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Neji woke to the sound of movement in the entryway. Too cool in just his sleeping pants, he pulled one of Naruto's well-worn t-shirts over his head, and swung out of bed to walk to the bedroom door, not bothering to turn on the light in the home he could navigate with his eyes closed. A day late returning from his mission, Naruto’s arrival was a great relief.

Naruto was at the kitchen arch when Neji stepped into the hall, pack discarded on the table behind him, and Neji knew immediately that it hadn’t been an easy time. Naruto was tired, it showed in every fiber of him, and that was telling enough, but there was an aura of anguish about him as well.

He was pulling off his flak jacket, broad shoulders slumping as they came free, and Neji came up behind him and took it from his arms. Naruto turned to face him, looking wearily up, silent. Neji reached for him with his other arm, pulling him close. Naruto leaned into his chest, hands coming up to rest on his hips.

“Can you tell me anything?” Neji asked, voice just above a whisper. The children frequently woke when either parent returned at night, but this time it was probably better if they slept through it.

“Abducted… kids. Experiments. Some were dead,” Naruto said in a nearly inaudible monotone, words almost lost against Neji's chest. Naruto's grip on Neji clenched. “Some probably should’ve been.”

Neji’s stomach went cold at the short description, but he knew it was little enough next to what Naruto felt.

“I know there are monsters,” Naruto went on in the same dull voice, and his right hand slid between them to dig hard fingers into his own belly. “But why… do people…” He shook his head at the pointless question,

Leaning back, Naruto reached behind his head to undo the knot of his forehead protector, tossing it carefully behind him to land on his bag. With his free hand, Neji plucked flecks of crushed leaf from Naruto’s hair, then carded his fingers gently through the sweat-matted blond tangle.

Naruto's eyes closed under Neji's touch, then opened again, slitted, and caught Neji's wrist in one hand, reaching up to pull Neji down into a kiss with the other. A single light touch, then Naruto wanted in, demanding comfort of a more distracting kind, his tongue seeking Neji’s and goading it into a more forceful response that Neji's body was entirely willing to answer. Teeth dragged against Neji’s lips and he acquiesced, pushing back into Naruto’s mouth. Still holding Naruto’s vest in one hand, Neji let himself be driven back against the wall by the dense weight of Naruto’s body. Sliding his hands under Neji’s arms and up behind his shoulders, holding on, Naruto pushed a thigh between Neji's and rubbed up against his hip. Neji tightened his arm around Naruto’s lower back automatically, and Naruto's fingers dug into the thin shirt that covered Neji's torso, hands fisting against his shoulderblades, and Neji pushed hard against the erection he could feel pressing into him, and Naruto shoved back, urgent. Another day, Neji would have continued, given back as rough as Naruto gave, silent and dirty in the dark kitchen, but the enthusiastic energy from Naruto wasn't there. Need for comfort and distraction were all Neji could feel from him now, and being Naruto, he was grabbing at it first chance he could.

Neji broke the kiss, forestalling Naruto’s seeking mouth, with gentle fingers on his jaw. “Go clean up,” he said, smoothing his hand down Naruto's neck, “then let's go to bed.” Naruto sighed, eyes closed, leaning against Neji for another few moments before shoving himself away and making for the bathroom.

While Naruto washed away the grime from his mission, and cleaned whatever minor cuts still remained from undoubtedly worse injuries incurred during the mission, Neji threw the dirt- and dust-covered uniform in the hamper, and then returned to the kitchen to retrieve the pack from the table and secure it in their bedroom closet where the children wouldn’t be able to investigate its contents.

Just as Neji was heading back to the bathroom, the sound of the spray ceased, and Naruto soon emerged into the hall, mostly dried off, along with a cloud of steam. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts, and Neji wondered why he’d bothered, until he watched Naruto pad softly to Akemi’s room.

Joining Naruto at the door, Neji laid a hand on his shoulder, looking in at their sleeping daughter. Naruto slipped into the room, standing over her bed, straightening the comforter from it’s half-askew orientation, and watched her for a long moment before lightly stroking her hair, and retreating back to the hall.

In Makoto’s room the comforter was straight enough, but Naruto tugged it a little higher anyway, and rescued a stuffed animal from where it had fallen on the floor, carefully tucking in its customary place against the little boy’s chest.

Once in the hall again, Naruto leaned one shoulder against the wall, head bowed. Neji leaned behind him, reaching one arm over Naruto’s shoulders and across his chest, and hugged him close, pressing one cheek against his damp head.

