Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I only own my plot… I don't want to get dragged to court because I have nothing to pay/heh

Review replies:
FireDragonBL: yeah… I noticed too… sorry… I'll try to put more emphasis on their bond, ne?
Thalian: sorry… typos get the better of me sometimes… I always forget to proofread… Anyway, thanks for pointing that out.
XyoushaX: Oh, I see/takes down notes/ Thanks for the info… heheh…

Thanks for all those who reviewed. Hehe… I'm a newbie in writing Naruto fanfics so I'm still kind of dazed. So I hope you'll like the flow of this story… Enjoy reading…

Chapter 2

The same thing goes on everyday. Hinata would sneak out of the Hyuuga Main House and walk towards the bridge. As usual, Naruto walked past her without even noticing her. Hinata just don't have the courage to come out and face Naruto. What would she tell Naruto when she comes out of there? She smiled faintly as she stood up and walked away. Hinata didn't notice that someone is watching her as well. Up on one of the branches of a tree, Neji stood and observed the scene in a third-person point of view. As soon as the coast is clear, Neji jumped down form the tree and watched Naruto as he approached his teammate. Is it him? Is he the reason why Hinata-sama kept coming here? Uzumaki Naruto… He squinted and fixed his eyes on the blond-haired genin.

Later that day, all the teams are training in their own areas. Tenten is busy practicing her techniques, but she kept noticing Neji's odd behavior while in training. It seems that Neji's concentration is bothered by something else. Tenten stopped for a while as she observed her teammate. Lee approached Tenten as he looked at Neji as well. "What's wrong with Neji? It's not like him to stare into space while in training…" Lee asked as he observed Neji. Tenten nodded as traces of concern showed up in her face. She approached Neji and stood in front of him.

"Neji… Are you okay?" Tenten asked, as she looked straight into Neji's pale lavender eyes. Neji snapped back to reality and saw Tenten looking at him. He looked away and fell down on his knees. Tenten gasped as she called his name. She kneeled in front of him and held his shoulder. "Neji! Are you okay? Hey! Talk to me…"

Neji looked at his teammate. "I… I'm sorry… I was just preoccupied about something… Don't mind me… Let's get back to training. Gai-sensei might explode if he finds us slacking around like this…" Neji muttered as he got up. But Tenten held on his shoulders to keep him from standing up.

Tenten looked into his eyes and smiled. "We're not going to resume training unless you talk about what's bothering you…" Tenten replied as she managed to smile. Lee stood beside them and nodded in agreement. Neji looked down as he looked away from Tenten.

"It's about Hinata-sama…" Neji began. Tenten was surprised as her hold weakened. "Hinata-sama… I believe she's in love with Naruto…" Neji continued. "That's why she kept coming to that bridge…"

Tenten's hands fell down to Neji's as she lowered her head. Lee jumped in celebration as he clenched his fist high up in the air as his eyes sparkled with delight. "Oh! The inevitable feeling of the youth! Isn't it just ostentatious? Hinata, the timid girl and Uzumaki Naruto, the loud, yet very nice kyuubi!" Lee exclaimed as his eyes sparkled once more. Neji's expression suddenly turned cold as he clenched his fist.

"Kyuubi and Naruto are not the same, Lee…That's what Tsunade-sama said…" Tenten pointed out as she looked at Neji. Lee kept quiet as he nodded sheepishly. Neji lowered his head as he thought about Naruto. Naruto… Tsunade-sama said that we shouldn't fear or hate Naruto just because the kyuubi is inside him… she is right. Demo, Naruto can't just take Hinata's feelings like that. He should get pass through me first! Hinata-sama is the heir to the Hyuuga clan. She can't afford to get humiliated if the townspeople finds out!

"Naruto will have to face me first before he can get to Hinata-sama…" Neji muttered as he looked at his teammates. Tenten felt nervous all of a sudden. Naruto doesn't know about Hinata. How will he react when Neji suddenly challenged him to a match? "How did you even know about Hinata and Naruto? Maybe you're just jumping into conclusions…" Tenten replied as she thought of other more alibis. Neji smirked at Tenten's optimism, as always.

