Akai cries freely as she, Kanaye and the other Grass ninja cover Yoshi´s pale body with soil as they´re saying farewell to their team mate and friend. Some of the villagers are helping out to lower the coffin into the ground in a painful silence. Kanaye touches Akai gently and offers her his shoulder to cry on which she accepts without hesitation. She never cries like this in front of people but she can´t keep her strong façade up when one of her childhood friend and team mate´s dead and pale body is down under. She would be more ashamed if she didn´t cry at all. Kanaye´s strong hands hold her close to him as he hides his own tears. The horse-loving man is hurting as well but he let them fall without a sound of sobbing.

A large part of Grass´ population is now lost and the small nation has to start over once again. Their ground was once again used as a battlefield but not for other´s war this time but fo their own struggle for freedom. Everyone was fighting for Grass, peace and justice this time so all the deceased did not die in vain because the alliance was signed. Grass is now a safer place than before. They died an honorable death as shinobi but that doesn´t make it less painful for their families, friends and team mates who has to stay behind and remember.

The foreign shinobi from Konoha and Suna are standing further away showing their respect for all the deceased. Everyone is wearing black and white bandages showing their own injuries from the battle a few days ago. Even though they didn´t know half of the dead does the Grass ninjas´ over-powering sadness affect them as well. It´s not often they get to stand in the outskirts of an almost demolished village praying for the dead. That´s something no one wishes to happen. It happens quite often in a world full of ninja villages…

"I hate this kind of stuff." Kiba voices his thoughts.

The young man is standing far in the back together with his dog and friends. He looks slightly paler than usual, probably due to a heavy blood loss, but is still there to support Grass and his fellow ninja. The other Konoha ninja doesn´t reply since most of them are too focused on what´s going on in front of them but a certain Suna ninja heard him complain and smirks down at him.

"What are you sayin´ doggie-boy?" Kankuro comments, making the younger man look up with surprise. "Not man enough to show your feelings?"

"I ain´t seeing you crying." Kiba snorts back at him, showing his fangs.

"Hn." Kankuro turns serious as he turns to regard the scene in front of him. The sigh of crying families make him frown. "It will take a long while before this village is back to normal again."

"But with the help of Konoha and Suna, it will." Kiba assures him and himself.

"You can say that again." Kankuro grins broadly.

The two of them shakes hands in silence before they focus on the ceremony once again. The Grass´ leader Yamamoto keeps a speech where he grieves all men and women he lost in the war, praises the ones who stayed to fight and assures the villagers that things will return back to normal again. No, Better than normal because a new alliance has been formed which will keep them more than safe in the future. He dismisses every one and tells them to prepare for some rough weeks of rebuilding the village.


The task of rebuilding Grass started the day after the big funeral and everyone helps out to make the life of the people easier. Even the Konoha and Suna ninja decided to stay and help for a day or two to help out and rest after the war. Their presence of them makes the villages happy since they are all radiating a promise of protection and safety. The reconstruction of the village has started and their first priority is to make sure everyone has a home to return to, that everyone can get food and water and get the society back together again.

Yamamoto decided to keep a festival in Grass to honor the dead and the ones fighting in the war in two days. It´s a way for him to keep his people´s hope up and give happiness to those who has lost everything. A lot of people smile as they speak of it when they´re working with heavy labor but a certain Grass kunoichi can´t relax.

Akai sighs as she takes a rest from her work: gathering the fallen bricks from houses so they can be reused. Sweat can be seen on her forehead but she is quick to wipe it off her skin. It has been a long and rough day and her whole body is aching due to the labor. She, together with Kanaye and Ino, are working on the same station where she and Ino gathers brick and Kanaye uses two of his clan´s horses to transport them to the location of one of the new house. Akai flinches as she feels how Ino sits down next to her, she smiles.

"Good work, girl friend!" Ino beams happily before her voice turns sour. "This so boring though…"

"I agree on that." Akai snorts.

The two young women enjoys how the strong sunlight warms their as skin as they sit there on the newly built fence. The strong breeze plays with their long hair. The frequent sound of horses makes Akai aware of her team mate´s presence in front of them and a sudden change in Ino´s breathing makes her think. The kunoichi has for some time thought that something is going on between Kanaye and Ino but none of them has talked to her about it. It´s like there is this attraction going on between them and Akai knows when Kanaye regards someone with interest or not because he is never thrilled to hang with new people. Ino, on the other hand, has no problems when she speaks with him. She´s not like the other girls he rejected in the past. Ino sighs dreamily.

"Let me guess…he just took off his shirt?" Akai comments with a big grin on her pale lips.

"W-w-hat!" Ino is taken by surprise and tries to seem ignorant. "Who?"

"You´re so obvious." Akai laughs as she leans back to enjoy the wind caressing her face.

"You´re not the one to talk! Kanaye is so good looking! Broad shoulders, big hands and just look at those abs! Oh, maybe you can´t see them? " Ino is quick to counter attack when she decides it´s time for some payback.

"I´ve never really looked at Kanaye that way so…I don´t know. He is all yours." Akai answers, silently happy about it.

Ino regards her friend as Akai lies there stretching. A small and gentle smile graces the blonde´s pink lips. Both of them seem to have some kind of problem with men.

"You´ve been avoiding Neji lately, right?" She asks Akai softly.

"…Not really." Akai answers awkwardly and makes sure not to talk too much about the Hyuuga that has been on her mind a lot lately. "I think you would look nice with Kanaye. Just don´t act too clingy ok? He dislikes that."

"Roger!" Ino is quick to forget to ask about Neji when Akai speaks of her instead.

The sound of Ino´s laughter makes Akai smile as well. She hasn´t been avoiding him, he has just been busy with regaining his strength and helping out lately. Everyone has been tired after the war and a large number of shinobi was in need of medical attention when they returned. Things like this takes time and Akai would feel strange if she hung out with Neji when she should be doing other things that are more important for her village. That sounds like one big excuse doesn´t it? Akai doesn´t really know how she should act around him right now since there are things she really want to do but shouldn´t do due to their circumstances.

"You know about the festival right?" Ino changes subject.

"I do know but I don´t feel like going." Akai shrugs her shoulders as she sits up again.

"Why?" Ino´s eyes widen. "Festivals are so nice and we´ll get a chance to relax too!"

"So many died…I just don´t feel like celebrating." Akai comments while she´s thinking of Yoshi.

Ino´s expression softens a little as she notices the way Akai´s mood changes in front of her. The Grass ninja has lost someone dear to her and is of course grieving but that should not stop her from trying to get better and have some fun. That´s the only way Akai would be able to relax and enjoy herself in times of despair, Ino knows this, so she won´t let her friend stay behind and suffer by herself.

"You have to go." Ino orders her sternly.

Eyes narrow a little. "You can´t force me blondie." Akai tells her with a challenging smirk.

