A/N: Hello all again! Hope you're doin' well! :) I return with another new chapter, a day early! Needless to say it's long, which I guess all the remaining chapters are going to be…:grinz: Oh, er…I kinda lied about Neji being in this chapter. XD Oops. It was purely accidental, Iassureyou!

Thanks for the reviews! They make my day. :)

Oh yes…some of the comments left by people made me laugh…in delight. :) Someone guessed something that's gonna happen, and someone else doesn't know that what they want I already had in mind to do XD It twas way awesome.

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An Unexpected Night

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Chapter Seven

On the way to the hospital, after losing sight of Kenta who apparently had ran there, Shikamaru had run into one of the other exam supervisors, who had told him that they had a meeting with Tsunade in an hour; a meeting that he most certainly didn't want to go to, but knew he had to since it was a requirement for them to all give their two cents on the fighters and who should be promoted for the final decision. The promotion to be perfectly honest was the last thing on his mind, but it wasn't something he could avoid without being subjected to Tsunade's wrath (hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that). Thankfully, however, the hospital was only a few minute's walk away from the hokage's office, so he could take his leisure time in visiting his adopted team members.

When he arrived he quickly checked in, got Keiichi and Hiroshi's room numbers from the desk lady, and proceeded on his way to Aimi's room since she was the closest by being on the first floor rather than the second like the other two were. For the few minutes it took to walk the length of the hallway he couldn't help but notice the stark white of the walls, the ever-clean floors, the slightly sour scent of antiseptic…

Ever since that time when he had first become a chuunin he had avoided coming here again, and had to mentally shake his head to wrench himself out of the flashback his mind was bringing upon himself. This wasn't the time for that kind of thing; he was here for genin who were recovering and were alive and safe, not friends who he had no idea if they were going to survive or not…

His feet stopped in front of Aimi's room, and Shikamaru rested his head against the wall for a few seconds before letting out a breath of air to calm himself before letting himself in. To his surprise Aimi was awake this time and propped up, the neck brace still in place and a small bowl of yogurt resting on her lap tray. At his entry Aimi glanced at the door, and grinned in delight.

"Shika-sensei! I know you'll believe me, since no one else did!"

Shikamaru blinked as the girl's grin only grew, and felt the corner of his mouth tug upward in response. "Believe what?"

"I know it wasn't a dream! Neji-sensei really did visit me!" The girl spooned herself a small amount of the creamy yogurt before she continued with excitement still in her tone. "He said he was proud of me and that I'll get better quick!"

So Neji had visited Aimi? Huh…he hadn't actually been serious about Neji coming out of the house, since he hadn't been sure if the jounin could handle it, but apparently he could've; or was it because he knew the streets would be empty, making it less of a threat to walk around in broad daylight and be recognized? He'd have to ask the boy about it later when he got home that night.

The quirk of his mouth blossomed into a half-smile at the girl's enthusiasm as he winked. "I'll believe it wasn't a dream. Neji must've known what happened somehow."

"But…how?" Aimi's eyes widened minutely, before her already impossibly big grin grew further. "Maybe he had been watching my fight!"

"Mmmm…nah, I don't think so." To make up for the sudden disappointed look that crossed Aimi's face he added, "But hey, maybe he just knew you were here because he cared about you and could sense it?"

"Maaaaybe…" Aimi's tone grew quiet, her brow scrunching. Her eyes looked troubled as she spoke again. "Ne…what happened to Hiro-kun and Kei-kun? Nobody's told me anything and they act like I can't hear them talking and- and when I ask what's wrong, they always try to change the subject on me. They're my teammates…my friends! I deserve to know, right? You think so, don't you?"

Shikamaru stared at the young girl, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes from frustration, before he sighed softly and rested a hand on her shoulder. "They…fought in the tournament, and things…went wrong." He said quietly, his hand squeezing softly. "Keiichi…he- he almost killed Hiroshi, but I know he didn't mean to."

