Neji checked the time before he left the hospital, it was a little after nine. If he ran he could catch Lee in time. The Hyuuga took off in a fast jog and came upon the ramen bar within a few minutes, he noticed his friend was already sitting there eating a bowl of noodles. He sat beside the shorter nin, taking out the pill bottle and scanning the label for instructions.

'Take with food' was written in bold letters, he really didn't feel like anything from the bar and would much prefer ignoring any advice Dr. Reese gave in even if it could lead to a life-threatening situation, but decided to order a small bowl. He motioned for one bowl of noodles to the chef and turned his attention on the boy next to him.

"How was your talk with Gai-sensei?"

He asked quietly hoping his comrade would respond in an equally as soft voice. No luck there.

"GREAT!" Lee cooed as he slurped up his noodles before continuing.

"Where did you go Neji?"

the hyuuga gave a curt 'thank you' to the chef as his plate was placed in front of him and opened his bottle, pouring out two pills and taking then.

"The hospital."

He swallowed the medicine dry, he hoped Lee wouldn't question his further but knew the boy would simply out of concern.

"The hospital, are you alright? What happened?"

The taller boy left out anything about Shikamaru, no one had to know about that yet, not until Gaara answered a few questions. So Neji settled on telling Lee a brief story about his new ulcers and what a jerk Dr. Reese is. Lee listened intently, he was always a good listener, he waited until Neji was finished with his story before he spoke.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Here it was, moment of truth and time to come clean.

"Lee, about Gaara…" his voice grew faint "I like him too. A lot."

He looked to Lee who seemed to have an understanding expression on his face and felt relief wash over him.

"You like Gaara?"

Neji nodded and Lee grinned.

"That is WONDERFUL news Neji!"

The hyuuga stared at his friend.

"W-what?"

Lee threw on his trademark smile.

"It's okay, normally I would be a little heart-broken, but you've found someone that's finally released some emotion inside you. That is not something to throw away carelessly."

Neji stared dumbfounded at the other nin's comment, he was right.

"So…you're not mad?"

"Mad? No, I'm relieved. You're actually capable of feelings! This is a big step for you. And I know it's not just me who thinks so cause you know…"

Lee glanced around suspiciously and motioned for Neji to lean in as if what he was about to tell him was the secret of life. Never had his comrade caught the hyuuga's attention so much as he leaned forward to hear the other boy's words.

"Some people think you're a little stuck-up." Lee concluded in a whisper.

Needless to say the look on Neji's face was priceless, not Shikamaru priceless, but still priceless. 'Stuck-up?' he thought to himself, of course he knew he was stuck-up, he even practiced the look in the mirror for crying out loud! It was his reputation; he had to keep up appearances. However it was too much trouble to explain all this to Lee so he settled with faking surprise.

"Really?"

The other nin nodded.

"Sorry I had to be so hard on you Neji, but you deserved the truth."

The hyuuga smiled, Lee was a good friend, which is why he knew he had to be honest to him about Gaara, and as a good friend should react, Lee completely understood.

"Soooooooo…." Lee drawled out with a sly grin and quirked eyebrows as he took a swig of his drink. " What did you two do?"

Neji was shocked, Lee wanted to know the nasty details. The hyuuga blushed

"What makes you think he even knows I like him?"

His friend pointed an accusing finger and smirked.

"You BLUSHED! The Hyuuga Neji blushed! You must have done something dirty! Now as your friend I demand you give me the details."

Neji took his attention away from his untouched bowl of ramen and gape at his perverted friend. "I…I…we may have…done a few things."

He finally admitted suddenly becoming interested in his hands and anything where he didn't have to look at Lee.

"Hah! I knew it, that's hot! So, details?"

