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•••

Author P.O.V

There was something about time and how it seemed to move so slowly whenever someone or something you're so use to having around was not longer with you.

The mere presence of that object or person brought so much stability to your life that when their gone, it's like a part of you goes along with it and no matter how much Naruto tried to convince himself that he was done with Kiba.

At the end of the day, he still traveled endlessly in his mind.

The day he told Kiba they had ended was the last day he saw the brunette. He had walked all the way over to Sasuke's hotel and took brief residence there, which Sasuke agreed to without hesitation.

He was beyond happy at first, but eventually he became bothered by the constant thoughts of the brunette, wondering if he was okay, thinking he might've went back to his spot to harm himself, thinking he's with some else, or worse, he was doing just fine without him.

They weren't easy thoughts to bear, especially when it was over someone Naruto believed he didn't have that type of feeling for.

"You okay baby?" Sasuke asked as he glanced at his fiancé before returning his attention to the road.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You seemed to be pretty out of it this whole week." He pointed out in a gentle tone.

"Really? Has it been bothering you?"

"Of course not. It's just when you came over to spend 'surprise week with your fiancé' I was expecting a lot of attention, but we barely had time together because I had to do work and when we were together, you seemed to be mentally elsewhere." He explained. "It just feels like something is troubling you."

Naruto didn't tell Sasuke the truth to his surprise visit after he abandoned Kiba at the therapy center. He thought that spending a day with Sasuke would ease the pain that he felt when he had been betrayed by Kiba that day, but a day turned two and that turned into three.

Then before he knew it, it was a week. One with highs yes, but the lows just always had more of an impact on him.

"I'm sorry, it's probably just me being nervous of the wedding or wondering about my friends back on campus." He lied.

"I hope you're not getting cold feet. That day means a lot to me, and I hope you feel the same too."

"It does, Sasuke."

"So you don't need to be nervous, I'll be there with you, forever and always, right?"

"Hm, right." He blushed as Sasuke intertwined their fingers together and squeezed his hand gently.

"Speaking about friends, I haven't met them so if it makes you feel better you can definitely invite them to the wedding."

"Really? You mean that?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, it's just they're kind of different to what you would associate yourself with..."

"How different?"

"You like Neji, right?" Naruto smiled playfully, earning a knowing side eye from Sasuke that made him chuckle a bit.

"I feel like I should've kept my mouth shut."

"Oh come on, Sasuke! You'll love them, just like how you love Neji."

"Hm, sure. I absolutely adore your best friend Neji."

"Don't forget TenTen."

"Trust me, I've tried to forget both of them." Sasuke replied in a low tone.

"Haha that's not nice."

"Who said I was nice?" He asked with a smirk.

"Then what are you?"

"Maybe I'm a little naughty."

"In what world?"

"My world, which is you and if you don't believe me then just look at your upper torso." Sasuke teased while biting his lip playfully.

Naruto looked down and hid the blush that decorated his cheeks as he pulled up his collar that hid the pattern of love bites that Sasuke had given him over the course of the week.

Despite his mind being on Kiba, he couldn't hide the fact that his body still craved the touch and affection of his fiancé.

"That's the smile that I like to see." Sasuke smirked, knowing that Naruto loved when he spoke about such things. One of the many things he to took note of when interacting with him recently.

"I'm sorry that I've been out of everything recently." Naruto apologized once more, feeling content in that moment.

"It's fine, you'll get over it eventually."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"How?" Naruto smiled, both jokingly but also really intrigued in what remedy Sasuke could hint to him to get over Kiba.

"I can't say, but life just has an interesting way of removing things that serve no purpose to your growth." Sasuke stated as he pulled the car to the side and came to a stop.

He looked at Naruto who was already pondering on his advice, it wasn't hard for him to connect it to Kiba, but Naruto didn't feel like Kiba stopped his growth, if anything he felt he grew him in a different path than what he was doing to himself.

Naruto's growth involved him being a Fraud, and he was fully aware of it now. Kiba just tried to break him out of that mold.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that your advice reminded me of someone." Naruto confessed, feeling as though Kiba would've advised him the same thing.

"Is it Neji? Because I fully support your decision to drop him." Sasuke joked.

"Haha I'm sure he'd say the same thing Sasuke."

"Haha really? Well it's too bad he doesn't know how in love with each other we are."

"Yeah..." Naruto trailed. "It's too bad."

"If it makes you feel better I kind of have a surprise for you." Sasuke hinted while pursing the smile on his face.

"Another one?"

"Yeah why?"

"You've been surprising me all week, you're spoiling me at this point."

"I wish I could spoil you even more, but I'll have to wait on our honeymoon for that." He teased, making Naruto's cheeks glow red as he hid his face under their hands.

"You can continue."

"Well, seeing as by next year we'll be together forever, I wanted to start getting to know you a bit more, personally. It might be a bit of prying but I'd like to take you back to your parents for your Winter Break."

"How would that be prying?"

