Disclaimer: I do not own any of Naruto. It is the brain child of Masashi Kishimoto.

Ages (Right at the beginning): Lee, Sai, and Neji are 20. Tenten is 21 (b-day is in March). Sasuke, Naruto, Ino and everyone else in that age group are between 18 and 19 at the moment (some have had b-days this year already and others have not). Kankuro is 21 (b-day is in May) and Temari is 23 (Turns 24 in August). Itachi is 25 (b-day is in June).

READ THIS FIRST!

Warnings: language, smut (lots), MPREG (in later chapters)

Author's Note: UNBETA'D! First off, Sasuke's family never died and Itachi never left. Because of this, Sasuke's personality has been tweaked. He has friends and is not as antisocial, granted he is still a bit of a loner. Second, if you didn't see in the summery, this contains a very depressed Lee. You have been warned. This is a small part of the time line; they had the chuunin exams at 12. Jiraiya takes the boys (to find out who, read) when they are 14. They travel for a full three years, age 17 when they return, and this story is set a year or so after the get back. Hope that helps with the time line.

Read, review, and please enjoy!

All human emotion has the potential to burn. Anger, lust, hurt, happiness, all of it can consume you from the inside out. Everyone has their own way of copping.

Beginning of July

The night had begun the same as usual. Lee had met Sakura-san outside of her work to walk her some of the way home. Even though his house was in the other direction, he liked making the time to see the woman. Since she was usually busy, they never had the time to talk. Lee had begun by asking about her day and the conversation had gone from there. Her day had apparently not gone very well, because she went off on a small rant at some point. It was a completely innocent and Lee thing to do when he suddenly told her for whatever number time that he loved her. The end result of the statement had been the clincher.

This…this wasn't the way it was meant to happen.

That look wasn't supposed to be on her face and those words weren't supposed to be coming from her mouth. It had never been like this before. She had jokingly brushed him off and they had gone on being friends. She had never reacted this way. It may have been the just the result of a bad day but it took him completely by surprise.

"Lee! When are you going to get it? I don't like you! Not like that!," Sakura's voice was tight and angry. "I love Sasuke-kun! When or what is it going to take for you to get that! Do I need to spell it out for you? You will never be as good as him!"

Honestly, Lee had been expecting her to tire of his proclamations of love for some time now, but he still hadn't been prepared for it. Hope was one of the things that kept him going. But hope had a bad habit of really letting you down when you least expected it. When you needed support the most, hope was supposed to be there, holding your hand and encouraging you to continue on, even when you mind was screaming that it was a completely lost cause. But nope…that small bit of hope left in his heart was his complete down fall.

Her words rang in his ears as he kept the ever present smile on his face.

"Sorry, Sakura-san, I did not mean to anger you," his words sounded muffled to his ears, unable to hear anything but her angry voice.

"I will leave you to your walk home," he heard himself say as he bowed deeply to the pink-haired woman in front of him. Smiling once more, he waved a good bye as she continued to glare at him. With a huff, she turned away from him, her angry footsteps echoing in the now silent night.

Lee watched Sakura as she walked away, her hair bouncing slightly with her movement. His chest felt tight and he could barely breathe. So, his mind told him, It has finally happened. She has gone and told you off. Must say you should have known that it would happen like this. And deep down in his heart, he had known. He had watched from the sidelines from day one, knowing that the only room in Sakura-san's heart had been for Sasuke-kun. This knowledge had been filed and then ignored with one word, hope. Hope that one day he could be strong enough, smart enough, to win this beautiful girl over. Apparently, all efforts have been completely in vain, his conscious told him.

Lee cringed at the thought. Had everything he had been working for been completely useless? No. That was one thing he could never let himself believe. His training would never be in vain. He had worked hard, very hard, to become the shinobi he was today, and that was not something his heart was not willing to think. But the hope that Sakura-san would come to love him over Sasuke-kun had been in vain. He would never measure up to the other nin in her eyes.

Sighing dejectedly, Lee looked up only to realize that his feet had carried him to the training grounds. He stared at the grounds, remembering all the times he had pushed and pushed himself here, heart full of love and mind full of challenging Neji, Gaara, Sasuke, or Naruto. She was always at the back of your mind, he heard in his head. The pain in his chest grew greater as he realized that there would be no more loud proclamations of love or protection. Those days were gone for good.

"You will never be as good as him!" A picture of Sakura-san screaming those words filled his mind, her eyes burning with an anger he hadn't realized she could muster. She had meant them with everything she had, he realized. His face became tight with pain as his heart gave a lurch. The words never as good played through his mind again and again, branding themselves onto his heart.

