Chapter 37: Neji

I looked at myself in the mirror and re-adjusted my tie. It felt extremely uncomfortable to be wearing this suit. My uncle wanted me to do something with my hair so it would look manlier. As if he could talk, his hair was longer than mine. I decided to put it in a pony tail at the base of my neck with strips of my hair at the front to cover my ears slightly. I think I looked very dashing. I sighed and stepped out of my room, right to were my uncle was waiting for me.

"An excellent choice of hairstyle makes you look less like a girl," he complimented, which was rare.

"Thank you," I nodded politely. He reached over and I flinched away. He chuckled as if he wasn't about to hit me. He turned me around and began to wipe off imaginary dust and straighten the wrinkles that weren't there.

"Tonights a very important night for the both of us."

"Yes, it is."

"Many important people will be there, along with the media." I nodded. "We must all do our best to remain calm, attentive, and poised." I nodded again. All of a sudden I was pushed into the wall and my head was yanked back. My uncle had a hand fisted in my pony tail and was pulling it down, his other hand in the middle of my back keeping me to the wall. He stared me in the eyes. I couldn't breath.

He had a cold expression on his face as he practically strangled me. He bent down slightly to whisper threatening things into my ear. My vision began to get tiny black spots in them.

"If you mess this up and embarrass me in front of all these people, you'll wish your father never conceived you. You'll wish you'd have died along with him and your mother," he growled. I made a strangled reply and he released me. "I'm glad we understand each other, I'll see you down stairs. You'll most certainly need a few moments to catch your breath." I glared off to the side, breathing hard and coughing, my fists clenched at my sides. I felt tears well up in my eyes. He chuckled and walked away.

I slammed my door shut behind me as I re entered my room. I violently rubbed at my eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that were slowly falling down my cheeks. I checked my hair to see if it was messed up, which it was. I took it out of the pony tail and re-styled it.

I was still breathing hard and frustration welled up inside me. On impulse I grabbed my glass bottle of musk and threw it across the room. It shattered against the wall, the strong smelling cologne immediately coating the room in its pungent smell.

I dropped to my knees, my hands on my sink counter. I felt so humiliated, as I usually did when he abused me like this. Hot tears still ran down my cheeks, this time I didn't move to dry them.

My door opened and tentative steps sounded behind me. Hinata touched my shoulder and knelt beside me.

"Neji, are you alright?" I didn't answer her. I turned to her and wrapped my arms around her slim frame. I never cried so hard in my life.

It wasn't like this was anything new. He'd done stuff like this before, many times. But this time it was different. I cared. I had something to care about. Hinata deserved a better old man than this, a better life. I deserved better than this.

I knew that if I finished this party that I would be bound to Hinata in a way that we didn't want to be. I would be my uncles' slave until he died. I wouldn't be able to love who I wanted, be myself.

Gaaras words echoed through my head. If the feelings I felt toward Naruto were true and pure, if I did love him with all my heart, then I would never get to express it. I would never be able to tell him. For some reason this made me cry harder. After a long while I quieted down.

"Hey Neji, can I ask you something?" I simply nodded, my head now resting in her lap. "Do you love him?"

"Who?" I croaked. I needed water.

"Naruto." My throat clenched up painfully. I remembered Hinata having a crush on him at some point in time. I looked up at her. She wasn't blushing or stuttering, she was completely serious. I felt like hitting myself. "Do you love him?" She repeated.

I dug deep within myself, for her sake and mine. I looked through all of my emotions, all of the moments we've shared, good and bad. The lengths I would go to find him, to be with him, to stay with him.

I sat up and took her hands in mine. "I do," I almost felt like laughing, it sounded like a wedding vow.

To my surprise she smiled in relief, even sighed. I blinked at her.

"You're finally able to admit it." Was all she said for a while.

"But don't you…?" I trailed off.

"In a way I do still care about him, but… I've gotten over my crush. I've known for a while that you two have had the hots for each other." The phrase, so confident and happy, sounded strange coming from the quiet girl. "I'm in love too, if it makes you feel better." She grinned, finally blushing crimson.

"Who?"

"Her name is TenTen." She giggled. My jaw dropped. "You know her. She's been trying to hook you up with someone for a really long time." She giggled again.

"H-How?"

