Very happy to be updating quickly, I have a new system and it seems to be working. If all goes well, expect an update on this in the next five to six days :)

ENJOY


Shikamaru laid on his back, deeply enjoying the warmth and comfort of his soft bed. He'd, once again, woken up before his alarm clock rang… Oh joy. He would've frowned if not for the calm and bliss he currently felt, not just because of his current surroundings, but also the fact that everything in his life, he considered, was utterly perfect. Or at least, he was satisfied… His eyes moved to look at the alarm clock that rested on his desk, beside the bed.

'5:03 a.m.'

As soon as the numbers registered in Shikamaru's mind, a rather loud yawn escaped him. Bringing up a hand to cover his mouth, he raised his other hand, stretching his sleepy muscles.

After a minute or two the twelfth grader finally deemed himself ready to leave his comfort zone. Placing slightly unsteady feet on the cold floor, he released another yawn and walked to the door of his room, absentmindedly grabbing his towel on the way. He faintly registered sounds, and figured his parents were awake already, but hadn't left their room. Shikamaru continued down the hall and into the bathroom, intent on taking a nice cold shower.

The boy took his time, and when he finally stepped out of the shower, he felt much more awake yet still relaxed. He picked up the towel he'd brought, and began to dry himself. Unlike usually, he'd thought to put his clothes in the bathroom the night before, he really didn't know why he'd done that but he was thankful for his past attentiveness, so now he didn't have to face the cold air outside. When the twelfth grader felt he was dry enough, he slid his clothes on and shuffled out of the bathroom, his towel hanging from his neck and draping across his chest.

Shikamaru made his way down the stairs of his house, to make himself some breakfast, and soon enough, he was headed back upstairs, sated and happy.

A loud shrill ring made the teenager jump slightly as he skipped a few steps to turn his alarm off with a huff. As soon as he did though, a much less irritating sound invaded his senses. Shikamaru looked down to see his phone vibrating on the side of his bed. He picked up the small object and opened it to read the message he'd just received.

"Good morning! Can't wait to see you :D" –Kiba

The boy's eyes widened, and his calm mood took a turn of the best as Shikamaru felt his heart gain speed, and a sudden grin take over his face. Kiba. His Kiba! Had just sent him a good morning message! And a very nice one at that. He brought his other hand up to grasp his phone with both of them as he pondered on what exactly he should reply, his thumbs moving slightly erratically as they hovered over the keyboard. Once his brilliant mind had conjured up something acceptable, they moved like lightning, typing in the words. With a click of 'send', he went to put his shoes on and hurried out the door, yelling a farewell to his parents. He slipped into his car and drove away, eager to see a certain 11th grader once again.

When Shikamaru arrived at the school, way earlier than he'd expected, and parked his car, he new Kiba hadn't arrived yet and figured the 11th grader had texted him right when he woke up. He decided to wait on a bench relatively near the entrance for the younger boy to arrive. Soon enough he saw the familiar brunette coming down the hall, also quite a bit earlier than any student would want to arrive.

Kiba sent him a surprised and loving gaze as soon as his eyes landed on the taller boy. When they got closer, Kiba spoke. "You have no idea how much that little text affected me." He laughed, a slight reddening in his cheeks, barely noticeable unless you stand immensely close to him, just as the12th grader was right now. Kiba thought back to the good morning text he sent on a whim, only to receive a ' "Good morning, love. Can't wait to kiss you" ' text from the older boy. That had left him quite rattled.

"I meant it" Was all the 12th grader said before his lips crashed onto Kiba's in a passionate, soft kiss. Shikamaru brought his hands up to rest on Kiba's face, gently circling his thumbs against the other's cheeks, then slid one hand behind Kiba's head into his hair. As if by instinct, the younger's arms wound around his neck and his lips parted, this taken as an invitation, Shikamaru's tongue darted in almost immediately deepening the searing kiss. They enjoyed the tastes provided by each other and, amidst the low moans and ruffling, both knew they'd never forget this one blissfull moment.

Far too soon for their liking, it had to end, as they were in need of breath. They separated, both panting softly, faces slightly flushed. The pair reluctantly stepped away from each other, but not before Shikamaru spoke, leaning to rest his forehead on Kiba's and cupping his cheeks. "I could get used to this…" At that, Kiba chuckled softly, bringing his hands up to rest on Shikamaru's as he nodded.

"Yeah…" Kiba said as he leaned in to kiss the other once more, this one for a shorter amount of time, but no lesser amount of love.

