• Chapter Five •
Warning: light lemon.
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He watched her closely. Sakura had told him she was called Ayame. About the same age of him. She sat looking in the distance the girls playing in the lake. He didn't know why or how. But, he began to approach her. She seemed to be unaware of her present. Slightly he touched her left shoulder.
The contact startled her. Turning around quickly she met eye to eye with the Nara who stood rigid. Unsure of what to say.
Her pupils became small. The trembling in her body began to concern him.
"Hey, you okay? I just-"
"NO!" She began to retreat and hyperventilating. She chanted the same words of no. As if the Nara was about to hurt her.
"Wait-."
He tried to stop her. She began to stand up, in the moment she almost fell into the near water the Nara reacted quick and caught her wrist. Saving her from falling.
Paralyzed, Ayame watched how he saved her. The trembling in her body maintained the same fear. Her orbs glanced at him. Confusion and anxiety mixed together.
"You'll be okay just..."
Confused she finally regained balance. Stood rigid for a moment, glaring at the Nara. But, as if a unexpected panic took control of her. She began to run away from him. Never stopping or looking back at the party. He felt something nauseating. She hated his contact. His mere presence had provoked a frightening sense.
"What the hell..." he sharpened his gaze. "She...was scared of me For no reason."
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The night had arrived. There were lights around the lake. Illuminating so beautiful. He blinked hard. He sat alone watching from afar Neji and Sakura. Watching the Hyūga act like a guard dog was fun. But, who was he to tell Neji was being too paranoid? Shikamaru was the one being vigilant of both.
She appeared out of the blue.
"Is funny how protective you are of Sakura."
He went rigid.
"Oh please Young Nara. I told you, women read everything so easily." Her eyes were occupied as she monitored the young women playing in the lake, "you could've put her inside the group of my children and easily extract information from us, but that could risk her. Instead you opted to put yourself as the sacrificial lamb. Challenging me and offending me to protect them, making sure you're the only one in my radar. You're a well-trained player. Even though they are oblivious to your foolish kindness..."
He had his mouth open to respond, but nothing came out. She made him eat flies in a second with her observation.
She turned her attention back on him. Her green eyes brighten as she looked at his stupid expression. A serene laugh escaped her mouth. A sound no many had heard from her, it was youthful and sweet. The sound made a small group nearby pause, they watched in amazement the unusual behavior of their leader.
The Nara didn't know how to make an escape. This wasn't the usual enemy they confronted on missions. Aiko played in a different aboard that he had no experience with. She knew how to read emotions.
The awkwardness of having five pair of eyes from the crazy girls made him wished he could escape. Aiko didn't stop her laughter, he just stood there next to her like a frozen mannequin. The cult members trying to figure out what he had done to make their leader laugh
His shoulders tensed, he turned his attention to the clouds to find something to liberate him from the unwanted attention. His only response to her was a stupid complaint that he often phrased when things were too much for him. Which was often.
"Ugh...this is so troublesome."
The red-headed woman finally cleared her laughter. He watched her being lost in thought for a moment, as if she had remember something. Like deja vu.
That caught his attention.
She moved her mouth. As if talking to herself.
"You were just as foolish as him..."
That took him by surprise. He hid his emotions with a lazy facade when Aiko finally came back to her present and touched her hair. Somehow she didn't dare to look him in the eye as usual. This too made him curious. Why the sudden retreat? She was always putting him in place. This time she didn't even bothered to mock his lack of response.
As if catching whatever she had shown she kept her once calm expression back in place.
"I must be going now..."
She left with a lingering silence. Shikamaru was left with mixed feelings.
"What the hell is going on..."
He saw people began to clean the lake. The food already eaten placed in bags. Sakura and Neji had vanished from his radar. Most likely they had retired back to their camp with the cows. His mind was tired. Nothing made sense. Aiko wasn't what he had expect. She legitimately cared for the girls. But, that didn't explain why she forced them to be malnourished with the disgusting milk.
He had enough for a night. He slowly walked towards the camp.
Nothing could possible get weirder.
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Oh how wrong he was. As he sighed and sat in defeat under the grass he began to hear steps.
"Oh god- not now." He just wanted a fucking break.
Neji gave him a cursed look. Crossed arms and gave him the atmosphere of a militant. Shikamaru glanced with a deadpanned expression pleading for whatever he came for wasn't anything to do with the mission.
"Yes. Now." The demanding command only made Shikamaru irritated.
"Don't. I don't need another headache."
Neji took hold of his wrist almost forcing the Nara to rise from his sitting position. Shikamaru fought back. Using his weight to stay in the grass.
"Stop being an infant Nara."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"You know damn well. What I want, Nara." Shikamaru looked the other way. Evading the pearl orbs." Why are you making it personal?"
Shikamaru shook his head refusing even more. The persistence of Neji was something he refused to acknowledge. He mocked Neji with a raspy laughter. The Hyūga glared hard. Taking hold of his collar. Forcing the Nara to face him.
