The Way Things Are
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Shikamaru/Neji
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
32
Views:
3,437
Reviews:
777
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Shikamaru/Neji
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
32
Views:
3,437
Reviews:
777
Recommended:
2
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 4
New chapter! I'm really loving this story. Gods, I love this pairing! :D
REVIEW REPLIES
Word_Slave: Thank you so much. I'm really glad you're enjoying it. ^_^
llyoung: Isn't it just awesome? ^_^ lol I do update fairly quickly. A chapter every day, isn't it? Something like that. lol Thanks again!
HumanInfiltrator: Thank you!
Tyra: Well, he is older. ^_^ I'm sure by the age of 18 he's accepted some of his duties a little more seriously. Yoshino will come around...eventually. And teasing Neji is just too much fun. I think Shikamaru's family is really similar to mine. >_>
AngelicChaos: Yes, there has to be some angst, right? Otherwise it would be too happy. :P I'm so glad that you think my stories are fun to read! Makes me happy! Enjoy the update!
Syake: Neji would be drop-dead sexy as a vampire. XD And Shikamaru teasing Neji just has to happen. I mean, what else can he do to pull a reaction from the Hyuuga? lol
jess249: I'm glad you think so. ^_^ I love making him do it. XD Blood oranges are delicious! You must try and find one!
charmpit: Here you go! lol
SG21: Thank you so much! I really appreciate your compliments. Yay! Another lover of the blood orange! ^_^
Lavinia: Thank you so much. I feel like I've kind of rushed it too, but I can't really backtrack. >_< I will try to make it go slower though. Wouldn't want to end the story to quickly. I think I'm just having too much fun writing this. lol I hope you like the update.
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Chapter 4
“You must tell me all about it, Neji! I insist!”
Neji looked over at Lee as he continued to eat his dango. He smiled when his gaze brought into view a certain redhead. Gaara was here on business, dealing with some sort of trade fraud that had happened between Konoha and Kumo, dealing with goods from Suna apparently. The meeting for today had ended early, Tsunade wanting to just be done with it all for a little while. Gaara hadn’t argued and instead had searched Konoha inside and out till he found his green-spandex wearing boyfriend. Such an odd couple, Neji thought.
“What about it, exactly, do you want to know, Lee?” Neji asked before taking another bite of his dango. Gods, he loved these things.
“Did you argue a lot?” Lee asked, completely ignoring his own dangos while Gaara watched the scene as entertainment. You couldn’t get more animated than Lee.
“No, actually,” Neji answered. “I took your advice and…looked at the situation optimistically. He was…extremely nice during the whole day, despite some playful banter.”
“I’m a little lost here, Lee,” Gaara stated, finally jumping into the conversation. “What exactly is going on?”
Neji listened as Lee gave Gaara a brief overrun of the most recent events. When Lee finished, Gaara had a confused look on his face. “Shikamaru is not that bad, is he? Temari seems to hold him in high regard.”
“Really now? By the way she acts, one would think she doesn’t think that.”
The three shinobi turned to look over at their newest conversational partner. Neji had to bite his tongue to keep a smile from growing on his face upon seeing Shikamaru. Ino and Chouji greeted them cheerfully, while Shikamaru simply kept the smirk on his face. Neji invited team 10 to sit with them, scooting over to give them more room. Ino sat down quickly, beaming, and pulled her husband with her, Chouji smiling brightly at the group. Shikamaru moved rather slowly but took his spot next to the Hyuuga. Team 10 ordered their own dangos shortly after, the waitress walking away from the ‘happy’ table.
“So, what brought on Gaara’s comment about Shikamaru?” Ino asked, wrapping her arm around Chouji’s.
“Probably the whole Hinata running away, Ino,” Chouji stated.
“Oh, right!” Ino nodded. “I don’t see why that would make you think Shikamaru’s a bad person.”
“Why else would Hinata run away?” Lee asked.
Ino raised an eyebrow. “You…you don’t know?” When the rest of the group, minus Shikamaru, looked at her in confusion, she merely shook her head. “Damn, she can keep a secret!”
