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He was early. It was probably gonna give her a heart attack. He knocked twice, paused long enough to make out the muffled enter before swinging the door open and having to fight back a smile that threatened to overwhelm him at the sight of Neji standing in front of her desk.
He closed the door behind him and took a steadying breath, fought back the butterflies that still rioted every damn time he laid eyes on the man. They hadn't seen each other since the day before yesterday, way too long for his stupid love-sick heart to handle and it had been making him increasingly jittery. He'd been going stir-crazy waiting for work to be done so that he could finally hunt the Hyūga down and right now all he wanted to do was reach out and touch. Grab him and kiss him until neither of them could breathe. He met Neji's gaze for a moment, just a moment, affection so warm in those opal eyes that he had to force his heart back down into his chest.
'Hey Neji. Not interrupting, am I?'
The barest twitch of Neji's lips, gods I need to kiss you, and a slight bow that made Shikamaru's heartbeat trip and stumble, fuck that gesture is gonna speak volumes to her, and then that deep, velvet-wine voice was sending a wave of goosebumps over skin that suddenly felt too tight. He could be reciting some dusty old report about the weather and Shikamaru would still be turned on listening to it. Just wreck me, fuck.
'Not at all, Shikamaru-san, I was just leaving.'
He could feel Tsunade watching them with hawk eyes, taking in the fast exchange with obvious interest as she picked up a tea cup and took a short sip. Neji's display of respect had probably been just enough to deflect from the soft look they'd shared, the slip they shouldn't have made, but it was always just a little hard to tell with Tsunade.
'Actually Hyūga, you can stay for this. Save me repeating myself later if this goes further.'
Their attention shifted to her as she put down the cup and steepled her fingers on the desk.
'There's been whispers of tension brewing with a group from the Land of Stone that crossed over into Wind week before last. Harassed a border town and roughed up some locals. Intel is limited, looks like they're mostly idiot thugs without much direction which wouldn't normally be something we'd involve ourselves in, except one of the villagers reported overhearing a conversation about Suna and Konoha between two men in the group wearing struck-out hitai-ate, though which hidden village they hailed from was somewhat unclear. Apparently whoever these two were they didn't lay a hand on a single person, just watched the scene unfold around them.'
Damned fucking…
'Suna again? You're sending me to Suna again, aren't you?'
Of course she was, bloody sadist. All to chase down info on some yakuza wannabes and a couple of nukenin. Gaara could crush them like bugs, save everyone the hassle. His sigh was probably a bit melodramatic but the situation really did suck, the last thing he felt like doing right now was leaving for an extended mission.
'What's the problem Nara? Rumour has it you enjoy the Suna hospitality a great deal, from what I hear, I didn't think you'd mind.'
Her gaze was more calculating than her needling tone let on, and he felt Neji shift almost imperceptibly at his side. Godsfucking small town rumour mill. He wondered what old stories they'd both heard, there were at least a few still lingering at his last count even after a half dozen years, all wildly inaccurate and painting him in a less than flattering light as some kind of Leaf Village lothario with a penchant for twins. Women. Absurd. Those rumours were gonna haunt him for the rest of his life, he was sure of it, had always wondered if somewhere out there was an alternate reality where he wasn't stuck with this kind of whispered reputation.
Probably not.
'Shouldn't believe everything you hear.'
She raised an eyebrow, the derision clear in his tone as he held her gaze. She slapped her hands down on her desk, sent a pen skittering to the floor, the sudden flare of anger a warning that he was walking closer to the edge of her patience than maybe he’d realised.
'So what, you don't think we should send anyone, is that it?'
She was gonna make him say it. Ugh.
'Yeah, of course we should. Just don't want it to be me this time, I only just got back.'
It needed to be him, frustratingly enough. He'd get what they needed with minimal noise, and he knew she knew it too. Was the whole reason she’d call for him instead of someone else. He had contacts there, would be able to touch base with a few people who were more likely to hand over intel to him than to anyone else, people who'd always skirted the edges of trouble and managed to hear even the quietest murmurs of discontent. Ichika was from the Hidden Stone and she'd never entirely left its seedier side behind. A good starting point for a stiff drink and some gossip.
