Complications
by Nilladriel
4: not quite a date
"What a bright, beautiful day!" Lee exclaimed, throwing his hands up like a prophet welcoming a god.
Ten-Ten looked dubiously at the sun, which was not so much bright as it was a vengeful, angry demon that was intent on cooking alive any poor mortals (like them) who were foolish enough to venture outside.
"Sure," she said, and Neji snorted.
Two hours later, the three ninja had stripped as much clothing as possible off while still remaining reasonably decent. Neji was down to his sandals and shorts. Lee had pulled his legwarmers off and tugged his awful suit down. Ten-Ten had pulled her shirt off an hour ago, declaring that if anyone was offended at her training in her bra, well, they could complain to the business ends of her many, many swords.
Now they waited with their backs against a tree, sweat like a shiny coating on their body. Even the tree radiated heat. So did the grass.
Ten-Ten slumped down to the ground. "Why," she said, "are we out here again?"
Neji looked up at the trees, looking for Lee. He did not bother to answer Ten-Ten. He was wondering why himself. It was good, yes, to ensure extreme conditions wouldn't affect their performance, and it was good to make sure their teamwork was as good as it had been back when they'd been genin, etc., but his brain didn't care about any of that. His brain was steadily and quickly being boiled. He could feel it.
"Oi!" someone called, and Neji jumped. Ten-Ten's reflexes had apparently been cooked by the sun, and she didn't jump. She just lay there for fifteen seconds, and then turned her head.
"Naruto?" she said, and glanced at Neji. Neji grit his teeth. Her look was far too sorry. "What are you doing here?"
Naruto was down to a net-shirt, and his glaringly orange pants threatened to fall off his hips. His hitai-ate was drenched with sweat.
With supreme effort, Neji dragged his gaze from Naruto's chest. Unfortunately, looking at his face wasn't any better. His nose was... twitching, for some reason. It was quite adorable.
After a few seconds, Neji decided to stare at the sky. It was much better than staring at Naruto.
... The sky made Neji think of Naruto's eyes, but he ignored that.
"Sasuke is a bastard," Naruto announced, thankfully dense enough to not notice Neji's odd actions, "and wanted to train. But! It's too hot, so we're going to a bar."
"We are?" Ten-Ten said. "Thank you! Come on, Neji! Lee! Where are you? Lee!? Oh, damn it, we're not waiting for him. Come on, you two!"
Neji pulled himself away from Ten-Ten's grip long enough to grab the sorry pile of their things, and then they went to a bar.
The one they'd chosen, a nameless establishment that thankfully had all its fans running at full power, was located on some corner in some street Neji was unfamiliar with. Then again, he was unfamiliar with most bars. His team preferred places that didn't serve alcohol. After all, there was always Rock Lee to consider.
A fair number of customers had, upon seeing Neji and Ten-Ten and Naruto's gleaming hitai-ate, walked out, probably because they knew how unpredictable ninja were and didn't like taking chances. The owner didn't much care, though; the three ordered enough ice-water to keep his purse happy.
Ten-Ten and Naruto talked. Neji concentrated on cooling down and tried not to look at Naruto too much, but then Naruto suddenly laughed—a loud, raucous laugh that threatened to shake him off his stool—and Neji, surprised, looked up.
Their gazes met and locked. Neji froze. Naruto's laughter quieted, became unsure, and then died.
The whole bar, sensing a Moment, became absolutely silent. Civilians glanced over—carefully, in case even that would incite the ninja's wrath and cause them to explode. Ten-Ten looked at Neji, and then at Naruto. She was smiling an amused smile.
As suddenly as it had started, the Moment ended. Neji blushed furiously and looked away. Naruto chuckled uneasily and turned back to Ten-Ten.
Unfortunately for them both, Ten-Ten abruptly stood up and said, "I really, really have to go to the bathroom," and fled. Neji was sure he saw her smiling as she went.
"So," Naruto said, after a moment.
Neji tilted his head back and drained the rest of his drink. "I," he murmured, "am going to kill her."
Naruto looked surprised. And then he laughed—again.
It was a laugh exactly similar to the one before, loud and free and obnoxious. Neji looked at him almost blankly, unable to help being pleased that he'd been the one to make Naruto laugh, although he didn't think he'd said anything that funny. Still, Naruto laughed, and Neji waited and didn't notice the smile twitching at his lips.
