An Indecent Affair

Yay! Chapter 13 is up. I'm working on the next chapters on three of my fics all at the same time, including this one so I don't know how soon the next update will come. Sorry. I'm also sorry I haven't been replying to you guys. I'm such a bad person :(

Glad you liked the Haku twist. I tried to be very vague about it so it wouldn't ruin the surprise but I kept hoping it wasn't too corny.

Orochimaru totally lost it in the last chapter but you have to remember that he was already messed up to begin with XD I still love his character though.

Chapter 13
-~-~-~-~-~

Neji shut off the taps and stepped out of the shower before throwing a thick towel around his waist. His damp feet padded carefully across the bathroom tiles and hard-wood floor of his living-room, and he grimaced as large droplets of water fell from his body and left messy puddles that he would have to mop up later.

“Hello?” he answered breathlessly, praying that he had reached the caller in time before they’d hung up.

“Hey,” it was the deep, solemn voice of Sasuke Uchiha.

“Oh, hey,” Neji replied and his body sagged. He thought it might have been Ten-Ten and he realized that he was only getting his hopes up and almost broke his leg jumping out of the shower for nothing.

Sasuke didn’t miss the disappointment in his voice though. “Hn, were you expecting someone else?”

“No, no,” he stammered a little too quickly. “Actually, I’m glad you called. Itachi was looking for you.”

“Yeah, he found me,” and the other man winced as he tested the tender lump at the back of his head where his older brother had smacked him. It was a rare occasion when Itachi lost his temper and even rarer when he was physically abusive but after Sasuke confessed that he’d had a little ‘talk’ with their step-father, his sibling became livid and disciplined him with a few choice words and a hard backhand against his skull. He deserved it though, he’d never say he didn’t.

Itachi told him time and time again to stay away from that man. He had taken it upon himself to deal with Orochimaru on his own and since Sasuke lacked tact he would only end up getting in his brother’s way. Sasuke had no idea what Itachi was up to, but he felt the gears of his master plan were turning a little too slowly for his liking, but he had to put his trust in his brother that he would follow through. It was the least he could do after all these years of alienating him. Besides, with Itachi’s primary focus on Orochimaru that left him free to concentrate solely on Neji.

“I was looking for you,” Sasuke continued. “I wanted to know if you needed a ride home but when I got back you had already left.”

“That’s because we went looking for you,” Neji answered and slipped into his sofa, hating the feel of the fibers clinging to his wet skin. “And Itachi gave me a lift so it’s no problem.” The only person that seemed to have problem with that arrangement though, was Naruto. Even after he called shotgun Itachi made him sit in the back with Gaara and the slighted blonde pouted during the entire ride to the apartment complex.

“Oh. We must have missed each other, but I’m glad you made it home safely.”

“I was in good hands.”

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the line. “Are my brother’s hands better than mine?”

“Well, you’ve been doing the majority of the--wait, is this one of your double entendres?” Neji asked, finally picking up on the sexual connotation.

Sasuke filled his ear with good-natured laughter that consequentially brought a smile to his lips. “Ah, I think I’ve finally managed to warp that virgin mind of yours.”

“I’ll bet you’re really proud of yourself. Dragging me into the gutter with you,” he muttered with a roll of his pale eyes.

“It’s something I excel at, so after a while the accolades mean nothing,” and if Neji closed his eyes he could almost see that grinning face before him.

“This is nice,” he said more to himself and he hadn’t realized he’d voiced those thoughts until the other man made his reply.

“What is?”

“This…thing we have between us,” and he searched hard to find the right words to characterize the innominate companionship between them. “I can talk to you Sasuke. I can tell you things I wouldn’t even tell my own mother, things I’d probably tell a best friend, but the thing is, I don’t see you as a best friend.” Neji sighed into the receiver and pulled his feet onto the couch as he rested his head against the back of the sofa and looked up at the ceiling as if what he wanted to say would magically be found written there. “I can’t explain what you are to me, and I don’t know what I am to you.”

“What do you think you are to me, Neji?” he asked, the playfulness in his voice replaced with sobriety.

“You know… him,” he answered slowly.

