Sway

Archive: Just ask.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Almost immediately, it became directly obvious that they were going to have more problems upon their return to Konoha than they’d anticipated. For Neji at least. Naruto was in no way capable of discerning the facts for himself. After ushering the birthing party out of their home, and returning to the room with Takashi, Neji had discovered Naruto unconscious upon the bed. Initially, all he could do was stand in the doorway and stare.

Over the course of their assignment, Neji had seen his partner’s jutsu flicker several times. Towards the end of his pregnancy, the brunette had been on constant alert. Watching the odd back and forth play of his lover’s two forms. It had scared him then. Concern for the life of their unborn child had gripped his soul tightly, and where he once had longed to see his lover’s true face, he had come to fervently guard the blonde’s new body.

Now however, with their child cradled safely in his arms, the sight of the man he loved sprawled awkwardly across their bed - limbs at different angles, head thrown back, mouth open, and all of him very, very male - seemed to steal all the strength from his body. Whatever intelligence he possessed drained away. The tangled web of emotions spiraling downward and disappearing into the floor.

Here was all he had ever wanted. Someone who loved and understood him. Someone who had seen him when he was invisible, and had helped him to acclimate to the world. Drawing him beyond what he had been told, and how he had been treated, and helping him stand as an individual. To be honest, Neji had never quite known his heart well. Keeping secrets even from himself.

Naruto had changed that. He had thrust the Hyuuga prodigy into a complex world of feelings and private thoughts. One where the only duty he had to honor, were the orders of his heart. Though he had never quite been able to grasp the amount of openness and sincerity of the blonde, he had managed to acclimate himself to a gentler, kinder side of his nature. One he had once been so intent on erasing.

At first, he was thankful.

Then, he had been envious.

The envy had developed into affection.

Which had sprouted friendship.

The friendship had bred comfort.

Which grew to caring.

The caring became fondness.

The fondness, eagerness.

The eagerness, desire.

And desire, had bloomed into love.

To think back on it, Neji could see where the river of fate had been trenched by his lover, his savior, his friend. Forced into new shapes and patterns by the will of a freed heart. He could never repay Naruto for all that he had done for him.

And then, Naruto had given him a child.

Truly, his lover was meant for this world, but hailed from one far greater.

He found himself crossing the room. His legs moving forward of their own accord. Carrying him in slow, content glides that brought him to the blonde’s side.

For all he had been through – the year of undercover work, the nine months of pregnancy, the fourteen hours of labor – he still looked as beautiful as he had the day he returned. Just as vibrant. Save for the deep sleep that had taken him. Closing his bright eyes, and making his body heavy.

The sheets needed to be changed.

Naruto lay in twisted linens that were soaked in blood and sweat. There were remnants of afterbirth still clinging to the once white cloth. As well as traces of oils and particles of healing herbs.

For a moment, Neji could only look from the soiled bed embracing his exhausted lover, to the slumbering infant in his arms. He wanted to leave neither unprotected, but would need to leave both in order to attend to the situation at hand. It occurred to him then, to put up a genjutsu – something they had not required for quite some time. Kissing Takashi’s forehead, he lay the baby upon a cleaner portion of the bed. His hands freed, he pressed a knee into the mattress in case he would need to swiftly collect his son, and performed the necessary hand signs.

As the genjutsu came up about them, Takashi stretched, slowly blinking. Neji made a small note of it, before rescuing him from the bunched up quilt he had settled him in the center of, and moving to barricade the armchair. It – like most of the house – was still covered in blankets and pillows, and Neji rearranged them before carefully placing Takashi within the makeshift nest.

Activating his byakugan – so he could keep a watchful vigil over both as he moved, by focussing on their chakra – he retreated to the hall, retrieving fresh linens, and removing the large pillows from the couch in the living room. As he walked through the house, he kept his senses open, his chakra ready, and looked back constantly. Returning to his duties only after counting both of his loved ones twice. One way, and then the other.

