Hi again xD

As promised, here I am to post another oneshot for the NejiHinaWeek. If you go to the NejiHinaWeek or NejiHinaWeek2016 tag on tumblr you will find amazing fanfics and fanarts.

Well, this oneshot is set before Duty and Love, but to understand it you don't have to read the other, but I'd feel honored if you read (and review, of course hahahaha) both, but it's up to you.

Keep in mind English is not my first language, so a few mistakes will surely pass.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does, but I own this plot. I also don't own the cover either, it belongs to kimiquin (check out her tumblr, guys, you'll love her drawings) If you go to my tumblr (velvetsins) you will find the fanart in which I got some inspiration for this oneshot as well ^^

Enjoy!

Prompt 3 - Sunflower

The Sakura Kiss

by Velvetsins

Hinata was very fond of gardening.

That was probably the only reason why Neji accepted leaving the enormous list of stuff he had planned for that day behind merely because the heiress wanted to go to the Flower Festival that Saturday afternoon.

Late afternoon, almost sunset, considering they had training to undergo even in days of celebration.

It was mostly unnoticed, but he sighed.

Although he would say to everyone he hated to be there — and part of him really did want to believe it — he was quite content — he would say at peace — she was happy to be there. After all he did it to the heiress; to ensure her happiness was one of his duty as well.

Of course he would admit aloud a very different version. He would probably say he went with her because it was his duty to remain close; a shadow. To protect her.

It does not really matter she is a capable fighter, she was a fool. She trusted people easily and people would take advantage from her friendly stance. While she thought people good, Neji knew the bad ones would not think before attacking.

So yes, he would accompany her, even if he saw almost no point in her fascination towards plants and flowers.

The Flower Festival, widely known as the Sakura Festival, took place once a year, during the Spring of course, and would reunite practically the entire village — other villagers were more than welcomed — for an entire weekend.

There were stands where gardeners sold their creations and knowledge on plants and flowers, there was music, food and popular dances.

In spite of the approaching War — and probably because of the approaching War — people were rendered frenzy and all that mattered was the trance. To feel happy and almost lose consciousness.

Neji really did not like the idea of losing control for a few moments of happiness — the illusion of happiness, because none could achieve happiness if not conscious or so he thought — but that was the main reason why he was accompanying the heiress.

Only Kami could possibly know what would happen if the heiress got in the middle of low, degrading stuff planned for the night.

The Flower Festival was not only a fest to celebrate the Spring, but the fertility it bring along as well. After the harsh Winter, that was not so harsh in Konohagakure at all, villagers, mainly the ones responsible for planting and harvesting, would be celebrating the new cycle of life. It was time to drink senseless and then only after that think about work and serious stuff.

And he would be damned if he let crazy, horny men touch Hinata. The mere idea of another man, any man, touching the heiress drove him angry. He did not know how and it seemed a crazy idea, because he knew as much as his duty to protect her, it was her duty to birth the next heir and future head of the Hyūga Clan.

He shook such thoughts before he got angrier and missed everything Hinata was kindly saying. Her soft, demure voice reached his ears as she asked again.

"Neji-nii-san?" Her eyebrows were frowned and her lower lip trapped between her while little teeth — he surely spent too much time looking at her lips, which he knew he definitely should not. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course," he replied, brushing past her to the next stand. He would not let his messed thoughts distract him anymore.

Distraction.

That was something Neji quite did not like. A true genius could never be caught distracted. A smart enemy would take advantage of any gap in his defense. As the protector, the guardian to the heiress, a much valued position he more than honored, he should always be alert. Enemies do not wait for one to be ready in order to strike.

Yet…

Yet he found himself quite distracted whenever he was in her company. Her shy companionship, smart and bright smiles always had him musing.

He never thought about it before, but now the more he thought about it, the more annoying he found her demeanor.

The more annoyed he found himself for getting distracted by the mere sight of her smile. Hinata barely showed happiness, she was always worried sick about pleasing the family, always the family, but when she was happy, it was genuine. Her bright smile could light up the whole village.

It drew people to her.

It drew him to her.

Being the one to once cause her greater pain, physical and emotional pain, he would give everything to see her smile whenever he could now. Getting distracted was not only dangerous, but caused her to think low of herself, caused her beautiful smile to vanish from her face.

And he hated himself if he was ever to be the cause why her smile vanished from her face.

"Am I boring you, Neji-nii-san?"

"Of course not," his quick and harsh reply had her looking at him with widened eyes. He closed his own for a moment, think of how careless he was. "Please, go on with your explanations, Hinata-sama."

