Here is the final chapter! (Finally) Cheers to all you faithful reviewers -keep em coming; I love to hear from you! Hope you enjoy! (Sorry if maybe it's a weeee bit cheesy :D )

There was a low murmur going through the crowd as Neji stepped up onto the stage, trying to hide a bit of a limp. Of course, Shikamaru wasn't up there with him, Temari and Sakura, but he didn't expect him to be, and for once, he found that he didn't have a problem with it.

Everyone went quiet as he stepped forwards, clearing his throat.

"Kakashi asked me to present a closing speech today," he began, when the room had fallen silent, "I was going to remind you of Konoha High School's stellar reputation; it's academic success and it's sports programme…" He allowed himself a small smile, "But I decided that there was something more important about our school than how many athletics championships we won –sorry Lee." Lee just shot him a thumbs up.

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"When I came to Konoha High, I was a workaholic," he chuckled, "…I still am. I was proper; a buzz kill and I'll be honest; a jackass –"

"You still are!" Naruto chortled from the back row. Neji gave him a withering glare.

" –Naruto Uzumaki was a no-hope prankster," he continued, "…Sasuke Uchiha was a sullen celebrity. Kiba Inuzuka was a mutt. My lovely cousin Hinata; she couldn't speak two words to a man –not that I objected to that, of course…" There was a low chuckle.

"Look at them now," he admitted, "…Naruto's out fighting crime; Sasuke's actually got a smile on his face –although that's probably Naruto's doing, as usual –" Sasuke's smile automatically changed to a brooding glare until Naruto, sitting next to him, was seen to tug at his cheek playfully, "…Kiba's got himself a respectable job; though his hygiene is still questionable…and Hinata –well, she's going to be a mother soon." He gazed fondly at his cousin.

"And as for me…" he chuckled again, "I've learnt a few things. I might still be a buzz kill jackass…but at least this week I've come to realise something about high school and all you people that I grew up with."

"High school taught me how to work, yes," he admitted, "…It taught me calculus and how to write an essay. But it was all of you that taught me how to work hard. It was your dedication, and being around you that made me who I am today. You all taught me that I could be whoever I wanted to be; and that was fine." He took the microphone and headed over to his co-head students.

"Temari; you showed me that it was okay to go for what I wanted and that it was something I'd be respected for," he grinned, "…Sakura…well, you showed me that obsession isn't healthy –please get over Sasuke, you deserve a straight man –we all knew he wanted Naruto's ass anyway."

" –Oh yeah, like we all knew you wanted Shikamaru…" Sakura grumbled, causing Neji to skip away so that the whole room didn't hear that. He headed for the stairs, "Naruto; you wanted to make a difference; you wanted to save people, and Kiba; you wanted to work with animals and marry Hinata –to be fair, I thought that that last one was just a dream…but you proved me wrong."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Kiba commented flatly as Hinata giggled and kissed his cheek.

"You were all such an accepting group of people," Neji remarked, continuing in his ventures around the room, "I wasn't thankful for it then, but this week has made me realise how much I should appreciate each of you. What Konoha High School did for me was fling me together with people that I liked; and people I hated…and forced us to accept one another. It gave me a chance to realise that we don't all have to be the same. Seeing you all again just showed me that some people change…and some people don't." He looked across the room and locked eyes with Shikamaru.

"…And that's fine," he smiled, "Remembering what we all were and seeing what we've become; I know it sounds corny but it's proved to me that dreams are possible if you aren't afraid of being yourself and go for what you want. I mean; who would've ever thought that Sasuke and Naruto might actually end up together –that was a rhetorical question," he added as he sensed rather than saw the hands rising around him. Naruto blushed and Sasuke just rolled his eyes, glaring around the room.

"Hey Neji?" Sasuke remarked coolly, catching the Hyuuga's attention since he'd decided to pull him into his speech, "You're talking about being yourself and going for what you want…does this mean you finally let Shikamaru fuck you?"

There was an outburst of applause and laughter at the Uchiha's smooth question and Neji immediately flushed scarlet and stumbled for a comeback. Shikamaru, laughing along with everyone else, got up from his seat with a yawn and took the microphone away from the flustered Hyuuga.

"What I think Neji would like to finish with…" he drawled, "Is with saying 'Thank you'. On behalf of all your ex-head students; I'd like to say thanks for a fantastic high school experience and it's been great seeing you again after all this time. We've all grown up (except maybe Naruto) –"

" –Hey!"

" –But it's nice to know that some things won't change," he chuckled, "Naruto's still always going to be Sasuke's idiot –"

"Shikamaru, stop picking on me!"

" –Ino's always going to whinge about her weight; we're hopefully always going to hear from each other now; I'm always going to find things, well…troublesome…" everyone chuckled at that, " –But one thing that has changed, and which I know you're all dying to ask –yes, I finally got in Neji's pants. And he fucking loved it."

