Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me

WHOHOO finished this chapter on time even though my other reviewers are lambasting (very nicely luckily) me about updating my other fic. Ah well...I can only promise to try my best, eh?

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Chapter 2

"So that was how you guys became friends? Just like that?"

Sakura's incredulous voice bounced around the small dango shop. Both Ino and Tenten grimaced as Hinata shot her a small smile.

"No, not just like that. I'm still working on it. And would you stop shouting? It's not like you really need to draw anymore attention to that huge forehead of yours."

"Shut up, Ino-pig!"

Sticking out her tongue teasingly, the other girl tossed her head, the trademark bubblegum hair falling in a bright cloud around her. Sakura had gained a notable amount of self-confidence over the years, her innate expertise at chakra control serving her well under the tutelage of the Godaime.

The four kunoichi were ensconced around a creaky, wooden table in the relatively empty shop. It was a balmy afternoon and many of the villagers were taking it easy. Surrounded by the sweet aroma of hot tea and the guilty pleasure of sneaking off from training, the girls took the opportunity to pour over the latest news.

"Well, whatever it is you're working on, it seems to be doing the trick. You've managed something Lee and I haven't even after all these years. I've never seen Neji this way around anyone."

Ino glanced over at Tenten in surprise. They had become more familiar over the past few months as Ino spent more time with the Hyuuga and the older girl was proving to have a rather refreshingly caustic wit.

"What do you mean? He's pretty much the same as he's always been. The whole ice-prince routine, you know? I mean, it's considered a good day if he even bothers to talk to me."

"You just don't see what we see."

The girl popped another dumpling in her mouth, innocently chewing away as Ino frowned.

"I think Neji's bad habits are rubbing off on you, Tenten. Talking in riddles and acting superior isn't exactly a good thing."

"I think what…what Tenten-chan means is Neji nii-san is…happier. Happier than before."

Hinata took a hurried sip, not quite having overcome the girlish tendency to stumble over her words when she was trying to express something important. Both Sakura and Ino smiled encouragingly at her.

"I agree with Hinata-chan there. I don't know Neji-kun that well but even I can see that he considers you special."

"Yeah, yeah. And you can stop winking at me, Sakura. It's not like that and you know it."

Waving a pale hand dismissively in the air, Ino swirled her tea around, watching as the deep green grounds rose and settled again in concentric circles at the bottom of the cup. They were right really. After that night by the lake, Hyuuga Neji had been more open, more receptive to her tentative advances of friendship than she would have expected.

When they had arrived back at camp to be greeted by Kiba's incessant snoring, Neji had wordlessly taken up the agreed-upon position as guard. Ino had fidgeted around for a bit on the ground, the chilly night air creeping under the thin blanket as the dying embers of the campfire struggled futilely to produce heat. If she hadn't felt bad about the idea of kicking a dog out to sleep in the cold, she'd be the one curled up inside their sole tent right now, rather than the boy who impersonated a volcano.

It had taken her by surprise when she felt another blanket being tossed over her. Fingering the woven material, Ino had glanced over to see his tall figure crouched over the fire, stoking the flames back to life.

"Go to sleep; we're leaving first thing in the morning."

Smiling at his gruff response to her unvoiced query, the girl had murmured her soft thanks before snuggling gratefully under the extra warmth. The trip home had passed swiftly and without incident, neither of them mentioning the events of the night before but having come to a sort of understanding that was tangible nevertheless.

At first, Ino had been unsure of how to go about this new development. Other than having been under his leadership on missions over the past years, she really had not interacted with him outside of their duties.

She had started off by purposefully going to one of the training areas in the forest that the Hyuuga was known to frequent whenever he was not training at the Hyuuga complex. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he had been there that day, barely out of breath even though the splintered trunks and stirred up dirt were hard evidence of hours of non-stop practice.

The girl had waved to him cheerfully, commenting on his attacks while joking half-heartedly about how Asuma-sensei was too busy with his newest mission to train his old genin group. Neji had watched her for a long moment, devoid of expression, before briskly asking if this was her way of asking him to train her.

