Recurring Nightmares
"Why are you so worked up about it?"
"Because it's stupid! I can't believe you let him see you. You're lucky he didn't freak out and attack you."
"Hn. He wouldn't. And besides, he's never been easy to fool. He would have figured out sooner or later. I did you a favor."
"You purposely let him find out!?"
"Did I not make it clear enough for you?"
"GOD you're so... ugh I can't even think of the word."
"Hn. Join the club. I hear they have 'Sasuke's a tool' shirts now."
Neji stopped his ranting to lift his head from the cradle of his hands. He stared at the Uchiha sitting at the bar across the island with perfect brows creased. "I don't think you're a tool." He said softly, "I just wish you weren't so headstrong. Shikamaru is my ex. I'll make the decisions that involve him."
"Suit yourself." Sasuke said with a sigh.
"And don't give me so much attitude!" Neji snapped, receiving an eyeroll in response.
"I don't have attitude. It's just how I talk, you diva. Get used to it."
The younger brother slid from the barstool and trudged over to the couch in the connecting living area, sitting on the armrest sideways and falling so his back rested on the seat cushions.
Neji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Good Lord what the hell had he been thinking, getting involved with Sasuke of all people. Shikamaru must think he's such a hypocritical bastard after the fuss the brunette had made about him and the Psycho. Sasuke had tried to kill him... well accordig to Shiks he'd only been hired to make him believe he was going to kill him.. but the concept didn't change. The younger Sharingan user had beaten him within an inch of his life, and now they were relaxing at his apartment like the awkward couple they were.
At least... he thought they were. There hadn't been an official declaration, But Sasuke was here at every second he could get away from his elder sibling, it seemed... So he would go ahead and assume.
"You want anything to drink?"
"Got any KD?"
"Uh, no. For the hundredth time I don't drink liquor. If you want it you have to bring it yourself."
"Hn. Pretty sure I spotted a winebox in your pantry."
"That's not liquor and you can't have any."
"It's too girly for me anyway."
"It's classy dammit! I know a lot of men that preffered whine over whiskey!"
"Yeah and they all wish they were women."
Neji opened his mouth to continue argueing, but immediatly slapped it shut and took a deep breath through his nose and out his mouth.
God, what was he thinking?
Just cause a pair of dark eyes look his way he's suddenly swooning? So what if he'd more or less had a small crush on the Uchiha in highschool? He was an adult, it was too late to fufill teenage fantasies. Even if it was exciting to find out Sasuke wasn't perfectly straight like he'd assumed back when there was constantly a posse of drooling girls around him... that didn't mean he needed to put up with the brooding asshole's bullshit.
The guy had emotional problems, that's okay, everyone did. But being rude to others didn't solve anything. In fact it made it worse. He drove everyone away so he didn't have to face his issues..
And maybe that's what attracted the Hyuga? Sasuke was a project... Like those girls that brought home deadbeats thinking they could change them into better people.
...That was a terrible way to look at it..
He would just stick with the old 'Opposites attract' theory.
Yeah, that was much more satisfactory.
"Why can't you relax without being drunk?" He asked softly, surrendering to the dark-haired hunk of a man and pulling two wineglasses from the cabinet over the sink.
"Why can't you just relax and get drunk?"
"Don't answer a question with a question."
"Yes mommy."
"Ugh.. fine. Here, Go get your precious alchohol."
Sasuke gave a sarcastic smile and hopped off the couch, slippig past the island to grab both glasses and making a beeline to the pantry.
"Maybe you should just accept me." He said, pulling out the entire box and returning to the couch. He set everything on the coffee table and glanced back up at Neji expectantly. The brunette rolled his eyes and stalked into the living area to seat himself awkwardly beside his... whatever Sasuke was to him right now.
Sasuke gracefully opened the container and filled both glasses in one fluid motion, and grabbed his before leaning backward to make himself comfortable. Neji hesitantly grabbed his, staring at the nearly translucent liquid while he swirled it around. It was 2 in the afternoon... was he seriously going to give in to peer pressure again? Just because the peering came from gorgeous ebony eyes?
"You and everyone else..." He muttered, clinking his glass against Neji's and downing the entire thing.
Neji took a small sip and looked up to the youngest Uchiha in interest. "What makes you think I don't accept you?"
