Chapter 25

One Word: Whoa

Hey guys...look I know its been like six months (maybe more) since my last update, and I'm sorry. This time I really have a reason, though! We don't have internet, and we haven't for a while, but in about a month we will. Right now, I'm uploading from my grandma's computer, so at least I have that! I'll try to update this story like three times in the few days I'm here! Oh, and I also apologize for the grammatical errors in this chapter and the last one I did. We don't have Microsoft Word for some reason so we have to use WordPad which doesn't have SpellCheck. Lastly, if you are reading this, that means you have stuck with me for the year that I've spent writing this story (that's not even done yet)! I heart you all!

Special thanks to my reviewers from last chapter: Kawaii :3, carolvk, Tsarina Torment, Innocence and Instinct, 44katie, Kayla, girlinblack, MusicAgainstTheHeart, ShikaIno1, Luka1Sakura, Naru-Vampire, Kgirl17, moonshine86, and LilyVampire.

You guys ROCK!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-Recap-

The three friends, all of the maids and lab technicians, and even Kakashi stared at Shikamaru's monitor. They watched as the two exchanged meaningful kisses.

"WOOOT YOU GO SHIKAMARU!" erupted in the lab as everyone cheered Shikamaru on. Everyone except for Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Kakashi who knew this was wrong. They gritted their teeth and glared daggers through the monitor.

Aw Shikamaru…what have you gotten yourself into this time?

-End Recap-

A few seconds rolled by. Shikamaru and Ino continued their liplock, the shinobi continued their glares, and the workers continued their cheers.

"Get. Him. OUTTA THERE!" Kakashi snapped, eyes still fixed on the monitor. Naruto was the first to oblige. He turned around swiftly and began jogging towards the exit. Neji fell out of his trance and trailed behind his blonde friend. Sasuke decided that Naruto and Neji could handle the present situation, so he stayed standing. He had long since averted his eyes from the screen to the floor, not really desiring to watch one of his best friends make-out. Kakashi heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his silver locks. This mission was totally the opposite of easy.

'I should have known...' Kakashi thought to himself. 'that bringing four teenage girls into a house of four teenage boys was going to be a bad idea. I don't understand what's going on. These boys are usually the best of the bunch...they don't really get involved with the female sex...why now??? This could be the biggest scandal in Konoha history and now I have to worry about my team's hormones getting in the way?'

"Kakashi." Sasuke called, pulling his perverted sensei out of his train of thought. The said trainer raised his only visible eyebrow in answer. "What's the real reason for this mission?"

The question was unexpected, especially from Sasuke. Normally he didn't care what the mission was for. He just did what he was instructed to do and that was that. Done. No questions asked. So for someone as quiet as Sasuke to ask for an elaboration was indeed uncalled for.

What made it worse was that Kakashi didn't know the answer himself. He wasn't even sure if he understood the question.

"You'll know when the time is right, Sasuke." Kakashi answered. 'Hopefully so will I." He thought.

-With Naruto and Neji-

"I am going to MANGLE him!" Neji yelled as he punched a wall, keeping his swift stride with Naruto. He was strangely upset, and he really didn;t understand why. Could it be becuase Shikamaru was endangering the mission? Or because now the Akatsuki could easily find out that Shikamaru had a soft spot for Ino? No.

It was because, Neji hadn't thought of it first.

Well sure he'd thought of it before...kissing TenTen. It wasn't like it was something Neji could really control. I mean when you're a seventeen year old boy with raging hormones, it's hard to keep yourself in check. He couldn't even tell you how many times he;d made an excuse to leave their room so that way he didn't have to smell her watermelon shampoo waft through the air. Or how many times he'd fantasize whenever he saw TenTen with her hair down and that cute smile plastered on her face. Of course he would never admit this information to anybody but himself. He was Neji Hyuga...girls were supposed to fall at his feet not the other way around. He was cold-hearted with no emotions...and there was NO way he was changing his ways over this...BROAD!!!

"CALM DOWN, NEJI! LOOK, WE'LL BUST SHIKAMARU, THROW HIM IN THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL, AND THEN GO OUT FOR RAMEN!" Naruto said in what he thought was a whisper, but was actually a shout. The voice sounded throughout the corridor, and alerted Shikamaru. The pine-headed male jerked up from his standing point in front of Ino, and cursed under his breath. His lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes narrowed.

"Ugh...troublesome..."

"Wh-what's wrong?" Ino stammered as she opened up her turquoise eyes, completely oblivious to the nearing footsteps and boisterous voices. She felt invincible with Hulio (Shikamaru) gripping her waist protectively. The unexpected stop vexed Ino and she was starting to wonder why he had seized. She was having fun...wasn't he?

"HULIO!" Neji barked as he swiveled from around the corner. His stunning pale eyes held Shikamaru's in an OH-NO-YOU-DIDN'T kind of look. Shikamaru loosened his hold on the blue-eyed female, and immediately stuffed his hands in his pocket.

