Well, I actually posted this story earlier than expected. But no one reads it anyways, so who cares? I want to finish it, though, and since it doesn't take as long, and is much more organized than my other stories, I might as well finish it. Thank you Darth Taisha, and off I go!

The Knight

Neji was of noble blood. He wasn't in the direct line, no; he was the cousin of the Queen, and that's still quite the high standing. His talent mostly made up for his fate, though. He was one of the best swordsmen in the world; certainly one of the best of his kingdom. Even the fearless King and Prince respected him. And so did the women.

Although his fan club wasn't as crazy as some of the others', it was still there, and it was still annoying. Neji just wasn't interested. They were after him for his high standing and his looks.

Neji had long, pin straight, dark chocolate hair, that he usually spent a long time brushing. Hinata-sama had complemented it... he couldn't just leave it alone! He had the porcelain skin of the Hyuuga family, white and flawless, as well as their eyes; the mirrored eyes that managed to stare through your soul. What annoyed him, though, that his looks had a feminine charm, as noble as they were. Sometimes, men thought him a woman... and those times irritated him. It was a good thing that a woman hadn't mistaken him as his own, though... then, even the hair that Hinata-sama loved so would have to go. Pride was important.

Not as important as Hinata, though. She was his lady, and she was the most important person in his life. She was a kind and gentle woman, innocent, with the biggest light lavender eyes you would ever see. She also inherited the Hyuuga eyes, but hers were unique- a lavender colour. She also had the pale porcelain skin of the Hyuuga, but her dark indigo hair was all hers. All of the other Hyuuga had dark brown hair, very similar to his.

Hinata was a beauty known throughout the kingdom. She turned heads, and attractive the lustful stares of all men. Unlike Sakura, who was pretty, Hinata-sama, was, in a word, beautiful. Like a painting. Even Neji, who thought such things useless, stopped to admire her often.

He couldn't believe there was a time when he despised her. It wasn't her fault, not really - but his father had just died, and he was an angry child. When someone had tried kidnapping her they died, but since they were an important person, they wanted payback. To evade a war, the Hyuuga agreed; but they had wanted the dead body of the Hyuuga clan leader, which was unfathomable. Luckily, there was his father, who was the identical twin of the Hyuuga leader, who could pose as him. His father was killed in her father's place, stopping the war.

Neji was angry. Maybe if Hinata had not let herself be kidnapped in the first place, this wouldn't have happened... his father would have lived. And not only that, but she was the daughter of the man that was supposed to die, but didn't, having his father die in his place. No, that didn't help at all. So, Neji grew to hate her, and all that she stood for. The reminder that his father died, that only the first born got all the luck, how it was their fate to live, while it was the fate of the others to die in their stead.

It was hard to hate her. Really, very hard. As a child, much like now, Neji had adored her. She was his first childish crush, and she always managed to evoke the protective feelings in Neji. She was just so helpless... and cute. It was unfair, and it only made Neji's effort to hate her, (because he couldn't. Not really) grow. It was, really very hard to hate a gentle creature like Hinata-sama.

But he managed, somehow. By never looking her in the eye, he managed just fine. But when bandits came and he almost killed her, let her die, he was in shock. Without Hinata-sama... there was no point in living. It was his destiny to protect her. his duty. Although it wasn't his duty to love her... he did anyway.

It was a good thing Naruto brought him out of his hate filled trance. It was laughable, really; of all the people to make him see sense, it had to be the Jester, the one who was supposed to have the least sense. But right before the bandits had jumped in to kill her; Naruto had arrived, protecting Hinata in the process. He made Neji see sense. Unbelievable, really.

It was then that Neji had learnt that Naruto was the wisest of them all. He had seen when he let down his guard momentarily, he had seen the wise, haunted old blue eyes, their shine dulled by years of solitude. He was never able to gaze at Naruto the same way, again. Nope. He had Naruto to thank for many things.

Yet, he couldn't stop being jealous of Naruto. He saw the way that Hinata's eyes lit with warmth and admiration when she gazed at him, the way she never gazed at Neji. That moment, when the bandits arrived, he knew that he had lost Hinata forever to Naruto; she had fallen deep in love with him. It was a sick relief that they could never be together; it was a sick relief, his very twisted joy, that Naruto had never viewed Hinata like that, but as merely a friend. It was a sick, guilt ridden joy that Naruto was in love with the Princess, Sakura, to ever see Hinata.

It was not only Naruto that Neji was inwardly jealous of. His next target was Itachi; Hinata's husband, the King. He was a lucky man; very lucky indeed. Because, she was, in reality, his. Not in heart, but in mind and body, you could say. She would never cheat on Itachi, because the guilt would be unbearable for her. Not like Itachi would cheat on her, though. Neji had seen the slightly obsessive love in Itachi's eyes; he who almost never loved anything. The only other person that Itachi truly loved was Sasuke, and you couldn't really say that that love wasn't slightly obsessive, either. Maybe it was because of the fact that Itachi never really felt, or had any particular emotions towards anything. He only had a conscience, and a hatred to anything that wasn't justified.

His jealousy ranged to Sasuke, even, who got to spend so much time with Hinata-sama. Although it wasn't as major there... since Sasuke hadn't even realized the extent of his feelings, yet.

When they say that the Hyuuga eyes see everything, they are right. His eyes really could see everything, much to his horror. There were some things that were so awful, that they shouldn't exist... and he had the pleasure of seeing them all. The greed, the anger, the hatred; he could see all. People were all very easy to read, really.

Maybe that was why Lee was his best friend; an idiot, he was, but at least he was an honest idiot, true to his emotions. Neji had never seen any impure emotions cross his eyes, not even once; naivety at its finest. Neji wished that he wasn't as jaded as Lee was, and as unbelievable as this may seem, he wished he could be more like Lee.

But that was a secret that would travel with him to the grave. Just like his forbidden feelings towards Hinata-sama. It was forbidden on so many levels; from the fact that she was superior, to the fact that she was his cousin, to the fact that he was her protector, supposed to protect her.

Yes, he was never the King's. He belonged to the Queen, it was signed, with his name and hers as the signatures. Whenever he went to war, it was always her name on his lips, and his heart, and his mind. Neji might be a jealous being, but he was loyal and honourable to the core. Knights were like that.

And he was a knight. Her Knight.

Today I'm ill, so I'm at home. :(. But it was fun writing this. :D now I have to focus on The Hyuuga Massacre, actually. At least people read that :(.

Review, Review, Please Review, Please Please Please Please, I'll love you forever if you do,

Aurora-chan!