Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/13421358. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: M/M Fandom: Naruto Relationship: Shika/Neji, Hyuuga_Neji_&_Nara_Shikamaru, Hyuuga_Neji/Nara_Shikamaru Character: Nara_Shikamaru, Hyuuga_Neji, Hatake_Kakashi, Yamanaka_Ino, Haruno_Sakura, Inuzuka_Kiba, Hyuuga_Hizashi, Hyuuga_Hiashi Additional Tags: Blood_and_Torture, Psychological_Torture, Yaoi, complicated_love, Mistery, murders, Thriller, NejixShika, Kumogakure, Shippuuden, Abuse Stats: Published: 2018-01-19 Updated: 2018-03-03 Chapters: 2/? Words: 5544 ****** Dare to Remember ****** by Addiction_and_Abstinence Summary A weird mission. A dark past coming back to haunt the ones we love the most. A depiction of sufferings, pain, blood and who knows...maybe also a Happy Ending. Maybe. Disclaimer. I do not promote any of the acts you will read in this fanfiction. They are pure fiction,useful to give the story the gory- disgusting/shocking taste I like to see in all my favourite stories. Notes See the end of the work for notes ***** B-Ranked Bullshit ***** Tsunade was looking at the paper in front of her, taking a deep breath before moving her gaze towards the shinobis in front of her. - Your next mission is a B-ranked one. It consists in understanding what the hell is going on in Kumogakure. There have been many kidnappings, murders and disappearances all around and in the city. Our client gave us proof that this could be potentially threatening to our Region and insists on the claim that the Raikage is denying the truth. Since this is not the first time that the Lighting Government hides something from us...I will not let a possible threat slide through my fingers like that. No one wants another Hyuuga Affair to happen.  Her eyes wondered to the icy ones in front of her. Had it been a good idea to involve Hyuuga Neji in this mission? His byakugan was certainly needed for such a mission, but would the freshly promoted Jonin be able to handle the emotional weight of it all? Tsunade looked at him for a second. His eyes were...emotionless. He was just staring back at her, his figure in perfect standing position, waiting for further instruction and apparently untouched by the fact that the topic discussed was in fact his father’s death. The Godaime cleared her throat before starting to talk again. -Kakashi, you will be the Team Leader. At your side I figured that the two geniuses here will definitely help out. Sakura and Ino will provide you the medical support you may need, and Kiba and Akamaru will definitely help out in your research. Any questions?- For a second nobody seemed to be intentioned to speak, but the the lazy hand of Shikamaru Nara was lifted. - Two Jonin and four Chunin for a B-ranked mission. Isn’t it too much? - Tsunade basically killed him with a homicide look. That Nara was as annoying as genial. Obviously it wasn’t a simple B rank mission. - Nara, I know you are asking the question for the sole purpose of being a pain in the ass, but I will not tolerate this kind of sarcasm any longer. You need to enter the Lighting Region safely and only a B ranked mission will cause no trouble to you. Officially you are investigating on the disappearance of this family. The Godaime opened the file in front of her showing to everyone the picture of a normal family. A man, a woman, two children and what seemed to be a shop behind them. - This is the Yamoda Family. They were born in Konoha and moved to the Lighting Region to open a weaponry shop after concession from the Third Hokage. They are citizens of Konohagakure at all effects, permanent hosts of Kumogakure. They disappeared three days ago leaving only their dead dog in front of their shop. None of the weapons were stolen, so Kumogakure closed the case as a simple flee of the family. Our Client knew them very well and he claims that something sinister happened. Tsunade pulled out another couple of pictured from the file, showing them to the team. - This masked ANBU has been spotted multiple times in the last month, wondering around the area where the Yamodas lived. He is not one of ours, and niether Kumogakure’s. This subject appeared...and the family vanished. Same happened to these other families. More pictures were put on the table. Pictures of normal families attached to pictures of weird looking figures seemingly stalking them. - Something is definitely wrong here and the Yamoda Family just gave us the right to investigate on the area. I’m sure I do not have to explain to you that keeping a low profile is necessary in order to avoid problems. Konoha and Kumogakure are yet to become