Disclaimer: Do you really think I would be writing stories about these characters if I already owned them? -.-

The anime/manga series 'Naruto' along with all of its characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing.

Songs: Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez, Michi from Naruto, You Set Me Free by Michelle Branch, Man of the World from Naruto Shippuden and Siuil A Run by Celtic Woman, as always.


All four Hyuuga's in the room turned back to the source of the voice, where Shikamaru was lazily leaning his back against the doorway. The Nara's hands were stuffed in his pockets and he had a look of total boredom on his face. The shadow-nin had his eyes trained on Neji, who had figured out who his visitor was just by hearing his voice.

''Shikamaru..'' Neji said, surprised. He had been told that no one but family was allowed to see him until later on today.

Hiashi looked between the two boys and frowned. His nephew had told him that he and the Nara had been spending time together after he had acquired his genin team, but the Hyuuga lord hadn't thought that their friendship was that close yet, so he was understandably confused by this. Before the elder Hyuuga could inquire about this though, an angry haze of yellow and white angrily stomped into the room.

''Nara...Shikamaru!'' Ino panted angrily, glaring death at said shinobi as she placed a hand over her racing heart. ''I TOLD you that no one but family is allowed in until this evening!'' she snapped at her obviously unaffected team mate before turning her attention to the four confused Hyuugas.

''I am terribly sorry about this.'' she said, giving an apologetic bow before standing upright and glaring at Shikamaru. ''But he wouldn't take no for an answer.'' she huffed, placing her hand on her hip.

The Nara chose to remain silent, not taking his eyes away from Neji.

Hiashi-sama noticed this and his frown deepened. ''It's quite alright.'' he said ''I would like to hear what this young man has to say..''

Ino raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru but otherwise remained silent.

''Troublesome..'' Shikamaru muttered under his breathe. ''Neji and I have actually become good friend over the past month and it's just a suggestion since I have an extra room.'' he said, shutting his eyes and shrugging. ''Take it or leave it.''

'He's lying..' Neji thought to himself, distinctly remembering the fact that there was only one bedroom in the Nara's whole apartment.

''But Shikamaru..'' Ino whispered, knowing for a fact that he only had one bedroom, only to have Shikamaru give her a hard look that told her to be quiet.

''It's sounds like a good idea father.'' Hanabi piped up from next to her parent.

Hiashi looked down at his daughter, a contemplating thought upon his face. ''Hm...if this decision were actually up to me, I would require more persuasion than that..'' the Hyuuga Lord said, a disapproving frown on his face as he looked the Nara over. ''But the decision is not up to me..''

Neji could distinctly hear the ruffling of clothing, as if someone were turning around and when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he knew that everyone in the room was observing him. He was quiet for a moment as he thought about this seriously. Shikamaru was more or less his significant other and they would most likely be living together for a long period of time.

He knew that some times when living together, couples would get sick of each other very fast and decide to break it off, but he also knew that this kind of experience could completely go the opposite way and end up strengthening their relationship instead of crushing it, his team mates being a prime example.

He was curious as to how this would end up, though, and it would give the two of them time to grow closer. Neji could already feel himself sinking into depression over all of this and maybe being with the Nara would make him relax some. There was always this peaceful aura than enveloped the Hyuuga whenever Shikamaru was near..

Also, honestly, where else could he have gone? His team mates were out of the question since they were living together at Lee's apartment. And Gai-sensei...no. Just no.

''I suppose it wouldn't be that bad of an idea..'' he said after a moment of thought.

''Then it is settled.'' Hiashi said, happy to have finally come to a conclusion. ''I trust that you will inform Neji's temporary guardian of everything he would need to know.'' he said, turning his attention towards Ino, whom he had been told that was his nephew's doctor.

Said girl blinked, slightly stunned about everything. She quickly snapped out of it and nodded. ''Yes. I will personally make sure Shikamaru will be well informed.'' the blonde assured, giving a small smile.

''Excellent.'' Hiashi said and turned his attention back over to his nephew. ''As I have said before, Neji, I have a meeting to get to so I really must be going. I hope that your condition improves in the future.''

''I thank you for coming, Hiashi-sama'' Neji said, politely.

''It was no trouble.'' was the last the prodigy heard from his uncle before he heard the sound of footsteps fading away into the distance.

