A/N: This came to me during a dream. I just simply expanded it briefly.
I remember the first time I met her.
"Hey you," her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I opened my eyes and stared into her eyes. Call me a fool, but I knew I was captivated.
"Hi," I replied simply. "Can I help you?"
She laughed, her soft voice echoing through the empty forest. "Naw," she shook her head. "I just wanted to see what you were doing."
"I was meditating." Had she never heard of it?
"I thought so," she replied, plopping down in front of me.
"Then why'd you bother asking?"
"Because I wanted to." She smiled broadly at me. "I'm Akiko. Nara Akiko."
I looked at the younger girl. "Hyuga Neji."
I remember the first time we kissed.
"Hi," she sighed, looking up at me.
"Hello," I replied simply, meeting her gaze.
I took a step towards her, and she took one step back. I took one forward; she took one back. This continued until her back hit a wall and she gasped, not realizing it was there.
"A ninja has to be aware of his surroundings," I said, placing my hands on each side of her head. "As well as his enemy's intentions."
A smile played at her lips. "Oh? And tell me, what are your intentions, Hyuga-san?"
I smirked, bending down and capturing her lips.
I remember the first time I almost lost her.
"Neji!" a loud voice snapped me out of my meditating.
I snapped my eyes opened and glared at Naruto. "What?" I asked. "I'm meditating."
"She's…" Naruto panted, and that's all it took for me to snap up.
"Where is she?" I glowered, looking down at the blond.
Konoha's savior or not, he shivered under my glare. "She's… in the hospital…" Naruto mumbled. "She and her team were ambushed. Upon finding them, all were dead but her. But she's in critical condition."
Without another word, I jumped off to the hospital.
I went to the desk of the hospital immediately and slammed my fists on the counter, making Sakura snap up in shock. She realized who I was and her eyes softened. "Neji…" she muttered.
"You know why I'm here then," I narrowed my eyes.
Sakura simply looked down at the papers before her. "She's being treated right now." I noticed her shoulders shaking. "Shikamaru's a mess. That mission was supposed to be his." Her voice broke at the end. "Operation room seven…" she managed to say.
I took in deep breaths to calm myself and I walked myself over to the seventh operating room. Shikamaru was sitting there on the bench, with Temari at his side. They both looked up at me as I entered and I took note of Shikamaru's sad-stricken face.
"Neji…" his voice croaked. I nodded my head at him and simply took a seat across the room from him.
The lights on the operating room turned off and Tsunade stepped out. Shikamaru, Temari, and I glanced up immediately. Seeing us, Tsunade smiled and I exhaled the breath I didn't even know I was holding.
"She's fine," Tsunade said. "She's just resting now. She'll make it."
"Oh God…" Shikamaru muttered, placing his arm on the wall beside him and his head on the arm.
"Your sister's a damn fighter, Shikamaru," Temari told Shikamaru. "She's way too damn stubborn to die now." The words were supposed to comfort Shikamaru, but they comforted me instead.
"Temari's right," Tsunade nodded her head. She scoffed. "Even when almost dying, she still managed to complete her mission." She sighed again. "Mataku."
My lips twitched. It was just like Akiko.
I remember the first time I proposed.
I stepped into her hospital room after Temari and Shikamaru left. She laid there in her bed, unconscious, but still beautiful.
I occupied the seat at her bedside and took her hand in my own. Despite being a ninja, she had the softest hands I've ever felt. But then again, I never felt many hands.
"Akiko, you sure know how to scare someone." My lips twitched. "My heart pretty much stopped when Naruto told me you were ambushed. I guess when your IQ's over two-hundred, you're able to come up with strategies quickly, huh?"
Silence was my reply, but I expected as much.
"Marry me," I said into the silence. "Not now, not tomorrow, not in a few months, but some day, marry me."
I remember the first time she said yes.
Akiko stood above me, paralyzed in shock.
"I…" Akiko closed her mouth and swallowed. "Oh God… Oh My God… yes!" she exclaimed.
I grinned, standing up from the ground. She wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" she exclaimed over and over again, but the first "yes" was still ringing in my head.
People might not think it,
Because I don't let it be known,
But despite everything,
I remember every little detail
About you.
And today, my love,
Do you know why today is special?
It was the day you and I first met
Under this very tree,
You were only six and I was eight
But I was captivated that very day here.
Akiko smiled at her husband's note that was pinned to the tree with a kunai. It was really out of character of Neji, but he could be really romantic when he wanted to be.
"Hey you," Neji's husky voice appeared from behind her. He snaked his arms around her waist, rubbing the small bulge that was there.
"Hi," she echoed her words from the first day. "Can I help you?"
"Naw," Neji chuckled softly, shaking his head. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "I just wanted to see what you were doing."
She grinned before turning around in Neji's arms. "Well, I was waiting for my husband."
"Oh really?"
"Uh huh. He remembered everything."
"Of course I remember," Neji replied. He tightened his arms around her slightly, careful not to hurt her. Akiko tilted her head and she caught her lips with his.
A/N: In my dream though (see A/N above), it was an angst story with in the end, Neji killing himself. As I was writing Akiko's injury though, I couldn't bring myself to kill her, so in the end, I made it a happy ending. :)