A/N: Ugh. I'm really really REALLY sorry about the uber late update. All the things – in terms of high school/college – that I had thought I could do over the whole school year has been cut down and all forced into one semester instead, since I'm going to end up graduating early due to a surgery I'm – probably – gonna have in December. So yeah, life sucks. Making me too busy to enjoy writing 'n' all.

I thank everyone for the reviews! Much love! :heart:

OH! Another thing. If things start getting a little…like, different than before – like it's rushed, or if people get OOC – during this chapter, that's probably 'coz I've not written anything in the past…uhhh…ever since I last updated. Lol So yeh.

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An Unexpected Night

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Chapter Nine

The next week passed by fairly uneventfully, save for the few incidents that to anyone else would have seemed quite dull, and if it had been anyone else, would have simply been everyday occurrences that had little impact on their everyday lives. But no; for the two involved the incidents were anything but minor, although at the time they wouldn't be able to tell you why, let alone give a satisfactory answer as to now the "problems" had even came into being in the first place. Instead they remained in the back of both boys' minds to catch up to them when they'd least expect them to.

It all started a couple days after Hiashi and Hinata's visit…

--

Shikamaru groaned loudly as he practically threw the newest folder of work he had been assigned to do to the side. After his "confession" to Tsunade about Neji, it seemed like he suddenly had loads more paperwork to do than before and no actual missions to do beyond the petty D-rank ones that the genin failures had to do around the village. Somehow he was getting the impression that she was punishing him for having hid the elder boy, and it seemed like she somehow had gotten the impression that he had had a hand in the exiling from how he had so "readily" chosen to look over the genin he, under normal circumstances, would've rather died than have dealt with. (That, of course, was pure speculation on his part, since he hadn't yet been able to be in her company for more than five minutes without her yelling at him about something or other he'd done or hadn't done.)

"I see you're clearly enjoying yourself." A voice to his left spoke dryly, the words muffled slightly from being forced to swerve around a book. A glance told him that Neji hadn't bothered to look up from the page he was reading even as a smirk tugged at the corner of the older boy's mouth.

"So glad you noticed." Shikamaru replied, voice practically oozing with sarcasm. He didn't really care if how he was talking was uncharacteristic of him, or that Neji had glanced up at him in surprise due to the barely veiled malice that laced his words. His patience level was starting to get far past gone, and couldn't help but take out a little annoyance on his impromptu roommate, although the guy didn't rightfully deserve it. With a sigh Shikamaru reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced at the clock: 10:25. That meant they'd only been sitting there for half-an-hour after returning from their now-nightly walk, and he was already tired of the work he had to do; normally it took roughly an hour for his patience to wear thin.

Sighing once more, he noticed that Neji was staring at him warily, book open on his lap. Forcing a smile onto his lips he said, "Sorry, Neji. I'm just…tired."

Neji kept his gaze on Shikamaru's form a few seconds before he sighed and looked down at the book he'd been reading. "If you want to, you can claim your bed back. I'm capable of sleeping out here now."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise, momentarily caught off-guard by what had came after his claiming he was tired. Did he want his bed back? He'd actually gotten quite used to napping on the couch that his bed seemed like a foreign place now. "It'd be too much of a pain to switch back; I'm already used to the couch."

Neji frowned slightly, his brow narrowing minutely. "It's your bed, Nara. I should've stopped using it when I had gotten well enough to do things without Sakura's help." He reached over to grab the files that Shikamaru had strewn over the middle of the couch, put them back in the folder, then set it on the floor as he brought his feet up to rest where the folder had been. "I'll sleep here from now on. You go in the back if you're tired."

Shikamaru yawned as he stood, his hands clasping together over his head as he stretched. After that he sighed and shrugged, before he headed toward his room. "It's too late to begin arguing about something like the bed. I'll see you in the morning, Neji."

The grunt that followed seemed vaguely suspicious, but he didn't bother to dwell on it as he entered the room he nowadays only entered to gather clothes for the day and to head to the bathroom. When he reached the foot of his bed he paused and let his gaze roam over the room, taking in the subtle changes that had occurred the last couple of weeks: the made bed that his mom would've had a heart attack about, the clothes that were set nicely into the wicker basket near the closet rather than strewn all over the floor…

It seriously felt like he had a stay-at-home wife who had nothing better to do than to repeatedly clean the house while he was "out" working. ("Out" since he didn't really go out like "normal" shinobi would for work.)

