Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

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.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Thank Flawless_beauti for beta!

I was all alone when I woke up. That wasn�t
surprising, as Iruka had to come back to our room at some point the previous
night, and Sakura likely got out even before that. Still, the right side my bed
felt emptier then ever. The sun was up for a long time already; I could tell by
the short shadows across the room. That Iruka was already out as well wasn�t exactly surprising.

My head was heavy, my fingers felt swollen � or, more
accurately, as though they were caught in a bear trap; I don�t think I ever
felt worse in my life. On the very thought of �yesterday�,
not to even mention specifics � like names - something would squeeze tightly on
my lungs and I couldn�t breathe.

Once I realized that I was left to
sleep in, the squeezing loosened some. If Neji wanted to fire me, he wouldn�t be very considerate to my sleeping pattern.

That didn�t mean he won�t yell at
me.� Or try to
kill me as soon as I relax and Iruka gets caught up in a book.

The alarm clock on the nightstand said it�s
still breakfast time � lucky me breakfast here was served so late, or I would
never get any � so I took a quick shower and hurried down to catch something to
eat. No one was in the dining room, just delicious smells of various breakfast
food and fresh bread. That alone almost perked me up.
Thinking that people having their meal had to be on the
terrace, I walked out of the dining room. The weather was nice, clear and
sunny, once again; you could see bright blue sky through the lobby window-wall.
I heard people talking and dishes clattering long before I could see them. My
ear caught Sakura�s laughter and, happy at least she was fine that morning, I
placed a big smile on my face and walked out.

The sight waiting for me made me halt for a moment. The
smile died on my face.

They had all pulled tables close, making one really big one, and were sitting together. And by �they all�
I mean, all of those people I had no wish what so ever to see and also Iruka,
Sakura and Ino.

Hinata was there, is the first thing I saw. More accurately,
what I noticed is that Hinata was there, sitting calmly next to her husband.
Avoiding them on purpose, I scanned the rest of the table.

Neji was there, sitting on the other side of Hinata and
talking to her quietly. He didn�t look happy. What
really surprised me was that Sakura was talking to Itachi and still laughing at
something he apparently said.

My appetite vanished completely.� There was no way in hell I would sit at that
table. There was no way I would sit anywhere I could see or hear people from
that table. Not only that, but when the time I had to eat or die come, I planed
to pretend I�m in a whole different country. Maybe in
Brazil, because they have no guys there, just beautiful girls in small
underwear, and they don�t give me headaches or any
aches at all. But anyway, I was already out in the
garden � and yes, Neji was now looking right at me � so I walked to them to say
hi.

�Hi.� I said.

A hush fell over the table. Aside from Iruka and Itachi,
both regarding me carefully with completely opposite expressions, and Sasuke
who ignored me, everyone were avoiding to look in even remotely my direction,
in that obviously awkward way. Sure tableware was nice and shiny, but that kind
of intense staring down at it could end badly for their mental health. Even if
I had any will left to eat, that would be impossible in this situation.

�I�m not very hungry.� I said. �I�m going to take a walk.�

It was a mistake to say that. I forgot Iruka was listening.

�You can�t eat? Are you feeling well?� He asked, frowning. I
was happy he didn�t get up to check my forehead, as I
knew he wanted to. That he never found fever didn�t
discourage him over the years to check for it every time I said I was not
hungry, which was rare. �Are you sick?�

�I�m fine. Just not hungry.� I try
to assure him with firm voice and a smile. It probably turned out snappy with
grimace.

�That�s the part that got us scared.� Ino said, smiling up
at me. �Why don�t you try to eat something anyway?�

Another hush, the table was so silent you could hear flies
flying around. No one actually thought I was insane enough to accept, I hoped.
It sounded worse then eating vegetables.

�Um, no. No thanks. I�m going to go
and take a nice, long walk.� Hopefully, by the time
I come back, you will all forget you ever knew me.

�Will you be able to teach your class later?� Neji asked.

�Why wouldn�t I?� I asked, suddenly afraid again. If he
wanted to fire me, he can just say it. Okay, maybe it would be better if he
told me in private, but better to just say it then to
leave me fretting like this.

�If you are sick, you shouldn�t be around the kids.� Neji
explained.

�I�m not sick! I�m fine! I just
want to take a walk!� Translation: to be as far away as possible from all of you! Was that really hard to understand, with the looks they were exchanging?

And what the hell is wrong with
Sasuke to eat his scrambled eggs so calmly next to his wife in his strange
shirt with high collar and expression that could only be appropriate on a ceramic
doll?� His blood could
probably be sold as snowmobile antifreeze.

