His relationship with his cousin had become better.
It was not like they were as close as siblings or heart to heart friends, it was just that they'd simply come to terms with each other presences as relatives in their lives. They were normal parts of each other's life.
Gradually, their existence had became something just as familiar to them as the routine or their habitual actions everyday, but, still, not so many words were exchanged.
Yet, this relationship turned out to be so familiar that without it there would be a hole deep inside and couldn't be filled. The hole itself was not too big, at least that was what he'd convinced himself, but it gave him disturbing feelings that was hard to ignore, a confusing undescribable little "pain", making him ask himself times to times whenever he passed her door just to realise that she wasn't there……
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It seemed like a habitual actions to Neji Hyuga to walk on the same road whenever he didn't have to go on a mission. He'd been doing it for more than a year now.
The shop keeper at the flower shop, without asking, just took the same kind of flower for the young shinobi whenever he the drop by.
With the lavenders in his hand, he walked towards his destination.
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She'd got stronger. She'd grown up into a decent young lady, decent but not weak. After all she was a shinobi.
Having spent years trying her best to improve herself, she made it to jounin with all her noticable growing confidence, and all of a sudden, he noticed that her always-blush and anxiousness had long gone, and it was her stammer's disapearance that surprised him the most. In important events, such as Hyuga's meeting between the Main House and Branch House or when taking serious talk with her father, she had learned to sit up straight and speak like a true future heiress - no stuttering, no poking fingers or any of her childish habit she used to have. She might not be as brilliant as him, but she had proved herself worth the position.
However, when talking to her sister or friends … or him …, when she could relax, she just came back to a delicate women : a little blush, sometimes a little stammer, but just like to remind her of her normal personality apart from the shinobi life. It was the time that she turned back to his soft and a little bit timid cousin which, somehow, reflecting her childhood character he'd seen the first time they met….
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People there saw the same not-so-talkative and polite young man from the Hyuga went into the same room, putting the same lavenders he bought into a same pot next to the female patient's bed so often now they just put in their mind the thought that they had known him and his cousin very well.
They just gave him a simple greeting when passing by, and left him sitting beside Hinata Hyuga's unconsious figure quietly for hours.
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He couldn't denied the fact that he enjoy their occasional time together, mostly silent but comfortable, usually with some tea in the manor, looking at the garden.
He remembered how the wind sofly brought the scent of lavender into their little peaceful and quiet space. The air was cool and he felt calm, but at the same time, there was something cozzy inside, which, at fist, he thought that was merely because of the hot steamy tea in his cup.
However, as time went by, he realised that it was the gentle person who poured the hot steamy tea into his cup that cause him the pleasant feelings … but now, the painful feelings.
She went on a mission, … and later come back being carried by her teamates…
How he remembered the first time feeling a shiver down his spine when seeing blood from another person, after many bloody battle he had fought in his early life as a powerful warrior, a genius, one of the most talented shinobi that everybody had to amit. It was very weird of him to feel that way
He was her protector. It was his duty to keep her safe. He had to stand by her in good times or bad.
Although he knew very well that being two independent shinobi, they had separate missions and having to fight separately was inevitable, he couldn't keep thinking that he was responsible for her current state, feeling the pain and the biterness … and he couldn't help feeling a little shiver when it came to the though of her gone forever.
The responsibility was reasonable, but the shiver and, again, another feeling that he couldn't define was still a question.
But … was it just his confusion about the feelings or was it him refusing to admit them…?
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Everytime the male Hyuga come, he just sat there, looking at the pale face of his cousin or out of the window.
In the white clean room, his ivory eyes just matched the scene.
At first, there was something confusing in those eyes, making the white eyes seem blue. But in times he came and saw her, those eyes just became more and more limpid.
It's seemed that the young man was clear about whatever was messing with his mind before. Then, occasionally, he whispered something just enough for his cousin to hear.
The scene was somewhat made others thought that it's … "lovely" … but also feel sorry for the two of them.
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The thoughts haunted him days by days.
He looked for the answer, but it wasn't easy.
However, as a shinobi he also had lots of missions and duties to the Hyuga. He must not let anything bother him other than his tasks.
He must end these nonsense.
In the end, he decided to end it… with only one statement: he had to see her, to speak to her just like the time they'd shared, and all the troublesome thoughts would vanish… yes, he accept the fact that he missed their not so often little conversations, her soft and easing voice, and most of all, her beautiful smile .
If only she could hear and respond to him with that beautiful smile again …
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The doctor could tell that Hiashi Hyuga had had a difficult time receiving the news that he'd required to know.
His daughter, Hinata Hyuga, was getting even worse and there was nothing else they could do for her. She only had about a week left
She was dying.
Hiashi had informed his nephew…
However, Neji just kept coming to her with the lavenders, whispering things no one knew to her …as usual…
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… and maybe he would kept doing that till the end of time, no matter where or how she was going to be …
Do you think I should just let the story end like this? Or make it a happy ending ?
This is my first fanfic …. So please read and review !!!