"Heh, do it for Yoshi-san." She tells her, as if she has no intension of forcing her at all. "Do it in his honor and in everybody else´s. I know your pain Akai, but you´re just making it worse. He wouldn´t like seeing you like this, would he?"

Somehow Ino knew exactly what was going through Akai´s mind and she wonders if the Yamanaka girl would get a great career as a shrink. She feels that it would be wrong to smile and laugh with friends when so many people are suffering, but maybe it´s the opposite? She should smile because it would make the ones suffering able to smile a little as well? Akai´s expression is clouded as she thinks about it for a while. She tilts her head to the left as she feels how Kanaye approaches them.

"She is right." He tells Akai which makes her sigh a little: why does he take her side? A smile grows on her lips. This just proves my theory…

"Kanaye-san." Ino looks up at Akai´s team mate.

Akai can´t help but roll her eyes as Ino and Kanaye possibly are staring at each other. The two of them should just start dating already.

"Everybody should help to prepare for it and come. We need to celebrate the fact that we survived the war and the start of this new alliance." He looks at Ino softly. "It´s our duty to act strong to get the village back together. That´s the only thing we can do right now."

"Yes…I understand Kanaye…" Akai nods before she shows them her tongue. "Geez the both of you sound like professionals, talking like that and all."

Akai dropped the honorific with Kanaye after what happened because the two of them has gotten a lot closer recently and it would feel strange to add a –san. The older man seems to think the same way about her as well. Akai has never been this comfortable around him before and she actually thinks it´s because of the war. She got some good things out of all the pain after all. Maybe people can get stronger after facing hardships like Neji once told her? Akai chuckles to herself. Her two friends are right: she should go to the festival with them.

"And I know a certain Hyuuga would love to see you in a kimono." Ino smirks.

Kanaye grins as Akai gets completely red in the face at the sudden statement made by Ino.

"Ino…no you don´t—!" Akai starts to complain.


Akai can´t help but feel silly when Ino forces her to sit still in front of a mirror even though he swore not to let the girl do this to her. It hurts her pride, a lot. The blonde kunoichi is preparing the Grass ninja´s hair and make up with a passion Akai hasn´t seen before. Akai is wearing a long sleeved light green kimono with glistering golden details. Her hair is pulled up into a nice bun where a lovely golden hairpin decorates her head. Akai is a little bitter since her mother told her she had thrown away her old kimono but the truth was that she saved it for an event like this. Ino made sure to give her face a little color and a small blush-looking hint of red on her cheeks when she put on the make up for her friend. Akai looks almost normal, for once, but suddenly being normal is quite different to her.

Ino is already dressed, she wears a purple kimono with pink details, and her long blonde hair up in a bigger and more elegant bun than Akai´s. Her lips are rosy, her eyes sparkle and her skin looks flawless. The girl pouts as she covers a small scar on Akai´s face with some sort of make up Akai doesn´t know about. Ino looks like a model and she is also aware of that since she has been into fashion since she was a young girl. Dressing plainly on a night like this is a big no-no to her.

Tenten is wearing a golden Chinese dress with brown details on, details such as dragons and clouds. It´s tight and shows her quite feminine forms nicely. Her hair is down for once and brown wavy curls fall down her shoulders. The Chinese girl looks really nice when she decides to actually dress up but she doesn´t seem that comfortable though because she is little of a tomboy. Tenten is currently sitting in the sofa while Temari using one of her smaller fans to cool their tea down.

The older woman is dressed in a grown up but sexy dark blue kimono showing of some skin that some of the other girls don´t even have. Her hair is down and a red flower decorates her hairstyle. Temari´s style is more mature and courageous and it´s clear that she wants attention from the opposite sex. Or just a certain lazy strategist.

Hinata wears a very cute kimono in white and silver colors that makes her eyes stand out even more than they already do. She looks very pure and sweet especially with her long hair slightly curled at the ends. She wears almost no make up at all since she insisted on being natural. Akai doesn´t understand why Ino agreed when she is forcing her to wear all that crap that makes her face weight a ton!

Sakura is there as well even though neither Akai or Ino wants her there but they couldn´t invite everybody except her either so they invited her and Matsuri as well. Sakura is wearing a white kimono with pink detailed sakura petals on while Matsuri chose a quite plain light blue one because the one she wants to impress isn´t here. Akai think she heard something about that Matsuri liked the current Kazekage who couldn´t be here since he was needed to rule Suna.

"You´ll look awesome after I´m done with you!" Ino sounds certain as she puts some kind of cream on Akai´s cheeks.

"Why should I care about this stuff when I can´t see it myself?" Akai mutters darkly, hiding the fact that she excited about her make over. It´ll be her first time looking somewhat normal…

"You l-l-ook pretty." Hinata comments shyly as she looks at Akai over Ino´s shoulder.

Hinata smiles as she thinks of how her cousin will react when he sees her. The younger Hyuuga knew Neji was serious about Akai the time he rushed away from home to join the first back up squad to Grass. His eyes spoke volumes when she mentioned Isozaki. Hinata´s eyes sparkle as she looks at Akai, the Hyuuga girl is really happy over the change she brought to Neji and might bring to the whole Hyuuga clan if everything turns out ok. The smile fades a little as she realizes that it won´t be so easy for them. Hinata forces herself to smile again though, since she wants to believe they will be alright. All that is left is that one of them make a move.

"You´re all making me so self conscious…" Akai murmurs bitterly to herself.

"We´re forcing you to act like a girl for once, Isozaki." Sakura comments with a polite smile. "You look nice! People will stop and stare for the right reasons now."

Both Ino and Akai hold their breath but decide not to say anything at all. Akai feels slightly irritated over the situation but she has decided to try to have fun tonight because it´s the last time she can hang out with her friends from Konoha and new acquaintances from Suna. Something about Sakura and her way of acting around her is a bother but she won´t make their relation awkward by telling her that like she usually would. Everyone can´t be comfortable around someone like her, Akai knows that, but she thinks Sakura should have gotten used to it by now. Sakura is always picking the wrong words when she wants to comfort Akai.

"I wish Gaara could have been here to see this." Matsuri comments all of a sudden, she looks like she is daydreaming about a date with the young Kazekage.

"I agree." Temari tells her. "We need him to see Grass one day."

Matsuri meant her kimono but she doesn´t correct her senpai due to embarrassment. She has no clue what Gaara´s older sister would think if she started to date him. The girl sighs to herself as she helps herself to get some tea.

Akai feels how she smiles as she listens to the girls as they talk about random things such as guys, clothes, fights and relationships. Her room, or the Isozaki household, has never been this crowded before. Akai´s room used to be her sanctuary and hers alone but it feels eerily nice to be there with people she more or less consider her friends. Her family was also lucky since their house didn´t get destroyed during the battles.

"I wish Kumori could be here too.." Akai murmurs.

"Kumori?" Ino repeats.