"I happened to pass by the bridge this morning… That's when I saw Hinata again…So, I watched her, and found out that she's waiting for Naruto by the bridge… Although, Naruto just passed her by." Neji replied as he clenched his fist.

Tenten shook her head as she looked at her side. "Iie… Neji must be mistaken or something… Did you actually see Hinata and Naruto together?" she asked. Neji shook his head and listened to Tenten. "Well then, Naruto is already out of this… Hinata was the one who is waiting for Naruto. You should be asking her, not Naruto! Don't jump into conclusions, Neji…" Tenten continued. Lee nodded as well.

Neji sighed as he stood up. At some point, Neji thought Tenten has a point there. He leaned against the tree as Tenten and Lee looked at him. "Let's go, we better start training before Gai-sensei gets back. Forget we even discussed that, okay?" Neji commanded as he stood up and began his training. Tenten and Lee looked at each other before resuming their training. Tenten kept looking at Neji as she practiced her aims. I'm not convinced that he would let this pass so easily… Well, the least I could do is keep Neji away from Naruto. Let Naruto stay oblivious of Hinata's feeling at the moment.

After sunset, Hinata walked home by herself. She doesn't want to go straight home so she decided to take the longest route possible. She headed towards the woods ad skipped to every tree branch until she reached the plains. Resting herself on the soft grass, Hinata savored the fresh evening breeze as she stared off into the horizon. It seems Naruto-kun likes to stare up in the sky at times… she thought as she smiled. Looking up at the sky, she remembered that she carried something valuable to her. She dug in her pocket and tool out a small rag doll, small enough to fit in her palm. It's a small fox in plain orange cloth. She made that before when she was still in the academy. She smiled as she held the doll close to her. Then, she heard someone jump down from the tree behind her. She stood up in surprise as she readied her kunai and faced the unknown. She was surprised when she saw Neji, gazing at her with his pale lavender eyes. Hinata stepped back and placed her kunai back in her pocket.

"Neji-niisan? how did you get here?" Hinata asked as she tried not to stammer. Neji shot a piercing stare at Hinata as he stepped closer. Hinata took a step back, hesitating whether to step up to him or to step back. She felt fear as she stared at her cousin's stern face. "Neji-nisan? Wh… Why a… are you lo-looking… at me… li-like that?" Hinata stammered as she placed her hand by her pocket to gain easy access to her weapons.

Neji stopped walking and looked at his fellow Hyuuga. "Hinata-sama, we need to talk about Naruto…Why are you waiting for him by the bridge everyday?" he muttered loud enough for Hinata to hear. Hinata led out a gasp as her grip from her pocket weakened as she looked at her cousin.

"I…Iie… Neji-nisan…" Hinata stammered as she avoided looking at Neji. Tension was present in her voice, and she is a bad liar as well. "Wh… What made you… s-say…th-that?" She continued.

Neji was not convinced a bit about Hinata's answer. He took another step and readied his kunai, placing it in front of his face. Hinata took a couple of steps backward as she quivered in fear when she saw him. Is Neji-niisan going to fight me? Hinata wondered, as she kept cautious. Then, Neji threw the kunai straight at Hinata. But Hinata managed to evade his attacks. "Neji-nisan! What happening to you!" Hinata called out as she evaded his attacks. As she tried to think things through, she made the wrong move and ended up cornered between Neji and a line of trees closely packed together. Neji has her cornered, one hit and she's all over. As Neji threw his kunai, Hinata managed to shirk it, but then, her doll fell out of her pocket. As soon as she noticed it, she went back to catch it as she fell down on the ground. Three kunais were heading directly toward her at top speed. Hinata could just lay there, frozen as she shut her eyes, waiting for the painful stabs of the weapon in her flesh and grasped the doll in her hands. Niisan!

