Hey, hey! I haven't written a fic in a while but I decided to start working on something things. This is another fic on one of my favorite crack pairings, a bit of a square of TenTen/Neji/Ino/Shikamaru. Hope you all like it and I really hope you review!
Disclaimer: Now really can you imagine a world of Naruto if I owned it? Well I don't so that world will never be. Plus I do not own the song "Hypothetically" by Lyfe Jennings ft. Erin.
A/N: Flashbacks are in italics, lyrics in bold italics, and present in normal text. Some thoughts in the present that are in italics are thoughts.
"Neji, what's wrong? What are you doing out here so late?"
"I don't feel like talking about it."
"Was it Ino? Did you two have another fight?"
"Leave me alone."
"Neji…"
"…She said I wasn't her first choice…"
"Are you serious? How could she-"
"I told her useless in everything except continuing my bloodline."
"Then why Ino?"
"…"
"Neji...we both know Ino is useless."
"I lied, Ino is everything but useless."
"Why don't you stay with me, Neji?"
"Tenten…"
"What does Ino have that I don't? I've lovedyou for so long, you know this. It hurts me to see you so torn up over her when I know I can be better for you!So for tonight…stay with me."
Neji never responded, hot lips pressed against his own and his own clouded mind told him there was nothing wrong with this because at the moment he had no wife, he had no children, he had no honor, he was just a man with a need to release pent up frustration and here was a woman willing to give it too him. Yet all the while their limbs pressed intimately against each other, sweaty and slick body sliding and gasp of breaths, Neji couldn't help but think of TenTen's question.
What does Ino have that I don't?
Everything he wanted to say, he found he pressed Ino's eyes that reminded him of free skies over the color of Tenten's eyes with reminded him of the earth he was bound too, the wheat tresses of Ino's that reminded him of a open field compared to brown that reminded him of the dirt he spilt blood upon . True, Tenten had a thick and luscious form that any man would be falling over for compared to Ino's own thin form, but Ino's seemed to fit his own form better than TenTen's.
"Neji…"
"Ino…"
Tenten never heard Neji call out Ino's name while they had sex, but she found out soon enough how little their encounter meant when Neji got dressed at five in the morning and told her he was going home to his wife.
When he had arrived at home, he already felt a thin string of guilt. It only increased when he entered the home and asleep upon the table with a burnt out candle dinner was a familiar blond head, a note sat on the table in front of the place he was sure he was meant to sit in. Picking it up gently and flipping it open it read-
'Neji, I'm sorry about our fight. I didn't mean to say it.'
Even though you weren't my first choice, you are the best choice.
Neji felt his heart thaw just a bit more; he walked towards the sleeping form of his wife and knelt beside her. For a moment he just looked at her, looked at this woman who completely enthralled him and captured his heart with nothing to offer but herself, a woman with no worthy bloodline or worth while abilities. She couldn't cook nor could really clean, she lost her temper and always seemed to be angry so why…
Just because.
That was the only thing he could think off.
'I'm sorry, Ino.'
What if I broke our monogamous agreement
What if I told you I lied but didn't mean it
What if my one mistake
had the potential to break
up our happy home
Would you wanna know
What if I confessed it and though she didn't mean nothing since it happened
You're thinking about leaving
What if I suppressed it
and made a vow to never mess with another
Is it cool for me to smother the facts
Is it cool for me to cover my tracks
if you'd never know
Or would me not being honest hurt you more
Tension was thick in the air, suffocating to the point where it was slowly driving them insane. Neither moved however, it would be a show of weakness and that was what neither of them wanted to be. They sat across from each other, him in the single chair closest to the door, her on the couch sitting back stiffly in its cushion. They had been fighting but what seemed like days was in reality only a few short hours, it was growing heavy upon their hearts but neither had the pride nor courage to apologize.
A secret settled in their hearts, the source of all the never ending tension and though they could temporarily forget about the secret that weigh heavily upon their conscious they could not erase it. As soon as these secrets were exposed they could almost imagine the outcome, she feared new battles between them and he feared her fallen tears, she feared the look that would surely be in his eyes and he feared that she would leave. So if they could keep the secrets in their hearts wouldn't it be better than the despair it would surely cause if exposed? Somehow they felt it would be better to release everything and hope for the best that was easier said then done however.
The words caught into his throat though, even after the years of being a family man he could not help a small part of him that continued to remain untouched and frozen unable to feel his family's warmth. An overwhelming fear of rejection and loneliness kept the words trapped between her lips for if this broke them apart like she feared she felt she would surely crumble and die. Die without Neji.
Hypothetically of course
Are there some things better left unsaid
Or would you rather know instead
Hypothetically of course
Are there some wars not worth fighting
Some tears not worth crying
Hypothetically of course
What if this happened to you
what would you want me to do
Ino punched into the wall with every force within her, the wall cracked under the pressure and her fist seemed to ring with pain. She sunk to the ground grasping her now injured hand, falling to her knees clutching it closely to her chest. Not exactly to sooth her pain on the outside but to try and to comfort herself from the tears that threatened to fall. They stung but she refused to let them fall, he wasn't worth it…was he? Yes, of course Neji was worth it, every single tear. Her husband, lover, best friend, and the father of her children, he was more than worthy of her tears and so she let them fall.