Unbeknownst to the two Leaf-nin, the civilians around them were exchanging knowing looks. Ah, the looks said, and Oh, and the knowing looks were accompanied by knowing nods.
"Geez," Naruto said. He'd stopped laughing, but there was laughter still in his voice. "You can be really scary sometimes."
"Really," Neji said. He decided to take it as a compliment. He was a ninja. It'd be a bit strange if those he were killing didn't find him scary.
"Yepp," Naruto said, and Neji suddenly realized that Naruto was completely at ease with him now. There'd been awkwardness earlier—the main reason he'd stayed out of Naruto and Ten-Ten's conversation, truthfully—and the Moment had been strange and wonderful and uncomfortable all at once, but now Naruto was just... Naruto. The Naruto he'd been before the kiss, before the two months of it.
Neji liked Naruto like this. He wanted Naruto to stay like this.
He stood up smoothly. "I'm hungry," he said. "Should we go get some ramen?"
"Uh, sure," Naruto said, obviously not willing to turn ramen down. "What about Ten-Ten?"
Neji gave Naruto a long look. After a moment, Naruto grinned. "Right," he said. "Ramen, sure. Let's go."
They went, of course, to Naruto's favorite stall—Ichiraku Ramen. It wasn't as cool as the previous bar had been, but that didn't matter, because it was cool enough in the shade. Neji had the pleasure of watching Naruto inhale five bowls of ramen.
"You gonna eat that?" Naruto asked, and pointed a chopstick at Neji's half-finished meal.
Neji looked down at the bowl. "No," he said finally. He didn't feel like eating anymore.
"I thought you said you were hungry," Naruto said, grabbed Neji's bowl, and began working on finishing it off.
No. I just said that to get you here, Neji thought but didn't say. "I was," Neji said, and shrugged.
"You talk even less than Sasuke," Naruto declared.
"Really," Neji said, and raised his head slightly. He wasn't sure if he should be insulted or not about being compared to Uchiha Sasuke. There were differences between them, dammit. Neji wasn't as much of a bastard, for one. And Sasuke had mental problems. And... and, well, Neji's eyes were cooler.
"Yeah," Naruto said. "Then again, he's either silent or yelling, so I guess that makes you more..." He paused. "Conversationable."
"Conversational," Neji corrected absently. "Thank you, I think."
"You're welcome," Naruto said. "See, you even say thank you!"
"Thank you," Neji said again, automatically. "Are you going to eat more?"
"Nah," Naruto said, and Neji breathed a sigh of relief. He'd begun seriously fearing for his wallet. "If the day weren't so damn hot, I'd ask if we could spar or something, but..."
Obviously now was the expected time for them to part.
Neji felt a flash of panic. No way in hell was he going to let his day with Naruto end so quickly. Should he invite Naruto to the dojo at the Hyuuga compound? No. They'd probably end up destroying it utterly; the dojo was meant for practitioners of the Gentle Fist, not property-damaging, whiskered ninja. "We could go to the... library," he suggested, as calmly as possible. "It's always cool there."
Naruto considered, stretching as he did so. Neji's gaze slid like liquid water from Naruto's eyes and down to his chest, which was only covered by his net-shirt, and—
"Why not?" Naruto said, thankfully not noticing, and Neji was doubly relieved.
After the library they went to the Hyuuga compound so Neji could shower and change, and then of course Naruto demanded a shower too and they had to walk all the way to his apartment, and then they had a drink with Ten-Ten (who looked unnecessarily smug) and Hinata (who looked worried and pleased) and Sakura (who looked slightly nervous) and Ino (who just leered). After escaping the Rookie 9 girls, they had dinner, and after that they met with the rest of Rookie 9 at their (and every other Leaf-nin's) favorite bar, and that was where the trouble started.
"Whoa," Ino said, "what are you doing here?"
Neji looked down at his sake. He looked up at Ino, and then looked down again at his drink. When his gaze slid back up to her, it was amused and slightly disbelieving.
"Yeah, yeah," Ino said. "I get it. Drinking. Right. What else do people do at bars?" She slid into the seat next to him and promptly leered. Neji, used to this, ignored her.
"So where's your boyfriend?" she asked, and kept on leering.
Neji did not bother pointing out that he and Naruto weren't dating, and that they weren't boyfriends, and that the only way he would get noticed by Naruto was by growing boobs, although then he'd probably be getting the wrong kind of attention.
He gestured instead to the other corner of the bar, where Naruto and Kiba were having an impromptu yelling and drinking contest. Akamaru was being fed something by Chouji.
