Hey! It's Hikari. Yeah. It's been a lonnnnng time since I've written anything to post up here. Tell me how it is. I have a vauge idea where this is going. Please R&R. I might not update for a while because of all the homework I have o . Seeya
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Wish I could though...

A Forbidden Love

My name is Hyuga Neji. My past…is one of fate and reality. Combined in such away so that I lost in a world within myself.

I was little. The Hidden Village of Clouds had come to sign a peace treaty with Konoha. Hinata-sama's 3rd birthday was the same day. All seemed at peace.

Peace never lasts long. Whether it is having Lee bound in when you are meditating or Naruto screaming in your ear while you're eating…peace never lasts long.

And it didn't. A shinobi from the Hidden Village of Clouds came and tried to kidnap Hinata-sama. That broke the treaty. I lost my father that day. My uncle, his twin brother who was born just moments before took me in. He is part of the main branch. I…am son of Hizashi… who was born just seconds after Hiashi. I am a side-branch member.

For many years I have blamed the main branch for the death of my father. I have hated them. Detested them. I believed that fate and destiny was what controlled this life. My teammates Lee…and Tenten…tried relentlessly to prove that fate was not what controlled life. I always had to prove them wrong.

It was Naruto who proved I was wrong. Naruto. The brat, dropout, delinquent, and…yet he was the one to save me from myself. I became more social. I stopped blaming Hiashi-sama for my father's death. I believed that if I trained hard enough… I could surpass everyone in the Hyuga clan and one day… rid of this seal that binds me.

Did you notice the past tense? Yes. I did believe that if I trained… harder and harder. I would surpass everyone. For two and a half years I trained. With Tenten, Lee, Gai-sensei, Hiashi-sama, Hinata-sama… even Shino-san and Kiba-san. I was the first of the Konoha 12 to become Jounin. I was proud. For a moment, I was at peace.

Then my world came crashing down around me.

I never knew that I had loved Tenten. I never knew. It's funny how you never seem to think that something precious can ever be taken away from you. And how easy it is for it to happen. I never knew that I would lose Tenten.

I am now 18 years of age. Two years ago…Tsunade-sama sent Tenten on an A-rank assassination mission. I trusted her abilities. Assassinations were her specialties. The mission was only supposed to take a week for her to complete. Ten days at most. We heard that the mission was completed but, she never returned through those gates. Countless missions have been sent out. Most of them, Lee or I have been on them searching. Reminiscing on her smile, her laugh, and the joy in her eyes. It's painstaking. I miss her.

"Neji…NEJI!"

"What Naruto?" I glance at the blond boy. He had matured and grown stronger since his trip with Jiraiya.

"Can you see that rich lord anywhere near? Kiba… can you smell him?"

"Byakugan. I see traces of battle. Nothing else though."

"Damn."

"Check again, Hyuga. That feudal man's scent is splattered all over these forests." Kiba scoffed.

"I can't smell like you can dog boy."

"Oh… so the Hyuga can do compliments now huh?" Kiba teased.

Tenten was the only one I allowed to tease me in such a way. I shoot a glare at him. He immediately backs off.

"Sorry Neji."

Naruto. Kiba. This was my current ANBU team. Our mission is to protect a feudal lord from the country of rain. He is very rich and powerful. We have information that an S-rank criminal was looking to kill him. Our mission isn't to kill the criminal. We have to catch him and take him to Ibiki-san for interrogation. Poor guy.

"OI! Neji! Is that the carriage?"

I look ahead and see horses, soldiers, and practically half an army surrounding a carriage.

"Yeah. That's it alright."

We approach the carriage.

"HALT!!! WHO ARE YOU! IDENTIFY YOURSELF OR WE ATTACK!"

"If you attack us, you are sure to die I am sure to tell you." I hate tough guys.

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME?"

"I'm glad you caught on so quickly. Yes, but I cannot harm you. I am here rather to protect you." I love making them mad. It's very amusing.

"P-prove it!"

I take out the mission form that Tsunade-sama had signed.

"You're Konoha ninja?"

Like that wasn't obvious, "Yes. And if you have a problem I'd take it up with your king. He is in the carriage I presume?"

"Y-yes sir. Come I will take you to him,"

It's funny how once our presence is known, people fear us. Naruto and Kiba are looking at me, amazed.

"What?" I ask.

"You were… AWESOME!" The idiot screams.

"Shut up dobe. We're attracting attention." Kiba pounds him on the head.

"You are the ninja I hired? The very best ninja?" The feudal lord comes and looks at us. He is dressed grandly and looks formidable, but kind at the same time. Brown hair and dark eyes flock his face. He carries a katana at his side. He could've been a ninja at one time. I quickly analyze him.

"Yes, your honor. Please if you don't mind… for what purpose were we hired at such urgency?" I need to get facts straight.

"You see, I found my long lost daughter last year. It was such a joyous time for our country. We had lost our princess when she was a young child many years ago during the many wars. Since then, we have longed to find our Takako-chan. Our beautiful, loving, and kind princess. Our efforts were in vain. We never heard as much as a scrap of news about our Takako-chan, till one day she resided in our village. We were having a festival then and I saw her sitting on a sakura tree. She was as beautiful as I remembered. Her eyes were the color of laughter and hair as fair as the wind.

"She seemed very skeptical about being a princess. However, we preformed a jutsu looking into her early past and found that she was the princess! Our country celebrated for days. She protested saying she had to be going back to her country, which was her home for so many years. Our villagers protested greatly. We had looked for our Takako for so many years. No one could let her just leave us when we had just found her. Finally her smiled shined down on us. She agreed to stay. I admit. I was a bit selfish. I refused to let her contact anyone from her old home. She protested greatly even until the point of tears.

" I tried everything I could to make her happy, but she never smiled, her eyes never danced, and her laughter was not heard. It was clear to me that she loved her own home, but I could not let my daughter go. I am regretful now…very regretful about my decisions of my greed. I used a jutsu to erase her memories up until she came into our village. Not fully erase no. I feel that if one day, she were to see a certain thing or person that she remembered so clearly, her memories would be unlocked. I wanted her to be happy, but not to a point where I abuse her. She is happy now. And soon I want her to be wed to a man who will be strong enough to protect her. That is why I am holding a tournament. But tournaments draws in dangerous people and that is why I hired you ninjas."

I listened attentively, but I could see that Naruto and Kiba got bored halfway through and were playing games very quietly. I glared at them and they immediately stopped and started paying attention again.

"Father? Why are we stopping? Is something the matter?"

That voice. I haven't heard that voice in so long. A girl stepped out of the carriage looking curiously at her father. Her hair a chocolate brown fell down in plaits of beautiful colors. Her eyes were serene and also a chocolate color. She was dressed in a dress with small details that made the simple dress extraordinary. But I didn't see any of this. I could only see her. How could she be the princess of rain? How could she be Takako? How could that girl be that girl, when to me and everyone else in Konoha, she was Tenten?

"T…Tenten?" I say tentatively.

How was it? It's 10 now and I have a huge quiz tomorrow and I'm sleepy.
So yeah. That's all for right now. Tell me if you want to continue or not.

Hikari