Sasuke poured another glass and shrugged, swirling it. "No one does. No one ever has. 'Tachi comes close but he acts more like he's trying to fix me than to just be a friend. Like he has to raise me all over again because it wasn't done right the first time."
He gulped down half the glass and stared at the ceiling unfocused.
Neji chewed his lip, unsure of exactly what to say. Sasuke was opening up.. He'd never remembered the man to do that before. Perhaps his personality had changed a bit after he and his brother decided to stop being estranged... but it wasn't as if it would do a 360.
"I... kind of know what that's like. After you..erm.. well after we moved, Shikamaru was always around, clinging to me and suffocating me and trying to make me feel better. All I wanted was for everything to be normal, and it wasn't, especially with him buzzing around me constantly. Like he was trying to fix me when I just wanted to grieve for a bit..." He stared at Sasuke, fighting the strange anxiety that had come over him suddenly. "I mean. It's not the same at all compared to what you went through but, I'm saying I kind of understand how it feels... if.. that makes sense..."
Sasuke cracked a half-smile when his eyes lowered again to meet the pupiless pale blue.
"No... not really. But you get brownie points for trying."
Neji continued to study him. He definitely was different. Last time he'd really looked into those eyes they'd been souless and emptt. Hard and uncaring, with no will to live but still afraid of the unknown that came after death. He had been a broken man back then, hurting people just for money.
They'd changed though. Not anything huge, but something more subtle that was just beneath the surface. Less despair... and more hope, maybe. Less anger and more satisfaction, contentment.
Itachi's influence really had made a drastic difference, even if it was hard to see...
"So... You've been following me because your brother told you to, right?"
Sasuke Mm-hmm'd while finishing off the second half of the glass.
"And what made you decide to show yourself again?"
"I was supposed to make sure you didn't do anything stupid again. The easiest way to prevent it was to let you know I was watching." He paused, giving the Hyuga a teasing sneer. "Since you're so scared of me."
Perfect brows furrowed, and he took another quick sip of the wine before answering. "Pardon me for being a little traumatized after thinking I was going to die."
"Hn. I wouldn't have killed you."
"And how was I supposed to know? You tricked me into thinking you killed those officers. I thought you were the murderer and I was next!"
"That was the point ya dope."
Neji gave an exasperated sigh, staring at the wineglass again before tipping it back and downing what was practically still a whole glass.
This was insane. Having a crush on Sasuke... it made no sense. None at all.
x
He wasn't even sure when it happened. All he knew was he'd sprinted to his car and sped the entire way back to his apartment that night after he'd tried to take out Hidan. He couldn't stop crying, it had almost caused him to wreck 4 seperate times. He didn't even care about the Psycho or the bounty on his soul. All he could think about was that blade going through the man he used to love's chest. The look in his eyes, like he didn't even realize what was going on until he looked down and saw it. The wave of sheer terror Neji felt, knowing there was no way he could survive that. Knowing there was nothing he could do to help. He didn't have a phone on him, he couldn't carry him up all those stairs and drag him to the hospital. He had just killed Shikamaru, and all over that stupid albino bastard.
Of course he'd left when Shika told him to. Did he have any other choice? If he hadn't left, his ex would have free'd Hidan and the psycho would have killed him.
It was either run away or watch Shikamaru die. Maybe he was a coward for choosing the latter, but apparently it had worked out anyway. It would have saved him a lot of stress knowing he had spontaneously become unkillable.
He'd practically jumped out of his car before it stopped moving, and scrambled to find the keys to the small complex in his hysteria. He dropped the keyring once, twice, and then on the third time he had screamed in frustration and sadness, punching the door and then pressing his back flat against it. His hands covered his face as he sobbed and slid down the door until he was huddled at the base, and he moved his arms to hug his legs, burying his face in his knees.
All he could think over and over again was that Shikamaru was dead. He was dead and Neji had killed him.
Over and over the thought replayed in his mind as he sobbed uncontrollabley at the front door of the complex, unable to even get himself into the comfort and privacey of his own home before breaking down completley.
He'd sat there for an eternity until suddenly something thunked down in front of him. His eyes opened to watch a porcelin skinned hand with covered forearms reach down and pick up his keyring.
When he followed it upward and met the dark eyes of the youngest Uchiha, he'd literally thought his heart stopped.
Shit! He's back! He's back to finish the job even though he didn't technically want to kill me in the first place!
