- CHOCOLATE -
(OneShot)
"AAAAAAAAH!"
CRASH!
Hyuuga Neji, a proud 16-year-old jounin cracked open his eyes slowly upon hearing the piercing scream and the crashing sound of kitchenware collided with floor. The brunette peered the place beside him and his brain immediately made conclusion that his lover was behind all those sound, judging from the empty, unmade place beside him.
What the… Neji slowly sat up. He stretched a few muscles before fitting to his room sandals and walked out the bedroom to see what chaos Naruto has created. A year ago, Neji had made a decision to leave the Hyuuga house and to be autonomous by rented an apartment and lived there with his lover, Uzumaki Naruto, now a 15-year-old chuunin. Of course, their relationship was a big secret and only people close to them knew this."Owowowow..." Naruto was sucking his finger when Neji came in.
"Just what are you doing?" Neji called, scanning the area for the traces of chaos but the kitchen seemed fine. It was still in its recent shape like the last time Neji saw it, last night. Only a few splotchy of something black could be seen here and there. A pan filled with something scorched and a dirty knife, spoon and spatula settled on the sink.
"Nothing... I'm just learning to cook..." Naruto reasoned, smiling widely to cover his pain.
"Cook what? Baked dinosaur?" Neji asked, slightly wrinkled his nose at the not-so-friendly smell of something burnt.
"Hey... dinosaur's extinct," Naruto said matter-of-factly.
"Wow, now that's something new," Neji said playfully. He made himself a cup of coffee while Naruto warmed their breakfast up in microwave. Neji took a sip of the black liquid, satisfied with the taste, he settled himself down on the chair and put his glass on the dining table with a soft 'thud'.
"Neji... you're free until..." Naruto glanced at the calendar hung innocently on the wall. "Five days again, right?" the blonde took out the rice and put the omelets for both of them on the table and took a seat across the brunette.
"Maybe ... maybe not..." Neji also took a glance at the calendar. The big red circle encircling the number 11 of February could be seen. And Neji could read Naruto's mind almost immediately.
Valentine.
Hyuuga Neji didn't give a damn about Valentine, he always hated it. It was a day when girls drowned him in love letters, chocolates and stupid love confessions. It was torturing due the fact that he hated sweets. And since he couldn't boast to people about Naruto, things like that occurred every year cause the girls didn't know.
"What about Valentine?" Neji went straight to the point. Sure, Naruto never gave him chocolate, since Naruto knew that Neji hated that kind of stuff.
"Well..." Naruto blushed, he scratched his chin unsurely. "Do you have mission or something like that right now?"
"For the time being, no," the Hyuuga shook his head. It was only him but... why did Naruto sound like he wanted him to go away?
"Oh..." Naruto nodded again. The blonde finished his meal quickly and gulped down his mineral water.
"I gotta go, Konohamaru wanted me to teach him a new jutsu..." Naruto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he leaned forward to the other side of the table, using his hands as support and gave Neji a kiss on the Hyuuga's lips. Neji kissed back briefly and the blonde pulled away. "See you soon!" Naruto smiled and walked out from the kitchen.
The sound of the front door being opened and closed again, indicating Naruto has left the apartment was heard in a row. Neji lowered his head as he bit on his egg and chewed it half-heartedly. Why did Naruto talk with tone like that? Sounded suspiciously like Naruto wanted to do something and he didn't want Neji to interfere...
Neji frowned at the thought. That couldn't be... that was... silly...
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"That's what it sounds like?" Lee asked.
"Yeah..." Neji nodded.
It was afternoon and Neji's team was on training, as usual. The only difference was Neji used their resting time to tell Lee about what had happened in the morning instead of enjoying the rest himself. Honestly, Neji didn't know why he picked someone like Lee for consoler... maybe because Neji put a lot of faith in the other teen (even though he didn't show it). Lee was a perfect secret-keeper, you needed more than just torture instruments to make the taijutsu user spilled someone's secret.
"Hmm... the one that attracted me is the whole 'cooking' thing... are you sure you can't tell what it was?" Lee scratched his chin.