"My landlord in Konoha, I miss her." Akai comments a little sadly.

"Don´t sound so depressed!" Ino comments. " You can always come and visit!"

Akai nods to her blonde friend. She has to visit Konoha in the future no matter what happens tonight. Ino nudges her cheek a little before she steps back to watch her creation. Akai feels awkward when she waits for the girl to say if she´s ok or not.

"You look awesome! We´re done so let´s move out girls. We have to make this a night to remember!" Ino exclaims loudly almost as if he knows what Akai is thinking.


The sun is slowly disappearing at the horizon as the girls leave the Isozaki household, after Akane forced them to have some more tea and cookies, and head into the night. The lack of noise makes Akai believe that her two brothers left already. Akai finds it hard to walk in her tight kimono and the fact that skill to rely on her sight makes it worse. Ino even forced her to wear high heel sandals which worsens her balance but makes it way easier for her to see with her ears instead. Ino realizes this and grabs her arm in a friendly manner.

"You have to make Neji-san lead you later ok?" Ino whispers in Akai´s ear.

"What?" Akai turns irritated since Ino is consciously making her blush all the time. "Stop it Ino!"

"You know what I mean." She turns serious. "You know this is your last night so don´t leave things unsaid."

Akai feels how her chest starts to hurt at Ino´s words. She knows that all of them will return to their villages tomorrow morning but she doesn´t want to think about it yet. She won´t be able to relax if she did. Neji… Akai sighs deeply as she tries to return to her usual quite happy self.

"Yeah…I know…" She murmur quietly and Akai is not sure if she heard her.

The group of girls is all walking towards the decided meeting place in a comfortable pace. Akai enjoys the sound of laughter and the feeling of belonging in this kind of gathering. She is very comfortable among her friends and it makes her realize how badly she felt before she met them, when she was hated and all alone. She had no clue that she would meet such wonderful friends in her trip to Konoha. She´s a lucky girl. Akai´s silent pleasure is interrupted when Sakura sees the others a little further up the road.

"There they are!" Sakura yells suddenly.

Akai follows the flow as the girls change direction to meet the guys who promised to meet them close to the entrance of the festival. The Grass ninja feels how her stomach turns as they reach the others because she can´t help but feel a little uncomfortable about being with men dressed like this. It´s not the same as her usual clothes and the make up on her face makes her all self-conscious. Akai has never dressed up like this before so she doesn´t know how to act properly.

"Whyyyy?" Ino exclaims loudly.

What is wrong? Akai wonders as she tries to figure it out by opening her eyes and squint at the men in front of her. It doesn't help much though because her vision is even worse during the night and all she can see is shadows of people who she thinks are her friends. Ino seems to be really upset about something and Akai is eager to know what made her act like that.

"What?" Naruto comments in confusion.

"Why aren´t you wearing the traditional clothing as well?" Ino asks them loudly, almost whining, and the reason why she is upset is crystal clear.

A sigh leaves Akai´s lips as she thinks that Ino is a little silly. She thought something terrible happened and not that the men were wearing the wrong kind of clothes…Akai flinch a little as a mental image of Neji in a summer yukata enters her mind. He would probably look so good wearing one together with his long hair lose. Stop thinking! I´ll give myself a nosebleed! Akai tells herself. She has only seen Neji properly once or twice when he allowed her to touch his face but she knows that he´s handsome. And handsome men wearing traditional clothes become even more handsome… Akai avert her gave and looks at the ground. She doesn´t even know where Neji is right now.

"It would be too troublesome to walk around in." Shikamaru comments rudely while eying Temari.

"I agree on that!" Akai comments wryly as she tries to act normally.

Temari eyes Shikamaru too and smirks as she notices how he is looking at her. A small blush can be seen at the lazy ninja´s cheeks as he avert his eyes and mutters something like annoying women under his breath. All flirting goes by unnoticed by the ignorant Akai but the rest of the gang chuckles softly as everyone checks each others out.

"Well we didn´t think of bringing my yukata since we were at war." Kiba exclaims with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hinata seems disappointed over the fact that Naruto still wears his ordinary orange clothes but she stays silent about it.

"Wow, you girls look pretty..!" Naruto comments while blushing slightly.

Hinata´s disappointment is replaced by a severe blush and she hides beneath her fringe pointing her fingers together shyly. Naruto chuckles loudly to himself. The others guys join him in an embarrassed manner. The sound of everyone´s laughing makes Akai quite irritated because she feels left out. All she can see is misty spots of colors so she doesn´t understand what´s so funny about the way they are all looking.

"Well I wouldn´t know." Akai comments sarcastically with a smirk while trying to change topic.

"You look stunning as well Akai, right Neji?" Lee suddenly jumps in with a big smile on his lips as he armbows his team mate teasingly.

Akai tenses and lose her confident smirk immediately and it feels like the world stopped spinning. She has never felt more uncomfortable in her whole life! She can´t breathe and feeling how Ino tenses as well doesn´t make her feel better. Why did Lee have to say it like that? Because Gai-sensei once talked about the power of youth?Akai closes her eyes. Now it´ll be so awkward to be near Neji…

Neji got surprised by the question, he can´t lie about that. The Hyuuga is standing a little further in the back of the crowd of friends and he wondered what the fuss was about when the girls arrived. It irritated him but he understood the guys when he saw them as well. Or not them but her. Akai is standing there between Ino and his team mate with a small frown on her face. Her face. White eyes widened for a fraction when he first laid his eyes on her. She is as pale as snow with a hint of a red blush on her cheeks. Akai´s pink lips look inviting to him, her beautiful but unfocused blue eyes are clearer with the help of some mascara and her hairstyle makes her look very…different, but not in a bad way. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her but he was quick to regain his stoic and calm composure. Akai has made him realize a lot of different emotions in the past such as warmth of someone who cares without wanting anything in return, the feeling of despair and fear when she´s hurting but also a feeling of complete relaxation in her presence. Neji swallows his saliva silently. His chest feels warm and heavy at the same time as he regards her. Neji doesn´t know when but Akai has become an extremely important person to him and her standing there in front of him while looking so beautiful takes his breath away. He won´t question it anymore.

"Y-yeah" Ino comments nervously, pushing Akai forward to break the silence. "I helped her with her look, she is so pretty! Right?"

"Yes…" Neji tells her.

Akai can feel how her face, no her whole body, is blushing like mad. I can´t believe he said that! In front of everybody! Akai avert her eyes and face the ground. She is happy that Ino put on some foundation on her skin so her blushing isn´t as obvious now. It feels like her ears are burning with embarrassment.

"Say what you want." Akai snorts rudely but she can´t hide her happiness. "Let´s go!"

