SLAM! Neji didn't mean to slam the door in Lee's face, it was instinct. He had to save his skin, Gaara enjoyed touching it too much. He glanced back at the boy in his bed and then yelled out to his friend.

"Lee, I'm just getting dressed, I'll meet you out there! Okay?"

He knew Lee wouldn't argue with him and sure enough he heard the other's voice through the wood.

"Sure thing!"

Even though Neji couldn't see it, something told him that his comrade was giving the thumbs up to the door. Neji shook his head at the mental image and ran over to his bed, scooping up his shorts and rushing them on.

"Gaara" he whispered softly and smiled when the red head cracked an eye open in response; a smirk evident on his features, the sneaky devil had been awake the whole time.

"Gaara, Lee's here. I can't let him in cause, well you know. You're here."

The red head grinned at this and snaked an arm around Neji's waist, pulling him onto the bed with him, earning a laugh from Neji laced with concern.

"No, not now. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to get dressed."

The hyuuga reached over the edge of the bed, snatching his shirt on the floor and yanking it on quickly. He paused for a moment when he felt the sand nin pull him down and press his lips roughly against his in a possessive kiss before the boy under him spoke.

"And what am I to do?"

"You…" Neji paused and he leaped off his bedmate and began fixing his hair. "Are to wait here until I get Lee far enough away then sneak out."

Neji let out a deep sigh, he knew he had to explain to Lee that he had fallen for the red head as well. Hopefully Lee would understand and go back to chasing Sakura.

Neji's eyes grew, 'Sakura!' that's it, if he could convince Lee to not give up on the pink-haired nin then maybe breaking the news to him wouldn't be so bad. He smoothed out his shirt, hands hovering over his belly as he did so. All the worry and guilt had been building up and making him sick he concluded, but as soon as he talked everything over….with just about everyone then the pain should go away. He shot a glance at his reflection in the mirror to confirm he appeared as he always did, cool calm and a little stuck up. Check. Then why did he feel like such a mess on the inside? He opened the door a crack and squeezed out without granting his friend a chance to peek inside.

"Hey Lee, it's so nice out I thought we should walk and talk."

Yeah it sounded lame but at this point the hyuuga didn't care and he knew his friend wouldn't either.

"Good idea Neji, the fresh air will help our minds come up with a scheme." His friend grinned happily.

"Scheme?" Neji questioned, already not liking the direction this conversation was heading.

Lee smirked, "To help me sway the sand nin."

There it was, the white-eyed boy knew it was coming, now he would have to come clean to his friend about his new relationship. He continued walking with his friend then abruptly came to a stop, it was time to explain.

"Lee, I need to tell you something…and you're not going to like it."

He swallowed and looked down at his companion who seemed to be all ears.

"I-"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

The shorter nin screeched in full-blown excitement, the force almost tore off the other's ear. Lee's attention wasn't on Neji but rather Gai who happened to be passing by behind Neji. Anything the hyuuga was about to confess to his friend instantly became a lost cause. The hard working boy in front of the hyuuga eyes grew into large saucers and took off towards his idol leaving Neji in a cloud of dust holding his near bleeding ears.

"Sorry Neji! I have some questions I want to ask Gai-sensei. Can you meet me at the Ramen bar around 9:00?"

The white eyed boy breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, that bought him a bit of time, maybe he could figure out a way to soften his words before then? He wondered if he ran back to his room maybe Gaara would still be there? He doubted, Lee and he had walked quite a ways from the house, giving the red head ample time to make a silent get-away. Oh well, next time he thought as he smirked to himself and touched his lips, reminiscing about what happened less then an hour ago. Then he noticed his surroundings 'Shikamaru lives here.' He remembered and began walking towards the nara boy's house. What had it been? Two days since he saw his ex's shocked expression as Sasuke's hands claimed his body. Neji shivered from recalling the thought, guilt crawled over his skin as he approached Shikamaru's door and knocked. Looks like two explanations were in order today.

No answer. The dark haired nin waited patiently and knocked again only to be answered with silence. His curiosity peeked after a few minutes standing around and tried the door, not surprised to find it open. He sighed, 'too lazy to even lock his door.' This wasn't the first time Neji had found the other nin's door unlocked, he always scolded the lazy boy for it and reminded him the dangers it could possess. He let himself in and looked around, the house was usually quiet but this silence carried an air of eeriness as he paced around, the air seeming supernaturally dry.

