A/n: This story has no plot, I am making it up as I go along, so don't criticize me for it making no sense!
Pinkie Finger
Hinata
looked at the two teenagers sitting on the bench in front of her.
They had their pinkie fingers locked together and they were smiling
stupidly. It was then that Neji had pulled her away, saying that they
ought to be getting back to the main house. Hinata had never thought
anything of it, until her fifth birthday.
"Neji-nii-san?"
Hinata asked as she climbed into bed, just finishing her prayers.
"Yes,
Hinata-sama?" the polite six year old answered, as he pulled the
covers over his little cousin.
"What
does it mean when two people hold their pinkies together and smile
all silly-like?"
Neji
didn't know what she meant. Hinata could sense it by the look he
gave her.
She
sat up, grabbed Neji's fingers and placed her smallest finger so
that it was forming a sort of lock with Neji's. Neji stared.
Hinata
tried not to laugh at the next look her gave her, and she smiled
stupidly, to show him what she meant.
Maybe she means the story of the red thread?
"Hinata-sama
has heard the story of the red thread?" Neji questioned the girl,
who was almost in a fit of giggles. Hinata shook her head, trying
hard to contain her laughter.
"Oh."
was Neji's only word. He sat upon Hinata's bed and looked at his
feet.
How to explain this…
"You
know how people fall in love and get married?" Neji looked kindly
at the small girl, who had forgotten of the past giggles and was more
interested in the story Neji-nii-san was going to tell.
"Yes,
nii-san!" Hinata grinned. Neji nodded.
"People
believe that there is a red thread, a line of destiny, attaching you
to the person you will eventually marry. Sometimes when people talk
about their beloveds, they hold out their pinkie to show that that is
who they are talking about," Neji rather liked how he'd put
things.
It
was Hinata's turn to be confused.
"So
there is this invisible thread connecting me to the person I will
marry one day?"
"Yep."
"I
don't get it, nii-san," the girl whined. She'd become so open
to Neji that she could whine in front of him when she didn't
understand things (A/n: people could call that being OOC, but she is
a small child, so OOCness is fine.). Neji laughed.
"You'll
get it one day…"
Present
day:
Hinata
sat at her dressing table as Neji dressed her hair. He brushed it
softly, so as to not harm Hinata's delicate scalp. Both were
smiling, but Neji couldn't see the blush that covered Hinata's
cheeks. He was too busy concentrating on the back of her head.
"What
are you doing today, nii-san?" Hinata enquired. Neji blinked.
"I
am going to go and train with my team mates and then maybe come back
here for some relaxation," Neji considered his options for the day.
"Um…
nii-san?" Hinata's blush deepened.
"Yes,
Hinata-sama?"
"If
you are back by around midday, how would you like to go… to go…
to the… carnival that is down town with me?" Hinata couldn't
stop stuttering, but she managed to get the words out.
Neji
smiled at his cousin's pain.
"Of
course I will escort you Hinata-sama!"
By
midday, Neji had made sure he was back at the main house, and Hinata
was there waiting for him. He'd never tell her how he'd planned
the rest of his day around the time they would spend together that
day, so she wouldn't feel as though she put him out.
"What
would you like to see first, Hinata-sama?" Neji questioned of the
young Hyuuga heir.
"Over
there!" Hinata said enthusiastically, as she pointed to a small
ball throwing game, where you had to knock down the pins to win a
prize. Neji grinned. He always hit the target.
Hinata
was nursing a huge teddy bear and some fairy floss when they both
went to sit down at the water's edge. Hinata carefully placed the
bear her cousin had won for her, on the grass beside where she'd
laid a bento box she'd made as a sort of lunch (or afternoon tea).
"Thank
you for coming Neji-nii-san," Hinata blushed, passing him an
onigiri (rice ball). Neji accepted the food and smiled.As
time passed, they finished off the onigiri, and sure enough the sun
began to creep towards the sea line. Hinata was about to open her
mouth to say they should be getting back, when she saw two oddly
familiar people. They were the two teenagers she'd seen ten years
ago with their pinkies intertwined. Now she remembered the tale Neji
had told her, and now it made sense.
"Neji-nii-san,"
Hinata began, shifting her look to her cousin. Neji looked up from
the water and straight into his cousin's blank, pale eyes. "May I
have your hand for a moment?"
"Um…
sure, Hinata-sama." Neji lifted his hand up from the ground and
placed it in Hinata's frail grasp. She then bent all of his
fingers, except his pinkie, very gently. She then cradled the
slightly bigger pinkie with her own, locking them together as she had
done in a demonstration years ago.
Neji
blushed.
"I
want this to mean you will be with me always, and I, with you,"
Hinata smiled meekly.
As the last moments of the sun caught drift, and the colours soon faded to that of a purple twilight, showing another day to be at an end, all you could see were two people promising to be with one another until the sands of time blew away…
A/n: The story of the red thread and the pinkie thing is true Japanese legend. But it can also mean to be together forever, which both contexts are used in this story. Hope you liked, please review!
