The Way Things Are

I had far too much fun with this chapter...that's all there is to say really. XD That and you'll hate me by the end of it. lol

REVIEW REPLIES

charmpit: As good as that might be for him, it wouldn't fit with my story very well. XD I'm not quite sure to be honest, but...it'll be awhile. ^_^; I hope you won't be disinterested now...

Zenith-Kaitou: Thank you so much. ^_^

AngelicChaos: Ah, I'm glad it didn't move to quickly. :) As for what happened to Hinata, all will be revealed in due time. XD And I wasn't embarrassed! I was quite pleased actually. ^_^

Lith: Yes Neji is. ^_^ Hopefully I can keep it at an even pace and not move to quickly or slowly. Gotta have my SasuNaru. :D

D.A. Maxwell: It just worked so well! lol I really couldn't think of decent way for Neji to get over his little hissy fit over the situation and then that popped into my head. I was all "HELL YES! THAT'S IT!" hahaha

Anaheyla: I was hoping to have that effect. Although if you had gotten a heart attack, that would have been VERY bad. It's a good thing you kept reading. ^_^ lol

PossessedMuse: Being needy is not always bad...is it? Isn't it awesome? You can thank pen_name for the inspiration (go check out her Neji/Shikamaru fics by the way*cough cough*) I had to do my SasuNaru. ^_^ They're a fav. :D Oh, did I update soon enough? lol

SecretQuill: I'm very glad you like it so far! Yes, Shikamaru is the dominate. ^_^ I prefer him there. *snickers* It is VERY hot. >:)

ydjessy: I'm glad you're no longer confused! And thank you!

lo: Thank you. I do hope you'll end up liking it!

PotionsPet: You're very welcome!

Travellyr: Oh yes, a BIG present. lol You're welcome and thank you!

SG21: I usually update once a day, so I can see how people would get more than one update. ^_^ I like making the readers happy! Hmmm...maybe I'll have to do an extra with shadow tentacles...although someone else *cough* pen_name *cough* has already done that. XD I'm so glad that I'm keeping the characters the way they should be! I'm very glad to hear that!

skyaze: Thank you so much. I hope you'll like the new chapter. ^_^

Chibi-Berry: Thank you! Thank you very much!! :D

Tyra: Indeed. Stay hidden Hinata. The story's depending on it! lol And wouldn't you blush if someone kissed your head? lol XD

jess249: Hey hey! No perverted...OK, they're allowed. XD hee hee I'm glad they're not angry with each other anymore either.

pen_name: Yes, Shikamaru really did. He wants this to work out after all. ^_^ Maybe I'll write a short SasuNaru fic about that. Oh, getting ideas! XD lol I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!!

luxeflex: Your review just might have prevented a bad ending! Way to be! lol Thank you very much! I had to add my SasuNaru. :D

Onto the chapter!

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Chapter 7

Two days had passed and Neji couldn’t have been more content. He was looking forward to spending time with Shikamaru even when they weren’t ‘forced’ to. The Nara had come over the next day and asked Neji if he wanted to play Shogi again. The Hyuuga had readily agreed and the time they had spent together was completely and perfectly enjoyable. There were times when Shikamaru would tease him, but Neji was slowly getting used to it.

As he was making his way toward the kitchen this morning, Hiashi called out to him, a serious look on his face. Neji stopped and bowed respectfully before his face gave him a slightly confused look. “Is there something you need, uncle?”

Hiashi nodded. “You’re being called in for a mission, Neji. One of the Hokage’s aids dropped off this scroll this morning.”

Neji took the scroll without hesitation and read over it before he let out a quick sigh. “Very well. Thank you uncle. I’ll report to her immediately.” With a quick nod of the head, he left his uncle’s presence and made his way back to his room. He quickly changed into his normal mission clothes and made the hand signs to jutsu himself to the Hokage’s office. Landing outside of the door, he knocked before being called in.

He was slightly shocked to find Shikamaru inside of the room already, along with Lee and Sakura. Lee gave him a hearty hello while Sakura waved. Shikamaru merely nodded, a small smile spreading across his face. Neji bowed respectfully to each of them before he joined them at the line in front of Tsunade’s desk. The blonde merely smiled before she sat back in her chair.

