AUTHORS NOTE: Okay, so I was working on my other story, ´Hidden Feelings, Hidden Lives´ and… the hurt kinda got to me.
And then this ghostly plotbunny came to visit. She didn't want to tell me much, but she made sure I wrote this. So no, I have absolutely no idea where this is going.

PS: I do not own Naruto, or anything related to this amazing series. Trust me, if I did, there would be some minor changes ;)

A/N2: Reuploaded with some grammar updates and a better layout. Been a while since I revisited this story, but it was high time I got this done at least – lol.

##########...##########

Inuzuka nose;

##########...##########

Wednesday, eight AM, at the training grounds,

"Woah, Shino! What've you been up to last night?!" Unable to conceal his surprise, the Inuzuka's voice was loud.

Already annoyed, even though it was still this early, Shino retreated a little, "I have not been up to anything, Kiba."

"Ya can't lie to me, buddy," Kiba tapped his nose, "I can smell it on ya."

"Then why did you ask?" Shino stood stiffly, the few visible inches of his face dusted pink. He was silently grateful when the third member of their team interfered. Hinata moved to stand in between the two young men, hands raised slightly in a calming gesture.

"Kiba, I think you're making Shino uncomfortable. Please stop, all right?"

The young Inuzuka shrugged, folding his hands behind his head, "Fine, I won't ask," he shot a mischievous grin at his embarrassed teammate before continuing, "And I won't tell, either."

The Aburame gritted his teeth. Sometimes he really hated Kiba…

##########...##########

Wednesday, five PM, Konaha streets,

"Hey Choji, Ino, Shikamaru! Wait up!"

"Oh, hey Kiba, Akamaru. Hey Shino and Hinata. Anyone want t a potato chip?" Choji held out the bag, allowing his friends to take the offered treat.

"You done training for today too, huh?" Shikamaru asked, "We were just going to get some barbeque, care to join?"

"Sure!" Kiba smiled, his teammates agreed as well, barbeque sounded good after a workout like theirs. Kiba wedged himself in between the Nara and the Akimichi, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders, "And then you two can tell me all about last nights escapades over dinner,"
the boy had a wicked grin on his face that didn't bode well for his intended targets.

The young shadow-user shrugged the arm off his shoulders, taking a few steps back, "What 'escapades'?" he quirked one eyebrow, looking quizzical at the curious boy.

Kiba used his now free hand to tap at his nose, "Don't act so innocent, Shikamaru, I smelled ya out!"
if his grin were to get any wider it would split his head clean in two, but Shikamaru still had the same puzzled look on his face, as did Choji.

"Uh… Kiba…?" Hinata gingerly stretched out her hand, but stopped before she'd even gotten half-way, "Please stop, Kiba. It-it's not very polite to ask people about that…"

"Why not? They're the ones smelling like-"

"Kiba!" Shino interrupted, "Hinata is right, you are displaying a lack of etiquette unbecoming of a shinobi."

Kiba pouted at Shino's strict tone. "Aw, man… Fine, let's just eat, then…"

The Inuzuka started for the restaurant. As he accidentally brushed past Shikamaru, the shadow-user could vaguely hear the other boy's muttered words, "If you guys wanna hide gettin' laid so bad, you should've at least taken a shower…"

What…? I didn't- Whatever, Kiba is just being troublesome as usual…
The Nara almost groaned as he set his own body in motion.
Must've trained harder than I thought… I ache all over. So troublesome…

##########...##########

Wednesday, five-thirty PM, Yakiniku Q,

As they sat down for dinner, Shikamaru winced.
This doesn't feel like it's from training… Actually, didn't it already hurt when I got up this morning? With that pounding headache I hardly noticed anything else, but… I think it did…

