Author's Note: For April, as usual, as she is my muse. Teehee! Love. XD Also, I am fully aware that everyone is crazy OOC…but it had to be done to pull off such an odd AU story, so please just roll with it. Thanks and enjoy, yes? Yes…

Disclaimer: I own nothing… and the title does not have anything to do with the couple of songs that exist in the world that share the same name. So yeah.

Shutter Speed

Chapter One

It was a typical day in the life of any college student, which meant that Hyuuga Neji was currently at the local coffee shop looking over the chalkboard menu of all the specialty drinks they had to offer.

Neji was a senior at one of the area's largest public colleges, which taught and trained around 23,000 students and housed the vast majority of that number.

With such high populations of students and staff, the huge, towering redbrick buildings took up quite an expanse of territory and could almost be recognized as a city all its own. The suburban-type town the college was located in was rather notorious for being a trendy, 'party town' sort of place where custom, local, and always unique shops and stores lined the streets and alleyways for all to partake in.

Sections full of the same, rustic, two-story houses with narrow streets were kept separate from the collective area of buildings and wings, which only added to the remarkable area that everything having to do with this college extended to.

It was a Friday afternoon and Neji had just gotten out of his Business Writing and Project Management class and was in desperate need of some coffee and food to salvage his hurting brain from such a redundant and bland topic.

"What can I get you?" a younger, female student-worker asked him from the other side of the high, wooden counter; totally used to seeing her usual customers looking exactly like Neji-tired and drowsy.

After squinting his pale lavender eyes once again at the menu, Neji brought up a hand to scratch the side of his neck as he spoke, "Um…I'll have a tall, white chocolate cappuccino…and…hmm…a banana-nut muffin."

"Sure thing," the girl chimed automatically before disappearing in the back for a minute.

As Neji dropped his raised hand to his side to dig his wallet out of his back, right pocket of his faded blue jeans with holes in the knees, he could not help but feel eyes on him from somewhere.

Neji gulped as he retrieved his leather wallet and began rummaging around for the correct bills and change to pay for his order; mentally reassuring himself that his plain white, long-sleeved shirt was not in any kind of disarray and that his waist-length, coffee-brown hair did not have anything gross in it…at least he hoped, anyways.

"That'll be 4.78," the worker girl chimed, appearing out of nowhere all of a sudden with the coffee and muffin in tow; breaking Neji's train of thought.

"Here you go and thanks," Neji said quietly as he handed her his money and grabbed his muffin first; putting it in his mouth while his other hand took his coffee cup.

Neji turned to leave the campus coffee shop, conveniently called the Perk, but was stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing a silky smooth voice call to his back.

"I simply must have you on film," the low, extremely timbered voice purred out which startled Neji as he could tell that it came from not four feet behind him.

This must be the person he had felt watching him.

Neji slowly turned around, banana-nut muffin still hanging out of his mouth, to face the person to which the velvety voice came from.

X

"Quiet on the set!" Orochimaru shrilly shouted to all the workers running in front of him to get out of his way.

Orochimaru, clad in his usual tight, crisp black silk shirt with the sleeves rolled up and even tighter black pants, was standing behind his beloved camera at the forefront of the completely white-walled room in which his latest photo shoot was currently being held.

The three, female models were already in place- dressed in green, red , and blue floral kimonos with slightly modernized Geisha makeup and hair ornaments, making them look sinfully evil as well as painfully traditional. It worked well and was all the famous photographer, Orochimaru's design and doing.

The background was to be kept white to make all the almost confusing, intricate colors and designs really stand out amidst the models' extravagant clothing...but Orochimaru was not ready to snap his magazine cover pictures just yet.

"Silence, everyone! I swear to God, is everyone just trying to make my work even more difficult?! These timeless pictures are not going to take themselves, so would it hurt everyone to just shut up for a moment!!" Orochimaru bellowed dramatically to the crew that were hastily running by in every which direction; fixing lights, running items and products to booths and stations, and just causing Orochimaru's head to hurt.

Orochimaru sighed theatrically as he placed one hand on his jutted-out hip and the other pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Kabuto!!" Orochimaru suddenly screamed for his personal assistant.

In no time, a man wearing glasses and a nicely-pressed, black pin-striped suit came running up to aid his eccentric employer.

"Yes sir. Right here, sir," Kabuto said, a little out of breath from his run as he adjusted his wide-rimmed glasses and brushed a few, silver bangs that had came loose of his pony-tail from his eyes.

"I need something," Orochimaru stated obnoxiously before clarifying a little more for his poor, struggling assistant, "Coffee. Get me a coffee, Kabuto. Specifically, I want a vente dark chocolate mocha frappaccino with rainbow sprinkles; not chocolate. Kabuto, I swear, if I find one chocolate sprinkle on top of that foam, I shall…"

"Not a problem, sir. I'll be right back with your coffee," Kabuto quickly said; deliberately cutting off his employer's threats to his life should even the slightest thing be wrong with his coffee, of all things.

And with that, Kabuto dashed out of Orochimaru's sight to fetch his 'master' what he wished-Orochimaru already turning back towards his fading models that were still in their places on top of the white platform before him.

"Places, ladies, places," Orochimaru scolded his tired-looking models with a few, sharp claps of his pale hands, making them instantly perk back up and resume their poses.

Click. Adjust zoom and focus. Click.

"Good, good…April, tilt your head up a little more…that's right. Now hold it right there," Orochimaru addressed his models as he looked through the lens of his large, insanely expensive camera currently sitting on top of its tripod.

Click. Click.