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Tenten appeared between the two. She blocked the kunais with two bigger daggers crossed in front of her. Neji's kunai flew in different directions as Tenten maintained her defense position. Tenten lowered her hands and looked at Neji with disgust and disappointment. "What the hell are you doing Neji! Are you planning to kill your own cousin!" Tenten screamed at the top of her lungs as she threw the daggers to the ground. Neji snapped back to reality as he looked at how Tenten flushed with rage in her face, her dark brown eyes piercing his lavender ones. What in the world is Neji thinking anyway?

"I was just going to pin her clothes to a tree… I won't pierce her heart or anything… I just want answers…" Neji simply said. Hinata sat up and looked at his cousin. Tenten clenched her fist as she took a step forward. "You think throwing kunais at her like that would just trap her to a tree! Remember Neji, you suck at Taijutsu involving weapons! One wrong move and you could have stabbed her!" she screamed. (A/N: Let's just pretend Neji suck at weapons, okay?)

Neji lowered her head, but he still wore this blank expression on his face. He doesn't want to admit that Tenten is right. Neji realized that he could've killed Hinata at that instant just because of something he needs to know. He tightened his grip on his weapons as Tenten readied herself. "Darn you, if you throw that darn thing at her, I… I'll make sure I'd hit you first!" Tenten screamed at the top of her lungs as traces of pain and anguish appeared on her face. Tenten knew that she would hesitate to do that to Neji. But still, this calls for drastic measures.

"All I need to know, Hinata… Is why you kept coming to that bridge, waiting for Naruto… And I want the truth! You're not so good in lying so don't even try!" Neji alleged in a loud and stern voice.

"You don't need to answer if you don't want to, Hinata-chan!" Tenten shouted back at Hinata. Poor Hinata could only look at the two persons that mean so much to her. What would happen if she tells Neji? Why does he want to know about it anyway?

Hinata clenched his fist as she stayed fixed on the ground. Tears were streaming down in her face as she looked down. "Please… Stop this, Neji-niisan… Tenten… Okay, … I… It's…b-be..cause… I… I'm inlove with Naruto-kun, niisan!" Hinata screamed at the top of her lungs as she got rid of all the fear in her well being. Tenten looked back at the emotionally wrecked girl. Neji looked at Hinata with traces of guilt and surprise in his face. Somehow, he realized that getting the answers he wanted were too harsh for Hinata. But he swallowed all his guilt and approached Hinata. But Tenten blocked his way, as he looked Neji in the eye.

"What's wrong with you, Neji? Are you out of your mind? Look what you did to Hinata-chan!" Tenten shouted at his face.

Neji blinked as he looked into Tenten's eyes as well. "This is bound to happen, no one can alter this…" Neji replied. Tenten shook her head as Neji overtook her. Taking cautious steps, Neji approached Hinata, who gradually looked up to him. "Hinata-sama… Forgive me. But I have to challenge Uzumaki Naruto to a match… " Neji said in a cold tone.

Hinata gasped as she fixed her eyes on her cousin. Neji is challenging Naruto? For what? Tenten grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, facing him fiercely. "And why do you need to challenge Naruto?" Tenten spat as she glared at the somehow unexplainable Neji.

But Neji managed to slip out of Tenten's grasp and appear again just behind her. Neji lowered his head as he called over his shoulder. "Some things need not to be explained… I'll challenge him next week… The reason will be left unsaid…" he muttered as he walked away casually. Tenten froze for a moment, and so is Hinata. The female Hyuuga looked at Tenten who stood there, her bangs covering up her eyes as she held her kunai on one hand. "Neji…"

"Go…Gomen n-nasai… You f-fought off niisan… for me…" Hinata muttered as she looked at the doll. "It… must have been… very hard for you…" she added.

Hard for me? Yes… Choosing between Neji and Hinata… But… If I didn't do anything, who knows what her might have done to the poor girl… Demo, he said: I was just going to pin her clothes to a tree… I won't pierce her heart or anything… Tenten thought as she felt pain in her chest.