'Do I need to remind you it's your job to do as you're told? Preferably without arguing with me every step of the way.'
He rolled his shoulders out. Riku would still be there too. Suna life was about as far removed from the Land of Iron as you could get, and he didn't think the ronin was gonna up and leave anytime soon. They hadn't crossed paths in a year or more, but much like Ichika the man seemed to collect secrets without even trying, the chances of him knowing something about this were pretty high. And no one was getting info out of Riku but him.
Ichika had been responsible for that introduction, much as she denied any actual involvement. He'd been too young to be in any bar let alone one like hers but there was something to be said for being a cocky teenager, riding high on the kind of confidence that came from being in a foreign city without much supervision and finding himself fairly, well, popular with the locals. Riku had called him persistent, amongst other things, but he'd seemed to amuse the man no end and it had been enough to kickstart a whole thing. The rumour mill had gotten so caught up in the whispers about the girls that summer, but if it had been paying closer attention it would have taken its fodder from the stupid look he'd worn for days after meeting Riku and getting blindsided by his first proper crush. Temari had teased him mercilessly, but then she'd also provided the congratulatory vodka when he eventually got a night of what he wanted a year or so later. Riku would help him if he knew anything, the strange friendship had settled easily between them so long ago now that it felt effortless to pick up again even after long absences. Yeah, a few days in Suna and he'd have what they needed. It still sucked.
'Maybe I need a career change.'
She looked genuinely taken aback at that, and yeah, he'd clocked the thread of honesty in his voice as well. Oops.
'When do I leave?'
Her posture relaxed a little at his acquiescence, maybe she didn't want to dig any further into his thoughts about the short-comings of shinobi life right now anymore than he wanted to get into that particular conversation with her.
'Monday morning, and Naruto will go with you again, he has some business to follow up with Gaara. There's a file down in records with everything we have on this so far, take it with you when you leave today, I want a preliminary report on my desk Monday before you depart.'
Great, there went his weekend. What a drag.
'Don't give me that expression or I'll assign you ten times that volume for when you return.'
Such a drag. A weekend ahead of tedious paperwork followed by another trip out to Suna when all he wanted was a couple of blissful days spread out on his back under the beautiful man standing next to him. There had also been dinner plans with his team for Tuesday that were right out the window now. Ugh. Wonderful. Ino was gonna be thrilled. He shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched into a shrug, felt Neji shift again at his side. Gods but he wanted to get them out of here.
'Tch, yeah yeah I get it. Finished report by Monday morning. It'll be here before you are.'
Her mouth thinned out into a line of exasperation and those sharp copper eyes flicked over to Neji. He resisted the urge to follow her gaze, wanted so badly his teeth ached, fingers twitching in his pockets as he fought not to reach out, not to look over. Not to blow their whole secret apart by hauling Neji into a kiss and dragging him away.
'Hyūga, beat some work ethic into him would you? A sense of respect too, while you're at it.'
He couldn't stop the smirk that curved his mouth, couldn't resist flashing his eyes over as Neji tilted his head in acknowledgement.
'I fear he may be a lost cause, Lady Hokage, though I can certainly try.'
A bark of laughter broke free before he could rein himself in, but it was totally worth it for the twitch that stole across Neji's lips. He'd risk Tsunade's wrath a hundred times to see Neji smile.
'Right, both of you get out of here and stop irritating me.'
He threw her a lazy salute as they turned to walk out the door, caught mumbled complaints about goddamned insolent brat and grinned to himself as he closed the door behind them. She was a good Hokage, he liked her a lot, just maybe not so much right now. Though he did kinda want to thank her for her request of Neji. That sure was something.
'So Hyūga, you gonna teach me how to behave?'