Orochimaru raised his head up from his camera and gently rolled his neck around; making his messily bunned-up hair with chopsticks running through them move right along with his head; feeling confident that his pictures were going to turn out as works of art as usual…but something was still not right.

"Kabuto, damn it!" Orochimaru shouted off to the side again, making everyone on the set jump up from the sudden, loud break in the silence.

As if on some predetermined cue, Kabuto came rushing back out to his shouting, forever-impatient employer - expensive specialty drink in hand.

"Sorry Orochimaru, here you go…you're coffee, sir," Kabuto replied dutifully as he handed over tall, steaming brown cup with rainbow sprinkles decorating the foamy top.

"Thank you, Kabuto," Orochimaru regarded his hard-working employee as he took the cup and brought it up to his lips.

Sip.

"Kabuto, what the hell is this?" Orochimaru asked his subordinate dully; purposefully keeping his voice low and berating to the all but cringing man beside him.

"It's…your coffee…sir," Kabuto said meekly, already fearing whatever hell-fire wrath-binge he was in store for.

Kabuto knew that the coffee was not completely as Orochimaru had ordered, but it was the closest he could get.

"There's no mocha," Orochimaru stated icily as he thrust the cup into his silver-haired employee's chest; not spilling any by sheer miracle.

Right when Kabuto thought it was over, he was sorely mistaken, as Orochimaru proceeded to storm away from him as his voice grew louder and more belittling in rants about all the idiots he was forced to work with, and how he can't even get a decent cup of coffee.

The giant door to the suite slammed shut as Orochimaru made his haughty leave, attesting that he would go get his own coffee; everyone; models and workers alike; instantly letting out huge sighs of relief to finally be rid of the walking drama known as Orochimaru.

Orochimaru stalked off to his newly renovated plum purple Lamborghini Diablo SV with its revised dashboard, dual overhead cams, computer-controlled multi-point fuel injection, and a new 3-piece adjustable spolier. Orochimaru's car doors opened up vertically with a quick click of a button on a small device in his pocket; allowing the world-reknowned photographer to slip into his luxious ride with ease.

The modified version of the 5.7-litre V12 , which produced 510 hp that could top out at about 220 mph, hummed and growled in all its glory and fury when Orochimaru turned his keys in the ignition; starting his baby.

Despite forever feeling a sense of unimaginable freedom once inside his 300,000 Italian automobile, Orochimaru sighed miserably once again to himself.

In all actuality, he knew that his sour mood was not just because of the coffee- it was something more. Much more…only Orochimaru just did not know what that was.

He cursed himself at being so foolish as he pulled his rare and truly stunning vehicle out onto the road to head to a coffee shop- trying to recognize the lavish mess that was his life.

Here he was, every day surrounded by the world's most beautiful women, eating the most expensive foods, driving around in one of the most elite cars ever made, and yet he still felt so…dull. Lifeless. A joke.

Orochiamaru flicked his head to a side quickly to move his cascading midnight bangs from his eyes as he unconsciously drove through the town a little faster.

Without truly knowing where he was going, Orochimaru snapped out of his self-loathing reverie once he stopped at an unfamiliar red light.

The pale-skinned photographer looked all directions, checking every streets sign and building, but nothing rang a bell; nothing was jumping out at him.

Orochimaru was lost.

"Fucking great," Orochimaru remarked darkly to his blue, illumated dashboard.

By pure made-up logic of route-taking, Orochimaru slowly now manuevered his car down the narrowed roads and took notice almost instantly how everyone inhabiting the large neighborhoods were all wearing shirts with the same school name and logo on them.

"Colleges mean coffee," Orochimaru reasoned with himself with a small, triumphant smirk.

After realizing that the school's buildings and dorms made up from the right side of the road on, any kind of local businesses should probably be beyond that.

As luck would have it, Orochimaru's deduction proved to be right on the money, as he quickly found himself passing by shop after shanty-looking shop; each one more bizarre and inane than the last; until he finally spotted a rather adorable looking coffee shop on the corner.

Orochimaru rolled his naturally golden eyes at the sign in the window of the shop, the Perk, and found a place to park his baby.

As Orochimaru got out of his car and fixed his annoying bangs once more, he could already hear many, muffled 'ooh's and 'ahh's from the young people walking by, regarding him and his truly marvelous vehicle.

Pushing his ingrained snottiness aside upon being amidst such a psuedo-trendy environment, Orochimaru walked inside the Perk with his head held high-already feeling better about himself and how his troubles from before seemed to leave him now.

Once inside the coffee mug-clad, along with other college-focused bric-a-brac store which only had a few other people in it sipping their own drinks and reading newspapers and textbooks, Orochimaru went righ up to the counter to order.

"What can I get you…sir?" a young, apron-wearing girl asked; making sure to add the 'sir' on the end of her less than professional greeting upon seeing how Orochimaru was not their usual clientel.

Barely ackowldgeing the girl, Orochimaru simply stated, "Tall black coffee."

How ironic it was that Orochimaru made such a fuss over Kabuto's expensive, hard-to-get coffee, while here he was barely paying two bucks for a plain cup of coffee.

Things change.

"Here you are, sir- tall black coffee," the girl said, having gotten his order faster than usual.

Orochimaru paid the girl a five and told her to keep the change…not because he thought she deserved a tip, but only because he did not want change to rattle around in his pocket.

"Thank you!" the girl chimed with a rare smile to her handsome, mysterious customer as he stalked off with his drink; not bothering to reply back to her.

Orochimaru let out a content sigh as he decided to hone in on this detached feeling he was having from his smothering world, and sat down at one of the small, round wooden tables.

