Tai: Well second to last chapter time, and if you remember I asked at the start of last chapter for you to review if there was anything you wanted to have happen. I only got 2 reviews, so I asked a friend as well, results below:
Steve(A friend of mine I've been bugging while writing at the moment): Bucket of awkward. Oh he also wants a hobo.
Gagawest: "KNOCK OUT DRAG OUT AMAZING H*** LEMON MRATED SCENE" – yes I directly quoted that. Check reviews if you don't believe me.
Tiktay13: Wants a confession
I will be doing my damn best to get all of these in during this chapter and the next. Look forward to it. And yes, I wrote this before I did the chapter.
He stood glaring at the younger male, attempting to be mad at him for a lie and he was almost certain it was a poor performance for an audience that was walking away. If any of them looked back, they wouldn't see anything, they were out of earshot but one of them could still see. "Kiba, you have to kiss me." Neji hissed, closing the gap between them. "Now."
"What?" The Inuzuka hissed back, stepping away slightly.
"Hinata…Sakura will get her to see what we're doing." The Hyuuga explained quickly, watching the pink haired female closely. She'd already started curving toward the younger Hyuuga, so it was a 'now or never' situation.
The golden eyes widened slightly in realisation and Neji's byakugan deactivated. "Oh…" The tanned male seemed hesitant to do it, but similarly eager to do just that.
They were running out of time and the pale male glared at him desperately. "Kiba."
It seemed to be the final push the younger male needed, as Kiba stepped forward and wrapped one arm around the Hyuuga's waist, pulling them chest to chest. His free hand slipped up into the Hyuuga's coffee hair and Kiba pressed his lips firmly to Neji's waiting ones.
"I can't believe we missed that!" Ino complained, slowly dragging her feet.
Lee was practically bouncing around the group after Sakura had passed on the news; apparently he thought it was great that one of them had actually seen the pair sharing such an intimate embrace. "Oh if only we had been there to witness it!"
"Lee, calm down; chances are we'll see it ourselves soon enough." Tenten sighed, almost dreamily.
"And those of us who don't want to see it will try not to vomit at the time." Shikamaru stated, earning a laugh from both Choji and Naruto. "Honestly, you lot are far too interested in their relationship."
"You're not interested enough!" Ino shot back; grinning at the male. "How does it not interest you in the slightest?"
"Because it's their personal life; it's none of my business." Shikamaru stated, rolling his eyes at the blonde. "I'll tell you what, since you're so interested in seeing them so close, if they're not at lunch in five minutes you can go and get them."
The idea seemed to thrill all the girls, at least briefly, before they realised just what they could be interrupting; two very dangerous ninja in a very, very intimate embrace. Probably something more involved than just a kiss if it was taking more than five minutes. The very idea made them all blush bright red, and Hinata appeared about ready to faint, so the subject was dropped as they headed into town.
"Sakura…you don't think they'd actually…"
"Knowing we'll be waiting for them? They might." The pink haired girl replied, frowning slightly. "I honestly don't know what to expect from them now, Tenten."
Kiba wasn't entirely sure what to do, and he didn't like the feeling; Neji had demanded that he kiss him to keep their cover up and he'd complied. He'd hesitated, forced the explanation from the older male but that had been more to stop himself from coming across as too eager. In a perfect world the Hyuuga would've demanded a kiss and he would just pull the older male into his arms, comply and never let him go.
Except that would mean admitting that he really, really, really liked the pale eyed man who was currently standing silently with his back facing the Inuzuka. All that served to do was confuse him; though it was a little less confusing than the fact that, when he'd given in and kissed him, Neji had kissed him back.
That was still throwing him a little.
Okay that was a lie; it was throwing him a lot.
Kiba had done as instructed; wrapped his arms around the male and pulled him into the kiss to make it look convincing for Hinata. He'd intended it to be just a swift peck on the lips…until Neji had returned the embrace and kissed him back.
And then things just had escalated.