Neji frowned. “What are you talking about, Ino?”
Ino smiled. “She’s been dating Shino for the past 3 months.”
The entire table was silent, but for various reasons. Lee was in shock, while Gaara looked like the information was nice to know, but not necessary. Chouji was wondering how his wife had figured this entire thing out and Shikamaru was just flat out bored with the conversation. Neji didn’t know what to think. Why hadn’t Hinata simply told her father? Hiashi would surely have found some way to allow Hinata to marry the Aburame instead of Shikamaru. Frowning, he turned his attention back to his dangos, eating them much slower than he had been before.
“I suppose that would make sense,” Gaara finally stated.
“Especially as no one as seen head or tail of Shino and Kiba,” Shikamaru added lazily. “They’ve been missing for the past 4 days.”
“Do you think that they’re with her?” Ino asked.
Shikamaru shrugged. “Probably.”
Neji stayed quiet as the conversation continued. His mind was racing with the new information. As much as he wanted to go home and tell Hiashi what was going on, he thought better against it. Hiashi, for one, would probably think that this was only for Neji to find a way out of the engagement. Next he had to take into consideration that he wasn’t hearing this from Hinata or Shino. Second hand information was never entirely trustworthy. But for some reason, the situation was bugging him.
As if sensing the Hyuuga’s unease, Shikamaru plucked one of the dangos from Neji’s plate and popped the entire thing in his mouth. Neji glared at him while Ino snickered. Lee smiled slightly before jumping back to his previous curiosity. “Tell me, Neji, what else did you do yesterday?”
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and swallowed the rest of the dango. “You’re asking about his day yesterday?”
Oh no, Neji inwardly groaned. I don’t like where this is going. Shikamaru will do everything he can to make me feel embarrassed, I’m sure of it.
“Yes, I am curious as to what happened,” Lee nodded.
“Now that he mentions it, so am I,” Ino smiled a predatory look in her eyes.
Shikamaru shrugged. “We did things. What else do you need to know?”
“Oh come on!” Ino whined. “You two didn’t anything of interest?”
“Other than some of the reactions I was able to pull out of Neji during the day, it was pretty normal,” Shikamaru stated, knowing he was going to get questions.
Neji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Here we go.
“Oh, you’ve got to share!” Ino giggled. “Come on!”
“I must say I’m rather curious myself,” Gaara smirked.
Lee was more concerned for Neji. “I don’t know. Maybe we should just leave it alone.”
“Oh, but why?” Ino whined.
“Because I wouldn’t show you,” Shikamaru stated, “and I doubt that Neji would want to.”
Ino pouted. Crossed her arms and pouted. “Spoil sports.”
Neji sighed and sent Lee a look that clearly said ‘Thank you’ as he lifted his cup to his lips.
“At least tell me if you did anything romantic!” Ino insisted. “Have you kissed?”
Neji choked, the water going down the wrong pipe, catching the table’s attention immediately. When he didn’t stop coughing, Shikamaru grabbed onto his arm and started to rub the Hyuuga’s back, his eyes staring almost worriedly at the other. Lee was out of his seat as well, kneeling down to look at Neji’s face, his large eyes scanning the Hyuuga’s expression to see if the Heimlich maneuver was going to be needed. After a few minutes, Neji was able to breathe, though still coughing every now and then.
“Are you OK?” Shikamaru asked, still rubbing the other’s back.
Neji placed his elbows onto the table and leaned forward to rest his head against his fists, nodding slowly. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t *cough* try to kill me, Ino.”
Ino snickered. “All I asked was if you guys kissed.”
Chouji frowned. “You know very well that they haven’t.”
“Oh, you all are taking this too seriously,” Ino frowned, letting out a heavy sigh.
Shikamaru turned to scowl at her. “When you make someone choke, Ino, it becomes serious. What if he had been eating?”
Lee nodded, returning to his seat. “And it isn’t very nice to torment someone.”
Ino rolled her eyes. “Sorry.”
