AN: Brrr, it is vair cold :(
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as always constructive criticism is appreciated!
"What… What have you done?"
Shikamaru did not say anything. He didn't know what he had done, did not understand why he had felt the need to do it.
"Answer me." Neji's tone had changed, was harsher, colder.
"I don't know."
Anger was visible in Neji's face.
"I think you do. What the hell did you do that for?"
Shikamaru sighed, he needed a cigarette, just something to distract him.
"I don't know, Neji. I'm sorry."
Neji blinked. His eyes, the eyes, which Shikamaru found so entrancing, looked confused and upset.
It tugged at Shikamaru's heart strings, made him feel dizzy with guilt.
Then the expression was gone, replaced by a hard, cold look.
"Don't cross the lines." And then he turned, and he was gone.
Shikamaru waited for a few minutes, then he punched the stone wall angrily, bruising his knuckles, but Shikamaru could care less. He had fucked up. Neji wouldn't want to have anything to do with him from now on, would probably never look him in the eyes again. He had lost him.
…
Neji stepped into the shower, turned the tap on full blast, and let the boiling water scald his body. Neji could have cared less. Frustration and anger boiled up inside him.
'Damn him… He probably only did that because he felt sorry for me.'
A hard bitter knot formed in Neji's throat. Everyone tended to pity him. Naruto did.
Neji caught sight of himself in the mirror through the glass shower door. The green seal seemed to stand out more than ever. He cursed, and averted his eyes. Neji tended to avoid mirrors. He hated seeing the proof of his own weakness, branded in to his skin, for everyone to see.
He got out of the shower, toweling himself dry, wringing his hair out over the sink.
Tugging on a bathrobe, he walked towards his bed, and for distraction he began to finish off his last mission report.
A soft knock resounded in the silence.
"Come in."
The door slid open, and Hinata walked in.
"Neji-nii-san… W-where… Where did you and S-Shikamaru-kun get to? You… You didn't come back… Shikamaru-kun s-said… You had a headache…"
'Oh, he did, did he?'
"Yes. I had a headache. No need for concern. I'm just tired."
At this Hinata revealed a small cup of tea, which she had been concealing from view.
"I… I made you s-some tea… It helps you sleep."
"I don't need it."
"Oh… I'm sorry, I'll just let you f-finish your r-report."
As she left Hinata felt a horrible twisted knot form in her throat. Her eyes misted over with the effort of attempting to swallow the tangled emotions.
…
This was just Neji's luck. He stood stolidly in front of the Hokage, attempting to fight the urge to growl in frustration. He was being sent on a three-man mission, with Naruto and worst of all with Shikmaru.
"It's an A-Rank mission, and though it seems simple enough, I want you to be on your guard." Tsunade gazed momentarily at Neji, an unreadable expression lingering in her honey-coloured eyes.
"Yes, Tsuande-sama."
"I want you all to be out of Konoha this evening."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
And with that, Neji left to pack his bags, frustration boiling in his chest.
'Kumogakure. Two rebels from Kumogakure.' Neji didn't care about killing them. They were after all, from the village who killed his father.
…
Shikamaru frowned. The mission seemed simple enough, but it wasn't his sort of mission. They had to assassinate two rebels who had defected from Kumogakure. Shikamaru didn't like blood spill, and he liked it even less when a specific reason wasn't given for why they should die. It was somewhat morbid.
…
Evening came all too soon for Neji.
"Neji!" Neji closed his eyes, begging for patience.
"Yes, Naruto?"
"It's just good to see you, I haven't seen you in a while what with…" a taught moment of silence stretched, the unspoken word left cracks in the conversation; Sasuke. "What with… one thing and another."
"I'm sure you've been busy Naruto." Neji in reality wanted to punch the blond. Naruto had promised to change the Hyuuga clan and he was too busy trying to rescue Sasuke, to turn around and ask Neji how he was doing.
"Where's Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, in need of distraction.
"He's late."
"I am not." Shikamaru trudged lazily up towards the gate, smoking a cigarette.
"You are."
"By two minutes."
"Two and a half actually."
"Whatever."
Neji narrowed his eyes. A cloud of cigarette smoke wafted annoyingly in his direction.