“Haku?”

He was quiet for a moment before admitting a ‘Yes’. Neji didn’t want to talk about him. Hell, even Sasuke didn’t want to talk about Haku right now but his brother had hinted to him that Neji would bring this up eventually and he’d be doing more damage to their fragile relationship if he tried to avoid the issue and left the Hyuuga in the dark about his feelings towards them both.

“Neji, Haku is dead,” he sighed, hating to have to come to grips with that fact, even after all this time. “I won’t lie to you and say I don’t think about him, because I do. I miss him and I wish he wasn’t taken from us so soon.” Sasuke’s breath hitched and Neji could tell he was trying to reign in an outburst. “You remind me so much of him, and not just because you look somewhat alike. You both possess a purity and a naiveté that makes me want to expose you to all kinds of naughty things that would make you sprout hair on your chest. You’re both so simple and inexperienced about certain aspects of life but it’s hard to preserve that without being forced to compromise it while trying to protect you from ‘the evils of the world’,” as his mother used to put it.

“So, you were Haku’s knight-in-shining-armor?” he asked, unable to explain why he was suddenly very jealous.

“No, not really. If anything I was more of a sniper. If anyone tried to rub shit in his face I’d kick their asses when he wasn’t looking because he’d never learn to take care of himself if I was always by his side. I didn’t want him to become dependent on me or anything.”

“That’s really sweet of you.”

“Hn, do I detect a little enmity in that sexy, little voice of yours?”

His face took on a slight hint of red due to embarrassment and shame. He hadn’t realized that he’d let so much of his emotion flow into his speech. “I’m sorry, Sasuke. I know how much you cared about Haku. I shouldn’t--”

“Don’t,” he interrupted sharply. He didn’t want or need an apology. “I can’t blame you for feeling the way you do. I get pissed everytime people confuse me for my brother so I know, first-hand, how much of a bitch mistaken identity can be, but believe me when I say that’s not the case with you and Haku. The similarities are there Neji, but when I look at you, I don’t see him; I see you without your clothes on.”

It took all of four seconds for his brain to take in, repeat and explicate those last, few words and his blush deepened when he suddenly remembered he hardly had anything on to begin with. “Is this your failed attempt at changing the subject?” Neji asked and brought his legs closer together while tugging his towel modestly over his knees.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Just trying to lighten the mood,” and his voice became serious again when he added, “Honestly, I don’t know what to say or even tell you to prove that I’m not using you as a replacement for Haku. Can you tell me, Neji? What do you want me to do?”

“I--” he broke off because he didn’t know what to say or tell him either. He already believed him but the little demons in him were not entirely convinced. “What do you think about me, Sasuke?”

“Do you want the NC-17 version or the PG-13 version?”

“I’d prefer G-rated if you can spare it.”

“Heh. I think you’re just one of Orochimaru’s unfortunate victims. It’s not to say that I pity you or anything because I should be pitying myself since he’s my fucked-up step-father.” There was another pause on the Uchiha’s end as he tried to get his temper under control.

“Is that why you’re doing all these things to keep him away from me?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I wouldn’t wish what you’ve been through on my worst enemies, Neji, and trust me when I say that I’ve done some pretty terrible things to people I barely even tolerate.”

The other man didn’t find that hard to believe. He’d witnessed the way he’d almost bring poor Sakura to tears and listened to him chew out clients who foolishly though that just because they were customers that they were always right. “Sasuke,” Neji frowned, hesitant to ask his next question but his curiosity had become too great and although he believed his suspicions were correct, he still wanted to hear it for himself.

“What is it?” he coaxed him with a soft voice.

“Umm…did- When Haku died… did Orochimaru have anything to do with it?”

Sasuke’s end became quiet again but this time the silence extended for so long that Neji thought he had hung up. “Yeah,” he answered on a rasp just as the other man was about to ask if he was still there.

