The morning after their first time together should have had Shikamaru waking up feeling more powerful than any of the Kages. He should have been grinning ear to ear like some sort of lovesick fool because yes, he had slept with Neji Hyūga. But when he awoke the next day at some ungodly hour with Neji sound asleep on his chest he was overwhelmingly plagued by guilt like he had never known before. What had they done? More to the point what had he done? Carefully, Shikamaru began the surprisingly strategic and challenging process of worming his way out from under Neji without waking the older man so he could slip out of the bedroom.
On his way to the bathroom, he retrieved the boxers he'd lost last night and shimmied into them. In spite of Neji's tantalizing tongue cleaning the night before his stomach was still very sticky although he didn't mind the feeling too much. Shikamaru sighed as he came face to face with his reflection in the mirror. Last night was the level of beautiful intimacy he'd been dreaming of for so long, and still, his subconscious insisted on reminding him about Sasuke Uchiha. The man would be devastated once he found out. When he returned to his room, he wasn't surprised to find Neji already awake, although the ninja had yet to move from the pillow Shikamaru'd replaced himself with.
"I thought you liked sleeping in," Neji groggily complained as he rubbed his eyes.
"We have to talk about Sasuke." Shikamaru figured the best way to handle the situation was head-on, no use in beating around a bush.
"Wow," Neji narrowed his eyes. "You sure know how to put on the charm. First thing in the morning and you're already bringing up someone else's name."
"What will you tell him?" Shikamaru asked.
Neji frowned as Shikamaru finally moved to the foot of the bed. "I don't have to tell him anything."
"That's not right, Neji." Nara shook his head.
"It's none of his business." Neji's frown deepened.
"I'll take the blame, Neji," Shikamaru said. "Tell him it's my fault."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Neji demanded.
"I'm talking about you and Sasuke." Shikamaru nearly sighed.
"Shikamaru, what about Sasuke?" He did nothing to hide his confusion.
Shikamaru stared at Neji pointedly. "You're in love."
"I beg your unbelievable pardon?"
Their eyes met in a rare clash of opposing emotions as Neji sat up to be level with Shikamaru. Nara couldn't imagine a reason why Neji would deny it, and it wasn't like he was asking for clarification, he already knew the truth.
"Come on, Neji." He urged. "I saw him kiss you."
"Kiss me?" A light bulb went off suddenly, and Neji chuckled, averting his eyes. "So that's what that was about. You think I'm in love with Sasuke?"
"Well, I mean it makes sense. You two have so much in common." Shikamaru replied.
"Yes, we do have a lot in common." Neji agreed.
The answer shouldn't have deflated Shikamaru in any way, and yet somehow, he found himself sinking even lower with Neji's confirmation. Uncomfortable silence engulfed them. Shikamaru wondered if making Neji think about Sasuke so soon was a bad idea. Maybe Neji would regret them having slept together now if he focused too much on how Sasuke would be affected. Although it made Shikamaru shameful to admit to himself, he knew that he would do it again if given a chance without regard for what kind of person that made him or how much it might hurt Uchiha.
"Do you want to know when I realized I was in love?" Neji offered.
No is what Shikamaru should have said, but instead, he shrugged and answered, "Sure."
"I had just come home from a devastating mission, you know the kind that gives you nightmares, and you can't shake it for weeks, sometimes months." Neji began. "While I was doubting myself, my abilities and self-worth I was reminded that I had a duty to fulfill."
Shikamaru stayed mute despite the storm raging in his mind.
"A promise was made to me. A promise to find whoever was responsible manipulating me, to bring them to justice." Neji waited patiently for Shikamaru to look him in the eyes again. "And just like that, I recognized that I had fallen completely for the only person who has ever cared enough to see me for who I am, beneath all the layers and the masks and the personas. We were on the rooftop, do you remember? You held my hand so tight..."
"What?" Shikamaru's throat was entirely dry.
"You stupid, stupid, Nara." Neji chuckled. "Sasuke is my best friend."
"But… you were kissing him." Shikamaru shot back lamely, still trying to wrap himself around the idea that Neji wanted him the same way.
"If you had seen the whole moment you would know that's not true. I broke his nose for attempting something so foolish. Now that I know why he did it I may just break it again." Neji pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"That night in the apartment… Sasuke is always making passes at you and..." Shikamaru didn't know where to go with his argument.
"Shikamaru, Sasuke is asexual." Neji seemed surprised that he didn't already know this. "He has no desire to have sex with me or anyone else for that matter."
"What?" Shikamaru felt like a parrot. "Do his groupies know? Can I tell them?"
Neji snorted a laugh. "You're such a fool."
"I don't understand. He had me convinced that he wanted to be with you." Shikamaru insisted. "Is he… does he date?"
"Sasuke is also aromantic, he probably always has been. But there isn't anyone alive who can make Sasuke happy. Part of him died with Itachi. He loved his brother with all his heart, that love was used to manipulate him, and in the end, he lost the only person who mattered." Neji replied.
And here Shikamaru had thought Neji was the best yet-to-be-discovered actor he'd ever met, apparently that title belonged to Sasuke Uchiha with not a romantic or sexual bone in his being yet had managed to convince Nara he had both.
"You're in love with me?" Shikamaru asked.
Neji gave a small shrug and a vulnerable smile. "It appears that way."
"And I'm in love with you?"
"Are you asking me?" Neji blinked. "I certainly hope so. Otherwise…"
"I am." Shikamaru reaffirmed.
"Then what do I have to say to get you back in bed?" Neji raised a brow.
