Neji woke up to the sound of his alarm early the next morning "ughn" he moaned and forced himself to sit up. He felt sick both physically and emotionally and wondered how he even fell asleep in the first place. He groaned and pulled the cord to the clock out with his foot, he was too tired to bother reaching over to turn it off. The numbers faded away and Neji stood up, hoping he would have time for a shower. He undressed out his shorts, which he had fallen asleep in and walked into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. After waiting a few minutes he place one foot in to test the water, relieved that it wasn't too hot or too cold he pulled his other foot in and relaxed. He needed this last night, a nice soothing shower to wash away all his doubts and tears but the white-eyed nin decided that now was just as good a time as any other. As the steam began to rise around his body he picked out one of the many bottles he had laid out, he made sure to take good care of himself and his appearance, he was a hyuuga after all. Neji looked at the bottle he had chosen without paying attention, then returned it to it's former position and picked another. Shikamaru used to complement how his hair smelled when he used that shampoo, he didn't want to be reminded of his new ex while he was relaxing. It was going to be hard enough seeing him in class anyway, that and he didn't want to look like it bothered him even though it tore at him from the inside. With the new bottle in hand he decided it was going to be a fresh start today. 'A new beginning' he pondered to himself and squeezed the shampoo into his hand before lathering his hair for a few moments. "Mmm…" Neji closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cool wall in front of him, slowly he drifted into a peaceful daydream as the water cleansed his hair and body.

It wasn't until he heard a knock at the door did he re-open them. "N-neji? Are you r-ready for school?" it was Hinata, he'd recognize the nervousness in that voice anywhere. School? That's right! He had school, how long had he been off in his own little world? "Hinata, what time is it?" He yelled back at his cousin. "8...8:15 N-neji…I-I thought you would be ready at 8 but when you didn't come to breakfast I got worried. Are you okay?" God he wished she wouldn't stutter every time she said his name, wait 8:15? He had been in la-la land for over 45 minutes? How was that possible? He didn't even feel wrinkled. "I-I'm fine Hinata…I'll catch up to you in a bit. I just woke up late so I'll run to class as soon as I'm done." "O-okay N-neji. I'll see you i-in class." he heard a little shuffling away from the door after he turned the water off, oh well at least he was clean.

He dried himself off and grabbed the closest clean garments his hands happened upon and ran out the door while tugging his shirt on, then ran back to grab his book bag making him even more late.

Neji hurried to school at break neck speed and slowed only in the halls so he could avoid getting yelled at. Noticing the halls were empty and everyone was already in class he sped up a bit. He fumbled with the lock to his locker and grabbed his notes before taking off to his class and quietly walking in. "-aara is this classes new student and I hope you will treat him as you would any other ninja here. He also has two other siblings starting here today, treat them kindly as well." The teacher gave Neji a quick warning glare as he stepped in, showing he did notice the Hyuuga's late arrival.

As the long-haired boy walked past he noticed Shikamaru seemed preoccupied in staring out the window, he didn't appear to get much sleep as dark rings around his eyes were evident. Taking his seat he looked up at the new kid standing in front of the class. Dirty red hair and slightly hunched over due to the large gourd strapped to his back. Gaara's narrowed and dark circled eyes gazed across the room, finally landing on Neji who shifted uncomfortably when he looked up to find he was being watched. "Gaara, why don't you take a seat next to Neji." the teacher said softly and patted the new student on the back. "…" Gaara kept staring. "Right, you don't know who that is, he is the boy that came into class late. I hope it will not happen again." Neji glowered, he didn't have to point it out to the entire class, they all watched him come in late anyway. He murmured back a quiet "No sir" and continued to fidget in his seat. The new student smiled, at least, it looked like he was trying to smile and slowly took his seat next to the dark haired boy. Neji turned to the sand nin and held out his hand, might as well introduce himself. "Hello, I'm Hyuuga Neji. You are Gara?" "Gaara." the other corrected, putting more emphasis on the 'a' and taking the other's hand. Neji expected a shake but found his hand was being smelled instead, earning an odd look from the boy sitting to Neji's right which happened to be Sasuke. "Gaara…" the boy looked up at Neji. "What are you doing?" "You're hands are very soft." The red head simply replied then added. "And clean." The hyuuga didn't know why or how, but he felt a small blush creep onto his face when Gaara said this. "I took a 45 minute shower." he found himself blurting out. 'Why did I say that?' he wondered to himself. However the new student seemed strangely satisfied with his answer. "That would do it" a grin slipped onto Gaara features, eyes still refusing to break contact with the other boy.

