Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Boy In The Closet ❯ One Was Neji ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A.N: Thank you so much for your reviews!! I hope you will continue to like the story, and I should tell you that the end is based around true events. Fantasy.


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Lee's brothers walk up the stairs behind him looking from left to right to the point of bumping into the boys back from his unseen abrupt hault. "Before I forget, I was asked to present you with this." Neji took a step back when his new sibling approached him suddenly to drop a bubble chained necklace over his head. He reached out, picked it up looking it over when Sasuke was given the same breech to his personal space. "There. These are to show that you're now a proud member of the Hatake family. These are the bedrooms."

Sasuke pulled the tags from over his head and handed it over to Neji since their brother didn't exactly know which of them was whom yet. Hatake 'Noriyuki' Sasuke. He could live with that; one more false name wouldn't exactly kill him as his true last name would. Neji stuffed the chain into his pants pocket before they continued up the hall.

"Right here is our parents room," he points a finger. "And over here is my room." He points. The two glance in his room; Neji nudges Sasuke on the arm before pointing to the stuffed bear tossed lazily on the boys bed.

"You have a stuffed animal?" Asks Sasuke.

"Hm? Oh, I don't know who the bear belongs to" explains Lee. "It and a bunch of other minor things were left behind in the house when we moved in." With a shrug he says. "I guess I just kind of kept it; you never know when the owner will call asking for it back. I even fixed his broken arm and gave him a good washing, it was really dusty." He continued down the hall.

"How long has this house been up for sale?" Sasuke follows.

"About a year and a half I believe." Turning around to face them, he looks at Neji saying. "Sasuke." Shaking his head the boy points to the bluenet. "My mistake. Sasuke, since you're the youngest you get first dibs on your room."

"That's considerate." He looks into one room, then into the other across from it. "I'll take this one."

"Excellent choice!" He raises a fist. "Truly the bravest of us would pick the room that is known to be... haaaunteeeed." He said in a somewhat spooky way.

"It's haunted?" Quips Sasuke.

Neji chides in between with, "You believe in ghost."

"Of course not!" Lee defended his self. "We joke about it being haunted because there was a strange doll hanging in the closet, eyes burnt and face terribly sliced up. It just seemed so deliberate who else but a menacing spirit would do it?"

Sasuke laughed walking into his new room. "Fair enough." Bringing his bags into the room he sets them on the floor. "Can I paint this room?" He calls out the door seeing the other two in Neji's new room.

"Otousan Gai says you can do whatever you want in your rooms," says Lee. "He says he's looking forward to seeing what you come up with."

"You chose to paint your room green." It wasn't really a question; Neji set his bags on his bed. It looked to be a double twin bed, they must have changed the mattress sizes over the years. He was more used to a king sized bed like the one back at home but this would do since it isn't permanent.

"Green is a very good color, the aura of it gives you lots of energy and it's very relaxing too."

"What's with the tape?" Sasuke, still in his room, asks.

"The tape was put up for Neji," he says to Sasuke before turning his attention to said brother. "It glows in the dark, even the smallest amount of light keeps it charged; would you like to see?"

"Okay."

The two walk into the hall, Lee closing the door behind them he moved forward a step or two to close Sasuke's door. The hall darkened and as Lee had said the tape did its job by reflecting a line under each door, outlinging the light switch in the hall and with a special chalk Neji sees Bathroom written on the door between his and Lee's room.

With a genuine smile, he says. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Shoving the doors open, he smiles at Sasuke who is looking out the window. "I'll be downstairs setting the table if you need anything. You have yet to learn where the spoons and bowls and things are." With a quick bow he leaves the two alone as if he's never seen them before in his life.

Seeing the bluenet emerge from his bedroom, Neji returns into his own with the boy in tow. "He's very animated."

"I like him."

"Hn. Doesn't he seem a bit weird to you, though?" He sits on his bed and pulling his suitcase to his side he then unzips it.

Sitting down on the bed beside him, Sasuke thinks it over. "Yeah, I guess he is a bit weird.... Can you believe he fixed up some old bear? Who does that?" His hand grabs for the chain around his neck to mess with it.

Folding shirts on his lap, he looks to a dresser in the corner of the room. "It's a nice house, not as big as I'm used to living in, but it will do."

"Oh but your not a snob." He grabs a shirt folding it for the boy, who just takes it and redoes it.

"Of course not." But his smirk says otherwise. Placing both shirts into the dresser, he walks over to the closet checking out an arsenal of clothes hangers for both pants and shirts. This family really was prepared for them. He had to smile about that kind of commitment.

