Shadows on Skin

A/N: Hello everybody! This idea wouldn't leave me alone, so I started writing again. Damn, it's been years. This is a work in progress, so more chapters will come later.

Shadows on Skin

Neji Hyuuga lies on top of his bed in the middle of a hot summer night. It is unusually warm this year, but the breeze coming in through the window helps curve the uncomfortable temperature.

His mind lulls to sleep, his chest barely rising and falling. Pale skin contrasts against the shadows thanks to the moon shining above, casting his body in a silvery light.

A long, narrow shadow moves over to the bed, tentatively and slowly. A hand shape is formed at the end of the shadow before it travels onto the bed. It pauses again before sliding over Neji's feet. Ghosting over the hardened soles of his feet, the shadow pauses to caress his ankles. The eyes of the shadow nin narrow as he concentrates on holding the jutsu.

Shikamaru has been doing this for a little over a week now. It has been hard to say just why he started doing it; one night when he couldn't sleep, a curious streak hit him. The Nara had started to admire Neji since the lavender eyed man had suddenly seemed to grow up. Before the transformation, the Hyuuga was an angry and vengeful being. But now, he had calmed and the real Neji, the one not filled with hate, came out. Shikamaru found the new Neji sexy, intelligent, and somehow out of his league. The ninja had this regal air about him that Shikamaru simply did not have. Oh, Shikamaru knew that his own intelligence outranked many other ninjas, but Neji seemed to be in his own playing field.

So, one night the shadow ninja found Neji's window open. He couldn't resist a moment to touch him, even if it wasn't touching, with his shadows.

The shadow splits in two. Each hand move up and over his calves, knees, and then to his lithe thighs. The hands pause there to caress the sliver of skin as a soft curse sounds in the back of his mind. Sleep shorts kept his shadow from venturing further.

Shikamaru shifts in the tree outside his window, eyes never leaving the sleeping ninja's body. His shadow slides along Neji's hips, not touching an area he has yet to venture to, and moves up his stomach. One hand briefly runs a thumb over the thin happy trail running down the Hyuuga's navel, sending a soft thrill down the shadow nin's body. Shikamaru wanted many times to play with that trail when Neji's shirt would ride up in combat or when window would blow up his shirt. There was something inherently naughty about that little bit of skin and hair.

Neji moves a bit, his arm slipping under his head as a leg bends at the ankle to get comfortable, causing Shikamaru to pause his wondering shadow hands.

A moment passes before the hands slide along the Hyuuga's sides and along his rib cages. He touches each rib with a caress, not wanting to miss any piece of skin or indent of skin. Shikamaru leans forward, the tree branch very softly rustling as the hands slide inward to brush his chest and stomach, but he doesn't touch the sensitive nubs he finds.

Another pause as Neji shifts; he is quite restless tonight. Shikamaru watches carefully as he slowly moves the shadows to touch his chest more, tracing the curves of his pecks and ribs once more before they slide back. The thumb on each hand slowly slides over each nipple carefully as Shikamaru's breath starts to increase.

Surprisingly, Neji's mouth slightly parts and he breathes in deeply. The shadow nin leans back against the tree to conceal himself better in case Neji wakes fully. Long, tense minutes pass as the long haired ninja remains sleeping.

Shika exhales, muscles relaxing before moving his shadow hands back. They return to caress the almost flawless skin, pass over his nipples, and then one starts to slide upwards. It slides along his long, porcelain neck and over his cheeks. He stops for a moment to touch the curve of his ear, wanting to tuck in a stray hair, but cannot. The hand moves back down to his cheek where its thumb moves over Neji's slightly parted lips.

With that, the hands slide away and the shadow returns to its owner. In a flash, Shikamaru is gone and Neji blinks awake, feeling a loss. He sits up and touches his cheek. His hairs stand on now sensitive skin. He gazes out the window to ponder, a sigh escaping his lips.

Shika refrains from returning the following night to give himself time to think. It appeared that Neji felt his last night. Impossible, his mind churned, it's a shadow. Shadows lack weight or texture to them. How could his sexy ninja feel them?

The tree bends to Shikamaru's weight returning a few nights later. The shadow ninja peers inside the window to see Neji sleeping in his normal position with the sheets thrown off the bed in a fit from the warm night. Shika smiles to himself then forms his hand signs to create a shadow.

Neji lies on the bed again and can feel the presence of another ninja. He was correct, somebody was messing with him in the night. For the last week, he has woken up with this feeling he couldn't quite pinpoint. Chakra lingered in the air, but he could not sense what it was being used for.

He had moved his arm over his eyes to shield them from the intruder as he activated his Byuukugan. Only the most astute nina would be able to see the lines peeking out from under his arm, giving away that he isn't awake and is using ninjutsu.

What he saw surprised him. That was Shikamaru's energy. He had fought along the other long enough in battles to recognize his chakra. What is he doing?

Neji watched as the chakra from Shikamaru's shadow jutsu slipped over to him and started to slide up his legs. He concentrated on his own breathing, making sure it remained level and shallow. He watched as the shadow started to caress his sides and chest.

Goosebumps surfaces on his skin, reacting to the shadow's touch. He swore he could feel it move.

Unwillingly, a gasp sounded from the Hyuuga's lips as the shadow hands touched his nipples. He felt the buds harden to the attention and tingle. But it's a shadow! Neji's mind yelled at him, his heart starting to hammer in his chest. I can feel it... his mind whispered. Was it their chakra reacting to each other? He knew Shika's shadow could bind people, but they couldn't feel it. His mind continues to race as the shadow stops with its nipple play to slide up to his neck.

That is when it paused and Shika's eyes grew wide.

Neji, sensing the pause and Shika's revelation, moves his arm to reveal his Byuukugan. Their eyes locked onto one another while nothing else moved. His shadow remained, one on Neji's moving chest while the other remains on his neck and collar bone. In a blink, Neji receded his Byuukugan to gaze neutrally at the Nara.

The inner war inside Shika's mind clashed with one another. Neji was not moving or hurling things at him. He took this as a good sign and move the hand on Neji's neck to move to his cheek. Neji slightly turned his head to the hand, curious. He could feel it there. He did not know how or why, but he could feel it.

With a flash, Shikamaru withdrew his shadow and dashed off to his own house.