Written for NejiHina Week, Day 1: Soulmate AU. (. . .also maybe a little for one of the extra days/bonus themes, Childhood Love.) Also part of my Valentine's Day soulmate fluff set, but tomorrow I'll have two stories, one for each project.
I didn't even find out about this Event until after it was over, back in December, so obviously when I saw that there was going to be a take two for the 2017 one I had to add it to my list!
Tenten jumped at the harsh clattering sound, spinning to find Hinata halfway across the main room of the apartment, eyes wide and shaking fingers curled in front of her, with a fortunately still neatly-sealed pot on the floor at her feet. She didn't look back at Tenten, or apologise for dropping the pot - on second glance Tenten wasn't sure it actually belonged to Neji - only stepped almost gracelessly over it and reached out her hands-
"Hey!" Tenten snapped, letting go of the folding screen she had been drawing across the alcove that functioned as Neji's bedroom - it wobbled and might fall, but would cause no harm if it did topple over onto Neji's futon, and this was more important. "Don't you dare!"
Lee appeared, up the stairs from the street and at Hinata's side faster than Tenten could have crossed the room. "I am certain that Hinata-san means no harm," he said with a smile, but he caught her small hands in his, guiding them away, "but I am afraid I cannot allow you. It's not proper to touch another's Heart Flower." he added in a low tone, a gently chiding reminder.
"It- It is not." Hinata said, and Tenten relaxed a little. Whatever had come over her, she was at least being reasonable now. "It's not his. I mean, it is, of course it is, but-" her voice cracked as she reached out again, Lee not holding her tightly enough to prevent it, though he hurriedly moved to pull her away.
"Let her." Neji said from the doorway, where he was leaning against the doorframe, breathing hard and looking to be on the verge of collapse. "It's all right."
"Neji-?" Tenten asked, concerned.
Neji gave a slanted, almost bitter smile that made Tenten think of the way he spoke of his clan's Souke, on the rare occasions he would speak of them at all, and her stomach knotted. Tenten hated it when things hurt her friends that she had no chance of protecting them from.
Lee's hold slackened in response to Neji's instruction, and Hinata moved away from him. She took up the pale Heart Flower, clasping it gently in one small hand. Tenten's eyes darted from her teammate to his cousin.
Hinata cradled the flower against her chest and passed by Lee, moving towards Neji. "You- You still- You kept it." she said in a soft voice.
"It is yours." Neji said, and Tenten's eyes widened. "Did you truly think I could cast you aside?"
"Neji-nii-san. . ." Hinata paused before taking a few more tentative steps towards Neji. "I . . . thought perhaps you. . ." She swallowed, bowing her head.
Neji pushed off the doorframe and Lee made an abortive movement to dart to his side, but he didn't fall, though he wasn't precisely steady either. Hinata moved in another step just as Neji drew even with her and slipped an arm behind his own to press against his side, supporting him. He tried to shrug her away, but Hinata only gracefully avoided his nudge and moved closer, helping him across to the bench by the table.
Neji huffed, but when she refused to be pushed into backing off he allowed her to help him. Tenten grudgingly appreciated her for that, no matter how much she quailed normally.
"I'm fine." Neji said, reclaiming his arm from Hinata as they reached the bench, but not seating himself. "And you two can-"
"You're not exactly fine." Tenten said, pursing her lips, pointedly glancing down his body at the bandages peeking out from beneath his clothes in places, not to mention his generally battered and unsteady state. He was pale even for him - something Tenten hadn't thought was possible until the first time she'd seen him injured badly, his face gone ashy in the aftermath - and he had a hand on the table to keep himself upright.
"There is no need for you to be so self-reliant!" Lee said, placing the pot Hinata had dropped on the table. "We are your teammates! We are here to help you." he declared earnestly, smiling.
Neji snorted and might have rolled his eyes - Tenten still had difficulty reading his almost featureless eyes after years working with him - but it was only Neji being Neji, and his expression showed a tinge of warmth even as he repeated himself and told them to go.
"We're just concerned for you." Tenten pointed out, crossing her arms and meeting his gaze squarely. She might not be able to read Neji's eyes but the Hyuuga blankness didn't rattle her, either.
"I'll stay." Hinata said softly, touching Neji's elbow lightly with her fingertips.
Tenten blinked, then frowned, eyeing Hinata.
"That is most gracious of you, Hinata-san." Lee said, crossing the room to Tenten's side. "I am sure Neji appreciates your care!" He ducked his head in a half-bow and Tenten's eyebrows climbed.
