Hinata wasn't sure if she had heard her protector quite right. The pair had stopped for the night, back safely in a forested area, and she was busy poking the fire to keep the flames up. Neji had just returned from a quick scouting trip, checking for anything out of the ordinary. That was part of why she wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly or not.

"U-Um…?" Regardless, she felt her face heat up.

Neji looked at her coolly, holding his hand out. "Your jacket," He repeated, finally. The heiress frowned in confusion. He sighed, and said again, "Your jacket, Hinata-sama. Take it off, please. I need to give you a physical to see if you're hurt anywhere."

Yes, that was what she had thought he said.

Hinata felt her cheeks redden even more. "U-Um…I-I'm fine…!" She said hastily, shifting nervously. The kunoichi, unlike most other girls her age, wasn't comfortable without her heavy jacket. She needed her long sleeves and baggy clothing. Without it, especially in the simple sleeveless top (albeit with netting underneath), she felt, well, naked. Usually even her best friends had to fight with her to get the jacket off. And here her cousin was, just demanding!

"You don't know that, and neither do I." Neji replied calmly, still holding out his hand for the coat.

"Kabuto-ku--Kabuto ga-gave me a check-up…I'm fine…R-Really!" She was playing on the fact that he knew full well just how good of a medic Kabuto was. Hinata was also hoping and praying that he didn't ask when he gave her that check-up. Because she really didn't want to lie to him.

"And when was this?" He asked impassively, raising an eyebrow. She cringed; he could still read her all too well. "Hinata-sama…" Neji paused to sigh, then continued, "Please. Even if you believe you are fine, you were just fighting against that Kiri-nin, not to mention the Akatsuki. And Sasuke. As much as I'd like to believe it, there is no possible way that you escaped all of that unharmed."

She winced again, trying to ignore the truth in his words. Neji knew, had always known, just how to get past her (rather weak) defenses. Hinata instinctively ducked her head and seemed to shrink in upon herself, trying to hide any injuries she may be sporting. (Now that he had mentioned it, she actually did feel those bruises around her neck, her shoulder was stiff, and she suddenly realized that she may have cracked a few ribs. Not to mention whatever internal and other damage she couldn't feel.)

"Hinata-sama, now you're obviously hiding something. Show me your neck." Neji sighed again, shaking his head. She couldn't help but smile slightly at his exasperation, even if she was the cause of it. But the kunoichi obediently tilted back her head, though she only did so reluctantly.

She heard him gasp, and could only guess at what kind of marks the collar had left. Her protector was beside her in an instant, asking, "Who did that?"

"Th-That taller Akatsuki member…Kakuzu…?" She felt him heal the minor bruises, though it really was unnecessary.

Unfortunately, their closer proximity allowed him to sneakily grab her sleeves, and was yanking the jacket off over her head before she could do much more than offer a squeak and a small flail. "Niisan!" she grabbed for the coat, rather pitifully, as her other arm was crossed over her chest protectively. "Gi-Give that b-back…!"

He just slung it over his shoulder, inspecting her body with his Byakugan. "Your shoulder seems to be in an interesting position…did you dislocate it recently, and just force it back into its socket?" The brunette asked calmly.

She shook her head, crossing her arms and drawing her knees up to her chest. "No…that would have happened when Deidara-kun tried to haul me up onto the bird…during the fight." Hinata could've sworn that her cousin smirked smugly, but with the flickering firelight, it was impossible to tell.

"You also appear to have two cracked ribs." He continued quietly, white eyes flicking down to her chest.

"That would have been from Sasuke." The heiress explained, scowling slightly. "Wh-When he tackled me. Trying to get me away from Deidara-kun and the bird…"

"There are also many small scratches, burns, and a rather large bruise on your left thigh." Neji finished his examination, blinking slowly. "…Hmm. I could probably fix the ribs, but I most likely couldn't do anything more for your shoulder. Does it impair your abilities?"

Hinata carefully rotated her arm, moving it several times and testing it, and finally shook her head. "Not much…I can fight." He just nodded.