''Well!'' Ino said, clapping her hands. ''Shikamaru and I will leave you three alone to your visit.'' she said, smiling at the three Hyuugas and grabbing her team mate's upper arm in a death grip.

''But..'' Shikamaru said, reluctantly taking his eyes off of Neji.

''You can see him in six hours!'' Ino hissed, dragging him out of the room and shutting the door.

Hinata laughed softly at this and turned her attention back to her sister and cousin. She sat in a chair next to her cousin's bed and listened to the conversation between the two. She bit the inside of her lip and glanced at the door where Shikamaru had once been standing and then back to Neji.

She remembered the conversation about the Nara's 'mystery' girlfriend and the traits that said person was supposed to have. The heiress moved her eyes over to Neji, the pupiless orbs tracing over his features. 'Long, dark hair...and his white Hyuuga robes that he usually wears.' She frowned as she thought about the fact that Neji would now be living with the Nara for an extended period of time. That only proved that there was something going on between them.

'Or maybe they are just friends and I am reading into this too much..' Hinata contemplated, inwardly sighing. 'I'll just ask him later..' she thought, just wanting to spend time with her cousin right now instead of bothering him with her silly assumptions.


''Ino.'' Shikamaru complained as he was dragged down one hallway after another through the hospital. ''Stop pulling. You're getting on my nerves.''

''Too bad.'' Ino said, opening the door to her office and pushing him inside. She slammed the door shut and crossed her arms, glaring at the Nara.

''What?'' Shikamaru asked, rubbing his temple with the palm of his hand.

"'What' is right! What just happened back there! You never told me that you were friends with Neji.''

''I'm sorry that I don't keep you filled in on everything in my life.'' Shikamaru said, frowning. ''The next time I walk down a street, I'll be sure to fill you in.'' he said sarcastically.

''It's not like that Shikamaru.'' Ino said angrily, placing her hands on her hips. ''Neji is under my care and even though he might be okay with staying with you, I'm not entirely sure that I am.''

''It's not like I'm some stranger, Ino.'' the Nara responded, sighing. He so didn't want to deal with this right now.

''I know that! I'm confused okay? I've never seen you two together before and you just suddenly say you guys are best pals out of the blue? How do you think I'm gonna react?''

''We started hanging out when Neji got his team. I was the teacher of the class that he observed in and I gave him the team.''

''You never told me that..'' Ino said, frowning.

''You never asked.'' Shikamaru said, shrugging.

''Smart ass..'' the Yamamaka said.

The room went silent as Ino contemplated letting Shikamaru take care of Neji. 'She probably thinks I'm gonna ruin everything or something..' the Nara thought, a frown on his face.

''Hm...Fine then. I guess I'll let it slide this time, but you have to promise me that you won't neglect Neji, AND you owe me some cherry tomatoes when you come back to get Neji when we discharge him tonight.'' she said, after a moment. A smile was on her face as she excitedly thought about her favorite food.

''Fine.'' Shikamaru grumbled, scratching the back of his neck. She always weaseled him into getting those for her whenever she could. They weren't exactly cheap either. 'Troublesome woman..'


A few hours later, Neji woke up after his short nap to the sound of someone knocking quietly on his door. He frowned and sat up in his bed. He wasn't up for entertaining guests right now, especially since his cousins had left him only a short while ago.

''Enter.'' Neji said, fixing his pillow so that he could rest his back against the soft surface while he sat up. He heard the door open and about five pairs of feet enter the room.

''Hey sensei.'' Neji could immediately recognize the voice to be Youjis. His voice was clipped and low, as if he was willing himself to speak. It also sounded sad to the Hyuuga, nothing like how the Inuzuka usually sounded.

''We just wanted to come and see how you were doin..'' Damien said, shutting the door behind his team.

''I am quite fine, thank you.'' Neji said, hearing the sound of panting and clawed feet padding around the tiled floor.

''Of course you are! I told you guys that he'd be okay!''

Neji smirked when he heard this. That was the Youji that he knew.. ''What did you expect?'' he asked confidently, even though he had been most of the past few days being so angry at himself for being so stupid as to let himself get caught by the enemy. He quickly forced that thought into the back of his mind and focused on his company instead.

