Frightened

The crackling of the thunder in the sky made the world seem alive, even if most were asleep. Like the sound of a school bell, all knew it was coming, but when it did it was a surprise. As another bolt illuminated the sky and deafening thunder roared, he found himself roused from a surprisingly deep slumber.

He forced his eyes open, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness in his room. He shifted onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the storm. Water pelted his window in rapid splats creating a rather soothing sound. When he closed his eyes and focused, he could hear the sound of the wind against the roof, and though he didn't actually hear it, he could imagine the sound the wind was making as it went through the trees near his home.

Even with his eyes closed, he could make out light behind his eyelids as more lightning sparked in the air. Counting the seconds, he took note of how far away the storm truly was as he heard the crack of thunder. It was close enough to prove dangerous for anyone foolish enough to be outside. When inside in his warm room he liked storms. The sounds were soothing, and he wasn't physically effected by it. Unlike the poor shinobi who had been sent out on a mission right before the storm began.

Neji was about to fall back asleep when he felt the man next to him move slightly. It wasn't much, but it caught his attention. The other wasn't the kind who was agitated in his sleep. He turned onto his side, looking at Itachi. His eyes trailed over the bare back, taking in the tense muscles. They hadn't made love, they'd both had long days and took the chance to sleep the moment they had it. That's also why Neji wasn't much bothered by the other's tenseness. But he still sat up to get a better look at Itachi.

The other looked troubled by something, Neji didn't know what it could be. Though the signs were almost unoticeable, his skilled eyes found them. His muscles were tense going from his back into his arms. One arm was under his pillow, supporting his head, the other was in front of him, his hand clutching the blanket that was drapped over his waist. His legs were bent at the knee, almost curling into himself. He was frowning and his lips were pursed tightly, as if he were seeing something that greatly displeased him.

Neji kept his balance on his left hand and leant in closer. He noticed how Itachi would suddenly shift, seemingly trying to find a comfortable position. His hand would unclench for a moment before resuming its tight grasp on the blanket. Although it was pretty normal for people to have nights where they slept badly, Neji was worried by the other's heavy breathing. It was irregular and shaky.

His mind went over the different things he could do, and chose the one he deemed the best. He gently put his hand on the other's (now useless) ANBU tattoo. The black symbol deeply contrasting the pale skin. Waking up Itachi was something he'd never done before. The other was always awake before him. He hoped the soft touch would be enough to wake him because anything more might make Itachi think he was the enemy.

There wasn't any signs of surprise on his face as Itachi's left hand came out from under the pillow and took hold of his wrist. The other turned onto his back, his Sharingan whirling in his eyes, his face cold as he stared up at Neji. They stared at each other in silence. The room now held an eerie red glow, coming from the Uchiha's bloodline limit. But that red light was overpowered by a flash of yellow-white light as more lightning struck. The hold on his wrist tightened a fraction, and the other seemed to tense even more. Neji was glad his eyes were trained to see such things.

"What is it?" Itachi's voice was icy, but Neji took no offense by it. He knew Itachi was having an off day. He was more worried by the other's distant attitude. The Sharingan slowly disappeared.

He took a moment to figure out the right words. If he said the wrong thing Itachi would brush him off and return to sleep. If he said the right thing he was hoping that Itachi would tell him what was wrong. "You seemed bothered, I figured you'd like to be pulled out of whatever was troubling you." He used bothered instead of the term he wanted to, hoping Itachi would be the first to say it, though he knew otherwise.

His wrist was released, and he put his hand down on the mattress on the other side of Itachi. He was hovering over the other, his eyes searching his face for anything, but it was a closed book. Itachi used his now free hand to brush aside Neji's hair, tucking the loose strands behind his ear.

"Get some sleep. You're tired." Despite the words being an order, they were said in the gentle tone that Neji was used to. He was glad it came back.

"What were you dreaming about?" Neji asked, his tone calm. More lightning. More thunder.

"It's irrelevant. Now go to sleep." Itachi retracted his hand, which had been resting on Neji's cheek, and waited for him to do as he asked. Neji didn't move.

His mind was working hard, trying to decide what to do. Suddenly his mind fell on a possible route to take, and although the chances of it going smoothly were minimal, he went with it anyways. It was far-fetched and he'd have normally never gone with it, but he wasn't embarassed if he made blunders in front of Itachi. When it came to them there was no judging. There couldn't be judgement between them. The things that could be brought up would make them feel awful about themselves and each other.

"Do you want to know something that bothers me?" He threw out as his attempt at getting Itachi to talk. He found himself not at all embarassed by what he was going to admit.

Itachi said nothing, but the slight look of interest was enough encouragement for him to continue, "Spiders. They bother me. A lot. They're the most awful creatures. The way they can be anywhere you look. They go wherever they please, and they don't even make a sound. They're vile creatures. What's the point of so many legs and eyes anyways? They're disgusting. I can't stand them. I can't even be near them. Some might say I'm frightened of them." It came out far easier than he thought it would, and much more truthful.