real allies but at the same time a Konoha family, and..who know, maybe more, has vanished and it is our duty to find out what happened. In short terms...keep the face of the B ranked mission. You are there to investigate about a family fled somewhere. Nothing more than that. Understood? She standed up from her chair and look at all the shinobis in front of her. No one talked, they just nodded and turned around before leaving. Tsunade waited for all the jungster to go out...clearing her throat to capture Kakashi’s attention. - Kakashi I need to speak to you alone regarding the details of the mission. The copy-nin simply nodded, coming back to the table, sitting in front of it and for the first time putting down his book to face the Godaime. She had a concerned look on her face and she sighed before starting to talk. - Neji Hyuuga has applied for ANBU as soon as he became Jonin. This mission will determine if he really is fit to be a member of the secret services. I know you left Kakashi, but what I am asking is just a supervision and a report about his behaviour on the field. This mission has many links to his past and I want to make sure that he can handle the life he applied for. Will you do it? - Kakashi looked at here and simply nodded, looking out of the window..following the path of a bird flying in the sky. - The Hyuuga kid wants to flee from his family...I can’t certaintly blame him. ANBU means no more orders from the main branch, no more fear of having his head blown up because of some stupid rules. Gai told me many times about that kid’s obsession with being perfect and worthy of his clan’s name. Gadaime...I’m not sure i’m the best choice for supervising him. I never trained with that boy nor my team had. I know nothing of him as a person. Are you sure that my opinion will be accurate enough?  The copy nin watched Tsunade close her eyes, before looking directly into his uncovered one. – You saw Uchiha Sasuke deteriorating to the point of escaping with Orochimaru. You are the only one who has experience with such troubled kids. Gai may be his Sensei but you are the most experienced in this...let’s say field. I put my total trust in you. As a former ANBU you will judge him on my behalf and as Team Leader you will estimate whether or not to keep him or send him back home. I hope for the best obviously...but it won’t be easy. Kakashi sighed turning his eyes back to the sky. He clearly remembered the Hyuuga boy freaking out at the Chuuning exam, both with Hinata and Naruto. Gai had spent a whole afternoon talking to him about the situation….   -Kakashi...how do you...take care of Sasuke? It sounded like a weird question coming from the all mighty youthful green shinobi sat in front of him. It wasn’t like Gai to sound this...afflicted. Kakashi sighed sitting at his side, closing the book he was reading and looking in front of him. - Sasuke is a very particular shinobi. You can feel his rage even in his sleep. He finds his strenght in the thought of vengeance towards his brother. I try to do my best to give him what he wants. I teach him new techniques and by teaching him how to control them I inevitably also teach him how to control himself. I do not push him to be friendly with the other two...i’d rather put them into situations where they must collaborate in order to succeed. The results are slow...but still showing. Gai looked at him before cringing his fingers in a fist and slamming it to the ground. - He does not allow me to come near him. Since the first day he did everything by himself. He decided when to call the others for training and how to train. I tried to give my team all kind of mission but...none seemed to be enthusiastic enought for him. He constantly makes Lee feel like a failure. He treates Tenten with a cold respect as if she was a total stranger to him. He never talks about anything other than training and missions. Never a smile, never some….lightness in his young heart. Today...with Hinata...I cannot believe how fool I have been to allow that match to take place. I knew Neji was going to explode sometimes. I have seen him countless times being teased by the other Hyuuga members. I used to follow him home to ensure he was ok, as I did with the other two...and many,many times I saw his own grandfather calling him a failure or pointing out even the slightest defect. I wanted to...punch that freaking bast… -Woh woh Gai calm down… - Kakashi blocked his hand right on time before he could do any damage to the poor tree behind them. He never so Gai this worried before. They both sat still for a moment...before Gai started talking again. - His eyes scared me Kakashi. He looked at Hinata with such hate….how can I do something about it? I am scared he will turn out to be another Itachi Uchiha sooner or later… The copy-nin looked at him, surprised to hear such words coming out of his mouth. He was truly worried, anyone could have told that. He sighed and put a hand on the Jonin’s shoulder - He won’t become another Itachi Uchiha. He has you has his sensei. And I know your youthful irritating philosophy will help him somehow. Just be yourself and do not push him into doing things he may be uncomfortable with. Play smart and thing will take the right turn.  