Miharu: Yay! A story with more than one chapter. Finally! I came up with this idea when I saw a cute fanart of Neji with cat ears and a tail. Oh, speaking of fanart, I saw this one cute photo from Japan of two babies cosplaying as Sasuke and Naruto. It was way too cute to resist!
Neji's words What the words in brackets are what Neji will be saying when he becomes a cat. That, and because I am too lazy to write a bunch of "meows" so many times in one line, then translating them in parentheses. sweatdrops
Enjoy, please!
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Hiashi stood near the door, awaiting guests with much anticipation. A knock was then heard. Hiashi opened the door. As soon as he did, five princesses dressed in beautiful kimonos burst in gracefully. Another woman, a bit younger in age and appearance than Hiashi, followed. She wore eccentric clothes, like that of a fraud fortune-teller's. Hiashi sneered at her silently.
If he could, he would have unceremoniously dumped this woman out of his house. Then again, she was the woman who bought the princesses all in.
"Hiashi Hyuuga, here they are. The daughers of the daimyo of the Bird Country, the Snow Country, Water Country, Sand Country, and Thunder Country." the woman said, making a dramatic gesture towards the now kneeling girls.
Hiashi gave a slight bow to the woman. "Thank you. Neji, come at once!"
In a flash, Neji flew down the stairs. "You called?"
"Hyuuga Tradition states that when you reach the age of eighteen, you are to become engaged to a woman of high nobility."
Neji was silent. He obviously knew about all of the Hyuuga traditions, or why else had he ended up being the faithless genius he was now?
"You may choose your pick. Try not to hurt their feelings, please. Remember what happened last time?" Hiashi seriously asked.
Neji smirked. He remembered about last time, all right. All he did was make a blunt speech about females (thank goodness none of the girls were Tenten, or he would have had to feel her wrath much later), reject them all in the harshest way he found possible, then dismiss them. It worked like a charm. All the women ran off, crying. How softhearted and sensitive women were...
Neji walked into the room reluctantly. Who cares about what Hiashi wanted of him, anyway? Neji always had to subject to whatever Hiashi ordered. Hiashi had no right to tell Neji not to hurt people's feelings that he refused to even acknowledge or even want to learn more about, for that matter.
The princesses began chatting among themselves when Neji stood there, scrutinizing each of them carefully.
"Oh my, he's cute!"
"Cute? Ha! He's my definition of hot."
"Hee hee...and we're all just a few years younger than him!"
"Oooh! Really? I'm a beauty, I've got a much bigger chance at him!"
"Hmph. He's not my type."
The princess from the Sand stood up. "I'm leaving. I don't need to be matchmaked to a Hyuuga like you."
Neji shrugged. You saved yourself grief and pain by leaving...very clever, woman.
Hiashi was surprised when the Sand princess left. "Did he...say anything to you?" Hiashi nervously questioned.
The Sand princess scoffed haughtily. "Ha! Yeah right. He's not my type, you see."
Hiashi wiped his brow in relief. Thank goodness. However, that relief turned into worry as soon as the four other princesses left the room in tears. The Sand princess smirked.
"What do you know? I was right."
"Argh! What a jerk!"
"He was so cute, too!"
"Hmph! His looks are definitely deceiving!"
"I can't believe he refused me..."
Then, everyone in the household building heard a voice that became music to Neji's ears.
"Neji-kun! Are you ready yet? We have to train now, or else Gai-sensei will make us run five hundred laps around Konoha!" Tenten complained from a distance.
The five princesses were surprised. How could a teenage girl like her, with a soft gentle voice, be training under a sensei? When the princesses saw Neji smiling (Yes, smiling! Not smirking, that's different), they immediately knew that the girl was his teammate. Not only that, but they all deduced that Neji had secret feelings for her, too. They all sighed. How cute!
Just as the five princesses were about to tell the clueless Hiashi about this, the woman that had been accompanying them flew into a rage.
"Well! How rude! Rejecting the women I tried so hard to convince to bring for your son to choose from, Hiashi!" The woman spouted angrily.
"Well, maybe he just does not see anything special within them," Hiashi tried.
The woman refused to understand. "Nothing special? These girls are princesses with special connections and power! Hmph...this calls for drastic measures!"
Hiashi was horrified when Neji turned into a black, fuzzy cat with a green star on its forehead, symbolizing the curse seal.
Neji growled. What have you done to me, you witch?
The "witch" glared at the cat as she began to leave. "Isn't it obvious? I turned you into a cat. You have a five days to have a woman fall in love you. You must love that woman back. Before midnight of the last night, both of you must profress your love for each other. If you cannot make it before the deadline, you're a cat forever. Simple as that. Good day!"
The witch slammed the door shut. Neji looked expectantly at Hiashi, who sneezed.
"I'm sorry Neji, but I'm allergic to (achoo!) cats..."
Naturally, Neji was kicked out of the Hyuuga Household due to Hiashi's allergies. The question lingered: Who would be the lucky girl who he would try to win the heart of? Neji wandered the forest where kunoichi and shinobi alike trained in. He felt himself being picked up. It was Ino. Her hug was crushing his bones. He tried to break free, but decided that struggling was useless.
