Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters (though I want to, 'cause if I did, there would be some major get togethers going on!)

Save Me

Chapter 1: Memories


She could remember the first time he saved her; when he protected her in his arms. It was back before either of them knew about the Hyuuga's twisted innerworkings, back when they were friends, back before the hate.

She recollected, she was not even 3, but she could recall the night when one of the biggest storms that had ever hit Konoha arrived. The Hyuuga manor, her safe sanctuary, trembled and groaned underneath the tempest's wrath. She heard the thunder boom and the lightning crash, and hid by herself in the corner of her room, flinching at the noise and light, crying silently, alone.

She was always alone.

Another blaze of lighting flashed through her window, lighting up her room. She let out an unheard scream and ran out into the hallway in her fear. She tripped over her own feet, and fell with a 'thud' against the wall. But she stood up again, and ran down the hall where those of the main branch slept, down to somewhere where the lighting would be unseen.

Down flights of countless stairs, the silent tears coming at a different pace then the rain on the roof above her. She was so scared, she couldn't even think like her father wanted her to. She just wanted for the bright flashes and noises to stop, she wanted to go somewhere dark and lonely. Somewhere like the quarters of the branch house. She fell into a heap at the end of the hall, tired of running, but her heart still pounding in fear.

Right in front of his door.


He could remember the first time she saved him. Saved him from his nightmares-the pain of his burden.

He had been turning around fitfully in his sleep, constantly reliving that day-when he had been marked-the wrenching pain, his screams, his tears-but awakening suddenly to a small thump outside the room he shared with his father.

He slid open the door slowly, not sure if the noise wasn't something caused by the storm. But those thoughts left him as he saw his little cousin collapsed on the floor. He instantly ran to Hinata and kneeled down beside her, shaking her small frame as he called her name.

"Hinata-sama, Hinata-sama!"

She didn't stir, so he ran back into his room, where he knew he could probably get his father to help him, but stopped when he heard her whisper his name.

"Ne-Neji-nii-san?"

He turned around to see her standing upright, like the ninja she was, then scurrying over to him, looking terrified.

"Hinata-sama! Are you alright?"

He had asked her as he looked her over for wounds or anything out of the ordinary.

"Hai-I'm fine-the thunder it-just scares me-oh, I'm so sorry Neji nii-san! I tried to be strong, really, I did, but the storm it's just-"

By this time she was crying again, and he gently wrapped his arms around her soft, frail body, gently stroking her hair to calm her sobbing.

"Shh…Hinata-sama, its okay."

He said calmly, trying to comfort his terrified cousin.

"The rain isn't scary, it doesn't hurt; it brings life."

She looked up to him with her tear stained face.

"What do you mean Neji nii-san?"

He stood up and grabbed her hand,

"I'll show you."

He pulled her behind him as they went up the stairs and out into the courtyard in the middle of the Hyuuga estate. By that time though, the rain was not coming down as hard, and had changed from a hurricane to a summer lightning storm, but Neji was careful as he led his cousin from the canopy of one tree to another.

From the courtyard, he took her through the gateway that led to the training grounds outside of the village. When they got to the area of the memorial stone, by the lake, they were both soaking wet and quite cold, but Neji none the less stood in front of Hinata, making sure she didn't see the clearing yet. Then he stepped aside.

"Look."

Was all he said, and when she did, the Hyuuga heiress gasped.

The rain seemed to be dancing on the lake, making beautiful patterns and distorting the water's usually smooth surface. The trees and the flowers were glistening with new rain water, dripping with it, yet shining with the new life the storm had brought.

Hinata remembered how earlier that week everything was so dry and hot, when all of the plants looked almost dead with thirst. But now the whole forest was a beautiful place, and it made both the Hyuuga's feel as though they hadn't a care in the world, though Hinata was the one that showed her excitement.

She ran out from beneath the tree that they were under and into the middle of the memorial stone's clearing, soaking up the rain and the life. Lightning crackled in the air around her, never hitting her, but instead seeming to join her in her dance as she swirled and swung under the night sky.

But then she stopped, and hung her head to face the ground. At first Neji didn't notice the tears until he looked at her more closely with his Byakugan. He then ran out from under his leafy canopy to his cousin, whose mood had changed so suddenly.

"Hinata-sama, what's wrong?"

She still kept her head face down, but she mumbled

"I wonder…Did…did my mother ever like running around in the rain?"

Neji knew how the death of Hinata's mother, who was assassinated a few weeks ago, still plagued the younger Hyuuga, even at her age. The heiress had remembered her mother in her joy of watching the rain fall and give life.

"I wonder sometimes-if I'm going to-to die like she did, at the hands of an assassin, of someone who I don't even know-who just wants to kill me because of my rank."

She was smarter then the average 3 year old, she knew how the ninja life worked even at her young age; she had already been scarred with the brutality of it. Neji felt sorry for her, though he couldn't relate, his mother had died in his childbirth, and his father was still alive. But nevertheless, he knew about pain. He wrapped his arms around her for the second time that night.

"Don't worry Hinata-sama; everything is okay-"

"No, it's not Neji nii-san, something bad is going to happen, I know it!"

She began crying again, the tears melding with the rain dripping from her hair.

"No it's not Hinata,"

He responded, dropping the suffix.

"Nothing is ever going to happen, because I will always protect you."

"Always?"

She looked up at him with eyes full of trust and hope, still slightly marred by her crying. The eyes of a Hyuuga, that were suppose to be hateful and cold - but she made them loving and warm, bringing color and beauty to what seemed to be made of icy stone. Simply looking into her eyes eased his pain, and made the nightmares disappear.

"Always."

He held on to her tightly, the one he swore he would always protect, and felt her fast beating heart next to his.

"I promise."


Whoooo-hoooo!!!!! The first chappie is doooone!!!! Partayy!!! -cough- ahem -cough- Okers, I'm done with my done-ness(doneness?). Anyway, I feel really good about writing up this story, as I have been entertaining the idea of a NejiHina for a long time. I actually like the pairing, and in this story, to help all of you incest haters like it-Hinata is not actually going to be Hiashi's daughter. Yay! What's actually going to happen is-well you'll have to keep on reviewing and reading to find out:P

Loves,

Zephyr

P.S. For everyone who has been reading "White Rose" that will but updated very soon!