"Neji-niisan… Must have a valid reason for doing this… He's not an evil niisan, Tenten… I know that you think the same way…" Hinata muttered. Tenten's thoughts were disrupted as she looked at Hinata. She seems so nice, that she's like an angel. She can't even bear to get angry with Neji after what happened.

"Come on…" Tenten whispered as she helped Hinata get up. "I'll take you to the Main House…" she added. Hinata smiled as she took Tenten's hand and got up. As the two walked together, Tenten noticed that Hinata is still holding the rag doll. Getting curious, she asked. "Why did you save the doll? I saw it before I actually faced Neji…"

Hinata blushed as she looked at the doll in her palm. "It… It's because… I made this for Naruto-kun…" Tenten blinked as she took a closer look. "It's a fox… Demo, it doesn't look anything like a fox… I always thought Naruto likes foxes… Then, we found out about the kyuubi… It was a coincidence, really. It's been years… But I still haven't got the courage to give this to him…" Hinata muttered. She seems to be getting at ease with Tenten nowadays. "Do you think I should give this to Naruto-kun, Tenten?" she asked.

Tenten blinked as she took the doll from Hinata's palm. The doll is kind of dirty, but it looks really cute. She smiled as she returned the doll to Hinata. "I think Naruto's dolly needs a bath…" Tenten suggested as she smiled sweetly. "Well, you should give this to him… Hmm… when he's lonely or something… That would make it more special, ne Hinata-chan?" she added.

Hinata looked at the doll in her hands and nodded. The two walked together in silence and soon reached the Hyuuga Main House. Tenten bid Hinata a good night as Hinata watched her walk away. Tenten… You're such a nice person… I wish Neji-niisan would be able to notice that… Hinata entered the Main House and passed by several servants. On her way to her room, Hinata met Hanabi by the stairway. "Onesan…" Hanabi muttered. Hinata leaned down and listened to Hanabi. Circumstances like this rarely happen between the two siblings. Hanabi looked up to her sister and smiled. "I wish you all the luck for the Chuunin exam… onesan…" she muttered. With that, she passed by her sister and went downstairs. Hinata could just look at her imouto, the sister that has the same level of strength as her despite her young age. The living proof of how weak she really is for the Hyuuga clan. She lowered her head with her bangs covering up her face and walked to her room. Without making a sound, she lay in bed with the doll in her hands as she muttered, "Oyasumi Naruto-kun… Wherever you are…"

Meanwhile, down at the Hyuuga Great Hall, the ANBU officers submitted their weekly report to Hiashi regarding Hinata. Hiashi looked at the written report and stood up. "So, what you're saying is that Neji attacked Hinata?" Hiashi bellowed in disbelief to the ANBU officers. The officers nodded as Hiashi clenched his fist. "Who won the match?" Hiashi asked again.

"No one, Hyuuga-sama… A shinobi showed up and tried to protect your daughter. Although, we don't know the main reason of the fight since there's some kind of Genjutsu around… We don't know exactly who performed the Genjutsu at all." One ANBU officer replied as he bowed down. "Forgive us, Hyuuga-sama…"

Hiashi couldn't help but keep a sour face as he wondered about why Neji attacked Hinata. "The boy must be out of his mind! I'm going to ask Hinata about this tomorrow. Leave me…" Hiashi commanded with a wave of his hand. The ANBU officers saluted as they disappeared out of the room. Hiashi sat on his chair and thought about Hinata's uncanny routines these past few days. The only one who could answer all his questions is none other than Neji himself.

Early the next morning, Naruto woke up later than usual. He squinted his eyes and shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight. "Eh? Sunlight?" Naruto murmured as he looked out the window. "Huwaaah! The sun is up already! Oh darn I'm late!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs as he prepared himself as quickly as possible. After a while, he dashed out of his apartment and towards the bridge. As soon as he arrived, he saw Sasuke, Sakura and another ninja. He can't quite make out the face since he stayed at the other side of the bridge. But the outfit seems really familiar. He approached his teammates with a cheerful greeting, but all he received back is a loud bonk on the head from Sakura.