All Neji could do was make a pathetic squeaking sound as he stared, petrified, up at Sasuke. He was regarded with an unreadable, stoic gaze before the man extended his hand to Neji.
"You need to go inside if you're going to cry." Was all he'd said, but there had been no threat, no menace or even irritation in the inexplicabley calm voice.
The Hyuga had instinctively activated his byakugan, and upon seeing this Sasuke blinked his own sharingan on as well.
"If you attack me I will defend myself. Otherwise you're not in trouble."
Neji had noticed the strangest thing then. That Sasuke's chakra was gold. He'd never seen anyone with gold chakra before, so as to whether or not it was rare or not, he was unsure of.
It was dazzleing however, unlike Shikamaru's dark, almost-black, purple or his own deep teal. For some reason it calmed him. Though it didn't make sense at all. He couldn't recall what color it had been those two years ago. And that fact alone was strange, though in all fairness he'd been preoccupied with fighting for his life.
Byakugan lit eyes flicked up to meet intimidating red and black sharingan. And, swallowing heavily, he let the technique down. If Sasuke meant to harm him, he would have by now.
Cautiously he lifted his hand and grasped the one still extended, and with nothing but a small tug from the other man he pulled himself to his feet, taking the keys offered to him.
"Good night." Sasuke said as soon as the lock clicked and the knob twisted open. Neji whirled to see the Uchiha strolling calmly away.
"Wait!" He called out, halting the other. "Why... are you here?"
"Itachi instructed me to keep an eye on you while he assisted Hidan with helping Nara recover." He turned around, expression perfectly blank. "So go to bed."
"He's alive!?" Neji'd exclaimed, forgetting completley about the fact that this was Sasuke Uchiha, the man who'd nearly killed him that he was talking to.
"For the moment he is."
Neji's spirits dropped again, and Sasuke waited for only a moment before turning away to continue, only for Neji to call out again.
"So you're going to just sit outside my apartment until morning or what?"
"Not directly outside. But I'll be in the neighborhood."
"Well..." Neji said, chewing his lip. There was no way he could just go inside and go about his business knoeing that he was being watched. He sniffed once more and cleared his throat, absently wiping his eyes as well. "You can come in if you want. I know you're here anyways so there's no reason to stalk me like some creeper."
Sasuke studied him for a moment before a single brow rose, the first emotion Neji had seen on him all night. "Do you have alchohol?"
"Erm... I have some Peppermint schnopps I think..." Neji said, slightly taken off guard at this question. He honestly had expected him to decline, really, he wouldn't have asked if he thought the man would consider it.
"Alright." Sasuke shrugged, his shoulders relaxing as he turned on heel and sauntered toward a dumbstruck Neji. "A little girly, but not bad."
Neji's mouth bobbed open and close as he tried to come up with something to say to deterr the Uchiha before he made it through the doorway. But he couldn't think of any excuses, all he could do was curse himself and whatever spirit had possesed him to make the offer in the first place.
They'd climbed the stairs in silence, and when they reached his apartment he hesitated for a second. God.. what would this look like? Inviting this person into his house after nearly murdering his ex. People would start calling him a black widow.
"Uhm..." He said dumbly, fiddling with his keys.
"Stop fidgeting it's not a damn date. God, you are a princess."
Neji stiffened. "Excuse me?"
"You. Are. A princess." Sasuke said, dragging out the last word. "Stop trying to be perfect, it's unneccesary stress. I'm not gonna fuck you, I just want a drink. Chill out."
The Hyuga's mouth dropped open involuntarily. What.. he can't say that! He can't call me that! And who brought sex into the matter?
"Whah... You..."
Sasuke smirked and snatched the key out of his hand that'd he'd finally singled out as the one that unlocked the door. He turned and after a second and a small click the door swung open and the Uchiha let himself inside. Neji followed, seething now, with Shikamaru and the psycho gone completley from his mind. Who the hell just waltzed into someone's home like that!?
Sasuke paused for only a heartbeat to scan the dwelling before stepping quickly to the refridgerator. He pulled open the freezer and made a satisfied noise before reaching in and pullig out the alchohol.
"I figured you for a freezer type. You probably put ice in it too huh?"
"Hey! I don't know who taught you your manners but-"
"Hey, relax. Kay? You need it, or you're gonna pop." The dark hair interrupted, opening and shutting cubboard doors in search of what Neji could assume was something to pour it in.