Neji smirks to himself as he notices Akai´s reaction. It makes the warmth within him grow even stronger. It makes him believe that it´s alright for him to actually feel that way about her because something he has learned about Akai is that she acts like she don´t care at all when she´s embarrassed. Akai stop in her tracks as she feels how Ino lets go of her arm and she´s about to complain when someone else grabs it gently. The smoothing scent of newly washed hair washes over her as she feels how the grip on her arm grows firmer. The pounding of her heart gets louder.

"Ehm…Neji…?" She guesses, swallowing her saliva. Oh no, I´m dying…

"Yes." She can hear how he smiles at her.

"Do you want to bother me as well?" She comments sourly.

Akai looks down because she knows that she wouldn´t be able to control her facial expressions or heart if she faced him now. Ino, why did you desert me now! She catches the sound of her and Kanaye´s small talk. Because of Kanaye? Traitor! Akai frowns to herself but forces her mouth into the shape of a smile as she thanks Neji for his help.

"Thank you." She murmurs quietly before she tries to return to normal."Ino forced me into this! I wouldn´t have agreed to wear my kimono if I knew you guys wouldn´t!"

Akai hears how a low and hoarse chuckle leaves his lips. A sound that she decided to ignore so her pride won´t get even more hurt. Neji guides her gently but firmly forward as the rest starts to take off towards the festival. It feels nice to walk by his side, with linked arms, but that´s nothing she can tell him. Akai wonder if it´s any idea to let herself feel good about it since he will disappear from her life tomorrow morning. Her face darkens. Neji regards Akai in silence and he notices her change of attitude clearly. The Hyuuga stays silent as his expression turns serious due to the same reasons Akai is feeling down. Neji turns his attention to the festival for a while as he tries not to make himself and his companion depressed.

The sun is now almost gone at the horizon and probably over a hundred of torches are lit to give everyone some light. The sound of people talking and laughing can be heard as the gang joins the celebrations. Merchants have gathered in the streets selling all kind of things such as sweets, souvenirs, clothes and jewelry and the place is quite lively compared to some days earlier. A smile grows on Akai´s lips as she hears how two children argue about who got the prettiest stuffed animal at one of the stands. Kanaye and Ino were right: a festival is what Grass need right now to forget all the pain.

"Maybe this was a nice idea after all." She comments softly. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

"You should too." Neji tells her in a smooth voice.

His statement makes Akai tense for a moment since she didn´t know he knew about her discomfort. She scolds herself because she should know better than think that something like that would pass by unnoticed by a man who can see almost everything. A chuckle leaves her lips. He understands her so well!

"I´ll try." She smiles gently up at him.

The people of this village is strong and most of them tries their best to move on instead of suffering due to something in the past. Your own life will be in the past if you forget to live in the present. The Grass kunoichi nods to herself. Akai flinches as she hears how Kiba says something about that all of them should find some place to eat. Festival food is always tasty. A smile grows and Akai can´t help but enjoy the evening with her friends. Being there with them and Neji makes her feel all warm inside and she feels thrilled about eating this festival food she never tried before.

Akai has never been hanging out with such a large crowd of friends before and she thanks her mission to Konoha for that. It changed everything to the better and Akai wonders what would have happened if she didn´t sneak off that time. Nothing would have changed in Grass or within herself and the village would certainly been completely destroyed by now. A smile grows bigger on her lips at the thought because she is so proud over the fact that she did complete her mission and that even Yamamoto praised her for it. Akai has reached one of her dreams: to actually be of help to her village and make them accept her as one of their Kunoichi. She should be really happy about it but the death of her comrades still lingers in her mind. Most of them teased her but they still didn´t deserve to die.

Her chest feels so warm as she sits there eating with her friends, laughing at something she can´t really understand as she ignores her pain. Before she traveled to Konoha with Naruto did she only consider Kanaye and…Yoshi her friends but now she has met over a dozen of people that she cares about. She is surrounded by people she would do anything to protect and hopefully they feel that way about her as well. Akai feels happy, loved and safe among them and it makes her all giddy inside.

But they are all leaving tomorrow.

Akai´s smile fades and she´s just sitting there focusing on nothing but her own inner world that is in a turmoil at the moment. Why did I have to remember that now? I´m only ruining this night for myself. A deep breath leaves her mouth as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Akai!" Ino shouts from her seat next to Kanaye. "Smile, don´t forget to smile!"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" Akai forces a smile to return to her lips.

"A pretty girl like you should be that silent." Lee comments.

"Lee, please,… just don´t…" Akai sighs with irritation. "This is so stupid."

"Honestly Akai-san, you´re depression is… affecting all of us." Sakura comments. "Can´t you just relax a little?"

Akai flinches a little and she turns to face Sakura. The Grass ninja doesn´t know if the pink haired woman wants to intentionally hurt her or if that is just her personality but that doesn´t change the fact that her way of replying is bothering her.

"Ehm, this is how I am…?" She murmurs awkwardly. "And I can´t ignore my feelings like that."

"A ninja shouldn´t show emotion." Sakura counter attacks.

"I´m well aware of that but this isn´t a mission." Akai sounds angry. As if you never cried!

"But cheer up, I mean, it´s not every day you get to hang out like this right?" Sakura tries to sound cute and change the direction of the conversation.

"Geez, sorry." Akai shrug her shoulders and tries to get over it.

Akai feels uncomfortable all of a sudden even though the others start up a new conversation to make it easier. The lip gloss on her lips gets a little messed up as she bites her lower lip as a bad habit. Neji glances as her as Akai get up from her seat, leaving him slightly colder. He can feel how her warmth disappears and he has to force down a sigh of disappointment. White eyes follow her as she makes her way away from him but it´s Naruto who questions it.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asks Akai.

The blonde ninja sits next to Sakura with heavy bandages all over his body. Akai has always wondered why he is such a quick healer but she recently got the explanation to that question. He is the wielder of the Kyuubi: the nine tailed beast that almost destroyed Konoha some years back. The fact that he still looks so beaten up is proof of how badly injured he got during the fight against Sound. Akai feels even worse when she looks at him.

"To find my brothers." She answers shortly with a weak smile growing on her lips. "Festivals are an event for families as well, right?"

"Yeah… be careful!" Naruto tells her with surprise. "Be sure to catch up with us later ok!"

"Yeah I will. See you later." Akai waves her hand while smiling before she turns around and leaves.

Sakura blinks twice in a surprised manner at Akai´s sudden choice to leave and she wonders if she said too much just now.

"W-will she be ok?" Hinata questions.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asks her friend.

"Akai knows how to move around here it´s her home!" Naruto exclaims certainly, he trusts his friend fully.

"I´m not so sure about that. She might have known how to move around before but the whole village is disarranged after the war. Nothing is the same. Wasn´t that why she actually accepted to be guided by Ino and Neji in the beginning?" Shikamaru points out while regarding the others with a raised brow.

Ino and Neji react almost the same way: eyes widening a little, but none of them speaks a word. They both know they can trust Akai. The Grass ninja hates to be pitied and would do a lot to avoid it but she´s not an idiot. There´s a difference.


