A/N: Hey, everyone! I must apologize for the disgustingly long wait *falls on knees and begs for forgiveness*. But here is the next chapter! I have found a way to upload from my mobile phone nyahahaha.

Cloudosaurus: Yay, I'm so glad you liked it! I was worried there for a moment hehe. Feel free to make more requests if you have any~

Since I got no requests for this chapter, you are all submitted to another ShikaNeji, mwahahaha! They truly are one of my ultimate favourite pairings. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

It was mid-afternoon in Konoha and the village was peaceful, only a few children being heard in the distance and ladies laughing and gossiping together. The sky was a beautiful blue and only a few clouds drifted by lazily. Just as Shikamaru liked it.

The young chuunin was laying on his back on a piece of grass overlooking the village from beyond a bunch of trees, the place where he and Asuma would usually just relax, talk and laugh. He could still imagine the older man lying beside him, cigarette dangling from his lips as he watched the smoke swirl and people in the village move. He could almost still feel the presence though he knew his sensei had left this world for good.

Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru released it slowly, watching a cloud in the shape of a pig float by and briefly thought of a flying Ton-Ton. He had just closed his eyes and was about to drift into a peaceful and needed slumber when an all too familiar chakra made its appearance. A small smirk worked its way onto the Nara's lips, his eyes remaining shut as he addressed the new arrival, "I thought you were preparing for another big mission, Mr Big shot Jounin."

The other man finally reached the shadow Nin's spot and lowered himself onto the ground next to him. "I'm done with my preparations. I'm merely waiting for the rest of my squad," he explained as he looked down at the lazy shinobi next to him.

Shikamaru could feel those piercing eyes on him and supressed a hiver. Cracking open a single, sleepy brown eye, he looked back into pale, off-white ones. "And what are you doing here instead of waiting at the gate? Trying to get out of the mission, Hyuuga?" he mocked, finding satisfaction in the way the older brunet's eye twitched.

"Of course not! I'm not you, Nara," Neji retorted curtly, barely disguising the indignant huff in his tone.

"And we are all thankful for that," Shikamaru chuckled lightly, pushing himself into a sitting position. Neither spoke, both staring at the sky. Where there had only been a few clouds earlier, there was a lot more packing together now, signalling the coming of rain soon.

Finally, after about five minutes of comfortable silence, Neji spoke. "I…came to say goodbye," he muttered, not meeting the other's eyes when he turned to stare at him. Both could hear the slightly sombre tone of voice.

Shikamaru raised a quizzical brow as he studied the Hyuuga's suddenly tense posture. "What do you mean, 'say goodbye'? It's only, what, a week? You've been gone longer than that before and didn't feel the need to 'say goodbye'," the Nara quipped, rolling his eyes to show how troublesome he thought the older teen was being. However, the chuunin's genius mind was reeling as he thought about what the body language, the tone of voice and the words themselves meant all together. He didn't really like what he came up with.

Neji paused for a moment, contemplating on whether he should tell the other or not. He decided against words and let his actions speak for him. Before Shikamaru knew it, pale, slender fingers were running along his jaw, tilting his head up slightly. He only had time to hive his lover a confused look before soft lips were pressed to his in a brush of lips. The shiver the Nara had supressed earlier now made its way down his spine and he instinctively leaned in towards the Hyuuga, pressing their lips together more firmly.

Neji's fingers under Shikamaru's jaw slid around his neck and traced small circles on his nape. The shadow user sighed onto the other's lips at the gentle touch and Neji's tongue darted out, tracing the slightly parted lips and asking for entrance. At any other time, while their actions would be more frantic and rough, the Hyuuga wouldn't have asked, he would've taken advantage of the slightest opening and plunged right in. this didn't go unnoticed by a certain genius. He allowed him in anyway, parting his lips even further and letting a ow moan escape his throat and down Neji's as the older shinobi's slick muscle skilfully slid against his, rubbing and tasting in long, almost lazy yet meaningful strokes.

Shikamaru's eyes fell shut as he leaned into the kiss, his hand on the grass on both sides of his lover's crossed legs to brace himself as he leaned forward. Neji's clear eyes stayed open with much effort while he watched the Nara's relaxed and blissful expression as he traced every inch of the hot, moist cavern with his tongue. The kiss was deep and sweet, each enjoying the unique taste of the other – though something disrupted said taste of Shikamaru and Neji knew exactly what.

Air became needed and the two shinobi pulled apart reluctantly, a thin trail of saliva connecting their lips, but it soon broke away when Neji leaned further back, frowning at the slightly dazed-looking slacker. "You should drop that new habit of yours. You're going to get addicted," he told the Nara as he tried to ignore the bitter, smoky taste that had been mixed in with the usual nutmeg and coconut taste of the chuunin. It didn't mix well at all.

For a second Shikamaru was at a loss as to what the other was talking about, but it soon dawned on him. He sighed and rolled his eyes once more. "Troublesome Hyuuga, I know that. I know the risks and I know how to control it, so don't get your panties in a twist over nothing," he defended himself, frowning a little as well as he avoided those insistent, pale eyes.