I spun on my heel to walk away, bur before I managed even a
single step, a voice said:

�I�ll go with you.�

When did Gaara materialize in the garden? I haven�t seen him at all. When I turned, he was standing
there, obviously just arrived down for breakfast with his siblings. They were a
welcome change from the people at the table. Temari was smiling brightly with a
wicked edge and Kankurou was stealing food from the tray in the middle of the
table. Gaara was already walking towards me; none of them seemed awkward at
all. I cast another quick look on the table.

Neji and Sasuke both were doing vile things to their food,
God only knows why. Itachi was giving me sly smile and thumbs up. Sai was
telling something that made Sakura and Ino look at each other in panic. Iruka
was still frowning and looking intently at my forehead, as if that would help
him to check if I�m having fever.

Hinata caught my eye and gave me a weak smile. That settled
it.

I nodded to Gaara.

�Yes, sure, Let�s go.�

The park was the best for a short walk on an empty stomach,
so I lead our way there without thinking much about it. The class was at noon;
there wasn�t much time left anyway.

The shadows were thick down there; mud lingered just outside
of the path on both sides.

We walked side by side for some time in silence. I got lost
in the thought, thinking about all the ways I could apologize and explain
myself to Hinata. Why did she smile? Because Gaara offered to
go with me? But I hadn�t said yes yet, then. Maybe she was trying to
tell me that I should say yes?

The space on my right was suddenly empty. I turned back.
Gaara was sitting on a bench and looking at me. How is he doing that? I was
simply unable to keep up with the way he moved.

�Um, do you want to sit for awhile?� I asked, at total lost.

�Yes. You take a seat, too.�

Well,
when you ask so nicely� I
went back to him.

The bench was painted white, and it had armrests on the
sides. Gaara was sitting on the left side of the center; I had no choice but to
glue myself for the right armrest, as far away from him as I could. I was not
about to allow myself to get tempted and climb into anyone�s lap today.

The silence was not awkward with him, in the way it was not
awkward with a cat. You just don�t expect him to talk
for some reason, and you�re always bewildered when he does. Or
was it my experience that him talking meant something unorthodox and eccentric
was going to come out, so I didn�t mind out of fear.

�You said Friday.� Gaara said after a minute.

�I know.� I answered, because I had nothing else to say. I didn�t forget about that, and I was looking forward to it. I
made quite a mess from this vacation, didn�t I?

�We don�t have the time to wait that long.�

�We don�t?�

�It could be too late.�

It was too late already, an entire day too late. I had no
real way of knowing it, though; just a gut feeling. But you can�t just say to someone �I�m sure you�re great in
bed and all, but there�s this married guy, you see, and he�s such a good
kisser��

No, I didn�t want to think about in
that way. I should take this opportunity and know for sure. Maybe it would
work. Maybe I�m just gay through and through, and that
kiss yesterday was how it�s supposed to be always, but I never experienced it
before, because I had no idea I was looking in the wrong section.

Gaara moved closer and all of the sudden I was fourteen
again, nervous beyond all reason about the first kiss. Determined to go through
this anyway, for everyone�s sake, I turned to him putting the brave face on.

We were already very close; all I had to do was lean a
little.

It was a good kiss; better then most. He was almost gentle
but unyielding; with one hand up, touching my cheek with his fingers, as to
make sure I would not draw away without actually
keeping me in place. Relaxing, I closed my eyes and tried not to think too
much.

It was not so easy not to think, not when I knew how much
depended on that kiss for me. At the time I was by all laws and means supposed
to enjoy that lemon curd-y sweetness with a faintly bitter edge and his velvety
tongue, in the back of my mind memory of the wind was trying to blow me away,
to make me remember � well, things that happened yesterday in the wind.

Not fair flew
through my head and I shut my eyes tighter, kissing harder.� But the memory of
Sasuke�s hands on my skin was still there, still just as amazing as it was
yesterday, only � colder? I snapped my eyes open, unreasonably shocked with the
fact it was Gaara�s hands under my
shirt and the kiss, just like that, was broken beyond repair. I licked my lips,
searching for something to make me regret that it stopped. Aside from the �sure
it was nice, kissing always is�, there was nothing in me that was sorry.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but the words wouldn�t fall out.

Gaara nodded. And in that moment,
when by all the rights in the world he was supposed to be at the very least
insulted, and there was nothing, nothing at all on his face, I knew without a
chink of doubt that this could have never worked out.�

�I�m wasting my time.� He stated. I could do nothing else
but nod back once. My life was becoming one of those nightmares in which you�re running in circles without hope to ever stop or arrive
where you�re headed. �You should ask your family if they want to go to circus.�

�What?� I did realize that after the latest fiasco, the date
would be off. That Gaara was gracious enough to extend his invitation instead
of withdraw it surprised me, not that I knew him enough to have the right to be
surprised by anything he did. I asked more because I needed time to process it,
rather than because I haven�t heard or understood.