Sighing, he let his gaze rest on the wicker basket a little longer, his mind trying its best to figure out why something felt…off about it. After a few seconds it hit him, causing him to groan softly and reach up to cradle his forehead in the palm of his hand. The thing that had bothered him was the fact that there even were clothes in the basket, when his normally highly attentive mother always came and washed them for him and put them away. It wasn't that he was running out of clothes or anything – he'd gathered many disguises over the years so he and Neji could always wear those if need be – but that she was normally so meticulous about cleaning them that her not doing it was strange. Maybe his father had had a hand in it? But even then she'd still come since normally his father would give in after a couple days of her nagging.

Shikamaru had to stop himself from turning to ask Neji if his mom had been by, and slowly made his way to the front of the bed where he sat and slipped his clothes off – sans his boxers – and carelessly threw them in the general direction of the wicker basket. After doing that he slipped under the covers and rested his head on the pillow; almost immediately he was able to pick up a foreign scent mixed in with the familiar ones of his shampoo and soap. For a moment he relaxed into the scent, breathing deeply as he closed his eyes. Almost immediately after he stopped and quickly re-opened his eyes, his mind racing to figure out just what he had been doing.

Groaning softly he repositioned himself into another comfortable spot all the while valiantly trying to rid himself of the thoughts of the scent that had invaded his mind: about how good it smelt, how it somehow managed to calm him down enough to ease him into sleep…

In the other room Neji sighed quietly as he marked his place in the book and set it aside, his gaze unconsciously sliding over to look in the direction of the bedroom. Things were getting better, and he was glad for that; and if the only way he could express his gratitude was by giving Shikamaru the bed back, then that was okay with him.

--

It was a couple days later when the second not-so-major-but-somehow-major even occurred, after the 'bed incident' was argued over and compromised on. Neji at the time hadn't really known what it was all about, but had quickly learned; which brought both he and Shikamaru far closer together in such a short amount of time than before.

--

"Hey, Nara. Don't you have a mission today? Why are you still here?"

Shikamaru groaned softly as he turned in the bed, his face peeking out just enough to see Neji leaning against the doorjamb, a different book than from before held loosely in one hand. For a couple seconds they stared at one another, before Shikamaru sighed and pulled the covers over his head. "There's no point in getting up. Chouji and Ino are going to cancel it anyway."

Neji furrowed his brow, his eyes sparkling with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Shikamaru sighed as he pulled the edge of the blanket back over his head and yawned widely. "Exactly as I said. Now, if it wouldn't be too much of a pain, could you leave and let me get back to sleep?"

Neji frowned, and then slowly breathed out. "If you don't want breakfast, go ahead."

At the mention of the word "breakfast", Shikamaru threw the covers off his body and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You…made me breakfast?" That was strange. They normally made their own meals and hardly each other's…

Neji glanced at the floor. "I know how you are, Nara. You'd forget your breakfast because you'd wake up really close to the time you're supposed to leave. You've done it before." He glanced up and noticed Shikamaru's other eyebrow had joined the first in its risen state, causing the previously formed frown to lengthen. "Don't look at me like that, Nara. It's not that surprising, since I do live with you after all."

"Right." Shikamaru fell back against his pillow, his eyes closed loosely against the rays of the sun now peeking out over the horizon through his window. For a couple seconds he sat there, until his senses told him that Neji had left the room. Only then did he sigh, open his eyes, and slide out of bed. When he reached the living room, his eyebrow rose of its own accord once more at what waited for him. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Neji walking out of the kitchen, a tray with a teapot and cups on it in his hands. "I could've gotten my own, you know. You didn't have to do this for me." He motioned toward the still steaming food spread out on the floor in front of the couch.

Neji shrugged as he set the tray down on the mini-table next to the couch. "I woke up early and just wanted to do it." Shikamaru didn't move, causing Neji to sigh in exasperation. "It's not poisoned, Nara, so eat."