They were alone, at least he assumed they were alone. Voices carried and he should probably be more careful but he couldn't help himself, and his tone was undeniably filthy with the tease. He brushed up against Neji's back where he'd abruptly come to a stop in the hallway, near enough that he could tuck the next words close to Neji's ear.
'Gonna teach me some respect?'
He ran a hand over the curve of Neji's hip, along the top of his ass as he moved around him to continue walking, tongue trailing his smirking lips as he met Neji's gaze.
And the blazing Byakugan.
Fuck.
His pulse thundered into a jackrabbit beat in his veins and his stomach dropped to his feet as Neji wrapped his wrist in an iron grip and dragged him down the hall, shouldering open a door to an empty office and shoving Shikamaru through it. The door latched softly behind them and Shikamaru heard the click of Neji turning the lock, those fierce eyes never leaving his but seeing far beyond them in every direction.
Shikamaru's knees turned weak as Neji grabbed at him, lips finding his, finally, kiss biting deep from the first, blood rapidly leaving his brain and oh gods this was a terrible idea, a brilliant idea, and yeah perfect that was a desk colliding with the back of his legs. Neji coaxed him up to sit on the edge of it and Shikamaru spread his thighs to let him draw close, tangled his fingers in Neji's hair and moaned against his mouth, felt the same kind of desperation in Neji that had been building under his own skin for days. Heat flared bright everywhere their bodies touched and gods he loved this, loved the way Neji would reach for him and burn through every single one of his senses, light him up. Overwhelm him.
'That all depends, Nara, are you a lost cause? Or do you think you could be a good student for me?'
He hooked his legs around Neji's, bit at his lip and groaned, licked the teasing words from his tongue.
'With the right encouragement I think I could be an excellent student, sensei.'
The answering low, growling laugh sent shivers up his spine, little hot sparks popping and catching under his skin as Neji nuzzled into his neck and bit at his throat. He wondered what it would take to get Neji to fuck him over the desk.
What the hell was he thinking?
'Fuck, Neji, this is crazy. We're gonna get caught.'
Neji was kissing him again and Shikamaru was having trouble holding his train of thought, Neji's tongue brain-meltingly distracting, teeth nipping at his lip, hands creeping up under his shirt to grasp at his waist.
'Mmm. There's every possibility.'
He cupped Neji's cheek, thumb tracing the veins in his temple as the Byakugan burned on, reassurance humming through his fingertips that Neji was watching out for them. It was still a risk, but at least it was a calculated one. He buried his hands further back in Neji's hair, massaged at the base of his skull and stole shivering breaths between messy kisses.
'So which part of all that got you so hot?'
He rolled his hips in a tight circle against Neji's, groaned at the steel of his cock pressed close, his own body responding as rapidly as it always did for Neji.
'...got you so hard, fuck, Neji'
Neji spread a hand wide over the base of his spine and pulled him closer to the edge of the table, cinched their bodies tighter, bit back the sounds that kept slipping loose between their kisses. Seeing him fighting for control and simultaneously giving up all pretense of it was making Shikamaru dizzy.
'Every damn part of it, Shikamaru. Your snark. The way you know exactly how much you can get away with before changing course. Watching you feign disinterest and knowing your mind was racing ahead, planning. How skilled you are at this game you play. People don’t realise how passionate you are underneath it, how wildly you burn for me when we're alone.'
Neji bit at the hinge of his jaw, brushed lips up to suck his earlobe between nipping teeth.
'Your laughter. The way I could feel you wanting to look at me but determined to hold back.'
He tugged Neji's mouth back to his, moaned into the kiss.
'If I'd looked at you I would have looked at you, she would have seen everything crystal clear all over my face. I barely kept it together when I walked into the room and saw you there.'
Neji hummed deep in his chest, the vibration of it rumbling into Shikamaru's bones.
'I woke up today wanting you. Needing you. Again. It's been a battle not to just put aside every other responsibility and steal you away, two days is far too long. Your tease in the hallway was more than I could take.'
