---

seven
WAITING

stop, stop staring at my window
nobody's home
I think you're scaring me to death
knock, knock- knocking at my bedroom wall
and I'm gone

you're such a beautiful stalker
beautiful stalker

Beautiful Stalker, Sugarcult

---

"Yosh! Go, my adorable Lee, show us now how you revel in the springtime of your glorious youth!

"Hai, Gai-sensei!"

"Ugh," Tenten muttered, rolling her eyes. The kunoichi tapped her foot impatiently, kunai held loosely at her side. "Must they do thatevery time?"

Neji glanced sideways with his piercing, blank glare- many people shrank from it, but his teammates were far too used to it now. He saw the corners of her lips twitch ever so slightly into a smile- they both knew, as annoying as they were, they would never had it any other way.

"Today I will beat you, Neji-kun, or I will do one thousand laps around Konoha hopping on one foot- with my eyes closed!"

"With your eyes closed, too? Such to be expected of my greatest student, Lee! Ah, youth!"

That didn't stop them from complaining, though.

While most of the other teams still worked together but often went their seperate ways, Team Gai had the luxury of being just that- Team Gai. They worked as a full platoon in almost all of their missions, except for those rare times when Gai or Neji would vanish on high-profile jounin missions- but Lee wasn't exactly far from becoming a jounin himself, and Tenten was fast on their heels. They met most every day to train, Neji and Lee having their usual spar of their everlasting (not eternal, as Lee often pointed out, that title belonged to Kakashi and Gai alone) rivalry, as well as Tenten and even Gai joining in. Their minds bursting with such... youthful brilliance, as they called it, Gai and Lee often came up with completely random training events. Neji and Tenten had long given up arguing in the name of reason and had come to see them as rather entertaining (albeit at times excrutiating) breaks from monotone routine.

Usually, upon hearing that all-too-common pep talk Gai gave Lee, Neji would be readying himself for the battle- Lee was getting stronger every day, and unlike kakashi, their rivalry was not one-sided. This time, though, he only shook his head quietly, hardly believing what sort of contest they had gotten themselves into.

Gai, in is long-lived wisdom, had earlier mentioned that there was one contest in which beating a Hyuuga would bring true honor.

A staring contest.

"I still can't believe your actually doing this, Neji," Tenten said when she saw the look on his face, a small grin spreading across her own.

"That's what we tell ourselves every week," Neji said matter-of-factly.

"That's right, Lee!" he heard Gai scream in the distance- apparently they were... practicing for the actual contest. "Look deep into my eyes! I can see the flames of youth burning deep within your young soul, my adorable student! It is the will of fire itself!"

Tenten sighed and slumped down next to Neji, boredly tracing patterns on the floor with her kunai. "This will take awhile."

"Yo, Neji!"

The Hyuuga looked up, somewhat plesantly surprised to see Shikamaru walking towards them. He looked a little pale and sweat was beading on his skin, but otherwise Shikamaru was Shikamaru, slouched with his hands in his pockets. Tenten waved back cheerily, and Neji simply nodded in greeting.

Shikamaru walked next to them and glanced at the display of men clad in green spandex jumping around in apparently great excitement.

"Don't ask," Tenten groaned.

Neji frowned inwardly. It was rare for Shikamaru to seek out people- he never did unless it was a mission or a message of importance. Did Godaime-sama have a task for them?

"...a staring contest?" Shikamaru said questioningly, just beginning to make out the words that Gai was screaming delightedly into Lee's face. "Did I hear them right?"

"Yeah," Tenten said with a small shrug.

"...with Neji?"

"Yeah."

"So this is what you guys get up to during training."

Neji looked pointedly at Shikamaru. "We do train, only that they... are rather unshakable in their habits. Now, is there anything you wanted to tell us?"

"Not really," the chuunin shrugged. "I don't have much to do today... I was feeling unwell earlier. Saw you and decided to come over and say hi."

