Hm...chapter 14... Well we are just soarin' through these double digits guys...like...we'll be on tripples pretty soon.
Disclaimer: Don't tell me what to do.-lol, that's what my brothers and I say to my mom - like not in a mean way but like if she tells us to do anything at all, we say it. It's like,
"Dinner's ready, come and eat!"
"Don't tell me what to do."
Lmfao, we're just an evil group of children. Anyway, please enjoy chapter 14. I'll try to make it so that it's not the most boring thing possible. Btw, guys, again, I know it's late in the story and if you dont like this pairing, you're probably already gone. But please, if you have critisism - wonderful - but if you flame about the pairing...you're...baaad!
AND EXCLAIMY..or rachel, lol. YOU'RE A BITCH! SHUT THE HELL UP! (I didn't mean that, don't take it too literally, I love you!) See, this is why I told you not to read my story... I knew you'd critisize everything because you know me and it's embarrassing to have you look at something I wrote, especially a romance! you're not even a NejiHinata fan...you and your gay SasuNaru crap! ...wiener...and there's stuff later you won't approve of and you'll laugh at me for it. UGH! This is rated 'M' Rach! Please! You honestly don't want to read it, I'm telling you right now, I'm dead serious!! Stop reading it you're ruining it! lol, other people can read it cuz they don't know me personaly, and if they don't like it they can blow it out their assholes, BUT I HAVE TO SEE YOU EVERY DAY! GR!
DEFINATE FLUFF COMIN UP NEAR THE END...LIKE CRAZY ASS FLUFF!
Clip my Wings
She stirred blissfully in the soft white sheets. Closing her eyes tightly for a moment, she lifted her eyelids to a plain ceiling. She sighed and brought her fists up to rub her eyes of sleep. She yawned and let them wander around the room as she still lay in the sheets. She suddenly felt very strange. Her eyes widened. This wasn't her room!
She sat up abruptly, letting one arm hold her up and the other to splay protectively across her chest. She stared at the door with a shocked expression. Panic began to rise in her throat as she stared down to the sheets again.
"Wh-what happened?" she asked herself quietly.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she heard a familiar, smooth voice. She gasped lightly and jerked her head to the right, meeting the person's gaze. She instinctively sat up and covered her body with the blanket. It was merely a habit. No one was supposed to see her while she slept - the clothing was definately innappropriate. But she suddenly noticed how she was peculiarly still in her day clothes.
Neji sat off to the side, his back leaning against the white wall to her right. His expression was skeptical, though he held a rather unamused posture. One leg was bent up to his chest, a wrist leaning over his knee, and the other leg was almost positioned as if he were just sitting cross-legged.
"Well?" he prodded. "Seeing as you're fully composed - unlike last night - you might be able to tell me what the hell happened to you..." he quirked a brow.
Her eyebrows raised ever so slightly and her lips parted. She stared down at the sheets again as if she were in deep thought. Her eyes widened suddenly in realization.
She remembered the night before, and what had happened...and coming to Neji's door afterwards, not knowing where to go or who to go to. She faught the tears back.
'No way will I cry again in front of him. I should never have come here,' she thought, biting her lip. 'I'm such a fool.'
"Neji," she spoke. "Please, f-forgive me. I-I didn't mean to intrude on you while you slept. I'll leave," she apologized quietly, standing from her spot and walking to the door - or at least trying to. Neji had come between her and her late destination.
"Are you insane? I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what went on last night," he raised his voice, crossing his arms over his chest. She shook her head with a pained expression.
"I won't tell you," she whispered. She winced as his eyes narrowed then, keeping his stance firm in front of her.
"Well, then we'll just have to stand here all day, now won't we?"
She bit her lip harder, staring down at the wooden floor with a deeply saddened look on her face. Her body began to shake, and she simply shook her head.
"No, I'm leaving," she told him as she looked up. His eyebrows furrowed to see a single tear fall down her cheek. "Thank you so much for comforting me, but I just can't tell you," she breathed out, a crack in every word. "Please don't hate me."
At that, his expression completely softened. She took a few steps closer to him, her face coming in direct contact with his chest - but she didn't look up at him. She was about to step closer again, but he moved to the side, avoiding her bumping into him. He watched her slide the shoji door open and shut it lightly, dissappearing behind the screen.