That said….he stood up, put his hands in his pockets and walked away, to wanting to stay there a second more. Gai was absolutely right...the kid had such a homicidal aura that even his nerves had jumped a little feeling it. He only hoped that no extreme measures will have to be taken into consideration….   Lost in his thoughts….Kakashi had zoned out not answering Tsunade in the first place. She looked at him slightly worried, waiting for him to come back to reality. Finally he seemed to snap out of his own mind as he looked at her, bowing his head before turning to the door. - I will do my best, Hokage-sama. *** -Maan I hate the Lighting Region!  Shouted Kiba accompanied immediately by Akamaru barking  Why didn’t she just sent a couple of ANBU’s to do this work? Fuck it's gonna be so awful! Shikamaru sighed heavily, putting a hand on the top of his nose – Kiba...you really have the brain of a dog. She just underlined the importance of not creating problems with Kumogakure. Don’t you think that sending ANBUs could be seen as a threat to the government?  The dog nin looked at him crossing his arms, looking at him with enraged eyes while Akamaru barked quite offended by those words. - First of all the brain of the dog is far more intelligent that your so called smart-ass, second of all… - Kiba shut up! Gosh you are so noisy! I can’t believe I’m going to have to deal with you for a whole mission! Shouted Ino rotating her eyes and putting a hand in her hair to revive them a little. - Oh oh miss I-cannot-keep-my-mouth-shut has spoken! Don’t you have a hair straightener to use or something? Laughed Kiba and alongside Akamaru, jumping on the nearest roof to avoid Ino punching him. Sakura was trying to hold her laugh as much as she could...and Shikamaru looked at the ridicolous scene, anticipating the obvious failure of the mission even before starting it. The only one who wan’t a total pain in the ass was the Hyuuga, walking alongside him silently and...sensually somehow. Shikamaru looked at him trying not to get noticed. His long dark hair were being pushed by the light wind of the afternoon, his white vest both hid and exposed the toned body of the young shinobi. And best of all...those glacial eyes full of emptiness…directly staring at him. His istinct immediately told him to look away...but he knew better than that. He needed to provide an explanation for his staring. - Neji….what exactly is the Hyuuga Affair?  Shit. Couldn’t he ask something less….sensitive?! Besides the fact that he already knew what it was...he noticed that the others stopped their chitchat to listen. - Yeah man...What’s that? Your uncle having an affair with some Thunder Woman?  Laughed Kiba before encountering a homicidal look from those icy eyes….now adorned with veins all over them. Shikamaru became pale as a ghost hearing that sentence...did he really have some brain damage? Now even Naruto would have said something THAT stupid! He looked at Neji slightly worried that he might attack. He saw him fighting...light as a feather, deadly as Death itself. He could attack an enemy at an incredible speed, with just a movement of the arm...he could kill a man. Both him and the girls moved a bit, ready to stop the imminent fight, but surprisingly...the Hyuuga Just...spoke. - For your information Kiba...the Hyuuga Affair was the dispute that took place between the Hyuuga Clan and Kumogakure when Hinata was kidnapped at three years old. My uncle killed the Head Ninja to save her, the Kumogakure Government denied any involvement in the incident and since Konoha had killed their Head “for no reason”, they asked for Hiashi’s body as a payback. Kiba looked at him confused and slightly imbarassed by his own joke, still not fully understanding the situation he found himself in. - Okay...but I am pretty sure I saw Hiashi Hyuuga a couple of days ago, alive and well so...did they pay money or something instead of..you know...giving him? Shikamaru felt a distinctive shivering down his spine and for a second...he really feared for Kiba’s life. Neji turned to him and took a step forward, coming face to face to him. Even Akamaru was scared at that point….lowering his ears and lying on the ground. The situation was not good....not good at all. - You want to know what happened? Since MY father was Hiashi’s twin...they decided to hand him over instead of their precious main branch member. The Hyuuga Affair is basically my father dying for your stupid teammate. Now that you know….do me a favor, shut up and do not bother me during this mission if you don’t want all your chakra point closed up. Are we clear?  