"He- what? Of course he didn't mean to!" Aimi's voice raised an octave, belying her sudden annoyance. "He'd never want to kill Hiro-kun! Hiro-kun is Kei-kun's most important person so he- of course he didn't mean to!"

'Most important person'…? Was that what their relationship was…?

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow. "What…do you mean?"

Aimi widened her eyes as she blushed, suddenly realizing what she had just said. Ducking her head she quickly said, "W-well…he…a-ano…I-I'm just…guessing, you know? Just a…guess!"

Shikamaru's eyebrow remained raised, as an amused smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Clearly the girl knew more about the boys' relationship than she wanted to admit, and didn't seem like she felt it was her place to tell about it. Yawning widely – mostly for show – he took a step back and raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Well…it's a pain, but I only have an hour here with you three. I should probably go visit the boys; if I have time I'll come back and update you on their condition, okay?"

At Aimi's enthusiastic nod he chuckled softly and carelessly waved his hand behind him as he headed out the door, and softly pulled it shut behind him. With a quiet sigh he headed for the stairs, deciding that he'd visit whoever ended up being closer from the way he was coming, since there were multiple ways to get up to the second floor which ended up in different places. It didn't occur to him that he might have ran into Kenta until the boy walked toward him, coming out of the very staircase that Shikamaru was headed for.

Unconsciously he stopped and stared, his eyes focused on the slightly troubled, slightly satisfied expression on Kenta's face before he sighed and raised a hand in greeting. "How's Keiichi?"

"Keiin's…" Kenta paused, his eyes flickering momentarily before he grinned and locked his hands behind his head. "Keiin's Keiin. The brat's how he always is: a pain in the ass."

Shikamaru smiled mirthlessly, mind noting that his own smile reflected the fake one on Kenta's lips. "And Hiroshi?"

"I didn't see Hiro. Something told me that it would've been a bad idea to." Kenta's grin turned into a frown momentarily before the boy shrugged and began walking again. "But whatever, I don't care. It's not like I won't see him when he gets out anyway."

Shikamaru nodded, not entirely in agreement since he couldn't really say what was going to happen after they got out of the hospital. He stayed motionless as the boy walked by him, then sighed again and headed up the stairs. When he reached the top his eyes automatically went to lock on the number on nearest room's door, and saw that Keiichi's room would be closer than Hiroshi's, which, by the numbering, would be farther down the hall or even quite possibly down another one on the same floor.

Slowly he walked up to the boy's door, his footsteps heavy, his senses suddenly alert. As his hand descended on the door knob he paused, unsure if he should truly go through with visiting the boy or if he still needed time to be alone, and figured that if Keiichi had already been disturbed once – and the disturber still being alright, although seemingly a little ruffled – he wouldn't be too much of an intruder.

His motions almost hesitant, he turned the knob and stepped inside far enough before he turned and quietly closed the door behind him, his gaze having yet to touch upon the red head who was lying down, his head propped by the hospital-issued pure white pillows. When Shikamaru did turn to face the boy and somehow found himself by said boy's bed, he was surprised to see Keiichi's eyes open and staring blankly at the ceiling; they didn't even twitch from Shikamaru's sudden appearance.

Awkwardly he rested a hand on the boy's exposed arm, his throat suddenly dry. Softly he asked, "How are you doing, Keiichi?"

Keiichi stayed quiet, seemingly as if he hadn't even heard Shikamaru's question. After a few minutes of silence snaked by, the boy's eyes turned to him, a small sigh slipping through his slightly cracked lips. "I'm alright…for the most part." When another moment's silence slipped by he added, "How're…the others doing?"

