A/N: me sorry for the double-late release, since I missed both Wednesday and Saturday! It just kind of…happened. Xx;
Annnnd…so many good questions that I can't answer, 'coz that'd be giving too much information away! XD And a few inquiries of sorts that made me laugh, 'coz I know the answer to 'em too, but I can't say. xP
Thanks to yaoiad-ikt, BrevityofWit, Hawkwing, Dark-Princess-Hikari, Aarien-sama, Winterblazewolf, Hanai-kun, and shinidanie for the reviews!
A quick answer:
For those who couldn't quite understand what happened to get Neji exiled and are kind of confused about the Neji part in the beginning of last chapter, it did its job! It was supposed to confuse you, or get you more curious about what he did! :) It hasn't been explained yet, so keep reading!
--
An Unexpected Night
--
Chapter Four
The next morning Shikamaru woke with a crick in his neck and in a highly uncomfortable position on his couch, wrinkled papers strewn around him in an unorganized fashion. Yawning widely, he stretched and stood, then reached up to massage his aching neck. He had no idea what time it was, but he hoped it was still early enough for him to shower and get ready before he had to leave to meet the group from Suna, and pick up Neji's genin along the way.
Neji. Funny how he had so easily reverted back to calling him that, even in his head (he had actually begun to call him "Hyuuga" because of the distance that had been brought between them the past few years, and had just fallen out of calling him Neji; so the next time he called the Hyuuga "Neji", it felt weird and he just called him "the Hyuuga", or just "Hyuuga" to curb that uncomfortable-ness). Sure, right now he'd never go back to calling Neji "Hyuuga", since it would be an even more constant reminder of the clan that had ridded itself of him, and Shikamaru was pretty sure that Neji wasn't anywhere near ready to pass that hurdle in life and be ready for times to come.
Sighing low to himself, Shikamaru bent down to gather the papers that had fallen to the floor and to organize the papers that were still on the couch, albeit more wrinkled than they were the night before. Somehow he had managed to finish the paperwork early that morning, and had only been able to get a couple hours of sleep, since he had to get up early that day. From what it looked like outside it was only around five in the morning, meaning that he had had only three hours of sleep.
Shikamaru stood, a groan slipping past his lips as he reached around to his back and rubbed hard. Sleeping on couches in an up-right position? Not a good idea. He'd certainly never do that again.
When he gathered all the papers, he put them haphazardly back into the folders, not particularly caring that they weren't in an order of any kind, which would probably end up annoying Tsunade (or rather, Shizune, since she'd probably be the one to check the papers for completeness and correctness). When done with that, he set the folders down on the couch and headed toward his room to gather clothes for a quick shower. As he stepped into the room he unconsciously glanced toward the bed, where Neji was sleeping peacefully, a lock of hair crossing over his cheek and barely missing the corner of his mouth. The blankets were pulled around the boy's toned body, and Shikamaru could very faintly see the outline of said body through the creases in the blankets. Shaking his head slightly to get himself undistracted, he strolled over to his closet and grabbed whatever clothes his hand landed on first, since it didn't really matter what he wore anyway; it wasn't like he was actually leaving the village for a mission.
With a final glance at the slumbering older boy, Shikamaru walked into the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind him.
--
Neji woke to the sound of running water, causing him to crease his brow in confusion before it registered in him about where he was currently at. Yawning, he sat up and folded the blankets over his legs before deciding to just sit there for a few minutes, his mind lost in thought.
He was at the Nara's house, clearly meaning that he was still very much alive. His head still hurt beyond belief, but it was at a far more manageable level than when the seal had been activated, which he was grateful for. But…he had been certain that he would die, or at the very least have been put into a never-ending coma if death didn't claim him. So…why was he still alive and staying at the Nara's house?
His thoughts were forgotten as the bathroom door opened and watched as a few tendrils of steam slipping out followed by the Nara, who was messily drying his hair with a towel. He looked to be distracted by what he was doing, and didn't notice Neji until he was fully out of the bathroom and had dropped the towel from his hair.
