Labor Force Liaison

Next Chap! I’m trying to stay on this. I get distracted easily.

Thanks for the reviews.
Andromeda90- Don’t worry. Neji will get his a lot. He has to pay his dues for Shika
lo – I’m having fun writing it. I hope you enjoy my direction. Feel free to suggest things. I have a set idea, but I love good ideas.

Chapter 2

“So that’s it?” Neji questioned, looking more pale than normal.
The Hyuuga’s hands were latched into his dark hair putting an almost painfully amount of tension on his scalp.
“Well…I can’t really do—“
“All that work…and you didn’t fucking save the right file.”
Neji’s anger shifted to Shikamaru, aiming a grave glower the technician’s way.
“Just calm down a little. How much work was it?” Shikamaru stuttered.
Neji looked a lot more dangerous at this point…like Neji might actually harm him.
“A fucking lot of work, Shikamaru. A lot.” Neji spat, starting to corner the computer genius after standing up.
“Troublesome….look…after work today, I’m free for the rest of the day. I’ll come over to your place and help you recreate your lost data.” Shikamaru gritted out, he had planned on laying around for the rest of the day to make up for lost time.
“What the hell would you know about my presentation? This is business. You’re a computer nerd.” Neji said, still advancing.
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I couldn’t do it. You don’t have much of a choice anyway.”
Neji stopped his stalking, his eyes locking onto Shikamaru’s.
“If this turns out bad, I’m not only reporting your ass…I’m kicking your lazy ass.” The Hyuuga turned his back to Shikamaru, writing down his information on a sticky note from an adjacent cubicle. He slapped the adhesive onto the pony-tailed genius’s chest creating a low thump from the impact.
“You better be there quick.” Neji said, storming out of the office.
Shikamaru groaned, sliding down into his seat. He finally relaxed, the fear of getting his ass kicked gone now. Then the realization hit. He had just signed away his day of cloud and stargazing, something he had been planning for a few days now.
“This is going to be troublesome. All for a stupid mistake.” Shikamaru grumbled, packing his things.
The lazy genius decided that he should at least get this over with as quickly as possible. He would just follow Neji now. Shikamaru walked up to where Neji’s department area was, hunting the Hyuuga down rather easily.

“What do you want now?” Neji muttered, putting the loaner laptop in its case.
“I figured I’d just follow you. Getting lost is troublesome.“
Shikamaru leaned against the wall near Neji’s cubicle as the Hyuuga worked on packing everything up. The technician silently noted how nice Neji’s butt looked. He was convinced he worked out pretty often. Shikamaru didn’t quite notice that the person he was blatantly staring at, at some point while he was thinking, turned around and was looking back at him.
“You have a problem? What are you staring at?”
“Nothing. Just zoned out. Let’s get this over with.” Shikamaru said, playing off the fact he got busted.
Neji snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Fine.”


