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Break to Breathe	By : Okami-Rayne Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Shikamaru/Neji Views: 1958 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
BREAK TO BREATHE

by Okami Rayne

Chapter Thirteen
The sharp whistle of deer calls jarred Shikamaru's attention away from the booklet propped on his hip. He paused with his fingers at the edge of the page, his half-lidded gaze sliding across the lamp-lit room to the shoji door he'd left ajar.
The evening breeze seeped through, carrying the nipping sting of autumn's chill and a hint of dampness from the mists shrouding the forests beyond the garden.
Another deer call sounded.
What time is it?
He'd lost track of the hour somewhere during his attempt and failure to avoid Asuma. As predicted, his sensei had cut off his path to dodge an inevitable conversation; one that had been layered with undercurrents.
Shikamaru's mind flicked back to the exchange.
At the time, Asuma had sucked in a lungful of smoke, holding it low and deep in his chest in a way that Shikamaru knew meant he'd been carefully weighing up his next words.
"I would never put it past you to help out a friend, Shikamaru," Asuma had said, "So your concern for Naruto and your interest in neutralising the Akatsuki threat doesn't surprise me."
"But…?" Shikamaru had prodded.
"But you put yourself forward for something large-scale, without talking to me."
Shikamaru had shrugged, his eyes tracing the lanterns along the sidewalk. "Everyone nags me about taking the initiative. So I did."
"I'm wondering if there's not something more to this."
"Like what?"
Asuma had smiled wryly, shaking his head. "Wouldn't really be wondering about it if I knew, would I?"
"Hey, don't get all concerned on me." Shikamaru had looked for a quick exit without appearing to. "Anyway, like you said earlier, I'm not a kid anymore."
"I know that."
"Then shouldn't you just be proud or something?"
"You know it's important for you, more than anyone, to keep your head clear for these upcoming missions."
"I've never had a problem with it before."
"Yeah…and I've never had to wonder what was going on with you before either."
"You're not my dad, Asuma."
Shikamaru had regretted those last words. Mostly because he'd spat the words out with an edge of irritated spite, rather than blunt sarcasm. But Asuma had simply hummed, exhaling a cloud of smoke that Shikamaru had wanted to quietly waft away on.
Thankfully, Chōji had interrupted them.
His friend had proceeded to hand over about a week's supply of food, all cooked and packaged by the Akimichi's mother. Apparently, she didn't trust him not to get lazy and survive off takeaway.
Asuma hadn't pushed any further and had wandered off without a parting glance – though he'd called back over his shoulder. "By the way, I never said I wasn't proud…'or something'."
Shikamaru brought himself back from his thoughts, a faint smile warming the otherwise troubled expression on his face. But the frown returned when his gaze dropped back to the classified volume he'd been scanning.
At least this one's down.
His dark eyes traced the crossed-out face of the deceased Akatsuki member, Sasori. He flipped to another page, the image of a blue-skinned, shark-faced shinobi staring back at him.
Great…
There were still so many blanks.
It was going to be one hell of a solo mission trying to fill them in.
Shikamaru shook his head, snapping the booklet shut. He smothered a yawn as he set the slim volume to one side, levering himself off the low couch and onto his feet with a groan. His mind felt as if it were breeding thoughts, cramming the pressure in an irritating throb at his temples.
Dammit.
He swayed over to the shoji door, propping a shoulder against the frame as he rubbed at the tension in his brow, somewhat tempted to blame Neji for the headache.
The earlier head-butt probably hadn't helped.
I wish that was it…
A soft segment of light from inside cast the shadow-nin's silhouette against the leaf-strewn porch. Shikamaru watched the leaves scrape across the wood, tracking their movement. He felt caught on a similar current, only pulled in one direction while looking in another. He'd hedged his bets on being out of the village by the time Asuma got round to figuring out that things weren't quite as clear-cut as 'taking the initiative'.
I think I'm digging myself one hell of a hole, sensei.
His gaze flicked skyward to the moon. The large opal hung against an inky backdrop, the pale surface reflecting his thoughts back at him. He just couldn't shake the image of what had pushed into Neji's eyes back at their ungraceful collision. But what unnerved him more was the thought that something might have been playing in his own gaze.
Damn…
It wasn't the crack of Neji's skull against his that had knocked this tumult of feeling and heat into him. He'd been ignoring it for a while now and had instantly shoved it aside the moment he'd felt it flare up at the grind of their hips.
It was dangerous, potentially disastrous territory.