To his credit, the Nara was taking this situation oddly well and merely stared at him a few moments before shrugging and adjusting his slightly baggy white shirt. "It's a pain, but I need to go meet the people from Suna for chuunin exam things, so I can't make breakfast for you. There's instant ramen from Naruto in there if you get hungry."
Neji simply stared at him, a sigh slipping out. Was that all the Nara really had to say to him? Was he even going to question why Neji was the way he was at the current moment?
As if he had been reading Neji's thoughts, the Nara turned awkwardly and threw the towel back into the bathroom before slowly walking to the door. "We'll talk later. I need to pick up your troublesome genin right now so I won't be late to 'greet' the kazekage and his siblings."
Neji blinked and before he could say more than "what–", the Nara was out the door; if Neji had really wanted to get his attention he could've shouted, but that would've been too much to have done, since all he wanted to know was what the Nara was doing with his genin.
Sighing, Neji allowed himself to fall back onto the Nara's bed and closed his eyes, not bothering to put the blankets back over himself. He'd have to get his questions answered whenever the Nara returned; which, from what the Nara had said about having to deal with the Suna people, wouldn't be for a while yet.
--
Shikamaru sighed as he closed his front door behind him, and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. This was…way too awkward. What was he supposed to say to the guy, when he hadn't even talked to him in the past couple of years? Especially if he was using his bed, and wearing his clothes? It…was too weird.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and slipped the sheet of paper that had the addresses of Aimi, Hiroshi, and Keiichi on it. He'd have to go to each person's individual house to meet them, since it was still a few hours until they'd normally meet for training; if they were normal kids, they'd probably still be sleeping (which was something he really wanted to do right now).
Scanning it over quickly, he realized that the three of them lived really close together, meaning that he wouldn't have to wander around the entire village trying to gather everyone up so they could get to the village gates before Gaara and crew arrived (which was very helpful, since he was pretty sure that his shower lasted a little longer than it should've). Quickly he made his way down the street toward where Aimi lived, since she was the closest at only a couple blocks away.
For the few minutes that it took to walk to the girl's house, he thought of the promise of sorts that he had given Neji about talking later. Why had he said that? Neji probably wasn't ready to talk about what happened; least of all with him! At the very least he knew that Neji had made a good recovery and was functioning just fine, although he couldn't really know that for sure since he had only heard the guy talk once, and hadn't seen him do much else besides sit up and eat. But even so, he was very confident that Neji would make a full recovery – or, at least as recovered as he could possibly be, with what happened.
Before he knew it he was standing in front of Aimi's house, and looked down at the paper again to recheck the address before sighing once more. This was the place; it looked like every other middle-class citizen's house, meaning that Aimi's parents weren't ninja like most of the genin and academy students' parents were. He couldn't help but wonder how that happened, since most people who were married to a citizen – and were a citizen themselves – didn't choose to send their child to the academy, and instead usually sent their son or daughter to a regular school for citizens that didn't specialize in ninja training. It was a rare case when they did, and when that did happen, the child was usually not very good at what they were doing; which fit Aimi perfectly, if what Hiroshi had said about her had been true.
Mentally he shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts that plagued it and walked up to the door, fervently hoping that someone was awake, and that he wouldn't be chewed out because he had woken them up at 5:30 in the morning. Muttering "troublesome" under his breath, he knocked on the door thrice before taking a step back and waiting for some kind of response from within. Almost immediately he could hear footsteps, which meant that someone had indeed been awake.
Slowly he released the breath that he hadn't known he had been holding, and relaxed his body when the door opened to reveal a blonde-haired woman (immediately he knew where Aimi's looks came from; she was a spitting image of the woman standing in front of him). Her expression was one of curiosity; quickly she scanned him over before looking him in the eye, her eyes resembling Aimi's more than before with the wonderment evident in them. "Yes? How can I help you, shinobi-san?"
Shikamaru balked at being called 'shinobi-san', before he reached up and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Is Aimi here? I know it's a little early, but…"
"Oh! You must be the Shika-sensei I've heard so much about!" The woman's eyes brightened, before she motioned for Shikamaru to accompany her inside. "I'll get Aimi; you can wait in the living room." A wry smile covered her lips as she added, "Trust me, you'll want to. She's quite the heavy sleeper, so waking her up will take a little time."
