Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 7: Face to Mask

Cold November was once again falling upon Konoha. Yuki just came back from a mission and was about to go see the Hokage to give him Sasuke's monthly allowance once again. At this point, Yuki felt more comfortable with her ANBU mask on than without it. Often, she would wear it even when she didn't have a mission at hand. She would wander around the village in the shadows with her mask on. She came to enjoy to be an observer of the village, to watch over the village that her grandfather loved dearly. Today was no different. When she finally reached the Third's office, she knocked and the door simply opened. It seemed almost automatic now. She debriefed the Hokage about the mission and handed him the envelope for Sasuke. He dismissed her and she waved a silent goodbye before leaving and closing the door behind her.

She left the building to find herself going towards the Academy to check on Sasuke. They had never spoken before. In fact, Sasuke doesn't even know she was watching over him all this time. It was recess. The students were out in the yard playing with each other, pretending to be ninjas. Sasuke, on the other hand, was sitting by himself on a bench, staring into emptiness. Naruto was glaring at him from a distance while a bunch of girls, from a afar, were giggling at the sight of Sasuke. Yuki couldn't help but smirk a little at this sight. She didn't stay for much longer.

She made her way to the forest where she first met Lee and his teammates. They were always there. They were there again today, training. While Lee was bruised and beaten up, Neji still looked as though he hasn't started. Tenten also seemed roughened up.

"One more time, Neji!" yelled Lee as he once again charged forward towards Neji. "If I don't land this hit, I will run 200 lapses around the village!"

He had seemingly improved, but it still wasn't enough to land the punch on Neji.

"I'm a man of my word! I shall start running now!" yelled Lee, still full of enthusiasm.

Yuki smiled at that comment. He was indeed one of a kind. After all this time, he has never given up once and has been working hard to get to where he is now. He was obviously stronger. For some reason, that made Yuki feel very proud and happy.

"Oi, what is an ANBU doing here, watching us?" asked a deep voice seemingly bored.

"Ha, you caught me." said Yuki as she descended from the tree she was sitting in. She looked around and only Neji was left in the area. Lee had gone on his 200 lapses run and Tenten had returned home to freshen up.

"Why are you here?" he asked not even looking at her.

She didn't reply. She settled underneath another tree nearby and leaned against it. She looked up through the little slits in her ANBU mask to the sky where flocks of birds were migrating south. He too was looking at those birds.

"I asked you a question."

"Well, I don't know the answer to you question." she replied coldly.

"Why are you still here, then?"

"I like watching the sky from here."

"Isn't the same anywhere else?"

"No, it's always different."

"I don't think so."

Yuki didn't say anymore, nor did he. They just silently sat there for a while.

"You know. I once wished to be just like a bird: free to choose where I would go..."

"You are wrong." he said. "Birds aren't as free as they seem."

"Why do you say that?"

"Can't you see? They fly in a flock. They have to. When winter is about to come, they can only choose to go south. I shouldn't say choose, it's more like they must go south. Their lives have already been predetermined. They aren't free to fly where they want, they have to follow the rest and the rest have no choice but to go where they can ensure survival."

"Is that how you feel? Or is that what you think birds think?"

"I..."

"I think that if a bird wants to stray away from the flock, no other bird will come and force him to take the same path as them. If they stray, they stray... someone will just fill in their position. Therefore if a bird wants to break free, it can. Perhaps, they head south because they want to. Perhaps they stay with their flock because that's their family and there's no better place to go to."

"Is that what you came to conclude after wanting to be a bird?"

"Perhaps."

Neji chuckled. "Don't you feel like a caged bird here, within the village?"

Yuki shook her head. "This is home."

"A cage is a home too."

"I have ways to escape within this cage then. Like now. Am I not free of all things?"

He chuckled again.

"We talk like old people." he said.

His face when smiling was bright, brighter than she has seen his face before. He had a very gentle smile and kind eyes when he wasn't upset about his fate.

"We do." said Yuki as she stood up. She wiped off the dirt on her dress and stretched. She was about to leave when he called upon her again:

"You still haven't answered my first question."

"Why is an ANBU here watching you? I told you, I don't know."

"You're telling me you come here almost everyday since we first met and you don't know why?"

He recognized her. He recognized her despite her mask. He continued on:

"You really like to meddle in others' business, don't you?"

"Ha, it became a habit since I work for the village. I used to stay away from everyone, now I can't seem to do so. Especially, when someone is bullying another member of the village so badly." she said in a teasing sound.

"Bully? He seems to come ask for it everyday."

"But you don't have to be so mean whenever you defeat him. He's gotten a lot stronger. You should... I don't know... compliment him from time to time."

"Why? Why give him false hope when we all know he cannot amount to much with his ability to only use taijutsu?"

"If one can't simply change his fate, then why are you training to better yourself? You'll always just be a member of the branch family of the Hyuga."

"You..."

Yuki gave him a silent wave of goodbye as she turned her back to him and began walking back to the village. She could feel that her question and last comment deeply affected him. It was, after all, the root of his problems. Yuki also believed that the village was a cage, but she, unlike him, had the will to break free. To be exact, she has given some thoughts about the liberty that she had within the village while he only thought about how the clan and the village has trapped him and his father. It was a knot that couldn't be undone easily. Yuki knew that very well. After all, she did lose a friend to the same situation: Uchiha Itachi.

End of Chapter 7

Cheers to the start of the relationship between Yuki & Neji.

Thank you for reading.

xoxox

Krystal