Konnichi wa!
Kyah! I'm glad you guys like the story so much! All of you are wonderful, and every review makes me smile!
Except for one anonymous review I got during the first chapter that wanted me to rewrite the entire thing on THEIR terms…
That was the first flamer I ever REALLY got. –sniff- The person said I did a horrible job with the story… -sniff- They really wanted me to start all over… -sniff-
YOU'RE NOT IN CONTROL HERE, GOT IT? THIS IS MY STORY, AND I WILL WRITE IT LIKE I WANT! SO FUCK – OFF!
Ahem! Okay – now that THAT'S off my chest…
And don't ask if you can see the review, okay? I deleted it. But they DID say that I got the personalities between Neji and Sasuke mixed up – that Sasuke should be the one mad and Neji should be the one teasing Sasuke.
Uh – HELLO? Chapter ONE here! Chapter ONE! You don't even know what happened to Sasuke during the time he was gone! You have NO RIGHT to say that!
And then they started asking all these questions – like, Did Sasuke kill Itachi? Why the fuck is Sasuke acting like this? What happened in Sound?
I'm just like – O-O! Whoa! Don't you think it's a little too SOON to be answering all those questions? Readers WILL FIND OUT LATER!
ARGH! And THEN they had the guts to tell me to rewrite it on those terms! I'm just like –glares- Excuse me? EXCUUSE ME? What did you just say?
Oh – now THAT'S rubbing salt into the wound. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL PERSON!
Okay people – really – PLEASE take this lesson to heart – don't tell people – even if you DON'T like the story – to rewrite the first chapter. I mean, if it sucks, and they know it – then don't say a word – let THEM take care of it!
I hate people who DO that! Degrade a person's story and then tell the writer to REWRITE it on their terms! Oh – come ON people! Please – I don't care if you haven't EVER done this or if you're the sweetest person in the world. TELLING AN AUTHOR – who spent TIME WRITING the story, using their thoughts and THEIR talents to make it happen – so you can read it and enjoy it – that their story is absolutely horrible in all sense of the word and then demanding them rewrite it is the most HORRIBLE thing you could EVER do. Writers NEVER deserve to have ideas and demands on how the story – THEIR story – should go get shoved down their throat. It is THEIR story. Let THEM write it! If you don't like it, say so, but don't degrade the story and NEVER – EVER – tell the author to rewrite it the way YOU want it! That's selfish and inconsiderate TO THE AUTHOR!
Ah… -calms down-
Sorry everyone – I just kinda went on a righteous rampage right then. Sorry if I scared or offended anyone. I just HAD to get that off my chest.
Anyway, I'm glad that there ARE people who appreciate my work, and my love goes out to every single one of you! Flamers like that make me realize how grateful I am to have people who enjoy my stories. My love to you all!
So… ahem… with the past behind us, here's chapter three!
Wingless Flight
Chapter Three – Fiery Intensity
They arrived at the Hyuuga Manor three minutes before curfew, and they got inside the grounds without incident.
However, as they were passing the training grounds on their way to the branch house, Sasuke stopped. Neji – who was walking behind him – noticed immediately.
"What is it, Uchiha?" He asked. Sasuke didn't answer for a moment, merely looking off into the training grounds.
"Neji." Sasuke turned to the Hyuuga, who raised an elegant eyebrow. "Do you want to know a secret?"
Neji's eyebrow went up a little higher.
"A secret? What're you talking about?" Sasuke smirked gently, not at all provoking. He stretched out his arms.
"I mean a secret. A secret involving this village. However," he smiled mischievously at the Hyuuga, eyes twinkling with hidden knowledge. "You have to be willing to sneak out past curfew."
The reply was immediate.
"No way." Sasuke grinned playfully, stretching his arms behind his back.
"Awe – Neji, you're no fun."
"And I don't care. We're NOT sneaking out past curfew."
"You'll always be a prick if you don't let loose once in a while."
Neji's pearl-white eyes shot venomous daggers in Sasuke's direction, and the Uchiha laughed, waving the attack off absent-mindedly.
"Okay – okay! I suppose it could wait until tomorrow!" Then he smiled and winked at Neji. "I never knew you enjoyed being such a prick, Neji."
"Don't call me that. Now let's go." Pushing Sasuke's back slightly forward to get the Uchiha moving, Neji herded the other shinobi back to the branch house. Sasuke laughed gently.
"Don't call you a prick or don't call you Neji, Neji?" He asked playfully.
"Both," the Hyuuga replied sharply, pushing at Sasuke's back. "Now hush up and keep moving."
Sasuke chuckled from behind a elegant hand, eyes crinkled upwards in upside down 'u's. He walked right ahead of Neji, offering no complaint or struggle as the Hyuuga herded him on, pushing and poking at the Uchiha's back.
When they reached the large room both of them were sharing, a metal collar lashed out and attached itself around Sasuke's neck, its Chakra infused atoms reenergizing the seals on Sasuke's body.
Sasuke looked at it with only minimal distress.
"Goodness – this is so uncomfortable," he complained good-naturedly, poking at the thing. Neji shot him a look as he walked over to his nightstand, taking a brush from a drawer and proceeding to pamper his hair.
"Deal with it," he snapped.
Sasuke did, and he fell upon his bed with an alien grace, falling so he was facing Neji, who was sitting on the bed along the opposite wall.
