A/N: Hallo everybody! I hope you're all doing well! This chapter's been typed out on my "new" laptop, which is a yay 'coz that means that I can type more often than before since it'll be more convenient than before! Yay! :)

Anyway. Thank you everyone who reviewed! It makes my day to see my e-mail flooded with "FF Review Alert"s :)

Hmm…this one's actually shorter than the others – again – but I think its contents make up for the length. XDD Quality over length as BrevityofWit said, right? Right?! ::sheepish grin::

---

An Unexpected Night

---

Chapter Eleven

The next few days passed by just about the same, with Neji going off with Sakura and him staying at home wondering about their relationship, if there even was such a thing. Not once did it truly occur to him to ask Neji about it, which probably was the main cause of his current…situation.

"You okay?"

Shikamaru mentally shook his head, clearing it of the conflicting thoughts he had been having. Nonchalantly he raised an eyebrow as if to say that he had no idea what Neji was talking about, and that the other boy was crazy for even suggesting that something was wrong.

Neji waited a few moments in silence before sighing. "It's not like I really care, Nara. It's just that you're not acting like your usual self."

Shikamaru shrugged. "And you're the expert on how I normally act, I'm sure. Did you keep track of that as well?"

Neji paused, frozen in surprise momentarily that Shikamaru would bring that up, then scoffed. "I've lived with you for some time now, Nara. I should know your routines and whatnot by now."

Shikamaru chuckled softly to himself, making a mental note of the fact that Neji had skillfully dodged his question. He won't hold it against the other boy, of course.

…For now, at least.

Almost immediately after glancing at the clock something strange hit him, causing him to frown. "You're not going with Sakura today?"

Neji shook his head slightly, his attention now returned to the book he had set in his lap beforehand. "She's going to be busy at the hospital until a little later, so we figured that we didn't need to go out today."

'Go out.' Go figure that Neji would choose the very words that suggested a different kind of relationship to everyone else that wasn't apart of their little 'duo'.

"I see…" Shikamaru thought for a few moments, before raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "So what are you going to be doing today, if you're not 'going out' with Sakura?"

"Stay in, probably. It's not too good for my condition to be out and about too much right now."

…What did that mean? Was Neji's condition truly so bad still, and he hadn't been able to see it? Or was there something else going on that he had no idea about?

Mentally shaking his head, Shikamaru sighed and stood away from the stool he had been sitting on. "Well, if you're staying in, I'll be going out. I don't know when I'll be back, so don't bother making lunch or whatever for me."

"Since when did I cook for you?" Neji frowned slightly, his gaze lifting from the page to lock onto Shikamaru's. "Aside from the chuunin exams period and that time last week, I don't think I ever cooked for you, Nara."

Shikamaru blinked, and realized that Neji was telling the truth. So…why did it feel like the other boy had made more meals for him than he really had? Strange. Mentally shrugging, he said a quiet goodbye to Neji and left the apartment, quite unsure about just where he was going. It honestly didn't matter much; just wandering around was good enough.

After a few minutes, a shout from behind caught his attention. Upon turning, he noticed Sakura waving at him from the dango shop booths, and couldn't hold in the raised eyebrow. Wasn't she supposed to at the hospital? Isn't that what Neji said she was doing, and that was why they weren't 'going out' today? Questions running through his mind, Shikamaru made his way to the outdoor booth and slid into the seat across from Sakura, the confusion evident on his face.

Sakura scrunched her brow in confusion as she set her red paste dango onto the plate in front of her. "…What? Is something wrong? You look troubled. Did something happen with Neji?"

"…No." Shikamaru muttered quietly, and unconsciously nodded at the girl who had brought the complimentary tea to him. "It's just, aren't you supposed to be at the hospital? Neji said you were."

Sakura laughed. "Oh, that. Don't tell him, but I lied. I just didn't want him to be out and about too much. He's too determined; I can't have him with me all the time. It's not really good for his health."

…Well. That was as unclear an answer if he's ever heard one.

A few moments of silence, then:

"Are you and Neji going out or something?"

Sakura blinked in surprise, caught off-guard slightly by the suddenness of the question. "What?"

"Are you and Neji going out?"

When the question hit her, she laughed. "Is that what everyone thinks? We're not. At least…I think we're not. I just escort him to and from the hospital every day." Sakura laughed again, this time at the strange expression that had appeared on Shikamaru's face. Grinning, she said slyly, "Are you…jealous?"