Just then, the Hyuuga felt a large weight settle on his bed next to his right hip and then something warm and slippery licking at his forearm. Neji chuckled and ran his hand over Stubba's soft fur. ''You brought her along as well?''

''Duh, sensei! I bring Stubba everywhere!''

Neji inwardly shook his head at that response. Soon, he, Damien and Youji were caught up in conversation about what the Hyuuga had missed while he had been away. Apparently, Gai-sensei had taken over training the four of them while his student was away and no one on his team were very fond of him.

''He's so mean! He made us do fifty laps around the village...on our hands!'' Youji complained.

''Not to mention, he's just plain creepy..'' Damien added, mentally shuttering when he remembered that on first day of training with the 'youthful' man, he had wanted to make them all wear green spandex. It wasn't a very good first impression..

Neji shook his head at this. ''You three need to learn discipline.''

''Well yea but would you have made us do all that? I can barely feel my arms.'' Youji said, waving said limp appendages in the air. Stubba barked at the display from her spot on the floor, where she had gone when Neji had kicked her off of his bed.

''That's because you thought we had to do eighty laps, not fifty.'' Damien said, smirking.

''Hey! I can barely understand Gai-sensei! And not to mention, he was running off into the distance and yelling! Hell if I know what he was saying.''

As the two boys were fighting, Neji focused his attention to the slow and small intakes of breathe coming from next to his bed. Namine had been very quiet throughout the whole visit, not even uttering a word ever since she walked in. ''Namine, is everything alright?''

Said girl, who had been watching her team mates go at it, blinked and looked back at her sensei. She had been focusing all of her attention on the conversation rather than Neji himself because she didn't want to think about what had happened. She didn't even want to go and see him today, but Youji had literally dragged her out of her house.

Now, looking at her sensei, Namine could feel tears coming into her eyes. She remembered how scared she had felt when she saw him first being brought in. She remembered being overwhelmed with sadness and worry when Sakura had explained what had happened to him and she also remembered that empty feeling she felt when she had to walk to training alone.

Clear droplets of water fell from her dark blue colored eyes before she could stop them. Damien was the first to notice this and stopped his bickering with his friend, Youji following suit. Namine willed herself to be silent as the tears continued to fall. ''I'm fine..sensei.'' she said softly, gripping the sides of her pants with her fingers.

Neji remained silent and the Haruno took this as her cue to rid her face of the trail of tears that didn't seem to stop coming. As soon as her hand moved to go up to her face, she felt a hand grip her wrist. The young kunoichi gasped and looked at her sensei in confusion as he trailed his hand up her arm, to her neck and then to her face. He frowned when he felt her tears. ''It appears that you aren't as fine as you say you are..'' he said gently, cupping her cheek with his hand as the rest of the team looked on at the two with sad expressions.

Namine bit the inside of her lip and gripped her sensei's hand in both of her own as she let the tears come. Damien forced his eyes onto the ground as Youji bit his lip, shielding his eyes from the world with his forearm.

''Listen to me. All of you.'' Neji said sternly, getting their attention immediately. ''Everything is going to be fine. Don't not concern yourselves.''

''But how sensei? How is everything going to be alright?'' Youji asked, tearing his forearm away from his face, not afraid to let everyone know that he was crying. ''You can't be our sensei anymore! Without your eyes..'' he said, clenching his fist at his sides as he turned his face to the ground. He closed his eyes as the tears fell onto the floor.

Neji sighed. This was true. Without his eyes, he was basically useless to his team. ''I don't know but..I will figure something out.'' he promised, gently squeezing Namine's hands in his own.

''I won't stop..'' Namine suddenly spoke up, causing her team to look at her confused. ''Every day..Ino, Aunty Sakura and I...we work to figure something out...and I won't stop..trying to help you get back on your feet, sensei. Not until you come back and train us. It just...training doesn't feel the same without you teaching us..'' she said, gripping her sensei's hand in her own tightly.

''I won't stop either!'' Youji said, wiping his tears away and having a determined look on his face. ''I'll help in anyway I can. Until you come back to us, sensei!''

''Me too.'' Damien added. ''We haven't been a team for very long.. but it just doesn't feel the same without you, sensei!''

