A Caged Bird's Love Chapter Four
Their mission had now officially begun.
Hinata glanced nervously at the young man walking beside her. This was her fist mission alone with Neji, and she wasn't quite sure what to say. But then again, Neji had never been one for conversation anyway. She averted her gaze back to the road and decided to relax. Calm down, Hinata, calm down. Everything's going to be alright.
Neji risked a quick look at the kunoichi. She seemed to be tense. Was she nervous? About being on a dangerous mission, or being around him, after what happened last night? He blushed a bit at the memory. God, say something, Neji! This is so awkward, and Hinata is uncomfortable!
A small hand tugged at his sleeve. He came back to reality to see a smiling Hinata.
"Look, Neji-nii-san!" She pointed to some cardinals that were on a branch near-by. "Aren't they pretty?"
He smiled. "Yeah." Strange, he would never have noticed something like that. He watched the two birds leave their perch and fly away into the deeper woods. Neji sighed. He wished he could do that…..
Hinata was looking around with joy, taking in everything with wide eyes. She loved to be outside the village walls.
Neji watched her. "Hiashi-sama doesn't let you out much, does he?"
She shook her head. "No, Father is quite, um…….protective……" She looked down sadly. Neji mentally kicked himself for making her upset. Idiot! Watch what you say!
But…..He realized with a pang that Hinata was in a similar situation as him……trapped in the cage of the Hyuuga clan, fate predetermined and unmovable. At least he was allowed to go on missions, most of the time. Fearing for the successor's safety, Hiashi has restrained Hinata from leaving the village many times. But why would he let her go on this one?
Without thinking, he reached over and took her hand. She looked up, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. He smiled and squeezed her hand. "I'm sure everything is going to be alright."
She smiled shyly and nodded, making no move to remove her hand from his grip. Heart pounding, Neji kept walking and holding her hand. She even moved to hold his.
He couldn't help but grin when he felt her hand give his a small squeeze. If only it could be like this forever……
They made camp near a steam that night, Hinata tending the fire while Neji laid out their things and kept watch. Well, he was supposed to be keeping watch. He wasn't making much progress, because he was kept getting distracted and staring at Hinata as she made their dinner.
After catching himself at it for the tenth time, Neji decided to take walk to clear his mind. Bu that didn't help much either. His mind's eye kept picturing her, with her raven hair, delicate figure, and opal eyes……….Snap out of it, Neji! He silentlyberated himself. Stop thinking! Yeah, that was good idea. Just stop thinking. Unfortunately, when you are a genius, that is quite impossible.
Neji came back to reality with a jerk and found that his feet had carried him a bit to far from their campsite. Swearing colorfully, he turned and started to run.
"TASKETE!" A scream split the air and Neji began to run faster. That was Hinata's voice!
The sound of clashing shuriken met his ears. Damn it, you shouldn't have left her alone!
He took a kunai out of his pouch as he rounded the corner. With a quick flick of his rest, it imbedded itself deep into one of the attacker's backs. The man fell with a thud.
Neji looked around wildly for Hinata. She was ten feet away from the fire, currently engaged in a vicious battle with a man twice her size.
He was surprised to see three men already on the ground, dead. Did Hinata do this?
Four men, including the man fighting with Hinata, were still alive, and advancing. Neji smirked and drew another knife. Unlucky bastards. He charged.
Hinata had activated her Byaakugan, and was going at the man with all she had. She had already hit him in several vital areas, and now only brute force was keeping him from collapsing. She had yelled for help after spotting three more men emerge from the shadows.
Hinata was glad to see Neji come running into view, though part of her was a bit disappointed. She had wanted to handle this by herself, to show him that she was strong. But she had a good head on her shoulders and knew that she was outnumbered.
She pulled out a kunai and rammed it into the man's heart. She hopped out of the way when he fell. A quick glance was all she needed to confirm that he was dead.
Neji sighed and began to fight. The first man he took care of by driving a knife through his skull. Unfortunately, the other two weren't as stupid. One retreated a bit while the other pulled out three shuriken.