"No, I told you... it's totally destroyed," Neji said, his mind flew back to whatever substances Naruto had used for cooking this morning.
"Are you sure it's not chocolate?" Lee pointed out.
"Maybe... maybe not," Neji shrugged, using an exact same sentence he had used this morning. "But why bother? He knows I don't like sweets... and he always buys chocolate for others like Hinata or Sakura... so, why now?"
"Maybe he just wanted to try something different?" Lee suggested.
"Possible... if he wanted to buy chocolate he would always ask me to come, and now he didn't even tell me he's going to buy one," Neji nodded in agreement.
"Or maybe..." Lee gave a sly grin and nudged his rival's chest lightly. "It's not for you..." he whispered into Neji's ear.
"What?" Neji was quite taken aback at Lee's words.
"Just kidding! That's impossible, isn't it?" Lee let out a chuckle at Neji's reaction.
"Lee! Neji! We'll continue our training!" Tenten called from the other side of the training ground, waving her hands so they could spot her easily.
"YOOOOOSH!" Lee stood up quickly and readjusted his chuunin vest before joining their girl comrade.
"Or maybe... It's not for you..."
Neji just sat there, Lee's words kept replaying in his mind. Did Naruto really laid an interest on someone else? Someone else other than HIM? The Hyuuga felt something called jealousy started burning the pit of his stomach. Neji took a deep breath and counted to ten. That's impossible, Neji... come one... think rationally... his inner self told him.
"Neji-kun! What are you doing?" Lee called. "Quick! We're gonna start!"
"Coming!" Neji mouthed. He took another deep breath and calmed himself down. No... Naruto couldn't possibly... had affair?
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oo0 Later that night 0oo
"Damn, I made mistakes again!" Neji heard Naruto cursed slowly.
He's at it again... The Hyuuga made a mental note. Few minutes ago, after Neji had pretended that he had fallen asleep, Naruto quickly sneaked out from the bedroom and heading to the kitchen. The blonde had locked the door, forbidding anything entering the room. So nothing could possibly figured out God-knows-what Naruto was doing in the kitchen.
Well, curiosity kills the cat. Neji sat up and focused to Naruto's presence in the kitchen. Seems that he's so in his mind... good... that's just what I need. The brunette close his eyes and made a few hand seals, he started focusing his chakra circulation in his eyes.
Byakugan! He activated his kekke genkai, veins around eyes bulged out and he slowly opened his eyes. His mouth formed a smirk.
Now, sweetheart... what are you doing? For his lifetime, Neji had never thought that he would use the famous Byakugan to spy on people. But since the situation said otherwise... Neji's gaze landed into the kitchen and he could see Naruto was stirring something inside a pan, the blonde's brows formed a frown as he scanned something in the recipe book he's been holding. What's that? Neji made a mental note and looked through the pages of the said book to take a peek at the cover.'How To Make Chocolate For Beginners' with bold red letters could be read from the cover. So it IS chocolate... Neji made another mental note as he deactivated his Byakugan. His mind flew back to the reasons for the thought of 'that-chocolate-isn't-for-me'. He put his hands on his chin in a thinking pose.
After a while and his brain didn't send any answer, he just gave in to Lee's speculation that Naruto just wanted to try something new. Maybe the blonde just wanted this Valentine to be different. Maybe that chocolate really was for Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka or his other friends. So Neji decided to lay himself back on the bed and fell down into deep slumber.
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oo0 Two days after that 0oo
"Neji! Neji! Nejinejinejineji!" the blonde's cheerful voice rang into his ear. "Neji, wake up!"
"Nngghh..." Neji groaned and opened his eyes slowly to find out Naruto's face was just a few inches from his own face. Naruto was sitting on the bed and he leaned down so his nose touched with Neji's while he used his elbow as a support. The blonde had his foxy grin plastered on his face.
"What?" the brunette asked with fresh-from-sleep voice.
"Today, you'll accompany me, right?" Naruto asked, nuzzling Neji's nose to coax him out of bed.
"To?" Neji asked again as he rubbed his eyes.
Naruto pouted as if he should've known the answer from the beginning. The blonde retreated his face and was back to his proper sitting position on the bed. This gave space for Neji to sit up as well.
