AN/- I almost gave up on this story…but then a special someone reminded me that some things are worth pursueing and this, coincidently, happened to be one of them. I really do adore this paring and I know where I want this story to go, it's just a matter of bullying myself into doing something about it!
Really, just because Shikamaru is my absolute favorite character, it doesn't mean that I have to adopt his mentality, does it?
Anyway, thank you to those who have subscribed and hopefully you haven't forgotten about this story! I will try to be more diligent in updating because there is so much I want to do with it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the mentioned characters. All credit must go to Masashi Kishimoto who is the bomb-diggiest person ever to have created such a wonderful world! THANK YOU MR MASASHI!
When Naruto woke the next morning, he had three things on his mind. The first and most demanding dealt with his stomach, the second had to do with the fact that he had a very large bruise on his head for an unknown reason, but the third was something entirely different.
He had a dream last night about a silhouette figure dancing a deathly beautiful dance. Her form was perfect, her body exquisite, and her identity? For a long time it remained, to Naruto, a complete mystery. The dream he knew well, as it was a very memorable moment in his young life. Often he found himself thinking about it, but not for a long period of time. Thinking about suggestive silhouettes' would definitely be damaging to his semi-clean record of not being a pervert, despite what most people thought.
But the dream he had last night brought all those images back in full force. That slender body, that unique stance that he was sure had ninja aspects to it. It was all brought back to mind; that, and more. He dreamt as if he were re-living that moment, smelling the fresh, crisp smell of water, feeling the rough surface of the rock from behind which he watched. His mind was, once again, befuddled by the beauty that such a person emanated. Except that something was different about the dream he had last night compared to the countless other times the memory had been brought to mind. He swore he could remember a face; a name.
To put a name to that unknown face, it would be…well, Naruto was sure that he would spend the next forever searching for this woman and making her his own. If only he could remember…
He rubbed self-consciously at his forehead and the other unsolved case of the bruise. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.
He had woken up after his dream, when the world was still dark and the village still sleeping save for the on duty ninja. He knew, even as his mind was recuperating from the onslaught of the beautiful woman, that he would not remember her face come morning. By some divine intervention or something like it, Naruto had a sudden brain flash to write it down. After searching around his bed for pen and paper, he settled for a half broken pencil and a discarded mission report.
Now, as Naruto stood in his small room eyeing the mess of clothes and assortments of weapons, he was frantically trying to remember where he placed the abandoned paper. He knew he put it somewhere obvious, so as to avoid having to search for hours on end for it. But now it just seemed that his careful planning from the early hours of this morning were all in vain, because he couldn't see it anywhere!
He shuffled over to the door, tripping on a stray pair of pants and hitting his toe on the corner of the drawer. Yelping in a tone that could question his masculinity, he assumed bouncing on one foot while clutching the abused toe. It was in this awkward position that he noticed a piece of paper hanging out from a half open drawer.
He fisted his hand, punching the air in a triumphant motion, and reached for the paper. Pulling it from the grip of underwear, he smoothed it out and attempted to decode the letters scribbled on the paper. It was difficult to read because he had written it in the dark and the lead of the pencil was uneven, but he managed to make out the first few letters; Hina.
It took a while for the small word to sink in, and a little while longer for Naruto to add the remaining letters. When he did, though, all he could do was stare in shock. He thought to reshuffle the word around, wondering if he was perhaps reading it wrong, but he couldn't assemble into any other name that he might know.
Hina…Hinata...
His subconscious was telling him that Hinata was the beautiful girl he saw so long ago? Hinata who had been living under his nose for all these years, training side by side with him, accomplishing missions as his comrade…
Whoa.
Needless to say, Naruto was dumfounded for so long that his breakfast went unthought-of and he was late for a team meeting, beating Kakashi by mere milliseconds and earning himself a healthy punch from a very irritated Sakura.
Neji wasn't sure what to make of his latest Friday lunch. The more he thought about it the more baffled he would feel, so he figured it was probably easier if he didn't think about it.
If it were only that simple.
For starters, he couldn't get the picture of that damn dress out of his head - or, more accurately, what the said dress did to the person who was wearing it.
Tenten noticed his attention was constantly elsewhere when she landed a third hit on Neji during a sparring session.
He landed to the ground with an audible grunt, sitting up to wipe the fresh blood from his lip.
"God Neji, what's wrong with you today?" Tenten asked, throwing a towel in his direction. He caught it with a swipe and glared at the ground.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied stiffly.
Tenten scoffed and threw a disbelieving look at Neji. "Sure, of course."
She held her hand out to Neji which he ignored in favour of pushing himself up and dusting the dirt from his clothes.
"So how was lunch yesterday?" Tenten asked casually. Neji stiffened a little before glancing cautiously at Tenten from the corner of his eye. Was it just his imagination, or did he hear a more-than-courteous-curiosity tone in her voice?