Neji shook his head and coughed.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Gaara asked, his eyes never leaving how Shikamaru hadn’t let go of the other yet.
“I’ll be just fine,” Neji stated, sitting up straight. Shikamaru let go of the other’s arm, but left his hand on his back. Turning to both Lee and Shikamaru, Neji nodded his thanks before he returned his attention back to the dangos sitting on his plate. He suddenly wasn’t very hungry anymore.
“Kind of quick to jump to his rescue, weren’t you Shikamaru?” Ino smirked, folding her arms.
Shikamaru just stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. “The next time you’re choking Ino, I’m just going to sit by and watch.”
“Lee moved fairly quickly as well,” Gaara stated, taking a sip of his water.
“But Lee’s his best friend,” Ino stated. “Shikamaru’s not.”
“Since when do you have to be someone’s best friend to help them?” Chouji asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ugh,” Ino cried, throwing her hands in the air. “You guys are just so dumb!”
“That or you’re thinking too much,” Chouji snickered.
Neji sighed, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache.
“Hey, Neji, you going to each those?” Chouji asked, noticing that the Hyuuga hadn’t touched the dangos since his coughing fit.
“They’re all yours, Chouji,” Neji stated, keeping his eyes closed.
Chouji laughed happily before he pulled the plate closer to him and started to eat away, much to Ino’s disappointment.
“So, when’s the next day that you two will be ‘forced’ to hang out with each other?” Ino asked, looking over at the pair.
Neji sighed softly. “Tomorrow.”
“What is the purpose of those days?” Lee asked.
“It allows the parties to court each other, Lee,” Gaara stated.
Shikamaru snorted. “For most people anyhow. I’m not doing any form of courting.”
Neji snorted softly and nodded his head in agreement with the Nara.
“Aww, but I think it would be cute!” Ino smiled. “You should totally buy Neji some flowers, Shikamaru!”
Shikamaru stared blankly at her. “Ino, this is Hyuuga Neji we’re talking about. Do you think he’s really going to want flowers?”
“I’m inclined to agree with Shikamaru on this one,” Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why would I want flowers?”
Ino shrugged. “Get him a kunai then.”
Both Shikamaru and Neji let out a frustrated sigh and shook their heads, almost in unison. What was it with women and giving or getting gifts?
“I think, Ino,” Chouji interrupted, “that we ought to leave these days just to the two of them.”
“I was only trying to help,” Ino pouted.
Chouji chuckled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I know, but this relationship isn’t going to be like ours was. They’re two totally different people compared to us.”
“You’re right,” Ino sighed, leaning against the Akimichi. “Shikamaru’s a lazy ass and Neji’s got a stick up his.”
Neji flushed with anger as the rest of the table, minus Shikamaru of course, stared at her in horror. “I beg your pardon?”
Ino blushed. “D-did I say that out loud?”
Neji glared. “Yes.”
Ino swallowed. “I-I…I didn’t mean…”
“I think you did, actually,” Neji frowned, pushing up from the table. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go elsewhere.”
“Neji,” Lee frowned, trying to get his best friend to calm down.
“I’m sorry, Lee, I’ll have to speak with you some other time,” Neji stated, placing some money on the table to cover the expenses of not only his dangos, but those of everyone else plus a tip. Ignoring the spluttering protests of everyone but the Nara and the Kazekage, he walked towards the door of the shop, fuming and hurt.
“Way to go, Ino,” Shikamaru growled, getting up as well. He walked towards the door himself, albeit more slowly. “Next time, why don’t you try crushing his spirit?”
Ino frowned as she watched her teammate walk out the door. Chouji ran his hand up and down her arm, trying to comfort her. Gaara continued eating silently, not totally understanding what had just happened, but decided that it wasn’t any of his concern. Lee had watched his best friend leave the shop with sad eyes. Neji was so tired of everyone thinking he was uptight and bitchy. Yes there were times, he was like that, but more often than not, he wasn’t. Lee hoped that he wouldn’t be the only one to ever see that in the Hyuuga.