Shikamaru felt himself smirking, felt the soft huff of Neji's laugh ghosting over his lips. Two days was definitely too long. Fuck, at least they were both ridiculous.
'Hmmm, so you thought you'd drag me into an empty office and kiss the hell out of me.'
He pressed their brows together, the cool steel of Neji's hitai-ate like ice against his heated skin. He trailed kisses up to Neji's temple, knew they must be running out of time. They should get out of here, but the dangerous temptation to linger, to tease, to see how far Neji would take things was singing in his blood. Just a little longer. He let his voice turn husky, pulled up words from somewhere deep and dirty and rough.
'Wanna fuck me here?'
Neji's groan was too loud, forgetting himself, and it sent heat throbbing heavy between Shikamaru's legs, cock achingly hard.
'Kami, yes.'
The kiss Neji stole was all teeth and tongue, messy, control fraying.
'I wonder, could you focus enough to keep the Byakugan going the whole time you had me?'
Hands tightened on his hips, the soft sound of his name falling between ragged breaths against his mouth making him shiver. He couldn't keep the smirk from his lips.
'Mmm, I think maybe you could if you had to. Should probably practice later though, yeah? Just to be sure.'
Neji's groan sounded a little exasperated as Shikamaru stole another kiss, and yeah, reckless tasted pretty damn good. He slipped a hand between them and palmed at Neji's cock through his pants, revelled in the full-body tremor that ran through him as Shikamaru shaped his fingers around him and stroked.
'Gods, I'd love to bring you off right now, go to my knees and take you in my mouth.'
He could picture it, Neji watching him intently, lips parted by gasping breath, body swaying into a rhythm as Shikamaru swallowed around him, hands gripping in his hair, both of them desperately trying to be quiet. Everything fast and messy and rough as the thrill of getting caught chased them down. Fuck. He echoed Neji's moan.
'Yeah?'
He untangled their legs and shuffled forward off the edge of the desk, planting his feet either side of Neji's as he stood, keeping them close, gaze holding tight to the unfathomable depths of storm-clouded eyes.
'Do we have time? Can I suck your cock?'
Neji cupped the base of his skull and dragged him into a kiss, ravenous, and Shikamaru wanted to beg for him, wanted to be responsible for reducing Neji to a trembling, needy mess.
'Yes.'
Shikamaru's favourite word.
He claimed Neji's mouth again, chased that green signal with lips and tongue, ran his hands down the planes of Neji's chest. The kiss broke on a shaking exhale and he dropped down heavy onto his knees, leant his forehead against Neji's hip and breathed him in as his hands got to work stripping open his pants.
'Shikamaru.'
If anyone had told him that one day he'd be hidden away in a locked office of the Hokage tower on his knees for Neji Hyūga, listening to his name being moaned in a way that made his toes curl, the two of them so desperate for each other that they were being almost too stupid for words, he would have laughed. As far as fantasy fulfillment went, this was pretty fucking phenomenal.
He parted Neji's fly and pressed his lips against his cock, mouthed at him through the dark fabric of his underwear, tongue darting out to lick at the wet spot growing over the crown. Neji's fingers raked through his hair, snagged against his topknot, and he hummed long and deep as Shikamaru started to tug aside fabric.
'Oh fuck.'
Hearing Neji curse always sent his brain tripping and it took him a second to realise that Neji had gone still, that his voice sounded more panicked than aroused, and then strong hands were gripping his arms and hauling him to his feet.
'We have company.'
He could hear it now, voices growing louder in the hallway, and Neji was buttoning up his pants and ushering them towards the window as the door handle rattled. His eyes went wide at the sound of keys jangling and Neji wrenched the window open, shoving him forward.
'The roof.'
And yeah, Shikamaru didn't need to be told twice. He hoisted himself onto the window ledge and channelled chakra to his hands and feet, swung for a nearby drain pipe and made the leap. Neji was close behind him, the sound of voices spilling into the room just as Neji cleared the window.
