Watch Me
Part Five: That Day, That Time
…
AN: Sorry about the long update. Moving is troublesome.
…
My body feels hot… why does it hurt for him to not see me? Am I still not… someone to believe in? I know I still have far to go… but why doesn't it seem… to him… that this is the beginning?
Tenten and Lee saw that even as Gai, Kurenai, Kakashi and the others came down to congratulate the new chuunin that Neji was still looking up in the stadium. Those wide eyes, those powerful eyes that saw so much, couldn't see what he was looking for.
The difference in steps between Kurenai, Kakashi and Gai were obvious. Kurenai was so light on her feet. Kakashi was purposeful and relaxed, his heels setting down at the perfect pass for his toes to follow. If Gai ran any faster, he'd reset the world's rotation.
Lee propped Tenten up firmly, holding the shorter girl by the waist. He was smiling, she was smiling, but the mood was off. Kurenai and Kakashi approached the Konoha contenders with smiles and congratulations. Gai gave them waterfalls.
"I am so happy! My precious and adorable students! Tenten, Neji! You have learned so much! I'm so happy!"
Tenten smiled. "Hai, sensei. It was thanks to our training. Neh, Kakashi-sensei, I hope we can train together again. I still want to improve my tracking."
"Hai, hai. You did well. You too, Neji-kun."
There was a flush in Neji's face that Kakashi recognized so well because he had seen it whenever Uchiha Sasuke failed to return Haruno Sakura's emotions. Hyuuga Neji was talented and certainly beautiful, but he wore uncertainly so openly. He stood in profile to the rest of them, to everyone but Kakashi it looked as if he were his cool, aloof self. I wonder if this will improve…
Gai gushed on about his students and finally gave into the temptation of embracing them all in a group hug. Kakashi sweat dropped, rubbing the back of his head. Tenten, in the unfortunate position of the middle was soaked with Gai's tears. Lee matched Gai tear for tear, Tenten squirmed, and Neji looked over his sensei's shoulder. It was the first time his eyes were ever empty.
He felt his heartbeat, the rhythm was strong in his chest, reminding him of the promise he made to himself. There was still so much he needed to improve. Neji lifted his right hand around Gai's left shoulder and patted his sensei's back just once.
"Sensei… I'd like to begin training again, immediately."
Gai pulled back at that moment, much to Tenten's relief.
"Neji, you have begun to embrace the springtime of your youth I see! Haha! We can work on our teamwork starting tomorrow at five AM with one hundred laps around Konoha as a warm up!"
"No, sensei!" Lee interrupted. "Let's make it two hundred!"
"Good thinking, Lee! Our sweat will glisten beautifully in the rising sun!"
That smile twinkled. Tenten shook her head and turned to Neji. "Now you've done it." Tenten's exasperated expression changed to confusion as she found Neji had turned his face back again to the stadium where Shiranui Genma still wasn't.
Neji… you're always so far away…
…
After lap one hundred and thirty eight, Tenten was trailing ten feet behind Gai who was forty feet behind Lee and Neji. Lee maintained the lead between them, setting the pace as their bodies were covered in sweat. Their bodies were becoming sore, but they kept pushing. Most of Konoha had stopped during the day to watch Lee and Neji run, some simply for the fact that throughout the day they didn't seem to slow down or lose pace, but mostly because they were both running without shirts on. Somewhere between lap eighty-four and lap ninety Neji had stripped off his jacket and cast it aside. Sometime later his ninguard was discarded and Lee had pulled down his top and tied the sleeves around his strong waist (because he wouldn't lose to Neji). The next lap, half of Konoha's female population had fainted. About a quarter of the male population fainted as well. After removing his coat, Neji felt infinitely lighter, though it had nothing to do with the sweat-soaked cloth. The bandages he wore around his right arm and leg were still tight, bound with sweat, the feel of it reminding him that he still had chains to his old self; he couldn't simply strip it all away. The bandages would take time to unravel, if he tried as he was running, he knew he would slip on them and that wouldn't do: he still had sixty two more laps to run.
