Sway

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


The first month consisted of securing a home, finding a job, and putting up the foundations of the newlywed neighbors. It also held a great deal of whining in private, done of course, by Naruto. Fortunately, as he made friends with the women of the village, making connections they’d need for information gathering purposes, and keeping himself occupied, the whining slowly died down.

Neji was very thankful.

Currently, Naruto was padding about the living room, with a pillow stuffed under his shirt. Neji had been trying to ignore the hemming and hawing coming from him, but it was getting harder, as Naruto thought more seriously about whatever it was he was considering.

Neji followed his approach, listening to the quiet footfalls against the wooden floors.

“Seiichi?”

Neji grunted softly in reply.

Naruto leaned back against the desk, arms draped artfully behind him. Along the edge of his vision, the protruding pillow wavered. The lack of focus making it look very realistic, which made Neji shift uncomfortably.

“Remember when we talked about kids?”

Neji put down his brush. This was not going to be a good conversation. The premature throbbing in his temples was more than enough warning.

“Nanako,” he sighed. “We never spoke about children.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Naruto replied.

Sighing twice was beneath him, so instead, Neji looked up, meeting Naruto’s eyes.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early?”

Naruto shook his head. Dropping down into a crouch beside him, Naruto balanced his hands over Neji’s thigh, as if to cajole him. He lowered his voice. “We could fake it. It’s a great excuse to conceal weapons. See?” He jutted out his hips, balancing on his toes. The pillow bulged audaciously.

For a moment – a single insane moment – Neji considered it. And was instantly horrified for having thought so.

“Nanako…”

“Please Seiichi,” Naruto countered, with a pout and a soft batting of long eyelashes.

“No.”

Naruto stood, with a huff and threw his arms out. “Why not?”

Neji carefully took a moment to collect himself, feeling the urge to drop the façade just enough to call his partner an idiot. He couldn’t however. There were spies everywhere. They knew that they were spies, but they couldn’t be sure of anyone else. Which necessitated the need to constantly uphold the roles they’d been assigned.

“Nanako…” he said, turning in his seat to face the blond. “Honey, there’s plenty of time for children.”

Naruto frowned, and pulling the pillow free of his shirt, threw it clear at Neji’s head.

The brunette had to forcibly slow his reflex to dodge, managing to do so only as it grazed by, purposefully hitting the top of his head. “Nanako,” he tried, tingeing his voice with just enough pleading to be acceptable to anyone listening.

But, Naruto stormed off. The last Neji could see of him, was a wisp of skirt, and blonde curls disappearing about the corner.

Sighing for effect, he went back to his work. His mind busily piecing apart the incident that had occurred, in order to subtract the code. All he could get however, was that Naruto seriously thought faking a pregnancy was a good idea.

Frustrated, and feeling all too comfortable with the idea, he pushed away from the desk. As he stood, he realized just how comfortable. Much to his dismay, the little display had been somewhat arousing. He blamed it on the fact that Naruto was masquerading as a woman, and hearing a female voice confess to wanting to bear his children had never happened in his life.

Well, barring the last time the blond had brought it up.

Thinking now was as good a time as any to speak to him – if you left Naruto to his own devices, you’d be regretting the outcome for years – Neji traced the other’s steps. Naruto had – typically – barricaded himself in the bedroom. Being a shinobi, Neji pretended to jiggle the ‘stuck’ handle, as he secretly picked the lock.

Naruto didn’t bother to feign surprise, as Neji slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. Hands quickly forming seals, he secured the door, and moved across the room to the bed, where Naruto lay.

“Nanako,” he began, climbing unto the bed. Reaching for his partner, he grasped his shoulder lightly, guiding him to roll unto his back. Naruto hesitated, before following through, blond hair spilling beneath him in a wave of gold so enticing, Neji had to remind himself this was a mission.

He’d been having to do it a lot, in the past week. Naruto was just too effective in his characterization.

“Nanako…I’m sorry.”

Naruto lay still, as Neji leaned down. The instant their lips touched, the genjutsu activated, and Neji sat up, dropping the façade. Naruto however, remained where he was.

