Good Fences

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Good Fences

Neji stepped aside to allow Naruto to pass through his doorway. Knowing that Naruto would be borrowing his shower, he'd disarmed a majority of his traps ahead of time. He saw no reason to reveal the depth of paranoia.

"Oh man, I really, really, really appreciate it, buddy. That fumigation stuff is crazy! I had to cover all my furniture..." Rambling on, Naruto took a few steps into the apartment, pausing by the unadorned kitchen table.

"That one's the bathroom," Neji made a minute gesture toward one of two closed doors.

"Oh that's... Yeah, I got that. It's just that you have my same floorplan. I sort of thought this place would be bigger, what with you being a Hyuuga and all."

Neji lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug, but when Naruto seemed to expect more, he begrudged, "I don't really need more."

Naruto grinned teasingly, "What, no special lady in your life?"

Neji just leveled a look at him. "No."

"I know some girls. Nothing special, but not bad looking. Not too much fuss. We could head over there tonight after I shower..." The last was muffled when Naruto began pulling his shirt over his head. Neji turned his face away, though he still handily dodged when Naruto tried to snap the sweaty t-shirt at him. "Hey, pay attention, Captain Hyuuga. I said I know some girls."

Neji was standing in front of his bedroom door now, arms crossed and aware of how defensive his posture must appear. Naruto was eyeing him skeptically, probably imagining he had dead bodies in there or something. He didn't seem at all embarrassed that he was now half naked in a public living area.

Neji just appraised him cooly. "As delightful as that sounds, I think not."

Naruto just shook his head, still grinning. "Sure thing." But he waited until the bathroom door was closed (but not locked, Neji noticed) before adding with a laugh, "I guess the rumors are true... You do still have that stick up your ass."

But then a second later the door opened again and a sheepish Naruto appeared.

Noticing Neji's arched eyebrow, he said, "That wasn't exactly how that was supposed to go. I was going to take a shower while you realized how funny that actually was. But then I realized I forgot to get a towel..." Wordlessly, Neji pointed him to the linen cupboard.

"...You still have that stick up your ass?" Naruto tried again. "Ha ha?"

Neji just stared at him. "Hysterical."

He could hear mutterings of "...needs to get laid," through the bathroom door, though he doubted it was intentional this time. No, of course there was no "special lady" in his life. One had to wonder how on earth Naruto had become such a spectacular ninja when his powers of observation were as dim as ever. Shaking his head, Neji took the three steps to the kitchen and put on the water for ramen, telling himself that Naruto had just returned from a mission and would probably be hungry.

()()()()()

Neji's bathroom was just as spartan as the rest of the apartment. There were no bathmats or toilet seat covers to provide any sort of comfort, and the shower curtain was a plain, unembellished white. The only thing on the sink was a single spotless water glass. Upon investigation, Naruto found that Neji kept all his toiletry items in the medicine cabinet. These items included about a year's supply of cinnamon dental floss, which went a long way toward explaining Neji's perfectly white, even teeth. There was not a trace of toothpaste stain on the counter or a single hair in the drain, which was surprising, considering Neji had all that long hair.

There was a bottle of cologne in the cabinet, too. Naruto surreptitiously sprayed a little of it, and inhaled the scent of not-quite-Neji.

This whole space was like that, he realized. Impersonal and unlived in, like Neji didn't quite inhabit the place. Naruto shook his head and quickly shucked his clothes. So here he was acting like an idiot, standing in the middle of his friend's bathroom getting all philosophical when he had about three days worth of road dirt to wash. Naruto stepped through the shower curtain and suddenly he smelled Neji. Surprised, he realized that his friend had accidentally left the cap off of his shampoo. So he was human after all. For some reason, that made Naruto smile. Not to mention that the whole shower smelled like Neji's hair.

And then he was... aroused.

Which made perfect sense. His whole squad had been glued to his ass for three days and it wasn't like he was unprofessional enough to take care of business on missions. Well, not anymore. Lately. Unless there was a real emergency.

Dropping that train of thought, Naruto slicked his hand with some of Neji's shampoo. It was fancy looking stuff that came in a plain black bottle with gold writing, and knowing Neji he'd wonder why so much was missing. Naruto grinned to himself. Maybe he'd tell him just to see the look on his face.

"I was jerking off with it because it smelled like you." Naruto had to laugh out loud at the thought. If he dared to say that out loud, Neji would have one of those aristocratic fits where the only signs of his irritation were flaring nostrils and twitching eyebrows.

Or maybe he would think it was hot. Naruto's hand sped up. He suddenly wondered if Neji did the same thing in this shower. He had to, right? All guys did. Of course, if there was an exception to that rule it would be Hyuuga Neji. He probably controlled his urges with meditation or some shit. Despite that likelihood, Naruto's imagination quickly supplied a naked Neji, cock in hand under the shower spray. Head thrown back, his hair would reach all the way down to tickle the top of his ass. What would his face look like? Naruto's pace quickened as he tried to imagine Neji's expression. With no one around to hear him, would he cry out?

Shit, Naruto was going to cry out if he wasn't careful.

()()()()()

The kitchen and the bathroom shared a wall. Until that second, that had never before struck Neji as an awkward arrangement. But then he heard the noise. Half between a moan and a grunt.

He froze in place, staring at the wall. Just then the tea kettle began to whistle, and unthinking, Neji hastily reached over and switched off the stove eye. There it was again. Definitely a noise. Definitely Naruto. Definitely... Oh god.

And this was why it was a bad idea to let anybody inside his apartment. Neji leaned heavily against the kitchen wall, tea kettle and ramen forgotten. There was no place in his life for what he was feeling right now. No place. And he'd disarmed all his traps and let it in.

That knowledge didn't stop his hand from rising to cup his own arousal. On the other side of his wall, perfectly straight Naruto was probably thinking of some girl he was going to meet later. Not too pretty, not too much fuss. She'd pull his shirt up over his head and there would be no reason for her to stop herself from staring at those toned muscles in Naruto's chest and shoulders. Neji squeezed himself through his pants. He'd let her take a taut nipple in her mouth and nibble. He'd let her trace the trail under his belly button with her tongue. She'd take him in her mouth and work until his blue eyes opened wide with desire.

It was all Neji could do to fumble his cock out of his pants before he came.

On the other side of the wall, he heard a last shallow grunt. Neji leaned there, catching his breath and listening until the water turned off.

By the time Naruto emerged, thankfully wearing all the appropriate articles of clothing, Neji was tidied up, and two bowls of ramen sat on the kitchen table.

Neji sniffed when Naruto sat down across from him. "You used my shampoo?"

Naruto was staring down at the bowl of ramen, but Neji could tell by the curve of his cheeks that he was grinning. "I um... yeah. I liked the way it smelled. May have used a little too much, though. Want me to pay you back?"

Neji had to close his eyes for a second. "No..." he said faintly. "No, that's perfectly all right."

END