He felt like he was apart of this pathetic, little collection of miscreants that just try to live out their lives as richly as they could manage. He liked it. He did not feel his usual pressures that came with his work-his work that had quickly turned into ruling over his entire life.

Orochimaru sipped his coffee, immediately noticing that is was very rich and delicious, and just watched the people outside passing by…some of them doing double-takes at his award-winning car, which made the photographer smirk.

As sight and sound always try to work off each other, Orochimaru could not help but look up from his coffee cup when he heard the bell above the door jingle; signaling that someone else had entered the shop.

Orochimaru almost dropped his barely-lifted cup upon seeing the most beautiful creature he had ever had the pleasure of resting his eyes on walk inside the suddenly bleak store.

Orochimaru knew his mouth was open, but he also knew that he could not help it as he could stare, as if in some drug-induced haze, at the enticingly slender, long-haired boy trudge up to the counter just as he had done.

Golden eyes, eyes that have seen thousands of eye-catching models and exotic places around the world, were glued on the positively breath-taking young man order some elaborate drink and muffin-noticing every, tiny detail about him.

The broad set of his white-clad shoulders…almost warrior-like with how much untapped confidence and strength there was.

The long length of his body that was hidden away with overly-baggy attire; shunning the world and preventing it from seeing the raw eroticsm that he could very well exhibit.

Orochimaru smiled to himself upon realizing that what really was in front of him was a challenge, a beautiful challenge and opportunity. Everything about this boy-the almost homeless way he was dressed, the lame effort to tie back his impossibly long hair- screamed to Orochimaru's refined senses that he did not know how deadly sexy he was, how many hearts he could break with just one shot of Orochimaru's camera.

Without completely thinking it through, Orochimaru was on his feet and was walking over to the young man as he was tucking his wallet back into his back pocket…a move that Orochimaru was all too happy to take notice of as well.

"I simply must have you on film," Orochimaru suddenly blurted out; mentally smacking himself already for such a lame approach when he should have just said 'hello.'

To his utter delight, however, instead of running away like he thought the boy might do, he turned around to face him…with his muffin in his mouth.

Orochimaru wanted to laugh at loud at the indescribably cute view of someone as gorgeous as him having baked goods hanging out of his small, perfect mouth, but was quickly halted in his initial reaction upon seeing the boys' eyes up close.

Pale, milky, almost translucent lavender eyes…eyes that just looked like there was some secret behind them; something worth knowing.

Orochimaru's breath hitched in his throat as he locked his gaze into those snowy pastel eyes that seemed to glow in contrast to his dark, coffee-brown hair and creamy skin.

Simply stunning, as Orochimaru felt something deep inside him receive a sharp, somewhat painful pierce.

The boy was even more perfect than he had originally thought.

Removing the muffin from his mouth with his free hand, the pale-eyed man said, "Erm…excuse me?"

Naturally husky and solid was the astonishing boy's voice that seemed to reverberate all the way through Orochimaru.

Orochimaru could almost already hear that sexy voice in the throes of the boy's untamed passion; see that menacingly dark hair completely untamed all over his bedspread, and see the boy's clothed body becoming more and more revealed as the boy stripped for him.

Orochimaru shook his head slightly to rid himself of such thoughts before continuing- not believing that someone already could have that strong impact on him this early on in the game.

"I must beg your pardon," Orochimaru started sweetly; mentally musing that this is probably the nicest he had ever spoken to someone else…ever, "you see, my name is Orochimaru, and I am a photographer."

Neji blinked at the black-clad, pale man speaking to him as if he was royalty; already making Neji a bit wary of him.

Upon seeing how the boy chose to remain silent, Orochimaru continued with a friendly, baiting smile, "I did not mean to startle you or anything; I only meant to say that I think you would be perfect for this shoot I am currently doing. Would you be interested?"

"Uhh…I uhh, well…"Neji blanked with another nervous scratch to the side of his neck.

Orochimaru noticed.

This was all too surreal to Neji. Orochimaru certainly did look like some image-fanatic photographer, but this was happening way too fast; it didn't make sense.

Finally having some solid thoughts with which to speak, Neji said hesitantly, "I'm sorry, but I don't really know…"

"Please, where are my manners? Won't you sit down and we could talk about it?" Orochimaru kindly motioned at a nearby table with his hand.

This, Neji could do, so he obliged and the pair of them sat down opposite one another at the table with drinks in hand.

Remembering his own coffee, Neji began sipping his…not knowing exactly what else he should do in this situation.

"May I ask your name?" Orochimaru inquired before taking a sip of his own brew.

"Neji, and your name is Orochimaru?" Neji responded with a subtle quirk of his eyebrow.

Orochimaru smiled, pleased at how Neji spoke his name.

"Yes. So, tell me, what are you studying here?" Orochimaru pried, knowing that he would have to direct this soon to the subject of Neji modeling for Orochimaru.

"Business management," Neji sighed drolly upon reflecting on the drab subject that was to govern his career and, ultimately his lifestyle, "So, you said you're a photographer, hm? That sounds pretty interesting."

Orochimaru was positively feeding on how delicious innocent Neji was. The casual, carefree way he spoke and went about things just beamed with his naiveté…Orochimaru could use this to advantage.

"It is. I get to travel the world, design sets as I please, and take photos for people that pay very, very well," Orochimaru said cheekily with a pseudo-snide smirk.

Neji's eyebrows rose upon hearing the appealing details and muttered a 'cool' before drinking his coffee again.