Shikamaru fell to his knees on the mattress in front of Neji, cupped his cheeks and crushed their lips together fervently. Their mouths parted simultaneously, tongues coiling briefly as Shikamaru wrapped his arms tight around Neji's body and Hyūga's fingers sank into his back pressing their chests together so hard neither could breathe properly. Not that Shikamaru cared about anything so troublesome as breathing anyway. Unbelievable. He had misread all the signs, all the subtle gestures and the more prominent ones to be nothing more than friendly affection between two people who could never communicate with words. Every time they touched sparked a flame in Shikamaru, and now he knew he wasn't the only one burning alive. Shikamaru groaned and forced Neji to lay back on the bed, quickly tangling their legs while letting his hands roam and squeeze any part of the Hyūga he so desired.
"Ow!" Neji yelped suddenly.
Shikamaru snapped back breathless, blinking away the haze in his eyes to study the man beneath him looking for signs of injury. He frowned catching sight of a red mark creasing from the base of Neji's throat down his right shoulder which hadn't been there last night. Neji scowled and cupped a hand to his neck, but it was already too late.
"You need the hospital." Shikamaru held no negotiation in his voice.
Neji sighed. "Alright."
"Sasuke."
The raven twisted his head around fast enough to get whiplash upon hearing the familiar voice; his obsidian eyes threatened to pop from their sockets if they got any bigger. Neji offered a subtle smile and closed the door behind himself as he entered the room. Sasuke looked terrible even though Shikamaru said he'd been in the village for eight days now receiving medical attention. It didn't surprise Neji; he had suffered enough injuries of his own to be laid up for the better part of two weeks while in the sand village. Sasuke made a motion for him to come closer which Neji obliged to, approaching until he'd nearly bumped into the hospital bed and Uchiha could reach out to poke his forehead.
"I missed you too, Sasuke." Neji conveyed.
"Where have you been?" Sasuke's voice was weak, but at least he no longer had a tube wedged down his throat.
"Recovering in the sand village, it was closer than Konoha for me," Neji explained.
"Damn it, Gaara should have sent a report." Sasuke seethed.
"You know he couldn't, Sas. We might all be dead if he'd given away my position." Neji reasoned.
Sasuke sighed and lowered his hand giving a solemn nod even if he didn't like the way things had played out.
"There's a war coming, Sasuke," Neji stated. "The way the Akatsuki is growing and whatever is going on inside the village… something isn't right."
"I think I may be too old to survive another war." Sasuke jibed.
Neji, unimpressed, pinched Sasuke's nose and said, "Dying is not an option, Uchiha."
"I know, I know." Sasuke swatted his hand away. "And believe me as soon as I get out of the hospital my new priority is investigating from the top down."
"Be wary, Sasuke. We don't know who is involved." Neji cautioned.
"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked suddenly. "Shikamaru has been out of his mind with grief for you."
"I've already seen Shikamaru," Neji spoke smoothly.
Understanding passed between them, earning a wry smirk from Sasuke.
"Cleared up all that confusion, did you?" The teasing tone in his voice was not unnoticed.
"After I convinced him that you and I were not screwing around on the side, yes," Neji said.
"Well, I'm glad my little charade brought you two together," Sasuke stated smugly.
"Don't test me, Uchiha. I won't hesitate to break your nose a second time." Neji threatened.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Sasuke chuckled.
"Right. I must bid you farewell before the nurses find me. Unfortunately, I'll be staying overnight. It seems I've been deemed a flight risk, so I imagine they're checking my room ever so often." Neji was more than just annoyed with being babysat.
Sasuke tapped his fingers to Neji's forehead again. "I'm glad you're home, Neji."
"As am I for you, Sasuke."
When Shikamaru opened Neji's door, he expected to see the man laid in the hospital bed. Instead, he spotted Hyūga standing at the window glaring outside. He noticed Neji hadn't bothered to change into the hospital gown he'd been given either. Typical. He cleared his throat as he stepped inside and shut the door, Neji's moonstone orbs took only a fraction of a second to capture him. They crossed the room and met one another in the middle, Shikamaru grabbed the front of Neji's Hyūga robes, and Neji held the back of Nara's neck as their foreheads connected.
"I'm sorry I was gone so long," Shikamaru apologized. "Tsunade has assigned me to the recon team now that you're back."
He prayed Neji wouldn't ask him to stay because he already did not wish to go on the mission for a number of reasons, the main one being the man he was currently gazing at. But Neji would never ask for something he knew he wasn't supposed to. They were not afforded the luxury of picking and choosing which assignments to accept. It did not matter how badly they would rather stay together for a few days, shut out the rest of the world and find themselves again; duty always came first. Instead of answering, Neji kissed Shikamaru lightly, barely grazing their lips together.
Shikamaru understood the silent message perfectly— Neji did not want Shikamaru to leave but had accepted there wasn't another option. So, he pressed his lips back maintaining a delicate balance in their kiss, letting Neji know he would be home as soon as possible and not a minute later. They knew better than to make promises about coming back to one another out loud, so he sealed it between their lips instead. He held the base of Neji's neck, stroking slow and soothingly across the pulse point he felt racing under his touch.
"Shikamaru," Neji whispered before catching the man's bottom lip between his own.
"What is it, Nej?" Shikamaru husked in return, eyes fluttering open.
Neji drug his teeth across the lip and released it only once satisfied he'd left a bruise. "It's you and me now, right?"
"Yes," Shikamaru said without hesitation. "It always has been."
"I'm not a patient man, Nara." Neji sounded stern, serious, but he was smiling as their noses touched. "Don't make me come find you out there."
"I won't. I promise you, Neji Hyūga."