Shikamaru scoffed before taking a quick drink of his tea. "Of course not. Why would I be? Nothing's going on, so there's no point to be." Sakura squelched a laugh, causing him to think over what he said. When he did, his eyes widened. Mentally he cursed himself for the bad wording, and glanced off to the side before speaking again. "Damn…I didn't mean for that to sound like it did."

Sakura laughed again, her grin turning sly once more. "Say that again while looking at me, Shikamaru. Your expression from what I can see isn't really all that supportive of your words. Besides, I don't really see a problem with liking Neji. It's not like love really has any boundaries after all."

Shikamaru narrowed his brow, the words that Hiroshi had spoken before at the hospital that time ago suddenly coming to mind. Trivial things…huh? Mentally shaking his head, he stood, a half-grimace in place. "I've already been told that."

"Wait. What do you– I was only–!" Sakura's jaw dropped slightly in shock as she watched Shikamaru stalk off, his cup of tea still half-full. She had only been joking! Shikamaru didn't have to take it so seriously! But…wait. Why had he taken it so seriously? And what did he mean by 'I've already been told that'? Sakura's eyebrows narrowed in thought as she brought her dango up to her mouth and nibbled on it a bit, her mind coming to one conclusion that truly didn't seem all that weird the more she thought about it. What if…what if what she had said was true, even though she hadn't meant it?

--

When Shikamaru arrived back home, he could hear the faint sound of the water for the shower turning off, followed by various rustling sounds which were probably caused from Neji drying off and putting his clothes on. Sighing, he made his way to the couch, his mind racing from the very short conversation he had just had with Sakura not ten minutes before. Why had he…run off? She probably wasn't serious; in fact, he knew she hadn't been serious. She used to do the very same thing to Naruto and Sasuke, then Sasuke and Sai, and even Naruto and Sai a few years back, and she was never serious when she did it. So she probably wasn't being serious now. So why did he act like she had been serious? What she said couldn't have been true…could it?

No. Of course not. It never could be–

"Nara? What're you doing back already?"

Shikamaru turned abruptly, and almost immediately wished he hadn't. His throat constricted, and for all intents and purposes forgot that breathing was an essential part of being alive. His eyes widened slightly, and his mouth fell open just enough for Neji to notice. And when the other boy did, he frowned and stopped what he was doing.

"Oi. Nara. What the hell's wrong with you?" Neji set the towel he had been drying his hair with on the couch back a little harder than he had probably intended, his eyes narrowing some in suspicion. Carelessly he crossed his arms over his bare chest, an eyebrow rising of its own accord when Shikamaru didn't respond in any way. "I asked you a question, Nara. I expect an answer sometime before next year."

The annoyance in Neji's voice brought Shikamaru back to himself, and he mentally shook his head to clear his thoughts. What had he been doing again? Oh, right. He had been sitting there, thinking about what Sakura had said, and then Neji had came up to him–

Shikamaru blinked in surprise when he noticed that his eyes were focused a little too much on a certain someone's chest, which was partially covered by a pair of crossed arms. Hesitantly he brought his gaze up to meet with Neji's, who now looked more amused than anything else. Ignoring the sudden feeling of embarrassment at having been…distracted…by a certain man's body, Shikamaru threw himself back down onto the couch cushions and closed his eyes, determined to not think about the why of his staring at Neji's…half-nakedness. "Humor me. What did you say?"

Neji sent him a strange look before sighing. "I asked why you were back here so quickly. I thought you said that you'd be out for a while."

"Oh, that." Shikamaru shrugged, thankful that his eyes were closed so that Neji wouldn't get suspicious when he'd avert them. "I ran into someone who said some things that I wanted to think about, so I just came back."

"Things like what?"

Shikamaru breathed in hard, realizing immediately that he probably shouldn't have told Neji that he had got interested in something, and that he should've known that Neji would ask about it. Quickly he fought for an answer that wasn't the truth, and slowly released the breath he had been holding. "Things that I don't want to face, I guess."

"As if your previous statement wasn't vague enough." Neji spoke sarcastically as he picked up the towel and slung it over one shoulder, before returning to his previous position, including the raised eyebrow. "Seriously, though. What's wrong, Nara? I won't tell anyone, if that's why you're afraid of."

…Afraid? Was that what it was? Was he afraid of what he'd discover if he admitted the problems out loud? After a few moments he sighed again, his eyes opening to lock onto the ceiling. "I guess I am afraid. But…not of you telling or anything troublesome like that. It's more like, I'm afraid of the truth."

