I promised in my summary that my story would have Nejinaru, right? The first chappy didn't have much Nejinaru, so my deepest apologies for that. However, I make it up to you psycho yaoi fans in this chappy. Lotsa fluff and Nejinaru, cuz I love the pairing and frankly, we don't get a lot of Nejinaru fics.
To all of my reviewers: Thank you sooooo much! I admit, this is my VERY FIRST FIC! You made me feel so much at home...sniff...
To Clow Angel: I hate Sakura too...she definitely will pay.
Chapter 2: A Whirpool of Emotions
Naruto stared, quite stunned by the meeting. Wow. That was some ghost. Oh well. Might as well make the best of it. He rubbed the jewel on his forehead. Very interesting indeed.
"Oi, Gaki. Come down so I can talk to you." A deep voice rumbled inside Naruto's subconscious.
"Alright. I'm coming." And Naruto found himself being drawn into the seal.
He landed with a splash in the water and made his way toward the Kyuubi. After dodging the claws (" Oi, kuso kitsune. Claw at me again and I'll paint these walls pink!"), Naruto took a seat near the walls of the gate.
"Now, kit. We shall start your training. First of all, focus your chakra into the seal." Naruto did so, and felt the seal growing hot.
"Aim the seal at the wall over there and direct your chakra into the jewel." Naruto obeyed, and blasted a huge crater in said wall.
"Wow. That was cooool!" Kyuubi smiled.
"Well, that was a start. With this jewel, you can summon seven legendary glaives, two swords, and the Illusion Kunai which will be of great use. The seven glaives are as follows: Silence Glaive, Fire Glaive, Water Glaive, Wind Glaive, Lightning Glaive, Earth Glaive, and Metal Glaive. The two swords are for you to name, but one controls the supernatural elements such as telepathy and telekinesis and the other controls the natural elements. The Illusion Kunai is for you to discover on your own, for even I do not know the full extent of it's powers. Now lets begin your training….."
Neji sighed. His training was off. And this time it wasn't due to Lee or Tenten. No, the cause of this little distraction was a certain fiery-spirited blonde. Neji knew this, yet he couldn't do anything about it. It was irritating in a good sort of way. Training with this little hindrance could result in something drastic, so Neji decided to quit for the day and just daydream. He flopped onto the mossy forest floor and began to relive the day when he'd just woken up in the hospital from his battle with Kidoumaru.
Flashback
Neji stirred, a frown marring his elegant features, and cracked open an eye. He briefly observed the white-washed walls of the hospital ward, and closed his eye. Then, thinking it was high time he woke up, he opened both eyes, only to see a blonde-haired boy at his bedside.
Naruto looked serenely radiant in his mended state, and with the sun at his back and a dazzling smile on his face, he looked like a fallen angel.
"Ne, Neji, you finally woke up! Do you feel better?"
Naruto cocked his head to one side, and in doing so, the sun had caught his eyes and illuminated them to such a degree that his eyes had looked like fire sapphires and his hair like finely spun gold.
In that very moment, brief as it was, Neji was caught in a whirlpool of emotions, so frightening and new; they shocked him enough to stain his normally pale cheeks as subtle red. His head was spinning and his chest hurt, but it was a pleasant hurt instead of hurting like a wound. Even so, Neji couldn't help flinching, and Naruto, being his usual naïve self, mistook Neji's crisis as his shoulder wound reopening and bent over Neji to adjust his bandages.
Leaving Neji with a noseful of blonde spiky locks.
Unconsciously, Neji inhaled a fair amount of the heavenly stuff (why he did so would forever puzzle him) and he noticed that Naruto's hair smelled like…smelled like…. strawberries? He was expecting ramen; after all, the blonde consumed so much, Neji would have though Naruto would've begun to sweat ramen, but here he was, nose buried in Naruto's hair (thankfully, Naruto was oblivious to all this nuzzling and chatting about "taking better care of yourself, Neji, jeez, I was worried…" which made Neji blush shades of red never seen before) justifying that Naruto's hair really did smell like strawberries.
And raspberries. And blueberries, and blackberries, and boysenberries and flowers and chocolate and soap and mint and herbs and just a touch of earthy, foresty scent that sent Neji into the nostalgic throes of bliss.
