Summary: Cool as a cucumber—calm, cool and collective. That is, until he meets her. He meets her and suddenly, all composure is thrown out the window.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Pt. 1

It started so simple. Like the first of the cherry blossoms to bloom come spring—soft and budding, a little curious towards the warmth against the cold. Like the thawing of the snow that managed to hold up until then, the kind that slushed and slowly started to drop. Like the wind that carried out the scent of winter and gradually brought in a spring breeze, dusted with just a hint of the coming cherry blossoms and fresh, green grass decorated with patches of flowers waiting anxiously to bloom. Simple, like the man that stepped out to the balcony of his new apartment to take a breath of fresh air, to accept spring for the 29th time thus far, and to inevitably run into his neighbor, a girl with long browning limbs that wrapped around her torsos gingerly, who also wanted to watch the first of the spring winds blow in. Simple, like the first polite greeting between two people, two strangers. Just. Simple.

But then she smiled.

She smiled and all of a sudden, nothing seemed so simple anymore. The cherry blossom buddings were rapidly sprouting, desperately trying to grow faster and touch the sun with its hungry limbs. The snow was falling, no longer drooping, and splattering into big puddles of slush on the sidewalks and streets, quickly melting against the heat that demanded its immediate exit, refusing to allow it to lazily pass time by any longer. And the wind that smelled like spring—that felt up the both of them—picked up her scent eagerly and shoved it to his face. Then he felt…things. Nothing new. Just…too soon. Much too soon for their first meeting.

"The weathers really nice today isn't it?" she asked.

He flinched back a little—not enough to be seen—before he turned uncertainly and stared off into the distance. There was an empty park that he was sure would be filled with people come noon, and a clutter of houses scattered around it. The sky was still red against the rising sun, and what little warmth that was present was almost swallowed by the shadows that surrounded them. But the wind that brought the cold, carried with it a twinge of warmth that was very welcome against the last of winter. She shivers against this and wraps her arms tighter around herself before he finally answers her.

"Hm." He grunted. She listened regardless. "It is."

That was it. That small exchange was all that they spoke to one another.

Her spell was cast…and she didn't even know it.

The next time he saw her, she was bringing some guy into her apartment. When their eyes met she blushed, giving away her intent, but greeted him nonetheless. He nodded her way before looking at the guy who stood behind her. He seemed like he was trying to not look at him for whatever reason. But once their eyes met he refused to look away. Taken aback a little, he nodded his greeting to him to hide his surprise. Not many people can look at him head on and not lose their composure, especially other guys. But he guessed that someone that strong had to be her boyfriend since she herself didn't back down when he looked at her.

"Just getting home?" She asked as she fiddled with her keys. She had her backpack on, so he assumed she was returning from school. The guy—that bastard—didn't even bother with a backpack. He wondered if he took school as seriously as she did. He wondered if he took anything serious. If he would take her serious.

He knew he would have if given the chance.

"No." He answered, pulling the keys back and pocketing them. Though honestly, he wouldn't want anything more than to just sink into his bed and forget the stress of working at his job. "I was about to head out, actually…Studying?" He asked as he looked over the guy once more. This time he looked away to smirk while she blushed and moved a stray piece of hair out of her face.

"Mmhmm."

He looked them over once more before nodding his goodbye and walking past them. He gave the guy one more look-over, but the jackass couldn't even be bothered enough to notice his threatening eyes. He was too busy watching her backside.

He felt something red bubble in the pit of his soul but decided to not act against it. From what he could tell, she was a growing young adult. He remembered being like her, not wanting to listen to anything anyone said to him about making better decisions in life, in love. He remembered the lessons he learned from those mistakes. Though he would do anything to warn his old self against them, he still held them close as valuable lessons. So, it pained him to think this, but he knew he needed to not interfere with her love life…even if he as dying to do so.