Moving into the bathroom, he drew a warm bath, keeping the water level low. Before travelling back into the bedroom. Setting the change of bedding aside, he returned to the armchair, collecting Takashi, and settling him carefully within the finely crafted laundry basket. Takashi, at first, seemed displeased with the movement, and for a moment, Neji thought he might cry. However, his son simply shifted, as if appraising the new temporary cradle and settled quietly.

Neji moved the baby to the bathroom first, settling him upon the lid of the toilet. He then rescued his lover. Carefully retrieving him from the tangle of sheets, and removing soiled attire that fit oddly upon his true form. Naruto was so exhausted; his chakra did not even flare in warning. Neji was unsure of whether the blonde had overexerted his chakra system, and dipped too deeply into his reserves, so that there was simply no coherency about him. Or whether he recognized him, and thusly felt no threat. Neji chose to believe it was somewhere in between, and carried him into the bathroom.

He bathed him in the quiet of the house. The evening was in its rising hour, and so the insects had not yet welcomed the night. Buzzing and scuttling about. Takashi, himself, already seemed a quiet child. He had yet to cry, since his birth, and had not so much as fussed. His movements, too, seemed planned, as if, even only so few hours old, each move was a deliberate, conscious decision.

Once he was clean, Neji drained the bath water, and refilled the tub with a bare minimum of warm water, to ease Naruto’s muscles, and to keep him from drowning while he made the bed.

After the bed had been made, and the soiled bedding disposed of, Neji returned to the bathroom. As before, Takashi was moved first. The laundry basket settled in the center of the bed, and propped up with pillows on all sides. Naruto, he dried, and dressed in his own clothes, before depositing him on his side of the bed. He tucked him in, before shutting the windows – Naruto was still damp from his bath, and Takashi was still too new to the world – and removing their son from the basket. The basket was set down on his side of the bed, and the baby was settled beside Naruto. Locking up and turning off the lights, Neji quickly cleaned himself – Takashi was too young and needed to be kept safe at all costs – before returning to the bedroom and settling into his own side.

He turned off the light and rolled unto his side. The moon had finally risen, and was sending delicate rays down upon them. They drifted in through openings in the shades, falling across his family. Neji watched Naruto sleep, so peaceful, so tired. He watched Takashi sleep, so innocent, so precious. This was his family. And he would only have them for two more months.

Propping himself up on an elbow, he removed the tie from his hair. The dark strands slipped down and spilled across the pillows. On their own, they reached out to touch his new reason for living. Curling and mixing with his son’s, the ends brushing Naruto’s whispy golden locks.

The word ‘Mine’ suddenly entrenched upon his silent observance, and he felt his heart clench.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


It was a difficult, but not entirely impossible affair – keeping the villagers from their home.

A week had passed since they’d been graced with their miracle, and Naruto was still sleeping. Neji had only started to worry around the fourth day. Finally coming to terms with the fact that his love had stretched even his bountiful chakra core too thin. He would regain it first through sleep, and when enough had been gathered for him to awaken, he would then be faced with his partner’s voracious appetite. Knowing how much Naruto could eat on a regular – and pregnant – basis; Neji was doing his best to prepare. Their home now possessed all of the ramen within a twenty-five mile radius. It was not so plentiful in their new home village. But if there would be no ramen in wait for his return when he woke, Naruto would be up and bound for Konoha before Neji could finish blinking.

Takashi, had unfortunately, inherited only his bearer’s appetite. In everything else, he was his sire.

A purer Hyuuga child had never been born into his clan.

Neji lamented over this fact daily.

Beyond the trademark gray eyes, Takashi had pin straight hair; a shade of brunette so identical to Neji’s own, when he draped his over the baby’s the separate strands seemed to disappear. Takashi was slender, with an aristocratic build that was a far cry from Naruto’s stockier form. His fingers were long, his feet narrow, and his muscles sloped at gentle angles. He had an oval shaped face, with a pert little nose, that already seemed to achieve a certain degree of snobbish superiority. His lips were full, and his mouth small, differing greatly from Naruto’s trademark wide grin. His cheekbones were high, and arched. His neck equine. His skin, was light, and though not pale, was rather too close to a Hyuuga complexion for Neji’s comfort.

