So this, ladies and gentlemen, would be my first time writing for the Naruto fandom. I know - I don't know what the hell took me so long either. This story is a little project in the making and will be a little touch and go, I guess. I'll try to keep updates consistent and regular - but uni is a pain and life likes getting in the way of things haha.

But yes, I felt there were too few ShikaNeji fics - I am seriously obsessed with this pairing after reading Break to Breathe by Okami Rayne, and if you haven't read it already, there is something wrong with you. Anyways, I present to you, It's Like Peeling Onions!

-Kavbj

It's Like Peeling Onions

Chapter One: Seconds

They told her father they wanted her there to witness it. That, if she were to be their future heir, she needed to be fully aware of the process, the hand signals, the effects. And her father, his uncle, agreed without hesitation. And though she'd begged and cried alongside Hanabi - if they were going to make her watch something so cruel and dreadful, at least make it someone else - they'd, no, her father, had insisted that it be him.

That it be Neji.

She didn't even know what he'd done wrong, had been too scared and crushed at the time to even question why. Now, with the floorboards painfully flat against the curve of her folded knees and with her nerves making her feel sick, it was still the last thing on her mind. She could feel it in the back of her throat, like she was going to be ill. Her jaw was tight and her mouth felt weird - like she'd tasted something sour.

Her head was buzzing, so when they finally did list the 'charges', they went over her head. Didn't matter anyway. Even if she'd been focused and clear-headed, his eyes, so familiar and identical to her own, were boring into hers and they prevented all reasonable thoughts from crossing her mind.

He was in the centre of the room, circled by her, her father and the elders. Like her, his legs were folded beneath him, but his hands were flat on the floorboards, palms down in front of him, and his head was tilted back just enough that he could keep staring at her. He was bracing himself.

He resisted for all of 47 seconds, much to the frustration of the elders and the sorrow of her father. He wanted Neji to just give in. They wanted him to lie down like the dog he was.

47 seconds.

But then his fingernails started scraping along the floorboards as his fingers curled into fists. His back curved with a shudder and his lashes fluttered madly. His gaze finally dropped away from hers as, with a violent tremor, his body curled in on itself.

22 seconds later, he screamed the first of many. He fell sideways, hitting the floorboards hard, and writhed. His hands came up and ripped off his hitai-ate and the bandages underneath in an attempt to relieve the pressure.

84 seconds after his first scream, she rocketed to her feet, almost snapped her father's wrists as she ripped his hands apart, then skidded along on her knees, practically barrelling into Neji's convulsing form. The convulsions subsided quickly and she curled herself over his shaking body, cooing to him, hushing him, soothing him.

From the corner of her eye she saw someone moving and she screamed at them to stay the hell down and away. And they did, shocked by her outburst.

She looked down at her cousin's face, startled to see droplets on his cheeks. Tears. She was crying. When..? It didn't matter, she decided, though she cried harder when she realised that Neji had fallen completely still. She slipped her hand in front of his mouth because she couldn't even see the movements of his chest. There was a weak, uneven puff of air against her fingers and she relaxed a little.

Cradling Neji to her, she called out for her sister. Hanabi had promised to sit on the other side of the closed paper doors. She'd also promised her older sister that, no matter what she heard, she wasn't to come in unless Hinata said so.

Hanabi threw the doors open, tears running tracks down her cheeks, still dirty from her morning training. Her pearl eyes were wide with fear and disbelief. Moments later, she was sprinting through Konoha in search of a certain blond loudmouth.

Shikamaru leaned against the doorframe of the guest room, arms folded over his chest, and watched the prone figure on the bed. Neji's mocha hair was spread out across the pillow and the shinobi's chest, the occasional dark strand pooling in a pale clavicle. His hitai-ate lay on the bedside table, beside a glass of water that had yet to be sipped from.

Shifting, Shikamaru sighed and moved inside the room to lean against the wall.

His parents had been out when he'd opened the front door and come face-to-face with an inconsolable and incoherent Hinata and a furious and equally incoherent Naruto. In between her crying and his ranting, he'd noticed Neji, unconscious and paler than usual, slung over Naruto's back. He'd figured out what had happened when he'd spotted Neji's hitai-ate clutched tightly in Hinata's fist.

The curse seal was an ugly and terrible thing.

When his father had come home that night, he'd noticed the closed door to the guest room. The moment Shikamaru had explained that one unconscious Hyuuga Neji was occupying the bed, Shikaku's face had darkened with understanding. When his mother had returned an hour after his father, she'd fought hard against every motherly instinct within her and let Neji be at Shikamaru's request.

That had been six days ago. Neji hadn't woken once.

Sighing again, Shikamaru left the room and headed to the kitchen. He didn't know why Naruto thought it smart to bring Neji here. Apparently he'd thought that Shikamaru would have some goddamn strategy. Who the hell would have a goddamn strategy for this type of situation?

Admittedly, he had occasionally pondered about the infamous Hyuuga curse seal and its effects. He'd wondered plenty of times if Neji's had ever been activated before. He'd tried to imagine the pain, the sensations, but of course he couldn't. All of this, however, did not mean that he'd ever expected to have an unconscious Neji, practically comatose, in his guest bed.

Leaning back against the counter, Shikamaru tilted his head back with a sigh and closed his eyes. "How troublesome…"