DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. XP

Author's notes: Another short fic (a drabble…) inspired after reading "Forsaken" by Hyuga Haruka and "Forbidden" by GourdBreaker. Hence, the title. This just wouldn't leave me be. So I made a two-part drabble. This is the first.

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Forsake the Forbidden

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Hinata is the first one he sees when he enters the gates of Konoha after a year of being sent to another country for a long-term mission.

Her hands are held in front of her chest, she's shyly smiling, waiting for him.

When he finally comes into sight, she's hesitant as her foot is suspended in a step forward but he makes no move; his mind is still trying to convince himself of the reality before him.

She closes the distance and wraps her arms around his torso.

"Okaeri..."

His paralysis is dissipated by her warmth but his mind is still petrified, even as his arms come around her hesitantly. He wants to respond "Tadaima" but his throat is lodged.

But when her lavender and lilac scent sets his olfactory in motion, he places a hand behind her head.

She pulls away to smile at him, a a rosy hue spread through her cheeks.

He pulls her head back to the crook of his neck as his hand strokes her dark hair. He closes his eyes, fighting the despair and relief behind his eyes.

Hinata's forehead bore the Caged Bird Seal.

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"Since when?" Neji asks as his eyes stare at the cursed seal, fingers tracing the green lines on her forehead. He and Hinata were lying on his bed, both on their sides.

Hinata has been living in the Branch quarters for the past year, and she helped him fix his room (just across from hers) and unpack upon his return, while she told him everything that had happened over the span of time he was gone. Afterwards, they just found themselves lying on the bed, basking in a silence.

"A month ago."

"Why?"

Hinata sat up, looking down at her knees as her hands lay flat at her sides on the sheets of Neji's bed. "There were more... incentives attached to this choice."

Neji rested on his elbow, studying her face. Hinata ran a hand through his long tresses and stopped at the ends of his hair. She avoided his eyes by concentrating on the whirling strands, feeling a few trapped locks between her thumb and forefinger.

"You, Hanabi, Otousan..." Neji noticed the sorrow in her opal orbs. "If I can please the people important to me, if I can protect them, then this sacrifice will not be in vain."

"Are you happy?"

A corner of Hinata's lips turned up to a smile. " I am now."

They were still in their positions as Hinata continued to play with Neji's hair.

"You know, Neji, this..." Hinata lets go of the brown strands and runs her fingers over her forehead. "Having this doesn't feel so bad anymore."

His only reply is to pull her face closer to his with a hand on her nape before pressing his lips to hers.

Somehow, seeing the seal mirrored in her forehead, being caged didn't seem so grim anymore, not if they're caged together.

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A/n: Ah, well. I'm a frustrated NejiHina fanfic writer. Hey, calling all NejiHina authors out there! Please update your fics!!! T-T I'm a NejiHina addict and the lack of updated fics is starting to bring about withdrawal symptoms. I'm just filling my addiction with fanfic writing. T-T And it's so frustrating me. XP

Btw, is anyone here fluent in Japanese? Coz I happen to have a NejiHina doujinshi entitled Kyou Ai (it's hentai, but... that was the only NejiHina doujinshi I could find for dL) and it's in Jap. I can't read Kanji. If anyone wants, I can send it through email. If someone's really great, they can scanlate it. If someone's willing, they can translate it. I hope to read the dialogue. T~T

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELCOMED BUT NOT FLAMES!