"Because I'd like to spend the holiday with your family, seeing as next year we'll be uniting both our families."

"Sasuke... but I thought you'd like to spend it with your family."

"I do! Don't get me wrong, but you're going to be my husband soon and I don't know, I just feel like I want to spend time with the guy who just makes my heart feel fuzzy." Sasuke explained with a light blush over his cheeks. "So what do you say? I can't do this without knowing what you think of course."

"I say," Naruto began, thinking that it would be a great idea to really seal the deal of giving up on Kiba and basically the life that he would've wanted to live outside of everyone's decisions for him. It didn't make him entirely happy, but if it meant he got to be with the man he loved and living the life his parents would approve of, then he was willing to do it. "Yeah, I'd love that."

"You really mean that?" Sasuke asked, his eyes glistening with hope.

"I'll admit it, I'm scared." Naruto found himself saying, not feeling as though he needs to lie to Sasuke anymore. He felt that eventually if he kept lying to himself then everything would be fine, but he didn't want to lie to anyone else anymore. "But I really do mean it Sasuke."

"Fantastic..." Sasuke trailed as he smiled and leaned in to kiss the blonde.

Naruto loved this affectionate side of the ravenette, it was something new and something he never thought that Sasuke had in him. But life must've had a funny way of bringing out certain behaviors from people, things that others would never be able to predict and Naruto felt that in Sasuke's eyes, they were the same.

Only difference was, Sasuke was being his true self with him.

The kiss lasted for what Naruto wanted to be a lifetime, the feeling of Sasuke's lips against his just cleared his mind with every lap, every glide of his tongue against his lips and every small touch that the ravenette couldn't seem to help himself to give. He felt connected to Sasuke more than ever and that this was life should be like.

In short, he felt perfect with him. Like nothing could ever go wrong.

"I hope my kisses make you just as happy as yours make me." Sasuke smiled against his lips.

"Hm? What was that? My mind went absolutely blank a second ago." Naruto joked.

"Haha, you sure know how to make a man happy, Naruto." He laughed as he leaned back and watched his finally happy fiancé staring at him.

"Well, I guess you can thank yourself for that one."

"I will, but I think there's a better way for us to thank each other about that." He winked.

Naruto laughed to himself as he exited the car and leaned against the window while blushing. He looked at Sasuke and the more he did was the more he didn't want to go because chances are the moment he walked through that gate was the moment his smile would be gone.

With him being gone for a week there was no doubt in his mind that Kiba would've told his friends everything already and they would've dropped him because of it.

That was a fate Naruto was willing to accept.

"I love you, Sasuke." He breathed with a gentle smile.

"I love you too, Naruto." Sasuke replied as his ring glistened in the Sun, causing Naruto to squeeze his more confidently. He figured it was time to embrace reality and take his time getting rid of that of which served no purpose to his life.

"So I'll be seeing you at my dinner table Monday, right?" Naruto asked as he backed away.

"Yeah! And we'll be riding there on Sunday, so tomorrow you better get everything packed up and ready."

"It's a deal." Naruto agreed.

"Then I'll see you, baby." Sasuke smiled as he started the car and prepared to drive off as Naruto waved to him and waited until he couldn't see the car anymore before finally heading towards the gate.

Only thing he didn't realize was that Kankuro had been out there and even though he wasn't close enough, he saw everything.

•••

Naruto walked through campus confidently while admiring his ring. A few students watched as he was visibly happy as he moved that it just had to draw some attention. He wasn't scared of it anymore, rather he embraced it.

He believed everything was as it should be and life was great so why worry about anything.

He had to lose apart of himself to get it, but he recognizes that in life some sacrifices just have to be made to get what you need. Losing himself was one of those things, but he just summed it up to be one of the things that served no purpose in his life.

Accepting his fraudulent persona.

"NARUTO!" He heard someone scream from across the campus. "NARUTO! WAIT UP!"

As he followed the voice he was shocked to see that it was exactly who it sounded like. In the distance was Ino, Sakura, Rock Lee, Gaara and Kauri coming towards him with Rock Lee and Gaara moving a lot faster. They all had smiled on their faces, which made Naruto even more nervous.

He wondered what kind of psychos smiled as they approached someone they didn't like.

Gaara and Rock Lee pulled him from his thoughts with a large hug. He expected this from Rock Lee, but Gaara surprised him, immediately he remembered to not judge a book by it cover and he promised Kiba he'd stop doing that.

"Dude! How have you been?" Gaara asked.

"You've been out of it for like a week now!" Rock Lee added.

"Huh?" Naruto mumbled, still in disbelief and utter confusion.

"Lay off him guys! He might be drowsy from the medicine, don't tackle him like that." Sakura adviced them.

"Yeah, when are your two going to run towards us like that?" Ino questioned while looking at the two.

"I always run to Sakura." Rock Lee pointed to which she happily agreed to.

"Okay, you do, but what about Gaara?" She asked.

"Hey! It's a guy thing, don't stress me out." Gaara replied.