"Obvious, isn't it? I wanted to buy chocolate for our buddies!" Naruto crossed his arms on his chest.
Neji's head snapped up when he heard that. Wait a minute... if Naruto will go and buy chocolate as usual... then why bother making others?
So, that chocolate Naruto was trying to make was really for someone else! That's why Naruto tried desperately to hide it from Neji!
Neji frowned when the speculation formed in his brain. Dammit...
"Neji, what's wrong? You okay?" the blonde also frowned as he examined Neji's face.
"Fine... perfectly..." Neji nodded reassuringly but his inner voice was not fine at all. I'll show him... I'll find out who it is and smack that person to death! The Hyuuga swore.
"So then get yourself ready and we're off!"
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"Is this suitable for Hinata?"
"Yes."
"This one is pretty, will Sakura like it?"
"Yes."
"Which one will Kakashi-sensei like? This?"
"Yes."
"Does this one good for Iruka-sensei?"
"Yes."
"Do you think it's okay if I give Kiba the one with dog shape?"
"Yes."
"As for Chouji... I think anything is fine..."
"Yes."
"Look, there's a cow flying while eating sukiyaki."
"Yes."
"Are you even paying attention, Neji?"
"Yes."
"Oi, Neji!" Naruto called, annoyed. He gripped the Hyuuga's shoulders and shook it lightly while he stared sharply into the other's eyes. Neji's white eyes stared back. Only it didn't look like it were focusing on the other teen. It were gazing off to other space.
"You okay?" Naruto's voice turned into concern one.
"Yes." Neji nodded.
"Say 'yes' again and I'll strangle you and drown you to the nearest duck pond, seriously! You've been dozing off like idiot ever since we left our house!" Naruto didn't let go of his grip on Neji's shoulder.
"Ye-- I'm perfectly fine..." Neji freed himself from Naruto's grip. Just suspicious... he added mentally.
"Just... tell me if you don't feel well..." Naruto gave up and sent a last stare of concern before he continued his shopping activity.
Neji didn't answer. His brain was in thinking-hard mode. Ever since that day, Naruto kept hiding his effort on making chocolate from Neji. Naruto would start right after the other teen fell asleep and finished a few hours before he woke up, so when the brunette was awake. He would find a blonde sleeping beside him and he couldn't detect that something occurred when he was sleeping.
Or so Naruto thought...
Neji would always watch on the blonde for a while before he fell asleep himself.
So now Neji took wild guess on 'who's-the-lucky-person-who-will-get-that-handmade-chocolate'. He put his fingers in his chin in thinking pose, spinning his own brain into random conclusion and speculation.
Hinata? No... he's buying chocolate for her... so it means Sakura, Tenten, Kiba and Chouji were out from list too... Neji pondered. Could it be Shikamaru? But he's on relationship with that Suna girl... Shino? But he's barely close with Naruto... but still... no, put that down temporarily. Lee? Impossible... Gaara? Maybe... Kankurou? No no...Ino? Or maybe it's someone I don't know? Neji kept thinking until he felt like tearing his hair from his scalp.
"Oi..." a tap on his shoulder woke him from his mind battle. He turned and saw his blonde hugging a package of sweets.
"I'm finished... let's go home..." the blonde teen smiled and took his lover's hand. Half-pulling the brunette out from store.
Maybe... Neji thought in their way home. I'll just follow him to make sure who it is... that's it! Brilliant! Neji praised himself for his own idea.
Just wait and see...
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oo0 14 of February 0oo
Naruto walked happily, hugging a plastic bag with one arm. Humming songs to himself. He strolled casually along the road, his blonde hair swishing lightly with his movement. Unaware to him, a certain jounin was following him and examining his every move ever since he left their house.
So far nothing is suspicious... Neji who perked on a nearby tree while hiding his presence stated mentally. Naruto just gave away chocolates to Sakura, Iruka and Hinata, just like previous years.
"Shikamaru!" suddenly Naruto called. Neji looked around and spotted the shadow-user, waving back with lack of enthusiasm.
"Yo," he stated.
