THERE'S A BIG BREAK LINE WHERE THE EDITTED PART OF THE CHAPTER STARTS! 'kaythanks
Make Your Move
But Don't Stop
Chapter Summary: It was frustrating that Neji would be on his mind one moment and the next all he could think about was Kiba.
Chapter Pairing(s): Neji x Shikamaru, mentioned Shino x Kiba and Kiba x Shikamaru, and suggested Lee x Tenten but could be ignored if you don't like that pairing.
Chapter Rating: T for language and mild 'adult themes'.
Author's Notes: Looks like the HIATUS wasn't as long as I expected. As soon as I announced that this was on HIATUS, I had a sudden burst of motivation/inspiration and wrote out the entire plot... I now know this will be a ten-chapter story and the chapters should start getting much longer... but we'll see how that works out.
Wow, I got scared as all heck when for almost a week I couldn't upload any new documents and I only had one blank document uploaded as a back-up incase something like that happened (haha, but I used it on something else... hmmm, I can't remember what though, ugh... stupid memory). Yeah, and so... I stayed up last night hoping it would fix so I could post the revised chappie for you all ('cuz I really do love you that much) but eventualy got off.
As my luck would have it, I was talking to my friend about it this morning and she told me that... it came back on at some time that I can't remember anymore (dangit! Stupid memory, grr!) but I do remember that it was, like, five or ten minutes after I got -off-.
Yeah, you bet I was peeved.
But I'll try and keep updating at least once a month. No guarantees, though. School and band keeps me really busy, and I'm taking on ANOTHER instrument and lessons... yeah, I'm such a dumbass. If I feel overworked, why am I taking on more work?
I hate myself sometimes... wow, this is a long Author's note. I'll stop it here...
Lotsa love to all my reviewers, I love you all to death, and someone send me some sleeping pills, damnit.
Disclaimer: I wish I created, made profits, and held the copyright for Naruto... but I don't, so nyah.
chapter four
"I am so joyful our mission is over!" Lee exclaimed, unlocking the door to his apartment. Tenten smiled her agreement and Lee shared the smile, letting her into his apartment.
"You know what I want?" Tenten prompted, tossing aside her chuunin vest carelessly. Lee shook his head no, dropping the keys on the coffee table as they made their way to the bedroom. Tenten stretched and yawn, catlike, "I want sleep! That's the problem with missions- there's never any time for sleeping."
Lee laughed in agreement, flinging the door to his bedroom open. Tenten squeaked and clapped a hand over her mouth. Lee quickly looked to see what had disturbed her so.
There, in the middle of his bed- yes, his bed!- were two lumps, and one of them was moving. Lee's eyes grew ever wider as Neji groaned and sat up- in his bed; his bed!- and the sheets slipped down his torso to reveal his well-toned, but pale, chest. Tenten squeaked again, louder this time, and closed her eyes. Lee, in his utter confusion, covered her eyes for her.
"N-N-Neji-kun?" he stammered. Neji's eyes flared briefly in surprise before he nudged the lump to his side harshly. It moaned and rolled over, mumbling something about five more minutes.
"You're back early," Neji observed rather belatedly, a line of annoyance creasing his brow, as though this were his room that Lee was invading and not the other way around. Lee gaped at his teammate and started in shock when Nara Shikamaru appeared from under the sheets (which had been rolled and twisted most of the way off him by that point, revealing his nicely toned legs). Tenten made a questioning sound and Lee forgot to keep his fingers together and she saw through the gasps.
The brown-haired girl fairly spouted a nosebleed as she ran away, completely understanding the previous night's transgression in her bed.
How many people's bed was this bed?
Lee stared after her for a moment before scratching his head and turning back to the two boys in his bed. He took a deep breath to begin a rant but Neji cleverly cut him off.
"You said I could use your apartment while you were on missions, didn't you?" he stated. Lee hesitated, but nodded.
"I said you could use it, but I don't recall anything about your companions in youth," he said. Neji sighed and pressed two fingers to his brow.
"Whoz'at?" Shikamaru mumbled, rubbing an eye sleepily while trying to tame his wild hair into a ponytail. Neji muttered the names to his lover and the Nara's eyes rolled up.
"Goddamnit!" the boy groaned, rolling over onto his stomach and punching the mattress dejectedly, presenting the room with a very nice view of his naked rear. "Mendokusee..."
Neji chuckled; "Tell me about it."
"But, Neji-kun! Why are you in bed with Nara-kun?" Lee inquired innocently. Neji opened his mouth to answer but a hand (from Shikamaru) shot out and smacked his shoulder before he could answer.
"I... you wouldn't want to know," Neji sighed, shaking his head and giving the Nara a bemused look. Shikamaru returned it with a scathing glare that blatantly said don't tell him more than you have to.
