Millions of Stories about Love and Here's Another One

Karasu no Tsukomi

A/N: I really don't want to write my author's note right now so just R & R until I get less lazy and actually write this.

Thank you to all my faithful fans that understand my laziness.

Warning: Is there such a thing as cousin cest?

Disclaimer: Do I look like Masashi Kishimoto to you?

Chapter One

Brotherly Love?

"Even if you know that you can and will never have somebody, is it possible to stop loving them?" This wise question shocked poor Shino to death, especially since it came from the mouth of a certain Inuzuka. He stayed quiet, pondering the answer until it came to him in his silent meditation.

"Well," he began "I guess it depends on how much you already love that person. If you have only an infatuated crush, then I suppose it could easily pass on. But, if you were truly in love with this person already . . ." His sentence faded out as one of his family's favorite sayings came to mind. "True love never dies, even in death."

Kiba sighed and closed his eyes when the sunlight decided to greet him with a friendly smile.

"I was afraid you were going to say that Shino-san." He stretched his arms above his head and stared down at the village that lay before him.

They were sitting in one of Kiba's most favorite places to be. It was a huge rock ledge that you could not see from Konohagure, but when on it, the village seemed to be as close and clear as ever. Shino, his friend and comrade for almost six years straight, was sitting next to him; his sunglass-covered eyes directed toward the vermillion, crimson and dioxazine streaked sunset.

"Who would make you question yourself like this? It's not at all like you Kiba-san."

Kiba frowned in thought and directed his sight down to a most familiar white mansion. "The beautiful people of Konohagakure have."

"Neji Nii-dono, wait for me!"

"Lady Hinata, I am already late." Neji sighed in affection as his cousin came to a stop in front of him, panting from running so hard and fast.

Ever since the Chunin exams, Neji and Hinata had gotten closer. Neji had finally allowed his past to stay in the past and even helped Hinata nurture their relationship into even more of a sibling nature.

"Hinata-chan, please don't push yourself so hard. If you keep coming to train with me, you might end up killing yourself from exhaustion." Hinata smiled cheerfully up at her cousin and grasped him in a quick hug.

"But Neji, if I train with you, I will certainly get stronger. Your help has already changed my attitude and I think I really have gotten stronger big brother!"

Neji smirked and continued on down the path to the training fields. She really has gotten stronger, but is it really because of me? He thought.

"Fine, but if you pass out, you get to explain it to your father."

Hinata grinned widely, her dark hair swinging around her shoulders as she followed enthusiastically.

Four hours and hundreds of bruises and scratches later

Hinata flopped down onto the soft cool grass next to Neji and sighed deeply, his scent filling her nostrils. She closed her eyes and the darkness enveloped her. She liked the dark now. She seemed to radiate the dark wherever she went. Sure, she was still the sweet kind Hinata that everyone knew, but she had changed.

Like Neji did, she crammed her past away. She knew that Naruto would never notice her, like her the way that she liked him; so she crammed it all away. But now, lying next to Neji and smelling their breaths mingle, she could feel something growing inside of her. Something she had felt before, but wasn't sure she was able to accept her feelings for Neji yet.

"Lady Hinata . . ." Neji's voice rang out into the cold night air, startling Hinata away from her thoughts.

"Hn?"

"You . . . you really have excelled in your training."

Hinata's eyes flew open and she propped herself up onto her elbows.

"Really!"

Neji nodded in the darkness, hoping she would not see, soon being disappointed in his attempt to hide his praise by the body of his cousin on top of him with her arms around his neck.

"Arigato Nii-dono! You have no idea how much that means to me!"

Neji grinned up at her, his own arms finding their way around her waist.

"I'm starting to get the idea."

A light shade of strawberry pink stained her cheeks as she realized how close her face was to his. She could feel his warm breath dance over her lips and she became ever aware of the grasp on her waist tightening.

"Neji?" was all she could whisper out before he raised his head up so that his lips touched hers ever so slightly. He let his head drop back down into the grass and he quickly averted his pearly gaze.

"I . . . I am sorry Lady Hinata. I should not have . . ." he was soon cut off by the return of the sensation of lips on lips, this time much forceful then the last.

Hinata inwardly cringed when she realized who she was kissing, but then her thoughts from earlier returned and turned her cringe into a physical smile. Neji took advantage of her parted smiling lips and pushed his tongue into her mouth, savoring the sweet taste she left in his mouth. Hinata soon found her own tongue exploring and tasting that of her training partner.

After several moments of deep exploration, they broke the kiss and starred at each other for sometime. Hinata desperately searched for something to say to break the silence between them. Luckily, Neji came up with a solution first, though it didn't help much.

"W-what was that?"

"I don't . . . I have no idea."

"Was it okay?"

Hinata gave him the most quizzical dirty look imaginable before he corrected himself.

"I, I mean: was it okay for us to do that?"

"I'm not sure."

At this point, Neji slid himself out from under Hinata and stood up, his waist-length hair shining in the soft moonlight.