That said...Neji turned his heels and left. Everybody remained paralized for a second, before Sakura and Ino turned to Kiba at the same time….punching him so hard on the head that he collapsed at least 3 meters into the ground. Shikamaru sighed looking at the pathetic scene in front of him, opting to leave before going totally crazy. He walked home feeling more and more anxious about the mission. Too weird….Tsunade hadn’t really explained anything, his teammate were already on the edge of fighting, and there was personal matters involved too. Obviously Tsunade couldn’t send Hinata to Kumogakure...but was it okay to send Neji? He looked and the sun lowering over the horizon and decided to lie down looking at the pink clouds in the sky. He had one night of peaceful sleep before leaving Konoha for that weird mission. He closed his eyes breathing slowly...trying to calm his heart beats down. He couldn’t already be that nervous...he had to calm down. If Tsunade chose them...there had to be a reason. Two medic nins meant that probably somebody would get hurt. Kiba had an incredible sense of smell...obvious reason to have him on the field. Neji….yes, Neji had the byakugan….but was it really needed when they had Kakashi and his sharingan? Too little information to formulate a theory. He would have to wait for more clues.Meanwhile... he needed to think of something else. A smile came up to his face...making him laugh a little. How was it possible... was he really thinking about how to sleep in the same tent with Neji before such a mysterious and probably dangerous mission?     ***** The Game is On ***** Chapter Notes See the end of the chapter for notes Neji sat on the bed looking at the kunais perfectly positioned in front of him: They had been clensed and sharpened for the past two hours, ready for the upcoming mission. Same went for the shurikens and the explosion papers, for his clothes and all the little things he was so used to prepare for a mission. This time thou…was different. The mission itself was different…he was different. Just another few step and ANBU would free him: Free him from the cursed seal, free him from his family and his destiny. Neji chuckled, taking a deep breath. Naruto was right…destiny was changable. He was born a branch member…but surely he wasn’t gonna die as one of them. He wasn’t gonna die as his father did. He didn’t care about the suicide and freedom bullshit, Hizashi still died to save Hiashi’s ass, no matter the explanation the man gave himself. The young Hyuuga shook his head putting all his stuff in the bag, getting ready to go to sleep. He absolutely didn’t look forward to leave with that bunch of stupid kids. The thought of having to deal with the Yamanaka and the Inuzuka was less appealing than listening to one of his Sensei’s speeches abouth Power and Youth. Sakura was ok…after the Uchiha left everyone noticed how calm and silent she became.  The Nara was…well, a Nara. Bored but useful, and Kakashi minded his own businesses. It could have been worst actually, Neji thought. At least there wasn’t Naruto or worst, Lee, in his way…. A knock on the door made him come out of his own thoughts, and he politely invited whoever it was to come in. Hiashi stepped in calmly as a swan on the water, looking at him before nodding and taking a seat on the chair near the bed. Neji bowed politely moving the bag to the floor, sitting down in a more proper way, ready to listen to whatever the Head was going to tell him. Hiashi on the other side, behind his ice-cold look…was very worried. The Godaime allerted him of the mission and he wanted to personally make sure that the boy was in fact….ok with all of that. * I have been informed of your mission, Neji. How do you feel about it? Wow...Hiashi Hyuuga straight to the point. Well that was a surprise. Neji felt irritated by the question, what the fuck could he answer to that? * I am fine, Hiashi-sama. I have long enough accepted my father’s death and as a ninja I learned to keep emotions