Neji's POV
When those impertinent lips touched his, Neji felt as if fireworks exploded inside his chest. His heart had never beat so quickly. An intense tingling spread all along his skin. It was similar to being shaken by an electric shock, but not painful. In fact it was completely the opposite.
From the moment Shikamaru took off his black sweater everything went out of control. Neji should never have suggested it, but his mouth betrayed him by uttering the words without his consent. The simple image of the gawky boy in that tight transparent shirt made Neji speechless. Seeing that Shikamaru had noticed it, the Hyuga had tried to speak to break the tension. But he couldn't. He couldn't even look away. He could only remain there, totally petrified. And then he had had the stupid idea of getting closer to clear that stain of sauce in the other ninja's stomach. So foolish. He knew that to maintain his composure he should stay as far away as possible from the Nara. But his mind had cheated him. It made him think that acting that way might make it seem like he was taking the situation naturally, and not having any weird or inappropriate thought.
But he didn't count on accidentally touching the firm skin of those abs. Even though there was still a thin fabric between them, the heat radiating through it made Neji swallow with difficulty. He was about to make back a step, when Shikamaru had taken his wrist.
Neji shouted internally to his whole body to react. He asked it to let go of the grip, to run away, or at least to scream. Something. But there had been no case.
The alarm in his head increased when he felt his palm being pressed against hot muscle. He could perceived his body shaking, but concentrated all his strengths in controlling it. The image of him crouching a little to lift that translucid shirt and slip his tongue along the ardent skin destabilized his mind even more. He couldn't believe how much that excited him.
Then Shikamaru had began the slow descent of his hand to his groin, and Neji's guard got weaker. "Shit!, Kami!", was all he could think. He felt his erection beating and dripping a little. He had tried to appealed to Shikamaru's sanity when he told him he had gone crazy, but the Nara seemed to have that totally assumed.
A few seconds later, Neji had felt the hard and burning member of the other ninja in his hand. He had realised he was blushing and panting, but couldn't help to. He had known that he was putting himself in a very vulnerable situation by letting someone else handle him like that, but in the back of his chest he just wanted the person in front of him to take him strongly and to slam him against the wall.
When the kiss came, he didn't even tried to contain his moan. The sensations that contact released in his body were simply indescribable. He closed his eyes strongly.
They remained like that for long seconds, united by their lips. Shikamaru's hand was still holding his around his erection, which suddenly shivered in Neji's fist, hot and hard. He was about to let out another groan and a curse when a wet tongue stroked his closed mouth. Neji felt himself getting stiffen as well, losing a little more of control with each lick. After running his lips several times, Shikamaru stopped his mouth over Neji's. His breath of tobacco and lust were intoxicating. Then he gently pressed the union of the Hyuga's lips with the tip of his tongue, until the smaller ninja surrendered and allowed him to enter.
Both wet muscles touched shyly at first. But shortly they lost themselves in the sensation of tasting each other, and their tongues got entangled again and again. The two boys groaned simultaneously into the kiss and got closer. Shikamaru let go his hand and put both of his in the Hyuga's hips, while Neji clung to his biceps and squeezed hard with his fingers. The Nara pressed the smaller body against his, making their groins met. The sensation of Shikamaru's burning sex rubbing against his sended electricity all along Neji's spine. He broke the kiss to exclaim:
-Fuck!
The taller ninja took the chance to drove his mouth to Neji's jaw and plant wet and hot kisses along it. He continued to the long white neck, drawing a line of burning saliva. The Hyuga moved his hands to Shikamaru's shoulder blades and buried his nails on them. Shikamaru shouted loudly at the pleasure cause by that, which made him roll his body and press their erections harder. Neji jumped a little when he felt thumbs slightly lifting his robe and caressing his hip bones. Things were very closely to go to hell. He had to do something, or say something, to make that chaos stop.
-Nh, Shikamaru.. Ah! -he started, but had to stop when fierce teeth bit the junction of his neck and shoulder.
At the mention of his name, the boy rose his mouth to Neji's ear and panted hoarsely into it:
-Mmhmm? -that deep guttural response, so relaxed and hungry at the same time, vibrated inside his eardrum.
-Mmn, we have to... control... ourselves. -Neji said with difficulty.
The Nara exhaled a soft laugh that made him shudder.
-Control? How can you think about control right now? Or about anything? -was the slow answered. -My brain it's completely melted.