He nudged the hyuuga suggestively and Neji's blush deepened as his friends voice grew louder. As weird as his newly horny pal was, he felt relieved he took the news so well. Finally able to have a half-normal conversation at least as normal as they can get with Lee. He started confessing what he and the sand nin did that afternoon, and even went as far as telling him about Sasuke and how things last went with the Uchiha and him. As stated before, Lee was a good listener, and enjoyed hearing all the details of Neji's sexually activities. When he finished speaking, his cheeks were as red as a tomato and Lee laughed out loud. Neji smiled and laughed a little to himself as well, it felt as though a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders, but he still felt the need to confirm it.

"So the fact that Gaara and I are together-"

"And got it on." Neji rolled his eyes at the interruption but couldn't help but smirk.

"and got it on…doesn't bother you?"

Lee shook his head looking up to give Neji the thumbs up and stopped mid-action. Neji quirked his head at why Lee stopped and suddenly looked away.

"What?" Came a shocked voice from behind Neji.

It wasn't Lee, it wasn't him, slowly he turned around on the stool and saw Sasuke. Neji looked to Lee for some type of support only to discover the stool next to him empty and spinning in place before toppling over onto the ground. 'Damn, Lee is fast!' he thought to himself and turned back around to face his new problem. Sasuke was glaring back at the hyuuga, who rose to meet the Uchiha timidly.

"S-sasuke I-"

"Shut up!"

Neji winced, he wasn't expecting that kind of talk from the Uchiha, but it was obvious that these were things Sasuke didn't want to hear. 'Sasuke doesn't even like ramen, why is he he-' before Neji could finish his thought he saw Naruto blur past him and sit were the hyuuga once was. The blonde began to immediately dig into his bowl he left on the counter, not that Neji cared, he didn't even want the food. Sasuke must have went with Naruto to get some ramen, that explained why he was here.

"Naruto, I'm going for a walk." Sasuke said to his companion and motioned for Neji to follow.

The taller nin swallowed and complied, too afraid to be the first to break the silence.

"How's your stomach?" the other finally spoke, trying not to let the concern leak through into his words.

The hyuuga glanced over, surprised he actually cared and silently pocketed the pills into his shorts.

"It's fine." He lied again, it was becoming a bad habit.

Silence rained over the two again as they walked, Neji finally broke it.

"I'm sorry."

He whispered and stopped in his place, causing the other nin to glance back and cease movement as well. The hyuuga couldn't bring his eyes to meet Sasuke, even though he could feel them on him. His hands begin to shake so he hid them behind his back, careful not to look up as he did so, he could hear the Uchiha approaching and kept his eyes on his feet, he felt a further explanation was necessary.

"For everything, I didn't mean what I said. I really do trust you…I'm sorry for not at least hearing you out… I-I hope I didn't lose a friend because of it."

The leaf nin spoke the last few words with a hint of fear then felt a hand on his cheek force him to meet Sasuke's eyes.

"Is that all?" Neji shut his eyes, he felt dizzy just looking into Sasuke's pleading ones.

"I don't know what else to say, I'm sorry for-"

"That's not what I meant."

The Uchiha cut the taller boy off and leaned loser, whispering into his ear.

"Is that all I am to you now? Just a friend?"

He hovered his lips over Neji's, he slid his hand delicately down Neji's cheek and cupped his chin lightly. It was different this time, it had no forcefulness like before, his fingertips barely grazed the hyuuga's smooth skin underneath his chin, it had meaning. Neji was free to choose, he could move away this time knowing that that meant Sasuke had lost his chance or remain in his grasp and become more.

"Was I too late?"

Neji's heart ached when he heard the anguish hidden in those words whispered over his lips. The Hyuuga blinked back the tears he felt swelling in his eyes, he still couldn't look at his friend, if he did he knew he would kiss him and at the same time, that's all he could wish for. He wanted the Uchiha to wrap his arms around him and hold him close, he wanted to tell him that he could never be too late, to whisper all his fears and dreams into his best friends ear and just have him listen, and most of all his just wanted to lean forward that extra inch, that tiny bit, so he could connect their lips in a never-ending kiss.