"Oh," Lee said, "Did Nara-kun need to escape his home, too?" Neji bristled and Shikamaru felt it.
"It's personal," Shikamaru muttered, shrugging and saving Neji from having to answer on his behalf. Lee nodded, deciding not to pry.
"We'll be going now," Neji informed his teammate, holding the sheet around him as he went to collect his and Shikamaru's clothes from their pile by the wall (Shikamaru wasn't using the sheet to cover, anyways). Lee blushed, suddenly understanding.
"O-okay," he managed to get out. Neji looked at his friend, then sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"I'll pay for new sheets," he said- his idea of atonement for using Lee's bed for such sins. Lee, bright red, could only nod and hustle down the hall away from Neji and Shikamaru. He joined Tenten- who was holding a tissue to her nose- on the couch in the living room and stared at the keys on his coffee table; maybe he should take back the set he gave to Neji.
- - -
This sucked.
Shikamaru shivered when Neji's soft touch ghosted along his back, silently urging him to get up. Not only did they get caught- by Tenten and Lee, Lee being the kid with the second-loudest mouth in Konoha- but now he was thinking about when he and Kiba had been caught. He actually laughed (silently, of course) when the idea that Kiba had been stealthier than Neji, since he and Kiba had managed to do it four times before getting caught, occurred to him. Neji seemed to sense this, as the hand on his back disappeared. In place of it, Neji unceremoniously dumped the Nara's clothes on his back.
"Rise and shine," Neji muttered sullenly, snatching the pillow away from Shikamaru.
Shikamaru groaned obscenely, groping around for Neji. He caught hold of the Hyuuga's shorts and yanked hard, causing the older teen to stumble a little. "Neeeji!" he whined, "give it back..."
Neji leered down at the lazy boy, waving the pillow over his head, "No."
"Ugh... you ass," Shikamaru complained, but sat up and began pulling his clothes on. Neji didn't hide the fact that he was watching and Shikamaru felt his face grow hot. "Pervert."
Neji shrugged. "Only for you."
"Che," Shikamaru answered, shrugging on his shirt. He yawned and allowed Neji to lead him out of the building. They stopped in the living room to apologize to the back of Lee's head before leaving. "So, what now, Hyuuga?"
Neji squinted up at the sun; "Let's have lunch," he suggested. Shikamaru scowled, sniffing his own arm. He leaned over and sniffed Neji's shoulder, wrinkling his nose.
"No way," he said, "we smell like sweat and other not-so-sweet stuff."
Neji smirked; "You're right. Let's go back to Lee's and take a shower. Together." He stopped in the middle of the street to stroke Shikamaru's cheek and pull the Nara suggestively closer. Shikamaru gulped, but laughed his way around the blush.
"You wish," he returned, smirking a little of his own. He slipped out of the Hyuuga's embrace and gave a two-finger salute before loping off, hands shoved in his pockets and a mildly pissed Neji glaring at his back.
He wanted to ask Neji why it had to be Lee's house- didn't Neji have a perfectly good place at the Hyuuga residence? He wanted to avoid standing in the small confines of a shower with Neji when he would be thinking about how he and Kiba had never taken showers together- Kiba liked to take Akamaru in with him and preferred baths anyways. Somehow, last night Kiba had never once crossed his mind while he was with Neji. It was as if during his fight with the Inuzuka his mind went blank and when Neji swooped in for the save his mind stayed definitively devoid of Kiba.
"Damnit," Shikamaru muttered, kicking a stone angrily. There were days when he couldn't get Kiba off his mind and everything seemed to remind him of the Inuzuka at all the worst times. He could admit now that he was very infatuated with the Hyuuga- enough now that he would be severely hurt if Neji took someone else to bed (they weren't technically together yet, and he knew it). His heart, however, seemed to be having some serious issues.
Why did his mind have to be so genius but his heart so obtuse? It wasn't fair.
-
"Ooi, Shikamaru!" his head shot up. Chouji waved to his friend and jogged the rest of the way. He grinned, slinging an arm over Shikamaru's shoulders companionately. "Why the long face?"
Shikamaru shrugged. Chouji sighed, but he didn't feel like forcing anything out of the Nara so he let it drop.
"Iruka says you gotto go to work today," Chouji informed Shikamaru.
"Tch," Shikamaru scoffed, eyes trained on the ground, "Troublesome."
Chouji scratched his head. "Yeah, it kinda does suck."
Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched. "Tell me about it. Teaching thirty six-year-olds is not my ideal day..."
"Yeah well, you're the one who had to go and become a chuunin," Chouji laughed.
"I didn't even want to, really," the Nara groaned, "They just went ahead and promoted me anyways..."
"Oh, too bad for you," Chouji said, rolling his eyes..