Before Neji could reply, a hot tongue slided through the edge of his ear. He unconsciously moved his hands to Shikamaru's neck and squeezed firmly.
-This is… madness. -he cried when Shikamaru went back to kiss his jaw, never stopping the rhythmic movement of his hips that made his erections rub through their clothes.
After tasting Neji's skin for a few more seconds, the Nara slowly retracted his head to placed his mouth over his again, and purred against it: -It is. But I can't stop myself from wanting it..
He crashed their lips together once more, and the dance of tongues repeated. Neji shivered at the feeling of Shikamaru's hands going deeper under his robe. If he didn't intervene, they would be naked in seconds. When their broke the kiss for air, he threw the first thing that came to his head:
-So this is what you wanted? -he asked.
The other almost missed him. He had already went back to kissing Neji's neck, and murmured something like "what" against his skin.
-This is… what you pretended.. by helping me? -the older boy continued, trying to react as little as possible to the exciting sensation of those wild lips.
Shikamaru stopped gradually and straightened slowly. He watched Neji with confusion, trying to focus.
-What? -he repeated. The Hyuga gave him a heated look that tried to seem distrustful so that his words would sound serious. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows startled. -Man, no! -he exclaimed. -Of course not.
Neji didn't respond. He lowered his eyes and tried to normalize his heart rate.
Seconds passed and the silence became tense. The Nara started withdrawing his hands slowly. Finally he spoke again. His voice sounded ashamed and suddenly insecure.
-Do you really think I would...? -he left the question fade into the air.
Neji had managed to regain some control, and was capable of looking at him again and harden his gaze. Upon seeing it Shikamaru released him immediately and took a step back. He looked at the floor, denying with his head and frowning deeply. His expression had completely changed.
-I would never... I mean... You can't actually think that.
The older ninja regretted a little having said those words. He didn't think that the Nara wasn't trying to manipulate him. At least for what he could see, this situation was not a thing he had planned. It was out of both boys' hands. But he had to be always careful. And besides it had worked to stop that nonsense. He had to clung to that because it was the only way of doing it he could find at that moment.
-Why not? -he answered, still breathing a little agitated. -I don't know you that much, you have never even approached to me before, and I've heard you can be very tricky. You're very smart, after all.
Shikamaru watched him with horror. After hesitating a lot and obviously struggling to comprehend, he asked:
-Do you really believe I could do something like that? I mean, deceive you, use the circumstances to get you in here and, I don't know, take advantage of you?
Neji controlled his voice to sound believable.
-Like I said, I don't know you.
Shikamaru looked away and shook his head again, but he was not angry. He seemed embarrassed and frustrated at the same time. Maybe a little mad with himself.
-So you think I'm some kind of perv or something?
Neji kept silent and gave him a caution look. The other held his gaze, and frown deeply at the realization that he could actually think that way.
-This is ridiculous. I would never... It's just... Damn it!
He put a hand to his face and strongly squeezed his eyes with his fingers. His other hand was compressed in a tight fist at the side of his body. Neji felt bad. He knew he had been enjoying the hole situation himself. But he couldn't let the Nara find out about it. Nor could he allow what had been about to happen to happen. If for some reason it arrived to his clan's ears, the consequences could include death for him. It did not matter how many child molesters there were in the family. For the rest of society, the Hyugas were traditionalists and condemned homosexuality. Regardless of how many times Main House members had abused young girls and boys.
Neji simply watched Shikamaru deal with his thoughts. He seemed to want to hit himself. He was a little disheveled, with his ponytail loose and crooked. The Hyuga had messed it up during the last kiss. He could not help but think that he still looked very attractive in that transparent shirt, with his cheeks still flushed with excitement. Neji would have approached and slide his hands over those pectorals. But he couldn't. He shouldn't.
The Nara held his eyes on the floor for some seconds, still frowning in frustration and clenching his jaw. He started to turn around slowly, moving awkwardly.
-I better go.
He crouched to grab his black sweater from the floor, and then went straight to the door. He opened it, but held it for a moment. He turned his head a little and opened his mouth, like he was about to add something else. But finally he shook his head and simply said:
-Night.
Then he passed the threshold and closed the door behind him.
