Of Love Lives & Gal moments

It had been exactly 8 days since the fateful incident at Ichiraku, and Neji hadn't gained an inch of ground where Tenten was concerned. Frustration was an understatement to what he was feeling at the moment, sitting in, ironically, Ichiraku, by himself.

That didn't last long.

"Oi," Shikamaru sat down to his left, looking almost as bad as he supossed he looked. "Having problems too?"

Neji shrugged. "Some what."

"Ahh…"

They fell into a comfortable silence, both men knowing that they were socially uneducated enough to carry a conversation with each other for an extended period of time.

"Women are troublesome."

The Hyuuga raised an eyebrow. "That was random."

"Don't you dare tell me you're not moping in here because of Tenten." He said it in a very matter of fact way that only fueled to anger Neji more.

"I wouldn't have to be worrying about that if it weren't for your stupid idea in the first place," he snapped.

Shikamaru gave a long yawn before resting his head in his arms. "That was Gaara, not me, you baka."

"Same thing."

The pineapple head only shrugged, placing the two into silence, once again.

"Why did you say women are troublesome?" Neji questioned after awhile, uncharacteristically opening up the conversation.

"Because they are," came the mumbled reply.

"Ino?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Silence filled the air, once again.

"Hey, are you boys going to buy something to eat, or just take up space all night?"

"Sorry," they both said before heading outside into the cool night.

"What do you suppose I do?" Neji asked. "I'm not gay," he added with an afterthought.

Shikamaru frowned. "No one thought you were in the first place. Gaara was just trying to find a way to get you to ask Tenten out. The whole ordeal was troublesome."

"I don't see any of you guys dating- except Kiba. Why should I have to?"

They were quiet for a moment, both walking without a real destination. "All I've got to say is I'm glad it's not me."

Neji gave him a sidelong glance. "Even I'm better with women then you are."

"A constipated chicken is better with women than me," Shikamaru said, shrugging. "It doesn't really bother me. They are troublesome and unpredictable, happy one minute, sad the next. If you ask me, we're better off without them."

"Oh, and that's not the reason why you're all down tonight."

"Well, some girls just don't seem to get the fact that Sasuke is indeed gay."

They both nodded in agreement, silently musing why the Uchiha, even after changing his sexuality, still had a better chance of getting a girl then either of them did.

"I've got 20 more days. Think it's possible?"

Shika shrugged. "In the world of Konoha, anything is possible."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

"Neji!"

"W-w-what?"

"Just kidding, Tenten-chan!"

The girls burst into laughter, while Tenten silently fumed. She couldn't figure out what was so funny in this particular situation. After manipulating her to come hang out with them and Ino's place, they basically forced her to play this stupid 'Who's best' game.

Sakura giggled. "Comon, Tenten, you've got to admit that Neji-san does indeed have the best hair out of all the guys."

"Yeah, yeah," Ino said, with a wave of her hand. "My turn. Sakura, who do you think has the best eyes?"

The pink haired kunoichi blushed uncomfortably under all their gazes. "Erm, well, you know…"

"Forehead girl, common! We don't have all day!"

"Uh…" she mumbled something before turning into a shade of puce.

"What?" said Ino, a wicked glint in her eyes, "I don't think we were able to hear that…"

Sakura turned indignant. "Ino-pig, you heard. Stop trying to be difficult."

Hinata's quiet voice picked up. "Gomen, Sakura-chan… but I was unable to hear you…"

The pink haired girl blushed once again. "Ok, fine. Naruto. You guys happy now?"

Ino grinned. "I told you you liked him."

"I don't like him! I just said he had pretty eyes!" she continued before Ino could interrupt. "Ok, my turn. Tenten…"

Tenten wiggled uncomfortably. "Yeah…?"

"Who do you think has the… the… best… fighting style?"

Tenten signed in relief. "Oh, that's easy. Neji, of course."

Temari gave her a questioning look. "Wow," she said, "You sure answered that one quickly."

"Why do you guys insist on dissecting all my answers? There's absolutely nothing romantic at all in saying that Neji has an awesome fighting style!"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who brought up the 'R' word, Tenten, not us."

"Well," said Sakura, giggling, "Tenten-chan does train with Neji-san a lot. How could she not notice his nice style… or shall we say, the way his body moves while fighting?"

"You guys," Tenten snapped. "I have a boyfriend, you know."

"Oh yeah." The girls frowned in distaste. "That one guy. The fashion designer."

"Yeah. Him. He has a name. And I'm modeling his next clothing line."

Ino straightened from her slouch. "What? You're going to be a model?"

Tenten frowned. "Well, it doesn't mean that I'm not going to do missions and stuff… Don't get all rowdy."