"Shikamaru?" he called out as he approached the stairs and paled as his eyes fell upon them.

Blood trailed up each one, starting with tiny droplets to larger splashes that sprayed onto the railing as well. Neji swallowed and carefully climbed the stairs. If the attacker was still in the house he didn't want to be caught off guard. He moved quickly to Shikamaru's door and opened it as silently as he could, mentally preparing himself for whatever he saw on the other side.

He didn't prepare himself enough however, the sight before him confirmed the fear of who's blood was on the stairs. The nara boy laid on the floor, hand clutching a deep wound to his neck and blood puddle around him. The hyuuga ran over to the other boy, no longer concerned if someone else was in the house but at the current state of his friend.

"Shikamaru!" he held onto the other boy tightly and prayed for a pulse.

Before he could check he saw the wounded nin's eyes open slightly, trying to focus on Neji.

'Thank the gods he's still alive.' He thought frantically and picked Shikamaru up as softly as he could allow and headed for the nearest hospital.

Neji burst through the doors of the emergency room searching for anyone dressed in white. Within seconds Shikamaru's barely conscious body was snatched away from the leaf nin and he was shown to a waiting area. A nurse came out and told Neji when they knew more about the boy's condition, he'd be the first to know. The leaf nin thanked her and stumbled towards a seat, the sickness in his gut grew astronomically when realization of what had happened to his friend sunk in. He heard the nurse ask if he was okay and he nodded, which was a bad idea. The shaking motion of his head blurred his vision, the pain was worst then he thought, the last thing he heard was the nurse calling for a doctor as he passed out. 'At least I'm already in a hospital…' he thought as his vision clouded over.

Neji awoke in a hospital bed, he glanced out the window and seen that the sun had already set. 'How long was I out?' he wondered to himself.

"He lives." Came a cheerful reply beside him.

Neji jolted his head in the direction of the voice and saw the nurse sitting beside him.

"You gave my quite a scare back in the waiting room young man, but it seems you're alright now. I took the liberty of changing you into the standard hospital gown while you were out. Oh and Dr. Reese will be in to explain what happened to you shortly."

She stately in the calm rehearsed tone all doctors seemed to acquire after years of medical practice. Neji hated that tone, it signified that they knew more then you and they were going to make you wait until they told you what was wrong. The hyuuga glared down at his new paper-thin clothes, at least she let him keep his boxers, that saved the hospital from an angry complaint.

Neji's eyes grew as he remembered why he was even there in the first place.

"Shikamaru, how is he? Is he alright? Is he alive?" he badgered the poor lady with questions, demanding she tell him the condition of the nara boy at once.

She threw on her patented plastic smile and told the hyuuga that Dr. Reese would tell him everything he needed to know. God, why was it so hard to get information out of these people? If she knew nothing about Shikamaru, why couldn't she just say it? No, that would be too easy and it was obvious that all the medical professionals here try to keep up the appearance that they knew more then the public. The long haired nin sighed to himself, he wasn't going to find anything out with this nurse here, he may as well wait for the doctor.

Finally after what seemed like hours but was probably more like 10 minutes, the famous Dr. Reese which the nurse seemed so sure knew everything in the universe entered. He was a tall man with messy blonde hair, green eyes and sporting a neat white doctors uniform. He held a clipboard in his hand and flipped through some papers in some attempt to look professional, but Neji figured he was probably searching for his name. The Doctor stopped on a page.

"Ah here we are, Hyuuga Neji…"

'yup, needed a name' Neji concluded.

"You'll be relieved to know that your friend should be fine. He had a nasty bite wound on his neck and lost quite a lot of blood, but thanks to the donors here he should be up and running in a week. Right now he needs rest."

The hyuuga clutched his chest in relief that he got him to the hospital on time.

"Thank you." He spoke as his went to stand up but was stopped but the nurse's hand.

"Whoa whoa, don't go yet, I'm not done." Neji remained sitting up in the bed, confused.

"You aren't that healthy yourself."

"What do you mean?" the nin's voice was now concerned about his own state of health. The Doctor smiled and tossed Neji a bottle of pills, which he caught clumsily.

"Congratulations Mr. Hyuuga, you have ulcers."

