Crystal Inferno: Sorry for the long overdue update. This one features both Neji and Kiba, but they don't interact with each other, so don't expect another brawl. All right, for your responses:

pyro-fire-love: Wow…you are envious…but I am too! I wish I had as many guys as Hinata has after me (just not my cousin…) Thanks for reviewing!

I like angst- Thank you for the name considerations! I really am considering changing my name, but it's so hard, because I really like my first one! Thank you for the review and the suggestion! Absolutely wonderful!

rcr- Oh…you are in for a surprise this chapter…Thanks for reviewing!

Elise-neechan- Thanks for finding that mistake! I'll try to fix it when I have time! Thanks for reviewing!

Kichou- Oh don't worry, he shall, and so shall Kiba…they will all fight for the love to prevail. Thanks for reviewing!

twiggy-shino- Maybe. Maybe not…I'm not giving anything away! (Oh…wait…did I already tell you?) Anyways, Thanks for reviewing!

Torn00- To tell you the truth, I like your name right now better, but it's your opinion. I'm glad you have stuck with me thick and thin, I appreciate it. Thanks for reviewing!

CatC10- Don't worry! I haven't broken the whole thing up! Stay calm, stay calm! Everything will all turn into place…I promise! Thanks for reviewing!

Okay, that's everyone who reviewed last chapter. Now, chapter begin!

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Kiba lightly flew through the streets of the village, with his bouquet of flowers in his hand, clutching them with slight anxiety. He wanted to find Hinata, but the chances of her even going out today were slim; Neji would not let her out of his sight, so long as she was still in the manor. He growled at the thought as Neji entered his mind; he would avenge Hinata for the burden he had placed on her, he would regret placing her in such a predicament.

Then, he caught a familiar scent, one that smelt not of Hinata, but similar. It was a relative, as all the Hyugga's had the scent of jasmine and lavender, even that bastard of a shinobi, Neji. He followed the scent and soon found a frantic Hanabi, shaking near the Hyugga compound.

"Hanabi!" yelled out Kiba, his voice not so boisterous, not wanting to attract attention from himself so close to the Hyugga manor. Hanabi looked up at the voice and noticed Kiba, and her once desperate expression was replaced by one of hope and ecstasy. She immediately jumped to where Kiba sat and wrapped her arms around him in a suffocating hug.

"Kiba! You have to help me! Hinata's gone, and if Neji find's out what's sleeping in her room is just a clone, he's going to kill me!" Hanabi wailed an obvious wave of emotions crashing upon her and shifting left in right in her mind. "I was supposed to watch over Hinata, but I fell asleep and now I have no idea what to do! Please, Kiba you have to help me! Neji's going to get mad and you know how he is! Please Ki-"

Kiba put a hand over her mouth to silence her, and her eyes looked up to meet his. "Now, Hanabi, I know you are stronger then you are acting right now," Kiba stated, trying to sound soft and calm, although he was burning with curiosity as to where Kiba ran off to. "You may still be younger then I am, but you're probably more mature. Now, calmly explain the events that have led up to this."

"O…Okay," Hanabi sniffled, drying the tears that had sprung from her eyes in her wails. She told him everything: how someone had come to 'take' Hinata away, how he woke her up at 2 in the morning to keep an eye on Hinata, how she fell asleep falling prey to the sandman, and finally, how she woke up, tried to wake up Hinata and realized it was a clone (the smoke revealed everything…)

"Alright, Hanabi. Thank you for the information," Kiba said, messing her hair around. "Now, that wasn't so hard, telling me with a calm head, now was it?"

Hanabi laughed gently. "Thank you, Kiba-kun. I'm okay now. I'll just stay away from the manor, maybe talk to Moegi-chan for awhile. You just make sure to find Hinata-neechan, okay?"

"You got it kid," Kiba winked, and flew off the building, waving to Hanabi as she went the other direction to seek her friend. Kiba didn't even bother going near the Hyugga manor; why would Hinata in her right mind go near the place she had so desperately tried to escape?

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Neji was walking around the manor rather nonchalantly, knowing everything was going according to plan. Hanabi was keeping an eye on Hinata, and if she tried to escape, Hanabi would just use the jutsu he had taught her…one of paralysis…He was interrupted by two of the Main House elders, staring at him with a tinge of curiosity floating in their eyes.

"Neji-san, we were informed that you are engaged to Hinata-san. Is that correct?" one of them asked, his lavender eyes trying to burn into his own. It did not faze Neji, and he merely nodded his head.