But for one moment…one brief, crazy second when their eyes had locked, he hadn't cared whether he got burned in the process of exploring it.
Not good…
Shikamaru tried to shift his focus, but the frustrated feeling kept gnawing away at him, rousing up a troublesome burn in his core. He couldn't pass it off as saké or anger this time. He couldn't even fall back on unease or nervousness…those kinds of feelings didn't burn like this…
Shikamaru sighed and turned his head, thudding his brow against the frame of the sliding door with a hiss as he closed his eyes.
"Dammit."
He'd barely muttered the curse before a chorus of sharp, panicked deer cries burst from the Nara forest. The shadow-nin's eyes snapped open, his focus sliding toward the borders of the woodland.
What the hell?
He hovered a moment, waiting for clarity that wasn't going to come. With a disgruntled sigh he shoved away from the door, took up a couple of kunai and tugged on his sandals. Pretending not to welcome the distraction, he trudged across the dew-laced garden, frowning as another round of sharp calls directed his steps towards the herd's commotion.
He followed the misty trails with an ease that came from having walked the routes countless times before. He knew these paths as well as the generations of deer that had stamped them out.
He jerked to a halt as two doe darted past, the white flags of their tails flashing as they vanished into the darkness. Whatever had spooked them lay just beyond the next incline; one which sloped down into the same glade where he'd seen his father with the dying deer, all those years ago.
He really hoped he wasn't about to witness something similar.
That's the last thing I need…
He looped the kunai in his fingers and ignoring the faint apprehension curdling in his gut, he quietly ascended the slope, keeping his head low, already prepared. He paused at the top of the incline, his dark eyes dropping to survey the glade, which suddenly flared with the soft blue of chakra, forcing him to squint against the sudden burst of illumination.
When his vision adjusted, his face arched in surprise, then twisted with frustration.
"Stubborn bastard."

Hold it…
Neji could feel his arms juddering under the strain, but he kept them snapped outward, held taut and rigid with control. He panted raggedly, his jaw tight, pale eyes fierce and frustrated.
I will do this…
He could feel the stream of chakra narrow from its flood along his arms into the sharp blade-like structure he'd seen Hinata use. Forcing the stream of chakra into a steady emission, Neji began to sway, his body moving with a fluid, graceful flexibility as he began to stretch the beams from his palms into an arc-shaped shield.
"Protective eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!"
He launched into the defensive jutsu, seamlessly able to replicate the movements Hinata had taken double the time and double the effort to master. He kept the structure moving, constantly streaming the laser-like beams of chakra as he sped his movements to form a dome.
His chest began to tighten.
No.
The pain began to spread.
I won't lose…
He drilled the words into his mind, fighting against the strain eating into his chakra network. If he couldn't use the Palm Rotation, then there was no choice but to master this as the temporary alternative.
Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
"Neji!"
He lost it.
Shikamaru's voice shattered his focus.
The chakra flow wobbled, flared and backfired against the blocks in Neji's system. A lacerating pain pierced his lungs and heart, forcing him to drop to a crouch as he hacked out a wet, red-stained cough.
NO! I 'had' it!
Neji fisted his fingers into his robe, swallowing down the coppery tang of blood with a growl. He felt a hand on his shoulder and angrily jerked away from it, throwing his arm out to shove Shikamaru away.
"Don't touch me."
"Neji, what the hell are you doing?"
"Compensating," Neji snarled, pushing to his feet and wishing he hadn't, it took him a moment to blink the black spots from his vision.
"You're not well enough to be doing this." Shikamaru kept his voice low, calm.
Unfortunately, this attempt at calm and reason had the reverse effect. Neji turned a glare on the other ninja and in that moment it was like they had jumped back two months to that rainy, angry night.
"Do not lecture me on my limits, Nara."
Shikamaru's jaw twitched, but the anger eased to a simmer in his eyes. "I'm not gonna do this crap with you again."
Neji hadn't expected that.
Venomous words burned like bile in the back of his throat. But he couldn't spit them out. Because Shikamaru had suddenly levelled him with a look that he wasn't certain how to interpret or defend himself against.
The Nara's bistre eyes had softened with a kind of frustrated, confused concern that chilled the anger in Neji's blood. The Hyūga frowned slightly, not knowing how to react to the look he was receiving.
It was dangerously similar to the look the shadow-nin had given him that night on the porch after patching up the gashes on his back. Neji tilted his head, his heaving breaths stirring the long mocha bangs framing his face.
He felt his own expression shifting to mirror the same confusion.
