I'm not dead. Also, I am ridding myself of the deadline so my work can turn out more quality-like.
No side pairings. Well... Neji's grandmotherXNeji's grandfather, if that counts. ;)
And SasukeXsomeone and KakashiXsomeone.
It all started with a Christmas sweater.
The thing was seriously tacky, a white sweater (after all it was a natural, traditional colour. And being a natural, traditional family, the Hyuugas often
wore white) with a kunai on the front and shuriken on the sleeves.
Neji held it up in his small hands, already hating the thing.
Seriously?!
Why did his beloved grandmother have to make him this thing?!
The sweater practically screamed shinobi, and every Hyuuga knew it was tacky to wear something that screamed shinobi. It was automatically assumed
a Hyuuga was a shinobi, unless they were already on the Hyuuga council or retired.
Even Hyuuga Neji, at age eight, knew this.
"So... what do you think, Neji-kun?" his grandmother asked, curious, sitting across the living room in a couch.
"I... I'm not sure it will fit," Neji said, trying to find an excuse.
Neji's grandmother sighed, "I should have asked for your measurements instead of automatically assuming that you would be the same size your
father was at that age. It's just... you're the spitting image of him! Except you're thinner."
Neji's grandfather, beside her, muttered a grunt.
"It's okay," Neji said, slipping on the oversized sweater.
He turned his head towards Hiashi-sama, his uncle, "May I please be excused?"
His uncle nodded as Neji left the Hyuuga compound.
The streets were empty, after all, it was Christmas Eve.
He headed towards the cemetery in the snow and cold, shivering.
When he finally arrived, he headed towards a tombstone.
He knew there would be no body beneath the tombstone, after all, his father's body didn't belong to Konoha any longer, but it still made Neji feel
closer to his beloved father, being there.
Despite it being Christmas Eve, the cemetery was not empty.
There was a girl, a couple tombstones down, setting two bouquets of flowers on two tombstones.
He recognized her. He could tell that brown hair in buns anywhere. It was Tenten, from the academy.
Suddenly, she was next to him, smiling at him, holding a flower towards him, no doubt from one of her bouquets.
Her cheeks were pink from the freezing cold. Neji guessed she had been out here for hours.
Before Tenten knew it, Neji was hugging her, trying to keep her warm from the cold.
"By the way, Neji, I like your sweater," the girl stated, gesturing towards the present he had gotten only minutes ago.
Of course she would. She specialized in weapons.
So he took off his grandmother's sweater and pulled it over the girl's head. No doubt, it was big on her too, but it would keep her warm.
"Arigato... Neji-san," she said, holding the sweater.
Neji smiled. It wasn't like his usual smirk, or a Naruto grin, but a nice smile.
Maybe the sweater wasn't so bad after all, Neji thought when he walked back to the Hyuuga Compound.
Of course, he would get utter hell from his grandparents and Hiashi-sama later... but the sweater kept the girl warm in the cold.
He smirked this time. He knew that next time there was a Christmas sweater involved, Tenten would have a family.
In the future...
"Aww, come on, Hizashi!"
"No way in hell, Okaa-san."
"Tenten... maybe you shouldn't-"
"Nonsense, Neji. This is the sweater you gave me years ago. I don't want it to collect dust! It should be worn!"
"Hizashi hates it! He'd burn it!"
"He's only seven, Neji! And he's not exactly on good terms with the Uchiha boy or Kakashi's kid or anyone who knows fire techniques, anyway."
"Funny you should mention fire technique users when the fireplace is burning..."
"Oh... that's right."
"Hey... where'd Hizashi go?"
And so Hizashi escapes...
I hope that has quality. Please give me constructive criticism from now on, now that I will start to take this seriously.
I think you can piece together who says what at the end. If you can't, let me know and I'll change it.