Last night, Hyuuga Neji had gone to bed with a fevered body, stemming from the cruelty of his heartbeat. He knew it was unreasonable, but he had waited at the arena for two hours hoping that Genma-shishou would appear, tell him where he needed to improve, in that cocksure way he had, and then smile. What he got was two hours of wind and shadow followed by the fevered sensation in his body that told him, somehow, he had done something wrong.
He had hung his Chuunin vest against his bookshelf and stared at it from his futon on the floor. He wasn't actually going to wear it, it didn't suit his body. No one had ever doubted his ability, except for Hiashi, who realized soon enough that he had made a grievous error in doing so, what they doubted was his capacity. Everyone who ever met Hyuuga Neji knew that he had something to prove, what caused uncertainty in their gaze was that none of them knew what it was that he was trying to prove.
He didn't know, truthfully and honestly, until that night when he looked at his vest when he truly wanted to look at Genma's smile. He had told himself firstly that he wanted to be a person who could be believed in and secondly that he could be someone who could direct his own fate, but thirdly, and this was where he was most honest, he wanted to be someone who could be loved.
Neji continued to run with Lee, he knew that Gai was starting to lag a bit further behind and Tenten was on the verge of quitting and leaving her team of men to suffer the painful death they seemed to be after. While he ran the muscles in his stomach and legs tightened, his arms were taunt, his chest rose, sweat ran down his handsome face, trailed across his slender neck and pulled at the hollow of his throat. Everyone woman in Konoha wanted to be that sweat.
Neji would be fourteen in a matter of weeks, but that had never deterred the unmasked lust he saw in the glances of others directed at his body. Hyuugas were beautiful, sought after for their moon pale skin and delicate bone structure. The opportunity to kiss one was on the order of being the sex toy of the Godiame for a single night. Hyuuga Neji understood lust and desire and the complexities of sexual arousal, all of which had been directed at him since he was twelve, but what Hyuuga Neji didn't identify so readily was the sensation of love directed at him from another. And certainly not the sensation of love directed from him to another.
He had seen and heard about sudden and explosive declarations of undying emotional and spiritual devotion and had washed his hands of such nonsense. True love, as true as there could be for such a thing as love, was subtle: it was trust and dependence, give and take, standing up and supporting, stepping away when…
And there it was, Neji realize between laps one ninety four and one ninety five. He faltered a half step, his body connecting with a startled Lee's for a moment, followed by six women fainting in the street. He righted himself under Lee's concerned eyes and found something he would hold as a solution for the frustrations he felt at night and the betrayal he had felt in his heart.
Genma-shishou did not abandon me yesterday… he is standing behind me… I can feel it in this uncertain heartbeat in my chest. The rhythm feels strange because there are two of them… his and mine… and to feel it this way… doesn't hurt at all… Shishou did what I asked him to do and in my mistaken understanding, I misinterpreted his action as abandonment… he did not leave me behind yesterday because I am not someone he can believe in… he took the first steps away from me to show me where I need to travel… I need to become closer to him, for him to be closer to me… When I came to him with my level was lower than his, he bent down to reach me… now shishou has returned to his level and it is my turn to catch up. Genma-shishou is waiting for me, he will not turn back to give me his hand and his smile until I am close, until my hand can reach for his.
Lee and Neji completed their two hundredth lap and Neji almost continued onto a two hundred and first when a string of sweat raced down the side of his face and dripped on top of his right arm. He saw it, with his powerful eyes watching intently, that trail of sweat glide over his bandages and down to the very exposed tip of his fingers. He lifted that hand higher and watched that drop of sweat pull down to the pad of his index finger before being pulled away from his body by gravity. As that sweat crashed and disappeared against the earth, Neji stared at that hand, at those fingers.
I must change this hand… I can make these fingers strike, bleed, break, and sustain until they are something strong, until they are attached to an arm that is strong, to a shoulder and body that is strong, to a head with eyes that can truly see… I will change this hand so that it can be embraced… this hand, this body, this heart and eyes and mind… I will make them soar.
