The wood splintered and the door buckled as Shikamaru threw the door down and stepped out looking even more pissed then before. Sasuke was instantly on his feet and stepped forward to take the vampire's gaze off the injured hyuuga in bed. The taller nin tried to protest by clinging to his friends shirt to keep him close but the Uchiha pushed his hands gently away.

Shikamaru took another step closer, he looked absolutely out of his mind. His claws twitched with raw new strength, the hyuuga new Sasuke couldn't take him on. His white eyes drifted over the two about to fight, one good swipe was all Shikamaru needed to get Sasuke down, and then what would happen? He knew he wasn't able to defend either of them should the need arise. That's when his eyes came upon a fourth person. Gaara stood on top of the broken front door quietly, watching the two other nins sizing up each other. Neji's eye's widened 'how long has he been standing there?'

"Gaara?" he spoke up softly.

The red head's eyes remained focused on Shikamaru and Sasuke, a sadistic grin slid onto his features when the Uchiha heard Neji speak.

"Gaara?" the shorter boy question and turned his gaze to the front door to see.

The sand nin's grin widened when the Uchiha stared up to meet his eyes. That's all Shikamaru needed, he lunged forward only to be partially blocked by the others arm. Sasuke struggled to keep distance between himself and his attacker but Shikamaru was much stronger then he imagined. He felt himself being thrown to the ground and claws scrap over his shoulders, pinning him.

Neji panicked at the sight and looked back to his boyfriend

"Gaara, help him!" he shouted.

The sand nin smiled and walked over to Neji, wrapping his arms around the Hyuuga to comfort him.

"No, this is much better. Now that I know where Shikamaru is he should be easy to control. And this also takes care of that Uchiha pest."

"No" Neji whispered almost in complete disbelief. "I told you…he's just a friend and-"

"And now that's all he'll ever be." The red head finished for Neji.

The hyuuga's stare was snapped back to Sasuke as the shorter boy let out a pained filled scream only to have it partly muffled under a clawed hand. Shikamaru had sunk his teeth into Sasuke's neck, tearing and biting at the flesh. He didn't appear to even be drinking it, just causing the Uchiha pain, Shikamaru wasn't in his right mind at all, wasn't he doing it before to feed? Neji froze and looked back at Gaara

"You're controlling him?"

Gaara nodded, "Now that I know where he is, I'll be able too. I don't want that boy to be a threat, ever again."

His arms tightened around the dark-haired boy possessively, purring to the stifled cries of his rival. Neji watching in horror as Sasuke slowly stopped struggling

"No…NO!"

He screamed and thrashed wildly to save his friend, only to be held back, not by Gaara but another coughing fit. Blood dripped from his mouth onto the bed and he felt a warm arm caress his back, which he slapped away gaining a worried look from Gaara.

"St…stop it…Stop…it."

He pointed to Shikamaru finally finding his voice and refusing to let Gaara touch him until he did so.

The red head frowned, if Neji wanted something that badly, he couldn't refuse. He stood up and almost instantly so did Shikamaru, leaving Sasuke bleeding on the floor nursing his wound. The fallen boy tilted his head up towards Neji's direction, the hyuuga was clutching the post at the end of the bed that wasn't yet torn off. The taller nin used the bedpost for balance and slid onto two feet to make his way over to his hurt friend only to stumble and fall back into Gaara's arms unconscious.

The red head knew what Neji wanted, he wanted to know that Sasuke was going to be alright. He sighed and picked his long haired boyfriend up and held him close to his heart, Neji need medical attention, as did Sasuke. Gaara motioned to Shikamaru, who like a robot listening to a command, picked the Uchiha up and followed behind the sand nin obediently.

Neji woke up to the familiar sight of a hospital bed, coughing he sat up and noticed someone sitting in a chair next to him. Turning his head expecting to see the nurse he was surprised to see the nara boy staring back.

"Shikamaru?" he whispered not believing what his eyes were telling him.

The boy looked up, a sad smile dawning his features.

"Neji? Thank Gods you're alright. The doctor said you would be but…I wasn't sure."

He twiddled his thumbs and looked down at his feet, not wanting to look the hyuuga in his eyes after confirming he was awake. Neji however continued to stare, he wasn't sure it was Shikamaru, afterall he wasn't snarling or attacking him in the shower. The quiet boy before him just sat there, twiddling his thumbs nervously. It took Neji a few moments before he found his voice

"Shikamaru, are you alright? Are…are you safe now?"

The taller nin asked concerned, half expecting his friend to suddenly turn feral and attack him.

"I'm fine now…I think."

The other sighed and pushed his chair up to Neji.

"Are you?"

