Another one requested by Young Napoleon22.

It was a quiet night at the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It seemed like nothing would disturb the peace and the citizens would be able to have a nice peaceful sleep. The same applied to the Hyuga mansion except that one single invader would sneak in, escaping even the Byakugan eyes of the Hyuga guards…

The invader who had successfully invaded the mansion was none other than Shidomaru, walking silently through the hallway where the bedrooms of the main branch were. What he wanted was obvious: He was once again going to the beautiful princess Hinata's room to sneak inside and tickle her beautiful feet while she was asleep. Shidomaru delighted himself just thinking of Hinata's adorable laugh as she would feel the loving tickles in her cute feet…

Sadly, Shidomaru's quest was quickly and easily cut short by Neji, who suddenly smashed Shidomaru's head with a heavy object, leaving him unconscious, with his head bleeding, a big and perfectly spherical bruise on top of his head and spirals for eyes…

Neji sighed. "It's the third time this week! Almost every night Shidomaru sneaks in here to tickle Hinata-sama's feet in her sleep…"

Neji carried the unconscious and wounded Shidomaru out of the mansion and threw him on the street. "That takes care of it!" Neji said, satisfied of having accomplished his mission as a guardian of the main branch and protected Hinata…

Neji walked back into the mansion. As he slowly walked through the hallway, he was reflecting on what had been happening recently. "…But why? What's so special about Hinata-sama's feet? Why is Shidomaru so desperate about tickling them?" Neji thought to himself. "Sure, Hinata-sama is indeed a beautiful woman… but still…"

Then Neji remembered Kiba and Shino, Hinata's teammates. They loved tickling cute Hinata's adorable feet too. Even Akamaru, Kiba's dog, would enjoy licking them. That couldn't be just a simple coincidence…

"Why? Even they would tickle Hinata-sama's feet! Why do so many people want to tickle Hinata-sama's feet? I can't understand it!" Neji thought…

Neji just happened to be passing by Hinata's bedroom. The door was mysteriously open, so Neji carefully took a peek inside. Hinata was sleeping peacefully and she looked adorable…

"I'm glad that Hinata-sama is safe" Neji thought with a smile, but he still felt uneasy. He stared at sleeping Hinata for an entire minute. The mystery of why everyone wanted to tickle her feet was itching inside of his head. Unable to hold any longer, stung by curiosity, Neji silently sneaked into Hinata's room and stood beside her bed. Sleeping Hinata's adorableness made Neji's eyes look sweetly at her. "Forgive me for what I'm about to do, Hinata-sama" Neji thought, slightly sad…

Neji grabbed the bed's sheets and slowly and carefully uncovered Hinata's beautiful delicate bare feet. He kneeled down and stared at her feet, soon realizing what others had seen in them. "Hinata-sama is indeed gifted with a beautiful pair of feet…" Neji thought…

Slowly Neji took his hand closer and closer to Hinata's foot. His fingertip just barely touched Hinata's sole and she instantly laughed and her foot flinched a little. Neji was amazed. Still unable to believe what had just happened, Neji tried a second time, this time touching Hinata's foot a little more. Hinata was so ticklish that just touching her foot would cause her to laugh…

"S-Shido-kun, please stop. Y-You're tickling me" a half-asleep Hinata said with her eyes still closed, her cheeks blushing cutely and a sweet smile…

"Shido-kun?" Neji thought. "Oh, right… Shidomaru has been tickling Hinata-sama in her sleep the last few nights… She must be thinking I'm him"

With his index finger Neji tickled Hinata's adorable foot, enjoying the sweet sound of Hinata's laugh and giggle as the toes of her tickled foot wiggled cutely. Neji unconsciously smiled and slightly blushed…

"N-No, please! Shido-kun, stop… I told you I don't like tickles on my feet" Hinata said, but her blushing facial expression as well as her tone when speaking completely contradicted this sentence and rather seemed like she was secretly enjoying the tickles on her foot…

"Is Hinata-sama… enjoying this tickling on her beautiful foot?" a slightly shocked Neji thought "…No! What am I thinking? That's stupid! Hinata-sama's face looks like she's enjoying it but it's because the tickles are making her laugh! And the blushing is because she's embarrassed at being tickled!" After thinking that, Neji smirked and stopped tickling Hinata's adorable foot, so she stopped laughing. "Mystery solved" Neji thought, back to his usual arrogant expression, he then got up, turned around and slowly started to walk to get out of Hinata's room…