"To explain a little more clearly what I was talking about before, I think that you would be perfect for this shoot that is being held right now. I know this is sort of last minute, but honestly, it is not that far and I know you would enjoy it."

Neji chewed the inside of his cheek as he digested the information; mentally weighing any pros and cons he could think of right away.

He was finished with his classes for the day, and the only other thing that he was going to do, if not for this, was go back up to his dorm room and study…and that test was not happening any time soon.

Neji slumped his shoulders a little upon realizing that he actually did have the time to kill, and that it was a Friday after all…and as a college student, he should go out and do crazy things every now and then.

You only get to live once, right? Now or never. Live a little…and if push comes to shove…everybody makes mistakes.

Neji cleared his throat before answering the smiling man sitting across from him, "Alright, I'll do it…but what exactly do I have to do?"

Orochimaru's smile widened, "Just come with me. That is okay, isn't it?"

Neji fought down the fluttering of the nervous butterflies in his stomach and remembered that Orochimaru did say that the place was not that far away.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's fine," Neji replied somewhat sheepishly.

"Perfect," Orochimaru purred, eyes practically twinkling at the boy in front of him, "then shall we?"

Orochimaru stood up gracefully; Neji instantly shooting up from his seat as well and followed his new, raven-haired friend out of the coffee shop.

The dimming afternoon sun hit Neji square in the face upon going outside again, making the brunette lift a hand to provide some shade for his eyes.

Not being blinded anymore, Neji saw Orochimaru walk right up to that deep purple Lamborghini that he had spotted on his way into the Perk, and turn back to him once the doors opened up.

"Are you coming?" Orochimaru inquired of his stunned muse.

Neji wanted to just blurt out 'that's your car!?' but decided against such a statement and tried to remain as cool and collected as possible as he slid inside the black leather interior next to Orochimaru.

Separate issues were going on at the same time along the surprisingly smooth drive back to the suite, as Orochimaru forced more trivial small-talk just to make sure that Neji was relaxed, when he was really already picturing in his head exactly what to do with Neji for his perfect photo shoot.

Orochimaru listened dutifully to everything that Neji talked about concerning his schoolwork, possibly internship at some big time company with the Human Resource department, as well as how he used to live with his uncle until he came to college.

Orochimaru, in turn, explained in more depth about his job; including how he employs a special design team that helps him with his visions and tasks for shoots; about how Neji can order around Kabuto as well, and the actually amazingly lucky story involving how he won his Diablo SV in a car auction in Florence a long time ago.

Neji smiled at Orochimaru's recollection of Florence and the first time he ever saw 'his baby' in the lot and was pleasantly surprised how easily he felt he could talk to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru noticed Neji's smile and immediately burned it into his brain as being one of the loveliest smiles he had ever seen; fully intent on seeing that masterpiece again.

In no time at all, they were parking the car back in its spot in the garage and heading back to the photo shoot suite, Neji not making a move until Orochimaru did…just to be sure.

X

"Oh God, I'm fired, I just know it," Kabuto whined to the now empty coffee cup that he had drank instead of Orochimaru, "…no, scratch that. I'm probably dead and don't even know it yet…"

Tearing Kabuto away from his dread and misery, he suddenly heard the suite door open and close with a soft click; immediately making him look to the source of the sound.

Kabuto's mouth fell open and nearly hit the ground as he saw his employer, smiling, alongside a handsome young man with the most captivating eyes he had ever seen.

"Sir!" Kabuto said loudly, standing at once as if called to attention.

The other employees who were busy doing their jobs all stopped upon hearing Kabuto's call and suddenly all eyes were on their tall, pale employer and the shy boy inching closer to him from all the attention.

Orochimaru felt a little humbled upon realizing that Neji was almost clinging to his arm as the boy was noticeably moving closer and closer to him, like he needed protecting, before stating firmly for all to hear, "Everyone, this in Neji. We're doing a spread on him right away…Silvia, Sophie, I need hair and makeup now and let's do a quick revamp on the set. Come on, people, let's make magic happen!"

Even before Orochimaru had finished his speech, people began hustling about again to proceed with their orders.

In record time, the white set was given a fluffy, pearlesque touch; making one think of the boundaries of Heaven; and Neji was hastily tugged to the back mini-rooms by at least six, babbling employees.

Neji, whose mind was in overdrive, was suddenly pushed into a chair and his shirt was roughly pulled off of him, making him give a quick, embarrassed 'hey' before more work was done.

His long, brown hair was wetted down and some was brushed in front of his face, making the strands drip the glistening water on his exposed chest.

Before he could make any kind of protest about what was being done to his hair, three people pulled him out of the chair and practically yanked off his holey jeans and thrust a pair of tight, black pants in his face.

"Wait, guys…"Neji almost laughed at how chaotic everything was.

"Just put them on," a girl said with a roll of her heavily mascara-ed eyes.

Neji gulped, but did as he was told and was actually relieved when they fit nice and snug over his ass; clinging sinfully tight and low to his narrow hips and thighs before becoming a little bit baggier to his liking.

Not a moment after he had wiggled the rest of the way in the black pants did he feel about four pairs of hands on him- all of them rubbing massive amounts of gel and glitter to his skin to make it glint and glimmer in the limelight.

Neji did chuckle at that and imagined that these people probably have tubs just full of glitter in some storehouse, as he obligingly raised his arms so the attendants could get the undersides as well as his ribs.

During all this time of Neji's renovation, Orochimaru had been standing silently next to Kabuto with his arms crossed over his chest.

The silence was comforting to Orochimaru, but maddening to poor Kabuto, who was still fearing for his job.