There was a roar of approval and everyone leapt to their feet giving a huge round of applause as Shikamaru tugged Neji close to him, thrusting the microphone into Kakashi's amused face. Neji flushed scarlet as Shikamaru murmured, "We're talking. Now," in his ear and dragged him off from the room as Kakashi started wondering how on earth he was going to get everyone to settle down after that sort of news.

When they were finally alone, Shikamaru took a few steps back and stared at the blushing Hyuuga.

"Not so bold now, are we?" he teased.

"Shut up," Neji grumbled, aware of how weak a comeback that was. He folded his arms huffily across his chest, "I meant it."

"What did you mean?" Shikamaru inquired innocently.

"…That I…that I wanted you…" he mumbled, "Even back in high school."

"You sure had a funny way of showing it," Shikamaru remarked casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

" –I already told you; I was confused about liking a guy, okay?" Neji sniffed, "I…" he looked away, "…I hated that you were as good as me…if not better. You had every bad habit and attitude I'd ever hated…and yet I felt drawn to you! I didn't even know if you were gay! Do you understand how infuriating it was?"

" –What? That you were the professional, studious, hardworking genius of the school and the person you liked was the school's laziest student ever?" Shikamaru grinned as the Hyuuga nodded shortly, "…Well, imagine this from my point of view. I was the laziest student at Konoha that spent high school liking the stick-up-his-ass, straight-as-an-arrow, all-work-no-play, completely unattainable, insufferable know-it-all boy wonder. I thought I had no chance ever. Well, until I realised that you had the hots for me. After that it was infuriating since you went to rather extreme lengths to disguise how much you wanted me."

"Fat lot of good it did me," Neji grumbled, "…Everyone seemed to know anyway."

"Our year group had a fantastic gaydar," Shikamaru shrugged, "Dated Ino for like a week before she announced to me that if I wanted cock, I was looking in the wrong place. She had you pegged as gay since the start of sophomore year. And you know Sai? Totally gay."

" –I'm pretty sure he groped me," Neji frowned, "Like, pretty recently too. As in a few days ago..."

"Oh he groped everyone," Shikamaru assured him, "Not a good example. But please tell me you knew about Kakashi and Iruka?" Neji's mouth fell open. "I'll take that as a no. Maybe everyone else's gaydars were working overtime since yours appeared to be broken…"

"Why didn't anyone tell me these things…" Neji sighed.

"…Because you were kind of a jackass to everyone," the other man reminded him, "Okay. So we've sorted out that you were in the closet at high school and embarrassed about liking me. Why keep up pretences this week? Especially when I hit on you…I was pretty obvious about it too."

"…I…I didn't know how to react," he muttered, "I might be attracted to males, but it's not like I've ever acted on that before…" He shifted uncomfortably.

"…Oh don't look like I just stole your virginity," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "You're twenty-five; look like you took it like a man…even if you sounded like a whore…" Neji's eyes flashed dangerously, "Okay, okay…I was just kidding…"

"…And I didn't know if you were being serious," he admitted, "I don't take kindly to being jerked around." Shikamaru resisted the urge to make some smartass comment, but another dark look from the Hyuuga stayed his tongue.

"I'm going to ask again," Shikamaru sighed, "…Go out to dinner with me. I'll dress nicely, or something; so you don't have to be embarrassed by me."

"…Is it wrong of me to say I'd prefer if you were naked?" Neji remarked casually, leaning back against the wall nonchalantly. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and scanned the empty room; eyeing the way that the Hyuuga casually locked the door.

"When was the last time you had sex?" Shikamaru sighed, "Aside from the obvious…"

"A while," Neji replied stiffly, stalking forwards and grabbing the front of the Nara's shirt, "Sure. Let's go for dinner sometime."

"That is literally all I've been wanting to hear this entire week…and most of high school…" Shikamaru sighed, wrapping his arms around the Hyuuga, "…Although hearing you moan and talk dirty to me was kind of a bonus. You really have been sexually repressed, haven't you?"

"Is that going to be a problem?" Neji inquired flatly, "Too troublesome for you?"

"It's totally fine by me," Shikamaru chuckled, "I just wish you'd said something about ten years sooner…" He leaned down and pressed a kiss against the Hyuuga's lips, "So, what do you say? Dating?"

"Fine," Neji sighed, closing his eyes in pleasure as Shikamaru undid his collar and began planting kisses across his throat, "But seriously; we are going shopping; you look homeless." Shikamaru groaned, but chuckled inwardly to himself. Neji had never been what some might call low maintenance, and it appeared that that was never going to change. But Shikamaru had always liked so many things about Neji; including the way that he was so different from himself and knew that that was something else that was never going to change.

He was secretly curious about why Neji had liked him when he obviously thought he had so many flaws…but that could wait.

For the meantime; he was happy to indulge the apparently rather horny Hyuuga, and kissed him passionately. Denial had apparently done wonders for his libido...

It was to a crowd that felt the need to nudge each other and chuckle that Shikamaru and Neji finally re-entered the room; the chairs having been moved to the sides to allow for some last moments of socialisation.