Neji was surprised when he suddenly felt three pairs of arms encircle him for a hug and then a familiar weight jump up onto his bed again. He had never been one to like hugs, but he found himself unable to complain as his students enveloped him in a bear hug. He gave a small smile and hugged them all back the best he could, only able to come up with two words to show how grateful he was to have such an amazing team.

''Thank you..''


''Okay, Shika.'' Ino said when it was around time for Neji to be discharged. She swiveled her chair around with her feet as she happily consumed her cherry tomatoes that the Nara had given her. ''Neji can't have his eyes sockets come into direct contact with the sun. No training and you have to put the droplets I gave you into his sockets about four times a day and make sure there is no light anywhere in the room when you do it. Make sure he doesn't get water into them when he's taking a bath. Wrap up his bandages loosely and gently after every time you put in the eye drops, and please make sure he doesn't walk into anything.'' Ino said, frowning at her team mate.

''Yea yea yea..'' Shikamaru said as he too swiveled his own chair around with his foot. The Nara was sitting in the chair backwards with one of his legs on either side of the back of the chair. He had just gotten here about ten minutes ago and already Ino was bossing him around..

''Listen to me, Shikamaru!'' Ino scolded, picking up a tomato and eating it. ''If you don't do exactly as I say, you could seriously injure Neji.''

''No sunlight, no water, no training, droplets four times, wrap loosely and no hitting anything. I got it, sheesh.'' Shikamaru groaned. Sometimes he wondered if his team mate thought he was stupid or something. Which he most obviously wasn't.

''And, once every two days, I'm gonna come and make sure that you're not messing things up.'' Ino said, swiveling her chair around in a full circle.

''I won't 'mess things up''' Shikamaru defended himself.

''Yea. That's what you said about Chouji's surprise birthday party last year..''

''Hey. I didn't tell him. He found out on his own.''

''Whatever.'' Ino said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. ''It's about time. Let's go.'' she said, glancing at her clock. Both of them got up and left the room. Ino grabbed the door handle to Neji's room when they arrived and knocked. The talking that had been going on within the room suddenly stopped.

''Come in!'' Shikamaru could recognized Youji's voice answer for Neji instead and Ino opened the door when she heard it.

The blonde smiled as she and her team mate entered the room. ''Sorry, kiddies.'' She teased. ''It's time to go.''

''Awe man!'' Youji complained and Ino laughed.

''Yep! So come on. Out cha go!'' the blonde said and herded the genin out of the room.

''See you, Neji-sensei.''

''But..ugh. Fine. See ya, sensei!''

''Bye sensei!''

''Woof!''

The four said their goodbyes before leaving, causing Neji to shake his head at them.

''How sweet.'' Ino commented as she shut the door.

''Pfft. They're anything but.'' Shikamaru said, frowning as he remembered Youji and Damien pulling prank after prank on him when they were still in the academy.

''Oh, stop being such a kill joy.'' Ino said, waving a hand at him. ''Anyways, ready to go Neji?''

''I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose..''

''Good. Because there are a few things I need to go over with you.'' Ino said as she shoved her box of cherry tomatoes into Shikamaru's hands. ''No sunlight on your eye sockets or water, no pushing yourself to do things and most important, no training.'' she said sternly as she went over to the bureau in the room that held Neji's clothes. She opened it up and pulled out the pieces of clothing. ''And also, let Shikamaru do things for you. I know that you're stubborn and like to do things yourself. But I can not stress this enough, take it easy this time around, okay?''

''Understood.'' Neji responded without a moment's hesitation. He had always been disciplined when it came to following orders, even though these were not to his liking. He hated being cared for when he was injured. It's degrading.

''Good. Now..you think you can handle getting dressed by yourself?'' Ino asked as she went over to the prodigy. She grabbed his arm gently and pulled him out of the bed and onto his feet.

''I'm sure that I can manage.'' Neji said as his doctor handed him his clothes.

''Alright. Call me if you need me and let us know when you're done. Oh and before I forget, I had Hinata drop off some of your clothes at Shikamaru's place this afternoon so you don't have to worry about it'' Ino said, ushering her team mate and herself out, Neji thanking her before they were completely out of the room.