"Aimi's doing well- she's awake and talking. I just came from her room, actually." Shikamaru paused, his eyes straying to the white sheets that were wrinkled under Keiichi's arms then quietly added, "I haven't visited Hiroshi yet, though…"

"…I see." Keiichi replied softly, his gaze returning to the ceiling, his eyes locking onto the minutely peeling paint. Silence overcame the two again for a few minutes, before Keiichi turned his gaze to lock onto Shikamaru's, his eyes troubled and slightly crazed. "I didn't- I don't- I…I'd never want to kill him…"

"I know." Shikamaru said quietly as he carefully tore his gaze from Keiichi's and returned them to the sheets again, his hand unconsciously tightening slightly on the boy's arm.

When another couple minutes passed by in silence, Keiichi sighed, his eyes closing. "Can you…deliver a message to Hiroshi for me?"

Shikamaru blinked in momentary surprise before shrugging, his grip loosening. "Sure. What is it?"

To Shikamaru's surprise Keiichi turned his head away, his eyes locking onto a point Shikamaru couldn't see, a very blatant red color seeping into the genin's cheeks. "Can you tell- I mean…umm…can you tell Hiroshi that I'm…sorry, and that I-" Keiichi cut himself off, before continuing on in a quieter voice, but was still loud enough for Shikamaru to hear, "that I l-love him?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly in surprise, somehow managing to choke out the words "S-sure, I'll tell him" without sounding entirely too shocked by the boy's blunt message. A sound of thanks came from Keiichi's throat, before Shikamaru stood on slightly shaky legs and nodded at him. "I'll…be going, then, if that's all you wanted to tell him."

When Keiichi nodded in response, Shikamaru left the boy's room and began heading toward Hiroshi's, both Aimi's words from before and Keiichi's message spinning in his head. So…was what Aimi said true? Did they really have that kind of relationship, and he had been too damn dense to notice it? Or…was he totally taking the message and Aimi's 'his most important person' out of context? Snorting softly at himself, he mentally waved the thoughts away. Thinking about it wouldn't help, since he hadn't talked to Hiroshi about it yet (and he definitely was going to do that, if only to cure his curiosity of the matter).

A couple minutes later he found himself in front of Hiroshi's open door, and paused upon seeing a nurse seated by the head of Hiroshi's bed, and spoon in one hand and a bowl of what he presumed to be soup in the other. For a few seconds he watched, before he awkwardly cleared his throat, effectively catching the attention of the two in the room. "Er…I'll come back later, if you're busy."

The nurse smiled slightly before she put the empty spoon back into the bowl and set it on a manila colored tray, which she picked up upon standing. "No, come on in. I just finished."

As the nurse left the room and closed the door behind her, Shikamaru glanced at Hiroshi's uncovered body, and was surprised to not see as may bandages as he thought he would around the boy's chest, and even less on his arms and head. Turning his gaze to Hiroshi's eyes he said, "Seems like you're healing well."

Hiroshi grinned. "Sakura-nee-san's a really good medic! She said I should be out of here for a quick physical therapy session by the end of the week if I don't move around too much."

Shikamaru "hmm"ed softly in response, his arms automatically going to cross over his chest. "I have a message from Keiichi for you."

Hiroshi's expression went through so many changes in the few seconds after Shikamaru had spoken, making the jounin feel as if he had been seeing things, before Hiroshi reluctantly spoke, his voice a pitch slightly higher than normal and full of phony disinterest. "Oh, yeah? What'd he say?"

Shikamaru's hand reached up to rub the back of his neck as he averted his gaze. "He said he was sorry, and that he loved you."

He chanced a glance at Hiroshi's reaction, and watched the surprise that spread across the boy's face. After a few seconds the surprise was followed by the spreading of a large grin, than a small laugh, and then the victorious sounding words "I knew Kei couldn't resist my charm for long!"

Shikamaru curtly raised an eyebrow, the curiosity gnawing at him. "What is Keiichi to you, anyway?"

Hiroshi blinked owlishly, before saying, "Hm…saying he's just a friend won't convince you, huh?" When Shikamaru shook his head, Hiroshi laughed then added, "He's my little brother. Or, rather, half-brother."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly at the words "half-brother", then allowed the corner of his mouth to lift slightly. "Little?"

