Title: Purify

Author: Hitachiin Hikaru

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: "K+" for incest

Genre: Romance/Angst

Disclaimer: I don't any part of Naruto, including characters, cities, towns, scenarios, titles, or anything else about it that you can think of. I just want to express my creative intent with this fic.

Summary: She smiled at him, the purification of that gesture making all of the uncertainties, all of the imperfections of their relationship melt away into nothingness. NejiHina One Shot R&R Please For TempusSimia

A/N: For TempusSimia, with all my love. Because of her love for Hyuugacest, I have a new story.

Something was very strange. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but an unsettling change had come over his twelve-year-old cousin. He generally wasn't one for snooping, but when it came to his cousin Neji was practically a private investigator, whether she knew it or not. It wasn't stalking, he told himself on multiple occasions, it was simply the happy coincidence of going the same way as a person for hours and hours on end. If questioned he'd state it was his duty to protect the heiress from harm; thought lately it had been harder and harder to "protect" Hinata-sama.

Was she onto him?

No way. He was the Hyuuga Neji. No one could ever be onto him unless he purposely wanted them to be. Besides, the Hyuuga Neji wasn't the type to be careless either, so there's no way in hell that Hinata would know that he was stalk- protecting her. Neji couldn't get distracted by anything. Not by her pretty face or her expressive pearl eyes or her porcelain skin or… Neji paused for a moment, contemplating on what he had just been thinking. Then he mentally slapped himself. He should stop regarding his cousin that way. It would be socially unacceptable for one thing, and besides, Hinata would never accept a Branch Member's affections, much less her own cousin's. He's not saying he's in love with her, just that… even if he were, she wouldn't return the feelings. He could just see it. The beautiful Hinata-sama would shy away from him even more than she usually did.

Neji blinked, realizing that he had lost track of what he was doing and saw that Hinata was nowhere to be found. He knew he could just use his Byakugan, but for some reason, somehow, that felt like he was cheating. He had to figure out what she was up to by his own wit and skill, but by his advanced phenotype. He sighed and turned back towards the Hyuuga complex, preparing to sulk through another night of the recently familiar feeling of failure.

A few hours later, he saw Hinata slip in quietly through the door and to her room, her cheeks and nose slightly rosy due to the chilly night weather outside. Curious, he strode up to her a gently rested a hand on her shoulder, asking in a low, polite tone, "Is everything all right Hinata-sama?"

She jumped at his words and turned back to look at him, a blush on her cheeks and her fingers pressed before her nervously. "Y-yes, Neji-nisan," she replied softly, bowing slightly to him and quickly scooting away from his touch. The timid kunoichi rushed down the hall to her bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her as she went, making Neji watch after with a mixed expression of shock and disappointment. But was he really expecting anything else from the Hyuuga girl? This is how she's always been and how she'd always be, isn't that what he'd so fervently believed?

He glanced down to his hand, still hovering in the air where Hinata's shoulder used to be, his skin tingling from the emptiness that accompanied her departure.

Maybe, now, he thought for a moment, he wished she'd change.

…:oOo:…

Finally he'd done it. Perseverance and three hours of freezing his ass off in the snow finally paid off; he'd tracked the girl to her final stopping place. A curious thing really, though Neji wasn't in any position at the moment to question her reasoning behind it. He saw her skirt around the various shin obi tombstones, heading for an elegant one near the top. However, before she reached it, she, much to the prodigy's utmost surprise, paid a short respect to the grave of Hyuuga Hizashi, her uncle. Flowers were placed and a low "rest in peace," was spoken, making Neji wonder what was going on even more ardently.

Her tiny footsteps stopped crunching in the snow and Neji crouched low, thinking he had been spotted. But that wasn't the case, she had knelt before the recently erected mausoleum of the Third Hokage. Before the Hyuuga could marvel in the confusion that was drowning him now, he heard Hinata's frail voice waver through the previously palpable silence. "I don't know who t-to turn to," the tone whimpered, pulling very slightly at Neji's heartstrings. Damn it… "Father would disown m-me, my fr-friends would be appalled… and… and I c-could never tell N-Neji-nisan…" He furrowed his brown and crept closer, taking careful steps so as not to alert her to his presence. She rested her hands on the marble wall of the tomb, tears dripping silently down her face. "I w-wish you were st-still here… you'd know wh-what to d-do…"

Hinata's forehead was pressed against the cool stone, her small body shivering in that coat of hers. Sighing, Neji walked out towards her, his footsteps obvious but her form not moving. He shrugged off his tan jacket, leaving his body exposed except for the bandages on his arm and wrapped around his torso. "Hinata-sama, here, take this," he told her gently, putting the coat around her shoulders. She jumped and glanced up at him, her cheeks flushed and her mouth slightly agape.

"N-Neji-nisan!" she stuttered, falling backwards in surprise and almost into the snow until Neji grabbed her hand and pulled her steady.

"Be careful, Hinata-sama," he mentioned quietly, releasing the limb like he'd been burned the moment she was stable.

She blinked at his distant behavior and sighed, giving him a tiny smile and replying, "Yes."

The two were silent, Hinata sitting in te snow and Neji kneeling beside her. The brunet glanced over at the girl, her pearl eyes watching the Hokage's grave with sorrow in them, tears preparing to spill over again. "It's hard to believe he's gone, isn't it?" he asked quietly resting his hand on the marble and sighing.

