I'm so happy!! I put a new fic up yesterday and it already has 193 hits and 2 favs!! And this story has over 200 hits for just the first chappy, so yeah... I'm happy. Plus I really like this chapter. I mean, it's prolly not my best, but it was deffinatly way up there! So I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Disclaimer: Doesn't the Naruto manga hav japanese in it? I don't know how to write in japanese, so I obviously didn't make the manga which means I'm not the owner of Naruto... T.T

Dedication: So many people to thanks. Lets go with Blonde.MindBlower, Ino-Gaara, Deathrosekitty, Alicia Kawa Uchiha, and (insert drumroll here!!) RamenIshLove. You guys are all awesome! Thanks fer all the encouragement! And plenty of thanks for my readers. You all are the very reason I'm here, and the very reason for this story. :D

Now, on to the story!!

Neji

Chapter Ten: I Won't Take Her Dreams Away

As I drove Ino home I noticed her eyes close several times within the first ten minutes of the drive. Another five minutes later her body went limp as her eyes slowly close for the final time that night, sending her into her own little world. All her feistiness, all her pride, all her emotions were swept away as she sat there and slept, leaving a beautiful and innocent face in their wake.

I sighed as I continued to drive. This meant I'd have to either, a.) wake her or b.) carry her to the door and ask for her father's permission to lay her down on her bed. As I thought about it, I ruled out a completely. As much as I would hate to face her father, I'd hate even more to yank her out of her dream world.

Pulling around the corner of her street and parking in front of her house, I took the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the car, walking over to her side. I quietly opened her door and reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt. Once that was out of the way, I silently lifted her up off of the seat and into my arms bridal style. Shutting the car door with my foot, I walked up to her house with the beautiful blonde nested in my arms.

Before I could ever touch the doorbell, Inoichi had the door open. His furious glare was absent as he looked at his sleeping daughter. Not looking up at me, he told me, "Her room is up the hall. Second door on the right." I nodded with a quiet thank you before slipping out of my shoes and taking Ino to her room.

Ino's room was unbelievably neat, with whitewashed walls. The carpet was a warm peach color. Her bed sat in the far corner with a lavender comforter neatly draped over it and soft white pillows of all shapes and sizes sat at the head of the bed. Her desk was across from her bed, but was rather simple: a smooth wooden frame painted white with a handful of lavender flowers circling her name on the side. A small white chair sat in front of the desk. Facing her bed was a huge plasma screen TV and a rather large stereo system. In between the two was a good-sized CD and DVD shelf, full with action and horror movies and heavy rock and metal. On her walls were pictures of friends and hand drawn portraits of people from school. I noticed an extremely detailed and realistic picture of me sitting on the desk with a few stray pencils around it. She's one hell of an artist. I thought.

Walking over to her bed and folding over the near corner of the comforter, I slid Ino under the covers and straightened them out after sliding off her shoes. A strand of golden blonde hair fell in front of her face as I laid her down. I slowly moved that little piece of silken hair away from her face, allowing my fingers to run over her skin slowly and rest on her cheek. I leaned over and let my lips brush over hers, the lightly kiss her neck before whispering into her ear, "I love you, Ino. Sweet dreams."

I picked up her shoes and walked over to the door, turning out the lights and closing the door behind me. Inoichi appeared into the hallway from the upstairs living-room and slowly made his way over to me. "I guess there's no discouraging you, is there Neji?" he said, looking at me with disbelief and sorrow in his eyes.

I shook my head. "I just want what's best for her. As long as she wants me, I'm here."

He nodded, understanding. "Well, there's nothing left for me to argue. You know that she dreams of you every night, right? Every night, my wife and I hear her whisper your name in her sleep. You're in her dreams. You are her dreams. And I won't take her dreams away."

I smiled sincerely. "Thank you, Inoichi-san. You won't regret it, I promise you."

His eyes then displayed amusement. "You had better not." He joked. "I'll carve your heart out with a dull spoon if you do."

My smile transformed into a wide grin. "Consider me warned, sir." I joked back.

"You know," he said. "You're not half bad, Neji."

"Arigatou." I said. "I'll be here to pick Ino up for school tomorrow morning. Sayonara, Inoichi-san."

Heading for the door, I slipped back into my shoes and sat Ino's down on the tile platform before opening the door and slid silently out of the house. I heard Inoichi call after me. "Be on time, will you?" he said playfully.

"Hai."

Sliding into my car, I shoved the keys into the ignition and turned on the car. Pulling away from the curb and into the street, I started heading home. See, Neji? That wasn't so bad. Yeah, I guess it wasn't. I thought, replying to the voice of Ino in my head. Lost in thoughts, I overlooked the fact that someone else's thoughts had been in my head as I drove down the highway.