"Here!" Naruto put a small box into Shikamaru's palm. "For you..."
"Are you giving chocolate to us again?" Shikamaru asked, referring to the former Rookie nine while turning the little object in his hand. "That's so troublesome..."
"Because all of you are important to me!" Naruto gave another happy grin. This answer made Shikamaru smiled, so did Neji. That was so Naruto to answer like that.
"Then what about that boyfriend of yours?" The Nara pocketed the chocolate.
Naruto blushed, so did Neji. The blonde scratched his chin, still blushing and muttered in a low voice. "He's..."
"Hm?" Shikamaru's expression showed an ounce of excitement.
"To me... he's..."
Neji strained his ear so he could get better access. What thing would Naruto say?
"... I gotta go! There are still a lot of people in my list!" Naruto let out a dry laugh, clearly from embarrassment. He was about to turn his body, but stopping as if remembering something. The blonde focused back on Shikamaru and gave the Nara a wide, and rather sly grin.
"Happy Valentine... I bet you and Temari will have a lot of 'excitement'..." Naruto smiled and this time it was Shikamaru's turn to blush in a deep shade of red. Naruto laughed at him and zoomed away.
"Damn that brat..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath. But smiling afterwards when he walked away. Maybe he's right after all...
Meanwhile, a pretty disappointed Neji let out a sigh. What was his answer anyway? But he sounded rather confused... maybe if he was going to—damn I lost him! Neji nearly slapped his forehead and kicked himself mentally instead. He was so lost in his mind that he forgot he was stalking... err, following Naruto. His gaze immediately ran right and left to the packed street but he couldn't find his blonde.
Damn... Neji jumped down from the tree to ask people, using Byakugan was just a waste of chakra. But Neji forgot it was a VERY bad decision...
"Ah, there you are Neji-sama!"
Holy crap... he turned and saw a pack of girls giggling like mad when they looked at him. All of them held a package similar to the ones Naruto held. And Neji was pretty amazed at how the girls moved so fast... now he was surrounded.
"Neji-sama, I made this for you!"
"Will you go out with me today, Neji?"
"Neji-kun, don't listen to them!"
"Mine is the best! Neji, please take it!"
Cold sweats started forming on Neji's forehead. The deadly routine of drowning him in chocolates was back. And he did the first thing any sane man would do in life-threatening situation like this.
He ran away. Fast, at that point.
"Neji-kun, wait!" and they chased him, again. Just like previous years.
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Neji panted as he stopped on the training ground. His breath was labored as if he was giving birth. The Hyuuga dropped on his knees, sighing heavily.
Damn, why do girls seem to have extra energy in something like this? He wiped his forehead using the back of his hand. He glanced upwards and noticed the sky was starting to get dark. "Neeejiii!" the mob of girls could be seen from twenty meters radius. Oh God, spare me... he nearly moaned out of desperation. Not only because he lost tracks of his blonde but also have to run away from this horrifying girls. Luckily he didn't have fangirls as much as Uchiha Sasuke. He was about to stand up when he heard familiar voice erupting from the crowd. "Hey, he's mine! Don't touch him!" His head snapped up and he saw the familiar figure of Tenten, shooing away all of those girls in a threatening way. "You! Go away! Hey, you! Don't try to sneak out and kidnap him! Everybody go away! Neji's going out with me! Have problem with that? Now go or I'll make you all piss right HERE!" the bun-haired chuunin took out her kunai and pointed it to the crowd.The mob of girls stopped and sent death glare to Tenten. The chuunin glared back at them, but she glanced at Neji for a few seconds. Neji, as if on cue, smiled and approached Tenten.
"I've been wondering where you are..." he put a hand on the girl's shoulder, drawing her closer.
The crowd's jaws dropped in an instant. Some of them even started weeping. Tenten smirked at them with a 'see-I-told-you-what' fashion. And it didn't took long to send a bunch of heart-broken girls home, crying or sulking.
Neji let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when his vision was cleared from any fangirls.
"That's some situation you involved yourself in..." Tenten said, nodding her head at her own sentence as Neji retreated his hand from her shoulder.