"Naruto! You're late! It's enough having Kakashi-sensei late everyday for crying out loud!" Sakura yelled at Naruto's ears. Inner Sakura pretended to beat up a Naruto dummy as well. Sasuke could just shake his head and ignore his two foolish teammates.

"I've been waiting for you, Naruto…" a voice said from the other end of the bridge. Team 7 shifted their eyes on the Genin, which is actually Neji. Naruto looked at him with nothing but mere confusion in his face. Why did Neji wait for him here? Sakura released her grasp on Naruto's jacket as she looked at Neji.

Naruto stepped forward as he placed his hands at the back of his head. "Yo! What do you want to see me for?" Naruto asked as he grinned. Neji stared at him blankly and secretly activated his byakugan. I don't care if he fights me with the help of kyuubi… He… he can't win against me that easily! Neji stepped forwards as he faced Naruto.

Meanwhile, Hinata is busy training with Kurenai, Kiba and Shino. She waited by the bridge earlier, but Naruto didn't come. So Hinata just walked away sadly, hoping that maybe she'd be able to come across him later on. Kurenai noticed Hinata's unusual behavior while training. Usually, she will have her undivided attention. But today, she seems spaced out as if she is thinking something.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Kurenai asked as she approached her student.

Hinata looked up to her sensei and twitched her fingers. "Eh… Anou… H-hai… I'm okay se-sensei… Go-gomen n-nasai… I…I'll con…centrate…" she stammered.

Kurenai smiled as she walked away. Kiba paused for a while and looked at Hinata. It looks like he's not the only one who noticed Hinata's unusual behavior. Akamaru barked as he snuggled into Kiba's jacket. "Hai Akamaru… Hinata-chan seems to have a problem… You think we should talk to her?" Akamaru barked twice as Kiba scratched his head. "You think we shouldn't right now? When do you think we should then?" Akamaru whined as he placed his paw on Kiba's jacket. "Hmm… Tomorrow then? Okay… You know best Akamaru…"

Back at the bridge, Kakashi stopped reading his book as he noticed the unusual gathering just below his favorite tree. He looked down and saw his team and Hyuuga Neji. "Hmm… What in the world is Hyuuga Neji doing here? And why is he talking to Naruto?" he said to himself as he watched silently.

Neji took a step forward and faced Naruto. Noticing Neji's serious expression, Naruto looked at him and placed his hands on his pocket. The morning breeze blew as the leaves rustled. "What do you want to talk about Neji?" Naruto asked again.

Neji smirked, as he looked straight at Naruto. Then, he attacked him with no warning at all. But Naruto managed to elude it at the last second. Neji hit Naruto's right cheek as he stopped and stood at the top of the fence. Sakura and Sasuke were surprised at Neji's sudden attack. Kakashi stood up in disbelief as he jumped down to the ground beside Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto wiped the blood off his mouth as he glared at Neji. "What's the big idea pale eyes! I didn't do anything to you!" Naruto yelled, as he looked the seemingly calm Neji.

Neji smirked again as he turned his back on Team 7 and walked away. "I'm not through with you yet… That was just a warm-up… You better watch out Naruto…" Neji called over his shoulder and walked away. Naruto clenched his fist in frustration as he glared at Neji.

"Whoa! What happened? Did I miss anything?" Kakashi asked sarcastically as he scratched his head. Sakura glared at her sensei as Inner Sakura pretended to bang Kakashi against the wall and taking off his mask with force.

"Anou… Naruto… What was that all about? Did you have a fight with Neji?" Sakura asked as she looked at Naruto.

Naruto hissed as he leaned on the tree. "Bah! He's as cocky as Sasuke! I didn't do anything to him! What a day!" he replied as he placed his hand at the back of his head. Sasuke looked at the end of the bridge and hissed as well.

