Anthology -- Year One
(A note from the staff...)

This anthology is an accumulation of all of our first place fanfiction winners for our first year (2008). All of our entrants worked hard to ensure that their stories were entertaining, funny, sweet, sad, romantic, friendly (or whatever else the case may be), so be sure to take your time perusing through our collection. You won't be disappointed with what you read.

There are a few stories with more than one chapter and a few months with more than one winner, so don't be surprised if you see April or February twice in the drop down menu.

The DateMe staff would like to apologize for the late release of this anthology. Due to many circumstances (including giving the DeviantArt version of DateMe a much needed facelift for 2009) outside of their control, they simply didn't have time to post this until now. We hope that the winners and readers will all forgive us for being so tardy.

- 000 -

January 2008

Title: A Snowball Fight to Remember
Author: BlueQuartzFoxy
Rating: PG-13 ( T )
Challenge: A New Beginning
Pairing: NejiHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slender mitten-covered hands delved deeply into a mound of snow. Skilled fingers formed a perfect snowball as a right arm pulled back to launch the ball of cold wet stuff. First however, pale eyes strained- faintly visible wrinkles proved she was using Byakugan to seek out her target-.

'There!' Hinata thought as she turned ninety-degrees to her right, her arm raised high to pelt her younger sister with the snowball; yet the elder sibling's reaction was too slow, for within a second Hinata's face flinched as wet snow hit the side of her face.

"Ahhh! Cold. Cold. Cold!" Hinata squealed as some snow managed to wiggle its way underneath the hood of a jacket and down her neck and back.

"Heh, I gotcha you good this time, Hinata!' Hanabi crowed, yet the young Genin quickly ducked back around the side of the house when Hinata blindly threw her snowball…and missed.

While Hinata attempted to brush bits of melting snow off her neck, Hanabi dared once more to venture from around her secure 'fort'.

"Hinata…I hate to break this to you; but your aiming could use a little work." Hanabi teased followed closely by laughter as the younger sister saw Hinata blush in embarrassment while at the same time her eyes narrowed into a look of determination.

Earlier that morning Hinata was simply minding her own business, passing by the training grounds, when Hanabi suddenly started pelting her with snowballs. Having no choice, since Hanabi refused her older sister to cross until they engaged in a snowball fight, Hinata soon found herself forgetting her purpose for leaving the Hyuuga compound in the first place.

And that seemed to be Hanabi's plan. The younger sister recently took to complaining that ever since Hinata became a Jounin, she rarely saw her elder sibling around. So, even though it was inconvenient- yet fun- Hinata allowed herself to take part in Hanabi's snow fight.

What was frustrating however was the fact that Hanabi was so smug when she made a hit; yet whenever Hinata managed to nail her sister, the younger would shout that she was cheating or it the hit was simply dumb luck.

So while Hanabi chuckled to herself as her sister's cold misfortune, Hinata quickly bent down another mound of snow, quickly gathering up and shaping a large snowball in her hand.

Now it was Hanabi's turn to be caught unawares as Hinata's snowball made it's mark.

"Ugh!" Hanabi groaned as she wiped bits of snow off her check, "Quit cheating Hinata!" the younger sister yelled while shaking her right fist.

"I'm not cheating," Hinata said calmly, "You said it's only cheating when you hit someone after they've called a time out."

Hanabi's mouth curved down into a frown; but her displeasure didn't stop the girl from reaching down to gather more snow, Hinata mimicked her sister's action; both young women grinning like playful kids.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Take care Neji!" Tenten shouted as she waved before turning around.

"Good job on the mission." Lee said with a wide 'nice guy' grin before he turned, following Tenten down the same pathway, while Neji diverted to the left as the stone walkway forked.

A puff of warm white air escaped parted lips as Neji heaved a rare sigh of exhaustion. This last mission had been especially difficult and now all he wanted to do was eat a hot meal- to stave off the cold he was starting to feel from head to toe- and then crawl into bed and sleep.

However Neji's plans of a quiet afternoon was for naught, since the first noise to greet the young Jounin's ears were girlish giggles and surprised squeals.

Feeling a headache coming on, Neji's gaze narrowed, irritable thoughts already springing to mind as the young man prepared himself to snap at the children who had the gall to play when he was having a bad day.