Akai feels irritated as she walks down the road by herself. She´s angry at Sakura for being so insensitive but even more upset with herself for actually bothering to feel something about what the pink haired woman said. It´s impossible to relax for her in a time like this. The bitter taste of war is still too present to ignore. Cold air hits her in the face as she faces the dark sky above wondering if Yoshi is looking over her.

The Grass Chuunin searches for her family among the crowd since she knows that Aoi would help Gosai and his friends to sell origami cranes today. Cranes that represents sadness but also growth to support Grass. It´s a nice thing to do but Akai doubts anyone can afford to buy some because they need the money to survive themselves. Akai is quick to search for her big brother´s chakra and follow the trace to his location.

"Sis!" Aoi greets her with surprise.

"Yo." Akai smiles.

Akai approaches them and gives Gosai a quick hug before she nods at Aoi as well. The two of them, together with several kinds from the ninja academy, are doing their best to sell the paper animals they folded the other day. Akai remembers how jealous of people who could do such precise things with their fingers but she´s glad she got over that. She is skilled at other things so it´s ok not to be nimble-fingered.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn´t you be with your friends?" Aoi asks her with a hint of surprise still present in his dark eyes.

"I thought I should help out a little." She avoids telling him the whole truth.

Aoi looks at her while thinking that something must have gone wrong with her friends. He doesn´t complain though because he rather have her here, close to him, than with those people he barely knows. He can trust Kanaye though, but the mental picture of that Hyuuga hugging his younger sister still bugs him a little. I guess she´s growing up…?

"Yay, Akai onee-chan came!" Gosai seems happy over it.

It seems that the small ten-year-old has told his friends about what Akai did during the war and both he and she have gained popularity among the youngsters. The young woman smiles at the sight of the children as they start to ask her about things and she remembers how they ran away from her before she traveled to Konoha. Akai decides to help out and together the Isozakis manage to sell a couple of cranes to foreign ninja. She is surprised that people actually do buy them even thought their own situation might be worse…

"Akai-san."

A familiar voice makes her look up and stare at a blurry outlines of a person standing in front of her. She can´t recognize the man but the voice told her that she should know who he is. Someone she spoke to quite recently…

"…Yusuke-senpai?" She guesses hesitantly.

"Yes, that´s right." Akai can hear how he is smirking as she sighs with relief. "How are you?"

"Hi Yusuke!" Aoi greets him in a friendly manner. It seems that they know each other." Make sure to buy some cranes, buddy."

"Yeah yeah."

Akai laughs a little at the two Jounin before she answers his question.

"Fine, just slightly uncomfortable. I´m not used to these kinds of celebrations." Akai looks away to help Gosai find the coins. "And I´m not good at selling things either."

"Oh why not?" Yusuke urges her to tell him.

"Why I am uncomfortable or bad at selling stuff? Haha." Akai chuckles at herself. "I dislike dressing up and being around this many people."

"You should enjoy it."

Someone told me that already. "Yeah, I know. Senpai, do you want to buy a crane?"

Yusuke laughs a little since he´s sure she asked him that because of her brother. "Sure, I want a blue one."

Gosai is quick to help Akai find the said color and she thanks him with a smile The small boy knew it would be hard for her to tell the white and light blue crane apart.

"Here." Akai gives him one and he gives her a couple of coins. "Thank you."

"Senpai, how are you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah I´m as fine as I can be in times like these." He tells her honestly. "But I—"

Something makes Yusuke stop talking and it takes a while before Akai realizes what. A new presence joins them and Akai tilts her head to the side. A wave of chakra caresses her face and eyes widen a fraction as she realizes who it is.

"Neji?" She utters his name with surprise.

"I´ll take one." He answers indifferently.

Akai flinches a little at the cold voice he is using but is quick to act and search for the crane he wanted. The sudden resurrection of butterflies in her stomach makes it hard for her to concentrate on the task but she manages to find the right one with the helped of Gosai. Was he searching for me? Why? She can´t help but feel a little irritated too because she left them to be alone a little, she didn´t leave so he could look for her. Akai can´t stay irritated for long though.

"Here."

Electricity runs through her body as she feels how Neji´s cold fingers touch her skin as she takes the crane from her hand. She has to swallow a gasp of surprise. Why does he affect me like this? Akai turns red as she feels how Neji takes her hand suddenly and drags her away from her brothers and Yusuke while muttering something about borrowing her for a while. Akai is too surprised to think about anything else about the whit eyed man and she doesn´t notice Gosai´s worried face. It´s the same as him guiding her, she knows that, but it feels so nice when his large hand encircles hers and she wishes it meant something more. The Grass ninja relaxes as she let him pull her along.

"Ah, teenagers!" Yusuke comments with a smirk as he notices Aoi´s expression. "So lively."

"I wish they could grow up." Aoi comments sourly with his eyes fixed at Neji´s back but he can´t help but smile. She´s like a flower, blossoming boldly after a hard time of war.

Akai feels disoriented and confused as Neji continues to pull her along somewhere. She has no clue why he acts like this or why it seems that he´s in a hurry to get her away from her family. After some minutes of quick walking Neji finally slow down and let Akai catch up with him. Her breathing is a little of due to her lack of training after her injury and due to being forced to walk in her tight kimono. Neji stands silent in front of her with his back towards her.

"Neji, what´s wrong?" She asks him with a couple of heavy breathes.

"Why did you take off like that?" He asks her finally.

Akai makes an irritated noise at his way of answering a question with another question. Blue eyes soften a little and she sighs tiredly. There is no reason to lie anymore.

"…I felt irritated and I didn´t want that to affect you guys." Akai smiles wryly. "I didn´t want to ruin the night for you being all depressed about what is technically in the past now. I can´t let go of what happened."

Neji stays silent and that silence makes Akai aware of the fact that they´re still holding hands. Or rather: he is holding hers in an iron grip. He probably saw through her façade and realized that she was upset with Sakura and everything that happened, that she couldn't stop thinking about the war and the death of a loved one. Akai is torn between being happy about it or even more irritated. Another deep sigh leaves her lips.

"Do you know a good spot to relax?" Neji asks her, changing the subject while still using a slightly cold voice.

"Yeah…why?" Akai answers hesitantly with a sad voice."…If it wasn´t destroyed in the war that is."

"Take me there."

Akai looks at him in confusion but obeys since it sounded more like an order than a question. She squeezes Neji´s hand a little as she takes the lead through the crowd of people using her chakra to find her way around. Akai wonders what´s wrong with him and why he´s acting so funny all of a sudden but she doesn´t complain over the extra time she gets with him. The inner Akai does a banzai dance happily. Akai leads him to a small path in the woods, what´s left of the woods, and they climb a small cliff before reaching a hill with really good scenery. The Albino girl didn´t think it would be so hard to climb in her kimono so Neji was forced to help her quite a lot. Her cheeks are red due to embarrassment.