"How is it a guy thing, if Rock Lee does it Sakura?" Ino asked with her hands on her waist.

"The answer to that better be appropriate." Sakura warned to which made Kauri chuckle.

"Babe, you know I love you. I don't need to run to you because I just wanna take things slow, there's no rush in that. The flowers take their time to bloom and next thing you know, they're as beautiful as you." Gaara complimented, kissing Ino on her temple and turning her frown into a goofy grin.

"Perks of dating a poet." She smiled as she rubbed her shoulder against Sakura and Kauri who gave her a knowing look as they all laughed.

"Hm, Naruto are you okay?" Kauri asked, which surprised him even more.

"Um..." He tried.

"Of course he's not. Those meds must've messed up his brain, nice job Sakura." Ino scolded the pinkette.

"Oh shut up! They won't affect his brain, they just help him sleep better as his his body needs rest and time to heal." Sakura replied.

"Time to heal?" Naruto asked.

"Sounds like it overhealead him." Gaara joked.

"Yeah Naruto, you we're sick for about a week now, don't you remember? Kiba has been staying with you the entire time." Rock Lee reminded him.

Immediately it came to him, Kiba lied to his friends about him being sick most likely to avoid the confrontation that would happen if he told them the truth. Without, a second thought Naruto slipped his hand in his pocket and tried to remove his ring.

"Oh yeah! I was sick!" He laughed, pretending as if he remembered. "Damn, it was hell my back was aching, I could hardly walk, hardly talk! It was a whole physical thing, ya know?"

"That sounds like me on a Friday night." Ino chuckled, earning a laugh from everyone except Gaara who scolded her and pinched her nose.

"I'll be sure to keep you tied up on Fridays." Gaara replied.

"That sound less like a punishment for me and more like a fetish for you." Ino challenged.

"If it was a fetish, I'd be the one getting tied up." Gaara smirked.

"Can you two get a room? Wait! Let me not start because you both will." Sakura chuckled before diverting the attention back to Naruto. "Naruto, I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm sorry you had to go through all that pain so suddenly, but I hope the medication I gave Kiba helped you out a lot."

"Uh, yeah it did! Thank you again, if I didn't say it before."

"You did, Kiba told me already."

"Of course he did." Naruto smiled, but was mentally fighting every urge in his body to sigh and just pass out in front of them to get away from this conversation.

"You two really are lucky to have each other. Hopefully when I'm sick I'll have Sakura to take of me like Kiba does for Naruto." Rock Lee wished.

"Don't call any sickness down on yourself, love." She smiled. "You don't need to be sick for me to take care of you."

"I like the sound of that." Rock Lee smiled even wider.

"Then they say that we're the sexual ones." Ino judged.

"You two are the sexual ones." Kauri agreed with a side eye.

"As if you and Choji didn't go at in Shikamaru's car?" Ino exposed.

"Oh My Kaguya! It was literally one time." Kauri blushed.

"One time for six months straight?" Ino asked.

"Girl, you've seen the inside of Shikamaru's car, don't act clueless." Kauri pointed out.

"Yeah, but I like the fur in Sakura's car." Ino replied.

"What!?" Sakura interjected.

"Anyway, Naruto we should all probably get going because tomorrow tonight is drunk night!" Ino announced, changing the subject immediately despite Sakura nudging her.

"What's tomorrow night?"

"What!?" Ino asked. "Don't tell me you forgot? It's WINTER BREAK PARTY NIGHT!!!"

"Oh, the party I completely forgot."

"You don't have plans do you?" Gaara asked.

"Uh, no, but it really did slip my mind. I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine, you were sick, we get it." Kauri smiled.

"Right..."

"So it's settled? You're coming, right?" Ino asked.

"Of course..."

"Yes! Alright then we'll see you, and remember to bring what you're supposed to bring." Ino advised him.

"Any idea what that might be?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I'll wait and see what you and Kiba do actually need to bring, Mr. Amnesia." Ino teased.

"He doesn't have amnesia, and speaking of that! What do you mean you like the fur in my car?!" Sakura demanded to know.

"GAARA!" Ino screamed as she began to run away while Sakura chased after her.

Naruto laughed along with the others, he was happy that they still considered him their friend and wanted to hang around him, but he felt it was only because they didn't know the situation.

If they did, then he might lose them.

"Hey, Naruto?" Kauri said in a low tone, gaining back his attention.

"Hm, yeah?" He replied a bit confused as to why the girlfriend of his ex friend was speaking to him after everyone else had taken their leave.

"About the party, before we get there do you mind if I pull you away for a second to have a word?"

"A word? About what?" He asked, as she waited politely.

"Just something I think we should talk about when the time is right? So do we have a deal?"

"Um I don't really know..."

"Come on, it'll be a quick chat and you can get right back to Kiba afterwards." She smiled, eagerly trying to convince him, which admittedly did make Naruto smile back.

"Ah, okay. It's a deal, but it's only because you were so persistent haha."

"If you think that was persistent then we have a lot of getting to know each other to do haha." She replied, laughing alongside him.

