The morning was sweet when he stirred next to TenTen. They lay naked next to each other, the sheets loosely crumpled around their bodies, TenTen was facing away from him and using one of his arm as a pillow. Her back was exposed, showing the gentle curve of her spine rising and falling with each breath of her deep slumber, and Neji's fingers found themselves tracing softly over the patterns of the bones. For days he'd been lost in a limbo between his past and a difficult present, but today for the first time he could have a glimpse at the future. Waking up next to TenTen like this, every morning. It was something new, something to look forward to. For the first time it felt like this world was finally giving something back to Neji.
TenTen turned around to lay on her back, she rubbed her eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to get accustomed to the morning light. "Sorry," Neji murmured retracting his wandering hand, "I didn't mean to wake you."
She shook her head in response and smiled. "Mmm," she closed her eyes again, looking thoughtful for a moment but then she bared her teeth and chuckled, "I still don't know if this is just dream or not."
Neji swung his free arm around her waist to pull her nearer, unhappy until he cradled her in his arm like a newborn baby. TenTen looked up to meet his eyes, they were half closed – his fingers wove their way among the brown locks of hair fallen over her shoulder. TenTen's lips parted by surprise. Neji's face was a breath away, he sighed a breathy groan, "I shall clarify that for you then."
Metal never intend to spy, but he'd woken up early that morning to go fishing with Uncle Lee and he just happened to pass by his mom's room when he heard some rustling. Metal approached the open sliver in the door cautiously. Inside he saw Neji, he was carrying a pile of books in his hands that reached up to his chin and he seemed intent on placing them on a spot on the desk that was tremendously precarious. The rustling continued, Mom was flipping through the covers of the bed to search for books that might have fallen underneath. "Neji are you sure you want to go through with this?" She asked, her voice seemingly worried. Metal stepped away from the sliver and stood with his back against the wall, hidden from view.
"Yes, this -" Neji touched the mark on his forehead "- is something I got because of my father, and it ruined me. I don't want it to be the same with Metal."
"Neji, you're going to give up your family name. You'll lose every right to chance your clan for the better, you'll lose your powers!" Mom had walked up to Neji, she was holding the collar of his kimono to make him look her in the eyes, "What about your career? Your dreams?"
Neji's arms came around her, his head bent until it rested against hers, "This is already a dream."
Neji felt the urge to stretch his legs but refrained from moving from his crouched position behind the bushes. There was no need to activate the byakugan, he could see Lee and Metal perfectly from the spot where he was hidden. Still, he preferred to be hyper-attentive. Metal and Lee sat by the river talking quietly, their words reached him in the form of soft murmurs. Their fishing equipment was all set, now all they had to do was wait. Neji looked at Lee, then at Metal, from behind they were almost identical twins, height the only detail really telling them apart. Lee stood and excused himself, walking away. Neji's gaze returned to studying Metal. His son. TenTen and him made it together. This was the boy he was giving up every privilege for, Neji supposed part of him was standing here, studying Metal, to decide whether it was really worth going through all that trouble. Suddenly Neji was reminded of the day Metal and fallen into his arms and they had both tumbled on the ground, the image replayed before his eyes several times, bringing back that weird fuzzy feeling he'd felt in his stomach. He was suddenly keenly aware of how small Metal was compared to him, he wasn't a baby anymore but Neji could probably still cradle him and lift him with ease. He'd never held a baby, not even when he babysitted Hanabi, Neji wondered how it would feel.
There was a hand on his shoulder and Neji turned at once, one arm out to parry from instinct. "Lee," he breathed. Lee had found him. Was Metal also aware then? Did he give away his presence somehow –
"Hello," Lee responded with a smile. Neji lowered his guard and stood, he searched for something to say but the words evaded him, so he remained there in silence. Lee nodded towards the trees, where Metal still sat apparently oblivious, "Go on, I'll leave him to you. You can return by fishing equipment tomorrow."