Lee's lips formed a tight line as he approached a sparring post. With all the might he could muster, he kicked. Thwack! Again. Thwack! And again. Thwack! The sound gained a steadily faster rhythm as he kicked out time and time again.

Next Morning

The early morning sun shone in through the open curtain, throwing shadows across the neat room. A desk sat on the far side in the corner closest to the door. On it sat a stack of books, which sat beside an open note book, its pages filled with neatly crammed print. Directly across from that stood a slightly open armoire*, inside hung neatly pressed outfits. A chair sitting beside it contained neatly laid out clothing. In the corner across from the door, adjacent to the armoire and directly under the window, was a bed in which a form laid. The white sheets had been kicked to the foot of the bed and the pillow sat on the floor. A body laid sprawled across the bed, head turned toward the window. His eyes were wide open and unseeing as they traced the sun's rise from slumber.

The night had not been nice to Lee. After, training and working out until he was completely exhausted, he had come home and collapsed on the bed only to find sleep would be far from his grasp. He had tossed and turned, insomnia holding him tight as he tried to clear his mind. Every time he dosed off, he woke to a loud ringing in his ears, unable to remember his dream, only knowing that it had him gasping for breath as his chest constricted in pain. It was as if the whole world wanted him stuck in his own version of hell. At first he had been freezing, and then later his body grew so hot that he thought he would burn a hole through the bed. This was the reason for the open window and the kicked off sheet.

Finally, when his clock read 3:00 A.M. did his mind and body finally shut down completely. But, this sleep had been fitful and brought no real rest. Lee felt even more exhausted than when he had come home. He blinked as the sun crested above the buildings of the village. At first, his window facing the east had brought him happy, energetic mornings. Rising with the sun had been one of his greatest joys. Now he just wished the bright ball in the sky would sink back down and disappear. It only served to remind him that things had changed.

Never as good, rang loudly in his ears for what time, Lee had no idea. It seemed to have become his minds new mantra. Never as good…as Sasuke. The name felt bitter, even in his mind. He knew there was no point in holding a petty grudge over the statement. Sakura-san had spoken the words, not the other male. Yet his mind insisted that Sasuke was a great place to place the anger he felt at those words.

Lee shook his head and violently pushed that thought away. He would not place blame where blame was not called for. Quickly sitting up and throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, he decided to go for a long run. Maybe it would help clear his mind.

He pushed himself to his feet and padded toward the chair beside his wardrobe. Grabbing the green jumpsuit that lay there, he eyed the outfit thoughtfully. He had been wearing the same kind of outfit since he had become part of Guy-sensei's team. Smiling at the green color and glancing at the orange leg warmers still on the chair, the pain in his chest became less. Granted, he could still feel that clenching hand but it was bearable now.

Pulling on the outfit, he mapped out the path he would take in his head. He chose the longest ways possible, being sure to avoid areas where the chances of meeting someone increased. Within minutes, Lee was out the door and ready to try and find solace from his unusually raging mind.

Sasuke Uchiha sat on the window sill of his third story bedroom. The sun was just cresting the horizon and the warmth felt good on his bare chest after the cool night air. He had gotten more sleep than was necessary the past few nights and had struggled with sleeping in. Unwilling to just lie in bed and do nothing he had gotten up and cleaned his weapons. They still were laid out on a drop cloth on his floor, their newly cleaned surfaces glittering in the dawn's first light.

Propping his elbow on his raised knee, he listened to the still sleeping village. It's strange to be up when the sun is just rising, he thought to himself. The silence was a nice reprieve from all the hustle and bustle he was used to. Especially from Naruto's insistent chattering, sometimes Sasuke thought he sounded just like an old hen. He still enjoyed the baka's presence, mind you, but only in small doses.

He was brought out of his thoughts abruptly at the sound of running footsteps. Blinking, he looked down the road, twisting and maintaining his balance as he stretched to see. Rounding the corner at the far end was Rock Lee. His black hair bouncing as he ran steadily down the road. Sasuke sneered at the hideous outfit that the older chuunin insisted on wearing. Sasuke could understand dedication to your idol and Sensei but he saw no reason to dress like him. He looked up to Kakashi and Jiraiya and greatly respected the men but there was no way he was going to dress like them.

