Warning in first and seventh chapter, disclaimer in chapter 01.
Chapter 08
Neji woke up only fifteen minutes later than he normally did.
With a small yawn he slowly sat up and blinked drowsily as he tried to remember why he was in a bed that wasn't his own.
When he looked to his left and saw Shikamaru's body sprawled over the bed he couldn't help an amused smirk from coming to his face. Never could Neji have imagined that the man that could sometimes look indescribably sexy looked absolutely foolish and ridiculous while asleep.
The brown-haired shinobi lay on his stomach, his head turned towards Neji with a peaceful expression on his face. That part of his posture was actually quite charming.
What wasn't so charming was the fact that one of Shikamaru's legs dangled off of the bed and that both of his hands and half his arms were buried deeply underneath the pillow.
For a minute or five Neji sat on the bed, quietly watching his lover sleep. He then decided that Shikamaru wasn't going to wake any time soon up so he could just as well busy himself. He had to leave within an hour anyway to attend his morning-training with his uncle, which started at eight every morning.
After Neji had dressed himself and had freshened himself up a bit he slowly padded to the small kitchen to make himself some breakfast.
Neji was the kind of person that preferred a good, healthy breakfast. His morning-trainings usually took an hour and doing his katas on an empty stomach never went together.
Hanabi could do it. She always woke up a quarter to eight, dressed in a hurry and rushed down to the Hyuuga training-fields. Hiashi always proclaimed it was because of her age, Hanabi being a teenager now.
Neji begged to differ though. Hinata nor himself had ever showed such behavior. Hinata because she was too shy to rush into a room barely on time and he because it was simply the way he was raised.
As Hinata had already pointed out, Hanabi was bound to be the normal one. This was, however annoying sometimes, true as Hanabi had grown up to be the perfectly normal teenager. Complete with all tantrums and mood swings a pregnant woman would have too.
Those facts had nothing to do with Neji wanting a good breakfast, certainly after last night's activities, so he dismissed his train of thoughts as he opened the refrigerator.
Eggs and toast would do for today, Neji decided. He would make a portion for Shikamaru too, just because he was in a good mood. Who wouldn't be?
With an almost goofy-like smile, very un-Hyuuga-like, Neji started baking his eggs, sunny-side-up.
To Neji, last night had been amazing and he could only imagine what it would be like when Shikamaru and he finally made love.
Last night, Neji had been the one that had been nervous and unsure. Obviously Shikamaru had had some experience with having sex, possibly with a male lover too. That didn't bother Neji. Why would he be jealous of something that had happened in the past? He should be grateful they were not both as uncomfortable as he had been the first fifteen minutes last night.
And even though he enjoyed Shikamaru being in control over his body, Neji would love to regain control over his own thoughts and feelings. And for that, he needed to be less unsure of himself and their relationship and a bit more aggressive.
Neji sighed. Listening to Ten-Ten rant about relationships and things she read in a magazine were probably the only two girly things she did. And never in his life had Neji thought to ever remember snips of such conversations and now actually listen to such things.
With a sigh Neji tapped the end of the pen onto the kitchen-counter.
He had to leave for his training and wanted to leave his boyfriend a note explaining and apologizing for his absence.
Writing the note was also the first step in Neji's plan to regain some control of their relationship.
What the plan was? Neji hadn't the faintest clue yet, his mind didn't work as quick and flexible as Shikamaru's did. But at the end of the day, he would have a plan.
For now he was going to write a note that would never match the skill and beautiful writing his letters had had but would be very Neji-like.
To my cover-hugger,
Good morning. Or afternoon knowing you.
Now it's my turn to leave you a note. Although I do not have the way of words you have bestowed upon me so I will not even try.
I have morning-practice with uncle and after that I have to speak with the Hokage about a mission.
Last night was wonderful, by the way.
With love Neji
A little dissatisfied with the note but unable to come up with something better, nor having the time to do so, Neji simply laid it down onto the counter.
He'd rather crawl back into Shikamaru's enormous bed, bask in the warm, morning sunlight for half an hour and simply watch his lover sleep ungracefully through the morning.
But after having spent the entire night someplace that wasn't the Hyuuga compound without informing anyone he had better not miss his morning-practice too. His uncle could be forgiving but even that forgiveness had its limits.
Little did Neji know it was not his uncle that would ruin his good mood he had woken up with.
Neji sat in silence in the cane chair which was situated on the patio of a small tea-parlor. The surroundings were quite peaceful for the parlor lay at the edge of the wood.
Were this an entirely different situation, he would be content and perhaps take notice of the expensive white china, decorated with a delicate flower design, in which his tea was poured.
But it lay not in his power to change a situation. He could only sit in the chair and wait patiently for the woman in front of him to speak.
While she fidgeted with the end of her purple skirt he took the time to take in her appearance. She wasn't too bad on the eye, even he had to admit to such a thing. But her mouth, that often seemed to run away with her, made her someone he didn't trust.
All of a sudden she sighed, brushing away a few imaginary hairs that she believed fell onto her face. "I do hope I didn't interrupt your plans." She said with an uncomfortable smile etching her lips.
"You know you did." Neji answered, not caring as she flinched. All he was interested in was what she was up to and what she wanted from him.
"I… I'm sorry." She muttered, looking down as she feigned embarrassment.
Neji sighed. "No, you're not." He said coldly. "Let's cut the fake niceties. What do you want, Ino?"
He didn't hate Ino and if he came across as if he did it was by her own doing. She was the one that had almost literally dragged him off the street towards this parlor under the pretense of wanting to speak with him after all.
He had been quite surprised and by now also quite irritated she was keeping him off of his normal activities for such an unneeded long time. He knew and also understood slightly that she wished to talk to him but in his opinion it would've been a lot friendlier if she had just asked for a minute of his time instead of simply claiming it.
