The Way Things Are

The first actual chapter. ^_^ I hope you guys enjoy it!!

REVIEW REPLIES

Unfulfilled Destiny: Indeed you are! Congratulations! *hands you a cookie* hee hee To have you "hooked" after just the prologue makes me happy. XD lol I'm just kidding. As for who Shikamaru's bride to be...well, you find out who it's supposed to be. ^_^; Thank you for the review and compliments!

Syake: Yes, it would. Which is why I'm glad I don't live in an environment like that. lol I'm glad you like the pairing. I also hope you'll like how I portray them. ^_^

aice: I wish I had something clever to put up right now, but I don't. ^_^; Maybe I'll change it after the 2nd chapter is up? I think I can do that then. lol Yes, it is a ShikaNeji fic. :) Thanks for the compliments.

jess249: Ahaha, I hope it's awesome! I'm in love with it, but I don't think that counts. XD lol Shukaku isn't in this story. It's Shikaku and he's Shikamaru's dad. ^_^

AngelicChaos: I hope it continues to stay interesting. XD Plot bunnies are fun things...*ehem* I hope you'll also like where I take this. And even if it would annoy me a bit with people stealing a little of my idea, I think I'd be honored as well. XD I'm so odd...

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Chapter 1


Neji stared at his uncle in disbelief. He didn’t want to believe what his uncle was telling him. “Y-you can’t be serious.”

Hiashi stared sympathetically at his 19 year old nephew. “I am. Unless she returns, you’ll have to take her place.”

For the first time since Neji had read the scroll from his father, he hated Hinata. Absolutely abhorred her. His face paled as he realized the seriousness of the situation. “Is there no other way?”

Hiashi frowned. “I am afraid not. As of this moment, you and Nara Shikamaru are to be engaged.”

Neji wanted to die. Simply wanted to go to his bedroom, lie down on his bed, and die peacefully. He visibly slumped in his position as he stared blankly at the floor in front of his uncle’s knees. Damn it, Hinata! He cursed silently. Because you decided to run away, I have to be forced into an engagement that’s rightfully yours!

“We already have teams sent out to retrieve her,” Hiashi stated, trying to be as sympathetic as possible, “but we are not certain we’ll be able to bring her back. I’m sorry, Neji.”

“It is not your fault, uncle,” Neji said rather stiffly. “When is the first meeting with Hin-…my fiancée to be…at?”

Hiashi frowned slightly, but nodded anyhow. “Tomorrow at noon. I suggest you prepare yourself. I truly am sorry, Neji. I did not expect Hinata to be…so rebellious.”

She’s a coward! Neji thought bitterly. “Very well. May I be excused to go to my room?”

“Yes,” Hiashi said softly, looking off to the side.

Not waiting for his uncle to say anything else, Neji stood up and walked briskly through the compound, trying to keep his growling to a minimum. The aura he was giving off was enough to scare away anyone who might have had any intention with speaking with him. His chakra was flaring like crazy. So much so that he wouldn’t be surprised if all of Konoha could feel it. He opened the panel that led to his room, only to slam it shut and angrily flop down on his bed.

Neji turned his head from off of his pillow, despite how much he would have loved to have suffocated, and glared angrily at the wall. Of all people, why did it have to be Nara Shikamaru? Yes, they weren’t exactly complete opposites, but there was enough about the Nara that he didn’t like that would make this marriage almost unacceptable. For one, every time he’d had a run in with Shikamaru, the nin was so lazy he wouldn’t even properly greet anyone. Was it so hard to say hi?

Then there was the fact that Shikamaru could beat him any day in a battle of wits and knowledge. He was said to be a genius, but compared to the Nara, he wasn’t anything special. In a relationship, it would be Nara that was seen as the intelligent one, especially with how many missions the man had accomplished on his brain alone. Neji was just an afterthought. He glared even more viciously at the wall for that, only to turn onto his back with a heavy sigh.

He needed to do something. He needed to get out and relieve his stress. And there was one person who was more than willing to help him with that. Getting up off of his bed, he dressed into something more fitting and made his way out of his room and the compound. He walked quickly, hoping that the source of his distraction would be home. Walking up to the apartment door, he knocked tentatively on it, hoping and praying to all that was sacred that Rock Lee was home.

He could have cried when the green-spandex wearing nin opened his door. “Neji? What a pleasant surprise to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too, Lee,” Neji stated, politely, giving the other a smile. “I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you.” Lee, the one and only person Neji would ever willingly call friend. The man had been his biggest support and rival. He had finally beaten Neji in a fight 2 years ago and ever since then, the two had been close friends. Neji held a respect for this nin that no one would ever expect to come from him.

“What is it, Neji?” Lee asked, his eyes showing his concern. Neji didn’t ask for favors often. “You look terribly stressed. That’s not very youthful.”

Neji smirked. He didn’t spout the junk as much as Gai did, but Lee occasionally would spit out stuff about the springtime of youth and such. “I need to spar.”

Lee’s look of concern changed to one of excitement. “A spar? Oh, I’d love to Neji! Let me get a few things and then we can go! In the meantime, come in!”

