Three reviews? You wound me deeply ;) Anywho, once again I'd like to give a big thank you to everyone who's reviewed or put it one your favorite or alert list! You guys know who you are! Thanks a ton! Hopefully this chapter is up to par with the last three. I know it's been a long time since I updated, but I'm juggling like five multi chaptered fics right now…so sue me. As always, suggestions, comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…but I will…oh I will!
You ever have one of those days where nothing goes right? Where you just wish that the ground would open up and swallow you whole so you wouldn't have to spend another second on this insufferable planet making a total fool of yourself?
"Neji watch out!" Well Neji certainly was. "What is with you today?" Tenten asked shaking her head in disbelief as the Hyuga rested his hands on his knees breathing heavily after he'd just barely managed to leap out of the way of a barrage of shuriken and kunai that had landed right on the spot where he'd stood a half a second before.
Maybe we should call it a day" he said. Tenten eyed him suspiciously, usually she was the one gasping for breath and suggesting they take a break.
"You okay Neji? You don't seem to be acting like yourself today" she said curiously as she started walking around the training ground picking up her scattered weapons.
"I'm fine" he said tiredly as he started helping Tenten gather her weapons. It had become a habit that he'd started when he first began to train with her. It only seemed fair that if she helped him work on his defensive techniques that the least he could do was help her stay organized.
"If you say so" Tenten shrugged knowing better than to press the issue.
'Damn you Inuzuka' Neji thought to himself. 'I'm going to kill you' Ever since his talk with Kiba that day he'd been…distracted. He couldn't concentrate, usually he was able to keep his emotions under control and maintain a calm collected attitude, but ever since that talk…Ergh! His normal emotions, the rush he got from training with the weapons mistress, the level of enjoyment he had when he was around her and the natural chemistry he always felt…was thrown out the window. Suddenly all his eyes were watching every movement of the girl's body, every stand of hair, every beautifully designed feature of her face, every curve on her…Ugh…this was no way to think of a teammate! 'Damn you Inuzuka…and you to Naruto' Neji mentally cursed. 'Okay, just get a grip' he thought mentally slapping himself picking up the last stray weapon before walking back towards Tenten and handing them to her as she started to perform the sealing jutsu to return the weapons to her scrolls. 'You are Neji Hyuga, you're just having a bad day. You are not distracted by Tenten! Not distracted damn it!'
"Neji, are you trying to smell my hair?" Tenten asked getting the feeling the Hyuga behind her was up to something.
"No" he said quickly drawing his head, which was dangerously close to Tenten's head, back. Okay so he was distracted. Maybe it was just all in his head, whatever was happening it would wear off sooner or later…he hoped. "Do you have any plans for this afternoon?" he asked suddenly.
"Um, not really. Why?" Tenten said looking at him curiously.
"Would you like to go to lunch with me?"
"You mean…like a date?" Tenten asked trying to conceal the blush that had quickly rushed to her face by quickly turning around and packing up her scrolls.
"Uh, Tenten? What exactly is your definition of 'A date'?" Neji asked with an uncharacteristically raised eyebrow.
"When two people hang out for an extended period of time doing something other than training" Tenten smiled shrugging her shoulders as if to say 'is there a right answer here?'
"By that definition we've been dating for six years" Neji said. Tenten shrugged and turned around again to hide her blush, but not before Neji heard her say something along the lines of 'Damn you Temari'
Shikamaru was having one of those days. He sighed inwardly as the tension in his booth kept on growing. He thought about saying 'Troublesome' but with the current amount of hostility in the air he was sure that a single word would cause the entire place to spontaneously combust…Ah, what the heck.
"Troublesome" he muttered. He knew going out to a restaurant like this was not the best idea with three girls but he needed to be there. He's promised Naruto and Kiba his plan would work and if he gave up now…well he'd never hear the end of it. Suddenly he spied Neji and Tenten out of the corner of his eye. "Okay, here they come, remember say nothing even remotely relating to there current relationship and try to stay out of sight until they've got a table."
Of course this was Neji Hyuga we're talking about. He was the first of the two to spy the group of four. "Maybe we should eat somewhere else" he suggested quickly and coolly with a very slight hint of fear in his voice. Tenten followed Neji's glance to see Temari, Shikamaru, Ino and Sakura all sitting together.
"Yeah, let's go eat somewhere else" Tenten said quickly taking Neji's hand as she started to exit the restaurant.
"Neji! Tenten!" Sakura quickly yelled "Over here!"
"Great" Tenten muttered as the two were forced to turn around and walk over.
"Nice one" Shikamaru said with a grin to Sakura. Sakura smiled back until she saw the death glare that Ino was sending her way. Temari rolled her eyes and tried to act like she didn't hear.
"Hey guys" Tenten said sheepishly.
"Hey" Shikamaru said lazily returning the greeting.
