Neji + Naomi

"Here you are, Naomi." Neji said as he handed Naomi some pills.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm starting you on a vitamin regiment." She blinked her eyes a few times. 'Why did the good-looking one have to come with a weird streak?' She thought.

"What are these, exactly?" She asked, taking them from his hand as if they were jelly beans.

"You have vitamin D, C, apple cider vinegar, cod liver oil, your…you know...pill and this is either calcium or…well, I don't know what that one is." He said, pointing at one, and shrugging his shoulders. "Take them, it's good for you." He set a glass of water down in front of her and smiled.

"Well, thanks." She said, popping them into her mouth. Neji let out a breath he had been holding in.

"So I'm meeting Lee today, I'll see you at diner?" He said, heading towards the door.

"What, again? You've seen him every day this week. Don't you have anything else to do?" You asked.

"No, I train best with him. Don't you have plans today? Women are always busy with something."

"No, I was going to go for a run, that's all."

"Okay, I'll see you tonight." Neji kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the apartment. "I love you!" He called as he shut the door.

"Yeah, whatever." Naomi muttered. She looked at the glass of water he had given her. "He's so weird!"

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After her run she wandered into town to bump into people. As much as she liked Neji, he was always busy and she relied on her friends to keep her company...at least during the day. At night Neji always paid attention to her. "Ino!" She said, walking into the flower shop.

"Oh my god, Naomi! Mimi, come here, guess what!" Naomi made a face of mock surprise and interest.

"Ha ha! What is it?"

"Sakura is pregnant!"

"What the hell?"

"Yeah!"

"Wow, she is so old." Ino frowned.

"She's not old. Think about it; Neji is a year older than her. Sakura is married and expecting."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…when are you thinking of starting your family?"

"I'm 18.!"

"Yeah, but Neji is 25." 'Is he really? I didn't notice. He's so old!' Naomi thought.

"He doesn't," Naomi trailed off, unsure about what Neji wanted.

"Are you sure he doesn't want a family? You don't look so sure!" Ino playfully poked her shoulder, but stopped when she saw how sad Naomi looked.

"Ino, I don't know if Neji and I are even a sure thing." She looked at Ino's large blue eyes. Ino stared incredulously at Naomi and shook her head.

"Oh, Mimi..." Ino said. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I just don't feel that close to him. Some days it's like he's a stranger to me." She thought about his bizarre behaviour this morning. "I don't even know him."

"Uh, are you two having sex?" Naomi nodded. "How often?"

"Like, every night. That part is fine. Better than fine, trust me, but it's how he acts." She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes. "Ino, I don't even know him."

"Forget that, you're not supposed to know everything! If you did, imagine how boring things would be." Naomi shrugged her shoulders and petted the leaves of a nearby aloe vera plant. "Mimi, he loves you. No matter how strange he might act or what he might say, know that he really loves you." Naomi began to really cry this time.

"Ino," She choked. "I don't love him the way that he loves me."

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It had been a few weeks since her vitamin regiment started. She noticed a few small changes; her hair was shinier, she felt she had a little more energy, and somehow her breasts got larger. "They're huge," She muttered, trying to squeeze into her c-cup bra that fit just last month. Suddenly she felt hot, dizzy and nauseous. Neji walked back into her bedroom. He had been waiting downstairs, the two of them needed to go grocery shopping, but Naomi was taking forever to put her clothes on.

"Naomi, what's wrong?"

"I squeezed too hard!" She said. Neji watched her pathetically try and put her bra on like an awkard pre-teen. She frowned and let the braw fall to the ground. She grabbed a t-shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head, but it was backwards. She didn't care as she walked into their ensuite to sit by the toilet. Neji followed her in and stood at the doorway. He was concerned when he saw Naomi sitting by the toilet, looking like she wanted to puke.

"I feel sick," She told Neji. "I tried to fit into this stupid bra and I," She slowly got up on her knees and tossed her cookies into the toilet. "Fuck myself. I think I squeezed myself until I puked."

"Are you okay?"

"It's all so dizzy. Quit doing that," She said.

"Doing what?" Neji asked, concerned.

"Pacing, stop pacing. Stay still."

"I am still, darling."

"Oh," The room spun and she sat down on the floor to keep steady. Neji walked inside and crouched on the floor in front of her.

"Can I take a look at you?"

"I don't like it when you do that."

"It's nothing I haven't seen." He said, with a knowing smirk.

"Stop that!" She yelled. Neji was startled. "Don't say things like that!"

"Fuck! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Who the fuck are you? You're the weird one, with your fucking boyfriend Lee and those fucking vitamins." Naomi stood up and backed away from Neji. She was so angry all of a sudden and was begging for a fight. They'd never had one before. Not a real one at least. For no real good reason, Naomi wanted Neji to hurt.