He said the word. The word that neither of them wanted to say or hear. But it was said and it was heard. Neji remained calm as he stared at him, waiting for some kind of response. Itachi wasn't the kind to laugh at him, but Neji thought he'd prefer that than what the other was capable of doing. If Itachi thought he was pathetic or weak because of his fear of spiders, he didn't know how he'd ever regain his pride.

"You're afraid of spiders." The words were slow as if it were taking him a long time to register what they meant. It wasn't a common fear among shinobi whom had to spend a lot of time out in the woods with all kinds of insects.

"Yes. Ever since I was fourteen. I had a fight with this guy who summoned spiders. When you've got hundreds of the awful creatures surrounding you, you develop a disliking for them. And with me it just got worse until I can't be near them." The amusement in his eyes was clear, and although annoyed, Neji smiled. Itachi wasn't as troubled as earlier, and he was happy to see that.

"It's...Different." Itachi concluded. Neji was relieved by the nonoffensive and neutral word of choice. He leant forward to catch the other's lips in a slow kiss, pressing their body's closer together. He found himself wrapped in Itachi's embrace, and he relished in the heat that came from their close proximity. The moments he loved the most between them were the ones where he felt like they were truly lovers.

The kind who spent the day working and doing their separate tasks, but to have the everlasting promise of being together every night. The kind who were lucky enough to wake up together every morning. The kind who could openly love each other. Alas, that wasn't what could ever possibly be in their cards. Their future together could never be so simple.

Another burst of lightning flashed. The vibrations that came from the roar of thunder could be felt in the small bedroom. Neji felt the other tense beneath him, the arms wrapping more tightly around his waist. He pulled back sighing gently, he brought up his hand and passed his fingers through Itachi's bangs. He looked at him with worry clear on his face, "Itachi, talk to me please. Tell me what's wrong."

"You already know." Itachi's gaze was steady and blank, despite his uneasiness.

"Partially. But I would like an explanation."

"There's nothing to explain."

Lightning. Thunder. Tenseness.

Neji kissed him as he waited for Itachi to loosen up again. He pulled back and continued his attempt at persuading Itachi to talk to him, "Honey, I want you to explain to me why you're afraid. And there's nothing wrong with being afraid of something, everybody is. I just told you what my fear is, and I want to hear more about yours."

Itachi turned his gaze towards the window, stubbornly ignoring the request. But Neji remained patient.

"I know you don't want to talk about it. I can understand that. But it's good to talk about these things." His voice stayed gentle and caring.

Their eyes met, both determined. Eventually though, Itachi conceded. They were both persistent when it came to getting their way, but with mixed feelings Itachi decided that talking with Neji about the touchy subject would do no harm to him, or even to his pride. He was assured that Neji would understand.

"Storms are loud, destructive, and they're far bigger than any of us."

Neji understood the first two, but he shot Itachi a confused look after he said the last one, "What do you mean 'bigger than us'?"

"Storms remind me just how little people are. Millions of people have lived and died, very few getting anything out of life. Those who have only got something because it was given to them by the other people sharing their world in their time. They got a name, a status, a certain importance, but really, does it mean anything? What they did changed things, perhaps, but isn't that what nature intended? People changed things because that's the circle of life. It doesn't mean anything because it was supposed to happen."

"Storms are different?"

"Yes, because we can't say storms are 'supposed' to happen. Storms just are. Nobody has any control over storms. They start when they start, end when they end. That's it. We can't make any decisions regarding what they harm, how long they last. Maybe we can guess when they'll come around, but the rest is unpredictable."

"Honey, destiny is..." Neji brought up a word he hadn't used in years. He was surprised by how Itachi's mindset was so similar to the one he used to have.

"What if your fight with Naruto was supposed to go like that? What if that was your destiny? You can't say that's not what was supposed to happen because that is what happened. People can try to predict the future, like you did, and it doesn't always come true. But there's always a certain control over it all."

"You have a point, I suppose." Neji mused to himself.

"Satisfied now?"

"Yes." He pressed their lips firmly together for a short kiss, once he pulled back a smile graced his lips, "Can I make a prediction for our future?"

"Tell me, what does our future hold?" A tint of amusement coated his voice.

Neji started trailing kisses down the other's neck, "In our future I see you making love to me with a storm raging in the background."

"And why on earth would you make such a wild prediction?" Their lips met for a kiss more passionate than the other before.

"Neither of us will sleep well with this awful storm going on and frankly my dear, I'm in the mood." Neji replied once they parted.

"I suppose everybody has to make one good prediction in their lives."

Neji's laugh was silenced with a kiss.

AN: Really? I don't know where this came from. I recently got my wisdom teeth removed and wrote this with all kinds of medicine in me...So I hope you enjoyed it...?

Thanks for reading this!
-MewMew