Author's Note: Ok, so this was originally intended as a song fic but I didn't realise that was a breach of copyright. It's taken me a while to do not very much, but hopefully, this piece is now acceptable as it is, and I also hope it is as enjoyable read.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this piece. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I also do not own the song "The Best Day". It is owned by Taylor Swift and/or her record label.
A five-year-old Hinata stopped running and slumped forward, her hands on her knees, panting. Looking up again, she felt the harsh and cold wind on her face, thankful she had her big coat on. "Heh," she panted, "Where could niisan be?" She had given up hope on finding him when she heard a laugh above her head. Hinata raised her head skyward to see her six-year-old cousin, Neji, sitting on a branch smiling down at her. Hinata's eyes widened as she realised how high up Neji was. As he took in her expression, he giggled again and then dropped to the ground, landing neatly on his feet a few feet in front of her. Seeing him standing up straight and smiling at her, Hinata's face broke into a smile and she ran towards him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, screwing up his face as they ran past the pumpkin patches, back towards the meadow where they had had their picnic. As Hinata began to tire, Neji let her climb on his back and jogged, telling her he was a tractor and she was a farmer and she giggled all the way back to the meadow. They lay on their backs quietly, exhausted after all their playing. "Look now, Hinata-chan," Neji pointed his finger, "The sky is gold!" Hinata smiled as the gold glow bathed them and she snuggled closer to him, hugging his legs as she fell asleep.
When Hinata stirred, she was aware of a gentle rocking motion and she realised that her Father was carrying her home. She yawned, rubbing her eyes sleepily and turned her head to the side. Neji was smiling at her, being carried in a similar fashion by his own Father, her Father's twin brother. Hinata smiled back and then let her head droop tiredly on her Father's shoulder, casting her eyes over her surroundings. "Ne, niisan?" she said unexpectedly and Neji turned to look at her. "Why do all the trees change in the fall?" she asked, her pale eyes scanning over all the fire-coloured leaves, some still clinging to the trees and some in bundles on the ground beneath them. Neji only let surprise show on his face for a second and it went unnoticed. "Err... Well, it's- it's something you'll understand when you're older, Hinata-chan," he answered eventually. "Eh, do you understand niisan?" she asked, turning her wide eyes towards him. His cheeks coloured slightly as he tried to appear off-hand, stating, "Of course I do!" Hinata was very impressed and the two older men shared a quick smile. There was a strange noise from somewhere in the trees and Hinata yelped, hiding in the material of her Father's yukata. "Hinata? You're not scared of an owl, are you?" her Father asked her and she withdrew her head but still clutched at the material with her small hands. "An owl?" she squeaked and he nodded, pointing to a tree. Her gaze followed the direction of his finger. Sure enough, an owl sat on a branch of one of the trees and hooted. An excited giggle escaped Hinata and she turned to see Neji-niisan smiling at her again. "That's right," she thought to herself. "Neji-niisan's not scared of anything at all!" She smiled back at him and they stayed that way for a while before another question occurred to her. "Niisan, do you think Snow White's house is near or far away?" Neji looked completely baffled for a moment. It had been a while since Hinata had spoken of her favourite fairytale. He contemplated before answering, "Far away, because you're the fairest in our village, Hinata-chan." Hinata's face turned pink and she beamed at him, murmuring a soft 'thank you'. The older brothers smiled at each other, a rather knowing smile that the children were far too young to comprehend, enjoying the banter of the two small children. Hinata snuggled in close to her Father, drowsily thinking of how she had just spent the best day with Neji.