"I picked up your phone one day a couple of months ago and pretended to be you. I think she knew, but that's okay. I was curious as to where you go almost every night so I went and…" She blushed even redder, and began to touch her pointer fingers together, looking off to the side. I guess I would get what happened next.

"You didn't?!" I gasped.

"It was my first time… and… well…"

"I don't want to hear that. But you really love her? Truly?" She nodded. "Is she coming?" Again, she nodded. I smiled at her affectionately and kissed her on the cheek. She took my hand a squeezed it. Sadness entered her eyes.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know… but we can't go through with this if we feel this way." I shook my head. My uncles' threat came to mind and fear entered me.

"Neji… If he ever does anything to you I'll… I'll…" She began to cry.

"I'll be okay. I'm more worried about you…" I wiped a tear off her face as she began to smile. "But let's get out of here!" I coughed. We went out into the hall, the smell following us. Hinata sniffed my shirt and began to laugh. I did the same. The smell had saturated itself into my clothes. I smelled really strong, head ache strong.

"Come with me." She giggled and pulled me to her room. She smelled just the same as me, I bet she realized that. Once we were in there she pulled me to her closet and opened it.

She went rummaging inside and came out with a suit identical to mine, only darker. She handed it to me and went back in. She came back out with a beautiful white dress. It came down to her feet and billowed out in the wind. It had spaghetti straps with little diamonds and pearls sewn into them. She smiled and dragged me into her bathroom.

"To dim down the smell you have to wash some of it off. I'm not saying take a shower but here," She handed me a damp rag. She had an identical one in hand and began to strip. Once she was down to her underwear she began to rub her skin. I got the general idea and copied her.

The funny thing was that we weren't trying to get into each others pants, but trying to impress the ones we love.

We re-dressed and Hinata re-did my hair, it just looked better when she did it. In return I helped with her hair, earrings and shoes. I think we looked good. Arm in arm, with smiles on our faces, we made our way down to the party, the guests already arriving through the door. Hanabi, my youngest cousin, was waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.

She smiled cutely up at me, taking my hand. I smiled back. She had on an adorable red dress, with plenty of white lace. "Neji, your happy tonight." I nodded. "But that happiness is tainted by fear and pain." She observed. It was scary how she could just tell things like that, and she was only 8. I hugged her and told her she looked adorable. She blushed in surprise, hugging me back. It wasn't that often that we could show any affection for her.

We went over to were my uncle was greeting guests. I stood next to him, keeping him away from the other two. The mayor showed up with Naruto at his side, they both smiled warmly at me. The last few people on the list showed up, which happened to be the Uchiha brothers, Kisame, Shikimaru and his family, and others whose names I cant pronounce.

My uncle disappeared into the crowed and I lead my cousins over to Naruto and his father.

"Neji my boy! How are you? You look handsome in that suit!" Minato complimented. "Who are these lovely ladies?" Naruto was blushing, most likely out of embarrassment.

"My cousins Hinata, and Hanabi." He picked up the 8 year old and swung her around. She laughed delightedly.

"She's a beauty. Hanabi, you will break many a heart in the future." He tapped her on the nose when he's set her down. She smiled.

"Neji, you look good." Naruto spoke up. I felt a nudge as Hinata pushed me towards him. She took Minatos arm and Hanabis hand and led them over to the food. I blushed and Naruto laughed nervously. Naruto had a black suit on as well, the exact one I had only bigger. I pulled him off to the side.

"Thank you, you look very handsome as well." I blushed again, his face turning redder.

"Thank you…" He scratched the side of his head and looked off to the side. We stood in silence for awhile. "Neji. Um… Can I tell you… something?" He squeaked.

"Sure." He stammered and stuttered for awhile before taking a deep breath and staring me in the eye.

"Neji, I know this is a big day for you and all but I just can't keep it to myself anymore. I know it's sudden and quick, but its how I truly feel. Something I felt when I first laid my eyes on you. Neji… I love you, with all my heart. I'm not expecting an answer from you so you don't have to feel obligated or anything. But…" He trailed off. I was too shocked to really say anything right away. I wasn't expecting this so soon after I'd just come to terms with my own feelings. I couldn't find my voice right away. The awkward atmosphere continued until I finally opened my mouth.

"Naruto… I…"

"Excuse me Neji-sama. Hizashi-dono requires your presence by the stair case. He wants you there immediately." The scared looking servant interrupted.

End Chapter