"This doesn't concern you, Luis...Keke." He stated rather blandly.

Neji came to a stand-still right in front of the couple. He shook his head in disbelief. "You're putting all of us at stake...your blonde girlfriend now more than ever."

"You know as well as I do, that we can take anything that's thrown at us." Shikamaru retaliated.

"You almost lost her once."

"And I won't lose her again."

"Is this really what you wanna' do?"

"What would you do if it was?"

Neji just shrugged his shoulders, still half-angry at his friend. Neji couldn't really blame Shikamaru for his decision. Fate decided the rules, not him. Any opinion Neji would state wouldn't matter. Neji was just mad that Shikamaru had more guts to go out on a limb than he had. Oh well, there was no turning back now.

"Whatever." Neji replied as he brushed past Shikamaru, and began heading to his room.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was still in shock. There was no way Neji just let him off the hook after almost blowing the mission. He knew that he wasn't supposed to get involved with her, yet Neji didn't seem to care. First Neji seemed upset, but then he cooled off. What was with these crazy mood swings? PMS, much?

"Wait so that's it...your just gonna' let me go?" Shikamaru asked as he turned towards the retrating Neji. The teen stoppen in his tracks before turning around slowly. His gaze was still as emotionless as ever, but there was something different in his eyes...something that showed a tad more sympathy. Shikamaru and Neji weren't exactly best buds (they were hardly acquantinces) but Shikamaru wasn't dumb...the look in Neji's face was definitely different. The long-haired man didn't even have to say anything for Shikamaru to retrieve the answer.

Shikamaru nodded, and let Neji be on his way. He turned again to face a dumbfounded Naruto and Ino looking utterly confused.

"I---WHAT---WHY---HOW DID YOU---BUT---" The two blondes sputtered out in unison. Shikamaru just chuckled at the two, before he began making his way towards his room. Ino followed closely at his heels, staring at the floor the whole time.

"YOU TWO HAVE FUN NOW, YA HEAR?! OH AND DON'T MAKE SO MUCH NOISE...REMEMBER HOW CLOSE THE ROOMS ARE! OH ONE MORE THING, SHIKAMARU!" Naruto called out to the dismissed couple. The two whipped their heads around to face Naruto, and cocked an eyebrow. They watched as a develish grin tugged at the corners of Naruto's lips.

"REMEMBER THE WALLS ARE THIN, SHIKAMARU! WE DON'T NEED ANY HOLES IN THE WALL, FROM THE HEADBOARD BANGING AGAINST THE W--"

"SHUT UP NARUTO!" Shikamaru and Ino recited simultaneously. Shika could feel the tips of his ears heating up. He saw through his peripheral vision, the cheeks of Ino's face reddening by the second. Shikamaru smirked, masking his embarassment. Of course he would never try anything this soon with Ino...but the thought did seem quite interesting.

Ino could feel her newly-retrieved boyfriend staring at her...or rather...checking her out. Poor INo was confused at first, until something in her dense mind clicked together. SHe gasped and turned her fierce gaze on Shikamaru.

"Don't. Even. Think ABout It!"

-With Sakura and Hinata-

"Sakura, you know what TenTen said is not trye..." Hinata sympathized, while patting Sakura's back. They had been sitting in Sakura's bed for the past ten minutes trying to come back from the horrific arguement. Sakura had just stopped crying, and Hinata was trying to console her with kind words of understanding.

The pinkette turned to face her kind friend with a frail smile on her face. "Oh no Hianta...it's true alright."

Hinata looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well...she was kind of right. I do make others feel bad for no reason. I guess I just figured that if I felt miserable then so should everyone else. It's just...he was my first major boyfriend, and what he did to me was cruel. For months I kept thinking it was because I wasn't pretty enough, or because I wasn't there enough. I never stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't the guy for me. And I'm glad I found out sooner than later."

Hinata smiled, and hugged her friend close. She was truly proud of how Skuara was learning from her experiences. It seemed as though everyone was starting to grow up a little. Maybe this whole mission-thing had strolled into their lives for a reason.

After the two parted, they stared at each other for a couple of minutes. Sakura knew what she had to do, but she knew it woulnd't be easy. She had to go apologize to TenTen. Hinata seemed to be giving silent acts of encouragements. Her soft smile motivated Sakura to do the right thing. The pinkette stood up from the bed, and walked over to TenTen's room. Hinata decided to give her two friends some space, and just go spend the rest of her day in her room.

-With Naruto-

"Ahahaahahahahahaahahah Shikamaru and Ino are about to get it on!!!!' Naruto thought as he strolled down the hall, making his way back to the surveillance lab to report the news to Kakashi and course Naruto didn't really think that Shikamaru would really be that irresponsible, but it was fun to imagine it!

Well, okay it was actually kind of creepy to think of your best friend having sex with a stranger, but it was still funny....kind of!

