Kindred

A/N: Thank you for the encouraging feedback on the previous chapters. Love you Tyra! ^_^

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Shikamaru made his way to the parking lot with large, quick steps, hands jammed into the pockets of his trousers. He couldn’t wait to get into his car and away from the restaurant. He reviewed in his mind his list of all the plausible ways this evening could have gone wrong, but he had never factored in any of the things that actually occurred. The realization both shocked and disappointed the Nara. He was usually better at anticipating the outcome of a situation, particularly those in which he was himself involved.

Neji was doing his best job of trying to keep pace with the Nara, himself preoccupied with the events in the restaurant. Damn that woman and her indecent proposal! Neji had the evening all planned out, and she went and ruined it! And the blond man—did he touch the Nara in the men’s bathroom? Had he put his hands on Neji’s property?! Neji didn’t know, but judging by the look he saw on the Nara’s face when the man propositioned them, something had damn well occurred in there. But how was Neji going to find out without giving himself away? He didn’t want to scare Shikamaru away with his possessiveness, it might make things awkward for them to work together and besides, Neji had no idea about Shikamaru’s sexual…proclivities.

Neji supposed he should have known after all this time, and to be fair, he had his suspicions. The thing is, Shikamaru just wasn’t a sexual being, at least not on purpose. He didn’t date or discuss anyone more than anyone else and Neji had never, ever heard the Nara make an off-color remark about anyone’s attributes…at least not a flattering one. There may have been telltale clues in Shikamaru’s apartment, but in all the time they’d been partners Neji had never been there. In fact, Shikamaru hadn’t been to Neji’s home either. All this time each had been content with the late evening cell phone conference. Well, Neji decided, he would be content no longer. Unless Shikamaru gave him a damn good reason against it, Neji was going to have the Nara for himself.

Soon.

Neji looked at Shikamaru, who was moving like a locomotive in the direction of the car. The Nara pulled his keys from his pocket, and then stopped. He rounded on Neji, who stopped too.

“Why don’t you drive?” Shikamaru asked, and tossed the keys to Neji, who caught them without even looking. Neji said nothing, merely pressed the unlock button on the key fob and walked to the driver side of the Nara’s car. They got inside, buckled up, and drove off.

“Where to?” Neji attempted to ask casually. Shikamaru sat in the driver’s seat with his elbow on the armrest propping his head.

“Somewhere I can drink gratuitously and contemplate existentialism with my loaded 9MM.”

Whoa. Something did happen in the bathroom at that restaurant. It had to for Shikamaru to be this emotionally out of sorts! Neji was fuming underneath, but calmly responded, “I know just the place.”

And off they went.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They rode in silence. Darkness was falling outside and the shadows were increasing. Sulky was a good word to describe the Nara’s visage at the moment. Neji bit his lip again. He needed to organize his own thoughts. The Hyuuga would be no good to the Nara tonight if he couldn’t get a handle on his own emotions.

Something had occurred between Shikamaru and the good-looking blond in the bathroom at the restaurant. Then the man propositioned them both before they left.

The man was a bottom; he believed the pair to be a couple, and that Neji was the bottom in the dynamic. Neji pondered this for some moments. To be fair, Neji had bottomed before. His first sexual experience with a man had been as a bottom for a much older man many years ago. Did Neji have a preference? He hadn’t actually given the matter much thought. He wasn’t having sex with anyone anymore, male or female, and hadn’t for some time.

Neji supposed he didn’t mind, particularly if he would be bottoming for Shikamaru, but…time had evolved Neji into a powerful and aggressive man. When he imagined being with the Nara (and he had, as recently as inside the restaurant) he imagined taking him, not being taken by him. How would the Nara feel about being swept off his feet? How long would Neji have to wait to find out?

Had the blond tried to offer himself to the Nara in the bathroom? Had he tried to touch Shikamaru? Perhaps it wasn’t something the blond did, but something the Nara did in reaction. The blond had apologized for his behavior. Had Shikamaru lost his cool? If the Nara was straight, then anything that happened in the bathroom between the two men was likely to make him uncomfortable. Unless…

Whatever happened was something that Shikamaru hadn’t been emotionally prepared for. Shikamaru, who never got worked up over anything.

