Summary: Neji is not a man of emotion.
Genre: I don't even know..
Warning: Unbeta'd. :)

Anti-Emo

Neji is not a man of much emotion.

He does not smile.

1 … :) … 1

"Say cheese!"

A chorus of "CHEESE!" was heard from Team Gai. But the flash didn't come.

"Hey kid," The photographer called out to Neji, still positioned behind his camera. "Smile a little, will ya?"

Neji produced a rude "Hn." before turning away.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Excuse him. Apparently, smiling isn't part of his destiny."

2 … :) … 2

"Nothing." Naruto concluded begrudgingly, shaking his head. "You numb, numb bastard."

"What did you call me?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" Naruto's hands raised in surrender, chuckling nervously as Neji calmed himself.

"That's because none of your faces were funny." Sakura said, shoving Naruto to the side and occupying his previous spot, directly in front of the Hyuuga.

"Some of them were.." Naruto defended pathetically.

"No, they were all stupid. Now shut up and let me try!"

A series of stupid, aggravating faces later . . .

"Nothing." Sakura concluded. "You emotionless prick.."

Quickly, she ran away.


He does not laugh.

.AhiUNOhihi.

"And then, and then, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Kiba burst out laughing. As did the rest of the gang present, namely Neji, Ino and Sakura.

Well, I guess not all of them were laughing.

"Geez, Neji!" Ino said through muffled laughs. "Did someone die or something?!"

"Yeah! His sense of humor!" Kiba cried, starting another round of cackling laughter. This only made Neji's scowl deepen.

"I fail to see what's so funny." Neji retorted, deadpan. The whole group stopped laughing to stare awkwardly at Neji.

Sakura shook his head. "You are seriously dead inside."

.AhiDOShihi.

"I feel the youthfoooOOAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" Lee wailed as he fell from the highest branch of the largest, tallest tree in the training grounds.

"Ooof!" He cried, crashing into a branch on the way down. "Arg! Ouch!" After a few more branches..

"Urg! Ugh! . . . I-is it f-fi- YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!-"

CRASH!

He landed face first on the harsh, solid ground, tufts of leaves and twigs protruding from his tangled mane. His legs contorted in a way that they hung above his head. "Ow."

Tenten watched with a blank face as Lee's eyes and legs began twitching in pain. Suddenly, "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" She laughed until her eyes were watering and her sides were aching.

Neji, however, did not find it as amusing. He shook his head. "You lack training, Lee." And then he walked away..


He does not cry.

.Sniff.

"Here." Ino stretched her hands out, a bouquet of perfectly arranged flowers appearing in front of Neji. "On the house." She smiled sympathetically, receiving nothing but a blank nod from the cold-hearted Hyuuga.

Neji took the flowers from Ino's hand, grateful. Looking down, he stared at the lone grave of Hizashi Hyuuga.

It was his father death anniversary today. Incidentally, the sun was not shining as brightly as he expected. The clouds seemed to sense his sorrow and grief. They darkened considerably.

Neji lowered his head in respect. "Father." For a few moments, his head remained down. Ino thought he was about to cry, understandably. She raised a hand to place on his shoulder, but he'd already looked up.

"Let's go." He said coldly, not sparing another glance at the grave. Ino looked at him with sadness. It wasn't healthy to keep emotions bottled up.


The only emotion he was familiar with was anger.

oneARGH!

"NARUTOOO!" A blur of white zipped through the village, but not before an orange-clad Naruto sped through with a frightened expression.

"I-I swear, Neji! I didn't do it! I-I'M INNOCENT!!" Naruto cried. "I-It was Kiba!! HE made out with your cousin! NOT ME!" Neji did not falter. "OH COME ON! You gotta believe me!"

twoGRR!

"People are born burdened with a destiny they cannot oppose." Neji's anger brewed within, barely containing itself. "YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BURDENED WITH A SYMBOL YOU COULD NEVER RID YOURSELF OF!" Neji pointed accusingly at the bloodied and bruised Naruto.

Unnervingly, a rough laugh emanated from the blonde. "Yeah.. I can.."


Until one day..

"Hey Neji!" Neji turned, watching as Tenten ran towards him. She skidded to a halt in front of him, still slightly panting. "Man, you walk fast!"

"What was it you wanted, Tenten?"

A bit startled by his offhandedness, Tenten's wide eyes fixated on him, then shifted away uneasily. "Well," She started nervously, gulping. Here goes nothing..

"Okay, look. We all know you're a cold-hearted, emotionless jerk," Neji cocked a brow. "But for some reason, . . . I like you." Quickly, she closed her eyes. "And by that, I mean.. like like." As her eyes remained closed, she listened intently for any signs of rejection. Unable to hear anything, she slowly opened her eyes, risking a glance at the Hyuuga, which apparently resulted to even more restless nerves as she watched his wide eyes and blank face.

"B-but if you don't want to, I totally understand! I mean, I can.." She trailed off, feeling the touch of his palm on her cheeks. She was rendered speechless. Slowly looking up, her eyes locked with the most beautiful eyes that were squinted by the genuine, sincere smile on his face. Her eyes widened even more.

"You're . . . smiling." She whispered, flabbergasted. He then laughed. And once again, words failed her.

She'd never heard him laugh before. He had a cute laugh, she discerned.

Noticing the look on her face, Neji smiled. "You've never heard me laugh either, have you?" Tenten shook her head meekly.

"Then I should hope you'll be seeing more of my smile and hearing more of my laugh from now on."

She laughed. "Only if you actually do them."

Neji was not a man of emotion.

But he was getting there.