This is my second Naruto fan fic although I must point out that I'm not finished with Tears of a Ninja just yet so you can look forward to updates on that soon. I just got a serious case of writers block and didn't know what write next so I thought "Hey, if I focus on another story then maybe I could figure out what to write in Tears of a Ninja. So here's the new Naruto fic: To Win My Heart…write reviews please
Chapter 1: Just his luck
Neji Hyuuga couldn't think of any possible way that his day could get worse I mean he had ran into so much bad luck today he didn't know if something was about to fall out of the sky and crush him next or if a dove was going to fly down from heaven and grant him the power of immortality. (In other words he didn't know if something good or bad was going to happen to him next.) Something told the 18 year old Neji Hyuuga that his day was going to go terribly wrong when toothpaste squirted into his eye and he carelessly tripped and feel down the stairs of his small house that he lived alone in. He also knew that there was sign's of a bad day when he looked in his fridge and saw that there was no more instant ramen left and he had to go to the café and buy some with the little money he had on him. (Poor boy) But this was the worst sign of the day. He paced back and forth outside Haruno Sakura's front door waiting for her to come out for the date the destiny had obviously wanted him to suffer from.
Good grief…
And why was Neji waiting outside Sakura's door you might ask. Well lets just say he'll never play the New Year's matching game again ever in his life.
Here's what had happened.
---Warning! This is a Flash back any events that happen here in the flash back are not actually happening in present time in the story.---
The air was cold on New Years Eve as people different and alike gathered to celebrate New Years at the shrine. The New Year's festival was a great way to celebrate New Years because they had different activities, games and food (Yum food) for everyone to enjoy. For Neji it had been something he never enjoyed. Crowded Shrines always annoyed him. Unfortunately for him his Uncle Hiashi forced him to take his daughter Hinata (Neji's cousin) there this year not simply because she couldn't go herself but because she needed watching at crowded shrines. Although Hinata is only a year younger then Neji.
A Naruto Safety tip: Be careful of the street and safe.
Obviously Hiashi didn't trust Hinata at crowded public events so Neji was stuck baby sitting. Even though Hinata's not a baby so what should we call it? Sitting? No watching. So Neji was stuck watching Hinata.
"I'm going to go look for Sakura and Ino" Hinata said shyly to her cousin with her face hidden from him.
"I'm supposed to watch you so if anything happens I'm not getting in trouble by Hiashi." He stated looking at her with a cold and evil look. Neji got into trouble by his uncle to many times in one day for the stupidest reasons and he wasn't about to get in trouble for something that serious.
"I-I'll be okay." She said. "Plus Naruto-Kun can watch me." She added. Naruto is Hinata's boyfriend. (Of course)
Neji rolled his eyes…well you can't really tell if he rolled his eyes or not seeing that the Byakugan eye (the literally white eye) is all white and looks glazed over so you wouldn't be able to tell so…he rolled his eyes in his mind but Hinata couldn't see him do it…yeah let's go with that. Neji rolled his eyes (in his mind) and motioned her to go. Hinata hurried through the crowd in a rush to find her friends.
What is there to do here? He asked himself. He has never been to a New Years shrine before but out of al l of the holiday shrines the New Year's one was the most crowded. He looked around in a desperate attempt to ease his boredom. He crossed his arms and shivered because he had forgotten to bring a jacket. Great I'm stuck at this stupid shrine with nothing to do and plus I'm cold. Just my luck.
He looked around at all the people having a good time and he seemed to be the only one standing there not doing anything. He felt he was in the way of all the people moving around. He moved over to the food stand out of the way of all the moving people.
"The New Years matching game is starting now! Gather round to draw a match." Neji looked over at the man standing behind a table who was announcing the game. Oh how he despised matching games so much. Why should a piece of paper decide you're partner for the rest of you're life? He watched as eager men walked towards the table where the game was being held. Those fools. He thought to himself.
"We need one more man!" the announcer called. He glanced at Neji through his round circular glasses. As soon as Neji met his glance he tried to turn around to walk the other way but he was too late. "What about you young man?" he asked pointing towards him.