Then Shikamaru blinked slowly, breaking the stare.
"Whatever," he growled. "When you're done 'compensating', there's food back at the house."
The Nara turned without another word and made his way back up the incline, his black-clad form vanishing like the shadows he commanded as he passed between the wafting mists.
Neji stared at the swirl of vapours…then closed his eyes.
Damn it.

They ate in silence.
The distance between them yawned wider than the span of the table and the quiet that filled the void was confused and heavy. The only break in the silence was the rustle of paper as Neji turned the page of the mission outline Tsunade had given him.
To complicate matters, he'd been teamed with Shikamaru.
Focus.
He scanned the additional map for the fifth time, not having taken in anything the first four times. Wondering if Shikamaru was doing any better, he glanced up. The Nara seemed more interested in examining the contents of the meal he'd barely touched.
Focus.
It was impossible.
Neji's pale orbs remained fixed on Shikamaru's face. The Nara's jaw kept tightening at the hinges, his lashes remaining at a semi-hover as if ready to close over his dark eyes.
Dark eyes which suddenly flicked up.
Neji didn't have time to avoid the eye contact; so he returned the look and scrambled for something to explain why he'd been staring.
"Did you know about this mission in Hanegakure before Tsunade-sama summoned me?"
Shikamaru didn't miss a beat. "She had me mobilize teams, but she didn't clarify where we'd be sent."
This safe, work-related ground gave Neji a foothold.
"Our team will be predominantly reconnaissance." He dropped his gaze back down to the mission brief. "We should leave early."
"Yeah, I think I can manage that."
Neji slid the mission papers to one side, placing his palms to the table as he made to stand. "Good."
"If you can manage a rematch," Shikamaru added unexpectedly.
Neji paused. "What?"
The shadow-nin shrugged lazily and slanted his gaze toward the Shogi board across the room.
Neji followed his gaze. "What time is it?"
"No idea."
Neji pursed his lips, considering. It would take the edge off the tension, if anything - and given the mission tomorrow, the less conflict and confusion between them, the better.
He cleared his throat. "One game."
Shikamaru slouched back with a faint, lazy smile. "Afraid to lose twice?"
Neji scoffed but the taunt had hooked him before he knew he'd reacted.
"You're on, Nara."

The soft clap of the Shogi pieces stopped mid-game, a brief impasse holding the two players in a rapt quiet as each strategized their next move.
Shikamaru smiled.
Haven't been challenged like this in a while.
He swept his gaze across the layout, re-evaluating the flow of the game before he closed his eyes and crabbed his hands, drawing a slow breath. The meditative moment lasted no more than a minute before he slipped his eyes open and immediately made his move.
He sensed Neji tense as he clapped a piece down and skimmed his fingers across to capture one of the Hyūga's. He heard Neji chuckle quietly and glanced up at the unexpected sound. The Jōnin was studying the board, shaking his head.
"As expected of you, Shikamaru."
"You were close."
"Not close enough." Neji hummed. "I should have seen that coming."
"Game's not over yet."
"I know when I'm beaten," Neji tilted his head, searching the board for a solution. "I should probably bow out gracefully."
"Probably," Shikamaru echoed, but he let the word roll lightly.
"If that's the case …" Neji shrugged, reaching to slide a piece in an unexpected slant along the board.
Shikamaru's eyes widened, his chin lifting from its prop against his fist. "That's suicide."
"Probably." Neji offered a faint smile. "I suppose it doesn't matter now."
Shikamaru scanned the board. "You could have threatened my defence for a little longer."
"That would have been of little value considering the attack would fail."
"Hey, take a chance and I might go easy on you."
Neji snorted, but Shikamaru thought he saw a smile threatening to tug the corners of his mouth. "Thank you for being so condescending, Shikamaru."
"It's only fair," Shikamaru said, clapping another piece down. "I doubt anyone else gets the chance where you're concerned."
Neji's fingers twitched against the board.
He shook his head. "That's not true."
Shikamaru blinked, but kept his gaze down so as not to appear surprised. So long as the Shogi game continued to play out, the Hyūga seemed less focused on being defensive.
"Oh yeah?" Shikamaru prompted, letting his tone drop to the side of disinterest, just to be safe. "I don't see Gai-sensei pulling that off."
"No." Neji tilted his head, his eyes on the board. "But I've never considered him as being in the position to have that kind of control over me."
Shikamaru arched a brow, resisting the urge to smile. "You realise how arrogant that sounds, right?"