"I'm not 12, if that's what you're thinking." Hiroshi smirked slightly as he waved away Shikamaru's surprised expression. "I'm actually 13, almost 14. I was held back a year at the academy 'coz I sucked badly. I think I kinda already told you that though, Shika-sensei."

Shikamaru grunted in understanding, and then said, "So Kenta's your brother too? How old's he?"

"Yeah, but it's…complicated." Hiroshi's eyes hardened slightly, before he added, "He's 12 like Kei is. They're twins, after all."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise, his mind automatically producing an image of both boys for him to examine. After a few moments of examination he sighed. "If I picture Kenta with long hair I can see it."

Hiroshi laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement at Shikamaru's words.

After a couple second's silence slipped by, Shikamaru said, "So what was the fight earlier about?"

Hiroshi sighed, his eyes lowering to the bunched sheets by his feet. "You're practically asking me for my whole life story, Shika-sensei, but I'll give you the short version instead."

Hiroshi looked like he was fighting for the right words to say, before he sighed again, his hands clenching the hospital-issued pajama bottoms. "We have the same mother; I was…conceived through an affair. For an entire year my mother's husband thought that I was his, until Kenta and Keiichi were born and he saw the difference immediately; I didn't look anything like either child, and I didn't really look like my mother or her husband, either. And when she confessed that she did cheat on him, she got kicked out of the house and was torn from her newborns, which apparently were handed over to my mother's husband's mistress, who had raised children before since she was a midwife an' all.

But anyway. When we started to get older, some problems apparently sprang up between Kenta and Kei and their relationship with their father that had Kei out searching for the mother he knew was out there and for Kenta to be basically at their father's beck and call. After a little while Kei did find his mother, living with my family like now, and apparently never told Kenta that he had found her. I think that's when Kei started to 'hate' his brother for earning all the attention of their father, which he had tried to get but failed, which I guess ended up making Kei get more attached to…me and our mother, who…showered him with love, I guess you could say."

Shikamaru couldn't help but snort at that statement, to which Hiroshi blushed and mumbled for him to shut up before continuing on.

"Anyway. I met Kenta at the academy; he was in my class the year I was held back. I guess Kei started to see him as a threat to our relationship, since he started to pull me 'n' Kenta apart whenever we were together and he saw. Kei can get really jealous at times; it's actually pretty funny and kinda cute, especially since Kenta doesn't know that we're all related, so Kei's 'brother-steal-brother' fear is totally unfounded." Hiroshi paused, his expression turning to one of deep thought, before he locked eyes with Shikamaru. "Do you want to know what I told Kei before he kinda lost it?"

Shikamaru shrugged, his back leaning against the wall behind him. "Sure."

"I told him that he knew what I meant when I said that Kenta wasn't my brother, and that I'd never replace him with anyone else; blood-related or not, and that I loved him too much to do something stupid like that." Hiroshi grinned victoriously once more, and then added, "I knew Kei loved me back!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, a small chuckle slipping through. "The way you just said that made it sound weird, Hiroshi."

Hiroshi laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement like they had before.

Silence came again, pushing Shikamaru to ask the other question that had been bothering him so. "Does Keiichi not like me or something?"

Hiroshi blinked in surprise before he chuckled softly. "Nah…I don't think that's it. Kei's probably just jealous of you, Shika-sensei."

Shikamaru raised the other eyebrow. "Why?"

Hiroshi thought for a second, before saying, "Well, Neji-sensei used to talk a lot of a guy he knew that was the smartest person he knew, but was lazy as hell, indifferent to most situations, and tended to complain a lot about everything. But each and every time he'd go right around and say that he'd trust the person with his life, and that'd he'd follow the guy to the ends of the earth if he had to. And, well, since Neji-sensei didn't make a habit of praising us too much – he didn't want us to get pig-headed an' all – I think Kei started to crave it after hearing him praise this guy so much when it didn't really sound like he deserved it much." Hiroshi paused for a moment and then laughed. "Kei has the biggest crush on Neji-sensei that I've ever seen."

