Theme 016: Questioning

016 Questioning

Neji's still sleeping at my place. Why don't we meet up at Neji's instead? Shikamaru

Sasuke frowned at the screen of his phone, feeling annoyed. He hadn't expected Shikamaru to text him back from Neji's phone. It also irritated him that he didn't know what exactly Shikamaru wanted. Meet up at Neji's place? Was he now going to help him doing what he'd initially wanted to do with Neji?

A harsh sigh passed Sasuke's lips as he rode the elevator up to Neji's apartment. He'd offered to help Neji move all the furniture back into Ami's room. But it seemed that now he would be moving furniture with Shikamaru instead of Neji. And in the end, Neji would be happy that they'd done it as a surprise for him. Together.

That wasn't what he wanted. He'd wanted to help Neji out, be there for him now that he felt his friend needed him. And he wanted to show Neji that he could call upon his help, too. That he didn't need to depend on just Shikamaru.

He'd been pretty hurt when Neji told him he hadn't want to bother him with asking for help. He understood the other's reasoning but that didn't mean he wasn't hurt by it. He wanted Neji to ask him for help, to depend on him when he needed to. And with the text he'd sent this morning, he'd hoped to get the chance to show Neji just that.

Sasuke sighed to himself.

He wasn't sure when exactly he'd fallen for Neji but he'd been worrying a lot about useless things since then. Things that made him feel like a woman for thinking them.

He really needed to stop doing that.



Sitting on Neji's couch with Shikamaru next to him, Sasuke couldn't help but feel strangely awkward.

He'd all but ignored the other when he'd entered the apartment and now that he was inside he didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he didn't like Shikamaru. Or rather, he didn't like the way it felt as if the other was taking his place in Neji's life.

"Something to drink?" Shikamaru suddenly asked.

Sasuke had to admit that on the inside he was startled slightly when Shikamaru spoke up. On the outside, though, he merely turned to the other with a raised eyebrow. "I think I can get one for myself." He said in a clipped voice. This was Neji's house, not Shikamaru's. He knew where to find things here and he'd be damned if he let Shikamaru act as if he didn't.

When he stood up and moved to the kitchen to prepare some tea, Shikamaru called: "While you're at it, get me some water."

Sasuke paused in his steps and turned around to look at Shikamaru with a slightly cloudy expression and a raised eyebrow. Neji had already told him that Shikamaru was as lazy as they came. At first Neji had found it frustrating and Sasuke had been amused. But lately Neji spoke of Shikamaru and his laziness more affectionately and his own amusement had disappeared rather quickly.

After a few moments Shikamaru turned his head to him, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

Sasuke sighed. Surely, Shikamaru wasn't doing these things on purpose just to irritate him. The other couldn't be. He was just being suspicious and jealous of a fellow friend of Neji. And why? Because he himself was too much of a coward to confess his own feelings to his friend.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Shikamaru asked. "You seem to be pissed off at something." He added and then frowned, while saying: "At me."

Sasuke sighed. So he had been too obvious. He hadn't meant to be. In fact, he didn't even want to feel this way, this jealous of someone who he knew could never be as important to Neji as he was. But he still was and he just couldn't help it. He hated that.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry it looked that way."

Shikamaru snorted. "Yeah, because it showed on your face, am I right?"

Sasuke swallowed, feeling shocked. He hadn't expected Shikamaru to be this up front. No-one ever was, always accepting an apology without a word so this was new to him. The entire situation was new to him, and he wasn't sure what to do.

There was no way he was going to let the other know that he felt jealous of how close he was to Neji.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke shook his head. "No, because I shouldn't be pissed off." Why, he wondered, was he even having this conversation? Everything – the things Shikamaru said, the way he was looking at him – seemed to suggest that the other somehow knew about his feelings. And that made Sasuke nervous.

"I'll go get our drinks now." He said and turned around, hurrying to the kitchen before Shikamaru had a chance to ask him anything else.



In the small kitchen, while waiting for the water for his tea to boil, Sasuke quietly scolded himself.

He was turning into a fool in love with the way he was acting now. Or maybe a spoiled brat was closer to the truth. Because with his jealous words and angry looks, wasn't he acting like a little child who owned Neji?

Swallowing, he realized it was true in some regard. Neji, just as himself, had never had many friends. And now suddenly – now that he had figured out his own feelings – he needed to share his friend.

"Hey,"

Sasuke startled when suddenly he was spoken to and he turned around to see Shikamaru standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorpost with his hands shoved into his pockets.

At seeing Shikamaru, Sasuke had to keep himself from scowling. What did he want this time?

Shikamaru silently watched him for a few moments and then said: "I hope I wasn't rude."

Rude? Sasuke thought and huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You are a bit now."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru shook his head, the smallest inkling of a smile tugging at his lips. Then he got serious and said: "I wanted to ask you something."

Sasuke frowned. "What?"

"You're in love with Neji, aren't you?"

Sasuke paled slightly at the question. He'd been found out? Shit, he couldn't help but think, and blurted out the first question that came to mind: "Does Neji know?" His eyes widened slightly when the words passed his lips. He hadn't intended to ask that.

Seeming to understand Sasuke's worry rather than make fun of it, Shikamaru shook his head. "No, he doesn't. Not that I know of."

Relaxing slightly at hearing those words, Sasuke nodded. Then, the reality of the situation sunk in and he looked at Shikamaru with slightly widened eyes, demanding: "How did you know?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "The way you've been acting towards me, mostly. So to prevent more troublesome situations, I just wanted to let you know I'm not interested in Neji in that way. Okay?"

Feeling relief flood through him, Sasuke released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Hearing those reassuring words from Shikamaru didn't change much. But it showed him he had been acting like a jerk and had been blaming Shikamaru for things he hadn't done.

For a fleeting moment he apologized but when he looked at Shikamaru he could see at the other's expression that he understood. So instead, he nodded with a barely-there smile on his lips. "Okay."

Shikamaru smirked and nodded, shoulders slouching slightly at the agreement. "Good. Now get your tea ready, I want to see how much I can make you move around in Ami's room."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that, feeling more relaxed now that he knew Neji wasn't aware of his feelings and Shikamaru wasn't a... serious threat. "Me? You need more than just words for that, though."

"Oh don't worry. I'm pretty smart."