Tied Together

Hana waited outside of the Academy for her younger brother. There was a gentle breeze that floated by, and she wanted nothing more than to lie in the grass with her ninken and enjoy the lazy day. But, of course, her mom had surprsied her with news of a sudden family outing and how she needed to pick up her brat of a little brother. She sighed impatienly and pushed back some chocolate strands behind her ear. She felt strange with her hair down, but her ninken had managed to chew up all of her hair ties. She had, of course, made the Haimaru triplets train harder and go without treats for punishment. Served them right.

She suddenly noticed a younger boy with pale eyes and dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His hitai-ate sat on his forehead showing that he was a proud shinobi of Konoha. A Hyuga, she was sure. There was no denying those aristocratic features and pale eyes could belong to any other clan. He appeared to be slightly older than her brother, Hana mused to herself. I wonder if he has any hair ties. A sly grin graced her face and he gave her an odd look.

Neji eyed the older girl as she confidently strode towards him. She was rather plain with chocolate colored tresses and dark eyes. The only thing that stood out on her was the crimson triangles on her cheek, signalling she was part of the Inuzuka clan. He didn't know much on the Inuzuka clan, other than they were superb trackers and used ninken. He remembered sometimes his uncle met with their fierce looking leader named Tsume, but this woman seemed more human and softer than their clan leader.

She continued to walk towards him until she was almost nose to nose with him. She let out a large grin that showed sharp canines. He noticed her eyes closed when she smiled and it took over her whole face. She smelled faintly of clean soap and fresh cut grass. He saw her lips move but was unable to make out what they said. He could feel his face heating up slightly. Not many girls had the courage to get so close to him, and he felt unsure of what to do. He felt a sharp jab to his shoulder and his heart rate quickened without his command.

"Hey, kid. Did you hear me?" Hana asked, her eyes opening. She tilted her head to the side and gently poked his shoulder. He appeared startled and his face turned a slightly deeper shade of crimson. Hana could hear his heart racing wildly in his chest and she grinned slyly. She was making him nervous, and for some reason she found it unbelievably funny. Who knew Hyugas could be so socially awkward around the opposite sex? Hana stepped back slightly and she could hear him let out a sigh of relief for regaining personal space.

"Hn," was his response to her. Hana's eyebrow twitched.

"All I was asking if you had an extra hair tie, my ninken managed to destroy all of mine."

The boy gave her a questioning look, and when Hana went to step closer he suddenly ripped out his hair tie in his hair. He held it out to her.

"Here, just leave me alone." Hana grabbed the light colored ribbon from him, brushing his hand only slightly with her own. She felt him lightly shudder, and she shrugged it off as just the breeze and quickly secured her hair back with it.

"Arigatou."

"Nii-san!" Hana heard Kiba yell. She turned to him and smiled as he came walking up to her with Akamaru in his baggy sweatshirt. "What are you doing here?"

"Okaa-san sent me. Let's hurry home." Kiba turned to walk home with his sister, and gave the Hyuga male a sideways glance. He could tell something was different but was unsure what it was. Kiba shook his head while Hana chatted animatedly to him about her latest patient at the vet clinic on their way home. Hana couldn't help but think how odd young teenage boys could be and how awkward the Hyuga boy had been earlier.

Neji stared at where the Inuzuka female had been standing. What was wrong with him? Sure, she looked better with her hair pulled up into a tight ponytail that suddenly seemed to give her face a new shape and draw out soft and elegant features that weren't there before. And sure, she smelled nice and not overly fake and sweet like the girl on his squad, but those weren't reasons to get flustered. Neji shook his head and felt his cheeks finally begin to cool off.

"Nii-san?" a soft voice called out.

Neji turned towards his shy cousin and observed him staring at his hair with a confused gaze.

"Are you ready, Lady Hinata?"

"H-hai." They walked in silence back to the Hyuga compound. Neji couldn't shake the thoughts of the Inuzuka female from his mind. He would have to learn more about her, after all, he would have to get his hair tie back.

"Lady Hinata?" he called out. She turned to him slightly and eyed him with caution. "Do you know the name of Inuzuka-san's sister? The one in your class." Hinata's eyes widened suddenly and then a small smile graced her lips. She could hardly believe her cold cousin would find interest in a girl.

"I-I think Kiba-san s-said her name w-was Hana."

A/N: A fun, short story about one of my favorite crack pairings! There's a five year age difference, so obviously no romance at this point in time since Neji is only 13! Hope you enjoyed this fluffy little one-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, sadly.