тяσυвℓєѕσмє ƒєєℓιηgѕ // ѕнιкαηαʀυ

Chapter 23

P.o.v Shikamaru

I take a deep breath.

I really need to learn how to relax, because this isn't working.

I'm so used to thinking everything through so this won't be easy.

I've always had a soft spot for him. I don't know if it was pity, or if I was rebelling against what the grown-ups thought.

Whatever it was brought me here, and it had me doing what could easily change my, no, our life. Our life together.

I don't care what it takes, if people judge me, if I get kicked out of the village. I am determined, for maybe the first time in my life, to see something through to the end.

° ° °

"Naruto."

"Y-yeah? What is it?"

"Do you trust me, Naruto?"

° ° °

"Yeah,"

I let out a long breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

But really, that breath has been held all my life. It hasn't been until now that I've been able to let it go.

What'll the villagers think?

What'll lord Hokage do?

What'll my family say?

Will our friends abandon us?

No. They wouldn't. And none of that would matter anyway, as long as I have him.

I drop my shoulders, cup his cheek, and stare into his eyes.

My everything sits right in my hands.

I close my eyes and lean in.

° ° °

My heart guides me through the kiss. I can only think 'I love you, so, so much.'

He doesn't resist. He hugs me and lets me do as I please.

It's so sweet. Everything about this is right. He was meant to be in my arms, we were meant to be here in this moment.

I eventually back off a bit and just settle on hugging him.

"Can we stay like this for a bit?" He asks.

I simply nod.

"That was what I wanted to do to use the promise," I inform him quietly.

"That promise is eternal, Shikamaru."

Narrator's p.o.v

Peeking through the crack in the closet door, Neji sits and watches quietly.

He wears a genuinely happy smile on his face, one that hasn't been seen since his father passed when he was younger.

Neji steps back into the living room.

"You two should go to bed."