a/n: This is chapter ten! We introduce the main conflict and Itachi and Neji work out some issues with each other :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer on my profile.

Warnings: None fort his chapter…fluff, over-protective fathers and no fairies in this chappie.

Chapter 10

Itachi grinned down at him. "Did you miss me?"

Neji responded by flinging himself at Itachi.

Itachi nervously petted Neji's hair. "They weren't that bad…were they?" he ventured. I didn't think he'd react THIS badly to the others.

"It was awful," Neji grumbled in to his shirt. "Sasuke was the worst. He kept looking at me funny, and then denying it whenever I asked him."

Itachi blinked in surprise; Sasuke had taken interest in Neji? Whenever someone new came, he usually just said "Hn" and sort of glared if said person was a girl.

But then again, none of the other newcomers had been going to marry him in a week.

Itachi smiled softly at his little brother's foolishness before gently pushing Neji back. "He's just being an overprotective little brother. Shall we go to dinner?"

Neji looked at him dubiously, but turned back and shut the door. "Did Aunt Hinata send you over?"

"No, actually Hanabi was the one who contacted me and forced me to cancel my appointment with Lady Tsunade, the head of the palace Shinobi force."

"Oh? Did you have to go through a lot of trouble?"

"No, Lady Tsunade was remarkably understanding," Itachi grimaced while offering his arm to Neji.

Neji raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not a girl, Itachi."

"Yes, but I am taking you to dinner as your fiancé," Itachi said calmly. "You didn't have a problem with personal contact before."

Neji folded his arms. "Personal contact is just fine," he shot back, "but you don't have to treat me like I'm a woman, Itachi."

"I'm just trying to be polite," Itachi said with a twinkle in his eye. "I wouldn't want to make a bad first impression on your father. He's rather protective of his children. The last time someone tried courting Hanabi, your father scared him off so badly that he left for his home estate and hasn't been back to court since."

Neji bit his lip. He didn't really see his father breaking his six-year long engagement, but if Itachi put it like that…

He sighed in defeat and accepted Itachi's offered arm while ignoring the smug expression on his boyfriend's face. "I just don't want you to leave and never come back," he said, not seeming to realize the gravity of his statement.

Itachi smiled and snorted slightly. "I think we're in agreement then."

Neji hummed softly, and suddenly stopped dead.

"What is it, Neji?"

"…My birthday…" Neji said softly, hollowly. "My sixteenth birthday is tomorrow, isn't it?" It was hard to believe how he had lost track of the time. When had a week passed him by?

Itachi stared down at Neji for a moment before collecting himself quickly. Of course he's scared to pieces. He hasn't had that long to come to terms with his curse after all.

"Yes, your birthday is tomorrow. I imagine the others haven't told you this yet, but the dinner tonight is for discussing our plans for tomorrow."

"Is there anything expected to happen tomorrow?" Neji asked tentatively.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. Haven't our fairy aunts informed him yet? "…Yes. We are expecting Danzou to come knocking on our door tomorrow." He gently tugged on Neji's elbow and began to lead him forward again.

"As I said earlier, this dinner is so that we can all discuss what we will be doing tomorrow. You see, this is the culmination of most of the other's training. That is, protecting you tomorrow. We are expecting Danzou to launch an attack because your curse seal cannot be activated unless it is stimulated, so you most likely will spend tomorrow in hiding while we patrol the area."

"Hm." Neji's mouth thinned and his grip on Itachi's arm tightened slightly. Why had no one else told him of this?

"We thought that you already knew what was going on. I see now that that was a grave misimpression," Itachi squeezed Neji's hand gently.

"Quite. At least I know now," Neji sighed. They had finally reached the room of the dinner, but Neji hesitated before the entrance.

"What is it?"

"Will you…" Neji paused, and then recollected himself. "It's nothing. Let's go."

Itachi scowled; they'd barely known each other for a week, that was true, but they were soul mates. Itachi could feel it…for the first few days, Neji hadn't hidden anything from him.

Barely two days later, Itachi couldn't tell what was going on in Neji's head at all; why was he keeping secrets from him?

He'd have to talk to Neji after dinner. "Let's go." He lead Neji through the door and in to the room full of chattering people.

Hizashi scowled at the couple from his place at one of the tables. "You're late."

Neji released Itachi's elbow and bowed. "It was my fault. I was unaware of the circumstances of the dinner and asked Itachi to explain them to me."

Itachi bowed also. "I apologize. I should have been more aware of the time."

Hizashi eye them both before leveling a protective glare at Itachi. "Well, it's no harm. Next time, be sure to be punctual."

"Yes, father." Neji moved forward to sit in the empty seat next to his sister. Itachi sat across the table from him.

"I told you he was tough," Itachi murmured across the table. "If looks could kill, I would be dead right now."

Neji stifled a laugh.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow at both of them. "Why were you so late?"

"Neji didn't know what the dinner was about tonight and I had to explain it to him." Itachi grinned. "Say, Hanabi-chan; tell Neji about that one boy who your father chased off."

Hanabi smirked. "That one boy…? I'm afraid you're going to have to be a bit more specific than that."

They all laughed then, but quieted down quickly when King Hizashi stood up.

"We are here to eat, as well as to discuss the plans for tomorrow. Everyone is aware of their station and their assignment, but I think it's best to go over everything one more time.

