Chapter Two: The Conversation

Hinata was bored. She had woken up early to get some extra training and go shopping, but now that she was finished; there was nothing to do. She even went to the Hokage, to see if there were any missions that she could contribute to, but alas, there weren't any assignments needing her abilities. Now, Hinata sat Ichiraku's Ramen stand, staring at an empty bowl that use to contain beef ramen.

'There's nothing to do today.'

With a deep sigh, Hinata buries her head into her arms. She wanted to tend to her mothers garden, but since she hasn't stepped foot inside the compound since she was married off; it might be weird.

"Oi, who's that? Hinata-hey Hinata whatcha doin' buddy?" Hinata's head shoots up at the sound of her name, she quickly straightens her posture and looks over towards the direction her name was called; it was Naruto. Upon seeing him, her shoulders relax and she gives him a wary smile.

Almost every ninja knew of Hinata's feelings for Naruto-well, everyone except Naruto, but after she had confessed her feelings to him and he told her was only seen as a friend; things changed. First, the pair started to hang out together. Everyone's first thought was that he was only hanging out with her out of pity, but they couldn't have been any further from the truth. Hinata had decided that in order to get over her unrequited love for the blonde shinobi, she would have to endure being around him knowing that there was no romantic relationship in the pairs future.

Of course it was painful for Hinata, but it was also beneficial. Naruto wanted to be apart of her life. He asked questions about when her feelings developed and how long she had kept her love silent. Naturally, when the blondes' questions were answered, he would be amazed, smile, rub the back of his head and, apologize for being so dense. Hinata in turn would tell him that it wasn't his fault, and instantly blame herself. The latter, would then tell her that she needed to have more confidence and stop blaming herself for everything. Obviously Hinata would be taken back by his words, be she would also be her best to change that about herself. Now the two seemed to share a friendship and could talk openly about each other's relationships without the fear of there being any hurt feelings or awkward moments.

"Hey Naruto. There's really nothing to do today is there?"

"Yeah ya right. I asked grandma Tsunade for a mission, but she said that I wasn't needed right now. Ya know, I'm starting to think that she's not assigning me anything because she still mad about that prank I pulled last week."

"Naruto, I think you had better watch your back. Hokage-sama just might have Yamato sensei use his draconian methods on you as a punishment."

At the sound of Yamato sensei's name, all the color bled from Naruto's face, leaving only a ghostly image of the blonde.

"Eh, Hinata you know what, I think you might be right. I thought I kept seeing him everywhere I went, but I thought that I was just being crazy."

Hinata begins to giggle, as Naruto's face starts to increase with more signs of worry. She was only poking fun at him but it seemed like her joke might've held some truth to it. 'It seems, Naruto will never change.' The blonde still pulled the same crazy pranks from his days at the academy, while his punishment only seemed to worsen. But that was one of Naruto's greatest feats: he never sought to change who he was; he would always stay the same bright ball of sunshine.

Two-masked Anbu appearing behind the pair interrupts Hinata's thoughts. Before she can warn him, Naruto is quickly grabbed by the Anbu and bound by his hands and legs. Naruto, whose face is filled with desperation and surprise, looks over at Hinata.

"Um, e-excuse me, what's going on?" Hinata's infamous stutter kicks in, and she seems to instantly resemble the old shy, and socially awkward girl she was as a Genin.

"Hinata, ya gotta help me. Come on, do some Gentle Fist and let's get outta here." Naruto kicks and squirms, but is unable to free himself from the two mysterious Anbu.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but Hinata won't be able to help you." Spoke a mysterious voice. Hinata looks over her shoulder only to see Yamato sensei coming out from the side of the Ichiraku ramen stand. He walks over to the group and uses his Wood Style Jutsu to wrap around Naruto's hand and feet.

"Hinata, there's nothing to worry about. It seems that Naruto here, has a picture of the Hokage hat could tarnish her good name-"

"Good name? You've gotta be kiddin' me. That old hag's an alcoholic gambler. That right there right there, has already ruined her name. Not my photo."

As he spoke more of wood starts to wrap around the blonde shinobi's figure, creeping around his mouth. Hinata can only watch him being tortured right in front of her opalescent eyes.

"Naruto mind you tongue when speaking of the Hokage. Now, Ibiki-San is waiting for our arrival; let's go."

"Wait, why is Ibiki going to be there? Whataya going to do to me, you know it's useless; Kyuubi will heal my injuries."

"Well then, I guess that'll just mean he'll get more time to work on you."

With that, Yamato walks away, dragging a crying Naruto towards the Hokage's tower.

. : At Neji's Apartment : .

He had been sitting in the kitchen for what seemed like hours. Neji still couldn't believe that a certain pale-skinned raven was sitting at his kitchen table, let alone his house. The air was stagnant and torturous. Neither of the pair seemed to want to start any form of conversation. They just sat there, one sipping coffee and the other tea.

"You're in love with my wife," spoke the raven between sips of his coffee. Neji sat quietly, eyes closed and brows knitted in aggravation. He wanted to ask the Uchiha to leave his residence among other things. Instead, he just imagined that he was dismembering the stoic raven.

"I suppose that I do." Neji made sure to keep his words short and focused, with the fear that if he were to relax, he might say something very unbefitting of his character. At this point, the pair had both stopped drinking their beverages, and gave each other direct eye contact.

You could cut the tension with a knife, and neither refused to back down. It seemed as though the staring had turned into a full-fledged challenge, and both were neck and neck.

"I could use my sharingan to put you in a

Genjutsu-"

"But it would be useless if I were to activate my byakugan, so where does that leave us?" Neji couldn't help but smirk at the fact that he had beaten Sasuke at his own game. The latter, seemed to be unaffected by his words and continued to stare him down.

"Hinata-sama deserves to be happy."

"She also has a duty to uphold. She could've chosen to become head of the Hyuuga, but she decided otherwise. Now she will keep her end of the agreement."

"Spoken like a true Uchiha, cold and uncaring." Neji couldn't keep the muzzle on his mouth any longer he needed to get his thoughts to be heard, raw.

"That is where you seem to be mistaken. An Uchiha like myself, make an observation on a situation and act objectively. We don't let our emotions cloud our judgment. It seems that you could really learn a skill like that, genius." With that, Sasuke leisurely got up form the table and walked towards the hallway, but not before addressing Neji once more.

"I'll take my leave, seeing as this conversation seems to be going nowhere. Thank you for the coffee, I'll see myself out."

Neji didn't so much as acknowledge Sasuke's comments; he kept his eyes concentrated on the flock of birds dispersing from a nearby tree. The sound of the door being closed didn't seem to affect him what so ever, all he could think about was Hinata.

'Hinata-sama, had a choice?'