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I don't know why I make the girls in my story so bitchy. Maybe it's because of all my bad experiences with girls in general when it comes to guys. :P I need to be nicer...
Reviews make Aini very happy. ^_^ lol
REVIEW REPLIES
Word_Slave: Thank you so much. I'm really glad you're enjoying it. ^_^
llyoung: Isn't it just awesome? ^_^ lol I do update fairly quickly. A chapter every day, isn't it? Something like that. lol Thanks again!
HumanInfiltrator: Thank you!
Tyra: Well, he is older. ^_^ I'm sure by the age of 18 he's accepted some of his duties a little more seriously. Yoshino will come around...eventually. And teasing Neji is just too much fun. I think Shikamaru's family is really similar to mine. >_>
AngelicChaos: Yes, there has to be some angst, right? Otherwise it would be too happy. :P I'm so glad that you think my stories are fun to read! Makes me happy! Enjoy the update!
Syake: Neji would be drop-dead sexy as a vampire. XD And Shikamaru teasing Neji just has to happen. I mean, what else can he do to pull a reaction from the Hyuuga? lol
jess249: I'm glad you think so. ^_^ I love making him do it. XD Blood oranges are delicious! You must try and find one!
charmpit: Here you go! lol
SG21: Thank you so much! I really appreciate your compliments. Yay! Another lover of the blood orange! ^_^
Lavinia: Thank you so much. I feel like I've kind of rushed it too, but I can't really backtrack. >_< I will try to make it go slower though. Wouldn't want to end the story to quickly. I think I'm just having too much fun writing this. lol I hope you like the update.
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Chapter 4
“You must tell me all about it, Neji! I insist!”
Neji looked over at Lee as he continued to eat his dango. He smiled when his gaze brought into view a certain redhead. Gaara was here on business, dealing with some sort of trade fraud that had happened between Konoha and Kumo, dealing with goods from Suna apparently. The meeting for today had ended early, Tsunade wanting to just be done with it all for a little while. Gaara hadn’t argued and instead had searched Konoha inside and out till he found his green-spandex wearing boyfriend. Such an odd couple, Neji thought.
“What about it, exactly, do you want to know, Lee?” Neji asked before taking another bite of his dango. Gods, he loved these things.
“Did you argue a lot?” Lee asked, completely ignoring his own dangos while Gaara watched the scene as entertainment. You couldn’t get more animated than Lee.
“No, actually,” Neji answered. “I took your advice and…looked at the situation optimistically. He was…extremely nice during the whole day, despite some playful banter.”
“I’m a little lost here, Lee,” Gaara stated, finally jumping into the conversation. “What exactly is going on?”
Neji listened as Lee gave Gaara a brief overrun of the most recent events. When Lee finished, Gaara had a confused look on his face. “Shikamaru is not that bad, is he? Temari seems to hold him in high regard.”
“Really now? By the way she acts, one would think she doesn’t think that.”
The three shinobi turned to look over at their newest conversational partner. Neji had to bite his tongue to keep a smile from growing on his face upon seeing Shikamaru. Ino and Chouji greeted them cheerfully, while Shikamaru simply kept the smirk on his face. Neji invited team 10 to sit with them, scooting over to give them more room. Ino sat down quickly, beaming, and pulled her husband with her, Chouji smiling brightly at the group. Shikamaru moved rather slowly but took his spot next to the Hyuuga. Team 10 ordered their own dangos shortly after, the waitress walking away from the ‘happy’ table.
“So, what brought on Gaara’s comment about Shikamaru?” Ino asked, wrapping her arm around Chouji’s.
“Probably the whole Hinata running away, Ino,” Chouji stated.
“Oh, right!” Ino nodded. “I don’t see why that would make you think Shikamaru’s a bad person.”
“Why else would Hinata run away?” Lee asked.
Ino raised an eyebrow. “You…you don’t know?” When the rest of the group, minus Shikamaru, looked at her in confusion, she merely shook her head. “Damn, she can keep a secret!”
Neji frowned. “What are you talking about, Ino?”
Ino smiled. “She’s been dating Shino for the past 3 months.”