The jounin was not convinced. It didn't make sense. Shikamaru never voluntarily socialized with people- Neji could call them friends, though, because they ran into each other quite often and that was how their games of shougi would arise- they were never really planned. There was something in the way Shikamaru stood, leaning slightly back, his fingers fidgeting slightly with the hemline of his pockets- it made Neji think him almost nervous, but he couldn't think of a reason.

"Got time for a game of shougi?" Shikamaru suggested, interrupting the train of thought.

Neji shook his head. "Once this is done with we'll be training."

"Finally," Tenten interjected. "But we'll be done by the evening, why don't you two play then? Neji, you know where he lives, right?"

Shikamaru paused, looking Neji right in the eye. "Sounds good."

Neji was somewhat taken aback, but returned Shikamaru's gaze calmly- but in the chuunin's eyes, he realized, were flickers of some kind of surpressed panic, inner turmoil... he couldn't quite make it out. What bothered him was that he had noticed that something was amiss- because if he knew anything about Shikamaru, he knew that the shinobi could be a brilliant liar.

"I'll think about it," he said finally.

---

Later in the afternoon, Neji and Lee had their ultimate staring contest.

The stakes: A thousand one-legged laps around Konoha. Blind.

"You are a worthy rival, Neji-kun! But I will defeat you on this day!"

Neji did not bother to reply. Gai had insisted that the Hyuuga make use of his Byakugan during the staring contest- Neji had thought the entire point of such useless games was the tension of eye contact, and the Byakugan allowed him to see more than that. The jounin did not point out his former mentor's oversight- he was infact rather grateful that he would not have to spend hours staring straight into Lee's formidable eyebrows.

"You are using silence to try and intimidate me out of victory! Brilliant, but not enough, Neji-kun! I shall prevail!"

He never moved from his stiff seated position and he simply took the time to train the limits of his eyes. He watched Tenten behind him, who had long ago given up on waiting and was doing some of her own target practice with various weapons. He counted the birds in the forest, the butterflies in the field.

"I will answer your silence with silence of my own!"

Thank Kami-sama,Neji thought.

Someone was walking towards them, in the distance. It took Neji all of a second to recognize the figure- long blonde hair, purple clothes, fishnet along her elbows and her knees. It was some time later when Ino finally reached them, and it gave Neji plenty of time to speculate at what her purposes were. He had concluded that there was no logical reason for her to be here at all.

Ino said her greetings to Tenten and Gai (who was quick to turn her attention onto the staring contest of a century). Neji could see her struggling not to debunk such a useless idea, and Tenten's sympathetic glances as Gai ranted on about the skills of his favourite pupil.

"Ganbatte, Neji-kun," she called out in cheerful greeting. "And you too, Lee-kun!"

"Thank you, Ino-chan!" Lee barked out in reply. It was awhile later when an expression of horror spread across his face. "I have broken your challenge of silence!" he cried out in overdramatic anguish- overdramatic anguish that made him blink.

"I have been defeated!" Lee said, leaping upright. "You are indeed my rival, Neji-kun! And on my honor, I shall now run one thousand one-legged laps around Konoha blindfolded!"

"So honorable, my adorable Lee!" Gai cried out.

Neji sighed and stood up, nodding to Ino in greeting, waiting for the inevitable conclusion of Gai and Lee's usual reactions to defeat.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

And they embraced dramatically, leaving their present company to look on awkwardly.

"...they haven't changed much, have they?" Ino remarked.

"Not at all. But why are you here, Ino?"

Neji caught sight of her immediate reaction- veiled, subtle, but present. She had withdrawn ever so slightly, seemed slightly taken aback- it was probably a normal reaction, he reasoned. "I was just looking for you, Neji," Ino said with a small shrug. "Actually I was looking for Shikamaru... I thought he'd be playing shougi with you or something, but he isn't here. So I guess I didn't come here for much at all!" she laughed somewhat awkwardly.

