And after watching your smile

[heavenly_earth]

Characters: Hyuuga Neji (heavenly_earth) and Uzumaki Naruto (unfeasible)
When: November 3rd, late afternoon
Where: Sector 5
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Discussion of graphic violence, angst
Summary: Food in hand, Naruto goes to visit Neji and check up on him.

Comments

[unfeasible]

Neji had sounded well enough, but...Naruto knew better. He had no way of knowing if Neji endured more or less than he did (not that that mattered, torture was torture) and he wasn't going to ask; he did know, at least, that recovery was going to be a lot slower for the rest of them

[heavenly_earth]

The door opened and Neji slid to the side to allow Naruto inside, closing it after him as the afternoon cooled and the chill of early evening began to set in. Naruto's expression looked heavy with a grudging determination, but he chose not to ask about it as he moved back inside and gestured for the blonde to sit.

He was surprised to see Naruto looking healthy again already, but then, he had likely received medical treatment.

In contrast, numerous scratches were healing on the visible parts of Neji's body- varying in severity but none of them too deep on his hands and a scattering of them along his neck. His movements were slower and more deliberate, but beyond that, only looked about as pale as he usually tended to be.

"Is that ramen, Naruto?" he queried, lifting an eyebrow with apparent skepticism. "I can't imagine how you haven't grown tired of it yet..."

Belatedly, as he moved to the kitchen, Neji realized he'd forgotten to prepare tea and set about doing just that.

[unfeasible]

"Geez, you always this cheerful?" It was a brave attempt at humor, trying to fix on his usual grin as h moved inside and set the box down on Neji's table.

"Yeah, it is. I made it myself. Don't-" he raised his hands up defensively, grinning again. "I know what you're thinking. But this was my job before I got here, so just give it a shot before you judge."

Naruto sat awkwardly for a moment, watching Neji move into the kitchen before opening the box and taking out the covered bowls. "I dunno what you like," he called out while setting everything up. "So I made a couple different kinds. It's up to you."

[heavenly_earth]

"More or less," Neji replied, setting water to boil on the stove.

Despite his apparent lack of enthusiasm over the prospect of Naruto's home made ramen, he looked them over curiously and pulled out two sets of chopsticks from a drawer, handing one to his guest.

"I appreciate it, Naruto, but I'm positive I won't manage to consume all of it myself."

As it was, he'd only just managed to get his appetite back, and even ramen sounded appealing. Deciding on the healthiest-looking one, he prodded the contents curiously with his chopsticks and sampled a few noodles.

Salty as expected, but tampered by genuine flavor in the broth and noodles that were only a little soft from Naruto's walk. And like a rediscovered love, found that he'd actually missed the simple food that he had enjoyed on occasion.

"Whomever you trained under did a reasonable job of it," he remarked. "I confess I never thought you'd be able to do more than heat water successfully."