"Whatever," Shikamaru mumbled, "It's-"
"Nope, stop there, I don't want to hear it!" Chouji said, "I'm just the messenger. Go complain to Iruka-sensei."
Shikamaru laughed, despite himself. "All right, Chouji, will you tell Daifu(1) where I am, then?"
"I already told him," Chouji answered, whipping out a bag of chips- a sure sign that he was going to their favorite spot a few blocks away. Shikamaru eyed the bag, then the clouds, and sighed, scuffing a foot dejectedly.
God, today sucked.
"Thanks," Shikamaru said, waving as he and Chouji parted ways, "I'll see you later, then."
Chouji nodded, "Good luck, surviving."
Shikamaru gritted his teeth. "I'll need it," he muttered darkly, adding something about children and annoying.
Chouji laughed, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Yeah," he agreed, "See ya later, Sh'kamaru."
"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru called after his friend who only waved and disappeared into an alley. Shikamaru yawned and scatching the back of his head. He absently thought back to when Kiba used to walk him to and from work. Goddamnit...
Today fucking sucked.
- - -
"Miyu, get off the desk and go home already!" Shikamaru moaned, slouching over the desk, idly toying with the red pen he was supposed to be grading with. Miyu giggled and hopped across a few more desks before disappearing from the classroom. There were loud noises in the hall as she and her friends wreaked havoc- hopefully in front of another classroom so the mess wouldn't be Shikamaru's problem- and then it was quiet.
Shikamaru sighed and stretched cat-like across the desk, scattering a few papers.
"Finally, some peace and quiet- damnit," he muttered, reaching over the desk. He wasn't tall enough and ended up almost completely on the other side of it with his rear in the air.
"Do you realize how tempting that is?" someone commented coolly from the door. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, flexing his fingers to try and reach the last few inches.
"Shut up," he snapped as the Hyuuga continued to watch his ass. He felt more than saw the older teen smirk, but ignored it as he snatched up the last few papers. He plopped back into his chair with a fwump.
"Grading?" Neji asked, striding over. Shikamaru nodded and Neji pulled up a seat. "How degrading."
"Tell me about it," Shikamaru grumbled, marking up another failing paper. He set it aside with a small smile. Neji peered at the much larger un-graded stack.
"I'll help," he said, taking half. Shikamaru glanced up, but shuffled around in a drawer for an extra red pen.
"Thanks. Here's the answer key," he explained, handing the slip to Neji, "But you should know all the answers by heart anyways."
Neji glanced over the test and chuckled, "Of course. I remember when this seemed difficult."
Shikamaru shrugged, deciding not to tell Neji it had never been particularly difficult for him (though not necessarily easy, either). Neji seemed satisfied with the silence and began poring over his own papers.
Half an hour later, he set aside the last one with disgust, "I'm disappointed in the newest generation. The grades were terrible."
"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed, "I didn't see anything higher than a C."
"I got two B's... a Hyuuga and an Aburame," Neji smirked proudly, since Hyuuga always did better. Shikamaru scoffed and stood and stretched. He straightened out the thick stack of papers.
"I'll leave the recording to Iruka... it's his job, not mine," he announced, heading out. Neji followed. "So... how come you're here?"
Neji looked at Shikamaru, surprised; "I came to pick you up from work, of course."
"Mendokusee."
"You think everything is troublesome, Nara."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this; "Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"
"Not that I can think of," Neji admitted, "My parole doesn't end for a few more days."
"It's pretty stupid for them to keep you from going on missions just for going solo against orders," Shikamaru muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I mean, didn't you say the mission couldn't have been completed if you didn't do it?"
Neji nodded; "It's more of a requirement that they put me on parole- if they let one ninja go against orders, what would say to the rest about doing what they're told?"
Shikamaru scowled. "I hate it when you're right."
"That's too bad."
Silence settled.
It was never silent when Kiba walked Shikamaru home.
Damnit.
"Something on your mind, Shikamaru?" Neji inquired, noticing the slant in his companion's brow.
"Nah," Shikamaru drawled, looking straight ahead lazily to avoid Neji's prying eyes.
"You sure?" Neji pressed, "I don't think so. Tell me."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Just thinking."
"I know that. Thinking about what?"
"Stuff."
"Nara..."
"Look, I don't have to answer you if I don't want to, alright?" Shikamaru snapped, "That's why they're my thoughts, so other people don't know them."
"It's the Inuzuka, isn't it?"
"No!"
"Liar."
"Shut up!"
"You were thinking about him this morning, too, weren't you?" Neji asked, narrowing his eyes. Shikamaru stiffened, averting his gaze. They stopped in the middle of the street to turn and glare at each other. Pedestrians stared, wondering if it was a lover's spat (which indeed, it was).
"Who said that?" Shikamaru shot back.
