The child you'll never know

I wrote this one-shot on someone else's computer when I didn't have mine so I couldn't make it graphic but it's an attempted WAFF and contains references to M-Preg and Male/Male.

I wasn't going to submit this since I only did it to keep myself busy but I changed my mind since I didn't have anything else to do with it.

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The Child You'll Never Know


Nara Shikamaru made beautiful babies, but you wouldn't think so just by looking at him.

Unlike the other Chuunins, Shikamaru's body was not as defined since he spent his free time cloud-watching instead of training or honing his skills and his favorite past-time encouraged the sun to tint his usually pale skin with a light tan.

His features were always either set in a deep scowl or a disinterested frown since he was a man that had no ambition to excel at any particular area in life. Geniuses were like that, and unless there was something that could offer a challenge to their intellect they quickly became bored with the mundane and in Shikamaru's case, it was everything besides tactical games, but beneath the indolent expressions and occasionally saggy posture, Nara Shikamaru was a very attractive man and his first child was just as stunning.

His dominant genetics made sure his son inherited his dark hair and black eyes over Ino's blond-haired, blue-eyed features, but his own traits worked to his disadvantage after Ino told him the child was not his but, Uchiha Sasuke's.

It was a conniving scheme she'd concocted and it worked. Sasuke took responsibility over their one-night stand and married Ino within the month, since he owed it to his lineage to revive his clan and owed it to his unborn child...a child he didn't know was not his, but Neji knew.

He knew who the baby's real father was. His Byakugan noticed Shikamaru's familiar Chakra signature containing the Kagemane within the baby's inner Chakra coil system. He also knew why Ino did it, she wanted Sasuke to herself and found a way to conveniently and permanently get Sakura out of the picture. It made alot of sense but Neji was the only person who figured it out since he and Ino were the only people alive that knew the identity of the baby's biological father and not even Ino knew that he knew.

Neji should have told them, should have told Sasuke the baby wasn't his, should have told Shikamaru the baby was his but he knew the truth would eventually surface when Sasuke realized his son was manipulating shadows instead of using the Sharingan but Neji didn't say anything for two reasons. One: Anything that occurred outside of the Hyuuga compound was none of his business and; Two: He wanted to see the sparks fly, but lately he soon realized that 'Baby Daddy' drama was only funny when it happened to other people.

Neji adjusted the sleeping infant in his arms and sighed as he cradled the second offspring of the Shadow Manipulator. Ironically, he too had managed to find himself caught up in the same thing and it was far from hilarious.

After Ino broke up with Shikamaru because she was 'pregnant' by Sasuke, the Nara boy had become severely depressed and, as his friend, Neji offered comfort in whatever way he could, whether it be a shoulder to cry on or a silent partner he could look up at the clouds with. Shikamaru never asked for anything of him, appreciated everything he did to help him through such a difficult time but Neji kept giving, continued to offer his help and made himself available whenever Shikamaru needed someone to talk to.

They would drink to forget, drink to escape to the virtual reality that only intoxication could create but the only thing that developed was one night of wild, uninhibited sex and an awkward morning-after.

They'd agreed not to mention it again, since it happened under the influence of alcohol and would probably never have happened had they been sober and Neji was content when they managed to put the entire night behind them and act as if it never occurred in the first place but surprisingly, for someone so lazy, Shikamaru had incredibly active sperm and Neji never imagined in all his years as a human male that he'd wind up pregnant.

He'd never been so scared out of his mind when he discovered the reason why he was always sick in the mornings and had unusual cravings for Pistachio ice-cream with walnuts and ketchup flavored potato-chips sprinkled on top but what freaked him out and almost sent him into hysterics was when, three months later, he started to show.

Fortunately, Konoha's military had stabilized by the time he'd graduated to Jounin and he had quite a bit of vacation time saved up so he took them all at once and spent the remaining months of his pregnancy in the Land of Waves.

Labor was the most painful event he'd ever suffered through in his entire life and it hurt more than having his curse-seal activated and many times, within those eighteen, harrowing hours, Neji wished he would just die but the pain in his nether regions, the pitiful tears and the soreness in his throat was worth it when he successfully gave birth to a darling baby girl with large, lavender eyes and soft, black hair.

The return to Konohagakure brought with him a three-week old infant and many questioning stares from shinobi and civilians alike and Neji's explanation to his family was that he'd been intimate with some woman during his vacation and she died during childbirth so, being the responsible adult that he was, he was going to raise the child as a single parent.

The branch members were disappointed by his promiscuous behavior but allowed him to keep the child none the less, provided the branch seal be placed on her head when she came of age. Neji didn't want to accept those terms since it wasn't his decision to make alone, but under the circumstances, he had no choice but to reluctantly agree. Fortunately, the Hyuuga kekkai genkai was more dominant within his daughter's Chakra coil and even if other Hyuuga members used their Byakugan they wouldn't be able to discern the identity of the child's other parent, but Neji could see it because he knew what Shikamaru's genetic Chakra signature looked like.

Neji gently placed his daughter within her crib and stroked her head with a large palm before leaning over to kiss her tenderly against her forehead, a gesture Shikamaru would never be able to enjoy to its fullest.

Whenever Shikamaru visited he'd allow him to play with the girl. Neji let him feed her, clothe her, bathe her and even take her out on walks. He wasn't heartless, he knew the baby was Nara's and the man deserved to spend as much time with her as he did and Shikamaru constantly joked that Neji let him treat the girl as if she was his own daughter, but Shikamaru didn't know that the baby was his daughter because Neji never told him.

He couldn't tell him.

He didn't know what the other man would think if he did, couldn't begin to imagine how he would react to the news. He supposed he'd think he was playing some kind of sick prank, after all, if Neji were in his shoes, he'd think the exact same thing, because even as he looked down into his cherub's sleeping face and was touching her soft head with his own hand he still found it hard to believe that he'd given birth to another man's baby.

He also couldn't tell him the truth because if he did then he deserved to know about Ino's baby as well and that thought scared Neji the most because he was afraid that Shikamaru would choose Ino's over his.

He shouldn't care. It shouldn't matter to Neji if he chose to be with Ino because he'd still have his baby, but it did, and it hurt him to think that Shikamaru would decide to raise Ino's family instead of his and that was why he couldn't tell him the truth but whenever he watched the other man spend time with the little girl it hurt him even more that he would never have the opportunity to be a 'real' father to her.

Neji didn't know how long he could hide it and he knew the infant would grow to posses most of its father's physical features and he wondered, if a day would come, when he'd have to stop Shikamaru from visiting altogether. It was something he didn't want to do, he didn't think he'd have the heart to ban him from seeing his own daughter but the risk of losing him altogther if he found out was too great because Neji loved him, loved him too much to lose him forever and although it always made him feel empty to watch him spend time with their daughter it was the closest thing to being a family they would ever be.

--End--