Shikamaru waved a hand in front of his face and said, "It's fine. I have to get her teammates anyway; this way it'll be a lot quicker and we won't be…late. Just have her wait out front when she's up and ready, okay?"
The woman smiled and nodded, before bidding him goodbye and closing the door. For a few moments Shikamaru stood there, focusing his attention on the woman's footsteps as she walked farther into the house, until he could barely hear them anymore. Sighing, he turned away from the house and glanced back down at the paper and continued on his way again; Hiroshi was the next closest, and he hoped that the boy wasn't a heavy sleeper like his female teammate was.
--
He couldn't help but feel a little…reluctant to walk up to the door. From the sounds coming from the inside, it seemed like Hiroshi had been awake for a while now, and apparently started his day the instant he woke up. Or, at the very least, that's the best that Shikamaru could assume.
Sighing, Shikamaru walked up to the door and knocked thrice like he had done at Aimi's, then took a step back to wait. Inside he could hear shouting, like the kind of shouting that's done when you don't want to open the door, so you send someone else to do it instead, followed immediately by quick footsteps then the door opening. To his surprise, it wasn't Hiroshi who answered; it wasn't even one of Hiroshi's family members. Why was–
"Nara-sensei? What're you doing here?"
–Keiichi opening Hiroshi's front door?
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, and then said, "Is Hiroshi up? We're meeting by the front gate."
"Why?" Keiichi frowned, his eyes suddenly sharpening. "Do we have a mission or something?"
"Ah, no. It'd be too much of a pain to go on a mission with you guys." Shikamaru smirked ever-so-slightly, before someone in the background caught his eye. "Oi! Hiroshi, let's go! We're going to be late!"
"Shika-sensei?" Hiroshi paused, his eyes widening in surprise at seeing their temporary sensei at his door. "Late for what? We're just about to have breakfast!"
"We're meeting some people at the front gate. Bring your breakfast with you, if you have to eat." Upon the mention of food, Shikamaru's stomach decided to let everyone know that he hadn't eaten, causing him to groan softly in embarrassment.
Hiroshi grinned, before waving for them to get out of the house. "I'll get enough for all of us, Aimi included!"
Shikamaru didn't have time to protest before Hiroshi disappeared farther into the house. Sighing softly in mild annoyance, he ran his hand through his sloppily-made ponytail before turning his attention to Keiichi. "That kid…reminds me a little too much of someone I know." Without explaining himself, Shikamaru turned away from a slightly puzzled Keiichi and yawned. "No use waiting here; he can catch up with us."
Keiichi merely nodded and closed the door behind him then followed Shikamaru down the road. Silence spread out between them, but it wasn't necessarily the uncomfortable kind; but it wasn't quite the companionable sort of silence, either. It was the kind of not-awkward silence that two people who preferred silence enjoyed, but were reluctant to revel in it with another person.
"Oiii! Shika-sensei, Kei-kun! Where's Hiro-kun?"
Up ahead Aimi stood on the lowest step leading up to her house, one hand raised in the air in greeting while the other was dusting off her light tan shorts. Next to him Keiichi scoffed at the name Aimi had called him, bringing a half-smile to Shikamaru's lips. "He's bringing breakfast; he'll catch up."
"Yatta!" Aimi shouted as a grin spread out on her lips. Quickly she about-faced, and said, "We'll, let's hurry then!"
The half-smile stayed in place as Shikamaru shook his head in amusement, and then followed after the overzealous Aimi, Keiichi trailing behind him. No matter the situation he could always count on the young girl to brighten things, whether she really meant to do so or not.
For a few minutes they walked, Aimi and Keiichi talking quietly while he did his best to ignore the two teammates who clearly wanted to "be alone" and discuss whatever it was that they were discussing, since it clearly had nothing to do with him. It didn't take long to reach the village gates, thanks to the fact that they all lived close by them.
