My Little Choji-kun

6. Keeping house and caring for the baby.


Choji-chan’s dinner consisted of food mashed up and fed from a spoon. This when coupled with the small hands that tried in vain to help made a very messy combination, and when the baby was full, both he and Shikamaru were in dire need of a bath. The shadow ninja grabbed a towel and cleaned as much of it off of himself as he could before lifting the child and carrying him to the bathroom and stripping him to his diaper in preparation for a bath.
Neji cleaned the table and chair they had used and put away the things they had needed to prepare his food. Then he ventured after the two, finding a very happy baby splashing a very wet Shikamaru from the tub. It was too funny, and Neji couldn’t suppress a laugh. At this he drew attention to himself and thanks to a well directed splash from his new boyfriend, he too was now very wet.
“May as well join the party.” The now pony-tailless man said. Choji-chan had long since pulled the tie loose. “Come here and hold him while I get a towel.” He said, lifting the squirming boy out of the water and handing him to Neji.
To say that Neji had never held a child was wrong. To say that Neji had never held a child comfortably was more correct. Choji-chan took advantage of this and pulled at the long strands of hair that dangled so temptingly in his reach.
“Ouch. Do not pull hair, Choji.” He reprimanded a little sternly. Choji-chan sniffed a couple of times before releasing a soul-wrenching cry that shocked Neji. His eyes went wide as he realized what he had done, and he pulled the small child close and rocked him back and forth. “I’m sorry. Don’t cry, I didn’t mean to be so mean. I’m sorry, Choji-chan.” He said over and over until the cries turned to hiccuppy sobs and then to quiet. Shikamaru watched from the sink where he held a fluffy towel and when he thought Neji had regained control he wrapped it around the child and pulled him away.
“Time to get you dressed. Before we have any, em, Accidents.” He said and Neji jumped away.
Once more in Choji’s room, the shadow ninja pulled out a box from under the bed and placed a mat on the quilt. He then laid the baby down and pulled out some other supplies. In a short while he had powdered, diapered, and dressed the baby in a blue sleeper with little ducks on it. Then he hoisted the infant and handed him to Neji.
“You two get to know each other while I get changed and get him his bottle.” And with that he left the room. Neji stared at the child who was truly a man, and wondered how much of the adult Choji was still in this tiny being. He tried to remember what Choji had said about this in his explanation, and it seemed that the memories of his time as the baby were limited, so he must be buried very deeply in the back of the child’s awareness.
“Well, then you would like to do what all babies do. Now, if I only knew what babies did.” And he looked around the room once more. The box under the bed was still pulled out, and at one end he found saw what looked like a baby scroll. He pulled out the thing and after shifting the child to sit against his chest as he sat on the chair; he opened it and looked at he colorful diagrams and words. He smiled when Choji-chan patted a bright picture and gurgled something that sounded like, “Book. My book.” And so Neji read the scroll out-loud for the baby while Shikamaru took his sweet time cleaning up and returned.
When the scroll was read, Neji rolled it up and looked down at a sleepy baby, rubbing his eyes and shifting restlessly.
“Oh, you’re tired. Where is Shikamaru? Let’s go find him and get you to bed.” He said as he replaced the scroll and headed for the door. As he looked up from the box, he found a smiling Nara Shikamaru standing in the doorway, with a bottle in hand and a towel wrapped around his head. “You had time to shower?” he asked and the answer came in the form of a quick kiss to his cheek as Shikamaru took Choji-chan and headed for the crib that Neji had set up for him earlier.
“Here you go. Now finish this and go right to sleep for Tousan. Love my little Choji-kun. Come on, let’s get out of here for a bit.” The genius nin said, after placing the child in the crib and handing him a large bottle of something that did not resemble milk.
Neji followed him out and they dropped onto the couch in exhaustion.
“Caring for a baby is a lot of work, ne?” Shikamaru said, leaning his head back and tilting it to regard Neji, who sat stiffly next to him. The towel was now draped over his shoulders.
“Hmmm.” Was all that got him. Shikamaru reached out to turn the Hyuuga’s head his way, and when they had made eye contact, Neji gasped at the look in the other’s eyes.
“Is it too much already?” he asked, concealing his disappointment in sarcasm.
“Hmm? No. I was just thinking about what it would be like to have a child all the time. This is just for the night. Imagine how it would be if you had a child and were responsible for it all day long.” Then the Hyuuga sighed as he too leaned back. “How did it all start, Shikamaru?”
“Ahh. Well, he missed his mother. When she died, he was going through some of her things and came across a box she had saved from when he was a baby. It made him feel closer to her, and he kept it. Things progressed from there. After he perfected the Jutsu his father cared for his transformed self. It helped his dad deal with the loss also. But that was when the weight loss began. He cannot maintain his body weight on a diet of soft foods and milk. The formula we use now is high concentrate of proteins and fats. Lots of carbohydrates and sugars. It will maintain him if he eats enough during the day.”
Neji thought this through, “But he has been losing more weight?” he said by way of a question.
“Yes. I think he is dealing with guilt. It eats away at him, and stress does its job on him, too. He doesn’t eat enough during the day and he has lost his weight. I have considered leaving off of Chuunin duties until he regains his attack, but that would add to the problem. He needs to feel free from the guilt. And you need to take a shower. So, I am going to have to insist that you take one.” And he rose, pulling Neji along with him. The Hyuuga allowed himself to be dragged down the hall to the bathroom and when he didn’t seem inclined to undress, the Nara man smiled wickedly. “I was going to make you wait until morning, but I can just . . . ” and his hands began pulling off the other’s clothing.
Neji recovered quickly.
“Make me wait for what?” he asked as he brushed Shikamaru’s hands away and took over the job.
“Me.” Was the answer as the Jounin stepped out of the bathroom door.
Neji mentally slapped himself.

:::A/N - Keeping it light for now. How about that Hyuuga ability to jump right in there and give it the “old Ninja Academy” try?

Serenia - Phychology? In a story that deals with a psychotic tendency? Wow, what a concept, I wish I had thought of that. Well, if you like the Shika/Neji that much, hang on it's about to get messy.

redfox9t - Ahh, about my quick updates, You see - Unlike many others who post here, I am not a high school/College student, so the only one pushing me to write is my overflowing vat of creativity. Or as some may say: my personal well of insanity. Whichever it may be, I am driven to compile these things by my own desire, and I do not have to pump out meaningless drivel for some professor/teacher's benefit. I do not prove my abilities by achieving a letter grade that says I can compose a sentence the way some text tells me it must be formulated. I like writing stories and such that read the way real people speak. And maybe someday I will have some one edit my work. But I rather doubt it, as of now.
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