Well, surprise, I am alive! I have decided to actually do a Hyuuga Christmas party story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and my lawyer says I should stop insinuating I did in a previous life.
Neji scowled as he stared at the suit Hinata had laid out for him. He didn't want to dress up and he didn't want to go to a party with people who looked down on him.
As he stood still contemplating the suit and where he would have to wear it to, a light knock came on the door.
"Neji? A-are you r-ready?" Hinata opened the door to see him glowering at the suit. It made her feel a little bad for him. "U-um, if y-you r-r-really don't w-want to g-go, w-we c-could tell th-the elders y-you're s-s-s-sick."
Neji shook his head. The last thing he needed was the elders coming in to see if they, with their mad medical skills, could determine what was wrong with him.
The last time he got sick he was diagnosed with everything from hypothermia to multiple sclerosis to arachnophobia. And he actually had the flu.
Neji emerged from his room looking dapper indeed. Despite his hatred for the suit, he actually looked good in it. Even if he was scowling.
He and Hinata walked across the courtyard into the main room, which was usually used for council meetings. However, they had taken down all the somber things they usually put up and instead there were holly hocks everywhere. And mistletoe in dangerous places. Neji made a mental note to avoid those spots.
Hinata went over to hug and kiss several Hyuuga ladies, as was expected of her. Neji thought she if she wasn't required to she wouldn't touch those women with a 12 foot pole. He knew he wouldn't.
Now he backed into a corner with a Danish and planned to stay there the entire night.
However, his cousin Hiroshi had a different plan for him.
"Hey Neji! How are you?" he said in a mockingly polite tone.
Neji didn't even bother to look at him. "I am very well, thank you. And I would feel even better if you went away."
Hiroshi sneered. "You know who's looking good tonight, Neji?"
Neji gave a look that clearly stated he could care less.
"Hinata. I'm going to see if I can get her under the mistletoe," Hiroshi said in a very obnoxious tone.
"I'll tell her to watch her back," Neji said drily. Hiroshi seemed a little annoyed his announcement hadn't bothered Neji. He started glaring at him and Neji glared back.
The tense moment was broken when Hanabi jumped in and grabbed both of Hiroshi's hands. "I want you to dance with me!" she demanded, sounding every bit the 8 year old she was. Hiroshi glared at her like she was something he'd found stuck to his shoe. "Dance with Neji."
Hanabi looked at him like he was stupid. "Neji," she said condescendingly, "is holding a Danish. I'd get sticky stuff all over my hands."
Neji smiled inwardly at the beauty of his Danish ploy. It worked every year. Hiroshi grumbled while Hanabi dragged him off, surprisingly strong for being so short.
Little did he know there was a fatal flaw in his plan.
Another one of his cousins approached him, one he barely knew. She seemed to like pink though, if her outfit was any indicator.
"Hello cousin Neji," she said formally, "I would like to know if you want to dance with me."
Couldn't she see he was holding a Danish?!
"I am holding a Danish, and I don't want to get it all over your hands." He replied, pleased with his reasonable answer.
"Why don't you set it down and wipe off your hands?"
That stopped him cold. No one had thought of that before, and he had hoped they never would. Now he would have to dance with some cousin whose name he didn't even know!
He grudgingly sat down the Danish and wiped off his hands.
It was a slow dance. And she seemed to like slow dances. He felt really uncomfortable with someone that close, especially a nameless cousin!
It was mildly bearable, up until Hiroshi caught his eye and began to make kissy faces at him. Neji turned red with embarrassment and anger. He almost marched over to give Hiroshi a piece of his mind, but shoving away the nameless cousin would make a fuss and the elders would probably label him as a party crasher and punish him.
He hated these Christmas parties so much.
His formerly receding anger doubled when he noticed Hiroshi attempting to kiss Hinata under the mistletoe. Hinata looked horrified and somewhat frozen in place. He would have to move quickly.
He remembered all too late the restraining thing around him was his cousin and shoving her could cause serious problems. She went crashing back into an elder and started crying.
Neji pulled Hinata out from the mistletoe while an elder pointed at him in accusation.
"That's him! That's the party crasher! He shoved my niece Horii right into me!"
Neji spent never spent a lonelier Christmas than that one, under room arrest and in charge of untangling Christmas lights. He hated those stupid Christmas parties………
I hope that was at least mildly enjoyable. It was fun to write.