As requested I don't know how many years ago, seriously it took me years to actually write this story for a character not my own, here is a short fiction about Neji and Yue (original character of a friend). I'm sorry it's not as fluffy or romantic or whatever romance has to have, I just felt like this better suits the characters. That and I have trouble working with another's original characters, unless they belong to my sisters. Those I can kinda get a feel from and write them sort of how they actually are with little mistakes here and there.

Disclaimer: I don't own Neji or Yue.

Don't you all dare ask for another part because this is a one-shot. You have been warned.

In the past, she had been one of the many genin divided into teams of three and assigned to a specific sensei to best fit the group's qualities. Neji had never truly paid much attention to her back then, because there was nothing rather extraordinary about her to begin with. She was average in everything she did, from grades to field work, and she didn't belong to any clan of importance. Even the sensei assigned to her team was average and unheard of and a rather cheerful fellow that had recently been given the title of jounin. There was nothing of interest that could catch his attention at that time, but he did remember her and that in itself was something rare.

She was around his age, he guessed by her looks and the memory of sharing classes with her, had long silver hair that reminded him of sterling silver, and her eyes were a sparkling gray color that sometimes reflected the colors she wore. There was always a smile on her face, she was always greeting people cheerfully and he swore she knew all the people in the village by their first name. Although, he rarely saw her spending any time with her team and he couldn't find her name on the missions list—he checked it out of curiosity—but he remembered he had never learned her name and so it would be impossible to find it.

He learned something new about her every day, mostly because he thought he would ask his teammates about her, about her name, and the reactions he got were rather overwhelming. Rock Lee knew her, spoke with her, and was often given ointment by her and scolded to take it easy and not to overdo it in training. Lee called her by her family name, Ishiyama, and was extremely curious about Neji asking about her. Ten-Ten, however, seemed a bit peeved about him asking about Yue, that was what she had called her, and she didn't understand his sudden interest in the girl. She also knew her and had spoken to her, telling Neji how she felt about the girl and left it clear that the two didn't see eye to eye.

Yue worked in a family own business, a restaurant run by her parents, located at the center of the village and had a steady stream of clients, which were regulars. It was rare for them to be serving shinobi, but it wasn't something so strange that it would cause a scene. When Neji arrived, he was greeted by her and taken to a small table in the back, far from windows, but close to where he could see Yue behind the counter. Her silver hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, her bangs swept to the side and held by a clip to show her eyes, which shone brightly. Her smile was wide and friendly, but there was something off about her today. There, wrapped tightly on her left forearm, was a bleached cotton cloth.

"I accidently dropped hot water on myself," she said with a laugh when she caught Neji staring. "I shouldn't have been trying to carry plates while pouring water in a ramen bowl. My left hand isn't strong enough to balance the heavy weight. It's not usually used for such an action, but I'm learning."

She placed, ironically, the ramen bowl in front of him, giving such an explanation without losing the bright smile from her lips or the cheerfulness in her voice. It had been an accident, apparently, but he wondered why she wasn't able to manage a perfect balance or why her left hand wasn't as strong as her right. As a shinobi, one was expected to perfect the ability of striking with both hands, both being strong enough to strike anything with the same amount of force as the other. He, of course, didn't ask about her lack of ability to lift a simple ladle filled with water without burning herself.

"You're doing it again," she called out from the counter, giggling. Her back was to him as she sorted out papers, then moved to reach over her head for a small vase and Neji feared she would drop it on her head.

"Doing what," he asked in a monotone voice.

"Staring," Yue responded. She turned back to face him, or more precisely, back to face the front of the counter. Taking the lid from the vase, she tilted it forward until its content spilled onto the small bowl next to the register. "It's only a mild burn, you know. The bandaging was mother's idea, to prevent infection or something."

"Oh," was all he could muster, and he wanted to beat himself for not being able to say any more. He should be able to think on his feet, to make difficult decisions in a split second, yet he couldn't come up with any topic that would keep Yue speaking to him. He couldn't even think of a way to have her give her name so he wouldn't sound like a creep when he called her by it. Not that he was thinking of calling her by her first name, because that would be disrespectful!

It wouldn't be until weeks later that he would have a chance to see her once more. After a particularly long mission that had him dragging his feet once he arrived at Konoha, he ran into Yue walking out of the Yamanka flower shop holding a small bouquet of bright colored flowers he couldn't name. He stopped dead in his tracks, a million thoughts passing through his head, yet he couldn't decipher any of them to actually walk up to her and do the most normal thing possible: greet her like any decent human being would.

