Caged

Caged

Persepolis130

Just to let everyone know, Neji's opinion of his situation is his own, and I don't necessarily share it. Some people are saying this is incest, others disagree, but whatever your opinion, there will be undeniable Hyugacest further on. I apologize for Tenten seeming a bit OOC, but it'll be explained later. Again, this is borderline R/NC-17. Hope you like it!

XXXXX CHAPTER 3 XXXXX

“Alright, Neji, twelfth bout!” Neji moved into position as Tenten pulled back her weapons, taut chakra strings glowing dully before the boy's Byakugan eyes.

Tenten's blades aimed toward him, Neji focused his chakra, readying for the assault. He wasn't using Kaiten today, instead fending off each individual blade with a direct blast of chakra from his palm. It was much more difficult, requiring the intense type of physical and mental concentration that he usually found invigorating.

This morning though, it left him feeling drained and unsettled. No matter what he did, he couldn't distance his thoughts from last night.

Of course, what all of it really meant still baffled him. After so sweetly proclaiming him a whore (which Neji could only hope was a failed attempt at wit, though fate hinted otherwise), the woman had refused to explain further. Instead, proclaiming him dangerously close to breaking the "no violence" rule, she sat him down in a velvet-upholstered armchair and stacked his lap full of books.

Examining the pile, Neji wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disturbed. His new reading material ranged anywhere from medical handbooks detailing male and female reproductive anatomy, to friendly-looking manga how-to manuals, to a particularly tasteless piece of pornography entitled "Make out Paradise."

After reviewing his choices, he decided to start with the former, since it seemed safer. Some time later though, the woman had undressed, having him point out his new anatomical knowledge on her naked body. Laying back on the bed, legs spread, she'd gently placed his fingers at the appropriate points. It was like a twisted sex-ed class, real-life examples included.

Neji could only imagine that most boys his age would jump at the chance for this sort of thing. However, though he hadn't realized it before, he'd been perfectly satisfied with ignorance. His awkwardness around the woman had not subsided in the least, and he was quite sure a few of the medical illustrations had burned his retinas.

For whatever reason, the cutaway diagram of vaginal penetration was a particularly persistent one.

It seemed that whenever he closed his eyes, the image crept in, a woman's sex filled completely with a man's, soft flesh yielding to hard, and Neji was never sure whether to blush or shiver. He usually ended up doing both. The thought that he himself had been in that exact position with that woman, nestled deeply within her warmth...

Even now he could picture it so clearly that--

Neji hissed as he felt the shuriken nick his arm, the sting jolting him out of his reverie.

"Oh! Neji, are you alright?"

Feeling Tenten's hand on his shoulder, Neji brushed it off. "I'm fine, it’s barely a scratch. I just lost concentration, that’s all."

“Oh... Well I don’t suppose it’s because I’m getting so much better?" she asked. "I’ve been working really hard to--”

“No. I was just distracted. Do it again.”

Tenten beamed, cheeks flushed. “Okay!”

Neji scowled. How had he gotten stuck training with her again? Oh yes, he wasn't allowed to start work as a chuunin, and Gai-sensei and Lee had gone off for some super-secret, ultra-private, hush-hush (a.k.a. utterly ridiculous) exercise, leaving Neji with only Tenten as a training companion.

Of course, Neji wasn't going to cry about the two of them being gone. It was much quieter this way, with less Gai-flamboyance and random eardrum-piercing Lee sound effects. But Tenten could be difficult sometimes.

Especially when she got giggly.

Going through the exercise again, this time flawlessly as usual, Neji felt a bit better, but he still couldn't shake the strangely upsetting image from his mind. As his teammate gathered her arsenal, he stretched his right shoulder and walked to the nearby stump he'd set his water on earlier.

"So, Neji..." Tenten started, approaching him as he sipped. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner tonight. My dad's out of town this week, and it's kind of lonely at my place, so...?"

"I think not," he told her, re-capping his water. Not this again...

"Oh, that's right, you have that family stuff, huh? How is it?"