Unconsciously he nodded at Kotetsu and Izumo as his eyes sought out figures outside the village gates. To their luck, no one was there yet; on their side, not even the chuunin that was supposed to meet them had arrived.
Shikamaru sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, and then turned at the sound of running; apparently Hiroshi had caught up, if he recognized the footsteps properly. Behind Hiroshi the chuunin was coming, visibly trying to hold in the yawn that threatened to slip out.
Hiroshi help up the bag he was carrying with a grin. "It's taiyaki this time, Kei! Red bean paste, like you always want it!"
"'This time'…?" Shikamaru echoed, his curiosity about why Keiichi had been at Hiroshi's house sparking all over again. As Hiroshi handed him one of the fish-shaped snacks, he asked, "Why was Keiichi at your house?"
Hiroshi looked surprise for a second, before he grinned mischievously then said, "Well, you see–"
"Hiroshi, hurry up. You can to sensei later."
Hiroshi turned upon hearing his name from Keiichi, and then shrugged at Shikamaru. "I'll tell you later then, if I remember."
Shikamaru sighed as Hiroshi walked off, and then glanced down at Aimi who had moved so she was standing next to him. Silently he raised an eyebrow as she took a bite of the taiyaki, curious about her sudden closeness. "Wha–"
"He spends a lot of time at Hiro-kun's house." Shikamaru blinked in confusion before it dawned on him that she was talking about Keiichi. "The reason why, though, isn't really mine to tell…but I can tell you that they're really close." Aimi grinned childishly, before adding, "'though they don't act like it most of the time."
Shikamaru "hmmm"ed softly to himself, before Hiroshi caught his eye. The boy was jumping up and down, waving like a manic, meaning that who they were supposed to meet had probably arrived (good thing they hadn't arrived a few minutes sooner, since all of them had just arrived themselves). Silently he counted down from ten to himself, and couldn't help but smirk when he heard Temari's voice at one.
"Oi, crybaby! Who're the kids?"
Lazily he turned and faked a yawn. "They're Neji's. It's a pain, but I'm watching them for him during the chuunin exam preparations."
Temari raised an eyebrow. "Never thought I'd see the day when you willingly hung out with genin, pineapple head."
Shikamaru shrugged, then looked down as he felt someone grab onto his hand. Aimi was hanging off him, her eyes wide as she looked at the various people from Suna. Sighing, he said, "This is Temari. Those two," he lazily motioned in Kankurou and Gaara's direction, "are her brothers, Kankurou and Gaara. Gaara's the kage of Suna, while Temari and Kankurou are his advisors." Turning his attention back to Temari, he added, "This is Aimi, Hiroshi, and Keiichi. They're entering the exams this time around."
Temari nodded toward the three genin before asking, "So what did the hokage want us to do?"
"We're to show you guys to your rooms, then take you three and the other jounins to meet her in her office." Shikamaru nodded toward the yawning chuunin and added, "The genin follow him. I don't know what they're supposed to be doing, though."
Temari motioned for the genin behind her to follow the chuunin, and then said, "Well, let's get going then!"
--
Sakura sighed to herself as she waited for the meeting with the Suna officials to be over, and lazily glanced at Shikamaru, who was fighting off a yawn. It had been a couple days since she had last talked to him about Neji, and was really curious about how he was doing.
"Oi, Sakura. When we're done here, will you be busy?"
Sakura blinked in surprise, her eyes locking with Shikamaru's. "Er…no. Why?"
She watched as he glanced at the three genin who were messing around a little farther down the hallway, then whispered, "He's moving around now. I was wondering if you could check up on him."
Ah, Neji.
"No, I should be able to." Sakura smiled, relieved that she hadn't had to bring it up herself. "Um…would you like me to report back to you, or…?"
"Sure." Shikamaru shrugged. "We'll be on the training grounds out past the bridge. The kids want to hang out with Temari, and that troublesome woman agreed."
Sakura laughed softly as the door to the hokage's office opened, then nodded. "I'll meet you there after I check in on Neji, then. Do I need a key, or is the door going to be open?"