"The minor wounds won't do much, as long as you clean them out and stop them from getting infected." He murmured, tapping his foot lightly in the dirt. Behind him, the moon finally rose above the treetops.

But she would have none of this. "What about you, niisan…? You said it yourself; th-there was no way to escape that fight un-unharmed…" She narrowed her light eyes at him, pouting. (That was part of Deidara's charm. He didn't spend unnecessary attention on her, and even if he did, it wasn't because she was the Hyuuga's heir. It would have been just because she was a girl, and for that reason, the attention almost felt nice. Neji, on the other hand, was overprotective, plain and simple. He also had the bad habit of passing off rather frightening injuries as mere flesh wounds or scratches.)

"I wasn't in the fight as long as you were." Her half-glare answered his comment. "…And I already healed the injuries of mine." It was a blatant lie, even she could see that. But unlike him, she had no way to force him out of it, or force him into healing his own wounds.

Hinata just suppressed a sigh and tentatively held out one hand for her coat back. He gave her a questioning look. "M-My jacket…?" She prompted.

"I haven't mended those ribs yet." Neji responded coolly. "Now stand up."

-.-.-

A blue eye slid open, taking in the darkness. He got the strangest feeling of déjà vu as he sat up, rubbing his neck. "You're awake." Deidara turned to see Kabuto reclining lazily on a rock. The medic rolled back his shoulders as he stood back up.

"Where's Bya-chan, yeah…?" The blonde asked slowly, looking around.

"Did you come up with that nickname all on your own? It stands for 'Byakugan', right?" Kabuto asked innocently. He ignored him. "You can thank me later. I've saved your life, probably for the second or third time." The (hopefully) ex-spy added after a long pause.

Deidara just narrowed his eye.

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought." He said, smiling casually. "Neji knocked you out and threw you off the cliff. He and Hinata-chan are probably several dozen kilometers away by now. They departed about, oh, three to three and a half hours ago."

"What?!" The Iwa-nin bolted upright, jumping to his feet in the same move. "Damn it, we have to go after them! Now, yeah!!"

"No, I believe the words you were looking for were 'thank you, Kabuto, for saving my worthless life once more'. Or something to that effect." Kabuto stayed in his spot, though he turned to aim a smirk at his temporary teammate. Deidara glared flatly back.

"You are an asshole, do you know that?" He asked.

"I try."

"I don't see why Bya-chan insisted on vouching for you."

"Because she is sweet and warm-hearted and couldn't bear to see you kill someone she felt she was indebted to? Because she has a conscience? Because she doesn't hate anything with an ANBU mask with an irrational loathing?"

Deidara turned away from him again, ignoring his jabs and the fact that he really did hate anything with an ANBU mask with an irrational loathing. But that was neither here nor there. (That was roughly three or four years in the past and about a hundred kilometers inland in Iwagakure.) What was needed right now was action. Preferably the chasing type of action. "I'm flying. I don't know how you're going to keep up, yeah."

"And what are you going to do when you do catch up with them and Hinata-chan asks where I am?" Kabuto asked, stepping over to him.

"I'll tell her you died." Deidara ignored the movement, instead plunging his hand inside his clay pouch, gnawing on a large enough bit to turn into a sizeable bird. He withdrew his hand again, watching the mouth chew, working it into the fastest shape he could think of.

"And then how will she ever trust you again when I show up, alive and well, to find out that you lied? Relationships aren't built on lies." The medic chirped cheerfully. He smiled pleasantly, but it annoyed Deidara because he knew it was fake, no matter how genuine it looked. (It also annoyed him that Kabuto could create fake expressions so well.)

"You've died once already." He said simply. For a moment, the silver-haired ninja looked angry, but quickly smoothed his expression into a tamer one of mild annoyance. "And between you and I, we both know that relationships are built on lies. We're shinobi. I'm not stupid, yeah. I just haven't figured out who you're working for yet."

Then the bird hopped to life at the sign of his hand, and the Iwa-nin flew off without so much as a backwards glance.

-.-.-

Hinata awoke the next morning to three of the strangest revelations she had ever had. (Technically, she didn't 'awaken', though. It was more like she finally fought her way out of the genjutsu-induced nightmares and into proper consciousness. She didn't feel rested in the least.)

