Here it is, I wrote this for a good dear friend of mine, i hope you enjoy this!! Please Read!!

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled out as he ran up. Said person turned and nodded to the blonde man he saw before him. Making a stop to see the members of his rookie class Naruto was happy mostly all of them were in town and easy to find. "Just got back. I think that was one of my longest missions ever, well defiantly not as long three as the three years I spent training." He stood there rambling as Shikamaru stood and listened.

"You were gone what about a year?" Naruto nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, Hinata and I had a really tough mission, but it was fun, I learned a lot!" He rubbed the back of his head and tried to hide the blush crawling across his face.

"Fun, I bet." Shikamaru chuckled but nodded in knowing as Naruto's face got redder, he smirked.

"Yeah… Oh! The reason I came by to see you was to tell you that you're invited to my wedding!" He smiled brightly and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Hinata and I are getting married!" Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"When is it? And congratulations man." He raised his hand and Naruto blushed as he high fived the pineapple haired man in front of him.

"It's in a week. We've had this planned for a few months; her dad's been doing all the work and everything. Hinata got her dress while we were out on the mission, though she won't let me see it till next week. It was kind of annoying letting the old man plan the wedding but I figure it'd be smart with us away on a mission for like what was it a year so it's all cool." Shikamaru smiled at his nervous rambling. Naruto looked away as the brunette shook his head.

"Yeah, I'll be there. I have someone I need to talk to, I'll see ya around." The blonde looked a bit shocked but nodded and took off to look for more of his friends. Shikamaru started walking the way Naruto had come; he had a thought in his head and needed to see the reaction. Coming across the Hyuuga's property he disregarded going in front the front and jumped the fence searching out the one he sought.

Sitting on the rooftop a few minutes later Shikamaru looked down on the training ground. He made a bird call and the person he'd been watching stopped. He knew he was being watched without being directly looked at. He sighed and was motioned to come down so he did.

"What brings you here Nara?" The shorter Hyuuga said.

"The wedding." Is all he said after he jumped down and made his way over. The person in front of him visibly froze and the look he got would be a killer one if looks could kill. This person who Shikamaru had always admired and thought about, this one person who he always got anxious about when he was around, good thing he was good at hiding his feelings or he'd have given himself away a long time ago. "I know you like Naruto; I want to know how this is affecting you." He said masking his concern with boredom. Neji stood up straighter and scoffed.

"I don't know what you mean Nara. I don't like Naruto, plus I always knew my cousin adored him, so I saw this coming, nothing new right?" Neji's annoyance was shining through even if he thought he was hiding it. Shikamaru knew him by now, he'd been watching him for a long time now, too long some would say.

"Come, follow me. I need to show you something." Shikamaru said nodding his head off in a direction. Neji sighed and nodded and followed as Shikamaru jumped back up onto the rooftop and started out for the training grounds, there was a spot he knew about, he had dubbed it his secret place, no one else knew about it, not even his own teammates. When they got close Shikamaru stopped and turned to Neji who stopped a few feet from him.

"Close your eyes, I'll guide you." Neji gave him a skeptical look but did as he was told a moment later his hand was engulfed in a bigger hand and he was being pulled along. He almost pulled back and opened his eyes but thought better of it, he was obviously getting to see something no one else got the privilege. "When you don't feel like you have anywhere to turn or you need a place of your own, you can come here. This has been my sanctuary and no one comes here so it's safe." When Neji came to a stop he slowly opened his eyes and saw Shikamaru in front of him. He looked around him and noticed the area, it was close to the water, he could hear the lapping of it on the shore, but it was a clearing somewhere in the abundance of trees by the training grounds.

"Why here?" Neji asked his simple question but it meant the world to Shikamaru, this meant that he was open minded right now, something he'd been slowly becoming since the chuunin exams, but most of the time he was still closed minded and defensive.

"Here, I first came upon this place when we graduated from the academy, and we were split up into our teams. Here, this is where I do a lot of my thinking. Here, this is where I spend most of my time when I'm down or need my own spot to get away from others." Shikamaru suddenly felt that he had to tread carefully if the look on Neji's face told him anything. The older man looked around again trying to seem as stoic as ever but the way Shikamaru's expression changed in the slightest told him he wasn't succeeding.