"S-Shido-kun…" Hinata called. She was still half-asleep and with her eyes closed, so she had no idea that the boy in her room was her own cousin and not Shidomaru. Regardless, the surprised Neji couldn't help but stop when he heard his beautiful cousin's call…

"…M-My feet are going to get cold" the half-asleep Hinata muttered with a sweet smile and her face blushing. Right after saying that, she wiggled her toes slowly and cutely, as if trying to tempt Neji…

A horrified Neji turned around with his eyes widened as his head got suddenly flooded with thoughts. "What madness is this? …If she really felt her feet cold, she could just withdraw them back into the sheets and continue sleeping! Why is she telling me this? …What's worse, she's wiggling her toes in that tempting manner…" Neji thought nervously, not noticing he was blushing and starting to sweat…

"S-Shido-kun… Y-You have to rub my feet… or they will get cold" Hinata said cutely and sweetly…

"Is she… Is Hinata-sama actually encouraging that scum Shidomaru to touch her soft delicate feet? That's impossible! Hinata-sama would never do something like that!" Neji thought, trying to deny what was happening before his very eyes…

"Please… Shido-kun…" Hinata muttered sweetly. Neji couldn't resist Hinata's sweetness any longer…

"I suppose I may as well… ahem… do the service to Hinata-sama myself" Neji thought, immediately coming back to Hinata's feet. Neji then grabbed one of her feet and started rubbing it to give it some heat…

Naturally Hinata started to laugh beautifully. "Tickles…" she said in-between the laugh. Hinata's adorable and feminine foot was indeed so ticklish that even a simple rubbing or massage would cause her tickles…

Nevertheless, Neji continued to rub her foot. The smooth and soft texture of the skin of Hinata's foot was an absolute pleasure to the palms and fingers.

"Hnnnnngg… Yes…" Hinata said while laughing. "…Yes… Just like that…" evidently Hinata was finding pleasure in Neji's massage, including the tickling sensation…

Neji blushed and felt ashamed. "What am I doing? This is so wrong… I mean, it's perverted!" he thought, feeling guilt over rubbing Hinata's feet and causing her what appeared to be sexual pleasure…

Nevertheless, Neji caressed Hinata's beautiful foot affectionately, hearing her sweet laugh as a consequence. Neji couldn't help looking sweetly at his adorable little cousin…

"S-Shido-kun… P-Please, not the feather again! Please!" Hinata suddenly exclaimed for no apparent reason…

"The feather?" a confused Neji thought. He looked around and mysteriously found a feather on Hinata's desk and picked it up…

"P-Please don't tickle my feet with the feather, Shido-kun" Hinata said sweetly with a cute smile and blushing. Again, her expression and tone of voice contradicted her words. It was as if she were trying to use reverse psychology, meaning that in fact she wanted to be tickled with the feather…

Neji took the feather to one of Hinata's beautiful feet and started stroking its sole with it. The room was filled with the beautiful sound of Hinata's cute laugh as she felt the feather on her foot's sole and wiggled her little toes cutely…

"Tee-hee-hee-hee! S-Shido-kun, that t-tickles so much!" Hinata exclaimed cutely in the middle of her beautiful laughter, feeling the soft feather stroking the delicate sole of her beautiful foot, which caused an intense tickling sensation that she was secretly enjoying as her face went bright red…

Neji smiled and blushed at Hinata's incredible cuteness. He was slowly starting to discover that tickling his beautiful little female cousin's feet was a guilty pleasure to him. Neji then moved the feather up to Hinata's cute little toes and stroked them with the feather…

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! N-Noooooo! N-Not t-there!" Hinata squealed happily. Her toes appeared to be her most ticklish spot. Her extremely beautiful laugh was like music to the ears and her cute blushing face looked really happy, as she was evidently enjoying the feather tickling her toes…

Then Neji decided to go one step further: he put the feather in the space between Hinata's beautiful toes and tickled between her toes…

"Aaaaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Nooooooo! Not between my toes!" Hinata squealed with extreme cuteness and a mesmerizing beautiful laughter. Neji was completely charmed, he knew his cousin was cute, but never imagined how cute she could really get, and now he was experiencing Hinata's cutest side…

Suddenly, Neji realized he couldn't move the feather anymore, feeling it got stuck. Then he realized that Hinata had closed her toes tight, catching the feather between them. Neji tried to pull the feather, but Hinata's beautiful toes gripped it tight…

"I-I'm not letting go, Shido-kun" Hinata said sweetly and playfully with a happy smile and blushing, her eyes closed all the time, never realizing it wasn't Shidomaru but rather Neji who was tickling her tonight…

Neji then started to tickle Hinata's foot sole with his own fingers, making her laugh even more…

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I'm still not letting go!" Hinata exclaimed as she laughed beautifully…

But Neji had an idea, and instead suddenly started tickling the other foot (the one where the feather wasn't). Hinata's laughter turned even more beautiful because she was surprised, since that foot wasn't the one being tickled until now. Forced to concentrate on the other foot, the grip of Hinata's toes loosened, allowing Neji to recover the feather and now use it to tickle Hinata's other foot (the one that hadn't felt the feather yet)…

"Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Hinata laughed cutely with her high-pitched voice, happily enjoying the intense tickling she was feeling in her adorable feet. After a while, Neji stopped to let Hinata catch her breath. Her beautiful face was all red, and she was sighing happily. Eventually her breathing calmed down a bit. "S-Shido-kun… I… I-I hope you're not using the brushes in the drawer" Hinata commented cutely, again trying to prompt Neji into tickling her with something different…

The surprised Neji opened a drawer in Hinata's desk. Among other things, there were few brushes of different sizes. Neji picked up a small brush for drawing, then brought it to one of Hinata's adorable feet and started stroking its sole with it, causing her to laugh softly but beautifully…

"S-Shido-kun… P-Please write that phrase again on my sole" Hinata said…

Neji widened his eyes in surprise. "Write that phrase? What kind of things has that filthy lowlife Shidomaru been doing with Hinata-sama?" he thought…

"Shido-kun, pleeeease" Hinata pleaded cutely, making Neji blush…

"But more importantly!" Neji thought, nervous and starting to sweat. "If I write the wrong phrase, Hinata-sama will discover I'm not him!"

"Y-You didn't forget the phrase, Shido-kun… did you?" Hinata said while cutely pretending to be sad and pouting…

Neji doubted, not knowing what to do. He decided to take the risk and slowly neared the brush to Hinata's foot sole, his hand trembling…

"I…" Hinata said suddenly, surprising Neji. "…I said: I…" she repeated. Neji realized Hinata was kindly providing a hint herself…

Neji then moved the brush without ink on Hinata's sole as if writing 'I'…

"…love…" Hinata continued, blushing and laughing from the tickles the brush caused to her foot. Neji stroked her foot sole with the brush as if writing the word "love" on it. "…you" Hinata completed the phrase while laughing softly and cutely. Neji did the final strokes writing the word "you". "What phrase was formed?" Hinata asked playfully while blushing happily…

Neji finally understood the game and again stroked Hinata's beautiful foot sole with the inkless brush spelling "I love you" and making Hinata laugh happily in the process…

"Very good, Shido-kun!" Hinata exclaimed happily, making Neji feel happy too for a few seconds, then he realized what was actually happening…

"Wait! That means…!" the shocked Neji thought, then started to get angry. "That means Hinata-sama not only encourages that dirty scum to play with her beautiful feet, but they're actually having a forbidden romance! That lowly scum Shidomaru is having an affair with my Hinata-sama!" Neji thought furiously, not realizing that he accidentally called Hinata his own…

Neji looked at his beautiful cousin. She was blushing, smiling happily and having a great time believing Shidomaru was the one tickling her…

"I-I l-love you too, S-Shido-kun" Hinata whispered sweetly and affectionately. Neji felt heartbroken…

"Hinata-sama… How could you?" Neji thought, holding back his tears. "The princess of the Hyuga clan shouldn't be in a romance with a former rogue ninja! I don't care if he's working for our village now, he is still a criminal!"