"Hey Kauri, you ready!?" Rock Lee called out, waving to the two.

"Coming! See you then Naruto, thanks again!" She replied as she ran over to the group.

Kauri rejoined the group with Sakura holding Ino by her collar as the blonde laughed uncontrollably despite Sakura's stern expression. It seemed like Rock Lee was trying to calm her down, but she definitely wasn't having it. Though now Naruto was more curious about what it was that Kauri had to wait until the party to talk about.

Did she find something out? If that was the case Naruto wondered what it could be.

Maybe it was even about his past with Choji and Shikamaru, but why would she want to talk about that?

Regardless he didn't have a lot of time ponder because as it turns out, evil always knew when to tear it's ugly head.

"Hey Gaara!" Kankuro called out, causing Naruto to turn around and she him standing smugly. "Over here bro!"

"What do you want?!" Gaara asked.

"Just wanna talk to you for a bit, brother!" He shouted back, but something about the way he said it didn't sit well with Naruto. He didn't even like seeing him much less, so without a second thought as Gaara walked over to him Naruto took his leave, waving to his friends as they shared the same disapproving look as he did.

•••

Naruto made it to his room door and throughout all of this it just now came to his mind about the current situation.

He wondered how were things going to go now with him and Kiba in another dispute. Not only that, but this was the last one he was planning to have with him, he felt it made no sense to keep this anymore especially after what he did to him, but also what Naruto was doing him.

He didn't fully blame the brunette for everything because he had a part in all this as well, and with that in mind he figured that maybe it would be best to not just pretend like it didn't happen, but just keep out of Kiba's way and vice versa, he just hoped that Kiba would pick that up without him having to tell him.

"You cheating bitch!"

"Haha there's a first for everything dude!" A familiar voice replied, he recognized the first to be Kiba, but the second when he heard it sounded a lot like someone he couldn't believe might be here.

Naruto threw the door open to come back to his familiar space and scenery, Akamaru laid out on Kiba's bed, Kiba on the couch not even looking in his direction and a familiar long haired guy with a bright smile that he was proud to call his best friend.

"NEJI!"

"NARUTO!" Neji yelled, expressing the same type of energy as his best friend as they ran to each other and hugged each other until they fell to the ground and rolled.

"Oh My Kaguya! What are you doing here?!" Naruto asked in excitement.

"Why were you not here! I've been here for a week waiting for you man!"

"A week?"

"A week!"

"That's crazy I had no idea! I'm sorry for that, I must've-"

"Haha it's fine bro! Kiba told me all about it, you went to go and stay with a friend for bit cause you weren't feeling well, I totally understand!"

"He did..." Naruto trailed, glancing at Kiba who was already on his feet and getting dressed.

"Yeah man! He told me the whole gist of it and I get it, you got your priorities straight, but don't leave your boyfriend and more importantly your best friend hanging next time haha!" Neji scolded him before messing his hair up playfully.

"Haha I'll remember, but I still don't know why you came here though! And where's TenTen?!" Naruto chuckled, ruffling Neji's back.

"NARUTO!"

"TENTEN!?" Naruto screamed upon seeing her at the door along with Hinata who closed it behind them.

TenTen ran towards Naruto and engulfed him in a hug and they both began jumping in a circle to which made Neji join in and then he pulled Hinata in the mix and then Akamaru came in after. Kiba tried to hide his smile, but he couldn't help but chuckle lightly due to all the antics.

Once separated TenTen immediately fixed both their hairs to which they found amusing.

"How are you? How are you feeling?! It's been a long time!" TenTen beamed.

"I know right! Way too long, you both should visit a lot more often."

"Might as well just transfer at this point." Neji joked.

"I don't know about that, I do enjoy being greeted like this." TenTen replied playfully.

"I second that." Hinata agreed, causing the group to chuckle.

"But I do hope you're feeling okay now. Being locked up in your dorm room all week must've been hell." TenTen replied.

"Uh, yeah but I was taken care of..."

"I would expect that if you had both Kiba and Neji here with you haha."

"Huh?"

"Yeah he was in great hands haha!" Neji agreed, to Naruto's surprise, but he kept his composure.

"So you're feeling better for the party tomorrow night?" Hinata asked. "Shino has been dying to know so he can show you his bug collection before we all separate."

"Bug collection?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah it's coming around to winter and some bugs die during this time so he saves them and releases them once winter is over." She advised him.

"Eeer..."

"Haha I know it weird but he considers you a friend now and that's how he shows it, trust me it's not as bad as you'd think."

"Haha well I am actually going so I'll definitely be there to see it."

"Fantastic!"

"You better be, cause Sunday is our last day." TenTen advised him.

"Really?!"

"Yeah it sucks that Neji got to spend more time with you than I did, but I'll let it slide cause you were ill." She smiled.

"There's plenty of Naruto to go around babe." Neji reminded her.

"With you and Kiba around?" Hinata pointed out.