Neji nodded his head in appreciation as he entered the taijutsu master’s home, sitting down on the couch that was offered to him. Despite his inward tension, Neji appeared to be very relaxed. He couldn’t lose face in front of anyone. Lee was the only person who could tell how he really felt, could see what was going through the Hyuuga’s head emotionally. But he never acted upon it unless it was serious. Another thing Neji appreciated about Lee. He wasn’t pushy.

It wasn’t long before the nin returned from his room, now wearing his weights underneath the leg warmers. He gave Neji a thumb’s up when he was ready to go, making sure that there were no lights on before he locked and closed his door. The pair made their way down the stairs of Lee’s apartment complex, the silence between them comfortable and relaxing. Lee never expected Neji to say anything. He was usually the one to start the conversation. It looked like this was going to be the case this time as well.

“Might I ask why you are so stressed, Neji?” Lee asked, looking over at his walking companion.

Neji’s face twisted into a horrible scowl. “Hinata ran away from home to escape her duty to the clan and I have to pick up the slack.”

Lee frowned. “I cannot see Hinata doing that. What is it that you have to do?”

“Unless Hinata returns, I’m being forced to marry Nara Shikamaru,” Neji growled.

“You are joking!” Lee asked, his eyes going wide and his jaw dropping.

Neji sighed as they entered the training fields. “Not in the least.”

It wasn’t long before they found that Iruka was in the field with his youngest academy class. Neji inwardly groaned. Would they not get to spar? He really needed to relieve his stress, his anger. Sighing softly, he did his best to keep his face stoic as Lee ran over to their former sensei excitedly. He kept his pace slow as he followed after his energetic, former teammate. The two waited patiently for Iruka to finish his phrase before he turned to them smiling.

“Lee and Neji!” he laughed. “It is good to see you.”

“As it is you, Iruka-sensei,” Neji said, bowing politely.

“Teaching all of these energetic youths, sensei?” Lee smiled, placing his hands on his hips.

Iruka chuckled. “Just explaining a few of the basics to them. What brings the two of you here?”

“Neji has asked me to spar with him,” Lee stated, giving his former teacher a thumb’s up. “Of course, we can wait till you are done with your lesson.”

“Actually, I couldn’t have asked for better timing,” Iruka smirked. “These guys need to see how brutal a battle can really be. I was going to ask Tenzou to come fight me, but it’ll be easier if I can have them watch you. That is, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Neji smirked.

“We would be honored, Iruka-sensei!” Lee beamed.

“Excellent,” Iruka sighed. “Just let me finish one more little lecture and then we’ll be ready to watch.” Turning back to his current students, Iruka began to describe why chakra control was important and how it could be the deciding factor between a win and a loss. He quickly introduced Neji in the meantime, explaining how the chakra aids Neji in his Byakugan. He then said that on rare occasions there is a shinobi born that does not have very much chakra. He indicated that Lee was one like that.

One of the students meekly raised his hand, and Iruka encouraged them to ask his question. “What style of fighting does Lee use?”

“We’ll cover these more fully later, but he’ll be using a form called taijutsu,” Iruka answered. “But in the meantime, why don’t we watch them spar, hm?”

The class agreed excitedly, causing Neji to smirk sadly. These children didn’t know how lucky they were to be this young. “Alright, Lee, let’s head to the center.”

“Yosh!” Lee exclaimed, running to the far end.

He began to quickly stretch his muscles and made sure that his weights would stay in place while Neji simply rolled his head and activated his Byakugan. He slowly positioned himself in the Hyuuga’s stance, one palm facing Lee while the other faced the sky, and waited for the other to finish his stretches. Lee jumped up and down a couple times before he stood in his own classic position, one hand behind his back, the other’s palm facing him.

Iruka took his place as proctor of the battle and smiled at his two students. “No unfair blows, you two, but fight with everything you’ve got.” When both shinobi nodded, he raised his hand before bringing it down sharply. “Begin!”

Lee was the first to move, his speed incredible despite the weights on his legs. He definitely had the children gawking. But Neji was no newbie to this speed. He easily deflected the kick aimed for his shoulder, dodged the one for his legs, and brought his palm to Lee’s unguarded side. The taijutsu master took the blow and allowed it to flow through him, backed up slightly before he charged again, his fist aiming for Neji’s stomach.

The fight went on for several minutes with taijutsu alone. Then Lee decided to kick it up a notch. Knowing that there was no way he could block that kind of power physically, Neji got ready to use his Heavenly Spin, only to find he couldn’t move. He panicked as he saw Lee charging at him. He struggled to move an arm, a finger, anything, but he was bound. His anger flared when he realized who was behind this, causing his chakra to spin wildly out of control.

Lee felt the sudden flare, but was already half-way through one of his moves. He quickly shifted his focus, aiming for the ground by Neji’s side. The force of his kick left a crater in the ground, before he stepped back and looked at his teammate in confusion, until he caught the shadow stretching towards the forest. “Shikamaru! If I had not noticed that Neji was immobile, I could have killed him!”

