Art by SandGlass

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✨Commissions are open!✨ It's been a long time since I needed to separate these two styles for commissions, and I finally did it!💪 Now you can choose whether you want a lightweight style (smaller and after shadows, thinoutline) or a complex style (a lot of rough shadows, my favorite black silhouette outline). ✅ As before, any background, regardless of its complexity, is FREE. ✅ NSFW is negotiated separately (depending on the number of people on the art. Standard with two characters - fixed $ 55). ✅ I also take comics, the price of a comic is based on the calculation of the cost of each frame. Discount on comics (from 5 pictures combined with a common script) 20% of the final price. For any examples from the commissions, you can write to me in direct😉

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This is a random moment when Gaara said that he was ill and therefore did not attend university. Gaara is here for the first time for Neji without makeup.

- Yes, the strands are out 😄

- yes, without hats 😄

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How they spent the evening at Neji's place:

* Took a shower. Absolutely necessary after getting caught in that kind of downpour. Separately, of course.

* Neji once again has to lend Gaara some spare clothes. Gaara in oversized clothes is a sight to behold.

* Dinner was a must. Gaara was eager to cook something, but there was only so much he could do with Neji's fridge. Neji is used to eating out, and boiled buckwheat with milk hardly qualifies as a nice dinner. So they ordered pizza instead.

* While waiting for the delivery, they talked and played a little game of *Who Am I?* They somehow discovered they remembered Rapunzel very differently: was she a Disney princess? (Fuu had dragged Gaara to see the movie, so he's certain she is.) Or was she that Barbie doll with the paintbrush? (Neji remembers Hinata wanting one desperately as a child.)

* Then came a movie night: rain tapping against the windows, pizza on the couch, and a quiet evening together.

An emotionally charged day inevitably led to exhaustion. Gaara was usually a night owl, but the day had been packed with too much excitement. His thoughts gradually drifted toward the realization that the pizza box sitting between them was getting in the way of leaning against Neji's shoulder. He simply wanted to be closer—not because of hormones or anything suggestive, just because he felt comfortable around him.

Neji notices Gaara struggling to stay awake and suggests they call it a night (or rather, decide who gets the bed and who gets the couch). All day long, he'd been carefully watching his words and gestures, making sure not to give Gaara any mixed signals or scare him off.

The fact that Gaara soon falls asleep peacefully in Neji's bed feels like a small victory—and the first real sign of trust.

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They reached Neji's apartment.

For Gaara, there's nothing unusual about this gesture—he often wipes his face with his shirt during practice when he forgets his wristband. But to an outside observer, it might look like someone has gotten a little too comfortable and hasn't learned their lesson. Stepping on the same rake twice wouldn't be very wise, especially now that things are finally starting to work out, but Neji's reaction is basically: "Come on, are you serious right now?"

PS: It's not that the pants are sitting low—the rain just made them heavy. 🙌

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As they continue chatting, the two gradually wander from the busy, crowded part of the park into a quieter area. Beneath the dense canopy of trees, the gray clouds overhead are easy to miss. The forecast had called for rain, but who really takes weather forecasts seriously? Storms had been predicted for days, yet nothing ever came of it. Neither of them thought to bring an umbrella.

This time, though, the forecast was right.

At first, they try to wait it out in a rotunda, but it's open on all sides, and the wind blows the rain straight through, offering little shelter from the downpour.

In theory, they could cut through the woods to the nearest road and call a taxi. But during rush hour, they'd be soaked long before one arrived.

They could duck into a nearby café or store, but sitting under air conditioning while drenched doesn't sound much better.

Eventually, Neji suggests making a run for his place instead. It's only about a fifteen-minute walk from the park if they move quickly.

Gaara agrees.

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We've made it to date #3 ❤️‍🔥

This time, the guys have finally warmed up enough to hang out without any distractions and actually talk.

The conversation drifts to dancing. Gaara mentions that he's back with a dance team and that they'll be performing at the Youth Day festival—right here in the same park they're walking through. From there, the conversation naturally shifts to K-pop.

Neji insists that Korean culture hasn't spread nearly as far as people claim—he's completely out of the loop. Gaara argues the opposite: music, dance, movies, food... Speaking of which, he decides it's time for Neji to try something.