The first was that she missed her cousin. He wasn't anywhere in her limited range of vision, and she couldn't hear him breathing nearby. This was not a completely unfamiliar feeling for her; when they were both much younger, she would miss him from time to time. (But that was before he started truly hating the main house.)

The second was more startling. It was that she missed Deidara. Hinata quickly chalked it up to wanting some sort of human comfort, not necessarily just from him. She was still monstrously confused when it came to the blonde, and even more confused about the whole surreal-feeling kidnapping.

The third revelation was that she was outside. And yet somehow she had a pillow and a blanket. Without packing either item.

The heiress sat up, and at least solved the mystery of the third--it was merely her jacket. Which was odd, because Neji had hidden it from her earlier, and refused to give it back. The pillow, as well, turned out to be another jacket. Her cousin's. Frowning slightly, she wondered why he had done that--and more importantly, where he was now, so she could return it. Hinata picked it up (after, of course, putting on her own coat and zipping it up to her chin), and absently petted the crimson fabric as she searched for the jounin.

She stood up, dusting herself off, and looked around with her Byakugan. No sign of him. Which was odd, considering how protective he was; why would he leave her when she was sleeping? Unless he had been attacked, and was still fighting somewhere, or he had gotten kidnapped, or worse…someone had attacked and he'd been killed…

But, the rational part of her mind stated as the rest of her mind began to panic, in all likelihood, he just finally figured out a way to fool the Byakugan, and is showing it off. Arrogant jerk. (No matter how much she loved and admired her cousin, those two last words never failed to describe him perfectly.) The kunoichi nodded to herself, forcibly calming herself down and making herself believe that. Or…maybe he just wandered off, scouting the area or gathering food…I should probably go find him, then.

With one final nod, Hinata leapt into a tree, and started looking in that direction. (Plus, it wouldn't hurt to know the terrain a bit.) She just had to keep telling herself that she wanted to return his shirt, not that she was worried over the fact that she doesn't know where he was.

Oh…I'm so clingy, the heiress realized with a depressed sigh. It's either Neji-niisan or Deidara-kun or Naruto-kun. Ahh…no, not Naruto-kun. Not…anymore, I think. I don't want to think about him right now.

Naruto was still a confusing subject for her. While his absence didn't really make her heart grow too much fonder, she had missed him. But she hadn't seen the loud blonde since that first disastrous attempt at a rescue. Had he given up on her? And even without that saddening thought of abandonment, Itachi's genjutsu was already warping her mind. Sasuke she probably wouldn't trust as far as she could throw, and it was only because Neji and her had grown up together that his part in the jutsu didn't affect her as much. Naruto…was a different story. He had turned into a monster, one that had killed and maimed and tortured her. A monster that vaguely resembled the dreaded Kyuubi no Kitsune. Three of her distant cousins and one of the elders had died in that beast's attack. The Hyuuga clan hated the Kyuubi.

Was it that inbred hatred that was making her think less and less of the boy she had once admired so greatly? Just because a genjutsu had transformed him into a fox-like monster? Hinata shook her head to try to clear it. She would just have to ask someone about that, then. Uzumaki Naruto's connection to the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Perhaps…Neji-niisan would know? He's a genius, after all, she thought, strengthening her resolve to find him all that much sooner. The two did have quite a lot of things to talk about.

After almost a quarter of an hour, her Byakugan caught sight of his familiar chakra signature. She sighed in relief, switching off her bloodline limit as she swung down from a branch to come face-to-face to him.

Unfortunately for the meek girl, he was wet and shirtless.

"H-Hinata-sama?" Neji asked in surprise. Hinata was too shell-shocked (and busy staring at his chest) to reply. His jacket was still clutched to her chest, but she had promptly forgotten why she had wanted to talk to him in the first place.

The Hyuuga heir had seen her protector shirtless many times. None recently, but enough for her to almost get accustomed to it when he came home, sweating, dirty and half-naked from training with Lee. But usually she had some kind of warning beforehand. She felt herself getting ready for yet another of her 'I'm-so-embarrassed-I'm-going-to-faint' episodes.

