I remember it like it was just yesterday...
I ran through the Hidden Leaf Village. I was new to this village actually, so I was just walking around aimlessly, smiling back at who ever gave me a smile, and ignoring who ever ignored me. My short amber hair felt awesome in the wind. It was like I was riding on top of a horse on a windy day. I finally came to this shop this one girl, I think Ino was her name, had told me about. The store was filled with different items. From decorated kunai knives to silky looking robes. I looked around, my tall stature towering over most of the small shelves. Nothing caught my dark hazel eyes' attention, at least nothing that I could purchase. But then, I saw IT!
A bracelet woven from blue thread with random tints of pinkish orange. It looked like a braid, and as simple as it was, I admired it the second my eyes darted to it. Problem was, I didn't know the price to it. I looked around for someone, and saw the back of a girl with long, soft looking hair. I walked over to her and tapped her in the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but do you know how much that one bracelet costs?" I asked the girl. She turned around and... SHE was a HE. My eyes widened. How a boy got such long hair is what I'd like to know. His eyes sent me chills. Not that I was scared of their blankness, but they looked mysterious and subdued. They made me feel the urge to find out every little secret this boy knew.
"Oh, I thought you were... I'm Abby!" I quickly introduced myself, smiling weakly. The boy just kept a firm look at me. He looked like an adult instead of a maybe ten or eleven year old. "You know, my mom once told me that if you want to know someone's name, you say your own first." The boy smirked at this (I got a smirk out of him!) and nodded as if to agree with me.
"I'm Neji Hyuga. Nice to meet you," he said. The firmness in his voice made me nervous. He acted so grown up, it made me annoyed. Maturity isn't my best characteristic. Probably because I'm not mature at all. I noticed the forehead protector on his head with the leaf sign engraved on it.
"Wow, you're a ninja? I'm barely going to get into the academy. Who's your leader?" I asked. I already felt like I was intruding in his personal life, but whatever. I liked this kid. Whoa, wait. Not that kind of like... Right?
"Guy Sensei. My team is over there." Neji pointed towards the door. Standing outside was a guy in an all green suit and a green vest, along with orange leg warmers and, what caught my attention was not the ridiculous bowl cut he had, but his thick eyebrows. I shivered at the sight of him. He stood next to a girl with her hair into buns, and a boy with the same style as who seemed to be Guy Sensei.
"His eyebrows are... Wow... ew." Neji chuckled a little. Ha, I got a small laugh out of him too!
"Neji! Stop flirting and lets go. You youth shouldn't be mingling so early." Guy Sensei shouted. Neji rolled his eyes.
"Bye."
"Later." I hadn't noticed then, but I was starting to like that guy with the long hair. I mean, Neji.
~x~
Oh! And then there was that time when I stopped him from almost killing his cousin!
You make me sound coldhearted.
You kind of were... But anyways...
Neji struck Hinata once more towards her heart. I couldn't bare to watch anymore. This was not the Neji I knew. His mind must be clouded by something. His stupid 'destiny' this and 'fate' that was bugging me as much as it was bugging Naruto, who was shooting daggers at Neji. Neji was about to strike Hinata, who was already going to collapse, when I shouted, "Stop it!"
I jumped over the rail and landed on the ground roughly. I almost fell, but regained my balance and jumped in front of Hinata and blocked Neji from hitting her. He came about a centimeter from hitting me in the face, but was able to stop himself. He glared at me at first, but his face softened and he looked guilty. But I could tell he wasn't guilty for Hinata, but for almost breaking my face. That didn't make it any better.
"Stop already! Don't you see she's about to, like, die! You struck her in the HEART, Neji! How? You're own cousin? What has she ever done to you? I swear, you aren't Neji. You're acting like some kind of monster, and you need to stop." At that second, Hinata coughed up blood and collapsed. I swiftly turned around and caught her. I could feel Neji's eyes staring holes into my back as I lay Hinata on the floor and wiped her blood with the edge of my shirt. I didn't care if it was going to be ruined. Hinata's welfare was more important than my shirt's condition.
The medical team soon took her away. Naruto was angry at what had happened to Hinata, and he glared right through Neji as he walked back to where he had been standing and watching the preliminaries. I looked at Neji's empty eyes. We stared at each other for around a minute, and Neji finally tore his eyes away from me and walked away. He didn't even look like he felt sorry for Hinata.
To think I was in love with such a coldhearted boy.
~x~
See? You were pretty coldhearted!
Mom! Enough! Tell us when he asked you out!
"Guy! You and Kakashi walk so slow! Sure you're injured, but can't you speed it up a little?" I shouted. We were heading back to the leaf village. We had just completed the mission of retrieving Gaara, who was now the Kazekage. I couldn't believe it, actually. How Gaara had gone from a monster others feared to a Kazekage that everyone trusted. During this mission, I tagged along with Kakashi and Guy Sensei. I walked next to Neji, Naruto, Sai, and Sakura in front of us. Lee and TenTen were a bit more to our left, but advancing as well.
Out of no where, Guy sped forward, Kakashi on his back. He shouted something, though I couldn't quite hear him through my coughing from the sand Guy's running had picked up. I settled to listening to his laughter and Kakashi's protest.
"Neji?" Lee offered, his backpack settled on his front side like Guy had it. Neji sweatdropped.