Neji was unsure whether anything could be done at all to hide the child’s noble lineage. Takashi was too much a Hyuuga in face, and form. Like all Hyuuga children, Takashi had a calmness to him. He was hard to excite – as their neighbors had discovered – and seemed easily bored. At only a week old, and with only his father for kinship, Takashi had already achieved the impossibly high standards of his clan. And while Neji couldn’t be certain, it was as if the infant was aware of his surroundings.

His differences were mostly internal. While feeding him earlier in the week, Neji had used his byakugan to peer through the hall and check in on a slumbering Naruto. He had happened – by habit – to glance at Takashi, and at such close range noticed something odd. He couldn’t be sure – he was no expert, after all – but his son’s chakra system was roughly twice the size Neji felt it should be. Perhaps, shinobi grew into their chakra systems. Perhaps it would narrow in time. For the moment, however, his days old infant son, had a more complex, fluid system of chakra pathways than Neji had ever seen.

At the center, burning hotly – and Neji could only see it when he was truly concentrating – beyond the heavy glow of blue, sat a tiny pearl of red. It flickered about like the light at the end of a candle, as if at home in the pool of his son’s chakra core.

Was this his lover’s bloodline limit? Had Naruto been the last of his clan? If so, knowing nothing of the ability, save what Naruto had demonstrated, Neji was quite anxious about its combination with his clan’s byakugan.

If its basic purpose was to provide an active reservoir of chakra, secreted away for dire constraints, then it’s support of the byakugan alone would be unfathomable. What would his son be capable of achieving, if he had such vast reserves of chakra at his disposal?

What would his clan do when they found out?

Takashi was too Hyuuga for his own well being. It was integral to his survival, that something be done to severely eradicate his connection to them. Else…Neji didn’t want to think on it.

“Hayashi-san, you shouldn’t hold him so. He’ll become too accustomed to your arms, and won’t sleep in his crib.”

Neji looked down at one of Naruto’s village friends.

When Naruto’s body had reverted, Neji had been faced with a dilemma. How would he feed Takashi? Against his better judgment – for he was forced to choose – Neji had left the house – well trapped and carefully, elaborately draped in layers of genjutsu - and immediately bumped into the woman. Seeing the child with him, she had rushed forward in excitement. Neji had almost blown his cover – kunai covertly fixed firmly between two long fingers. She had stopped before she reached him, however, and in the silent, impatient way of women, had asked for permission to cross the rest of the distance. Neji had sighed heavily in relief, and nodded.

Apparently, the whole village knew their infant son was blind. And in sympathy, had begun to devise a permanent village plan. So that when the child grew up, he would be accustomed to the unchanging plots they were devising. Neji’s sensible shinobi side thought that rearranging the lay out for an entire village for the benefit of one child was ludicrous. His deeply Naruto influenced side, found it warming, and terribly considerate. Even though their son was not, in fact, blind.

It was pure luck that they had met, for the woman had taken care of everything. And over the course of the week, become a trusted comrade. For her part, she did as he asked, always with a kind smile. And never revealed what went on in their home to the others, regardless of the constant plea for information.

So it was, Kishimoto Yuki, was the only villager to cross the threshold of the Hayashi home since the birth.

Neji allowed a soft, half smile.

“It’s all right, Kishimoto-san. I don’t mind holding him.”

She sighed, and sipped her tea. But Neji caught the fond smile she tried to hide behind her cup.

“How is Nanako-san today?”

Reflexively, Neji turned in the direction of the bedroom, though, without his byakugan active, he couldn’t see. “She is resting.”