Well at least he was thoughtful enough not to slobber all over the bottle.
Neji sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, finally turning to shut the door. "Top cabinet on the far left, the one beside the sink. Get the plastic ones."
"Ah." The Uchiha said, opening the aforementioned cabinet and pulling out two plastic cups, one pink and one blue. "You're probably one of those people that mixes huh?"
"No." Neji said lowly, coming to a stop at the island and glaring with his arms crossed. "I don't want any anyway."
Finally Sasuke stopped his movement and sighed. He looked up at Neji and a jolt of anxiety went through the Hyuga's chest. Damn.. he had gorgeous eyes when they weren't full of murderous intent.
"You probably need a drink more than I do. You invited me in, don't be rude."
He scoffed. "ME!? How am I being rude?"
"Because your guest wants a drink and you refuse to have one with him. That's inconsiderate."
"Incon-How can you accuse me of being... rrrgh. What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly acting so friendly. You tried to kill me!"
Sasuke smirked at this, pouring the alchohol into both cups until they were a fourth full. "Hey, You invited me in."
"I didn't think you'd actually have the nerve to accept!"
"I never turn down free booze."
"Yeah well you can have the whole thing if you just go away."
"Are you bribing me?"
"Sure. Whatever gets you out."
Sasuke stared for a second before picking up the blue cup and making his way casually to the couch. "I'd rather stay here. I have to watch you until Itachi gives me word to come back, and this beats sitting on the roof for hours on end by a longshot."
Neji jerked his gaze away and eyed the pink cup. Of course he would get him pink... why did he even have pink? He hated pink! Stupid Sasuke, inconsiderate douche.
"And besides, I made you forget all about Nara didn't I?"
Neji blinked. Holy shit, he really had forgotten. Oh God.. Shikamaru might be dying right now and he was considering getting drunk with Sasuke. What the fuck? His spirits dropped to the floor and he lowered his vision. What would he do if Shika died? He... he could never live with himself. God this couldn't seriously be happening, not when everything was starting to get better, after they'd finally talked everything out and forgiven each other...
"Hey." Sasuke's voice suddenly right beside him made him jump. He turned to stare at a pair of uncomfortabley close but unbearabley, gut-churningly, irresistabley, beautiful black eyes.
"Have a drink and relax. If he weren't gonna make it he'd be dead by now and 'Tachi would have told me to get my ass home. You're going to kill my buzz." He said the last bit slowly, seperating the words as if it would be the worst thing that could ever happen.
Neji's first thought was that Sasuke was a lightweight if that small bit of schnopps had him buzzing. His second thought was that the first thought wasn't important and he shouldn't be thinking about it. His third though had been that Sasuke needed to back up, because he smelled really, really good. And the fourth had been an internal slap to the face that finally motivated him to slip around the Uchiha and grab the cup and the bottle of alchohol and make his way to the couch.
Okay.. well.. that was a small comfort, at least. Shikamaru was alive, and being cared for... by a psycho and his criminal friend... Bah! How could he relax!? It was impossible! Especially with frikin' Sasuke goddamn Uchiha in his apartment being all buddy-buddy with him.
"I thought you hated your brother..." He muttered, for the sake of ending the awkward silence.
"Yeah well. I thought I did too."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Had Sasuke always been so chatty? No.. He distinctly remembered him always sitting away in the back of the classroom brooding.
"It means I used to, but now I just dislike him."
"What's the difference?"
"Between hate and dislike? I thought you were some genious..."
"I know but... well what changed?" Neji finally inhaled and held his breath, downing the contents of the pink cup in one go. His stomache burned immediatly but at least his mouth felt minty and fresh.
"None of your business, that's what." Sasuke replied, coming to plop down beside the brunette and pouring himself another cup.
Neji just studied him. What the hell was going on here? Sasuke being nice? Did that... did that even happen?
His eyes trailed down to the 'emo sleeves' on the younger Uchiha's arm. He.. he'd always worn those sleeves. As long as he could remember he'd kept his arms covered. The Hyuga had never thought anything of it until now.
His gaze moved down further to his own hands, halfway hidden behind the unnecessarily long sleeves of his sweater. He'd even gone so far as to poke holes to stick his thumbs through to make sure they wouldn't slide back and expose his scarred skin to the world.