"Exactly!" TenTen agreed. "Thank you Hinata!"

"I'll do better, I promise! Tomorrow it's all about us!" Naruto promised. "Believe it!"

"We're holding you up to that." TenTen smiled.

"Oh! Hey TenTen? Do you still want to go and follow me to get some more stuff for the party?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah definitely!"

"You girls mind if I tag along?" Kiba asked, the first words he's spoke since Naruto arrived.

"Of course! Let's go, Temari and Shikamaru are waiting."

"Alright see you later baby." TenTen waved, kissing Neji on the cheek and hugging Naruto one more time before leaving with Hinata.

Kiba took up his leather jacket and ruffled Akamaru's fur as he walked over to the door. Naruto expected him to walk right past him, but to his surprise Kiba kissed him on his temple.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He announced, which went right through Naruto's head.

"Taking some time off?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, just need to sort some things out too."

"Like losing another match against me in the future haha."

"Hm, pretty sure it was a tie. Besides if it was real match I'd wipe the floor with you, mop head haha."

"And I'd sweep the floor with you, broom skull."

"Haha alright, I'll remember that." Kiba chuckled as he stepped through the door. "See ya!"

A series of things juggled in Naruto's mind at that time. He was confused as to why Kiba had lied to Neji on his behalf and kept this a secret from his own set of friends, not only that but he wondered why Neji agreed to what TenTen was saying despite that not being the case judging by what he said Kiba told him.

"Naruto?" Neji asked, pulling the blonde from his deep thoughts. "Something on your mind?"

"Hm? Uh no. Just lost track of time for a second."

"Well, we have up until tomorrow all to ourselves and I have to stay sober for the party in order to drive back so we need to drink and have fun from now like we should've been doing this whole week." Neji encouraged.

"Haha you just came to party, eh?"

"And be with my best friend? Yeah definitely!" Neji chuckled. "Now let's start off with some games, make some unhealthy food, drink some light beers and just enjoy our time."

"Light beers?"

"I said I wanted to drink, not get bat shit wasted. We both know we can't handle alcohol like that haha."

"Ain't that the truth haha."

•••

The duo spent the first part of their time together playing video games and watching various videos on hacks and cheats to get the absolute best experience out of the game.

"Wait go back and drive over to that lady over there!" Neji chuckled while tapping on Naruto's shoulder.

"Haha why? She's obviously a hooker."

"So? I've never seen the animation for it."

"It's not gonna show Neji!"

"I never said I wanted to it show I just wanted to see what happens." He replied playfully, sipping his beer while getting down the ground with Naruto. "I'm not a pervert."

"Haha sure. I'll do the favors for you then."

Naruto controlled his character and drove the car near the woman. The programmed conversation began and Naruto paid the woman to enter the vehicle whilst driving around for a nearby dark alley.

On the way he ran over five people which he and Neji found hilarious as they either got hit in a funny manner or just jumped in front of the car on their own.

Finally he brought the car to the alley and low sexual music began to play with another programmed conversation of the woman asking what the character wanted to do. The duo both looked at each other with a smirk and Naruto picked the oral sex option, to Neji's disappointed they didn't show what was happening in the car, but he did notice something else.

"You happy now?" Naruto grinned, knowing fully well nothing would've showed as he has tried before.

"I'm not answering that. But I got a question..." Neji replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Why is your money decreasing so quickly?"

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed, looking back at the screen he noticed his millions was swiftly decreasing before his eyes.

He exited the car and the hooker immediately did the same and started sprinting.

"Look at her running!" Neji bursted into a fit a laughter while rolling over on his back as Naruto ran after the woman with a katana.

As he was running the woman ran out into the streets and was about to jump over a wall, Naruto switched his weapon to a gun and aimed at her but he ended up dying as a car ran him over.

"Hahaha that was unbelievable!" Neji cheered while wiping his tears and rubbing his aching stomach.

"She robbed me and I died? That's not funny Neji." Naruto smiled despite being in disbelief.

"The streets were not made for you Naruto, just face it." Neji joked. "Besides don't sweat it, she was going to jump over that wall."

"So?"

"I'm pretty sure that was another road, so she either fell to her death or got ran over."

"Double homocide!" They said in unison before laughing even harder alongside each other.

After a few hours they settled down and decided to binge on their favorite shows that they used to watch during their time in high school.

"I can't believe you used to think Bella was hot." Naruto comment as he watched in disbelief.

"Dude, I was young! Besides, I might have a thing for brunettes obviously." Neji replied with a smirk as he laid upside down on the couch. "You're the one who had a crush on Edward's weird ass."

"Haha Neji! All I said was he was cute."

"That's not all you said. You used to say you saw what she saw and understood what she was going through, he's over a hundred years old Naruto."

"Well, he's over a hundred and the right tools still work like they're supposed to right?" Naruto teased.

"That, or maybe you just have a thing for guys who are borderline creeps and definet pedophiles."