“The labor must have been truly difficult.” She took another sip. “Perhaps, you should allow Sano-sensei to come see her. Just to be certain.”

Neji didn’t reply, accustomed to the silent urging.

He was aware that the villagers were concerned. However, he couldn’t allow anyone to see Naruto until he had reactivated his jutsu. And he needed to wake, before that was even a possibility.

“Well, I should be going.”

“Thank you for delivering the groceries, Kishimoto-san.”

“It was my pleasure, Hayashi-san. Do convey my best wishes to Nanako-san?”

“Of course.”

She smiled and bent to wave at the bundle in his arms.

“Good-bye Megumi-chan! I’ll visit tomorrow!”


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Takashi was really a beautiful child. Despite the fact that his identity needed to be kept secret, for his own safety. Neji was proud to call him his son – while he could.

Laying in bed, with Takashi gazing up at him, safe between his parent’s bodies…The elder Hyuuga could not quite find the words to express the feelings. They ranged from joy to happiness, contentment to a rare, new form of ecstasy; Neji’s heart felt like it was overflowing.

Lightly brushing back the dark strands that feathered his son’s fair brow, he smiled down at his offspring. Takashi blinked several times, head and body rolling in opposite directions. Neji pressed a calming palm to his chest to settle him. As the baby slowed, he pooled a bit of chakra in his palm, idly wondering if Takashi would recognize it from the womb.

It seemed he did, as his small eyes closed. Little mouth opening in a slanted yawn that forced his tongue to peak out.

“Let’s hope your life with Otoosan will make you more like him. You don’t want to be Hyuuga, my son. Uzumaki is more than enough, for your legacy.”

He bent to kiss his forehead, Takashi gurgling at the movement.

As he drew back, his eyes caught a flash of blue, and he could not help the smile that drew across his face.

“We’re still on assignment?” was the first thing the blonde said, voice gruff from lack of use.

Neji nodded. “For another six weeks.”

The sound emitted from the younger shinobi’s throat was somewhere between a groan and a sigh. He scrubbed at the side of his head. An old habit, and a welcome sight. As his hand dropped to the back of his neck, he looked around. Blue eyes finally settling on the soft little body between them.

“Is that…?”

“Yes.”

Naruto snorted.

“Taka-chan, after all that I’ve done for you. You choose to be your father’s son.”

Neji laughed.

“Oh well,” continued the blonde, with an oddly elegant shrug. Maybe they were rubbing off on each other. He reached down and lifted up the baby. “At least we know you won’t be the dobe.”

“Naruto.”

He cocked a sly grin, and Neji felt the urge to pounce him and drive him hard into the bed swell within his chest and threaten to overtake him. Such a strange, primal urge, that it’s intensity actually caused him to shut down for a moment.

Naruto didn’t seem to notice. He had settled back into the pillows and drawn his legs up tight to his body, laying Takashi against his thighs. The baby opened his eyes briefly, likely in protest of the displacement, before going back to sleep.

“He’s so beautiful,” Naruto sighed, stroking back Takashi’s dark hair reverently.

“Yes. Thank you.”

The blonde’s head tipped sideways and he grinned.

“If you really wanted to thank me…” he said, voice low and husky.

Neji felt the urge steadily rising once more. He raised a brow slightly, in lieu of a verbal response.

Naruto looked sideways, before flicking his head back to banish the blonde strands settling over his eyes.

His lover swallowed. Hard.

His grin slowly grew, until it had encompassed his face, drawing the brunette in like a moth to flame.

“You’d get me some ramen. I’m starving.”

Neji blinked.

Naruto simply continued to smile.

Then the Hyuuga prodigy laughed. He threw his head back, and released the most honest, carefree laugh he’d ever indulged in, in his life.

For a moment, Naruto simply stared, amazed. And then he laughed softly.

Neji wiped at a teary eye, and leaned in to kiss him sweetly.

“Any particular flavor?”

“Just start with what’s in the first cupboard and we’ll work our way from there.”