Iruka was confused for a moment before he spotted the lazy nin walking towards the group, keeping Neji right where he was, his eyes burning. “Nara Shikamaru. I should have known it was you when Neji didn’t move.”

Shikamaru smirked. “There’s something I need to discuss with Neji.”

Neji snarled. “We were in the middle of a sparring match! You couldn’t have waited till we were done?”

Shikamaru shrugged and released the Hyuuga, half-expecting the other to make a strike. When the Hyuuga merely turned to him, eyes showing his hatred, he started to double think what he had done. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to stop him when he still had so much of his chakra. “No, because I didn’t want to wait.”

Neji began to visibly shake with his rage. “What, then, was so important that you had to stop me and almost get me killed?”

Shikamaru snorted. “You know I wouldn’t have let you get killed, Hyuuga. Besides, can no one take a joke?”

“Apparently not,” Neji said slowly, keeping his face firm. “Answer my question.”

“Geez, always so demanding,” Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I came to ask you if your uncle has informed you about the current situation.”

Neji was going to kill this man. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he walked away, heading towards the forest. Shikamaru had made him stand still because he wasn’t patient enough to wait to ask him about that? Neji fumed as he stood in front of a tree, his fingers curling into a fist. He drew it back and opened it right before it hit the tree, screaming out his rage. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance, nor did the ones behind it. The great tree exploded into tiny splinters, the bark flying in almost every direction as the trees behind it merely had the bark stripped away. He stood there panting, just staring out into oblivion.

Shikamaru let out a heavy breath as his eyes widened. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Lee frowned. “I did not know he was this angry.”

Iruka’s class on the other hand had merely watched the entire explosion in awe and amazement. Iruka had paled. Since when did Neji have a move like that? He turned to the other shinobi, listening to their conversation. “Why is Neji so angry?”

“Apparently, Hinata doesn’t feel like doing her duty as a Hyuuga by marrying me. She ran away from home,” Shikamaru smirked.

“I don’t understand why that makes Neji so upset,” Iruka frowned.

“Because Hanabi is too young to take her sister’s place, the position falls on the next person closest to their immediate family,” Lee explained, looking at his friend with sympathy. “Neji…is that person.”

“Am I really that bad?” Shikamaru snickered, looking back at the motionless Hyuuga and the destroyed stump in front of him. Unlike most people, he wasn’t that upset that not one, but two people were avoiding him.

“Isn’t that…kind of gross?” one of Iruka’s students asked, grimacing.

“There is nothing ‘gross’ about two men getting married,” Iruka stated firmly. “The same goes for two women. It isn’t wrong either.”

Lee frowned before he carefully made his way over to his panting friend. It wasn’t until he got close to the other that he saw tears running down the Hyuuga’s face. “Neji?”

“Why me, Lee?” Neji asked softly, falling to his knees. “Why does fortune frown upon me? First my mother, then my father, and now this. I don’t want it. I just don’t want it.”

Lee knelt down by the other’s side, shielding Neji’s face from those behind him. “Fortune isn’t frowning upon you, Neji. It realizes that you are a strong person and is giving you trials to obtain the better things in life. With your mother’s passing, you grew closer to your father. In your father’s passing, you gained at least one friend and many people who would willingly die for you. This cannot be too much different.”

“But it is, Lee,” Neji said sadly, closing his eyes and wiping his tears. “This isn’t something I can avoid or push to the back of my mind. I’ll be marrying him, something that’s supposed to last for the rest of my life! Something that I can’t ignore! And…I always thought I’d get to choose my spouse, because I was just part of the branch family. I don’t think I could have been anymore wrong…I don’t want this trial Lee. I don’t want it.”

“I’ll hear no more of this, Hyuuga Neji,” Lee smirked. “You will overcome this trial. And instead of thinking about the bad things, focus on the positive. Be optimistic for once!”

Neji snorted. “Optimistic?”

“That’s right!” Lee exclaimed. “For instance, both you and Shikamaru enjoy peace and quiet!”

Neji paused at that. “That is true.”

“And what about Shogi?” Lee pointed out. “I do know that before Asuma passed away, Shikamaru played it quite a bit! I’m sure he would find a new challenge refreshing. See? Two points already!”

Neji let out a breathy laugh. “Thank you, Lee.”

Lee gave him a sincere smile. “I’m your friend, Neji. That’s what I’m here for. Now, do you wish to continue this match or do you want to do something else?”

“I think I’m going to go home,” Neji said softly. “I…put everything into that last attack. I’ll talk with you later Lee. Thank you again.” He slowly stood up and made a few hand signs before he teleported to his room. He flumped down on the bed, his body drained of all energy. Maybe he would do as Lee said. He ought to look at this…optimistically. At the very least he wouldn’t hate Shikamaru as much as he originally did. It couldn’t hurt, right?

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I apologize to you guys because I know the forced marriage storyline is used a lot for Neji. Please don't hate me for using it. >_< It is important to the story, but it's not the main focus!! Please don't hate me! *cringes and shies away* Reviews are wonderful things!! ^_^