Besides, it's not like they were close. The only other time they talked was when he had just moved into the place. They shared maybe ten words collectively and said nothing else to one another. It's been months since then. The cherry blossoms that he wanted to watch bloom with her had already sprung and showed the world their lustful beauty before falling into the waters and grounds below them. His chance to get close to her then was long gone. Whatever spell he might have cast on her to make her remember him was long gone and replaced with her lust for something new in someone new while he was left sitting there, always watching her back, still clearly under her own casted spell. It would be childish and weird if he tried to do something to prevent that guy from entering her apartment alone when they hardly knew each other.

So, he left. He turned away and left the two of them to their own devices. Maybe he would haul himself in an internet café until he was sure they either calmed down or he left.

She spoke to him first the next time they ran into each other. Their conversation was small again. Simple in the way that reminded him that they were still technically strangers. However, he had worked on his conversational skills thanks to Lee and Naruto. And now, every answer he gave, gave her opportunities to continue the conversation.

It was from this that he found out how melodic the sound of her laugh was. It was something that bubbled in the back of her throat, whining to a crescendo before making its debut. He found himself smiling whenever she laughed and was always sad to see her hide her wide smile behind her hand.

"What is it that you do?" she asked outside of their respective places. Neither of them even bothered to pull out their keys yet. "I always see you dressed so nice. Even your car is fancy."

"It's not that fancy," he mumbled, looking over the terrace, "is it?"

She smiled at him and—again—he felt his breath leave him. It took all his energy to keep from admitting his feelings right then and there. "You know," she added, completely unaware to what she was doing to him, "I don't know your name."

He cocked his head at her before turning to put his key in the lock. Many times, he wondered how he was going to get her name out of her. From the name plate above her mailbox downstairs he could tell that her family name was Manai. It was rare and he liked the sound of it when he spoke it aloud, but it was never enough. He wanted to know her given name. He thought up many different ones that he felt was befitting for her but none of them could come close to the real thing he was sure.

"Oh?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, jumping at him. Her hand, small and demanding despite never reaching him, shot out, swatting at the air between them to stop his actions. "We've been living next to one another for months now"—five months. He counted—"and neither of us know each other's names at all. Isn't that weird?"

"Weird and devastating." He thought.

"I mean, I read that your surname's Hyuga, right? But I thought it would be weird to just call you like that when we never properly introduced each other yet…" she paused then, tucking her hair behind her ear again, "I thought it would make you uncomfortable."

It wouldn't. He thought. Not at all. But he was glad she didn't call him when she found out since he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep his composure against that sudden attack.

If only she knew what she does to him…

"My full name is Hyuga Neji." He answered, eagerness dripping unnoticeably from every word he managed to say. He could hardly hear what he was saying with how loud his heart beat was. "And to answer your previous question, I work for a company downtown. I don't know if you've heard of them since it's kind of new in business terms. It's called HNH."

"HNH?!" She near screamed, launching at him. This time she took him in her hands, grasping at his wrist tightly but not enough to warrant concern. However, before he could take in the warmth, before he could fully process that her skin was against his, she took her hand back and hid it behind her before pulling it back and tucking hair behind her ear again.

A part of him wondered if she would do that even when her hair was up. The other part took note of the tick. Filed it right under the cute folder.

"Sorry."—For what?!—"It's just…we talk about that company all the time in my Strategic Communications class. All good! All good things! It's a common company that gets brought up when we talk about good crisis management tactics."

"Ah, you're talking about that thing with one of our sites being compromised some years ago?"

She nodded, taking a step closer when she saw him face the door again. He tried his hardest not to smile at the obvious signs of her not wanting him to leave yet.

"I was still in school when that happened. Now they're talking about it in classes. Makes me feel old."

She smiled—again!—and he finally faced her, taking his hand off the door and giving her his all. She didn't step back like he thought she would and held her ground. Her arms waved leisurely beside her as she tilted and rocked on her heels. "You're not old, Hyuga-san."