As if he could read minds, Orochimaru suddenly piped up, "You're not fired, Kabuto."

Kabuto's head snapped in Orochimaru's direction, where he proceeded to thanking him many, many times…all to which Orochimaru just rolled his eyes at his assistant's lack of backbone.

All of a sudden, though, silencing the overzealous Kabuto and somewhat brooding Orochimaru as well as everyone else in the place, Neji was pushed out from the back and onto the set.

Again, Orochimaru's jaw fell slack at the incredibly mouth-watering sight of Neji, his greatest find; his diamond in the rough.

Neji's black pants were left invitingly unbuttoned and unzipped, making Orochimaru just catch a glimpse of the grey boxer shorts underneath.

Making his probing eyes move upwards from the peek of boxers, Orochimaru hungrily devoured Neji's leanly sculpt body; the hard planes that formed his chest and toned the finely-honed muscles adorning Neji's abdomen.

Long, strong arms; every bit as barely colored as the rest of him, hung at his sides; leading Orochimaru to believe that the man looked like he could very well hold his own in a rough brawl, as well as provide the most satisfying of intimate attention.

Again that day, Orochimaru shook his head and closed his eyes in a lame attempt to shoo away those kinds of thoughts and only focus on his task at hand…which was increasingly hard to do with Neji's long, wet hair hanging freely down his back and over his shoulders, which shimmered with his workers' usual addition of glitter to all their clients.

Orochimaru swallowed the lump that had somehow formed in his throat before addressing the nervous, sexy boy in front of him.

"Ok, Neji," Orochimaru started, making Neji gratefully lock eyes with him, "I need you to stand over there…yeah, that's good. Now, just kind of lean back against that white block a little. Place your hands on either side of you on the block and lift your head up a little towards me."

Orochimaru did not want to say this next part, but he knew he had to- he already had the magazine-worthy shot inside his head, and once that was there, there was nothing else to compare.

"Neji, try to spread your legs out a little; like you're really relaxed…good, good," Orochimaru advised, now raising his camera to finally capture the beautiful scene in front of him…but only after one final, personal adjustment.

"Lastly, I want you to take your left hand and slowly run it through your hair," Orochimaru finished, smiling to himself from behind his camera.

Neji, internally, was a wreck. He had convinced himself that he looked ridiculous, and now here he was getting his picture taken in some place by some strange guy…and a shirtless picture at that!

Click. Click. Zoom. Click.

Despite feeling a little embarrassed and a whole load of weirded-out, Neji could not deny that the process was rather exhilarating and fun-having all those people attend to him like their life depended on it. And then, now as he was actually posing in front of the camera, Neji felt a little giddy and excited.

Click.

"We're done," Orochimaru concluded, lowering his camera, which Kabuto dutifully took once he had been given the word, "Good work, everyone…and I shall see you all in about two weeks for the Tokyo shoot."

A few claps and a whole bunch of exhausted sighs sounded after Orochimaru's final words.

Neji immediately dropped his pose and stepped off the raised platform; ready to get back in his regular attire and call it a day.

Orochimaru could not help but walk right up to his breath-taking muse and place a hand on his shoulder appreciatively, "Thank you, Neji. You really did great work."

Neji blushed from such as comment, as it was a sort of backwards way of telling Neji that he looked good.

"Thanks, Orochimaru…and you were right," Neji regarded honestly, looking up at the older man's golden colored and purple-shaded eyes, "I did have fun."

Orochimaru smiled at Neji's confession, as he knew he would and he also knew that he needed to seize his window of opportunity while Neji had been successfully swooned by all the glitz and glamour.

"Good," Orochimaru said before nodding his head towards the back, "Now go get changed and I'll take you home."

Neji returned the friendly smile and nodded before turning around and walking back to change into his own clothes; not being any wiser to the fact that he was giving Orochimaru a show of his perfect, little ass that swayed to and fro with each smooth movement of his hips.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and bit his bottom lip upon watching Neji's retreating form; which cruelly mocked sex at its finest; but was abruptly caught off guard as Kabuto suddenly chimed from out of nowhere, "He's great! Orochimaru, sir, where did you find him?"

"Ha! We just bumped into each other after I got lost around the college he goes to," Orochimaru said with a rare laugh; catching Kabuto off guard in return, as his silver-haired assistant didn't know whether to join in on the laugh or shield his face for any incoming blows.

As Orochimaru was ending his bout of laughter at his own ironic fortune, Neji was walking back up to the pair, once again dressed his in white, long sleeved shirt and torn up jeans; the same black pants folded up in his arms.

"They said I could keep them…something about they won't look as good on anyone else… or something like that…," Neji said to Orochimaru as he hugged the expensive designer pants a little tighter to his chest.

"They were right, Neji," Orochimaru said a little quietly before saying much louder, "Alright, you ready to go, then?"

"Yes," Neji replied, not being able to wipe the smile from his perfectly shaped face which still had a few speckles of glitter on it.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru turned to address his assistant one final time before taking his leave, "I trust you know how to wrap things up here, hm?"

"Yes sir! Consider it done, sir," Kabuto replied almost aggressively before zooming past Neji and Orochimaru to start handing out orders to the subordinates for clean up and tear down.

Orochimaru spared a genuine smirk at Kabuto's rushing, fading form-catching himself being truly thankful for such a hard-working assistant…not that he'd ever tell him that, though.

Snapping his attention back to Neji, Orochimaru nobly stated, "Well, let's be off then, Neji."