Shikamaru jerked in surprise at the bluntness of Hiroshi's statement, and then said, "Does it bother you?"

Hiroshi suddenly smirked, a challenging look entering his eye. "Which one? That my brother likes our sensei or that my brother's probably gay?" Shikamaru could do no more than blink before Hiroshi spoke again. "Kei 'n' I grew up around it. My sister used to tell us that it didn't matter if you loved a guy or girl- that life as a shinobi was too short to worry about such trivial things like gender. So…no, it doesn't bother me." Hiroshi's brow creased as he added, this time his voice dripping with annoyance, "But the sensei-thing is damn annoying at times. Kei can really become a kiss-ass when he's around Neji-sensei."

Shikamaru laughed softly, completely believing Hiroshi's last sentence. From the way Keiichi had spoken to him about 'not accepting him in place of Neji-sensei' and such, he could definitely see the boy as a kiss-ass. Carelessly he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, before he tore himself away from the wall in surprise. Locking his gaze with Hiroshi's curious one, he groaned and said, "I gotta leave or I'm going to be late for a troublesome exam meeting with the hokage. I told Aimi that I'd visit her again, but…guess it can't be helped."

Hiroshi nodded in understanding before Shikamaru practically ran out of the room, the image of the hokage bashing him with an empty sake bottle – or something worse – working its way into his mind (those kind of images were actually very good motivation for the normally unmotivated ninja).

When he arrived at the designated room, slightly winded but otherwise fine, he found the other exam supervisors standing outside waiting to be let in, allowing Shikamaru to let out a sigh of relief at not being late and being subjected to the horror that was Tsunade scorned. Just as he came to a stop the door opened, the cue for them to come into the room. After receiving a few looks of amusement from his fellow jounin and chuunin, Shikamaru followed them into the room, the door shutting behind them.

Already in the room – which, thankfully, was one of the congregation rooms that were used instead of Tsunade's cramped office – were the various kages from the other villages and Tsunade, who was seated at the head of the table, her body straight, her face composed (Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at her posture, knowing full well that she was fighting the urge to rest her chin in the palm of her hand and slouch in her seat like she normally always was in her office).

Shikamaru nodded slightly in Gaara and Sasuke's direction as he sat down in his respective seat, all the others following suit. When everyone was seated and waiting for the cue to begin, Tsunade cleared her throat. "Right now we're only going to go over suggestions that any of you may have for promotion, and then the kages and myself with decide on the final ones to be promoted, which will be announced tomorrow morning. So, let's begin."

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The Next Day

"We have spent long and hard deciding on who deserved to become chuunin and who had some things to work on that would hinder their ability to perform at the expected chuunin level." Tsunade paused, her gaze scanning the large crowd gathered in the stadium, before she continued on. "We have finally settled on three genin that we found to be deserving of this honor, and will announce their names at this time." Silently she motioned for one of the others to begin, cheers ringing in her ears.

When no one else spoke up, Sasuke mentally sighed and cleared his throat. "The first I think is fairly obvious. He's strong and obviously very intelligent, and managed to get through several rounds without getting hit once. Even when matched up against the boy who almost killed his brother – which he got his revenge for – he didn't lose his cool and start attacking recklessly; he acted how he should've in that kind of situation- cold, detached, and finished the job quickly before his emotions overrode his judgment." Sasuke paused; his gaze scanning the crowd like Tsunade had done just moments before, and then said, "Would Takahashi Kenta come down to the stadium floor."

