I Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way

Neji twisted the blonde hair to form a type of bun on top of the blonde's head. Neji smiled into the mirror that was in front of both he and Deidara.

Deidara sat on a stool in Neji's bathroom, staring into the mirror that was in front of him. Neji stood behind him trying out different hair styles on the blonde. Deidara's hair was loose of course, and he'd taken off his cloak as soon as he'd gotten to the Hyuuga compound. He didn't look too pleased with Neji playing with his hair.

The last time Deidara had come to visit his lover, Neji had insisted that he go to an annual Christmas festival. Neji rarely asked anything of him so he agreed. Though the fact he would have to change his look completely had slipped his mind. That was what Neji was doing at that moment.

Neji just had to make sure Deidara didn't look like his bingo book picture, that way, no one would suspect him. Luckily, Neji, being of ANBU level, had the bingo book and could easily change Deidara's look to fit the category unwanted, at least for the night.

"Neji..." Deidara couldn't help but smile, as said brunette put his hair up into two pigtails.

"Yes?" Neji asked innocently. He let go of Deidara's hair and laid his head on his shoulder, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Neji was just too adorable to tell off, which he would have done to anyone else, "...When's the festival starting, un?" Deidara asked.

Neji grabbed his watch from the counter and looked at the time; 6:30. "It starts now, but it'll only get active in half an hour."

Neji decided to tie Deidara's hair into a simple, low ponytail. He managed to get Deidara to take off his eye piece, at least for the next couple hours. It hurt a bit having it off, simply because the missing nin was training his eye to fight off Genjutsu. But, he was keeping some hair in front of his eye, so he could keep it closed. And Neji lent him a light blue Yukata with a black trimming and black obi.

The Hyuuga himself had decided to let his hair loose. It was rare of him, but he figured, why not? He wore a black Yukata with a white obi, and of course, with weapons hidden every here and there. All ninja know to be prepared no matter the occasion.

Deidara stood up off the stool and walked around to Neji. He gripped Neji's hips, and pushed him backwards. Neji put his hands on top of Deidara's and allowed his lover to guide him. He wasn't surprised too find himself pinned to the wall.

Their lips met in a fiery kiss. Deidara's hands went to Neji's obi, playing with the knot. Though it was tempting to let Deidara continue, Neji did want to go to the festival. Neji grabbed Deidara's hands away from his obi, and slapped them playfully.

"No!" He said, as if he were reprimanding a dog. Deidara's answer wasn't far off from that comparison.

The blonde pouted, "But I want you now!" He whined.

Neji rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less, "When we come back we can do whatever you want to do, alright?"

Deidara stopped pouting, "Fine, I can be patient."

"Good, now let's go." Neji pulled Deidara out of the bathroom and towards the window. "We have to go out the window, if people see you leave my room, without having entered it, well...That pretty much speaks for itself doesn't it?"

"It sure does, love." Deidara said with a smirk, "But you know...Someone misunderstanding would be rather funny..."

"Come on." Neji opened his window and climbed out. He jumped to the ground and was soon followed by Deidara.

"Okay, where to?" The blonde asked him.

"The festival is pretty close, only a ten minute walk, but we'll have to make a small detour." Neji answered him. They were walking into the forest, heading somewhere Deidara didn't know. Though he didn't really know Konoha very well.

"What's the detour for?" Deidara asked.

"We have to go all around the compound. If you haven't noticed, my room is towards the back of the compound and it's usually a shorter route going through it, which we can't do, so we'll be going around." Neji answered him.

"Sounds like a long detour..." Deidara said.

"It is." Neji replied.

It took nearly a half hour to walk there, but the two didn't mind, having enjoyed each other's company. The festival was held towards the center of the village, and it was the event of the day. Konoha had had a very good year; the town had finally finished fixing all damage done in the last few years, a result of Orochimaru attacking it, and then Pein two years later. But at least that was all over, and the village was at peace.

Hence, the reason Tsunade had organized a large Christmas festival. It wasn't on Christmas, but a few days after. She made this so because it would have otherwise interrupted many family affairs. Most had their own Christmas parties to attend on the exact day.

Evidently, the Hokage had taken everything into consideration. She even kept as many people as she could off missions.

It was dark out, but the festival lights weren't hard to see. The party was on its way; far off in the distance, the couple could hear voices and music.

Deidara finally got a little nervous; it wasn't safe for him to go to the party, considering who he was. "Neji...I don't know about this."

Neji squeezed Deidara's hand, "You'll be fine, you're with me after all, no one will suspect you."

