Hey all! I'm back, again. This is the sequel to my story "Exiled" which I would can read before this one though I guess you don't really have to but I might make some references to it later on. A lot of people wanted there to be more to the story, so hopefully you'll like this.

I'm currently very busy with school and I should have been writing a philosophy paper when I was working on this...oh well. This is infinitely cooler. So the "need to know" for the story is: 1) it takes place about 5 and a half months after "Exiled" ended, 2) Neji is still 19, Shika 18 and the rest of the ages of everyone else correspond with those, and 3) Just as a reminder, the only people who know that they're together are Chouji, Ino and Sakura, since that's the point of this story...kinda, lol.

Enjoy!

"Speaking"

'Thinking"

I don't own it, sigh.


Chapter One – A Sleepy Offer

"Almost there, almost there." A raspy voice panted in the night.

"Just…a…little…bit…more…" The voice was quite strained with tiredness as it spoke only to the shadows as the owner of said voice continued to jump as quickly as he could across the rooftops of Konoha.

Intent on reaching his destination quickly, he pushed his legs a little further, wishing he still had enough chakra left to just transport instantly home.

"Ehh, so troublesome." Shikamaru said to himself, "I should have stayed the night in the hospital. Too late now…" He continued his journey, slowing down slightly so as not to damage himself any further than he already was. He did not need to add to his injuries by getting distracted and slipping off a roof.

For that past three and a half weeks Shikamaru, along with Sasuke and Hinata, had traveled to the land of Kusa (Grass) for a reconnaissance mission. It was a B class mission, so not too high but still dangerous enough, as they were gathering information on a possible resurgence of Sound's ninja. They weren't meant to be seen, just to look themselves, hence why Hinata and Sasuke were there, two sets of good eyes on things.

Unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

Reconnaissance is called that for a reason but it was anything but in this case and while there had been a fight, no one was seriously injured save for the other guys. Sasuke came out of the incursion with only scratches from the local flora, Hinata had a few bruises and cuts. Shikamaru may have been the worst off, having some gashes and bruises on his arms, not to mention the nice wound that adorned his upper right thigh, which would have punctured his artery had he not noticed it when he did.

After leaving Sasuke to report to the hokage and Hinata to finish having her wounds treated, he headed out to his own home. Sakura did threaten him with more bodily harm if he didn't stay overnight but thankfully Hinata distracted her long enough so he could escape.

There was no way he was going to stay in an uncomfortable hospital cot when he could be sleeping in his own bed. Shika just hoped Ino wasn't staying there tonight; he didn't want to deal with her.

He just wanted sleep. And who could blame him?

The lack of sleep and sore muscles that ached from the mission was catching up to Shika. His leg was beginning to throb slightly but he didn't care, he was so close to the peace, warmth and quiet of his bed. So close!

Soon enough, after a few more roofs, he finally spotted the familiar window and opened it, stepping into the bedroom. He didn't bother with the door because that would be a lot more effort that it was worth. Who was he to do more work now when sleep was oh so close?

Making his way toward the bed, he didn't even bother to shut the window. He stripped his clothing down to his shorts, leaving the dirty uniform in a path to the bed in his wake and promptly fell onto the bed with a plop.

Shika let himself breath in the fresh, clean sent of the pillow. Most of his body was taking up the bed so he couldn't even pull the covers over himself easily, yet again; he didn't care but quickly drifted off to sleep.

However, this didn't last long as he heard a faint sound, barely even audible, but enough to wake him. Thinking it was coming from the window, a messenger bird perhaps. He rolled over, and instead, saw a figure with a kunai drawn standing at the foot of his bed. The figure looked as if it was about to attack Shikamaru as if he were some intruder.

'What the hell?!' Shika thought. 'He's the initruder, not me!' Before he could debate this anymore he made a grab for the shruiken he kept beside the bed when he saw the "intruder" hesitate.

"Shika?" A familiar voice sounded as said shinobi blinked upon focusing on two pale orbs, the only recognizable objects he could make out in the dim light.

"Neji?" He blinked again and this time more clearly saw the form of the other nin. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking you that question, don't you think?"