Neji looks at the scenery in silence as Akai sits down near a tree. The wind is slightly stronger up there so she seeks the protection of the tree to stay somewhat warm. It´s a beautiful night with a sky full of stars and you can see the festival from up there. The distant voices of people can be heard.

"I used to come here when I wanted to be completely alone." Akai breaks the silence. "Just to think. I could see things more clearly from here, somehow."

Neji turns to look at her and the slight altering of his pose makes his long hair float in the wind beautifully. He hasn´t seen much of the positive things about Grass since he arrived in the midst of war. This is Akai´s home. White eyes look out over Grass as he ponders over it. She grew up here. A deep breath leaves the Hyuuga´s lips as he finally relaxes. She probably feels how I would feel if it was Konoha I saw in front of me. The larger part of Grass that he can see from the hill is destroyed. Neji shakes his head almost unnoticeably before he makes his way to join Akai under the tree.

"It looks like shit right? Trust me, it used to beautiful." Akai tells him with a sad smirk on her lips.

"I´m certain this place will be as beautiful as it was in some years." He comments softly.

White eyes narrow as Akai takes the freedom to rest her head in her companion´s lap. Akai is slightly surprised over the fact that he doesn´t complain about it but starts to touch her hair almost immediately. Ino would kill her if she knew that she let Neji ruin the hairstyle she prepared for her. Neji pulls out the hairpin as he starts to massage her scalp gently. A soft sigh of comfort leaves her lips as she relaxes into his touch. This reminds her of how they used to hang out in Konoha before everything turned up-side-down. She used to comfort Neji like this but it´s now his turn to do the same for her.

"What´s on your mind?" Neji asks her after a while of silence.

"…The war." Akai answers honestly. "Bad stuff only. I can´t get it out of my head. It´s like this pain...inside my chest…I feel like I´m suffocating."

"You´re grieving." He states the fact as if it´s a natural thing to do.

"Yeah…" Akai swallows a bundle of pain and she touches her chest before her hand lies to rest at her stomach where her scar is still visible under her clothes. "I think that this kind of pain is way worse than physical pain."

Neji´s eyes darken a little as he thinks about how he almost lost her when he first arrived in Grass. The way she is touching her stomach makes him remember how he find her in the forest that day. How Akai was fighting for her life for several days before it was clear that she would survive. He remembers the pain he felt back then. The man´s hart is aching right now as well but not with the same intensity as before, maybe because he knows the girl lying with her head in his lap won't disappear like she could have at that time? Akai moves a little as she feels how Neji grows rigid.

"…Neji?"

"What else is on your mind?" He asks to make Akai stop worrying about him.

"I´m thinking of what I´m supposed to do from now on… I´m not certain of what I want." Akai feels how her hands are sweating.

"Hmm." A deep sound emerges from his throat.

It´s true that she is unsure what to do after Grass recovery. Probably continue to train to meet her second goal: become a Jounin or even a higher ranked Shinobi. But that goal seems so far away right now and she wonders if that´s what she really wants. If it will be worth all the pain. Akai frowns a little. It would be so much more fun if she could grow stronger together with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji like she did back in Konoha rather than by herself here in Grass. The girl decided to tell Neji what is bothering her the most right now even though she is a little nervous about his reaction.

"….And about you leaving tomorrow." She finally tells him after a bit of hesitation.

Neji stops touching her hair abruptly. A silence spread between them and Akai can feel how Neji tenses once more. Akai grows uncomfortable so she sits up with a grunt to face him. As she open her eyes she sees two white orbs looking straight at her in the darkness: the same eyes she noticed one sunny day in Konoha months ago. Eyes that awakened a new interest inside of her, eyes that saw something within her that no one else has discovered or even tried to find and eyes that she still finds herself falling deeper and deeper into. The eyes of the man she has fallen so deeply in love with in such a short period of time. The hand, that Neji used to touch Akai´s hair, fell down to rest on her shoulder as she moved away from him. He is about to cup her cheek when a loud BANG interrupts them. Akai flinches away violently at the sound and their body contact is broken. Wide but unfocused eyes stare up at the sky where she believes the sound came from. The dark sky is now clad in a red color.

"What was that?" Akai breathes as her fear fades.

"What can you see?"

"I see red flowers in the sky, and they are moving…" Akai tells him in a soft voice, full of wonder. "I thought the Sound troops were here again for a second."

Neji sees the reflection of the fireworks in Akai´s wide eyes and he finds himself staring at her profile totally ignoring the colors in the sky. He moves in closer beside her to make sure that she feels safe and protected.

"Akai…"

Akai tears her eyes away from the sky to look at the Hyuuga. "…Yeah?" She is slightly surprised over his sudden closeness.

"I have something I need to tell you before I leave." He tells her seriously.

Akai´s eyes widen so she can focus all her senses at the man speaking. Something about the way he said that makes her see all these kind of scenarios in her head. He must have realized that she was talking mainly about him when she said she was thinking of them leaving… Akai can feel how her heart beat quicken and her cheek turn into a much redder color. What…? This feeling… Her mouth turns dry as she waits for Neji to continue.

"I—" He start in a confident manner.

"NEJI, AKAI-CHAN!"An extremely loud voice interrupts him.

Akai flinches violently once again and a deep breath leaves Neji´s lips. "Naruto…"

Neji and Akai turn around to see how all of their friends have joined them at the hill. Akai can´t help but sigh with disappointment as her moment with Neji is lost. What did he want to tell me? A smile grows on her lips when she´s once again surrounded by her friends though.

"We didn´t interrupt anything did we?" Kiba asks.

"No!" Akai is sure to tell them.

The small hill feels kind of crowded all of a sudden and all of the new visitors regard the view in silence for a while. The view is pretty and makes you feel so small yet at it at the same time shows how badly Grass is damaged. The foreign ninja, and Kanaye, feel mixed emotions as they stare at the now demolished landscape.

"Woah what an amazing view! It´s perfect!" Tenten comments as more fireworks light up the sky above everyone. "We can see all the fireworks from here."

"It´s …was…the best spot in Grass." Kanaye tells them in a somewhat sour voice.

"The sight is still nice. We all can see the new Grass in front of us and no one knows how it will go from here!" Naruto exclaims in a positive manner.

Akai smiles at him and nods as a simple thank you. The blonde man sits down next to her and Neji while grinning at them broadly. The Grass kunoichi´s eyes widen a little as Naruto hands her some sweets he said he won earlier. They taste really good so she hands Neji one as well. The Hyuuga looks at it for a second before he shakes his head in silence. Akai focus her senses on him in worry for a second but smiles gently at last. He´s not angry, really.

"So romantic…" Matsuri comments as she spaces out.