"Oh," Ino said, "not again. So how has your day been?" She grinned at him. The grin was brighter than the sun and warm enough to bake pancakes. Neji wasn't fooled a bit. "I see you were out on a date."
She knew it hadn't been a date, so Neji said nothing. He kept an eye on Lee, (and what was Lee doing in a bar, anyway?) in case the fool accidentally drank sake again.
"Geez," Ino said. "You're impossible."
Good, Neji thought.
"So..." she said after a while, apparently not giving up, "is it true? You're in love with...?"
Neji was beginning to get irritated, but he didn't let it show. He just took a sip of sake and settled gleefully onto the task of ignoring Ino.
"You are, aren't you," Ino crowed delightedly. "I can't believe it! Hyuuga Neji in love with Naruto!"
Neji slid his eyes carefully over to Naruto. The blond ninja wasn't listening. Thus reassured, he went back to saying nothing at all.
"Too bad you have competition," Ino went on. She was used to Shikamaru's annoyed silences, probably. Or maybe she just liked the sound of her own voice as much as she liked looking at herself in the mirror. "The Ice Bastard—the other one, I mean—seems to have taken a liking to Naruto, too, you know."
What?
Neji's fingers twitched. It was a sign that would have been missed by anyone else, but unfortunately Ino was a ninja who specialized in people. She started laughing—gracefully, Neji noted, unlike Naruto's wild laugh. "You didn't know?" she gasped. "I would have thought it'd been obvious!"
Well, no. Neji was good at reading people, but only during battle, because he'd learned long ago that baiting was extremely useful in getting people angry, as angry people made mistakes. He wasn't like Ino, who watched people like a gossip-hungry hawk. And he definitely didn't watch Sasuke as much as Sakura did, and Ino was Sakura's best friend, and...
Oh, shit. But Neji didn't have a chance anyway, so it didn't matter. (Hadn't Naruto said earlier that Neji was nicer than Sasuke?) So even if the Ice Bast—even if Sasuke was in love with Naruto, nothing changed. (No, no, he'd said that he guessed Neji was more conversational. Was that the same thing?) Absolutely nothing changed. It didn't matter. It didn't.
"Uh, Neji," Ino said, sounding a little concerned, "what did that poor jug ever do to you?"
Neji looked down, startled. He relaxed his fingers one by one and let go, but the damage had already been done; the jug had cracked, and sake was leaking out and onto the countertop.
Shit, Neji thought.
"Wow," Ino said, sounding slightly awed. "You... uh. I feel kind of bad now. I didn't think you were..."
Neji sat and glared at the wall and worked at getting himself under control.
"Neji," Ino said, and Neji was too pissed off to notice how soft and gentle her voice was, "just so you know, I was kidding, okay? I didn't mean what I said about Sasuke. I didn't think you were really in love with him."
Neji didn't hear; if he did, he didn't care. He just took a large gulp of sake, or at least the sake that hadn't spilled out, and was thankful when his nerves stopped burning and the urge to glare holes into the wall went away.
Looking guilty, Ino escaped. Good. Neji nursed his sake, quite content to be sulking (again) alone, and of course that meant that someone else decided to drop by and nag at him.
"What's up? You look pissed," Ten-Ten said cheerfully.
"Really," Neji said. The bartender came by and, looking completely unperturbed about the ruined jug, switched it with a fresh one. Neji slid a coin over the counter to him in return.
"You're drinking more than usual," Ten-Ten commented. She ordered water, and then looked at Neji again. "Actually, you normally don't come here at all."
"I don't," Neji agreed. He didn't think he could handle replies more than two syllables long.
"Naruto dragged you here, didn't he."
"Yes," Neji said.
Seeing his expression, Ten-Ten wisely changed the subject. "I think Lee's deliberately trying to get drunk," she half-complained. "No one can mistake sake for water that much."
"He's Lee," Neji pointed out.
Ten-Ten snorted. "I guess. But—hey, whoa, look who's here! Sa-ku-ra!"
Neji felt immensely relieved when Sakura came over, and temporarily forgot about his plans to murder her. Sakura and Ten-Ten could talk, and that would mean he would be left alone, which was good. He looked at Kiba and Naruto's corner, or at least he looked at the tips of their spiky hair; a cheering crowd had gathered around them, and he could barely see them.
