When on a college campus there's a certain feeling one gets; a certain air about the grounds. A mixture of naivety struggling to become maturity, a whirl of youth and eagerness subtly laced with hormones and excitement, a contagious sort of anxious anticipation for the future.
It's different from high school. In high school one is met with the faces of young adolescents who just don't want to be there. Who are dreading the coming of the next morning and anticipating the arrival of this afternoon. It's not the most pleasant of places to be.
College is for people who know the general direction in which they're going, for the most part. In college students experiment in the different fields that interest them; they want to be there.
None more so, perhaps, than Hyuuga Neji. If ever someone wanted to have an education it would be Neji. Major in political science and economics, Neji was on the fast track to business success. And he was looking forward to it. Now, stereotypes often dictate that a person like Neji would be uptight, arrogant, and proud.
It's this aspect of Hyuuga Neji's character that makes him a little difficult to understand.
Let it be understood, first of all, that he was all these things at one point in his life. The arrogance has been tones down quite a bit, however the uptight pride still remains to an extent.
Neji's life is a very complicated one, but it needs to be understood, so – I say – let it.
To make a rather lengthy story much simpler, Neji was born into a wealthy reputable family and, being the only male son directly related to the main family branch, became the heir to the family business. His father died while he was a child and he has been raised by his uncle ever since. He is extremely intelligent and clever, and has shown great potential. He and his uncle have been trying to connect with each other on a level that goes deeper than just business and politics, thanks to encouragement from Neji's friends (he would call them associates) and from his lover.
Speaking of that, Neji's lover is not exactly what one would expect for Neji. One would expect a sophisticated, intelligent, and elegant woman. And, one would not expect him to have a "lover," per se; one would expect him to have a fiancée.
Instead of all this, Neji had a sophisticated, intelligent, and elegant man for a lover, and they were not engaged at all.
Neji met this man in college, in an advanced chemistry class taught by one Orochimaru. Neji had, at the time, been a freshman. This man was a good few years older than he and was attending college for the second time in his life. Call him an avid scholar, if you will. His name was Kimimaro. He was a very quiet man with a general distaste for social situations. He and Neji were partners in a lab and Neji's skill impressed him. He initiated the first non-professional interaction and eventually charmed Neji.
Their first date would hardly be counted as a date at all, were it not for the flowers Neji received at the opening of the evening. The second date was a little better and quite a bit more relaxed. Once again, Kimimaro gave Neji a beautiful bunch of flowers and they both managed to enjoy themselves immensely. Their third date was the date after which Kimimaro walked Neji back to his dorm and bid him goodnight there.
They moved fairly slowly through their relationship and, by this time, have been together for one month.
This day would be their one month anniversary.
"Neji." Kimimaro placed a hand on his shoulder and waited expectantly. Neji turned and forced his lips into a smile as he looked up at his lover (not quite, they hadn't even kissed yet, but Neji absolutely hated the phrase "boyfriend"), really not in the mood for any distractions at the moment.
"What is it you need, Kimimaro?" Hoping he got the hint, Neji turned back around to the screen of his computer. Behind him Kimimaro rolled his eyes, gripped his arm tightly, and pulled. Neji, sufficiently surprised, did absolutely nothing as the older man whirled him around to face him.
"Neji, you need to relax quite a bit," he explained it calmly. "Today is a vacation day. Why are you working?" Neji folded his arms and regarded Kimimaro with a very stern glare.
"If I recall correctly, you were the one who was working all night for the entire week of February break," he said pointedly. "So, I don't see how you can be this accusatory of my tendencies." Kimimaro looked stiffly away for a moment as he contemplated a possible response.
"That was entirely different," he returned. "I was working on a very important project for Orochimaru." Neji released an exasperated sigh.
"Don't you give me that, Kimimaro," he growled. He was already in a foul mood from a previous incident that day, involving the younger of the two Uchiha brothers and an uncomfortably accurate accusation which was far too personal for comfort. He'd reacted and Sasuke had remained unnervingly unaffected by the whole thing. And here he was now. "What is so important about him and everything he does?" Kimimaro tensed and took a step away from Neji.