"I gave you those vitamins so I could have an excuse to hand you your birth control pill. I've been switching it all month." Neji's voice darkened and he stared at her hard. Naomi's mouth was dry and open with shock. A horrible realization was washing over her. "Your breasts getting bigger, your puking, the woozy feeling, and even the fucking attitude; it's all because you're pregnant."

"No,"

"With my child." Her jaw quivered but she just bit her lip. She would not cry in front of him.

"You're a monster. A fucking monster. FUCK YOU!" She screamed. "If you think this kid is yours, you are wrong. It's mine. And they won't even know your name."

"Calm down, Naomi." Hot tears streamed down her face.

"Why," She whispered. "How could you do this to me?"

"I did it for US!" Neji shouted. He knocked all of the bottles and containers off of the bathroom counter with one swipe of his arm. All of them, his after shave, her grandmother's perfume, all shattered on the tiled floor. She jumped and wrapped her arms around herself, afraid.

"I love you!" He said, still shouting. "I would die for you, I would sooner kill myself than ever cause you any harm. But you don't love me the way that I love you." His voice became quiet and his chest heaved with heavy sobs. "I thought if you were pregnant, you would marry me, and we could really be together."

"Neji You're so stupid!" She walked over to him across the broken glass bottles. "You're so stupid!" She grabbed on to him and held him the way she had always wanted to. "You're so stupid," She whispered. He held on to her, his arms tight around her waist. She tucked her head under Neji's and played gently with his long silk hair. Naomi felt the tears on her face dry and she felt Neji's breathing come back to normal.

"I'm sorry," He said.

"Me too, I've been so cold."

"I love you."

"I know, I love you too."

"Do you still feel sick?" He asked. He pushed her back and looked at her face, brushing hair away from her eyes. She nodded her head. The queasy feeling was still there. "Let's go lie down, I'll make tea." He put his arm behind her and they walked into the living room. She sat on the couch, letting out a heavy sigh and he walked over to the kitchen and put the kettle on. She pulled her knees up under her chin and watched him. He came over to the couch, put a blanket around her, and sat down, waiting for the water to boil.

"Neji,"

"Yes, Mimi?"

"Were you serious about wanting to get married?" He nodded and put his arm around her.

"I would like that very much." He said. He sounded far off, like he wasn't really there. He got up as the kettle whistled and brought back her tea. She put it on the coffee table and cuddled up next to him when he sat down again. He put his arm around her, absently rubbing her back. Hel looked like he was far away somewhere. Naomi watched his stone-cold poker face staring off into the distance.

"Neji, where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"No you're not. Really be here. Please." He turned to face her and the distant look in his eyes was gone. "That's better." He smiled weakly at her as she drank her tea. She felt hot from the nausea, the tea, the blanket, and from Neji's firm hold. She took comfort in having his complete and undivided attention. This was all she needed, she just wanted him to even care that she was around. "Go get it." She told him.

"What?"

"Go and get it." She said. Neji was confused for a moment, but then without a word he went upstairs back into the bedroom. He came out again with a small box.

"How did you know?" He asked. He opened the box and she grinned. The ring was perfect. "How did you know I already had it?"

"I had a feeling. I guess I know you better now." She nudged him and stuck out her left arm for him. "Lemme put it on,"

"I'm serious, Naomi, I really want to marry you."

"Okay, I know. I want to get married, too. Now can I have it?" He pulled it out of the box and slipped it on her finger.

"How is it?" He asked. She didn't think a guy would be nervous about a thing like that, but she sensed that he was and he needed her approval.

"I love it. I wanted this all along, I just didn't know." Neji smiled, relieved. She giggled. "Wow, we're really going to be together."

"Yeah,"

"Like, for sure for sure together." She smiled. Maybe now she'd get more respect since she was Neji's fiancé and not just his hot younger girlfriend. But that was never what he wanted her for. A part of her liked being with an older guy and being used for sex and shown off around town, but it was never like that deep down. "I like being your fiancé way better than being your girlfriend."

"I like being your fiancé way better than being your sugar daddy."

"You are so not my sugar daddy." Naomi laughed. She became quiet again and stared at Neji's pale lavender eyes, trying to sense some kind of emotion from him. "Neji, we're having a baby." She said. "Are you happy?"

"Of course I am. It was my idea." He reminded her. "I'm not over emotional, Naomi. Get over that now or you never will."

"I could handle it if you were at least barely emotional."

"What would you have me do?"

"Just promise to let me into your head now and then."

"You know what I'm thinking right now?"

"What?"

"I think that you should take a nap while I go get our groceries." Neji smiled and got up off the couch. "And I'm thinking about how funny you look bra-less in a backward t-shirt."

"That's all?"

"Yeah. Men are simple creatures. I love you Naomi. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Run."

"Okay, I'll run." Neji headed for the door.

"I love you."

"I love you more." Neji said. She smiled and blew him a kiss. She watched him from the window running down their street.