A/N: Okay, it's been a while, but this is the last chapter, and then the MASSIVE epilogue shall come! I just reread the last chapter, and realized that in the last bit, Ino was talking to Shika, but I never actually specified who he was correctly. The "he" that volunteers to clean up is Shika, so they're all surprised that he volunteered to do work. Hope that's cleared up.
AND THERE ARE THREE QUOTES! As like a special ending thingy, xD.

-

Lantern Moon,

Bone Phase:

Pact

-

"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

-Unknown

"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

-Harold Wilson

"When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty."

-Norm Crosby

-

"We did it, we did it!" Ino shouted.

She flung herself at the nearest person, (which happened to be Shikamaru), and hugged him tightly. He made a choking face, and poked her in the ribs. She rolled her eyes and loosened up a little, and then he hugged her back. Sakura smiled. "Awwww," she laughed. "How cute."

Ino let go of Shikamaru and nudged her friend. "Shut up."

"Well, we've got reason to celebrate," Shikamaru admitted, his face red. "You troublesome people dragged me into this, and you're going to drag me back out. At least we finally learned the song." Ino nodded happily.

"Yeah. It's really something," she agreed, though she was staring at Shikamaru when she said it. Tenten snorted loudly into her cube of cheese.

"Tsunade got another band at the last minute, so we only have to do the opening act," Shikamaru drawled lazily. "We don't have to be up there the entire time. I persuaded her to let us have some free time, troublesome woman," he sighed. Ino's eyes brightened.

"Oh my God, Shika, I love you!" she squealed, and hugged him again.

"Is that a fact?" Sakura smirked.

"Yes!" Ino replied unexpectedly, her lips twisting into a sly smile.

"Ino…" Shikamaru's eyes were wide. Sakura smiled.

"You know, Shikamaru, for a genius, you're pretty dumb around girls," she said. "Though admittedly not as bad as Sasuke-kun here," she added on as a second thought, glancing over at the raven-haired boy. Sasuke scowled and crossed his arms, his black eyes staring at the ceiling. She laughed.

"Bit touchy today?" she nudged him. "Eh? Eh?"

She made a confused sound when he bent down and whispered, "Annoying" into her ear, and then gave her a long kiss on the mouth. She sighed contentedly and pulled herself closer to him. There was a wolf whistle from Tenten, and then Naruto scowled.

"Get a room, will you? You're ruining my appetite!"

"I don't see anybody complaining when you plant one on Hinata," Ino said, raising an eyebrow at the other blonde. Naruto flushed right up to his hairline, so red that he looked like he would pass out, and Hinata was even redder. The pair looked like tomatoes. Ino burst out laughing at the sight of them.

"Wanna try that, Shika?" she winked, still laughing.

"Ino…" he said her name again, his face now annoyed. "You're so troublesome."

"Yeah, that's me!" she said airily, hugging him tightly once again. "But you're my best friend," she said softly into his ear so that only he could hear her. "Don't ever go away, okay?"

"Yeah." He hugged her back.

"Who's the best friend, Ino-pig?" Sakura called, laughing. "I'm hurt!" she added, an expression of mock sadness pasted on her face. Ino rolled her eyes and let go of Shikamaru.

"Aw, Forehead-girl, you know I love you," she said happily, running to give Sakura a hug too.

"Sakura-chan's my best friend!" Naruto pouted, hugging Sakura so tightly that she got lifted off of the ground. Sasuke's eyes, though still cold, revealed a trace of amusement.

"Don't kill her, Dobe."

Naruto scowled at his adversary. "Shut up, Sasuke-teme!"

"Na…ru…to…" Sakura choked. He let her go and rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh…heh…sorry, Sakura-chan." She glared at him and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"When did this turn into a hugging fest?" Tenten inquired irritably, still painstakingly avoiding Neji's eyes. "If that's all you guys are going to do, then I'm out." She was met by five pairs of slightly hurt eyes and two pairs of indifferent ones, (Sasuke and Neji). She set her bass on a table, and stormed out of the room.

-

"Tenten-chan? Daijoubu?"

Sakura sat down next to her friend, having followed her from the rehearsal room in concern. They sat on the grass in the backyard under the big tree. Tenten didn't answer and just kept ripping grass from out of the soil between her fingers. She picked the blades to shreds with her fingernails. Sakura sighed.

"Something happened between you and Neji, didn't it?"

Tenten flinched. "No," she answered too quickly. Sakura raised her eyebrows.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want," she said slowly. "But I'm worried if you're acting like this, Tenten-chan."

This time, it was Tenten's turn to sigh dismally.

"I kissed him."

"You what?"

"Well, at least I tried to, and then Naruto, that baka, had to just come in and interrupt…" Tenten took a deep breath. "Now I can't even look Neji-kun in the face without flushing. It's so stupid, and it's all Naruto's fault." Sakura smiled slightly in sympathy and amusement at Naruto's ability to ruin utterly all things romantic.

"Ouch. Sounds harsh."

"Yeah," Tenten rolled her eyes. "I'd like to have a good throttle at Naruto's neck, but seeing as we've got to perform at that concert and without a drum beat, we're as good as dead…" She sucked in a deep breath. "There's no way Shikamaru could take over drum set, could he?"