Sakura decided to speak up, her voice gentle. "Tenten-chan… why are you doing this? Why are you dating this guy that you so obviously don't like?"

Burying her face in a pillow, she answered, "Who ever said I didn't like him?"

A melancholy silence fell over the girls. Surprisingly, it was painfully shy Hinata that broke it. "Because you love Neji-niisan."

It came to Tenten as a surprise that she didn't even raise her head to deny it. It was surprising how easily she accepted it, how she didn't even utter a sound of protest. Did that mean that even after all these years, she was still madly in love with that Hyuuga?

The girls lapsed into uncharacteristic silence. After a while, Tenten said, "Yeah, you're right, I do."

So why did her voice sound like she had been fighting a battle, and had just lost?

A/N: No, I have not died. A million sorries to everyone who has been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for an update. I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't up to your standards, I know it's not my best work. Ehh… I even added a bit of angst to the mix, furthermore complicating my already complicated mess. –sigh- lol, well, hopefully I'll update sooner next time, but I cant promise you guys anything, since there's school and all. Anyway, thanks so much for reading!

Love and kisses to:

Teamgaifan: Yes, I haven't updated in a long long time… and your review just gave me such inspiration to write!

AnimeFreakPerson: I'm so glad this cheered you up! And thanks for reviewing every single one of my chapters!

DemonFireGirlHotaru: Wow… thanks, haha. I love long reviews, they warm an author's heart.

Aryanne: Oh my gosh! Shikamaru is so my favorite character, too! He's so popular amongst us fan girls. Haha, whoo! Shikamaru Fan Club Extraordinaire! Oh, and some Shika/Ino romance wont be scarce in the near future…

Bakutiku: A cookie…? I like white chocolate chip with macadamia nuts.

HappyFanFicReaderGirl: I care a lot about grammar and spelling, too. It just makes things so much easier to read, you're absolutely right.

Cookie6: Yeah… beating around the bush pisses me off too, but Neji and Tenten seem like the couple that would do it… in my opinion… haha

Sharingank: I'm SO happy you like this! It means so much to me, especially since you're like this uber cool and awesome writer and I love each and every single one of your stories! You need to update Lionheart sometime soon!

AphroditeMe: I know, I'm SO sorry I forgot Kiba! And don't you worry, I'm going to find a way to incorporate him in here somehow. I love that guy so much, especially without his hood. He's a little cutie, aint he?

WickedFantasies: I absolutely adore the Naruto Primers by Link and Luigi. I'm honored that you compared my story to theirs… haha. Neji and Tenten are probably my favorite couple too… since Neji is so cool and Tenten is basically the only girl that can fight.

Fireblazie: Sasuke is… well, I'll let you think what ever you want to. I know that you like SasuSaku, but I don't. Sorry if I offended you by making him a bit off… actually, I don't hate him, he just gets on my nerves a bit. I really do hate Sakura, though, so that's why I don't ever write that couple.

Chibihatsuharu: Yeah, I know. Poor, poor Neji. I feel bad for him. -Evil chuckle-

Bakutiku: Sorry! I didn't insult him… in a way. I only put out the assumption that he's gay… because I honestly think he must be.

lemmings12: I know, Gaara is very OOC, but it's hard to incorporate him into a humor story without changing him a bit. Plus, he was a nice and cute kid… so I'm sure eh would've grown up like any normal teen if he didn't have a sand demon inside of him and his father didn't want him killed. Poor baby… Yeah, thanks for the tip. It's actually really hard to make a character that's not your in character because, well, they're not yours. Also, the characters in Naruto have so many mood swings (take Naruto for example. One moment he's exuberant, the next he's serious and angry). Ahh, the agony us authors have to go through. XD

KageNoKatana: Yes, it's fate. YES! You're basically the only other person that's reviewed me that agrees with me on the whole Gaara issue. I'm so glad you like him that way! Moral support, whoo-hoo!

Souungo: Wow… I'm glad you find this amazingly funny… -scratches back of head- it wasn't that funny… but what ever floats your boat dear.

Takari-san: Yeah, of course Neji's not gay! I love him! And he belongs with Tenten!

Harada-Twin

And thanks so much to:

Bill the Cat . Fooliet . Angl . Ino lover . kashisenshey . Nalio . Cookie6 . Anon . NuttyScribbler . Chibi-youkai . The Muses . Tk and Zv . Cold-Blade . J.P. Yabao . Plumbwarrier37: . bubblekid . Firefly-Queen . Trickmaster . Yukina

I'm sorry if I missed you… I had a maddening amout of reviews the last two chapters.