Needless to say, Neji was surprised…no shocked to see that the two people he intended to 'tell off' was Hinata-sama and her younger sister.

For a moment Neji found himself struck silent and still as he watched Hinata laugh, her covered hands brushing snow off her pink flushed face.

This was one of the occasions Neji could recall seeing the young heiress so carefree and…happy.

Still, he wanted to rest and since the two Main House daughters were playing near the Branch House quarters, Neji knew he had to interrupt this snowball fight, if he had any hopes of resting that is.

"Hinata-sama…Hanabi-sama…could you move your snowball fight somewhere else…" Neji began, only to be interrupted mid-sentence as a snow ball hit him right between the eyes.

"Ha, looks like you did hit something after all!" Hanabi yelled, or at least Neji assumed it was Hanabi since he couldn't see a darn thing with all the snow covering his face.

'Oh no…' Hinata thought as she watched Neji's hands first fist tightly until he forced them to relax enough to reach up and wipe snow off his face.

And the look in his eyes, while mostly unreadable, didn't seem to be the look of one who found a face full of snow amusing.

"Who threw that?" Neji asked calmly.

Hanabi and Hinata exchanged nervous glances, at first it seemed both sisters were going to plea the fifth at the same time in an attempt to confuse Neji; but at the last second Hanabi caved.

"Hinata did it!" the younger sister stated before quickly ducking behind Hinata for protection.

"Hinata-sama…"

Hianta couldn't help but cringe as Neji spoke to her.

"I'm surprised that you would take part in such a childish game."

"Hey!" Hanabi piped up, "Snowball fights aren't childish! There are battles which require cunning, split second timing, and tolerance to cold and…stuff…" the young girl muttered.

"Throwing snow at one another doesn't sound very mature to me, Hanabi-sama." Neji said.

"Sorry Neji-niisan, I didn't mean to hit you with a snowball, I guess my aim was a little bit off." Hinata said suddenly, interrupting Hanabi and Neji's growing argument on the merits, or lack there of, of snowball fights.

Wiping away the last bits of, Neji frowned once more. He hated how Hinata always acted so down trodden and apologetic over trivial things. No one got hurt, well save for himself since the cold snow made his headache worsen. Also Hinata said so herself she hadn't intended to hit Neji in order to get him into the snowball fight, so in Neji's mind the young woman had nothing to be 'sorry' about.

"It's alright, Hinata-sama." Neji said, "But if you don't mind, could you and your sister take your snowball fight elsewhere."

Pale lavender eyes blinked as Hinata looked around to realize she and Hanabi had moved around the Hyuuga compound so much that they were now standing only a few feet from the Branch House quarters.

"Ah of course! You must be tired from your mission. We'll go to another part of the compound so you can rest." Hinata said, understanding as always, even before Neji could give the reason as to why he wanted his cousins to take their frivolity somewhere else.

"But Hinata…" the younger girl whined, "we don't have to leave just because Neji told us to." Hanabi protested even as the older sister took her hand to lead the second heiress away.

Neji watched the two sisters walk forward a few steps as Hanabi's words sank in.

Though he hadn't rudely demanded they leave or physically forced them to move, Neji knew he had broken up Hinata and Hanabi's fun.

After a moment's pause Neji decided as to what he must do next.

---

Hinata half-hoped that Neji would join the snowball fight, even if he was hit solely by accident; but her hope faltered and vanished when Hinata looked at Neji to see how tired her older cousin looked.

Though older and more experienced shinobi often told Hinata being a Jounin was a difficult task, the young woman hadn't truly appreciated how hard- and deadly- the solo missions were. Since she worked with Team 8 for so long, Hinata found herself having trouble adjusting to doing the occasional mission without Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino watching her back.

Within the past year Neji helped, in his own cool and aloof Neji-way, Hinata grow accustomed to being alone on those missions. And as they trained, Hinata could tell she was getting stronger, more confident, and more…like an adult. Because with Neji's help, Hinata knew that she was growing out of being a simple girl-child who wished to do good things.

And while childish things were being forgotten, Hinata found herself growing into the frame of a young woman who could accomplish those things she could only wish for in the past.