He glanced over at his best friend.
Choji seems to be in pain as well… Although he did roll straight into that huge boulder less than an hour ago. Let's see… last night, last night… I can't remember last night. This is so troublesome. So… Maybe this morning? What do I remember from this morning?
Choji was there… So he stayed over, nothing new. We both had this splitting headache… I felt too nauseous to eat breakfast, Choji only wanted potato-chips. But, then again, that's happened before as well… Let's see…
This is so troublesome, I really can't remember anything.
But Kiba's nose is never wrong, I know that much.
Or maybe it is? I don't really know him that well, anymore…
Oh wait, I remember when we got dressed, we found all those empty sake bottles on the floor. I don't remember drinking them, but apparently we did. I would explain the headaches and the nausea. And the gaps in my memory too, I guess. And maybe that's what Kiba smelled on us. I suppose it's possible to make a mistake like that, even for him.

The conversation around him had continued while Shikamaru was lost in thought, so when he tuned back in, he realized Choji was regaling them all with the story of how he'd rolled straight into the huge rock earlier.

The Nara smiled to himself, but then he noticed Shino out of the corner of his eye.
The Aburame hadn't said a word since they'd entered the restaurant – no surprise there. But Shikamaru suddenly realized the other boy had been staring at him intently this whole time. He leaned over a bit, speaking softly so only Shino could hear, "What's wrong?"

Even though his friend muttered there was nothing wrong, Shikamaru got the distinct feeling that the other was lying. But he didn't push the matter, Shino had always been different and pushing him was never a good idea.

##########...##########

Wednesday, six PM, Yakiniku Q,

Kiba almost toppled over as Choji explained how he got the bruises on his face. It was only thanks to Akamaru that he didn't hit the ground. Kiba thanked his furry friend, rewarding him with a large piece of meat, right of the grill.

"Hey, that was mine, Kiba!"

The Inuzuka sighed, "Choji, not every single piece on the grill is yours…" Akamaru backed him up with a sharp bark, licking his lips in a way that clearly stated he wanted more. So Kiba gave some to him, ignoring the Akimichi's complaints. But even though he was smiling and joking with the others, Kiba's heart wasn't really in it.

He knew what he'd smelled, he could still smell it. Even in the middle of a busy barbeque restaurant. Kiba recognized that is was bad manners to talk about it like he'd done before, but… this whole thing was just so confusing! Could he have misinterpreted the scent? No way, right?
Still, at the moment, that actually seemed like the most plausible explanation…

##########...##########

Wednesday, seven PM, Konoha streets,

After dinner, they all went their separate ways, but it only took Choji a couple of blocks to realize he needed to talk to his best friend right now- alone. So he quickly turned into an alleyway that would serve him as a shortcut. Knowing Shikamaru never walked very fast, he waited for him on a small square.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Choji? What are you doing here, something you wanna talk about?"

"Yeah, but… not here, Shikamaru. Let's go over to where we watch the clouds, okay? he watched his best friend nod and they walked together in silence for the rest of the way.

"Let's sit down."

The Akimichi pointed to their favorite spot, but Shikamaru shook his head, "I think I'd rather stand, if that's okay…"

Choji moved a little closer to his friend, all but whispering, "So you feel it, too?"

"Feel what?" the Nara looked startled, backing away from his closest friend.

"You know…" Choji stretched out the last word, hoping he wouldn't have to finish this sentence out loud.

They fell quiet for a while, neither boy wanting to be the one to say it. Eventually, Shikamaru sighed, "Yeah, I know…"

They each stared at the ground uncomfortably for a while, unsure what to say or do now. Finally, Shikamaru spoke again, "Choji… what happened last night? Do you remember? All I got is the sake bottles we found this morning…"

"Me too… the bottles and the cups…"

"Cups?"

Choji nodded, looking his friend in the eyes, "That's the weird thing, Shikamaru… There were three used cups on your desk…"

##########...##########

Wednesday, seven-fifteen PM, Konoha streets,

On the way home, Ino Yamanaka was lost in her own thoughts.
What was that idiot Kiba on about today? No way those two had any 'escapades' last night! As if! If anything, they'll be alone for the rest of their lives. Girls don't like tubby guys, of lazy guys for that matter.