The entire table was silent, but for various reasons. Lee was in shock, while Gaara looked like the information was nice to know, but not necessary. Chouji was wondering how his wife had figured this entire thing out and Shikamaru was just flat out bored with the conversation. Neji didn’t know what to think. Why hadn’t Hinata simply told her father? Hiashi would surely have found some way to allow Hinata to marry the Aburame instead of Shikamaru. Frowning, he turned his attention back to his dangos, eating them much slower than he had been before.
“I suppose that would make sense,” Gaara finally stated.
“Especially as no one as seen head or tail of Shino and Kiba,” Shikamaru added lazily. “They’ve been missing for the past 4 days.”
“Do you think that they’re with her?” Ino asked.
Shikamaru shrugged. “Probably.”
Neji stayed quiet as the conversation continued. His mind was racing with the new information. As much as he wanted to go home and tell Hiashi what was going on, he thought better against it. Hiashi, for one, would probably think that this was only for Neji to find a way out of the engagement. Next he had to take into consideration that he wasn’t hearing this from Hinata or Shino. Second hand information was never entirely trustworthy. But for some reason, the situation was bugging him.
As if sensing the Hyuuga’s unease, Shikamaru plucked one of the dangos from Neji’s plate and popped the entire thing in his mouth. Neji glared at him while Ino snickered. Lee smiled slightly before jumping back to his previous curiosity. “Tell me, Neji, what else did you do yesterday?”
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and swallowed the rest of the dango. “You’re asking about his day yesterday?”
Oh no, Neji inwardly groaned. I don’t like where this is going. Shikamaru will do everything he can to make me feel embarrassed, I’m sure of it.
“Yes, I am curious as to what happened,” Lee nodded.
“Now that he mentions it, so am I,” Ino smiled a predatory look in her eyes.
Shikamaru shrugged. “We did things. What else do you need to know?”
“Oh come on!” Ino whined. “You two didn’t anything of interest?”
“Other than some of the reactions I was able to pull out of Neji during the day, it was pretty normal,” Shikamaru stated, knowing he was going to get questions.
Neji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Here we go.
“Oh, you’ve got to share!” Ino giggled. “Come on!”
“I must say I’m rather curious myself,” Gaara smirked.
Lee was more concerned for Neji. “I don’t know. Maybe we should just leave it alone.”
“Oh, but why?” Ino whined.
“Because I wouldn’t show you,” Shikamaru stated, “and I doubt that Neji would want to.”
Ino pouted. Crossed her arms and pouted. “Spoil sports.”
Neji sighed and sent Lee a look that clearly said ‘Thank you’ as he lifted his cup to his lips.
“At least tell me if you did anything romantic!” Ino insisted. “Have you kissed?”
Neji choked, the water going down the wrong pipe, catching the table’s attention immediately. When he didn’t stop coughing, Shikamaru grabbed onto his arm and started to rub the Hyuuga’s back, his eyes staring almost worriedly at the other. Lee was out of his seat as well, kneeling down to look at Neji’s face, his large eyes scanning the Hyuuga’s expression to see if the Heimlich maneuver was going to be needed. After a few minutes, Neji was able to breathe, though still coughing every now and then.
“Are you OK?” Shikamaru asked, still rubbing the other’s back.
Neji placed his elbows onto the table and leaned forward to rest his head against his fists, nodding slowly. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t *cough* try to kill me, Ino.”
Ino snickered. “All I asked was if you guys kissed.”
Chouji frowned. “You know very well that they haven’t.”
“Oh, you all are taking this too seriously,” Ino frowned, letting out a heavy sigh.
Shikamaru turned to scowl at her. “When you make someone choke, Ino, it becomes serious. What if he had been eating?”
Lee nodded, returning to his seat. “And it isn’t very nice to torment someone.”
Ino rolled her eyes. “Sorry.”
Neji shook his head and coughed.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Gaara asked, his eyes never leaving how Shikamaru hadn’t let go of the other yet.