Team A consisting of Sakura, Sai, and Shino will be patrolling the outer edges of the castle under the direction of Lady Kurenai…"

The whole room listened attentively as King Hizashi went over the elaborate security plan.

"…And finally, Prince Itachi will be at the heart of the castle in the saferoom with my son. Neji, you are to follow all of Itachi's orders no matter how terrible they seem."

The mood of the room had gone down considerably, and King Hizashi finally seemed to notice. "Now, now! There's no need to look so down. Thanks to the intel we've collected through all of your hard work Danzou probably won't even make it to the center of the castle. Now, eat up! As you all know…we have a huge day ahead of us tomorrow."

Servers entered the huge room and began to serve the patrons and talk slowly started up between the clinks of silverware and sounds of eating.

Itachi grinned at Neji from across the table. "I'm starting to think of a lot of things I could ask you to do tomorrow…"

Neji kicked him under the table. "Pervert!" he hissed. However, the tension had been broken and Neji started giggling.

Hanabi shook her head. "I wouldn't be so loud if I were you," she murmured shooting a worried look up the table. King Hizashi was looking suspiciously at Itachi and Neji, just as she suspected.

Itachi just smirked and continued calmly eating his food while Neji sipped some water in an attempt to stop his giggling fit.

"So, how come Itachi had to tell you everything before you got here? We all thought that you knew what was going on."

"I had no idea," Neji responded honestly. "I'm not sure as to why I wasn't informed either…oh! Have any of you seen any of our fairy aunts recently? As in, at all after we got here?"

"Now that you mention it…no, no I haven't seen them all day which is a bit unusual," Itachi said thoughtfully.

"They're probably also preparing for tomorrow. Assuming that something happens tomorrow, a lot is riding on their shoulders," Hinata murmured.

The dinner went on for quite a while, and Neji was feeling pleasantly full and a bit sleepy when Hinata popped the big question.

"Oh, Neji nii-san, when did you meet Itachi-kun?"

Hanabi leaned forward with a wicked smirk on her face. "Yes, I'd like to know that too."

Neji shot Itachi an alarmed look, wide awake now. "What brought this on?"

"Well, you two obviously have feelings for each other," Hanabi teased. "We just want to know when it started."

Neji made a face while Itachi struggled not to laugh. "We met a week ago. End of story."

Hanabi sat back feeling cheated. "Are you sure that's it?" she pressed. "You met a week ago…how often did you see him?"

Neji turned pink. "Um…." He shot a glance up the table only to see his father look hurriedly away. "Now's not a good time," he whispered. Hopefully that'll put them off for a while.

Hanabi looked back up the table and blinked in understanding. "Of course."

"Neji," Itachi interrupted smoothly. "Are you finished eating?"

Neji shot him a grateful look. "Yes, I'm finished. I was just about to excuse myself."

Itachi shot him a look. "I'll walk you back to your room."

"How chivalrous," Neji murmured, slightly miffed. "Well, good night Hanabi, Hinata, Father." He escaped before his father could call them both back.

They walked through the castle in silence until they reached Neji's room. Neji cleared his throat. "Would you like to come in for a bit?"

"Sure." Itachi stepped inside. He certainly had a bone to pick with the pretty Hyuga.

The moment Neji shut the door Itachi began advancing on him. "You're hiding things from me."

Neji's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

Itachi pinned Neji to the door and put his palms next to Neji's face. "You're not telling me something. What is it? Ever since we've arrived, you've been closing yourself off from me."

"I found out that someone is going to try and come here and murder me for the crown tomorrow," Neji shot back. "I didn't-"

"If you feel worried, you tell me. If you feel scared, you tell me. If you need to talk, you have to talk to me." Itachi scolded Neji. "How could you think that I wouldn't want to know what you're feeling? Neji, I love you. You can come to me with whatever baggage you have and I'll take it all."

Neji looked up at him helplessly for a moment before reaching up and wrapping his arms around Itachi's neck.

"I'm sorry," he murmured softly before pressing his lips to Itachi's cheek. "I didn't mean to worry you."

Itachi breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around Neji's waist. "It's ok," he murmured softly. "It's ok."

Neji lifted his head slightly. "After we get married next week, will you still be gone a lot?"

Itachi stroked Neji's hair. "No. After we get married, I'm leaving my career as a palace ninja and I'm going to rejoin the world of palace politics."

"Everyone said you're one of the best, though."

"Yes, well…it's about time I settled down. Being a ninja allows me to run away from my responsibilities as a member of the noble family. I don't want to leave you lonely and on your own. I need to stop running."

Neji thought about it for a moment before pressing a sweet kiss to Itachi's mouth. "Ok."

Itachi chuckled inspite of himself. "Anything else, Neji?"

Neji shook his head softly. "No, not right now."

The two stood in the hall for a few more minutes before they finally broke apart. "I'm staying for the night." Itachi said abruptly after removing his shoes.

Neji looked at him and smiled a shy, secret smile. "Fine. Let's go get some rest then, shall we?"

The two headed upstairs, and without bothering to change, cuddled together on Neji's bed.

"Sweet dreams, little bird."

Neji was already fast asleep.

Tbc…

And so that was chapter 10! Things are actually going to start moving along now, so yeah….

Also, I've been trying for weekly updates, but since next week updating might be a bit difficult (I'll try and squeeze one in) I got this one in today.

Do you all think that I should update more often? It's certainly possible; the next few chapters are written out and the story is on a roll. Please let me know what you think in a review or PM!