She looked skeptical for a moment, but then he reassured her, much to his own dismay, because flowers were the last he was interested in at the moment.

"I mean it."

The smile then returned to her face, although smaller than he would have wanted.

"I-I…" She took a breath and looked straightly at him, "I was just saying… I was… explaining…"

"About sunflowers… They basically follow the sun from sunrise to sunset."

"You heard?" She looked flabbergasted. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened again.

"Of course," he replied, this time a small smirk curling up at the corner of his lips.

Hinata did not see it, of course, for her proud, arrogant cousin was back turned to her, his fingers lightly turning to touch the yellow, huge petals of the said flower. They were ugly little things, completely different from cherry blossoms, his favorite flower.

The cherry tree, the tree that named the Festival, was the honored tree of that year. Most of gardeners sold small versions of it, if he was not mistaken they named it… Hinata said it was called… What was the name?

"Bonsai," she spoke behind him, touching the same sunflower his fingers still lingered on. When their fingers brushed lightly, she retreated as if burned by his touch.

For a moment, Neji looked at her a bit disappointed. The feeling of her skin on his was quite pleasant, more pleasant than it should have been if he was to be honest with himself, but she seemed bothered by it. He shifted his attention to her and when their eyes met, their so alike eyes, he saw her looking down, her cheeks burning rosy.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment, unsure on how to take her nervous gesture.

She usually behaved that way only with… Naruto.

No. He was surely seeing things that did not exist.

Surely.

This time she was the one to brush past him and continue to walk ahead, talking to gardeners and vendors. She did not look at him for quite a long time and whenever their eyes met for a reason or another, she would blush furiously and shift her attention to any other thing she found suddenly interesting, her own feet for example.

At her shy demeanor, Neji could not stop looking at her.

He practically begged inside his mind to have their stares crossing.

It barely happened, but when it did, he made sure to watch her very reaction attentively. He could think of one million of reasons for Hinata-sama to act that way with Naruto or any other guy, which usually drove him angry, but not with him — the sensation far more pleasant than it should.

When they reached a vast area, where dozens of cherry trees were aligned and showered the ground with their petals, creating a mix of green and light, soft pink carpet for people to step on, Hinata smiled brightly.

For a moment, he forgot her very reactions towards him and watched, in trance, as she smiled and outstretched her hand to touch the soft petals. They showered her with attention and touched her skin. Well, not only her skin, several people were there to watch the cherry blossom's falling from the trees.

Alongside with food and traditional dances involving geishas, Sakura viewing where one of the favorite among people. Now, watching Hinata smiling, he could see why. It was beautiful, truly beautiful.

For a moment, he wished he could draw, so he would make a perfect drawing of her happy expression — something he quite did not see when they were inside the oppressing walls of the Hyūga Compound — to keep to himself and cherish for the rest of his life. It would make a beautiful drawing, he knew. The landscape around her was already perfect, with the half bluish, half violet sky with some tinted bright stars adorning it and the cherry blossoms falling everywhere with the soft wind and Hinata-sama in the middle of it all.

When a petal landed on the crown of her head, he stepped closer and removed it, the small rosy thing between his fingers. He did not step away however. He remained close, looking at her smaller form with interest.

But he quite soon he realized his mistake as her smile disappeared from her lips and she trembled.

Excitement? He doubted.

Fear? Maybe.

Apart from his trainings, he was never that close to her. And Hinata-sama being Hinata-sama hated such closeness.

He crushed the petal between his fingers and broke apart, leaving her to her thoughts.

"It's getting late, let's go."

She even opened her mouth to reply, or say she did not want to go yet — he was sure she wanted to stay and watch people dance and drink and eat different delicacies — but he would not allow that. Hinata-sama was too much innocent for what people usually did late in those Festivals.

Being older and experienced, Neji knew that he was to hold responsible if anything bad happened to the heiress. And the heiress seemed to attract bad things most of times.

No.

He would not allow.

In silence, they walked back to the Hyūga Compound in silence, with Hinata two steps behind, so he could ensure the path was clear. She was a capable kunoichi, one that trained almost every day with him, whenever she was not out on missions with the Team 8. Yet, it was never too much to ensure her safety. It was his duty after all.

When they crossed the gates of the Manor, he turned to bid her goodnight, but before any word could slip past his lips, she was the one approaching him and removing a cherry blossom from his brown hair.

"There was hn…" She looked down and then back at him. "A Sakura petal on your hair… And I-I…."