Nevertheless, even with the lack of a clear thought, Neji headed straight towards her, because that was the only way to the Hokage's office, and also because he didn't think it was possible for him to lack the ability to communicate properly with anyone. It was unheard of and shameful and absolutely not possible for him to be tongue-tied because of this girl, but as he neared her and heard her laughing, he almost turn back and escaped. But Yue would have none of that, her voice drifting to him as she called out.

"Neji!" Yue ran to him, one arm in the air waving for him to stop. He felt cornered as she stopped in front of him and he had to fully turn to face her as he had just been about to head in the opposite direction of the Hokage. "I haven't seen you at the restaurant in almost a month! What happened, do you not like our food anymore?"

"Uh . . . it's not," he stammered, cheeks flushing red as Yue peeked at his face. "I was on a mission . . . near Suna . . ."

There was a pause. A very long pause in which Neji couldn't look Yue in the eyes and instead looked at the shop she had just exited. Ino was peeking above some of the roses, a large grin playing on her lips as she watched him squirm. His face burned, the blush spreading, the red color deepening the longer Yue studied him. Her lips were curving up at the end, and Neji brazed for the worse, whatever that might be. However, Yue just reached a hand out and touched his upper arm, a smile now fully formed on her lips.

"Why don't you drop by once you've reported to the Hokage." It wasn't a question, maybe an invitation, or a suggestion not to be ignored, judging by her hand that was still on his arm. "You need to get some good food in you and rest, I mean, look at you—you're about to fall over, and you might have a fever."

He didn't have a fever.

But he didn't correct her, it would be that much more mortifying to let her know that he was blushing simply because she was speaking to him. He pulled back a bit, watching as she dropped her hand from him and raise her brow in question. It was probably seen as a rude gesture, but he couldn't have her touching him at the moment. He was too agitated and her touch sent blood buzzing to his ears, in other words, she was too distracting to deal with.

"I—I have to go," he mumbled, moving to step by her. He was guilty of momentarily using his Byakugan to see her as she stood a few seconds in the center of the path, looking at his back as he walked away before she made her way to her family's restaurant. Looking over his shoulder, he slump forward and sighed deeply, holding a hand to his chest where his heart was pounding.

There was nothing Neji could do to stop these reactions after seeing Yue, and he preferred to keep his distance in fear that he would make a fool of himself in front of her. Taking longer than usual to report his mission to the Hokage, he left her office a little passed eleven o'clock at night in hopes that when he passed the restaurant it would be closed and he would have the excuse that he had taken too long with Lady Tsunade, but, for the very first time, things didn't go according to his—very carefully laid out—plans.

The lights of the restaurant were dimmed almost completely, but they were not turned off. It was empty for the most part, only a couple of workers cleaning in the back alley, and about three people in the reception area having a late night dinner. He was sure it would have been closed, but when he moved closer and a blur from the counter materialized before him, he figured it wasn't.

"Neji!" That cheerful greeting again, with not an ounce of weariness to be heard. Grey eyes watched him beneath silver lashes, that bright smile playing on her lips as she asked, "What're you doing here so late at night? Shouldn't a shinobi like you be resting up?"

"I-uh-I," once again, he was at a loss for words. He blinked his translucent eyes at her, slightly tilting his head to the side and asked, "Didn't you say to come?"

"Well, yes," she said, a small blush playing on her cheeks. "But I thought your report took longer than you expected and you weren't coming. Actually, if it wasn't for Kumi asking for an emergency day off, I wouldn't have seen you in gods knows when! Well don't just stand there, come in and have a seat."

Neji let her pull him by the arm and take him to his usual seat in the back, next to the counter where he could always see her. Unlike the other days when she would take his order and give it to whatever cook was in, she left to the kitchen to make his dinner herself, although she never asked for his order. It was something expected as the late night cook, which he guessed was Kumi, had to leave and Yue was left alone to run the business at night. He thought that was a horrible idea, the absolute worst thing for a girl to be doing at such late hours, but when Yue came back carrying a bowl of herring soba and placing it in front of him, he forgot his complaints.

"How did you know I like herring soba?" He asked, but didn't add that it was his favorite dish.

Yue, with a smile, shrugged her shoulders, "Coincidence?"

"Is that so," he said with a teasing smile, "or is it because there is very few ingredients at this time of night?"

"There's that, too." She laughed, sending Neji's blood rushing to his face. Yue took a seat in front of him, leaning on the knuckles of her hands as she said, "But, seeing as it's your favorite, it was destiny for those ingredients to be the only ones left."

Now that was just beyond guessing and he arched a brow at her, "How—"

"Coincidence!" Yue said again, too cheerfully, her cheeks flushed red, and she couldn't seem to look Neji in the eyes. "You think too much, Neji, just eat."