With that, Orochimaru escorted a still jittery and beaming Neji back to his car and the pair was off in an instant, courtesy of Neji's directions back to the expansive residential areas of the large campus.

Orochimaru parked his car outside one of the multiple-story, redbrick residence halls that Neji had pointed out as his building-everything only illuminated by the many 1920s style streetlights that lined the pathways and roads- and decided to make the move he had been wanting to do ever since he had first seen his insatiably sexy prize back at the coffee shop.

Alas, Orochimaru knew that he could not just jump the boy right then and there, but, in fact, Orochimaru had already clearly recognized that he did not even want that to happen with Neji yet.

At first, Orochimaru had been a bit perplexed that he did not just see Neji as some quick fuck that he would never care to see again, just like the measureless majority of everyone else he had come across in his overly-subjective line of work. Instead, Orochimaru legitimately wanted to win Neji's trust and heart; he wanted something deeper with the shy, intelligent, gorgeous young man at his fingertips…he wanted that solid connection that lovers do.

Orochimaru suddenly felt a little twinge in his stomach upon realizing that he really did want Neji to be his lover, meaning that he had to go about this carefully; strategically.

In the short amount of time that they had been acquainted, Orochimaru knew, deep in the marrow of his bones, that he needed Neji in his life now. Ever since they met, it had become better.

Deftly fishing out a pristine business card from his left, breast pocket, Orochimaru held it in between his first, two fingers out for Neji to take.

"If you ever want to do that again sometime…or, Hell, just get another cup of coffee, give me a call," Orochimaru said pleasantly soft; meaning every word and silently praying that Neji would pick up on his sincerity and accept the offer.

Neji's milky, practically glowing eyes widened a bit more upon hearing the initiation for such high-brow company and involvement, and cutely replied, "Really?! Th-thank you, Orochimaru. I really did have a great time."

Neji took the card and placed it in his own pocket, making Orochimaru smile…and react without completely thinking about the consequences.

In a swift, fluid movement, Orochimaru leaned across the small space that separated them inside his car, while simultaneously raising a hand to Neji's face to gently take hold of that smooth cheek.

Orochimaru carefully turned Neji's face towards his own; Orochimaru's eyes were half-lidded and a bit glazed, while Neji's were wide and questioning- both heartbeats were thrumming painfully erratic inside their chests, however.

Orochimaru, feeling the better part of his self just getting lost at the close proximity of something so immaculate, gave into his own wish and desire, and slid his eyes shut as he angled Neji's head back to better accept his lips against his own.

Neji's lips were velvety smooth to the touch, and Orochimaru was quite certain he had never tasted anything so pure in his life, as Neji's eyes sleepily closed as well as he lost himself in their light, but firm kiss.

Orochimaru's fingertips on Neji's baby-soft cheek gingerly trailed down to his cute, pointed chin where he lightly took hold of it in between his thumb and forefinger; effectively breaking their bittersweet, first kiss; Orochimaru already yearning for more of those luscious lips against his own the millisecond they were separated.

Orochimaru's eyes were already open and he was graced with the heart-melting sight of Neji dreamily opening his own pale lavender orbs until they were half-lidded as well; his face similar to how he had just woken up from a deep slumber.

Begrudgingly, as the notion happened to run across his computer-like mind that he could very well be sated in life from holding Neji, Orochimaru let his fingers slide off Neji's chin as he backed away from the hazed student to sit properly in his seat once more.

"You better get going, kid," Orochimaru forced the words out, and as carefree-sounding as he could manage…specifically adding 'kid' to the end to poke in a little humor to completely annihilate the strained awkwardness that had somehow formed like a thick fog inside the expensive, Italian automobile.

As if he was snapped out of a coma, Neji shook his head and muttered quickly, "Yeah, sure. Bye now."

And with that, Orochimaru could not even look over to see Neji climb out of his car and stride around it to head up the pavement to his residence hall…he was too busy trying not to think of the wonder that was Neji's lips and how positively…cleansing they felt against his.

Orochimaru unconsciously touched his lips; mentally reprimanding himself for being reduced to a love-struck teenager who swoons from a first kiss when he can attest truthfully and honestly that he had been with the best of the best that the world had ever seen.

Fingers lingering on his lips moved up to his forehead, where Orochimaru proceeded to pinch the bridge of his nose to ward of the oncoming headache threatening one side of his head.

Maybe that was his problem all along, though. He had only let himself get with the people who shrouded themselves with falsehoods and crazed standards; meaning nothing about them was genuine at all; people who he was taught to regard as the best.

Maybe the 'best of the best' were never really the best at all.

Maybe…what could fill the inexplicable void in Orochimaru's gilded world…was something truly real; not fake; not pretense like everything and everyone he was used to were- just something so in-your-face and valid that it would seem like something of the complete opposite that Orochimaru should even consider.

Like Neji; pure, undiluted Neji who studied Business Management in college and who could positively ooze sex if he so chose to…but does not, on account of how modest and humble he was.

Orochimaru smiled and dropped his hand from his brow; confidence in his choice and personal feelings renewed as he shifted his baby into drive once again before heading to his own home.

He needed a good night's sleep, indeed.

X

About two weeks later, Neji was walking down one of the local campus roads, awash in the sea of students who were doing the same; passing buildings, benches, gazebos, and a flurry of tall, long-limbed, dark green trees.

In his arms, Neji was carrying his usual Thursday books and supplies; all of which were for his Benefits and Compensation and Organizational Behavior courses; as he kept his eyes more down than up as he walked along the sidewalk almost on auto-pilot to the hall where his next class was-trying to maneuver around the slower walkers in his way.