"They're all so big in personality I feel like I've been here all my life." Laying back he stares up at the ceiling wondering what the nail sized holes were from. "I wonder what school will be like. I hate being the new kid, all that attention."

"You don't like attention?" Neji continues to casually fold his clothes.

"I don't mind it," the boy continues to fiddle with his tags. "I just prefer that it come from people I actually wanna talk to instead of weeding through losers who think the new kid is that desperate."

Neji chuckled, closing the dresser drawer. "I'll teach you the fine art of 'fuck off' later, little brother." He said the words as though he were teasing him. "I've never been the new kid at school and I don't intend to act like one. I'll go about my day as if I've always been there." Grabbing a few shirts to hang in the closet, he shoves a mess of hangers to the other end of the bar.

"Good idea. Do you eat in the cafeteria or homeroom?"

"Homeroom. But if you're eating in the cafeteria then I'll make an exception."

"Don't bother. I'll sit by Lee if he's there."

"Would you really want to?" He looks him dead in the eye. "Guy doesn't strike me as the most popular type."

"I dare to be different." He smirks, swatting away a sweater that came his way. Looking over the rich blue color, a thought occurs. "Are you really colorblind?"

"I've been this way my whole life." He answers indifferently before going back to hanging his clothes and taking out his tooth brush and other personal items. "I do know that you're wearing blue and black, that Lee has on a green t-shirt with faded blue jeans... Seriously, he and Dad don't just look and act alike, they even dress similar."

"How do you know though, colors I mean."

"I studied them, my father showed me." Sitting back down on the bed when the task was finished, he looked down at his new brother. "I get confused sometimes with reds and oranges, whites and yellows but most things in life aren't given to you in color. So I'm mostly always right."

Nodding, the younger male sits up. "I'm gonna go get the kitchen lecture over with, you coming?"

"No. I'm gonna finish unpacking." Grabbing his toilettries, he asks before they walk out. "Should I put your things away for you."

"Hn. I'm not lazy. I'll do it after dinner."

"Alright." Walking down the hall to the bathroom, he glanced inside spotting a glowing rectangle. The Hyuuga boy even noticed the tape on the stairs was for coming and going. He really does appreciate the small things this substitute family went through for him.

Sasuke strolled down the hall glancing again into Lee's room, but just as he passed it he took a step back. What happened to the bear on the bed? He was pretty sure Lee hadn't come back upstairs for it, as loud as that kid is they would have heard him. Maybe this house is haunted? Shaking his head, he smirks. "Yeah right." Continuing downstairs, he hears cars going by and he wonders if Kakashi aaaand Gai? have returned. "Lee?"

"I'm around the corner." The boy says.

Turning in to the kitchen, he spots him setting one last spoon on the table. "Hey."

"Ready for the intro?"

"I'll figure it out." He explains taking a seat at the table. "What's the school like here?"

"It's good. The teachers are great, the students are.... interesting. You'll hardly find yourself feeling different around those personalities." After a second thought he adds. "But then again, you and I are in different grade levels so maybe they're a bit different. We'd both have gym together and maybe one other class."

Satisfied with that he asks. "Do any of the kids live in the neighborhood?"

Lee scratched his head on that one. He wouldn't really know. "I'm not sure; I see lots of kids around but never actually talked to any of them."

"Why not? Are you shy?"

"Not at all! I just... well, I just don't really fit in sometimes."

"You guys have lived here for three months and you still haven't made any friends?"

"Well when you put it that way," he began to say.

"Forget about it. If you're uncomfortable talking with people than you could hang out with Neji and me." He shrugs. "No big deal."

All my dreams have come true! I knew my new brothers would be great people! Fire began to burn in his eyes; a passionate fire that burned the old to make way for new beginnings. Watching Lee's movements as he laments silently, Sasuke noticed the absence of something.

"Where's that stuffed bear you were talking about before."

"Hm." He takes a seat at the table.

"I went past your room, I didn't see it."

"Oh, Heero seems to have a mind of his own." He shrugged it off.

"Aand you named the bear." He nearly laughed. "That to me says you play with stuffed animals."

"I don't play with him, persay, I just sort of talk to him, like a 'no tell' diary."

"That's understandable." He turns his gaze to the entry of the kitchen at the sound of the front door.

"We're home!" Called Gai.