Unlike his expectations she did not step away, she remained close, looking at him in the eye, the blush creeping back to her cheeks.

She looked lovely that way. Completely lovely all shy in front of him.

Before Neji could control his movement, he used his thumb to brush a strand of raven hair from her face. However, alike her, instead of immediately breaking apart, he let his finger linger on her soft skin.

Her eyes shot back to his and she almost bit her bottom lip.

Almost.

His thumb touching her chin and bringing her close to him had her holding her breath, eyes widened. Then, as surprising as it seemed, the Hyūga genius lowered his face to her, his lips brushing hers in a soft, sensuous kiss.

Hinata's eyes widened before shut closed and a small moan formed on her throat.

She could have fought him. She should have, but she did not.

For a moment, she remained in place, completely still. She did not dare to kiss him back, but it was gone as soon as one of his arms encircled her by the wait, pulling her closer and closer, till there was no space between their bodies.

In truth, she was in panic. She had never been kissed before. She did not have a clue on what to do. She also never thought her first kiss would be with her beloved Naruto, but she would not, she could not, deny it was not a bad twist.

Actually, pretty much welcomed.

Till now, he was only pressing his lips against her, moving them over hers in soft brushes, but then on her own accord, she opened her mouth and darted out her tongue to brush against his.

Her bolder gesture caused the Hyūga prodigious to close his eyes and let himself dominate the kiss. Her hands shot to his shoulders, to keep herself steady. Soon, she was mimicking him and touching his rich brown hair as he touched her neck and angled her head to have better access to her mouth.

It seemed centuries had passed before they broke apart.

Neji's eyes were unreadable for a moment, then he looked away and opened his mouth, the much expected words slipping past him.

"Hinata-sama…" His face was devoid of any emotion, but the way his jaw was tense, she knew he was about to apologize. "I beg your pa—

"Don't you dare to apologize, Nii-san!"

Her voice was sharp, clear and demanding as she looked fiercely at him.

For an outsider, she would seem angry at him, but Neji knew better. Her cheeks were again flushed as she looked down and fidgeted.

It was all what took to have him kissing her again and again and again.

However, as much as he wanted to keep on kissing her for the eternity to come, he knew the place was too much dangerous and they eventually would have to part. Bringing his mouth to her hair, he whispered on her ear, before planting a soft kiss on the curve of her neck. A small smirk took over his features as she shuddered in his arms.

"We should part ways."

As an answer a mere nod. She was breathless still.

"Goodnight, Neji-nii-san."

He eyed her as if she was a stranger being, noticing how he hated when she used the nii to address him.

"Goodnight, Hinata-sama." He bowed his head as they parted ways.

He headed to his room only after he knew she was securely inside the main wing in the Hyūga Compound. With an inaudible sigh, he entered his chambers and stripped out of his clothes.

His mind could not stop relieving that afternoon in the company of the heiress. The kiss. The Sakura Kiss.

The softness of her inexperienced lips still lingered on his own; in his mind.

He looked through the window and noticed the cherry blossom in the Compound. It was his all-time favorite flower, but he learned that afternoon that no matter how much he liked Sakura trees, he was, actually, much alike sunflowers.

Sunflowers, according to Hinata-sama, followed the course of the sun during the day. Their reason to live was the almighty sun. Neji, in spite of his earlier beliefs, was not much different. Only that instead of the sun he needed only the heiress in his life.

As pathetic as it may sound, the prodigious was not sad about such finding. He was at peace. After all it explained why her smile was the most important thing for him and why he hated every man who looked at her. And mainly why the idea of another touching her, kissing her, drove him angry beyond control.

And he discovered another thing along with it.

He was doomed.

He wished what he could not have. He desired what could never be his.

Even if her love could be one day be his, the Elders would never allow that. He was merely a Branch House after all… A genius yes, a prodigious yes… The most powerful Hyūga at the age of 18, but yet a member of the Branch House.

Even so, he did not care.

He could live quite well knowing that Hinata-sama would always be the sun in his life while he was the sunflower.

Neji was stunned he did not find that out before.

A/N – Well, don't have much to say, except that I have the oneshot about prompt 4 – Tradition ready and that I intend on updating it tomorrow with the new chapter of Remember, if possible. I know I promised to update before, but my schedule right now is crazy and I'm working a lot. Deadlines are killing me. Seriously!

Sakura Viewing really exists in Japan and is quite common Spring Festival are all around the country and people really get together to view the cherry blossoms.

Anyway, hope you have enjoyed. Don't forget to review.

Take care,

Velvetsins