"Still," she began, "we came to make sure you're comfortably settled before we leave you alone."
"Tenten!" Lee said, shaking his head and leaning close. "They are having a Romantic Moment!" he declared in what passed for a whisper, from Lee in a declamatory state. Which was not very quiet at all. "We must leave them alone!"
Tenten glanced at Neji, who looked like he might have hit Lee or covered his mouth - anything to stop him talking - if he had been any closer, or if Neji had felt any more capable of crossing the distance between them. Tenten hesitated, and Neji cleared his throat and glanced at the door, nodding shallowly.
Tenten sighed and capitulated, letting Lee draw her towards the door. "Fine. Rest, though, okay Neji?" she admonished as they reached the door. "Hinata, you," she paused, "look after him." she requested simply.
Hinata smiled slightly, still faintly flushed, and nodded as she murmured agreement, and then Tenten followed Lee out of the apartment towards the stairs.
She frowned curiously, thinking of Neji's Heart Flower - or- Hinata's, she supposed. She bit her lip and glanced up at Lee. "Do you think they'll be all right?" she asked.
Lee grinned at her, and Tenten's frown softened into a smile despite her concern, because of course Lee did, inveterate romantic that he was.
As the door closed behind his friends, Neji reached out stiffly and brushed his fingertips against Hinata's wrist. "Did you truly think I had cast it aside?" he asked again, voice low. "That I even could?" Neji dipped his head closer to hers.
Hinata looked up, not quite meeting his eyes, then down at the amaryllis she held, rubbing her thumb over one of the fluted petals. "I . . . hoped you had kept it close," she said quietly, and held the bloom out to him, "but how could I have. . ." She looked away. "You had every reason to want nothing to do with me, Neji-nii-san. I could hardly have blamed you if-"
Neji took the Flower from her hands, and her voice hitched before she fell silent. Neji swallowed firmly, stroking the flower out towards the curled tips of its petals, then put it down on the table and turned away.
He heard Hinata's breath catch again behind him, but didn't look back, narrowing his eyes at the wall. "No matter how much I wished to distance myself from our Clan, even from you, there are some things I could never cast aside." he told her, tipping his head and not quite looking at her over his shoulder as he spoke. He activated Byakugan with a wince - he probably shouldn't be doing this, but he needed to see to be able to trigger the panel's release - before angling a spike of chakra at the hidden trigger mechanism in the wall. The panel slid open smoothly and he let Byakugan go again hurriedly.
Neji reached inside for the brilliantly-coloured Flower that had been hidden within, then turned with it resting on his open palm. "Mine still and always blooms for you, Hinata-sama." He held it towards Hinata, the pale, almost white streaks and tips of the petals almost glowing in the low light of his apartment, making the blended red-orange-pink seem all the brighter.
It was perhaps not exactly a Flower that seemed to quite . . . fit a Hyuuga.
Perhaps Neji had never quite been as proper a Hyuuga as had once been assumed, though.
Hinata took a tiny step towards him, stretching out both hands hesitantly. Neji smiled slightly, though he felt like his throat was locking up and he wanted to tremble. He controlled it as best he could and extended his hand closer to her, the movement clear.
"Neji-!" Hinata bit her lip, cheeks flushed a deep rosy pink. "Would- You would truly. . ." Her eyes were slightly hazy - damp, Neji realised, as her lashes fluttered. She fidgeted uneasily, fingers straightening a little but still not quite reaching to take - accept - Neji's Heart Flower.
Neji shifted, wincing again as his body protested even that slight movement, and braced one hand on the wall as he bent to sit on the padded bench near his table. His futon would probably have been better, but with the unsteadiness of his injured leg he wasn't sure he could get down to the floor without falling, nor rise again later without help. Especially once he stopped moving again and the muscles had time to stiffen.
"I gave it to you once before," Neji said softly, still holding the Flower out in offering, heart wrenching as he remembered Hinata's tiny hands - so much smaller than his own even then - accepting the gift, "and it has always been yours."
Hinata's hands, seemingly so small and delicate against his own, came up and accepted the bright bloom from Neji's hand, then brought it to her breast, her eyes wide and lit with happiness.
"Even if it was not allowed for you to keep it." Neji finished, tasting ash as he remembered the delight - the almost frightening joy - of passing his Heart into Hinata's hands, and having it almost immediately crushed as a harsh hand wrapped around Hinata's forearm and she was ordered to release the Flower. It hadn't been snatched from her grasp - no one else had touched it - but she had been forced to return it to Neji's hands, and he reprimanded for daring to gift his Heart Flower to her, daring to stretch for something so far above his place. Even if he had been told that young Hinata-sama would be his charge to protect, she was beyond him to make such presumptions of.
