Always 6 Rewritten

Apologies for all the fluff last chapter but I couldn't think of anything else haha...

Hope you are enjoying yourselves :)

Occurrences during writing this chapter: 1. wet nails + itchy boob. Oh the conundrums… 2. Fell in love with the band This Century and butterscotch ice cream!

The couple arrived back home by 6, after a lengthy walk in the park. They got back to the mood in the apartment less than light-hearted. Almost everyone else was sat in living room in silence, totally ignoring the TV, all except Neji.

Naruto and Sasuke stopped as soon as they entered the room.

"What's happened?" Sasuke asked, eyes wide at all the morose faces.

"Neji's father's died.." Lee said. Shino was looking down, his phone beside him which he kept glancing at as if waiting for it to ring.

"Oh no… What happened?" Naruto asked as he and Sasuke went in to join them on the sofas

"We don't know, he just got the call and went straight off. Since his mom's not around, he has to handle all the legal stuff-" Kiba's explanation was interrupted by Shino's phone going off, the ringtone the sound of Japanese cicada and crickets. He picked it up, sitting forward as he answered

"Neji? …Oh, ok - no, that's fine, take all the time you need… So, what happened?... Oh- yeah… Sure, no problem.. It's ok, Nej, really… Ok, I love you too… Bye.." he sighed and hung up "He has to stay with his family, at least until the funeral…" he informed the others with a sigh.

"Do they know what happened?" Kiba asked, Shino nodded

"He was in a car accident… His brother, Neji's uncle, was in the car too but I think he's ok.."

"Shit, that sucks…" Naruto muttered, shaking his head. Shino nodded slowly, then sighed

"He wasn't very close to his father, but he was his only immediate family left…"

"He's pretty close to his cousins though, isn't he?" Shikamaru asked, Shino nodded

"Yes, but they don't live close by or anything. He said we may have to move closer to them-"

"Oh no, you can't do that!" Kiba cried, Shino looked at him sadly. Kiba and Shino had been close for years, since they practically grew up together. "I mean, uh, we need you guys here - you're the responsible ones." He said with a grin, making Shino smile.

"I'll speak to him when he gets back." He said reassuringly.

After that, everyone was in a pretty down mood so they put on a comedy movie, though didn't really watch it as they talked throughout about life and everything. Death always put things into perspective; they found themselves thinking about their own lives and its meaning… Sasuke decided that night he needed to figure out a way to stop working at that club. Naruto was thinking the same thing, but planned to take immediate action on the subject.

The seven of them went to bed that night early, almost right after the movie ended.

Kiba was feeling a little upset about the prospect of his friend leaving, Shikamaru could tell. The larger boy sighed loudly, sitting down on their bed. Shikamaru was just changing into his pajamas when he turned to him, only wearing an over-sized T-shirt of Kiba's

"Kiba?" he asked. His boyfriend looked up at him with sad eyes. Wow, he was really down, his pupils didn't even dilate… "You ok?" he asked, going over to sit beside him, his hand on his shoulder. Kiba sighed again and nodded

"Yeah, I guess, I'm just real bummed about Neji's dad and how they might be leaving…" he muttered, glancing at Shik, who smiled.

"Shino'll still go to university here, they won't go too far.." he said reasonably. Kiba smiled slightly, nodding

"You're probably right, Shik, thanks baby.." he said, hugging him round the waist and pulling him closer, so they were hip to hip. Shikamaru blushed slightly and smiled, kissing him gently which Kiba quickly returned more heatedly. Shik contained his I-knew-you-were-gonna-do-that chuckle and let his boyfriend have what he wanted. He felt his hair tie being undone, releasing his annoyingly long hair. It fell softly around his shoulders and neck and onto his face. He moved his a little to get it out of his eyes and looked up to see Kiba looking down at him with utmost adoration. "I love you, Shikamaru.." he said softly, kissing him as they lay down on the bed, his arms around Shik's waist. Shikamaru smiled, discarding his inhibitions, and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"I love you too, mutt." He said with a grin, Kiba's deep chuckled buzzing into both their chests.

"Gaara…do you miss your family?" Lee asked quite out of the blue. Gaara looked up at him from his place at Lee's chest, a small puzzled expression on his face "I know you see your brother and sister but…do you miss your parents?" Gaara's eyes widened slightly and looked down, the frown becoming a helpless little grimace. Lee's arms tightened around him slightly, wishing with his might his love would tell him what was wrong. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me…" he felt Gaara instantly relax, his face become calm again, then looked at Lee with a questioning look, head tilted to one side slightly.

Lee smiled and proceeded to answer the silent question. "I guess I do, I mean, my uncle Guy was practically my father and I see him a lot…" Gaara hid his feelings about that fact well, he'd rather Lee missed that weird man than see him so much, Lee knew that. "But I kinda miss my real parents; maybe I should get back in touch with them, ne?" Gaara smiled slightly and nodded. Lee sighed, hugging Gaara a little closer and pulling the sheets over them both a little more. "Well, night baby…" he said. Gaara leaned up a little and kissed him softly before snuggling into his chest as was their usual routine. Lee fell asleep, dreaming of the time when Gaara could say 'goodnight' back…

Shino spent the evening on the phone with Neji, who had finally gotten away from his family to speak to him properly

"So…how are you?" Shino asked, keeping his voice low as it got late

"Uh, ok, I suppose… Father's legal matters aren't as bad as I thought, it's really just his will, insurance and the funeral to take care of… Do you think you could come with me?"

"To the funeral? Of course I can! I wouldn't let you go alone.." he heard Neji's soft chuckle

"Thank you… Have you told the others?"

"Mm, yes, they were quite upset about it… Kiba was particularly adamant about not letting us possibly move closer to your family…"

"Hmm, I was afraid of that - you have been friends for a long time.."

"Yes…but if you really think we should, I won't refuse - it's important for you to be with them right now."

"But I also want you to be happy. Plus, you're schooling is also very important, as is my job. I think if we do move, it won't be far." Shino smiled

"I'm glad to hear it…" he said, feeling a little sleepy.

"You sound tired." Neji commented. Shino sighed, lying down on the bed

"Mm, I was up early this morning.."

"I know, you woke me up." Neji said with another chuckled. Shino blushed slightly

"Sorry…I had a lecture at eight…" he mumbled

"Sleep, honey, I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok…night.." he whispered, just hearing Neji return this before falling asleep.

Think I'll stop there, I'd had enough of NaruSasu fluff so thought I'd put in some of the other guys' instead

Hope you guys liked it, I know it was a bit short and pointless but hopefully next chapters will be better

By the way, how do people feel about me redoing the first few chapters of the original Always? I wrote them years ago and they use some serious revising… Let me know! They will stay the same plot-wise, just better written…

Review!

PMKnut xx