That was why he wore them, wasn't it? To keep people from seeing. He wasn't as closed off to the world as everyone thought.
"I've never seen your arms." He said, only slightly aware that the tension he'd felt before was gone. Or at least reduced, seeing as the younger Uchiha seemed to stiffen a little bit before covering it with pouring himself more.
"So?"
Neji eyed him, resisting the urge to tease him about the one thing he actually seemed troubled with. "So.. what's underneath those sleeves?"
Sasuke finished gulping down the alchohol, sucked in a breath through clenched teeth, and slammed the cup down on the table. He glared at it for a minute before to Neji with a dark look that brought all the anxiety whooshing back. Apparently that was more than a touchy subject, it was a button that clearly read 'DO NOT PUSH.'
"What the fuck do you think is under there?" He said, not breaking his heavy stare.
The brunette fidgeted and twisted a piece of his hair absently. "Well..."
"Did the entire world tell you how fucked up I am? My brother killed my family, 'Don't go near him! He's not right!'"
"No! That's not-"
"You know what's under here, idiot. Don't ask stupid questions."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Well you did."
He bit his tongue. Trying to explain didn't do any good, he kept getting interrupted. He refilled his cup, just as something to occupy himself with during the suddenly unbearable silence. he didn't mean to insult him, honestly. He wanted to have an actual conversation about it. He had the scars too, after all.
He paused for just a second as this thought sunk in, and then lifted the schnopps and took a small drink, wrinkling his nose as he forced himself to swallow it and not gag. Damn.. maybe he should have mixed it.
He set the cup down, and fidgeted with the tattered end of his own shirt sleeves for a moment, unsure as to whether he really wanted to share these with someone like Sasuke. Someone who he barely even knew, someone who had assisted in driving him to commit the act in the first place. He wasn't even sure if he'd forgiven the younger brother yet. Really, he'd been put in the Intensive Care of the hospital. It wasn't like he just accidentally shoved a sword though his...chest..
Oh dammit. He'd reminded himself again.
He fell backward onto the couch, not even caring at such an unrefined position. Sasuke glanced from the corner of his eye, but didn't react, only taking another large gulp of his beverage.
"You really think he'll be okay?"
"He's fine. Stop asking."
"I'm just worried. You don't have to be an ass."
"And you don't have to act like such a girl."
Neji pushed himself back up, glaring. "I'm sorry about asking about your arms, Okay!? God, I didn't know it was such a big deal!"
Sasuke turned, eyes sparking with anger. "Why the hell wouldn't it be a big deal?! If I keep them covered up it's obviously not because I want people fucking asking about them!"
"Yeah well Just wearing stupid sleeves like that and a short-sleeved shirt looks stupid. That's like begging people to ask!"
"Oh yes, princess. Please enlighten me as to how the world works. I'm sure you're not ignorant and spoiled."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Neji said, brows creasing. Really, what the hell was his problem? All he'd done was ask a question.
"It means you don't know anything about me, so stop trying to relate. We're nothing alike. Get it through your head." Sasuke said, angrily pouring himself another drink.
The Hyuga chewed on the inside of his lips, taking deep breaths.
"Maybe you should stop trying to seperate yourself. You're the one whose making everything worse." He said, standing up and then plopping back down when the world shifted a little too fast. He stuttered on, trying to cover up the fact that he couldn't walk. Good God he'd only had like... well.. not very much. "When you isolate yourself and make yourself even more alone, it just makes it worse. You don't even give people the chance to try to get to know you. You're right I don't know anything about you, because you won't tell me. All I know is you made up with your brother and you're a little more alive than the last time I looked at you."
Sasuke only studied him, only the barest hints of his previous anger still evident on his features.
"I know. Maybe I haven't been fighting it my whole life, but I went through it too. You feel alone on the inside, so you make yourself alone in reality. It just makes everything worse. It doesn't help the pain, it makes it worse. And the inner pain, just like the lonliness, forces it's way to the outside of your body..." He looked down and pulled back both his sleeves, determined not to look at the Uchiha's reaction. "And then you end up making these ugly scars in places where everyone can see. Because you're so desperate for someone to care.. but then when they see them you push them away because you don't think they'll understand and you don't want to give them the chance to prove it."
He paused, trying to push away the urge to cry. Damn, he forgot the magnifying emotional effects alchohol had. It is a depressant after all. So in reality, Sasuke's whole 'get drunk and relax' theory couldn't have been a worse choice.
