See the first chapter for the disclaimer.
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Chapter 4

"Is that another letter?"

Neji looked up from his place on the bed as he heard someone speak to him. He saw Hinata standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. It looked like a grin, but this was Hinata Hyuuga and she simply didn't grin. Or maybe Naruto had rubbed off on her.

Neji looked towards the letter he had gently placed onto his nightstand. He nodded and said: "Yes, it's the second."

Hinata smiled brightly at that. It seemed as if Neji was almost eager to receive a third letter.

"Neji?" Hinata stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow and wondered what it was that Hinata wanted. "Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could maybe read the letter?" She looked at him from under her bangs. A little afraid Neji would be mad by her request, she added quite quickly: "If that's all right with you of course."

Neji smiled at his cousin's obvious unease. Being brash and straightforward really didn't suit her all that much.

Neji looked at Hinata with a frown. Should he let her read the letter?

It wasn't as if the letter was telling a big secret but Neji still felt that it was information he should keep to himself. Also, to have Hinata read it would probably be just plain embarrassing.

"Hinata," Neji paused. Saying 'no' would seem so harsh, but what kind of explanation could he give? But he didn't have to think long on that because Hinata spoke again.

"Maybe I could help to figure out who your secret admirer is."

Neji looked at her and, with a sigh, gave in because he certainly would need some help with figuring out who this secret admirer was.

Hinata gratefully grabbed the letter from the nightstand and sat down next to Neji on the bed.

As she read the letter, a blush appeared on Hinata's cheeks. She giggled softly at some of the words and at the end of the letter let out a sigh.

"That's so sweet." She said with a huge blush.

Neji looked away from her, still embarrassed.

Hinata smiled at his unease and said: "She must be a real romantic."

"She?" Neji asked with a frown. "Do you know who it is?"

Hinata shook her head as she laid the letter bock onto the nightstand. "No but could a guy really write a letter like this?"

Neji frowned at hearing this. If he were honest, he would have to admit he hadn't even considered the possibility that his secret admirer could be male.

Not that Neji was a homophobe; the thought simply hadn't crossed his mind at all.

But that brought him back to wondering who the girl could be that was writing him these letters.

"You do have a decent sized group of fan-girls," Hinata offered with a small smile.

After just a moment of consideration, Neji shook his head. "None of those girls have the brain capacity to write such things."

He saw Hinata bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing. "Isn't that kind of cruel?"

Neji simply shrugged. He really didn't care about those girls.

"What about Ten-Ten?"

Neji raised an eyebrow and with a slight smirk said: "No way."

"Well, she did have that crush on you."

"She what?!" Neji looked at Hinata with widened eyes and his mouth hanging open in shock.

He couldn't believe Ten-Ten had had a crush on him. It seemed so unlike the girl to like him.

He tried to think of moments that would have given him any indication that the girl liked him. Unfortunately he couldn't think of any.

"Neji."

Neji looked at his cousin as she called him.

Hinata had a smile on her face when she said: "It was a few years ago. Nothing serious."

It calmed Neji's nerves down immediately.

Because having a secret admirer was nice. But having a teammate liking you could produce some nasty or uncomfortable situations.

"So," Neji said, just to make sure. "It is unlikely that it is Ten-Ten."

Hinata nodded and Neji suddenly chuckled. "You haven't got a clue on who it could be either, right?"

Hinata smiled apologetically as she shook her head. "No, not a clue."

"Doesn't Lee seem very quiet today?" Ten-Ten whispered to Neji as she continued to watch her other team-mate.

Lee was a happy person and no one had actually seen him act so silent before.

And his team-mates weren't really all that worried about him. They just wanted to know what would make a person like Lee, who usually seemed deterred by nothing, act weird.

Neji raised an eyebrow at Ten-Ten's question.

He shot a fast look towards Lee and sighed. "Yes, he's not his usual self," he had to admit.

Lee was sitting on a rock, staring off in the distance. It was very unlike Lee to sit around and staring with clouded eyes and a serious expression was plain scary.

It suddenly hit Neji.

Naruto had had that same stupid smile on his face after he had asked Hinata out.

Neji tapped Ten-Ten on the shoulder and the girl turned towards him with a questioning look.

"What? I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Lee."

"He's in love," Neji deadpanned.

"Right, as if. Don't try to joke around Neji; you don't have a sense of humour."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the rude comment of his teammate. Ten-Ten was a bit too straight-forward to Neji's liking sometimes.

And what was with all those people who thought he couldn't crack a joke? He was sure he could be funny if he actually tried.

But, he noticed, he was wandering from his point. He shot a sideward look at Ten-Ten and saw that she was smirking at him.

Neji just rolled his eyes. "Hmph, whatever."

Ten-Ten giggled at his somewhat blunt come-back. But all of a sudden her eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, what time is it?" She asked as she turned to Neji.

Neji raised an eyebrow, looked up to the sky and with a frown answered: "Three o'clock perhaps?"

"Three!" Ten-Ten yelled and jumped up. "I've got to go, I have a date!"