A peck on the lips had become a wrestle between their tongues, and the loose, gentle embrace had become firm, almost clingy and desperate. When they'd finally broken apart Kiba was surprised he was still on his feet, while Neji had turned away and widened the gap between them. He didn't know what he was meant to do; his crush had demanded a kiss and then kissed him back, there wasn't exactly a manual for that sort of thing.
'Do I apologise? I mean I don't want to; I've wanted to do that for a while, and I can't really apologise without it sounding completely fake. I'm definitely going to remember that until the day I die…' Kiba thought, watching Neji closely. A short sniff of the air was all he needed to find out that the rest of the group was almost at the restaurant, and yet neither he nor the Hyuuga had moved.
He wasn't sure if time had stopped or if it just seemed that way, but he knew they couldn't just stay there pretending it hadn't happened. Sighing, Kiba turned to start heading after the rest of the group. "We should go and catch up with them, otherwise-"
"Kiba…"
"-we'll miss-"
"Kiba..."
"-out on-"
"Kiba."
"-lunch."
"Kiba, look at me." He hadn't heard the Hyuuga move, he hadn't been keeping an eye on that; the only thing he was trying to focus on was keeping himself calm. Neji's hand around his wrist had thrown all of that out the window and he didn't think he could muster up the courage to turn around, but…
But he had to; though the Hyuuga's grip on his wrist wasn't strong it was enough to stop him from moving forward at the moment he doubted it would stay that way permanently. So he gave in and turned, meeting the empty pale eyes with his own bright yellow ones, opening his mouth to ask Neji…something...
The question was lost on his lips and every thought left his mind save for one; don't let go. Neji had closed the remaining gap between them and kissed him once more, and the only thing he wanted was to keep the Hyuuga there as long as he could. He couldn't help himself as he wrapped his arms around the shorter male, pulling him closer and deeper into the kiss.
Dizziness started fighting his desire to keep Neji so close and he gave in, pulling away from the older male and resting his forehead against the Hyuuga's. He didn't remember closing his eyes, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to open them and face reality once more. "…Neji…"
He felt the older male move slightly to rest his head against his shoulder. "Mmm?"
"We're going to talk about this tonight aren't we?"
"Mm hmm…now, we should go and catch up."
Reluctantly he released the Hyuuga, who kissed his cheek softly before heading off. 'Tonight is going to be...interesting…'
Shikamaru was relieved when the pair finally appeared at the restaurant and shuffled sideways to make room for them, glad when the Hyuuga sat in next to him. "Neji, need to talk to you after." He muttered quietly before returning to his conversation with Tenten. He'd never been so glad to have an uneventful day with the group; they had lunch, talked about nothing and as it started to get dark the group slowly dwindled.
By sunset only he, Neji, Kiba and Sakura remained of the full group, and he was trying not to grow impatient with her continued presence. She was still asking pointless questions about their relationship and various injuries she'd healed for them, and it was rather frustrating, particularly considering he knew what she was trying to achieve. He'd had the same thought, as had Shino, and they'd worked together to get the bottom of things.
Of course the Aburame was the only one who could spy on the two trackers without being caught, and they all knew it; particularly the pink haired pest. It was the main reason he'd gone on a mission; even Shino had his limits when dealing with Sakura, and given how persistent she was being with Kiba and Neji, he would've been driven off.
He was growing sick of her himself, and it was obvious Kiba was well past it. The fact that he hadn't stalked off or snapped at the woman was a bit of a surprise to him, but after some of the things Shino had told him, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
"So when you said-"
"Honestly Sakura? You're still asking questions?" he asked with a sigh, earning a glare from the woman. "What, do they have to actually have sex in front of you for you to understand they're in a relationship and have been for a while?"
"I was just-"
"Driving them both up the proverbial wall with your endless questions and nit-picking about small, insignificant details of their relationship." He finished for her. "Go and ask Lee out on a date. Or Naruto. Or both. Quite frankly I don't care which, but it's bloody obvious you need to get laid or something. Go home, Sakura."
