Disclaimer: The owner of all the characters in this chapter is Kishimoto Masashi. The plot belongs to me.

A/N: Hello again. I hope it hasn't been too long since my last update. But, here is the (hopefully) much-longed next chapter. Their teammates see them in their current condition… but can they keep the act? Save me and find out: www. lost. eu/ 18603 (Yeah, am dying in a day so saving won't be bad…)

Enjoy!

Day 4 - Confused minds

--- ---

Shikamaru stares at the piece of bread in front of him, not really seeing it. His mind is working on the events of yesterday. The only thing he can think about is Neji, Neji, Neji…

Shikamaru groans as the image of Neji kissing him floats once again into his mind. And like before, first Neji is Neji and then he is Shikamaru and then he is back in his own body.

"Neji-nii-san?"

'If he wanted to mix my head with that kiss, then he succeeded very well…' Shikamaru turns to look at Hinata over the table. "Yes, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata looks at who she thinks is Neji with her large eyes. "Are you… Are you okay?"

"Yes." Shikamaru looks at Hinata, surprised at the question. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hinata blushes and hides behind her teacup. "I… I just thought… You seem to be in your own thoughts a lot."

"Well aren't I always", Shikamaru chuckles slightly.

Hinata blushes even more but she can't hide her soft smile from Shikamaru's watchful eyes.

--- ---

Burning bright light shines through Neji's eyelids. "Put it out…" he mumbles slowly and tries to cover his eyes with his arm.

"Get up, lad", man's voice says. "Ino and Chôji are here."

"What?" Neji springs up into a sitting position from his futon. His vision turns immediately into a blur and he has to hold his head still for a while to see again.

"They came a moment ago. Get ready and I'll get them 'ere."

Finally Neji realizes the man he is talking with must be Shikamaru's father. He opens his eyes to see an older version of Shikamaru looking at him.

"You look a bit dizzy. Are you okay?"

Neji combs a hand through his now open hair. "Yeah, I'm just… it's just I practised yesterday…"

"And you don't feel well 'cause you quitted smoking?" The man smiles softly. "That's well done. I should too, Yoshiko's always complaining about it…"

Shikamaru's father opens the door and leaves, and Neji could swear he heard him mumble something among the lines of 'that Neji's made a saint of my boy'.

--- ---

Shikamaru walks in the garden, wanting a moment alone without raising any suspicions, otherwise he would have gone to the roof. He raises his head to look at the various trees around him, they all still budding. He turns his head more to catch a glimpse of the pure white clouds sailing on the sky. He misses already the peaceful time when he did not have to watch his every move or gaze over his shoulder for intruders if he wanted to do something he really enjoyed.

Shikamaru sighs and turns around to face the man who had joined him in the garden.

"Don't sigh, my youthful friend", Rock Lee grins to Shikamaru and grabs his shoulder. "Because now is the time for celebration."

Shikamaru only raises his eyebrow in a slightly irritated manner.

"I have come to invite you personally to my wedding, which takes place on 22nd of this month."

Shikamaru's eyes widen. His brains quickly search for any memory of Rock Lee sharing an intimate moment with someone. "On 22nd? That's six days from now…" His mind registers one memory of a day when he had seen Lee and the Kazekage walking around town, hand in hand, giving kisses to each other once in a while.

"Yes. I know it must sound all rushed to you but we know what we feel."

'Rock Lee and Gaara?' "I didn't mean it that way… I was only thinking out loud…"

"Lee."

Shikamaru turns to look at the Kazekage who had creeped to the garden without either of them noticing. He bows shortly to the man. "Kazekage-sama", he mumbles.

"Nice to see you, Hyuuga", Gaara says monotonically.

Shikamaru can't believe his ears. 'Well, Neji's…' Had the Gaara just greeted him with five words? This can't be. The last time he saw him he was a bastard, only glaring at everyone. Shikamaru rubs his temples. 'That Lee has done wonders to him…'

"Neji, is the day okay with you?" Lee's bright black eyes are once again on Shikamaru.

"Yes, it is…"

"Will you come with someone?"

"I…"'We may have not changed back by that time.' "I'll come with Nara." Shikamaru feels the starting blush on his cheeks, for he knows the real reason why he had said that. But he shakes such things out of his mind.

"If you invite everyone personally we will not make it in time", Gaara says with his calm, rough voice. He grabs Lee's hand in his and pulls him slightly.

"Gaara-kun, don't be in such a rush. Let me say good bye to him properly."

The Kazekage crosses his arms but does not say anything.

Lee gives a quick hug to the stunned Shikamaru. "Good bye, Neji."

"…bye."

Lee turns to follow Gaara who is already leaving the garden, still once turning around to wave to Shikamaru. "Don't be sad, Neji. Just follow you heart."

"My jealousy is rising…." Shikamaru hears Gaara mutter as the two of them disappear. He laughs softly, a bitter sound in it. 'Such good advice. Lee. But so hard to follow.'

--- ---

As Neji gets back to Shikamaru's room many moments later, having been searching for a hair brush, he opens the door and sees Shikamaru's teammates sitting on his futon like they own the place.

"Long time no see, Shikamaru", the girl, Ino, says and jumps up to hug Neji.

"We met just few days ago", Neji mumbles and hopes he is in character.

"That doesn't count. You barely even greeted us, you were so busy with Neji…" Ino looks at Neji with a mischievous smile while Chôji just keeps his eyes on him. "Speaking of Neji, aren't those his pants?"

"No", Neji answers automatically, then looks down at what he is wearing.

