a/n: Thank you for your lovely reviews everyone! I really appreciate every single one of them! (Celestialfae-yes, you're right. Neji wears his special cloak in the Uchiha Kingdom, and he'll only wear the dresses to parties so that Itachi won't recognize him.) Anyways…in this chapter, we get some itaneji flirtation, and poor Neji has nightmares. No warnings, disclaimer on my profile…enjoy!

Chapter 10

Later that night…

Neji sighed happily as he fingered the durable material of his new clothes. He hadn't used an exorbitant amount of money (from the wages he would receive for his work, he suspected that he could pay Gai and Lee back in a month or so in addition to also setting aside a little bit for himself), and he'd gotten very good deals on good-colored, durable cloths. He would have to wait until he wanted any finer materials, but for now he was happy with what he'd gotten.

He had a bolt of grey, purple and brown cotton, in addition to some other articles of clothing. Right now, he was wearing a navy blue peasant blouse of a long black skirt. He was sitting down with the women at one of the tables watching people gather in the kitchen for the Konoha gang dinner.

Neji raised an eyebrow as a huge crowd of men and women streamed in through the kitchen doors. "Are there normally this many people?"

"No. It's the monthly meeting tonight."

"Oh. Kushina, do you want help?"

"Yes, please. Could you start bringing food to the table, Neji? And Karin, get all the men off the table and make them wait while we load up."

Neji hid a small smile at the sight of Karin yelling at the large crowd of people and forcing them to move away while he and Kushina placed the food on the table.

"I love seeing new faces!" a rather blue-looking man with shark gills boomed. "It looks like we have a couple of young members this month!"

Neji rolled his eyes; what was it with Konoha and their obsession with the new members?

Finally, Karin let everyone swarm back to the big table where they all squeezed on to benches. Kakashi had just stood up when the kitchen door banged open and a teenager stuck his head in.

"Am I late?" Prince Itachi asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Sorry; stupid question. I apologize for my lateness." He casually crossed the room, and squeezed in to the only open spot...which happened to be at the end of the bench, right next to Neji.

Neji turned his head away, feeling the beginnings of a blush. In any other situation, he would've had the right to try his luck with Itachi, but he was a commoner now. He had no right to meddle in the affairs of nobles...Well, he would have to check on that; he'd go to the library and read a book on Uchiha laws and history before he made any decisions.

"I didn't know that you're part of the gang," Itachi murmured as everyone turned their attention to the head of the table.

"I still don't know yet," Neji murmured back.

"I'm sure you'll get in. Kakashi always has a certain partiality to a pretty face," Itachi winked at him.

Neji scoffed and turned back to Kakashi who was droning on about gang finances. Don't judge him, don't judge him, don't judge him…Ok, well he does sort of seem like the teensiest bit like a smartass.

"And finally…moving on to new business! We have two incoming members tonight, and one old one returning. Might Gai is back," the table exploded with applause, and Neji flinched.

"You startle easily, don't you?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

Neji didn't even bother responding.

"And his apprentice, Rock Lee will be sparring with me tomorrow morning in addition to a new student he picked up along the way. However, considering that Neji has beaten Lee in every spar they've had together over the last two weeks, Neji doesn't need to undergo a practice match, but will be assigned to kitchen duty with Kushina in the evenings."

Neji shifted uncomfortably before smiling awkwardly under the curious stares of the entire gang.

"Stop staring at him before he turns in to a tomato. Go on, eat, you can stare at him later," Kakashi interrupted good-naturedly.

"I'm not a tomato," Neji muttered under his breath.

Lee laughed from his position next to Neji. "Well, you were certainly turning very red."

Neji sighed and moved forward to fill his plate with food.

"So, what did I tell you? I assure you, Kakashi definitely lets any of the girls in without much trouble," Itachi grinned.

Neji bit back a nervous smile. "What observations would you raise that on, sir?"

Lee chimed in helpfully. "Neji's a boy, my lord!"

Neji shook his head. "Thank you, Lee. I don't think that…" Neji cut himself off.

"I did not forget that fact, Lee," Itachi picked up where Neji had left off. "You really are quite taciturn aren't you? Just when you let go of your inhibitions, you suddenly draw back in to your shell again."

"What were you saying about Kakashi-san, my lord?" Neji decided to ignore Itachi's previous statement.

Itachi smiled suddenly. "All of the girls here have never had to have a practice match against Kakashi."

Kushina raised an eyebrow from across the table. "Excuse me? Itachi-kun?"

"Except for Kushina," Itachi amended before taking a spoonful of soup. "The singular exception. Shizune was a local doctor who he had to pay in the beginning, Karin was training with Sasuke, Sakura was his own student, Konan…well, no one's really sure what happened with Konan but one day she sort of showed up."