As Sasuke watched the man run closer and closer, he noticed something not quite right. Lee should have noticed him by now, but the look in the chuunin's eyes was distant, like he was running on auto pilot. It wasn't like Lee to not notice things and when it happened to be a friend, a greeting was generally called out, with a smile and wave quick to follow. But that isn't the case this morning, Sasuke observed.

Considering calling out to the brunette, he decided it was better to just let this one go, and watched as man ran on past. He knew Lee was adamant about training, but something tugged at his mind. Something he should remember…something that was important to the topic at hand…When the thought continued to elude him, Sasuke shook his head and stood from his perch. Stretching, his muscles stiff from being in the same basic position for more than an hour, he walked toward the door to his bedroom. Time for a nice long shower, he thought, undressing and letting his sleep shorts and boxers fall where they would.

The sun was well on its way up the sky by the time Lee made it home from his run. Since it was Saturday and he really had nothing to do, he had decided to make the run just a bit, well not a bit, longer than planned. He had hoped that it would help but instead of making him feel better his mind had just gone blank, not really letting him think of anything but where he was headed. Now that he was back in his room, thoughts were tugging at his mind. Pulling and insistently calling out for him to think on this and do that. He just knew he would have a head ache before this day was out.

Groaning as his mind whirled around thoughts he would really rather not look into at the moment, he decided a shower was a good idea. Distracting himself by undressing and placing his clothes in their proper basket, he stepped into the bathroom. The tiles were cold on his bare feet and the breeze blowing in through the window close to the ceiling made him shiver. He turned on the water nearly as hot as it would go and sighed in relief when he stepped under the steaming spray.

The heat of the water sunk under his skin, soothing the stiffness of his muscles. Lee stood there, head back as he let the water engulf him and wash away his thoughts for the time being, at least, that was what he had hopped. A frown formed on his face as his mind took him in too a deeper, darker swirl. He could feel his emotions spiraling downward, dragging at his insides, as he was drug again under the crashing waves. He felt like he was drowning in his own mind, emotions he didn't want anything to do with. The water was leaving red marks on his pale skin, yet he didn't care. Don't think. Don't feel, he thought.

Frowning even harder, Lee grabbed blindly for the bar of soap and began to roughly leather up a wash cloth. He began to wash, dragging the cloth harshly across his skin in an effort to get done with it as fast as he could. His needed to get out, needed to do something, anything, to take his mind off of this torturing subject. A picture flashed in his mind, and his grimaced. Words rang in his ears; you will never be as good. He scrubbed hard at unseen dirt on his calf.

Lee stepped out of the shower, skin red from where he had scrubbed and from the sheer heat of the water. Water dripped off his body in a steady rhythm, rivulets tracing down his chest as it rose and fell with his breathing. His skin broke out in goose bumps as a cold breeze rolled in. His black hair hung in a heavy fall, obscuring his eyes.

A loud knocking on his door made him jump. Blinking, Lee realized he had made a huge puddle in the middle of his bath room floor. Another series of knocking and a voice to accompany it rang through the house. Lee quickly grabbed a towel and began to dry off, wincing as it drug across tender places on his skin. He quick dried his hair by just rubbing across his hair and taking off the excess water. The end result was stray pieces of hair sticking up in all directions. As if he had spiked it a bit. Walking into his bed room he threw on a black shirt and the first pair of shorts he could find, which ended up being an old pair of yellow swim trunks. Another knock and then, "Lee! You home?" was heard as the person outside his front door grew impatient. Naruto-kun, Lee realized suddenly. That was who was at the door. He mentally smacked himself. He had been so caught up in what was going on in his head; he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

Lee cursed himself soundly as he made his way through the house and opened the front door, a smiling mask perfectly in place. Their stood the blonde, grinning like the idiot he was. He was actually out of his regular clothes and in jeans and a t-shirt. The look on Naruto's face changed when he spotted what Lee was wearing. His mouth fell open in a shocked 'oh'. The shorter man look the taller up and down and nearly choked on the words in his mouth. He had never seen Lee in anything but his green jumpsuit and leg warmers. He had actually assumed that that was the only clothing the chuunin owned, or variations of it. His black hair was a mess and the shirt was slightly tight, riding up a bit…

Naruto quickly averted his eyes and regained his composer. Smiling brightly he waved and said, "Hey! I figured you would be up! It's almost lunch. Wanna go eat?" Please say yes and wear that! he silently pleaded. He could bet that he could count on his hand the number of people that had seen this man in anything but his regular get up. He wanted to see the looks on their faces when they saw this completely different look.