"I see," stated the other one, his eyes slightly growing wider, realization kicking in. "So, your children will be the strongest the Hyugga clan will ever have to offer. Hinata has truly transformed and has passed her younger sibling by ten-fold and you Neji, the prodigy of the clan itself! Yes, we are blessed with this engagement indeed."

He couldn't help but stare at the men with a frown upon his face. Did they only think this was a matter of children, of offspring to the clan? He could see the hatred beneath their grinning faces, cursing him, and hoping he will die before the engagement, so Hinata would marry another, perhaps one of their own.

"Don't think this is a matter of offspring," Neji said darkly. "I have brought this engagement upon myself because I love Hinata, and want to be the one to protect and love her through life and death." The men were taken aback, but simply excused themselves, and walked on. Neji continued on, smoothing down his short hair. He never thought short hair could be so unruly…

Or Hinata for that matter.

He sighed heavily. She said she may love that roa- Shino. He stopped himself from thinking him as a bug, due to Hinata's wishes. However, he would steal her heart; he would have her for eternity. He reflected on the previous night, when he had proposed his idea to Hiashi…

"What?" Hiashi questioned, shock sinking into his head. "Does she love you, Neji?"

"I…" Neji faltered, unable to perceive Hinata's true feelings. But he could not lie to Hiashi, not when he could lose everything he had achieved in a blink of an eye. "I can't say."

"I want my daughter to be happy, Neji," Hiashi stated, his eyes becoming warm. "She has become beautiful, skilled, and elegant. Although your engagement would help the clan greatly with its offspring, Hinata must choose her own destiny. Clans are changing, being to reform to this new age. Our clan is stuck in the past, and I wish to step forward into the present. Hinata, as the heiress to the clan will alter the clan as well, seeing the inflexibility of it."

The room was silent for some time. Neji stared at the ground, trying to think of something, anything, so he could have her hand in marriage.

"Hiashi-sama, what if I propose to her, and she says yes? It won't be arranged, no strings attached. If she says no, I'll stand down. But if she says yes, then we will get married this spring," Neji mentally patted himself for coming up with such an astounding proposition.

"Very well, Neji. I hope all goes well," Hiashi stated, and the conversation ended with that.

Obviously, that had not been the way the events had turned out to play. Neji was ashamed of his actions. He knew what he had done to Hinata was wrong; he could not force this engagement upon her, he needed to have her heart before he took anything of hers away. He would make it up to her: take her out to eat, tell her his apologies, and just hope that she would consider him as his forever love.

With that he strolled towards Hinata's room, knowing for sure that she was there, still feeling a presence in the room. He walked up to the door quietly opened it…

He was surprised to find her on her windowsill, as though returning from a destination. She looked up and shock filled her body causing her to fall off the window, but Neji swiftly approached and caught her before she hit the ground. She struggled against his firm grip on her thin waist, but to no avail did she succeed. She finally relaxed and waited until he let her go.

"Hinata…" he started, trying to sound soothing while gently standing up and letting go of her, only to have her push away and look at him with mild distaste.

"Whatever you are about to say, Neji-san, it won't stop from what you did last night anymore frightening!" she bellowed at him, her eyes ferocious and wild. Neji analyzed her body briefly, to see what type of mood she was in. Her stare was straight into his, symbolizing she wasn't afraid to fight, and was not about to back down. Her posture was forward, ready to pounce on him if he even took a step forward. And, her arms were curled into fists, showing she would show no mercy to him if he fought back.

"Hinata-chan, I wanted to apologize…" Neji tried to begin, and seeing the mood in her eyes turn from fierce to curious. He never ever apologized, or said he was sorry. He always believed in to be fate's doing if anything was wrong. However, with Hinata, all were of his own accord, and he saw he needed to change in order to obtain her heart, body, and soul. "What I did, and said last night was shameful, and completely out of character. But, just seeing you with Shino made my blood run cold…I just can't imagine you with anyone else but me…" he trailed off and watched as she took a step forward, symbolizing she was trying to understand the current situation, intrigued by his commentary.

"You are not engaged to me. Hiashi-san said I needed your love first before I could put a ring on your finger. I'm sorry I forced this upon you. You do not need to marry me if you don't want to…" it hurt to say those words. His vocal cords were tight, and he could barely breathe. Why was telling her this so…hard?

But at this proposal, Hinata's eyes lit up, as though she was happy of what she told him. "So, you mean Neji-san, that I'm not engaged to you, that I'm not bound to this marriage?"