away from the battlefield. There will not be any trouble on my side, I assure you. “I won’t risk my place in ANBU for this fucking family…..” thought looking at his uncle and his answer to come. Hiashi looked at him and sighed, as usual his nephew wasn’t speaking to him as Family…but just as his Head Chief. * Very well Neji. Best of luck for the mission. Hiashi standed up and started walking towards the door, stopping suddently and turning around, seemingly ready to say something. * Neji….be careful. That place…. No. He couldn’t say it. It would do more damage than good and the probabilities of Neji…finding out, were too low to risk. He straighted his shoulders up, thinking about a way to justify those last words. * That place can be challenging even for a byakugan user. Do not be impulsive. That said…he simply left. Neji looked at him leaving not understanding his own feelings in that moment. It was a mix of being pissed of for the lack of trust his uncle showed…and a weird sensation of “something is wrong”. He sighed and shook his head, he didn’t have time for that. He needed a good night sleep. Last check on his stuff,a quick look to his parent’s picture on the wall and he went to bed, closing his eyes and falling fairly quickly into a deep sleep. *** As soon as the sun appeared on the horizon, everybody was already at the doors of the village, ready to leave. Everybody but Kakashi obviously. Shikamaru sighed leaning on a nearby tree, looking at the pink clouds above him, not wanting to talk nor..leave, to be honest. His mother had been giving him the usual scolding about being careful, not lazy, cooperative, and as always, not “a pain in the butt” for the others. Best thing in the morning, having your mother telling you off before one could even have the time for a tea. What a drag… * Yo Sakura, where’s Kakashi-Sensei? Asked Kiba cuddling a huge Akamaru laid on the floor moving his leg frenetically while his belly was being scratched. * We never found out why he is always late! We tried to follow him but he always deceived us! Not even Sas… Sakura sighed shooking her head, smiling to the Inuzuka after a second. * Not even Sasuke and Naruto could find something out! The pink haired kunoichi laughed remembering their futile attempts to find out any information about their sensei, and strangely…she wasn’t the only one laughing. The pink-haired kunoichi turned to look at Ino, trying to hide a obviously malicious smile behind her hands. * What? * Oh come on Sakura-chan! Isn’t he the one who always reads the Itcha Itcha Paradise? Probably he is just….ehm ehm….coff coff… She started moving her hand up and down in the air, making everybody pop their eyes out at the thought. Even Neji couldn’t hide a slight expression of surprise at that….colorful description. Sakura became purple at the thought of it while Kiba fell on the ground laughing so hard even Akamaru started barking. Neji did not move…not allowing himself to laugh at such vulgar and childish joke, looking instead at the Nara, lost in the clouds. He probably was used to Ino and those kind of jokes regarding men. The pinapple head just sighed looking at Ino, freezing on the spot. Neji followed his gaze and froze himself instantly. * And I thought girls were unaware of things… Said Kakashi appearing behind Ino, his face covered by his beloved book and the other hand and in his pocket. Ino literally melted on the ground for the shame, followed quickly by Sakura and Kiba. Kakashi laughed walking passed them, turning around so he could look at everybody in the eyes. * Let’s go guys. We have a long way to go before reaching the Lighting. Oh and by the way….you should ask Gai about that. He is the expert I heard… Neji nearly suffocated on the nigiri he was eating for breakfast while waiting, his skin becoming green at the thought of Gai….doing that. Shikamaru quickly patted a hand on his back, making sure the Hyuga wasn’t dying. That mission was already starting with the all the wrong premises. * Yeah! Akamaru, let’s go! Hyuga don’t die now, we need your icy ass! Said the dog-nin escaping on the trees, quickly followed by everybody. Neji sighed following up. First Kakashi, now him?! It wasn’t even 6am in the morning and he was already fairly pissed off. * Calm down Neji…we need to focus. The voice at his side was Shikamaru’s, the only one who was proving himself not to be a total retard. Neji sighed nodding, clearing his mind off all those useless emotions. Wait…had his nerved just been soothed by him? Weird. Probably it was just the essential need for another working mind in that group of children. He speeded