Lee and Neji caught their breath with deep breathing exercises as Gai and Tenten met them finally after completing their two hundred laps. Neji's body hurt, more so probably than Lee's or Gai's, but certainly not as much as the kunoichi who was just as strong as they were. His body was tall and slender; his frame was solid though small. He would improve this body, he would improve…
…
In essence, the combination of Hakke and Juuken fighting methodology focused on two things: the feet and the hands. The eyes of Hyuuga added clarity and chakra was the force of power, but all study of concentration was directed in the position of the feet and hands. As Neji trained, his feet moved in a circular motion, the toes were always pointed and the last part of the foot to leave the ground. When he was studying body positions, his toes dragged making crescent patterns into the grass or sand beneath his feet.
He could bend his body in fluid angles, stretching his right foot forward as his upper body stretched backwards, his right hand extended behind his head. His palms were always open; Juuken style's open hand allowed the maximum chakra flow. The lines of his body were smooth like the delicate strokes of calligraphy.
Over time, he greatly improved.
When he fought, his motions were determined, coming from his center through those controlled feet and hands. He released chakra in precise amounts and at precise moments and with purpose. He meditated thoroughly; in the rain, in the shine, in the middle of the Hyuuga compound.
He heard her slight footsteps, the way he sometimes heard individual rain drops falling over his roof at night. Since she had developed her own style, a deviation of Hakke with the influence of Taikyokuken, an internal style cousin of Hakke, she had found her own motions. Hinata also had greatly improved. Neji reduced his mediation concentration and turned to his cousin as she made to return to her studies.
"Hinata-sama." Neji called to the thirteen year old girl.
"Neji-nii-san?"
"Hinata-sama, how has your training with Hiashi-sama been progressing?"
Hinata looked away for a moment, her gentle fingers raising to her lips defensively before slowly dropping them back to her sides. "I am not… advancing as Tou-san would like." She admitted.
Neji had known this before he had asked her. Hiashi-sama had been making Neji aware to Neji that he had more and more opportunities to train Neji. Neji was a smart boy; he knew Hiashi-sama was not reducing his training regimen for Hanabi, which meant there was a reduction in Hinata's training. He was again giving up on his oldest daughter. Hinata again was losing faith in herself.
"Hinata-sama, have you considered no longer being an aggressive shinobi?"
He had used his words precisely, those specific words knowing the outcome would be a strained look on Hinata-sama's face. He could not give up his insight, though he had reduced the amount of assumptions he formulated on them. Hinata responded as expected, her eyes flickered weakly from left to right and her pale skin seemed to lose what little color it had. Her fingers found her soft lips and she looked over them as Neji stepped closer to her. Neji took her fingers gently, pulling them away from her face. Hinata raised her eyes reluctantly and found that Neji's eyes were kind as he looked back at her.
"Neji-nii-san."
"Hinata-sama, I do not suggest that you quit being a shinobi. You are a Hyuuga: you have inherited our blood's talent. There are three arenas where our clan specializes: tracking, aggressive combat and medicine. Of those three, you are best in medicine. I remember when we were small, you used to sit with my mother and watch her mix medicines."
"Hai."
"You still remember them; you mix medicines still and have them ready for your missions. After fighting Gaara in the Chuunin exam, it was you first who brought me salves. Your chakra control and knowledge of herbs are the fundamental qualifications for medical ninjutsu. From what I understand the pink haired girl on Naruto's team has been studying under Godaime-sama. Perhaps you should inquire into an apprenticeship with Shizune-san… it would be a valuable skill for the future leader of the Hyuuga clan to possess. A strong leader does not just come from strength of skill alone… supporting our clan is also necessary… perhaps you could be the first Hyuuga Main House leader to be a healer."
"Nii-san…"
"I can be the dao of the Branch House and you can be the shield of our clan. Our talents are different, but what you can do, Hinata-sama, can be much more valuable."
"Arigato…"
"Hai."