"Right...Okay." As they neared the festival, Deidara put his other hand on Neji's arm protectively and somewhat possessively. This made Neji smile a bit.

People were everywhere, laughing, dancing, and having so much fun. Kids were running around while adults were mostly together talking. Music was being played everywhere; there were many different types of lights in the area. All stores were closed, but there were stands here and there selling food, drinks, and other festive souvenirs.

The two stared at their surroundings, entranced. It certainly looked different than what they'd seen of it before. Neji had helped put together the fireworks early in the morning, and when he went back home not much had been done. It certainly looked finished now.

They hadn't walked for long before someone called out Neji's name. They turned and soon enough Naruto ended up in front of the two, wearing, not surprisingly, a rather flashy orange Yukata.

"Hey Neji!" Naruto exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Hello Naruto." Neji replied. Deidara grinned at the irony; he stood before someone he had sought to capture, and now was about to talk to him nicely. In a non-wanting-to-capture-you type of way.

Naruto looked at Deidara curiously, "Who's this?"

Deidara replied, "I'm Daichi, un." He and Neji had figured out a fake name for him earlier.

Naruto noticed that they were holding hands and of course, immediately said something stupid, "Is he your boyfriend?" Naruto asked, not letting them time to answer, he continued, "I knew you were gay! You're way to pretty too be straight!" He exclaimed, pointing at Neji.

Both Neji and Deidara sweat dropped, "You're such an idiot Naruto...But yes, this is my boyfriend." Neji said.

And that's when Sasuke decided to show up, followed by Lee. Naruto pointed at Sasuke next, "See? There's more proof that pretty people are gay!"

Sasuke turned to Neji, wondering what the hell Naruto was talking about, "This is my boyfriend, Daichi." Neji said. Sasuke quickly put the pieces together.

"Neji, my wonderful comrade! You have finally found love! How youthful!" Lee would have liked to finish that sentence by giving Neji a hug, but Neji stopped that from happening.

"I'm good, thanks." Neji had a hand out, to stop him.

Lee decided that the good guy pose would be good enough. He then proceeded to grab his own boyfriend's (Sasuke's) hand. It was a rather strange couple from the start, but everyone was used to it by now. The two had been together since Sasuke came back to the village, two years ago. Neji was just glad Lee found somebody; he had so much love in him, and he needed somebody to love. And Sasuke, the one with no love in him whatsoever could do with some.

"Anymore stupidity to share with us, dumbass?" Sasuke asked Naruto. Once Sasuke came back, the two went back to being just like before he left. The best of friends, yet you would never guess it. Except for the close people around them who just knew.

As Naruto ranted back, Deidara whispered into Neji's ear, "You deal with this all the time?"

"Pretty much, but you get used to it. After a while...But you haven't seen it to its fullest yet. Just wait." Neji whispered back.

Deidara didn't answer, but watched the two bicker. Lee then turned to him to talk to him, "I haven't introduced myself, I am Rock Lee, this is Uchiha Sasuke, and that is Uzumaki Naruto." Lee finally stopped calling himself the handsome devil after Sasuke had asked him to.

Deidara smiled, "Nice to meet you!" He was genuine with his reply.

Neji then spotted someone he knew quite well, as well as someone he was acquainted with. Kiba and Gaara. Kiba noticed them and was quick to join the group. Gaara followed slowly behind.

"Hey everyone!" Kiba yelled out.

"Hey Kiba! Hey Gaara!" Naruto yelled out, just as loud as Kiba. Everyone else, other than Deidara, greeted them too. Seeing Gaara kind of made him feel guilty. Which was rare of him, but it's true. He took the kids life! At least he managed to regain life, how he did was beyond him, but he did!

"What's up!" Kiba asked.

Naruto stared at the two for a second, and then he pointed at Gaara, "See! More pr-"Naruto was cut of by Sasuke hitting the back of his head. All people who were there before Kiba and Gaara arrived knew what he was about to say.

"Ow! You stupid bastard! What was that for?" Naruto exclaimed.

"No one else wants to be told they're pretty." Sasuke replied smoothly.

"But it just makes my theory more true!" Naruto said.

"It's truer, and what theory?" Kiba asked him.

"That pretty people are gay!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

Kiba blinked, wondering what the hell Naruto was talking about this time, Naruto continued happily, "Well look around, I'm surrounded by gay people, who are also pretty!"

Kiba looked around, "You're actually right…By the way, who are you?" Kiba asked Deidara, who felt like an outcast next to this group of friends.

"I'm Daichi, un." Deidara replied.