"This…" He paused and rolled his eyes searching for the right words, "is a quaint little spot, but why show me your special place no one else knows about?" Shikamaru sighed and turned away from the shorter man in front of him.

"I just thought you'd need your own spot." He said, knowing Neji wasn't ready to hear what Shikamaru has been dying to say for years. "I'll leave you to your thoughts then. I'll see you around." He said before starting to jump away. The hand that found its way onto his arm and that had enough pressure in the hold stopped him and he turned back to Neji.

"You're going to leave me alone too? Everyone does." The unwanted tears burned his eyes as they suddenly pooled out of his eyes and he looked down, hiding his face from the younger man.

"I won't. I never wanted to." He put a hand on Neji's shoulder and the older one dropped to his knees not hearing the other's words. Shikamaru kneeled down next to him and pulled him into an embrace, holding the man he'd loved since he first met him. He wanted to say something but he knew his words wouldn't get through, the pain and the tears coming from Neji told him that the man had finally started to let go after he didn't know how long of holding his feelings in. Shikamaru knew this wouldn't be the last break down Neji would have, but he hoped he could help the other man in moving on.

When Neji calmed down and stopped crying he just sat there and Shikamaru heard his sniffles the surrounding area seemed to be completely silent. Shikamaru pulled back but kept a hold on Neji as much as he could. The older man looked up and was blushing but the look in his eyes made the pineapple head's heart soar, it was total gratitude. That alone was something new, and that Neji wasn't hiding anything from him at this moment.

"Shikamaru, thank you." He hid his face in the younger man's chest and decided he liked being here in his arms. That thought rocked him and he pulled away from Shikamaru. Standing they looked at each other a difference in feel about each other. Shikamaru sighed, turned away and looked at the sky. He knew when Neji left and he knew that it would be different between them, but he wouldn't let it bother him.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Standing in front of his mirror Neji looked at his reflection. Ashamedly he glanced over his face and saw his red puffy eyes and red nose. He reached for his clothes as he slid the last bit on looked at the time. He had about half an hour before he had to be at the wedding, before it actually started. He sat on his bed and knew that since the day Shikamaru had come to him he'd been crying more and he did feel better about everything but he didn't like all the crying. He wanted to see the younger man, wanted his arms around him again but he shook his head and sat as still as he could. He hadn't realized he had started crying again until he was being held in someone's arms again. He could hear the soft loving words being spoken but he couldn't tell who was speaking but he knew those arms he knew the warmth.

When he stopped crying he sat up but the warmth and the arms were no longer around him; he looked around, only the smell lingered and he dried his eyes. That smell, the scent of it just lingering around him and his room, he couldn't take it anymore, he need some fresh air. He knew Shikamaru had come to him but he didn't know why and he didn't know how he knew where he was.

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Jumping the fence Shikamaru looked around, not seeing anyone he made his way to Neji's room, Hinata having told him a vague directionality. He found it, he could tell it was Neji's room, he sensed the older man on the other side of the door. He stood there for a minute trying to get up the courage to tell the man what he'd come to say but when he heard him suddenly start crying he didn't care he rushed in and pulled the man into his arms.

"Shh, Neji, it'll be ok, Naruto isn't the one for you, and you should see that by now." He rocked a bit holding on tightly but delicately to the smaller man. "Neji, shh, I'm here, I always will be." He continued to whisper softly and reassuringly into Neji's hair and when he felt and heard the older man start to calm down he started to freak. He calmed himself and stood, kissing Neji's head before leaving the way he came, closing the door behind him. What did I do that for…? He rushed away and toward the wedding they were both soon to be at together.

He arrived at the same place they had had the third's funeral ceremony, but it looked so much different today than it had on that day. There were flowers all over the place, a lot of chairs and in the direction the chairs were pointing Tsunade was standing in a Kimono, something he'd never seen her wear, even at the other weddings. He knew Naruto was special to her, but for her to get this dressed up was something he'd never figured would happen. Once he took his place, sitting next to his teammates he sat back and started his favorite past time, cloud watching. There weren't many in the sky on this over sunny day it seemed.

Please review! It would be so great if you did! I'll have the next 2 chapters up pronto.

Thanks!!!!