Neji could feel the irritation rise in his throat and he did nothing to withhold it from his words as he retorted, "It's not 'nothing', Nara. It's getting worse by the day. First, it was only the hint of smoke on your breath and your taste. Then it was on your clothes. Now I can smell it all the way over here!" He ended his rant by pointing at the spot he was sitting a foot and a half away from the shadow user. Then he added in a more serious and controlled tone, "You're destroying yourself, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked away, unable to deny the jounin's words and equally unable to meet the gaze that always saw right through him – Byakugan or no. "I've…been under a lot of stress lately," he answered, that being the only explanation he really had.

Some of the anger left Neji little by little as he caught the corner of the broken brown eyes. Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose as if warding off a headache, the jounin moved forward a little until he could place an arm around the shadow user's shoulders. "Then talk to me about it or to Akimichi Chouji or even Naruto, if there's no one else left on earth. Just…don't smoke anymore."

A scoff was heard from the younger brunet as he gave a wry smile, shaking his head and started pulling out tufts of grass like he always did when he was slightly on edge. "Easier said than done, Hyuuga."

"Why?" the pale eyed man cut him off curtly, trying to catch the brown eyes that were blatantly ignoring him. "I thought you said you could control it, Nara. So why would it be difficult?"

There was no answer, but Shikamaru gave it in his mind. Because maybe I want to die too.

It was as if the Hyuuga had read his mind because the man's glare melted away as realization hit him right between the eyes. He stared at his lover in disbelief. "You…want to kill yourself, don't you? No, don't even try to deny it, Shikamaru!" he spat when he saw Shikamaru about to open his mouth. It shut and Shikamaru's slightly slumping figure sank even closer to the ground at the angry voice and white glare boring into him. "Why would you do that? And they say you're smart! To me you look like a complete imbecile at this moment! Why? Is it because of the pressure and workload the Lady Hokage throws on you every other day?"

The chuunin paused, not sure if he should just lie or tell the truth. He was a terrible liar, he knew it – his mom never made him forget, troublesome woman – and he was an even worse liar in front of Neji because, like demonstrated earlier, the older boy could see right through him. The Nara silently shook his head.

"Is it family problems then?" Neji continued, his hard, pale stare trained intently on the side of the boy's face.

Another pause. Another shake of the head.

The Hyuuga couldn't think of anything else that could make the Nara want to convert to such a state of mind. Except one thing. "It's because Asuma is dead." It wasn't even a question this time and so Shikamaru didn't feel the need to answer even though it was pretty clear that the jounin knew already. Neji felt his lips pull down in a scowl and he didn't care about hurting his companion's feelings at that moment, not if it could make him snap out of it. "He's dead, Shikamaru. There's nothing you can do about it, and dying wouldn't do a stitch better."

This caused a reaction from the younger brunet as he snapped his head around to finally face Neji. "Shut up, don't you think I know that? I definitely know he's dead and I sure as hell know he can't be brought back! The least you can do is to not rub it in my face!"

The Hyuuga stared into angry, tear-filled eyes and there was only a slight softening in his features; he was forcing himself to remain unmoved so he could convince his lover to stop being so stupid. "And the least you could do is stay alive. That would be a huge loss to the village, to everyone in it. No one would benefit from your death, Shikamaru. At least Asuma died in the line of duty, but you're just willing to throw your life away because you lost someone close to you. Many of us have gone through the same thing, or worse, yet you don't see them about to keel over readily."

Shikamaru had stopped listening at the "us" part and he was slightly taken aback by the Hyuuga's sudden rant. Usually, Neji would be a man of few words, but now he was giving speeches left, right, and centre. That wasn't what bothered the Nara, however; it was the way Neji spoke, emphasising his words so that Shikamaru could catch the hidden meaning behind them, could see what the other was too proud to say out loud: it would be a huge loss to me. I won't benefit from your death. Don't you die on me too.

The shadow user tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat, but it didn't budge. "Neji…" he started, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

The older teen looked away, staring at the ground. "Just don't kill yourself, that's all I ask," he replied lowly.

That feeling Shikamaru had earlier about Neji's mission came back all of a sudden and the words were out before he could even think to say them, "Will you promise me the same thing then?"

Neji's shoulders stiffened and he frowned towards the ground. "I…can't promise much," he said slowly.

The Nara's suspicions were reaffirmed. "Why not? What are you hiding, Hyuuga? What is this mission about anyway, that it has you acting like this?" he snapped, straight to the point of what he wanted to know.

Neji went rigid once more, pale eyes wide. He should have expected it from the number one genius in the village to see right through him. Sometimes he thought the chuunin's eyes were even better than his Byakugan. The pale orbs moved slowly to meet suspicious brown ones. "I can't tell you that, Shikamaru. It's secret information only the mission team and a few select jounin have access to. All I can say is that it's…more dangerous than most of my previous missions."

