A/N- Greetings! I got a parakeet, his name is Petri, like the dish but he was actually named after an inside joke involving my friend's grade school nickname, and he is blue and hell sent. He bites and screeches but doesn't really sing (he's still cute anyway). Sorry for the long wait but I've been working my ass off at Summerfest. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, I hope it's good, REVIEW!

Disclaimer- I own nothing, I need nothing, I don't own time or property or emotion, I rent. I also don't own any song lyrics so shove it.

Chapter Three- Cleanliness is Next To Godliness, I Think

Last Time: Neji got himself beaten up emotionally and physically indirectly by searching for Crystal but directly by not respecting the authority of oncoming traffic, Jackie and the Gilding boys had a great time at the restaurant for Will's birthday which Crystal enjoyed as well until she went home in time to see Neji get hit by a car and then she accidentally poisoned him with curry, which she had no idea he was allergic to. So currently, Jackie and Will are sleeping while Matt and Crystal are in the emergency room and the ninja crew has just noticed their buddy is missing…

"So, let me get this straight, this kid calls your name, gets hit by a car, wakes up in your room, passes out again, and you not only take him to the hospital but you wait to see him and you've never met him before in your life?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Nope, never seen him in my life." Crystal sighed. This was the third time Matt was asking her the same question and she couldn't wait for the night to be over.

It was midnight an they were basically the only people in the EMERGENCY waiting room. Will had just fallen asleep when Crystal had called her best friend for help so Matt hadn't bothered to wake him. Crystal hadn't called Jackie because compared to the questions Matt had asked, 'When did you find him?' 'Where did he come from?' 'Are you alright?' and 'Should I go to the front door or the back?' Jackie could have been the Spanish Inquisition. Not that that was a bad thing, but sometimes –all the time- matters such as this one were easiest when there was no one to over complicate them, and that's what Jackie was best at, over complicating things.

Matt sighed and picked up a News Week that was sitting on one of the little plastic waiting room tables and flipped through it. "I can't believe you even talked to this guy, I mean come on. You didn't know him or anything, you should have called an ambulance in the first place and been done with it."

"I know. It's just that, I don't know, it seemed like he knew me, or like he wanted to talk to me or something." Crystal admitted with a shrug. "I don't know what it was, but he's not like anyone I've ever met before. The way he talked and the way he acted, it's like he's from a different planet entirely."

Matt sighed again, "Now you're starting to sound like Jackie."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Excuse me, are you Crystal Lira?"

The fighting teens turned to study the tall, brown haired girl standing in front of a group of kids who looked out of place in a hospital. The girl was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt but she was only wearing flip flops on her feet and her wet hair had been thrown up into two little messy buns on the sides of her head. All of the boys were wearing swim trunks and shirts that had obviously been thrown on. The other girl was wearing an insanely short skirt and flip flops and her shirt, if it could be called that, was a bright pink halter that stopped right under her chest. They were a funny looking bunch all right.

Matt was gaping but Crystal recovered quickly, "Yes, I am, can I help you?

"Hell yes you can," an emo looking boy with hot longish hair replied sulkily, "you can tell us where our friend ran off to, and what he was doing when you hospitalized him."

The tall girl elbowed him in the ribs, "I'm sorry, we're not trying to be rude," she glared at the emo boy, "we'd just like to know if you've seen our friend, we called him and he wouldn't pick up, but the lady at the front desk said a boy of his description came in so we came to find him. Maybe you can help us out?"

"Maybe you can help us out. Who are you guys?" Matt asked heatedly.

"We're ninja!" Naruto exclaimed.

Crystal and Matt looked up at the kids in disbelief, they were wide awake all of the sudden. They looked up for about two seconds then burst into hysterical laughter. It had been a long night.

(Back in) TIME SKIP

Ten ten got back to the room first. It was almost midnight so the hotel staff was closing the pool down for the night. Neji wasn't there, telling her he had probably gone for a walk to arrange his thoughts- something he did quite often. She checked her cell phone's voice mail to find two odd things. 1) She got service here, although she was way out of the scope of her plan and 2) She had no messages.

She paced angrily, pissed that once again her friend had wandered off on a whim without so much as a phone call. She sighed heavily and plopped down on the bed, holding the 2 button on her cell phone (A/N- Yes Neji is 2 on Ten ten's speed dial, right after her house and right before the pizza delivery guy). The phone rang four times, then went to voice mail, 'This is Neji Hyuuga. I obviously don't want to talk to you, you're not worth answering for. If I were you I wouldn't even bother leaving a message." There was a click then a beep and the buzz of the voice mail waiting to hear the message. Ten ten hung up.

That was odd. Neji always answered her calls. The only times he didn't want to talk, even to her, he turned his phone off. This was not good. Now it was her turn to pace.