"You have to stop letting the negative voices, inside or out, steer your thinking. No one is better than you, you're not broken unless you let yourself be." He said, repeating the exact words his therapist with the gravity-defying gray hair had told him. The single phrase that had finally snapped him out of his downward spiral and let him get back to his feet.
"Why does it say 'Coward'?" Sasuke finally asked after a silence that went on so long the brunette had all but forgotten he was here.
"Because I run away from everything instead of facing it head on. Or I used to at least."
"Oh.."
Finally Neji looked up, unable to meet the raven-haired man's gaze seeing as it was locked down on his arms. He forced himself not to cover them back up. "I didn't ask because I wanted to judge you... I asked because it struck a chord with me." He smiled when Sasuke finally looked up, expression back to it's normal emotionless, unreadable design. "So, yeah. We do have something in common. Suck on that." He half-laughed, pleased that he'd actually seemed to have won this little arguement. Again there was a silence, but Neji refused to let it be an awkward one as he finished the rest of his cup and went to refill it.
Sasuke shifted, and he looked to him out of the corner of his eyes, he was fingering at the edges of his false sleeves. Like a child that wanted to show someone, but afraid to.
"It's a lot harder to beat when you've been living with it for 22 years..." The Uchiha said quietly, almost meekly, if Neji wasn't mistaken.
"It's a lot easier not trying to do it all on your own." He replied gently. "Let me see." He smirked a little bit when Sasuke pulled away, and reached out. "C'mon. I showed you mine."
He couldn't help but giggle at this, and was pleasently surprised when the brooding man actually cracked a smile as well, though it was obviously he was trying to fight it. He leaned back further, but Neji pursued, fueled by liquid courage and the confident feeling his speech had instilled in him.
"Show me!"
"No, get the hell off."
"Let me see and I will."
"I'm serious you idiot, get off me."
"Just lemme peek."
"No!"
"C'mon. Can't be any worse than mine."
"It's not a fucking contest, get the hell off!"
"Sasuke!"
The man under him froze in what was close to a fetal position, glaring weakly at the byakugan user who was practically now on top of him. Finally, he rolled his eyes and free'd one arm from it's trapped position between his knees and chest. He held it out, palm facing up. And smiling victoriously, Neji reached out and slide it backward, his good mood quickly vanishing.
It... it was almost completley scar tissue. Like a barren wasteland of healed skin tissue, some scars protruding and others concaved, all of them different shapes and consistencies. Like he'd not only carved into himself but lit himself on fire.
Good God, how could anyone even do this to themselves?
He looked up, but Sasuke wouldn't meet his eyes. His gaze was firmly locked on the near-empty bottle of Peppermint Schnopps.
Absently he reached up and ran a hand over it, almost feeling his heart break with sympathy. The inner turmoil Sasuke must have been in, for so long, all his life really... For him to do this to himself. To torture himself like this and yet not succumb to the promise of death. He had to have the willpower of a God, as well as the pain tolerance.
"I'm sorry.." He said quietly.
"You fucking should be." Sasuke replied sharply, still refusing to look at the brunette.
"I mean... I'm sorry you felt so bad to do this to yourself. I'm sorry you struggled for so long, that you're still struggling. I... I can't even imagine." He ran the tips of his fingers over the abused skin, gritting his teeth. Geez, this made him feel even worse. For him to have gone so psycho over some dumb little breakup, thinking he was crazy and his life was aweful, when all the while Sasuke had these battle scars with his life battle hidden, right beneath everyones noses. The only consolation was that they were all well healed, so the battered arms hadn't been touched by any means of a weapon in awhile.
Probably since Itachi came back, he reasoned. Maybe Sasuke wouldn't admit the effect his only remaining family's presence had on him, but it was obviously a positive one. The tides had turned on the younger brothers internal battle, with nothing more than the presence of someone who cared.
"Hn. Can you get off me now?"
Absently he pulled Sasuke's sleeve back up and let himself slide back down to a seated position on the couch. Sasuke readjusted himself and feigned looking relaxed and unbothered by what had just happened. Neji studied him, determined to keep looking until those dark eyes met his again.
Gold chakra... It was the damndest thing. Especially on someone so mentally abused by themself. He didn't know why it seemed so strange, there were an entire spectrum of different colored chakras in the world. It was just so intruiging.