They sat in silence glaring at one another before she finally surrendered and walked off, and for the first time in a few hours both Kiba and Neji moved. "Come on; she can't change her mind and come back to bugging us if we're not here."
Agreeing quietly that it was a good idea to move, he stood and followed the pair through the trees, not really bothering to ask where they were going. It didn't take long for the trio to arrive at a lake, and he almost rolled his eyes. 'Of course, where else.'
"I take it you wanted to talk to Neji about something Shino found out while he had his insects spying on us?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow.
He was a little surprised at the bluntness of the question, more so that it had been Kiba to ask it…though Shino had mentioned some secret the Inuzuka had…
The Hyuuga had gone wide-eyed at the question. "Shino was spying on us?"
"He checks up on me from time to time when he thinks something's wrong." Kiba shrugged. "Shino was worried after that interrogation last month; you guys might not be able to tell when I'm lying, but he can. Just like I can tell when he's worried."
The admission surprised both males; they could scarcely tell when the Aburame was awake, never mind any emotions he might have had beneath the all-concealing gear he always wore. He also had to deal with the fact that the Inuzuka had, most likely, already figured out exactly what he wanted to talk to Neji about. Something was off about the whole situation; Kiba was not that smart.
"He isn't as stupid as we all think." Neji sighed, having obviously spotted the perplexed look on his face. "He acts like an idiot, we don't rely on him for mission reports or strategizing on missions and he gets all the free time in the world."
"That would explain what Shino told me…" he muttered, dropping to sit on the grass with a sigh. "I guess you've already figured out that Shino knows you two haven't been in a relationship for the last four months, then?"
He watched the pair exchange a glance before Neji nodded and joined him on the grass. "To tell you the truth we've sarcastically told the girls as much; the night Sakura caught us I was out here training on my own, and Kiba was chasing Akamaru."
"Why lie about it then?"
"You seriously have to ask? Given the theories 'they were out there together' and 'they randomly bumped into each other while shirtless in the middle of the night', which sounds like a lie?" Neji asked, rolling his eyes.
The Nara considered it for a moment; it certainly sounded like a lie, and if they used it as a defence against Sakura's accusation of them being in a relationship, well it wouldn't hold up. The lie would be considerably easier to just agree to. "Point taken. That doesn't explain earlier today though, when Hinata…."
He didn't even get the full sentence out before both males went bright red and made every effort to look away from each other. 'Ah so they actually kissed...that's a lot of dedication to the lie, though with the amount of badgering Sakura's done today I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.' The more he watched them, however, the more Shikamaru realised their blushing was about more than the fact that they'd been forced into kissing. Glancing slowly between the two it dawned on him. 'Aha….'
Getting to his feet he sighed, "I'll leave you to it then." The Nara didn't wait for a response before walking off, shaking his head slightly. 'Leave it to Sakura to force people into a relationship they already both wanted and not even realise it. Here I was about to offer both mine and Shino's help to keep up their lie, and it might not even be a lie by the end of tonight.'
He laughed at the idea; three truthful confessions in one night from their group? Not bloody likely.
After Shikamaru's departure the pair sat in silence, still blushing furiously at the comment he'd left; he'd already known this entire thing would be difficult, but the Nara just had to remind him of it. It was bad enough he'd demanded the younger male kiss him; he had to do something with his cousin about to check that they weren't just standing there glaring at each other or laughing.
He didn't want to kiss him back.
Well, he did, he really, really did, but it wasn't really his place to do so.
…okay that was a lie as well; technically it was his place to; he was faking a relationship with Kiba, but…
'Oh shut up Neji; you wanted to kiss him, demanded he kiss you for the sake of keeping up the appearance of a fake relationship for your cousin and took it from there. What you now have to do is get your shit together and tell the Inuzuka, who, quite honestly, looks absolutely adorable when he's blushing like that.' He mentally told himself, before slapping a hand to his face. 'And staring at him is not telling him the truth!'
