Neji was lonely.
He wouldn't admit that to anyone, but it was true. He had studied for ten hours straight since before dawn, had eaten quietly and alone, had done just about everything he needed to now that it was off of missions because of a broken wrist—And now it was very quiet. Usually, the Hyuuga loved the silence, but today it seemed to mock him.
He heard laughter from far away and noted it had to be Naruto's. He frowned slightly as he looked out the library's window, unusually wishing he was out there with him. He saw Kiba, Sai, Shino, and Rock Lee with him as well. The fact made him a little lonelier, though he was quick to look away. He heard their footsteps pass and began to slightly resent them for not asking if he wanted to join them. It was silly of course, and the Jonin was quick to understand that. He shook the thought away from his mind and went back to reading, trying to forget those boys he could call his friends.
Not a minute went by and he looked up, slightly confused at hearing his teammate's voice. He blinked, his back straightening out once he saw the bushy browed ninja approach him with a smile, the smile that was usually on Rock Lee's lips. The boy walked to his side quietly, obviously wanting to not disturb anyone, and whispered into Neji's ear.
It was stupid for Lee to do this, obviously the ninja shouldn't be interrupting Neji, but Neji's quick annoyance decapitated once he heard the green-clad boy's words.
"Naruto and the others are going to have Ramen now. Come join us, Neji, it will be fun!" Neji turned his head to see Rock Lee barely being able to contain himself, probably for being invited to such a thing.
Neji looked away from him for a moment, uncomfortable with his situation. On the one hand, he knew he wanted to go. On the other hand, he didn't want anyone else knowing that. …Ugh. What a bother.
He simply nodded, then shot a glare at Lee for basically squealing from Neji's decision. The Jonin put his book back, then walked with Lee out of the library, already regretting his decision. He should have just said no, now Lee was going to be talking to him in his excited and intense way the whole time. What was worse was that Lee would probably be talking about it for a long time, too.
Neji was about to tell Rock Lee he had changed his mind, but Kiba's voice interrupted him as the light from outside began to come over the two of them. "Oi, Neji! You decided to come to?"
Neji paused as he looked at the group, surprised. He… hadn't expected Kiba to sound happy. He hadn't expected all of them to be grinning, even Shino looking happier than usual under all his clothes. Rock Lee made his idiotic "Nice Guy" pose, the one with the thumbs up and the stupid grin, and all of the boys (with the exception of Shino) called for the two of them to hurry up because they were hungry.
Those were the comments he had been expecting. But the brief moment of inclusion had been nice.
Neji walked up to them, Rock Lee already yammering about how much fun it was all going to be, and now the Hyuuga really was regretting his decision. He sighed internally and thought about the different ways he could get out of this, then turned his head as his name was called.
"Hey, Neji," Naruto called. "why do you spend so much time in that stupid library?"
"Because I'm reading porn," Neji answered flatly, obviously a little annoyed at such a question.
All of the kids stopped dead and slowly turned so they could look back at him, and before Neji could groan and tell them they're idiots for believing him, he was surprised to watch Kiba, Naruto, Sai, and Rock Lee break down in boisterous laughter. He was even more surprised to see Shino's jacket shaking slightly, and it was obvious that he was laughing a little, too. Neji chuckled slightly, then couldn't help it; he broke out laughing with the lot, even letting Rock Lee set a hand on his shoulder for support.
"You know, Neji," said Kiba between subsiding laughter, patting the Jonin's shoulder. "You're all right."
And then, the group continued to walk to Ichiraku's as if nothing had happened, all of them just seemingly in a much better mood. Sai even stopped walking until Neji was next to him and began to ask what kind of things he would read. It was all very normal, but not for Neji. He was used to Gai and Rock Lee's loudness and the Hyuuga's silence, never… calm joy, could this be called? In any case, Neji didn't feel so alone anymore.
Once the boys arrived at Ichiraku's, they all sat in a row, Akamaru between Naruto and Kiba, and they all ordered their favorite type of ramen. Neji actually enjoyed himself quite a bit, laughing at one of Naruto's jokes even and paying attention to what Rock Lee would speak of. The pale eyed boy felt peaceful within this group, and decided he wouldn't spend so much time in that stupid library if he was able to do things like this with his fellow Shinobi.