Shikamaru mentally shook his head as a smirk settled into place. "I'm not so sure…you are a clan person. Can you guys even cook?"

Neji's eyes narrowed, impatience overtaking him. "Look, Nara. I don't care if you eat or not. It's your food that'd be going to waste after all."

Before Shikamaru could respond, Neji briskly walked to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. After a couple seconds he could hear the sound of running water, causing him to sigh softly. Okay, so maybe it was a little early to egg on the ex-Hyuuga about his ex-clan status. With that thought in mind he made his way to the other side of the couch and sat on the floor in front of the food. Hesitantly he picked up the chopsticks that had been left out for him and ended up grabbing the bowl closest to him. A cursory glance told him it was curry before he quickly shoved some into his mouth.

As the taste assaulted his tongue he unconsciously widened his eyes in surprise. It was…unexpectedly good. Sure, he had had Neji's cooking before – that time a little over a week ago during the chuunin exams – but it was nothing like this. Before he knew it he was sampling a bit of everything just as fast as the chopsticks could move from the bowls to his mouth.

"You're acting like you're starved, Nara."

Shikamaru blinked as he stuck the chopsticks in his mouth while at the same time he raised his head to look at Neji, who had a towel in his hands. Slowly he lowered the chopsticks to his lap like he had done something bad and cleared his throat. "Didn't you just go in the shower?"

Neji raised an eyebrow slightly in amusement. "What're you talking about? I got in ten minutes ago." A smirk falling into place, he added, "Or is my horrible cooking that distracting?"

Shikamaru had the grace to blush awkwardly. "It's…not bad. Where'd you learn to cook like this? It's a little…unexpected."

"I was a branch member, Nara. I'm supposed to know how to cook." Neji sighed, his hands reaching up to towel his hair. "It was expected of us to know basic house care routines whether we needed it or not since many of us ended up married to a main branch member. Once upon a time I had been engaged to Hinata-sama, but…" He shrugged. "It didn't work out."

Shikamaru kept his question about how Hiashi had caught wind of Naruto to himself, and set down his chopsticks. "Thanks for the food, Neji. I…shouldn't have insulted your cooking skills without having tried it first."

"Already forgotten." Neji waved Shikamaru's apology to the side with a shaking of the towel. "So what's going on today that leaves you free of a mission?"

"I'll be meeting Chouji and Ino later and we'll be gone for a few hours. I'll go shopping while we're out." Shikamaru straight-forwardly avoided the question as he stood and stretched, carefully avoiding Neji's gaze. "I'll be leaving after I take a shower."

Neji sighed and nodded, deciding against pressing the younger boy for an answer. "When do you think you'll be back?"

Shikamaru glanced at the clock. "Hopefully by 3:00, but it really depends on how long I spend with Chouji and Ino."

Neji nodded again, not bothering to ask what they planned to do for almost 10 hours. "I'll be here when you get back, then."

"That's what I was expecting." Shikamaru responded with a smirk as he walked to the back room, leaving a sighing Neji to clean the mess made by the breakfast that remained.

--

A little over nine hours later Shikamaru trudged up the steps to his front door, a grocery bag held loosely in each hand. Clumsily he opened the door and stepped in, eyes immediately seeking out the figure he knew would be laying on the couch with a book in hand.

The older boy glanced at the clock, his hand covering the page he was on to keep his place in check. "You're early. It's only 2:16."

"Something came up." Shikamaru quickly made his way to the kitchen where he left the bags and then stepped back out into the living room. "They're coming earlier than I had thought, which is a complete pain in the ass. I need to have everything cooked by 3:30 instead of 5:30 like we had originally planned."

"Who's coming?" Neji's question went unanswered as Shikamaru made his way back into the kitchen to begin the task of cooking that had been pushed upon him. After a few seconds Neji sighed and followed. "Who's coming, Nara?"

"Don't worry about that. Just help me cook so she won't think I'm being negligent when she comes." Shikamaru's reply was hasty as he shoved a pot and a package of noodles in Neji's hands. "Make sure you make enough for four, alright? There might end up being some left over since I don't know how much he eats, but that's alright."