"Yes they are." Ino points at the left hem of his trousers. "I remember that cut. Besides, you don't have any beige pants."

Neji stares at the smiling girl. Seriously, this is scary. Neji barely knows she exists but she seems to have been examining Neji's trousers.

"So it's true what I heard? That you and Neji are together?" Ino keeps on going.

For amoment Neji's brains don't understand the sentence, until he realizes the 'you' in it meant 'Shikamaru', not 'Neji'. Unfortunately that short silence means 'yes' to Ino.

"I knew it!" She slaps Neji's back. "'twas about time you get a man for yourself."

"I heard you quit smoking", Chôji finally opens his mouth, but still keeps on staring at Neji with too much intensity to his liking.

"For him? It must be really serious…"

"We are not together", Neji says and turns his head away from the girl. "And I did not quit for him."

"Whatever you say…" Ino smiles in a meaningful way to Chôji. "But I gotta run now. I promised I'd help mom and dad with this huge flower order we have." Ino smiles to her teammates. "Bye guys. Come visit me someday with Neji, Shikamaru."

"We're not together", Neji repeats with a slightly irritated voice.

Ino just smiles as she opens the door. "Whatever you say." Then she is gone, leaving Neji alone with Chôji who has finally moved his eyes from him.

Suddenly a thought occures to Neji. 'What if Shikamaru and Chôji are together?' Neji finds himself gulping in fear. The idea seems possible, for even he knows Chôji and Shikamaru spend quite a lot of time together. 'But I doubt Shikamaru would have left such a thing untold… Or maybe Shikamaru has feelings towards him and he knows that and is going to make his move…' All the possible ideas and even the not-so-possible ones go through Neji's mind with an incredible speed, until Chôji wakes him up to the reality.

"What's going on between you and Shikamaru?"

The memory of yesterday rushes to Neji's head and makes him blush a deep shade of pink. How he had lost his sanity and kissed Shikamaru, kissed his own body dammit! But he had looked so beautiful standing there, his wet hair falling to his shoulders, gazing at Neji with those big, pearly white eyes…

"Did you just say 'you and Shikamaru'?" Neji turns to fully face Chôji, hoping he had heard wrong.

"Yes."

Their gazes lock. Neji knows he must look stupid with an utterly surprised look on his face, but Chôji just keeps his calming smile on.

"You're Neji, right?"

Neji nods. "Yes. How did you find out? That I'm not… him?"

"There was something about your acting that was irritating me all the time. Your manner of speaking is different than Shikamaru's. And you stand straight."

Neji let's himself slump. He can't help the small smile on his lips. "If it's that evident, then how you noticed but his parents didn't?"

Chôji shrugs. "Since we're in the same team I hang quite much with him."

'He knows Shikamaru almost better than his parents and I hardly even know Lee is engaged to the Kazekage…' Neji feels a tiny sting of ashament in his heart. He coughs once, partly to clean his lugns, partly to gather the courage to say the next sentence. "Could you… help me to get into character?"

--- ---

Half of the day has passed, and to Shikamaru it sfeels like twice the time. Never before has he felt such boredom in such short time. As he cannot even sit back and relax, because Neji does not do such things, it feels even more boring.

Neji, in Shikamaru's body, flashes in his mind.

Shikamaru shakes his head slightly, his hair falling to his face. He can manage just fine without Neji. Really, just fine, he does not need that overconfident pretty-boy –

"Neji?"

Hiashi has joined Shikamaru who only gives a quick glance towards him.

"I have something to discuss with you."

'Why now? Why not three days ago?' Shikamaru sighs mentally and turns his emotionless face towards Neji's uncle. "Yes, uncle?"

"Please sit down."

Shikamaru does as told and takes a seat next to the older man. For a moment they sit in silence.

"I am aware of your choice, Neji."

Shikamaru keeps silent because really; he has no idea what choice he is talking about. 'Not definitely about his pretty-boy looks and clothes; he looks just like an older version of Neji', he thinks, almost humoured.

"And though there has never been such thing in this clan, I am proud of your courage to be what you are."

Maybe this is something they have discussed before with Neji, and he should know it. 'I'll find out sooner or later…' But there, sitting on that bench in the Hyuuga garden with Hyuuga Hiashi-sama talking to him as he was Neji, Shikamaru does not feel like a genius at all.

"Your… love towards boys instead of girls is acceptable. And I do not have any objection about is. I just hoped you would have come to me to tell it."

'So this is about Neji being… gay?' Shikamaru raises his eyes to look at the man next to him, his eyes totally calm though his head is a mess right now. "I am sorry, uncle, but I wanted to be sure of myself before coming to you." 'I just hope this is what he would say in this situation…'

And it did not occur to him, not once during the conversation, that some of the acts he did as Neji might have turned Hiashi to this particular conclusion. Some genius he is.

"I am only glad that you chose such honest and well boy like Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's thoughts stop dead at the precise moment he hears his own name. 'He thinks I'm with…? Dammit, Neji'll never forgive me for this.'

A/N: Hopefully you liked. I myself had fun writing the last part of this chap. And honestly, it feels like Shikamaru left his super brains in his body since otherwise he would have figured out immediately what Hiashi meant. But if he had, then he would not face Neji's wrath in the next chapter…

And Chôji found out about their switch. Man, he must be a genius too…

Please tell me if there are any typos. I didn't see any but since I am in no good condition there might be some... or more. (An author should never make excuses for passing proofreading...)

Please, save me: www. lost. eu/18603

Have a nice day. Hopefully the next chapter will be up before 2nd month of 2008...