Neji caught sight of the retreating man's hitai-ate. A ninja? No wait. A closer look showed the piece of metal to be split in two. A missing-nin. He frowned. This could get messy. He dodged the thrown shuriken with ease and flipped, bringing his foot down on the man's head. This only knocked the enemy out, however. But that was good enough for Neji. He turned to the shinobi in the shadows. The missing-nin's hands were lost in a flurry of hand seals, and Neji jumped up to avoid the ice needles that appeared out of nowhere, aiming for his heart. He activated his Byaakugan and landed on the ground solidly. The missing-nin sneered.
"You're quite good, kid, but you're also cocky. Unfortunately for you, I hate people like that." A kunai glinted in his hand. Neji frowned and drew his own knife. He mentally calculated the distance between the two of them, wondering if he could get to the man fast enough to take him by surprise. Eh……probably. His muscles tensed.
"I'm very sorry that my skill displeases you. But fortunately for you, fate has maneuvered both our destinies. And I can assure you, She has planned your death."
The shinobi smirked. "Fate? Well, I don't believe in fate, kid. Just what do you think you're gonna do?"
Neji smiled and, in the missing-nin's eyes, disappeared. 'W-what!" he cried. Holding his knife in front of him to guard.
Neji smirked. How idiotic……His speed increased and he advanced on the foreign shinobi. He was so focused that he failed to sense the other man come up behind him until-
"NEJI-NII-SAN! Behind you!" Hinata cried. Neji stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. This was a dire mistake, as the larger man swung a knife, catching Neji in the arm. He stumbled, taking a step back. His momentary pause was all the missing-nin needed, and in a second he was behind the Hyuuga, kunai held aloft, ready to plunge it into the young man's back.
Suddenly, five shuriken whished out of nowhere and hit the first man solidly. He gave a grunt and fell. The Hinata was there, between Neji and the other ninja. She gave a yell and tore her kunai across the man's chest. His face was frozen in a look of shock as he went down.
Neji stared. The young woman stood before him, panting, as the post-battle excitement flowed through her veins.
Hinata looked up, eyes bright. "Neji-nii-san, are you alright?"
He gulped. Was Hinata always this strong? "Uh…..yeah, I think so…."
"No you're not."
"What?"
She walked over to him, eyes now worried, brow furrowed. "You're hurt."
He looked down. Blood stained the cloth were the man had cut him in the arm. "Oh, don't worry about that- it's just a scratch."
She shook her head, examining the wound. "No, it's pretty deep. I'm sorry, if I had gotten there sooner-"
Neji put a finger to her lips. She looked up, surprised. So was Neji. But then again, he had been surprising himself a lot since the he heard of the mission. "No, you did great. Better than I did, actually. You saved my life, Hinata-sama. Thank you."
Her eyes widened. Neji had just complimented her! She went pink with pleasure. "O-oh, um, thank you, Neji-nii-san……."
He smiled. Hinata went back to look at his arm. "But we should really get this treated. If you'll just come over here……."
She dragged him to the dying fire and made him sit. Throwing some branches on the flame, she went to her pack and opened it. Bringing out some bandages and a sealed canteen, she knelt beside him. "This is for cleaning it, I don't want an infection to get in," she explained, blotting the wound and pouring whatever was in the canteen over his arm.
It stung, and Neji winced. She smiled at his reaction. "Herbal water," she told him, "Good for sanitizing wounds."
He nodded and relaxed as she dried his arm off. Her touch was light and delicate, and Neji almost smiled. They were sitting so close…….
When she was done cleaning his injury, Hinata placed both hands on his arm. "Bear with this," she said before she closed her eyes. Green charka flowed from her fingertips into the cut. Neji sighed and closed his eyes as coolness spread from her hands.
Ten minutes later, Hinata opened her eyes. Neji had dozed off and was breathing slowly and deeply. As much as she wanted to just sit there and watch him, Hinata steeled herself to gently shake hi shoulder. "Neji-nii-san…."
He woke with a start, reflexively grabbing her wrist and pulling her down, pulling out a kunai.
"Neji-nii-san!" she cried, trying to get up. Neji blinked.
"What? Hinata-sama! I'm so sorry!" He released his iron grip on her wrist. "Please forgive me, I forgot myself…."
She nodded shakily and went back to tending the fire. He inwardly groaned. Stupid reflexes.