Kiba was still bright red when he finally looked over at Neji, and his normally sure voice was timid. "So…this afternoon when you told me to kiss you…"
"That was to keep up the fake relationship." He stated calmly, and he could feel the colour already returning to his cheeks.
"And when you…kissed me back?
"Uh…" Impossibly the Inuzuka was going redder, to the point where he was sure HInata would be proud of how deeply her teammate was blushing.
"And…when…you…when you kissed…me?"
"I...uh…well…" 'Oh come on; you've had a crush on him for ages, you've sat in his lap and kissed him earlier, and been pinned beneath him almost every night the past month.' Neji scolded himself. 'You've been almost killed a half dozen times, been on solo missions that you could've lost your life on, faced fears and talked about them. Just open your trap and say "That one was because you look adorable when you're pouting and I really, really wanted to." It's not that hard, Neji!' "Uhh…" 'Oh well done.'
"I mean…I'm not…" Kiba's gaze had dropped to his feet as he floundered through the start of his sentence. "It's not like…I don't…You…I just…uhh…."
'Just close your eyes, pretend you're back in your room and say it out loud like you have dozens of times before; "Kiba Inuzuka I think I love you." Come on now, you're a big strong jounin, you can say it.' He glanced at the younger male, who was still floundering about his own sentence and sighed; this wasn't going to be easy. Squeezing his eyes shut he tried again. "Kiba-"
"Yeah?" the tanned male had stopped his aimless rambling and was looking at him curiously.
'How do I know he's looking at me? I have my eyes shut….had…I had my eyes shut; he said something and I opened my eyes. I should have practiced with more noise around instead of in a silent room.' He wanted to groan and shut his eyes again, but he was already looking the Inuzuka in the eye. "I…I….umm…the thing is…I sort of…"
"…Neji?"
"It's just…there's…something…important…really important…thing I have to…have to…say." He fumbled through the sentence, not sure he could get it out. Not with those golden yellow eyes watching him, mesmerising him and drawing him in slowly but deeply, to a point where he wasn't sure he wanted to look away.
"Neji?" He felt the question more than heard it and finally Neji looked down, away from the pools of gold that threatened to drown him before he could say what he needed to.
'Just do it!' he mentally screamed, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. "Kiba I like you. I told you to kiss me to keep up the fake relationship, I kissed you back because I've always wanted to know how it felt and I kissed you because it seemed like the only chance I'd get to do it ever again. I like you Kiba and I have for a while-"
"Neji…"
"-and if we're going to continue to do this," he stated, finally looking back at the younger male. "I really think you need to know-"
The sentence died on his lips as Kiba kissed him, felt his hands wrap around the Inuzuka, pulling him as close as he possibly could, and nothing mattered anymore. He felt the ground against his back and the warmth of Kiba's tongue against his own and stifled a moan. He tasted like summer; warm and sweet and something he never wanted to let go. He didn't have a choice though when Kiba pulled away; younger he might be but Kiba had more pure physical strength than the Hyuuga.
Taking a deep breath Neji opened his eyes again to find the Inuzuka staring back at him, his blush somewhat faded and a determined look in his eyes. "So…uh…I guess…you…I mean…why…does this m-" His sentence was cut short as Kiba kissed him once more, strangling his question in his throat and once more leaving him breathless. "Umm…."
"You were rambling. Again." the Inuzuka growled, leaning down until his lips were by Neji's ear. "Now, are you going to keep rambling or can we move on?"
"I'm tempted to keep rambling if it'll keep you kissing me." Neji muttered back, wrapping his arms around the younger male.
The wolfish smirk that appeared on his companion's lips sent a thrill through his body. "Ah, but moving on would get you so much more."
He could feel himself starting to doze as he waited for the Aburame; while Shino had guaranteed he would be back tonight, he hadn't been able to specify a time. He didn't really mind; he didn't have anywhere else he needed to be.