Hi there!
I'm awfully sorry for the time it took to post this new chapter, but I had a MASSIVE writer's block, and also I just came back home from Xmas break, so I haven't had that much time to write either...
Anyway, hope you like this one (I know it's shorter than the previous ones), and once again thank you for all the reviews!
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"Hinata-sama…"
Hinata was still sitting on her chair in the dining room, with an elbow set upon the table, leaning her head on her open palm, her eyes closed. After having had something to eat, she felt a whole lot better, the sickness had subsided considerably, but she still felt tired and drowsy. As the day went by she had started to remember some more details from the night before. As she heard Neji's voice, her head shot up.
"Hinata-sama, are you in here?…" She heard him coming closer to the door.
He opened the door and just stood at the entrance of the room, looking at her.
"N-Neji nii-san…". She couldn't stand to look at him so she averted her eyes to the wall behind him.
"Um…Hanabi-san said you weren't feeling well, i-is everything alright?", he asked, his face showing concern.
"Y-yes, it is, nii-san, everything's f-fine, I'm j-just a little tired, t-that's all. Hanabi tends to worry too much…"
"Are you sure? I can go get some aspirin, I-if you want…" he said, his eyes scrutinizing her.
"No, r-really, nii-san, i-it's fine. But I w-would appreciate a cup of tea…I-if you don't mind, t-that is.", she said, glancing at his face with a small smile.
"Um, sure thing. I'll be right back." He turned away and exited the room. Hinata stared at his back as he walked away.
'That wasn't so bad for a start…', she thought. 'He's acting nicer than usual, could it be that he feels guilty or something?…no, not likely, he's probably doing this as an obligation and hates me more than ever.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of Neji, who was carrying a small tray with two cups of steamy, nice smelling liquid. He put the tray on top of the table and sat across from Hinata. Both of them sat in silence for a while, each looking at their own hands. After a while, Neji spoke.
"S-so, um…Hinata-sama, how…how are you doing?"
"I-I'm fine, nii-san…y-you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks…"
Another moment of awkward silence ensued. Hinata kept looking at her hands and fidgeting, and Neji stared at the wall beside him.
"I'm sorry!" they both exclaimed suddenly.
"What? N-nii-san…"
"Hinata-sama…I-I'm the one who's sorry, I should have been more responsible.", he said, looking down.
"N-no, nii-san, it's all m-my fault, I was the one w-who drank too much and…"
"You're allowed to have fun, Hinata-sama…I was supposed to look out for you, and I failed miserably…"
"But you did l-look out for me, nii-san, you brought me home a-and you made sure I was ok."
"And I harmed you right after that…what kind of protector is one who abuses the person he's protecting?"
"Y-you didn't abuse me, I didn't t-tell you to stop either…a-and from what I can recall, I was the one who s-started it in the first place."
"And I went along with it when could have stopped it, but I let my hormones take over. Kami, I'm so disgusting…"
"Nii-san, please don't say that! You're not disgusting, you're human. You didn't force me into anything. A-although not on my best judgment, I did it o-of my own free will. A-and I'm the one who should be apologizing. I already cause you enough trouble, a-and now this…", she said, averting her eyes.
"Hinata-sama…" How can she still be so sweet, after what happened? "You have no reason to apologize, you're no trouble at all."
"W-well then, neither do you, nii-san, you didn't do anything against me. A-and besides, we can't change it now, c-can we?"
"No, we can't…I guess you're right, Hinata-sama, we can't blame ourselves for the rest of our lives. But still…"
" 'Still' nothing, nii-san. I-it's done, so d-don't worry any more about it."
"Fortunately no one found out about it…"
"W-we'd be dead if they did, t-that's for sure…"
"Find out what?" Hanabi entered the room.
"H-Hanabi-chan!"
Both Hinata and Neji jumped on their seat.
"Hi again nee-chan, are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I-I'm better, Neji nii-san brought me some tea…Um, s-so, what did Otou-san want?"
"Nothing important, he just wanted to talk to me about my latest mission. So, what is it that no one found out about, huh?"
"Um, nothing!", said Hinata.
"Tell me."
"I'm telling you, imouto, i-it's nothing…"
"Nee-chan…I'm not stupid."
"If you must really know, Hanabi-san…it's about one of our companions. Yesterday we saw Rock Lee in rather…romantic activities with Sabaku no Gaara.", said Neji.
"Yes, t-that was it! A-and you know how t-they're both, y-you know, shy a-and stuff, so they'd probably be a little uncomfortable i-if anyone had found them…"
"Oh…okay. Yeah, I understand, I wouldn't like I either if someone found me making out in a corner."
"R-Right…well, I-I'm going upstairs now, I have to c-clean my room…" Hinata got up and walked to the door.
"Yeah…I have to go train…um, see you later." Neji went to the other door, which led to the backyard of the compound.
"S-see you, nii-san…t-thank you for the tea…"
They both walked out of the room, leaving Hanabi alone.
'Honestly, as if I'd fall for that one, nee-san...'
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Thanks for reading!! Hope you liked it! I personally thought it was a little crappy...I promise I'll do better on the next one!
Please R&R, reviews make me sing and dance XD