"With?" Neji asked with humour. He was only mildly interested in who Ten-Ten dated but couldn't help but humour her. Though he did want to sigh with relief; At least Ten-Ten didn't like him, if she ever had.

"Some guy, forgot his name. And before you ask, he isn't a Shinobi so you don't know him. Bye!" she said in a rush and ran away quickly.

Neji smirked. He hoped for Ten-Ten she wouldn't trip over something on her way to her date.

The moment Ten-Ten had left his sight Neji turned to look at his other teammate.

Said teammate was currently still sitting on the rock and hadn't even blinked when Ten-Ten had rushed off.

Neji frowned. This wasn't Lee's normal kind of behaviour. Lee was a happy always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life kind of person.

But on the other side, Neji wasn't the kind of person to show he was actually worried for or about someone.

But Lee was his teammate and friend. And if it was one thing that Neji had learned throughout the years, it was that you didn't ditch your friends.

Neji sighed as he slowly made his way towards Lee. When he stood next to the black-haired young man, he simply stood still for a few moments.

"Neji?" he suddenly heard Lee call him and he looked down.

Lee was looking at him with a slight frown. But after a second he just looked away and muttered: "Never mind."

"Lee, something is wrong?" Neji said, keeping his eye on his friend.

Lee sighed, his shoulders looked bend as if a heavy weight was resting upon them. He looked up at Neji and smiled sadly. "I don't feel like talking."

Neji frowned again. There wasn't a thing he could say now that would comfort Lee enough to talk about what he was feeling bad about.

"You know where to find me," was all Neji said.

Lee looked up at him with a grateful smile and went back to staring off in the distance.

Neji rolled his eyes and walked away.

Neji wanted to roll his eyes in annoyance as he saw Hanabi walking towards him, a slight skip in her step.

"Hello Neji," she said with a big smile when she stood in front of him.

"Hanabi," Neji greeted her with a slight bow. He looked at his cousin with a frown. Why was she studying him with that glint in her eyes?

"Neji, why don't you look in love?" she suddenly asked and Neji looked shocked for a second.

'What the hell is she talking about?' Neji thought. Where would Hanabi have gotten the idea he was in love anyway?

Meanwhile, Hanabi was looking up at him with questioning eyes. She looked very excited and probably couldn't wait to run to her sister.

But before the entire compound was thinking things about Neji that certainly weren't true, he had to burst his cousin's bubble.

"Hanabi, where did you get the idea that I am actually in love?" he asked her with a frown.

"Because there's a letter hanging on your bedroom door," she said, pointing towards the direction of Neji's room. "And it says: 'to my dearest Neji'." she continued with a bright smile.

Neji gasped softly at this new information and flushed. He had another letter! He was suddenly very excited to enter the sanctuary that was his room.

"I am not in love, Hanabi," he said and with a slight bow rushed towards his room.

He could hear Hanabi giggle at his flustered state and sighed. Hinata would certainly know about this little incident within the hour.

Neji was staring, quite shocked, at the door of his bedroom.

A note, which did truly have the words "to my dearest Neji" written upon it, was pinned onto the wooden door with a kunai.

'Well,' he thought as the shock wore off a little, 'my secret admirer is certainly a Shinobi.'

Because who else could sneak into the Hyuuga compound and pin a note to Neji's door?

But Neji didn't ponder on who his secret admirer could be for very long because his curiosity was eating at him.

He carefully freed the note from its hold and entered his room. He leaned against the door and opened the note. His heart started beating faster in a very un-Neji-like way as he began to read.

"My dearest Neji,

For I hope you do not mind me calling you my dearest, because you are.
I long for the day when I can hold you in my arms and kiss your rosy cheeks. You are a treasure that should always be treated with the gentlest care in every way.

I hope you do not have any feelings of hatred or anger towards me for sneaking into the Hyuuga compound.
I found the idea of leaving you a letter which I had brought you personally very romantic in a sense so I hope that will ease your mind.

I wonder how your day has been. I most certainly hope it was not as hectic as yesterday.
You just recently left the hospital and even though they were minor injuries you still need to rest.

So I will not keep you up any longer. I wish you all the best and hope I am on your mind.

With love."

Neji's heart fluttered, yes fluttered, as he let his arm drop to his side.

He took a deep breath and leaned his head against the door. 'Is it all right to feel like smiling and not wanting to stop?' he wondered.

He felt a warm tingle in his stomach and a tug at his heart as he thought of the letter.

'Oh my God,' he thought with a somewhat expression. 'I actually like being wooed.'

With wide eyes, he let himself slide down the door until he was sitting on the floor. He couldn't believe it.

He was a Hyuuga, he had his pride. He was supposed to be the person wooing a pretty lady who was high-born.

And here he was, starting to feel slightly attracted to a person he didn't even know.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Neji Hyuuga wasn't the kind of person to actually like someone more than friends. Or so he had thought.

But now, with the romantic letters that were almost like the 'sweet nothings' lovers whisper to each other, he was doubting that idea.

TBC.