annsaralonde- I couldn't wait after that comment... I've never been much good at surprises, but I hinted a few times towards what will happen in this chapter. It's long, but... I couldn't bare to break it up. I thought it might be mean. Thank you so so so much for all the comments you make, good and bad they are very useful and though I have the story completely outlined your comments always help guide my next chapter in the right direction.
I have most of the week off so hopefully I'll be able to write the next few chapters and have them ready to spit out for you guys these next few weeks. This one is a little early but I figured it might make up for all the late I've been doing as of the last few updates. I hope you guys enjoy and please leave comments.
Also... go vote on my poll! Please? It's for you guys anyway, just to know what you want more. I'll also be starting up a Gaara story soon. I have it mostly outlined but... well. We'll see how this week goes. Thanks again my lovely readers and enjoy!
Lee never did find the hair band and after he strained through the self-inflicted "punishment" they headed in the direction of Neji's house.
"I haven't seen Hinata in a long time, do you think she's back from the academy yet?" Asuka questioned Neji with a genuine smile.
Neji wasted no time reaching out and grabbing hold of Asuka's arm and jerking it back none too lightly. "We will not be leaving the kitchens." He spoke sternly putting extra emphasis on the not.
Asuka frowned slightly, taking a small glance at Lee who was baffled by the sudden, almost violent, movement. His eyes were zoned in on Neji's hand, almost as though he planned to intervene if necessary. Asuka quickly smoothed over the situation with a smile.
"Of course, I wasn't suggesting otherwise," her voice light and sweet, almost diplomatic. That was an Ehime's job, to keep things pleasant, and she knew how to do it well even at her age.
Neji's grip tightened for a moment, his blank eyes staring her down intently. She kept her smile, feeling Lee tense as well. "Its fine, Neji-san."
He finally let go, and as Neji stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked ahead of them slightly Lee glanced from him to her anxiously.
"Who is Hinata?" he asked softly.
Asuka smiled some, watching Neji's back as they walked, "Neji's cousin. I was moved up a class but before coming into your class I was in the same class as Hinata-san."
Lee nodded but he appeared to be debating whether or not to ask further questions. Asuka shook her head and Lee nodded yet again in understanding.
Asuka continued to watch Neji as they walked, a small frown playing on her lips. She hadn't realized that Neji still held so much animosity towards Hinata. She knew very well that Neji had a deep hatred for his Uncle and for the rest of the head family, but Hinata in particular she was not aware of. Perhaps it wasn't a hatred for her, but a fear of Lee meeting his other family members? Surely Lee was not clueless to the Hyuuga family branches…? He could be unaware that Neji was of the lower branch, it would be easy to assume he was of the head branch with his natural ability.
Asuka herself didn't agree with the branches, but she had been aware of them. She was aware of all prominent shinobi families in almost every nation. She had met the Hyuuga's even before entering the Academy. A few political occasions where it children were brought along to lighten the mood and provide a common ground among some of the participants. Granted she mostly played with Hinata, only meeting Neji twice before his father's death, and only once before being his classmate.
Most of the interactions had been brief, glances and polite introductions. She giggled some remembering Neji's childish smile. He had changed a lot since then.
She sighed softly as they approached the gate to the Neji household and she noticed that it was the back entrance. She again frowned; it seemed he very much did not desire to be met by any other family members.
She followed him through the door and Lee cautiously did the same, being uncharacteristically quiet. He seemed unnerved by the tense feeling Neji was giving off and Asuka smiled once again, hoping to sooth some of his unease. She gracefully slipped off her shoes and set them down for sliding into a guest pair of slipper and tucking a stray curl behind her ear while motioning for Lee to do the same. He did so and awkwardly shifted his weight while glancing at Neji.
"Ojama shimasu," Asuka said as she followed Neji and Lee looked at her in a confused fashion. She felt her heart ache a little, realizing he probably wasn't a guest very often. "It's just something you say when you enter a friend's home." She said with a smile.