Neji sighed again and nodded, figuring that following Shikamaru's instructions would get him the information he wanted a lot faster than just repeatedly asking for it.

A little over an hour later Shikamaru pulled a table that Neji had never seen before out of the closet and set it in the middle of the living room, quickly followed by four stools; one of which was slightly taller than the other three. Before Neji could question about it Shikamaru was headed back to the kitchen to bring the food in.

"Hey, Neji. Could you lay that cloth over the table?" Shikamaru reappeared, a tray of food-filled bowls in each hand. When Neji did as asked, he set the trays down and quickly headed back to the kitchen to repeat. The third time he went to the kitchen he returned with the pot of tea Neji had prepared and four cups which he set in the middle of the table. After a quick glance around Shikamaru nodded in approval. "Everything's set up in time. Thanks, Neji."

Neji, still confused about what exactly was going on, merely nodded in response.

A knock at the door told them that their guests had arrived. As he walked toward the door Shikamaru motioned for Neji to sit on one of the stools. When he did so, Shikamaru opened the door.

"Thanks for inviting us over again this year, Shikamaru. It means a lot."

Neji blinked in surprise as Kurenai and her four-year-old son stepped into the room like they belonged there. Unconsciously he stood and muttered a slightly awkward hello when the older jounin took notice of him.

"Is that…Neji?" Kurenai blinked before turning puzzled eyes to Shikamaru. "What's he doing here?"

"Long story. It's too much of a pain to tell." Shikamaru responded as he motioned for her and her son to sit. "Let's just say he's been here for about two weeks."

"That's really helpful." Kurenai rolled her eyes as she sat her son on the slightly taller stool, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "But since you apparently don't want to tell me, I'll let you keep your little secret Shikamaru."

Shikamaru didn't respond and instead sat on the only remaining stool, directly to the right of Neji. After everyone said the traditional "Itadakimasu", every quietly ate, only speaking long enough to ask for various seasonings and whatnot to be passed.

The curiosity getting the best of him, Neji cleared his throat, effectively catching everyone's attention. Locking gazes with Kurenai he asked, "Why exactly are you here, anyway? Nara here won't tell me."

Kurenai "hmm"ed softly to herself as she adopted a thoughtful look. "It's been…five years, hasn't it?" She glanced at Shikamaru who nodded, before turning her attention back to Neji. "It's the fifth anniversary of…Asuma's passing today."

Neji paused in surprise, before bringing the chopsticks to his mouth. Now everything made perfect sense. "Is eating all you do for the occasion?"

"Ah, no. We normally visit the memorial stone and tell him what's been going on lately, and then we go visit all of Asuma's old friends. They normally have a gift for Daisuke," she motioned toward her son, "and that's really about it."

"Hmm…" Neji stared down at the table, suddenly uncomfortable. He hadn't actually known Asuma like Kurenai and Shikamaru had. It felt…wrong, somehow, to be with these people on such an important day to them, when he couldn't even understand what the loss of Asuma meant to them.

The rest of the meal passed on quietly, until everyone had finished eating and Kurenai and her son were getting ready to leave. Neji glanced at the clock as Shikamaru was saying his goodbyes, and almost sighed when he saw that it was only 4:45; it had felt like the meal had taken a lot longer than just an hour and fifteen minutes to pass by.

"I'll see you guys later, then."

He nodded distractedly as Kurenai waved goodbye before she stepped outside, Daisuke in front of her. Only when Shikamaru shut the door behind the two did Neji allow himself to release the tension that had ended up building up during the meal.

"You okay?"

Neji mentally shook his head, forcefully telling himself that he was acting strange and that of course the Nara would notice. "I'm fine. Is there anything else that you do today?"

Shikamaru stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds before he shrugged. "Not really. Today's mostly just a free-day now."

"So you're just taking advantage of your old sensei's death anniversary to slack off?" Neji raised an eyebrow. "That's hardly professional."

Something sparked in Shikamaru eye before he turned away. "Call it what you want. I'm going to take a nap."