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Well, I don't really know what to tell you, Tenten-chan. Do you want to try again?"

"Try again?" Tenten repeated, confused.

"Kissing," Sakura smirked.

Tenten flushed pink. "Er…I suppose so…"

"Then what's stopping you?" Sakura inquired matter-of-factly, her green eyes shining with slight mirth at her friend's embarrassment. Tenten made some gurgling noises in her throat as she tried to think of an explanation of how she felt, (which was very confused).

"But…I'm really embarrassed," she finally said. "Neji-kun probably thinks I'm an idiot."

"There's only one sure way to know," Sakura prodded.

Tenten exhaled. "Still. You don't know Neji-kun like I do. He's not…"

"…normal?" Sakura finished. Tenten nodded desperately.

"Well, no matter how much of an ice cube he is, everybody needs some love," Sakura told her friend, her voice certain. "I think he really does love you, Tenten." Tenten's brown eyes found her friend's luminescent green ones, and she smiled in relief.

"Yeah, I think so too. After all, what would he do without me?"

-

"Are you still sad about Temari?"

Shikamaru sighed, and Ino sat down next to him on the sofa. "You are," she answered herself.

"Not so much. What's done is done," Shikamaru sighed again, his eyes focusing up on the ceiling. "Temari left. I'm stuck here." He shrugged.

"So…no use crying over spilt milk?" Ino volunteered.

"Troublesome women," said Shikamaru, not bothering to answer and talking to himself. "I wish I had never met any." Ino raised her eyebrows.

"You're talking to one."

"You're…different," said Shikamaru, exasperated. Ino's eyes narrowed dangerously into evil glinting slits of bright blue as she stared down her childhood friend. Too late, he realized his fatal mistake.

"Are you implying that you don't think I'm a girl?"

"N-no, woman!" he hastened to explain, his arms waving protectively in front of his face. "Don't hurt me!" She laughed, and settled back down.

"You always did have a way of ruining your relationships." He scowled, but had no argument, as she had a good point there.

"Ino, I do love you," he said after a while.

"Yeah, I know. You told me, remember?" she replied calmly. "You just love Temari more." He nodded gratefully at her.

"One woman is bad enough. Two is Hell."

She laughed. "Got that one right."

-

"Can't we rest?" Temari complained.

Gaara's cold eyes swiveled to glare at her, and she fell immediately silent. She was not fool enough to argue with her brother when he was in one of his "moods". He had not killed anything for a long time now, as Matsuri's influence had kept him from it, but Subaku no Gaara was more than willing to start his killing spree again.

"I can…see it…" Gaara hissed. Slowly, with dread in their eyes, the other three looked up from the ground. Sure enough, far away in the distance, they saw the boundary lines of the other Pack.

"Oh, God…" said Temari.

-

"Subaku no Gaara."

Gaara and Neji, (once again), faced each other across the boundary line. The Hyuuga's very eyes were chips of opal lined ice. Gaara's betrayed no emotion at all, set like dulled peridot against his death-pale face. A gentle breeze blew, ruffling his red hair.

"You are unwelcome here," Neji elaborated, his own long brown strands of hair blowing back in the breeze. The tie that held them together slipped, and the ends grazed against his face. Gaara leered.

"I have come to take what is mine," he replied.

"I am afraid that is not possible," Neji countered. Though his outside appearance remained cold and calm, his muscles tensed slightly. Behind him stood Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke smirked, and Naruto looked eager for a fight to break out right then and there.

"Gaara," Kankurou whispered. The redhead ignored him completely.

With a snarl, Gaara lunged forward into wolf form. Neji countered in the swift blink of an eye, their jaws snapping at each other. Within moments, the wolves were all caught in a giant, heaving mass of fur, claws, and blood, all seeking the throat and all failing.

In the middle of the other wolves, Gaara and Neji were locked in battle, both struggling hard to overcome the other and both failing. Their strength was equal to the last claw. Neji let loose a snarl of frustration as Gaara dodged yet another of his attempts, trying to evade the other Pack, and get past the boundary.

Just then, Sasuke, having managed to get rid of Temari for a moment, leaped onto Gaara's back. Just as the red wolf twisted in surprise, Sasuke bit down on the side of his neck. He missed the vital spot, but with one last frustrated snarl, Gaara rolled over and showed his belly. Panting, Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto all reverted to human form. Gaara and his Pack soon followed suit.

"You should not have challenged us," Neji said.

Gaara pushed himself up from the ground, his eyes hateful. Instead, he curled both hands into fists, and nodded to Neji in acknowledgement. "You are strong."

"Begone."

The four turned to leave, but as the others made their way forward, Temari hesitated. "Shikamaru…how is he?"

"Suffering," said Neji after a moment. Temari smiled weakly.

"Yes, the same for me. Will you tell him that we have been here?"

"Yes," said Sasuke unexpectedly. Both Neji and Naruto turned to look at him. His eyes were intense and curious, speculating Temari's anguished face. "I know what it is to be separated from the one that you love more than any other," he hissed. Temari nodded curtly at him in thanks.

"Goodbye."

She turned to follow her Pack.

-

A/N: Kind-of short, but the epilogue is next, and it is HUGE.