"Hahaha I'm not laugh!" Naruto curled up, finding how ironic his statement was. "Better than crushing on a girl with no personality, besides Alice is way more attractive."

"I know, that's why I'm dating TenTen." Neji winked playfully.

"Ha! Okay Jasper, I know a flex when I see one."

"You know that blonde guy in the volturi?"

"The one with the awful haircut?"

"Yeah him!"

"What about him?"

"Nothing." Neji smiled before getting up and heading to the kitchen. It took a while but he knew Naruto would catch on and he was prepared for it.

"NEJI I DO NOT LOOK LIKE HIM!" Naruto yelled as Neji ran with Akamaru while laughing hysterically to bathroom with Naruto chasing after them.

"HAHA I NEVER SAID YOU DID!"

"YOU DIDNT HAVE TOO! BESIDES IF IM HIM THEN YOUR THE LEADER!"

"Haha that's a foul move! You know I hate Aro bro!"

"I never said you did, did I? Haha"

The two let out another series of laughter while Akamaru jumped around in excitement not having this much fun around him in a long time. This is just what Naruto felt like he needed to just get back to a time where things were simple and easy and he didn't have to worry about so many things.

The fun he was having almost reminded him of when he was younger and was friends with Shikamaru and Choji, they were a lot more mischievous and playful back then, but it was nice that Neji had some of that within him as well.

Birds of feather, truly do flock together.

"Hey Naruto chill out for a second. As much as I'd like to sit here and watch movies and play games I think I wanna get some fresh air." Neji laughed as he pushed him back and exited the bathroom.

"Fresh air? You want to go and troll around the campus?"

"No, I've been on a campus of my own for a while now I kind of want it to stay that way. I'm talking about maybe going into town and having some fun, maybe do some sightseeing."

"You really wanna do that? Haven't you seen it before?"

"Yeah, but that was with TenTen and we were just driving past everything. This time it'll be me and my best friend strolling around. What do you say about that?"

"I say hell yeah! We don't have too long so let's just go for it all day."

"We gotta be back by night though. Don't want to have you out all night without Kiba, cause I know TenTen would flip if it was me haha." Neji chuckled.

"Right..."

Naruto still felt uneasy about the whole thing but he wasn't going to bring it up, especially not now when he's having a great time with his best friend. He was still curious about what had transpired earlier, but thought that maybe Neji just slipped up his words and didn't realize.

Besides, bring it up would only have a domino effect, everything would just fall right after it.

"You okay, Naruto?" Neji asked as he was tying his hair and saw that the blonde was staring at nothing.

"Hm? Yeah, I just spaced out a bit..."

"Oh, thinking about all the fun we're gonna have?"

"Haha yeah. That's definitely it."

•••

Naruto and Neji set and made their way to the town in Neji's car, at first he was thrilled because he truly didn't get to see a lot while he was going to school here, but when he recognized the familiar road, buildings and advertisements it kind of ruin the joy for him.

"Um, hey Neji?" Naruto asked feeling unsettled.

"Hm?"

"Where are we again? I forgot to ask back at the the dorm."

"Oh! Yeah, we're in a town called Sagi, I think."

"Oh..."

"You alright? You seem like you know something about this place."

"Haha no it's just... I don't get out much."

"Well, that's what a friend like me is here for." He smiled, while winding the windows down. "So get some fresh air and let's just explore my blonde introverted friend."

Naruto smiled as the cool wind gently brushed against his skin, it was so cold but he liked how refreshing it almost felt. It was like it was taking it's time slowly pushing back the thoughts of what had happened the first and last time he went to this place.

That night, only tears decorated his face as he walked all the way to Sasuke's hotel feeling betrayed by someone he thought wanted him to trust him, but today he was here with his best friend making better memories for this place.

"Let's have some fun then!" Naruto smiled with a promising grin on his face that matched Neji's own as they entered the town to finish off their day together.

The duo parked the car and made their way to the Main Street where all the attractions were, it was a nice sight to actually stop and stare at everything instead of driving past it for Naruto. It was uplifting to see new people and experience a whole new world for him.

Neji pulled him along and they made their first stop to be the arcade, there were an abundance of games to play in the open shop and they wasted no time in having all the fun and collecting tickets for prizes behind the counter.

Naruto's eyes wanted the big stuffed fox on the top shelf and he was determined to get it, Neji on the other hand, just wanted to have fun.

After about half an hour or so the boys brought their tickets to the counter, but we're cut in front of by a couple of kids who also wanted the same prize as Naruto, of course given his nature he wanted to confront and despite Neji's plead he did so.

Long story short, it result in his tickets being revoked and both of them being escorted out by security.

Neji tried to hold down his laughter but it was absolutely hilarious to him how the blonde stood over three ten year olds and argued with them over a stuffed animal.

"What's so funny?!" Naruto asked with a pouted lip.

"Haha nothing, just thought you were past arguing with children."

"They cut the line Neji!"

"I know, but they're kids Naruto, they're just like that."

"Pftt! If you don't start correcting them at a young age they'll never learn the right thing when they're older."