Noon
"The Chuunin festival, Father?"
He sighed.
"Yes, will you attend with the rest of the clan?" he questioned, standing over her in his respectable robes. She felt small again, letting a light blush come upon her features.
"I..." she paused in thought, bringing a small finger up to her bottom lip. "I don't remember there being a festival last year for the Chuunin Exams." He nodded to her.
"And that, my daughter is because I never invited you," he said, a slight hint of guilt and regret in his eyes. He watched as her eyebrows raised, furrowing with dissappointment. "I never thought you were strong enough, even though I knew you were taking part in the Exams. I just didn't believe you truly wanted it enough to celebrate it - you were too weak and gentile to find any celebration in fighting your comerades and other ninja of distant villages," he said, smiling down at her now with a sad quirk of his lips. "Though, I truly believe you've proven yourself worthy to attend."
Her jaw was dropped slightly and she bowed her head before him.
"Th-thank you, Father," she began. Though she looked back up at him with a wary expression etched across her features. "It's a priveledge, but..." she trailed off. He quirked an eyebrow.
"But?" he prodded. She looked down again, eyeing her bare toes intently.
"I don't have anything to wear if it's a formal affair." She was greatly surprised to hear him chuckle above her, causing her to look back up at him in question. "Father?" He shook his head.
"I wouldn't worry," he reassured, stepping back from her and turning towards a pair of closet doors in his office. "I'm almost positive this will fit you now. You're tiny, just like your mother," he said blissfully, thoughts of his beautiful, loving wife flooding back to his mind.
Her eyes suddenly became very dry as she stared at the clothing that was now gently held in her father's arms. She blinked a few times, causing them to fill with tears - so vastly that she'd gone from a clear view to complete blurred vision in mere seconds. He smiled back at her sadly as he watched the tears begin to fall from his daughter's eyes. She walked towards him slowly, outstreatching a shaking hand, setting it onto the fabric.
"I miss her too," she finally heard him manage. "Will you wear it, Hinata, for your Mother?" he asked softly, allowing her to carefully take the beautiful robes out of his arms. She kept her eyes down on the clothing, though closing her eyes to let more tears fall.
"O-of course."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
She gawked at the fabric in which was now hanging in her closet, her cheeks still damp from her previous emotional relapse. Awed by it's beauty, she couldn't help but fondle it every so often. She looked down in slight shame.
'Mother was increadibly beautiful,' she thought pitifully, glancing back up at the robes. It was degrading. Being the beauty that her mother was, it was hard to impress her father seeing as she had no particular talent, nor was she very good looking like some of the other girls in the village.
A peculiar thought rushed into her head, and she cursed herself for not even trying to shake it off. It kept on playing over in her mind like a broken record.
'I wonder if Neji will notice me.'
He'd had enough, most definately. His teammates were ranting on about matters in which didn't interest him in the slightest. Mentionings of the Chuunin Exams and the Festival kept on coming up in casual conversation. He was staring at a spot on the shop counter for a good while now.
"Neji, are you alright? You seem like you're somewhere else. What are you thinking about?" the kunoichi questioned him, quirking a brow in his direction. As soon as the words were sounded, a brief picture of his delicate little cousin popped into his mind. He shook his head viciously.
"I'm sorry, Tenten," he apologized. "I'm very tired. I was...disturbed...in my sleep last night." It wasn't a lie. He stood up off the stool and stretched out his arms a little. "I'm gonna' go, I'll see you guys later," Neji said simply, earning some 'good-bye's as he turned away from his teammates.
It was only as he was walking home that it began to rain. It was only light, but he knew it would get worse at this time of night. Konoha was strangely known for it's awkward over-night downpours. No way in hell was he getting wet. He was way too tired to be bothered by anything that could make him have to stay up longer - like dry his clothes...and his hair. The thought of it made him grunt. He began to run back to the compound, making it to the gates more quickly than he would have.
Being rather pleased with being relatively unscathed and dry, he slipped off his sandals at the doorway.
"I don't know, Father," he heard Hanabi's defensive voice. Neji stopped to listen to what was happening down the hallway.