"Damn it" Neji said under his breath. He ran his finger through his long brown hair and slowly turned around. He could have just ran away from the table and escaped the pure stupidness he was about to partake In but he knew these old vendors would do anything for customers and would probably chase him down and he didn't feel up to a run at the moment.
He slowly walked to the table and stood at the back as a questionnaire was passed to him. "This questionnaire sheet is for you to fill out so we can determine your match." The man said pushing up his round circular glasses and peering at the crowd. "The girls have filled one out just like it so we're going to compare answers, you may start."
All around the crowd Neji heard desperate people's voices saying 'I hope I get matched with Haruno Sakura' Neji rolled his eyes (in his mind) but of course he would suspect that every man wanted to be paired with Sakura. She had of course matured into one of the most prettiest girls in Kohona village over the past five years but it was really hard to get a date with her because she was still mourning over Sasuke Uchiha, who left the village so long ago to join Orochimaru. Although Neji had also grown into one of the more handsome Ninja after Sasuke had left so girls were after him too. The long haired Ninja looked down at his questionnaire.
Question 1: What do you look for in a girl?
Neji's answer: I look for someone who can just listen sometimes and isn't always interested in what I have to spend or what I have to "Offer"
Question 2: What's your favorite color?
Neji's answer: Blue
Question 3: How would you want your match to look?
Neji's answer: Pretty (what do you think I want an ugly match?) even though it doesn't matter on looks it's really personality.
Relived that he had finished he handed his slip in and waited for his results. "Here you are" the man finally said. "Your perfect match…Haruno Sakura" All eyes turned to Neji. It seemed that every man in the area was staring at him. He stood frozen in his spot for a moment In fact if you were there to see it you would say that he was frozen from the cold.
"Would you like to see her results?" the man asked so he could snap him out of the frozen state he was in. He nodded slowly as her paper was handed to him.
Question 1: What do you look for in a boy?
Sakura's answer: I look for someone who's interested in me and not just my "assets"
Question 2: What your favorite color?
Sakura's answer: I have two, pink and blue
Question 3: How would you want your match to look?
Sakura's answer: Cute duh! Although looks don't really matter.
He blinked. Her answers had been identical to his. He couldn't believe this. Haruno Sakura was his perfect match. All around him he felt the stare of jealous men (Haters) as he made his way away from the table. He sighed and looked at her paper again.
"Chill Neji" he said to himself "It's not like you're obligated to take her on a date or anything." He folded the paper up and put it in his pocket. "Where's Hinata anyway?" he asked himself. "I wanna get out of here." He crossed his arms again and let out a small cough. "And I'm getting sick" he added.
"I hate you Uncle Hiashi" he said to himself. "So, so much." He looked at the time. A quarter to 12. He looked around for Hinata. It was impossible to see them in this crowd. He then heard Ino's loud mouth from in the crowd and looked around. They were sitting down at a round table at the food stand eating Ramen. He caught a glimpse at Sakura. She had a warm smile on her face that seemed to warm him up. He looked at Hinata who was sitting comfortably in her chair with Naruto who had his arm draped around her.
"Neji-Kun!" Sakura waved from the table. "Come join us!" Neji froze where he stood. He really didn't want to sit with them especially when he just found out that Sakura was his perfect match.
Hinata smiled dryly as Neji sat down next to Sakura witch was unfortunately the only seat open at the table.
"So what have you been doing all night?" Naruto asked as he pulled Hinata in closer to him. Neji glared at him.
'You better watch it' he mouthed to Naruto. At first Naruto squinted as if he didn't understand then Neji put his hands together and separated them.
Naruto inched away from Hinata a little. She looked at Naruto wondering why he had moved and Naruto gave her and I'm sorry look and she immediately knew it was Neji. She gave him an evil stare. He smiled to himself.
"Yeah what have you been doing?" Sakura asked.
"Oh" Neji said. He had suddenly remembered that Naruto had asked him the question. "Well nothing much I just stood around for the whole night." He didn't want anyone to know that he had been playing the matching game.
"I saw you over by the matching game table" Ino said loudly. "Were you playing?"