Neji gawked at what was supposed to be a professional doctor, who had just congratulated the nin for having poor health, before he could give the Dr. Reese a piece of his mind the man continued.

"It looks like they've progressed quite a ways too, this is some heavy duty medication so follow the instructions carefully. I don't want to see you in here from an overdose."

Dr. Reese took out a pen from his front pocket and began taking notes, which Neji thought was odd since he didn't say anything yet.

"Have you been under any stress lately?"

Neji paused for a moment to appear as if he was actually considering what the man was asking. "…Not that I know of."

He lied, this man didn't need to know of his personal affairs Neji concluded.

"Lots 'o stress." Dr. Reese mouthed as he wrote down his response.

Neji glowered, he hated it when he wasn't taken seriously, but he hated it even more when someone saw through his lie. Dr. Reese glowered back at the boy and clicked his pen.

"I'm a Doctor young man, don't try to fool me. Your body is showing your bluff." The hyuuga still glared, maybe changing the subject would get the attention off of him.

"So what attacked my friend?"

He asked, finally managing to stand without being forced back down. Dr. Reese motioned for the nurse to leave and spoke as soon as she closed the door.

"I was hoping you could tell me."

The Hyuuga shrugged as he commenced dressing himself since the nurse left.

"How should I know?"

The doctor frowned and folded his arms, "Because you have the very same wound on your neck."

Neji froze. 'Same wound? But Gaara gave me…why would he?' worry rose up inside the Hyuuga quickly which must have appeared on his face because the doctor noticed something was amiss.

"Can I speak with Shikamaru?"

He tried to avoid the question, the blonde man shook his head.

"He's unconscious. Plus he needs his rest, but we will be questioning him shortly. When was the last time you saw him before the attack?"

"Um…two days ago."

Had it really been that long? Neji mentally cursed himself, he should have visited his friend when he had the chance, it could have been too late if he waited. The doctor stared at the nin again,

"So how did you get that bite mark on your neck?"

It looks like he didn't avoid the question afterall, Neji brought a hand up to cover the bruise.

"I…don't know. I don't remember."

He looked away, not wanting to see how the doctor knew he was lying. A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed before the older man spoke.

"Fine, I see you won't be talking, at least give me your address so we can contact you about your friends condition."

Neji dictated where he lived as he dressed and picked up his pills before thanking the doctor for his time and leaving without a goodbye.

Kowaikage- Hey there peoples, sorry it took me so long to post this. I was heading to Anime North (Oh yeeeeeeah! It was totally wicked!) and I didn't have time to update before I left, so I am terribly sorry for the delay. Man, Anime North was so awesome, I'm still running off the good feeling…and now onto the reviewers.

Blackat- I'm going to try to answer all of your questions:

1)What happened to Shikamaru? He's not dead is he?
2)What will happen to Sasuke? I mean Sasuke won't be like Single in this story will he? I mean he's too Hot to be single!
3)Does Naruto like Sauke or something? Hopefully he's not completely straight in this story...
4) Will Neji and Gaara still be together as the story progresses? I mean when Neji finds out what Gaara is?
Well these are the few questions I have! You don't have to answer all of them just clear these up as your updating and mention them in your stories. Can't wait for the next chapter!

1) Nope, of course you already know this if you read this chapter
2) Meh heh heh
3) It was already mentioned that they were friends with benefits…if ya know what I mean, winkwink.
4) You'll have to read and find out.
Well I hope that satisfies you (prolly not) but all of this questions will be answered by the time I post my last chappie

Hikari Ari- I'll keep trying to update as fast as I can

Burning Tree- Hee thanks. Well I'm not going to say anything to give the story away but I hope you still like it after what I do with it. (I'm not too proud of this fic, but then again who is proud of there first one?)

And I am planning to start a livejournal account, so when I do I'll definitely friend you :D I'll even draw NejixShika NejixGaara and NejixSasuke pics for you…(hee actually I already drew a bunch cause I'm a pervert)

Rebel-blah-blah-blah- Then more you'll get.

Kokuryuuha018- Aww….thank you!

Ho-sama- Hee I'm really happy you like it and that everyone seems to be liking it so far. thank you!

Kowaikage- Ok…I think that's everyone. Well, thanks a bunch guys and I hope you enjoy this chapter!