"Shikamaru was here earlier," Neji replied, frowning inwardly. Clearly there was something going on. Somehow, he was getting involved- distantly, but nontheless involved. And yet he had no clue. "Looking for a game. But I was training-" Ino raised an eyebrow- "I was supposed to be training, but Gai-sensei insisted. Is something the matter?"

It was the only way his logical mind could make sense of the matter. Ino was clearly concerned about Shikamaru, enough to look for him to try and sort things out, but yet Shikamaru clearly did not want to be found- which was why the kunoichi had to resort to such desperate measures such as consulting himself. Whatever was wrong, it was most likely a problem of Shikamaru's, not Ino's- Shikamaru was acting differently that morning, enough that it bothered him. Shikamaru was adept at concealing such things, and if even Neji had gotten any sense of it, it must be something worth worrying about. Therefore the game was most likely Shikamaru trying to look for a distraction- but he could have distractions elsewhere, as well, like in his friends... but he was clearly avoiding them, or at the very least, avoiding Ino. And, perhaps, it was something that Shikamaru was trying to seek help about- albiet awkwarldy and indirectly and most definitely unwillingly. Yet somehow he had not asked Chouji or Ino, but him.

Ino glanced at her immediate surroundings- Tenten was busy hurling weapons at Lee, who was dodging and deflecting with incredible agility (Neji could tell that Tenten was going slightly easier on Lee- he was recovering from surgery, after all). Gai was watching, beaming with pride and approval.

Something rather secretive, apparently, Neji thought. Even for a gossip.

"Ah... well," Ino managed finally- the way she spoke it was almost as if she was slowly edging her way into hot water, tiptoeing at the edge and unwilling to take the plunge. "Shikamaru..."

"Hm?"

"Shikamaru gave me flowers," Ino said- her blue eyes shone briefly, most likely from the sense of familiarity she got from the wonders of gossip.

Neji blinked. It... wasn't exactly what he had expected. ...Hm. It made sense when Shikamaru said he wasn't interested in Ino anymore, not in the slightest...

"He gave me flowers- and the flowers he picked meant tons of things... all about... love... and... obsession... and lust," she said hurriedly, rushing through it now, clearly not wanting to linger on what she was saying for too long, "And he told me he was having relationship problems with someone recently and he'd been so sick and traumatized I thought that whoever it was might be hurting him, and I asked who the flowers were for when he picked them out and he gave them to me- and then he left, and I can't find him."

Neji blinked.

He could gather that Shikamaru had confided in Ino with regards to some rather ambigous relationship problem (which could be intepreted as shyness, Neji supposed) that he did not divulge the details of, and was so caught up with it that it was a major concern even for his friends who knew little. At some point Shikamaru had become ill, and Ino suspected that whoever was causing his problems was infact hurting him. Some way or another Shikamaru had picked out flowers which had apparently symbolized love, and had given them to Ino.

Shikamaru... he thought to himself slowly, Might be asking me for help. ...from girl problems!?

Neji was a geniusshinobi. He was not a genius in the area of the mysterious things that were women.

Shikamaru must have had his reasons, though...

"I don't know where he went," Neji stated matter-of-factly, "But if I see him I'll try and let you know."

A quick thank-you and Ino left (no doubt to return to her search), leaving Neji to ponder even as he joined in the training.

---

Shikamaru rested heavily against the railing of the stairs in his house with a deep sigh.

He pressed his fingers to his forehead, massaging his temple. The splitting headache had not left him, but at least for now the memories had. But those rapid flashbacks had not vanished as soon as he'd hoped- they were around long enough, they affected him (Fuck you, Sasuke) enough for him to have created quite a troublesome situation for himself.

He didn't even want to think of a solution now. All he wanted to do was unwind with a good game of shougi- and it wasn't very likely he was about to get that, judging by Neji's rather bewildered response (Shikamaru couldn't blame him, he'd be surprised too). But a good nap would do just as well.