Unfortunately, while the genjutsu they’d arranged for this room specifically would give anyone passing by quite a show, while Neji could raise the set of his shoulders, and if necessary, use his byakugan, Naruto couldn’t risk switching back to male form, in the off chance there was a flicker, or someone dispelled it all together.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Naruto sighed, dispelling the higher tone of voice. Strangely enough, the deep, rumbling tone coming from the angelic figure of a woman never managed to make Neji uncomfortable. He would wonder about it later. “You didn’t have to do that,” he replied.

“Nanako and Seiichi were having a fight. They’re newlyweds. Make up sex is typical.”

Naruto snorted, but refrained from comment. “I’m tired,” he sighed, closing his eyes.

“Get some rest,” Neji replied. They might as well, seeing as the jutsu had a set time.

Naruto opened one eye, then the other. There was a scowl on his face, and a sharpness to the blue orbs Neji couldn’t quite decipher.

Sitting up angrily – for which, Neji hadn’t a clue as to the reason why, save perhaps the outright refusal of his idea – the blond pushed himself to the side of the bed, kicking his legs over it as he did so.

“Naruto-”

“It’s Nanako!” he shouted.

Neji’s brow furrowed. “Not when the genjutsu’s active.”

“Even when the genjutsu’s active!” snapped Naruto, standing, and roughly shoving down his skirt. They’d learned early, that while they had plenty of time while the jutsu was running, after it finished it’s prearranged illusion, they had to be in the same position and state of dress. Initially, it had been awkward. Far more awkward than sleeping in the same bed had been.

But, as everything, it came to be second nature. So, Neji had slowly and surely grown accustomed to waking up with a warm, naked body curled intimately with his. Perhaps, too accustomed, his mind supplied.

“Naruto, I know you’re feeling-”

“You don’t know a damn thing about what I’m feeling!”

Neji was taken aback. Sure, Naruto was prone to yelling in various states of emotional influx, but generally, it was a singular, congruent inflection. The new wavering in his tone made Neji stop short. Something was wrong.

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes, and momentarily pinching the bridge of his nose. Neji was fairly sure he’d never seen the younger shinobi so hard pressed to restrain himself. He’d done a lot of growing up during his time away. The acknowledgment made his stomach ache.

After a moment, Naruto’s eyes opened again, and he proceeded to remove his shirt. The first time he had done it, Neji had been confused over Naruto’s lack of a bra. He’d reasoned, the blond was perhaps sporting a C cup, which definitely needed some kind of restraint, before he’d stopped himself with a sharp reminder that they weren’t real. Naturally, Naruto shouldn’t have to wear an extra article of clothing to uphold something that wasn’t there.

By now, he was as accustomed to the sight of Naruto’s illusionary breasts as he was to waking up with them pressed solidly against his chest. In the waking hours, he would always marvel at how much training Naruto had to have done to be able to maintain such a strong illusion while unconscious. It only made him respect the younger shinobi more.

As Neji watched, Naruto stepped out of the only article of clothing left upon his current form. Gray eyes tracked the silent removal of lacy panties, trailing over tan flesh and soft blonde hair. This too, he’d grown accustomed to. Recalling his initial near sputtering reaction was beyond embarrassing, and so the Hyuuga had erased the incident from his memory.

Yet, there was always something about the way Naruto moved…So comfortably, so naturally.

Neji mentally shook himself. Now was not the time to be exploring the complexities of their situation. Needing something to keep him occupied, he shucked his shirt, and stepped out of his pants. Neji didn’t believe in underwear. A fact Naruto had teased him ruthlessly over for an entire week, when they’d first been forced to do this.

It wasn’t that he didn’t see the need for it, or even the consistence of it. He was aware that there were people who were compelled by a comfort as much as he. Except, in Neji’s case, comfort was in lack of the constricting attire. Naruto assured him, beyond his current state of enforced under attire, he normally wore boxers all the time. Which, honestly, Neji could see.

The fact that he felt assured in his (now confirmed) assumption that Naruto was a ‘boxers’ man, went wholly unnoticed.