This was it. He thought. This was the perfect time to set some goals, to take down the barriers that were built between them. He didn't care what may come from his request, didn't care how it might affect their conversation. As long as he could change the pace they were walking together, he didn't care.

"Call me Neji, please." He insisted. And, just for added measure. "Hyuga-san is what they call my elders."

She bit her lip, looking over him once more before nodding and turning to her own door. "Then call me Tenten, please."

He dared himself. "Tenten san?" the name danced on the tip of his tongue, dying to be said again, but he held back because he didn't want to sound like someone desperately trying to get her attention.

"I call you yours you call me mine?" she asked, twisting her hips with her hands behind her back. He couldn't help but follow the movements before finally looking at her face again. "That way it'll be fair."

Fair. He laughed, surprising even himself when the sound left him. In front of him, he could see the color of her eyes shine then drop, hiding the tint of surprise almost too soon. He was sure she didn't think she would ever hear him laugh. No one does since he doesn't give off the feeling.

"Okay, then, Tenten san."

She smiled—Gods she smiled a lot—before turning her key and opening the door, being the first to signify the end of their conversation. He had a feeling she was always going to be the one who would end their talks. "Okay, then, Neji san."

He smirked, liking the way his name sounded coming from her and watched as she left behind the doors, closing him off yet again.

It was the start of her second semester when he remembered that she did, in fact, have a boyfriend. He met him again outside their respective places. She was walking with her backpack sloppily tossed behind her and he was trailing behind her. He had let his hair grow out some, but it was sloppy and unkept, and he smelled like cigarettes and alcohol despite it being only 3 in the afternoon.

The last time they met like this she blushed at being caught inviting a guy into her apartment, but this time she fixed him with an unsteady gaze that shifted in unease. She looked back at the boy that followed her before she turned and started unlocking the door, nodding her hello at him. But something in her stance, in her demeanor made him speak to her first.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking back only momentarily to the guy that stood his ground—still—under his gaze. "You look pale."

She looked up at him, smiling something fake and completely placid. This was not her usual smile. "I'm fine." She lied. He knew she did.

"Hm." He looked back at the guy again, and, this time, he was met with his profile. He looked away. Was he threatened? Was he finally realizing the difference in them? Either way, he didn't like the atmosphere. He knew he shouldn't get involved in her life when they barely got to know each other past their names, jobs and their sense of humor—and that last one was iffy—but he be damned if anything happened to her while he was aware. "Do you need anything? I was going to go to the grocery store in downtown."

Her eyes brightened at this. She looked back at her boyfriend quickly before looking back at Neji with hope in her eyes, the kind that begged him to notice it.

He did.

"Ah, right!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together before turning on her heels and facing the boy behind her who was now looking between the two of them skeptically. "Neji-san said he would take me to the store today. I really needed…some things…" she pushed hair behind her ear again then took the key out the door and quickly threw it into her backpack before stepping behind him. "We…we need to reschedule today I guess."

"What?" the guy hissed, taking a step closer.

Neji didn't know if it was because he couldn't read the atmosphere or if he thought he was just that powerful, but the kid actually dared him. He actually tried to wretch her from behind him. He barely got his hand out though before it was swatted away—much rougher than he had intended might he add.

"She said she needs to reschedule."

He looked at him, sizing him up once before turning on his heel, smacking his lips and leaving. Mumbling something about her giving herself up to whever or whatever. Neji stood his ground, protecting her until he was sure the jackass was down stairs and making his way off the premises. It wasn't until then did he face her.

She didn't look at him, deciding instead to stare down at the ground with an unreadable expression on her face. Seconds, maybe minutes passed before she finally noticed that he was staring at her. When she looked at him, she fixed him with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. And it hurt. It hurt him to see that expression.

"Sorry." She said. "I…we broke up a while back and…he was just suddenly outside of the complex and he was so loud. I didn't want anyone to complain or anything so I just…Anyways, I'm sorry."

He took her into his arms, hugging her, before he could stop himself.