Everyone sits down to watch the fireworks that last for about ten minutes. It´s nice for Akai to be surrounded by friends and feel liked like that. Together they experience something nice and, according to Akai, magical. She will never forget this festival nor this moment with her dear friends. They will always have a place in her memory. Akai´s smile fades as Ino suddenly touches her hair from her seat slightly behind her.

"Akai, what happened to your hair?" She is referring to that the nice hairstyle she prepared for her is ruined.

"Ehm… I dropped the hairpin and couldn´t fix it myself." She answers with an innocent chuckle. "Neji didn´t want to help me either."

"Hn." He snorts with a small but noticeable smirk on his pale lips.

"…I see." Ino regard the pair with a smile growing bigger by each passing second.

Everyone turns silent as they watch the last fireworks color the sky together. The sound and colors fades slowly as the festival is coming to an end in the village below them.

"I guess that was it!" Naruto gets up on his feet as the colors fades from the sky.

"Let´s head back…I´m tired." Shikamaru comments with a sigh.

Shikamaru pretends to be very tired and uninterested in everything but there´s indeed a blush on his cheeks. Temari is holding his hand in hers in a bossy manner. It seems like the two of them grew closer during this festival.

"See you all tomorrow." Kiba says.

Akai only reacts when Neji gets up on his feet and starts to leave. She hurries to get up as well and almost fall over due to the sudden motion of her body. I have to tell him! She panics as she realizes that she hasn´t told him about her feelings yet and that this magical day is soon over. What will happen, or not happen, if she don´t grasp this chance now?

"Neji!" Her eyes are wide as she utters his name in a slightly desperate manner.

He stops in his tracks and turns to glance at her over his shoulder. No one seems to notice that he stopped walking since the others are talking with each other, laughing and just goofing around on their way to their inns.

"…Yes?"

She can´t think as their eyes meet. The long silence is dreadful as Akai ponders if she should just tell him or not. Anger boils up inside of herself as she hesitates.

"Oyasumi." She tells him with a weak smile, pain and regret boiling up inside of her already.

Nej smirks in a strange way, if Akai could see better she would have noticed the small hint of sadness in his expression. "Good night."

Ah fuck. Akai hates herself for not being brave enough to tell him what she feel but the worst thing is that she believes she has now lost the chance to confess before he is out from her life, forever. She hits one of the trees with her clenched fist. I´m such a loser.

"Let´s go back as well." Kanaye suggests and the two of them leaves together.


Akai struggles as she quietly folds Neji´s newly washed clothes. She is up early to see all of her friends off since they´ll be leaving in one hour and she decided to help them to pack their things. She somehow ended up in Neji´s sleeping quarter, folding his clothes. Her eyes and senses are unfocused as she is slowly disappearing into her own world of thoughts. A dull pain lingers inside of her since she knows she needs to do something, say something or anything like that before her only remaining chance is lost. It pains her greatly to just be there with the man she loves while being unable to voice these feelings properly. It´s not that she´s afraid of being rejected, not at all, it´s just that he will leave and they live quite far apart. I wonder what would hurt the most: getting rejected or that he says yes and leaves …

"Akai, I can do that myself." Neji´s deep voice surprises her.

Neji was regarding her silently before he decided to interfere. He just stepped out of the shower and is dressed in his usual clothing while drying his long dark hair. Neji regards her intensively as he notice how badly she flinches at the sound of his voice. She was probably thinking of something, and judging on her expression, it wasn´t something pleasant. Akai looks at him for a moment before she continues with what she was doing. She folds one of his spare shirts and puts it into his bag as nicely as she can.

"No, please let me help you. I know … that I´m probably making a mess but I still want to do it."

Neji turns silent once again. The man dries his hair for a little longer before he combs it carefully and ties a bandana around his head. Akai feels a little uncomfortable to be there alone with him but she ignores that feeling as she turns to face him.

"I wanted to thank you properly." She starts while acting like everything is alright. "For everything you´ve done for me. You taught me a lot of things…helped me get stronger…So I wanted to see you off properly. I will always remember you."

Akai knows that what she´s saying sounds like a rehearsed speech . She can feel his all seeing eyes on her. Her senses turn numb as her emotions starts to get out of control. She bites her lips as she is forced to stop speaking because her voice is trembling so much. She feels embarrassed, fragile and so girly right now. Her inner turmoil makes her unable to sense how Neji approaches her.

A soft gasp leaves Akai´s lips as a pair of strong arms suddenly encircles her and pulls her into a warm chest. Neji´s scent infiltrates her senses in that moment and it leaves her breathless. His long damp hair falls down around her and he smells like heaven, his warm breath against her cheek smells of rice and his touch sends a thousand of volts of electricity down her whole being. That´s when she realized how big he is compared to her. His body can encircle hers completely making her feel safe and protected. She feels like she´s slowly suffocating to death because the pain inside is too great. This is one of those good bye hugs right?

"I´m s-sorry!" She apologizes into his shirt loudly. "I couldn´t fold your shirts…nicely…"

Neji frowns as he feels how the girl in his arms starts to tremble violently. This is not like the fierce, stubborn and rude girl he first met in Konoha several months ago. White eyes turn focused as he frowns. Akai´s feelings reach him as a powerful punch to his stomach. He has been dreading this day for several days now and the pressure building up inside of him makes him tighten his hold on the girl in his arms. Leaving Grass without being true to his emotions is something he can´t do. That would hurt just as much as committing suicide.

"Akai…" Neji murmurs her name into her hair.

"I guess this is when I should say good bye." She hides her face from him as she pushes herself away from his embrace. "I think the others are already waiting outside. We should join them."

Her eyes widen as Neji´s hold on her grows firmer, making her unable to push him away or move at all. His strong arms keeps her still, close to him in a way that makes her heart beat like crazy. Why is he acting like this? Doesn't he realize that he´s making our parting worse? Akai feels so confused and she is about to start struggling when he says something that makes her lose her balance completely.

"This isn´t a goodbye." Neji tells her sternly.

A surprised gasp leaves Akai´s lips and a wave of tears she didn´t know where threatening to leak falls down her cheeks. It surprises her but not as much as it surprises Neji. His hands squeeze her arms almost painfully as he leans in closer to her. Akai squirms with discomfort as she fights her own emotions. She doesn´t want to part with him while crying. She doesn´t want him to remember her like that.

"This isn´t a goodbye." He repeats almost angrily."One day we´ll—"

"I can´t hear you…" Akai interrupts him in a hoarse voice.

Neji´s eyes narrow. "Don´t make me repeat myself…"

Neji moves in even closer to her, staring her straight in her unfocused eyes with such an intensity that would leave anyone breathless. The Hyuuga doesn´t let her avert her eyes as he waits for her to explain herself. He know she heard what he said. Neji is certain of it.

"My heart is beating so loudly…I can´t…hear you..." Akai whimpers.