When Kenta touched ground, cheers surrounding them on all sides, he respectfully bowed before the four gathered and dutifully took the vest from Sasuke's hands, since he had been the one to announce his promotion. Sasuke then motioned for Kenta to stay on the ground before saying, "He was my main choice, but the others have decided on a couple others. So they'll talk now." Mentally he couldn't help but add, 'and good riddance. All this stiff talk's getting on my nerves.'

The next to speak was the Tsuchikage, who took a step forward to speak. "Our next decision was almost as easy to make as our first, and had actually done battle with Takahashi Kenta. He too is very intelligent and strong, but was also very resourceful and managed to be the only one to injure Kenta." The Tsuchikage chuckled, and then added, "For that alone he should be promoted, I should think. But he had had the misfortune to have had to fight Kenta, and would've gone farther had the other boy not been in the exams. Now, would Natsume Masao please come down?"

Masao came down and repeated the same movement that Kenta had done, only this time receiving the regulated chuunin garb from the Tsuchikage – who, incidentally, was his village leader – instead of Sasuke. When done with that, he stood next Kenta, a matching grin on both of their faces.

Tsunade spoke again, her tone a little less serious and a little more caring than before. "Our final decision is someone I've talked to on occasion, and had watched her grow up under the care of her team leader. She is currently in the hospital with a neck fracture and a shattered femur, but is expected to make a full recovery. She, like the boys before her, is highly intelligent, although a less strong than they are. She is a quickly blooming strategist, rivaling that of some of the jounin I know personally," Her gaze shot to Shikamaru, a small smirk settling into place, before she continued, "and would have won her fight had she not receiving highly immobilizing injuries. Although she may be a little reckless at times, we have all unanimously agreed that she'd be the best one to promote as well.

Normally I would have her team leader come up to receive the vest for her, but he's currently out on clan business. So instead I'll have her substitute team leader come up to accept the honor. Nara Shikamaru, please come over to accept the promotion for Hiyashi Aimi."

Shikamaru couldn't keep the smile off his face as he stood next to Tsunade, who was beaming with pride at the hospitalized girl's promotion. He too couldn't be anything but proud of her achievement, and vowed to tell her as soon as he possibly could; Neji as well.

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A couple hours later Sakura found herself outside the hokage's office, some papers she wanted to go over with Tsunade in her hand. Just as she was going to knock on the door to announce her presence, shouting filtered through the door causing her to – purely unconsciously – shield her chakra so she wouldn't be noticed, and gently set her ear against the door. (She couldn't help it! She didn't normally go around eavesdropping on her shishou's conversations, but she had heard Neji's name being shouted and- she just couldn't help it!)

"That's what you said last time you were here, Hiashi-san! I'm starting to think that you're lying about where Neji's at and what he's doing!"

"I apologize for lying to you, hokage-sama. I suppose the truth is needed in this situation."

Sakura strained to listen through a few seconds of silence, then:

"I honestly cannot tell you where Neji is. He had been exiled from the clan approximately a week ago."

"What?! Why?!"

Hiashi skillfully dodged the question, and then said, "I wouldn't have done it under normal circumstances. His crimes were not very harsh, and wouldn't have been done again. When things started to get tight between him and the other head family members, however, the elders decided for Neji to be exiled to bring the calm back to the clan and, as the leader, I couldn't ignore their opinion and the general opinion of the family without being challenged and accused of favoring him because he was my nephew. When the night of the exile came, I did not activate the seal fully so he could live – if he had the will to – because he didn't deserve death."

Silence again; Tsunade was probably trying to take in all that Hiashi had told her. Then:

"I apologize again, hokage-sama, but I don't know where Neji is currently at."

Sakura's eyes widened as she tore off down the hallway, not caring if Tsunade and Hiashi could hear her from the other side of the door. She had to tell Neji what she had just heard, and quickly; she didn't know what such information would bring about, but she did know that Neji had had the exiling all wrong from the way he had described it to her, and that, above all else, needed to be fixed.

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A/N: Yeah…it was going to be a tad longer, but these kinds of endings are much more fun. :)

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