Gaara looked at the blonde for a moment. He could vaguely recognize his charka pattern. Though how he could know this guy was beyond him. He decided to let it go, it wasn't the time to get all suspicious over somebody he may or may not have met before.

"Gaara-san, I'm curious, why are you here and not at Suna?" Lee questioned.

"Tsunade insisted I come. I left my role to my brother until I return." Gaara answered in his usual monotonous tone.

"I got lucky; this gives me even more Gaara time. Right Gaara-kun?" Kiba wrapped his arms around Gaara's neck, breathing into his ear.

You may be wondering how Kiba went from petrified of Gaara to all over him; well it's a simple answer. Gaara's manipulative, and Kiba is easily manipulated. Gaara's always gotten what he wants, and Kiba luckily returned the sentiments Gaara had for him.

Whatever Gaara may have wanted to say was interrupted as a certain, energetic, female blonde entered the circle of friends, "Hey People!" Ino yelled out, waving to the group with one hand, and the other was holding the Hyuuga heiress' hand. Hinata looked breathless; Ino had obviously dragged her here.

Hinata smiled shyly, "Hi..." She waved, somewhat embarrassed that her girlfriend suddenly made the both of them the center of attention.

Neji opened his mouth to introduce the both of them to Deidara, but Ino decided to do that herself. "Hi new person!" She grabbed his hand with both of hers and shook it quickly, "I'm Ino! This is Hinata!" She pointed at the blushing heiress.

Deidara knew immediately that this was someone he could be friends with. She was entertaining. He introduced himself to the hyper blonde who then let go of his hand.

Kiba stared at her for a second, "You drank an energy drink didn't you?"

Ino smiled brightly, "How'd you know!"

"I...I think you need to calm down Ino..." Hinata told her, pulling on her sleeve.

Ino wrapped her arms around her neck, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Okay Hinata-chan." Hinata squeaked and blushed even more if it were possible.

"We're going to go now, see you guys later!" Kiba waved and grabbing Gaara's hand, walked away from the group.

"Bye Kiba! Bye Gaara!" Everyone replied, waving back to the couple.

"So Ino...How are things?" Naruto asked her. She looked at him a moment before smirking, and a smirk on Ino makes her look somewhat...Evil, "Things are going great Naruto, very great."

Ino knew one thing about Naruto that very, very few people did. He happened to have a crush on someone she knew quite well. Naruto had asked her help in getting her to hook them up. And of course Ino agreed, playing match-maker is what she does!

Neji knew exactly what she was talking about. The blonde wasn't good at hiding his feelings, and those who didn't know about his crush were either really oblivious or just plain stupid. Seriously.

"Hey..." A bored voice spoke.

'Speak of the devil' Neji thought, seeing Shikamaru enter the group. Ino's smirk stayed in place, "Hey Shika-kun!" She greeted him.

"Hey Shikamaru." Naruto waved at him, a blush on his cheeks, though some could have easily mistaken it as a trick of the lights.

"I'm surprised to see you here, what's the special occasion?" Ino asked the lazy ninja.

Shikamaru scowled, "My mom made me come..."

"Sasuke and I will be leaving you all; I hope to see you all later!" Lee said his good-byes, followed by Sasuke's quick farewell.

As yet another couple left the circle, Ino decided that she and Hinata had to go too, "Well, Hinata-chan and I want to dance, so see ya'll later!" She dragged said Hyuuga after her.

What's left now of the group was, the first couple to have formed the group, Neji and Deidara, the third person, Naruto, and the latest in arriving, Shikamaru.

Neji and Deidara looked at each other a moment before simultaneously deciding something, "You know what...We'll go dancing to. We'll see you two around okay?" Naruto's eyes widened finally now noticing everyone was leaving him alone with Shikamaru.

Deidara smiled at him, "Bye!" And they left the two alone.

"You have an interesting group of friends, un." Deidara told Neji as the two walked away, towards where the music was.

"Definitely. But I'm sure you're own group is quite interesting as well." Deidara mind drifted off. Neji was actually right. The hideout was always a ruckus. Hidan and Kakuzu were always arguing, Sasori and he disputed quite often, Tobi was the most annoying person ever, and the other people were all just plain emo.

"Dei?" Neji asked, getting Deidara out of his reverie.

"Yeah, I'm good, sorry. I was just thinking is all, un." Deidara replied.

Neji smiled, "Just make sure not to hurt yourself." Neji teased.

The two reached the dance floor in a matter of seconds. They walked onto the dance floor and Deidara put a hand out towards Neji, "May I have this dance?" He asked politely, smiling.