Troublesome rules… "So what you're actually trying to tell me, is that you could die on this mission," was the statement given as answer and the silence that followed confirmed it. Gritting his teeth, the Nara's eyes narrowed and he stood up on his spot on the grass to stalk over to the Hyuuga and grab him by the front of his pristine white shirt. At that moment, the blanket of clouds that had been gathering above decided to tear and let loose a steady flow of cold, pelting raindrops. They both ignored it. "How dare you give me a speech about staying alive when you're going to possibly die anyway? How dare you tell me not to leave you when you're about to do exactly that to me?"

Neji flinched as the words were hurled at him, emphasised by a rough shake as the Nara tugged harshly at his shirt. "Because I'm not trying to intentionally kill myself. I'm not going out there thinking about wanting to die. And if I die, it would have been in service of the Village and not because of my own selfishness," Neji countered and he wasn't being shaken anymore. The fist in his shirt gripped tighter and he watched as the other man started to tremble slightly.

The hand fisted in the jounin's shirt then went slack and slid down the pale man's chest before falling limply to its owner's side. Shikamaru's head was bowed so he could hide the stinging, salty water gathering in his eyes. It was like Asuma all over again, but slightly worse. He would be losing someone important to him once more and when that happened, Shikamaru would completely lose it. His body swayed as cold and warm drops slid down his face. He trembled, but it wasn't from the cold of the rain soaking his hair and his clothes.

It was raining now like it did then, when Asuma died. What if it was some sort of omen suggesting Neji was going to suffer the same fate? It would be too much. The Nara swayed again and stumbled a step forward into his lover, who instinctively caught him, wrapping his arms around his waist to steady him.

"Shikamaru? Are you alright?" the Hyuuga questioned with worry in his voice and he felt the shadow ninja's hands move up his back to grab fistfuls of his shirt tightly. The Nara's face was buried against his chest and Neji could feel the warm tears soaking into his clothes despite them being soaked by the heavy downpour. This made Neji's heart give a painful squeeze and his arms around the younger brunet's waist did the same, pressing Shikamaru closer to him and resting his cheek against the wet brown hair. He lowered his lips to the chuunin's ear and spoke in as comforting and convincing a voice as he could, "I won't die. I promise. I won't die, Shikamaru."

Said man shivered from the warm breath against his ear this time, a stark contrast to the cold weather. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his face closer to the warm chest, enjoying the sound and feel of the steady beating and the scent of coconut that was Neji. It was comforting. "You better not," he spoke into the material, his words muffled but the Hyuuga heard nonetheless.

A small smile appeared on his lips and Neji lifted one of his hands to cup his lover's face, lifting it so that he could meet the teary, smouldering brown eyes. The rain pelted Shikamaru's face and washed teasingly over slightly trembling lips. He leaned forward and brushed his own lips on damp ones, tasting the rain. The Nara didn't hesitate to part his lips even further and gladly welcomed the warm tongue against his. His hands on the older man's back moved to the long, wet tresses that cascaded down to the small of his back. His fingers tangled in the hair near the Hyuuga's neck and tugged softly, making the man groan lowly into his mouth.

Both men's eyes had fallen shut and they were solely focussed on each other's presence, mouth, body and touches. Neji's own hands rubbed at his lover's back in slow, soothing circles, squeezing narrow hips whenever he passed them.

Shikamaru suckled at the intruding muscle, coaxing a moan from the other that sent vibrations through his own mouth. The hand in Neji's hair tugged again, harder that time, and the jounin hissed, breaking the kiss as his head tilted back slightly. Shikamaru took advantage of this and trailed open mouthed kisses down a pale jaw, tongue lapping at the wet skin as he reached the slightly craned and tempting, flawless neck.

"Shikamaru…" Neji breathed and a gasp escaped him when teeth nibbled at his neck, soon followed by suction and a slick, warm tongue. Another soft moan from the man as he squeezed the other's hips once more, pushing him away gently. "Shikamaru, stop…"

The Nara did as he was told – reluctantly – and released the now bruised flesh from between his lips with a satisfied smirk. He stepped back a few inches, enough to look into Neji's eyes and allow the jounin to press their foreheads together. The cold metal of his headband didn't even bother the shadow shinobi as it mingled with the cold rain.

They stayed like that for a while before Neji pressed another soft kiss on his lips and sighing resignedly. "I should get going."

The Nara released an equally resigned sigh as he nodded and separated their bodies, both missing the warmth and touch of one another instantly. "I'll see you when you get back then," he said, giving the smiling man a pointed look.

Neji chuckled. "Definitely. This isn't goodbye then after all." With that, the jounin turned away and disappeared towards the main gates where two of his three remaining companions were already waiting.

Shikamaru stood in the pouring rain, staring after the white clad shinobi for a while longer. He then shoved a hand in his pocket and withdrew his packet of cigarettes, frowning down at them. A few seconds later the pack lay crushed on the wet grass while the Nara walked away with a final, "I'll be waiting, Neji."

A/N: Nnnggghhh! They are so awesome! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and feel free to make requests, otherwise imma be running out of ideas DX