Folding his legs in front of him, he turned and reached for his hairbrush, only to find it missing. Careful hands pulled the strip of leather tie free from the base of his mane, and long fingers stroked through the strands. Neji sighed.

Not too long ago, perhaps as little as five days, he had become aware of the fact that he was a singular outlet for Naruto’s boredom. When the blond wasn’t teasing him, he was interrupting his habits.

His eyes closed as the bristles met his scalp, the brush dragging down in smooth, elongated strokes. If it weren’t for the fact that Naruto brushed his hair better than he, he would have stopped this long ago.

After some time – Neji could never quite recall just how much – Naruto set the brush aside with a sigh. “The genjutsu’s ending.”

“Hmm,” was Neji’s reply.

They moved apart, settling into their positions. As the genjutsu faded around them, Neji drew Naruto close, arm about his waist possessively. “Mmm…I love you, Nanako…”

Naruto buried his face in Neji’s neck, hands curling into soft fists against his chest.

“Mmmhmm,” was all he said.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


“You don’t fuck your wife enough.”

Neji turned to look at the man who’d spoken, brow furrowing. “Excuse me?” he responded, tightly.

The elder man gestured across from them, where Naruto was laughing away with two other women in front of a grocer’s stand. “Your wife. You’re not satisfying her.”

“What he’s trying to say,” said another man, gripping Neji’s shoulder supportively and giving the other man a hard look. “Is that you could probably show her more attention.”

“I do show her attention,” Neji replied, wishing he could be anywhere but here at the moment.

There was a collective sigh, amongst some mutterings over the ‘ignorance of youth.’

Neji’s back straightened, and he turned to look at Naruto again. There was nothing he could see that was any different from his normal behavior, given their abnormal situation. “She’s happy,” he said, with conviction.

“Listen kid,” said the first observer. “Take it from your elders. A woman that extraordinary needs far more attention than the average woman. Beauty like that deserves…oh…what? About three, four times a day?”

There was some head nodding, accompanied by bids for higher numbers.

“Sure you’re doing it right?” asked another. He’d asked with honest intention, but Neji was still jarringly offended. It must have slipped through his careful control, because the elder man held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “I was only implying, that there’s more to loving a woman than driving home, if you know what I mean.”

Neji could feel a blush creeping up his neck and was determined to beat it within an inch of its insidious existence.

The group of men laughed, and Neji was patted on the back encouragingly. “Here, take the rest of the day off, Hayashi. Take your wife home, and see what we mean. Trust me, you’ll both be happy.”

Neji allowed them to thrust his unfinished bento into his arms, and shove him in the direction of Naruto. Of course, he spared them a glare, before charging up to him. He managed to startle Naruto’s companions. His partner, blinking in surprise at his sudden intrusion.

Neji mumbled something incoherent, and grabbing Naruto by the wrist, dragged him off. As he waved a confused goodbye to his friends, Naruto couldn’t help but catch the jeering of the men across the way, and the soft, knowing smiles of the women.


“Seiichi?” he asked as Neji dragged him through the front door, shoving him away to close it. There was a quick flash of seals, and as he felt the genjutsu go up, he frowned, folding his arms across his chest. “Neji? What the hell?”

Neji turned around, and Naruto was trapped in the sharp gaze of the Hyuuga’s byakugan. He held still, as Neji looked him up and down, worried that perhaps he’d slipped up. Once the byakugan had been dispelled, he met Neji’s eyes expectantly.

“Well?” he asked, when no answer was forthcoming.

Instead, the brunette bypassed him, searching every room in the house. Naruto followed, arms still locked across his chest. When it appeared the inspection was over, he cocked a curious brow. “Plan on telling me what’s going on?”

Neji sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t know how – the genjutsu barrier was in perfect condition – but the villagers knew something was amiss.

“Neji…” Naruto called, waving a hand in his face. “Oi! Hyuuga!”

Neji blinked, and then frowned slightly. “We’ve done something wrong,” he replied, the words alone, like a death sentence to his shinobi pride. Naruto bounced from angry to worried in one quick moment.

“What do they know?”

