Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plotline and my own characters.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As we began the short several minute walk to the park I let my thoughts wander. Almost immediately though, they led back to Neji and him. I was still extremely furious with Neji, but I could slowly feel the anger ebbing away the longer I was in his presence.
Why? Why was I beginning to forgive him for leaving me for six years? I already knew the answer to this question. Even after six years of abandonment and loneliness, and having to deal with his death alone, I still loved him as much as I did when he first proposed.
My hand drifted towards my neckline and played with the chain the hung there. Hidden beneath my blouse, hanging on the chain was the engagement ring Neji had given to me. So that was the reason I couldn't will myself to remove the ring from my body, the fact that I loved him.
By now we had arrived at the park, Shikochi and Kito sped towards the empty sand box. When the two boys reached the sand box they began yelling about the "magnificent youthful castle" they were going to build. The word "youthful" stood out to me and I realized Lee must have babysat them recently.
I slowly started strolling around the park, searching for a comfortable spot to sit and relax, allowing me to ponder my upcoming mission with Neji as Moondancer. Over the past years I had trained heavily with Lee to improve my skills overall as a ninja, this would assist me in hiding my identity from Neji on the mission.
The mission was a simple A ranked mission, escorting an important ambassador from the hidden village Iwagakure in the Land of Earth back to Konoha. We would be meeting two elite ninja's escorting the ambassador at the northwestern border of the land of fire. When the encounter was done, Neji and I would accompany the ambassador to Konoha.
After pondering the mission details for several minutes more, I took a seat upon a park bench with a decent view of the playground. My eyes wandered across the park and halted on Neji. He was standing next to a weeping willow, one hand pressed lightly against the bark, and his eyes were distant, as if recalling a far off memory almost lost in time.
It was soon after this observation when he snapped back into reality and sought out my eyes to find them already concentrated on his. Our gaze was held for a moment as I fell into a peaceful state of mind before he turned sharply to the play structure.
I followed his gaze and saw that Shikochi had scraped his knee open on the hard rocks near the opening of the park. Kito stood still; apologies pouring out of his mouth as Shikochi bite his lip in pain, trying not to cry.
That was all I needed to see before rushing to the young boys across the park. When I arrived a few seconds later Neji was already there, comforting Kito surprisingly well and I distantly thought that he would have made a great father.
My hand reached into the small bag on my side and grasped a band-aid and an antiseptic wipe. The cut was shallow and Shikochi said not a word when I cleaned the wound with the stinging cloth. The band-aid went next, sticking to his slightly tan skin with ease. I glanced at his face and saw tears beginning to leak out, so I swiftly pressed my lips to knee and exclaimed "All better!"
Shikochi smiled and wiped the stray tears on the back of his hand as he stood. My mouth opened and I was about to suggest we leave when Neji spoke.
"Your siblings should be waking up soon and you wouldn't want them to miss us would you?" he asked with a smirk that almost formed into a smile. Both boys shook their heads and we left the park silently.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When the night came Hinata arrived to pick up Ankiko and Hazami along with Kito Chinochi, and Jinka. The Uchiha kids spent the night with the Uzamaki family, after all Naruto and Sasuke were like brothers. This left me with only the two Nara boys to feed and entertain without the help of Neji who had left with Hinata.
To my delight Asuma was well behaved, playing quietly with his toys as I taught Shikochi how to throw a kunai properly. Shikochi practiced into the night only once accidently cutting his finger when he pulled the weapon out of the target on the wall.
Before long I had both of them in bed, snoring lightly as I hummed a lullaby under my breath. The lullaby was a song Hinata taught me when she first learned of my pregnancy; it was a traditional Hyuuga song that Neji's mother had sung to him. When she first told me of the song I put my heart into learning it, ironically I had finally conquered it and had been humming it to myself when I lost the baby.
Tears sprung to my eyes and I clutched the cradle harshly to relieve some pain. Why did I always remind myself of his death…. it was painfully enough just knowing that he was dead, but I constantly recalled the days of my pregnancy as if I was trying to hurt myself.
I led myself with dragging footsteps to my own bedroom where the window stood opened. Usually I would have shut the window but for some reason I felt compelled to open it wider. My body slumped on the sheets after I changed my clothes and for the first night in six years I slept peacefully.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yes I know this is a short chapter and I haven't posted in a while but it was the holidays, then I had finals, and lately I have been going through a lot of emotional stress so this is what you get. Enjoy…. please?