He leaned against the tree, closing his eyes. Hinata had done a good job on his cut, it no longer bothered him. Now he was just worn out. Fighting will do that to you.
He twitched when a bowl of something warm was pushed into his hands. Without opening his eyes, he accepted the offered spoon and took a sip of whatever it was.
He eyes sprang open. He stared at the bowl's contents for a second before taking another sip. It was……..good.
Hinata frowned when she saw his reaction. Was it burnt? Did he not like it? "Ano….Neji-nii-san, I'm sorry, I can make something else is you like-"
Much to her surprise, Neji began to gulp the soup down at an alarming rate. "A-ano…..."she whispered, quite unsure what to do.
Neji put the bowl down and laughed. Neji. Laughing. Hyuuga Neji. This shocked Hinata even more. She had never heard her cousin laugh like that. Had he been hit on the head too?
He handed her back the bowl, grinning. "Thank you, Hinata-sama. That was the first good meal I've had in a long time. I don't usually have food this good."
"Eh!" She stared at him. It was just a simple recipe, made for being cooked on the move. How could it be that good?
Neji couldn't help but think how cute Hinata looked when she was flustered. What? Wait! Stop thinking that, you bastard! Pull yourself together!
With effort, he resumed his normal stoic expression. Rising, he looked at the sky. "Thank you, Hinata-sama. But I think you try to get some rest now. We're going to have to cover a lot of distance tomorrow. I'll keep watch." He went to sit by his stuff.
Hinata tilted her head. Neji had suddenly gone from a laughing, kind friend back to her cold, distant cousin. Was it something I did?
She climbed into her sleeping roll, and lay there for a while, listening to the crickets in the near-by field and the deep, even breathing of the young man sitting across form her. The rhythmic sound hypnotized her, and she shut her eyelids in peaceful slumber.
Neji sensed Hinata's breathing slow with sleep, and he relaxed a bit, though he was still on his guard. The earlier men had probably just been rogues, without specific orders. But you could never be to sure. He sat erect, ready to sense any near-by movement. The night sky was beginning to be stained with yellow, as the sun peeked through the hills. Neji sighed and leaned back, wondering what tomorrow would bring.
Author's Note
Me: YES! NEJI DIDN"T DIE! (does happy dance)
Sasuke: WTF? (head jerks up. Apparently the idiot was sleeping)
Me: In the anime! I just finished watching episode 143! NEJI DOESN'T DIE!
Sasuke: Oh. Um……that's good?
Me: That shouldn't be a question! Of course it's a good thing! God, for a while there I thought he was dead after fighting that sound guy! I was seriously ready to cry! Neji can't die! He's the best character!
Sasuke: (sweatdrops) you were crying? Over a cartoon character?
Me: I was about to. It was so sad.
Sasuke: That's …..just……pathetic…….
Me: Shut up! I'm an emotional person!
Sasuke: (smirks) A good ninja can control their feelings.
Me: Then I probably wouldn't be a good ninja.
Sasuke: Yes, that's quite obvious.
Me: Bastard.
Sasuke: Bitch
(weird sparky thingy shows up between eyes)
Me: You wanna go, you arrogant son of a bitch?
Sasuke: (smirks evilly) Try me. I'll beat you senseless.
Me: Just try. (looks around for weapon. Finds nothing)
Sasuke: Don't have a weapon? How sad. This will be easy, then! (draws knife)
Me BWAHAHA! (picks up child safety scissors.) BRING IT ON, JERK! I AM INVINCIBLE!
Sasuke: (sweatdrops)
Me: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (runs around and collides with wall. Candy canes can do that to you. Don't ask. My mom finally got around to taking down our Christmas tree. Yay, extra candy canes.)
Sasuke: (collapses) unbelievable……….
Author's Note 2:
Chapter four done - sorry for the complete lack of romantic situations. I hope you liked!
Goshikku Seirei- thank you so much! lol weird pairings are what make life interesting!
Kakashisgurl- thank you so much for your compliments! I'm so happy that you like it!
Yosh, minna-san! Onward, towards the review button! Leave your thoughts, troubles, and anything else that happens to cross your mind!
Sasuke: Whoa, no more sugar in large quantities for you…..You're beginning to sound like Lee.
Me: Hehehe. (oh, and just a note: 'taskete' means help!)