It hadn't, but Ino had simply shrugged, pleased with the sudden opening. He had smirked then, nodding once while ordering her to demonstrate some basic taijutsu moves.

Ino quickly learned that he was a strict teacher, something Tenten had ruefully agreed with when she discovered the pair of them during one of their training sessions. Strict was actually an understatement. Neji thought nothing of training from morning till evening, only relenting enough to take short breaks when Ino literally collapsed in a boneless, complaining heap.

Over time, she had learnt to bring her lunch with her, packing enough to feed both of them since the Hyuuga seldom bothered to rest long enough to eat. She had nagged at him to try her cooking, graciously choosing to ignore the way he warily eyed a misshapen riceball or a suspiciously blackened lump of meat.

Again, he had surprised her by obliging, washing down whatever she had managed to throw together that morning with healthy swigs of tea. Ino had flushed in pleasure the first time he thanked her for the food. She had been so used to Sasuke-kun turning his nose up at her gifts that she almost did not know how to respond.

After that, she put more effort into preparing things he liked, blatantly prodding him for information about himself whenever they had the chance to just sit there and take a break. Neji had not exactly been forthcoming about discussing himself, seemingly content to allow her to prattle on while only issuing the occasional grunt or short comment.

But Ino was more than used to dealing with the stoic type, having had years of practice with Shika. She had yelled at him to answer her questions, and when the older shinobi hadn't taken to that well, had resorted to teasing and playful insulting.

When Neji discovered that his usual glares couldn't bow her into submission, he had complied. Grudgingly at first, but gradually relaxing enough to converse easily with her. She discovered that he liked his tea burning hot rather than warm, his vegetables pickled rather than cooked. He had a fondness for staring at the stars, often creeping out at night to lie on the roof of the Branch family complex for hours on end.

Once, during after a drawn-out and exhausting spar, he had muttered something about how much he actually admired Lee's dedication, even though his old teammate's penchant for shimmying around in indecently skintight bodysuits still gave him nightmares.

Ino had teased him mercilessly after that particularly revelation, musing aloud about how his fan girls would probably run away screaming or rip their eyes out in horror if they ever saw Hyuuga Neji in such a get up. He had visibly shuddered at the mere thought, opaque eyes crinkling just the slightest when she burst out laughing, the carefree sound sweeping over both of them and carrying across the windswept clearing.

This began their sudden contest to develop ways to scare the ever-present, and growing, group of simpering girls away. Neji had learnt a long time ago that scowling and glaring did nothing more than elicit more dreamy sighs of 'oh-he's-so-angsty-I-could-just-die.' Nowadays, he rarely did anything more than just pretend that they didn't exist, which was pretty much how he treated everyone else really.

Ino was more proactive though, gleefully plotting up schemes such as declaring to the entire village that he was gay and all the girls should just give up. Or announcing that the curse seal had the rare and unfortunate side effect of making him impotent.

Obviously, Neji was less than enthusiastic about her crackpot ideas, least of all the one where he actually did dress up like Gai and cut off his hair to stick on to his eyebrows. Ino had laughed herself sick as she droned on and on about the various ways they could explore in order to get his teeth that eye-gouging white or how they could improve upon that spandex monstrosity so that he could go to the bathroom without having to peel the entire thing off.

They trained for six straight hours that night. Revenge is sweet indeed.

In the end, it turned out that a rather unexpected method was the most effective one. Ino had simply hooked her arm through his one day as they were strolling down the village street, unabashedly dragging him off to point out one of the newest kunai pouches she wanted to buy.

The boy had stiffened, persistently trying to tug his arm free but had stopped when a high-pitched wail had the two of them whipping around. Several girls were clutching at each other in almost comical despair, alternatively glaring daggers at the blonde while turning pleading puppy eyes on the Hyuuga.

White had met blue for a split second before matching smirks appeared on both their faces. Nonchalantly pretending to peer through the shop window, he allowed the kunoichi to snuggle blatantly against his arm, a wicked Cheshire-grin spreading across her face. That was enough to send the girls off sobbing and it was the first time Ino had ever heard Neji laugh.

The next day, she found a small package being thrust into her hands during lunch. It was the kunai pouch she had shown him the day before.

