"It's been a year, hasn't it?"
They were in the gardens at the Hyuuga compound, enjoying the cool morning air. It would get hot later, but for now it was pleasant, and in a bout of wanting to enjoy the sunshine for once out of the month they had wandered outside. Itachi had been hanging back, watching Neji and only half admiring the late-blooming flowers, and now he looked over, thinking back.
"A little more, actually," he replied slowly. Has it really been that long?
Neji was looking back at him, white eyes steady and calm. Itachi now knew that those eyes could absorb the colors around them and sparkle like opals, or reflect them and stay the pure color of white foam on a wave. He'd seen them narrowed in anger and concentration, glazed over with lust, and dazed with exhaustion. But there were still parts of the Hyuuga that Itachi hadn't seen.
"I never thought…" Neji paused, absently touching the petals of a lily.
"…that we could stand each other this long?" Itachi finished, looking at him quizzically.
"The saying is that opposites attract. We are hardly opposite each other."
"Who says that only opposites attract?"
Neji shook his head, amused. "I never thought I would end up discussing relationships with Uchiha Itachi in a garden in the Hyuuga compound." They were silent for a while after that, taking a seat near the little reflecting pool and watching the fish dart around between the water plants.
"Neji?"
Settled comfortably against Itachi's side, Neji looked up at him, and Itachi knew the answer without asking the question, and began to think that maybe, just maybe, all the bullshit he got from his family was at least bearable. Looking back at the fish, he smiled slowly.
"So, what do you want to do on Friday?"
--Fin--