Kakashi must have come in first since he entered the kitchen before Gai, a bag full of small white boxes in one hand and a large soda in the other. Setting them down on the counter, he looks for something in the small drawer beside the stove.

"Sasuke! How are you liking your room?"

"It's nice. I'm thinking of painting it blue."

"Blue is an excellent color! It holds pride and wisedom, as the white clouds in the sky drifts through its masterful gaze."

It's just a color. Thinks the young boy not wanting to say it aloud and squash the mans perfect vision.

"Where's Neji?" Asks Kakashi.

"He's-..." Starts Sasuke but said boy cut him off.

"Right here."

"And what color will you be painting your room?"

"I'll be leaving it white." He eyes the greasy food in the boxes. He knew they would be this sort of family, but you have to roll with the punches as they say.

"White is good." Chimes Lee as his Dad thinks up something to say.

"Yes, white is good." Says Gai.

The family passes the boxes between them, spooning different types of food onto their dishes before setting them back down on the table beginning to eat. Lee had already poured them drinks while they stood around talking. Dinner was going nicely; Gai explained to them that dinner matters most in this family because it is the time when they talk to each other about their day which will bring them closer together as they learn more about one another. Since the two new children didn't really have anything to offer, Gai and Kakashi decided just to go over the rules of the house, things they should know, stuff like that.

"At school tomorrow," says Kakashi. "You'll be going in something that isn't too flashy. Just some simple slacks and a collar shirt will be acceptable until you pay for your uniforms and shoes which Gai and I will lend you the money for."

"Lend us the money?" Neji cocks his brow. "You mean we don't have to get jobs?"

"Unless you really wanna work, you're too young." Their father continues. "You will get an allowance, how you spend it is your own thing but try to be sensible about it for the most part."

"How much?" Inquires the Hyuuga.

"50. If you do something useful around the house you can raise that."

The two seemed pleased with that. Sasuke was already planning on upping his pay by doing the dishes tonight.

"You can have friends over just so long as they follow the rules of the house." With a shrug the lazy toned male went on saying. "Staying the night should be discussed with both parents and you should know my only rule about that is keep it for Fridays and Saturday since Sunday is a school night." The two nod. "As for the act itself, I'd prefer my sons be grown up about the decisions they make so leave me out of them." They could hear the smile behind his words.

Reaching for the box of skewered duck, Gai noticed Sasuke's necklace but Neji didn't seem to be wearing his as it would show through his thin shirt if he tucked it in. "Neji, where's your chain? Didn't Lee give it to you?"

"I decided not to wear it; it seems wrong to me since I won't be with this family but for a short time." After a second thought, he adds. "Another thing, I won't be calling either of you father or dad since you are neither to me."

"Neji-!?" Starts Lee but Kakashi cuts him off.

"That's a very sensible way of thinking," he comments. "Oh but Neji when did you say your father was arrested?"

"Two years ago."

"I see." He held his chin in mock contemplation. "And when was the last time you heard from the lawyer about the case?"

"Year and a half."

"Interesting.... So then I guess Father and Dad will be fine for you then, am I right?"

"......Yes." Standing, he stacked his dishes accordingly then took them to the sink. "May I be excused?"

"Remember that responsible thing I mentioned."

"Right." The boy left the kitchen without another word. He wasn't sure how he felt about the man anymore, but he could respect his logic. It has been a long time since he heard anything about the case or anything at all after the fact that his father was moved to the larger prison. What the hell is he supposed to do if his father is killed? Stay with this family? Could he live like this? I need some fresh air. Slipping into his sneakers, he walks out the front door.

Hearing it, Kakashi wipes his hands on a napkin before standing up in a huff. Sasuke noticed this so asked. "Where are you going?"

"To bandage the situation," he placed his dishes into the sink. "After all, I don't want a bill from the city because a home sick son of mine destroyed something valuable."

Kakashi is so cool. Smiles his youngest.

Upstairs in Lee's room. Gaara sits in the closet stroking Kuma-sama. "What am I supposed to do about those people? I've thought of a few things but whose to say they won't just pass it off as something else.... Their happiness is making me sick, that isn't how a family should act. Hn. If they knew anything about real families they wouldn't be happy." The chubby bear remained uncaring. "Real families hate each other, steal things and ruin them, real families talk about you and lock you out of the house when its raining." A tear filled his eyes at the memory. "Why can I remember my life but not my death?" Looking up at the darkened over shelf above his head he thinks quietly to himself. I was alone that day I ruined Temari's doll. Did someone break into the house without my hearing it, I did have my door closed anyone could have been downstairs and heard me moving the chair. He turned his head at the sound of people coming in the room. Leaning forward he cracks the door and peeks out.