Lee rubbed the back of his head, as he considered the chuunin's offer. This would be a good way to take his mind off of things, but it was a sure way of running into people he really didn't want to see. Mainly Sakura-san, and Sasuke-kun, his mind added. But he needed people to think everything was okay, he didn't want to show any kind of weakness if he could help it.

Smiling broadly, he nodded his head and said, "Of course! I'll be just a minute! Come on in and sit!" He moved back from the door and let Naruto into the still dimly lit room. He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights when he had come home; the gloominess had fit his mood. Now he was supposed to be his usually energetic happy self. So, he quickly flicked the switch and the lights blinked on, covering everything in a soft yellow light.

Lee's house really wasn't that grand, but he kept everything in order. Everything generally had a place and he liked it that way. His kitchen was spotless, with a few dishes from yesterday still in the drain. His living room was just as spotless as the rest of his house, except for the stack of books that sat on the coffee table, a novel resting on top. Generally he read books on taijutsu, or other such things, but every now and then he enjoyed just a good read. The current book had ended up being a sci-fi, but he wasn't all that picky. Though, the book Kakashi-sensei had lent him that one time…Lee blushed and decided now was the time to go and get ready.

"I will be right back, Naruto-kun," he said as the blonde sat down on the light blue couch that graced the center of the room.

" 'Kay," was Naruto's reply.

As Lee headed toward his bedroom, Naruto called out behind him.

"Lee! Don't change your clothes!" was his hasty statement.

Lee paused at the door way and looked down. What about his clothes? Blinking, his mind didn't really grasp the concept that something could be great enough about this outfit that Naruto-kun would actually ask him not to change. Shrugging, he continued on into his room. One look in the mirror was enough for him to frown. He looked perfectly normal, except for the fact that his hair was a complete mess. He then cursed as he realized he had taken a shower and completely forgot to wash his hair! Now his hair was not going to lay flat for the whole day! Grabbing a comb, he tried to make the best of this mess.

Finally, Lee exited his bedroom. He had managed to make most of his hair lay flat but there was one piece that had refused to stay in place, no matter how hard he tried. It was in the front and slightly to the side. The end had curled up in the process of drying and now was determined to stay that way for the rest of the day. Huffing, he glanced at the piece of hair. It kind of looked like it was waving at nonexistent people. Deciding it was better to just ignore it, he looked at the couch where Naruto was watching him. The grin on his face was so smug that Lee thought, now, doesn't he look like the cat that drank the crème.

Naruto was cheering inside. He actually listened! he thought. He was almost purring with the thought of Lee out in public in that, and completely oblivious to what he honestly looked like. Everyone knew Lee was a workout-aholic, but that jumpsuit didn't do him justice. It wasn't loose but it wasn't tight in the least. Naruto had to guess that this shirt was at least a year old. It fit the man almost like a glove. He guessed that the muscle tone had been less when Lee had purchased it and he had to have been an inch shorter, too. You could just see a thin line of pale muscled stomach, and a tiny dip of hip, because no matter how many times Lee fiddled with the draw sting, as he was doing now, the shorts just settled back down low on his hips. Surprisingly, the color looked good on him and being able to see the muscles of his calves was nice, too. Then there were his arms. You could see some of the scars he had acquired from training and a few from fights. Naruto could pick out the scars on his left arm and leg clearly from his battle with Gaara during the exams. They were pale but Lee's skin was just that shade lighter that they stood out.

Naruto stood up, smug smile becoming a smirk as he said, "Ready?"

Lee nodded and replied, "Yes."

As they walked out the door, Naruto was still smiling at the thought of how fun this lunch outing was going to be.

The sun shone brightly through the windows of the restaurant, illuminating the table Lee and Naruto sat at. The restaurant was a bright place, with many windows, all currently open. A breeze blew in, ruffling the occupants' hair. The place wasn't patricianly busy but there was a decent amount of people chatting with friends or coworkers.

Lee had mostly let Naruto-kun take the lead in the conversation. Gods knows the man could talk. No one would kidnap him and keep him for more than an hour; he'd have talked them to death. Naruto's natural happiness had rubbed off on him a bit and he was smiling without thinking about it at the moment. The happy chuunin was talking excitedly about something he had done last week with Shikamaru and Choji and Lee couldn't help but smile and laugh with the other man. He should have known Naruto would have the innate ability to take his mind off of other things without even thinking about it. Although, Lee couldn't shake the feeling that people were staring at him. He was use to being stared at for his loud and outgoing nature but in this situation, it wasn't the same. Every time he looked to his left or right, he caught people looking away quickly and some of them were even blushing slightly. He just didn't get it.

