(Neji/OC, Gaara/OC, OC/OC-implied) What do you say to someone who loves you? But what do you say after you reject them and they save your life? It's a hard way to fall, but if she can survive, Neji may have his family off his back.... the key is to get her to safety before she dies. But now, what do you do when the head Medic-Nin is the one in need of help?

---Neji---

He stomped passed the door and heard his name.

Looking back, he saw Hizashi standing there. "Come here, Neji."

He followed orders and stood at arm's length. "Yes, sir?" he said, polite as ever.

"Have you ever thought of getting married?"

Neji had half a mind to blurt out a "no, sir" but thought better. "Yes, I've thought about it. I haven't done anything about it."

"Perhaps it's time you started. Is there anybody you have in mind?"

"No." Neji knew where this was going. Hinata had angled him towards looking for a future companion. "Sir, I will look into it, but I have no positive out-look that someone would chose me for their daughter." He gave a bow and walked away.

The moment he was around the corner, he leaned on the wall and breathed. He was tired of being asked such silly questions. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed Hizashi was watching him. Neji pretended to not have noticed and pushed off the wall, stomping to the front door.

Hanabi came home to see him like that and raised an eyebrow. "Hinata ask you about a wife again?"

Neji shook his head and sat down to put his shoes on. "Hinata, your mother, and your father." He pulled his shoes on and patted her on the head, still sitting. "You still have that sparkle. Did he talk to you again?"

Hanabi had a huge crush on Kohnahamaru. Her face looked just like Hinata's.

"Well, kind of. He asked me for my address so I could help him with his kunai targets."

"Oh, well, at least he talks to you." Standing, Neji dusted himself off, picked up his bag, and opened the door. "Have fun. Hopefully, he won't be a mean person."

"What does that mean?!" Hanabi called after him, but Neji was gone already. "What does that mean?"

Neji heard her ask herself that and he shook his head. He'd seen too many women go down the drain when their "boyfriends" turned their hand against the woman they "loved" for some reason or other. He knew that Kohnahamaru was a good kid and wasn't worried. He didn't think the grandson of the late Hokage would turn out mean at all.

He walked towards the Hokage's building. Today was his first, official mission to train future Jonin for their exams. He'd had to deal with Gai for four months without any other contact. It was like being tortured without the physical pain. Neji was told he would be joined by the four Medic-Nin and the Jonin training them. They would spend one month in the village, getting to know each other and train as a group, and then three months outside the village on three missions that would test the skills they already had.

Neji wasn't excited about it. He'd been chosen for this by the Hokage herself.

"Hey! I said stop!"

Neji looked around, stopping like the man had demanded. He saw a woman walking towards him.

She looked about the same age as Neji. On her back was a rather large slab of metal with a bandaged handle. It looked almost like a mega-sized kunai on her back. Her hair was a dark red and almost had a black shadow under it. Her eyes were a piercing blue that could've shrunk even the strongest man. Her shirt was odd because her left sleeve looked like it was stitched on and was a dark blue while the rest of her shirt was a light blue and the right sleeve was too long. Her pants were long and almost covered her feet. Her left foot was revealed to the ankle because of her head protector. She looked like the man was annoying her.

"I said to STOP!" He grabbed her elbow and wheeled her around.

Her wasit-length red hair settled to reveal him.

He was a stern man. His eyes and hair were black. He had two marks surrounding his left eye that resembled curved teeth. He wore a pair of dark blue pants and a dark gray top with long sleeves. He seemed enraged by the woman who was ignoring him.

"Why?! You just don't want me to head off on a mission! I'm not going for a month, ding bat!"

"Don't you talk to me that way!"

"I can talk to you anyway I please! You don't own me!"

"You know, ever since Yuki died, you've been acting like this!"

"You know, since Yuki died, you've been controlling me like a clingy mother!"

They were drawing attention and Neji started to feel sorry for the girl. This man was controlling her every move it seemed.

"Don't you talk back!" He raised his hand to slap her and she just stood there.

"I don't care!" She raised her hand and punched him. That seemed like a bad idea. He swung anyways and the impact made her slide back, but not lose her balance.

"Don't you try that petty talk with me!" He advanced on her and Neji reacted.

Intercepting, Neji stopped him from coming one step closer. "That's enough. Don't you see you're distracting people?" He gestured to the people lingering and whispering. "Leave her be."

He spat at Neji's feet. "You're just like Yuki, think you can butt in when you feel like it. One day, that's going to bite your head off."

Neji was about to retort when the woman grabbed his elbow to move him aside. "Got a problem? He's just a bystander who doesn't like ding bats like yourself. If he wants to interfere, let him. If he wants to fight you, I think he'd provoke you." She glared at him with her piercing eyes and he flinched. "You ruined a perfectly fine day, Kaito. Now, leave me alone before I tell the Hokage why I'm late for my student introductions."

Kaito flinched back when she emphasized "Hokage" with such anger. "You didn't say anything about that!"

"Kaito, you're not a ninja anymore because of Yuki. I kept going because I believed in what he did. Now, scat before I really have a reason to be late!" When he'd vanished into the crowd, she let go of Neji's arm and gave him a very grateful bow. "Thanks so much. I don't know why you helped, but I'm grateful." She stood up and dashed off, taking the high ground.

Neji shrugged and continued walking. He was going to be right on time now. That made it easy for him. No waiting and no lecturing.