Fuck that had been close. He hoped there was no one watching from the street. Or from a nearby window. He bit back a laugh as they scaled the side of the building, Neji halting him with quiet words just as they drew level with the roof.
'Damn it. Shikamaru, wait, someone just walked out the fire door.'
Fucking hell.
'Who's up there?'
The pause felt like it took a thousand years.
'Shiranui.'
Genma. He could handle getting busted by Genma. Better than he could handle scaling the side of a building any longer with a raging hard-on, at least. He started climbing again.
'Come on, it'll be okay, I trust him.'
Only the barest hesitation and Neji was following him up, swinging over the rail and crashing into one another as they landed in an ungainly mess. They both sunk to the floor, leant back against the wall, and he quickly bent his knees to disguise the obvious pants-situation he had going on. Genma wasn't an idiot, he'd probably already taken in their sudden appearance and ruffled state and made a fairly accurate guess as to what was going on, but there was no need to give him a total eyeful. Neji glanced at him and slowly mirrored his pose, Byakygan cutting out and expression shifting into something amused and resigned. The laughter he'd been holding in spilled out as he looked up to see Genma staring at them from halfway across the roof, cigarette hanging loosely in place of his usual senbon.
'Well this is something you don't see every day.'
He could feel a flash of unease from Neji, wanted to put it to rest as quickly as possible. Genma was fine, he'd keep their secret even if Shikamaru didn't ask him to. The man had a flirtatious mouth and a viper-quick temper, but he wasn't a gossip and that counted for a hell of a lot. Shikamaru had held a quiet respect for him for a long time, didn't know if he'd call them friends exactly, got the feeling Genma didn't let people close enough for that too often, but maybe something like it. He reached for Neji's hand where it rested between them and squeezed, hoped his confidence translated through when he didn't let go, when he tangled their fingers tighter and brushed his thumb over a knuckle. I've got you, I've got this.
'Hey Genma, how've you been?'
He flashed Genma a dirty grin and the whipcrack laugh he got in response made him smile loose and genuine, relax a little further. Genma wandered closer, drew a deep drag from his cigarette, eyeing the pair of them with a calculating gaze.
'Pretty good man, pretty good. Not as good as you though, by the look of. Hey, Hyūga.'
Genma's fingers flicked up in greeting and Neji tilted his head in response, a quiet Shiranui leaving his lips on a controlled breath, and if Shikamaru didn't know him well enough to hear the thread of worry still lingering there it would have sounded just a little icy, a little menacing. Genma was unfazed, nodding as he took another drag of thick smoke and plucked the cigarette from his lips.
'Pro tip, this spot isn't very private during the day. Much better at night, with the bonus of a lovely lit up view as your backdrop. Very sexy, very romantic. Much less likely to end up with an unwanted audience.'
He gestured wide at the expanse of Konoha, raised a teasing eyebrow at them as he brought the cigarette back to his mouth and sucked around it one more time, flicking the last of it to the ground and stubbing it out with the toe of his sandal before exhaling long and slow, flashing them a filthy smirk as his tongue snaked into the corner of his lip.
'Though...if you two ever want an audience, or hell, a third, just you know, let me know…'
His eyes swept over them, lingered appreciatively as he made an encompassing hand gesture in their direction.
'...this is...very nice. Goddamn.'
The senbon slipped back between his lips and he laughed around it as he shook his head, turning away from them and heading back for the doorway. Shikamaru swallowed around a chuckle, heard Neji's breathy laugh beside him. A third. Fucking shameless.
'Genma, you didn't see us, yeah?'
Genma turned back towards them as he reached for the door handle, that smirk still firmly in place.
'My lips are sealed. Enjoy your afternoon guys.'
He disappeared through the doorway and Shikamaru slumped sideways to rest his head on Neji's shoulder. He exhaled hard, relief washing through him as he wrapped his head around how lucky they'd just been. He massaged at Neji's fingers where they were still held in his, stretched his legs out and felt heat spark again as Neji glanced down at the outline of his cock, still pressing insistently against the fabric of his pants. He spread his legs a little wider, let the fabric pull tighter, felt Neji's fingers twitch in his.