Neji glanced over his shoulder at this, perhaps because he found it odd that she was explaining the phrase or just because she had called him a 'friend.'
As they were led to the kitchen's Asuka could already smell the food. It must be an important guest, or perhaps just an important occasion. She was tempted to ask Neji, but feared making the situation worse than it was. Neji was already being surprisingly lenient with allowing them to come, she figured most of the worry was over Lee though.
She gently touched Lee's arm before they entered the kitchen and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Neji is tense about his family, if we happen to meet anyone smile and bow; I'll take care of the rest." Lee nodded in agreement, seeming to look both nervous and relieved. He at least knew that the Hyuuga's were a high class shinobi name and that paired with Neji's even more than usual tenseness was making him anxious.
Neji seemed to cast a suspicious glance at her and she smiled again. The kitchen was filled with food and one lone worker who seemed surprised by Neji's presence. She gave a small nervous smile at Neji's cold glance. "They will be eating lunch here. We'll be in my room." He stated instead of asked. "Of course, we'll bring it in right away…"
Asuka stepped in here, "No need," she said in a friendly manner. "We don't want to cause you any extra work; you've probably got your hand's full with Hyuuga-sama's guest. We can carry it ourselves if you tell us what we can take."
Neji seemed bothered by this, but Asuka held strong with a genuine smile. The women's eyes flittered from Neji to Asuka in a nervous fashion and Lee suddenly bowed, "I would love to carry the food!" He said a little too loud and the women actually laughed a little.
Lee looked up blushing and Asuka herself giggled a little, nodded to him so that he would know it was a good thing that they were laughing. Lee truly was a god send, his clumsy enthusiasm pouring into everything he did.
"Well in that case," the women said with a smile. "I suppose I can let you carry it. I'll make up three boxes, four just in case, and the boys can each carry two and you can carry the tea."
Asuka nodded in agreement and did what she could to help the women without getting in the way. Soon enough they were off again and headed to Neji's room. "With as nice of a day as it is, why don't we just eat in the court yard?" She asked as they walked, being outside generally brightened people's moods. Something about the sun and the fresh air just naturally smoothed things over a little and Neji paused a moment, before nodding in silent agreement.
Everything was set up soon enough and they were out of the way and nearly out of view behind a large tree. The shade was nice though, and Asuka said so to Lee who agreed. Neji stayed silent.
They began to eat and Asuka chatted with Lee while Neji sat in silence with an overly serious expression. Asuka was content to let this continue until she heard a pleasant laugh.
Her breath caught and she set down her food almost immediately. She knew that laugh. She waited, and Lee stopped talking as her expression changed. "Asuka-chan?" He asked.
"I'm sorry… I thought…" the laugh sounded again as she was about to pick up her food. She smiled brightly. That was her father's laugh. She was sure of it. "I'll be right back." Neji's entire body tensed but he moved too slow, she was gone. She leapt to the walkway and skidded around a corner nearly running into someone, "Sorry." She said with a quick bow and not bothering to see who it was before taking off again. She glanced back and saw a young man who of course bore a similar appearance to Neji, only taller and with an amused smile on his face. Something she would likely never see on Neji's lips. She rounded another corner and saw him.
"'Tou-chan!" She cried out with a bright smile. Her father turned quickly, his eyes wide with surprise before a smile caught him and he held open his arms as she hugged him. She buried her face in his yukata and sighed softly. "I missed you! I was worried you wouldn't get back in time for my first mission." She pulled away slightly to smile up at him, still neglecting to notice the figure behind him.
Her father smiled back at her. "I missed you as well. I'm sorry I didn't go home first, I had some business to discuss with Hyuuga-sama." Asuka's face quickly fell in realization, she pulled away slightly giving her father one last rush hug before pulling away from her father and giving the Hyuuga head of the family a soft smile. She bowed, "My apologies Hyuuga-sama, it's a pleasure to see you again. Neji-san had informed me that you had a guest today but I hadn't realized it was my father. I hope my interruption has not disturbed you too terribly." She looked up at him, tucking her hair back into place with a friendly smile.