"Hn," Neji replied succinctly. It wasn't as if she wanted to know the truth anyway.

"Mmm," Tenten smiled twirling a kunai around her finger. "Well, you know I'm always here to train with. You know, morning, afternoon, late at night with nobody around to see us..."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Neji told her, turning brusquely away.

For an instant, he'd visualized her as the other half of that diagram.

Tenten giggled.

XXXXX

"You smell," the woman declared upon his entry. Her eyes painted in shades of blue, she was wearing a gown of diaphanous silk this time, her dark nipples showing faintly through the pale fabric.

"I came straight from training," Neji told her irritably, forcing himself not to stare. She looked captivating, and no one had ever told him he smelled.

"Well, don't come here stinking like that again, or you'll have to go home," she declared with a wave of her hand as she shut the door behind him.

"Fine. Are we starting now?" Neji asked, crossing his arms.

"No."

Neji blinked, a strange sense of relief washing over him. "...really?"

"Certainly not. Your clothes are still on."

Sighing, Neji tugged off his sandals. So much for wishful thinking.

XXXXX CHAPTER 4 XXXXX

"Better," the woman proclaimed, rolling Neji unceremoniously off of her.

Neji frowned blearily, watching her nicely curved hips sway as she padded quietly to her robe. "...are you going to do this every time... jump right up after...? ...it's disconcerting..." he grumbled.

"And are you going to fall asleep every time?" She asked over her shoulder as she secured the tie at her waist. "It's hardly fitting."

"What do you mean? I did it four times..." Forcing his overly-relaxed body into a sitting position by sheer willpower, Neji swung his legs over the side of the mattress, coming down onto the ground with a thump. "And maybe you could explain why I shouldn't. You still haven't given me any answers."

"Ah, that," she replied with an air of dismissal as she flipped through a stack of papers on her desk. "When I said you were a whore... well, you may have misunderstood my meaning."

"Why am I not surprised?" Neji muttered as he pulled on his pants, frowning at how cold the fabric felt against his flushed skin. He was also kind of messy, and he wished he'd thought to clean himself off first. But his pants were dirty from training anyway, so he supposed it didn't matter so much.

Jotting something down, the woman made a small noise, but her back was turned, so its meaning evaded him. Sighing and smoothing her hair down over one shoulder, she set down the pen and turned to him, eyes intent, almost as if she were working up her courage.

Crossing her arms, the woman suddenly declared, "It's fate,"

Neji blinked, wrinkled shirt dangling from his fingers. "What?"

"That's what your father said. 'It's fate.' " She smiled, tucking a stray lock of dark, glossy hair behind her ear.

Neji regarded her, startled. "Did you train my father, too?"

"Only briefly," she laughed, quickly becoming serious again, "but I hope you understand as he did. Safety isn't only the physical things, you know."

Neji shook his head, baffled by her words. And, truthfully, a little grossed out.

"Protection of one's clan is more than their physical well-being. It has to do with reputation, esteem of others. Can you imagine what would happen if the Hyuuga were to fall into disreputable regard?" she asked, leaning back against the desk.

"That's impossible," he told her as he slid his shirt over sweaty shoulders. "There's no family more admired than the Hyuuga."

"It only takes one thoughtless act to ruin a reputation, you know. A single deed can cause scandal enough to plunge an entire family into disgrace. Especially if it involves the heir. You know, she's at the age where things can get dangerous for a young woman. Imagine if she were to be inappropriately involved with a boy. Caught kissing him. Or worse."

"Hinata?! You can't be serious! She's the most innocent girl I've ever met!" He pictured his cousin’s blushing face, down-turned before a grinning Naruto. "She'd pass out before his lips touched hers! Hell would freeze over first!"

"I don't know anything about Hell,” the woman told him, “But I do know something of what girls her age dream of, having once been one myself. Given the right circumstances, I guarantee you she could manage it. And imagine if she got pregnant."