"Get up Hinata, we should get back home." He started heading out of the forest without waiting for her, leaving her quite confused. Hinata stood up wearily and trudged down the path after him.

When they reached the Hyuuga mansion, Neji opened the door for Hinata (as was custom) and followed her in. Instead of escorting her all the way to her room, he stopped at his door and watched her. She stopped and turned, locking eyes with the all too familiar white irises of the Hyuuga clan that were watching her with guarded emotion before she opened the door and glided in.

Neji sighed and slowly opened the door to his room, closing it behind him as he fell onto his bed face first.

What the hell was that Neji? Are you falling for your cousin?

He inwardly cursed at himself as he slid out of his clothes and into a fresh pair of black silk boxers. He lie down on top of the covers and soon fell asleep.

Neji's eyes shot open to the sound of his door closing. There was another presence in the room, but he was not sure who it was. At first, fear ran over his features at the thought of it being his uncle, coming in to kill the boy that had kissed his daughter, but then he saw the shape of a girl emerge from the shadows and lie down next to him. From the smell of blackberries and vanilla, he could tell that it was Hinata before she even said anything.

"Neji? Are you awake?" her voice was more timid than he had heard it for quite some time, which made him wonder why she had come. He turned on his side and directed his eyes to the shadow in front of him.

"Yeah, I am."

"Gomen nasai Nii-dono, but I . . . I . . ." she broke down into heavy sobs and covered her face with her hands. Neji felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the girl he had once tried to kill. But no, this was not the same girl; this was the girl he kissed today.

He wrapped his arms around her small form and pulled her close to him. She shuddered at the touch of their bodies, and he realized that she was not much more dressed than he was. She was down to just a short black shirt and boy-short underwear.

Blushing, he buried his face in her hair and sighed. She shuddered again as his warm breath swept past her ear and sighed into his chest. Neji then realized that she must have stopped crying sometime ago, her constant, quiet sobs no longer filling the air. Hinata snuggled closer to him, gently resting her hands against his bare chest. Neji tensed as the sensation of her lips against his skin reverberated through his nerves.

"L-Lady Hinata?" Neji stuttered.

She stopped kissing his chest and moved her head so she could look in his eyes.

"Please, don't say anything."

Neji moved his hand to her cheek and leaned down enough to press his lips against hers. She slid her arms around his body and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She parted her lips against his as an open invitation, him taking it immediately. She moaned into his mouth and pushed him onto his back.

Hinata broke the kiss and gently ground her hips into his, she could feel him getting hard against her. She moaned again, pushing ever harder against him. Neji moaned also, pushing his hips into hers, losing all thoughts but one that made him stop moving against her.

"Are, are you sure this is okay Lady Hinata?" He asked, running his hands up her back and playing with the ends of her hair.

Hinata stopped grinding against him, her silence not at all reassuring him that that was the right thing to say; then the thought ran through his mind again.

"Hinata-sama . . ." Neji sighed, sliding his hands through her now shoulder-length hair and down the smooth skin of her bare back. "If your father . . . hell, if anyone found out, we'd be . . ."

"Is that all that matters?" she whispered harshly.

"N-no. Not if we really were in love."

"Wh-what if I am?" Hinata pushed away from him and stood up from the bed. "Maybe I give you too much credit." She walked slowly to the door and put her hand on the doorknob.

Neji sat up. "What do you mean?" he asked, though the answer was whispering in the back of his mind.

"What I mean, Neji, is that I had the slightest idea that you had actually loved me back." She opened the door and slinked back down to her room, small sobs echoing through the empty halls.

"Damn it." Neji cursed, his pearl eyes staring at the door, hoping that someway, somehow, she would come back through and everything would be alright.

A/N: Okay, so now that this is finally over, I actually want to write this. Surprising isn't it? Anywho, I wanna get some things cleared up for the math and memory impaired (such as myself -).

It is set about five years in the future, so the ages go summit about dis:

Hyuuga Hinata: 16 ½ (I'm gonna have her birthday somewhere in here)

Hyuuga Neji: 18

Inuzuka Kiba: 17

Inuzuka Hana: 20

Aburame Shino: 17

Rock Lee: 18

Ten Ten: 18

Uzumaki Naruto: 17

Uzumaki Nonaka: 19

Haruno Sakura: 17

Uchiha Sasuke: 17

Uchiha Itachi: 21

Gaara: 17

Kankuro: 19

Temari: 20

Yukio Haku: 20 (BTW, my friends and I call him 'Yukio Haku' for some unknown reason)

Hatake Kakashi: 31 ? OOo

Sasori: 28

Deidara: 18

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino: 17

Okay, final note, there will be some major Ino bashing and some Sakura bashing. No likey, don't read. Also, I haven't decided if I wanted to add a little FMA in here or not. I probably will.

Faithful fans, I love you all!

Fushicho Itachi

Am I the one who waits for you.

Or are you unforgiven too?

Metallica