The Man Who Lived

Chapter 5: Infinite Tsukuyomi

Naruto was clueless as usual, not inquiring at all why the bunch of us were huddled, sweating, and laughing nervously.

"We're off to our honeymoon!" Naruto smirked with a red faced Hinata.

"W-we just wanted to say goodbye to everyone and how thankful we are for making our day so special," Hinata mumbled, her face half buried in Naruto's chest.

"More than happy to!" I chimed, "You two mean the world to us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now go have a good time, crazy kids!" Kiba winked, provoking another blood rush to Hinata's face.

"I wanted to say goodbye to Neji-nii san, I'll be gone for a while and he's only just woke up.."

"I don't think you have to worry about him," Kiba grinned widely.

I nudged him in the chest and he coughed loudly. Hinata and Naruto looked confused.

"You know Kiba," I rolled my eyes, "Neji will be just fine. We're all looking out for him," I plastered a big fake smile patting Kiba's head deliberately aggressively. "Seriously go lovebirds! You don't want to be late!"

As soon as they were off in the distance I nudged Kiba again, "Don't go barking what we aren't sure of yet!"

"Isn't it obvious!" Kiba retorted.

"I agree with Ino," Temari added with her arms folded across her chest, "Let them do things on their own time."

"Well...." I smirked, "Maybe we should follow them just a little. Get a better idea for ummm... friendship purposes. We should investigate!"

Kiba nodded in agreement.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru sighed turning to walk away.

Temari looked conflicted but her curiosity won the best of her, "Catch you later!" She grabbed me and Kiba by the wrists and led us toward Neji and Tenten's direction.

Sai scratched his head nervously and shrugged at Shikamaru, walking beside him.

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Neji's P.O.V

"So anyway..." I began before thinking about what to say next. By the time we had turned in the direction of the shout, all that was left was a trail of dust.

"Anyway..." she repeated casually.

I wanted to tell her so badly that I dreamed of her. That we saw out our dreams together and lived lives outside of missions. That we were more than just teammates. More than just friends.

"So what are your dreams Neji?" she confidently picked the conversation back up.

"I accepted death so readily because I believed in Naruto and Lady Hinata and their love," I sighed, "I also believed in his ability to change the shinobi world." I reached up to where my mark once stood imprinted on my forehead. "So I supposed my dream came true."

We smiled at each other earnestly.

"I dream of finding my own love someday too," I added while looking up at the sky, afraid of her response.

After a moment's of silence I could hear her say, "Me too."

I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding in and slowly started to extend my hand to hers. I kept my eyes up at the sky and let my hand gravitate to her side until...

WACHUUUUU!!

An animal-like sneeze made us both jump.

"Byakugan!" I shouted instinctively, not wanting to let whoever it was get away.

I could see through the pastry shop that Ino, Kiba, and Temari were crouched behind a curtain watching us. Already caught in the act, Akamaru freely pounced from behind the curtain nearly pushing me over with his heavy paws and excessive licks.

Tenten laughed and helped me steady the big dog.

She placed a hand on her hip and pointed at our group of friends, "And what are you all up to?"

"N-nothing," Ino stuttered uncharacteristically. She leaned over to the closest flower and picked it from its roots, "No no this won't do. Thank you Temari for showing me to this magnificent flower, but I don't think it will do well in the shop," she sighed resting a hand on Temari's back, "Why don't we check over there?"

She was slick. Tenten and I looked over at each other and laughed.

"Kiba, I'm the least surprised about. But Temari?" Tenten pouted.

Temari looked defeated, not nearly capable of keeping up a fictitious story quite like Ino. She managed a quick "Sorry!" before being pulled away by Ino.

"Akamaru just loves this spot! He's been real busy with missions so I wanted to give him play time on his day off!" Kiba nodded assuredly.

Akamaru mimicked his owner and sat earnestly beside him with his head held high.

"We'll leave you to it then," I waved grabbing Tenten's hand and running off deeper inside the Village trees. We weren't the Village Hidden in the Leaves for no reason after all.

"I guess this is why you kept Shikamaru and Temari such a secret huh?" I laughed scratching my head with my free hand. "I didn't realize it came with such an audience."

"That what did?" she looked up at me with a hint of nervousness.

It was then I realized I was paralleling the relationship between me and her to the actual relationship between Shikamaru and Temari. It still felt too early to tell if it's what Tenten wanted or not and I didn't want to scare her away.

"H-hey your hair is down," I quickly changed the subject noticing somewhere along the run her hair had fallen out of her braids and fell past her shoulders.

"Oh," she grabbed the ends of her hair and smiled, "It's still not quite as long as yours is it."

I laughed, "Not quite."

Her hands reached up to my hair and my face grew warm at her touch. Her fingers brushed against my skin before she ran them through my hair.

"Let me try something," she asked before sitting on the grass below us. Even as I sat in front her, she had to stand on her knees to be tall enough to reach me.

She pulled hair ties from her bag and began to twist and pin my hair. Something about it felt sweet and intimate. Though a consistent fascination, I never really let anybody touch my hair or get this close to me.

"There," she said proudly, "Now your hair is in a bun, and mine's down."

We both laughed.

"Now let me try something," I stood and turned to sit behind her.

"What are you going to do with my hair?" she asked.

I started to run my fingers through it just as she did earlier. It was softer than I expected. I twisted it with my hand and pushed it all to one side, exposing the right side of her neck. I could see the little goosebumps there after even the smallest gust of wind.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I placed my chin on the crook of her neck. She stiffened in response, but only briefly. Then she relaxed and whispered my name, "Neji-kun."

"This, Tenten," I whispered, wrapping my arms hesitantly around her waist and bringing her closer, "is my Infinite Tsukuyomi."