Ancient Hyuuga Traditions

-1. There Was a Time-

It had been thirteen years since Shikamaru had last seen him. Yet there he was, looking like he'd been there the whole time, sitting on the very spot that the tanned ninja had visited as much as possible for the past decade or so. Shikamaru stopped in his tracks, not knowing how to react or approach the situation. It had been a long time since they were kids who'd practiced sparring with each other in the secrecy of moonlight. Things may be different from how they were back then. He could have turned into a stranger by now. He watched silently as the other's hair fluttered in the light breeze, the length a tradition upheld by the clan with which his own had opposed since before he was born. He began to take a gentle step forwards, barely able to believe his eyes.

Maybe this is just somebody who looks like him, thought Shikamaru, frowning. However, all doubts vanished when a kunai suddenly whizzed through the air and struck the spot where the shadow wielder's left foot would have landed if he'd been slow enough to complete the step. Shikamaru chuckled inwardly; feeling satisfied that he'd managed to hide his chakra signature so well that the Hyuuga prodigy himself couldn't sense it until just a second ago.

"Who's there?" demanded an imperious voice. Shikamaru couldn't help the smile that began to shape the corners of his lips. Even though the voice had completely changed from an eight year olds squeak into a deeper, huskier resonance, the superior tone remained the same.

"I should be the one asking questions. After all, you are in my spot," Shikamaru replied, leaning casually against a tree as the other man spun around at the sound of his lazy drawl. He felt his eyes widen and had to hold in his surprise when he saw the Hyuuga's face. He had changed after all. The haughty features of a child, the innocent pride in the pale eyes had long disappeared, replaced with a dangerous clarity, and an unwavering dignity. His body and had lost all of its childish softness and was now lean and carefully chiseled by years of training and combat, and sporting some new scars that a lifetime of being a ninja inevitably bequeathed. The man's eyes widened for a split second when he spotted Shikamaru, before returning to its usual blank frown, a reaction that would have been missed had Shikamaru not learned many of the other man's emotional quirks from a young age.

"Good afternoon, Shikamaru-san," said the soft husky voice that its addressee knew would take a while to get used to.

"Hyuuga-sama, these formalities are surely superfluous?" asked Shikamaru with a small smirk. The other man's frown deepened slightly.

"I…I didn't know how you would feel about seeing me again…" he said softly, his eyes assuring the Nara that the ground between the two of them was suddenly incredibly interesting.

"Neji," Shikamaru said, smiling gently when a hint of embarrassment tinged the other man's cheeks at the blatant lack of formalities, "You, of all people, should know that overreacting is too troublesome for me."

Neji's frown smoothed out suddenly at this, his pearly eyes rising to meet the dark ones before saying softly, "Nara-kun, you haven't changed much, have you?"

"Changing requires effort," Shikamaru grinned. "You've not changed much yourself," he lied, looking away from the other man's slender neck.

"I suppose not. Although I can't help but notice that I must have stopped growing earlier than you…," grinned Neji. Shikamaru blinked, and then realized that he had finally outgrown the older man, who had always been taller than he was in their youth.

"I told you so."

"It's been thirteen years and you still remember that?" asked Neji with a sigh, sitting back down in the grass. Shikamaru grinned and sat down beside him, careful to leave the gap that marked the perimeter of Neji's personal space empty, not knowing if he was welcome in there any longer. Neji did not fail to notice this gesture.

***

"Of course I remember, Neji," said Shikamaru.

"Ne, Nara," said Neji, leaning against the tree.

"Yeah?" responded Shikamaru, looking up at the Hyuuga boy's face from the ground as he lay in his customary cloud gazing position.

"Why do you think our families hate each other?"

"Tch. Who knows? Adults are a pain in the neck," was the younger boy's reply.

"Hiashi-sama mentioned something about a difference in stature once," said Neji softly, "He doesn't approve of your family because you're supposed to be below us, but don't act like it," he continued, sliding down to lay next to the Nara. They had just finished their secret weekly sparring and were taking a rest before they each had to return to their respective 'troublesome' families.

"You mean the Hyuuga hate the Nara because you're short?" asked Shikamaru, trying to hide his smirk. Neji was silent for a second.

"You fool; you know perfectly well what I mean. I thought you were intelligent!" said Neji, exasperated. The tanned boy chuckled at the way Neji always sounded so grown up whenever he was teased.