Yes, things were going well and Ino was pleasantly surprised to find that the Hyuuga could be very good company, despite his well-founded reputation for being cold and sarcastic. In fact, she found that he was slowly but inexorably becoming the one person she spent the most time with, the person she proudly showed off to whenever she mastered another ninjutsu and the person she saw off whenever he had to leave for a mission.

But at the same time, her earlier remark was also correct. She was still working at it and working hard at that. Some days were better than others, days when they could talk about anything or just spend time together in companionable silence.

Those were the days when Ino thought it was all worth it, worth all the grueling hours of training his company inevitably included, worth all the extra effort she put in to make the corners of his lips curve upwards however briefly.

But other days were tough.

Those were the times when he would ignore her cheerful chattering and freeze her into a spluttering halt with an icy glare or curt command that he was busy. The Hyuuga would be sullen or moody, preferring to take out his stress on a training post or some other hapless Jounin who was unlucky enough to be his sparring partner that day.

On those days, Ino felt as though she were invisible. As if she were nothing more to him than an occasional amusement that he could easily toss aside when more important things came up. It was unbearable, intolerable.

And it was those days that made her question what exactly she had gotten herself into.

"Ino-chan?"

"Huh?"

She jerked her head up off where it had been resting on her propped up hand. The other girls were staring at her expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer of some sort.

"Sorry, I was daydreaming. What did you ask me?"

Sakura sniggered, leaning forward to whisper dramatically in a loud stage voice.

"Daydreaming about a certain white-eyed prodigy maybe?"

"No, I was actually remembering how it felt when a certain loud-mouthed blond kissed me goodnight yesterday."

Ino had the pleasure of seeing Sakura's eyes widen in shock before the realization that she was obviously joking set in. Her oldest friend and Naruto had been together for a while now and Sakura was well-known for her jealous temper.

"You really have to share with us how it feels to kiss a mirror then, Ino-chan."

All of them burst out laughing, Ino good-humouredly joining in. Shooting Hinata a quick glance, she was pleased to see that the girl seemed to be doing alright. The friendship between Hinata and Sakura had been awkward for a while when the couple first started going out but, over time, it seemed as though Hinata had gotten over it.

Thanks in part to a brash yet adoring Kiba, whom everyone kept pushing to just tell her but was too stubbornly shy to do so yet.

"We were wondering what you were doing tonight, Ino. The rest of us were thinking of just hanging out at my place doing nothing."

"Thanks but I've got to run. I probably going to late as it is and Neji'll probably think that warrants another extra hour of training."

"Actually, you're right."

Groaning, Ino slumped on to the table as the deep, familiar voice sounded from behind her. Sakura kicked her from underneath the table but she could not be bothered to do anything but kick back.

"Neji nii-san."

"Hinata-sama. Tenten. Haruno."

A chorus of greetings met his and Ino wearily lifted a single hand in response, merely burying her head further into her folded arms.

"Ugh, Neji. Give it a rest for once, okay? I thought we were just going to take it easy tonight."

Someone brushed her hair back, calloused fingers fleeting against the curve of her ear in an unconscious caress that sent unexpected shivers down her neck. Stiffening, she straightened immediately to glare into a pair of collected white eyes.

"You were getting your hair in your tea. And the answer is no."

"I swear, Neji, one of these days that stick up your ass is going to…ack!"

Another swift kick had Ino biting her tongue. Eyes watering, she turned that glare on to the girl across from her, sea-green eyes fluttering innocently. Everyone was watching the two of them amusedly, Hinata biting her lip to try and keep from smiling.

"You are so dead, Forehead-girl!"

Ino's lunge over the table was stopped by a firm hand clasped on to her elbow. Pulling her none too gently out of her seat, Neji nodded a curt goodbye over his shoulder before dragging them both outside the shop.

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A/N: Neji Neji Neji. I'm still not sure how angsty slash complex I want him to be in this story so I'll just muddle along chapter by chapter. Lots of things happening in my life lately, much of the mess of my own making unfortunately, so forgive me if my writing ends up a bit more melodramatic than usual!

Next update coming next Saturday. Thanks for reading and please do review!