"That, Neji, is—"
"None of my business, trust me, I know." Neji lifted a brow set his jaw firmly. "But I think that it is." Kimimaro turned away from him and pinched his tear ducts.
"Neji, please—" he started.
"No!" Neji cut him off vehemently. "You left in the middle of our fourth date to run an errand for him! Why do you suck up to him as much as you do?" There was a pregnant silence and Kimimaro could feel Neji's eyes boring into him.
After a moment he gave up his cold façade and moved back to his comfortable place by Neji's side.
"He raised me, Neji," he reminded him. "I'm indebted to him." Neji's face revealed nothing and Kimimaro shook his head.
"Neji, please, let's just leave it at this," he requested patiently. Neji bristled.
"We always do," he reminded the man tersely. "I don't want to this time." Kimimaro found he had nothing to say to that and Neji continued.
"Why is he so important?" Kimimaro looked down to his hand, resting by his side.
"Will you understand if I tell you?" he asked seriously. Neji's eyes narrowed and he stood.
"…What is that supposed to mean?" Kimimaro's face became hard and unforgiving. He wasn't unused to such blatant and open dislike of his mentor, and usually he didn't mind it. After all, more often than not it was a sore student who'd been embarrassed by his comments or put down roughly by that sharp tongue and the words which were always at the tip of it; sometimes, it could even be a professor who just didn't like him. Again, Kimimaro never cared to retaliate, knowing it to be no big deal at all.
However, when it was his lover making such comments, he couldn't help but become slightly defensive.
"You know what it feels like to lose family, Neji." Kimimaro chose his words carefully. In all honesty, he really wasn't in the mood for this today. He had wanted to take Neji to a nice place and just talk to him, but apparently, that was a no-go right now. Kimimaro was slowly treading to the point of no return when he would lose his temper and he really didn't want to go there. Neji just had to push him, though.
"Yes, I do, but I don't see what that has to do with it," he interrupted. Kimimaro sighed and closed his eyes.
"Neji," he tried again. "Orochimaru knows of our relationship, he knows how I feel about you and he has agreed to make every effort not to cause tensions--"
"And if he does, then your first obligation is to him, is it?" Kimimaro wisely stifled his words before they could leave his mouth. Neji's face was slowly turning a very indignant red and his body language suggested everything angry and upset. And at times like this, Kimimaro wished he had the placating ability that Orochimaru had with him.
"Do you ever try your hand at empathy, Kimimaro?" Neji challenged through gritted teeth.
"No more than you have," Kimimaro returned, beginning to lose that precious control over his temper he normally always had. Neji's eyes widened and he glared at Kimimaro.
"So, I'm not capable of empathizing with anyone," he summarized contemptuously. Kimimaro bit back a groan and rubbed his forehead roughly with his fingers.
"Why is it, Neji, that you are in so foul a mood today?" he asked. "Have I said something that I shouldn't have? Because you and I both know that it takes more than simply the mention of Orochimaru to set you off--"
"No, it takes an insinuation that he means more to you than me!" Kimimaro's head whipped up and he gazed sharply at Neji, but that thin mouth had already clamped itself shut in an effort not to reveal anything else. Kimimaro took a step towards Neji, who watched him warily.
"So, it is about envy?" he ventured fairly surely. Neji gave no answer, only looked down to the ground with acidic eyes, leaving the poor carpet cowering in fear. Kimimaro took that as an admission.
"Neji I am capable of caring for more than one person. You know that, don't you?"
"Don't patronize me!" came the forceful reply even as Neji took a step back from Kimimaro, as though afraid his embarrassment would be all the clearer if his lover examined him from up close. Kimimaro continued advancing, taking another step and another, while Neji kept retreating, taking another step and another.
"I'm not patronizing you, Neji, I'm gently reminding you that my eyes are not on Orochimaru every day in class, they are on you. I'm reminding you, Neji, that my feelings for Orochimaru have developed to all they can be, while my feelings for you are still developing." Neji's back was now flat against the wall, resisting his escape further, forcing him to confront Kimimaro. His hands were clenched against the wall as Kimimaro closed the distance between them slowly.