A thirteen-year-old Hinata walked home alone, replaying the afternoon's events in her head. The girls had all been training together and when they'd stopped for a break, Ino and Sakura had started discussing Sasuke- how great he was, how talented he was, how smart he was, how HOT he was. Tenten had agreed that she thought he was cute which they described as a huge understatement. Then they'd all looked at her expectantly and she'd been honest saying that she'd always preferred Naruto. Ino and Sakura had been outraged and began to list all the reasons that Sasuke would never go out with a girl like her anyway. When she'd dared to point out that he hadn't gone out with either of them, they'd become even more enraged, insulting her further before she'd excused herself and began to make her way home. Now, she could feel the hot tears stinging her eyes and she started running as fast as she could, not wanting to cry until she was in her own room. She threw the front door open and was only a few steps inside when she collided with something and fell backwards, landing painfully on her rump. She could no longer hold back the tears and never even thought of getting up when she heard a familiar voice saying her name. Opening her eyes and looking beyond her tears, she found Neji standing over her, reaching down with one arm to pull her to her feet. She took his hand unthinkingly and allowed him to guide her through to the living-room and sit her down on the sofa, coaxing her to tell him what had happened. Through her sobs, she recounted the tale while her cousin held her tight, stroking her back and hair, that had been described only an hour ago as 'short and ridiculous' by her so-called friends. Once she had calmed down, Neji asked, "So you never got to finish your training today?" Hinata blinked at him in surprise. She knew that her cousin took his training seriously but she would never have contemplated that he would think that some missed training was more of an issue than falling out with her friends. She was so shocked by this thought that she couldn't form any syllables so she just shook her head. Neji reached for some keys from a nearby table and indicated that she follow him, locking the front door with the keys before leaving the compound. They walked to the edge of the forest and Neji explained that they would run through the trees for training and Hinata smiled, already being quite apt at this. Soon they were using chakra in their feet to increase their speed, make leaps of greater distances and run at angles that would normally be impossible. Therefore, it took Hinata a while to realise that they were running away from Konoha. "Niisan, where are we going?" she yelled and though he turned to grin mischievously at her, he didn't answer. Suddenly, he disappeared from view and with one more leap forward, Hinata was no longer surrounded by trees. She dropped to the ground next to Neji and as she straightened up, she was awed by the sight before her. They'd run to another town full of shops and restaurants and Neji began walking down one of the busy streets. "Niisan, why are we here?" she called, not moving from the spot where she'd landed. He turned to glance back at her. "Thought some retail therapy might do you some good," he replied, waiting for her. She considered for a moment. "But I didn't bring any money!" Neji shrugged and started walking again, muttering something about window shopping. Hinata ran to catch up with him and they wandered round rather aimlessly, admiring the window displays and talking about lots of unimportant things and after a while, Hinata could barely remember what she'd been upset about anymore. As a final treat, he bought them some zenzai and cinnamon rolls for their evening meal seeing as they were her favourite foods, before suggesting they head home.
Hinata looked exhausted by the time they reached the edge of the forest so Neji offered her a piggy-back and although she initially declined, he refused to relent and she was becoming increasingly tired. With her arms clinging around his neck and his supporting under her knees, he leapt into the trees, heading home. "I wonder who I'll train with now," Hinata mused, sounding down again. Neji turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder at her. "Don't be silly, Hinata-sama," he scolded lightly, "You'll still train with your team. And I'll train with you." Seeing her face brighten at his words, he once again turned his attention to the way they were going. There was silence for a while as he leapt from branch to branch, then Hinata announced, "I think I'll grow my hair long." It sounded rather contemplative as though she hadn't completely decided yet but that didn't stop Neji from frowning. "I hope that's not because billboard brow and Ino-pig made fun of your hair the way it is now!" Hinata hit the back of his head lightly, scolding him for calling her friends such names, even though they had said far worse about her earlier in the day. He chuckled at her reaction and his deep rumbling laughter seemed to soothe her emotions once more. "No, I like your hair niisan," she eventually responded. "I want my hair long like yours. Then maybe we could style each other's hair," she added thoughtfully. When Neji didn't answer her, she asked tentatively, "Niisan?" He turned his head again to show that he had heard her, his face frozen in an expression of horror and Hinata couldn't stifle her laughter, laughing until tears rolled down her cheeks and her stomach ached. When her laughter finally ceased, she noticed Neji's face was composed again and resting her chin on his shoulder, she murmured. "Alright, I'll save the hair stuff for the girls. I just don't know how long it'll take for things to be ok with them." Neji noticed her downbeat tone again and answered, "Don't worry, you'll sort things out." He felt her sigh against his ear and heard her whisper, "Thank you, Neji-niisan." As she thanked him, Hinata thought of how she had just spent the best day with Neji.
An eighteen-year-old Hinata held a Jyuuken stance as she faced her Father, panting heavily. He appraised her for a moment before deactivating his byakugan. "That is enough for today, Hinata," he announced, turning away. "But I can still-," Hinata protested breathlessly but Hiashi interrupted her. "I admire your determination, Hinata, but there is no point using up all of your chakra. You have gotten stronger so let us stop here for now." At that, Hinata relaxed her stance and deactivated her own bloodline limit. "He really cares about me," she thought to herself before addressing her Father, "Your strength influences my own." He smiled at her and went to sit on the porch, where his younger daughter had left some tea for them. Hinata joined him and as she sipped on her tea, Hiashi suggested, "I will be training with Hanabi this afternoon. You could observe her training to help your own." She nodded, making a noise of assent and they then sat drinking their tea in silence until Hanabi appeared. As her sister and Father commenced their training in the courtyard, Hinata took the tray of teacups through to the kitchen and then found a spot on the roof where she could get a clear view of the training session going on below. Initially, she watched closely, observing the jutsus and techniques, the style and fluidity, the speed and strength but she became distracted by Hanabi herself. She couldn't help but note how much stronger her younger sister was, how much more like a Hyuuga- both in her appearance and in her personality. "Hanabi's truly blessed," she thought to herself, rather solemnly. Realising that she was only upsetting herself, she turned her attention to the rest of the large manor in which she grew up. As she glanced around different parts of the house, she could see ghosts of her and Neji as children, playing, spending the best days together. As her gaze wandered to the direction of the kitchen, a memory seemed to come back to her and it made her wonder...