Hinata had been crying as they pulled her away from him, leaving Neji forlornly holding his Flower in his hands. She had been dragged back into the main house, but Neji had remained there where he stood, alone and hurting, until his father came to take him inside. Even after the harsh rebuke he had garnered, Neji hadn't understood the sad look on his father's face as he spoke. Not then.
Neji looked up, surprised, as a light touch feathered over his cheek. Hinata still held his Heart Flower to her breast with one hand, but the other smoothed down his cheek and cupped his jaw, her soft eyes holding his gaze.
Neji swallowed unsteadily, feeling both the soft warmth of Hinata's touch to his Flower blooming in his chest and the brush of her callused fingers on his skin, almost as soft a caress.
"I am sorry." Hinata said, and Neji's brows drew together. "I-" Her voice wavered, and she pulled a small smile to her lips. "I was heartsick to have it- to have you pulled away from me." She closed her eyes for a moment.
Neji pressed his lips together, thinking of the bright little bundle - white and faintest purple and bright edges of pink - of Hinata's Heart Flower he had curled up to for comfort himself, then. His own, lying nearby, had been no kind of soothing - not when Neji had so earnestly wanted to give it away, to give it to her.
Neji refocused as Hinata's fingers stroked his cheek again, looking up at her. Hinata smiled, turning her hand to cup his cheek as she bent close, then hesitated, catching her breath, her eyes lowering again.
Neji's lips parted as he prepared to ask her-
Hinata kissed him, careful and sweet, her lips warm and soft on his, and Neji's heart leapt as his eyes widened. Hinata withdrew again, fingertips caressing the line of his jaw and settling at the curve just beneath his ear. Her cheeks were rosy pink and she caught her lip between her teeth.
Hinata eyes met Neji's cautiously, and she gently brushed aside one of the locks of hair framing his face. "Neji. . ." she began, and Neji reached up, cupping her slender neck and guiding her close again, tipping his head to meet her with another kiss.
She gave a quiet, sighing moan as their lips slid together, and Neji relaxed a little more, his head spinning. Hinata slender fingers wound one lock of his hair into a barely-there hold even as she drew back from the kiss. He smiled slightly and pulled Hinata down gently until she took a seat on the bench in front of him.
Neji pulled her a little closer, and Hinata looked down, sliding her fingers down through his hair as she arranged herself carefully, avoiding his wounded thigh. She put Neji's Flower down on the table beside them and reached for his hands, smoothing her own over them lightly.
"Stay with me?" Neji asked quietly, his throat tight with the effort it had taken to voice.
Hinata lifted her head and smiled. "Well," she ducked her chin a little, "I did promise your friends I would stay and look after you." she said, fiddling with the hem of his sleeve.
"No, Hinata. . . Stay with me." Neji repeated, then tightened his jaw.
"Oh." Hinata's lashes fluttered rapidly, and then she smiled, a couple of tears dripping down her cheeks. "Oh, Neji. . ." She stroked his cheek and leaned up to kiss him, pressing against his chest and clinging to his shoulders.
Neji wrapped his arms around her, and his breath caught at the feeling that suddenly washed over him, spreading outwards from his chest, just as Hinata jumped and let out a soft sound of surprise. She turned her head without pulling away and Neji followed her gaze to see that in his haste to hold her close to him, he had bumped Hinata's Heart Flower where it lay on the table.
Now the soft purple-pink Flower rested against Neji's own brighter bloom, the curled tip of one petal caught around the base of the other Flower.
Hinata sighed, bowing her head and snuggling against his chest, freeing one hand and brushing the tips of Neji's Flower's petals with her fingertip.
Neji hugged her a little tighter as his heart fluttered with the caress, smoothing one hand down her back and ignoring the dull ache of his injuries for the warm comfort of Hinata in his arms.
Hinata's Heart Flower is an Amaryllis. (Incidentally, in Hanakotoba, they mean shyness; in the Victorian Language of the Flowers they mean timidity, splendid beauty, and pride.)
Neji's Heart Flower is an Akita cultivar Dahlia. (Incidentally, in Hanakotoba, they mean good taste; in the Victorian Language of the Flowers they mean forever thine, eloquence, dignity, elegance, and instability.)