Neji felt blindly for the bed behind him, plunking himself down. Of course the woman was right that it would be terribly shocking. Values in Konoha were still very traditional when it came to sex. It was alright for a man, but upper-class young women were to be chaste and innocent. For a noble lady to be sexually involved premaritally would cause a huge scandal. Even something as simple as being seen alone with a boy was enough to start rumors.

Neji certainly couldn't imagine Hinata doing anything like that, especially since Naruto, the only boy she'd ever looked at, was away training. But then what did HE know? Up until yesterday, he hadn't pictured himself having sex either, and look where fate had led him...

A gentle hand on his shoulder, Neji looked up into dark, warm eyes. "And that is why you're here."

He tried to connect Hinata and Naruto with his current situation but drew a blank. Though with her standing like that, robe dipping open, he imagined he could hardly help it.

Her smile was kind as she told him, "You will tend to her needs, Neji."

"Tend to her... needs...?"

"There's no shame in being seen unescorted in public with your cousin. Even if you two were to be caught in an embrace, people would think little of it. You will satisfy her curiosity and keep her urges in check. I'll teach you the appropriate jutsu to prevent pregnancy as well as what to do should the unthinkable happen."

Neji swallowed, throat dry.

"Neji, she'll be safe with you. As will the reputation of your family."

"But that's..." Neji searched for the right word but could only come up with, "SICK!"

Face suddenly cold, the woman turned away from him, stalking to a nearby bookshelf. "Well, don't get angry with me, I'm not the one who came up with it. That's the way it's always been. Be glad she's sweet and harmless and not a raging, hormonal nympho."

Neji grimaced. The thought of sex with his cousin was nothing less than appalling. He'd never be able to do something like that, no matter what reason the woman gave him. It was so unthinkable it was almost making him physically ill.

That and he'd just discovered he hated the word 'nympho.'

"Now then, here's your work for tonight." Not missing a beat, she handed the dazed Neji a red leather-bound volume. "Study as many as you think you can manage, and be prepared to demonstrate at the end of the night."

Thoughtlessly opening the cover, Neji couldn't help but cringe. Even with his ninja training, he wouldn't have thought human bodies could bend that way. Or that they'd want to. And why the hell was the woman upside down in this one? Did his "trainer" think Hinata would want him to do this to her?

Neji blanched at the thought of touching his cousin like that, the illustrations somehow making the notion more real. It was a crime against nature that it had even been suggested, and he was ashamed at how thinking about it made him feel strangely warm inside.

Imagining how Hinata's soft, pale skin would feel against him, hesitant fingers brushing across his chest, he was ashamed to feel his breath catch in his chest. It was disgusting. But he couldn’t help wondering about how her mouth would taste. About her lips parting, yielding to his kiss. About the breathy little sounds she’d make as he--

"Oh, and Neji," he jumped as the woman interrupted, her hand covering the sinfully enticing illustration. Leaning down to rub her knuckles gently across his chin, breath warm across his neck, she said softly, "I realize have no natural talent in the matter, but you could at least TRY to give me an orgasm. It's all becoming quite tedious if you must know the truth."

Cheeks flaming as she patted his head as one might a small child, Neji hid behind his book, trying desperately not to think of orgasms and Hinata's legs around his waist.

He cursed fate yet again when he failed.

XXXXX CHAPTER 5 XXXXX

It was his sixth day of “training,” and Neji thought he'd done it all.

After the initial shock, things fell into place, seeming almost normal now. With the help of his "trainer," he'd experienced everything from tender, romantic cuddling to straight-out mindless fucking, finding his preference to be somewhere in between. She usually had specific plans for him, but sometimes, at the end of the night, she'd let him experiment.

When he had his choice, he liked to feel her body beneath him, lips at his neck and arms around his shoulders, their legs entangled, bodies joined. Or, bracing himself against the headboard, he'd slide her down onto him, hands directing her hips as he rocked gently into her. Other times, taking her from behind, he'd reach around to caress her breasts, rolling a nipple gently between his fingertips, or slide his fingers further down to rub smooth, slick circles against her sex as she made those sounds he couldn't get enough of.