Hinata nodded, tightening her grip on his jacket around her shoulders. "H-he always kn-knew what to s-say," her voice came, slightly muffled from behind the coat. His hand reached out to comfort her, but it paused halfway, his mind not sure what to do. She glanced over at him with tear stained cheeks, her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of his hand inches from hers. "N-Neji-nisan?"

"Nothing," he replied stiffly, sitting down with his back against the monument. "What's the matter Hinata-sama? You've been acting strange lately." She jumped and glanced over at him, his muscular figure sitting still in the cold snow and she blushed, turning away from him. He watched her for a moment, as she didn't react and stood up, telling her, "Never mind then, Hinata-sama. He watched her for a moment, as she didn't react and stood up telling her, "Never mind then, Hinata-sama. When you're done, come get me so I can walk you home." He walked away from her to his father's grave and sat beside it, keeping an eye on her as she said one thing to the Hokage and touched the mausoleum once more.

She stood before him, holding out his coat. "You m-must be cold…" she said uncertainly, her voice almost inaudible as she spoke.

Neji shook his head. "You keep it. You're more important than I am Hinata-sama. You can't afford to get sick."

Hinata's expression turned pained at his words and she mumbled, "You're i-important to m-me, Neji-nisan…" He felt his heart race at that, and turned to look at her with faintly widened eyes. She blushed and he smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Hinata-sama, you're important to me as well." More than you will ever know. Their walk continued in silence, the two of them getting closer together as they neared their destination. "Hinata-sama," he mentioned after a while, glancing over at the younger Hyuuga. "What did you need to ask the Hokage? Why have you been coming here to often?"

She blushed and asked, "I-is it that o-obvious?"

He shook his head. "To me alone, I believe, Hinata-sama."

She nodded and sighed, looking around for a place to sit down. Neji glanced to the side and dusted snow off a wooden bench, helping her sit down. Hinata gave him back his jacket and he slipped into it waiting for her to talk. "I'm in l-love," she whispered softly, glancing up to see her cousin's reaction. He was speechless. Inside he wanted to rip this other man apart, but he wouldn't… if he made Hinata happy, then there was nothing he could do. "But it's s-so wrong, Neji-nisan. I-I can n-never have him th-the way I want to…" She buried her face in her hands and sighed, making the Hyuuga wonder whom she could be talking about.

"Do you love him very much?" he asked, his tone monotonous.

"Yes, I do." she responded, her eyes soft.

Neji's voice was strict. "If you love him, Hinata-sama, then you should continue to love him for all it's worth. It doesn't matter what people think or…" he thought about his own feelings, "or if there's something socially unacceptable about the relationship." He nodded and crossed his arms, looking up at the sky as small flakes began to fall from the clouds. "You should tell him, one day, too…"

Hinata watched him in awe. "R-Really?" He nodded, watching her expression clear and her eyes sparkling again. She blinked and smiled, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek tenderly. "Thank y-you and… and…" She fidgeted for a moment before saying quickly, "IloveyouNeji!" His eyes widened in shock and he watched her nervous expression, not sure what to say. She began to fret when he didn't answer, jumping up and backing away. "…h-have s-s-said anything… it's not… w-we're cousins!" she cried incoherently, turning around and preparing to hurry back home alone.

"Wait, Hinata," he called to her and she froze, nothing the lack of suffix following her name. "Don't run away please." Her eyes examined his and he took her hand, wiping her tears away. "Don't run away."

…:oOo:…

"Dude, Hinata-chan and Neji have been getting along pretty well recently," Naruto noted to Sakura s the two of them walked by the Hyuuga's sitting out in the grass, just talking to each other. He laughed. "That's a good thing; at least he's not trying to kill her anymore, right?" Sakura nodded and smiled, elbowing Naruto in the ribs.

She ordered him, "Stop spying on them Naruto! They have a very delicate relationship, let them repair it without your staring!" He gave her a grumpy glare and followed her away, smiling after she turned her back.

Hinata rested her hand on Neji's a timid smile on her face at the public display of affection. They had to be careful about what they did in view of their friends and family, of the people of the village in general. Anyone and everyone who knew that they were so closely related to each other. It was dangerous, so easily mistaken and misled. "W-Will this e-ever work, Neji?" Hinata asked softly, eyeing Naruto and Sakura as the two walked by them and down the street.

Neji sighed and looked up to the sky, his pearl eyes contemplating. "I don't know Hinata. We have to try, that's all we can do." He glanced back to her and smiled. "We're tempting fate, but we aren't bound by it, isn't that what Naruto said? I'm positive this will work out somehow." She smiled and nodded as they stood up, taking a shortcut through the forest back to the Hyuuga complex, where no one could see them holding hands or the quick kisses Neji gave the younger girl.

This sacrilegious love between two cousins who need each other more than anything else in the world: it was twisted and wrong, tarnished and blemished only by genetics and birth. Neji glanced back at his cousin, the one he cared for more than anyone else and she smiled at him, the purification of that gesture making all of the uncertainties, all of the imperfections of their relationship melt away into nothingness.

"D-Don't ever l-leave m-me Neji," she whispered as they neared the complex, holding onto his arm with fear in her eyes.

He traced her soft cheek with his fingers, a gentle expression on his face. "I never will," he swore. "Trust me, I never will."