“I’m glad that all of you could make it here to so quickly,” she stated. “It appears that we’ve been having problems along the border of Grass. A rogue nin from Iwa has been causing conflict. Unfortunately, not even their ANBU is strong enough to detain him. I’m sending you four out there to assess the situation and give back up to Iwa’s and the Grass' forces should the need arise. We don’t want this menace thinking he can come here without a fight.”

“Any information you can give us on the guy?” Shikamaru asked, looking rather tired as he asked.

Tsunade shook her head. “No. He doesn’t leave survivors. That’s why I asked for the four of you specifically. Lee, because of his speed. It’s unrivaled. Sakura, because her strength and medicinal jutsus will definitely aid you. Neji’s Byakugan is the best ever known and his own skills will be extremely useful. Shikamaru’s brain is incomparable and seeing as he took out an Akatsuki member by himself, I think he can handle this one.”

Shikamaru snorted. “Thanks.”

Tsunade chuckled. “As such, Shikamaru is the leader of this mission. Now get going. The sooner this is taken care of the better.”

“Right!” Lee nodded, giving her a thumb’s up.

“Meet at the gates in half an hour,” Shikamaru stated jutsuing out of the room.

The others simply nodded before quickly leaving the office. Neji made his way to his room as soon as he was home and started to pack his usual missions items. His weapon pack was filled as was his other bag before he quickly got to his feet. Looking at the clock he smiled. Ten minutes to spare. Maybe he would get an apple or something from the kitchen on his way out. It was a shame they didn’t have any of those strange oranges. Right as he was about to leave, he heard his door open and he turned to find Shikamaru walking into the room.

“Shikamaru?” Neji asked, quite surprised.

“I heard your stomach growling this morning,” Shikamaru smirked, reaching back into his pack. “Thought I’d bring you one of those blood oranges to quell the hunger.”

Neji gave him a small smile as he took the offered fruit from the Nara’s hand. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Shikamaru smiled. “Shall we?”

Neji nodded and began to pull the peeling away, wondering if the Nara had known he was craving one of these fruits. Of course not! Neji frowned. He had just thought of it and Shikamaru was no mind reader, although he could be scarily accurate. Besides, he had simply brought it to quell Neji’s hunger. As he threw the peelings on the ground outside the compound, the though of the simple action brought butterflies to his stomach.

Shikamaru didn’t have to bring something over for him to eat. He could have ignored the slight, almost unheard growling of Neji’s stomach. Could have just let Neji grab something by himself in the kitchen. But he had come over and given Neji the blood orange, probably only going off of the fact that he knew Neji liked them. The thought made Neji blush, even if it was only a minimal one. Instead of thinking about his confusion, he decided to savor to fruit in his hands.

“Have you had anything to eat this morning?” Neji asked, taking a slice and popping it into his mouth. Gods, these were so good!

The Nara shook his head. “Nah, didn’t have enough time.”

Neji frowned. “Yet you brought me something to eat?”

Shikamaru shrugged. “It’s really not that big of deal.”

Neji let out a frustrated sigh and pulled the rest of his orange into two equal halves. He held out his hand to the other, waiting for Shikamaru to take it from his hands.

Shikamaru shook his head again. “Neji-“

“Take it,” Neji ordered. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

Staring at him for a few minutes silently, the Nara let a small smile, a sincere, grateful smile grace his face. He took the offered fruit from the other’s hand. “Thank you, Neji.”

The Hyuuga nodded and turned back to his own little pieces and happily ate another one, the juice spreading across his lips. The two ate silently as they waited for the rest of their team to show up. Lee was next to show up and gave the fruit sitting in their hands a very curious look. Neji smirked and handed one of his pieces to the taijutsu master, assuring him that it tasted good. Lee took a hesitant bite before he smiled and stuck the rest of it inside, chewing happily. Sakura didn’t take long after Lee to show up and immediately smiled.

“That’s a blood orange, isn’t it?” she smiled.

Lee’s face went pale as he swallowed the rest of his piece. “Blood orange?!”