…
From the age of thirteen to fifteen, Neji's body and mind evolved rapidly. He was making himself a legend in Konoha. His discipline and talent generated rumors that he would certainly be extended an offer to take the ANBU test and there was no doubt that in the near future he would be invited to qualify for Jounin status.
He had become involved greatly in the business of the Branch House, rising to the position of minor delegate, attending all clan meetings and regularly crossing the Main House-Branch House divide for communications. It had not remained a secret that he was responsible for the meek Hinata's apprenticeship with the medical Jounin Shizune. Hinata and Rock Lee had become Chuunin in their next appearances at the Chuunin exam. Neji had sat beside Gai and Kurenai, Tenten and Kakashi and through the entire exam, he seemed confident, he seemed like Jounin potential.
None of this escaped Shiranui Genma. The Jounin Potential trainer had heard rumors and accounts of Hyuuga Neji's growth. He read accounts in mission logs for Gai's team and the reports Hyuuga Neji had submitted himself for individual missions or with teams other than his own. In the last two years, since his induction into the Chuunin level, Neji had become a true shinobi of Konoha. He was admired and praised and all deservingly so. Genma would watch the much younger fighter and smirk coolly. They hadn't avoided contact in those years, if he happened upon Neji in the street, Genma would wave or wink and Neji would bow his head, addressing him still as Shishou. They didn't make conscious efforts to approach each other; Neji didn't run to him to recount tales of his success in missions, new jutsus or the like. It wasn't his style; they were much too cool for such a thing.
Genma rolled his senbon over his tongue as he reviewed the paperwork for submission. Before he had to look up, when he felt a shadow hanging over his head, he knew who it was and he knew what he would say.
"Kakashi." Genma said, before picking his gaze up to look the copy legend in the face.
Kakashi smiled under his mask and waved before placing a mission report on Genma's desk. Genma hated paperwork, it would common knowledge. Whenever he gambled with his counterparts the stake was always paperwork. When he had lost the drinking contest to Yugao, whom he now swore was truly a monster, she pushed a stack of papers his way, cheeks still flushed from sake and smiled criminally. For the next two weeks, Yugao had the authority to direct all paper work to Genma and she could also bestow that authority to anyone she saw fit…
Genma bit his senbon tightly, watching Kakashi place his papers in Genma's "in box". Yugao found everyone fit.
"Just to warn you, Kakashi, I have to do the paperwork, I don't have to do it well." Genma spoke coolly.
"Hai, hai. It is an easy one." Kakashi responded.
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" Genma took the mission report from the top of the pile.
"Well, you could say I have an ulterior motive." Kakashi responded, his tone shifting to his conversational level. Genma raised an eyebrow. Kakashi had three tones: playful, conversational and dead serious, usually arising in that order. He didn't switch quickly unless he had something of importance to discuss.
"Nande?" Genma asked.
"Well, just to inform you, Gai will be coming in the next hour or two with a nomination for Jounin candidacy."
"And?"
"It will be Neji-kun." Kakashi responded.
"It doesn't surprise me. He has the talent."
"That much is obvious. He has grown up a lot these last years."
"Hai."
"When Gai comes to declare Neji-kun's candidacy, Neji will come to receive a trainer."
"If he doesn't stay with Gai."
"Genma."
"Hmm?"
"He will request you. What will be your answer?"
"I haven't decided." Genma responded. Genma hadn't needed Kakashi to tell him any such information. He had read the reports, seen Neji training his Juuken or running shirtless across Konoha. Jounin often talked about his potential, ANBU squad leaders had made mention of his name. The women would tease that they would never allow Neji to be in ANBU: it would be a crime to cover up such a pretty face. Men of sense wanted Neji to be considered for ANBU for two reasons: first his talent, second that his face would be covered up, increasing their own odds of attracting women.
"Talent like Neji's has three roads to take. It can be molded and he could be come a Jounin, even ANBU. It could be ignored and it can be reduced to mediocrity. Or it can be rejected and reduced to nothing."