Once Neji was dressed, Ino went over with both of them, in detail, what was to be done and how to do it. It didn't sound too hard, Shikamaru presumed, but it would still be a drag.. Well, at least he would get to be with Neji. That's all he cared about at this point. He still felt that most of what happened was his fault and he wanted to make it up to the Hyuuga in any way that he could.

''Okay, just one more thing.'' Ino said and clapped her hands, giving Shikamaru a stern look. ''When walking Neji back to your apartment, you must make sure he doesn't hit anything.''

''We already went over this.'' Shikamaru grumbled, just wanting to go home.

''Yea but we didn't go over how to hold his body so that you have complete control over where he is going and still be able to maneuver yourself.''

''I am not an object to be manipulated so please stop referring to me as one.'' Neji complained, not liking the way Ino was talking about him.

''Would you rather run into a wall?...Yea that's what I thought.'' Ino said after Neji was silent. ''Now Neji, please get up so that I can demonstrate for Shikamaru.''

Neji would have glared at her but could not for obvious reasons so he just go up silently. He took one step away from his bed and waited.

''Okay. So you wrap your arm around his back. And you hold his forearm with your other hand.'' Neji heard Ino say and felt her half encircle him with her body. ''This way, you have total control over him and yourself. Now you try.''

Neji remained still and calm as Shikamaru tried. The Nara inwardly smirked to himself when he felt Neji's warm back against the inside of his arm. 'We'd better take the long way home..' he thought, loving the feeling of having Neji in his arms.

''Okay. That's everything.'' Ino said as she ate some more cherry tomatoes. ''Go slow and if you feel lightheaded Neji, take a break, okay?''

''I will'' Neji assured. His whole back was tingling from the warmth of Shikamaru's arm and he did like it, but what he didn't like was the fact that this position was for him to be 'controlled'. He didn't like the sound of that and also, he wasn't too happy about the fact that people would be staring at him in public for being so close with another male. 'Well. It is late in the evening..Not to many people will be out and about.''

''Oh yea, one more thing..'' Ino said, causing Shikamaru to inwardly groan. All he wanted to do was leave. ''Where is..Neji gonna sleep?''

At this, Neji turned his head in Shikamaru's direction. He had been wondering the same thing actually.

''In my bed.'' Shikamaru said, shrugging.

''But you never give up your bed.'' Ino said with a questioning tone, raising a slender eyebrow.

''You've sat on my couch before. It's practically a bed. I'll manage.'' Shikamaru said.

''Oh..okay then.'' Ino said. ''Well. Have a safe trip I guess. I'll see you guys in two days for a check up.'' the Yamanaka said, opening the door to the room with her foot.

''Yea yea. See ya.'' Shikamaru grumbled and gently tugged Neji to walk with him out of the room.

Neji frowned at being led somewhere when there was no way to see where he was going, but he forced himself to bear it. ''Thank you for everything, Ino.''

''No problem, Neji. I'll let you know when me, Sakura and Tsunade-sama figure something out okay.''

''Alright.'' Neji said as Shikamaru continued to lead him through the halls of the hospital. He could hear footsteps all around him and whispers of people talking. It had been much quieter in his hospital room, but this was nothing he couldn't handle.

The Hyuuga sighed as he felt the cool evening breeze wash over him as they finally made it outside. The couple continued and Neji decided to break the silence. ''You didn't have to do that you know..Let me stay with you I mean..''

''Did you really think I would pass up a chance like this after I haven't seen you in weeks?'' Shikamaru asked, chuckling.

''Is that your way of saying that you missed me?'' Neji asked, smirking.

''Yea. I guess it is..'' The Hyuuga heard Shikamaru say before he felt the shadow-nin nuzzle his hair with his nose. He also felt the grip on his waist tighten and pull him closer to the other shinobi. Neji, of course, didn't know if this was simply because he was about to walk into something or if Shikamaru just wanted them to be closer, but the Hyuuga was confident that it was most likely the latter.

After a short while, Shikamaru pulled away from the Hyuuga and looked at Neji sadly. ''So what exactly happened? You promised me that you would be safe.'' he finally asked what he had been dying to know for the past two days. He still felt that this was his fault for not stopping Neji, when in reality, there was no way that he could have known that this was going to happen.