“It’s just a name, Lee,” Neji clarified. “I swear there’s no blood involved in the making of these things.”

Shikamaru snickered. “Although it would have been funny to lead him on. Anyhow, everyone ready to go?”

He got three firm nods of the head before he took to the trees, knowing that the others would follow him, taking the basic formation as they traveled. It was going to take them a day and a half to simply get to the border. They would stop to rest when night fell. The group was completely silent, minus the occasional chatter between Sakura and Lee. As the sun fell down and darkness took over, Shikamaru stopped them, stating that they would set up the camp for tonight. With any luck, they could reach the border in the morning.

Neji immediately set out for some firewood and Lee immediately jumped up to the task of helping him, leaving Sakura and the Nara to set up the tents. At first, not a word was said between the two old teammates until Lee’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Neji, where did you get that strange fruit from?” Lee asked, picking up a small log as if it were a twig.

“Shikamaru gave it to me,” Neji said nonchalantly. He wasn’t going to let the other know that he had secretly loved the simple act.

“That was very nice of him,” Lee smiled. “It was very good.”

Neji hummed his agreement and proceeded to cut Lee’s log into several, even pieces with some focused chakra.

“Neji, I heard a rather distressing rumor today.”

The Hyuuga sighed. “Lee-“

“And I know you’ve told me to not believe any rumors that I hear-“

“Lee-“

“-but this one seemed so real that I couldn’t help but listen to it.”

Neji closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What was it?”

Lee blushed. “I heard that you and Shikamaru did some questionable things on a hill other day.”

Neji’s eyes went wide. “And who, exactly, told you this?” Oh, so someone had been around. He sighed to himself. Didn’t matter. He was over the incident.

“I heard it from Kakashi-sensei,” Lee said, still blushing.

“It’s not true, Lee,” Neji sighed. “We…had an argument of sorts, nothing more.”

“You are telling the truth?” Lee asked.

“You can ask Shikamaru yourself,” Neji smirked, secretly liking the idea of Shikamaru knowing that someone had in fact been watching. “In fact, I encourage you to do so, just so you won’t have any doubts.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Lee said slowly.

The pair made their way back to the campsite, Neji smirking as Lee continued to talk about random things. A fire was soon started and Neji sat comfortably on the ground, waiting as Sakura finished cooking a small meal, waiting for Lee to ask Shikamaru. He knew that his friend was going to. If Neji wanted him to, Lee was going to do so. On top of that, another confirmation was always better than just one. Once Shikamaru denied it, Lee would be satisfied. But Sakura wouldn’t.

It wasn’t long before they were all sitting around the campfire, eating silently. Lee was fidgeting and Neji was counting down the seconds till his friend asked Shikamaru his questions. He ate quietly, trying to keep the amusement from his face. He wondered how the Nara would react. With his luck, the other would probably shrug and say that it wasn’t true. Sakura would start asking questions then and Shikamaru would probably say something embarrassing about him. And yet something was telling him otherwise.

“Shikamaru, I have a question to ask you,” Lee stated, blushing slightly. Neji gave him an encouraging nod while Sakura merely looked at Lee in curiosity.

“What is it?” Shikamaru asked, taking a bite of his food.

“Is it true that you and Neji did some questionable things on a hill a few days ago?” Lee asked, his blush growing.

Neji’s eyes looked over at the Nara and he was pleasantly surprised. Shikamaru had stopped mid-chew and was looking at Lee in slight surprise. Sakura’s eyes widened and her gaze snapped to their leader as well. It was taking everything in Neji’s body to keep from chuckling. Shikamaru quickly finished chewing and swallowed his bite, sending a nervous look the Hyuuga’s way. Neji merely raised an eyebrow and gave a nod of the head, telling the Nara to answer the other man’s question.

“Why would you think that?” Shikamaru asked slowly, trying to continue sounding bored.

Lee scratched the back of his head. “I heard it from Kakashi.”

“Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked, a smile spreading across her lips. “Oh, what were you doing on that hill, Shikamaru?”

Secretly, Neji was cheering the pink-haired woman on. He wisely kept his eyes on his meal, not seeing the desperate looks from the Nara.