Granted she couldn't take full credit for the change. Naruto, her idol and childhood crush, inspired her to keep moving onward. Kurenai-sensei and her teammates helped her reach this point. And Neji…

Neji gave her the knowledge, the tools, and offered his own brand of quiet encouragement.

Speaking of Neji…

"Hinata-sama, could you wait a moment please?" Neji spoke up from behind her and Hanabi.

"Hmm?" Hinata questioned, moving to turn her head; yet once more she was too slow to deflect, let alone see, a snowball being launched at her back.

At first the pale-eyed girl stared at the pieces of snow clinging to her hair and skin, then looked to a smug appearing Neji with a look of disbelief.

Hanabi however didn't take time to consider the fact that Neji- the same man who asked the game to be carried on somewhere else so he could rest- sought out the start the snow war all over again.

Brushing snow off her jacket, Hinata was still confused as to why Neji suddenly joined in what he earlier called 'childish game'.

But after being hit with a second snowball thrown at her by Neji and just barely missed being hit by Hanabi with a third; Hinata decided she was thinking too much before racing to create her own ammo to combat Neji and her younger sister.

----------

After ten minutes of lobbing snowballs at one another, Neji suggested the three of them try to bring some structure into the snow war by issuing a strict rule.

Hanabi's forehead wrinkled in thought as the younger considered the rule, "So…you're saying if someone is hit five times he's out of the game?"

"He or she is out of the game." Neji corrected since he was certain he could win even if he was up against Hinata and her sister.

-------

Thirty minutes later, Hinata perched on top of the Main House's rooftop, a steadily melting ball of snow in her right hand while her eyes were fed chakra in order to sustain the Byakuguan.

From where she could see, Neji just left a disgruntled Hanabi, who was now out since she'd been hit by a fifth and final snowball.

Swallowing, Hinata wondered if this 'game' was such a good idea. Instead of enjoying herself by throwing random balls of snow in any given direction, Hinata now had to think on her feet and quickly dodge snow attacks. Hanabi was bad enough when the two of them were goofing off, but Neji…Neji seemed to take this game a bit too seriously.

"Now…where did he go?" Hinata asked herself as she dumped the rest of the melting snowball and skidding down from the rooftop. Her eyes scanned far ahead, looking left, right, above, and behind. Her Byakugan had improved a lot since Hinata took to training under Neji's guidance; yet no matter how hard Hinata could train, the small sliver; the very vulnerable and inevitable 'blind spot' would still be there.

It was this very 'spot' Neji took full advantage off.

And Hinata had no warning save for a faint chill tickling up her spine followed quickly by cold shivers as snow hit the back of her winter jacket. The wet snow seeped in through the fabric making Hinata shiver as she spun around in time to see- and dodge- another flying ball of snow.

'Neji only has to hit me one more time before he wins…' Hinata realized since the last snowball counted as the fourth.

"Are you ready to give up, Hinata-sama?" the young man asked, his tone sounding a bit too smug for Hinata's tastes.

Still, Hinata didn't resort to taunts or name calling- as her younger sister had earlier- rather the heiress shook her head.

"No. And I wouldn't be so proud of myself if I were you Niisan. You haven't won yet."

Hinata smiled when she saw Neji struggle to hold back a smirk.

'Neji-niisan must be having fun if he's finding it hard not to make any sort of readable expression.' Hinata thought, glad her older cousin was enjoying himself, even if it meant she would be dodging snowballs well into the early evening.

Hinata smiled again as her fingers formed a seal, within a second the girl vanished in a smoke screen. Once she was gone, Neji did finally smirk. Smoke screen transportation was an old Chuunin level trick; still it was effective.

'Effective, but not quite impressive; still at least Hinata-sama is learning to react quickly in a situation.' Neji thought to himself.

Feelings aside, Neji jumped off the roof, landing in a crouch to the snow covered ground and was off running to find where Hinata hid herself.

The chase was on.

----------------------------------

Heavy pants of warm air escaped Hinata as the girl ran. Even though the young woman knew she was being pursued, Hinata found that she couldn't stop smiling. Odd, maybe; but she just felt so excited and alive as she and Neji kept chasing and throwing snow at one another.

Both had long since forgotten whether Hinata had lost or if she still needed to be hit a couple more times- Neji and Hinata had silently agreed to continue their snowball fight at least until sunset-.