Neji watched Shikamaru walk off, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically guilty for what he had just said. He knew that Shikamaru wasn't doing what he had just said, but…

He sighed and begun carrying things back to the kitchen. It was already said and done; nothing could really change what he had said now, especially if Shikamaru was just going to walk off and close himself off in his room.

--

Later that night Neji woke to the sound of his book falling to the ground. Sighing, he silently cursed being a light sleeper as he glanced at the clock. It was nearing 9; why hadn't Shikamaru woken him by now for dinner?

Groaning softly Neji lifted himself off the couch and made his way to the bedroom whose door was shut. Slowly he turned the knob and stepped in partially before he spoke. "Hey, Nara, why didn't you-"

Immediately he stopped himself, his eyes darting around the empty room. Shikamaru…wasn't there. But hadn't he said that he was going to take a nap? If that had been the case, the guy should've still been there, since naps for him usually lasted a minimum of five hours at a time…

The window caught his eye as the curtains billowed outside. It had been shut before, meaning that Shikamaru had been in the room recently (Neji had learned that Shikamaru preferred his windows closed, and only opened them when he had to. He rarely left them wide open like this).

Slowly he made his way to the window and stuck his head out into the darkening night. There was no sign of the younger boy, suddenly making Neji apprehensive about where he had gone. Maybe what he had said to the guy had affected him more than he had let on…?

A tendril of smoke overhead caused him to tilt his head upward, where he noticed a pair of legs hanging down over the side of the roof. After a few seconds of inspection, Neji realized that he was staring up at the bottom of Shikamaru's feet. Sighing, he hoisted himself out of the window and up onto the roof next to Shikamaru, who was lying down on his back with a lit cigarette held loosely between two fingers. At the sight of it, Neji frowned. "You smoke?"

Shikamaru brought the stick to his lips and breathed in before sighing. "Not really."

"So why…?" Neji furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Because he always did." Shikamaru closed his eyes as he let his hand drop to rest on the rooftop, and sighed again. "Every year I do this to remember him by."

"And you can't do something less harmful to remember him by?" Neji didn't get it, and narrowed his eyes when Shikamaru quietly groaned in exasperation. "Don't make that noise, Nara. I just don't see the point in screwing up your body to remember someone by."

Shikamaru sat up and crushed the almost completely used cigarette with the roof's roughness. "You wouldn't understand, Neji. You didn't know him like I did."

"Evidently." Neji replied curtly as he sat a few feet away from the younger boy, his gaze automatically locking onto the sky above. For a few minutes silence spread out between the two, before Neji closed his eyes and sighed quietly. "I apologize for what I said before. It was…out of line."

Shikamaru grunted. "It's fine. Your sensei and old teammates are still alive. You don't know how it is to lose someone that was close to you like Asuma was to me."

"My-" Neji bit his tongue. He had been about to say "my father had died. I'd say that's closer than a team leader" and instead kept it to himself, knowing that if he were to say it out loud it wouldn't help anything any. He sighed again, and merely nodded. He truly didn't know that feeling too well, since he had been so much younger when he had lost his father…

For the next few minutes – maybe hour? They didn't know – they sat there in companionable silence, staring up at the sky above as the night grew darker. Whatever awkwardness that had been present from before was long gone, only leaving the comfortable feeling of being with someone you trusted enough to spend such a quietly intimate moment with, whom you trusted enough to not ruin the simple peacefulness of the moment.

--

The last event occurred the following morning after the anniversary, and – at best – could be described as an interesting moment in their currently monotonous lives. Their "secret" of living together had almost gotten found out, and they were beyond grateful that it hadn't.

Neji, as he stood on the other side of the door, learned something about his current roommate that couldn't simply be brushed off like most things that Shikamaru did could; but of course he would be the very last to admit it.

--

The scene was a familiar one, Neji laying on the couch with a book in hand, Shikamaru propped up against said couch flipping through the files he had been instructed to review. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and nothing should've been. As far as they were concerned, it was just going to be another boring day that they were quite used to having.

They couldn't be more wrong. The knock at the door told them so.

"Shikamaru! Open up!"

Both boys froze and jerkily lifted their heads to stare at the door in surprise and slight apprehension. If that was who they thought it was, they were in some deep…crap…if they were caught like this. And they certainly didn't want to be caught like this, no matter how perfectly innocent it was.