"I didn't mean it like that." Neji frowned slightly. "I respect Gai-sensei, despite his ridiculous antics…" The Hyūga's lashes fluttered in a controlled shudder. "And that unforgiveable jumpsuit…"
Shikamaru smirked, shaking his head. "But it's so youthful…"
Neji tried not to laugh – and Shikamaru wanted to shake him.
Hell, let yourself feel something.
"So you consider someone else as being in the position to control you?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly, scanning the available manoeuvres he'd planned out ten moves back.
Neji pursed his lips, tension creeping into his posture. "Never mind, it's your move."
"I doubt it's a matter of someone being intellectually superior to you," Shikamaru said, keeping his gaze on the board. "And you're pretty adept at handing people their asses in a fight, so I'd say it's not about a physical challenge either."
Neji kept silent.
Instead of pausing, Shikamaru let himself roll with the leeway the Hyūga was granting him. He touched a finger to a playing piece on the board, sliding the wedge across slowly.
"Which means," he paused to pick up and smack the piece down. "It's something, or someone, a little closer to home."
"Stop it."
Shikamaru lifted his eyes to find that Neji's were closed.
"Why did you let me start it?" he returned softly, trying to read beneath the steel in the Hyūga's face.
"Don't." The tendons in Neji's throat tightened. "I can't do this tonight."
"Do what?" Shikamaru pressed, his eyes tracking everything, every subtle shift.
"This…" Neji gestured between them with an angry flick of his wrist, but he kept his eyes closed.
Shikamaru frowned, an odd twinge pinching in his gut. He knew exactly what 'this' was; although, ironically it had no name and no definition. 'This' was that inescapable and troublesome knot of contradictions grinding between them and generating enough heat to thaw out Neji's normal air of aloofness.
Just a little more heat, a tad more pressure.
"It's your move," Shikamaru murmured, his words deliberate.
Neji snapped his eyes open, but the anger wasn't pushing into them. "Stop playing games."
The air charged between them, thickening by degrees, tightening skin and picking up pulses. Shikamaru held the Hyūga's gaze in that familiar deadlock.
"Isn't that what we're doing here?"
The proud line of Neji's jaw tightened as he slid a piece across the board in a sharp slash – like drawing a line between them. "Don't push it, Nara."
"Hey, I can be just as evasive and troublesome as you…" Shikamaru illustrated the point by dropping a pawn across the board, cutting off Neji's tactical retreat by crossing that unseen line. "Doesn't really resolve anything does it?"
"Don't start this again."
"You can only avoid it for so long before I'm forced to keep starting it."
Neji's eyes narrowed, but again, the anger didn't reach them. Shikamaru wasn't sure what the hell it was that flashed in Neji's eyes, but the ghostly pale irises remained locked on him.
"You asked who was in the position to control me." Neji leaned across, his voice dropping low. "Let me make it very clear that that person will never be you."
Shikamaru didn't back down. He met the aggressive tilt directly, straightening up from his slouch to lean forward and glare straight back.
"A good thing I'm not trying to control you."
"No, you're just trying to figure me out," Neji seethed, the elegant cut of his features tightening with the pressure of maintaining his mask. "Give it up."
Shikamaru smirked, but it was hollow, forced. "I really wish I could."
"You won't win this one, Shikamaru."
"Now who's making it a game?"
"Tch." Neji's face hardened further. "If you want to play with semantics, be my guest. It makes absolutely no difference to me."
Shikamaru frowned, watching an icy hostility struggling to steal across Neji's face. Like frost between the creases of his expression, trying to harden it, but only catching the edges. The shadow-nin shook his head as he stared into the silver-hued eyes, his voice falling quietly.
"I'm not trying to control you, Neji."
The cold mask of composure hardening across Neji's face cracked a little –a flash of angry pain in his pale eyes. Shikamaru watched him cover it with a sneer.
"As if you could," Neji growled and pulled back quickly, standing in a fluid but sharp snap.
Against his better judgement, Shikamaru moved to stand. He moved slowly, as if physically pulled in by the magnetic tension pulsing between them. Neji glared in confusion then turned to brush past him. And for a reason Shikamaru couldn't have named or denied, he stepped abruptly into Neji's path, cutting the Hyūga off.
"Move," Neji hissed, his pale eyes casting sharply over Shikamaru's shoulder.
"Look at me."
"Move, Nara."
Shikamaru noticed that although Neji kept his eyes averted, he did not lower them; but the muscles in his pale face tensed and flexed as if not knowing what expression to settle with.