After several rapid knocks on his bedroom door, Neji opened it to find Hinata standing there practically bouncing on the spot. "Hinata-sama," he said, bowing slightly out of respect, which Hinata seemed to ignore. "Neji-niisan, look what I found!" she exclaimed, holding before him what looked like an old home video. "Will you watch it with me?" she asked. She appeared so excited that Neji couldn't possibly have said no to her. They went to a living-room and Hinata set the video up before sitting next to him on the couch. She ignored the usual rule of 'no feet on the sofa', hugging her legs, apparently completely mesmerised by the screen which showed her aged three and Neji aged four in the kitchen of the Hyuuga manor. There was a paint set, set up and Neji was painting a picture while Hinata babbled about the latest fairytale her Mother had told her about a girl called Snow White and the seven dwarves she lived with. She told of how the wicked queen became an ugly old witch and she poisoned Snow White but the handsome Prince Charming saved her and they lived happily ever after. As she finished telling her story, Neji smiled. "It was a good story," the four year old told her, "but it's not really the kind I like." The three-year-old Hinata looked like she might cry but Neji quickly thrust his painting at her. "It's for you!" he stated proudly, as he held it out to her and her bewildered eyes kept swivelling from him to the painting as she reached out to take it. "I've still got it," Hinata of the present murmured with a light smile on her face. "I found it with the video. It was of us." Her eyes shone slightly as she confided the last part and Neji couldn't help but smile. Now the children of the video were trying to decide what game to play. "Let's play ninjas," Neji suggested excitedly but his bright smile quickly turned into a frown as he took in Hinata's sad face. "That's too much like training," Hinata mumbled and the Neji of now remembered thinking how much she hated her training as his younger self on the screen asked what she would like to play. "Snow White!" she replied with a smile that seemed even bigger than her face. Neji frowned. "Alright, and I'll be a pirate. Argh!" he agreed, brandishing an imaginary sword. The little Hinata placed her hands on her hips. "Niisan, there aren't any pirates in Snow White. You'll have to be one of the dwarves," she told him. Hinata of the present laughed as the Neji on screen pouted. "I'm taller than you so I can't be a dwarf. I'll have to be Prince Charming," he stated boldly and lightly kissed his little cousin's cheek. Both Hinata's flushed furiously and Neji wondered for a moment if that was the first time she had blushed. "Niisan," the young Hinata squealed. "What was that for?" Young Neji sat in front of his paints again before he answered. "Because the handsome Prince always kisses the beautiful Princess." Hinata did not respond as she resumed her seat opposite him. They sat in silence for a while before little Neji piped up, "My Daddy's really smart you know." The young Hinata looked at him, replying defiantly that her Daddy was smart too. Neji continued as though she hadn't spoken. "I told my Daddy I thought you were cute the first time we met and he agreed with me so you must be." Her cheeks were turning pink as he continued, "Then I told him that I thought you were the prettiest lady in the whole wide world and he said you might be so you are!" The video was now ignored as the grown up Hinata and Neji turned to face each other, both with more colour in their cheeks than they were used to. "Did you... really think that?" Hinata asked hesitantly. Neji observed her for a moment before answering, "I still do." There was silence as Hinata's whole face glowed red in the dark room and he leaned towards her, capturing her lips in a kiss.
As they broke apart from their first kiss, they looked into each other's eyes, seeing so much promise there. Hinata leaned forward again, gently rubbing her nose against Neji's. "Now I know why all the trees change in the fall," she whispered softly. He frowned for a moment before remembering a conversation from thirteen years ago and he smiled. "I see. That's good. It took you a while though," he chuckled and she did so too. As he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, Hinata thought of all the times they had spent together since they were young. She thought of all games that they'd played, all of the times she'd been upset when she'd fallen out with her friends and he'd comforted her. She thought of all the times when she'd been left aching after training with her Father and he'd helped to ease her pain so she could recover and be ready for the next training session. It was as she reflected on all these times that she realised that he'd always been there to support her, had always been on her side even if she was in the wrong. She thought of all the times that he'd trained with her or watched her training, even taking time out of his own training to help with hers, helping her to perfect techniques that he'd long since mastered yet praising her as though she was the genius when she finally got them. She smiled from her position in his lap, resting her head against his shoulder as she murmured, "Niisan." He sighed in response, "Hmm?" She took a deep breath before telling him, "I've had the best day with you today." He looked down at her and gently tilted her chin up, kissing her again, thinking of what a perfect end to the day it would be.