hey, kids. i'm back...well sort of. again, apologies to my "love is a battlefield" readers. my computer died as i was finishing the next chapter and i lost the whole thing. if you've ever had it happen, you know it's really hard to rewrite something after you liked the first version. so, never fear, it will come out eventually—i promise. in the meantime, here's a story starter. it'd be really awesome if you guys could review and tell me if you'd like this to go Neji x Tenten or Shikamaru x Temari cause i'm willing to try my hand at both. and i'd just love to hear your opinion :) enjoy.

---

Hinata yanked the navy sweater over her head and fixed her hair in the mirror. What had she been thinking letting Sakura and Ino put blue highlights in it? Well, technically, she hadn't been thinking anything. They'd kind of sort of drug her into the salon and paid for it, claiming it was a birthday present. Only her birthday had been a month before that. She sighed. It wasn't so bad—the color was dulling.

She jumped at the buzzing noise. Oh. Right. Neji must be there already. With a quick adjustment to her hem, she grabbed her black messenger back and slung it over her shoulder. Phone in one hand, chapstick in the other, she stumbled out of the bedroom.

"Coming nii-san!" she called, hoping he heard her through the door. Snatching a vanilla yogurt granola bar from the basket on the counter and stuffing it, half open, into her mouth, she fished a vitamin water out of the fridge and bolted to the door. Loosing the chain with a tiny clack and turning the lock, she opened the door.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama. Are you ready for class?"

She nodded, suddenly very embarrassed that she hadn't waited to eat the granola bar. He sighed almost indulgently and made to beckon her out. She took a step towards fresh air before he stopped her.

"You need a coat, Hinata-sama," Neji commented in his usual monotone.

The granola bar still in place, she turned and fished a light black overcoat from the coat rack behind her rather than protest that it was too warm for a coat. He held the door for her once again, and Hinata stepped out into the spring sunshine. The grass was green and there was a breeze and Mr. Sun had come out to play—today would be a good day. The click told her Neji had locked the door. His soft footsteps behind her prompted her to make her way to the usual silver car.

She gave a huff of frustration around the vanilla goodness when Neji wouldn't even let her open the door by herself. Once she was seated and could actually pull her breakfast out of her mouth, she turned to him and pouted, as she had never been able to cultivate a glare that could even hope to compare to her roommate's.

"Neij nii-san, I am fully capable of opening a car door without breaking something," she muttered.

"I promised Hyuuga-sama that I would chauffeur you to school and back. That is part of the job description." Hinata wasn't one to be easily annoyed, but Neji had a surprising tendency to pick at just the right nerves. She wasn't a china doll.

"Oto-san isn't here to know whether you open my door or not," she pointed out, pulling the belt across her lap. He turned the key and the engine thrummed to life.

"Nevertheless," he stated, effectively ending the conversation. She ignored him in favor of her breakfast. Mmmm...vanilla...

"Where is your roommate this morning?"

Hinata looked at him, slightly surprised. She wasn't even aware that Neji had actually noticed her roommate. But then he was playing bodyguard every day anyway; she supposed that he thought he should notice that kind of thing.

"Tenten had an 8:30 class so she rode the metro," Hinata explained, unscrewing her vitamin water. As she turned the bottle in her hands, Hinata's expression brightened further yet—she'd grabbed strawberry-kiwi. Today was definitely a good day.

"Ah," Neji offered in response. "Your world affairs class is first, correct?" He was so stiff, Hinata thought, murmuring a yes around her bottle. He gently brought the car to a halt at the red light. She needed to get him to focus on something besides taking care of her. Sure, she loved her cousin, but he could be very...overbearing. She bit her lip; that was a bit harsh of her—he was just trying to keep her safe. After all, Oto-san had only agreed to let her go to school in Tokyo because he trusted Neji to watch out for her. She owed Neji a lot of her freedom.

"Thanks, Neji," she murmured softly, twisting the bottlecap in her fingers.