"Thanks..." Neji muttered.
"No problem, we're friends, right?" Tenten smiled and Neji gave a small smile as reply.
"Tenten... did you see Naruto?" Neji asked.
"Uum..." Tenten pondered aloud. "The last time I saw him... he was heading back home..." she recalled.
"I see... thanks... again," Neji nodded his acknowledgment to the other brunette. Tenten let out a grin and gave Neji a wink.
"Happy Valentine, Neji... do say that to Naruto-kun too..." she said with teasing voice, her expression looked suspiciously like a smirk. She took Neji's hand and Neji could see something wrapped in green wrapping paper was placed in his palm.
"I give Lee the green one too... and he kept jumping out of happiness for three minutes..." Tenten smiled. Neji just nodded and pocketed the chocolate.
Girls.. but it's not that bad...
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oo0 Not long after that 0oo
The Hyuuga opened the door to their apartment slowly. It made a light creaking sound, announcing his arrival. He stepped in and put his shoes away while clearing dust from his clothes.
"Tadaima, Naru—"
"Neji!" the blonde emerged from the kitchen and ran to his brunette. He gave Neji a bone-crushing hug, burying his face on Neji's chest.
"Thank goodness you're alive!"
"...?" Neji gave a dumbfounded expression.
"No girls hurt you, right? You still have your fingers? You still have your ears? You're still sane?" Naruto asked, checking Neji's entire body for possible damage.
"Naru—"
"I mean... fangirls could be horrifying! Sasuke always said that to me... you don't have bruise, right? You don't have nosebleed or cuts... good, you don't have brain damage, right? How many is this?" Naruto showed his fingers right in front of Neji's eyes.
"Two..." Neji said almost lazily. "Seriously, Naruto... do we have to do this?"
"Just checking..." Naruto seemed satisfied with Neji's normal condition. He let the Hyuuga in by getting out from his way and trailed him to the sofa in their small yet cozy living room.
"Hinata and Sakura told me to give you these, it's from them..." Naruto stood and put the boxes on Neji's lap. One was white with blue ribbon tired around it, clearly from Hinata while the other was red with bow on front, Sakura's style. The brunette eyed them for a moment before sighing and put them away.
"They know I don't like chocolate..." speaking of chocolate... did Naruto already give his handmade one?
"Oh... here... another one..." Naruto placed another box on Neji's lap. It was blue, like Naruto's eyes. But the ribbon was white, like his eyes.
Neji raised the box and looked at it from the same eye level. "From?"
Naruto blushed before he pointed to himself. "Me..."
"Huh?" Neji's head was turned to face Naruto, who still blushed, even redder. "But you never give me one..."
"Well... I know you don't like it... but... I think you should try a few sometimes... not ALL of them were bad you know!" The blonde reasoned, his tone clearly urging Neji to open the box and eat.
"I just don't like sweets... take that, I hate it," Neji gave his opinion. But he unwrapped the ribbon and opened the box anyway. Inside, there were a few small balls of chocolate, all of them with white frosting on it.
"They're dark chocolate so it doesn't taste as sweet as milk or white one, try some..." Naruto urged.
"Naruto, I..." Neji just stared at the little sweets.
"Hey, I made them myself you know... at least appreciate it by eating it..." Naruto patted his chest rather proudly.
"Oh, so these are... wait, what was that again?" Neji was starting to think that his ears failed him.
"They're dark chocolates?"
"No, after that..." Neji's eyes were on Naruto now.
"I made them myself?" it was clear that Naruto was confused by now.
"You made them?" Neji pointed to the chocolates, but his eyes were firmly fixed on his blonde.
"Well, yeah... like I said, I just wanted you to taste chocolate but you would probably refuse if I buy one, so I think I will make one, the tasty one and change your opinion about them..." Naruto blushed.
Neji just sat there, his mouth opened slightly to form a word but he decided to close it again. So Naruto was... was doing this for him? So his hard effort on making these was for him?
"Don't worry... I don't poison it, see?" Naruto picked up one and popped it inside his mouth.