Soon enough though, they separated completely and walked down the pretty much empty halls passing a few students now and then, as they continued to talk, determined to remain together until classes started.


Naruto entered the eleventh grade's homeroom relatively on time, seeing as the class was only just about to start, and quickly scanned the room to see if he could spot any of his best friends. He grinned widely when he noticed Gaara and Alexander talking, and began walking to them. 'They're getting along!' He thought excitedly, very happy that the prospects of befriending the fellow basketball player were now growing. He was only able to hear the tail bit of their conversation, not enough to understand, before they looked his way. "Hey, guys! What's up?" He grinned and they returned it with smiles of their own.

"Not much. Gaara here was telling me how wonderful his Hawaian Christmas vacation was."

"Ooh, that." Naruto laughed. His friend had already recounted it for him and Kiba, but god forbid he'd waste a chance to recall those great memories for someone else.

"It was so relaxing-" Gaara began once again "But Al said that it wasn't 'traditional' or 'Christmassy'." He signaled the air quotes around the two words in a slightly mocking tone.

"Because they're not." Alexander cut in with a laugh. Naruto chuckled as well and added "I don't care if it's for Christmas or Halloween, Hawaii is Hawaii and I was jealous as hell when he first said he was going to stay there. "

Alexander hummed "Naruto, I didn't even know you were capable of jealousy" He feigned surprise, when Gaara cut in, "Oh he is, he hides it well though."

"Hides what?" The three of them looked towards their smirking brunette friend and would have clued him in, if the teacher hadn't spoken up that class had now begun. The four of them looked at Iruka for only a moment before they looked back at each other and Naruto spoke with a chuckle "Tell you in a bit, Kiba" Said brunette was rather curious now but wasn't about to risk staying in place, knowing Naruto would whisper it to him later. The group of friends moved from where they stood and each took their seats.


Sasuke groaned silently, glaring at the notebook on his desk, which was filled to the brim, so he turned the page and continued reading the questions the large book he held had to offer. He was gladly almost done with the assigned work and he allowed his eyes to drift upwards to the clock that hung inches above the white-board, letting out a sigh when he realized his second class would be ending soon.

Just as he finished writing the very last sentence in his abused notebook, the bell rang. Sasuke stood, just as everyone else, and walked with a group of students to the front of the class, handing his notebook for the teacher to sign. As soon as it was returned, he jogged out of the classroom, catching up to his best friends in the flurry of students. "Hey, since when has that class been so damn hard?"

His friends laughed, "I found that relatively simple actually," Neji said. Though Shikamaru cut in "Yeah right. After you asked me the answers to how many questions?" Sasuke's eyes widened a bit as they laughed.

"Ugh, why didn't I think of that?!"

Neji smirked "Well I'm a natural born opportunist so don't be too mad at yourself."

They heard a bit of laughter coming from a girl in their grade, who had just walked up next to Sasuke.

"Natural born cheater, more like. You can borrow my notes if you want Sasuke, but I guarantee nothing." Tenten slapped the raven's back twice in good will, as Neji smiled and added "Opportunist sounds better" This earned a chuckle from the rest of them as they continued walking to their next class.

" I think I just might take you up on that, Ten." Sasuke spoke up to the girl, who smiled in return "Okay, but seriously, I guarantee absolutely nothing." She fished for her notebook in her backpack, and when she finally grasped it, she pulled it out and handed it to him. "Here you go."

Sasuke took it gratefully "Thanks. I'll have it back to you tomorrow morning." With a nod, the twelfth grade class walked into their third class of the day.

When Sasuke took his seat, his long-haired friend turned to him. "What's up with that?" The raven smirked, instantly knowing what he meant. "What?" He asked innocently, though his friend gave him a cut-the-crap look and he quickly added. "Didn't you and Tenten break up like three months ago?" Neji looked a bit put off, but replied. "Well yes, we're just friends now, but I'm not asking because of that. You think she's into you?" Sasuke thought it over for a moment. It was a valid question, seeing as she wasn't usually that kind towards guys like him, who went from partner to partner. Not to mention the fact that he was the best friend of the guy, she'd dated for over a year and hadn't really talked to in months.

"Hmmm, don't think so, she's just nice. Besides she's not my type." Sasuke smirked at Neji's 'hmph'. Even though he was over her, she had still been his girlfriend back then. "My type is too good for you" It was Neji's turn to smirk, as he watched Sasuke roll his eyes.