The rest of the gang came up a few minutes later, dripping and in a good mood. All of them fell silent when they saw Ten ten pacing angrily, with a worried crinkle between her eyebrows.

"Neji's not here?" Lee guessed, exasperated.

Ten ten shook her head.

"Don't worry." Sakura said kindly, sitting down next to Ten ten.

Naruto looked sad.

"Come on Ten ten, there's really only three places Neji could be. The liquor store down the street, drowning his troubles, or out looking for the Lira girl, or in the hospital." Shika said logically.

Ten ten let out a little squeal and hid he face in her hands, thus beginning a very long night.

TIME SKIP

Neji woke up in a little cream-colored room in the intensive care ward of the hospital. He was pale and tired but he couldn't be happier. The nurse had just left. She had told him that he was going to be just fine then he had asked her if anyone was waiting for him. The nurse had told him he had a little army waiting to see him and he had only let her leave with the promise that she would bring Crystal in to see him. Only Crystal, no one else. Now he lay back, considering what he was going to say.

He had made himself sound like an idiot last time around, so he decided he had to plan his speech now. Then, nothing could make him look stupid when he got his second chance to make a first impression.

Crystal came in; she had dressed down from her fancy dinner clothes into faded jeans and a bright blue form-fitting tank top. The blue shirt was accented by an orange belt and neon orange hoop earrings, which she somehow managed to pull off.

She gave him a warm smile and pulled one of those super-uncomfortable hospital chairs up to his bed, sat down and pushed her hair out of her face. "Hey, how're you doing? You really should have told me you couldn't take spicy." She said apologetically, "You look like crap." She added with a rueful smile.

She was easy to like, even though she had just met him, she was treating him like a friend, or at least like a long time comrade. He couldn't help return her smile. "Sorry I've cause you so much trouble lately, I didn't mean to, honestly."

"So you say, but what I can't figure out is, why does such a smart boy cross a busy street with no respect for the authority of oncoming traffic then, you eat food with no regard for what's in it. It's almost like you're trying to get yourself killed, that or you really like pain. If you are a ninja, you must be a pretty crappy one."

Neji blushed, just a little. "I'm a good ninja." He moped to himself. "A genius." But there was no way to tell Crystal that. He just had to push through. "There isn't oncoming traffic where I'm from. It's very different."

Crystal chuckled, "Where are you from? No cars? That's crazy. And, if it's true, why are you here."

"I don't know," He answered honestly, "I was kind of hoping you could tell me."

She was laughing out loud now, "You've better go back to your mystery land dude, I don't have all the answers. I'm barely passing my AP Physics class."

Neji laid back on his pillows, at least this was going better then it did the last time. "Why did you write that song?" Neji asked, barely able to contain himself. Crystal looked thoughtful; she stared over him like she was trying to decode the answer from the creamy wallpaper.

Crystal's POV

She was stumped. Crystal had never known where her inspiration had come from. She had been writing songs since she was a little kid, and they always just came to her. She somehow knew what he was talking about. The bird song. He looked so desperate, like his entire existence depended on her answer.

She sighed and looked him in the eye, "I don't know. Honestly I couldn't even begin to explain it. I suppose I feel trapped all the time I my life, held back by all the things I can't do, and all of the thing people need from me and I can't give them, kind of like right now actually. I wish I had all of the answers and I wish I could do more. I wish I knew where I was going and what the world wanted from me, where my life was going. I wish I knew if destiny was going somewhere with me or if I'm just floating, all alone, in the wind and I have to find some way to steer myself through my life. It kills me, not knowing, and that's the best I've got."

She shook her head and looked at Neji with big, dreamy eyes. She looked lost and he wished he could do something to help her, but he was feeling as lost as she looked.

Crystal looked up and smiled again, bad mood blown away. She swiped at her eyes and took another deep breath. "Now I'm done being sentimental. I'm sure you're friends are anxious to see you and I'm taking all of your time with my stupid senior slump."

She got up and put the chair back, waiting for confirmation from him that they were done.

Neji's POV

Neji was shell-shocked but trying to collect himself. He looked at Crystal then back at the ceiling. His friends. Yes, they would certainly be worried, and he did owe them an explanation. He nodded, hardly able to comprehend everything Crystal had just told him.

And she said he was a bad ninja! She had just spilled her personal inner workings to (basically) a complete stranger. He had come all this way, risked his life for this silly obsession, and now he didn't know what to do.

Then she was smiling again and he just stopped worrying. For the first time in his life, he had decided to let whatever was going to happen happen and not worry about it.

"Okay Neji, I'll go get your friends and I'll see you later okay."

"Okay." Neji agreed, worn out.

She turned to leave and without prior thought he called her back "Hey Crystal?"

"Hum?" She asked, turning back to face him.

He found, once again, that words had escaped him, "Thanks." He decided lamely.

"Don't mention it. What are you thanking me for?"

