Contrary to popular belief Naruto Uzumaki was not stupid. Yes, he did once let Kiba convince him that dragons were real, and there one was that time he used metal in his microwave. But the blonde haired twenty one year old was not so oblivious that he didn't notice the way Sasuke Uchiha was staring at his roommate. And while Neji Hyuga had never been accused of being slow, he was, as Naruto put it, 'an utter retard' when it came to realising that people were checking him out.

"Neji?"

Preoccupied with retrieving a water bottle from the depths of his bag, his friend made a vague noise of acknowledgement.

"I'm concerned for the virginity of your arse."

The water entering Neji's mouth made an abrupt exit through his nose. Regaining his composure he sent the blonde a scathing look. "If you are going to make such moronic comments could you not announce it to the entire corridor."

"The entire corridor needs to know how far I'll go to protect the bastard from raping you."

"The bastard?" Neji snorted. "You actually think Uchiha succumbs to human emotions such as lust? Tch, he doesn't want anyone."

Naruto really hoped that wasn't the slightest hint of regret he could hear in Neji's voice. Sure he wanted his friend to be more social, date more (date at all), but not with the world's most arrogant arsehole. He was probably reading too much into it, Neji freely admitted that he thought Sasuke was a prick. Still...

"We're not going to his party tonight." It was a well known fact that Sasuke lived with his older brother off campus, in what could only be classified as a mansion. It was the first time he'd held a party and Naruto had made an executive decision that they would attend in order to save the night from disaster. It had nothing to do with the fact that Naruto though it might be kind of fun, nothing at all. Obviously the bastard didn't know how to have fun.

"I wasn't planning on attending anyway."

"Who said you were invited loser?"

Naruto whipped around to face Sasuke's smirking face. There was no doubt the comment had been directed at him. "Ha you actually think you could stop me from getting in bastard?"

"I don't think, I know." His gaze slid to the brunette and his smirk widened.

"Just you watch. I'll be there and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Now quit eye raping Neji."

The long-haired brunette in question let out a hissed. "Naruto."

Sasuke arched a brow before walking past them without another word. Naruto glared after him before a triumphant grin spilt his features. "I'll show him. He won't be so smug when I'm dancing in his living room tonight."

Neji sighed. "You do realise he just manipulated you into attending tonight."

"No he di...damn. Damn him to hell and back. I'm so going to look like an idiot if I don't go now."

"You already look like an idiot," Neji informed him blandly.

-Break-

Naruto wasn't one to mope over things he couldn't change. It was why he was currently rummaging through his shared wardrobe for something to wear to Sasuke's party. Neji was being less than cooperative. He was sitting on his bed and reading a book. The first rule that the brunette had laid down when they'd started to room together was that under no circumstances was Naruto to interrupt while he was reading. He'd tried once and remembering the consequences still caused him to wince. But Naruto was nothing if not persistent.

Holding a pillow out in front of him defensively the blonde emitted a small. "Neji?" Predictably he was ignored. Gathering his confidence he repeated the name a little more loudly.

"Naruto. What am I currently doing?" Neji's voice was eerily calm.

"Er," he was still using the pillow as a shield. "Reading."

"Then, Naruto, why are you attempting to talk to me?"

Taking a deep breath, because he knew he could only win if he had the element of surprise, Naruto launched himself at his roommate. A brief scuffle ensued before the blonde finally had one very pissed off brunette pinned beneath him.

"I'm not going to that party alone."

"You're the one who said Uchiha was going to rape me."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah and you so didn't believe me. It will be fine, we'll just dress you up ugly." He eyed the pale beauty under him "Er, really ugly."

"Hn."

"We've been over this Neji , that's not a real word."

Thirty minutes later they were on their way to Sasuke's party. Neji was in sulk mode, which meant that outwardly he appeared as impassive ever if you didn't know him. But Naruto was well aware of the slightly downturned lips and don't-piss-me-off aura surrounding him. His attempt to make Neji ugly had been thwarted by the brunette's vanity. Apparently it didn't matter if he didn't look unattractive because he could take care of himself just fine. That's not what the blonde was afraid of. He was concerned about the fact that Neji might as well have 'rape me' painted on his forehead, coupled with the fact that Uchiha's always got what they wanted. Now you might think that these two details were unrelated, but you'd be wrong. It didn't help that Naruto could grudgingly, very grudgingly admit that Sasuke was sinfully attractive. If Neji really had been regretting Sasuke's seeming indifference earlier, then tonight could turn out very, very badly.

"Alright, we'll go in, find the bastard and leave. Simple as that."

Half an hour later he had no idea why he thought finding Sasuke among the thousand or so people there would be easy. It didn't help that he'd lost Neji about fifteen minutes ago. He'd never been to a party this huge before, it was impossible to take a step without running into someone.

"Naruto."

He craned his neck to try and locate where the voice had come from. A mop of shaggy brunette hair appeared in his line of vision. "Kiba."

"Man you look like you could use a drink, here." His friend chucked him a beer. Naruto eyed it contemplatively for a moment before shrugging and draining it.

"You got any more?"

"Yeah. I can't believe you came without booze."

"Wasn't planning on staying. You seen Neji?"

Kiba looked confused for a moment. "Yeah. He looked kind of panicked come to think of it, which is weird 'cause he pretty much always looks like he's bored. I guess this isn't really his scene though. Last I saw he was going upstairs with Uchiha."

"WHAT? And you just let him?"

Kiba looked truly bewildered now. "Well why wouldn't I? Sasuke was probably just being a good host or something."

Right, Kiba was strictly a tits man, he wouldn't have even noticed how enticing Neji was looking. Wouldn't have seen anything wrong with two guys escaping partygoers for a minute. Still... "Are you nuts? Sasgay never does anything that doesn't have his best interests in heart. Oh my poor little Neji, you've doomed him and his virginal arse."

"Eh? Oh...oh gross dude. Chill out will you, it's not like Neji would ever let someone take advantage of him. If they're up there boinking then I'm sure it's totally consensual. "

Naruto groaned. "That's what I'm afraid of. Look I'll see you later."

He pushed past crowds of people until he'd reached the stairs. Racing upwards he noticed there were far less people on the second floor. Opening doors at random did cause some mental damage. Especially when he came across a couple that looked suspiciously like Sakura and Lee doing something that resembled a sideways tango. The next door he opened revealed a young man in a suit, talking on his phone. The strangeness of the situation caused him to pause. Realising he was no longer alone, the man turned inquiringly to face him.

And for a moment Naruto forgot how to breathe. Glossy raven hair framed porcelain white skin, falling either side of two eyes which were an impossible garnet colour. As he willed himself to stop staring, Naruto noted absently that the man looked a little like the bastard.

Ending his call the man offered him a smirk. "Well, and what do we have here?"

So, um, if people like this I will continue. If not I'll delete it and try again with something new. I would really love some feedback, just so I know what I'm doing wrong and hopefully right. Thanks so much for reading. (This chapter was edited 24/10/10).