"It should be unlocked, but there's a key under the mat if you need it. See you."
Sakura waved as he walked away, Temari on one side and Neji's genin on the other. She had to hurry to see Neji; if he was indeed walking around like Shikamaru had told her, then that meant that Neji was making good time in his physical recovery. But even so, she couldn't help but feel that something didn't seem quite right…
--
About an hour later Shikamaru spotted Sakura walking toward them, a small brown paper bag in each hand. Silently he waited a few moments, his attention half on the dueling genin in front of him, the other half watching Sakura's progress, before he sighed and stood, his hands automatically reaching down to dust off his pants. "I need to talk to Sakura, I'll be back."
Without waiting for a response he made the short walk to meet with Sakura, then carelessly motioned to a location a little farther off so the group behind them wouldn't be able to hear. "How is he?"
Sakura ignored his question, and instead held up one of the bags. "Here, give this to Neji. It's painkillers for his headaches, since the side-effects of the seal being activated haven't come off yet."
(So Neji had told her what happened? Shikamaru definitely didn't remember telling her about any seal activation, although she had seen him before…)
"And in this bag's a vile that he's supposed to take a small sip of any time he plans on moving around a lot. Don't forget to tell him that." After handing him the two bags, she lifted her gaze from ground-level to lock onto his, her eyes completely serious. "I know you said that you'd do your best, and that you think it's your responsibility to take care of Neji after seeing that, but…if I think that he's being neglected too much, purposefully or no, I'll have to take him to the hospital. I just want you to know that. And I realize that your other duties are important…" She trailed off, her fists clenching slighly before she continued. "But right now Neji's the one you need to focus most of your attention on. He's–"
Sakura cut herself off again, her eyes narrowing this time. "I can't…say why, since Neji told me not to. But you need to get those medicine to him as soon as you can, so I'll take over the genin for the day." Upon seeing that Shikamaru was going to protest, she held up her hand, her eyes softening. "Please? He may not show it, but Neji really needs someone with him right now. And I think that person should be you, Shikamaru. It wouldn't be any trouble, since today's my day off anyway."
Shikamaru sighed, knowing full well that even if he had argued that Sakura would just continue to prod him to leave, nodded and took both bags. "I'll go, then. His genin are a real pain, but if you want to watch them, that's your problem."
--
The first thing Shikamaru noticed when he opened his door was that something didn't feel right; like something was off about the situation, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. (Déjà vu, anyone?) Hesitantly he closed the door behind him and set the bags on the spare chair before taking a couple of steps farther into his house. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the kitchen, where a steadily growing puddle of water was nearing his carpet.
Quickly he made his way over, and stopped in shock at the sight that lay before him. Neji was propped up against the cabinet door, his hands dangling between his bent knees, cuts and small burn marks covering both. Right next to him was the pot that he used to boil water and a shattered glass cup and a tea bag that was leaking out into the puddle of water. His eyes were empty, like they had been when Shikamaru had first discovered him awake, and a shiver of fear darted down his spine.
Softly he called Neji's name, unsure if the boy would respond to it or be catatonic like he had been before. But, to his immense relief, Neji's head turned ever-so-slightly in Shikamaru's direction, his eyes apparently searching out for him but not quite seeing him. Shikamaru released the breath he had been holding and bent down to help the ex-Hyuuga off the ground, all the while trying to figure out what happened; getting yourself a simple cup of tea shouldn't have been so…hazardous, should it? Could it have possiblye had had something to do with the bags that Sakura had given him, and the way she was so forceful about him getting home? But…what did she know about Neji's condition that he did not?
--
A/N: In my head the ending was way cooler, but in all it's awesome-ness I couldn't duplicate it. XD So I tried.
In my…days of not posting this, I kinda laid out the rest of the story to see just how much more of it I'm going to be writing, and it looks like this fic's going to be around 12-ish chapters, with an epilogue as well. :)
And about the next update…I'm not entirely sure if it'd be Wednesday, but I guess that'd depend on if I want to make it another long one or not. So we'll see. :)
Read and review!