"Ano sa, Ano sa, Neji? Daijoubu?"
"Hai, hai, Naruto, I'm fine." Although Neji was far from fine (emotionally), he didn't want his blonde to worry. Hold on. Rewind. Play. Did he just say HIS blonde? Oh yes. Yes he did. But any further musings over what that meant were erased when Naruto leaned over to Neji and peered into his eyes. God, those eyes were so damn intense when Naruto stared. Neji tried desperately to control himself, but this task was nothing short of rocket science seeing that Naruto's nose was scant millimeters away from his own, their breaths mingling, and their foreheads touching.
Not to mention Naruto's hand on Neji's hip, the other on his shoulder, and his nees on either side of Neji's thighs. The temperature level was enough to rival a hot spring.
"Ne ne ne ne. Neji?" Naruto widened his eyes, intensified his gaze, and leaned even closer. How he managed not to kiss the Hyuuga was a wonderment. Poor Neji uttered a few gasps and garbled sounds until he squeezed out a "Yes?"
"Your eyes. Do people ever find them weird or think that you're blind?" Normally, Neji would give the person asking the aforementioned question the Hyuuga Death Glare (woe betide the poor sap), but in his current emotional crisis, Neji could only blush.
"U-um, no, be-because th-they already u-uhm, er, know about th-the H-Hyuuga clan, after all, i-it is the m-most noble ada-aba-advanced buh-bloodline limit in the v-vi-villiage." Curse his lack of ability to speak. He would have a long, if not painful and extensive talk with his vocal cords assuming he lived through this experience.
"Oh." Naruto flopped onto Neji completely, head on his chest and legs sprawled on the other boy's lower torso.
"Uhm, Naruto?"
"Mmm?" Naruto snuggled into Neji's chest and murmured something about "warm and fuzzy" (Increase previously mentioned blush twentyfold and you have one extremely uncomfortable Hyuuga).
"Your whiskers. Does anyone remark about those?" Even Naruto's hair seemed to droop.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No…" Naruto unconsciously clung closer to Neji. "They already know."
"I don't."
"You shouldn't."
"Why not?" Naruto sighed and played with a strand of Neji's hair, flicking it and rubbing his cheek against its silky feel (Neji mentally vowed never to wash that strand of hair again).
"Just as your curse seal bears a story, so do my whiskers." Neji frowned.
"I told you my story. Why can't you tell yours?"
"Secret." Neji felt the blonde's lithe body tense up. He sighed and tilted Naruto's chin towards his face. What he saw shocked him to no end. Naruto's eyes were filled with sadness, loneliness, angst, and a river of emotions that seemed to go straight to Neji's soul. Neji was thoroughly confused. What had happened to this boy to make his eyes so dead? The Hyuuga tilted Naruto's head even farther up and rested his forehead on the blonde's corresponding counterpart.
"Naruto. No matter how bad your past was, I will never consider you anything else but my teammate and friend."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Naruto smiled sadly.
"Alright." He began pulling up his shirt.
"Na-Naruto, what—?" As much as Neji enjoyed the view of Naruto's finely toned stomach, now wasn't really the time…
"Shhh." Naruto placed a finger on Neji's lips (blush) and made a seal. As he channeled his chakra, a strange tattoo began appearing on his stomach. Neji peered closely at the mark.
"What's that?" Naruto's gaze held a fierce pride, but at the same time seemed sad.
"This ruined my life from the day I was born, and yet, if I didn't have this, I would never have had my dream of becoming Hokage, nor my strength I have now." Opalescent eyes widened.
"What do you mean?"
"Thirteen years ago, a nine-tailed demon fox attacked the village." Neji raised an elegant eyebrow. The Kyuubi? Why was Naruto bringing that up now?
"Do you know what happened to the fox?" Naruto asked. Neji vaguely remembered the tale his father had told him.
"The fox was killed." Naruto shook his head.
"No. It was sealed away in the body of an infant boy. I'll give you three guesses as to who the lucky bastard was." Neji gasped.
"No. Not you?"