Neji grabbed his hand, "Yes, you may." He put his other hand on Deidara's shoulder, and Deidara put his other hand on Neji's waist.

They swayed together for quite some time; Neji rested his head against Deidara's chest, sighing contently.

"Dei?" Neji raised his head to look at his boyfriend.

Deidara looked at him curiously, "Yeah?"

"I hate to sound depressing but...When do you have to leave?" Neji asked him. He hated asking that question, because the answer always sucked.

"Tomorrow night." Deidara replied softly.

Neji sighed, and held onto Deidara harder, not wanting to ever let him go. They rarely had any time together and it really sucked. If only there was a way to fix that.

"Love..." Deidara let go of Neji's hand and put that hand on Neji's cheek, making him look at him, "You know I love you right?"

Neji nodded solemnly, "Yes, I do."

"You know I would do anything I could to stay longer, but I don't see any way I could." Deidara spoke the truth. He had tried to think of different ways, but nothing seemed to work.

Neji kissed him and pulled back slowly, "I know..."

They kept dancing slowly, both lost in thought. Suddenly Neji looked at Deidara with a smile on his face, "I have an idea!"

Deidara blinked, "What?"

"It's a bit of a crazy idea, but I think it may work. But tell me, would you be willing to leave your...Village, to stay here?" Neji asked him.

"Don't you remember how I entered that...Village?" Deidara said, using the same word Neji had used to replace 'Akatsuki'. "And of course I'd stay here. If it means I get to stay with you I'd go to hell and back, and you know that."

Neji smiled, he did know that, he just wanted to make sure, "Well, tomorrow I'll try something, and it should work. I hope...But it really is our only option."

"What exactly are you going to do?" Deidara asked, wondering what Neji had come up with.

"You'll see when tomorrow comes." Neji didn't allow any thoughts of his plan not working enter his mind, not wanting to ruin the night. He may as well enjoy the time he had with Deidara.

Hours flew by and it was 11:30 when the festival was coming to its end. The last event of the night was fireworks. Neji knew they would be lovely, and couldn't wait for them to start, knowing Deidara would love them to.

Neji also knew the perfect place to watch them. He and Deidara went to the Hokage monument. The two sat on the top and cuddled together, waiting for it to start.

They didn't wait long. The fireworks started up quickly, and the couple watched them quietly, just as the rest of the village did.

"They're beautiful." Deidara said in awe. They really were.

"You love anything that makes a lot of noise." Neji smiled, being with the one he loved under such a beautiful sight was just amazing.

"Is that why I love you?" Deidara teased him.

Neji blushed at that. He knew exactly what he meant by it, "Shut up." Neji grumbled.

Deidara chuckled; Neji's ears were so very innocent it was somewhat hard to believe. But it just made him cuter. And some wouldn't believe it, but it was easy to make Neji blush, you just had to know what to say.

"Neji, I love you." Deidara told him once again, for the millionth time that day. It didn't matter to Neji though, he loved hearing it.

"I love you too." Neji kissed him softly, smiling.

Deidara grabbed something from his pocket then looked at Neji directly in the eyes, "Neji, if you truly mean that, will you marry me?" Trust Deidara to do things randomly like that.

Neji couldn't quite believe his ears, "What?" He asked incredulously. Deidara opened the black velvet box and showed Neji the ring, "Will you marry me?" He repeated.

Neji stared at him; he brought his hand to his mouth out of shock. "We've been dating for two years now, and I know I'm ready to be with you forever." Deidara spoke a cheesy line, fully meaning it. Neji had yet to say anything, so he decided to continue, "If you want I could go on one knee, though that's not really my type of thi-" He suddenly found himself lying on the ground, with the Hyuuga on top of him.

"Yes!" Neji kissed him deeply. Again, and again. Deidara managed, between all that, to slip the ring on Neji's finger.

The Hyuuga found tears sliding down his cheeks. He wiped them away, smiling. Happy tears. He never would have thought those tears would be coming from him. But he really was happy.

"So...Does this mean we can skip going back to the compound and just do it here?" Deidara asked Neji.

Neji shook his head, still smiling. He was used to Deidara's wants, "No, we have to have some etiquette, right?"

So, Deidara waited, and was indeed rewarded when the two went back to the compound.

Neji came out of the bathroom all clean and ready to go put his plan into action. Deidara was dressed and waited for him in the bedroom. Well, not like he had many places to go.

"I'll see you later okay?" Neji kissed his now fiancé good-bye.

"I'll be waiting." Deidara smirked. Neji kissed him one last time before exiting his home.

