Shikamarus pov

"shikamaru!" neji suddenly ran into my room and hugged me "I did it! I passed!"

"oh neji that's wonderful!" I hugged him back "I knew you could do it kid!"

Neji nodded with a big smile on his face "I met my sensai today. He told me that I was an intelligent fighter and then he took us out for drinks to celebrate our newly formed team!"

"that's amazing. Your amazing" I ruffled his hair. Sensai huh. Reminds me of Asuma sensai. I wonder if he'd be proud of the decisions I made. If he was still alive that is..

"thank you for convincing me to give it a try" neji said gratefully.

"no problem kiddo" I smiled at him "I knew you had it in you. You just needed that confidence boost"

"enough of the kid stuff shikamaru I'm a year older than you" neji giggled as he ran out the door. I smiled at him. God I love that boy-

"neji passed!?" ino burst into my room.

"he sure did" I was beaming with pride.

"oh we need to celebrate!" ino was practically jumping with excitement "we should throw a surprise party!"

"I don't know ino that sounds like a drag" I yawned.

"oh come on shikamaru this is the man you love. You should at least try and put in an effort" ino pouted.

I blushed. Inos the only one who knows about my crush on neji and that's only because she heard me having a wet dream about him. It was embarrassing to say the least!

"what's the point? Nejis never going to love me back" I sighed

"that's not true shikamaru" ino placed a hand on my shoulder with a reassuring smile "he just needs to see how amazing you are. This party could be a good way to prove that" she looked at me hopefully.

I sighed "fuck it. Let's throw a party!"