Neji pitied Kiba. Naruto could hold his drink. He never seemed to get drunk, or even slightly inebriated. Even now he could see that Kiba, or at least Kiba's hair, was swaying, and Naruto was just bouncing up and down from excitement.
Thankfully, Ten-Ten and Sakura were busy conversing, and didn't seem interested in bugging him about Naruto. So after a few minutes Neji stood up, walked over to Lee, and grabbed his rival's arm firmly.
"Hey!" Lee protested. Neji gave him a cool enough look.
"It's not safe in here," he said.
"I can take care of myself," Lee said, looking vaguely puzzled.
"I wasn't talking about you," Neji said, annoyed, and bodily dragged his rival out.
They walked, heading in the direction of Lee's apartment. Lee was cheerful enough, and they talked for a bit, about jutsu and missions, and Neji had his first conversation in a while that didn't have to do with Naruto.
Finally their words faded away, and then came a comfortable, familiar silence. Neji stared up at the stars, and at the moon, and was suddenly, abruptly reminded of the night of the kiss. He didn't just remember it—for a fleeting, brief moment, it was happening again, and his lips were pressing against Naruto's skin, which had been surprisingly smooth, and his chest was brushing against Naruto's shoulder, and his fingers were touching Naruto's fingers, and—
"Neji?" Lee said. "Are you alright?"
Neji jerked himself out of his memories. He'd stopped walking, and Lee was a few feet ahead, half-turned and worried.
"No," he said, a dry smile twisting his lips. Lee, thankfully, Did Not Ask.
They reached Lee's apartment, and Neji was invited in, but he declined. He wished to go home. He wanted to think. Think, not sulk.
He wanted, he realized, blushing, to remember the kiss. The kiss that had not quite been a kiss.
He waited until his face wasn't completely red, and then set off again. He studiously avoided looking at the moon, although then he found he couldn't quite look at the lamplight, either, or the few lights that shone in peoples' homes. And he had to avoid spotting the color orange or blue or yellow, and Neji suddenly found that life was difficult. Sigh.
He paused suddenly. He could see a familiar shape in the not-quite-distance. It stood just at the corner of the block, and it was... it was...
Naruto's apartment. He'd been there just once, for some sort of party.
Neji stared. And then, overtaken by a sudden wave of frustration, he turned around—
"Sasuke," he said, startled, and Sasuke looked coolly back at him.
"Neji," he said in greeting.
His dark eyes bore into Neji's, and Neji felt a chill. Ever since his return, Sasuke had been—different. And at night he seemed completely at home. His silk-black hair faded into the black around them, and his skin, which was either beautifully pale or horribly sunburned, seemed to glow. He was wearing his usual loose shirt and shorts, and looked sweaty and dirty. He'd obviously been training.
After a long moment, Neji walked by Sasuke. Or he would have, if Sasuke's hand hadn't snaked out and grabbed Neji's wrist.
Neji froze. Ally, he reminded himself. Sasuke. Is. An. Ally.
His body didn't listen. It was tense, and ready to kill.
Sasuke looked amused. He let go. "So is it true?" he asked.
Neji looked at him blankly. And then realization dawned.
Oh, no, he thought. Not him, too.
Sasuke waited. Neji realized that Sasuke wasn't Ino, and couldn't read every slight clue that people gave away. "Why," he said, "do you care?"
Sasuke rolled his shoulders and head. He moved like oil, slick and unnaturally smooth. It was rather disturbing to watch. "I'm curious," he finally said.
"Really."
"Yes." Sasuke rolled a shoulder again. "You do know he doesn't belong to you, right?"
"He doesn't belong to you, either," Neji said coldly.
Sasuke looked at him with the expression of a teacher humoring a student. "Of course," he said. "I'm not surprised," he said suddenly. "Naruto's an easy guy to fall in love with."
Neji remembered what Ino had said. Had she really been joking?
"Gaara, Hinata, and now... you." Sasuke's eyes glittered.
"And you?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sasuke's lips curved up. Somehow, it didn't look like a smile. "No," he corrected, almost gently.
Neji was relieved. Almost. Until he remembered the bit where Naruto preferred breasts, and the relief fled.
"I just wanted to warn you," Sasuke said. He stepped closer—far too close. "If you ever hurt Naruto again... I'll kill you."
Neji bristled. As if he would ever hurt Naruto on purpose!
And then his mind backed up. Again?