"Oh my god! A cat!" Ino checked the gender before continuing her statement. "You're a cute one! You're lucky you found a beautiful looking owner who is willing to take care of you! ...Neji? Are you Neji's cat? Geez, never knew Neji was so self-centered."
That got Neji mad. Since he was a cat, he was now free to express any emotion he wanted. With his claws, he dug deep into Ino's skin located at her arm, and made a swift movement down.
"Ouch!" Neji slinked away, leaving Ino was a scratch mark on her arm. "Self-centered cat! Note to self: animals for Neji's birthday are an absoulte no-no!"
Neji searched deeper into the forests. He was looking for a certain someone. Before he knew it, he was being lifted yet again. It was another hug, but this hurt way more than Ino the bone crusher. It was Sakura. She was literally crushing his bones to the point where he thought he heard a crack somewhere near his ribcage. He cringed.
"Aww, you're so cute!" Sakura cooed, swinging Neji around. "I'll call you Sasuke!"
Neji was furious. I have a nametag, you idiot! The name is Neji. N-E-J-I. Get that through your thick skull, woman.
Neji scratched her cheek. Sakura momentarily let him go. Neji scampered away at the speed of a bullet. Sakura looked around, confused. 'Why did the cat scratch me? Plus, where did he go?'
Neji noticed Temari in the clearing. Before she could even spot him, he hid himself among the bushes. Soon, he came into the training grounds of his own team. There was Tenten, with a confused Lee and Gai-sensei.
"Are you sure you haven't seen Neji, sensei?" Neji noticed that Tenten was merely choking just trying to hide the hint of concern in her voice. She was relieved to know that Lee and Gai-sensei hadn't noticed, despite how obvious how much concern her voice held. Neji's heart fluttered. So Tenten was worried? About him? He was amazed.
"No, Lee and I haven't." Gai-sensei said. "Tenten, you've been training almost every single minute of every day of your life. Take a five-day break."
"No, Gai-sensei, I can't----" Tenten protested.
Gai-sensei waved her off. "Sure you can! I want you to enjoy every last moment of those five days! I want you to find the inner flower of your youth." He lowered his voice so that Lee could not hear. "Bloom beautifully, even more than Sakura."
Tenten sweatdropped. "Whatever you say, sensei. I'm going to take that five day break." She inwardly added, Because you're freaking me out now!
Gai-sensei and Lee enthusiastically waved her off. Tenten sighed, walking home. Neji followed her silently, noticing that she was talking to herself.
"I hope Neji-kun is alright. It's probably just a sickness. A Hyuuga can get sick, I'm sure of it," Tenten said, reassuring herself.
Neji silently meowed. If only Tenten knew...
Tenten heard the soft sound and saw a small black cat following her. She picked it up tenderly, unlike Ino and Sakura, and began to pet it gently. "Hello there! Neji? Are you Neji's cat? Oh wait. That's impossible, Hiashi's allergic to cats! How could I forget? Are you lost, little guy?"
Neji nodded. Tenten gently squeezed the cat to her chest. "You're so cute, you know that? Come on, let's go home. I'll take care of you, Gai-sensei gave me a few days off."
'Which is all the time I need...' Neji silently thought to himself, as he began to purr softly.
As soon as Tenten reached her house, she plopped herself on her bed. She lifted the cat in the air, playing with him. Tenten could not help but giggle as she did so.
"I feel so naive just doing this," Tenten sighed to herself. "Then again, I never had the chance to actually feel like a young child. I guess I could say I was always blinded by my dreams at an early to become the best kunoichi I could be. So...I've always trained for most of my life."
Neji felt a pang of sympathy for her. He, unlike her, had the chance to feel like a little child, even if it only had been for the years he could not remember. He heard himself slip out a soft, sad meow in response. It made Tenten smile again.
"Don't feel bad." Tenten sturdied herself and sat cross-legged on the bed, while releasing Neji from her grip. Neji, however, did not want to be put down. Thanks to him being a cat, he could do anything to increase her affection towards him, while also feeling loved as well. Neji desperately pawed the air. Tenten reluctantly lifted him back into her arms.
"You really do love attention, don't you? You're a cat, yet you're so small in size, like a kitten. Not that it matters to me anyway, but I was curious." Tenten yawned all of a sudden and chuckled. "I guess I've got major fatigue from this morning. You don't mind if I sleep now, do you?"
Neji shook his head. With a final smile for the day, Tenten fell into a peaceful slumber. As soon as Neji heard her breathing softly to a calming rhythm, he walked up to her face and brushed his face against her cheek gently.
'You're really...cute...when you're asleep...' Neji silently admitted to himself. Neji curled up beside Tenten and began to feel browsy...Then all turned black for him.
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Some woman decides Neji becomes a cat because her efforts are wasted. How mean! She can't do that to the Hyuuga Neji! If we were talking real life here, that woman would be mobbed by the Neji fangirls (including me) before she can even attempt to. I'll try to update as soon as I can, so please be patient with me.