Neji would have loved to have done nothing more then that, but he was asked a question and he had to answer first.

"Yeah…you're a little late."

Their lips were so close that it almost killed the taller nin to turn away from them, he turned his back to Sasuke, but not before catching the suffering on the other nin's face as he lost his feathery grip on Neji's chin. The hyuuga knew what turning away meant, it meant he just lost his best friend in the whole world. Never did Neji feel so alone and empty in his life then this moment, he clutched his chest in a feeble attempt to make the pain go away. He could still sense the Uchiha's presence behind him, he could still feel those dark watery eyes on his back and he wanted to disappear more and more as every second slowly passed.

Finally he heard footsteps, Sasuke was leaving. The hyuuga expected no less, he would have done the same if his friend just out-right rejected him, right? His friend at last found within himself all the feelings he wanted to express only to have them thrown back in his face cause he didn't figure them out in time. No human should be capable of living through a hurt such as that, and yet the Uchiha still had the strength to walk away, Neji knew he couldn't have done it. Never did he admire someone else so much and despise himself so much at the same time. The leaf nin was so wrapped up in self-hate he almost didn't notice two strong arms wrap around him and hold him tight. He felt Sasuke rest his head on his shoulder, bangs hiding his face. The hyuuga didn't understand what the Uchiha was doing until he heard his soft voice mummer into his shoulder.

"Then…I'll still be your friend."

Neji stood in shock at those words, as his friend held him close and yet soft enough to break free whenever the nin should want to. The hyuuga couldn't find the words to speak, so he settled for resting his head over Sasuke's and they stood in silence for a few moments, a welcomed silence of understanding.

After a while Neji found the means to speak again.

"Sasuke…I'm sorry."

The Uchiha kept his face buried in the dark haired boy's shoulder and spoke into his neck.

"It's okay Neji…I understand."

"No, I mean I'm sorry…" the taller boy lifted his hand up and stroked his fingers through his friends hair. "…for making you cry, again."

Sasuke couldn't help but smile into Neji's shirt, he knew the Uchiha had been crying since he hid his face.

"Neji?" the hyuuga needed a moment to find his voice.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry too."

He breathed out softly and Neji let out a sad smile. Sasuke knew the hyuuga had been crying silently as well but never had to look up, after all, then Neji wouldn't be able to claim no one had ever seen him cry. The Uchiha smiled to himself again, as Neji's friend, he wasn't about to look.

Kowaikage- It's meeeeeeee! When I wrote this chapter I was one of my favorites, now I'm not so sure. But I still like it. Anyway hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And now the reviewers:

Kokuryuuha018- You were at the convention? Awesome! Were you in costume too? It was my first time there and I had a fantastic time! And as for Shikamaru, I think you'll be finding out in 1 or 2 chapters from now what happens to him.

BlacKat- I'm glad Shikamaru's alive too and as for Lee, well he wasn't really supposed to be in the fic at all and then he started poping up more and I got attached to him. But sadly I never really thought of pairing him up with anyone. :( Sorry.

And Anime North is a convention in Toronto that took place in the last week of May and it was really fun, if you ever get a chance to check it out you should go for it.

HikAri Aki- Heeheehee thanks!

Burning tree- Well I can't tell you how it ends but…I sorta left it open for a sequel…please don't kill me!

And I still need to figure out a few things about livejournal and how you post links in it and stuff. I'm really stupid when it comes to computer stuff. And yup, I draw. (I'm not very good but I still love it) When I find a way to post my stuff I'll try.

diongmyoji Sirius- Yaaay! I heart Neji too. thank you for the review!

yoko-san- There's a few pairings in the beginning of the fic for that narrows down by the last chapter. And Gaara is really in love with Neji and he thought he did kill Shika…meh heh heh…and the questions I didn't answer will be answered in other chapters, I just don't want to give too much away. Thanks for the review:)