He could only hope she would refrain herself from claiming things other than his time.
"You can't love Shikamaru." Ino whispered softly as she looked at Neji. Calmly she bend forwards slightly to retrieve her tea-cup from the table. Almost as if telling Neji this sort of thing was the most normal thing in the world thus could easily be combined with sipping some tea.
Neji raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "Excuse me?" He asked in an equally calm voice. A thing he was able to do in almost every situation and a ability he had tried to perfect over the years.
Ino blinked, an action which slightly cracked her mask of faked calm. "You can't love Shikamaru. The two of you are totally incompatible with each other." She told him suddenly with a flush on her cheeks that could be of both embarrassment and anger.
Neji blinked, a little surprised at the blonde's words. He narrowed his eyes after a few seconds though as he realized what the young woman was trying to do. "He loves me. For as far as I'm concerned he deserves to be loved in return." He replied in a cool tone.
Ino's lips drew together in a straight line and she shook her head. "That might be true. But don't you want to make him happy?" She asked, a sweet smile playing on her lips.
Neji sighed. Without paying attention to Ino he grabbed his own cup of china and took a sip of his slightly cooled green tea.
Ino wasn't a bad girl, she was a friend of Shikamaru after all. But Neji had already noticed with her crush on Sasuke that when Ino wanted something, she would do everything in her power to get it.
Unfortunately it was his boyfriend Ino wanted.
Neji decided to play along with the game for a few minutes before making his leave. Perhaps that way she would learn not to try to talk him out of his relationship. "Why wouldn't I want Shikamaru to be happy?" He asked.
Better to have her find out she was behaving in a very childish way by herself. She wouldn't believe him if he told her anyway.
"Oh, I'm not saying you don't want him happy." Ino waved a hand at him with an uncomfortable smile. "Just that you might not realize what will make him happy."
"How that so?" If Neji had been a lesser man and Ino not a female he might have leaped over the table and decked the person that had the guts to tell him such a thing. Luckily Neji was now old and decent enough to control himself thus prevent himself from destroying the poor establishment that made a fine tea-parlor.
Ino took an unsteady breath as she caught the flash of anger in white, lavender eyes. An angry Neji Hyuuga was never a good thing but sacrifices needed to be made if she ever wanted Shikamaru away from Neji.
"Shikamaru wants to settle down one day. I'm not saying he can't do that with you, it is just settling down with you goes against everything he has ever wanted in life."
Neji studied Ino as she spoke. He thought it best to let her explain her vision of the problem first before shattering her dreams of ever being together with Shikamaru.
But he couldn't help noticing the gentle expression on her face, the loving twinkle in her eyes and the comfortable countenance that had fallen over her as she spoke of the brown-haired shinobi they both cared about.
It did make him feel a bit guilty towards the blonde for it showed she really cared for Shikamaru. But feeling guilty and actually acting upon that feeling were two different things some did not know how to separate. Neji had learned a long time ago that to feel one thing meant he would probably do another.
Ino sighed softly, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear as she continued speaking. "You're not a girl, Neji. Gosh, you are not even average! You can't give him a simple life, he always said he wanted one."
Ino faltered for a second, taking a deep breath. She realized she was making excuses, convincing herself off all the reasons why she thought Shikamaru couldn't love Neji. But she wanted them separate. She had been by Shikamaru's side longer than he had known Neji. She deserved his love more than Neji!
"Above all, you can't give him the children he wants. A girl to provide for him and a boy to make him proud. I'd take the end of the world before you bear any children." Ino spoke on a soft voice, avoiding Neji's piercing gaze by looking down to the ground.
Neji huffed at hearing Ino's words. He looked at her with a small glare and on a voice that bordered on coldness informed her: "Shikamaru was aware of all of those things when he approached me. Knowing him he must've thought things through."
After this conversation with Ino when he was alone again Neji would allow his thoughts to have a run with him. He could straighten out his mind then and decide if he wanted to ask Shikamaru the things Ino now asked him or not.
But those were things he needed to do later today, when Ino was long gone and he himself had calmed down some after this talk.
"That much is true but love blinds people. When he comes to that realization I'd prepare for disappointment if I were you." Ino replied sweetly.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Neji asked with a glare.
"Nothing. Just warning you." Ino replied quickly. "Besides, your relationship will never last. The Hyuuga Elders would never agree."
Neji took a deep breath to calm down that growing feeling of anger. He took another breath as he felt it wasn't helping. He fisted his right hand and closed his eyes.
He shouldn't yell, shouldn't lash out. He was a decent young man that was capable of calming himself down and speaking with this girl, whom had offended him more than once in a time span of ten minutes, in a controlled manner.
"The business of the Hyuuga clan is not yours, nor will it ever be so I kindly ask you to not busy yourself with such useless things. But if you are so desperate. My uncle has already told me to stand behind my relationship with Shikamaru, no matter what." He spoke calmly and felt a little relieved as he saw the defeated look on the blonde's face.
And while he knew his uncle would probably not be able to support his nephew's relationship when faced with the Elders, Ino did not know that. Ino didn't need to know because it was none of her business.
After being told off that last time Ino decided to give up. With a sigh of defeat she stood up, laid some money down onto the table and left without another word.
It did not surprise Neji she left so abruptly. She had probably hoped to find some insecurities within Neji and hoped he would act upon them when she had found them. But he had kept himself upright and hadn't given her any view behind his self-confident, somewhat cold exterior.
Little did Ino know that Neji would sit in the tea-parlor battling with his thoughts long after she had left him. In that respect, she had certainly won.
TBC.
Yes, you all thought I had forgotten about Ino, now didn't you?