What made it worse was the fact that he looked good. Hinata had always known that Neji was a handsome shinobi, and Ino and Tenten were both quick to agree on that subject. His skin was darker than hers, but not so much tanner that it conflicted with the usual Hyuuga look--dark hair and light eyes. Neji never had been as obviously muscular as Lee or Kiba, but he held another of the Hyuuga's charms; a lithe, elegant body and hidden strength.

His hair was down, another thing she was used to. But it was wet, falling into his eyes and still dripping. And with a small gasp, Hinata also noticed (finally looking up at his face) that his hitai-ate and bandages had been removed, revealing the Hyuuga's infamous Cursed Seal. It had been almost two years since she had last seen it. His dark hair hid most of it from view, but she only needed to see a single slash of green on his otherwise perfect skin to know it was still there.

"Hinata-sama." He repeated in an unfortunately unreadable voice. She hoped to all the gods she knew that it was amusement she heard in it, not impatience or resentment.

Wordlessly she held out his jacket, turned on her heel, and mechanically stalked away. Her face must've invented new shades of red to cover that mortifying incident.

Luckily, he didn't follow her. Hinata would've fainted if he had done that, no questions asked. Even now, her vision was starting to get blurry and her head felt light and fuzzy. I…I can't believe that just happened. And I--I was just staring at him! Shamelessly! Oh gods, what will niisan think of me now…? What do I think of me now?! Her mind was reeling and she couldn't offer any answers to any of those questions.

She had been staring at her cousin. Neji. The elite, genius, prodigal jounin. The one who had been with her nearly her whole life. The same one who had almost killed her in her first Chuunin Exam, and later apologized. The one who helped her train, taught her the basics of the Kaiten (which she hadn't been practicing), who beat up Kiba once because he had made a comment about her annoyingly large chest in front of him. The one who had saved her life in more than one mission. The one who had been assigned to protect her since her birth. The one who never failed to give her something perfect for every birthday.

She had been staring at that Neji like Sakura and Ino used to stare at Sasuke.

Her face went redder, and she stumbled. Hinata was positive she was going to faint any second now. And it went redder still when a sudden thought struck her.

Throughout her whole life, Neji had always instilled some kind of strong emotion in her. In the beginning, it was fear. But as time went on, she never stopped loving him. (In fact, he was most likely her favorite family member.) Every time they met, her heart sped up. She usually blushed in his presence. But he was also the first person she stopped stuttering in front of. He was a staple in her life, one that she was emotionally attached to, regardless of whether that was a good or bad thing.

Hinata frowned slightly, bracing herself against a nearby tree. Her emotions had always confused her, and it was things like this (and that genjutsu, that horrible genjutsu) that only made it worse. In fact, it seemed every time she gave some feeling some thought, it got worse and more confused.

N-No…I'm not going to let that continue. I want to be able to…uh…identify my emotions. Embrace them. I want to know what I'm feeling. She vowed suddenly. The kunoichi decided on the spot to overcome these emotional problems before working on any others in her life. Perhaps then, she would be able to change for the better.

And I'll start with Neji-niisan.

-.-.-

Neji had never been one to be embarrassed. In fact, he could probably count the number of times he had been on one hand. Naruto coming up out of the ground to beat him with a single punch, a drunken Lee beating the snot out of him and then having the audacity to forget all about it, Gai. (Just Gai. Whenever his sensei was near him, Neji couldn't help but feel embarrassed.)

That scene a moment ago would be one of them.

He had had his Byakugan active when he was washing (blood was terrible to try to get out of his hair and clothes), but for some reason he had thought it was a bright idea to deactivate it as he was dressing.

At least I had pants on, the brunette thought dryly. He looked down at the returned jacket, wondering if Hinata had really tracked him down just to give it back to him. Then again, he wouldn't put it past her. She just did those kind, little things for other people.

This was definitely going to get awkward when he got back to their makeshift camp.