"Otousan already packed book bags and lunches for you guys," Lee was saying to Sasuke who followed him into Gaara's room.

"Dad does a lot of that caring stuff. He must be the mom then."

"He's a man!" Snaps Lee in mock anger.

Sasuke waved his anger away. "I know, I know." Taking a seat on his brothers bed, he looks around the room at the things Lee decided to decorate it with. A bunch of posters with Ninjas on them, he has a pair of nunchucks hung on the wall and a wooden sword. The kid is clearly into martial arts. He wondered if Lee knew about the Hyuuga martial arts style? Maybe Neji could teach it to the two of them since technically they are all family now and traditional styles are the types of things that are passed along only through family.

"So, what kinds of things are you into?"

"I like-..."

"ATTAAAAACK!!!!" Gai shouts out of nowhere before pouncing on the two boys. Sasuke managed to slip by but Lee was being crushed into a weird pretzel like position, legs pulled up behind him and his arms then joining them like a calf being roped at a rodeo.

"I'll get him." Assures the boy before leaping on Gai's back and pulling his hair.

Gai only laughed at that, standing up straight as he attemtps to toss Sasuke onto Lee whose sitting dazed on the bed. But Sasuke, knowing a family style of his own, wraps his legs around Gai's waste parting the mans thighs with his ankles before dropping his weight causing Gai to fall into a split, in which he howled in pain, a little snot coming from his nose from the burning sensation.

"Dog pile!" Shouts Lee before attacking.

Neji had walked as far as his photographic memory would allow, plus the street lights didn't provide much of anything for him so he stopped at a bridge to gaze down at the dark water that had a ball of light in it from the moon. Roppongi is a nice place, but... he doesn't want to be away from his father- he isn't ready yet. He didn't even plan to move out of their home until after college and now this!

"Nice and quiet out here." He teases because the city is anything but quiet.

"Why did you have to say those things. It's not as if I'm stupid or something; I know its been a long time since I've heard anything you don't have to rub it in."

"I wasn't rubbing it in, I was being sensible." Wrapping an arm around the boys shoulders, he sighs. "Neji, I like you. You strike me as the type that I don't have to worry about because you're a leader," Neji placed a hand on Kakashi's forearm; his father held him this way lots of times. "And as a leader you'll get what you want because you have drive for it. So, yes, I want you reunited with your father but at the same time I don't want you forgetting that you have to live realistically about some things. Even power finds a struggle and this time its a big one. So manage with us until the day comes."

"Hn." Was all the boy could say. But he was smiling and that's something, right?

"So son, shall we go home before those three gnaw their arms raw waiting for us?"

"Yes."

Wrapping both arms around the boy the man leans over whispering into his ear. "You can take your time on the parental titles, I don't mind, but be nice to your brothers you're a big deal to them already."

"I will." Getting a pat on the shoulder the two walk back to the house together.

..................

Lee lay in bed completely worn out from the wrestling match he had with Sasuke and Gai, a long yawn poured out of his mouth as he gripped the abandoned bear to his cheek. The closet door slid open a crack, a glowing red eye peered at the teen as he lay there trying to get some sleep. How can he be so tired and not be able to drop off? Yawning again his cracked eyes widen as he catches a glimpse of something shining in the closet.

....Don't draw attention to yourself. He coached. Nothing ever attacks someone that's asleep because they're in a state where they can't pay enough attention to it to make it real. He congratulated himself on good reasoning and slowly, with as much languid hesitance as possible, he rolled over to face the wall. Good job Lee. Squeezing his eyes shut, he quickly forces sleep and is soon heavily snoozing away.

In Gai and Kakashi's room the two men moan into each others mouths at release and with a tired pant Gai releases the hold he has under Kakashi's buttocks and drops his legs from around the mans waist to let his lover roll onto his side of the bed.

Lee, passed out drunk, rolls over in bed never hearing the sounds that filled the house, which is more than can be said about the other two who were completely awakened by the sound of moaning, this in tune with constant creaking and whispered words. Neji is finally able to unplugg his fingers from his ears as he now tried enducing sleep. Sasuke, on the other hand, was busy with his own activity of keeping his self silent as he listened in. He knew it was weird and he didn't mean to eaves drop on the man made sounds going bump in the night but he had a tricky childhood and this was kind of product to that; either way its a bad habit and he planned on breaking it. Yes.