Neji turned around to look at Metal's back, he sighed, shoulders sagging, "Lee, I'm not sure -"
But Lee just gave him a little push on the back, "Go on," he murmured, and Neji heard the rustling of leaves, Lee getting further and further away.
Neji fisted his hands by his side and found the courage to step out of the bushes. He did not take care to be stealthy and Metal immediately jumped when he heard Neji approaching. The kid turned around, and upon seeing Neji he half stepped away, ready to jump on a tree and back home. Neji held out a hand, "Wait! Uncle Lee went home and I wanted to talk to you."
Metal took a stance and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at Neji right in the eyes. And then Neji finally saw it. The haircut disguised most of it, but if he pictured Metal with longer hair – he did have TenTen's laughing eyes and certainly some of her attitude too – but the rest, the rest was Neji's. The slope of his nose, the edge of his jaw, hell, even the way he stood. If only Metal's eyes were white Neji would be staring into a mirror of himself at that age. This was what Sasuke had seen, and for a moment Neji marveled amused at how ridiculously, no one else ever suspected that this kid was even loosely related to him, how they were all tricked by the disguise that TenTen and Lee put up at the cost of their reputation. One mission, one haircut, it was all it took – but man! Neji wondered how he could have been so stupid to believe this charade even for a minute, this kid was his son.
"So?" Metal prompted, tapping a foot on the ground.
Neji realized he'd been staring for too long, he cleared his voice, "I wanted to apologize for the way I talked to you, I just wanted to help out. I mean, I'm your father and I still think you should listen to me but I wasn't trying to boss you around, I was mostly frustrated at myself," Neji shook his head and took a seat in the spot that Lee left empty, "When I came back from the dead, you were there with TenTen. She brought you up all by herself and did a great job if you ask me. I guess I felt a little jealous that she fared so well even without me, a bit unneeded. I wish I hadn't been dead, I wish I had been there to see you born, to see you grow into the young man you've become. But now that I'm back perhaps I can help, I can catch up -" Neji pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, then released it, his eyes found Metal's face, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm your father and I'll always be here for you, even if you hate me."
Metal seemed to ponder on his words for a moment, he walked towards Neji, sitting beside him by the riverbank. "I don't hate you. I was just angry, not at you, angry in general. I don't think you should have stayed dead, rather I wish you'd been alive this whole time…dad." The word felt foreign to Neji's ears, his stomach flipped, he felt scared and happy at the same time. "I thought I was jealous because you were taking Mom away from me," Metal went on, "But I see now that I was jealous because she was getting all of your attention, deep down I wanted some of it too."
Neji awkwardly raise an arm and brought it around Metal's shoulders, touching them lightly at first, then, seeing how he didn't refuse it, Neji hugged him more firmly. "I'll give you all the attention you require from now on, I promise. I'll take proper care of you," he eyed the equipment laying around, "And I'll teach you how to fish if that's what you want."
"Yeah," Metal sank deeper in Neji's embrace, "But dad, can you also teach me how to hit on girls? And please, tell me how babies are born, mom says I'm too young but I feel I'm the only one my age that still doesn't know."
Neji flipped his head backward and laughed, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd laughed but the sound was a wave of healing chakra being poured into his veins, "All right, all right. Ah – I must teach you about the byakugan too."
Metal raised a suspicious eyebrow, "I don't have it."
"Not in the conventional way, but you do have some power. You can see really far, can't you?" Metal gazed around, as if to test Neji's statement. "That day, just before school ended," Neji said with a careful voice, "You were looking out of the window, you were looking at you mom, right? When I looked with my byakugan she was standing outside the house."
Metal's lips popped open with the sudden realization. Neji met his eyes and smirked, "Just figured out which side of the family your good sight came from?"
Metal smiled, his small hand crawled his way into Neji's larger one, Neji gave it a squeeze. Metal took a glance at the sky, there was still plenty of light, still many hours before the sunset. But it felt like the day was nearing an end, and new one was just around the corner about to begin. Metal stood on his feet and Neji followed him, still holding onto his hand. "Let's go home, dad."