"Well you'd better find her. She's been hard to track lately, I'm getting worried." Neji's eyebrows narrowed at that. Were they talking about Hinata? "One minute you're speaking with her, and the next she's across the country," the Lord over-exagerated. Neji couldn't help but descretely smirk at the normally composed man's behaviour.
"Sir?" he piped up, turning the corner to see the man and his daughter. "Has Hinata gone missing?"
"Neji," Hiashi acknowledged, nodding to him. "She has, once again. I can't seem to keep track of where she's been lately," he sighed in an exhausted manner. The Lord suddenly looked at Neji with a slightly pleading expression. It wasn't uncharacteristic - just a simply furrow of the brow. "Would you please find her, I don't want her out in this rain," he stated in his low, intimidating tone. He was clearly attempting to hide his growing panic.
Neji inwardly sighed. A bother to make him stay up longer. Not only would it take some time to locate Hinata but then he'd be wet, of course, which would obviously cause problems.
"Of course." - A usual reply when speaking with the Lord of the Household. Hiashi's eyes softened.
"Thank you, I apologize for the inconvenience." Neji simply nodded and turned back around, slipping on his sandals again and sliding the front door open. How had it gone from a light rain to pouring in only minutes? It'd been half an hour now since he'd left his friends, so they were probably drenched and looking for a way home. He couldn't help but smirk. At least that thought was slightly comforting.
He stood in front of the doors now. Where the hell was he supposed to look - Hinata could be anywher-
The thought was interrupted. The last time he couldn't find Hinata was the night before, when she'd come to his chambres at three in the morning in a sobbing fit.
"That guy,"Neji mumbled in a fitting rage, allowing his teeth to clench. His eyebrows narrowed as he quickly shifted his head from side-to-side, trying to figure out which way to go. Would she be with him again? He ran throughout the grounds, heading towards the front gates to leave the compound to search for her. Though, something caught his eye as he passed through the central clearing of the compound. He stopped to peer around him. This was where they were seperated. The main house and the branch. There was a good 20-yard clearing between the last main family house and the first branch house. He scowled at the seemingly cocky placement of estates.
Though in the middle of this tragic seperation stood a young girl. Neji sighed in relief to see his younger cousin in the clearing. He was about to approach her, giving her hell for worrying her father and making him search for her in the pouring rain, but he stopped. She was...dancing...in the rain. He crossed his arms over his chest, quirking his lips to the side in a crooked smirk. He cocked an eyebrow at her childish actions.
She was looking up at the sky, her arms spread out to the sides as she twirled, splashing puddles onto her bare ankles. He leaned against the wall, standing directly under a tree to keep himself dry. In mere moments, he'd gone from panicking about this wierd girl to contently watching her dance like an idiot in the pouring rain. He shook his head in disbelief, holding the slight crooked smirk on his features. She stopped and allowed her arms to fall to the sides, closing her eyes and keeping her head tilted towards the sky. His smirk faded as he watched her aura curiously in the rain, as if there were a glow forming around her. She looked...
'Beautiful.'
She looked slightly surprised then before cocking her head in his direction, almost as if she'd read his thoughts. He snapped out of his slight daze and simply stared back at her as she turned towards him, a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Neji," she spoke quietly. Her eyes widened slightly in realization as she looked down at herself, clothes wet and sticking to her, the locks of her hair shaping her delicate cheek bones.
He watched as a light pink blush crawled upon her features, though it was interrupted when he saw her eyes drift up to the tree he was standing under. Her expression turned to an unreadable stoicism as she walked towards him. He narrowed his eyes curiously as she stood in front of him. She touched his right arm, that was folded into the other. He jerked it back and gave her a quizzical glare. She shook her head.
"No, let me show you."
The stutter, he noticed was non-existant. He'd previously confirmed this peculiar trait of Hinata's as a time when she most believed in herself. He felt foolish for thinking that now. He'd thought that when her stutter dissappeared, it meant that she was in control, and that she desperately needed to say those words in which she dared not stutter or hesitate. In his daze, he allowed her to softly remove his arm from the other's grasp, taking his hand in her's and leading him out into the clearing.
He was getting wet, how degrading to get wet after trying his utmost to keep dry. He sighed.