"Huh?"

"For coming with me to Tokyo."

"No thanks needed, nii-chan," he replied softly, eyes fixed on the road. Hinata traded the giggle in her throat for a sweet smile; Neji was only this sentimental around her.

"Do you have class today?" she asked, steering the conversation to more comfortable subjects. Neji didn't like being sentimental; she was pretty sure he thought he needed to be a stoic, obedient bodyguard all the time.

"I have a chemistry lab and world literature," he scrunched his nose at the literature. Neji was definitely a sciences person; there was a method and a reason to everything. Sometimes she thought he was too logical, but if he were not, he wouldn't be Neji.

"I'm sure you'll survive lit," she encouraged, just a touch of teasing in her voice.

"Survive to be sure," he sighed. "On the other hand, sleep is a distinct possibility." Hinata did giggle at that.

He pulled up at the edge of campus nearest her class. She heard him pop the automatic locks and grabbed her things. As she swung the door open and set her foot on the curb, she heard him ask, "Cell?"

"Of course. I'll call you when I'm done. Does your lab run through lunch?"

"Unfortunately, so I'll see you at the end of the day, Hinata-sama," he lapsed back into the formal.

"Bye then, nii-san. Have a good day." She shut the door gently and half-skipped down to the commons lawn.

"Hinata-chan!" Hinata whirled at her name.

"Ah! Temari-san," she smiled brightly. The blonde stretched from her perch under the tree and made her way over.

"I haven't seen you since last week," she half-scowled. "World affairs is fucking boring without you." Hinata tried not to flinch at the cursing; she had a sneaking suspicion Temari cursed as much as she did because she knew it put Hinata on edge.

"Sorry. There was a last minute financial negotiation, and oto-san wanted me to sit in on the proceedings."

Temari jammed her hands in the pockets of her raggedy black pleated skirt. "I always forget that you're the heiress to that huge beast."

"You mean Hyuga International. Although it does devour my time like a beast. I'm sure that after graduate school I won't even have a life," she sighed, fiddling with her messenger bag strap.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," the older woman promised, tiny fan earrings tinkling as she shook her head emphatically. Hinata smiled at her gratefully then frowned.

"You might have to fight Neji for me, though."

"He still opening doors for you like we haven't left the 1900's?"

"He means well..." Hinata fought to defend Neji. He did mean well after all, but sometimes...

"It's irritating," Temari shrugged. Hinata tried not to be offended; Temari was very blunt about her opinions. "Women like you and me, we aren't made to be protected." Hinata looked puzzled at the comparison—she and Temari were very far from alike. Temari caught the unspoken question seamlessly:

"Well, I'm so jagged and sharp that nobody dares to touch me, but you, you're..." Temari paused for the right words, pursing her lips. "You're like polished diamond—beautiful but almost unbreakable." She grinned, satisfied with her description. Temari was an insightful woman; maybe someday Hinata could convince her to work for her. She'd be a wonderful aggressive negotiator—contradictory though that sounded.

"We should get to class," Hinata nodded at the suddenly flow of people across the campus. Temari shrugged, readjusted her own messenger bag, and made for the building. Hinata followed her black knee-high boots until Temari scowled and dragged her up so they were walking alongside each other.

"I'm not a fucking mother duck, so don't you act like a duckling, Hinata-chan," Temari reprimanded. As if anyone would ever mistake her for the warm, motherly type, Hinata thought, amused. All my friendships are so completely unorthodox, she laughed to herself as Temari shoved some boy out of her way.

"Move it, moron!" the blonde called by way of explanation, ignoring his protests. "Boys are such fucking idiots!" she muttered under her breath. Hinata offered a half-meant apology to the young man and rushed to catch up to her brazen friend. Definitely unorthodox.

---

so, let me know which way you want this to go. please? cause i want to keep writing it. if you happen to be the only reviewer, you might get to decide all by yourself. so, review! please.