He nodded his head slightly, taking all the strength in his body to move himself forward and take her hand. She did not object, and he looked at her left hand. On her ring finger was, of course, the ring of bondage, the one he had spent two of his missions on; he could have easily used that on other items, like kunai, shuriken, and exploding tags. But no, he had spent his money on something he would value for the rest of his life, something he wanted to treasure with his one and only love, Hinata.

With a quick gesture, the ring was off her finger, and Neji took a couple steps back, unsure of his or her future actions. "You are free; you can do as you please, be with who you please…"

"Neji-san…" Hinata said softly, her voice trying to be tender and considerate, "Thank you and I'm sorry. I just wish you could have been gentler."

"Hinata…" Neji spoke abruptly, and Hinata looked up to reach his stare. It was intense, although attempting to show her all that was going through his head: his love, his determination, his power, his sanity… "I want a chance to redeem myself. Please, spend the afternoon with me. I would like to show you I'm not cruel, that I truly appreciate you for who you are and who you will become."

Neji walked closer, and soon was only inches from her face. "Please, Hinata…let me prove my love to you." He finished sternly, not wanting to mislead that he was unconfident in his abilities to steal her heart from Naruto, Shino, and Kiba.

She looked at him strangely, unable to see his actual motives. Yet, she smiled lightly, and said "Sure, Neji. Just promise not be…forceful." She cringed slightly, but Neji was able to see her discomfort. She had been holding her arm for quite awhile…why he hadn't noticed it?

"Hinata, remove your jacket, you obviously have an injury, probably by my doing," he stated in a professional matter. Hinata shook her head, in denial she was in pain, but Neji simply stated, "Hinata, if you don't remove your jacket, I'll do it for you." His emphasis was to show that he was not kidding, and he knew that really wanted much contact with him, her arms shielding her body to some extent. Her eyes widen at his statement and she hastily remove her jacket, revealing a white camisole underneath, showing off every aspect of her curves…it took all Neji's discipline not to stare down.

"Now, sit on the bed," he ordered politely, and she did what she was told. He briefly examined her right arm, and saw no apparent bruises, but as he trailed up her upper arm, he felt her body quiver in pain. He swerved his fingers over back and shivers of soreness crept through Hinata's body. He examined her back, and noticed deep scratches in her pale skin. He remembered his nails digging into her skin…enjoying the pain he had conflicted. But now, he was appalled and embarrassed by his actions. How could he, to the one he supposedly loved?

"I'm sorry, Hinata…" Neji sighed, "I didn't mean to cause you agony…" He allowed his chakra to move to his hands, and soon they began to glow a transparent blue. He had dabbled in medical ninjutsu once a year ago, for the sake of missions if anyone was injured. He was able to heal minor and major wounds, including deep swords being thrust into your thigh (a mental image of Tenten fighting a Rain shinobi was not exactly his favorite battle memory…) and therefore, was bale to heal, the minor but painful scratches Hinata had obtained by his hand. He placed his palms on her back and let the chakra sink her into her skin. Some shivers shook Hinata's body, but they quickly halted, the pain fading away. Once he was done, Hinata touched her back, noticing no more shivers ran through her body, and she relaxed.

"Thank you…Neji-kun," she warmly stated. Neji eyes widened at her adding the 'kun' suffix instead of the 'san.' Perhaps, he would be forgiven sooner then he believed. Still, he would show nothing but respect to her; she was goddess and needed to be treated as such.

"It was my pleasure, Lady Hinata," he politely replied and they began to talk about trivial matters until the afternoon came about…

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Kiba rushed to the training grounds, knowing well that whenever Hinata was in a difficult situation, she would come here, and train so she could clear her head. As he approached the area, he noticed a figure in all black, covered from head to toe, that certainly was not Hinata…

The figure raised its head, sensing another presence among the training area. His sunglasses hid his stare, but one could see his eyebrows creased in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?!" Kiba exclaimed and Shino stated irritated. This was going to be one long reunion chat…

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Crystal Inferno: Okay, that was it. I'm sorry the chapter is kind of short, and I'm really sorry for the long update. Please accept my apologies. Happy Readings!

Shino: Do you really expect to get off so easily?

CI: Um…no

Kiba: Yeah, I've been waiting five months to be with Hinata! And what do I get? Crap!

CI: (tears) I'm sorry!

Neji: It's alright, CI, I'm glad you posted this chapter.

Kiba: Why? Because you redeemed yourself from being a jerk?

Neji: Precisely.

Kiba: ...

CI: Please review! Most appreciated!