He was going straight to the Hokage. Neji arrived there as quickly as he could. When he reached her door, some people came out, obviously having just gotten some kind of mission. He grabbed the door before it closed and entered the room.

Tsunade seemed to be doing paper work at her desk, which must have been pretty stressful, seeing as she was drinking sake. Shizune, her very helpful assistant, stood behind her, watching her work. Nobody else was in the room.

"Tsunade-sama?" He got her attention. She looked up from her work at him. She seemed tired, which didn't surprise him, what with the activity of yesterday's big festival.

"Neji? What are you doing here?" She asked him.

He walked closer to her desk. He was nervous, yet didn't show it much, "I came here to ask a favour of you..." Neji spoke calmly.

She was curious, "What kind of favour?"

This was where he was stuck. How could he ask this? Well he spent enough time thinking about it he eventually found an answer, he took a deep breath and finally replied, "I want to know if...You could make my boyfriend a Konohagakure citizen."

There he said it. Neji watched the Hokage's face, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She stood up from her desk and looked at him hard. This didn't look to good.

"Hyuuga Neji, do you think I'm stupid?" That wasn't what he was expecting.

"What?" He looked at her, wondering if she was drunk or something.

"I know who your boyfriend is Neji. He is Deidara, missing-nin of Iwagakure." Oh, crap. "Neji, I don't know what you were thinking, but not only can he not stay here, we have to capture him." Tsunade continued.

"But Tsunade-sama!" Neji tried to reason. How she knew was unknown to him, but he couldn't let that happen.

"No buts Hyuuga!" She growled.

"But I love him!" He yelled that a little louder than he had meant to.

Tsunade smiled, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Neji looked at Shizune for a moment, and she just sent him a reassuring smile.

"Now, tell me, how do you know he's not simply using you for Akatsuki reasons?" Tsunade asked him, sitting down in her seat once again, waiting for an answer.

"Using me?" Anger boiled inside of him, but he knew better than to release it, "He would never do that. I have more faith in him than that. I believe in him, and besides, he's more than willing to leave Akatsuki behind." Neji told her.

"Alright, I'll believe you. But what if Akatsuki go after him, knowing he would betray them?" Tsunade asked him once again.

"Akatsuki is pretty much a group of people with nowhere to go, seeing as Pein is defeated. They'll let him go." Neji was trying to make it look better for Deidara. But what he said was true, ever since their Leader was defeated, none of them wanted to continue his plan, really, but none of them had anywhere to go. So they had stayed together.

Tsunade stared at Neji, analyzing everything about this situation. On one hand she had an S-class criminal in her village, on the other, she knew he wasn't planning anything, and she also had a desperate Hyuuga on her hands.

"Would the fact were engaged help make up your mind?" Neji showed her his ring, proving what he said. It was his last hope really.

Tsunade intertwined her fingers together, elbows on her desk, and rested her head on her hands. She looked at his hand, then at the Hyuuga. That does go more to the Hyuuga's side, that's for sure.

She sighed. She opened her desk drawer and pulled something out that made Neji rather hopeful. A hitai-ate.

"Does that mean...?" Neji questioned.

"Yes, but he has to have your name in two months time." Tsunade said, throwing him the hitai-ate, which he caught easily.

Neji stared at the headband. He couldn't quite believe. He looked up at the Hokage who smiled at him. "Thank you so much Tsunade-sama." He said gratefully, he even smiled at her.

"I want to see him tomorrow at noon. I need to have a word with him." Neji nodded, "Now Neji, go home to him."

Which Neji did happily.

Once home, Deidara greeted him, "Hey Neji!"

"Hey Deidara," He walked over to him and gave him the hitai-ate. "It worked."

Neji then jumped on him, kissing him. "It worked!" He repeated once more.

Deidara smiled, "How did you do it?"

"It was the simplest thing either of us could have ever thought of. I asked Tsunade-sama if you could stay here." Neji put the hitai-ate on him, on his forehead. "You are now a Konohagakure citizen."

"Life is way too easy." They shared yet another passion-filled kiss.

"Except for two things," Neji started, as the two separated for air, "You have to go see her tomorrow at noon, and we have to be married by two months time."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

AN: Hello! I hope you enjoyed reading this, and let me know what you think! DeiNeji is so very rare, I felt that it needed more love!

I would like to thank my wonderful Beta, and awesome friend, NejiKikyoAnimeRosefor well, Betaing it for me. Thank you!

And thank you for reading! Have a great year! 2009 sha'll rock!
-MewMew