"Would you put out that cancer stick?"
Shikamaru gazed appraisingly at Neji before throwing the offending cigarette away.
Naruto watched the exchange, frowning. It was like watching a war of who had the most power.
"Let's head out."
…
Neji was first on watch duty. His eyes stung with lack of sleep, and to keep himself awake he lay down and counted the stars.
An unpleasant smell of burning tobacco told him Shikamaru was awake.
"Would you please, put the cigarette out?"
"No."
Neji narrowed his eyes against the smoke.
The smell of cigarette increased.
Neji sat up.
Shikamaru sat only a few feet away form him.
"Would you kindly not sneak up on me?"
"I'm not sneaking up on anyone, I'm just sitting here."
Neji scoffed in disbelief.
A silence stretched between the two.
Then, "Shikamaru… Why did you do it?"
"I swear I've had this conversation before."
"You didn't answer me before."
"There isn't an answer. I don't know why I did it."
"Right. So you did it for the hell of it?"
Now, Neji sounded bitter.
"No. You just… You just kinda screw me up I guess." Shikamaru blew a make-shift cloud in to the darkness.
Neji's eyes widened somewhat.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't really know. You just really, really mess me up." And now Shikamaru sounded frustrated.
A shifting told Neji Shikamaru was edging closer towards him. Neji froze, ready to strike out. But suddenly shadowy eyes blocked his vision.
A hand strayed to his cheek, tracing his cheekbone and brushing a strand of chocolate coloured hair out of the way.
"I don't get you, Neji. You really… Really mess me up."
A thud in the hard ground next to Neji caught them both of guard. A shuriken was embedded in the earth.
They sprang apart, scanning their surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.
"Naruto." Neji hissed the name.
"Naruto! Wake up."
"You won't be able to wake him like that." Shikamaru put in helpfully.
A glare was sent his way.
"Charming."
Another shrill whooshing sound and a shuriken was again, embedded in the floor, inches away from where Neji's foot was placed. Neji jumped backwards.
"Byakugan!" Neji scanned the area. Nothing. He looked up, just in time. Another Shuriken was sent soaring straight towards his face. Neji jumped out of the way.
"NARUTO!"
"Hmm?" A sleepy-eyed Uzumaki stuck his head out of the tent.
"We're being attacked, now would you kindly get your behind out of that tent." As Neji spoke four more Shuriken were sent his way, Neji moved just in time, landing gracefully on his feet.
He stared at the Shuriken embedded in the ground. The ground around them was slowly deteriorating, eaten away by some kind acidic poison.
"Shikamaru!"
"I know." The Nara was already on the alert.
"They're in the sky, Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru cursed.
"Great, just great."
Six Shuriken were sent in Shikamaru's direction. He dodged, but only just. His sleeve was hissing unpleasantly, being eaten away by the poison. A burn mark was left etched in to his skin.
Naruto yelled out.
It happened in a rush.
At least fourty Shuriken were sent flying Neji's direction, he attempted to activate his rotation, but was stopped when something came crashing in to him.
Neji opened his eyes. A warmth surrounded his body shielding him.
"Sh-Shikamaru?"
The Nara coughed. Blood trickled down from his mouth. Neji kicked the Nara off of him, and rolled Shikamaru on to his back. A Shiriken could be seen embedded in Shikamaru's side.
Neji pulled the Shuriken out.
"Naruto! Would you please tend to Shikamaru, the medical box is in the te-"
He was cut off by a laugh.
"Nadeshiko, look what we have here… A Hyuuga!"
A female voice was heard.
"Really? We could get us an eye!"
Neji felt a rage build up inside his chest. Cloud ninjas wanted his eyes. Again. Like they had wanted them sixteen and a half years ago.
A female appeared, obviously Nadeshiko, leaning casually against a tree trunk.
She was tall, and had long red hair, which was tied up in a pony tail. Her blue eyes glinted maliciously.
"Kouhei, come down from there."
A man, not much older than they were landed next to her. They were obviously siblings. His eyes took in the scene, Naruto administering pain killers and antibiotics to a wounded Shikamaru, and Neji, poised to attack.
"So you're the ninjas sent to kill us are you?"