He came home to find the house empty, and he vaguely recalled that his parents would be away for a few days on missions and such. After some thinking, Shikamaru also managed to vaguely recall that he had to return to his chuunin duties tomorrow or Godaime-sama would be tearing him to shreds with her screams alone. He shoved aside the troublesome thought of the piled-up paperwork that awaited him and made his way groggily up the stairs, safe, at least, in all the havoc that had built up recently around his already too-troublesome life, in the knowledge that this was his home- and a man's home was his castle, it was only right for it to be so.

The light in the sky was fading, the early evening air was calm. He paused, for a moment, his hand on the doorknob, as though amazed at how it still felt so cold, so metallic (in a way that didn't remind him of anyone, for once), so- so very real. With a deep sigh he opened the door and pretty much dragged himself to the foot of the bed, turning around so he could just collapse and lose himself in comforting, familiar sheets.

And he realized justwhat he had seen in the shadowed corner of his room, and stiffened as his door clicked shut, his eyes travelling to the wide-open window and curtain blowing in the evening breeze.

"I've been waiting."

---

Two entirely unexpected people had already come upon him for strange purposes today, but least of all Neji expected him.

It was a good training session, despite it's rather questionable start. He and Lee had the best spar they've had in a long time, now, and it reminded Neji of just how far the chuunin was coming along- of how their motto just rang so true. Every day- stronger than they were yesterday. It was in the evening when Neji had begun to make his way back to the Hyuuga residence. It was on that way that he had appeared.

"Yo, Neji-kun. I was looking for you."

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm," was the only thing the older jounin said. Neji blinked, for once doubting his eyes, but it was unmistakable. Wild silver hair that jutted out in every direction, a calm, slacky demeanor, one gleaming eye with the other hidden beneath a tilted forehead protector, most of his face obscured by a mask- and some shameful book held loosely at his side.

Neji blinked again.

"You seem surprised, Neji-kun," Kakashi said airily.

"Do you need me for something?"

"Quite."

Neji's eyes narrowed. Kakashi seemed reluctant to continue- and that eye of his was watching, searching- justl ike Neji's own. "If nothing, I was on my way home." He turned around wordlessly to leave, and had taken quite a few steps before Kakashi reappeared infront of him.

"Have you seen Shikamaru today?"

The Hyuuga blinked. So now Kakashi is involved, too... what is this? Neji had assumed it to be nothing more than a simple (and rather annoying) problem of social niceties and the Ino's gossipy tendencies... he could be analyzing, maybe Kakashi was just looking for Shikamaru for other reasons. But... if it was for the same thing... since when had Kakashi ever gotten himself involved in social intricacies? He wasn't exactly very good at them- downright avoided them. If Kakashi was involved, it could mean something far more serious... an actual danger. A mission. An enemy.

It seems there's more to this than I thought.

"For awhile, in the morning."

"Ah."

Another pause.

"Do you know where he is now?" Kakashi probed.

"Is something wrong?"

Neji could see Kakashi's eye widen ever so slightly, the searching seeming to intensify- a silent expression of what do you know? Neji gazed calmly back, unblinking eyes in turn asking the exact same expression. What he could find out from Kakashi depended on how much Kakashi thought he knew.

Normally Neji would doubt the need to lie or hide anything from the older jounin, but Kakashi's demeanor in approaching him warranted enough suspicion- given the day's peculiar events.

Kakashi shrugged. "I heard he was ill."

"Ino told me." No notable response. Perhaps Kakashi had no idea of Ino's involvement.

"Have you seen Sasuke?"

Neji blinked- that question was entirely out of the blue- it seemed completely unrrelated.

...seemed, Neji reminded himself. Nothing is for certain now.

"I haven't," Neji replied, allowing surprise to naturally enter his tone of voice, "But no one has in years, after all."

"I thought I saw him the other day."

Neji noted that it was an absolutely blatant lie- and that people didn't lie unless they had something to hide.

"The last time I saw him was at Sakura-san's dinner some time ago. Some of us were surprised to know he was still in Konoha. You were there too, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi frowned ever so slightly, but it was only for a split second before it was replaced with aone-eyed smile. "Ahh, yes. The food was good."