"No way!" he shouted, causing me to start cracking up.
"Well that was a turn of events. Grown men playing piggyback. That's interesting," I said, still giggling.
"It's not piggyback! Guy Sensei turned this into a training exercise. But Neji won't cooperate," Lee added the last part gloomily, which made me laugh. His persistence to get Neji on his back was... amusing.
"I'll play piggyback!" I exclaimed.
"Training!"
"Fine fine. Training," I corrected myself, rolling my eyes. I hopped on Lee's back and he darted forward, leaving the rest of the guys in the dust. I narrowed my eyes as everything around me became a blur. The sand couldn't even get in our faces.
"Lee! You're going too fast!" Lee jumped over a nearby rock, causing me to shriek. "Okay, slow down there, Rock!" He jumped over yet another rock. "LEE STOP!" I screamed. Lee came to a complete halt. His sudden stop made me scream and go flying forward. I landed roughly on my back against the sand, causing pain to spread on my back.
"Abby! I'm so sorry! Ah, Neji's gonna kill me!" Lee shouted, kneeling next to me. I coughed before speaking.
"Why would Neji kill you?"
"Because he likes you-OH NO NOW HE'S GONNA KILL ME MORE!" Lee screamed. My eyes widened as I watched him pace around. Neji? Like ME? Loud Abby and mature Neji? That's... Don't get me wrong, the idea didn't disgust me. It made me smile and wonder what our first kiss would be like-
Shut up, Abby. Maybe Lee was lying. But why would Lee lie? Anyways, I had no time to contemplate about the idea any further because Neji rushed over to me.
"Abby. You okay? Lee, what did you do?" Neji asked angrily, causing Lee to shriek like a girl.
"I did nothing! She just... fell! Fell is what she did! I didn't tell her anything I should have, not that she has anything to know-"
"Lee, shut up!" Neji and I shouted. Neji offered a hand and I took it. He was about to pull me up when something struck my mind.
What if I kissed him right now? Whatever came to my mind, I usually did it, so as Neji pulled me up, I jumped and fell into his arms. He caught me, his eyes a little wide by the surprise. I hesitated, but I planted my lips on his. His kiss was hesitant and surprised. I mean, not even I expected that to happen. He kept his arms around me, and my feet were literally off of the ground. We parted to breathe, and only then did I notice Lee crying. I turned to look at him.
"sniff...How... How BEAUTIFUL!" Lee shouted, wiping the tears that streamed out of his eyes. I wanted to smack my forehead with the palm of my hand, but I couldn't move my arms because Neji was still hugging onto me. He realized this at the same time I did and let go of me. We stayed silent for a while, waiting for the others to catch up. Lee was still crying like the sentimental wierdo he is.
"I.. I heard you like me," I finally said.
"I heard you like me," Neji said. I glared.
"Who?"
"Naruto."
"NARUTO!" I shouted. Naruto must have been watching us this whole time. He stepped from behind the huge rock Lee had jumped over and laughed.
"What? I like to make things happen," he said cockily. I glared at him, but I actually wanted to thank him. If he hadn't told, then our kiss wouldn't have been this... natural. Anyways, the rest of them soon caught up with us and we started walking forward. We let them go in front of us, so that it was only me and Neji towards the back. We walked in silence for a bit. Not an awkward silence, though. This silence was casual and relaxing for us.
"Neji-"
"I know you like me, and I know you know I like you, but it wouldn't feel right without asking this...," Neji quickly babbled. I saw him blush, which was rare for Neji Hyuga. Hinata, always, but Neji, not that much. He sighed, trying to make his flushed cheeks turn their natural color. He glanced at me and his cheeks reddened even more. "Would you be my girlfriend?"
"Duh Neji, I'm the one who kissed you!" I exclaimed. Neji sighed a breath of relief and laughed nervously. Soon, we were both laughing, making the people in front of us stare back at us.
"Don't worry. It's just youth's love blooming," Lee teased. Neji and I sent him a glare, and he stiffened up and started walking forward even faster. I grabbed Neji's hand and leaned against him as we walked forward.
"Remember when you were all into 'destiny?'"
"Yes."
"I think destiny brought us together, and it's going to keep us that way," I said, which actually kind of sounded cheesy, but I got a smile out of Neji that way.
"Naruto taught me that we can change our destiny, but I don't think we can change this one," Neji said, being his turn to be cheesy. I smiled, and Neji bent down to kiss me again.
~x~
"Mom! That's so sweet!" my daughter, Ally, exclaimed.
"I think it's gross," my son, Nathan, muttered.
Yes, you guessed it. Neji and I, Abby, ended up getting married! Who knew Neji was right about not being able to change our destiny together. Well, except me and him. Ally had long, amber hair, and kept it like her father did, while Nathan thought long hair was girly and kept his brown hair short but messy looking. They both inherited Neji's eyes, but we weren't sure if they knew how to use Byakugan.
"It's not gross! It's how your father and I met. But how we made you two, well-"
"Aww mom!" the both shouted, covering their ears. I laughed to myself while Neji chuckled next to me.
"I wonder if I'll ever find a guy as good daddy," Ally said, smiling up at Neji.
"Kiss up!" Nathan exclaimed, receiving glares from Ally. I smiled and patted both of their heads.
"Only destiny decides."