"The truth about what? You're absolutely horrible at giving straight answers." Neji frowned in annoyance, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Look. If you don't want to tell me, don't. It's not like it'll hurt my feelings. It's not like I really care."

"You don't, do you?" Sudden anger pulsed through him, bringing him to pull himself up until he was eye level with Neji. "Then what's with the 20 questions, huh? It sure as hell sounds like you care from the way you keep drilling me, Neji."

Neji refused to rise to the bait, and instead turned away with a quiet snort. "You're thinking too much, Nara. Stop jumping to conclusions that satisfy only you."

Shikamaru didn't respond, causing Neji to sigh and walk to the back room. Silently he put the towel away and finished dressing before returning back to the living room. When he entered he just managed to catch Shikamaru's retreating back as the other boy went into the kitchen. Shrugging, he sat on the unoccupied couch, his eyebrows narrowed in thought. Shikamaru had been acting strange when he had left, but that didn't even compare to the way he was acting right now. It was like he learned something that he really didn't want to know about himself, that he had trouble accepting, and had no other way to release his frustration than on small matters, like his quizzing him. And if that were true, was his questioning Shikamaru really that…bothersome? Was the matter really that private, that he couldn't share it with the person he lived with?

Shikamaru returned with a bag of chips in his hand and a couple cans of soda in the other. Silently he sat next to Neji, noticeably leaving a distance between their two bodies, and carelessly held one of the cans out for Neji to take. When he did so, Shikamaru cleared his throat, his eyes focused on some point off in the distance that wasn't in Neji's direction. "I…sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just…being an ass, I guess."

"It's fine. As I said, I don't really care." Neji waved off Shikamaru's apology as he opened the can and brought it up to his lips. After a few seconds he felt the other boy's gaze on him, to which he raised an eyebrow and returned the gaze. "What?"

"Your…clothes. They're your old ones."

"I noticed." Neji replied sarcastically. "Hinata-sama came by and dropped them off early this morning before she had to leave on another mission."

Shikamaru grunted in response, his mind suddenly pushing for a certain question to be asked. Before he fully thought he out, he asked, "Why do you go to the hospital every day, and what's that bottle you got from Sakura for?"

Neji froze, and sent Shikamaru a highly suspicious look. How did he know that he went to the hospital every day? He didn't remember telling the other guy about it…

Mentally shrugging he let it pass, and took a long drink of his soda before replying. "I'm getting physical therapy."

Shikamaru jerked in surprise, completely caught off-guard by Neji's answer. "For what?"

Neji reluctantly decided to respond, since he owed at least that much to Shikamaru seeing as it sort of did involve him. "My body reacts in ways that I don't want; Sakura and I have been working on a way to strengthen my body so I can get control back over it for longer periods of time. The vile is to control the tremors and such that come and go whenever I'm too active. I don't really need it as much as I did before, though."

Shikamaru 'hm'ed in response, his mind tracking back to the time he had found Neji on the kitchen floor with the broken cup and wasted tea bags. So that was why making himself a cup of tea had been so hazardous, because he had been doing more things that day than his body could truly handle? Sighing, he set the bag of chips, which he hadn't touched since bringing them, between him and Neji and stood. Silently he stretched, groaned in pleasure as his back popped, then spoke quietly before heading to the door. "I think I'm going to go finish some work for Tsunade. It'll probably help my mind some to keep busy. So I'll see you later, Neji."

Neji simply nodded as Shikamaru left the apartment for the second time in under an hour, and glanced distastefully at the bag of chips at his side. Shikamaru seemed to be doing better, which was good. But…did that mean that he came to terms with what had been bothering him, or was he planning on using work as an excuse to not think about what was bothering him and to just avoid it altogether? To be honest, he couldn't quite say for certain which he thought it was.

Alone, he could finally admit to himself a certain lie he had told to Shikamaru, and had even told to himself. Just maybe…he really had cared just a bit about what was bothering Shikamaru, and that, for some reason, bothered him.

--

A/N: XD I normally have something to say after finishing a chapter, but I really don't know what to say this time around. 'Cept maybe that things're getting interesting, and the romance-like stuff will be going at a strange fast-slow pace from now on, 'specially from Shikamaru's POV since that's the one that'll be focused on, mmkay? :)

Read and review!