The teacher prattled on about basic techniques, Neji wasn't really listening he knew all of this stuff anyway. He spared a quick look to his right. Sasuke appeared equally as bored and was playing with his pencil until he noticed Neji was looking in his direction. 'Bored too?' Sasuke mouthed to Neji and shrugged. Neji nodded back. 'Why does he make us sit through this?' They've gotten used to reading each other's lips whenever the sensei started a review, it wasn't their fault they were just too damn smart for their own good. Now it was Sasuke's turn to nod in agreement and smirk, mouthing back 'Because we're sexy and he likes to check us out?' Neji coughed out a small laugh and Sasuke grinned victoriously. The whole point of their little game was to get the other to make noise, this round when to Sasuke. "Neji, is there something funny the rest of the class should now about?" damn, teacher interference, another 2 points for Sasuke. "No sir." Neji retorted, mentally kicking himself for getting in so much trouble and gave Sasuke a mock glare. His friend found that look too amusing. "He wants us." he whispered in a low voice and smiled as Neji bit his lip to keep a straight face. The shorter haired nin muttered "What's up Hyuuga? You look a little off toda-" he stopped mid-sentence gaining a confused look from his friend. Neji noticed Sasuke wasn't looking at him anymore, his attention was focused on the new student who was currently glaring at Sasuke.

'Weird' Neji thought. 'What's this all about?' and continued to look back and forth between the two, he felt like his was right in the middle of something he didn't want to be involved in. Sasuke continued to stare as did Gaara both refusing to back down, Neji thought it would never end until the bell rang and he breathed a sigh of relief. Gaara stood up was the first to break eye contact, in exchange looked into the Hyuuga's . "Neji…would you mind showing me around?" he spoke lowly. Neji nodded, he might as well help him out. "Sure Gaara, just follow me." he said as he stood up and collected his books. "See you around Hyuuga." Sasuke mumbled as he stood, even though his attention was still focused on Gaara. He left the room quickly so he could try and avoid his fan club, but a pink-haired girl and a blonde had managed to attach themselves to each of his arms before he made it out. He also noticed the teacher had called Shikamaru up to his desk and they were discussing something. Neji felt a small pain in his chest but dismissed it quickly and checked back on Sasuke's retreating form. The shorter-haired nin was being bombed with questions he didn't care about.

Neji smirked at Sasuke's internal pain. 'That's what you get for getting me in trouble in class, Uchiha.' he turned to Gaara, smirk still on his face. "Let's go."

Neji showed the sand nin around the whole school throughout the course of the day although the red-head never seemed to be paying much attention to whatever he was saying. He just kept staring at Neji for some reason or another, finally Neji turned after showing him what he felt was the whole school. "And that's about it, It's a bit big, but trust me, you get used to it pretty fast." "I see." Gaara gave a short look around and leaned against a nearby wall, straightening his back somewhat and closing his eyes. "Well, I'm going to head home now but I'll see you in class tomorrow, ok?" Neji wasn't sure why he was being friendly, but decided that whatever the reason it wasn't hurting anyone. He turned and began walking away when he heard a small voice for Gaara. "Neji." he turned around. "Yeah?" "You're hair, it smells very nice." Neji couldn't help but blush. "Um…thank you." he turned away again and started back. 'What a weird new student, interesting though…and cute.' his blush deepened as he walked home.

Shikamaru stared at his teacher dumbfounded. "Come again?" the teacher smiled. "Some more experienced Jounin's completed their missions early Shikamaru. So we don't have to send you out, you can remain in the village and continue training appropriately. Isn't that good news?" For once the Nara boy's eyes were completely focused on the professor and trying to take in what he had said that he raised his voice a little. "Y-you don't need me? Why couldn't you tell me this sooner?" "Well I would have." the sensei noted now a little grumpy that his student hadn't taken the news as well as he thought he would. It was good news, wasn't it? "I dropped by your house yesterday to tell you but your father informed me that you had wandered off somewhere." Shikamaru closed his eyes tightly, he knew exactly where he was when his teacher had dropped by. "Argh!" was all he could say to respond to his teacher, who started to correct papers. "I'm sorry Shikamaru, I would have told you earlier but you just weren't around." "It's not your fault sensei." he sighed. "Thanks anyway." he left the classroom. 'Great, now what am I going to do. I practically broke up with Neji for nothing. Something tells me he wouldn't understand if I tried to explain myself.' he groaned as he looked in the direction of the Hyuuga estate and began strolling towards it. He may not like it, but he still deserved an explanation.