"Meet the corn dog—the ultimate Korean street food classic. Eat it while it's hot, or it won't taste nearly as good."

"That sounds less inviting than vaguely threatening," Hyuga remarked, setting his drink aside.

Judging by the name and the way it looked, Neji expected some kind of battered hot dog on a stick. So after his first bite, he definitely wasn't prepared for the massive amount of melted cheese inside. It just kept stretching and stretching, no matter what he did, making the whole situation look both ridiculous and oddly entertaining. Gaara couldn't hide his amused grin, and when the last strand of cheese finally snapped, he kindly handed Neji a stack of napkins.

"You could've warned me about that little trap," Neji muttered, taking the napkins from him.

"Oh? I thought you'd figure out it had a cheese filling..."

"Naturally. A name made up of the words corn and dog clearly implies melted cheese wrapped in instant ramen."

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i love your comics and really want to read them in order. how can i do that plss?

I'm ashamed to admit, but I hadn't thought about it before. Excerpts from this story continue to be drawn, and not always in chronological order. But now you've made me think that I need to find a place where I can post and rearrange posts in order to build a chronology on my own… That would be really good.

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Since the guys hadn't seen each other for about three years, they first needed to figure out where everyone stood skill-wise. Gaara had been a solid intermediate dancer in hip-hop, but it was K-pop where he really came into his own and, arguably, surpassed the others. His standards were higher, and since dancing had become his main outlet, he devoted a lot of time to it. So the question of whether to accept him into the group or not wasn't even up for discussion.

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Earlier, there was a scene where Neji treated Gaara's bruises. That happened after Gaara left the dance group at the club. More precisely, he was kicked out after getting into a fight with a customer: the guy was drunk and kept harassing people, and Gaara eventually got tired of putting up with it. But by that point, Gaara already understood what the consequences would be for his place in the group, so I'll simply say that he "left."

Later, I showed a flashback from when Gaara was still doing hip-hop. There were two other guys in the group who, after several performances at the club, decided to leave as well. They didn't want to put up with the changes in the club's target audience.

In the summer, after everything that happened at Hinata's house and after several attempts to reconcile with Neji, Gaara will also be contacted by an old acquaintance. He'll offer him a spot in his dance team—they're short one member. And Gaara was actually pretty good.

They dance K-pop too, but instead of performing in clubs, they take part in city events, festivals, and youth competitions—without all the shady stuff.

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Time for a second date

(if the coffee run “for his sister” counts as the first one)

The two of them still don't talk that much. Neither wants to rush things, but they do want to spend time together, so they need something neutral — a place where awkward silences won't feel awkward. A movie is the obvious choice. Neji suggests going, but leaves the film selection to Gaara.

Gaara is a horror fan. New releases are often hit-or-miss, and if he's going to introduce someone to his favorite genre, he'd rather do it with something genuinely good. Some theaters occasionally screen older hits, which is exactly what he needs. He settles on *The Nun* — beautifully shot, with an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Great atmosphere, solid story. A perfect choice for the occasion.

This is where their familiar teasing starts to return.

Neji buys the tickets at the counter and asks which row would be most comfortable.

"Last row," Gaara says, sounding half-serious, half-joking.

He gets the usual disapproving squint in response.

But later, as they're climbing the steps and still haven't stopped at their seats, Gaara glances around.

"Where are we going?"

"The last row, obviously."

It sounds like Neji is just throwing the joke back at him.

Turns out he actually bought tickets for the couch seats.

Well. Looks like he'd been outplayed.

There aren't many people at these special re-screenings — only a couple of other moviegoers besides them. Every now and then, Gaara catches himself staring at Neji, lost in his own thoughts.

Neji notices.

"Watch the movie."

"I've already seen it."

"You've already seen me, too."

Neji leans toward him.

For a split second, panic flashes through Gaara's mind.

*A kiss? Seriously? Just like that? In public?*

But Hyuga simply grabs a handful of popcorn from the bucket, smirks to himself, and turns his attention back to the screen.

Listening to his heart hammering in his chest, Gaara realizes that after everything that's happened, he's still hopelessly attracted to this guy.

After the movie, they spend a while quietly arguing about its quality, horror clichés, and some questionable writing decisions. It gives them plenty to talk about. Neji even agrees to watch the sequel without looking up the trailer first.

