The Way Things Are

So I haven't been able to stop writing after this chapter...so you guys will probably get a double update today. O_O Aren't I nice? ...You guys won't think so...XD So here's the first of two updates. The other one won't come till later I suppose.

REVIEW REPLIES

Jamie: I suppose that it's just a couple that a lot of people like. It's a personal preference of mine anyhow. :) As for action...that probably won't come up until...chapter 12? Maybe? *shrugs* and I know, I'm really stretching your guys' patience. Please bear with me. >_<

Lady1Monkey: Thank you. ^_^ Yes, poor Neji will never obtain that level. lol And Shikamaru seems like he could actually keep growing. XD

mihoshi05: Thank you! I'm so glad that you're liking it!

luxeflex: I do update fast...in fact you'll be getting two today! Hmm...I suppose you'll have to wait and see if something bad happens, eh?

Drivven Labyrinth: I know I know. *cackles* You'll be getting two chapters today. :D Happy day, right?

AngelicChaos: I believe you loved it. XD lol I'm really glad you enjoyed it. :D

charmpit: Indeed. To be found out by the copy nin...who would want that? XD Indeed, it is a matter of time. ^_^

jess249: It would have been funny to lead Lee along...Darn, I should have. lol And both were shirtless...and I didn't write anything? Not even shounen-ai? There must be something wrong with me...

qwerty: Thanks!

PossessedMuse: I believe something important will happen. *smirks* You'll just have to read and find out. XD lol Happy reading!

ShikaChouFan4Life: Yay! I'm so glad that you're liking this! ^_^ I hope you'll really like it as I go!

Syake: You and everyone else. ^_^; I'm repenting! I'm even updating 2 chapters today (although the other one will come later...)

Ino-chan: Gotta love the little teasing wars between the two of them. XD I hope you'll enjoy the updates!

Im The Dobe: Ah, I'm glad that you think so! *cheers and does a happy dance* Thank you soooo much! You're not the only one who's waiting for a kiss. XD Or something. I hope this and the next chapter will satisfy you for a little while...Again, thank you!

D.A. Maxwell: haha, thank you! Oh no! I'm not offended at all! Inspiring other people to write is a major compliment! I'm thinking this story MIGHT be 25 chapters? Somewhere around that most likely. As for updating, I just write with whatever time I'm given and put up the new chapter when I finish. ^_^ Lately I've had a lot of time, so that's really why you'll be getting 2 chapters today. :)

Lavinia: I'm not one for making people wait for long periods of time. ^_^ As soon as I'm done typing, it gets put up. :D And yay for a human Neji! XD lol Thanks!!!

eimi-san: Thank you! I'm really glad that you think so!

Anaheyla: Of course! Especially when the other doesn't get mad. XD

pen_name: I know, I'm terrible. XD I really am. And you're going to hate me EVEN more at the end of this chapter...I hope you'll enjoy the double update today. ^_^

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Chapter 8

The next morning was spent in silence, although Shikamaru would send a knowing smirk the Hyuuga’s way every now and then. Neji would blush slightly and glare at him before he turned back to whatever he was doing. They were soon on their way again, Neji shooting glares randomly at the Nara’s back. He was sure that Shikamaru was still grinning to himself and Neji wasn’t going to simply let it go that he had been straddled last night. He wondered if another set of wars were going to start up. He sighed. Verbal wars with Sasuke and now teasing wars with Shikamaru? It was going to kill him, especially if they decided to join forces.

It was half way to noon when Shikamaru suddenly stopped, signaling for the others to do the same. At first Neji was confused before he caught the Nara’s eye and knew immediately what the other wanted. He activated the Byakugan and began to search the area around them. And not a minute too soon. There was something heading their way and fast from in front of them. He was just barely able to move his arm in a signal for everyone to move and hide.

“Don’t think you can hide from me, my pretties! Let me add you to my collection!”

Neji held back a grimace at the sound of that voice. It was absolutely horrid! Slimy and wicked were the only words he could come up with at the moment to describe it. Then the owner of such a voice came to view and Neji did grimace. It was woman of a good height, but her skin looked deathly pale and had slightly darker patches all over. Whether they were bruises or not he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to inch forward to find out. Her black hair was shoulder length and was extremely coarse, barely hiding her vicious black eyes behind its locks.