Neji shrugged and gave her another rare smile.

"Okay then." She shrugged back and disappeared out the door. Neji went to sleep.

TIME SKIP

He didn't get to sleep long though, because in a matter of minutes he was surrounded by his friends. Ten ten was worrying over him and bugging him about how he didn't even call and Sasuke was complaining about how Jackie (who had arrived while Crystal was visiting Neji) wouldn't stop making fun of his hair. Shikamaru and Naruto were having a food related argument of some sort while Sakura complained about how she hadn't had the chance to comb out her hair properly after swimming and Lee was trying to assure her that she always looked beautiful and she was telling him how he was full of crap.

Neji sighed, just like always. Out of the blue, he let an amused smile cross his lips and, one by one, they all turned from what they were whining about to stare at him.

"You guys know you're really annoying right?" he asked, pleased that his of the cuff behavior had gotten them to shut up. They stared in shock at him for another couple seconds before launching into their own responses.

"Have you gone insane? You're not even listening to my ranting!" Ten ten moaned.

"Calm down," Sasuke chimed in, "he's right you guys are annoying as hell."

"Oh we're annoying?" Sakura snapped and Shikamaru nodded in support.

"Yes you are." Ten ten agreed.

"Don't be so mean." Lee moped and all of this was drowned out when Naruto climbed out of his stupor during which he had been whispering "Neji the Hyuuga smiled." in amazed and reverent tones and he shrieked "NEJI-KUN WAS REPLACED BY A ROBOT CLONE!!"

"Naruto, you watch entirely too much TV." Sakura chuckled and they all joined in the laughter. (Except Neji, who was scouling.)

"Just like a big happy family!" the nurse exclaimed, bustling in with some soup-broth on a tray. "I'm sorry but you'll all have to leave now, visiting hours are over and so you can see your friend again in the morning.

So they said their goodbyes and were ushered out and Neji got to go back to sleep: For a while, that is…

TIME SKIP

Crystal didn't have to drive everyone home; Matt handled that, so all she had to do was sleep. She had talked to Ten ten and they were going to meet up by the fountain at the mall so the Jackie and the crew could give them a tour then they were going to go out for lunch.

Unlike her friend, Crystal did not judge people based on their hair styles, so after the ninjas had stopped trying to convince the teens that they were ninja, they became instant friends.

But, like Neji, Crystal didn't get to sleep for long, because she was woken up at five a.m. by Jackie, who had decided that 'Spring Cleaning' should really be done in the fall…

Crystal swam groggily to the surface of her dream, which had been confusing but good overall. It had involved two pink llamas, a weird guy with red eyes and a cloak covered in little red clouds, and of course, her new friend Neji. Now she would never know how it ended, damn it.

She was jolted fully awake when the loud vacuum cleaner which had dragged her from her dreams was chunkily pushed against her bed and dust from the shelf above her head rained down into her eyes.

She sneezed and sputtered up at Jackie, who was leaning on the vacuum and smile sadistically. "Hey champ! How was sleep?"

"What sleep?" Crystal asked annoyed, pushing her covers back and shuffling to the bathroom.

As soon as she was up, Jackie stripped the sheets off her bed and remade it with clean ones, throwing the old one into the hamper. She then dusted the shelf and finished vacuuming.

When Crystal got out of the shower wrapped in a towel and her slippers, and nothing else, because her clothes had disappeared, she was amazed to find her room sparkling. Her dressers were dust-free and organized, she could see her desk and her floor, the window was gunk free and as soon as she crossed into the bedroom, Jackie bulleted into the bathroom and like the White Tornado, made it all shine like the mirror. Crystal found a nicer tee-shirt and some jeans and through them on.

Jackie, finished with the bathroom, beamed. "I cleaned my house and got bored so I waxed your kitchen floor, re-decorated your living room and got your room ready for our sleep over with over new friends." She said with a smirk.

"Huh? I though you didn't like cleaning, or my new friends for that matter."

"Well, I made up with them when Matt told me I had to and it turns out, Sakura and me have a lot in common, and the emo kid is an animal but after learning that I couldn't sleep so I cleaned and you see where that led."

Crystal glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was six and the sun was just coming up. She shook her head, "I though you were dating Will."

"I am." Jackie replied, obviously unaware of the fact that relationships require commitment. "And now, it's almost seven, so we can go pick your friend up from the hospital."

Crystal sighed, the room was spinning a little because Jackie was talking so fast and the bleach fumes must have been getting to them both, she shrugged and did what she always did when Jackie got like this. "Okay Jackie, grab your coat, I'll drive." She grabbed her keys and walked to her car. it was going to be a long day…

A/N- Poor chapter but I'm working on it, hope you enjoyed!

Next time- Shopping with ninja is really a disaster when Kakashi pays his team a visit and Jackie is kidnapped by Gaara and the Sand Siblings. Stick around!