The Nara felt the other boy tense in his arms before Neji spoke in a professional tone, ''I was ambushed and taken captive.'' Shikamaru could tell by the way he spoke that he didn't want to talk about this right now and decided to let it slide for now. Neji would tell him when he's ready.

''Hm..'' Was all the shadow-nin offered in reply as he guided the prodigy down the streets of the village. He left Neji to his own thoughts and the two were quickly enveloped in silence as they trudged on.

After a while, Neji abruptly stopped, startling the Nara slightly by the sudden movement. ''I need to rest..'' was all the Hyuuga offered as an explanation.

'Well at least he's not pushing himself..' Shikamaru thought, looking around for a place to sit when he felt a raindrop land on his nose. He frowned and looked up at the sky, inwardly cursing to himself when he saw dark clouds looming overhead. ''Unless you want to be soaked to the bone, I suggest we keep moving.'' the Nara said, having noticed earlier that there were no dry places to wait the storm out and all of the shops close by were closed.

Neji sighed and blinked slowly underneath his bandages. ''Fine.'' he said slowly, even though he felt like he would collapse any minute now. He hadn't gotten out of bed for three days and Ino had explained to him before that the aftereffects of the surgery might still be with him from before so he should take it easy. Not to mention, he hadn't gotten any sleep today whatsoever because of all the visits from his family and his team.

Shikamaru frowned at Neji's response. He looked at the Hyuuga and could see from the parts of his face that were not bandaged, that he couldn't go on much longer. He looked completely exhausted. ''Hold on. I've got a better idea.''

Before Neji could ask what it was, Shikamaru removed his arm from around him and let go of his forearm. ''What are-?'' Neji started to say but was cut off when Shikamaru placed a hand on his back and another hand on the back of his knees and the hyuuga prodigy found himself lifted once again into the Nara's arms.

''Shikamaru.'' Neji hissed. ''I let you do this once. I'm not going to allow you do it again.'' he snapped, struggling.

''This way will be faster and you won't have to push yourself.'' Shikamaru said, taking off at a run towards his apartment, Neji protesting along the whole way, demanding to be put down.


Even though Shikamaru had tried his best to avoid getting wet, it didn't help much. They were still soaked when they got home. Shikamaru had taken off his jounin vest for Neji to use as a sort of umbrella so that his eye sockets wouldn't get wet.

The Nara adjusted his grip on the Hyuuga's thighs as he finally made it into the lobby of his apartment. He completely ignored the confused look the people in the room cast him and went over to the stairs. He inwardly groaned and looked down at the genius in his arms. 'Great. It was too much of an effort to pull myself up these stairs. Now I have to carry someone else on top of that? I knew this was a bad idea..'

He let out on last sigh before beginning his ascent up the stairs. He looked down at Neji, who had gone silent for quite some time now. Even though the Nara was happy about it finally being quiet, he began to worry when he felt the Hyuuga slightly shivering from being soaked to the bone.

This alone pushed him to move faster and in no time, they arrived at his apartment door. '''Neji, can you get my keys? They're in my front pocket.'' he asked, seeing as he couldn't get it himself. Of course, he could have put Neji down, but he didn't want to risk it because the Hyuuga might still be tired.

Shikamaru felt Neji reach his hand into his pocket and pull out his keys. The Nara guided him to where the lock was and they eventually got the door open together. Shikamaru kicked the door with his foot, uncaring when it slammed into the wall, most likely giving the elderly couple who lived next door a heart attack.

The Nara walked into his apartment and kicked the door shut just as loudly as he had kicked it open. ''Hey Neji..are you okay?'' Shikamaru asked as he walked over to the couch and set him down on the soft material, not caring whether it got wet or not. It would dry.

''Yes.'' was all the Hyuuga offered him in response.

'Great. He's pissed.' Shikamaru thought as he stood up. He went over to the door and turned on the light switch. ''I'm gonna go get you some dry clothes and some towels.'' he said and excused himself, picking up the folded piece of paper that was waiting for him on the table. As he walked down his hallway to his bedroom, he unfolded the piece of paper and read what was inside.

'Shikamaru,

You're father and I came to see you this morning, but you weren't here. We wanted to surprise you, but you ended up surprising us. You're usually never up this early.

Anyway, come and see us when you get the chance. It's been ages since I've seen my little boy.