Sasuke read the expression that flashed across Neji's face easily enough, probably because he was close enough to kiss. "You've been treating him like shit for the last two months," he said, and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you notice? Maybe I should kill you after all."
Neji glared.
Sasuke stepped back, carefully wearing an expression of boredom, which wasn't good, because Sasuke looked bored even when killing people. Bored and slightly insane.
Before, Neji thought, horrified, he would have taunted. But he's different now. Orochimaru's changed him.
Still speaking in that smooth voice, where consonants rolled together gracefully, Sasuke said, "I don't know why, but Naruto considers you a close friend. But you hurt him, and you're a friend, so it hurts more. I don't know what happened between you two that night, but since then you've been ignoring and avoiding him." He added, as if it mattered: "I don't like it."
Feeling vaguely as if he were a chastened student who had an obligation to offer up an explanation, Neji said, "I tried to kiss him."
He liked the expression on Sasuke's face then. It was a nice combination of what the fuck!? and bewilderment.
"Well," Sasuke said, smiling, smiling an actual smile. In fact, he looked like he was about to laugh. "That explains a lot."
"Does it," Neji said dryly.
"Maybe I won't kill you after all," Sasuke said.
"As if you could," Neji said.
Sasuke smiled, and he was back to smiling that not-smile. "Try me, Hyuuga," he said.
"Maybe I will someday, Uchiha," Neji returned.
Machismo done, Sasuke smirked and turned and left, which obviously meant the... discussion... confrontation... thing was over.
Neji stared after him, bemused.
He swung back around, fully intending to head back home, but of course life, having decided it wanted to be difficult, made him bump into more people. Thankfully, these people weren't insane (mostly), and their minds hadn't been twisted by Orochimaru or cursed seals or vengeance, and they didn't make his fingers itch for the kunai in his waist-pouch.
That didn't mean he would have wanted to bump into them.
Neji almost sighed. "Naruto, Kiba," he greeted, thoroughly unsurprised.
"Hey, Neji!" Naruto said cheerfully. He didn't seem drunk.
Kiba, who'd zoomed past drunk, waved goodbye at wasted, and was thoroughly in the territory of completely smashed, gave Neji an almost accusing look. "Neji! It's you," he declared.
"Thank you," Neji said, "I know my name."
Akamaru, who looked mortified, was somehow managing to hide behind Kiba, although his size reminded Neji of baby elephants. He was nudging his master's legs with his nose and making reproachful noises in his throat.
"I'm taking him home. Sakura's making me," Naruto explained. "Want to come?"
Neji didn't, but he went anyway; besides, he knew an alternate route home from Kiba's family compound, and he figured he could steal more time with Naruto. It was easy enough to ignore Kiba, who was doing a spectacular job of being a drunken idiot. It wasn't much of a change from his normal idiocy, at least.
Akamaru supported Kiba well enough, so Naruto and Neji were free to talk. Or they would have been free to talk, except neither of them were actually talking. Neji didn't mind.
Naruto walked with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. He had an almost-pout on his face. It was an odd expression to see on an adult. Somewhere along the way he'd pulled his hitai-ate down, so that it wove around his neck, not his head, and his messy blond hair fell into his eyes. It made him look younger. And it was... cute. Not that Neji would ever use the word out loud. But it fit Naruto, who pulled off "cute" quite easily.
Not that Neji would ever say that out loud, either.
You're staring, a little voice piped up helpfully.
Is he always this pensive at night? said a louder voice, which recognized that Neji couldn't have stopped staring even if he wanted to.
"You smell funny," Kiba said suddenly.
Naruto turned his head. "Oi, Kiba," he said. "You better not be saying I smell funny."
The words sounded automatic—more habit than anything else. The funny, thoughtful expression on his face wasn't quite gone. It would, Neji realized, probably take a bit of a shock to pull Naruto out of his mood. A shock like a kiss.
Neji firmly stopped that train of thought.
"What if I am?" Kiba challenged, and stood up straighter. Unfortunately, that meant he had to stop leaning on Akamaru, which meant he stumbled, and then he was just lying on the ground and laughing himself.
"If you are," Naruto said, looking down at Kiba, "I'll—"
"We're here," Neji cut in neatly.
"Oh, finally," Naruto said. He pulled Kiba up, and then ruffled up the fur on Akamaru's head. "You make sure he gets in alright," he said, and then looked up at Neji. "Hmmm... hey! Why don't you stop at my apartment for a bit?"