"Kakashi." Genma's senbon snapped upwards, restrained by his tight lips. "I have paperwork to do, get to your point."
Kakashi reached with one hand to Genma's desk as he tucked the other hand into his side pocket. His free hand took his mission report from Genma's desk. "On the day of the Chuunin exam, he waited for you for two hours. Ninjas show their true strength when they have someone precious to them or when they have an ideal. I don't know which one Neji-kun has. You do. Neji has improved, even for someone like him to come so far in such a sort amount of time… its more than genius. He has something to prove."
"That's true." Genma responded as if that's all he needed to say. As it was, that was all he was going to say.
"Mah," Kakashi continued, switching back to his playful tone. "Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Well, when Gai comes pretend that I wasn't here. Ja."
Kakashi took his report with him as he walked out the door. Genma kept his straight face, he didn't watch Kakashi leave. It was a rule of his never to consider where a person had been, only where they were heading. Weakness remained weakness when it was dwelled upon, rather than studied. Weakness was perpetual; Genma's training was designed to redirect that path. Shiranui Genma had trained Hyuuga Neji for one month and in one month finished the reevaluation of self that Neji had started long beforehand. As Kakashi had said, not just anyone could have helped Neji to become what he was and Genma wasn't the kind to deny his part in something exceptional.
That was why when a fifteen year old Hyuuga Neji came to him and request that he direct his training for a second time, Genma would tell him yes. Hyuuga Neji was exceptional in all aspects of the word. He was talented, even for a bloodline genius: he was smart, beautiful, disciplined and these things would only increase. It would be a lie on Genma's part to say he wasn't interested to see how much.
Genma thought a lot about Hyuuga Neji, not in an obsessive manner, but he contemplated, as much as a man with Genma's personality contemplated, on Neji's character: where he was strong, where he was weak and where he still needed to be explored.
As Kakashi had said, within an hour Maito Gai, in the overdramatic manner he did everything, announced his sponsorship of Hyuuga Neji for Jounin candidacy to the Godaime and it trickled down via stationary that Hyuuga Neji's candidacy was accepted and a trainer would be required. A buzz was generated with volumes of Jounin wishing for a chance to be associated with the phenomenon.
Unlike what Kakashi said, Hyuuga Neji didn't appear in the Jounin headquarters in the hour following his approved candidacy. He didn't appear two hours afterwards, not three, four or seven. By the beginning of sunset, the end of the open station hours, all the Jounin who had aspirations for Neji's consideration were thoroughly disappointed. Genma stood up with no enthusiasm and took his midstation break, at its usual time, up on the roof, in his usual place.
When the door to the roof exit opened behind him, Hyuuga Neji neither turned around nor reacted, at least in any manner that Shiranui Genma could discern. He was taller. His hair was long, still bound at the very end, but that was the only thing in him that remained unchanged. His garb had become one better suited for his tall body. He wore a pale brown customary gi with a darker brown middle guard. As the wind blew, it moved his clothing and that hair, pushing them both to the direction of the west, towards the setting sun. The wind pulled them forward; Neji raised a slender hand to block the short hairs from his face.
When he felt Genma's approach with his body flicker technique, his body took an automatic inhale. Genma smelled just sweetly of apricot nectar. He didn't move in any form when he felt the sharp tip of a kunai in the small of his back. "You're too relaxed." He heard his shishou state over his well accustomed to senbon.
"Iie," Neji replied, "I was worried… for a few minutes I wondered if you would figure out I was up here." Neji turned his graceful neck so his profile allowed him to meet the gaze of his left eye with Genma's left eye. "I'd hate to think your reputation as a competent Jounin was unwarranted, shishou."
"You've still got that cocky tone." Genma responded.
Neji nodded once. "Hai."
Neji released chakra from the tenketsus in his back and pushed Genma away, turning his body as he did so, leaning predictably into his Juuken body stance. His open palm was parallel with the lines of his body, his Byakugan activated, staring intently over the tips of his fingers into the inner workings of his master.