"Rather."

A beat of silence passed between them.

"Thanks, Neji-kun. Later," Kakashi said brightly, raising his arm in a casual solute, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Neji paused for a moment, staring at where the silver-haired jounin was just moments before, before continuing on his way.

Perhaps I'll visit Shikamaru for a game after all.

--

"I've been waiting."

Shikamaru didn't want to turn around, didn't want to face it- didn't want to admit that he as trembling and his breath was quickening, not only from nervousness. His fists clenched and he gritted his teeth, refusing to look behind him even as he felt slender fingers trace lightly across his shoulders, drawing intricate patterns with no sense of inhibition- as though there was nothing wrong with it. As though... as though Shikamaru belonged to him.

"It's already been longer than I planned..."

Shikamaru's first thought that this was probably the most Sasuke had talked freely in a long while- and his second, that this was premeditated and planned.

His third was the impulse to kick Sasuke in the teeth.

"I'll solve that, shan't I?"

The chuunin hated the way he didn't move when he felt a second hand, when they slid off the chuunin vest, when they pulled off the jacket- hated the way his arms limply shifted aside when they needed to. He wanted to move, wanted to make some protest- but at the same time refused to make any movement, for fear that it would be anything but a struggle...

"We need to talk."

"Ino. Ino told me to talk to you."

"That was talking?"

The memory came completely unbidden- including that smirk that had been on his face, the distant amusement in his eyes...

Why was he here? What purpose did he have? Only to take the same thing again- was that all this was?

The grip tightened suddenly and that was the only warning he received. It wasn't long before he was turned around and forced rapidly against the wall- it felt so familiar, and so-

"Open your eyes."

The words were not said- but the mere memory of the command was enough. Shikamaru's eyes flew opena nd he took in the sight before him- dimly lit by the fading light from the window, Sasuke stared straight at him, his lips curled into a smirk, his eyes filled with amusement- and... a deep, obsessive need. The chuunin couldn't help but notice the way the light and shadows played with the muscles that rippled beneath the pale chin of Sasuke's chest with every slight movement, the way the even the soft light caused a sheen in that soft, silken hair-

"No," he muttered.

"Hm?" It was mocking. Challenging. Daring him to said otherwise.

"I said no," Shikamaru raised his voice, surprising even himself- pushing Sasuke away.

They stared at each other for a moment, and the apparent shock on Sasuke's face swiftly changed into amusement. He approached again, but Shikamaru instinctively stepped into a posture of readyness, knowing that fighting the jounin was useless. "Fuck you, Sasuke," Shikamaru growled- it was almost animalistic, something he had never heard come from his own throat before.

How long had he been waiting? How long was he willing to wait- and for what? ...Hell, he thought too much, and in the worst of times.

The amusement rapidly shifted into impatience and annoyance- and faster than Shikamaru could react he was against the wall again, only even more forcibly than before, his hands pinned o the wall. Sasuke brought his face closer, leaning his mouth to the chuunin's ear- Shikamaru shuddered as he felt the jounin's tongue trail along his earlobe, pausing to flick at his earring- Sasuke tilted his head so their eyes met. Shikamaru tried to push out again- but it was clear that if Sasuke had decided to use less force before, he was not allowing it to happen again, and he responded to the attempts at a struggle by pressing him against the wall with even greater strength.

"We need to talk," he hissed- and Shikamaru saw his eyes turn blood red, and found himself complying.

---

A/N: I usually write at least abit a day and after putting it off for some time I just sat down and did the whole thing in one go. Some days, eh...

D: I has no reviews from the last chapter. I know you people are reading this, come on, I love feedback! Don't worry, I'll continue to update, I don't -need- you guys to review me. XD

Thanks to the people who added this to your favourites or alerts, that means alot too- and of course to all of you who read this!

The website's been acting up on me lately, this may be up abit late...

Sharingan: the ultimate borderline consent device.

What happenz next:O