�Tickets are not hard to get by. They can come if they
want.�

I accepted and acknowledged his generosity with another nod,
and watched him walking away without any hurry down the path until he
disappeared around the bend. It took me a lot of time to find the energy to
stand up myself and head back to the hotel.

Neji was still sitting in the garden, at the table nearest
to the door. He was probably waiting for me, all alone there. Even under his
calculating gaze, I couldn�t stop dragging my feet but
all too soon I was standing in front of him with my head hung low.

Instead of yelling at me, as I half expected him to do, Neji
simply stood up and told me.

�Follow me.�� In any
other situation, I would be snapping at his tone because he sounded as he was
ordering a dog around, but I couldn�t do that. If he
wanted to treat me as a piece of dirt for hurting his sister, then he could. I wasn�t about to say a word.

In the lobby, Sasuke was sitting in his usual place, waiting
for my class to start and drinking his sugarless lemonade. Neji told him,
without slowing down:

�You too.�

�What?� Sasuke asked, but Neji was half way across the room
already. He didn�t really expect Sasuke heard him
through the closed door when he ordered me to follow him, did he? Or he wanted me to tell Sasuke we are in some undefined kind
of trouble?

�Scorning, I think. With occasional
shouts, in appropriate places.� I said, only slightly slowing down and
keeping my voice low. �And some whipping to sink it in
better.�

Sasuke glanced at Neji�s back disappearing around the
corner; then he stood up and took his little doctor bag that was always with
him. I walked by.

�It�s worse then that.� Sasuke
said, not too far behind me.

It turned out he was right, it was much worse then scorn and
whipping. Neji walked into his office, and held the door for the two of us to
come in behind him.

�You can use my office.�

I blinked first; I know I did. We were supposed to use his
office for what, exactly? �Fight, talk, kiss?

�What?� I squeaked on the last bit.

�Come here, you idiot.� Sasuke said behind me. When I
turned, his bag was open and he was holding a stethoscope in his hands.

�What�s that for?� I asked suspiciously. Technically, I knew
what is it for �� bold, middle aged
doctors used it on innocent kids on those yearly check ups school were
organizing all the time, I just didn�t get why they needed it now. It was for
listening someone�s heartbeat � oh my God, I knew exactly what was it for!
�You�re trying to polygraph me!�

�What?� It was Neji�s turn to ask. He frowned at me,
confused as hell. Okay, so maybe that wasn�t it after
all.

�It is also used for listening to lungs.� Sasuke said, as if
he followed my train of thought precisely.�
�Neji wants to make sure you�re not sick.�

�I�m not sick.� I stated firmly, and straightened my
shoulders to show exactly how much I was not sick. �I feel fine.�

�You have been dragging your feet the entire morning.� Neji
informed me. �I don�t want you with near the kids if you�re sick.�

�I�m not sick!� I managed to repeat once more before Neji
walked out.

Once we were alone, the awkwardness made me really nervous. Sasuke was standing next to the table with
his stethoscope in his hands.

�Um, what now?� I asked.

�Now, you come closer. This doesn�t have a remote.�

I walked closer cautiously, watching the instrument. My
heart was beating furiously in my chest - if he was to listen to my lungs, it
was probably impossible for him to miss
that. I took my time, trying to get it to slow down, but the booming in my
chest only multiplied with every step.

�It�s just a stethoscope!� Sasuke barked out. �Stop acting as
if I�m going to try to do a rectal exam on you with it!�

I stepped back automatically.

�Rectal�What?�

But that was apparently all the
patience Sasuke had for me. He grabbed my arm before I registered he moved at
all and pushed me into big, leather chair.

�Take your shirt off.� He ordered. I gave him a �you can�t
be serious� look. �Or pull it up, whatever.�

�But I feel fine! And I might actually catch a cold if I
keep taking my clothes off!�

�You can�t catch a cold from taking your shirt in a middle
of a warm, summer day. You can�t catch the cold from
taking your shirt off in a middle of January.
It�s a virus caused disease, so pull your shirt up so we can get this over
with!��

Oh, well. I had no choice but to do what he wanted.�

He placed thin ends in his ears, and a wide one on my chest.
It was cold as ice, and I hissed. After some random moving around, the damn
thing warmed up, but just as became actually pleasant, Sasuke stopped to look
up at me. He was angry again about something, and I haven�t
done anything, I swear!

�You�re holding your breath!� He said, through gritted
teeth. �How am I supposed to hear if your lungs are working fine if you don�t
breathe?!� �

I haven�t even noticed I was
holding my breath. I was too busy trying not to do some other things to notice
a stupid thing like that.