“I’m not sure the extent to which they know, but, there seems to be speculation over our sex life.”

Naruto gave a derisive snort. “Is that what this is about?” He placed a hand over his chest, and sighed, before laughing. “Neji, you’re a guy. You should know guys tease each other about stuff like that all the time.”

“Not with me,” he replied, suffocating his embarrassment.

The blond snorted. “Well, of course not with you,” he countered. “You get so worked up over everything, you’d probably hospitalize someone…Heh. You should hear the way Kiba talks!” He paused for a moment and gave him a pointed look. “We purposely avoid this topic around you, you know.”

“Why?” Neji found himself asking. Not that he cared, but the fact that his friends refused to talk to him about something made him inescapably angry, for some reason.

Naruto made a dismissive sound, before realizing he was serious. “Well…come on, Neji…I mean, it’s you.” He gestured vaguely.

Neji’s gaze narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, don’t get so worked up over it. Sasuke used to-” He stopped, as if suddenly scalded. Shaking his head, he recovered quickly. “Anyway, the point is…you’re not exactly the type.”

“I’m a guy, aren’t I?” Neji replied. “By your qualifications, I should be.”

Naruto exhaled tiredly. As if uncomfortable with explaining something to someone as bright as Neji. In truth, Neji was surprised the blond was taking the time to explain, instead of openly mocking him.

“Look, if the crisis is over, I need to get back to the market and-”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Well, obviously not right now,” the blond replied, gesturing widely about them, indicating the genjutsu. “I meant, after.”

Neji shook his head, eyes narrowed. “No. They’ll probably still be able to tell.”

Naruto sighed. “Neji, it’s not like I can do anything about it. We’re not really having sex.” He took a step back warily, as Neji seemed to latch unto his reply.

“Naruto?”

“Yeah?”

“When exactly was the last time you…” He made a vague jerking motion with his hand, as if the mildly obscene gesture could spare him the embarrassment of actually saying the words.

Naruto – in spite of his best efforts not to – flushed.

Wringing his hands together, eyes focussing intently on the floor, he mumbled something incoherent.

“What?” Neji replied.

“Three months, next Tuesday.”

Despite the fact, that shinobi trained their bodies to refuse all sorts of influences, there were just some things that needed attention. On a mission as lasting as theirs, abstinence just wasn’t an option, if they wanted to remain sane and functional.

“Then, go do it.”

Naruto visibly fumbled. Biting his lip, he murmured something.

“What was that?”

“I said, I don’t know how, okay?!” he snapped, embarrassment coloring his cheeks, and making his eyes shine. Neji’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I haven’t had a…well…and…that wasn’t something they taught me, and…”

He gasped as his back connected with the bed. “Neji!” he cried, shocked as the brunette pulled his underwear down.

“I didn’t want to ask. But if you really are stuck in a woman’s body for the next year, Naruto, we’re going to have to get around this, if we want to maintain our cover.”

Naruto was trying hard not to pant. “Like you know-OH!” His head snapped back, back arching clear of the bed as Neji’s hand slipped between his legs and pressed.

“Wh-what...?” he gasped, as the brunette wound tight circles in an area that felt all too new, given he’d apparently had it all this time.

“Don’t you pay attention, when you guys talk?” Neji replied coolly.

Naruto gave an offended hiss through his teeth, that died somewhere between an inhale and a moan.

“One would think, your sensei at least…”

Naruto gave a throaty chuckle, before his hips bucked up to meet Neji’s fingers.

Neji, however, was more concerned by the fact that no one had apparently taken Naruto aside and explained things to him. A voice in the back of his mind supplied that besides his perverted sensei, there really was no one to explain it to him. And even had his sensei taken an interest, likely Naruto would simply be given a pervy book to read, by way of explanation.

Sighing inwardly, his mind was too preoccupied with all the things he’d have to explain to the blonde, that it took him a moment to feel the pressure against his wrist. Looking down curiously, he managed to catch the look on Naruto’s face as he came, all flushed skin, and open mouthed.

He didn’t, however, fail to catch his own name being shouted at the ceiling. Unsurprisingly, it bothered him, not one bit.