Crossroads
It is of the utmost importance that those traveling on the road pay close attention when arriving at a crossroads. Those you meet and those you leave behind at these junctions are without a doubt the people you are either destined to meet over and over no matter where you go, or destined to never see again no matter where you go to look. You remembered this traveler's warning as you approached a small junction of two forest pathways which came together briefly before separating off again to go their separate ways.
You trod the ground beneath the forest, silent with life, tapping at the ground with your walking stick, and tightened the shoulder straps of your pack. As you reached the junction you heard footsteps from the other path and you stopped, and waited.
Neji passed by into the joined pathway without a glance in your direction. You let him walk a little ways before you followed, and watched his figure blur and become one with the road and its surrounding forest.
The conjoined road stretched on for miles. You didn't see Neji again until night had fallen and you came upon his campfire blazing in a knoll by the side of the road. You looked at his eyes from across the way and read that he had been waiting. Obeying his silent beckon, you next to him by the fire and stretched out your aching leg, the one that had started to wear from your endless missions along the road. Neji reached across the fire's flickering and placed your leg in his lap, kneaded it with his palms and fingers.
"I've been watching you since this morning," he said.
You winced as he pressed into the angry muscle. "I know," you replied.
You both fell asleep by the fire, curled up in downy sleeping bags, halting all thoughts of travel and journey and allowing dreams of Konoha and family and houses rooted in the earth to penetrate the mind.
The joined road remained together for two more days and two more nights, and you walked together in silence while the sun was high, sat together in the dark while Neji caressed your weary leg. On that last night Neji kept his silvery eyes trained on you for as long as you both could stay awake, his hands left their place on your leg and moved through your hair and softly down your face until stopping to rest on the space between your collarbone and neck. You understood his attempt to remember everything so he could see you again in his mind when you both were once again alone along the empty forest roads.
The next morning you reached the split and paused, each with a foot on the joined and the splitting pathways. Neji reached into his pocket and brought out a single violet flower and placed it in your hand.
"You know what they say about crossroads," you said, too loud for the tranquility around you.
The last time you had seen Neji was when he left Konoha for a mission and you were standing under the gate, unable to tell him that you were there and would be waiting until you met again.
Neji smiled and all the fear of the parting dissipated. He said that he knew the saying too, and that it was inevitable that you would meet again, over and over, no matter which ways you chose to travel.