For a second, she froze against his sudden action. Her hands went up almost instinctively when he approached her, but they were now laying flat against his chest, putting in no effort to push him away. He thought to let her go not long after but when she relaxed against him, resting her cheek against his chest, he found it hard to even begin to pull away.

"Thank you." She sighed against him.

His breath hitched. "Anytime."

She kissed him once. It was quick and sheepish and sloppy in that drunk kind of way, but she kissed him nonetheless. It was three in the morning when he met her and her friends outside their complex. The cab was filled to the brim with girls he hadn't met before but heard through the walls.

One of the blondes was skeptical of him at first but when Tenten eagerly jumped into his arms and shouted his name they—the sober ones—decided to entrust their friend to him. Really, the only reason they called him for help with her was because of the many texts she sent him while she was out.

He knew he wouldn't regret giving her his number. It was obvious that nothing she contacted him for would annoy him, but he would never think that he would be the subject of her drunken state. However, he was glad that he was. He found her to be just that much cuter—if that was possible—when intoxicated. It made him want to protect her and her excessive usage of emojis.

They, her friends, had told him many things when dropping her off. Most of it was warnings about not touching her or else but the others were what all she had to drink and how much she could usually take. It took them minutes that felt like hours to finally leave in which neither of them offered to help him carry her upstairs but all of them seemed to dare him to try something and invoke their rage. He thought nothing of it—though he did take their threats seriously—at first, but only seconds after they left did she get rowdy, throwing herself all over him and being difficult overall.

He had just got to her door and fished her keys out of her bag when she placed her lips against his sheepishly then took them back just as shyly. She laughed after that and put a finger up to her lips like she was telling him to keep what she did a secret before she effortless opened her unlocked door and closed it behind her.

What followed afterwards was just clockwork stuff. Stuff he wasn't aware he was doing. He locked her door after realizing that she left her keys with him. Then he went into his own apartment, closed the door, locked it, took a shower, brushed his teeth, washed his face—the usual—then slowly sunk into his bed and closed his eyes. It wasn't until after sleep started to take over him did he take notice of the tingle that stayed behind after her lips left his and a wild blush took over his face.

Needless to say, he didn't get to sleep that day.

He decided not to say anything to Tenten about the kiss the next day when he gave her keys back. He also decided not to dwell on it since he was sure she didn't remember nor care about it. But the main reason he didn't let it take over his thoughts was because he was afraid. He didn't like the way it took over his thoughts, how the feel etched itself onto him and seemed to redraw itself around his lips whenever he recalled the lightly chapped lips that pressed against his. The warmth took over after that. It was soft and subtle and hardly stayed for long in real time, but his mind liked to elongate the actual length of the kiss and thus, the feeling of having her pressed against him quickly, innocently, stayed forever against his skin as long as he thought about it.

He found himself shaking his thoughts away often but not enough to erase the memory for the days that followed. He was probably distracted at work for majority of the week that followed the kiss incident and even more so when he was home and could hear her going on with her everyday life on the other side of the wall. Those were the worst days. Those were the times where he let his imagination overtake him, when he began to wonder.

Hypothetically—and he really meant hypothetically! —he wondered how it would feel to kiss her. To for real kiss her. He wondered how it might feel to press her body fresh against his own, to hold her against him and kiss her as passionately as he felt for her. He wondered how she would sound when she's enjoying herself, when she's breathing without want because she didn't want to be separate from him…How would she sound, hypothetically, if she said his name, if she moaned his name. How would she sound if they…

He shook his head, frantically chasing those thoughts away before things got too complicated. He looked around, glad that no one could see him all too well form his position in the office. Sighing, he got up, glad that he didn't get too excited, and headed towards the bathroom. He needed to wash his face to refresh himself and restart his mind before getting back to work.

He remembered, suddenly, how bad he wanted his own office out of the management section of the company, how hard he was willing to work to move up his family company's floors till he had his own, closed off office space. The reasoning before was so innocent. But now…