Neji stared at Naruto, at first uncomprehending. And then he nodded, slowly, because he was starting to get the feeling that Naruto didn't really want to stop spending time with Neji, either. Not today, at least.
I don't know what happened between you two that night, but since then you've been ignoring and avoiding him.
That mental voice sounded far too much like one Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto's apartment was of a reasonable size—just enough space for one person. It was also surprisingly neat, but that was something Neji remembered from last time.
The kitchen didn't have much in it. There were plants, and mismatched-magnets and notes stuck onto the fridge. On the windowsill was a recent picture of Team 7. Naruto gave it a brief smile, and then pulled the fridge open.
"I've got milk," he said. "Want some?"
"Water will be fine," Neji murmured. Naruto nodded and proceeded to make more noise than should be possible while fetching a glass of milk and a glass of water.
Neji looked out the window. There wasn't much to see. The village was sleeping, and he could see only the occasional light. Far off, beyond the walls, he saw a brief flash of—something. An explosion, probably. Maybe some ninja were training.
Neji's gaze went from the flashes to the window—or, more specifically, the reflections in the window. Naruto was standing, two glasses in his hands, and he was looking at Neji. That look was on his face again—that reflective, thoughtful, pensive one.
Their eyes met through the reflection.
There was something about Naruto's gaze—about his expression—that was hypnotic. Neji let himself stare. Naruto was doing it too, anyway, except that Naruto's cheeks weren't slowly heating, and his heart probably wasn't beating a trifle bit too fast.
"What is it?" Neji asked, striving for his usual calm tone. Instead, he sounded flustered.
"Nothing," Naruto said quickly, and grinned uncomfortably. "Uh—here's your water."
From somewhere—the living room, probably—a clock chimed softly. It was midnight, then.
Neji reached forward. He wrapped bandaged fingers around Naruto's, and saw the way Naruto's eyes widened, and the way his shoulders stiffened, but he paid that no mind for now. Naruto's skin felt warm, even through the bandages, and it felt as if tiny electrical sparks were dancing on and under his skin.
He stepped forward, closer and closer, until they were just two hand-widths apart. Naruto was impossibly tense, and clearly uneasy and discomfited, but for a moment Neji didn't care at all.
The moment passed.
Neji almost said something (something he probably would have regretted later) but stepped back and grasped the glass of water instead, and sat back down. He took a sip, as if he hadn't just—
Hadn't just—
What exactly had he just done, anyway?
Naruto's expression was amusing, at least. He was still gawping slightly at Neji.
"Um," he managed. "Uh."
Neji, delighted at the way he was back to himself—mostly, anyway—raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to drink?" he asked. "Or is that milk decoration?"
Obediently, Naruto slid down into his seat. He stared down at his drink, looking bewildered.
And then the bewilderment slipped away from his face, only to be replaced with determination. Neji's heart sank. He knew what was coming. You know I don't feel that way. And probably a We're just friends. Or maybe even a Whatever the fuck you just did, don't do it again.
"Neji," Naruto began, "you... you know I just think of you as a friend, right?"
Neji's stopped sinking and started plummeting.
"I just..." Naruto ran a hand through his hair, which did not help, because whenever he did that he went from cute to sexy. "I just—"
"I know," Neji said. He stared down at his drink. "I..."
I just can't help myself, you stupid idiot.
Can't you see that?
"I don't want things to get all funny with us again," Naruto said, sounding a little miserable, although not nearly as miserable as Neji felt.
Damn, damn, damn!
"Neither do I," Neji said. "Maybe I should leave." He stood up.
Naruto jumped up. "Hey, wait!" he yelped. "I thought you just said that you didn't want things to be funny—!"
"I don't," Neji said, "alright? I don't. I don't want to lose you because of my..." He stopped, shook his head slightly. "If I stay here," he continued smoothly, "I am going to do something stupid." Like slam you against the wall and kiss you. "So I am going to leave."
"But—"
"I'll be better tomorrow," Neji said, as if he were talking about a disease. "But right now I—"
Words had never been his strong point. He had a sudden urge to grab Naruto by the arms and shake him violently.
"I can't stay right now," he said instead. "I don't want to do—to do anything stupid. So I am going to leave." This was sound enough logic, so he nodded to himself. "Things will be fine between us, I promise. They won't be... funny. We're still—still friends."
Neji couldn't say anything else, because Naruto looked angry and abandoned and lost all at once, so he did something he'd never have done on the battlefield.
He fled.