The hyuuga nodded a response and sighed as well, then his eyes widened and he nearly jumped out of bed

"Sasuke! Where is he?"

Shikamaru reached out and held him down.

"Sheesh, calm down. Gaara's with him back at his house."

"Gaara? Why did he take him there? He needed medical attention."

Neji's panic was obvious in his voice while the other boy simply shrugged.

"If you had to remain undercover, would you take your victim to a hospital?"

"But you're here…and he bite you…and…."

Neji shook his head frantically, this wasn't making sense. If Sasuke could reveal Gaara's secret by being here, then wouldn't Shikamaru's presence do the same?

Shikamaru watched as the taller nin tried to make sense of what was happening and smirked.

"Neji, calm down."

Okay, THAT earned a nasty ass glare from the hyuuga. Shikamaru swallowed nervously before continuing.

"Gaara's sister has some medical knowledge, since Sasuke's wounds were simple, Gaara took him there. I took you here because you're bleeding from your mouth and…well…that's not normal. So we figured it would be better to take you to someone who knows more. Which was a good thing too, cause that Dr. Reese guy seemed to know what he was doing."

Neji let out a frustrated scream and grabbed the front of his friend's shirt.

"DAMN THAT DOCTOR TO HELL!"

He shrieked at the other nin. Of course it had to be Dr. Reese, he didn't know why he even hated the man so much, but he did.

Shikamaru on the other hand was making several mental notes at this point in time, such as 'Never mention that name near Neji again' and 'How do I get out of this vice-like grip or do I want too?'. The Nara boy finally pulled his shirt out of the other's hand and decided it was best to drop the subject of doctors. The hyuuga groaned and looked up at Shikamaru hesitantly

"You…won't bite me, right?"

His friend grimaced and shook his head.

"Neji, about that…I couldn't control myself. I was so hungry…it was like my body was on auto-pilot and I couldn't stop. It was…so frightening…"

His voice wavered and he clutched Neji's hand tightly before going on.

"To…to see you there struggling and I was the one doing it…and all I could think about was how delicious you looked."

The taller nin smiled and stroked the other's cheek.

"It's okay, I know you would never intentionally hurt me."

Neji paused a moment.

"Shika…how did you get past Dr. Reese without getting questioned?"

His friend let out a cocky fanged grin which sent a shiver down the hyuuga's spine, it wasn't the nara boy but his fangs he found suddenly very attractive.

"Hypnosis took care of that." He said slyly.

"Hypnosis? You can do that?"

He questioned, he was impressed at how quickly Shikamaru adapted to his new condition, although he always marvelled at the strategist's ability to adapt to any situation.

Neji paused for a moment, thinking back to all the clever strategies the boy used to come up with to put the hyuuga into a romantic mood. The taller boy thought back to one specific time when the nara boy hid on his ceiling until he went to shower, when he came back the other had redone his whole room with a romantic setting.

Neji shivered reminiscing at the thought of the ice Shikamaru slid down his back while kissing his neck. Shifting back into reality with a pair of pink cheeks he noticed his friend was also a little red in the face. His friend scratched the back of his head and laughed lightly.

"I um…also have mind reading abilities now."

Neji's face changed to a full-blown crimson and hid it under the covers from embarrassment.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?"

The taller boy thought he could die for letting his ex know what dirty thoughts were going through his mind.

"Cause it was fun, I remember that night, wasn't that whe-"

"Stop talking!"

Neji reached from underneath the sheets and threw his pillow at the boy who caught it was ease, laughing.

Shikamaru tugged the blankets away from the hyuuga and smiled

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Neji huffed

"You'd better not. So if you hypnotized the Doctor, what reason did you give him about the neck wound?"

The leaf nin paused and stared at his friends neck, where did his neck wound go?

"Mine healed the day you brought me to the hospital, and yours is covered up with the bandages Sasuke wrapped around you. You're here to see why you're so sick."

As if on cue Dr. Reese entered holding a clipboard and checking things off, basically, acting like a doctor should.

"Hyuuga Neji, have you've been taking the medicine I prescribed for you?"

"Yes I have and it doesn't seem to be working."

He retorted back, grumpy that he had to be in the same room with the man again.

"Have you been taking it correctly? Twice a day, with food?"

Neji paused, he was taking the pills twice a day, however he forgot the food part.

"Yes." He fibbed hoping the older man wouldn't catch on.

"You know, we did X-ray you. And the results show nothing in your stomach except ruptured ulcers. So if you are going to continue lying to me, I'll stop asking questions and just keep you under constant supervision."

He smirked at the sick boy in front of him with that hateful know-it-all look. The hyuuga glowered at him before speaking.