"Oh! Look at you giving awesome advice, dude! College really has done wonders for you."

"Haha shut up, it isn't that much of a big deal."

"Are you kidding me? Normally you would've started rolling on the floor with those brats. I was kind of expecting you to too." Neji smiled, nudging Naruto gently.

"Hm, doesn't seem like something I wanna keep up, ya know? It's time for a little change." Naruto laughed, only for a second thinking about actually doing such a thing.

"Change eh? I like that thought process, it's that one thing that humans are capable of that set us apart from everyone else and each other."

"Each other?"

"Yeah, some people change for the better and some change for the worst."

"So would say that changes aren't always a good thing?" Naruto asked, putting himself in a questioning position despite not knowing why.

He felt like he had solved everything for himself already, but for some reason whenever situations like this presented it he was curious to know what others had to say.

"Take me for example, before I met you I was basically just another quiet guy in school."

"Oh please! You were just as talked about as Sasuke was."

"Yeah, but what were the things they had to say about me?"

"..." Naruto didn't respond, remembering that despite all the attention he received, Neji wasn't well liked.

"Exactly, I was called a snob, perfectionist, better than everyone even when I'm not even that important and the list goes on. But I never let any of it get to me, I just stayed the way I was."

"So you didn't change?"

"Not at first, but then you came along and you introduced me to TenTen and the both of you were like the embodiment of solar energy, just so bright and illuminating that it gave me a headache, but also brought out a change in me that I'm happy with."

"What was the change?" Naruto asked.

"You two made me realize life is too short to be living like you're not." Neji replied as he looked up at the stars in the sky. "It's too short to be living like it's not yours to decide what you want out of it."

"..."

"It's too short to have other people deciding what you should and shouldn't do with it, especially if what you choose isn't a bad thing."

"What would you consider a bad thing, Neji?" Naruto asked, his curiosity still peaking.

"Anything or anyone that doesn't make you feel happy shouldn't be apart of it."

"Oh..."

Naruto felt like something had struck him in his chest when all he could think about at the moment was Kiba smiling at him. He couldn't understand why he was thinking of him after he lied to him, but no matter how hard he tried to replace him with Sasuke, he just came right back to him.

In reality it was the loss of Kiba that made him think of him so much, because if they were together then he'd be too busy making memories with him.

He didn't want too, but he had to ask.

"What if you aren't happy with someone, but somehow life keeps pushing them back into you?" He asked, itching for the answer that he couldn't find himself, but felt like he knew exactly what Neji would say.

"Well that's either stockholm syndrome or the universe is trying to tell you something."

"Really, Stockholm syndrome? You think that person is Belle from Beauty and The Beast?" Naruto chuckled pushing Neji playfully to the side.

"Haha well in the end the beast wasn't such a beast after all, just normal guy with a good heart." Neji laughed as he ran up behind him and placed his arm of his shoulder.

•••

Later in the night the duo finally managed to finish their day together with a very songful drive back to the campus.

It was something they both missed and something Naruto was glad to have back and hoped that even when they were in their old ages they'd still be able to experience it all over again.

They snuck back onto the campus using the same method Naruto had did when it was with the group and Neji scaled the wall just perfectly, he felt somewhat proud of himself too that he might've learned it from him.

"What are you looking at me for?" Neji asked as he made sure his hair didn't get unravel.

"Oh no reason, just didn't know you could jump walls so well. Might've learned it from someone perhaps?"

"Hm, don't make me laugh. They don't call me Rapunzel just for show, I know how to scale a few walls."

They held a small talk on their way back to the dorm, luckily this time around security wasn't as tight as they had gotten rid of the one that caught them the night, a story he decided to share with Neji on the way.

They spoke about the arcade, the restaurants the went too, the karaoke bar, the pet shop and finally the park and the movie theater. It was a spectacular night to just unwind Naruto's mind and get him comfortable for what was about to come.

They arrived at the dorm and found that it was empty with only Akamaru once again keeping the spiders from thinking nobody stayed in this room. He was asleep on the couch and was very comfortable in doing so.

"Hm? Kiba must not be back yet." Naruto smiled, acting along with everything that he thought was happening and also being relieved that he wasn't there.

"Of course not, it's only after ten and he said he'd be back tomorrow." Neji reminded him.

"Hm? When did he say that?"

"Before he left, just after he kissed you."

"Oh, it must've slipped my mind. Sorry I'm so used to him being here that I'm kind of forgetting haha." He lied.

"Haha right." Neji replied, not so enthusiastically though, but it seemed to have went over Naruto's head.

"So you think Akamaru will like the toys we got him from the pet shop?"

"Probably, I don't think Kiba has gotten him anything new since recently to play with, he's just probably interested in running outside at this point." Naruto smiled.

"Really how so?"

"How so what?"

"Kiba hasn't gotten him anything recently..."

"I don't know man haha. He must be busy with his studies, he had actually switched majors to pursue something he liked a lot more after we had a talk."