Gaara considers that a small victory.

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After a couple of weeks, Neji will finally approach Gaara and ask him to go to Hinata's coffee shop with him. He got along well with Neji's cousin, helped her while they were in the country, so he couldn't refuse.

This will be the first time Neji buys a drink for two. Previously, they had been in a cafe together only when Neji was preparing Gaara for the test. But everyone there took their own taste, without exchanging impressions.

Here Hyuga asked for his opinion. Gaara recognized the drink as the one they had talked about at one of the dinners: Hina wanted to introduce a novelty to the menu.

While the student was trying the drink, Neji took a selfie together and sent the photo to his cousin: "she wouldn't take my word for it that I took you here."

And so it seems that Neji did, apparently, what Hinata promised, but still, it was nice for Gaara to get out together. All the negative thoughts haven't gone away yet, but it didn't stop him from demanding to send a photo. The first photo together, though.

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I just wanted to make art from the first season ✨

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A small sketch of the moment from the first couple after the quarrel.

It is typical for Neji to ask questions and conduct a dialogue with students in order to maintain interest in the lecture. Gaara is usually active in these discussions, but this time he was non-committal, and he didn’t take notes either. In general, Gaara tried not to look at the professor, but when he was deep in thought, he could get stuck. Neji, on the other hand, has to glance around the audience to keep in touch with everyone. But he still can’t hold Gaara’s gaze.

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A little more about Gaara and Fuu's friendship. It would seem that if such a close person is around, then he is not so lonely anymore. But Gaara doesn't say much. He won't talk about the situation, what will happen to Neji, and he won't talk about some moments with his father.

When Rasa was not so close to power and was not such a media man, he had fewer constraints, but he had a lot of ambitions.

Gaara is objectively a good, smart kid. But there will always be "not enough" for the father. Rasa lost his wife because of the birth of his son, the guy looks very much like him, that's why the hopes and desire to make "an ideal self worthy of Karura's life" resulted in a completely blind facet. For a while, Gaara, like his older brother and sister, wanted to please his father, but when he realized that no matter what he did, it would still not be enough, he began to protest. Inwardly, he still wants to prove to his father that he is a worthy person, even though he is following his own path that is different from someone else's desires (although, of course, he breaks down from impotence into very bad ideas). Most likely, he got his ears pierced here, and also got into a hot hand. It is quite natural for the nature of his confrontation to get a tattoo at the site of the injury in order to fix his father's "love" and call father's eyes with this reminder.

PS I do not support violence in any form. These are artistic assumptions about the plot, please don’t shift it to reality. Violence is unacceptable!

PSS this is a modern AU, so the hair color of Fuu and Gaara in adulthood is a dye. As well as the eyeliner. Therefore, there is no makeup or dyed hair in these shots.

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An arts on the topic of the first day at university after talking to Neji in the apartment.

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The first time Neji was in this apartment, he didn't ask any questions - he just dragged some idiot drunk student home.

Now he had time to look around and be puzzled. Gaara's apartment is sterile, empty, with no signs of active life in it, and for some reason the lights aren't on either. Hyuga didn't really imagine what should be in it, but it was as if he expected to see a lot of noise, posters, scattered things. Gaara doesn't really exist in the apartment. It feels like he has a roof over his head and nothing more. Temari and Kankuro are studying abroad. The father lives separately and is not particularly interested in the younger's life, only sponsoring him.

After that, Neji will start to remember the inconsistencies in the moment when he dragged Gaara here at night. The image of a spoiled brat begins to crumble with the realization that the guy has been estranged from his family for a long time.

At the same time, Gaara is surprised by the teacher's arrival. But he's torn between "I want to believe him" and "I'm not stupid enough to believe him." It's convenient to take Neji's explanations as a basis and say that yes, it was, crossing out your feelings and speculations. Accepting Neji's explanation and forgetting everything, returning to the old roles, would be easier. But the anxiety won't let go, the memories are too painful. And Neji, as a young teacher who considers Gaara to be the mayor's son there's no reason to quarrel with him. Perhaps he's only putting up with it to protect himself from the consequences. One might think, "he's not like that," but Gaara has already been wrong once. So far, everything is complicated. But Gaara will be back at the university.