"Fine, I intended on eating after I took the pills…I just forgot. I have a lot on my mind lately."

He looked to Shikamaru who nodded at the doctor, backing Neji up somewhat. The man ran a finger through his messy blonde hair and sighed

"This is a serious condition Hyuuga Neji, I'd appreciate it if for once you listened to me."

"He will." Shikamaru cut in and went on "I'll make sure he gets plenty of rest back home."

The doctor smiled and nodded, reassured that someone would be looking over his patient.

"Thank you, you are free to go, but if he continues these coughing fits, you'll have to bring him back here. They're not to be taken lightly."

Shikamaru nodded to the man as he left the room and helped his friend out of bed.

"Thanks for backing me up"

Neji said softly as he slowly got to his feet relieved to see he wasn't changed into an annoying hospital gown.

"So…You're really…okay with what you are now?"

He couldn't help but question, he was curious. The Nara boy nodded

"Yeah, it's pretty simple to get used too, besides I'm not the only one. Gaara's brother and sister are one too."

"What? Kankuro and Temari are vampires. So Gaara is one afterall."

Neji was shocked, did that mean Gaara lied to him about what he was? Shikamaru helped him out of the hospital and started walking to Gaara's house with the hyuuga, when they got outside of the building he continued.

"No, Gaara's a little different. He's able to do much more. At least that's how it was explained to me."

The nara boy shrugged while his friend tried to take everything in.

"Explained to you? When?"

The hyuuga asked growing more and more curious about Gaara's past.

"When I snapped out of my hunger trance and he told me to take you to the hospital. By the way thanks for saving my life."

The taller nin tilted his head then remembered the time he walked in on Shikamaru dying on the floor.

"Oh yeah, anybody would have taken you to the hospital if they found you, I was just the one who happened by first."

Shikamaru shook his head.

"Not that, tonight. If you hadn't asked Gaara, he would have killed me. It was too risky having another vampire running around and it risked them being revealed if I wasn't taken care of."

The nara boy spoke as if he didn't care what happened to him now, he was just grateful to be alive.

"So are you just going to go on as if nothing happened?"

Shikamaru shook his head again

"No, part of the 'keeping me alive' program requires me to live with them until they feel I can survive on my own. It shouldn't be too bad since they're moving back to the sand country, I'll be able to laze around and star-gaze all I like."

He smiled to himself, finally having an excuse to do nothing. It was paradise for him.

"Moving back to the sand country?"

The hyuuga paled, would Gaara just leave him so suddenly? Why wasn't he informed of this? Didn't Gaara believe he was his soulmate? Neji quickly felt less important then the sand nin seemed to let on.

Shikamaru noticed his friend's sudden drop in mood and felt the need to reassure him.

"I think Gaara wants to talk to you about it tonight, it seemed like an abrupt decision."

As he spoke they arrived at the sand nin's house and let themselves in. Neji saw Temari sitting at the table sipping something from a mug, she glanced up at them as they entered and smiled.

"Good to see you two are alright"

She said sweetly and stood up, placing her drink on the table. Although the statement was directed at both of them, Neji noticed Temari was staring at Shikamaru, who was looking at a wall smiling with pink cheeks. Neji smirked, he knew that look any day, it appeared as though the nara boy had a crush. He was wondering why there wasn't any tension between them as they spoke on the way back. Neji snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at the blonde in front of him.

"Where's Gaara and Sasuke?"

"Upstairs, first door on the right,"

"Thanks." The hyuuga took off up the stairs.

Kowaikage- Hiya peeps, and this is another chapter. Not too many left. Eeeeee. Since I have nothing dramatic to say I'll just go straight to thanking the reviewers:

Kokuryuuha018- Thank you, you've inspired more plot bunnies for me.

flclinutri- Thankies a bunch, glad you like it and I hope you keep liking it. :)

HikAri Aki- Heehee yeah, I didn't realise how mean I could be to Sasuke when I was writing this. Hope he forgives me…

Rebel-blah-blah-blah- /nervous laughter/ I'll let you decide.

diongmyoji Sirius- I really like Lee in this too, he wasn't really supposed to be in it but he's just so freaking adorable I couldn't help myself.

BlacKat- lol yeah Sasuke sorta gets the short end of the stick doesn't he? Lol man, that nightmare would scare the crap out of me too, glad it wasn't me :P

BlacKat- yep, your review went through

Burning tree- I kinda wished Neji would have said yes too, but that would have been to nice and I'm a horrible person. Mwahahaha!

diongmyoji Sirius- EEEEEE! Thanks for the second review!

Sinn- Thankies! Hope you keep reading.