Shikamaru's POV
He walked hastily towards his house through the forest with a knot in his throat. What the hell had he done? He had completely screwed things up. He felt embarrassed and confused. At all time he had known he was acting recklessly, but he just hadn't been able to contain himself. After admitting there was no point in trying to hold back because his body was ignoring him, he had considered all the paths that the matter could take. In the worst of them Neji hit the hell out of him with his Gentle Fist, and surprisingly he had decided he was willing to take that risk. But the real outcome had been much worse. Shikamaru couldn't believe what had just happened. The Hyuga really thought he had been manipulating him to get under his clothes. That was fucking bullshit!. He didn't even fully understand why he felt attracted to the guy in the first place. Neither could he explain why his body started acting by itself despite of his resistance. But he had definitely not planned those events. They had just happened. But how do you clearly explain someone that you are having weird impulses towards him, without alarming him? Not by putting his hand in your penis, that was for sure.
"Very subtle, you genius", he told himself. He wanted to disappear from the world. Or travel back in time to tell his past self not to get his shirt off, not to get close to the Hyuga and not to behave like an asshole.
Neji had said he was tricky. He hated that word, because it wasn't the first time someone identified him with that concept. People tended to think that because he was good at strategizing he was always conspiring to get what he wanted. Shikamaru wasn't going to pretend he never lied. He did. A lot. But only to avoid some situations or to have more time to sleep. They were all innocent lies. He wasn't a fucking cheater.
It was very difficult to prove that to people whom he had shared missions with. Most of his plans involved some kind of deceit or illusion, because he believed that the best way to dominate a battle was to make enemies believe that they were handling the situation, when in fact it was him who moved the pieces on the board.
Those who witnessed this and saw with their own eyes the naturalness with which the Nara used to fool its adversaries, often doubted his reliability. They thought that at any moment he could be lying and manipulating the situation. It was a prejudice he had met countless times with, even at school. When he was still a child, many teachers doubted about how he completed the exams. Since he was always sleeping and never did the requested homework, but had all the answers right in tests, they were convinced that he copied from other students. They called him a liar.
He felt anger and impotence. He couldn't stand the idea that someone thought he could take advantage of a vulnerable person to harass him. He wasn't like that.
Once in his house and in his bedroom, he lay on his bed to tried to finally get some sleep. But of course he didn't achieve it. He spend the whole night trying to block the opposing thoughts that flooded his mind. On the one hand, the taste of Neji's skin on his lips, the softness of his mouth, the feel of his hand grasping his erection. All those memories got him excited and hard each time he repeated them in his head. On the other hand, the accusation, the distrust, which made his breath freeze in his throat and filled him with intense guilt. For hours he went in and out of short and turbulent dreams. Until the morning came.
He knew there was no case in kept trying to rest, so he got up very early and went straight to the shower. While the hot water washed him, he consider something he had already decided to do during that night: apologize to Neji. He had to let him very clear that he wasn't nor a depraved nor a manipulator. But he didn't knew if Neji would want to see him, and it was very hard to find a Hyuga if he didn't want you to. With the Byakugan it was easy to avoid anyone.
He confirmed this after spending all day walking down the village looking for him. Finally, when the sun had just begun to set, he spotted team nine sitting in the training camps, drinking water and chatting. They had apparently just finished their daily practice. Shikamaru went straight to them. He walked lazily with his hands in his pockets, but in his mind he repeated for the millionth time what the had planned to say.
-Hey. -he greeted.
-Hi, Shikamaru-kun! -Lee saluted him with an enthusiastic scream.
-Hi, Shikamaru. -Tenten smiled at him. Neji didn't even rose his stare from his water bottle.
-Good training? -he asked naturally.
-Always! -Lee screamed again raising his arms, while Tenten shrugged with a half smile.
-As exhausting as ever. -she answered.
-Of course. -Shikamaru said. -Hyuga, you have a minute?
Neji looked at him slightly out of the corner of his eye, while his companions turned their heads towards him.
-For what? -he replied.
The Nara maintained his face expressionless.
-I need to talk to you.
The Hyuga looked at his bottle again.
-I think we have nothing to talk about.
Shikamaru kept silent for a few seconds, then simply said:
-Well we do.
Finally Neji turned his head and looked at him seriously.
-Fine. Talk.
The Nara hesitated for a brief moment. He could feel the eyes of the whole team on him.
-I'd rather do it in private. -he said at last.
Neji turned his face again and answered decisively:
-There's no need for that. Anything you need to tell me you can say it here.
Shikamaru sensed how Lee and Tenten looked at each other in confusion. Bastard. He was using them to not be alone with him. So he really was avoiding him. But he couldn't keep that feeling of guilt inside him. He needed to apologize. And if the Hyuga didn't give him room to do it in private, he would do it anyway in any circumstance. Neji was forcing him to it.