"Yes. And because it was me, the villagers saw me as the fox, and not Naruto. That was why they hated me, why they tortured me, why they took away every amount of happiness I had." Naruto spat. Neji felt wave upon wave of sympathy, pity, and remorse. Naruto's past made his own seem so selfish. He had a father and relatives while Naruto had no one at all.
So thinking, Neji pulled the blonde into his arms, cradling the small body. Naruto clung to Neji in silence, both boys sharing a deep level of understanding and sympathy for one another.
End Flashback
Naruto was beat. Kyuubi's cell no longer had any visible structure save for the gate; everything else had been destroyed due to training. He sighed and leaned against the gate, panting and wheezing. So far, he'd managed to master the full extent of the jewel's destructive power, five of the seven glaives, one sword, and half the power of the Illusion Kunai. It was tiring, but he was quite proud of himself. Kyuubi was as well. In fact, the fox gave him a giant scroll containing all the Kuchiyose summons, animal and demon alike, for a reward. But now he was tired and needed rest. The great fox wrapped a tail around the boy and nuzzled him with his nose.
"You've done well, kit. Now rest. You'll be able to train tomorrow." Naruto yawned sleepily and curled up into Kyuubi, snuggling into the soft warm fur.
The Next Day
Naruto found himself in the forest, sprawled messily against the roots of a tree. Oh. He was in the forest. He remembered now. Kyuubi'd been training him. So he made progress. Why not test it on a fellow teammate? Naruto extended his sixth sense to reveal any familiar chakra signatures. He caught one not too far away from where he sat. Apparently it belonged to Hyuuga Neji. How convenient. It would be interesting to test his results against those of the genius. So the kit bounced away toward the Hyuuga, flying gracefully through the trees.
Neji moaned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Where was he? Oh yes. He fell asleep while thinking about a certain blonde. He sat up and was about to return home when he felt a familiar presence making its way toward him at a fair pace. Well speak of the devil. Neji activated his Byakugan just to make sure. Yup, it was the blonde all right.
He prepared to meet Naruto head on when Naruto suddenly disappeared. What? Kage Bunshin? Too late, Neji sensed the real Naruto, and got glomped as the result. The next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the ground while Naruto bounced happily on his stomach.
"Ne ne Neji. I was looking for you." A scant rose color stained the cheeks of the Hyuuga.
"Ya wanna train? Please? Pwetty pweeze?" And Naruto scrunched his face into a puppy look so cute that even Itachi would have melted at first sight. Neji promptly turned into a puddle of goo.
"All right, all right."
"YAAAAYYYYY!" Naruto grinned and did the most unexpected thing ever in the existence of unexpected things.
Naruto leaned over and kissed Neji on the forehead.
O-kay. Neji blushed shades of red so vibrant that any artist would've crawled over a bed of staples to possess such colors. Well. The Hyuuga genius was utterly shocked. Naruto kissed him because of his agreeing to TRAIN?
It was then that Neji took a close look at Naruto. He seemed different. For one, he was wearing his forehead protector on his neck. And for another….there seemed to be an odd crystal on his forehead with seals interlacing it on either side of Naruto's brow.
"Naruto, what's with the crystal on your forehead?" Naruto smiled secretly.
"That is for me to know, and for you to find out when we train. Hence the reason I asked you."
Neji arched a finely shaped eyebrow. Well this would be an interesting training session. He got into the stance for Jyuuken.
"Well then. Come." Naruto charged, and a split second before he got to Neji, he disappeared.
"What?" Neji turned around to find Naruto coming at him from the left. Neji dodged him and smirked. The smirk decided it favored Naruto when he felt a sharp pain across his cheek and a corresponding boom from behind him. Neji leapt back and looked across the clearing. What he saw completely stunned him
"What happened?"
An entire side of the training area had been blown to bits. And what was scarier still, there was absolutely no debris. It was like the area had been molecularly destroyed. Amazing. Neji put a hand to his cheek and stroked it gingerly. He took a good look at his hand. Blood was streaked across the fingers.
"Naruto…what?" Naruto grinned widely and pointed to the crystal on his head.
"Result of my training. Watch." And Naruto blasted another portion of the forest to kingdom come. Neji re-hinged his jaw and rubbed his eyes.