Neji did not say anything. If these were the two they were meant to assassinate, they were doing an extremely poor job.
'Why the hell did Shikamaru have to do that? I was doing fine, he's endangered the mission, because of some idiotic notion of chivalry.'
"I guess he's the quiet type, maybe we should help him talk?" Identical grins stretched across the sibling's faces.
…
"Want to know the real reason you three were sent on this wild goose chase?"
Naruto and Neji had both sustained heavy injuries and were having trouble breathing regularly.
Neji could guess.
"We wanted your eyes. Daichi, who wanted this mission done, requested a Hyuuga especially. I guess your Hokage saw through the plan, and sent a Branch. We can't get your eyes. The Byakugan gets sealed when you die. You're worthless."
Neji felt anger build up against Tsunade. She knew…
"I guess… We'll have to kill you!" Kouhei smiled, but his icy blue eyes gave nothing away.
Neji couldn't move, a poison had been spreading through his body for while now, paralyzing his muscles.
He watched helplessly as a Kouhei advanced on him, dagger in one hand. He felt his hair being pulled and a dagger being pressed to his throat. Neji waited for the pain to come.
Naruto was attempting to break free of the grip Nadeshiko had on him.
"Now watch as your friend dies."
"Neji! NEJI!"
Nothing happened.
"W-what the… H-hell?"
Kouhei was frozen in place.
"S-sorry it took so long.. f-for me to do something… How t-troublesome."
Neji let out the breath he'd been holding.
Their shadows were all leading back to Shikamaru. It looked somewhat eerie.
Shikamaru moved his arms outwards, releasing Neji and Naruto from the deadly grip held on them.
"Naruto, would you please…"
A silent appeal.
Naruto knocked them both unconscious.
They fell to the floor, puppets cut from their strings.
"Should we kill them?" Naruto was the one to ask the question on everyone's minds.
Neji coughed. Blood stained the ground.
Shikamaru held him steady, and handed Neji pain killers and antidotes.
Neji swallowed the small tablets. His vision slowly became sharper.
Naruto gazed at the two of them.
"Shikamaru…?" Naruto sounded small.
Shikamaru gazed at the two ninjas. On the one hand their mission would have been a failure, but on the other hand, they had discovered the real motive for the two being sent after them, and for the two acting as a red herring in order to obtain what they wanted.
"No. It's true we underestimated them a great deal, but if we kill them it would be pointless. We've just gained a great deal of information and I think that's enough for Tsunade. We're leaving."
Neji nodded.
…
They weren't far from Konoha but they had decided to stay at an inn, mainly because Naruto was hungry, but also because they had all wanted showers.
The balcony gave Shikamaru space to breath, and so that is where he sat watching the sky, contemplating.
Shikamaru swallowed another anti-dote pill, and lit a cigarette.
"Shikamaru."
"Neji." Shikamaru did not even need to look around to know who it was.
Neji sat down next to Shikamaru, and gazed quietly at the moon.
"Shikamaru, why did you throw yourself in the way of those Shuriken. I could have protected myself fine. It wasn't necessary."
Shikamaru blew smoke out in to the night sky.
"Shikamaru…"
"I don't know. I panicked. I guess… I was scared you'd get hurt."
"You're so stupid."
"Thanks."
A companionable silence stretched between them
Neji was feeling drowsy when Shikamaru moved to face him.
"Neji…"
Neji froze, alert. He knew that voice. Knew that voice from when they had kissed.
"You can't do this. I'm getting married in six months. You'll get yourself hurt…"
"I don't care. I should have done this a while ago Neji."
Shikamaru bent his face towards Neji's.
It was gentle. An innocent kiss.
Neji's eyes slid slowly shut. Kissing felt like flying.
Shikamaru's hand gripped Neji's, their fingers intertwined.
Neji wondered idly, how it was possible that two hands could fit so perfectly. Every line, every bone, every small detail flawlessly matched. It was peculiar how holding Shikamaru's hand made him feel so complete.
And when they broke apart, Neji did not let Shikamaru's hand go. Neji did not get angry or tell Shikamaru to back off, he stayed still, completely calm, and lent on Shikamaru's shoulder, a crutch when the rest of the world sent him falling down.