"S-Shido-kun…" Hinata said, still with her eyes closed and believing she was talking to Shidomaru. Neji started paying attention to her. "R-Remember the first time we met? …I was depressed because Naruto-kun became engaged to Sakura… I was falling apart… but you came and comforted me when no one else would… You gave me your heart unconditionally and made me feel loved for the first time in my life… Thanks to you, I was able to laugh again… Thank you, Shido-kun"

Neji felt confused. He had always held a prejudice against Shidomaru for being on the lowest level of ninja social hierarchy, but now he was starting to see that his beloved cousin Hinata became happy because of Shidomaru's actions. "What should I do? I don't want Shidomaru to become the next clan head's consort, but I don't want to hurt Hinata-sama's tender heart! I want Hinata-sama to be happy, but for the pride of the Hyuga clan I can't allow a common criminal do what he wants with her! …However, that same criminal is also the person who brought happiness to Hinata-sama's life for the first time! …Have we failed as a family for her? Did we mistreat Hinata-sama so much that she had to look for happiness in someone else? And not even in a ninja born in this village! Maybe… Maybe the entire Leaf village has failed in giving Hinata-sama love?" Neji thought, starting to get desperate and panic…

"Oh! S-Shido-kun… I forgot to tell you something…" Hinata said, and Neji listened carefully. "P-Please don't be mad at Neji nii-san… It may not seem it, but I know he loves me deeply and that he only wants what is best for me… Please, Shido-kun, understand his position! …I… I-I long for the day in which both of you will put your differences aside and stop fighting over me. Neji nii-san is very dear to me and I love the both of you!"

Neji was utterly moved to discover his beautiful cousin Hinata loved him that much. Neji automatically started caressing Hinata's foot with genuine affection, inadvertently causing her more tickles…

Hinata started laughing softly and cutely again. "You're tickling me! …And you're doing so with so much love!" Hinata commented as she smiled happily and blushed. "Um… A-Are you going to kiss my foot tonight too?"

"Why is it that I'm not surprised?" Neji thought with a smile and a look of love for his kind and tender female cousin. "That scum Shidomaru sure is a big pervert!"

However, Neji leaned and gave Hinata's foot a kiss with all of his love put into it. The kiss tickled Hinata too, and made her very happy…

"…Though tonight I've realized that I don't have the right to point at such fault, since I'm now stained by the same sin as him" Neji thought, closing his eyes with a smile of satisfaction. He then got up, turned around and slowly started quietly walking away from Hinata. "I finally understand why you and everyone else want to tickle Hinata-sama so badly. It's not the physical beauty of her feet or her body. It's not the smooth and soft texture of her soles or the charming sound of her laugh… It's simply… the love you feel for her"

"Good night, Shido-kun" Hinata mumbled happily as she turned and fell asleep with a happy smile, feeling loved. Neji stopped for a second and looked back at her, now completely asleep. He smiled lovingly at her and walked out of the room…

The next morning, Shidomaru woke up on the street. His head hurt and he was a bit numb, but with some effort he was nevertheless able to stand up, a bit dizzy. Hinata just happened to come out of her house and see him standing there, so she smiled and walked up to him…

"S-Shido-kun…" Hinata said, blushing and smiling…

"Huh? Is that you, Hinata-chan?" Shidomaru asked, still not fully recovered…

"Thank you… for last night" Hinata said, looking down with a smile and her beautiful face blushing while she played with her cute fingers…

Shidomaru put his hand on his head. "My head hurts… I can't remember anything that happened last night" he said…

"Oh…W-Well… I was half asleep so I don't remember much either…" the beautiful Hinata said timidly, avoiding looking at Shidomaru's eyes. "…B-But I just wanted to say…" Hinata then slowly and gently kissed Shidomaru's cheek. "…Thank you. I had so much fun" she concluded, looking sweetly at Shidomaru before walking away…

With a confused expression on his face, Shidomaru looked at the beautiful Hinata walking away from him. He really didn't remember having tickled Hinata's adorable feet last night as he had planned. Neji came out of the mansion next. He saw Shidomaru and smirked…

"I hope you enjoyed tickling Hinata-sama's beautiful feet last night" Neji said ironically before walking away and leaving a confused Shidomaru behind…

The end.