“I’ll be just fine,” Neji stated, sitting up straight. Shikamaru let go of the other’s arm, but left his hand on his back. Turning to both Lee and Shikamaru, Neji nodded his thanks before he returned his attention back to the dangos sitting on his plate. He suddenly wasn’t very hungry anymore.
“Kind of quick to jump to his rescue, weren’t you Shikamaru?” Ino smirked, folding her arms.
Shikamaru just stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. “The next time you’re choking Ino, I’m just going to sit by and watch.”
“Lee moved fairly quickly as well,” Gaara stated, taking a sip of his water.
“But Lee’s his best friend,” Ino stated. “Shikamaru’s not.”
“Since when do you have to be someone’s best friend to help them?” Chouji asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ugh,” Ino cried, throwing her hands in the air. “You guys are just so dumb!”
“That or you’re thinking too much,” Chouji snickered.
Neji sighed, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache.
“Hey, Neji, you going to each those?” Chouji asked, noticing that the Hyuuga hadn’t touched the dangos since his coughing fit.
“They’re all yours, Chouji,” Neji stated, keeping his eyes closed.
Chouji laughed happily before he pulled the plate closer to him and started to eat away, much to Ino’s disappointment.
“So, when’s the next day that you two will be ‘forced’ to hang out with each other?” Ino asked, looking over at the pair.
Neji sighed softly. “Tomorrow.”
“What is the purpose of those days?” Lee asked.
“It allows the parties to court each other, Lee,” Gaara stated.
Shikamaru snorted. “For most people anyhow. I’m not doing any form of courting.”
Neji snorted softly and nodded his head in agreement with the Nara.
“Aww, but I think it would be cute!” Ino smiled. “You should totally buy Neji some flowers, Shikamaru!”
Shikamaru stared blankly at her. “Ino, this is Hyuuga Neji we’re talking about. Do you think he’s really going to want flowers?”
“I’m inclined to agree with Shikamaru on this one,” Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why would I want flowers?”
Ino shrugged. “Get him a kunai then.”
Both Shikamaru and Neji let out a frustrated sigh and shook their heads, almost in unison. What was it with women and giving or getting gifts?
“I think, Ino,” Chouji interrupted, “that we ought to leave these days just to the two of them.”
“I was only trying to help,” Ino pouted.
Chouji chuckled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “I know, but this relationship isn’t going to be like ours was. They’re two totally different people compared to us.”
“You’re right,” Ino sighed, leaning against the Akimichi. “Shikamaru’s a lazy ass and Neji’s got a stick up his.”
Neji flushed with anger as the rest of the table, minus Shikamaru of course, stared at her in horror. “I beg your pardon?”
Ino blushed. “D-did I say that out loud?”
Neji glared. “Yes.”
Ino swallowed. “I-I…I didn’t mean…”
“I think you did, actually,” Neji frowned, pushing up from the table. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go elsewhere.”
“Neji,” Lee frowned, trying to get his best friend to calm down.
“I’m sorry, Lee, I’ll have to speak with you some other time,” Neji stated, placing some money on the table to cover the expenses of not only his dangos, but those of everyone else plus a tip. Ignoring the spluttering protests of everyone but the Nara and the Kazekage, he walked towards the door of the shop, fuming and hurt.
“Way to go, Ino,” Shikamaru growled, getting up as well. He walked towards the door himself, albeit more slowly. “Next time, why don’t you try crushing his spirit?”
Ino frowned as she watched her teammate walk out the door. Chouji ran his hand up and down her arm, trying to comfort her. Gaara continued eating silently, not totally understanding what had just happened, but decided that it wasn’t any of his concern. Lee had watched his best friend leave the shop with sad eyes. Neji was so tired of everyone thinking he was uptight and bitchy. Yes there were times, he was like that, but more often than not, he wasn’t. Lee hoped that he wouldn’t be the only one to ever see that in the Hyuuga.
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I don't know why I make the girls in my story so bitchy. Maybe it's because of all my bad experiences with girls in general when it comes to guys. :P I need to be nicer...
Reviews make Aini very happy. ^_^ lol