"Why?" he asked suspiciously, opting for the latter suspicion
Tenten was very much aware of the crush Neji sported for his younger cousin. Even though he denied every time she brought it up, she just knew he had it bad. While it was a downer when she first suspected it, (after all, Tenten had once sported, herself, a rather large crush on her team-mate,) she soon grew to adore the idea, even going as far as vocally advocating it.
Hinata and Neji were ideal for each other. Both so set on proving their worth to their family, neither seemed to realise that they complimented each other so well. Their formation, when working together, was amazing. Always slipping so naturally into their trade-mark fighting stance and moving as one to defeat an enemy. It really was a sight to behold.
That and the fact that Neji was so protective of Hinata. Perhaps Overly so. But Hinata didn't seem to mind, always sticking close to his side.
And so Tenten thought it was worth her effort to encourage the two. If only they would comply with her hard work!
Tenten smiled, reaching as Neji threw the used towel straight back at her.
"Why not?" she said, "it's obviously all you're able to think about."
"It is not," Neji retorted, "and it was fine, thanks for asking."
Tenten was about to say something but stopped short when a rustle came from close by, followed by loud voices. Neji straightened himself hastily as the shouting got louder.
"That was brilliant Lee! But I think we can do even better!"
"Yes Gai-sensei! We should do it twice as fast as last time," was the eager reply.
"But Lee, that was twice as fast as last time!" They stopped short as they came across the clearing Tenten and Neji were resting in.
"Neji, Tenten!" Lee shouted, "You have stopped!"
"What's this?" Gai said with a frown, "we braked an hour ago. You should make up for your laziness by exerting yourselves with twice as much vigour this time!"
Neji sighed inwardly while Tenten did so outwardly. They would need some quick, stealthy manoeuvring to get out of this one.
"Guys, we're done for today. We'll see you tomorrow Gai-sensei, Lee-kun," Tenten said, turning away and nodding at Neji to leave.
Neji did so promptly before the protests about youth and stamina could start, silently applauding Tentens' exit stratigy.
They left the training grounds in silence, Neji absorbed in thoughts of a certain pale-violet eyed kunoichi, Tenten dying for some explanation on the status of said kunoichi and her brooding team-mate.
"So…" Tenten started, anxiously peering at Neji from the corner of her eye. As usual, his face gave nothing away. A sternly impassive expression schooled into him from childhood plastered on his face, "Hinata is…well…then?"
Nothing changed in Neji's expression. Getting him to spill was like trying to pull milk from a chicken – impossible. But Tenten could swear she saw something akin to nervousness flicker in his lifeless eyes.
Neji sighed irritably.
Or maybe just annoyance - yep definitely annoyance.
"Hinata is quite well." He replied stiffly.
"Oh," Tenten said unsurely, "well, that's good then. I just wondered because I haven't seen her around lately and you two seem to spend more and more time together…" she started trailing off when Neji shot her a warning glare.
Sheesh, she thought, who woke on the wrong side of the bed this morning, huh?
Neji, on the other hand, was not annoyed at Tenten as much as he was annoyed at himself. Was it really so obvious, his inclination towards Hinata? He didn't know what he would do if the whole village found out that he was sporting dishonourable thoughts about his own cousin.
Well, no, they were honourable – just not from the Hyuuga clan stand-point.
Of course, with the Hyuuga clan, marital arrangements were prearranged for the head family. In some cases where it seemed most beneficial, main family members would intermarry if it meant creating a stronger main-branch line.
But even then, Neji was branch. A fact that he was reminded of on a constant basis, if not by the curse seal on his forehead then by the main-family members themselves and their domineering ways.
Hinata is probably going to be married off to some powerful lord or something with Neji's luck.
Sighing audibly he trudged towards the Hyuuga compound, raising his hand in farewell.
Tenten watched Neji walking away with a slight stoop on her shoulders and a pout beginning to form. His hand was raised in farewell and, before Tenten could contemplate what she was doing, she ran up to Neji, put her hands on his shoulders and twisted him around, a firm frown replacing the pout fixed on her face.
"Idiot, you promised me lunch!" she said sternly.
The Hyuuga looked slightly confused, "No I didn't," he said
"Oh, but you did," Tenten insisted, pulling him towards the busiest part of the village. Her hand was firmly gripping Neji's arm – much like a mother dragging a rebellious child – and her face was set.
"Fine," Neji said with a grumble, "just not Ichiraku's please…"
First thing's fist; Tenten is going to get some answers out of this man.
Following that, she could feel the wheels of mischief clugging to life. If they couldn't make this work for themselves, then maybe all they needed was a helping hand…
Please please please review! Reviews are such a motivating factor in any aspiring writers life and are greatly appreciated. I said it in another fic, and I'll say it again and again. Review and I will love you forever…what else could you ask for?
XD
Planning for the next chapter has commenced. Not sure how much more plot, but I will try not to disappoint. ^_^