-All right. -he said finally. Neji froze and then looked at him frowning deeply. -I wanted to apologize for what I did yesterday. It wasn't good. I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I believe I wasn't thinking at all. But anyway, it's just that. I'm sorry.
After a brief silence during which Neji tried to kill him with his eyes, Tenten asked alarmed:
-Wow! What did you do to him, you slacker? -It was amazing how she immediately stopped being friendly.
Shikamaru looked at Neji for a moment, waiting to see if he intervened. As he did nothing but watch him with hatred, he continued.
-I ... said some offensive things about his family. -he lied.
Tenten turned to observe Neji, and then faced Shikamaru again.
-Well, shame on you! -she put her hands on her hips and watched him reproachfully.
-Yeah, well... -he add. -I haven't been sleeping much lately. And when I don´t, my brain just stop working correctly. It's not an excuse, but it's true. -he made a pause before concluding. -That's pretty much all I wanted to say. Hope you can forgive me. So, that's it. I leave you guys.
He turned on his heels and left, walking leisurely.
He addressed slowly towards his house taking the long path, the one that surrounded the Nara forest. He walked without hurry for about 30 minutes. The sky shone with the intense pink of sunset. The wind made the leaves of the inmenses trees crackle. Shikamaru took a long breath of the forest's pleasant and familiar smell.
Suddenly, when he was reaching his turn, he heard steps over the road behind him, no far away. Without stopping his slow march, he looked slightly over his shoulder.
He caught a glimpse of Neji's carefully tied hair waving in the wind that moved the leaves. He stopped and completely turned his body to face the Hyuga. The ninja was coming straight at him with a very serious expression. He stood only a few meter away from Shikamaru and cross his arms, making intense eye contact.
-You got some nerve to speak those thing in front of my team. -he said.
Shikamaru held those stormy eyes's gaze.
-You let me no choice. You were avoiding me. -he answered flatly.
-Now Tenten doesn't stop asking me what you said to me. And she's very gossipy so I know she's going to keep asking.
Shikamaru used his most sincere tone.
-Look, I'm sorry about that, but I needed to apologize. Hyuga, I'd never purported to take advantage of you, in any way. I need that to be very clear to you.
Neji slightly softened his expression, but didn't respond. He clenched his lips instead. The Nara took a step forward and talked lower:
-I'm really sorry, okay? I don't know why the hell I did it. I totally lost it. But I feel terribly bad about it. Can we just pretend it never happened?
Neji simply studied his eyes for a minute. Shikamaru didn't flinch.
-We will pretend it never happened, and we will never let it happen again. -he finally said.
Shikamaru nodded and looked at the floor for a moment to ease the tension their stare was generating.
-Deal. -he kept silent a few seconds and then add. -You can keep using the storage cabin. I mean, if you need to. I promise I won't go bothering.
Neji finally broke his stare and lowered his gaze a little. He spoke with a hint of resignation.
-It would be really good not to spend this nights in my house with my uncle absent.
Shikamaru nodded again.
-I assure you you won't have any problem.
They rose their gazes at the same time and their eyes met again.
They looked at each other for long seconds. Finally, Shikamaru softened his stare and put on an innocent expression.
-So we're good? -he asked smiling very lightly.
Neji meditated a moment and finally answered, smiling a little too:
-We are good.
Everything was fine, Shikamaru thought. He relaxed, and Neji seeme to do the same.
-I was going home already. If you're going to the cabin, I'll walk you there and then continue to my house.
Neji seemed to see nothing wrong with it, and nodded.
-All right.
They walked a few meters and got to the access they had used before, and crossed the forest's limit. They moved quietly through the paths, that sometimes was so wide that allowed them to walk side by side. In one of those moments, Neji broke the silence by asking a very inopportune question.
-Why haven't you been sleeping lately?
Shikamaru rose his eyebrows in surprise, but made it look like his was considering the response. "Cause I've been spending all nights trying not to jerk off thinking about you", he thought. That would've been the honest answer. But of course he couldn't say that. He put together something else in his head.
-I don't know. -he said lazily. - But don't worry. I'm totally going to sleep now. I could sleep standing up.
Minutes later they reached the cabin. They said goodbye and Neji crossed the door of the warehouse, while Shikamaru continued on his way.
Chapter four posted! Hope you'll enjoy it! :)