“Come out, come out,” the woman cackled. “Let me add you to my collection! Your heads will look so nice on the wall of my cave!”

It was then that Neji’s eyes caught the glint of the sun off of her forehead protector and he frowned. This had to be the rogue nin from Iwa. He was hoping the others would catch it, but after they had separated, he wasn’t sure of what they could see. Shikamaru no doubt had caught it. There was no question there. He wasn’t so sure about the other two. He would use his Byakugan to find out, but he wasn’t sure just what this woman’s abilities consisted of. After all, she was collecting heads. That meant something was very wrong with her.

“Ah, found one of you!”

Neji frowned. Just who had she found? He wasn’t left time to ponder as something hit him in the back of the head and knocked him down off of his perch. Whatever it had been, it hadn’t been a weapon of any kind. He quickly righted himself and took off in a different direction and activating Byakugan, trying to see what it was that had hit him exactly. Unfortunately, the woman seemed to have caught his movement and was doing everything she could to chase him.

Cursing softly, Neji made his way towards a small clearing that his eyes had allowed him to see. If he was going to fight this woman, he was going to do it in a clearer area. It wasn’t long before he came up to it and readied himself to use one of his various jutsus. Maybe he’d get lucky and be able to blow her up like he had the tree? He scoffed mentally at the idea. As if that would happen. She wouldn’t stand still long enough for that.

“Well, aren’t you pretty?” Neji glared as the woman made her way into the clearing, grinning like a mad woman. “You’re head will look pretty on my cave wall! Especially with those eyes! Such white eyes!”

Neji said nothing and instead waited for the other to make the first move. He didn’t know anything about his opponent and he wasn’t going to make the mistake of attacking first. She jumped at him eyes glinting with her madness and Neji did his Heavenly Spin. As expected it threw her back and Neji had learned that this woman’s fighting style was feral, almost like an animal. This was going to make the battle unpredictable. Faaaantastic.

The woman lunged again, this time Neji dodging the attack, but not fast enough as her fingers caught his arm. He hissed and moved away again, clutching at his arm for only a moment before he was once again in the Hyuuga stance. Damn the woman was fast! He had only gotten back into his stance when he saw her coming his way. Cursing, he quickly executed his Air Palm, hoping to catch the woman and pushing her back.

It would seem that he had no such luck as she dodge it and connected her fist to his stomach. His eyes widened and blood made its way up through his throat. Fast and strong…just like Lee. He groaned as his body refused to move, shuddering when the woman’s tongue was on his throat. He didn’t have enough time to contemplate what to do next as he was thrown across the clearing and into a tree. The force of blow was massive, so much so that it cracked the tree’s trunk in half and knocked the air clean out of Neji’s lungs.

His body panicked when he couldn’t get air and his mind completely focused on that, not really noticing how the broken tree was heading his way, threatening to crush him underneath it. The woman cackled with glee before a green blur caught her from behind, sending her into the forest with a sickening crash. Neji was just barely getting air into his lungs when something grabbed his body and pulled him back into the darkness of the forest as the tree slammed to the ground.

“Neji! Neji, are you OK?”

Neji’s white eyes looked up at the Nara holding him before he gave him a soft nod of the head, his breath steadily coming back. “…Sorry…”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Shikamaru stated, looking over in Lee’s direction. Sakura had joined the fight and it looked like it was in their favor. “We had no idea what she could do. She located you like a bat would. She was using her voice to bounce off of you so she could locate you.”

Just how smart was Shikamaru? How had he come to that conclusion? Neji frowned. “Still…” He started to cough violently, spitting up blood.

Shikamaru frowned. “Sakura!”

There wasn’t any communication needed. The pink-haired woman backed away, leaving Shikamaru to take her spot. Casting his jutsu, Shikamaru stopped the woman in her tracks, giving Lee just enough time to hit the back of her neck. The woman collapsed onto the ground and the Nara sighed, releasing the jutsu. Lee quickly pulled out some rope and quickly tied the unconscious nin up while Shikamaru headed back to Neji’s side.