"What are you two doing here?" Temari asked taking a quick look at Neji's hand that Tenten was still holding onto and raising an eyebrow before returning her focus back to the couple. Tenten and Neji saw Temari's eyes glance toward there hands and quickly separating as Tenten tried hard not to blush…again…and failed…again.
"We decided to stop training early today and get something to eat" Neji said trying to sound calm before realizing how odd it sounded. Two members of Team Gai, the workaholics, decided to quit early and get something to eat with each other "because we're hungry" Neji added as the three girls gave him an odd look. Shikamaru pretended not to notice.
"So you guys want to eat with us?" he asked politely.
"Well actually" Tenten began.
"Great" Ino piped up with a smile scooting over to make room. Tenten and Neji traded looks, this could not end well.
Akamaru barked again as Kiba walked down the stairs towards the door. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming just hang on!" he shouted to the person who was knocking.
"Kiba" a calm voice greeted.
"Oh, hey Saskue, what's up?" Kiba asked casually.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Saskue asked, his face still portraying no emotion. Kiba shrugged and motioned for Saskue to come in before shutting the door behind them. "So what do you…?"
"Kiba you have to help me!" Saskue said loosing his infamous Uchiha cool and grabbing Kiba by the scuff of his neck. "I go into coma for three years and when I come the world goes crazy! I swear that every girl in the village now hates me!" Kiba rolled his eyes.
"Look, I'm sure it's not that bad" Kiba said.
"Oh it is Kiba! It is!" Saskue yelled "Every old lady tried to hit me with there purse, every little girl tries to kick me in the shin! And every teenage girl is ignoring me! Even Sakura! And the last I remember she was obsessed with me! Did she date anyone else while I was asleep?"
"Uh yeah, Naruto I think" Kiba shrugged nonchalantly.
"Naruto!" Saskue shouted with was followed by a long string of profanities. Kiba lowered his hands and quickly covered Akamaru's ears. "What am I going to do? I still haven't gotten any stronger, killed Itachi or started to restore the Uchiha clan!"
"Woof!" (Translation: Two out of Three isn't bad)
"So you automatically came to me?" Kiba asked with a dog like grin.
"I'm not going to admit this to Naruto or Neji, Choji and Lee wouldn't be any help, I'm not going to ask Kakashi and I doubt Shikamaru would be the slightest bit interested. So yeah who else was I going to turn to?"
"Tobi?" Kiba suggested jokingly.
"Who?"
"Never mind, don't worry dude" Kiba said quickly with a grin that bordered on evil "I've got a few ideas" And that is when Saskue knew, that he was in trouble.
"I'm picking up some tension between those three" Neji thought to Shikamaru.
"That's the understatement of the year" Shikamaru replied.
"Any clue as to what they're up to?"
"Not the slightest"
Flashback
"Why do you have to be so clingy?"
"Why do you have to be so headstrong?"
"I am not clingy!" Ino yelled.
"Well I'm just headstrong so deal with it!" Temari shot back. The two girls looked at each other and then sat down without another word. Ino had decided to pay Temari a visit at her hotel room to 'talk' about the whole Shikamaru problem.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, as long as Sakura…" she coughed out the name "Is around, neither of us has a shot…we should kill her in her sleep"
"What do you mean 'by have a shot,' I am a close friend of Shikamaru's, nothing more" Temari said.
"Uh huh, yeah sure" Ino said rolling her eyes.
"Seriously" Temari stated firmly.
"I'll believe it when I see it" Ino shrugged. "Give me three good reasons and I'll admit that you're not in love"
"Okay, you know what…you are on! I will prove to you that I am not in love with Shikamau and I will give you your little three clear reasons proving why I would never want to date much less marry a guy like Shikamaru" Temari said stubbornly.
"I never said anything about marriage" Ino said raising one finger on her left hand. Temari just glared.
"First of all, he is such a lazy bum! All he ever does is watch clouds and play shogi! I cannot stand men like that! I want a guy that…okay skip that one!"
Ino raised a second finger.
"I cannot stand the atmosphere around him! Lazy, boring calm, soothing…and skip that one!" Ino raised a third finger. Getting a tad bit desperate Temari started pulling out all the stops.
"His hair looks like a pineapple! He's to calm and collected! He thinks everything is troublesome! He seems to know what I'm thinking like a stalker! And that smile of his…!" she finished screaming at the top of her lungs "That hot bastard smile" she growled shaking her head as another image Shikamaru's smile entered her head. "Great, now I want to kill Sakura"
Ino just nodded giving her the 'I told you so' look before raising a forth finger.
Well there is chapter 4! Hope you enjoyed and please review! Just a side note, I had a cousin who always called Obi-Wan's (from episode ones) smile his 'Hot Bastard Smile' so, yeah if you were wondering, which you probably weren't. Anywho, on a complete unrelated note…OMGOMGOMG, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes was epic! I think I'm gonna fall over and die from the epicness of that two part premier! Ahem *cough* yes well, the voice actor who plays Wasp also does Ino, gee what a crazy random happenstance. Sooooo, I'll uh see you next time.
