Chapter 2

A week later it was Christmas and she was with her family unwrapping presents when she heard Neji come in. He didn't entered the living room though but went straight for his room.

She knew that he must feel lonely without his parents and didn't want him to be alone on a day like Christmas. So she told her father she had a headache and that she would go to bed. He merely nodded, and she quickly left.

She went to her room to pick up the present she got Neji and went to his room.

A bit nervous she knocked on his door, patiently waiting for him to open it. He didn't react though and she was about to leave again when she remembered Naruto's words.

..No! I can do this!... she told herself stern.

She took a deep breath and cautiously opened his door.

Neji stood at the window and she could see he was looking sadly at a photograph.

He quickly looked up when he heard the door open, and threw a death glare to whoever dared to disturb him.

She almost dropped her present when she saw the look on his face and instinctively backed away. He lowered his gaze when he saw who it was, and seemed a bit surprised to see his little cousin.

"What do you want!" he said coldly, almost threatening.

He knew that that would be all it took for her to flee his presence, but much to his surprise she only backed away a little, but didn't leave. This only irritated him more and he gave her a threatening look as he slowly stalked over to her.

Although she knew that he was only trying to scare her off she realised it still worked on her and she backed away just a little more.

"Neji-niisan….I…I didn't want you to be alone on a day like this…" she stuttered looking shyly down at he feet.

He was dumbfounded by her answer.

…Why would she care? She has her family…why would she care about me being alone? She's probably just here to rub it in!... he thought bitter. But a voice inside his head told him she would never do such a thing.

"Well, I like to be alone, so if you don't need me as your bodyguard, just leave!" he said angry.

He could see her trembling now, and she looked as if he had hit her straight in her face. But even now she stayed where she was and didn't ran off.

"here…." she said trembling, stretching her arms to show him her present "I…I got you a present Neji-niisan…"

"Where would I need a bird in a cage for!" he said annoyed.

" I..I s..saw the poor thing on the market the other day, and it reminded me of you…A.and I thought that maybe we could set it free once the weather gets softer…" she said softly.

"Still believing in fairytales ne, Hinata!" he said contemptuous, but he did took the cage from her hands and put it on his windowsill.

She finally looked up at him "It's not a fairytale! It could happen!... I..I'll be stronger one day..a..and you…you'll be free and will become the righteous heir!" she said impassioned.

Neji just smirked and turned away from her.

"Just leave Hinata. You're nothing but a weakling! You should focus on getting stronger instead of fantasising about things that will never happen!" he said coldly.

"B..but y..you shouldn't be alone…."she said forcing back the tears caused by his hard words.

"The only one I would like to be with right now would be my father. But that can never be, since you and your Main House had him killed! Now leave!" he said dangerously calm.

His words were like daggers trough her heart and she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Suddenly she felt as if all energy had just left her and she slowly turned to the door. In the doorway she stopped and looked at him over her shoulder and saw that he was looking out of the window again.

"Merry Christmas Neji-niisan…." she almost whispered before closing his door and leaving for her own room.

Neji closed his eyes when he heard the door closing and sighed. He had meant every word of what he had said, but somehow it hadn't given him the relief he had expected. He even felt guilty, something he had never felt before, especially not over something he had said to someone from the Main House.

…But Hinata is different… a nagging voice inside his head insisted. He ignored the voice though, and pushed the whole thing from his mind.


Time passed slowly for her, but after another three weeks Tsunade finally allowed her some light training.

She felt relieved that she could get back in her normal routine, and was also happy she could get back to her secret training sessions with Naruto.

She had been training with him almost every night until the Chuunin Exams, and the extra training really seemed to pay off some. She had become a bit more stronger, but more important to her were his always encouraging words which gave her back some of the self-esteem she had lost along the years.

She hadn't told anyone of their training sessions with Naruto though. She was afraid they would make fun of Naruto for helping her, and she was also afraid her father wouldn't approve of her spending this much time with Naruto.

So she sneaked out of the mansion making sure no one saw or heard her. She darted to the gate making sure to stay in the shadows. Then she jumped over the wall to avoid the guards at the gate. When everything stayed quiet she quickly darted over the rooftops and into the forest.

When she arrived at the clearing Naruto was already there waiting for her.

Both of them didn't had a clue that someone was watching them.

They had only been sparring for about an hour when Naruto lunged at her and had her pinned to the ground. He smiled brightly at her.

"Gotcha!"