“The damage?” he asked, kneeling next to the Hyuuga’s side.

“It’s not terrible, but it’s nothing to scoff at either,” Sakura stated, as she continued to heal the hidden wounds after healing the cut on his arm. “The woman’s punch was enough to cause some damage to his stomach and liver. Being thrown into the tree caused his diaphragm to spasm and force more pressure onto his already wounded stomach.”

Shikamaru sighed. “Basically, he just got a rough punch to the gut and the wind knocked out of him.”

Sakura smirked and pulled her hands back, signifying that she was done. “Yes. Although you’ll need to move around more carefully for a little while, Neji. And don’t fight any urges to vomit. You’re body will just be trying to get rid of the blood in your stomach.”

Neji nodded and slowly got to his feet, his world spinning for a moment. Shikamaru was there immediately to steady him, grabbing the other’s arm and placing his other hand on Neji’s waist. “You OK?”

“Yes, thank you,” Neji said softly, placing a hand on his forehead. He wanted to cringe at the flavor in his mouth and he spat to the side of him, the red liquid leaving a spot on the ground. Sakura immediately pulled out her canteen and handed it to Neji, who took a quick swig and rinsed his mouth out before handing it back to the kunoichi.

“Do you want something to eat to clean the rest of the flavor out?” Shikamaru asked, letting his arms fall away slowly as Neji spat to the side.

“I’ll be fine until later,” Neji stated, shaking his head. “Thank you anyhow.

Lee had the body of the woman slung over his shoulder when he came up to their small group. “What should we do with her?”

“She belongs to Iwa and is therefore theirs to deal with,” Shikamaru sighed. “We’d best start heading that way to hand her over.”

“But we can’t move very fast,” Sakura pointed out. “I did what I could, but Neji’s body still needs to heal. If he moves to fast he’ll ruin all of the work I did in sealing the wounds.”

“Fortunately we won’t have to head to Iwa,” Neji said softly. “There’s a group of Iwa ninjas heading our way. Three separate teams.”

True to his word, the large group of nins showed up, all staring in awe at the four from Konoha as if they were growing a third eye.

“You defeated her?” the head of the group asked. “Just the four of you?”

Shikamaru sighed. “Yes. It just took a little planning and understanding exactly what the woman can do.”

“What do you mean?” another Iwa nin asked.

“She uses sound as her locater,” Shikamaru explained, bored. “I figured that out as soon as she had located one of us by simply standing there and talking. There was no other way concerning the circumstances. She’s also able to use her sound to recruit help from any nearby bats.”

So that’s what hit me in the back of the head, Neji thought.

“I see,” the head Iwa nin stated. “We’ll keep this in mind and cover her mouth.”

Lee smiled. “There won’t be any need! I have already gagged her!” He flipped the woman from off of his shoulder and set her down on the ground. “She is all ready to be taken!”

“Before we leave, we must ask why Konoha send a squad to aid us,” one of the other Iwa nins asked.

“We weren’t sent to aid,” Shikamaru stated. “That was the last resort of our mission. We were simply sent to investigate to make sure that this rogue nin wasn’t going to bring any trouble to us,” Shikamaru stated. “She attacked us.”

“We are in your debt,” the leader smiled. “None of you were hurt?”

“Not severely,” the Nara answered.

“Very well, we again thank you,” the leader said, ordering one of the other nins to carry the woman. With that they were gone.

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Let’s head home.”

The group nodded and started to move when Neji stopped. He turned around and fell to his knees, gagging until his stomach forced a disgusting amount of blood from his lips and into the grass. Sakura was by his side immediately, rubbing his back and pull his hair out of the way. Lee grimaced while Shikamaru’s face showed a slight tinge of worry. Neji finished his retching and shakily got to his feet. He accepted the kunoichi’s canteen again after having wiped his lips on the back of his hand and cleared his mouth.

“Neji, are you sure you’re alright?” Lee asked.

“I’ll be fine, Lee,” Neji stated, sighing. “I’m just a little tired.”

“The sooner we get home, the better,” Sakura said. “You need to rest for a few days. But we don’t want to push too hard.”

“Let’s get going then,” Shikamaru sighed. “I’ll take the back this time. Sakura you lead.”