"It's unlikely for Neji to be like that…" Kakashi pointed out. Naruto shrugged, as he looked serious.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto mumbled in a serous manner. Kakashi looked at Naruto and wondered about the sudden seriousness in his voice. "…I'm hungry, sensei! Can I have breakfast first?" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura sweatdropped as Inner Sakura made another attempt to drown Naruto in a humungous bowl of Cup Ramen. Kakashi laughed out as he kept his Come Come Paradise book. "Maybe later… We need to take training seriously…" he replied. Naruto whined as Kakashi grabbed him by the collar and hurried to the training grounds with Sakura and Sasuke trailing behind them.

Later that day, all the Genins are on their way home from training. Tenten walked by herself in the streets of the village. She wondered why Neji didn't show up for training. Unluckily, she has to face Gai-sensei's nagging and scolding with Rock Lee. She sighed as she recalled the mortifying experience. And to think there are a bunch of Genins there as well. Why does Gai-sensei have to be poetic about his scolding? It makes things even worse! Demo.. I really wonder why Neji didn't show up… Is it because of last night? As she turned in a corner, she overheard two voices talking at the other side of the fence. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she heard Neji's name being mentioned.

"Demo… I think it's really weird for Hyuuga Neji to attack Naruto like that…" a female voice said. Tenten leaned closer to the fence and secretly eavesdropped.

"Hai… I have to agree Sakura-chan… Maybe Naruto did something to offend Hyuuga-san of some sort." A male voice replied. Tenten was surprised as she stepped back and ran off to find Hinata. Darn it! Neji is really out of his mind attacking Naruto like that! She ran towards the bridge, hoping to find Hinata. As she managed to reach her goal, there was no sign of Hinata everywhere. Tenten managed to catch her breath as she stooped down on the ground. Her mind is debating whether she would go look for Hinata or Neji. She has a high chance of finding Neji since she knew all of his favorite spots. That's it! I'm going to look for back, he saw Neji with a stern face. Tenten backed up a little and stared at him for a while. Neji instead and straighten things out! As she was about to stand up, someone called from behind her. As she looked back, she saw none other than Neji himself.

"Neji…" Tenten muttered as she froze in her place. Neji approached her as they stood face to face. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Tenten…" Neji muttered as he maintained his distance. Tenten couldn't bear to look at him like she did last night. Earlier, she was enraged at what Neji did. But now that he's in front of her, looking at him as always, she can't bear to get angry with him. Hinata is right. Neji is not like that. She knew him for so long. There must be some rational explanation to why he did that. Neji lowered his head as he walked to the edge of the bridge.

"I know you're still angry at me, Tenten…" Neji muttered. "And that's the last thing I want to happen… I don't want our friendship to falter like that…"

Tenten could only look at him and stay hushed. She couldn't possibly stay mad at him like this. Deep inside her, she simply can't. "Explain everything, Neji… Then I won't be angry anymore…" Tenten muttered.

Neji stood there speechless. He then looked at Tenten and managed to show her a very faint smile. That is the usual picture between the two of them. Neji talks, Tenten listens. It's very rare that the two of them trade roles in a conversation. Tenten is usually the one who puts up with Neji, staying by his side and convincing him that everything is okay. She prefers to be optimistic at things just for Neji. That's her way of showing him that she cares, and that she loves him clandestinely.

"Tenten…" Neji began. "I did that… because… I don't want Hinata-sama to end up with someone not worthy of her…" he added. Tenten was surprised upon hearing out his reason. She stepped closer and listened to him once again. Neji sighed as he continued. "I don't know Naruto that much. I haven't seen his full capacity. Demo… I have to make sure… That if ever he was meant for Hinata-sama, he could protect her… Protect her from almost everything…"

Neji stood up straight as he looked at Tenten's dark onyx eyes. "The last thing Hinata-sama needs right now is a one-sided love…"

Okay, end of chapter… Heheh… Hope you like the way this story is going right now. I'll be very busy for the next couple of weeks since I'm studying for my college entrance exam. Please bear with my slow updates for the meantime. Hihi… Thanks so much… Take care.