Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Nope. Not me. Go ask the homeless guy down the street.

Author's Notes: This is YAOI or SLASH or SHOUNEN AI. Whatever you prefer, this is it. Don't like it, leave. 'Tis that simple.

I AM SICK. In fact, I am so sick that I am shaking so much that my hands barely touch the keyboard. How the heck did I get this sick just from yesterday morning when everything was hunky-dory? HELL IF I KNOW. It sucks. So much. Let me go kill myself now... ugh... I feel like complete and utter CRAP.

Everybody should go read "red and grey" by Taes. It has mention of incest, but otherwise it's a pretty clean piece of fiction with onlykissing present. The themes are pretty adult, though! So, yeah, ye be warned.

This word was thought up by Prosopopeia; this drabble belongs to you. You can reproduce it anyway you like; I don't care. I'm not big on credit, actually, just as long as you don't say it's your own, I'm fine with it. I hope you like it... this damn this gave me the biggest block of writer's block EVER. But! I wrote it... and it's not funny like you thought it would be... and it's not really about about Sasuke being afraid of cats... but ummm... I CHEATED, OKAY!?

-cough- Review Replies are on my bio.

Enjoy.

Ailurophobia

There was something erotic and beautiful about Sasuke. The way he moved and struggled; the way his face contorted with rage and spat up at him; the way his eyes darted back and forth wildly and yet find a way to always be keeping tabs on him. There was something about Sasuke that drew people in like a fish caught to a line and something that reeled Neji in.

That was probably why he jumped at the chance to be Sasuke's guard.

Jumping at the chance was not the exact phrase. It was more like he volunteered himself if his abilities were needed; apparently they were. Covered with seals from head to toe to make sure that the ex-missing-nin did not try to betray Konoha again, it was Neji's job to make sure that his chakra flow did not randomly stop, killing the younger ninja.

Younger.

That was something that always got to Neji. Uchiha Sasuke was almost exactly a year younger than Neji, and yet at times he thought of him as so much older and other times as so much younger. Sasuke could be wise beyond his years, a man who had seen and experienced too much, a person who knew too much about the evil of the world and the way it worked. At the same time, though, Sasuke could be like a small child, lost and frightened inside his own head, running around and not knowing when to stop, looking for a safe place to hide.

It both frightened and intrigued Neji.

But at times like these, as eyes threatened to flash red but never quite succeeding as seals beyond seals held him back, and Neji looming over him, pinning the boy beneath him, he realized the animalistic beauty that the Uchiha contained. Always trying to fight and get out of this cage that he was thrown in, and yet not quite willing to try to face the world. He was like a cat; somehow, no matter if he was completely and utterly beaten by Neji, pinned by the older ninja, and possibly subjectable to his every whim, he always managed to land on his feet. It was interesting.

It was ironic.

Sasuke could snarl and growl and spit up at him all he wanted, but Neji would not and could not let the other boy up until he calmed down. There had been nights where Neji had kept him pinned down all night until the other boy finally drifted off to sleep and he could finally get up. It was nights like these that Sasuke actually slept peacefully; whenever Neji was near when the other man fell to sleep, there were no nightmares, no reminders, no whorish memories that invaded his sleep.

There was just silence.

But most nights, when Neji would actually listen to Sasuke's wishes of him leaving him alone to sleep in peace, there would be screams and gasps and, sometimes, Neji could make out names in the sobs. He would call out for his mother, his father, and sometimes, among the gibberish, Neji swore that Sasuke would call out for his brother.

Neji never spoke of these nights, though.

These were the nights that he would never speak of. The ones where he would gather Sasuke in his arms and hold him until the other boy would calm down. Then the Uchiha would realize where he was and who was holding him and the awkwardness would set in. The younger boy would pull away, trying to find his footing, his eyes darting back and forth, and waiting for the normal air to settle in. It was times like these that Neji saw Sasuke for what he truly was; it was times like these that Neji knew the truth.

Sasuke was a cat afraid of his own shadow.