And it had been ages since Hinata could recall enjoying herself so much. And with Neji by her side, having fun as well, triggered thoughts of memories so vague and distant- of the two of them when they were very young- that Hinata found herself torn between enjoying herself and sinking into nostalgia.

Neji, however, didn't give her much time to reminisce or think on much of anything for that matter; since he quickly caught her unawares with yet another snowball.

Hinata, starting to feel cold and tired, barely managed to scramble out of the way and the approaching darkness of twilight impaired her vision and sense of direction.

After lobbing the snowball, Neji smirked for only the second time that day. He could tell in how Hinata moved that she was becoming tired. Though Neji was feeling fatigued as well, he wasn't about to admit, he knew it would only take two more hits before Hinata would have to give up.

But as Neji moved down to gather up more snow, his pale eyes widened as he saw Hinata walked towards the frozen pond located in the center of the Hyuuga compound.

With his Byakugan Neji could see the large spider cracks quickly forming on the icy surface as Hinata slipped on some snow and stepped on the surface.

Acting quickly, Neji dropped the half-formed snowball and rushed over to pull Hinata's hand, just as the woman's right foot sank underneath the cracked ice.

Hinata's snow boot barely touched the frigid water before Neji help her push up onto the embankment.

However as Neji pulled his footing slipped on a combination of ice and snow, so the genius of the Hyuuga clan struggled to regain his balance, only to hinder himself by pulling Hinata down with him.

Both teens landed on the ground with a loud 'thud'.

For a moment Neji could only see black and white dots floating above him, since he hit his head on the ground during the fall.

Above him Hinata's voice sounded close to panicking, "Niisan? …Neji? Neji?! Can you hear me?" the young woman asked.

Neji winced, feeling his former headache return with a vengeance. Now that he stopped running and throwing snow long enough to catch his breath, Neji realized just how exhausted he was. Bone weary, hungry, and cold.

The young man flinched again, closing his eyes in hopes that the pounding headache would ease off once he couldn't see.

"Neji?" Hinata repeated quietly.

"My name…" Neji said.

"What?" Hinata asked, leaning in closer over her cousin in order to hear him.

"That's the first time you've said my name without tagging on 'niisan'." Neji said, slowly opening his eyes, only to blink once then twice, almost not believing what he was seeing.

Hinata stared down at him, her body looming above; far enough of a distance to be innocent and accidental, yet too close since Neji could see speaks of white snow in her indigo hair as easily as he could see her pale lavender eyes.

"Oh…" Hinata replied simply, "I'm sorry I…" she said, starting to stammer and feel uncomfortable as the heiress realized just how close their bodies were to one another.

Hinata shifted to move and stand, but stopped when a hand touched her right shoulder, holding steadfast and still.

Surprised, Hinata stared down at Neji yet tempted to look away as she realized Neji was staring too.

In the past, Neji knew how to sharpen his gaze to the point it would only take one look from him to bring Hinata on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Though it took many years, changes, vast amounts of effort, and forgiveness; both cousins found themselves rewarded by arriving at a point where looks were no longer directed to make a kill.

But, though Neji's eyes weren't hardened with hatred or even narrowed in annoyance, Hinata found she couldn't look directly at her older cousin without having to look away, embarrassed by the intensity of his stare.

Yet after a few awkward moments Neji didn't give his younger cousin a choice as to whether she could look at him or not.

It started with small warm sensations as his fingertips touched along her mitten covered hands. Even though Hinata couldn't fully feel Neji's fingers touch hers what with the wool hand garments being in between; she still couldn't help but shiver.

Then Neji's fingers moved up to touch the edge of her right sleeve.

Even in his own mind, Neji hadn't a clue as to what he was doing. Maybe it was exhaustion playing havoc with his sensibilities. Maybe it had been so long since they had played, laughed, and just enjoyed each other's company.

Or maybe his worst fears were coming true.

The closeness between them remained simply platonic for years, mostly because Hinata was too busy chasing after Naruto and Neji was too preoccupied with training to have second thoughts.

But, everything from the feel of small uncovered bit of her wrist, the melting snow caught in dark hair, the way she could laugh and smile fully, right to the way Hinata seemed to read him and understand, sometimes before Neji even knew what he was thinking or what he felt on a particular matter.