"Heh, I'll never let him live this down..." Naruto reported to himself as he walked into the lab. Kakashi was currently leaning against the computer monitor, reading his porno book.

"AY YO, KAPERVY SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, cleverly mixing Kakashi and pervy into one word. "SHIKAMARU AND INO ARE DOIN THE FREAK! LET'S SPY ON THEM WHILE THEY DO THE NASTY!" Naruto suggested while wriggling his eyebrows.

"Um...wow...Naruto. Didn't know you were into that kinda' thing...Well, if you want we could go back to my place if you wanna' watch this a little more comfortably..." Kakashi retorted with wide eyes.

Naruto looked utterly disgusted.

"EW NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! KAPERVY SENSEI, HOW DARE YOU!! BLEH, THAT'S---OH MY GOD, NO! WHAT THE F--! HOW--I DON'T EVEN HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT! I'M NOT YOU, YOU FREAKING GAY PORN-WATCHING PANSY! UGH, I CAN'T--I CAN'T TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Naruto left calmly (ushered frantically) out of the lab, while holding one hand to his mouth, trying to keep from throwing up. Kakashi sighed, as he watched the teen boy leave.

"So I guess that's a....maybe?"

-With Sasuke-

Onyx eyes stared at the empty corridor stretched out for what seemed like miles. Sasuke had his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, while he held a bored expression on his face. He had left Kakashi not long after Neji and Naruto had left to go deal with Shikamaru. Sasuke wanted to go back to his room and lounge there until the mission was over.

This mission was such a waste of his time.

And honestly, the drama that came along with this mission seemed to be more challenging than the Akatsuki themselves. Sasuke would so rather fight off every deadly member of that clan (hands tied behind his back) than go make another "tampon run" in the city. They didn't pay him enough for this job.

Correction: They couldn't pay him enough for this job.

Wait, so why was he still here?

Pride?

Strength?

Vulnerabilty?

Sasuke sheaved a hefty sigh. NO definitely not that last one.

Maybe it was because, Sasuke knew in the back of his mind that this mission might be the most important one of his career. Maybe not because it was nothing more than just babysitting, but maybe there was some sort of lesson that came along with it. What do they call those things? Morals...fables...

Love?

Wait...what?!

Sasuke shook his head vigorously. What was his mind droning on about? Well, it didn't really matter anyway. He was less than 10 feet away from his room. ANy minute now he would be fast asleep on his mastress where he could kill everyone in his sleep, and at least it would feel real for a little while.

"Hey TenTen...can we talk?" Sasuke heard a soft angellic voice ring out. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity. He was right in front of his door by this point, hand on the knob, ready to walk in. But maybe he should stand outside and make sure the air was...safe???

Yeah, that was it!

'Don't do it Sasuke...' He thought to himself.

"Actually, I think I'm the one who needs to do the talking." another voice (obviously TenTen's) stated. The two girls were inside Neji's room, and the door was cracked open slightly. Sasuke was able to stand in front of his door, and listen to their whole conversation...just as long as he stayed quiet enough...

'You're right in front of the door...walk in...'

Sasuke smirked and shook his head at his thoughts.

'Not a chance...'

-With Sakura and TenTen (And secretly Sasuke)-

Sakura had mustered up all of her courage to go talk to TenTen. She knew she owed TenTen a huge apology, and hopefully she could do so on the spot.

"Hey TenTen...can we talk?" Sakura spoke softly, but with purpose. TenTen had her ipod earphones in her ear, but Sakura noticed that the device wasn't even on. TenTen turned her big brown eyes to Sakura and smiled a litttle.

"Actually, I think I'm the one who needs to do the talking." TenTen began. She looked her friend right in her jade orbs before speaking. "Listen, I was way out of line, and I'm sorry. I had no right to bring up your past like that. You've been so strong these past few months, and I guess I was jealous because you always seem to know how to handle things. I'm sorry."

Sakura smiled and forgave TenTen (and vice versa) and they were friends again. TenTen also explained the situation with Ino. After a few fits of giggles, they hunted down Ino so that she and TenTen could make up.

(BTW Sasuke was not spotted during any of this)

"Alright guys, we better all catch some sleep for tomorrow." Ino suggested to the girls after all was at peace with the friends. She stiffled a yawn before flipping her long blonde hair behind her shoulders.

Sakura rolled her green eyes. "Even when you;re half asleep you still flip your hair like your famous or something."

"Yeah, Ms. Diva!" TenTen agreed.

Ino just smiled and shrugged. "You know what they say...a diva is a female version of a hustla!"

Sakura and TenTen just shook their heads in disapproval. "Sure...whatever helps ya sleep at night..."

Author's Box!

Okay I've figured out my problem! I have just recently realized that I put things into waaaaaaay too much detail! I mean I just took a whole chapter to explain twenty insignificant minutes of this story! Ugh I need to learn how to resize my writing! Well please review and vote...if you heart me...which I hope you do!

With Muchos Koi,

SFOMH