara would
suffice, even if he was a serial killer in his prime.

A/N: Okay. I enjoyed very much writing this chapter. That
doesn�t make it automatically good, but I would like very much to hear what you
think about it. So please, tell me.
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In the Mountains