Genma held his kunai in his right hand, the blade angled parallel to the rooftop beneath his feet. His left hand was in his side pocket, his senbon on the left side of his mouth. If he spit his senbon, Neji would dodge and prepare his body for a kunai shot, Genma estimated. Or, Genma considered, he'll deflect it with chakra and immediately go on the aggressive… or, catch the senbon in his hand and show that cocky smirk of his.
"I believe the expression is 'think long, think wrong', shishou." The moment the words were out of his mouth, Neji moved forward and in a fraction of a second was crouched low under Genma's guard, his left hand pressed against Genma's stomach, one motion would send a blast of chakra into Genma's system. That cocky smile was on his face. "I've improved, shishou. You were too---"
Neji's eyes opened wide and reacted immediately as Genma turned the kunai to stab into his shoulder. Neji raised his right hand upwards and blocked the descending blow. When Genma pulled his left hand from his pocket, Neji immediately secured Genma's right wrist in a firm grip. As his left hand moved to block Genma's left hand strike, he felt a sharp ping resonate from his forehead. Metal had met metal he realized and raised his head to look at Gemna's face.
"It's a good thing I wasn't aiming for your eyes, isn't it?" Genma asked.
Neji tightened his features, his handsome face stretched with frustration. That wasn't something he should have fallen for. Genma had distracted him by moving the weaponless left hand so he could spit his senbon with well controlled precision.
It was an elementary diversion tactic. And Genma thought he had fallen for it.
Genma's eyes opened wide when he felt a movement behind him. The sharp point of a kunai pushed into his back. Genma turned his eyes to the left and saw Neji's cautionary gaze. Its focus was perfect. Genma turned his head and looked at the body before him.
"Kawarimi no jutsu, ka?"
"I told you I improved. Do you think such a thing would get past my Byakugan?"
Genma smirked. Neji's eyes opened wide as he felt a kunai press into his throat from behind. He turned his eyes and found Genma smirking behind him. Neji smiled. "Kage bushin… the senbon."
"I switched when you switched, that's why you didn't notice. It was only because I know you and that I'm better than you, that it didn't work, Neji."
"Hai, shishou."
"A high level ninja with a lot of experience can see through Kawarimi much faster than chuunin and genin. With a Kage Bushin that technique would have succeeded. I suppose I can teach you that."
Genma pulled his kunai back and Neji stabbed the Kage Bushin in front of him. It disappeared with a burst of noise. Neji tucked his kunai back into his sleeve.
"You planned to attack me, planned for me to counter, and prepared further retaliations… you had transformed yourself into a senbon and came at me as a kage bushin… when did you realize I was up here?"
"Since Kakashi came."
"I see. Oh, and shishou…"
Genma felt a hand press into the small of his back. He turned his head cautiously and looked behind his back to see Neji standing behind him and in front of him at the same time. Both Neji's smiled. "You're too relaxed." The Neji behind him said. The Neji in front of him disappeared.
"Kage bushin, ka?" Genma asked.
Neji smiled in his cocksure manner. "Did you know that my eyes can discern between living and non-living material? When you came as a senbon transformation, I already saw your coil system."
"Looks like I won't have to teach you Kage bushin after all." Genma replied.
Neji retracted his hand from the warm spot on Genma's back. Genma took a step forward then turned in profile to watch the wind pull Neji's hair and clothing toward him, with the sunset behind his own back.
Hyuuga Neji was certainly beautiful, talented, smart, and powerful. He certainly had the potential to soar.
Genma flicked his senbon upwards. Neji furrowed his brow and Genma smirked, easing the boy out of his defensive position.
Genma promised absolutely to give Neji the best of what he's got.
…
"Ha! Hah! Guahann-ha! Ha! Ha!"
Neji's breaths came in short bursts. Every thrust of his shishou's powerful body made his slighter body move and react. He felt the sensation from his throat to the tips of his toes. It was only his years of training that kept his toes from curling against the sensation.
