summary: basically its a story of neji and hinata set in the future where she was 16 and neji 17. pairings: nejihina. btw, reviews of all kinds appreciated! enjoy the story!
If you go away
Chap 1: the day he returned
In the hyuuga compound
The clouds were starting to grow grey and the smell of rain lingered in the atmosphere. Leaves of the hollow trees swayed to and fro as small blows of gale blew passed them. As the wind grew stronger, the smell of the rain grew stronger too. Petals of withered sakura swayed down form the nearby sakura trees and carelessly landed onto hinata's path. She walked passed the withered flower petals and slowly made her way to the bench located right opposite of the pond. There, she sat down as she slowly lifted her head to witness the seasonal shedding of the ever so lovely sakura tress.
"How long has it been since I last saw you shed your flowers?" she silently asked the sakura tree that she was sitting under. Slowly converting her gaze towards the pond. Unexpectedly, a sakura flower had gently landed itself onto hinata's small trembling hands. Surprised, she slowly took the flower and placed it into her palm and stared at it. After a few minutes or so, tears slowly started trickling down her rosy pink cheeks. She could still feel the pain that she had felt three years ago, when the one and only person whom she had a crush since her ninja academy days rejected her heart.
Flashback
"a..a..ano, na..naruto-kun, I really like you!" she nervously confessed to him as she presented him a small gift which she had made for him years before, hoping to give it to him earlier but procrastinated due to over-shyness.
"eh? for me? yahoo! thank you hinata!" naruto replied as he eagerly ripped apart the gift wrappings. upon seeing his reaction, she became more nervous until her small lovely face turned into a deep dark shade of red.
"whoa! thanks for this scarf, hinata. it looks great on me! hehe..hey, did you do this yourself?" he asked her curiously as he examined the fine details on it.
"ye..yes.." she shyly responded.
"a..ano, na..naruto-kun..i r..r..really like you..and..and..would you go out with me?" she nervously continued, feeling more heat rising into her rosy red face.
"sorry hinata. but..but..i've already liked someone else..and..honestly, I don't really like you, like you. but more of a best friend.." said naruto.
upon hear this, hinata felt a huge stab at the back of her chest and felt pain rapidly creeping into her racing heart.
"its..sa..sakura-san isn't it?" she asked naruto in a soft voice, almost trembling, accompanied later by a faint gentle smile.
"yeah. Sorry hinata...guess you want the scarf back then?" naruto asked sadly as he unwrapped the scarf that she had wrapped around his neck.
"n..no" she shyly responded. "please keep it naruto-kun" she continued before turning her back on him. at that point of time, hinata wanted so badly to get away from there but then, she stopped half way and turned around, and with all her might, she shouted :
"NARUTO-KUN, GOOD LUCK WITH SAKURA-SAN! YOU CAN WIN HER HEART!"
without realizing it, the rain had showered down all over konoha. despite that, hinata continued running as fast as she could. she could feel her warm tears tricking down her cheeks profusely. she could feel the pain of her heart being ripped out and her whole body trembling in sadness. it was all too much.
all of sudden,
"BANG"
she had accidentally knocked into someone in front of her and almost lost her balance when the stranger quickly prevented her fall by catching her by her back.
"hinata-sama? what are you doing?" a familiar voice greeted her. a voice filled with curiosity.
without wasting any second, he quickly shielded her with his umbrella.
"ne..neji-niisan?" hinata responded. trying desperately to get back on her feet and hiding her tears-covered face from his view.
"I was just about to go out to look for you. where have you been?" he asked her in an anger-filled tone.
"..i..i..."
upon hearing her tone, he sensed that hinata-sama was in an upset state. even without using his byakugan, he could see that uneasiness was mounting inside of her mind. without hesitation, he stood before her, with one hand holding the umbrella and the other, gently lifting hinata's chin until he could see her lovely face. slowly, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
"hinata-sama, you cried didn't you?" neji asked her, with concern surrounding his tone.
