Smoking was stupid. Neji knew that. It was an idiotic, dangerous, unhealthy habit. A risk in a life that had quite enough already. He'd treated Shikamaru to countless lectures on the dangers of smoking, especially for those in their field of work, and he knew Chouji and Ino did the same. Asuma smoked for years, and he was the healthiest shinobi this side of Maito Gai, Shikamaru would argue back. Even if one discounts the significant health hazards, it's still just another liability in the field. Something that could interfere with mission procedure, for example, what if he ran out of cigarettes in the middle of an assignment? I don't smoke on mission the Nara would claim. It can be exploited by enemy shinobi, should Shikamaru ever be apprehended. I'm not an idiot, it's not like I'm addicted he would dismiss. But he didn't need to suffer from nicotine addiction to get lung cancer, which brought the argument back to the Nara's physical welfare. Watch out, Hyuga, or I might start thinking you give a damn.
That always shut Neji up. Not that it was ever delivered with any particular bite; it would be stated plainly and honestly in a lazy drawl, likely accompanied by a shrug or a sigh or an eye roll or any other type of action that could effectively demonstrate Nara's total indifference. But he couldn't respond to a comment like that. To do so would break the fragile something that was keeping whatever this was together.
Of course, he cared for Shikamaru, first as a teammate, then a friend, and now as this, the indeterminate social role he was currently playing in Neji's life. But it wasn't a "caring" he knew how to define. It was entirely different.
He cared for Tenten and Lee, Naruto and the others in the rookie nine. He knew he could depend on them and liked to think that they reciprocated the thought. To them, he could be a reliable friend and confidant. He was strict and serious, concerning them and always with himself, but also kind and humble and fonder of their group than he would ever let them know. They knew his faults, were quick to point them out whenever they got the chance, but that didn't frustrate him as it once had. There was trust in their knowing, a trust not to take advantage, that he knew they would never cross and he sometimes found himself eager to divulge more secrets, to give more and get more and bind them closer and closer to him.
He cared for Gai-sensei, had respected him ever since the older man had beaten the absolute crap out of him on his first day of genin training. He had been devastated, filled with humiliation and disbelief that a guy who dressed up like a clown could dropkick him clear across the training ground without the Byakugan even sensing his approach. But he had never been insolent towards the man again. At least not to his face. Gai understood him in ways no one else had ever taken the time to. He knew about his family's legacy, and Neji's place as a branch member, knew about his anger but had never tried to talk him out of it. Whether he should or shouldn't have was up for debate, but he had never once criticized Neji's feelings or fed him any lines about how honored he should be because his father had been sacrificed for the good of the clan. For that, he had Neji's begrudging admiration, even if his twelve year old self had been too prideful to admit it out loud. For Gai-sensei, he was a capable jonin, the sole member of their group to reach such a position. Lee had always been Gai's favorite pupil, and probably always would be, but Neji was still one of his "precious students", and he doubted that would change anytime soon either.
Neji cared for Hinata, Hanabi, his uncle, and a selection of other members in the clan. This caring was new, slow to grow, and so delicate. He had become quite close with Hinata, and Hanabi to a lesser extent, and fiercely protective of both. He could still see the brittleness of this bond through interactions with his uncle; even now that he knew the truth behind his father's decision. Outside of training, neither really knew where the boundaries were, or when they had been overstepped until they were already broken through. They tread warily around each other, like walking on ice each new step had to be tested thoroughly before it could be counted on to hold steady. It was uncomfortable and sometimes unpleasant, but Neji wasn't displeased by it because this was the sort of caring he could feel strengthening with each passing day. Here, he was the Hyuga prodigy, despite personally feeling that he had somewhat disproved that notion in the very first round of the Chunin Exams. He was a treasure, a callback to the power and fierceness of Konoha's top close-combat fighting techniques. And he was something else too. Now and again, when he caught Hiashi or Hinata giving him odd looks, he got the bizarre feeling that those eyes would look at him that tenderly even if he couldn't perform juken to save his life. He was a son, a nephew, a brother.
But when he thought about Shikamaru, it was strange and wholly unique. Like he had been given pieces from all different puzzles and was somehow supposed to combine them into a complete picture.
Shikamaru clearly should be categorized alongside Naruto and the others; a friend and teammate. He trusted the other man explicitly both on and off the battlefield and depended on him just as much as he did the rest, probably more so given the Nara's position as de facto commander. Shikamaru probably had more opportunity than anyone to betray his confidence, yet Neji was inexplicably certain that would never happen. But, then again, the Nara was likely too lazy to delve into gossip and storytelling no matter whom the subject was or how much he knew about them.
He respected the Nara, body and mind, though the mind part sort of went without saying at this point. Shikamaru was a genius, plain and simple. His strategic mind outclassed people twice his age and with three times the experience and Neji's pride in him skyrocketed whenever the lazy nin proved as much. Like Neji, and in spite of himself, Shikamaru trained heavily, mostly at the behest of his father, to become proficient in his clan's techniques. While Neji was positive he could best the Nara in combat, he was no slouch either after all, he had no doubt that it would be a difficult win. Yet, for all his wisdom, Neji never considered seeking advice from the younger man and couldn't imagine ever being able to consult him with the ease in which he consulted Gai-sensei. The thought of the Nara looking at him as if Neji were just another ignoramus who needed things spelled out for him was gratuitously agitating.
And sometimes, when he caught Shikamaru staring late at night, or early in the morning, mid-afternoon, public areas, private bedrooms, from across the room or inches away, the look in his eyes was…
Neji's own eyes shot open. He quickly and, if he were being honest, rather ungracefully stood from his position at the base of a tall tree near the Third Training Ground. He scanned the area, making sure no one had seen his flustered flailing about. He really shouldn't have been meditating here, the third being such a popular training ground among the Konoha shinobi, but to actually find it abandoned, even at this hour before most of the village had stirred from slumber, was such a rare experience that he felt it had to be taken advantage of. But for his thoughts to trail into such a subject again, he sighed, it really was telling.
He supposed some part of him was constantly seeking a definition, the ability to pigeonhole Shikamaru's relation to him, label and classify it. But, he reminded himself not for the first time, that naturally there was no group that the idea of Shikamaru fell cleanly into, because he had no other "Shikamaru"s to speak of. No one else currently occupied that niche of friend, teammate, guide, rival, and, he scowled looking around shiftily at the emptiness, well, the rest. So it would only make sense for Shikamaru to become a class of his own, and if that unnerved and distressed Neji, then that was part of his development and would only be for the best in the end.
And if he thought, for even a split second, that this 'whatever' between them was becoming just as distracting and intrusive and risky and downright addictive as the Nara's own bad habit, well, that was nothing a nice fierce sparring session wouldn't push to the very back of his mind.
a bit from Neji's POV; how does it look to you? Without reviews, I'll just assume I am the personification of perfection and may grow quite a large head indeed hahaha