"What's it going to take before you get it?" Shikamaru shook his head, frustration starting to fester in his voice. "You don't have to do this here."
"Move."
"You don't have to stand on your stupid blue-blooded ceremony with me."
Neji's lip curled in a sour smirk. "You know nothing about Hyūga blood."
"Only that it's as red as anyone else's when you're coughing it up."
Shikamaru watched those eyes snap open, as pale as the robes that rippled like living ice as Neji leaned in very slowly. "Unless you're itching to bleed, Nara, I suggest you get out of my way."
Shikamaru frowned, feeling the heat of Neji's breath against his face, at odds with the chill in his voice. "You don't need to mess yourself up like this, Neji."
Neji snapped his fingers into fists, his voice strained. "Don't tell me what I need…you have no idea what I need."
Shikamaru was pretty sure he had no idea about a lot of things in that moment.
His brain was picking up on things in irrational pieces.
For starters, Neji was standing way too close.
And it was doing something to his skin and beneath his skin that felt like static crackling in his blood. It stupefied him for a moment and his brain froze completely.
With his greatest weapon out of commission, fear slammed into his gut.
And he reacted on instinct.
Or at least he told himself he did, because if he'd been coasting along the lines of safe, rational thought, there would have been no way in hell he'd have done what he did next.
Which was to slam the heel of his hand straight into Neji's chest.
The Hyūga staggered back with a wince at the impact, shock delaying his reaction. Shikamaru knew that logically, this was the best time to back off. This was the moment, the opportune moment.
And it passed him by in a rush of heat.
He told himself it was anger.
That's all this is…
And to prove it, he drove forward again.
Neji knocked aside his next hit, but didn't attack him back.
"Hit back, Hyūga," Shikamaru pushed. "You want to cough up blood so damn bad? Fine, how about I help you out this time?"
Neji's eyes flashed. "Back off."
Shikamaru switched tactic. "Only a messed up person or a masochist would do what you're doing to yourself. So, which are you?"
That seemed to do it.
Neji went for his throat, quite literally. The pale fingers snapped out like a vice, latching at Shikamaru's neck before he could jerk away. It forced him to stand rigid, but the grip stopped just short of cutting off his breath; yet pressed hard enough that Shikamaru knew it would leave bruises.
"Grip harder," Shikamaru choked out.
Neji's face contorted into a savage twist of rage and confusion, his arm shaking with restraint. "Why?"
The question clutched the shadow-nin harder than Neji's fingers.
Why?
Shikamaru swallowed around the grip at his throat and stared back with an equal mix of frustration and struggle. The coil of churning, electrifying tension tightened and thickened the air simmering in the short distance between them, forcing their breaths to deepen and their chests to heave.
Shikamaru felt Neji's fingers loosen at his throat and he watched through dark, dilated eyes as the Hyūga's gaze dropped to his mouth.
Why…?
Shikamaru tugged Neji's grip away, just as Neji stepped forward.
They crashed together in a mesh of raw heat.
Mouths met in a hungry, angry clash, sharing and stealing breath.
Shikamaru felt a voltage smash through his system, short-circuiting his mind and waking up a primal, primitive hunger from deep inside. It pushed into the scrape of teeth and thrust of tongue, seeking submission that neither would give.
He pushed forward.
Neji pushed back.
With a growl, Shikamaru snapped a hand up to fist his fingers in the long, dark hair. He jerked hard - breaking the kiss and bearing the sharp, proud edge of Neji's jaw. His teeth scraped along the pale slant, tearing a short, fractured gasp from the Jōnin.
"Bastard…" Neji hissed. "I'm going to…kill you…"
"Shut up," Shikamaru growled back. "Don't think."
"No..." Neji twisted to plant a solid slam of his palm into Shikamaru's chest.
The shove pushed them apart, tearing sparks of heat and arousal into the air like two blades glancing off each other. But the static drew them together again in an audible smack – which Shikamaru registered was his back against the wall.
Dammit.
He barely had time to glare before Neji attacked his mouth again; a punishing kiss, demanding submission. It wouldn't happen. There would be no yielding on either side and even in the haze of insane need blistering hot and hard between them, Shikamaru could instinctively sense it.
"Neji…"
"No."
The biting sting of teeth against his lips snapped Shikamaru's hips into a roll, his shoulders pressing back as he turned and reversed them, slamming Neji into the fusuma panel without breaking the thrust and tangle of tongues.