Naruto sighed and gripped at Neji’s arm, shifting backwards, hips moving just enough to slide significantly against Neji’s groin, stirring the erection that had waned since the kitchen. Neji nodded against his hair, kissed him behind his ear, and straightened away from the wall. He pushed Naruto gently towards the bedroom, keeping his hands on Naruto's warm back the whole way.

A step away from the bed, Naruto turned around and slid his hands under Neji's shirt, drawing it up and off, hands moving almost idly over Neji's torso when it was uncovered.

Neji's own hands found goosebumps rising on Naruto's skin, still too warm from the shower for the ambient air. Naruto seemed unconcerned by that, far more interested in Neji. He reached for the waistband of Neji's sleeping pants, and undid the loose knot to shove the pants down. Without the waist tied they slid easily off, and Naruto let them fall to cradle Neji's erection with one hand.

Neji swayed into the gentle grip, happy that the delay had tempered the urgency of Naruto's need for contact. This was better, now that they had the comfort of the bed, and the freedom to doze off afterwards. Sex against the kitchen wall might've been good enough to take the edge off Naruto's unhappiness, but here they wouldn't have the cold aftermath of a hard surface and dirty uniform and a tired trudge to bed.

Naruto turned them both as Neji leaned into him, tipping Neji back onto the bed, and climbing heavily onto him, shedding the shorts as he did, until he sat naked on Neji's thighs.

Neji looked up at the compact shape settled tiredly on him. Naruto's eyes were half-lidded in the dark, and the droop of his shoulders showed his fatigue, but his hands were intent, smoothing over Neji's torso, shoulders, the touch slow and deliberate, almost a massage, and Neji took a deep breath, his chest rising visibly under Naruto's hands. Naruto paused at that, moving one hand to rest over Neji's heart, and Neji became aware of the beat, the thumping in his chest that usually was below his conscious awareness.

Just as desirous to touch as Naruto, Neji slid his hands up over Naruto's thighs, lightly squeezing the muscles. Naruto leaned down to kiss him as Neji was about to reach higher, and the tilting of Naruto's hips as he lowered himself bumped their erections together, and Neji slid his hands between their bellies instead, and was able to draw Naruto's smooth, hot erection up against his own. His fingertips stroked lightly down Naruto's length and a short, rough groan was his reward as Naruto pressed more heavily against him. He rose to press back, relishing every shift of movement that offered the friction his body was calling for, and along with that, the warmth of Naruto's hands as they moved over him with a firm but gentle weight that Neji recognized.

If Naruto could ever be described as clingy, it would be times like these, home from a mission he'd hated, when his desire for the carnal intimacy of a sexual connection was joined by this need to touch in a way that was far more careful than usual. And so Neji knew, now, that Naruto had done a good deal of close-up killing this mission, had had to kill people with his hands, had probably chosen to, after discovering what he'd hinted to Neji.

So now Naruto used his hands for something completely different, reassuring himself that he could do something with them other than kill. Another reason to have stopped him earlier, to allow this to surface.

Fingers moved into Neji's hair and a warm palm came to rest against his jaw, and Neji leaned into the touch automatically while he returned Naruto's kiss. It was slower and softer than the one in the kitchen, warm instead of insistent, just like Naruto's hips rocking against his were moving in a slow, even rhythm now, not roughly shoving them both towards completion, and Neji joined him, the heat-centered glow of arousal spreading slowly around them in a comfortable fog.

Naruto's thumb caressed Neji's cheek, and the other hand stroked lightly at his throat, and Neji closed his eyes, his hands tightening slightly around their aligned erections as Naruto's tongue moved slowly against his, all the while touching his face. It was a delicious feeling, being traced that way, but it was underscored with the awareness of what had driven Naruto to need that manner of contact.

Pulling away, lips wet and softened from the kissing, Naruto raised his head and blinked slowly down at him, withdrawing his fingers from the hair at Neji's nape to lightly trace the side of his face, brushing over the cloth headband and around the curve of his ear.

Then he smiled. It was well short of his biggest grin, but still, a smile spread under his tired eyes, some contentment restored, and Neji smiled back, his hands still moving in slow strokes, his arousal sharing mental space with the relief he always felt when Naruto came back, the relief he always saw in Naruto's face when Neji was the one returning.

“Yeah,” Naruto murmured, replying to some silent statement or question of his own. He dipped down for another light kiss, and thrust gently into Neji's hands another time before pushing himself back up to a sitting position and reaching for the side table. The tube he pulled from the drawer was opened with a quiet pop.