up and so did all the others, remaining silent for the whole day. The team did not stop until the sun went down and Kakashi landed on the grass near a small lake. * Let’s camp here. We need to rest. Sakura and Ino, here is your tent. Shikamaru and Neji, this is yours, Kiba and Akamaru, here we go. The Jonin opened a roll and suddently four tents and a fire pit appeared. Everybody put their bags down while Kiba and Akamaru went fishing in the lake. Soon it was dark and everybody sat around the fire, cooking their dinner and chit chatting about futile things. Kakashi suddently took another roll opening it and clearing his voice to call out for everybody’s attention. * Our first step will be to investigate. Akamaru and Kiba, you will go to the crime scene. Find out if anybody cancelled traces with bleach and if that’s the case…find out as much as you can. Ino and Sakura, you two will ask around town if anyone saw anything….take off your hitai-ate for this, you will look like normal tourists. You will have to base your questions on this. Kakashi gave them a page of newspaper regarding the crime. They had to look like curious girls and nothing more. The two kunoichi nodded, starting to read the page, whispering about what and what not to ask. Kakashi shook his head as soon as they started fighting, going back to the notes. * Me and Shikamaru will go to the Police to put up the face of the b-ranked mission in order to analyse what the police found. Neji…you will take advantage of us keeping the policemen busy and will infiltrate into the archives. Check everything you can and if you spot something, just come back and we’ll elaborate a plan. Set the watches now and remember: Something is odd there so pay attention. This is officially a B-ranked mission….but treat it as an S-ranked one. All clear for now? Everybody nodded with a serious look, each one starting to think about their task. Neji sighed, infiltration…what a better way to test his abilities as ANBU. Nice challenge thou….his byakugan would have definitely proven useful. * Oh, last thing guys….from now on we’ll take shift to guard the camp. Neji and Shikamaru will do the first night, Kiba and Akamaru the second, Sakura and Ino the third. I will do the last. If we keep going at this speed in five days we will be there. Now go to sleep. Shikamaru and Neji, you are in charge now. That said, Kakashi entered his tent and so did all the others. Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other and Shikamaru sighed, what a drag… * You do the first turn….I couldn’t see a kunai thrown at me right now. Wake me up at three. Neji looked at him and nodded, he did not mind the first shift at all. On the contrary….he hated waking up in the middle of the night. He definitely preferred to stay up and go to sleep later on. He looked around and spotted a tree branch waving of the lake, an excellet point for both guarding and sitting down comfortably. He climbed up the tree after putting down the fire, sitting down on the branch activating the byakugan and looking at the lake. The water was calm, slightly moved by the breeze and by a few ducks swimming around. Everything looked chilled and the sounds of night were relaxing. Neji started looking around, counting down the owls he could spot, playing the same game later on with frogs, squirrels and every other animal he could spot. Everything was usual and…to be honest, he was starting to feel sleepy and quite bored. He jumped on the ground starting to do some stretching just to keep his body awake. The more time passed, the more bored he became. He looked at the tents, making sure that everyone was ok. Everybody was sleeping peacefully and the Hyuga sighed, drinking some water and grabbing his bag to check on his weapons just to make time pass. As soon as he started polishing his kunais, his uncle’s words popped into his mind, reverbering into his ears more and more, everytime sounding more suspicious. Did he know about ANBU maybe? No…impossible…he couldn’t possibly know about it. Maybe it was just concern for the whole Hyuga Affair thing, but something wasn’t right about that hypothesis. Too simple to be right, at least not when talking about Hyuga Hiashi.  What was with that concern look before leaving? He had endured far worst missions before and the Hyuga head never came to him to tell him such words; that was something he would do with Hinata maybe….surely not with him. He sighed, what was the point of thinking about it after all.  