So after all this, he'd justifiably come to believe he’d grown out of being shocked. After all, what could there be he hadn't tried? However, it was now clear that he had been quite mistaken.

"You want to put WHAT up my WHERE?!" Eyes wide, he gaped as the woman smacked the object lightly against her palm.

"You heard me," she said, one softly-curled lock falling across her brow as she tilted her head expectantly.

“No,” he told her, arms crossed against his naked chest. “Absolutely not.”

“Wrong answer. Turn around.”

“I said no, and that means NO! Hinata would definitely NOT do this to me!” he shouted, clenching his teeth.

“If you’re scared...” she began.

"I am NOT scared! I am a chuunin ninja--"

"--master of the Kaiten and the Sixth-Four Hands of blah, blah, blah, I remember the spiel. But this is the last of the basics, and unless you'd like me to bring in a man to--"

"NO!!"

"Then snap to it."

Ass still planted firmly on the bed, Neji raised his chin and sent the woman the type of glare that made grown men wet themselves. "I'm NOT doing it, and there's no way in HELL you'll ever convince me!" he declared.

XXXXX

Sprawled face-down on the bed, pillow over his head, Neji once again cursed fate.

"You see, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" she asked, rubbing his back soothingly.

"It was hideous," Neji moaned, pulling the pillow tighter over his ears. If there were ninja ranks for sexual persuasion, this woman would be Hokage.

"Hideous in that I was right, or hideous that you liked it?" she asked, her weight lifting off the bed.

"...ngh..."

Neji tried in vain to shut out the melodic laughter that followed. If only she'd stayed dressed...

"Well, your performance was acceptable-- the writhing in ecstasy was a good addition--"

Neji groaned.

"--so I have a mission for you."

"Stop talking. I'm taking a nap."

"Sleeping after sex? I'm shocked." She didn't sound it. "But I'm going to give you your mission and see you out. I have better things to do than listen to you snore."

"Shut up."

"Have sex with someone else."

"Fine... what do you want?" he grumbled, lifting the pillow from his head.

"That's your mission. You have to sleep with someone else. A virgin. We'll call it a trial run."

Neji sighed heavily as he dragged himself up, annoyed when it hurt. Sleep with a virgin. Of course. She had to make sure he could manage with Hinata. Who would never, ever, EVER want to have sex with him. Not that she should; that was vile. As was taking someone's virginity as a "trial run."

"That's highly immoral," he told her half-heartedly. He hadn't been doing so well getting his way, and he didn't have high hopes. "No girl would do that, giving up her maidenhood so easily."

The woman rolled her eyes. " 'Maidenhood'... how old-fashioned! I know for a fact there are a number of young women who'd give their eye teeth to sleep with you. They don't care about morality! You're a Hyuuga, a genius, a superior ninja headed straight to the top! ...and with a very nice ass, to boot."

"So NOW you compliment me," he mumbled, sifting through the rumpled sheets for his headband.

"It'll be different with someone else, and you need to experience that," she said, making it sound like a matter of course. "Especially with a virgin."

"I'd feel like a predator," he said, fingers closing around the familiar blue fabric. "And besides, how would I arrange it?"

"Well, that's up to you. But I don't want to see you again until you're prepared to tell me all about it, in graphic, scintillating detail."

"Which means I'm stuck doing genin work until I succeed in deflowering an innocent girl. Pleasant."

She sighed. "...deflowering... honestly, where DO you get these expressions? But yes, that is correct. Come back when you're finished, but remember not to be early."

Neji scowled at the metal-etched leaf in his hand. "Only a man without honor would take advantage of a respectable woman, and I am an honorable man. But being an honorable man, I can't have relations with an unrespectable woman, for fear of compromising my honor. And since only an unrespectable woman would have sex with a man who lies to her, which I would be forced to do-"

"Stop over-analyzing it," the woman said, shaking her head. "People have sex all the time for worse reasons, I assure you."

"I'm not 'people,' " Neji told her indignantly. "I'm above that. Above THEM."

"Well," she told him with a strangely wistful, wholly beautiful smile, "it doesn't look like you are anymore."