“Don’t touch anything.”
Neji unlocked the door to his house, inviting Shikamaru in.
“Before you ask…yes I stay on my family’s compound. They insisted.” The Hyuuga gave the technician a daring glare, in hopes of eliminating a response.
Neji went through his normal routine, changing out of his suit and into more casual clothes. Sadly, he stayed in his room as he did so with the door basically closed. That didn’t stop Shikamaru from trying to get an accidental look by walking around Neji’s door in search of the bathroom. Giving up on getting a glimpse of Neji, Shikamaru started to look around the living room. He picked up a picture, seeing Neji with some girl with him. She had that same weird eye color as him.
“She’s my cousin.”
Neji came out in a pair of black jogging pants and t-shirt.
“We’re close. Almost brother and sister.”
The computer genius gave a nod, about to continue to look around.
“I told you not to touch anything.” Neji restarted, pulling out the loaner then moving to his desktop.
“Now can we get this over with? We have a lot work to do.”
Shikamaru watched Neji, before something crossed his mind. This might be easier than he thought.
“I’ll use the desktop. You use the laptop. You already have work on the laptop.”
Neji looked over at Shikamaru for a second, eyebrow raised. He gave into the demand, moving to let the lazy ninja sit at his desk.
“Good choice on the desktop. Good company.” The genius muttered, typing away at the keyboard.
“Thanks. The guy at the computer store said it was just enough for what I was doing.” Neji said, turning the computer on.
The lazy technician snickered to himself. This computer was definitely overkill for a business guy that would just use a word processor or something all day. Silence gripped the room as they both worked. Shikamaru got bored with what he was doing, and he started to look around the room.
“You play chess?”
Neji looked up, his eyes falling to the trophy Shikamaru was looking at.
“Yes. I played competitively.”
“We should play. I’m a little rusty, but I think I could challenge you.” Shikamaru said, a lazy smirk appearing on his face.
“I guess that would be fine. I warn you. I was ranked highly. It won’t be easy to beat me.”
Shikamaru got a good laugh out of that. Neji didn’t seem so amused. The lazy technician noticed Neji’s look.
“You are way too serious.” Shikamaru replied, typing a bit more.
The genius, again, avoided work by roaming Neji’s hard drive for something interesting.
“So who’s Tenten? Sounds like she’s special.”
Neji sat up straight, his eyes locked onto Shikamaru. Shikamaru never officially acknowledged the stare by looking back.
“Well? This letter makes it seem like she’s pretty special. Let me guess. Sounds like you didn’t want her. Something wrong with her? Not attractive?”
Neji walked over to the desktop, closing the window Shikamaru was looking at.
“It was arranged. My family wanted me to marry her. I wasn’t interested. There’s nothing wrong with her.”
Neji reclaimed his seat on the couch and continued to work.
“We don’t have time for this goofing off. We have to get a lot of information.”
Shikamaru nodded and went back to typing.
“Calm down.” Shikamaru smirked, seeing the irritated face Neji was making.
Neji glanced over at the technician, not at all enjoying that smirk.
“Work! My promotion is on the line.” The Hyuuga hissed, glaring back at the genius.
Shikamaru went to ‘work’ once again, going through Neji’s stuff out of curiosity. He really rarely used this thing. Finally, Shikamaru yawned.
“I think I’m gonna go.” The field technician announced, standing up.
Neji’s eyes shot over to Shikamaru in shock and anger.
“What are you talking about?! We aren’t done. You barely got anything done from all the snooping you were doing.”
“No. I’m done.”
Neji looked perplexed. He looked at the monitor and his mouth suddenly went gape.
“Yeah. You had a copy saved on your desktop with your back up files.” Shikamaru explained, nonchalantly while grabbing his keys.
He headed to the door, giving a little wave at Neji, who was still standing at the desktop.
“See ya at work.”

After getting over his befuddlement when Shikamaru left, Neji memorized his work and practiced his presentation. The next day, he nailed it. He answered every question and let all the executives impressed with his knowledge and preparation. It went so well that Neji was invited to a little get together the company was having later that night. The Hyuuga was riding high to say the least. He had to be close to that promotion…and that office. He had a problem though. He needed to bring someone with him. Neji paced his cubicle for a while before picking up his phone.

“I can’t take Tenten. She’d get the wrong idea. I don’t think bringing my cousin would send the right message.” Neji debated, scrolling through his phonebook.
Fifteen minutes later, Neji was face down in his keyboard once again.
“How can everyone…be…busy.” He grumbled into the keyboard. He looked at his computer and sighed. He couldn’t believe he was considering this.
Neji found himself back and technical support. Just like normal, he had to wait way too long before the door was answer. Shikamaru stood at the door, arms crossed over his chest.
“How’d it go?” he asked, letting Neji in. He knew it couldn’t be computer related.

“Yeah. It went fine. I have a favor to ask you. I was invited to a night at the bar with some of the executives. I need to bring someone.” Neji said, looking at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru was already smirking and was about to say something.
“No. I can’t take Tenten, you asshole. All of my friends are busy tonight. Since you did help me with everything, I thought it would be a good gesture for you to come with me.” Neji said, though he knew it sounded like garbage.
Shikamaru saw through that easily. The Hyuuga was desperate, and this was his last chance.
“There’s free food.”
That changed everything.
“Fine. I’ll go. I’ll meet you there.”
Neji left the office, hands in his pockets, hoping this was a good idea. Nothing was coming between him and this promotion.