Author Note: This one is actually based on my life at the moment, in almost the exact context. One shot unless anyone asks for more...doubt u will...
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Naruto, but I do own this story so, keep from taking it 'kay :0) -- (or else you may meet a sad sad fate with many rabid squirrels involved...)
Neji looked at me emotionlessly from a few yards away but I suspect he was disgusted. It had been two weeks and I still wasn't able to land the tornado jump-kick he had shown me. Actually, it had been a lot longer but I was lucky he didn't know it. I had actually first seen Neji practicing the combination a year ago but I still hadn't been able to get it right after all my private practice, I was just thankful Neji didn't know how much of a failure I really was. Spins, and flips, aren't my thing; I can jump and kick as well as anybody but there is a reason I am a weapons specialist after all.
I got up and brushed myself off.
For as long as I have been training in ninja arts I have been better than any of the kunoichi in my class and some of the shinobi but I always fell short at complicated jumps. I could execute all of the standard offensive jump kicks and two of the higher level jump spins but nothing more complicated than that and I was always painfully aware of exactly how much better Neji was than me and how he always seemed to be watching when I messed up.
If I had to pin point the moment when I first started liking him, I wouldn't be able to do it but I know that I admired him before I liked him and wanted to impress him because he himself was so impressive.
He was a prodigy recognized from the age of five and all his teachers made a special effort to mold him and perfect him. He's never been especially attractive and I don't think he is, but he's beautiful in a way, and I'm reminded of that every time I watch him fight.
I don't even know if we'd get along because he's never really talked to me unless it's to answer a question I ask first, and even then, it's only happened twice.
I remember joking with Minami once about random holidays right before she left on a trip to visit relative in the Rice Country and saying something like, "great! Then you'll be here for Saturday." Right then Neji walked by and he asked me what was happening on Saturday and I didn't have the sense to tell him "nothing!" So I said "international youth day" instead with a stupid smile and he just stared at me for a second and walked away slowly. Every time I think about that I want to slap myself in the forehead.
Fabulous, he thinks I'm a weirdo and he knows I'm incompetent…but of course that's not the end. He's seen me cry too, in the middle of a test. It was the midterm exam for taijutsu and I messed up my form halfway through the second section and bowed out before I had finished. I sat down in one of the corners, hugged my knees to my chest and cried as quietly as I could manage. Neji had finished already and passed with flying colors—he spent all of two seconds disinterestedly looking in my direction; and when he looked away I couldn't tell if he was more revolted or bored.
There were plenty of other guys I could have liked, guys people expected me to like. Hiroshi and Ryoku for instance. Lots of girls thought they were hot and they were my best friends, we hung out and trained together all the time. I could have liked Takashi too, we weren't that close to each other but he was hilarious and we always made each other laugh. Everyone expected me to eventually go out with one of them, I almost expected myself to go out with one of them but it didn't happen…and I have no idea why…
I went into a preparation stance again and landed the first part of the combination easily, only to mess up the jump spin.
"As expected…"he stated quietly under his breath.
Picked my self off the ground. Great.