"Really? That's so cool. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"It must've slipped my mind."

"Oh, well it sounds like you two have been really making progress together."

"Yeah... something like that..."

"You don't sound happy though." Neji replied, standing over the blonde as he sat on the couch and looked through the bag of various dog toys.

"I'm fine, everything is going great, ya know?"

"..."

"Kiba and I actually spoke before you had gotten here and we decided to cool things off for sometime. So we're actually not even together right now, ya know?"

"But he kissed you before he left."

"Well..."

"Also throughout the entire time of us talking about you two, neither of your said anything to about not being together."

"Haha you got me Neji! What I meant to say was were felt like we were together but we're not actually together."

"..."

"But we still decided to take a break from all that and-"

"Don't lie to me again, Naruto." Neji expressed, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Kiba already updated me on what's been going on the moment I got here, because unlike everyone else TenTen and I knew right off the bat that something was up."

"What do you mean?"

"We know you weren't sick. Kiba just told everyone else that so he didn't have to talk about what happened. A week ago when we got here Hinata let me into your room and TenTen went to stay with her because we wanted to surprise you. However, later on it the night when I was expecting to see you and your boyfriend happily welcoming me, all I was met with was his face with a grime expression.

"He tried to act as if everything was dandy and that you were just sick and with a friend, but I was buying it. So he told me what happened, and I'm expecting you to tell me the same thing."

"If he told you what happened then why are you talking to me as if I did something wrong?" Naruto asked, his joy deflating as the one thing he wanted to avoid was beginning to blow up in his face. "Shouldn't you be congratulating me for me making a good decision?"

"Do you even consider it a good decision?"

"..."

"Hm?"

"Neji he lied to me."

"I get that completely, don't get me wrong I'm glad you called him out on his bullshit about something you were uncomfortable with after you gave him your trust, but listen to me when I say this man. He had a good intention within it."

"How can you say that? Lying to me doesn't make a difference if it was for a good intention. He manipulated me into thinking that something was wrong with when it was me he was talking about this entire time!"

"And yet still you went with him because from what he told you made you concern about him, right?"

"Yeah so what?"

"Imagine it in his shoes then!" Neji pointed it out to him, lowering his voice as Akamaru stirred while sleeping. "You thought something was wrong with him that made you concerned when in reality the things he spoke about were the things he saw from you, which made him concern about you."

"..."

"I know it's fucked up the way he handled it, but would you have gone any other way?"

"..."

"Naruto, you're my best friend and I've known you for a long time. I know that it hurt you because I know the feelings you have for him. You leaving for a week wasn't just you being upset because you would've bounced back at any point, you left because you felt heartbroken over what he did because it conflicts with the lifestyle that you're still envisioning for yourself to appease to your parents."

"That has nothing to do with it, he lied to me and that all that matters."

"People lie in order to protect the ones they love Naruto. It's not always in the name of decite."

"That's bullshit Neji."

"Oh yeah? Then how about tonight we hung out all day and had a blast, when the reason I did this was to make you feel better because I know having this conversation with you right off the bat would've made you upset. Am I wrong?" Neji asked.

"..."

"You can't just push him out of your life, you know that right?"

"He's making a way for himself to walk out so why not?"

"He's not walking out, you're just not letting him in and even if you do, you'll only push him out when he starts making you feel good."

"I don't need him to feel good."

"You don't, but when you're not thinking for yourself or allowing your actual feelings to make your decisions then you won't feel good at all."

"Neji, please just stop. You're doing too much for him! I am making my own decisions and every time I do you guys have a problem with it. I'm making that change that you talked about earlier but every fucking time I thing I'm making a step further you guys pull him ten steps back!"

"Don't raise your voice! Akamaru is sleeping."

"And why should I care huh? I should be able to do what I want regardless of other people right!? So why now do you want to fucking stop me?!"

"Because you're being unreasonable! This is not what we want you to do, nobody wants you to rebel against your parents and be a disgrace to your family Naruto!" Neji tried to get through to him. "We just want you to be happy and be yourself!"

"I'm not going to always be there to stop you from making bad decisions and you're old enough to make your own decisions but as your best friend I want your happiness to be your first priority and for a long time I have never seen you as happy and as yourself as you are when you're with Kiba!"

"Even if he isn't the one changing you, I can see you becoming more of yourself for him!"

"That's the good type of change I was talking about, he's not changing you and you're not changing him, but the both of you make each other want to change!"

"Well, it's a bit too late for that." Naruto finished, not having the strength to argue anymore because he hated to feel like he was losing and he knew he was because no matter how much he tried to fight it, everything Neji said apart of him felt some truth to it.

"It's never too late."

"We don't talk anymore Neji and we never will be able too."

"Come on man, you're being a bit dramatic now." Neji smiled nervously feeling as though his friends was finally listening to him, but as Naruto faced him with tears in his eyes and the ring shining in his palm his face lost all expression.

"I'm not, because I'm engaged and it's too late because Sasuke is the man that I belong too."

•••