Realization dawned on Neji. So that’s what it was.

Neji glanced over at the Nara, who hadn’t moved from the position he’d been in since they had first gotten into the car. Neji would take the man to his home and get him to confess. Then he would help him sort through his feelings.

And eventually, he would claim the Nara for himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sensation of the car maneuvering a hard curve caused Shikamaru to raise his head. He had no idea where Neji was taking them. He wasn’t going to ask.

Shikamaru recognized the neighborhood, which was to say he’d used the GPS in his vehicle to get out of it when he’d taken a couple of wrong turns once. The Nara knew that if you weren’t stinking filthy rich it wasn’t in your best interest to get ‘lost’ around here. The cops in this part of town were complete cynics.

Neji pulled up to the gate of a long, four-story building that seemed to have more security surrounding it than Fort Knox. He let the window down on his side.

“Good evening, Mr. Hyuuga”, a security guard greeted. Behind that one, another one standing inside a booth released the gate that would permit Neji to park the vehicle inside the garage.

“Good evening, Mango¹.” Neji drove through and pulled the car into one of a row of garages. The garage door came down behind them securely. The inside of the garage was cold, in pristine condition and very well-lit.

Neji eyed his partner, who seemed to be assessing his surroundings. “You ready?” he asked in a calm voice. Shikamaru nodded.

They got out of the car. Neji led them to a door, which he opened and the Nara went through. Neji followed, then closed and locked the door from the other side by punching a specific code into a keypad. No one who had no business near the Nara’s Lexus could get access to it; it was now locked into the garage from both sides.

The inside of the building was lit well, but softly. Plush carpeting and lush potted foliage lined the hallways. The soothing sounds of classical music could be heard through speakers installed in the ceiling.

The Hyuuga led them down a couple of hallways to an elevator. He pressed the button, and then waited. The ding signaling the arrival of the elevator sounded.

“What no lift attendant?” Shikamaru asked as the elevator doors opened. He just couldn’t resist. Both men stepped inside. The button for the fourth floor lit up beneath the pressure of Neji’s finger.

“We had him assassinated”, Neji responded as the doors closed. “He knew too much.”

Was that humor? Shikamaru thought to himself as they rode the elevator in silence. Shikamaru wasn’t actually sure. Given the nature of their surroundings there was at least a 50/50 chance the Hyuuga wasn’t kidding. He didn’t want to contemplate that possibility too closely.

Neji had become someone different practically overnight in Shikamaru’s eyes. First that comment last night over the phone, then the invitation to go out, that odd look at the restaurant, punching the guy as they were leaving...it was a side of the man he didn’t know existed, a more human side. Or perhaps he had known, and simply didn’t want to acknowledge it. The Nara didn’t want to ponder the Hyuuga’s passionate humanity. It was almost too much to know that it was there and just out of his reach.

They arrived at the fourth floor quickly. Neji got off first, and Shikamaru followed, again assessing his surroundings. The pair walked the long hallway until they reached the door numbered 404.

Neji used a key to open the door. An alarm went off. The Hyuuga walked toward a box installed on the wall to the left and punched in a numeric code. The alarm stopped, and the lights came up. Shikamaru removed his shoes and socks and slid his feet into one of several pair of slippers positioned by the door. He stood up then, and his eyes went wide.

They walked into a spacious room. The word symmetry came to mind as Shikamaru scanned the interior. The walls were adorned with paintings. The ceilings were high. The furniture was expensive. All of it was carefully, symmetrically positioned.

The place had a grand ballroom feel to it. All that was missing was the giant chandelier.

“The couch is very comfortable, if you are so inclined”, Neji announced, interrupting the Nara’s thoughts. “I’ll get us something to drink.”

“Bathroom?” Shikamaru asked. Neji pointed toward a hallway.

“First door on the left.”

“Thanks.” The Nara made his way to the bathroom, closing the door behind him with an easy click. He could hear Neji rummaging around in what he suspected was a giant, gourmet kitchen.

Shikamaru scanned the bathroom. It was a giant, spotless, chrome-and-marble creation. It had a stand-up shower that appeared as though it could hold four people comfortably. The Nara did the math. That’s two couples at once. There were even two shower heads, each coming out of opposite walls. Shikamaru wondered if the bathroom he was standing in had ever been used to its full capacity.