"Haa! Hah! Haa!" His pants were open mouth, sucking in tremendous breaths. Every nerve was on fire. His heart was beating wildly, his eyes remained locked on Genma, taking in every twitch of muscle and shuddering breath.
"Neji! Time!"
Neji's body leapt backwards, putting a greater distance between him and his trainer. He remembered his breathing and took massive inhales and controlled exhales.
"It took three actions and forty one seconds to acquire the target from me this time. Last time it took fourteen actions and thirty more seconds… last time you weren't trying hard enough." Genma observed.
Their training was the bell training, except that Genma, too, was acting with the intention to kill. Neji couldn't just pursue his objective, he had defend, attack, analyze and assess all at the same time: these things all had to come naturally to a Jounin in all situations.
"What did you do differently this time than last time?"
"Last time," Neji admitted, "I was thinking too hard. I was attempting to compute too many factors, many of them irrelevant to the situation."
"And?" Genma asked.
"And?" Neji asked.
"Last time you didn't use a single ninjutsu. I'm not the kind of enemy that can be defeated without a technique. If you were going to think, establish a diversion tactic. You have Kage Bushin, the main purpose of that jutsu is diversion and exploitation. You've increased your arsenals of jutsus, I taught you a genjutsu, you're a genius of technique combinations, prove it to me."
"Hai, shishou."
It had been three months since Neji had begun his candidacy. Of the four levels, he has already passed three. A Jounin candidacy usually lasted a year, encompassing missions, tests and training. If he continued to progress and demonstrate his abilities, he would be a Jounin within two months. Such a rate wasn't unheard of. Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, the Legendary Sannin, and the Yondaime had become Jounin in half the time Neji had already taken and at five years younger. Of course, these were exceptional cases and in truth, Neji didn't pale in comparison. Genma was a ruthlessly thorough master and Neji obeyed his commands every day and every minute.
At night, Neji thought of Genma-shishou over the heat of his fevered body, ignoring all arousal not stemming from his mind. He calculated, memorized, reduced, assessed, and interpreted every move, every glance, every cocky word of advice. In his mind, it all surmised to the same thing.
He would see soon it.
His visions at night focused on his master, who had become gradually and undeniably his most precious person. Genma had, too, become his most desired person. When Genma spoke, when Genma touched him, it was burned into every inch of him. Shinarui Genma smelled like apricots, sounded like sex and looked like freedom. Neji was impassioned by the first, fevered by the second, and greatly desired the third.
Neji took his breaths to gather his strength and saw Genma's eyes on him. When he looks at me… what does he think of me? He… in all this time hasn't smiled at me… but when he touches me… does he shiver, even a little, the way I do? His eyes linger on my face, my eyes, my lips…That day… that time when his skin touched mine… how did we control ourselves under such fire?
Fifteen wasn't too young, Neji had concluded after waking up in a heated sweat. His dreams, those impractical things he never used to have, had taken form. They were specific, they were hypnotic; they were the manifestation of his every physical desire. They were only Shinarui Genma.
He sweated at night. Thinking about the things Genma had done to his body in his dreams, the motions and desired he reciprocated, made his skin flush and his body tight with arousal. A fevered body was frustrating, but he couldn't satisfy himself and he knew there was only one who could satisfy him.
Neji took deep breaths and met the eyes of Shinarui Genma.
"Neji, in two days you'll attempt the final level."
"Hai, shishou."
Those two days came and two days past and Neji passed the level with respectable talent. His records were upgraded accordingly. He met for a short audience with the Godaime about his obligations and responsibilities as a Jounin, including preparing to take a genin team and excelling further into ANBU. Tsunade made it one hundred percent clear that the latter was within his potential and that she expected the absolute best from Neji. Neji understand perfectly his value to Konoha's shinobi strength, he too had heard rumors of his greatness. Genma-shishou often reprimanded him in pre-emptive warnings not to let it go to his head. He promised with his right eye, the one that looked to the future through talent, that he was remain level headed.
With his left eye, the one that looked to the day when he would open his cage, he promised to see Genma's smile and know his love.