So Neji, being the honorable and dignified shinobi he was, decided to make a run for it and stay the heck away for a few hours. He wasn't sure what would happen if Hinata looked at him like that again. (It was mostly shock that stopped him from doing anything the first time.) He pulled on his shirt, and wrapped the jacket around his waist again. The fabric felt vaguely uncomfortable against his wet skin, but he didn't care at the moment.

So instead the Caged Bird leapt across the river (reminded of the last time he tried it), and ran up the tallest tree in the area. Then, precariously sitting on the highest branch that would support his weight, he sat and thought.

Or, perhaps, daydreamed is a closer word to describe it.

The brunette had long ago learned to live in his own mental world sometimes, when it suited him. (Like when Lee and Gai went on one of their choruses, or when Naruto talked, or even sometimes during some of the long and boring Hyuuga clan meetings.) He let his mind drift through conscious thoughts, unconscious thoughts, past dreams, memories, and future plans. A lot of times, it really helped to calm him down or help him think of something he needed, or sometimes just a confidence fix.

He imagined himself as a bird, a caged bird that had been freed. He hopped along through different memories, marveling at certain things, sighing at others. As per usual, Neji halted on his fight with Kidoumaru. The spider shinobi. It had been one of his most frustrating, most desperate fights, ever, and the whole time his mind was racing. That particular memory always made him squirm inside. He had been trying to stay one step ahead of the strategist, stay away from his bugs and his weapons and his web, and the whole time he was thinking if I die what will happen to everyone else? The impact your life had on others is never really a good thing to ponder.

Neji continued on through his memories. His upgrade to chuunin was a nice one; it had been a flawless exam for him. But he only wore the vest for one year after that; Lee made chuunin in the exam after his, and started wearing the vest then. Even then, though, it was an amusing memory.

His jounin initiation wasn't quite as amusing, or happy. Frankly, he'd nearly died, and he had the same mental process as with his fight with the Sound Four member. Only this time, when he emerged (victorious yet again, of course), bloody, bruised and missing a rib, Hinata had been waiting (with his team) at the 'finish line'. Even though the medics waiting looked like they had an ulcer when she rushed forward and hugged him, burying her face in his neck, he thought it was worth it. (Though ruining her formal kimono with the blood might not have been worth it.)

Another rather cherished memory of his was the first time Lee beat him. They had been at a restaurant, celebrating Lee and Tenten's rise to chuunin, and Lee had gotten drunk. The resulting fight took out a whole wall of the restaurant, seventeen tables, too many chairs to count, and it took Tenten, Gai and Asuma (who had been in the restaurant next door with his own team) to finally take the new chuunin down. Though the defeat had stung at the time, now it was funny.

Unfortunately, the Caged Bird returned to reality with the sight of a real bird. The kind he didn't want to see right now. A scouting bird. A clay scouting bird.

It was about a kilometer east of him, scanning the treetops. It was small, and had he not been staring in that direction, he probably wouldn't have seen it. There was no sign of the Iwa-nin, for which he was glad. Neji slid down the tree, landing softly on the ground, and took a moment to position himself in the direction of the camp. The sun had sailed across the sky while he was daydreaming, and it was rapidly nearing twilight. At least that should impair the enemies' sight.

The pale-eyed shinobi sprinted toward his cousin and their stuff, keeping a Byakugan eye out for any more birds or his least favorite Iwa-nin. Whereas it had taken him roughly a half hour, walking, to get to that tree, it only took about five minutes to run back. Then again, he knew where he was going. Hinata looked up, in surprise, as he burst into the camp, surveying the scene. Still no sign of Deidara, or any more of his birds. So they were safe, for the moment, but he wouldn't wait around for--

Neji's train of thought crashed and burned when he caught sight of his cousin. She was looking at him, evaluating him. And she was frowning. She never looked at him like that. Hell, he couldn't even remember any time she had looked at him and frowned, really. Not like the way she was frowning now. It wasn't really a thoughtful frown, it was more like an 'I-need-to-say-or-ask-something-but-I'm-not-sure-if-he's-the-one-I-should-ask-and-it's-confusing-me'. (Needless to say, Neji could still read her quite well.)

"N-Neji-niisan…I have a question…um…" She finally said softly, looking down at her feet.