"I'm not falling in love with Orochimaru, Neji, I'm falling in love with you." Neji's ears rang with the declaration and several strands of his hair caught painfully in the cracks in the poor quality dorm room wall as his head whipped up to survey Kimimaro, but he ignored the pain.
"..." No words came to him, then, though he knew he should apologize for his reaction, his yelling, his damn temper tantrum. He gaped for a moment in silence, not trusting himself to speak.
"I..." Kimimaro smiled and took another step forward. His face was close to Neji's now, almost nose to nose, and Neji could see the slow transformation of irate anger to sparkling mirth in his eyes.
The angry flush on his face had taken an entirely different meaning now, manifesting an entirely different emotion, one which he was still not familiar with.
~ X ~
"May I ask what was so upsetting to you, Neji, that you reacted that way?" Kimimaro asked gently, eyes on Neji as they walked leisurely down the park road. Neji frowned and looked forward in silent contemplation.
"Sasuke said something...upsetting to me today," he conceded. "I've never heard him say anything like it and the truth of it unnerved me." Kimimaro nodded and Neji continued.
"I'd rather not speak of it now," he said with firm hesitance. "I'm afraid I might" he stopped to laugh derisively. "lose it again." Kimimaro nodded again and the pair lapsed into companionable silence.
"I was serious when I asked you what was so important about Orochimaru, though," Neji broke the silence softly. Kimimaro barely reacted beyond a slight hitch in his step, which he quickly concealed.
"And I told you, Neji, it's not a big--"
"Oh, please, Kimimaro," Neji sighed wearily. "I know how it feels to look up to someone, but your admiration for him almost borders on religious zealotry. What would you do if I spoke out against him or didn't like him? Would you insist that we don't work anymore and find someone who worships him as you do?" His lover was late in answering, carefully picking the proper words to convey his complex emotions.
"No," was the first and only thing he said on the subject. Neji waited for him to extrapolate on his one-word admission but the man beside him said nothing more. Neji's shoulders slumped slightly in disbelief of the statement.
"Really?" he asked, the skepticism heavy in his voice.
"...I don't know," Kimimaro corrected, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Neji almost laughed at the unusual expression, hardly ever having the privilege of seeing his lover without his normal composure. Awkwardly, Neji reached over to Kimimaro's side and gripped his hand far too tightly to be truly confident. Starting, Kimimaro's eyes swiveled back to Neji and returned the well-meant gesture.
"I just want to know that I give your life reason and meaning as well." Damn park. What was it about the right atmosphere that always made even the most stoic of people loosen their tongues?
"You do," came the immediate answer, coupled with another squeeze from the deft hand to his left. He felt the shivers that the simple action elicited throughout his entire arm.
Neji's mumbled "good" was almost lost to the atmosphere around them but Kimimaro's sharp ears picked up the utterance and he grinned smally, stopping Neji and turning towards him fully.
Their eyes locked, one set expectant, the other mischievous and for the second time that day, Kimimaro closed the distance between them.
And when they touched so innocently for the first time, the gentle touch of inexperienced lips a precursor of what was to come, Neji's face exploded into that vibrant sunset red which Kimimaro was starting to grow very fond of.
Owari ~ Fin ~ The End
More oneshots! This one is dedicated to my li'l sweeheart, Mewmewgodess! Love ya, hun, and I hope you enjoy this! I apologize for having taken so long to get it the heck out there...My procrastinating is not going away, it seems...Even though I said it would. Damn. -.-
ANYwho, yes, I did just do that! I wrote a frickin' KimimaroNeji story filled with fluff and AUness! Whacha gonna do 'bout it?!? Jk, but seriously, overreactions and hyperactiveness aside, it was pretty damn hard to write this pairing b/c Kimimaro just does not seem romantic at all, especially not in canon verse, so I had to make it AU. I'm not fully proud of this oneshot, but I do think it worthy enough to have a spot on FFnet.
Again, here it is, MewMew, dear, I hope you find this worthy of your awesomeness! XD
R&R, could ya please? Or just take it in and ruminate, which ever floats your boat.