"Aaanyways… I don't want to date anyone… Not when I've got a bet to win." Sasuke grinned. Neji simply smiled in reply "As do I… So what have you done for it?"

The raven sighed, "Not much, I mean I know I've done a few things before, but he probably thinks it was a fluke. It pretty much was, seeing as I just wanted to see how he'd react. So now, I just want to… befriend him. I got a lot of bad marks with him, so I want to wipe them out and then start fresh."

Neji nodded "Seems like a very good plan." Then he added with a smirk "Of course, I suggested it so it must be good." He joked, then laughed even more when Sasuke said something like "It sounds so much better when I say it, though."

He couldn't get out a retort, as the teacher passed closed to them and sent them pointed looks, before continuing the lesson.


Gaara sighed as he wrote down several important points of information about the chapter he was doing his partnered project on, Kiba was seated next to him, intent on getting every detail down on paper.

His mind kept wandering, and soon his eyes did as well. A few seats in front them, he noticed, sat Alexander and Naruto, in a stirring conversation he couldn't hear but he knew they were steadily becoming more and more comfortable with each other. Gaara couldn't bring his mind to delve any more into the pair's new friendship, as his gaze cut across everything currently visible to him, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He continued writing.

Yesterday had been an odd day, the red head thought. When he went home, he'd somehow been roped into a long conversation with his sister about a certain gift he'd received.

' "What exactly do you do when a guy gives you flowers?" ' He remembered asking her this question absentmindedly. Without even meaning to, he'd revealed the very fact he wished hadn't existed in the first place. Temari had been shocked at first that he had come to HER for advice, but quickly recovered with a grin. "Someone gave you flowers?! That's cute, though why wouldn't you know what to do?"

It had taken a moment for him to reply because of his initial scare at her outburst, and the fact that he berated himself for a minute or two for his verbal slip.

"uh… He's not exactly… my type..." He provided those words as another version of the fact that he hated Neji's guts. Or well, at least he kept telling himself he still did. If he were to be honest though, Gaara knew it was more of an odd dislike that he held for the boy, but that's all he was willing to admit now.

After that, Gaara recalled, Temari had walked to the table he was sitting at and taken a seat next to him, a confused expression on her face. "He's not older?"

"Well yes, he's in 12th grade but-" she cut in

"Is he a brunette? Is he tall?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly "Yes and yes, but-"

"He's not smart? You like them very forward, so is that the problem, that he's not?"

"No-I mean he's pretty smart and…" Gaara remembered feeling his face heat up in embarrassment "He's very forward…" 'The bastard'

"What's the problem then?" She had asked, honestly confused.

Gaara scribbled down another point of information, as his mind recalled the conversation. He remembered sighing loudly when she asked him that. He'd then stood; ready to go lock himself in his room when she'd grabbed him. "Is he not…attractive? Or is it simply that you are not interested in this person who's totally your type and show's quite a bit of interest in you? Well either way, to answer your first question, I would probably consider it, seeing as he must have some sort of interest in you if he gave flowers to you. If you're not sure, ask around. Find out a bit more about him, and how he treats people you know?"

The redhead looked down at his sister in frustration as her questions and advice flew all over his head, successfully preventing any type of coherent speech. "I- He's not- I mean, not really… I can't just… " After a moment of silence, Gaara sighed "Sister, would you kindly let go of me and let me storm of to my room now?"

She smiled knowing he was in fact closer to figuring out whatever he needed to, and spoke, ignoring his attitude. "Sure, little brother. Come to me any time you want to talk a bit more."

A small cracking sound snapped him out of his memories, and Gaara looked down to see the tip of his pencil was broken, so he threw it in his backpack and took out another one without a second thought; erasing the scribble he'd written on his paper from pressuring his pencil too much, and continued the work.

'I suppose I could ask someone, just to find out his motives, but who the hell would I ask? And how would I phrase it? I mean I can't just say anything! I most certainly can't tell the truth….' Gaara considered the almost ridiculous possibility of asking the twelfth grader's best friends, but threw the idea out as soon as he got it. Soon, he let out a quiet huff

'Whatever… I'm being stupid. I'll just get everything back to normal. That's it! Normal is good. And I know just how to do it. Or at least how to begin' Gaara smirked at his simple but fun new idea.


Lunchtime was a blessing in Sasuke's opinion, as he walked-more like ran- to the eleventh grade's third class. He'd somehow managed to get there right as the 11th graders began crowding the hall. He looked around over the huge group of people in slight frustration until he saw a familiar head of short blonde hair.