Hyuuga Neji bowed respectfully to Konoha's Hokage and the Jounin, ANBU and Special Jounin who attended his surprisingly informal promotion ceremony. Gai-sensei was there, Shizune, Anko, and that Kakashi, as well as Iruka-sensei, whom was easily the most privileged Chuunin in Konoha, but of course, there was someone missing.
Neji wanted to laugh self-depreciatingly, but he didn't because it would be out of his style. He knew that the moment he took his eye off of Genma, his shishou would make his departure.
I will always be chasing him… until I catch him…
Kakashi saw Neji's cool smile, to no one else it looked out of the ordinary; Hyuuga Neji was known for his smirk, his talent, and his pretty hair, thus no one blinked an eye when he smiled, beat someone in a fight or looked particularly gorgeous. Standing next to Maito Gai, whom was lost in a waterfall of his own passionate tears, Kakashi was privileged to see, but not to act, on that slight hint of… something.
If Hyuuga Neji had pockets, he would have put his hands in them as he turned to leave the Hokage's office, surely she had work to do today beyond stroking his ego with the rest of Konoha. Neji didn't need to be petted… at least not by her.
Shirunai Genma lived in the same apartment complex as Uzumaki Naruto but on the second floor. The second floor corridor wasn't particularly well lit, in fact, it was down right dark. There was just enough light to highlight the metal senbon between Genma's teeth, highlighting where the Jounin candidate trainer was, not that Hyuuga Neji needed assistance to see.
Genma left his right hand on his keys but did not turn his wrist to unlock the door. He raised his head and turned his handsome face slightly to the right. He didn't turn enough to discern the features of the person behind him, he knew who it was and most likely why he was standing behind him. His head wasn't inclined to actually see the person behind him, just enough to read his shadow on the wall beside his door. Genma spat his senbon fiercely, the metal needle ricocheted swiftly off his door and repelled backwards at the man behind his back. The cool metal was caught solidly between the two fingers of Hyuuga Neji's right hand.
"Will I have to surpass you, to make you stop and see me?" Neji returned the senbon to his retainer. Genma took it and placed it back between his teeth. Neji couldn't help but note that Genma turned the metal so the part that entered his mouth was the place where Neji had touched.
Everyone has multiple speech patterns involving questioning: different for information acquisition and for curiosity. Genma doesn't have curiosity, so when he asks questions, they're always serious.
"Am I the plateau?"
Neji furrowed his brow. He didn't want to be honest, but he still told him the truth. "I haven't decided."
"At least you're honest. Neji, if you set your sights on me, you'll be disappointed." Genma responded. He turned the key in his lock at let the door open, but he made no move to enter. He knew that they weren't done yet, not by a long shot.
"I don't believe that. I've known disappointment more intimately than most people would guess… I know what that feels like… you… don't feel that way to me. It's the truth that I've spent most of my life confused and angry and I turned those feelings into talent, but for those last few years… since you said those words to me…"
"Neji," Genma cut into Neji's slow speech with words that were precise and certain. "You're fifteen."
"I know that." Neji responded.
Genma shook his head in the negative. "Nande?"
"Nani?" Neji asked in response.
"What do you want?"
Neji dropped his eyes and saw that the door to Genma's apartment was slowly slipping wider and wider to his view. Apparently you enter Genma's apartment through the kitchen. "Serve me a drink and I'll tell you everything." Neji responded.
"You're underage." Genma responded with a smirk as he blocked the door to allow passage for the newly appointed Jounin. Neji took the offered entrance, a cute, self-certain smirk across his beautiful mouth. He tossed his voice to the side at Genma as he turned his head to the right to look at the handsome older man.
"But not too young."
End of Part
AN: This is probably the last chapter I'm going to have either Lee or Gai talk. I really just can't write the way they speak. So if anyone on Team Gai is talking to Neji, it's gonna be Tenten.
I know at least someone thought Neji and Genma were having sex at the beginning of that last part. Hehe, be patient.