"It was obvious, Nara," Neji whispered venomously.
"I can't help it if he crosses my mind every now and then," Shikamaru muttered, turning away. Neji straightened, flipping his hair over his shoulder.
"Of course not," he said, "But I'm not going to around when he does. Come see me when you're not thinking about him."
"Neji, wait-" Neji was already walking away, ignoring Shikamaru. "Damnit!"
He stomped his foot in frustration, storming off, only to realize it was a habit picked up from the Inuzuka.
Today really fucking sucked.
- - -
"I'm home," Shikamaru announced, kicking his shoes off and shutting the door behind him.
"Perfect timing," Shikato called from the kitchen, "I just finished cooking."
A brief moment of confusion passed over Shikamaru, then disbelief. He shook his head, sighing and tugging at a lock of hair that had fallen from his ponytail. Since when did father cook?
He must still be shaken by the whole me and drowning thing... I can't blame him, though.
"I'm not really hungry," he answered, heading up the stairs. There was some clanging from the kitchen, as though Shikato had dropped a pot.
"Shit!" Shikamaru heard his dad hiss.
Well, whatever concoction Shikato had mixed up was now all over the floor, sparing both Nara's from having to eat it.
"A-all right," Shikato conceded, and Shikamaru could hear him digging through the pantry for a mop.
"M'kay," he mumbled, retrieving his nightclothes from the laundry room then heading across the hall into the bathroom. Out of habit, he clicked the door locked behind him. He sighed and tossed his fresh clothes on the lid of the toilet and stripped out of his old ones, tossing them in the nearly full hamper.
Neither he nor Shikato were any good with domestic chores. Eyeing the overflow of dirty boxers and shirts, Shikamaru found that he actually mildly missed his mother, even with her incessant scolding.
He turned on the bath water and another loud crash resounded from the kitchen. Heavy footsteps thudded up the stairs and the doorknob rattled.
"Shikamaru? What are you doing in there?" Shikato shouted. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and covered his ears.
"Taking a bath!" he answered.
After a moment of indecision; "I guess that's allowed."
"Damn well better be," Shikamaru muttered to himself, turning off the water and slipping in.
A half-hour later, he got out and dried himself off with a towel and turned the sink on.
More crashing and footsteps and handle-rattling.
"Shikamaru!?" Shikato sounded absolutely horrified.
"Brushing my teeth, Daifu!" Shikamaru called out, making sure to scrub his teeth extra hard so his dad could hear it through the door. There was an audible sigh as Shikato lumbered back down the steps. Shikamaru glared at his reflection in the medicine cabinet and spat into the sink, rinsing his mouth and wiping it on the edge of the towel around his waist.
"Mendokusee," he grumbled, taking his time getting into his pajamas.
He turned on the sink again to wet his brush and pull it through his hair.
As expected, Shikato bolted up the stairs again, calling his name.
"I'm brushing my hair!" Shikamaru told him, growing frustrated. He yanked a little too hard on his hair and yelped.
"Are you sure?" Shikato asked.
"For Gods sakes, can we just relax a bit?" Shikamaru shouted, "I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Shikato was silent, and when Shikamaru was sure his dad had gone back downstairs, he returned to coaxing his hair into a low, loose ponytail for sleeping.
Finally, he left the bathroom.
He was just falling asleep when Shikato rapped softly on his door.
"Shikamaru?" he whispered.
"What?" Shikamaru growled, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face under the pillow. Shikato opened the door and a sliver of light fell across Shikamaru's shoulders. Shikato hesitated.
"Good night, son," Shikato mumbled, closing the door.
"Yeah... g'night," Shikamaru mumbled to no-one in particular. He sighed and pulled his head from beneath the pillow, turning it to gaze out his window at the stars.
It was still open, as it had always stood since the first day he and Kiba became a couple.
He questioned himself; why did he still leave it open, if he knew Kiba was not coming?
(1) Daifu means 'Father' (there are a million ways to say it, I swear) and I figured this sounded kind of informal and masculine, so this is what I chose for Shikamaru to use. If I'm wrong please tell me, 'kaythanks.
I'm still planning to re-write the dialogue for Lee when I have actually slept but I feel like posting it now.
On a side-note, I still dedicate this entire story to my best friend, Aya Mitsumi. The plot of the story is similar to something she is going through right now (minus the drowning part- god only knows I'm so glad that she isn't suicidal).
Aaah! Thankyou to all my readers... I know you probably don't care, but as of Wednesday the 10 of April... things have worked out for my friend (kind of). Her and her boyfriend finally (officially) broke up and she's decided that she wants to try a relationship with another guy she likes... who is, awfully ironically, MY ex. I try not to tell her no or try to convince her not to, since even though he wasn't my type... we have different tastes, and who knows? He might just be her type.