"Hinata, I came to-" he began, but was strangely at a sudden loss for words as she released his hand, staring up to the sky again. He let a breath escape his lips as he watched her skeptically for a moment, her eyes drifting up to the darkened clouds and closing in contentment. He instinctively did the same.
"Isn't it beautiful? My Mother once told me that rain is the symbol of all life on Earth," she said blissfully. He cocked his head to look at her then as she continued to gaze at the thunder clouds. "I love coming here when it rains. She used to take me here when I was small." She looked to him as well, smiling lightly, though it wasn't a sad smile as he was expecting. "She'd tell me that this was where all Hyuuga should be - in this spot. There should be no seperation between the estates. We are equal. That is what she told me, and I believe the same..." she paused. "Do you?"
He didn't reply, he simply watched her intently as she gazed back at him. She sighed, taking her eyes from him and glancing at the two seperate estates.
"Strange..." she began again, settling her crystallinne orbs back on the taller boy. "...how these people find differences in the things of this world that harmonize most with eachother. Doesn't it bother you, Neji?"
His eyebrows twitched at his name, sounding so increadibly innocent on her lips. It was almost as if the boy who that name belonged to did no wrong in his life. At least, that's how she made it seem.
She was in so much pain, her eyes showing all the suffering she'd endured throughout her life. Her father's cruel repremandings as well as the thought of simply not being good enough. She lost her mother at a young age, and was forced to grow as an outcast without her support.
And most of all, he'd done quite a part in her suffering, or so he believed. She had so many harships, yet she still made time for things like this - to reflect on how other people are suffering and how they are repremanded, and outcasted for no particular reason, even though they probably hadn't endured her pain. She feels sympathy for those who will never be appreciative enough to deserve it, such as himself. Most of the branch house members would naturally be thrilled to see her dead, though she finds time to think about how they feel, and how they are hurting by the fate of the Hyuuga family. Again, he was partly to blame.
His teeth unceremoniously clenched for a moment. She was so incredibly...innocent. His eyebrows softened as she starred back at him, that small smile still present on her features. The will to hate her just seemed so...
Impossible.
There was no way he could hate this girl. There was no way anyone could hate this girl. He watched now as the aura returned. Was this because of the rain? No, it was much too breath-taking and beautiful. It was her.
"Neji, you're glowing," he heard her say, the smile slightly dissappearing from her face. A breath escaped his lips again as she let her fingertips hover above his shoulder in awe of the bright aura. No way in hell would he glow if it meant he was a saint like his cousin. Yeah, it was definately because of the rain.
At that, her fingers were accidently brushed against his right shoulder. He grasped her hand gently, causing her to gasp quietly as she was pulled towards him. He kept his hand gently around her wrist, though not easing up on his grip. Her eyes widened in shock as his figertips came up to graze her cheek, their lips meeting instantly. It was chaste and brief, but it happened. As he pulled away from her, he stared back at her confused irises with half-closed eyelids, removing his hands.
He'd regret that later, he knew it. He looked away from her then in slight shame. He had no idea what he was doing. Maybe he wasn't her drug, but the other way around. He kept his eyes away from her.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, closing his eyes. Hinata's shocked expression melted into a sympathetic gaze. She took his hands gently, causing him to look up. He was confused to see a small smile on her face, though her eyes were troubled and confused.
"It's alright." He narrowed his eyes back at her in wonder.
"Hinata!" She immediately freed his hands and they both turned towards the main estate. Her father was calling her. Neji cleared his throat and she turned towards him quizzically. He held a slightly embarrassed expression.
"I forgot, Hinata. Your father is searching for you," he stated hesitantly, watching as a panicked expression rose to her face. She immediately sprang from him, dashing towards the main estate as he watched her retreating form.
Okay, well I'm done. I think this has actually been the most boring thing I've ever written. It was choppy and it went awkwardly from scene to scene and I hate myself. lol, at least I finally got them to kiss...
Oh and btw, ppl are saying I rushed the last chappie, and i know I rushed this one too, but I think I dawdled too long on this story and I need to start the lovin'...quickly, c'mon guys just go with it, lmffao!
please review if you still don't despise my story..
luv melanie