"W-what?" Neji said shocked "N-n-no I-"
"Attention everyone!" The announcer said from atop of a large stack of boxes. It was the same guy that had been running the matching game. "We will celebrate New Year's in a few moments at the shrine." He stated. "All of those who wish to help bring the New Year gather round the shrine!"
Neji sighed in deep relief that he didn't have a chance to explain himself. "Well let's go to the shrine shall we?" he said quickly getting up from the table. Sakura looked at him wired as he got up and followed the crowd towards the shrine.
The Shrine was simply a statue of Shodaime (The 1st Hokage)
It was decorated nice for every holiday but for New Years it wasn't decorated any particular way because of the snow. There was just a whole bunch of lights around it that lit it up and made it look extra special.
"Okay let's count down!" the vendor said adjusting his glasses.
"5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!" Bits of confetti were released into the air.
"Hey Hinata" Naruto said tugging on her arm. "It's New Year's time for a kiss. But not just any kiss…our first kiss."
Hinata blushed a dark cherry red color as Naruto held her chin and leaned in for a kiss.
Neji looked at them and grunted to signify that he was watching but it was returned by Naruto's middle finger pointing straight up in his face with his free hand as he held Hinata's chin with his other. Hinata's cheeks were fire engine red as Naruto moved in so close that their noses touched. They stood in that position for a second until Naruto finally scrounged up some courage to put his lips on hers. As soon as their lips touched they pulled apart probably because it was their first ever kiss. Hinata's whole face was red as she bit her bottom lip and Naruto took her hand and kissed it. "Happy New Year's Hinata" he said sweetly. Neji twitched at the sight of them. But let me get back to him it's his story anyways not Naruto and Hinata's although they will be mentioned many other times the story.
"Aren't they cute?" Sakura said to Neji as she stood next to him. He jumped a little.
"Oh Sakura." He said breathing a little heavy because of the shock. "H-happy New Year." He managed to say.
"Thank you Neji-Kun." She said smiling sweetly. She looked at Naruto and Hinata. She sighed. "I look at those two who are obviously so happy together and it just reminds of Sasuke so much." She put her hand on her cheek. "Those two make me smile."
"Makes me sick…"
"What was that?"
"Huh? Oh nothing."
Sakura peered up at Neji who was much, much taller then she was. "So did you participate in the matching game?" she asked curiosley.
"Umm…why
do you ask?" he said nervously.
"Well because you seemed in quite a rush to leave when Ino bought it up." She said sweetly. "You know I participated in that too." She said. "Ino said it would take my mind off of Sasuke but my match hasn't come up to me yet. I wonder who he is…so who'd you get?"
Neji stood quiet. "Come on Neji please tell me." She shook his arm. Neji's match paper fell out of his pocket because of the shaking.
"No" he gasped. He leaped to get it but Sakura beat him to it.
"Haha!" she teased as she unfolded the paper but her goofy grin faded away as she saw his results.
"Oh…so you're my match." She said dryly.
"Yeah…" he said In the same dry tone she had given him. "I know you hate it-"
"Oh no I don't hate it." She said as the goofy grin returned to her face "I think it'll be fun to give it a shot what about you?"
Neji was a little shocked at Sakura's amazing transformation. It seemed like she sounded up set when she saw the results but now she was all cheery again. "Huh? Oh you do..."
"Yeah I do!" she said putting her arm around his as they walked out of the area of the festival. Men shot him death glares as they walked passed. But they were just jealous (Haters) "Come on Neji-Kun let's go out sometime so we can give it a try let's see…" She said thinking "We can't do it tomorrow because I have hospital duties…so lets go on Thursday. Is that a good day for you?"
"Huh oh sure I guess…" Neji stated in a very confused voice.
"Great so I'll see you then!" Sakura said smiling at him then turning to depart.
What just happened did he just get himself a date Sakura?
-------End of flash back----------
And that my faithful readers is had Neji found himself in this mess today waiting in front of Sakura's door for what seemed to be like an hour. He had sworn that she told him just a minute like twenty minutes ago.
"What's with these girls and getting ready?" he asked himself.
Good grief…
This was just his luck.