"Naruto!" He called, making the boy wave to his friends who continued walking to the lunchroom, and turn around to look at him. It didn't take long for him to hold an annoyed expression when he realized who'd called him.

"What do you want?" He snapped and Sasuke forced himself to smile, "I need to talk to you" Naruto looked at him cautiously "Is this another game thing?" He said, referring to the supposedly important information the older boy had 'forgotten' before Christmas vacation.

"Ah, good memory." Sasuke said sheepishly "And no, it's not, I just want to talk to you…" The raven said, opting for honesty this time. Naruto seemed to consider it before conceding and walking opposite of the crowd of students heading to the lunchroom, with him. "What is it?" Naruto said, much calmer this time.

Sasuke considered his words carefully "Why do you hate me?" He chose to start this way. Naruto's eyes widened, and his jaw slackened a bit "I don't-well…" The blonde looked forwards once again, face scrunched up in confusion. When the silence lasted too long for Sasuke's liking, he added. "I mean we've always disliked each other. I don't even remember why, and I doubt you do either. So I'm wondering why… Seeing as I… want to be friends with you." He chose his words carefully.

Blue eyes widened once again, as Naruto looked to his side, though they quickly narrowed in suspicion "Is this some sort of joke?"

"No! Not at all." Sasuke answered immediately. And, knowing Naruto was going to have to think about it, and wouldn't give him an instant reply, he said, "Just consider it okay? Being friends with me I mean… I'd really love it if you would accept." With a soft smile, he walked off, leaving Naruto in silence.


An urgent student council meeting had been held because a teacher needed help with loads of grading and paperwork, so the slightly ticked off members sat in said teacher's classroom, giving up a part of their lunchtime. They all made a note to complain about this later, or at least get a couple of favors for their groups.

All that could be heard in the 'student council meeting' was the scribbling of pencils against papers as they worked, intent on finishing as soon as possible. They'd arranged the desks in a circle around the teacher's desk and Gaara sat two seats down on the right of it. Their council president was seated the same but on the left, directly in front of the redhead, this infuriated him; probably more than it should. Every now and again, Gaara felt his eyes involuntarily shift upwards, to take peeks at the object of his frustration.

He silently apologized to any student he might have flunked with his distraction. Tough they should blame Neji. HE sure as hell would. A shuffling was heard as some students switched to other papers. The redhead's eyes narrowed 'Focus, Gaara, Focus!'

Soon enough, he had gotten into the rhythm of things and flipped from paper to paper. Though, it didn't last as long as he would've wanted to, as he got rather curious as to what the older boy was doing, even if he knew they were all doing the exact same thing. Gaara finally promised himself to look only one more time and then focus.

Green eyes slowly shifted upwards, to meet lavender ones. Neji had felt like someone was watching him, so he decided to look up, and he was glad he did because the redhead had chosen that exact moment to look at him. Gaara's eyes widened a bit and he froze before Neji reacted.

Unbeknownst to anyone except Gaara, the twelfth grader silently brought a hand up to his mouth and blew a kiss his way, smiled, and got back to work. The simple action had Gaara's eyes like saucers, his mouth agape, and he forced himself to look back at his papers and calm his racing heart. Still refusing to acknowledge the reaction Neji had caused in him.

As soon as they finished the work, the council shuffled out of the classroom, heading for the lunchroom. Gaara had stayed behind so that he didn't have to run into Neji and, as he made his way out of the room he heard a bit of giggling. He looked to the side to see council member, Ino, talking to a pink haired girl he knew to be named Sakura. They laughed on about something and spoke somewhat loudly, getting his attention as he walked to the lunchroom many steps behind them.

"Did you hear that Shikamaru is interested in an 11th grader?"

"Yeah… I heard it was a boy."

"Yes, I heard that too! Then again, I also heard it was an 18 year old woman who flunked a bunch of classes, and then I heard it was actually a teacher he was interested in, so what can you believe?" They chuckled at her statement and quickly changed the subject to another rumor involving a group of tenth graders, but the redhead zoned out after that. Gaara remembered a certain suspicion he had before Christmas vacation, but he had long since discarded it, so he allowed himself to ponder a bit on the possibility of it being true, before deciding he had bigger problems and took his mind off the subject. He quickly walked into the lunchroom, intent on enjoying what was left of his lunch.

The redhead walked into the room that was less crowded than usual, considering it was pretty late to be having lunch. His friends weren't even there anymore. He hurried over to the almost nonexistent lunch line, and stood next to a girl he didn't care to recognize. As the line moved though, she spoke. "Hey, I don't think we've met properly before… You're Gaara right?"