"Is that why you were running through our house, I was worried you might be an intruder but you are a guest as well." A voice she didn't know teased her from behind and she turned to see the young man she had nearly run into, as well as a VERY angry looking Neji and a terrified looking Lee. She flashed a genuine smile.
"I'm terribly sorry. My excitement got the best of me, but yes I am a guest." She bowed again. "My name is Ehime Asuka, I am Neji-san's teammate." She motioned in Lee's direction. "This is our other team mate Rock Lee."
Lee quickly bowed and gave a nervous but loud 'pleased to meet you,' which made the young man smile and her father chuckle before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Do you normally get pink intruders?"
The young man laughed a little, and Asuka was slightly taken a back when he smiled at her directly. "Well you never can tell these days, even the cute ones are dangerous." He winked at her and she blushed a little. He looked so much like Neji…
The real Neji did not look amused though, he appeared to be on the verge of exploding and Asuka quickly realized her situation.
She turned back to the head of the house hold, "Hyuuga-sama, I'm again sorry for the interruption. I will let you return to your meeting." She bowed again. "I hope Hinata-san is doing well."
"It has been a long time since you two saw each other." He stated simply, his eyes watching her in seeming suspicion.
She laughed a little, "Not that long, sir. I was in her class for my first year at the Academy, due to some of the training with my father I was moved up a year into Neji's class. I was so pleased to find that I was again going to be with the Hyuuga's, I very much enjoyed my time with Hinata, and I was more than pleased when realizing I would again be with a Hyuuga for my team." She spoke as pleasantly as she could, knowing she might be crossing a line when comparing Neji to Hinata. "I actually wouldn't mind training with her again."
The head of the household stared her down with the same intensity that Neji did, so that's where he learned it… She held face though, a soft smile on her lips.
"Hyuuga's of much different status." He pointed out to her, and she could feel her father tense slightly, worried about her response and nearly about to step in when she spoke.
Her voice was clear and sweet, a strange cross between accusatory and innocent, "But with the Hyuuga name all the same." She glanced back at the young man and Neji, noting nothing on the man's forehead and Neji's jaw tense as he glared at her. "Your eyes have always soothed me. It's fascinating how they can hold so much emotion, different from person to person, and yet they are all the same… white and seeing so much more than I can." She turned back to the Hyuuga head, giggling a little. "I suppose that sounds odd. My apologies, again, I'll leave you to your work."
The head of the family nearly seemed amused. "Already following in your father's footsteps I see."
She smiled yet again. "I have a name to uphold as well."
He nodded and simply turned to leave, her father gave her a slightly relieved smile. "I will see you this evening, Asuka-chan." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead and she smiled yet again.
"Ok 'tou-chan, I'll make sure we have a really good dinner waiting." She smiled in a much different way, something almost childish and truly happy finding its way to her lips.
As he walked away the young man seemed to follow in their direction and walked past Asuka before turning back to her, "I believe I forgot to introduce myself, Asuka-chan, I'm Hyuuga Satoshi. You're a brave women to take on a Hyuuga like that," he winked again and Asuka's face turned a little further red. "Please take care of my cousin." He waved curtly and nodded at the two boys behind her before again turning away.
Asuka didn't even have a chance to look back at Neji and Lee before she was thrown roughly into the wall.
She winced slightly.
"What were you thinking…?" Neji hissed harshly, his white eyes already sharpened into Bayakugan and his face dangerously close to hers as he pinned her to the wall.
She held his eyes without any hesitation, "I haven't seen my dad in months, I'm sorry. I didn't think it through." She spoke simply, hoping the honest answer would reach him best. Trying to smooth things over with compliments and sweet smiles wouldn't win over Neji…