'Tease.'
He hummed, marvelled at the way his stupid horny body could decimate his sense of self-preservation.
'For the record, I still want to suck your cock.'
Neji's laughter rang out in the quiet of the rooftop and he turned to press a kiss to Shikamaru's forehead.
'For the record, I still want you to. Quite badly.'
He sought Neji's mouth, kissed him until their breath was coming short again. They should have been taking Genma's advice and leaving, stop tempting fate.
'Can we get outta here? Back to my place? We can have a lot of sex and then I can cook you dinner?'
Neji's beautiful laughter broke free again, cascaded through his senses like wine bubbles. He was pretty sure he could spend the rest of his life chasing that sound and it would be a life well spent.
'That sounds like a perfect night.'
He leant in and stole another fast, filthy kiss, rolled up to his feet and pulled Neji with him. Squeezed his hand one last time before letting go to try and adjust his pants into something less obvious. He followed Neji toward the fire door, watched as he effortlessly smoothed his clothing out. He was pretty sure being immaculate was a Hyūga bloodtrait, it was the only explanation. Resisting the urge to mess him up again was fucking taxing. Neji paused with his hand on the door handle, turned to face him.
'I've been thinking. My schedule next week is quite free, if you'd like some company for Suna I'm fairly certain I could get Tsunade to agree.'
Oh hell yes. He stepped close, boxed Neji up against the door.
'There are no words sufficiently enthusiastic to communicate how much I would like that.'
He was smiling too much for the kiss to be more than a catching brush of lips, Neji's hand settling on the nape of his neck, fingers tripping over vertebrae. Neji’s company in Suna. Fuck yeah. I'm gonna have you desert-sweaty and wrecked every damn night. Gaara was an accommodating host, a couple of joined rooms wouldn’t be a big ask, and yeah they'd still need to be careful but nothing like they were in Konoha. Maybe the job wouldn't have to be so rushed after all. And gods, maybe Temari would even be around this time, and the thought of getting to introduce her properly to Neji, of getting to hang out properly with people he loved without having to watch over his shoulder, suddenly made the trip sound like exactly what he needed. He nipped at Neji's lip, managed to school his expression just long enough to steal a kiss and make it dirty before Neji leant away.
'I'll go back and speak with her while you collect the paperwork from records.'
He hummed, chased that perfect mouth, smiled into the kiss Neji brushed against his lips.
'Probably means you'll have to spend a lot of time with me this weekend, giving me a hand with that report.'
He pressed their hips close, and fuck, leaving. They were meant to be leaving.
'Hmmm, need a hand do you?'
Neji bit at his lip, both of them fighting back laughter. Damn but he loved this man so fucking much.
'From you, always.'
He rolled his hips in a slow grind and sucked at Neji's lip, drew him into one kiss after another, tongues brushing in teasing swipes, the desperate need to escalate things itching in the base of his spine. Having Neji relaxed and playing with him was addictive, warm colour flushing cheekbones and an easy smile, he had no idea what he'd done in his lifetime to deserve this but he sure as hell wasn't planning on ever letting go. Neji pushed gently at his shoulders, tried to ease the kiss back, and yeah, yeah they should be leaving…but…
'If we go down there I have to stop touching you.'
He pressed back in and swallowed down Neji's soft huff of amusement, another quick kiss before he gave in and cinched their brows, smiled and hummed deep in his chest as Neji settled strong hands at the base of his skull and massaged.
'An unwelcome interlude, certainly. Let's make it fast.'
Neji shifted, those hands were falling away and cool air was sneaking between them and the door was opening, distance between them that he wanted to close again the moment it appeared. Lost cause. Yeah. He really was. He smiled again, let himself bask in it. One more sweet look from cloud-soft eyes and Neji was turning from him to walk through the doorway.
Shikamaru followed.
Imagined he probably always would.