However, one particular time that Neji lifted his gaze, as he sensed he would have to walk around some more people he was approaching, an upcoming inner-city bus traveling down the road caught his attention; partially because it was so loud.

Hence the school zone, the local bus was moving excruciatingly slow, making Neji mentally count how many times the poor driver kept having to shift gears to maintain such a slow speed and accomodate his multiple stops at crosswalks.

When the bus was virtually right next to Neji on the road, the pale-eyed young man could not help but spare a glance at the large, noisy public transportation vehicle, and was instantly in shock as soon as he did.

On the side of the bus, taking up the entire expanse of the wide area…was his picture.

Neji stopped walking; mouth left hanging open as he had plenty of time to check and recheck the image plastered all over the side of the slow-moving vehicle, but there was no mistaking it.

Milky, half-lidded lavender eyes; sopping coffee-brown hair; and glitter all over alabaster skin, taut with hard muscle which was only covered in unzipped, unnecessarily tight black pants. His laid back pose and half-lidded eyes virtually screamed a teasing 'you know you want this' look and feel to the professional picture.

Neji blinked at the picture to the side of him and was suddenly hit with all the memories of that day with Orochimaru in the studio, and the people with their never-ending glitter obsession, and how he still had those pants folded up in his drawer!

Someone bumped into Neji's shoulder as the passed him from behind, but the stunned, unmoving man could barely even register that it had happened as he could only gape wide-eyed at such a wicked picture of himself… on a public bus, no less.

Neji gulped as he realized that this meant countless other people had seen him like this now, too. The notion scared him as much as it thrilled him. Who would ever suspect the quiet bookworm Hyuuga Neji of being so deliciously sensual? No one. Neji gulped again, but it was to keep himself from laughing out loud at his own absurdities; making him feel like he had a secret…and he liked it.

Making himself look at something else, Neji quickly; before he could not see the bus anymore; read the caption printed in big white letter below his own blown-up photograph. It read: Vogue Gioiello December 2008.

Neji dropped his books; immediately squatting down to pick up the now opened up textbooks at his feet once he heard the unsettling sound of them dropping on hard concrete.

"Oh my God, my picture is going to be on a cover of an Italian magazine!?" Neji whispered excitedly, unbelievingly to his books as he rearranged them back in his arms; shifting his eyesight to make sure no one heard that.

Neji wanted to shout for joy, do something, anything to get out his ultimate feelings of triumph and crazy accomplishment, but refrained from doing anything other than smiling as he began moving along with the crowd again.

Oh, if only other people knew; they could share in his enthusiasm.

Wait…one person did know.

Screw the next class.

With that same thought process, more or less, Neji turned on his heel to head back to his dorm…he needed to make an important call.

Jetting through the masses of chatting college kids, Neji hustled back to his residence hall; smiling the whole way; until he was all the way back in his room.

Neji closed the door to his small but cozy dorm room and dropped his books and supplies on his cheap, sand-colored work desk located too closely to his black and white colored bed; whipping out his cell phone once his hands were free.

Orochimaru's business card had been laying flat on top of his desk for the past two weeks, as Neji just could not bring himself to call the man until now. A few times during all this time, Neji would not have minded if they had gotten together for another cup of coffee, as Orochimaru had offered, but now he had something really interesting to talk about with the mysterious man.

After heaving a calming, thoughtful sigh, the number was dialed and Neji could feel those same, familiar butterflies going to town inside his stomach once again.

X

Orochimaru snarled into his red silk pillows, nuzzling his face deeper into the soft, sleep-inviting material in a desperate attempt to drown out the noise of his phone ringing and continue snoozing.

Ring. Ring.

"I swear to God, Kabuto…you are so fired now…" Orochimaru said groggily as he madly flung himself out of bed; fueled with the motivation of being able to fire Kabuto at last; to go answer his annoying, sleep-robbing phone.

Unfortunately for Orochimaru, the phone was not on his bedside table as it normally was, as it was currently located in his pants' pocket, which was on the floor a little ways away from the bed.

Ring. Ring.

"Damn it all…fired, so fired…" Orochimaru remarked as he had to bend his tired body over to scoop his still ringing phone from his previously discarded blue jeans.

Standing upright with phone in tow, Orochimaru hastily flung the device open and rudely said, "Yes?"

"Hey, is this Orochimaru?" the other person on the line asked; a thick, male's voice that Orochimaru placed right away…already feeling sort of off-balance and nervous despite how sleepy he still was.

"Yes, this is Orochimaru speaking. Who may I ask is calling?" Orochimaru tried his best to muscle through the 'just-got-up' tone that was clearly evident in his voice, as he already knew the answer to his own question…but he just wanted to hear Neji say it.

"This is Neji. How are you?" Neji replied, a smile turning his words a little more high pitched and friendlier.

Orochimaru smiled as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand; vivid memories of the dark-haired, pale-eyed male already filling his mind and making his rude awakening seem a lot more worth it.

"Better now, "Orochimaru replied coolly, "But, how are you doing, Neji? It's been a little while…"

"That's good to hear," Neji replied; not quite catching the reference to that it was his call that made Orochimaru consider himself doing better, "And I am doing very well! In fact, I just had to call you because of what I saw just a moment ago!"

Orochimaru licked his dry lips as he lazily sat down on the edge of his large bed to continue the conversation a little more comfortably.

"Oh? And what was that?" Orochimaru asked cheekily, as he already had a pretty good idea of what Neji was referring to-as his pictures usually began making the rounds on domestic magazine headlines and promotion materials within two weeks of the shooting.

