Chapter Fifteen

Neji stood by the doorway with his hands planted on his hips, his face fuming. His glare on Gaara was deadly as if he could throw daggers with his eyes only. Hinata glanced at him and then back at Gaara. He seemed calm even after being caught with her—almost too calm.

"Neji-nii-san," she began, her face pale. "We didn't do anything, I swear."

It was a wrong move to say that. Neji didn't believe a single word she said. He saw her hugging the red-haired punk so intimately it disgusted him. They could be kissing and touching each other inappropriately the next. He wouldn't let that happen.

"Hinata, go back to class." He ordered, suppressing the urge to yell the words at her. "School isn't the place to do those kinds of things. I'm ashamed of you."

She shut her mouth and dropped her gaze to the floor. He watched her lift her feet and drag them away from Gaara towards the staircase. Gaara remained standing where he was, his expression a blank.

When Neji made sure Hinata was no longer in earshot range, he walked closer to Gaara and stood before him with his hands crossed in front of his chest.

"Just what are your intentions on Hinata, Sabaku?" Neji asked. "You made her miserable for weeks, and now you're touching her."

"It's none of your business, Hyuuga." Gaara said monotonously.

Neji knitted his eyebrows together in a deeper frown.

"I will not let you hurt Hinata again. If you have intentions on dating her, then I will not allow it."

"What are you? Her bodyguard?"

Neji's lips tightened. He hated being called a bodyguard just for being protective towards her cousin. He deeply cared about her and was anguished when he saw the pained look returning to her face. He wanted her to be happy.

He didn't say anything for a while. He observed Gaara's face solemnly. His hard blue-green eyes seemed as if they could hurt a fly—yet it looked hollow at the same time. His lips were a pair of thin straight lines. He didn't seem approachable at all. What did Hinata see in him?

He uncrossed his hands and pointed a finger at Gaara. "Stay away from her. I don't want to see her suffer again because of you."

With that, he turned around and walked away from him. He climbed down the staircase, and next to the door he found Hinata leaning against the wall with her head bowed. When he stopped next to her, she looked at him with a guilty expression on her face.

"Nii-san. I'm sorry."

He furrowed his brows and decided to walk away from her. She trailed behind him like his tail quickly, and continued to beg for forgiveness.

"Please, Neji-nii-san. Listen to me." She begged desperately.

He stopped abruptly in the hallway and looked at his cousin, his arms crossing his chest.

"Alright. Speak."

She swallowed nervously before parting her pink lips. "Gaara-kun and I were just talking. He apologized. A-and he only hugged me—nothing more."

He scanned her face to look for any hint of sadness lingering behind. He saw it had changed. She looked more relieved and content compared to the last couple of weeks.

He uncrossed his arms, sighing. He softened his gaze on her, realizing it was useless on being angry with her. She didn't do anything wrong, but he couldn't shake off the image of her holding that Sabaku kid so tightly.

"I don't like what he had done to you."

"It means nothing to me anymore."

"I still don't like what he did. He made you miserable, Hinata."

"He apologized already, and that's what matters." She insisted. She began to mull over the words that were about to come out her mouth. When they did, it took him aback. "Neji-nii-san, can't you see that I like him? I'm very sure that he meant ever single word that he said."

Yes. He could see she liked that punk. But what else could he do? He couldn't get in between their relationship, he realized. If he did, he knew it would make her sad and that's the last thing he wanted.

After considering what she had just said for a moment, he looked into her lilac eyes and said, "If he breaks your heart again, I will make sure he regrets it."

Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the delay, everyone. How long has it been since I last updated? Four months? More? I don't remember. Again, I'm terribly sorry. I had a difficult time coming up with this chapter and the next ones that's why it's quite short, but I promise I will try to make it longer in the future chapters. Anyway, I hope you guys are still around to read and (still) like what I've come up with. Hope you have a nice day! Don't forget to leave a review. It will definitely make my day!

Thanks for reading!