"Neji…?" Hinata breathed, her shoulders bunching up and shivering again as Neji pulled on her arm once more, drawing her closer.

Confused, yet far from being scared or embarrassed enough to pull away; Hinata patiently waited to see, her eyes searching Neji as if looking for answers.

Another tug, only this time Hinata came in closer of her own accord. Neji shivered next as Hinata's right glove gently touched the side of his face, mirroring the exact action his bare- and cold- hand against her cheek.

Silence settled in, but it wasn't oppressive or awkward. Rather it was an exchange of quiet soul searching. Hinata of Neji and Neji of himself.

His worst fear was becoming a reality: he was falling in love with Hinata…that is if it hadn't already happened when he wasn't looking.

The fear factored in because Neji, who once thought he knew Hinata to be weak because of her kindness, found himself as a loss as to just who Hinata was.

She was no longer an unworthy rival, wasn't his cousin, or even his ward to look after and protect.

Rather, in his eyes, Hinata was more than what he previously thought of her, so he couldn't get a firm grasp as to what she was thinking or rather what she thought about him.

Neji almost felt like giving a short bark of cynical laughter. Funny, he once knew Hinata; but now it was his younger cousin who seemed to know him better than he knew himself.

"I…I think we should go inside now…" Hinata said, finally breaking the silence as she gently ducked underneath Neji's arm on her shoulder.

Neji nodded in agreement, the temperature was indeed dropping as the sun began to set over the Hokage monument.

As Hinata stood up, Neji preoccupied himself with brushing snow off of his clothing. When the young man turned his head upward, Neji blinked as he nearly bumped into Hinata's proffered hand.

"Here…" she said with a soft smile, no mention of their staring contest or even a question as to why Neji felt so compelled to touch her.

While Neji found himself grateful for the hand- and the lack of question he couldn't answer yet- the young man almost wished Hinata would show some outward sign that what happened a moment ago concerned her.

Taking her hand- surprising Hinata yet again since she couldn't remember the last time Neji accepted help from anyone let alone from her- Neji held onto the mitten covered fingers for a split second longer than he should have.

Still, Hinata didn't say anything, nor draw attention to Neji's lingering grasp.

He wanted her to notice though, wanted Hinata to recognize even with just a look that she was bothered by this change. If his actions made her feel uncomfortable, then Neji could assure himself that nothing would come of this infatuation.

So in an effort to make Hinata push him away- and to push away thoughts of any sort of affection between them- Neji leaned in and whispered in Hinata's ear.

"Thank you Hinata-sama."

As he pulled away, Hinata could feel her face burning with a heated blush to the point that her ears tingled with warmth.

"Um…you're welcome Neji…" Hinata said, purposefully leaving off the niisan since Neji seemed almost 'pleased' that she had forgotten to add the suffix earlier.

After hearing Hinata call his name, and only his name, Neji realized his efforts to prevent himself from falling was too little of an effort performed too late.

A part of him wanted to simply give in and fall without putting up a fight; yet another- and more practical side- argued that nothing more than friendship could form between them.

----

Pale eyes looked on as Hinata and Neji, both covered in melting snow, walk away from the pond and gardens. The two are silent, or at least Hanabi couldn't see their lips moving; but it could be because the darkness of twilight was making it too difficult for her to properly see.

Once Neji and Hinata arrived split pathways, one heading towards the Main House, the other directed toward the Branch House.

Hanabi watched her and sister exchange looks, yet still said nothing more significant than good night to one another.

Releasing her Byakugan, Hanabi sighed in heavy frustration. She had been watching Neji and Hinata ever since Neji 'beat' her. The young girl even saw the strange little scene by the pond.

'They are both weird…' Hanabi thought with a with a grumpy frown as she recalled how Neji and Hinata touched each other's face, but didn't do much else.

But after a moment, Hanabi's lips split into an impish grin.

Lying back in her bed, Hanabi mused aloud to herself, "Since Neji and Hinata are both strange…maybe they would be happier if they could be strange together."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes: Sorry if this piece came of as being a bit…awkward and OOC, it's been almost a full year since I've written anything NejiHina- which is sad actually since NejiHina was my first Naruto OTP!- Anyway, again sorry that it's late and I hope you enjoyed reading this silly little piece. Later!