Neji’s heart sank and his fear multiplied at the morbid thoughts of what that man was truly capable of. He didn’t ask how Orochimaru killed him. He didn’t need to feed his over-active imagination, he also didn’t think Sasuke would have liked to talk about something so tragic, but Sasuke couldn’t relate to him Haku’s last moments of suffering because Itachi was the only one who saw the body. His brother never told him what state he’d found the boy no matter how many times he asked, but his older sibling did that to shield him from the horrific nightmares he endured for two whole weeks.

He supposed he had to thank him for that, because he had always been the more emotional of the two and it scared him when, for the first time, he watched his brother weeping over what he’d seen that afternoon and if that could bring him to tears so easily then it would have, no doubt, shattered Sasuke’s sanity.

Just thinking about it made him hate that man all over again, and he silently renewed his vow that he would never allow him to do the same thing to Neji. He wanted to be there when Itachi dealt that man his retribution, and wanted him to receive his payback with interest. That was why prison was too good for him. This was personal and they didn’t want the law getting involved. They were going to take matters into their own hands and exact a more fitting penalty.

Sasuke wished he was with Neji right now, so he could touch him and reassure him with those very same words that would have held much more potency if only they were face-to-face. “I won’t let him hurt you. I promise,” and he hoped that would offer some consolation instead.

Neji smiled but it didn’t reach his voice. “I know.”

“Hey, you busy?” Sasuke asked. He couldn’t stand listening to Neji when he sounded like that so he worked to take his mind off what they’d just discussed.

Neji shook his head, then remembering they were on the phone, he cleared his throat so he could speak more clearly. “No. I was just getting ready for bed.”

“Already? But it’s only,” and he paused so he could check the time on his watch. “A quarter to nine.”

“I know, but I have work in the morning.”

“So do I,” he countered, not seeing the Hyuuga’s point.

“But I need to get at least eight hours of sleep.” Neji argued reasonably.

“That’s an old wives’ tale,” the young man scoffed. “I get by just fine on four or five.”

“You’re going to burn out eventually,” he chuckled.

“Hasn’t happened yet.”

“Sasuke, tonight’s not a good night. As a rule, I don’t go out on weeknights; I have a system and--” he was interrupted by obstreperous laughter on the other end.

“Listen, call your mother and tell her you’re going out with a friend, and you won’t be back until two in the morning so don’t wait up, okay?”

“Sasuke, I’m serious,” he giggled and traced the hem of his towel that hung by his knees. “I’m not leaving my apartment. After I have my bath, I’m going to get--”

“Need any help?”

Neji’s blush returned and he bit on his lower lip to stifle the exasperated groan that bubbled behind his throat. “No, I don’t,” he replied in a tone that warned Sasuke he better not get any ideas. “When you called I was just about to dry off so--”

“Need any help?”

“Sasuke!” the other man shrieked once his patience slipped away but that only made the irritating youth laugh louder.

“Can’t I at least put your clothes on?”

“No!”

“Watch you dress?”

“No!”

“Tuck you in?”

“Dammit, Sasuke stop it,” he practically begged of him now that his face was beet red and his scalp tingled.

“Okay, okay,” he surrendered on another humorous chortle. “Shit. I can’t believe you’re actually naked right now,” that part he muttered under his breath, but Neji still heard him, and he felt the beginnings of a warm stirring in his stomach.

“Just try not to think too much about it,” he frowned and crossed his legs tightly.

A dejected sigh left Sasuke’s lips. ‘Too late.’ “Alright, I won’t.”

“Sasuke,” Neji said, and the other man had to move his phone from his ear to let out a heavy groan. Why did Neji have to say his name like that?

“Yeah?” he replied on a shaky breath.

“Thanks again… for everything.”

Sasuke nodded and accepted his sincere gratitude with a ‘Don’t mention it.’

“Well, good night then,” he bade the other man a farewell after he took a sidelong glance at his clock and realizing just how much time had already passed. He didn’t want to go just yet. He wanted to stay and chat with him a little longer but he was very committed to his bed time and he would see him tomorrow anyway.

“Yeah, good night.”

“Sweet dreams, Sasuke,”

“You can count on it,” he chuckled wryly as he laid his receiver on the base after Neji hung up and he frowned as he looked down at the large bulge in his pants. He was going to have sweet dreams alright, but they were going to be more of the wet variety.