"…Yes, Hinata-sama?" He blinked as he replied. Suddenly, he couldn't quite remember why he had so urgently run back for. Even if Deidara was near, he could still fight.

The navy-haired girl mumbled something in reply. He didn't catch it, so she slowly repeated, "I've told you…don't call me 'Hinata-sama'…"

"Habit." He said automatically. They have both been over that subject many times, and every time it ended with him saying he'd stop calling her that. He never did. "And respect for the clan heir."

"I don't need your formal respect, Neji-niisan." She said, her voice growing a bit in volume. It at least made it easier to hear her. "Please…just call me Hinata."

"Even if I didn't call you Hinata-sama, I wouldn't ever just call you Hinata." The brunette stated quietly. His heart was pounding in his ears.

"A-Alright…whatever you wish," she sighed. Then Hinata reopened her ashen eyes, Byakugan dormant, and locked eyes with him. "Th-That question…you're good with emotions, aren't you…"

Neji raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was leading. "Yes…" Was she trying to go for the usual shinobi emotionless? Because that wouldn't work with her, and her emotional persona was one of her many charms.

"We-Well…I'm confused. Emotionally. I…I can't figure out a lot of things…" She asked, looking away again shyly. He almost sighed in relief.

"Emotional confusion is common among shinobi." He said carefully, instead. "What is it concerning?"

Finally, she looked up and locked gazed with him. Only this time, there was determination in her white eyes. "You."

-.-.-

Hinata's heart was pounding violently in her ribcage. She didn't think she had ever quite done something so nerve-wracking as admitting that. How much worse would it be when and if she talked to Naruto about this, then? The kunoichi tried to slow her breathing before she started hyperventilating.

Neji, on the other hand, didn't think the remark was of much significance. He just looked curious. "Me? How so?"

Mentally, she despaired. It probably would've been easier if he had guessed, or laughed it off, or do something other than ask her to elaborate. "U-Um…Well…"

I need to start with the genjutsu. No, or should I start with how I felt during those chuunin exams…? She debated momentarily, then took a deep breath.

Hinata told him about Itachi's Tsukuyomi, and his genjutsu role in it. How it plagued her in her nightmares. How she was confused about how it was affecting her judgment of him during the conscious hours. How she was grateful to him for saving her all those times. How her heart sped up whenever he was near. How she couldn't get the image of him with red eyes out of her mind. How a small part of her still wasn't sure if going with him back to Konohagakure was the best decision. How an even smaller part of her was angry at him for knocking Deidara out and pushing him over a cliff just to win the argument over her. She talked and talked, admitted things she probably wouldn't even dare to drunk, and the heiress was positive that this was the most she had ever spoken at one time in her life.

At the end of it all, full twilight was on the land. Neji just stood there, arms cross, grinning like he had heard an amusing story. Hinata frowned; had he thought it was all a joke? Could he even help her? Why was he even smiling like that?

"That certainly is confusing." Her cousin said instead, surprising her with the tone of amusement. He closed his eyes as he smiled, and the genuineness of it made her smile meekly.

"W-Well…?"

"Most of that, I'm sorry, you're going to have to figure out on your own. But some of it…it seems that you're more attached to Deidara than you appeared. Is life with the Akatsuki really all that appealing?"

"U-Um…not the Akatsuki, particularly…more…him…"

"And how do you feel about him?" He asked critically.

But Hinata would not be swayed on the subject. "We're supposed to be talking about you."

Neji sighed, and smiled ruefully. "Fine. Frankly, you have described many of the textbook symptoms of the HLKS."

Her eyes widened. She hadn't thought she really had some kind of mental problem (except maybe that damn Stockholm Syndrome). But then her cousin laughed, and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "And what is 'HLKS'…?"

"'Hormonal Lovestruck Kunoichi Syndrome'." Neji smirked. "I've seen quite a few cases of it myself, and a lot of your symptoms seem to match up."