He did, but all the while, as Yue went from table to table and wiping them down, he couldn't stop thinking about their small conversation. There was something he should be understanding with that small exchanged of words, but he couldn't quite place what it was and why it felt like it was something important. It wasn't after he finished his food and that Yue came to take the bowl that he figured it out. Quicker than the eye, and before Yue could pull her hand away, his hand struck out and grabbed her by the wrist.

Yue, startled, jumped slightly, her eye wide. "W-what's wrong, Neji?"

He studied her silently for a second before responding, "How did you learn my name, Ishiyama?"

She stammered before stubbornly puffing out her chest just ever so slightly and declaring, "The same way you learned my name!"

"You asked Lee about me?"

"What—no, I was in the academy with you. You sat in front of me," she said and then asked, a bit confused, "You asked Lee about me? And you can't remember an old classmate's name?! We did speak back then, you know."

"I . . ." Neji's face turned completely red. "Honestly, I don't remember speaking much to anyone that wasn't Lee of Ten-Ten."

"Yeah. You were kind of a jerk when we were kids." Neji stared at her, Yue laughed at his expression. "Oh come on, you know it's the truth! It was only after Naruto upper-cutted some sense into you that you noticed those around you . . . other than your teammates."

"And that bothers you," Neji noted, to which Yue shrugged.

"Not really, but I am curious on why you asked them about me . . . and what they said, sorta." She moved to take the bowl again, walking away towards kitchen and Neji following close behind. She placed the bowl in the sink and turned on the water, not looking back at Neji as she spoke, "You're not supposed to be back here."

Neji hadn't meant to follow her into the kitchen and had actually done so subconsciously without his knowing, but he wasn't about to inform Yue of that. He stood behind her in silence, coaching himself to take steady, even breaths as Yue washed the bowl and turned to place in with the others. She brushed up against him, moving from left to right as she tried to move towards the exit, but Neji was blocking her path.

"Neji," she said, a tight, nervous chuckle escaped her lips. "I'm serious. You can't be back here—you'll get me in trouble with the owners."

"This is a family own establishment," he answered, moving further into the center to block her way more efficiently. "You are the owner."

"My parents own it!" She argued, "I'm just a worker. A worker that has to follow orders—and you have to follow mine and stay out of the kitchen during working hours."

"Then it's fine to be here. You close at nine during the week, at ten during the weekends, and it's midnight." Neji didn't budge from the spot, although Yue seemed to be pressing on his chest with all her might. His lips twitched into a smile, "Are you sure your late shift was coincidence?"

"I-it was!" She pushed at him with her shoulder now, her ear rather close to where his heart was and he hoped she couldn't hear the wild beat it made at her touch. "Geez, and here I thought you had turned into a nice guy. Why don't you budge?!"

"You ignored your ninja training, and that's why I'm much stronger than you now." He said, watching as a certain look passed through her eyes for a second. "So I guessed right, you did leave your team and started work here."

"Things happened, and, no it's not destiny calling, you fate believer." To that, Neji smiled. One could choose their own path, he learned that, but Yue hadn't been in his life long enough for her to know much about his personality change in depth. "My parents needed the extra help and we couldn't pay for it. That's when their kids come in handy, and there was no need to ask us for help. It's the least we could do after they raised us."

"Your brother helps out, too?" Neji asked, looking back into the reception area. "Is he here?"

"No," Yue was now pulling on his arm. "He's currently in Kumogakure overseeing an expansion of the business, or something like that."

Neji watched as she tried to pull him to the side, then tried to squeeze passed him, but she had no such luck and he wasn't about to just let her leave. He kept his place, letting Yue throw his arm over her shoulder and pull towards the sink, and he still did not move. He wasn't even putting up a fight and let her do as she pleased, knowing all too well that she would never move him from that spot.

"I," he blushed when Yue turned to give him a stern look. He gulped and began again, "I wanted to ask you something . . . If you have the time."

"Of course I have the time," she said, her lips twitching into a smile. "It doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere any time soon."

He didn't move, thinking she would bolt through the kitchen door if he did, because she looked about ready to jump onto the counter to evade him. Neji was sure he would react fast enough to grab hold of her if she did, but that wouldn't help his cause.

"Tomorrow," he began, looking away from her. "At seven in the afternoon. If you don't happen to have a shift that night . . ."

Yue was blushing when he took a peek.

"W-what's a coincidence," she stuttered. "Kumi will be filling in my shift that night."

Neji grinned at her and softly mumbled to himself, "You can even say it was destined."

Yue tilted her head in confusion having not heard his words, but Neji just shrugged it off and said it was nothing. Saying his goodbyes and reminding her of their date, he left the now empty restaurant and headed for the Hyuuga compound with a large smile on his face. Something very rarely seen by the villagers, and seen only by a few Hyuuga members that night.