“Running out,” Naruto said, amused, but he gave it a jerky shake, and squeezed out the contents with a noise that made him snicker. Neji had only a moment of relief at the reassuring presence of Naruto's uncomplicated sense of humour before Naruto's hands bumped his away from their erections, and Neji sucked in a quick breath as cool lubricant was smoothly applied down his length. The slippery contact made up for the cold, but he still cast a mildly indignant look at Naruto, after he settled back from his thrust up into Naruto's hands.

With the briefest of not-really-apologetic looks, Naruto rose on his knees and leaned forward again over Neji, mouthing at his neck as he reached behind himself. Neji let his head fall back, a wave of pure lust surging forward, as it always did whenever Naruto prepared himself that way, the combination of cockiness and eager-to-please that exuded from him irresistible. This time it was more subdued than usual, very little of the showing off, and far more of the proving he could offer pleasure instead of pain, but it was no less arousing to be aware that Naruto was above him, making himself ready.

Neji spread his hands over Naruto's hips, kneading gently before reaching between them again to grasp the heavy erection. He stroked with one hand while he reached farther back with the other, cupping the sensitive sac. Naruto exhaled and shifted his legs farther apart in response, and Neji gave him a gently squeeze before moving farther yet, until his fingers found stretched, slippery skin and met Naruto's slicked fingers where they moved in and out.

Naruto made a low noise at the contact, and exhaled against Neji's neck, the rush of soft heat a tingling caress. Naruto pulled his fingers away, and Neji stroked the slippery hole, the evident readiness creating a rush of immediate want to push himself inside. Naruto rumbled in the back of his throat at the contact, moving back against Neji's fingers, and forward to thrust into his hand, and then drew himself upright again, and Neji guided him downward and arched upward, not bothering to restrain the effects on him as he felt himself push through the perfectly tight circle of muscle. Naruto sank onto him, the heat of his body surrounding Neji with glorious warmth.

One broad hand was flat and warm on Neji's chest. Naruto was bracing himself, but he was too far away for Neji's taste. Before Naruto could start to move, Neji reached for his hand, sliding it higher to his shoulder and sitting up in one motion. He settled one arm around Naruto's waist to hold them together.

Smiling at the maneuver, Naruto slung one arm around Neji's neck and tucked his other hand once again under Neji's jaw, fingers sliding into his hair. Their mouths brushed and kissed by turns as they found a smooth, rocking rhythm and then the angle that made Naruto breath a low moan of thanks and grind down hard onto Neji, dropping his head back and within a few smooth, gliding thrusts, all his concentration had clearly narrowed to their perfect balance and motion.

It was a rare thing for Naruto to succumb to his arousal while Neji still had coherent thought in his head. Naruto generally refused to get there first, but tonight he was tired enough to let it happen. Neji watched him with equal parts love and lust tightening his chest,. He stared, unashamed, at Naruto's face, at the open, eager mouth, the eyes half-closed and unfocused, the eyebrows knit to focus on nothing but sensation.

It was a rare and wonderful vision, but the pleasure of it, of the motion, drew Neji, for all his desire to stay grounded, along to his point of no return. Before he tipped, he adjusted his grip around Naruto's middle to free one hand, and slipped it into the damp heat between them to begin stroking Naruto in time with each upward thrust. Naruto said something incoherent and pleading, and then it was a tight spiral upward, until Naruto's arms tightened and locked around Neji's neck, and wet warmth bloomed over Neji's hand.

Naruto gentled his grip and kissed Neji's face as Neji clutched at Naruto, lifting him slightly and pulling him down again, thrusting long and deep to satisfy his strident need, and then he was there, and he anchored Naruto against him as he came, buried deep as he could get, holding him there for the few shuddering moments of orgasm.

Hands smoothed over his hair, Naruto's cheek pressed to his for a few moments before kissing it once, then drawing back, eyes sleepy, to get ready for the massive effort of disentangling themselves.

And it was, as Neji had known, so much better to simply have to separate and wipe each other down with discarded clothing and then be able to sink side by side into the bed and.

Before they lay back, Naruto reached for Neji's face again, drawing him in for a long, soft kiss, fingers trailing down his jaw when they separated, and Neji caught them before they fell away, lacing his own fingers between them. Big hands, strong and agile both. Neji loved them, for everything that they could do.

And whatever they had to do to return Naruto here, to this house, and safely, was fine with him.