Her jaw dropped. Was he implying…? Was he honestly implying what she thought he was implying? Worse, she knew that looking back on that jumble of feelings, a lot of them were rather…kunoichi-ish. Like Sakura and Ino in the presence of Sasuke…

"As for the rest of it," He assumed a stereotypical thinking pose, tapping his chin, "If I were a psychological medic-nin, I would say that you need to talk to the source. In this case, that would very likely be Uchiha Itachi. And since that is neither wise nor exactly possible, I suggest that you work through one emotion at a time and see where that gets you."

He was teasing her. Like when they were both genin and before he hated her. It was a warming notion. Hinata finally relaxed, cracking her own grin. Two could play at this game. "Well then, Dr. Hyuuga, I-I would say that the first problem to address would be the one standing right in front of me. Does that sound logical?"

Her cousin nodded solemnly, barely concealing his own smile. That alone made her giggle. (Her stoic, arrogant cousin trying to stop a smile.) "Quite logical."

"Hmm…then if I really do have HLKS, wouldn't I be squealing 'Neji-kun' at every opportunity?" She snorted back a laugh, which unfortunately only made her giggle harder. "L-Like Sakura-chan and Ino-chan used to do…?"

"Well, that's if you went after the Sasuke-type of ninja. Dark, handsome, arrogant, talented, the local heartthrob." Somehow, he was able to not laugh in this rather laughable situation. (Her father would probably have a heart attack if he could see the way the two were acting.)

"But, Neji-kun," Hinata did her best to mimic one of the many Sasuke fan girls, though had a feeling that her constant laughing threw it off, "You just described yourself!" She batted her eyelashes, clasping her hands together.

"Well, if I am the dark, handsome, arrogant and talented type, I wouldn't have just fallen for the first kunoichi to look cute." He placed his hands on his hips, smirking at her. Hinata looked innocent, as if she couldn't believe that he meant her. (In a way, she couldn't.) But then she promptly found out that neither Sakura nor Ino had ever gotten this far with Sasuke, and had no more information to base her teasing off of. Which meant that she had to improvise.

"It's just like a fairytale, right? Y-You would be the prince…and I would be the knight who rescued you from all of the other fan girls."

"I think you would have it backwards. I would be the obviously handsome knight coming to rescue the princess from the dragon." He corrected with a small chuckle. "Kunoichi don't get to be the knights."

"S-So you rescued me from the dragon, then, Mr. Knight…?" She asked, wondering where this was going again.

"Yes. I did. And now that I have safely rescued you, I become the king and you my queen and we rule over the dragon's kingdom and live happily ever after." The brunette jounin stated. He was obviously enjoying this as much as she was, even if she couldn't stop laughing. (And even if whenever he mentioned the dragon, she pictured Deidara and his fairytale. Frankly she had to wonder if Neji was alluding to that as well.)

"Of course!" Hinata chirped with a giggle. She undid her jacket, tying it around her waist, explaining, "This will be the princess' dress. Please put on your jacket--it can be your suit of armor?"

"Alright, and then we'll have to live happily ever after." He held out his hand for her, and she took it. Neji led her into the forest, not particularly caring where they went for the moment. "Would have involve marriage?" He asked innocently.

She just laughed, and said, "Sure, why not?" She needed some happy memories, and this was a pretty pleasant--not to mention funny--way to create them.

"Yes, then my queen, we will be wed in the most royal and dignified of manners! Guests will come from all different kingdoms and lands for this wedding. The royal priest will declare, 'you may kiss the bride!', and all the citizens of our kingdom will applaud as we kiss."

And then Neji leaned down and kissed her.

Hinata forgot all about their pretend fairytale, forgot about everything except his lips on hers, his arms wrapping around her, and her arms wrapping around him. She felt frozen, lips locked with his, though she knew that this felt nice. No, not just nice, this felt…right.

But then, they broke apart as another voice interrupted. "But what happens after happily ever after, yeah? Why, the dragon comes back to reclaim his princess, of course." Hinata turned to see Deidara, lazily sitting in a tree, watching them intently.

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Oh noes! Deidara has caught up to them, and even caught them kissing! If he does manage to get Hinata back, how will that affect their relationship? Will he be angry, or will he be jealous? Or just plain awkward? How will Neji take this interruption? (And where is Kabuto? That boy keeps running off, doesn't he...? I wonder why...)