"Enough of this crap Nara."
Shikamaru glared back. The anger raising up.
"The fuck do you know what I'm doing Hyūga?"
"I know you're losing it. All your damn actions speak the horrible state you're in. You're often pissing off Aiko at every opportunity you get." Shikamaru pushed him hard. Neji stumbled a little regaining balance. His pearl orb shinning with fury. "What is it? Spit it out Nara."
"Oh now you care?"
There it was. His words cutting deeper than any lethal weapon. Neji felt a tight sensation when those words reached his ears.
"I care enough to know what you're doing is something deeper than just overthrowing Aiko's ego." He came closer to Shikamaru's face. Their noses almost touching. "This is not about the mission, or you finding this mission troublesome. This is what Aiko did to me isn't?"
Shikamaru gazed hard. Tight lips shut.
He felt a shiver when the breath of the Hyūga hit his left ear. Low whispers magnetized his body. A sudden heat became present in the low of his stomach. Trying hard not to fall in the game he maintained his lazy facade in place.
"This isn't of your business..." he could hardly handle the control of his response. The heat of Neji's breath as he spoke just made him more vulnerable.
His alarms went off. Brain shutting down in an instant. The contact made him delirious. Neji gave a brutal kiss, no warning. Just a unexpected attack against Shikamaru's mouth.
Oh how easy it was to fall. And so impossible to resist. He twisted his neck. Evading the next kiss, only to leave open his collarbone. The sudden sensation made him flinch. Slowly savoring the tan neck with his tongue the Hyūga forced the Nara to retreat. Only to be caged by both wrist.
"F...fucking wait."
He was left with no defenses. The Hyūga never broke contact as he slowly devoured the neck. Shikamaru felt his anger rising up.
"Stop Dammit!"
A hard push. Neji almost fell.
Shikamaru glared hard.
"Don't you fucking play that card on me Hyūga. That's crossing the fucking line."
Neji blinked. A serene expression accompanied by his harsh truth.
"And,what you being doing isn't crossing the line?"
Shikamaru's eyes glittered. Yes, he had hell to pay for the way he had acted the few days they were in the crazy camp. Always risking the mission for his personal revenge.
"You tell me." He laughed, the mockery in his tunes made Neji more infuriated. "Thanks Aiko. For almost fucking people up for your personal gain. Thank you Aiko for almost poisoning my comrades."
Neji hit the shadow's nin chest hard.
"If you won't give me the right answer I'm gonna force it out of you."
Something hard hit his left cheek knocking the Nara to the ground.
"Argh!"
Like a jaguar the Hyūga stood in top of him. Leaving him with no escape. His pale orbs luminous as he glared at the dark hyena eyes. Shikamaru freed his right arm, using his elbow to hit Neji, only to be stopped by the hand of Hyūga. Grasping his wrist and forcibly push the hand to the floor.
"Get off!"
"Then tell me why!"
He let a harsh laugh escape.
"As if!"
"You're mistaken then, Nara. I'm not holding back."
He lamented those words.
Hell froze. Neji remained in top of the Nara, hands holding his wrist. Face inches apart from his mouth. Searching deep on the black pupils.
Shikamaru felt every sensation of the Hyūga crawling so deep under his skin. Those penetrating eyes manufacturers of a madness of a lust he couldn't antagonize. His body flinching as two hands invaded his torso. Slowly burning and making circles around it. His only resistance was biting his bottom lip. Turning his head to the left. Evading those orbs that burned with desire. A desire of consuming him.
Defenseless. Something hit hard at the realization.
"Fucking STOP!"
Neji froze at the command. His calm orbs observed the anger in Shikamaru.
"Why?"
He had no answer. But, he had words that could make old scars bleed.
"What? You want to be the Good Samaritan like Temari? Thinking that you can dig in my scars and magically put them back in place?"
He smirked viciously. Eyes sharp waiting for anger as the answer. Only to feel like an idiot. The Hyūga glared deeply. Tranquil touches caressing the back of the Nara's hair. Undoing the ponytail.
That made him feel way too anxious. As if exposing something way too personal for him. It pissed him off.
"Don't." The strategist warned. Cold tunes as he slapped the Hyūga's hand away from his hair.
"Why are you being so defensive?"
Shikamaru left a shaky laugh escape. Trying to cope with whatever the hell this situation might bring out of his personal scar he tried damn hard to hide.
"Why are you caring now?"
Neji blinked. Looking back. Looking in any memory for something that he had missed. The Nara was one good player. Slowly he approached the bottom lip. Whispering words that made the inside out of Shikamaru bleed.
Impatient, he started to do the only thing that made the Nara show vulnerability.
Shikamaru clenched his eyes shut when the mocha strands fell over his chest and face. Like a cascade capturing him. The lips closing distance. Then the hot air hit his ears. Not a kiss, but shattering words.
"You failed. You failed Asuma. And you failed me in the past. What makes you think you won't fail this time?"
The ravaging scream of anger escaped Shikamaru.