Naruto was enjoying himself completely. Not only was he getting food and hanging out with one of his friends, he was also getting to see people check out the last person they ever expected. One of the women sitting three tables over had let her jaw drop open. The sight had nearly thrown Naruto into a fit of laughter. The woman just looked so damned shocked. He could see Lee glancing around and he could not help but grin like an idiot every time someone blushed and looked away. He even thought he saw a man by the door making goo-goo eyes at him. The walk here had been even funnier. Three people had tripped and one woman had managed to walk straight into a pole. He had expected reactions but none quite like this. Not that he thought Lee was a bad looking person, but rather that most people didn't see him as a guy that could clean up well, let alone this well. Lee, for all of his faults, was a pretty good guy and he didn't look half bad but Naruto preferred a different type of guy, someone more quiet…

"Yo," a deep voice said directly behind the blonde making him jump slightly. He looked around only to lock gazes with a tall brunette. Shikamaru stood only about a foot from their table, his hand held up in a lazy greeting. Lee waved enthusiastically at the younger man and kicked Naruto under the table as the blonde only stared. He knew the reaction wouldn't escape Shikamaru, and he was correct in his assumption as he watched the small smile lift the sides of the brunette's lips when Naruto squeaked and jumped in his chair. The shadow nin seemed to notice everything, and Lee hoped that he could pass off for his usual self. He could still feel the pain tugging at his mind and he was defiantly shoving back as hard as he could, not wanting to have a moment in public.

"Hi," Naruto-kun finally spoke, a light blush dusting his whiskered cheeks. This went almost unnoticed by Lee, who had started to think a bit too much as he took a sip of his green tea, but he caught the fleeting color on his cheeks and wondered silently at the cause. Deciding that not thinking in this case was the better part of valor, he filed it away for latter, much latter.

The blush, however was not unnoticed by Shikamaru. He silently laughed to himself as he watched Naruto begin to pick at his takoyaki, avoiding brown eyes in favor of eating. He is so cute when he's acting shy, the chuunin thought to himself. Considering the blonde had only showed any actual interest in his fellow shinobi only a few weeks ago, this reaction wasn't surprising, not for Naruto anyway. The blonde had a tendency to be shy around certain people, people he liked. Shikamaru had noticed it before about four years ago, right before Naruto and Sasuke had left to train with Jiraiya. He had been acting odd, even for the blonde's standards, every time he had been around Sasuke. When the three had returned Naruto had been his same old self. Only about a month ago, had Naruto admitted what had happened. Not that it was really a surprise to the genius. According to Naruto, Sasuke and he had had a "fling" while out training but nothing had come of the relationship. Better friends than lovers kind of thing.

Now the behavior had become apparent again and Shikamaru had a feeling that he already had it figured out this time, at least he hoped he did. He glanced over at Lee and was rewarded with a smile. It wasn't with his usual gusto and Shikamaru wondered silently at the reason. The usual light that sparkled annoyingly in his eyes wasn't there. Something wasn't quite right, but now was neither the time nor the place to ask.

Lee nibbled at his curry, suddenly having lost his appetite. He made sure to eat a good half of his plate, knowing full well that he needed food whether his mind thought so or not. The amount of exercise he had had in the last twenty four hours had expanded a lot of energy. He listened as Shikamaru and Naruto engaged in conversation, the latter finally regaining his composer and laughing loudly at something the other man said. Lee added his two cents where it was needed to keep up his façade, but wasn't really paying attention anymore. His mind had clicked over to auto pilot and he knew he needed to make a hasty exit.

The sound of a familiar female voice made him stiffen, and look down at his plate. He griped his fork until his knuckles were white and tried to shut down his mind. Laughter shot through his body and made him shiver slightly. Damn her, he thought as he glared at his plate, Damn her for still having this kind of effect on me! It was a minute before he realized the other occupants at his table had gone silent and were watching his quizzically.

Lee cheeks reddened as he realized part of his mask had slipped. He glanced up at Naruto and almost sighed in relief when he realized the other man really hadn't made a connection with his reaction and Sakura. He was almost frightened to look at the shadow-nin, knowing the man was very observant. Forcing himself to smile, he threw some money down on the table and stood, and saw Shikamaru's eyes widened when he saw his shorts. Lee cursed inside. What the hell was so freaking great about these shorts? he thought. He didn't get it and wasn't really sure he wanted to. He also noticed the look in the brunette's eyes. He knows something is not right, time for that hasty exit.

