Cross your heart

Give me your word

Play your part

Keep me on your side

Make your mark

Never get hurt

Spend your time sharpening your knives

The notorious coldness of Neji Hyuuga met Kyou at the gates of Konohagakure. How used she was to it – it was all he offered to her, whether they were on a mission or simply meeting in a group of people outside duty. It was no secret to anyone that Kyou adored the Hyuuga prodigy blindly. Her friends had tried to talk her out of her stupor, saying it was ridiculous and would lead only to heartbreak, but a teenaged girl in love isn't likely to take on advice. So here she was, once again, smiling her brightest smile at the receiving end of a cold shoulder.

"Good morning, Hyuuga-san!" she greeted him, readjusting her headband so no hair disturbed her view.

"Akaza," and a stiff nod were all she got back, but nonetheless a blush decorated her face for a second.

"Ready to ambush some evil-doers?" she asked as they took off.

"Hn."

"Me too."

Five hours later they stopped to set their traps. Neji had spied their targets moving fast their way, and it was up to Kyou to put up the traps, her speciality. Lady Hokage knew what she was doing when she put the young Akaza on the job. She was efficient and creative with strings, paper bombs, holes and triggers.

"You ready yet?" Neji asked, eyeing her work.

"How many did you say they were?" she asked, scratching her head and looking at her works.

"Five, how many times do I have to say that?"

"We might have a problem here. I don't think they're all going to come in a neat bunch, and at least the fifth one will have time to figure out what's going on and stop moving before triggering anything. We need a backup plan."

"Easy enough. I'll finish off the last one before he has time to decide a course of action. I don't see a problem there. Now let's get up to the trees, they should be here any second."

"Neji," Kyou whispered in the tree they were sitting in as they waited.

"What is it now?" the pale-eyed man hissed back at her. From the corner of his eye he saw the concern on her face.

"What if something goes wrong?"

"We'll just hope nothing does. Kami, this isn't your first mission or anything!"

"It is the first alone with you. Promise me you won't get hurt."

Something moved inside the block of ice that was Neji Hyuuga, and that movement confused him greatly. Gritting his teeth against this possibly hostile new sensation, he whispered:

"Just shut up and concentrate."

"I'm going down there with you if you can't promise me." Her eyes were more serious than he had ever thought she might be capable of conjuring. It caused that unsettling moving to repeat itself. He decided to ignore it and activated his Byakugan.

"They'll be here in three seconds," he informed her.

"Never get hurt," she whispered hastily, her eyes glancing his way only briefly before focusing back to the ground below them.

"Concentrate," he answered.

There was an explosion, a surprised yelp, a shriek of pain and another explosion. Before the smoke cleared off Neji was down from the tree-branch and making his way towards the remaining member of the group they had been ordered to destroy. Kyou was after him in a flash, rushing foolishly in the smoke that prevented her from determining the shapes of the ground. She heard a yell and a gurgle coming roughly from in front of her, indicating Neji had finished off the last member of the enemy team. She picked up speed, relief lightening her steps, but before she could reach her partner she ran into something hard and was out cold.

Neji swirled the ramen around the cup with his chopsticks, leaning his head to his hand and staring into emptiness. The week had been very unnerving. He had found Kyou easily right after she had run into a tree and fallen down. As a responsible partner and a sensible shinobi he had checked her vitals for any irregularity and, just because he could, her chakra flow. It had been prevented in her head by the meeting with the bark, but otherwise there was nothing wrong with her as far as he could tell. So, he had brought her back to the village, left her in the care of the fussing nurses at the hospital and gone home to write the report. He had truly assumed he would have had the girl smiling at him from across the street in no time, but this time the great Neji Hyuuga had been proven wrong.

He had asked Sakura how she was. She had grinned at him in a very irritating manner and told him he should go and see her. He had made a little noise of discontent before leaving the scene. He had also asked Lee if his friend Aki, who worked at the hospital, would know. Lee had asked and come back with the report that Kyou had been unconscious for three days and only just woken up only to find out that the stopping of chakra flow in her head had resulted in some damage. Her right hand had been limp for about 48 hours, and now that it was working again, there was no chakra going through it. Neji had thanked Lee and gone home contemplating whether he should go visit her or not.

And now, two days later at Ichiraku Ramen, he came to a decision. He would go. They had, after all, been on the mission together; it was his duty to see she was more or less fine.

At the hospital, he was told the room she was in and assured it was all right to visit her – actually, he wasn't the only visitor. Opening the door to her room he discovered Kiba Inuzuka sitting on the edge of her bed, holding her hand in both of his. A reaction activated in Neji, not unlike the one he had felt on the mission. But this wasn't warm in a soft way, like that one had been. This was burning hot white, and he was surprised to find that he would be more than happy to punch the lights out of Kiba. Oh, would that have felt good!

"Neji!" Kyou smiled, disturbing his image of perhaps strangling the mutt with his own intestines. Neji managed a little smile at her and took a step closer. Kiba stood up from her bed, grinning like an idiot – which he was, Neji added in his mind – and stretched his back.

"Well, Kyou, I'll be going. We'll discuss more when you come over," he said, winked at the smiling girl and made his way out past Neji.

"Come and sit, you'll be more comfortable," her happy and friendly voice said. Neji did as she asked quietly.

"How have you been?" he asked and was surprised of the way his voice got stuck in his throat and making him sound slightly raspy.

"Well, you've probably heard – no chakra in this hand," she sighed and wiggled the fingers of her right hand. "The chakra points are fine, but my brain won't send it. But no biggie, I think I could learn to use my left one with the more tricky settings."

They sat in silence for a while. Kyou looked at Neji with a smile on her lips and in her eyes. Neji's eyes, on the other hand, were in the covers of the bed and a frown on his features.

"What was Inuzuka doing here?" he finally asked, looking up into her eyes. Her smile widened.

"His mother kindly offered me a treatment that could possibly help. Fur therapy. It is supposed to help in many kinds of situations, and my nurse thought it wouldn't hurt to try. So I'll be going around Kiba's five times a week for an hour to just pet Akamaru. I'm really looking forward to it."

"I could get a dog."

She laughed, and the sound struck Neji quite suddenly. Had her laughter always been so sweet? Or was this only because he hadn't heard it in a week?

"I really can't see you as a dog person, Neji," she said, still chuckling. "But a cat might suit you."

"I could get a dog. But you'd have to come to my place, not to Inuzuka's."

"I think I could manage that. It's no secret I like you, Hyuuga-san."

"What happened to Neji?"

"I wasn't sure what you thought about me using it."

"The way you say it sounded nice. So you can call me that. Or whatever."

"Why thank you, Neji. Now, I should be getting out of here tonight."

"I'll walk you home. But we have to take a detour and visit someone who would sell me some kind of furry animal."

"I think I might be fine with your hair."

Her hand slid into his long black hair, fingertip rubbing his scalp gently. Unconsciously he leaned against her hand and closed his eyes. He heard her chuckle again.

"It took a concussion to get to you, Neji Hyuuga. Wonder what would've happened if I had been stabbed with a kunai."

This made Neji open his eyes and, without thinking about it, pull her close to his chest.

"Never get hurt," he demanded, searching her eyes with his.

"Now, you didn't promise me, either," she reminded him. "But you wouldn't let me get hurt, would you?"

"I'm glad you understand the realities of our situation."