"Naruto. You can destroy THAT MUCH of the forest down to the MOLECULAR level with just ONE BLAST?" Naruto grinned.
"Yup. But don't worry. I won't use it on my teammates or anyone I trust. You can take my word for granted." Neji relaxed. After all, Naruto never went back on his word.
"Now I must repair all this damage."
Naruto formed a seal, then extended his palm. A rod of chakra appeared in his hand and solidified into some kind of intricately woven staff with a blade at the end. Naruto sent a blast of energy into the ground, and trees sprouted up right and left until the forest looked untouched.
"Where did you learn THAT?" Neji managed to gasp.
"You know about Kyuubi, right? Well he taught me how to utilize all this power. And as to where I got the jewel…" Naruto proceeded in telling Neji about his rendezvous with Sandaime. Neji nodded.
"You can talk to Kyuubi?"
"Yup! He's not a bad conversationalist, and a great listener! He also heightened my senses a great deal, so he's a much better trainer than Kaka-sensei." (Kyuubi folds his arms and nods his head.)
"Woww…." Neji was astonished. All of a sudden, Naruto boinged his way over to Neji, grabbed him by the hand, and started pulling him.
"Naruto, what…?"
"C'mon, Neji, I have a surprise for you!" And with that, the kitsune dragged Neji out of the forest and toward the main village.
Five minutes later, Naruto and Neji stood at the entrance to the hot springs. Neji's eyes widened.
"Holy shit! Naruto, this is the most expensive hot spring resort in Konoha!" Naruto smiled slyly, and held up two passes to the hot springs. Neji's eyes resembled, quite literally, dinner plates.
"WHERE THE HELL DIDYOU GET THOSE?" Naruto grinned evilly and pointed toward the man at the desk.
"He's a pervert, and I happen to have a special technique up my sleeve called Sexy No Jutsu…" Naruto trailed off, still smirking like crazy. Neji started smirking like crazy as well.
"Shall we?"
"After you."
So the duo entered the private hot springs. And simultaneously, both boys' jaws dropped.
"Damn…" Neji could see why this was THE most expensive hot spring resort in Konoha. Tropical plants grew all along quartz rocks shot with marble, and a waterfall fed the hot springs. Rose petals floated along the water while an enticing scent rose from the steamy water. To spend time with Naruto in such an atmosphere…thoughts were revolving in Neji's head, three-quarters of which were rated NC-23, the last quarter still stunned at the sheer luxury of the hot spring.
"Shall we get to it then?" Naruto unzipped his jacket and took off his shirt. Instantly, Neji turned around, masking the flaming blush and distinct nosebleed he seemed to have accumulated. The next time he turned around, Naruto was dressed only in a towel around his waist.
"My turn." Neji loosed his hair and stripped himself, wrapping a towel around his own waist. Naruto gasped. Neji looked so…hot….with his hair down. Downright sexy. Which was probably why Neji kept it tied back most of the time. Fangirls really were annoying. The pair slipped into the relaxing hot water , each letting out an audible sigh as the water calmed their nerves.
"Neji, Neji, Neji! Can I wash your hair?" Neji looked confused.
"Wash my hair? But we don't have any soap." Naruto grinned and held up a bar.
"Says who?" Neji smiled and gave in.
"All right, all right." Naruto made his way over to one of the plants around the hot spring and plucked the leaves. He isolated a small section of the hot spring water using the rocks, and shaved curls of soap and plant into the makeshift basin. Again, Naruto summoned a rod of chakra, this time taking the shape of a deep red rod with a ruby in the handle, and a fiery red-orange blade with black flames embossed into the blade. Naruto stuck the tip of the blade into the basin and heated the water to a low boil. Neji stared curiously.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" An enticing scent arose from the basin.
"Mint works best if you wanna make shampoo." Naruto grinned, then gathered some "shampoo" and started lathering Neji's hair.
Gentle, he was so gentle. Neji had never felt anyone take such care and effort over just a simple task of washing hair. And what was more, Neji's hair was snarled into all sorts of knotballs from the training, but Naruto only gently picked them out one by one. Hell yeah, this was the life.
See, see? NEJINARU! I always keep my promises!