If this was any indication, then the rumors about the Hyuuga wealth must be true. Shikamaru couldn’t be certain but he didn’t think it was possible to live this well on what special investigators earned, no matter how good they were at what they do. Shikamaru had heard the rumors, of course, but paid them no mind. Neji didn’t bring his family legacy on the job with him. He didn’t expect special treatment for being a Hyuuga. He took his work very seriously. He more than held up his end.

Shikamaru approached the commode and worked himself out of his pants. As he stood, memories of the restaurant bathroom filled his thoughts. He found the blond good-looking; Shikamaru was willing to admit that to himself. He was nowhere near as good-looking as Neji, though. And the man wanted him. It was the Nara he’d followed into the bathroom. It was him the stranger had jacked off to and then offered to bottom for. This was new for Shikamaru. No man had ever pursued him that way, even back when he dated the girls!

Shikamaru liked the attention. He would admit that to himself as well. It was rare when he received it, rarer still when he received it from a man. The Nara was…flattered.

And he wanted more attention, but he wanted it from Neji. No one else mattered.

Shikamaru finished, zipped himself up and walked over to the sink to wash his hands. The soap—in fact, the entire bathroom—smelled of vanilla and lavender. Shikamaru turned on the faucet and took a look at himself in the mirror as he lathered his hands.

Shikamaru and Neji had been partners for two years. They knew each other. They trusted each other. They respected each other. They took care of each other. But it wouldn’t last forever, no matter how much either of them wanted it to. Tonight’s bathroom episode was, in effect, a sign. If Shikamaru wanted Neji in his life, he had to make a stand now. He couldn’t go on running from his feelings. He could no longer allow their partnership to be enough.

Firmly resolved but anxious nonetheless, Shikamaru bent over the sink and splashed the water on his face. He was a little too vigorous and the shirt he was wearing got soaked from the splashing. Shit, Shikamaru thought to himself. He shut off the faucet and reached for a towel, trying to absorb what he could from his shirt with it before dabbing his face.

“Is everything all right?” came the question from the other side of the door. Shikamaru could tell the Hyuuga was calling out from the living room where they were.

“Uh, yeah, I’ll be right out.” Shikamaru replaced the towel. Then, while undoing two buttons on the soaked shirt to keep the wet spots from clinging to him, he took one last look at himself in the mirror.

Strategy, Shikamaru thought to himself. You can do this.

Shikamaru emerged from the hallway to find the Hyuuga sitting in the living room in a big chair next to the sofa. The sound of classical music wafted through the room. On the coffee table in front of them was a tray of sake and—

“Is that—yokan²?” Shikamaru asked, approaching the living room. The Hyuuga looked at him, smirking.

“It was all I had. If I had known you were coming, I would have picked up some dango.”

It would have been an elegant scene to anyone lucky enough to see it. The Hyuuga sat in the chair. His vest had been unbuttoned completely and he was also wearing a pair of slippers. On the table in front of him was a beautiful tray with what appeared to be a very expensive sake service. Next to it was a platter of confection typically consumed with tea, not sake.

He remembered, Shikamaru thought, seating himself on the couch. It was just as comfortable as Neji said it was. Suddenly he felt the fight leaving his body—all the tension and stress of the entire day was being siphoned out of him by the cushions of that big comfortable couch, the sound of the music and the sight of the awesomely beautiful man. Shikamaru rubbed his eyes.

“Make yourself comfortable, Nara. I’ll pour.” Shikamaru lay back on the couch, his head propped by the arm, and one leg hanging off the side. He could fall asleep just like this.

He looked at the Hyuuga then. “Hit me”, he told him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N:

(1) I happened to be eating Haagen-Dazs Mango ice cream when that sentence was added to this fic. Good stuff.

(2) Yokan, like dango, is a form of wagashi, or Japanese confectionery (pastry, people) typically consumed with tea. Thank Wikipedia for that as well; I only know dango because I had it in Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagashi

Lots of getting in touch with feelings in this chapter. Neji hazards a guess about what is ailing Shikamaru. Shikamaru has now resolved not to let any more grass grow under his undeclared feelings for the Hyuuga. What happens next? Please stay tuned and don’t forget to review! ^_^