Neji was used to it by now – two weeks after being stuck with the Uchiha and having him silently watch you as you brush your hair every night gave you no choice BUT to get used to it. Shooting death glares at the Uchiha obviously wasn't going to get him to stop.
Besides, Neji wasn't… how do you say… annoyed by it. It was just a little unnerving to have pitch black eyes – eyes that seemed to know every secret there ever was and seemed to hold all the wisdom anyone could ever have – stare at you with a strange intensity that couldn't even rival the glow in Naruto's eyes.
Neji had only seen a glow similar to the shine in Sasuke's eyes once – when he was fighting Naruto in the Chuunin exams. Back then, Neji had nearly been swallowed in the determination and the spark of spirit that consisted of everything Naruto was when he locked eyes with the blonde. It made his own self feel empty and… pointless. His resolution to destroy the main branch of the Hyuuga clan seemed so puny and pitiful in the face of Naruto's drive for life – HIS reason for living – HIS dream.
Sasuke's spark was on a different level entirely – it wasn't a spark – it was a raging fire. A heated blaze resided in the depths of the eyes that resembled night itself – burning with a fiery intensity that threatened to scorch the cool and collected Hyuuga.
Neji felt stripped beneath the searing gaze – he felt worthless and pathetic whenever those eyes looked at him. REALLY looked at him.
He had never felt so defenseless in his life – it felt like those eyes were seeing into his very being – destroying his inner walls and stripping bare all his secrets and inner hatreds for all to see. Sometimes he even wondered if the Uchiha was reading his mind.
But he knew the Uchiha wasn't. The eyes that looked at him didn't invade into his mind – but into his heart – his soul – where all his emotions and feelings resided.
He knew it – he knew he could hide nothing from the Uchiha. If he was feeling anger or resentment – Sasuke would be able to see through his mask of collected emotions and know exactly what the Hyuuga was feeling. Neji could hide NOTHING from Sasuke – not even the feelings or doubts he hid from himself.
And he doubted the Uchiha was even AWARE of the penetrating qualities his gaze possessed.
And he WASN'T about to let him know. He would take the secret to the grave.
With an inaudible sigh, Neji finished with his hair and set the hairbrush on his dresser, pulling his locks into a high ponytail for sleep.
He saw from the corner of his eye that Sasuke hadn't shifted an inch from where he had fallen, his body turned on it's side with his arms curled half-way to his chest, his legs pulled up against his body in a semi-fetal position, his long black hair cascading around his form like silky snakes. The metal collar – attached to the bed with a long chain and looking like some strange sexual fetish – glinted maliciously in the light.
It was only when Neji finished putting his hair in a ponytail did Sasuke look away from him – gave him sanctuary away from those fiery orbs – looking at the window outside – at the moon, not shifting his position in the slightest.
Sasuke smiled gently.
"Look. The moon has appeared now. Hmmm… it's a full moon – it makes everything so much more beautiful."
Neji shot him an inquiring glance as he untied his headband.
"And?"
Sasuke's smile widened ever so slightly.
"It matches your eyes, Neji."
Neji blinked, and he looked away. No one had ever said that to him before.
"So?" He managed to keep his voice steady. "What's your point?" Sasuke blinked, still gazing at the moon. His expression was thoughtful.
"You're… much like the moon, you know." The Hyuuga raised an eyebrow.
"I am? How?" Sasuke blinked.
"Because. You always change. I know – you believe yourself to be unshakeable – unchangeable – but yet you change every moment of the day. It's much like the moon. When you look at it – for that split second, you think it will stay there forever, but it vanishes with the sun's entrance. Then, when the next night comes, you look to the moon, hoping that it will possess the glory it did before, but when it arrives… you discover that it has changed since you gazed at it last."
"So you're saying I'm uncertain?" Neji snapped. Sasuke chuckled.
"No – I'm not saying that. The moon has a routine of change. It becomes fully there and yet it eventually vanishes altogether, only to come back again with all its glory. Much like you. You go through routines of changes everyday – everyone does. But there's one thing that's different about you compared to everyone else – something that makes you like the moon."
"And what's that?" The Hyuuga hissed, looking away in disgust.
"Like the moon, you will eventually become what you once were – full and complete. However, when that time comes, you will stay like that. And THAT, is what makes you truly beautiful."
Neji's eyes widened and he whirled to face Sasuke, only to see those eyes staring at him – staring INTO him – baring his soul – burning away the shadows of his secrets with their –
Fiery intensity.
End Chapter Three – Fiery Intensity
-breathes in deeply-
Wow. That flamer shook me up more than I thought. An entire two chapters later and I STILL can't calm down my breathing.
God… it's like a huge ache settled in my chest. Whoever knew that people can be so horrible in their flamers? Ruthless… cowardly (for anonymous flamers)… pathetic… assholes…
Ah – gomen nasai once more. I guess I'm just not familiar enough with the pain flamers can cause.
I WILL NEVER GIVE THIS PAIN TO OTHERS! I SWEAR, IF I DISLIKE THE STORY I WILL BE SINCERE AND KIND ABOUT IT AND I WILL GIVE ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE STORY BETTER, NOT DEMAND THE STORY GET BETTER ON MY TERMS! I SWEAR IT ON MY WRITING HAND!
-sighs heavily-
I need some chocolate.
Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Please tell me what you think, and if you must flame, please be nice about it! Flames burn my heart! –pouts-
I would like 23 reviews!
Arigato again, to all those who love the story and say so! You are what keep me going!
Ja ne!
DDB