His uncaring eyes looked directly at her for the first time and they widened a bit before he could steel himself. "Oh, yeah… You're…"

"Tenten" She finished for him with a smile. Gaara would've gasped, had he not controlled himself. This was the girl he'd seen so many times with his longhaired nuisance until not too long ago. He was sure she had been the boy's girlfriend. This was his chance! And he didn't want to blow it so he spoke quickly, before his extended silence could weird her out.

"You were Hyuga's girlfriend right" This time it was she who looked a bit surprised, if only slightly put off. "Uh… yeah" She said "He a friend of yours?"

"I prefer acquaintance" He somewhat agreed with her, if only to keep talking. "Out of curiosity, why did you break up with him?" Gaara was half expecting to get slapped for his bluntness but also half expecting her to answer with many harsh complaints about that longhaired jerk. He couldn't help but smirk as soon as he asked the question, really excited to hear the latter.

Though none of his expectations came to be as she sent him a nostalgic smile and looked forwards to nowhere in particular. "We both decided to end our relationship, because we were no longer in love. We had been attracted to each other and enjoyed our time together, but after being together for a year, we began to notice how much better we were as friends, and how we wanted to see other people. So we broke up."

Gaara seemed unsatisfied "But there must've been something sour there, you can't tell me there isn't one thing you'd yell at him for right now if you could." ...Oh he was begging to be slapped, the redhead thought, but the hit never came.

"Really, I can't think of anything I regret about my time with him, and our break up was rather easy."

The 11th grader's eyes narrowed in confusion and only slight desperation at trying to find a flaw. "But-" "Gaara." She laughed, cutting into his argument. "When Neji gets interested in someone, like really interested, he can make you feel like a princess and it's a great feeling. He's smart enough to know that he has to work hard for his feelings to be returned, and that if he wants your love he has to earn it. And he will try his hardest, because he's stubborn like that. So no, Gaara, I have no regrets." She threw one last grin his way before turning to the lunch lady and getting her food, leaving a speechless redhead to watch her go. "Are you going to order?" The elderly woman's question snapped him out of his daze and he turned to her, eyes still narrowed, as he got his food and grudgingly walked to take a random seat.

'…Damn that perfect bastard…'


A humongous current of students crowded the entrance of the school after classes ended, as usual, everyone eager to get to the comfort of their homes. Some had to walk, some rode with their parents, a lucky few even had their own cars. Kiba Inuzuka, on the other hand, had gotten a ride from a certain twelfth grader who apparently had made it his mission to ensure that the younger would never have to walk anywhere again. As the car came to a stop in front of the brunette's house, Kiba turned to the older boy, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Shikamaru didn't let them be separated for too long as he brought a hand to rest on the back of Kiba's head, gently pulling the willing boy closer to him and into another long kiss. The 12th grader reasoned that he'd so easily gotten addicted to the tastes of the boy currently in his embrace. They shared many short kisses, crashing their lips together again and again. Though soon, Shikamaru felt a hand on his chest, barely pushing him. They separated once again and Kiba chuckled.

"Mom will notice your car parked out front for too long, she's likely looking out the window trying to see inside it right now." Shikamaru sighed in contentment, but also in slight disappointment at having him leave. "Okay. See you tomorrow."

With that, Kiba opened the car door and stepped out, chancing a last wave back at the older boy who waved back and running into his house.


1. No one protested it so I get to explain it now xD Considering I don't think I'll mention many of these in the actual story, I want you all to know these things because some will help you understand some characters' motivations later on:

First of all, as mentioned already in the story, Gaara is bisexual here. His tastes have always been clear to those closest to him. Second, Naruto is gay, haven't revealed much of that yet. Kiba is bisexual, though i don't think i'll ever mention it. Sasuke is straight, so you can see why 'wooing' Naruto is a whole new world for him. Shikamaru's preferences will probably never be mentioned seeing as he's more 'unclassified'. The first and only person he's ever liked was Kiba(he's liked him for quite a long time), who was obviously a boy, so he just figured himself gay. Neji is straight but had been extremely curious when he found out his best friend liked a boy, even more so when he found out it was Kiba, and even more more so when he began participating in the bet.

2. Thank you very much for your suggestions on the ShikaKiba date. I really like them! :3 And they are still welcome since the date will wait a few more chapters, considering i'm going day by day. If you're curious, in this chapter, it is tuesday January 15. :D