Neji´s eyes narrow even more at her answer. Her skin is so pink due to her severe blushing, her eyes are closed to avoid facing him and her tears feels warm under his thumbs as he wipes them away for her. A deep breath leaves his lips just before Neji cover her trembling lips with his own. Akai´s eyes widen as Neji force her to tilt her head backwards so he´ll get better access to her mouth. The kiss is sweet, yet salty due to her tears. It takes a while for the Grass kunoichi to actually understand what is going on because she didn´t expect him to act like that since it´s so out of character. She clings to him weakly as the realization hits her. A hoarse yet quiet moan can be heard from Neji´s throat as Akai hesitantly returns the show of affection.

Neji breaks the kiss slowly, staring into Akai´s eyes without closing his eyes once. He wants to make sure that she feels the same way about him. She´s not crying anymore but the girl looks bewildered and at a loss of words. Akai looks really stunning to Neji in that moment. So brave yet…so lost. A soft breath leaves the Hyuuga´s lips and he tries to smile a little. His hold on her softens as he decides to tell her how important she is to him.

"You´re special to me … so I´ll make sure that this isn´t a goodbye."

Akai just stares at him as if she doesn´t let herself believe him. "I´m not worthy of you." Her answer is equally serious.

Akai don´t know what she´s trying to say but it has to do with Neji´s status, his kekkei genkai, his clan and the fact that she is the opposite of him. She´s an Albino which makes her partly blind and very sensitive to sunlight, her family is small and she has no chance to stand up to the women the Hyuuga clan that are certainly standing in line to date him. They are living in not only separate countries but also in separate worlds. The Hyuuga clan would never accept her, never, but that doesn´t change the fact that she loves him. It doesn´t change the fact that she wants to try to work things out.

"I don´t care what people say. No matter what I do I won´t be able to become anything but a skilled fighter for my clan, not with this cursed mark on my forehead. They can´t force me to be with someone I don't want. " Neji tells her seriously in an almost intimidating voice. "Your eyes, that are not as clear as other´s, saw through my façade…almost like it was and still is transparent to you. You helped me take the first step outside the cage my clan put up for me and I think it´s time you did the same. "

That is the longest speech Akai ever heard him utter but it makes his words more real to hear. He was able to tell what he felt unlike her and he is brave enough to stand for his actions as well, as if he thinks she is worth the trouble. Akai feels how intense happiness takes over her body but she tries to control herself.

Akai looks down but a smile is growing in her lips. "You´re risking a lot here, you know that?"

"The only thing I´m risking here is…my heart."

Akai´s eyes widen at the sincere but quite cheesy reply. She feels how she breaks down inside as all her worry fades away. He wants me. Akai throws her arms round his neck and hugs him close to herself in a swift movement. White eyes widen with surprise. She didn´t dare to believe he actually liked her: a girl without beauty, skills… a girl that can´t give him a safe future.

"I love you, dammit!" She whispers into his hair. "I hate you for making me suffer like this!"

It´s now her turn to kiss him as a sign of pure bliss. Akai is ready for it this time and it makes her able to feel it more properly as she slowly leans in to give him an innocent kiss on his lips. The touch is clumsy and uncertain but electricity runs through her whole being as Neji´s moist lips deepens her kiss sensually. Both of them sigh with relief as they pull apart since they know that their feelings are returned.

"You have to go." Akai tells him shyly as she adjusts his white robe a little. "It´s time."

Neji let go of Akai reluctantly before he grabs his bag, snorts a little at the sight of his messy robe in there, and looks at the girl. A smirk is visible at his lips as he sees how she frowns at his reaction. Akai did try her best at folding his clothes but both of them know it was a failure. Akai joins Neji as he makes his way out of the inn to meet the other ninja from Konoha and Suna that are already waiting outside. Akai wants to stay as close to Neji as possible but the fear of hurting more when he leaves makes her try to distance herself a tiny bit. It feels better to part with him after what happened but she knows she still will cry over it later.

Akai is surprised over the large number of people that have gathered at the gates of Grass to see them off because no one liked the foreign ninja in the beginning. They were late to sign the contract and come to their aid, they always used Grass as their own battle field and they were somewhat regarded as too snobby. All changed when they stayed and helped Grass in the war. Everyone in Grass has accepted their strength and friendship. Akai notices her mother, two brothers, Yusuke-senpai and Kanaye in the crowd.

"Neji! You´re late!" Tenten scolds him a little.

The Konoha ninja seemed to have been waiting for Neji for a while but he acts indifferent as Tenten scolds him. Everyone seems eager to return home and it makes Akai smile.

"I never thought we would have to wait for a Hyuuga." Kiba comments teasingly.

"Patience never hurts." Is Neji´s smooth reply.

Akai leaves Neji´s side as she approach Ino to give the girl a bear hug. A lot of her friends create a small circle around her and Akai tries to smile happily at all of them. Even people like Sai, Shino, and two high raked ninja she can´t recognize returns her greeting politely. She hugs Ino a little longer to make sure that the other girl understands how much she means to her.

"Thank you, for everything." Akai tells everyone but her gaze lingers at Ino.

"No biggie." Ino squints as she smiles. "Just make sure to come and visit so you can repay me, ok?"

Akai nods even though she´s not certain she can keep that promise. Naruto appears out of nowhere and glomps her from behind, a hug she returns. Even Shikamaru gives her a gentle pat on the head and Akai hugs the hesitant Hinata. The female Hyuuga blushes a little but returns the hug gently.

"You´ll always be welcomed to join or practices." Shikamaru tells Akai with a lazy grin.

"A-a-and I want to eat ramen with you again someday." Hinata stutters.

Akai can´t bring herself to answer that but she smiles, silently telling them she wants to go to Konoha again sometime. A sudden touch makes her turn to focus her senses to her right where she finds Neji standing once again. He squeezes her hand gently in a thought through way so none of their friends noticed it.

"We will meet again." He tells her as if he read her mind and understood her doubt.

Akai´s surprised expression turns into a big smile."Yeah, of course we will!" She tells them in a loud and happy voice.

"Bye Akai, see you soon." Naruto tells her as all of them starts to get ready to leave.

"Bye! Promise to not get yourself killed!" Akai shouts as loudly as she can.

The Grass inhabitants cheer as the group of ninja walk out the gates like heroes with the wind caressing their bodies. Everyone adores them, look up to them and praises them for their roles in this war. Akai steps back to join her family and her mother, Akane, is quick to put an arm around the girl´s shoulders in a comforting manner.

Akai doesn´t know if everything were just empty words but she doesn´t care as she waves Neji, and the others, off. She had been waiting her entire life for eyes that see her in her darkness. What she didn't know was that she would find a pair of Byakugan eyes that saw beyond her darkness and beyond her handicap when she traveled to Konoha. But that man is now leaving her and their future is still unwritten. She feels good inside and actually dares to hope that she will someday, somehow, meet all of them again.