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OOC: It was fine Divine. Don't worry so much *pat*
For no reason whatsoever, Neji currently lives at the Hyuuga Compound. He'll probably move out soon. X3

IC:

Neji searched through his room in the Hyuuga compound. He had fifteen minutes left until he had to meet the team that was assigned with him on this mission at the front gate of Konoha. Unsure of the mission length due to the varying objectives, he 'packed' a few spare changes of clothes, necessary supplies, and anything else he deemed he might need on a long mission in his usual bag he carried on his shoulder.

The Jounin stood, smoothing a few invisible wrinkles from his white clothing, and glanced in the mirror for a half-second. He saw a flash of green against pale skin before looking away and grabbing his headband off his bed. Once properly secured, he lung his bag over his shoulder, checked his weapon supplies, and walked out the door, closing his bedroom door quietly behind him.

Neji passed by the kitchen and grabbed a few things to eat on his way over to the gate. He hadn't eaten all day because he'd simply been too busy. And now he'd been assigned a mission. He sighed, resigned, and told himself that Jounin, especially a Hyuuga Jounin, as rare as they were, was bound to be on high demand for missions. He could hardly think of a scenario where seeing through walls wasn't helpful.

Crunching into an apple and catching the juicy liquids before they escaped his mouth, he pushed open the main door to the Compound and closed it. He still had another 6 minutes left, but unlike Kakashi, who'd been assigned to the team as well, he made it a priority to be on time. Even Shikamaru, with how lazy he was, still generally made it on time to pre-mission gatherings.

The Hyuuga passed by a few streets, large apartment complexes- some of which he were looking into now that he was 18, and more than eager to leave the Hyuuga Compound- and arrived at the village gate in less than a minute despite his leisurely pace. He sighed as neither one of his teammates hadn't shown yet and settled back against a tree, tossing the apple core into a bin a few yards away.

Shikamaru was generally on time, but generally showed last minute unless it was extremely important. They could most likely count on Kakashi to be late by at least a half hour and show up with a lame excuse for his tardiness. He sighed and sat down, leaning his head back against the tree trunk, and closed his eyes in silent meditation.

[[Nyaha, you guys. I have discovered mobile internet on my PSP~ and...okay so the connection sucks and everything is all wonky and funny-lookin...and the whole "typing like a txt-freak" thing is hard as hell..I can still rp if y'all'll will have me u.u; -gives it a go, anyway.- ]

Haa...troublesome.

The shrill cry of the bed-side alarm clock was what had shaken Shikamaru from his warm, comfortable and all-too welcome sleep, and as the noise continued on, the disgruntled young Nara only glared sleepily at it from the confines of his warm cottony sheets.

He had been dreaming, he knew that much because the transition between slumber and wakefulness had been a foggy and sluggish one and the lingering, longing thoughts of soft white, undiluted and pure which could only represent the clouds, still flittered about his suboncious like a hummingbird searching for nectar in an arid desert; hopeless and fast fading.

The alarm continued to trill in a way that had Shikamaru's nerves strung tight and his left eye twitching involuntarily, and he only continued to stare at the offending machine for another nine minutes -- he knew, because the fluorescent numbers on the clock face said so -- and waiting, only one more minute and the thing would cease and he could go back to that sleep and those dreams and stay there until noon, or later if no one came calling.

The alarm did stop, one minute later as Shikamaru had predicted, only he didn't sleep, and he didn't dream; he didn't even close his eyes. He knew, only moments after those warm and fuzzy residual feelings subsided and the wheels in his head once again began to turn at an unreasonable pace, that he had set the alarm for a reason, that he had been called on a mission and was expected to meet his teammates in...--again he consulted the clock-- less than twenty-five minutes, and that as much as he would have preferred to stay snuggled beneath the sheets and doze he had things to do. And so begrudgingly and with no little amount of complaints to accompany him, Shikamaru pulled himself out of bed and to the bathroom to begin his morning ritual.

It was another thirty minutes later --and still too early if anyone were to ask-- that Shikamaru was seen ambling toward the villages main gate, hands in his pockets and eyes fixated skyward.

Neji was the only one there, as expected, and Shikamaru almost smirked to himself when the sight of the meditating Hyuuga --prim and proper and perfectly groomed even so early in the morning-- greeted him, with of course no Kakashi in sight. So predictable. He trudged slowly, without purpose but with a destination in mind, to the same tree that Neji sat against and propped himself against it to the left of the other man, bending a knee to prop his foot also against the tree, and closed his eyes.

Shikamaru yawned wide, but said nothing; Neji knew he was there anyway, no doubt.

[my fingers hurt...and I miss my italics

Shikamaru approached easily and as silent and languid as the Hyuuga had grown to expect. He greeted him, and Neji simply nodded his head at the gesture.

The ivory eyes slid open at Kakashi's greeting and excuse.

Neji sighed.

He'd heard Naruto joking about his sensei over Ramen a few times, but he hadn't thought the blonde had actually been serious about the silver-haired man's lame excuses. If he'd been a few years younger, he most likely would've chewed the grown man out. But he was a Jounin now, and they were to work as a team on this mission. He certainly wasn't one to display acts of immaturity. Neither was Shikamaru. A smirk quirked on Neji's lips as he realized that on a day to day basis, Kakashi was the most childish one there. Missions were generally a different matter. Neji wondered if it was the man's own way of dealing with stress.

The raven-haired Jounin stood, glancing at his two companions before adressing the Copy Ninja.

"Kakashi-san, I assume Tsunade-sama told you the mission details?"

Because he was the oldest, and most experienced Jounin among them, Kakashi had natually been chosen as team leader. As a result, subordinates had to learn the mission details from the leader, having only been given a brief overview of the situation.