Neji stared at those little balls with a frown. Sure, he knew Naruto wouldn't poison it... but chocolate was chocolate... and he hated it as much as he once hated fate.
Naruto sighed, rather disappointed. So Neji wouldn't eat it after all...
"If you're not going to eat it... then kiss me," Naruto said with a pout.
Neij stared at Naruto and blushed at his weird request. His gaze shifted a few times from the chocolate to Naruto. No need second thought to pick Naruto over chocolate.
"Fine, come here..." he grabbed Naruto at the back of his neck and pulled him closer. Naruto complied and tilted his head up so Neji could bent slightly and clasped their lips together in a demanding kiss. It was soft at first but Naruto didn't look like he would let it happen for long. The blonde grabbed the back of Neji's neck and deepened the kiss.
Naruto forced Neji's mouth to open by shoving his tongue forcefully into the other's closed mouth, Neji just obliged and opened his mouth wide enough. He would let Naruto won this time.
But Neji's eyes snapped open when he felt something unusual and he shoved Naruto backwards rather roughly into an arm length, his hands were still on Naruto's shoulders. He cast an accusing stare at his partner. But the blonde just stared at him back with a smirk.
"You really are a tricky person..." Neji stated as he smirked back. So Naruto had used to kiss to transfer the chocolate he had pretended to eaten into the other's mouth. And so Neji was forced to eat the sweet since it was already inside his mouth.
"I AM Uzumaki Naruto, a former prankster..." Naruto grinned full of victory.
Neji chewed on the thing quickly and swallowed it with eyes closed.
"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Naruto asked with a tone mother used to praise their child after they drank their medicine. "How was it?"
Neji unconsciously brought a hand to touch his slightly swollen lips. To tell the truth, that was rather... tasty. The chocolate had equal amount of bitter and sweet taste, it collided perfectly and resulting a fine taste of dark chocolate. And the right composition of the white chocolate frosting made it taste even better.
"Delicious..." Neji confessed and made Naruto lit up with happiness. "—and I rather love the way eating it..." he teased, licking his lips to add effect.
Naruto blushed at those words. "O-of course! I spent hours learning to make it!"
"I know..." Neji stood up from the sofa.
"You know?" Naruto echoed.
"Yeah... and the fact that you were hiding it from me made me had a thought of you having an affair..." Neji told Naruto his recent mind.
"Wha—" Naruto's jaw dropped slightly. Neji felt light pink tainted his cheeks as he noticed the look Naruto sent at him.
"That's misunderstanding, okay?" Neji said with a defending tone.
"Affair? Since when did you become paranoid like that?" Naruto chuckled loudly. The other teen smiled and tilted Naruto's chin up with one finger.
"Since I realized how important you are for me..." Neji's tone turned soft.
Naruto's face exploded in a blush. If he were Hinata, he would've fainted by now.
"Neji..." he didn't expect that Neji would say something so blunt like that.
Neji leaned down once more and gave Naruto a soft kiss. Which Naruto returned gladly. That kiss made Neji left a faint taste of chocolate on the other's lips.
"And for apologize... I think I'm gonna give you a treat for dinner this night... what do you want?" Neji said as he retreated his lips.
"Really? Neji, I love you! Then I vote for Ichiraku!" Naruto's lips formed a wide smile.
"Again?"
"Hey... I'm picking..." Naruto said, reminding.
"Well then, up to you..." Neji stood up and stretched out his hand for Naruto. His lover smiled again and took his hand, entangled their fingers together.
"Okaaay! Ichiraku, here we go!" Naruto punched the air and stormed outside, bringing the unsuspecting Neji with him. The Hyuuga let out a few sounds of protest for being dragged around like that. Even though Naruto was 15-years-old, he would always remain that loud and cheerful kid Neji had known for years, and the one he had fell in love with. Neji hoped that Naruto would never change...
But one thing did change for Neji...
Now, chocolate wasn't so bad after all...
-OWARI-
Hira : There... I think the last part sounds rushed... but well, I'm trying hard so this fic is finished in Valentine, so I could go and finish my other NejiNaru fic... :sigh: I'm tired... okay then, Reviews please! Tell me whaddya think!
See you on next fic :D