Neji's lips parted around a wince at the impact, allowing for Shikamaru to seize control of the kiss with a vicious grip at Neji's jaw. The Hyūga responded with a crushing latch at his nape, but rocked back against him when he pressed forward, rolling into the grind of their hips.
The breath-shattering pleasure forced them to break the fusion of their mouths and search for air.
"F...fuck…" Neji rasped.
The sound of that word whispering from Neji's lips in those low, cultured tones drew lava into Shikamaru's blood. He snapped a hand to Neji's hip, tugging the Jōnin into the rhythm of their gyration, the rough friction dragging a groan from him.
He'd never been so hard, so hungry and so fiercely aroused in his life.
It was powerful, consuming and dangerous.
He wasn't sure he could stop it.
But Neji's ragged breaths had halted.
"Breathe…" Shikamaru murmured against Neji's ear, pressing a thigh between the other ninja's legs, locking them together.
"…Damn…you…" Neji seethed out, his head tipping back down to smack his brow against Shikamaru's, tangling their breaths. "This is…insane…"
"I know..."
But it didn't stop the slow, firm grind of their hips or the hard, thick heat Shikamaru could feel pressing back against his own arousal, stoking that inferno in his core.
"Why?" Neji rasped against Shikamaru's mouth, his blunt nails digging into the Nara's nape as if wanting to go beneath the surface. "Gods…what the hell…is wrong with me…?"
The words slid a splinter of ice into Shikamaru's veins.
Wrong…stop…I can't…
"Don't…" he dropped the word sharply, but slid his tongue across Neji's bruised lips in a slow, erotic caress, drawing back to brush their mouths. "Don't think."
Neji shook his head, his eyes screwed shut against the pleasure Shikamaru knew he was fighting. He loosened the vicious grip in Neji's hair, carving his fingers back through the mocha mane before skimming down across the white fabric rustling with every shift of their bodies.
"I don't know…what the hell this is…" Shikamaru dropped the words at Neji's mouth, bumping their lips.
But I want it…
"It's wrong…" Neji scowled, his eyes still closed, desperately fighting off the attraction and bone-juddering need with every scrap of remaining sense.
Sense that was starting to peel away under the heat of what continued to build with every roll and grind of their hips.
Shikamaru shuddered. "Then tell me…it doesn't feel good…"
"Bastard…" Neji's breath tapered into a shiver.
A shiver that Shikamaru wanted to drink down until he was drunk on the taste of that deep, steady voice feeding words and wordless sounds between his lips.
Shit…stop…
Shikamaru slammed his palm to the wall, fingers gnarling hard as he tried to control the maddening urge cramping inside him. Neji must have tapped into his thoughts by touch alone because they moved at the same time to set a hand to each other's hips, thumbs digging in against sharp hipbones, holding each other in check.
Panting softly, Shikamaru touched their foreheads.
"Look at me…"
Neji lifted his lashes, the silvery pools of his eyes seeming grey and stormy, like clouds churning. Unsteady, unpredictable, almost uncontrolled.
Suddenly, Shikamaru didn't care if that storm tore him up.
He gazed back, his eyes as black as consuming shadows.
Neji didn't look away.
In the intimacy of that look, with all its wretched mess of charged emotion, Shikamaru couldn't understand how Neji could ever think of himself as anything less than human.
They searched each other's eyes for a moment.
Then Shikamaru leaned in by degrees. He brushed their lips in a slow, tentative sweep that had Neji tensing up. The shadow-nin felt his chest tighten as he prepared for a violent rejection.
Do it…god just push me back…
But Neji didn't push him back.
He pulled him in with a look.
A single look that flashed hotter and brighter than lightning in those stormy eyes.
Reaching up his free hand, Shikamaru slid his fingers around to Neji's nape and repeated the slow brush of their mouths, drawing a little more friction into the sweep before feathering his tongue along Neji's lips.
He felt the grip at his hip flex and loosen repeatedly.
Then all Shikamaru felt was the slow, sensual glide of Neji's tongue against his, warm and wet like liquid fire. The stroke of slick muscle slid from a battle into a dance and it drove fresh stabs of desire into every part of him, arousing him to the point of pain.
Fuck…
When they drew apart for air, it was like tearing apart something fused; the raw tension hummed between them. It was indescribable.
And it was just a kiss.
This needs to stop…
Shikamaru skimmed his mouth across one high, flushed cheekbone, further along to Neji's ear, his voice a hoarse but sultry murmur.
"You need to stop this...because I can't."
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Break to Breathe