"I guess that when you're short, you'll try to use any excuse in the book to try to make yourself feel better than everybody else," teased Shikamaru. He could see the Hyuuga's pale skin beginning to flush from indignation.

"If you think we're such snobs, then why are we even friends?" Neji demanded, standing up and beginning to leave.

"Because I like you," was the reply that Neji was not expecting. The pale boy paused and looked back at the Nara who continued to stare at the clouds.

"Do you realize how gay that sounds?" asked Neji curiously.

"I'm eight years old. Give me a break," said Shikamaru, causing a chuckle to free itself from the usually stoic Hyuuga. "Don't go yet. I only get to see you once a week now that you've started proper training," continued the Nara softly.

"I guess I can stay a bit longer. And you can't say the Hyuuga's are short. I'm taller than you," said Neji, smiling at the little boy with his spiky ponytail as he sat back down besides him, his arm brushing unnoticed against the other boy's shoulder.

"Yeah well, you're nine. Nine year olds are supposed to be taller than eight year olds. But just wait until we're grown ups. I'll be at least a foot taller than you."

***

"If I recall correctly, you predicted a foot. You're barely nine inches taller," said Neji as they both stood up to leave after a short, slightly awkward attempt at making small talk.

"I'm still growing," said Shikamaru with a lazy grin. This caused the Hyuuga to chuckle appreciatively, a sound that the Nara realized had changed as well, and the new version he found particularly appealing.

The two men began heading back along the invisible path towards their respective homes.

"How long are you going to be staying for?" asked Shikamaru suddenly.

"I'm back for good. Hinata-sama brought the entire family back this morning for no apparent reason. Whatever it is, I guess our clans will just have to learn to get along," said Neji.

"So does that mean we can finally see each other in public without fear of being grounded?" grinned Shikamaru.

"Do you realize how gay that sounds?" asked Neji humorously. Shikamaru grinned as they went on their separate ways home.

***

"Shikamaru, you're finally home, I've got some news for you, boy," came his mother's voice from his kitchen as soon as he opened the door to his apartment.

"What is it?" he asked, leaning against the doorway.

"The Hyuuga's are back in town," she said, then paused, half-expecting some sort of reaction like the other Naras never failed to supply at this news. However, she rolled her eyes at the predicted lack of one.

"So?" asked Shikamaru.

His mother sighed, "I guess you've never been interested in the rivalry between our clans," she said.

"Guess not," said Shikamaru, "If that's all, I'm off to my room. Close the door behind you when you leave."

"Don't walk away from me while I'm busy with you, boy! Did I say I was finished?" said his mother irritably. Shikamaru sighed and turned back to face her, waiting for her to finish so he could finally be alone in his apartment. "The new leader of the Hyuuga has proposed a deal with the Nara," his mother continued quickly before she lost her son's limited attention again. "They proposed a peace treaty that, if we should agree on it, will allow the Hyuuga and Nara clans to finally end their rivalry. Honestly, nobody even remembers why we are rivals in the first place," said his mother.

Shikamaru knew as well as his mother that the two clans were rivals because of pride. The Nara were not willing to accept the Hyuuga as being in any way superior, whereas the Hyuuga looked down upon the unsophisticated lifestyles of the Nara. Several years ago, a fight broke out between the two clans, one that had blown out of control and lead to the death of Hiashi. Following this incident, the Hyuuga clan immediately left the village.

"What did they propose?" asked Shikamaru dutifully as his mother stubbornly waited for him to say something.

"That a firstborn from the Nara family wed a firstborn from the Hyuuga family before the next moon begins to wax," said his mother with a touch more excitement than was warranted.

"Fantastic," said Shikamaru, "can I go now?"

"Shikamaru, you are a firstborn," said the woman in exasperation.

The man considered this for a moment, and then said, "Alright."

"That's it?" asked his mother, unable to hide her surprise.

"As long as the Hyuuga firstborn isn't too much of a pain I'm up for it. Whatever," said Shikamaru.

"Well, luckily for you, they aren't keen on forced arranged marriages. You are required to meet all of the Hyuuga firstborns. All the Nara firstborns are going. Then if an attraction is struck, the deal will be finalized with a wedding."

"When is this happening?"

"This Saturday."

"Fine. Now leave me alone," sighed Shikamaru, heading towards his room. He heard his mother sigh in defeat as she headed out.

"Just meet us at the Hyuuga compound at ten tomorrow morning. And don't be late!"