So enthralled within her thoughts over how to right the wrong she did not hear the light knock on her door nor did she notice the other person in her home until they were standing directly above her.
"Ino…?"
The instant she had heard the voice she reached up and wiped her face eliminating all traces of any sorrow that fell upon her face.
"Shikamaru…" she murmured unwilling to look at him just yet in her state of weakness.
A familiar mesh shirt was in her view now; Shikamaru had kneeled on one knee in front of her fallen form, his hand reached out and lifted her chin to look at her directly. Ino couldn't tell what was going on behind those dark eyes; they seemed to flash with thought then dull soon after. Something deep swimming within them that caused her to become almost memorized, she had never looked into her former teammates eyes so intimately before. Now that she had she found herself wondering why she hadn't, if she didn't have Neji…Neji…the tears of frustration begun to sting her blue eyes once more. She heard Shikamaru take a sharp intake of breath then the soft mutterings of-
"How troublesome…"
Warm lips pressed roughly against her own, shock washed over her realizing that this was Shikamaru, not Neji, and he had no right kissing her like her was…but at the moment she honestly didn't care any form of comfort was welcomed so she begun kissing back.
Ino called Shikamaru "Neji" five times that night.
Shikamaru didn't seem to care too much except for the occasional twitch in his brow.
Three months later Ino found out she was pregnant again, Neji was ecstatic but Ino's happiness was hesitate.
She didn't know who the baby's father was…
Well what if I told you that I had a confession
What if I said 4 years ago when we were arguing
he came to comfort me and I wound up pregnant
And I just can't say for sure
if the baby's yours
What if I confessed it and it turns out not to be your baby after you get tested
And it destroys what we've been blessed with
What if I suppress it 'cause technically you're the baby's daddy anyway
Is it wrong for me to want you to stay
Would you rather have me tear you away
From the only family you know
Or is this just too big a secret to keep it on the low
"Your never home anymore, we never get to see you!"
Ino's fire was a sharp contrast to Neji's calm and cool approach to the argument though it was obvious in his tense form and flashing eyes that he was just as distraught as Ino. He leaned foreword bracing his elbows on his knees and lacing his hands together in front of his face to hide the scowl that twisted his pale lips.
"I'm never home because I' am supporting you and the children with missions."
"You-"
"Ino your being unrealistic, you want a husband who's here twenty-four hours a day and I can't do that. You understood where I stood when we got married."
"I don't want a husband who's here twenty-four hours a day; I just want a husband who's here at least three or four hours a day! Neji your kids are growing up fast and your not here to see it. Where were you when Hizashi turned four?"
Neji seemed to falter a bit at that, his lips thinned as they did at times when he was irritated, he was quiet keeping Ino's gaze steadily whilst he chose his next words carefully, saying them slowly as though speaking to a child.
"You know very well why I wasn't here. I tried to get back but while you were here in the comfort of home I was spilling blood."
Silence fell over them once more, Ino leaned foreword with her hands covering her face till her forehead touched the skin of her legs. She muffled the high pitch shriek of frustration that erupted between her lips to keep her children from worrying about her. Neji waited patiently with a quirked brow, a wisp of a sigh fell from between his own lips. His face remained blank betraying his inner thoughts none, in reality he was just as frustrated and distraught as she was but would never show it.
"Neji…why are we like this" Ino finally murmured lifting her head, fingers and palms sliding off her face.
They both knew why, neither knew about the other but blamed it on themselves. Neither wanted to say so, expose themselves and possibly break up their home but it was causing such a strain on their relationship. Before they were at peace and a balance that made their marriage work but now… Neji decided to speak, his brows knitted together as he begun to find the words to explain himself. Eyes that were the colored of newly fallen snow pierced those that were the color of a perfect cloudless day, pinning them both to their spots.
"I love you" he started bluntly; he knew she knew but he had never spoken the words out loud. He could see his words causing her to become uneasy and didn't blame her. He meant it though; he was still in love with Ino as much as he was nine years ago. "But…"
I have to tell you something…
"Hypothetically…what if I slept with Tenten?"
The silence following his word was sharp enough to slice through metal. Neji remained composed though it, his mind and heart were racing with questions on how should would react and if he would be able to call this place home after this conversation.
"Neji…" Ino's voice was soft, fearful and even without his byakugan he could tell that something was wrong. He tensed but waited. "What if…hypothetically of course…Hizashi wasn't yours…?"
Would you wanna know
Would you wanna know
Tell me what you'd do
Would you walk away or would you stay
Would you wanna know
Would you wanna leave the past behind us
Or are you afraid that one day it might find us
Would it even matter
Should it even matter
Could it even matter
Hypothetically…
Hypothetically of course…
-Review-