"i..i..no.." she lied as she hurriedly turned and lowered her head to gaze onto the rain covered pavement. hinata didn't want to tell neji the truth as she feared he would see her as a weakling that always cries whenever she's sad. unlike him, who hid his sadness behind a facade of coldness.
"hinata-sama, you're not a good liar you know.." neji responded towards her actions.
"anyway, let's go to the main house and get you cleaned up. you're dripping wet.." he continued.
suddenly, hinata felt a larger hand holding her right hand and pulling her underneath the umbrella and shielding her back torso with his bigger built body as they head towards the main house entrance.
"we can't afford for you to get wet anymore now can we? or else you'll get sick" neji told her assuringly, as he steadily held her hand in his and followed her back towards the corridor.
when neji did all those gestures, from gently lifting her chin to holding her hand, hinata, who became speechless, blushed so deeply that her face reddened into the color of a fresh tomato! she had never been so close to any man before, let alone, her dearest cousin. she could hear her heart beating so loudly as it raced inside her chest.
upon reaching the corridor, neji let her enter the house first before he did and carefully closed the umbrella and placed it beside the wooden window before he continued.
"hinata-sama, go get changed and then, you and I will have to see your father, hiashi-sama, as he wishes to have a meeting with the both of us" neji informed her.
"hai,neji-niisan" she replied without questioning him.
after hinata had changed her clothing, she returned to where neji had waited for her and they both made their way towards the dojo where hiashi-sama wanted to meet them. upon their arrival, they were greeted by a cold tone ordering them to sit down. followed soon after by him sitting down a few feet in front of them.
"it has come to my attention that I will have to retire soon and that I need a successor to take after me. I had a meeting with the head members of both the main houses and branch houses about this matter earlier on and we've come to an agreement." said hiashi, as he looked from hinata's direction to neji's.
"neji will take after me as my successor" he continued.
"I am honored hiashi-sama. but, forgive me for asking you this, how am I suppose to take your place in this house? I am only a member of a branch.." he stopped at the sign of his uncle raising his hand to silence him.
"we've also discussed this issue and since you'll be the successor, you'll be marrying a member of the main house to continue and protect the bloodline. I've arranged a marriage for you. You'll be…ahem,"
"you'll be marrying hinata" hiashi-sama finished.
when hinata heard this, she was surprised as well as shocked. she could feel sadness and uneasiness creeping into her heart. it was like as if blows of arrows were raining down on her. she knew that marrying her cousin was not against the rules but she never knew that it would actually happen. not to her at least. hinata was speechless. she looked at her father with a shock expression across her small face. after which she quickly turned her look towards neji's direction.
she saw that he wore a clam expression on his face but his body language told it all. he too, was surprised. he was clutching his hands on his laps as he continued looking at hiashi-sama's direction with eyes filled with uneasiness. neji had changed himself over years and after 2 years of training as an ANBU, he knew how to maintain his composure even during the most stressful times without showing his emotions.
once the meeting ended, hinata hurriedly made her excuse to leave the dojo. she quickly ran out of the door and towards the storehouse. a building located right behind the dojo. she thought that maybe she should get some herbs to refill the medicine cabinet back in the kitchen. she hurriedly entered the place as she wanted to avoid drenching her clothes. as she walked into the dark and damp room, she could hear the echoes of the rain splattering on the rooftops above her and the view of rain continuously streaming down the window . hinata began to cry.
hinata could feel her body trembling as she fell on her knees and curling her upper torso inwards. her hands covering her face as tears endlessly flowed down her cheeks, through her fingers and aimlessly onto the cold concrete floor of the storehouse. her sobs grew louder and longer. she could feel the heat rising up in her face as she continued crying her tears out. it was all too painful for her.
firstly, naruto had rejected her heart. and now? this? marrying neji for the sake of the family?..
suddenly, she felt a hand. a warm hand placing on her left cheeks, which soon traveled down towards her chin to lift it up. there he stood before her. the eyes which was similar to hers, only filled with pity.
