Title: Sleeping In
Author: Rikugou
Pairing: Neji+Naruto
Fandom: Naruto
Theme: 19 - perfect blue
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.

Notes: XD;; Hi. It's been awhile.

---

"Let me stay over?" Naruto pleaded, bodily blocking the exit to the Tower.

"No," Neji said firmly, half-contemplating the repercussions of shoving the other ninja aside and leaving.

Naruto generally took off for his apartment or the training grounds after they gave their reports. However, considering how difficult their latest job was, it wasn't surprising that the blonde deviated from his usual habits.

"Please?" Blue eyes sparkled suspiciously with a sheen of tears.

Neji restrained the urge to snort at the ridiculous expression. "No."

"You realize that the sooner you give in, the sooner you can go home, right?" There was a definite whiny tone creeping into Naruto's voice. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, "I'll tell Tenten what really happened when she got really smashed last time and tried to shove her to--"

The dark haired jounin immediately lunged to cover Naruto's mouth with a hand, looking semi-frantically down the empty hall as if his former team mate would appear out of no where. The blond grinned wickedly, sensing the end of the argument. Sighing, Neji just gave in. Even drained and possibly aching in twenty million places, Naruto still had enough energy to be annoying as hell and he was just not in the mood to deal with it. Releasing him, Neji trudged towards his apartment.

Thus, when Neji went home, Naruto went with him. It was all he could do to put one foot in front of the other so he wasn't sure he could muster up the willpower to complain. Even having 2 close encounters with immovable objects (i.e.: a lamp post and a wall) and his forehead didn't make him do anything more than grumble sleepily.

Neji was just thankful no one, besides his blond tagalong, witnessed his disastrous attempt at opening his apartment door. Toeing off his shoes at the entrance, he continued his tired trek towards blissful oblivion. Upon reaching his room, the Byakugan user managed to gather just enough energy to peel off his uniform and drag on a pair of clean pj bottoms before collapsing into bed. What he hadn't counted on was Naruto climbing into bed with him.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" he muttered, voice slightly muffled by the pillow his face was mashed into.

"Sleeping," the blonde yawned.

"Guest room is down the hall," Neji grumbled as he attempted to shove the other out of his bed without much success.

"Too far," was the last response he received because in the next moment, Naruto was out like a light. And no matter how much Neji pushed, he refused to budge from underneath the blankets.

It wasn't like it was the first time he slept next to Naruto. Cold nights with no fire while deep within enemy territory generally had them curled up like puppies for warmth. Of course, they had never shared a bed when they were off duty, but at the moment, he really was too tired to care about propriety. The last of his waning strength depleted, Neji just settled into a more comfortable position, gave into the inevitable and went to sleep.

---

When he awoke, it was at well past noon--expected because he had been running on close to no sleep for 3 days, with Naruto clinging to his waist like a limpet. His mind took a few moments to kickstart itself as he sorted out his groggy thoughts. As he shook away the last vestiges of sleep, Neji remained still in the octopus like grasp of his bed partner. It wasn't exactly uncommon to find Naruto stuck to you like a burr if you slept side by side the night before.

What was uncommon was the fact that Neji had been awake for the past 5 minutes and the other teen was still asleep.

Irritated by the dead weight curled against his side, he finally reached over and roughly shook a pajama clad (were those his?) shoulder. "Oi, Naruto!"

The blonde merely mumbled something indistinct under his breath and threw a leg over his, further trapping him in Naruto's grasp. Failing to wake Naruto up, Neji attempted to pry the arms away from his body enough so that he could escape.

When the arms unexpectedly tightend around his waist before he could slip away, Neji slumped back against the headboard. He resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be stuck in bed until the unconscious lump called Naruto decided to wake up. Stretching away the kinks left by sleep, Neji tried to make himself comfortable against the headboard and prepared himself to wait out the afternoon.

Really, the things he did for a certain blond ninja were starting to get ridiculous.

---

Unseen, Naruto peered up at the preoccupied ninja before grinning and settling in for a well-deserved lie-in.

-end-

Finished: 12.31.05
Edited: 01.01.06