"I saw my picture! It was the picture you took of me, and it was on a side of a bus that said it is going to be the cover of an Italian magazine next month!!" Neji practically shouted on the other end of the line in all his pent-up excitement and rashness.

Orochimaru smirked at Neji's gleefulness; finding it endearing and cute that the snowy-eyed young man just thought something so trivial to him was just so epic.

"I know; the picture was released only a few days after your shoot. It was only a matter of time before Giuseppe Gabrielli of Vogue Gioiello called me up and bought it to use for their December issue cover," Orochimaru explained happily and very matter-of-factly to the hyper boy.

"Oh man, it's so awesome. I was in total shock when I first saw it," Neji said with a hearty laugh; positively melting Orochimaru on the other line.

Suddenly, Orochimaru remembered something- the business party that was going to be held downtown tonight amongst his employees and a bunch of other people in the industry. He had previously considered bringing Neji, but up until now, he had been at the mercy of Neji calling him, as he was not left with any of Neji's contact information two weeks ago.

This was perfect. Orochimaru did want to seize this opportunity to spend more time with the breath-taking male, as well as have a chance to show him off a bit…maybe he could pick up some more work while he was rubbing elbows with more of his kind of people.

"Well, if you are quite over your shock, how about you accompany me to a party tonight to celebrate?" Orochimaru asked before moving his chest out in such a way that he knew would give his upper back a good 'pop' so he could move around better and work out his sleep-induced kinks.

"A party? Tonight?" Neji asked; sounded a bit worried-which he was seeing as how tonight was a school night and he had class in the morning.

Orochimaru kept quiet as he figured Neji was taking a moment to mentally going over his To Do list; seeing if he could cleanly get away with this sudden obligation.

Orochimaru hoped to Heaven that he would.

"Sounds good. What time will you pick me up?" Neji said; ultimately deciding that he actually did want to celebrate his good news, as well as see Orochimaru again.

He had been wanting to for some now, so this was actually turning out to be just what he had been secretly wishing for.

Orochimaru pulled the phone away from his ear as he smiled and silently fisted the air above his head in victory; immediately snapping his arm back down to his lap to regain composure and image.

Not only did he now have his chance to see Neji again, he was going to have to pick him up and; inevitably; drop him off. Orochimaru's mind worked very simply, overall, and the basic formula that was taking place was something along the lines of how Orochimaru knew he loved his car, he knew he liked Neji…so Neji in his car was just a dream come true, really.

"I'll pick you up around 7:30p.m.," Orochimaru said calmly, despite just having an excited, flip-out moment, "and Neji…?"

"Yeah, Orochimaru?" Neji asked, still smiling at the recent developments and additions to his notoriously bland day.

Orochimaru's smile turned a bit wicked, as he purposefully decided to end their conversation with a little…food for thought to the boy.

"….be sure to wear those pants again," Orochimaru purred into the phone; instantly making Neji blush a deep crimson.

"Uh…sure, no…problem," Neji replied a little embarrassed before quickly adding, "I'll see you around 7:30p.m., then. Good-bye Orochimaru."

"Good-bye, Neji," Orochimaru said before flipping his cell phone closed with a relieved sigh.

Tossing the phone over his shoulder so it bounced on the ruffled bed behind him, Orochimaru brought his hand up to the back of his neck and gave it a good squeeze; rolling his head from side to side as he did to further stretch out his bunched-up muscles and nerves.

Suddenly, his large, lavish penthouse seemed so eerily quiet and void without having Neji's rich, warm voice singing in his ears.

Orochimaru was made painfully aware of his deep scarlet, black, and white decorated bedroom just seemed so empty with him being all by himself. Beyond this room was the living room, the long hallway, the kitchen, etc. All of it was specifically decorated by Orochimaru himself; every square foot of his oversized, extremely luxurious penthouse was just as eccentric as him-color schemes and designs almost working out like pieces of well-construed art by some modern painter flourished throughout the abode.

Orochimaru had sank a lot of time, energy, and money into getting this place exactly the way he wanted it, even if it meant waiting for six weeks for the French armoire that was currently in his bedroom to be delivered from Versailles.

Despite all these facts still standing, Orochimaru could not help but consider it all worthless at the moment.

Over the years, he had unconsciously surrounded himself with the most expensive items, treatments, and standards until that kind of prestige was just what he expected from everything else; dimming down his senses to anything 'less' than that. However, Orochimaru had realized, despite it only being the tiniest of feelings at the time, the moment he met Neji; who was so beautifully unblemished with anything gilded and impure; that all of that meant nothing…he was still alone-all alone with his expensive items and nothing more.

Neji had changed that - had changed his world, the moment Orochimaru laid eyes on him. And now, that feeling of yearning; being equally matching with feelings of simple self-pity; were clearer to him more than ever…now that he was back to being by himself in his home again.

Orochimaru let his hand fall back into his lap before sighing as he made to stand up; deciding that he needed to start getting ready for his day's obligations and whatnot- can't just brood forever.

Coffee needed to get made; bed needed to be fixed; clothes needed to get picked and laid out; people and clients needed to be called…and Orochimaru needed to shower off the glitter on his skin before seeing his wonderful Neji.

X

"Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm a man of wealth and taste. I've been around for a long, long year- stole many man's soul and faith. I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain. Made damn sure the Pilate washed his hands; sealed his fate. Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name. But, what's puzzling you is the nature of my game." –Sympathy for the Devil, the Rolling Stones

Another A/N: More on the way…working on it now, actually. Leave a review if you please and thank you.