"Quit staring at me."
"Why?"
"Because it's annoying. I get enough of that shit from girls."
"Sounds like something to be happy about to me."
"Tch. They're nothing but trouble."
Finally he turned, and ebony met pale blue, both expressionless. Neji tried desperatley to make the butterflies in his stomache go away. This was crazy. This situation right here was the kind of shit that happened in movies, the perfect setup for a kiss. But he wasn't going to do that, no way in hell. Sasuke was waaayyy off limits. He'd just gotten out of an insane relationship, he didn't need to put himself into another one. Getting involved with an Uchiha was asking for turmoil no matter what your intentions.
"Well.." He said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I'm going to bed. I guess you can.. crash on the couch. Just don't raid the fridge or anything okay? I'm on a tight budget."
Sasuke was silent, and Neji inwardly relaxed. Whatever, this night needed to be over. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted. He needed to just go sleep for days, and thanks to the alchohol and the reassurement that Shikamaru was alive and recovering, he didn't think that would be a problem anymore.
He stood, wobbling on his feet until his balance seemed to have returned, and circled the couch, making his way to the bathroom. First he needed to get the taste of alchohol out of his mouth, however minty it may be. He was just about to turn into the door when something latched around his hand and yanked.
His body spun and his wrist was released in time for both his shoulders to be gripped and his back pressed against the wall.
"Don't tell anyone.." Sasuke's voice whispered into his ear, and Neji only had time to widen his eyes before he was suddenly knocked into oblivion by alchohol laced lips and delicious candy tongue. He was betrayed by his own body when his back arched and his hands lifted themselves to push back the false sleeves and run over the damaged skin.
Damn you alchohol.
He couldn't even think that this was a bad idea.
All thought had flown out the window. There was nothing but actions now.
Sasuke's mouth pulled back half an inch, peppermint breath flowling cooly over Neji's skin. "Just so you know, you're not my type."
"Neither are you." Neji breathed back, and again their lips reunited.
x
He blinked himself out of the memory, taking another sip of his wine and smiling. Here they were, almost 5 days later and back in the same position. Shikamaru knew something was going on between them, and had taken it surprisingly well. In fact he almost seemed happy about it.
He looked at Sasuke, eyeing him quizically, and breifly wondered how long he'd just been sitting there lost in thought. He almost laughed outright. There was no way he was still here under Itachi's orders. He was here because he wanted to be. He'd probably known Shikamaru was coming, and he'd come to make sure his ex was aware of their new relationship so they didn't end up getting back together.
So Sasuke was the jealous type eh?
He could deal with that. He could deal with all of it, he thought. At least as long as he wasn't sober..
"Cheers." He said, holding up his glass. Sasuke looked at him with a mixture of amusement and a face that said don't-do-something-weird.
"To what?"
"Unnatural attraction. It makes the most sense when it doesn't make any at all."
"You Hyuga are so weird."
"Like you have a lot of room to talk."
"Shut up."
"Don't talk to me like that-" He was interrupted by a pair of lips against his, and a small squeal of alarm sounded from his throat as he tried to balance his wineglass when shoved backward onto the cushions.
The kiss broke and he glared up at Sasuke. "You almost made me spill-"
"Shhht." The Uchiha said, putting a hand over his mouth and smirking. "You can't keep talking when I do that. "
"Watch me."
"Then I'll just keep going..."
Neji smiled into it despite himself, eventually just letting the glass fall to the floor. It wasn't red wine, it wouldn't leave a stain. This was more important anyway.
Way more important.
He was healing, after all.
-o-
A/N-
O.O
I don't know how I feel about that ending but honestly if I didn't just randomly cut it off somewhere it would have never ended. I was having waaayyy too much fun with it. xD At first I was like SasuNeji? That's so weird... But just under the circumstances of this story, it was so adorable and awkward and cute that I had to do it.
Sorry if Saucy's a little ooc. But not really. Cause I tried really hard, and like I already explained, he's doing better since he and Itachi made up.
Hmm. Well. This officially concludes Recurring Nightmares.
I don't really know how to feel.
So, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did while writing. Hopefully I didn't dissapoint. Once again, thank you to everyone who helped me out and supported me, and I look forward to seeing you all reviewing the third!
Ta-ta for now!
~Wierdo. :)