The loud scream ripped Neji .A pain that held a hatred so strong in a man like Shikamaru breaking out of its cage with continuous kicks and punches to be liberated by the Hyūga who keep him in place .
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" So loud and infuriating was the voice that made Neji's composure break.
"Then tell me! This is making you lose your mind. You think I didn't see it? The way see her! Wanting to rip her apart?! What is it Nara!?"
Shikamaru stopped struggling all together. The ferocious orbs glaring deeper and deeper into the Hyūga.
"You bastard- the hell do you know about my scars!"
Neji took the open chance. A forced kiss. The collision of their lips hurt and at the same burn. It crushed all his logic. His own body flinched. His hips moving forwards. Wanting more. Desiring to burn more. So debilitated was his composure over desire that he began to respond to the kiss.
And, yet. Neji asked the same question as he liberated his mouth.
"Why are you...?" The gasp and need of air made Neji too crazed. But, the need of having the answer out of the Nara conquered any lustful need he had awakened "why do you hate Aiko this much?"
Shikamaru wished real hard to be sober from the lure of his physical instincts.
Skin so warm against each other. The flesh of his abdomen invaded by the rough fingertips of the older Jounin. His hips going up at the contact. Biting his mouth so hard a small cut left some blood run towards his chin. Using resistance as his only defense. Cuz, his mind was already lost in the flames.
"Da...Dammit. Hyūga, fucking stop-"
He let a loud groan when a hungry tongue traveled his neck. Teeth marking hard his left side. Leaving a red mark of possession.
Neji's hands launched under his sweater, exposing his abdomen. The hunger in the pearl eyes caused Shikamaru's cheeks to go full red. His eyes shutting down. The invading hands caressing slowly. His body jumping when the cold digits of the Byakugan user caressed the exposed skin."
"Ngh..."
He regarded Neji. Always making his instincts drunk under every slight touch.
"S-stop, fucking Hyūga."
A laugh escaped Neji. It send a shiver up Shikamaru's spine. So rich and hypnotic.
"Tell me then."
Fingers began to play with his exposed hair. Something inside of him broke the illusion of passion.
"Fuck off." Harsh and vicious. The tunes danced with distrusts. "I don't fuck around with your cursed symbol. So don't you dare to fuck around with my past."
He let the answer come out without having time to stop. The past.
Neji glared. Bright orbs shone at the realization. Finally finding a concrete answer.
"Your past?"
Like a predator Neji dug with his nails in the lower part of his stomach. Toying. Approaching mind and heart with eagerness.
The low whisper that hit lower abdomen made Shikamaru's body jump. Restraining all he could he caged the mocha hair with both hands. Falling deeper and deeper.
"N-no."
Soft lips moved as they kissed the naked torso.
"Tell me your scars."
The confession made a heavy weight land under his heart. The broken tunes of the taunting voice of the Nara. Dancing with impotence of an outcome he desired to avoid.
"She is gonna take you away. Just the way two weeks ago in that fucking bed you almost lost to the fucking battle! There! THATS WHY I HATE THAT BITCH! She knows my vulnerability too damn well! And none of my strategies will save you!"
Irrational fear. Captured by outcomes that were created by imagination. Just like Shikamaru never predicted the death of Asuma in the hands of the Akatsuki. That old scar bled. And Neji didn't noticed for years.
He liberated Shikamaru. The Nara blinked hard, glazed orbs looking into the deep pools of pearl-color irises. A infuriating sadness caught in the throat of the shadow-user. His heavy pants of breathing the only sound in the dark.
The image made Neji freeze.
"That's why you decided to interfere in my missions...to protect me?"
Shikamaru went pale. Negating Neji's response . Because, he had hit the nail. There wasn't anything to negate.
"Who broke you?" He asked. His soul and heart naked to the vulnerability of the question.
Shikamaru shut his eyes hard. The dark humor in the tunes of his voice bitter and full of resentment.
"You."
Something shattered.
"You fucked me up. You abandoned me for two weeks in the fucking hospital. Being just as a fucking hypocrite like Asuma. You want me to rely on your word when you can't fucking let your guard down for a minute. Always have to fight. Don't take me for an idiot Neji."
This time he sounded tired, tired of fighting. "Fine, wanna play by your protocol rules lets do it then. You masochist bastard."
Neji's gaze was the only response he needed.
"You stay in your position of obedient dog. And I stay as the strategist. Fuck emotional bull crap. You think I'm jeopardizing the mission with my no more worry. I'm gonna take a stick up my ass just like you do with you "role" of a good soldier."
He retired. As he passed the Hyūga he made sure to punch his left shoulder hard enough to make the Byakugan user stumble a little. Neji remained rigid. Penetrating orbs burning with deception and confusion.
The noises of the animals of the obscure fading as the shadow-user walked away. His fear smiling.
Thank for reading. I am sorry for the cringe "try" of smutt I never wrote something like with the characters like that. But, I apréciate all your support! Have happy holidays.