�You never told me to breathe!�

�What, you breathe only when someone tells you to?� Before I
could yell back at him again, he continued, with a jerky head movement meant to
shut me up. �We will try this again, okay? Inhale, as deep as you can.�

I decided this torture would end quicker if I follow his
instructions, so I did what he told me. For some time, I was inhaling and
exhaling by instructions. Then, Sasuke asked, much more calmly:

�Have you ever even been to a doctor before?�

�Not much since you stopped hitting me in the head.� I
answered, only half joking. I might have been to a doctor once or twice since
high school, but that was also for injuries, not � lungs.�

�Have you ever had a cold? Flu? Anything like that?�

I shook my head.

�No.� But then I remembered
something, from a long time ago. �I had a fever once, when I was eight.�

�You had a fever once.� Sasuke repeated tonelessly. �When you were eight.�

�I�m healthy.� I told him. He was leaned over me, with a
stethoscope still placed on my chest, but the �all business� air suddenly
tightened around us. My eyes, completely without my permission, paused on his
neck that was visible now when he was bending forward like that. I forced them
to look down at my hand. Hey, they were interesting, too, squeezed tightly and
sweating! �As you can hear.�

Sasuke moved away.

�Turn around.�

I turned my chair around. There was a beautiful landscape
picture on the opposite wall. Behind me, Sasuke said:

�Naruto. You are a complete moron.�

There was fire missing in that, so I didn�t
respond in quite as loud voice as I would otherwise.

�I�m not! You told me to turn around!�

�I meant,� Sasuke bit out, turning my chair so we were
facing each other again. �Turn around so I can listen to your lungs through
your back.�

�Oh.� Was all I managed. It was a little odd to ask me to turn my
chair to face away from him, now when I thought about it. I had to get up so I
can turn my back completely to him; the chair was too small. Sasuke ordered
once I leaned on the desk, holding my shirt up:

�Breathe.�

Neji�s working desk was a good distraction, full of various
things neatly organized. I had a better idea about how this worked by then, so
the back part passed without incidents.

�There�s nothing.� Sasuke announced. I faced him, relived.
He somehow managed to put the stethoscope aside, and replace it with a wooden
ice-cream stick. �

�Oh God,� I said, but I was more joking then seriously
afraid. Sasuke heard my heart beating as a crazy drummer, and he didn�t say anything. Everything else, I could deal with. �What�s
that for?�

�To check if your throat is red. Open your mouth.�

�It should be red. It was red this morning when I washed my
teeth.� I assured him whole-heartedly. He insisted on checking anyway, but I
could see him hiding a smile. You can�t hide much from
a person while trying to see what they had ate last, but trust Sasuke to try.

There was a knock on the door, but even though we both looked,
they opened only after Sasuke announced it was open. A head of dark hair peeked
in. It took me a second to realize it was Hinata and not Neji, and I jumped a
big step back, hitting the chair behind me and ending flat on my ass.

�Naruto!� Hinata shrieked. �Are you
okay?�

She was asking me if I
was okay? This
girl is too good for this world, I thought and tried to stand up. Hinata
came closer, offering me a hand. I froze in mid-movement, watching her
outstretched hand as if it was the most amazing thing in the world.

Hinata turned to glance at her husband. He apparently saw
her, because he answered her silent question without looking up from the bag
where he was packing back his things:

�Only help he needs is psychiatric help.�

Hinata looked down at me again, and offered me a smile.

�We � we will talk as soon as I come back, okay?��

�...Back?� I managed, as a way of asking
�Where are you going and when are you coming
back?� My amazing eloquence didn�t confuse Hinata
at all.

�I have to go back to the city; I have some very important
meeting to attend to. It�s only for a day or two, and
then we can talk about this. Are you sure you�re okay?�

Well, I never said I was, not to her. I nodded anyway.

�My cab is here, and I just wanted to tell you I�m off.�
Hinata told her husband. Sasuke placed a little kiss on her
hair, she smiled and walked out. It would make
a lovely scene, only if it wasn�t for me, still
sitting on the floor and looking up at them.

�Stop rolling around the floor, you have a class now.�
Sasuke told me.

I jumped on my feet. What was that? Why was Hinata, out of
all people, treating me so normally?

�She�s taking this very well.� I finally said.

�She is taking it as a smart woman, able to deal with a
difficult situation should. She is taking it as my wife should.� Sasuke answered, half way to the door already.
Then he looked back at me, and I had a feeling he had his eyes open for the
first time since yesterday. �That doesn�t make the situation any better.�

�No,� I agreed and followed him out. �It�s just makes your wife brilliant.�

A/N: The scene with Gaara was the hardest thing I wrote up
until now. I need a comfort chocolate cookie. And yes,
Hinata is going away for a day or two; I�m sure you all know that does that
mean.�
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

In the Mountains