Disclaimer: I don't own! Obviously.
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It's been...
Chapter 2
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Dark hair floated in the water, it swam as he moved. He found his target and rushed up to the surface. 'Ha!' Neji shouted shoving the red apple in Lee's face. 'I told you I could do it.' The other boy grumbled and took the apple. He laughed as everyone stared. Neji had make quite a spectacle. The normally silent boy had just yelled at the top of his lungs. Neji's already rosy cheeks flared covering his face in embarrassment, something else the boy had never shown.
Lee handed Neji the dark cup full of sake that Tenten had slipped into Neji's glass at the beginning of the night. He had flat out refused to go when they told him who all was invited, but had relented when they continued to bother him. Even though he had given in, his mood was a buzz kill and they had to resort to drastic measures. Neji draped his arm over Lee and pointed to the Shogo board. 'I'll beat you for sure!' Lee laughed and moved toward the board. Neji stumbled as they walked. Lee took the cup away and gave it back to Tenten who was following them a few paces behind. 'Enough of that,' he said. Lee dumped Neji into the seat and softly sat in the one across the board.
'I don't feel right,' Neji mumbled as he stared at the board. Lee looked at Tenten, who started rubbing his back. 'Just breathe and you'll be ok.' He took a deep breath and moved a piece. Lee smiled and countered. They played for a while, Neji slowly calming down as Tenten rubbed him softly. The three started talking as they played, Neji slurring slightly. As Lee won Neji jumped to his feet. 'NO!' he groaned grabbing his hair dramatically. 'Light weight,' Lee mumbled to Tenten as Neji hurried off to the next thing that caught his eye. She handed Lee the cup and followed after Neji as he dipped dangerously toward the bon fire that had started. She steadied him and laughed as he thanked her graciously. 'Tenten-chan you take such good care of us. Wonderful girl.' He pet her face softly, at least to him it was softly. To her it was like she was being punched in the face. Lee gulped down the rest of the cup and sighed. He grabbed Neji's hand and pulled him toward the table with drinks. 'Come on Neji, stop flirting with her, you know she's taken.' He looked back toward Tenten; she nodded that she was fine. She rubbed her aching chin as she watched her teammates walk away.
As if being summoned Gaara and Kankuro stepped out of the shadows. Tenten giggled as Kankuro puller her toward him. 'Hey you,' he whispered in her ear. The two built a love bubble that couldn't be popped. Gaara grumbled as he turned toward Lee and Neji who were staring at a tree for some reason. 'Hi.' Gaara offered. Lee nodded and looked at Neji. 'I really don't think you can do it.' Gaara looked up and sighed. A shuriken was piercing the very top branch of the tree. 'So Gaara, where's the feminine side of your team?' Lee asked raising and eyebrow. 'She ran into Shikamaru…' At that Neji turned and stared at Gaara. His face reddening even deeper than before. 'Shika…' His composure was gone. -Bleh!- Lee jumped up and dodged the projectile. Gaara shouted in horror. 'What the?!' He shook his foot and grumbled. His eyes narrowing in disgust at the laughing boy in the tree above him. 'I guess I should have warned you.' Lee looked to Neji to see if he had another bout of nausea and frowned. Neji was gone.
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Temari laughed as she stood. 'I didn't think I'd literally run into you. Sorry' Shikamaru looked up at the girl from the ground and sighed. 'Still troublesome.' Naruto offered a hand to the boy and greeted Temari. She nodded to him, but her attention was solely on Shikamaru. He stood and smiled shyly at her. It had been a while since she had seen him. And the last time that they had been together she had kissed him. She smiled when she realized he was no longer shorter than her. 'You've grown into quite a…' she flashed a smile and blush rose on her cheeks. 'Troublesome.' He mumbled. Naruto looked between the two and laughed. 'I think I'm going to go get something to drink.' Temari giggled nervously. She turned away and put her hand on her head in horror. She couldn't believe that she just giggled. He was just a little boy. That she had a HUGE crush on. She sighed and turned back to him. 'So how are you?' she asked. Shikamaru shrugged and started to walk away. Temari followed him, unsure if he was ignoring her or what. She never got ignored in Suna. Maybe it was because of Gaara, but still they always paid attention to her.
She drew on the one thing that she knew about him other than the stuff she had learned in their battle. 'So still hanging in that clearing?' Blush flew up Shikamaru's face and Temari knew that he remembered their last encounter. 'I was so happy that I got to see you again.' Shikamaru stopped and turned to her. 'Why did you do that last time?' She shrugged. 'I felt like it.' She smiled sweetly up at him. 'Want to do it again?' It was his turn to shrug. She leaned up to him and closed her eyes. He lowered his head to meet her slightly pursed lips. 'Thank you,' she whispered as his lips left hers. He touched the side of her face and kissed her again. 'You're welcome.' They stood looking at each other until Temari felt someone watching them. She turned and a white blur knocked her down. 'Oww!' she gasped. Shikamaru pulled her to her feet and held her arm protectively. 'What was that?' she asked alarmed. She hadn't seen anything until it hit her. 'Let's go back to the crowd.' Shikamaru said. She looked around, unaware that they had wandered away from the main party.
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Feel free to review! Still trying to get used to writing again.
-MJ