Love you, Mom'

Shikamaru groaned when he finished reading the paper. He didn't have time to go and see them. Not when he was taking care of Neji. 'But knowing mom, she won't take that as an excuse..' He sighed, deciding to see them later as he picked through the clothes that Hinata had brought over and picked out a suitable shirt and some grey sweatpants. He stood up and walked into his bathroom and got two towels before heading back into his living room, finding Neji in the exact same position as he was when he left him.

''Do you need any help getting dressed?'' Shikamaru asked, setting the towels down on the coffee table.

Neji, who had cooled down some when he was left alone, nodded and stood up. ''I found earlier that I was having trouble with the buttons..''

''Buttons?'' Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow. He only saw the button on Neji's shirt.

''My pants also have a button..'' Neji said calmly.

Shikamaru looked down from Neji's shirt to his pants and gulped. ''Oh..'' he said. He took a step towards the Hyuuga and took the shirt button into his fingers. He undid it with ease and then looked downwards.

''How do I...undo this thing?'' the Nara asked, tugging on the long haired ninja's black piece of clothing over his pants.

''If you so much as think of calling it a skirt, I will hurt you.'' Neji said seriously.

'Yea, you wish' Shikamaru thought, fully aware that Neji was probably no match for a genin right now. ''Yea yea.. how does it come off?''

''There's a tie in the back.'' Neji said simply and Shikamaru nodded, reaching both arms around Neji's waist to grip the ties in the back. He pulled at the knot that he found there, taking his sweet time as he sneaked closer to the Hyuuga until their chests were against each other. He placed his chin on Neji's shoulder, pretending that he was only doing this so that he could see what he was doing.

Neji was silent as he felt this. He wasn't entirely mad at the Nara anymore for carrying him around Konoha like he was a princess. He understood that it was only for his own well being. He started when he felt Shikamaru kiss that one spot on his neck that had him shivering. He frowned when didn't feel the Nara's hands moving to untie the knot. 'That tease..' he thought as he realized that the shadow-nin had no intention of helping him get rid of his belt. Neji bit the inside of his lip as he felt teeth bite his neck. Maybe the Nara was going to help him get rid of his clothes after all, the way this was going..

Shikamaru pulled back from his Hyuuga. He kissed the boy's temple and looked down at Neji's clothes. He could see practically everything because most of the Hyuuga's wardrobe was white. He let his eyes trace over Neji's body hungrily, feeling no shame for doing so as he pulled at the tie of Neji's belt, the black material falling from the boy's body once he did.

The jounin found himself shivering when the shadow-nin placed his hands on his chest. Shikamaru let his hands tease the Hyuuga's nipples for a moment before slowly running them down his sides to grasp at the button to his pants.

Shikamaru undid the button as he felt Neji place his own hands under the Nara's soaked turtle neck sweater. The Hyuuga let himself be pushed back onto the couch by Shikamaru when the chuunin gently eased him backwards.

Neji found himself lying flat on the couch, his feet hanging off of the edge awkwardly because there wasn't enough room to accommodate his whole body. The Hyuuga felt the shadow-nin place his hands on either side of him and light kisses and nips were placed on neck, causing him to shiver.

'I think I'm going to like it here..' was the last thought that Neji remembered thinking before he a pair of warm lips were placed over his, both the Hyuuga and the Nara too caught up in each other to notice that it had finally stopped raining outside..


Yosh! It ish completed! :D Wow, I did this in one day, yay! I thought I wasn't going to be able to but I pushed onward! Teehee :3

Whats up next for our lovely couple? I know, but you don't :D but don't worry, I'll tell ya next time :] As always, thanks to all those who have reviewed and please leaveth me some feedback :3 I would really appreciate it

Review Replies:

Purple and Green Zebras: Muffin Basket? Zomg where? You never cease to amaze me with your weirdness buddy -.- Thanks for reviewing, as always, and I shall see-eth you on tomorrow my crazy friend :D

Jay: thank ya sweets for the review :D You ish my bestest pal and Borris the Spider says hi :D He has fixeth his web and it ish better than before. He put a hot tub in :3

Please review, silly gooses and let me know what ya thought. Til next time, see ya :D

*By the way, my editor has demanded that I say that I need a minimum of 4 reviews before I am allowed to post again. She is so mean :[