"Shikamaru-kun! It is us, your youthful friends!"

Shikamaru and Neji simultaneously cringed at the second voice and shared a glance. The second person only made things worse.

"Damn it Shikamaru! I know you're in there! We're all gathering for lunch; you can't just stay home all day!"

Shikamaru stood, Neji following suit, and was immediately glad for the fact that he hadn't opened the blinds yet to allow the late morning sunshine to filter through. Sighing, he locked gazes with Neji and said, "I'm going to have to open the door you know. Naruto's not going to settle for me just talking to him through the window or something."

Neji sighed softly and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I know. And I don't think he and Lee will wait much longer before inviting themselves in." He shot a suspicious look toward the door, before raising an eyebrow in Shikamaru's direction. "Actually, I'm surprised they haven't already done that. They normally do."

"Thank kami for small favors." Shikamaru muttered in response, his hand reaching up to run through his sloppily-made ponytail. Shrugging toward the back room he said, "I guess you'll have to hang out back there until they leave, Neji. Hope that's not too much of a pain for you to do."

Neji shrugged and almost spoke before a shout from the outside caught his attention.

"If you don't open this door in five seconds, Shikamaru, I'll open it myself!"

"Five seconds. I'm surprised he even made it this far." Shikamaru muttered sarcastically as both he and Neji held their places. When they heard the doorknob turn and click open, both pairs of eyes widened before Neji dashed to the back room. The door closed behind him just as the front door open, causing both boys to sigh in relief.

Through the door Neji could hear a filtered "Hey, Shikamaru, did your back door just close?" and uncharacteristically held his breath before coming to the conclusion that Naruto would probably end up investigating and that finding a hiding place would probably be the wisest choice he could make right now.

Almost immediately he wrote off the bathroom, since it wouldn't have been too surprising if Naruto went in there to check. The only other places that he could really hide were the closet and under the bed: it wasn't even a contest about which one he'd choose. Just seconds after he practically threw himself into Shikamaru's closet did the door open with a slight creak. As he buried himself deeper into the closet he heard footsteps wander by for a bit before leaving and the door closing behind him.

With a sigh Neji sat on the nearest surface to him and rested his head against the wall. Slowly he closed his eyes and quietly released a breath before opening his eyes and staring up into the reaches of the closet. Immediately his eyes locked onto something that looked quite familiar and carefully stood before reaching up to grab onto it.

It was cloth, dark green in color as far as he could tell in the dark. Slowly he ran a hand over it to try and figure out just why it was something that seemed familiar to him. As his mind mapped out what his hand told him, an image popped into his head causing him to drop his hand and stare down at what he held in his hand.

It was the vest that Shikamaru had gotten after passing the chuunin exams, the very same one he had worn for the following years up until being promoted to jounin level. Most people who were promoted to jounin got rid of the old chuunin vest immediately after, so clearly that meant that the vest held memories that Shikamaru didn't want to forget.

For a very brief moment the thought brought a tiny, barely noticeable upturn of the corner of Neji's mouth before the boy caught himself and scoffed as he put the clothing back to the place where he had gotten it. That vest may have held memories for Shikamaru, but it certainly didn't hold any for him.

Of course it took a lot of convincing on his part to make himself believe such an obvious lie.

--

A/N: So it's a little shorter than the last few chapters, but eh. I also think that it became rushed toward the ending, but since it gets the point across I'll leave it there. XD For now, at least.

I'll be writing – or, rather, trying to write – a chapter and a half before every update so I'll actually be able to keep up with them this time around since I actually have to finish this story by December or else the hiatus or whatever you wanna call it would be a very long time and I don't want that. :Sweatdrop:

As it stands right now we're looking at anywhere between 17 and 20-ish chapters for this story, plus an epilogue. I actually have the last chapter before said epilogue written, so I know exactly what I'm aiming for. I just hope I can properly get it there without things getting too weird. XD That'd be bad.

Anyway. Read and review! Tell me how it is, or even just review to tell me that people are still reading this! XD

See you next time!

Expected Next Update: Friday, October 10th, 2008