"hinata-sama..please don't cry.." he softly pleaded with her as he slowly bend down on his knees so he could look into her face.
"ne..ne..neji..sob..nii..sob..niisan.." hinata tired to say out his name only to be hindered by the sobs of her uncontrollable cries.
all of a sudden, her tears flowed down even more and her body trembled and her sobs quickened their pace. Unable to withstand it any longer, she blurted it all out before him.
"I am scared neji-niisan, scared and confused. I'm useless neji-niisan. I confessed my feelings to naruto-kun but he rejected me. And now? You and me, marriage? How could this be! I know you hate me and that you'd rather die than to be with me. I don't want to make you unhappy anymore. I'm sorry. Sorry. I'm usele…" Hinata cried. Unable to finish her sentence as she was stopped by his unexpected gesture. neji grabbed her hand and pulled her close to his body and wrapped his hands around her trembling body. burying his face into her back shoulder, he whispered.
"hinata-sama, its alright.." neji assured her as his hug tightened around her body.
"I knew what had happened when I saw your expression the moment I bumped into you but I pretended to ignore the subject as I felt that it would hurt you more if I brought it up…and the truth, hinata-sama, is that whenever I see you cry, it hurts the hell out of me.." neji continued as he gently wiped off her tears.
"please, hinata..please don't cry"
he gently unleashed his hands from her and unwrapped the head band that had concealed his cursed seal and placed one of her hands on it. she could feel his warmth surrounding her hands.
"I, hyuuga neji, promise you upon this seal that holds my life, hyuuga hinata, that I'll protect you and until the end of time." he swears to her.
when he finished his pledge, hinata was surprised. she felt her tears flowing down even more and she could feel the heat rising up to her face even more.
"ne..neji-niisan.." hinata shyly responded as she slowly looked into his pearl colored eyes. Neji then picked her up and they both quietly went back towards the main house.
the very next day, neji had to leave for an ANBU mission. even though he was only 17, he was a genius and was picked among the strongest shinobi to take on the task in fire country. before neji left the compound, he decided to pay hinata a visit. he knocked on her door and opened it. what greeted him was unexpected. there she was, still lying on her futon and breathing softly. he blushed when he realized how beautiful hinata's facial features were. small round face. snow white skin. delicately small smooth rosy lips.
"..soft features for a soft lady huh?" neji thought, with a faint smiling formed by his lips.
Not wanting to wake her up, he quietly made his way to the door to leave something caught his attention. A bag filled with bottled ointments and medicines. pasted on each bottle were instructions. they were for him for his journey. neji turned his head to take a last look at hinata-sama before picking up the bag and leaving her room.
"I promise I'll come back to you" neji whispered softly, looking at hinata before taking off.
end of flashback
"when will you come back? when?" hinata thought.
the atmosphere grew colder and the wind blew stronger. after a few minutes of so, needles of raindrops came showering down from the grey clouds. hinata couldn't care less. she still sat on the bench as tears continued trickling down her cheeks. she could feel her whole body trembling and her body heat leaving her as the coldness of the rain began engulfing her.
"neji..neji..please come back.." hinata cried as she covered her face with her small hands.
suddenly, hinata felt a hand touching hers and taking them both down. by then, rain had stopped showering onto her drenched body as an umbrella had sheltered her. the same hand gently lifted her face so he could look into her pearl-colored eyes.
"didn't I tell you not to cry? it hurts me so to see you doing that." he reminded her.
"ne..neji-niisan!" hinata gasped.
"I'm here, hinata-sama. like I promised. I'm home.." he said to her in the most gentle tone he could muster.
hinata became speechless. she felt joy and happiness overwhelming her. without hesitation, she threw herself against neji and wrapped her trembling arms around his body which now seemed to be in a critically weak condition. nevertheless, he too embraced her loving gesture.
"welcome back, neji"