Neji smiled softly. "Either that, or perhaps Kakashi is simply an excellent judge of character."

Lee, Karin, and the rest of the people around him stared.

"What?"

"You just made a joke," Karin said in disbelief. "Did you hear that Kushina?"

"And he smiled! You have not shown us a single truly youthful smile since we met three weeks ago, Neji!" Lee was beaming with pride.

"See, Itachi-kun has such a good influence on people," Kushina sighed. "Not as good as my husband though. Oh, Neji dear-this is my husband, Namikaze Minato, and my son Uzumaki Naruto."

Neji blinked at the sight of two nearly identical blondes smiling at him.

"Nice to meet you Neji. I heard from Gai earlier that you don't know very much about Uchiha."

"No, not really…my parents, they didn't teach me very much about the Uchiha."

"Sounds a bit fishy, don't you think?" the younger blonde, Naruto spoke with his mouth full.

"I would not be sitting at this table if Kakashi had not given his permission," Neji's spoke thinly. "I have nothing against the Uchiha family. I make my own decisions."

"Hey, I didn't mean to offend you 'ttebayo! Like you said, Kakashi has a good sense of judgement!" Naruto gestured wildly.

"It's alright," Neji sighed. "I've just been getting that a lot."

"And? You said you make your own decisions. Do you prefer our rule?" Itachi's eyes sparkled strangely for a moment.

Neji paused. "I still know nothing about it, but…You have given me clothes, a job, and a place to stay. I have no reason to dislike you."

Itachi grinned, and Neji felt the urge to wipe the smirk off his face.

"Yet," he added smugly, turning back to his food.

Itachi mimed being stabbed in the heart. "Ah, Neji…you wound me. You haven't fallen for the endless charms and graces of my family? By the way, the food is very good. Did you make any of it?"

"The soup," Neji said shortly. "And you're the only one I've ever laid eyes upon."

Itachi sighed mockingly. "So cutting and cruel, Neji. My, you'll make a cold wife for whoever marries you."

Neji froze for a moment. Does he know? But…he has no reason to suspect who I am. He doesn't know about the glasses, he doesn't know anything about me-

"Itachi, you mustn't say things like that to girls. They'll get offended," Kushina admonished him.

"I did not mean to offend you," Itachi said, eyeing Neji closely. He hadn't missed when Neji had tensed up and gone very pale. "Will you forgive my rudeness?"

Neji set his spoon down to cover his shaking hands. "It's alright," he muttered. "I…I apologize for my rude behavior as well."

"It's fine. You know, if you're looking for books on Uchiha law and history…I recall you said that you could read and write. If you can find me tomorrow, I may be able to provide you with a few recommendations."

"That would be very helpful." Neji allowed the warm feeling washing over him to take away the fear from his recent memories. "Thank you."

"It's no trouble." Itachi pushed his empty plate. "The meeting was entertaining, but unfortunately I have to get back to my studies. I'll see all of you around." With that, he got up from the table and left.

Neji turned to Kushina. "Can he really just leave like that?"

"Well, he is the prince, dear. However, once the business meeting is over you can leave but most people hang around for the food."

"Well, in that case, may I be excused as well? It's been a long day, and I'm rather tired…"

"Of course, dear! I'll wake you tomorrow morning when it's time for you to start work."

"Good night!" Neji waved before exiting the kitchens and wandering back to his room. Itachi seemed like a very strange person; he treated everyone as if he knew them very well (which he probably did), but had it been Neji's imagination or had he been…flirting with him?

Neji sighed; he didn't have a chance. He was a commoner and Itachi was the prince of the kingdom…

Neji paused. Actually, maybe he did have a chance. Neji snorted; why did he care about it or not anyways? He would just have to wait until tomorrow to run by the palace library and pick up a history book. If he wanted to stay hidden away from his father, he couldn't run around flirting with princes…

Well, it wouldn't hurt to run by the library and pick up a book anyways. Especially if Itachi recommended it to him…Neji laughed out loud, and ducked in to his room.

He brushed and plaited his long hair, took out his contact lenses and curled up on his bed beneath the provided blanket. So far, he was succeeding at running away from home.

Running away from his past was entirely different matter. Neji hid his face under the blanket, even as he imagined that he could see his father's hands, reaching out for him in the dark.

It was going to be a very long night.

a/n: Aw…poor Neji is having nightmares :( If you leave reviews, then Neji will get some sleep tonight! Anyways…so we're finally getting some itaneji fluff in the story! *yay* So let me know what you thought of this chapter, and I'll see ya next time! (Sorry about the short chappie…but the majority of this story is written at midnight on school days. I'm trying hard!)