Rivals For The Hokage's Love

Chaos in the Hokage's office

Neji woke up with the first rays of the sun, and was glad to find a still sound asleep blonde in bed. He took a quick shower and bought some ingredients to make breakfast for the oblivious boy who had captured his heart.

"What...smells...so good?" Naruto woke up to the smell of pancakes and butter, mumbling sleepily.

"Morning, Naruto!" Neji laughed at his words.

"Oh, Neji," Naruto grinned as he remembered coming home with the brunet. "Did you stay over? I thought you'd gone home already."

"I stayed over," Neji said honestly. "The Hyuga family being nice all of a sudden is weird. And you were alone. So I was worried for you too."

He didn't mention that he hadn't slept, partly because of his fear that Naruto might be attacked at night. But mainly because the blonde had been crying out in his sleep, yet pushed him away every time he tried to comfort him.

"Sorry for worrying you," the oblivious blonde replied. "Did something happen?"

"No. But you are the Hokage and I don't think it's right for you to be unprotected like this," Neji stated, as they both began to eat.

"I'll be fine," Naruto said. "So don't worry."

"What do the ANBU do nowadays?" Neji asked.

"Mainly protecting their respective Kage, I guess. Sometimes hunting down the Zetsu or Madara's other underlings. Keeping tabs on Orochimaru. Trying to help his experimented humans. That sort of thing," Naruto explained, bored.

"Sounds fair enough," Neji said, eating leisurely.

They finished their breakfast with Naruto filling in his comrade on how the war ended, the fight with Sasuke, and how Kakashi had become the Sixth Hokage. Neji didn't feel like he had missed out on much, though. He was just happy to listen to the blonde chatter enthusiastically.

"Hey," Naruto said, before getting into the shower, "Come with me to the office, so you can apply for the ANBU post. It's troublesome, but it's got to be done. Shisui is free so he can probably check it out today and you can start tomorrow."

"Okay," Neji grinned. The blonde always went all out when it came to helping others.

A knock came at the door, and the moment he opened it, a while bunch of flowers was slammed into his face, making him breathless for a minute.

"Naruto~! Have a nice day!" He heard Ino squeal.

"Ino?" He ground out, his mouth full of petals.

"Neji?! Why are you here? I came to see Naruto!" Ino shouted. "Wait, were you sleeping over?"

"Yes, now just get these flowers out of my face!" Neji groaned, trying to push the bouquet away.

"Listen up, Neji!" Ino snapped, tucking the huge bouquet under her arm carefully. "I am the one who's going to be with Naruto! And in any case, you're a guy! You may be gay, but what the hell makes you think Naruto is one too? He's not! I mean, use your common sense! He had a crush on Sakura for years, maybe even now!"

"Your screaming is annoying," Neji snapped, and then smirked. "He will be sending in my file for the ANBU today, and I'll be his personal guard."

"Who cares? I'm going to give him these flowers. Goodbye, weird eyes," Ino taunted and left.

She walked happily to the Hokage Tower. Today was the day she was going to finally confess her feelings for the handsome blonde.

"Shichidaime-sama, Yamanaka-san wants to meet you," Udon said, entering the office.