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Winner Takes All Lykomancer Naturally, Naruto had been the first to raise a glass in a happy toast, jumping up onto the table to beam down at the crush of friends and well-wishers that had gathered for the informal party after the formal announcement of the birth of Shikamaru and Temari's first child-- a pretty dark-haired girl-- and then had managed a surprisingly short speech and blessing that had made a third of those gathered burst into rolicking laughter, a third stare at him in disdainful bewilderment, and the rest just roll their eyes in a wordless some things never change before joining him in downing a glass of sake. Neji didn't remember when Sasuke had begun drinking, but when Naruto-- tipsy and weaving through the crowd with improbable grace-- finally spotted the small ivory-colored dish being lifted for another sip, his friend's face was already infused with a rosy glow, and the blond had slammed his foot down on the table and leaned into Sasuke's face, jabbing a finger into his chest, yelling exuberantly about a drinking contest; he'd already drunk enough by that point to accept the ridiculous challenge without a moment's hesitation, his black eyes narrowing a little as he kicked a second chair out from under the table in blunt invitation, insults already dripping from his lips. Things had rapidly gone downhill from there, and now here they all were, weaving down the main street through the Sand village: Naruto's one arm slung around Neji's waist to prevent himself from falling over his own sandals on his face and the other curled around a staggering Sasuke, who was in turn held up by a faintly disgruntled-looking Gaara of the Desert. The Kazekage was taking this surprisingly well, Neji thought, considering what a spectacle this was-- the two Kage of Konoha so drunk they could barely walk, disturbing the peace of quiet village night with their loud bickering and nuzzling at each other and both of their assistants with a distinct lack of discretion that could only be chalked up to the vast quantities of sake in their blood. Sakura was going to give him hell when word of this got back to her, he was sure. She'd sent him along to keep her two ex-teammates in line, and while they weren't doing anything dangerously stupid, this could hardly qualify as acceptable behavior and Neji supposes that he should have put a stop to it before it had even started...and long before Naruto accidentally dumped an entire bottle of sake down the front of Temari's shirt when he'd leaned over her shoulders to give her a drunkenly affectionate hug of congratulations. The bright scarlet handprint was still clearly visible on his face. "I tol' you," Sasuke slurred for what had to be the tenth time in as many minutes, pausing to rub his face against Naruto's shoulder with a pleased little noise, tongue snaking out to lap at the blond's ear briefly, "you can't com- compete 'gainst me... I'm not even drunk." "Yes, you are," Neji corrected. Naruto laughed, a little breathlessly, his head wobbling as he attempted to nod. "Y-yeah, right! You can't even waaaaalk straight, Sas...Sasuke." "Neither can you," interjected Gaara. His dark-rimmed eyes widened suddenly and he shied hard to the right, kicking up sand as he jerked away from Sasuke's wandering hand. "And you...keep your hands off my ass." "At least until we get back to the Kazekage's private apartments, Uchiha." Neji was practical about the whole thing, smirking to himself when he caught the way Gaara's head snapped around, his brow wrinkling as he stared at the white-eyed nin in startled bewilderment. "What?" "Soon? It's...'s not far?" "No, not far." "Excuse me?" "Good..." Sasuke's voice dropped into a low purr, dripping with anticipation, then he raked his eyes over the red-head hungrily. "Very, very...good..." Gaara's mouth shut with a snap. Naruto whooped gleefully, his voice echoing off the clustered buildings. "I wanna...wanna play, too! I...aha! I like this game a'ready!" The blond was seized with giddy laughter, and his grip around his lovers tightened as though he wanted to draw everyone in against himself. Sasuke stumbled a little with a soft hiss of irritation and raised a brow at his fellow Hokage, lips twisting into that particularly stubborn expression which should have set off alarms in the sober pair of the foursome, the same expression he'd worn earlier in the evening while pouring out the series of shots that opened their last petty bout of rivalry. "Game, huh? Y-you're gonna be s-s-second best again...heh." "You keep talkin' like that, y'cocky bastard. You're gonna bottom f'r all of us... See h-how mouthy y'are then..." "You think so? You're gonna change your tune when I mmmake you beg for it..." "Yeah, whatever, Sa- Sasuke... Your ass is mine." Naruto's snapped his teeth in a broad grin. "Hey." Gaara glared down the line at the noisy pair. "It's my country. You're my guests, staying in my quarters on my hospitality. Your asses are all mine." Neji could only laugh. |