He started training silently trying not to wake anyone up, imagining enemies coming at him from different directions. While moving around he ended up on the surface of the lake, and seeing his own image reflected on the water…made him think about his father. Why did he do that….why. He could have succeeded Hiashi as Head of the Clan, he could have changed his destiny…why the fuck didn’t he do that!? Just the thought of it made the Hyuga’s blood boil…and the boy needed to stay calm and focused. He tried to think of other missions and memories…just to keep him mind busy. He menaged so, in fact…he focused so much he did not notice that somebody wasn’t actually sleeping anymore… *** Shikamaru was ready to slaughter Kiba in his sleep. He could clearly hear the dog-nin snoring in the other tent. He slept a couple of hours but then suddently woke up hearing that loud noise in the background. What the hell, did he swallow up a whole caterpillar or what?! He took a deep breath looking at the time, he could still sleep an hour before the shift but there was no way he could fall asleep again. Sighing he stood up moving his neck to the sides, opening the tent up and getting a chill down his spine when the breeze hit his skin. He looked around spotting Neji on the water of the lake, practising his juuken against invisible enemies. He was so focused on his training he hadn’t even noticed his presence. Or maybe noticed but did not bother to show it. Shikamaru sat on the grass looking at him and his gracious movements. That boy was handsome. Every aspect of his toned body was simply…perfect. His hair, his eyes, all his defined muscles covered under the white robe. His expression was serious but somehow relaxed, seemingly comfortable into a battlefield-like scenario. The Hyuga was at all effects a perfect war machine. Deadly accurate, fast, elegant. All the elements of the perfect shinobi suited him perfectly. * If you have nothing to do but stare, I will gladly go to sleep. It took Shikamaru a second to realize that the Hyuga was directly speaking to him. He was so focused on…fantasizing about him that he didn’t notice the sudden stop of the Hyuga’s improvised training. * Actually I was looking at nothing…Kiba and his fucking snoring woke me up. He opened his mouth and yawned before throwing Neji the now half-empty bottle of water  he found at his side. The shinobi grabbed it drinking a sip out of it, reaching for Shikamaru and sitting near him. * I am used to Rock Lee and Gai together...extreme survival technique I would say… Did Hyuga Neji just make a joke? Well that was a surprise. Shikamaru laughed a little and looked at him, spotting something…weird in his gaze. * Shogi? That word left his mouth without having the time to think about it. What was he thinking? He didn’t even have the board there and, most importantly he never really even spoke to the Hyuga! Neji looked at him moving his left eyebrow up in a skeptical manner, wondering what was the purpose of that question. Shikamaru quickly thought about an excuse but…fuck, why bother…he was Neji Hyuga, not Naruto. * I figured that a good shogi game would take your mind off your past, correct me if i’m wrong…. The Nara smiled at him slightly, collecting some leaves and drawing all the needed kanjis on them, preparing an improvised shogi board on the ground. Neji looked at him buffled by his answer. Normally he would have just politely told him to fuck off and mind his own business….but something in the Nara voice made him accept that sentence as it was. A concerned guess about his current being. He sighed sitting down and looking at the leaves, grabbing the butterfly and moving it up to attack his deer. * Good guess Nara. Your move. Don’t bore me… No matter how flat that sentence sounded….Shikamaru could clearly perceive a hint of…aggression and fun in those words. Well…challenge accepted. He took control of the butterfly, leading the game. Neji looked at the leaves and then looked at the Nara’s face. They both smirked looking at each other… The game was definitely on. Chapter End Notes Kanji = japanese term for their symbols Shogi = japanese chess-like game Hi guys! Sorry if it took me so long to update, I have been pretty busy lately! Please comment on this chap, tell me how my writing skills are and where i could improve! Love you all, See you next chap! Xx End Notes Hi everybody! This is my first fiction written in english, I hope you will like it! Any suggestion on how to improve my writing skill are well accepted! It took me a century to start writing but finally I'm here! Also....this is a Gift for LittleGirl9, hope you like it dear! <3 <3 See you next chap! xx Addiction and Abstinence Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!