"No…wait, what the hell?" Shika asked himself as he looked around the room, noticing for the first time, now that he was no longer solely intent on sleeping, that he was not in his room, nor was this his bed that he was occupying.

Neji saw his perplexed look and moved closer to the bed and sat down on the edge next to Shikamaru. He raised his left hand and gently cupped the other's cheek.

"Shika, you're in my apartment. In my bed. This isn't your place. What are you doing here? And what happened to you? Are you okay?" Neji asked upon noticed the bandages that covered his upper arms.

He shrugged. "We just got back from the mission tonight. It was late and I just wanted to sleep. It's thanks to your cousin that I'm not spending the night in the hospital," Neji's eyes widened at this and Shika taking notice said quickly, "Nothing's seriously wrong; just a few scrapes here and there and a bit of a cut on my leg." He saw his boyfriend visibly relax.

"How are the others?"

"Better off than me. Sasuke's basically fine and Hinata has some minor cuts and bruises but she's alright. No need to worry." He replied, stifling a yawn.

"Good," Neji said as he leaned his forehead against Shika's, "but it's you who I'm most worried about right now."

"Me? I'm fine. Well…as long as I can sleep for a week, I'll be great. Hey, what was with the kunai earlier?" He asked pulling back to look the other in the eye.

"I think that should have been self-explanatory seeing as how, like you, I just got back from a mission, wanted to rest in my own bed only to find an intruder."

"Hmph. I'm no intruder, not after all the times you've graciously invited me over." He pulled Neji closer to him, wrapping his arms around his back.

"Uh huh. Well, if there is ever to be an intruder in my house, I want it to be you every time. Now, why exactly did you come here instead of your home?"

"Eh?" Shika wondered that himself. "I guess I just wanted to sleep that badly, it's been a long three weeks like you said. I just wanted to go home and ended up here since I'm here most of the time anyway, it just felt right, and you know how I love your bed." He said, putting suggestive emphasis on the last part.

"Ahh, well, not that I mind finding you here, scantily clad, ever. But, I'm sure a genius like you could figure out that it'd be better to just come here all the time and then you would not have to worry about sleeping in the wrong bed." Neji said, averting his eyes and pushing a stray hair behind Shika's ear.

"Neji," the shadow-nin looked questioningly up at his lover, barely noticing the slight rosey hue that adorned his cheeks. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

The Hyuuga pulled back from Shikamaru and crossed his arms in front of him, getting slightly defensive. "What if I am Nara?"

Shika smirked and pulled his boyfriend back down to him into a passionate kiss that Neji didn't think he'd have the energy from his incessant complaining about lack of sleep.

He was happily wrong.

When they broke apart, finally, Shika smiled up at Neji. "You know, that's the best idea I've heard from you yet in all the years we've known each other."

Neji just glared at him. "Well?"

He started to pull at Neji's clothes, getting his outer shirt off when he said, "Yeah, sure. It's less of a walk for me to the academy that way." He smirked again. "Now, get undressed and get under here so I can sleep."

He saw a genuine smile from the other who did as he asked, since Shika was the ONLY person who could order him around like that, and Shika knew it too.

Neji climbed under the sheets and pulled Shika to him, though by now he was almost asleep. "Do you think Chouji will mind losing his roommate?"

Shika yawned out, "Naw, Ino will be happy though. Say, Neji?"

"Hm?"

"What are you going to tell your uncle?"

Neji tensed for a moment and then said, "I'll worry about that later. Go to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm already there." And Shika drifted off.

Though, Neji stayed awake for a little while longer wondering just exactly what he would tell his uncle and anyone else for that matter. He hoped that no one was that perceptive to notice that Shika would be moving into a place with a new roommate that only had one bedroom.

But seeing as this was a village full of ninja, whose job it was to look closely at things and notice the details, and be stealthy about it too, his hope was failing at a rapid pace.

Oh well, if their friends didn't know by now, then they really were oblivious.


Thanks for reading and reviewing too! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up, since I've got 24 credits this semester and I'll be out of the country in 2 weeks. So, look for the next chapter in mid-March probably. Thanks again!!