“We weren’t doing anything questionable,” Shikamaru said smoothly. How he retained such calm, Neji would never know. “Your old sensei is simply a pervert, Sakura.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Sakura smirked, “but knowing him, he’s not one for making things up, especially rumors. You had to be doing something.”

Neji smirked. The woman could be amazingly smart when she wanted to be. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer and he burst, the noise catching the attention of the three with him. Lee was quite confused while Sakura was simply shocked at the sound itself. Shikamaru was staring at him in disbelief.

“You’re finding this funny?” the Nara asked incredulously.

“Tremendously,” Neji grinned, looking over at his future fiancée.

“I don’t completely see why,” Shikamaru huffed.

“I wasn’t the one instigating the actions that day,” Neji said slyly, giving the Nara an amused look. “I also believe your words were ‘No one is around and no one’s going to see’, weren’t they?”

“Oh, now I’ve got to know!” Sakura smiled. “You have to tell me!”

Shikamaru sighed and ran a hand up his face. “Troublesome. Nothing happened, Sakura.”

“You’re lying,” the kunoichi smirked. “Spit it out.”

“As much as I’d love to stick around,” Neji stated before Shikamaru could call on his help, “I’m feeling rather tired so I’ll be heading to bed.”

“Oh, well good night, Neji,” Sakura smiled before turning back to her prey.

“Ah, I should take on the task of watching!” Lee smiled. “See you all in the morning!” With that he was gone, leaving the poor Nara staring after the Hyuuga while Sakura poked and prodded at him for answers.

Neji couldn’t help himself when he entered the tent that he and Shikamaru would be sharing. He snickered as he prepared to get ready for bed, slipping off his shirt. He wasn’t expecting Shikamaru to be entering the tent so soon and was quite unprepared for the Nara to be giving him so deadly a glare. Neji couldn’t stop the snickering at the look the Nara was giving him. He tried to stop but ended up lying on his bed roll, laughing.

“You are a heartless bastard,” Shikamaru smirked, not being able to stop himself from smiling.

Neji snickered. “I suppose that’s not always a bad thing.”

“Did you have your fun?” Shikamaru asked, removing his vest and throwing it up to the top of his own bedroll.

“Oh yes,” Neji smiled, staring at the top of the tent.

“Good,” Shikamaru said as he pulled off his own shirt before he walked over to the Hyuuga and straddled him, grabbing the other’s wrists and pinning them down by his head.

The smile faded almost immediately. “What are-“

“Shh,” Shikamaru teased. “Wouldn’t want to wake anyone up, now would we?”

Neji hissed. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing!”

Shikamaru chuckled. “As entertaining as it was for you tonight, you need to remember one thing, Neji.”

Neji couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering over the Nara’s lithe, muscular chest. “What’s that?”

“That when it comes to the field of teasing,” Shikamaru grinned, “I have far much more experience than you. And that means I know exactly what to do and say to get you to turn that lovely shade of red.” Neji blushed at the words to which Shikamaru snickered. “See? There it is. So, will you remember?”

Neji merely nodded and watched with a vague sense of disappointment as Shikamaru got off of him and rolled back to his own bed roll. He blinked in surprise as he rolled to the side and glared at the side of the tent next to him. Why had he been disappointed? He frowned as his mind couldn’t give him an answer to his question. It wasn’t as if he was attracted to the Nara. Sure he was nice when he wanted to be and the random acts of kindness made Neji’s stomach fill with butterflies. Then there was the unexpected muscular quality of the other’s-

Neji shook his head. He was not thinking about Shikamaru like that! He was not admiring the other’s body! Although, it’s a very nice body, with all of- Damn it, Neji, stop! Blushing lightly, Neji’s mind turned to concentrate on their mission. That was more important. And yet, no matter how many times he tried to focus, his mind always kept running back to the Nara. He frowned as he closed his eyes to sleep. It was only because of the strange things Shikamaru did, that’s all. That was the only reason he was admiring the other. That was all it was…wasn’t it?
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Don't kill me, please? I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!! I couldn't! My muses wouldn't leave me alone! lol

Please review. They really make my day! ^o^