"Make any public statement and I swear to god I am leaving you right now," Neji growled warningly to Shikamaru.

"Leaving me? We literally just started dating," Shikamaru complained, slinging an arm around the unwilling Hyuuga's shoulders as Naruto magically materialised nearby with a grin plastered all over his face.

"Congrats Neji," he chuckled, "Seems we both got dragged out of the closet, right?"

"Dragged is right…" Neji muttered.

"Oh well, seems we both got sexy boyfriends out of it," the blonde grinned, apparently dragging Sasuke out of nowhere and latching onto his arm cheekily.

"Watch who else you're calling sexy, Naruto," Sasuke warned, saying Naruto's name in a rolling purr.

"Oh, I love it when he's broody and possessive," Naruto chuckled, glaring at the raven.

"…Well, aren't you a sudden cup of rainbows…" Shikamaru remarked, unsurprised with how comfortable Naruto was at suddenly deciding that he was gay for Sasuke. Naruto always had been the most accepting and permanently chirpy guy in their year; and maybe discovering that he was actually into his male rival wasn't so difficult to believe.

" –By the way, we totally made sure that no one went to look for you," the blonde grinned, "…Although as an unintentional side effect; everyone now knows exactly what you were doing." Neji groaned and Shikamaru smirked, leading him off as Naruto waved dramatically at someone who was appearing at the doorway.

"Mom! Dad!" he exclaimed in excitement, pulling away from Sasuke to head over to his parents.

"Lovely to see you're still here and in one piece," Kushina greeted with a grin, hugging her son tightly, "It wasn't so bad, was it?" She noticed Sasuke lingering several metres back and moved up to embrace him as well. Sasuke looked distinctly uncomfortable; especially as his mother and brother appeared in the doorway.

"Hello, little brother," Itachi greeted gleefully, noting Naruto's presence, "So, did you finally confess to Naruto?" Sasuke glared darkly.

"He sure did!" Naruto beamed with a smirk, wrapping his arms around Sasuke and resting his head on his chest teasingly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, running a hand up the blonde's back as Mikoto squealed in delight and Kushina held out a hand to her husband. Minato sighed and reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

"Mom…what are you doing?" Naruto frowned suspiciously as Itachi smirked and did much the same thing to his own parents.

"Oh, well about ten years ago I bet your father a hundred dollars that you were secretly in love with Sasuke," Kushina shrugged, rather proud of this.

"I bet our parents that you liked each other," Itachi admitted with a shrug, "…Although I already knew I was 50% correct…" He chuckled as Sasuke glared his most mutinous Uchihan glare at his elder brother, "Oh come on Sasuke, don't be sour; it was obvious."

"Oh my god, Mikoto! We might be in-laws one day!" Kushina exclaimed in delight and the two women immediately embraced each other in delight as Minato and Fugaku tried to remind them to not get ahead of themselves.

"…Must you insist on clinging to me?" Sasuke growled stiffly, noting that Naruto was now rather joyously gripping his hands and swinging them rather camply.

"B-But Sasuke; you love me….remember?" he teased.

"Idiot," Sasuke grumbled crossly, facepalming with his free hand.

"Naruto, I heard your parents kidnapped you to get you here," Itachi remarked, ushering them all further into the crowd as he jabbed the blonde in the neck, "…Well, judging by the hickeys, I assume you've had not such a terrible time after all…" Naruto blushed a little as Sasuke sighed heavily and ignored his brother as Naruto was dragged off by his parents.

"I'm happy for you, baby brother," Itachi remarked under his breath as Sasuke watched Naruto leave; his eyes softening in the way that Itachi knew that only Naruto could cause, "…You waited a long time for him." Itachi smiled to himself as Sasuke just shrugged, "…I suppose only he was ever the one for you…am I right? After all; who else put up with you?" Sasuke turned to glare at his brother crossly.

"Shut up Itachi." Itachi smirked as his younger brother stalked off to join their parents.

To anyone who would've looked in on the room, they would see a raven-haired man berating a blonde for being too loud, though no one could miss the affection in his voice or the joy in the blonde's bright blue eyes. They would see a pale brunette with long hair crossly criticising a bored man with black hair tied in a ponytail. The ponytailed man would be rolling his eyes and tell him to cheer up because he was dating a surgeon –and how respectable was that. To look at them, no one would suspect that a week ago, the pairs hadn't spoken in years.

They just fit.

Finally. After seven years of waiting.

The class of Konoha High School learnt several things that week; several things that they should've realised back in high school. They learnt that people can change in a matter of years –who they are doesn't have to remain constant. They learnt that peoples' opinions can always change, though there will always be people they liked, and people they don't. They discovered that relationships can change; that people grow and learn and come to accept things about themselves and others.

They learnt that high school never really ends.

End. Love that cheesiness or no? Chur for keeping up with it, either way! I'll get something new in the works :D
Much love,
xx K