Kiba was probably just trying to stir things up. Judging from Hinata's reaction, he most likely does that on a regular basis. Poor girl, being stuck on a team with those two…
I guess my team isn't so bad, after all. At least they don't make inappropriate comments like that… And luckily they're not total idiots like Naruto. And we've all known each other since forever, so we really know each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Like I know for a fact that neither one of them has a girlfriend – it's just impossible!
And even if they did, I mean, I would know, right? So Kiba's just an idiot. An annoying, meddlesome, respectless, idiotic, stupid moron.
I'm so sure.

##########...##########

Wednesday, eleven-thirty PM, Shikamaru's house,

Choji had ended up staying over again tonight.

It was awkward in a way, with the both of them realizing what must've gone down last night. But it had gotten late, and Shikamaru's house was way closer than Choji's. So they both tried to act as if nothing had happened. As if they weren't still feeling the effects from what were presumably last night's actions. Shikamaru's parents hadn't seemed to notice anything wrong, and the two friends had quickly retreated to Shikamaru's bedroom in order for it to stay that way.

But now they were both standing around awkwardly, not really wanting to undress in each other's presence, but too uncomfortable to say anything about it. They usually slept together on Shikamaru's double bed, but that felt weird now, too. Still, they'd either have to suck it up or talk to Yoshino about getting a spare futon, which would definitely set of some alarm bells.

"Choji, this is ridiculous. We've been friends forever and now we get all weird over something that may or may not have happened. Either way, neither of us remembers. Can't we just… go back?" Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. He didn't look at his friend as he spoke, instead settling his gaze on the dark window.

"It did happen, though," Choji's tone was soft, a hint of regret laced in, "I know we can both feel it. It's just… I think it was the sake," he frowned, "Where did we get that, anyway?"

"Dunno… Must've swiped it from my dad, I guess… I'm more concerned with who else was here…"

"Maybe it was Ino…?"

"Ino?! Think we'd still be alive right now, if it was Ino?"

The Akimichi chuckled, "Guess not. Look, Shikamaru, If we can't remember, it's not gonna do us any good thinking about it. And… I'm tired. Shikamaru... If we both turn around to change, that would be okay, right? And after that we're going to try our hardest to pretend nothing ever happened."

The Nara agreed, and soon they lay side by side like they'd done since early childhood.
Although both still awkward about their current situation, they stuck to the plan: Pretend nothing ever happened.

##########...##########

Thursday, four-thirty AM, Shikamaru's bedroom,

The sun had just started rising; only a few golden rays fighting the dark of the night. Shikamaru lay very still, trying to pinpoint what had woken him from his uneasy slumber.

There it was again! A light, rhythmic tap on his window. One, two, three… One, two, three… Sighing, the young Nara slipped from under the covers and made his way over to the window through his dark room. Pulling away the curtain, golden rays of sun lingered on the familiar shape of – Shino?!
I must still be half-asleep...

The Nara rubbed his eyes, but the Aburame tapped his rhythm on the window once again. When Shikamaru finally opened said window, his visitor wasted no time slipping inside, "I'm glad you are awake-"

"I am now, Shino, what are you doing here?"

"I could not sleep at all last night. Is Choji here also? There is something I need to speak to both of you about."

##########...##########

Thursday, five AM, Shikamaru's bedroom,

Waking up Choji took some doing, but finally the three boys sat down on Shikamaru's floor. Their host had gotten them all a cup of tea, somehow realizing this wasn't going to be a very easy or even relatively short conversation.

As both the Nara and the Akimichi looked at him, the Aburame took a deep breath, "Before anything else is said, I want to apologize. I took advantage of a situation while I should have refrained myself from acting. But the truth is simple: I could not. I could not hold myself back any longer and even though I am very sorry that I compromised our friendship while doing so, I cannot bring myself to fully regret my actions."

"Dude," Shikamaru leaned back on his hands, "I don't even get what you're talking about…"