Okay! This fic was inspired by a picture of Neji's eye that I doodled in Geometry class. Interesting, ne? Anyway, perhaps this is a pretty unlikely pairing, but I like it. It definitely doesn't get enough attention...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it's all Masashi Kishimoto's.
Warnings: This is NejiShika, as in a boy/boy pairing. There may be some bad language later as well.

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I Can't Love Anymore

Chapter 1: Please Don't Go

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Shikamaru lay in the cool grass. With every breath he took his lungs filled with the sweet air of mid-day. "What a good idea, school would have brought me down," he said quietly to himself. There were not but butterflies and ladybugs to take witness to his small crime. Skipping just a few days of study wasn't so bad, right?

Lolling to the side he closed his eyes. For some reason he always looked tired, but this wasn't so now. He was full of spirit. Unusual, yes, but the past couple of weeks had given him new vigor. Running a limp hand through his messy hair he sighed, content flowing in his breath.

Suddenly, as if the day sensed the impending misfortune of this seemingly carefree teen, thick clouds covered the sun. With a scoff he rolled onto his back, facing the sky as if hoping to absorb any remnants of pleasant sunshine into his skin. Then he thought the whole day must have turned against him when a darker shadow covered any likelihood of getting the last of the sun's rays.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru." A familiar voice greeted the boy's ears. Even though he was a bit agitated, he couldn't help but smile. "What for, Neji?" A dark eye appeared as he lifted a lazy eyelid. Shikamaru had expected to see a cheerful look on his friend's face. After that talk a few weeks ago, both boys had been delighted to get as much time together as possible. However, the expression that graced the Hyuuga's face was far from ecstatic.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. The boy under him opened both his eyes now, slight worry mixing with his features. With a strong arm he pushed himself up and turned his back to the view of the village. Motioning to the ground next to him he smiled lightly. Neji only shook his head, refusing to join the other on the soft pasture.

"What's wrong with you, then?" Shikamaru pleaded, now becoming upset at the air of deep sorrow emanating from his friend. For the first time since they began talking, Neji smiled. Though, it was not the type of smile his friend had hoped for. It wasn't even the cocky grin that the Hyuuga often wore. His expression was one of great distress, his fair eyes distorted with woe.

"I can't..." Neji stopped, choking on his own words. "I can't love you, anymore." In the air of the painful sentence, the boy fled. Tears streamed from his eyes and dotted the ground. Shikamaru could do nothing but stare. The other's words had pierced him like a sword, though in his current state, they appeared to fall on deaf ears.

After what seemed like hours, but was no more than five minutes, he stood. "N-no..." he whispered. "No! Please, don't go!" Shikamaru began to run, retracing the steps taken by the runaway not long before. His heavy footsteps led him back to the village, causing many a passing villager to wonder what could have caused the normally nonchalant boy to look the way he did.

A small group stood just a few feet from Shikamaru, standing right in the path the frenzied boy would most likely take. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were, at that time, waiting for their sensei, passing the minutes in the usual manner; of course, this consisted of the blond flirting with his pink-haired teammate, the girl in question too busy with the dark-haired Uchiha to pay any attention, and the supposed bane of Naruto's existence ignoring both of them.

"C'mon, Sakura! Forget that jerk!" The fox-like boy's loud voice could be heard half way around the village. This, of course, was completely ignored by Shikamaru as he burst through their tiny-circled group without so much as a 'hello.'

"Oi, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled, annoyance ringing through his words. "Watch it!" It seemed he was the only one in the group to not notice the fleeing boy's apparent misery. "Do you think he's okay?" Sakura whispered to the dark-haired boy at her side, forgetting completely about trying to win his heart. Sasuke just stared off in the direction their friend had run. "I'm not sure."

"We... we should follow." Sakura stated, her voice starting out weak, but rising in strength as she began to feel the need to help the other. "Alright, let's get going then." As soon as the words had fallen from his lips he took off, trailed closely by the worried girl. Naruto looked on in confusion, having not heard a word of his teammates conversation. With a call to wait up he followed as well.

Shikamaru had been running for what seemed like an eternity and, before he knew it, any clue about the location of his friend had disappeared. "Neji, what did you mean?" he asked the air. "Why don't you-" he stopped himself, pulling a small ray of hope from the sudden thought. "Why can't you love me, anymore?" If Neji had said can't instead of don't that could have meant something other than a change of heart in the pale-eyed boy had caused this.

"You do still love me, don't you?" He mused, almost expecting an answer from the looming buildings all around. Sitting against the wall of a clean looking ramen shop, he sighed. And for the first time that day, hidden from prying eyes, he pulled his legs to his body, set his head against his knees, and cried.

Of course, he was not as free from spies as he'd thought. Team seven, after having caught breathlessly up with him, watched in silence. Sakura's eyes watered. She wasn't sure why her friend was crying, but she felt bad for him. More than likely, if it weren't for Naruto and Sasuke, she would have run over and embraced him.

Exactly ten minutes later, the time sure as Naruto had been counting, the sobs from Shikamaru had stopped. The team looked between themselves, all of them wondering what to do next. Then, Sakura stepped up. "I'll go see," she whispered, much quieter than she normally would.

Walking as inaudibly as possible up to the huddled form she bend down by him and placed a soft hand on his back. A smile graced her features and she turned back to her teammates, standing in the process. "Sleeping..." she said in a gentle, almost motherly tone.

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Well, that's it for this chapter. Tell me what you think or I'll send my Microsoft Word helper, Links, after you! ::grins evilly:: Just kidding, really... Please review!