Sakura nodded and jumped into the trees, quickly followed by Lee and Neji, with Shikamaru taking the rear. They had been traveling for no more than a few hours when Neji gritted his teeth as he felt his stomach lurch again. The action was caught by the Nara and he immediately stopped. Neji turned to the side and puked again, the blood splattering on the ground below. Neji started to pant heavily as he leaned against the tree and Shikamaru called Sakura back upon seeing how pale the other was.

The kunoichi did a double check of the damage and frowned when nothing new appeared. “I don’t know. I can’t sense anything dangerous. We’ll do a more thorough check when we get back to Konoha. We’re going to have to take it slow though. He shouldn’t be moving so fast on his own.”

Neji shook his head. “I don’t want to be the reason we aren’t getting home fast enough.”

Sakura growled. “We don’t want you dying on us! If you let it, it could get that bad.”

“What if he wasn’t doing most of the work?” Shikamaru asked.

Sakura paused. “That could work.”

“Shikamaru-“

“Don’t argue, please,” Shikamaru sighed as he took one of the Hyuuga’s arms and wrapped it over his shoulder while one of his own hands wrapped around his waist.

They moved the rest of the day like that, Neji leaning heavily on the Nara. Shikamaru didn’t seem to mind. Neji didn’t have to throw up after that anymore and was so tired from having lost so much blood. Who know that people could punch and throw that hard? When they stopped to make camp, Lee was more than willing to take the shift of watching over the group again. He claimed it was to sharpen his ninja senses, but Neji knew better.

When it came time to go to sleep, he was more than ready. He practically fell onto his bedroll minute he was inside of the tent and curled into a small ball, shivering. Losing blood greatly decreased one's body heat.

“Neji? Are you alright?”

Neji shivered and nodded his head. “Just a little cold. I’m sure that’s to be expected.”

“True,” Shikamaru stated softly before he knelt down next to the Hyuuga’s side. “I have a proposal if you want to hear it.”

Neji’s eyes shifted upwards towards the Nara. “What is it?”

Shikamaru took in a deep breath through his nose and close his eyes. “I could sleep next to you. It would help keep you warm.”

Neji’s eyes widened at the proposal and opened his mouth to reject it when another shiver racked his body. He looked down at the floor of their tent. “Just…back to back?”

“Nothing more,” Shikamaru stated, almost bored. “I just want to help. I could always get Sakura or Lee in here if you’d prefer one of them.”

Neji snorted. “Lee’s my best friend who just happens to be dating the Kazekage and Sakura would probably want to cuddle.”

Shikamaru smirked. “Maybe so, but if-“

“Shikamaru, shut up and lie down,” Neji interrupted, shivering again.

“Yes sir,” the Nara snickered, sliding his bed roll next to the others.

Neji glared at him, but didn’t turn as he watched the Nara lay down next to him. As Shikamaru began to turn, Neji stopped him, not quite sure at first why he had. When Shikamaru stopped and looked at the other Neji blushed and turned his back to the other before pressing his back against Shikamaru’s chest. “It’ll be warmer this way…”

Shikamaru grinned. “Yes, it would be. Are you comfortable with that?”

Neji nodded remained silent as the other laid more closely to him. He blushed when an arm slowly made its way to his waist, but moved to make no argument. It was either there or by his ass and he was more comfortable with the idea of the first spot. The butterflies were at it again and Neji briefly wondered if he was going to puke again when he realized that this was the pleasant kind. He let out a deep sigh and pulled his blanket up to wrap around the two of them.

“Shikamaru, would…would you do this for anyone else?” Neji asked quietly as he stared at the wall of the tent.

“Why do you ask?” Shikamaru’s voice was a quiet as his own and Neji could feel how close the other was to his head.

“Just curious,” Neji answered, a blush spreading over his cheeks.

“Only if the other person was threatened with death,” Shikamaru grinned gently, his eyes closed. “No more questions. Just go to sleep.”

Neji said no more but as he started to fall asleep a small smile spread across his face. Shikamaru always knew what to say to make him feel…special.
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*presses the add button and runs away* ^_^;

Even if you are getting two chapters today, you can still review on this one!