Title: Bouncy Rubber Ball
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
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Neji got down on all fours and stuck his head in under the table.
He had been looking for his hitai-ate all morning. He crawled under, climbed over and stumbled on several furniture. Several Hyuugas had stared at him curiously, but he had no time to worry about that.
"Um... try the study." Hinata had suggested, shyly and politely, when she found him balancing on an almost broken stool.
So Neji was in the study, with a piece of cloth tied around his forehead as a substitute for his hitai-ate, his head under a low table and his elbows and knees on a dusty floor.
"Atchoo!" He sneezed, when the dust tickled his nose.
"Ouch!" His head was thrown back when he sneezed, hitting the table.
"Whoa!" He backed away from the desk, still on the floor, sliding, until his back collided witha nearby shelf.
"..." Books and scrolls fell and he caught them all, thanks to his quick reflexes, but he missed a little rubber ball, which fell with the books and scrolls and bounced on his head, fell to the floor, bounced a little more, until it finally rolled under one of the low tables.
Neji stood up and quickly returned the books, then, more carefully, got on all fours to retrieve the rubber ball.
Later...
He sat with his legs crossed on a mat, the rubber ball in his hand. It must have been pink a long time ago, but now it was just a faded peachy color. He lifted his hand up, then dropped the ball to the floor, it bounced back up and he caught it. Then he dropped it again, it bounced back up, he caught it. Drop, bounce, catch. Drop, bounce, catch. Drop, bounce, catch. Neji couldn't help but smile. Drop, bounce--
"Neji?"
Neji quickly grabbed the ball and hid it behind his back. Hinata stood at the doorway, carrying his hitai-ate.
-
Neji sat under the shade of a tall tree. It had been a long and hot afternoon, and he had been training with Tenten most of the day. The barrage of weapons stuck to the ground was proof of that. But Tenten had left a while ago, and now Neji was alone.
He took out the little rubber ball from his pocket. Then he tossed it into the air and caught it before it hit the ground. He tossed it again, and caught it again. He did this over and over for several minutes.
He must have tossed it too hard, because the ball was now stuck in the tree branches. He frowned, the ball was caught in a lot of branches and leaves, he couldn't shake it down.
Neji climbed up the tree, he climbed high enough until the ball was below him. There was a nest near the ball, and it was occupied. He had to do this slowly.
He reached down, his fingertips touching the ball. He brushed aside a few leaves, lifted a few branches--
SNAP!
A branch under him broke. Neji looked down, there was no way he falling from that height. He had to move faster before all the branches under him gave way. The ball was loose now, and he only had to move a little more to reach it. As fast as he could without snapping anymore of the branches, he moved until his hands could almost touch the ball. Carefully, he reached forward with one arm supporting his upper body.
"Whoa!" Neji was thrown off balance. The mother bird of the nest had apparently returned, and was not too happy to find a giant hand near her babies. The mother bird started attacking Neji with little harmless pecks on his hands, but the little pecks started to make him wobble.
"A little more..." He said under his breath, reaching for the ball. He streched one arm and pulled his body forward. His lower body and the arm supporting his weight was shaking, the pecks were no help either. Neji could feel cold sweat above his brow. "Almost there..."
"NEJI!"
"AAH!" Neji fell down, tired from training all afternoon, his body couldn't react properly so he landed painfully on his back.
Tenten, Gai and Lee stared down curiously at him as he slowly sat up.
"Are you alright?" Tenten asked concerned, helping him up. "What were you doing up there?"
Neji didn't reply. He simply looked up to the ball, eyebrows slanted and mouth curved down.
Lee walked over to them and leaned on the tree. In doing so, he shook it enough for the rubber ball, now loose, to fall.
It fell on Neji's head. Then bounced back up, Lee quickly caught it.
"I haven't seen one of these in years!" Lee said excited. "Can I keep it?"
"No, It's mine!" Neji answered quickly, snatching the ball from Lee's hands.
Again, everyone gave him curious stares.
-
It was after dark but the lights in the study were lit. Hyuuga Hiashi stood in front of a shelf and reached up feeling for something.
Five seconds passed... thirty seconds... a minute...
Hiashi couldn't find what he was looking for.
"Where is my bouncy rubber ball?"
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I hope reading this wasn't a waste of time. Please review if it's not too much trouble.