"Thank you for lunch and the company," he said to Naruto and Shikamaru.

"You should come and eat with us more often," Naruto told him, a warm smile playing across his lips.

"I will have to make a note of it," Lee told him as he turned to leave, waving as he went. He firmly made a point of walking a normal pace out of the restaurant, not looking at Sakura and trying his best to tune out her soft voice. He didn't let himself run until he was around the corner and out of sight. Once he had the room; he took off at full speed toward the training grounds. His mind was whirling and he needed to calm down, needed a distraction from everything.

Naruto watched as Lee walked out of the restaurant and down the street. He blinked. That was odd, he thought. Lee had looked rather pissed about something and his body had been very stiff as he left. Now, Naruto may not be a genius about everything, but he did take a slight pride in knowing when something was wrong with his friends, and something wasn't right with Lee. He glanced over at Shikamaru and managed to blush the second he realized he was alone at a table with him. Shit. Shit. Shit! he thought. He was totally going to be found out. He knew it would happen sooner or later. It hadn't taken Sasuke long to realize it and he knew it would take Shikamaru even less time, if he hadn't already figured it out.

Shikamaru was very perturbed as Lee left the restaurant. For one thing, the outfit he was wearing sure was something else. That green suit sure does hide a lot, he thought. He saw a woman actually knock her cup to the floor while she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing in favor at looking at Lee. The older man was acting rather odd. He glanced to the other side of the room, where Sakura was chatting with a few of her friends. Lee had been acting slightly normal until she had walked in. I wonder what happened there, he thought.

He glanced at the blonde beside him and smiled when a blush spread across whiskered checks. His game wasn't going to last long and he knew the blonde knew that. Leaning back in his chair, he put his hands behind his head and watched as Naruto began to eat again. The food on his plate was quickly running out and soon, he would have no choice but to talk or leave. The blonde seemed bound and determined to ignore him for the remainder of his time here, but Naruto should have known that Shikamaru wouldn't let that happen.

"So, Naruto, do you have anyone you are interested?" Shikamaru asked, a smirk lifting one side of his mouth. Naruto stopped mid motion, food half way to his mouth and mid chew. He looked at Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye and swallowed his food with a nearly audio able gulp.

"Interested? Interested how?" the blonde asked, not fully looking at the brunette beside him.

"Interested as in a crush interested. As in liking someone as more than friends interested."

The blonde's face became a deep crimson color and he looked down at his plate, mumbling something that Shikamaru couldn't quite hear.

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked, uncurling his arms and leaning forward, placing his elbows on the table. If it was possible, he would have said the blonde's blush got even darker.

"Y-yeah," he said, still refusing to look at the other man. There was no way he was going to own up to it in a public place. Hell, he had only really admitted it to himself only a few weeks ago. And now he was already found out!

"And who might that be?"

The blush spread down his face to cover his neck. He quickly stood, scrapping the chair across the floor with his momentum. Reaching in his pockets he placed another pile of money on the table, and finally looking at Shikamaru. The look on the blonde's face was more than enough conformation for the genius. He was defiantly crushing, and crushing on him.

"Um, I-I gotta go," Naruto stuttered, "I, um, have to go, um, go." For the life of him, he couldn't think of a decent excuse. His mind ran blank and he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest. If Shikamaru couldn't hear it, he would be surprised. He waved a quick good bye and made a hasty exit. He was way embarrassed! He hadn't even been this embarrassed when Sasuke had figured it out. Granted, the Uchiha had come right and asked one night. He hadn't beaten around the bush or anything. Shikamaru wasn't really beating around the bush, though. He felt as if he was being toyed with, just a little bit. But he knew Shikamaru, wouldn't do that, would he?

Shikamaru sat at the now empty table. The reaction had been more than he had ever expected. A smile spread across his face. His theory had been confirmed and now the next step was getting the chuunin to admit it.

"So long, so long
I have erased you
So long, so long
I've wanted to waste you
So long, so long
I have erased you
I have escaped
The bitter taste of you. "

- "Bitter Taste" Three Days Grace

Author's Note: Okay, so there you have it, chapter one. I really hope I did a good job. Be gentle with me, I'm a review virgin. No rape, please, just constructive criticism. If you would like to beta for this, I will be more than happy to send you a chapter. I know I miss stuff, no matter how many times I proofread it. And if I messed up the time line, I'm sorry. I get myself confused when I try and figure it out. Thank you for reading!

Dictionary:

*Armoire- a standing closet used for storing clothes