EDIT: If you didn't notice, I accidently spelled "Gai" "Guy" Though I think most of you know who I was talking about. I'll be using the "G-A-I" way to spell his name from now on!
The child ran to retrieve his ball while Sasuke ran with full speed. The two nearly collided when Sasuke reacted to the child and swerved out of the way, making a small jump over the child and falling to the ground.
"Kou!" A woman shouted, running towards the child. "I am so sorry! Are you alright? Kou, what did I tell you about running off on your own?!" The woman scolded her child. Neji had stopped running and jogged back to his competitor, who was still sitting on the ground.
"…Are you alright?" Neji asked coolly, holding out his hand for Sasuke to grab. "Yeah, that surprised me." He groaned, taking Neji's hand. Sasuke winced in the process of getting back on his feet and fell back down.
"I take that back, I am not alright." He said, taking off his sneakers. "I think I might have twisted it." Sasuke said quietly. Neji saw Sasuke's ankle swell up.
"It can't be helped." Neji sighed. He turned his back to Sasuke and kneeled down. "Get on." Neji said, offering a Piggy-back ride. Sasuke covered his face with one hand to hide his embarrassment. Neji rolled his eyes and turned his head.
"Hurry up; we are supposed to be back by now. Sasuke hesitated, but leaned over and put his arm around Neji's neck. He felt his own heartbeat race as his chest touched Neji's slim back. Neji was able to lift Sasuke up easily and began to walk back. Sasuke felt his legs press against Neji's waist and his face touched Neji's soft hair. He felt his heart beat faster as he thought to himself how beautiful Neji's figure was. It wasn't long before Sasuke realized why his heart was beating so fast.
Gai saw the two slowly walk back and rushed to their side. "What happened?" He asked frantically. "Sasuke hurt his ankle while avoiding a collision with a child." Neji explained. Gai had the funniest expression in Neji's opinion.
"Q-quickly, carry him to the infirmary!" Gai hysterically ordered. "You don't need to tell me that." Neji irritably said.
"S-sorry about this…" Sasuke said behind Neji quietly. "Apologizing like that hurts your pride doesn't it?" Neji bluntly said, teasing the popular teen. "Don't worry about it; just treat me to that café again." Neji said, turning his head to smile slightly.
Sasuke stared at that smiling face for the two seconds it had lasted. It was the first time he saw Neji smile and it was stunning. He hid his face behind Neji's neck to hide his embarrassment.
As Neji passed through the halls, Temari watched the two head into the infirmary, glaring at the closed door.
"Thank you, I can take him from here." Shizune, the nurse, said. Neji bowed to Shizune and waved goodbye to Sasuke, only to see him looking away from Neji. Thinking that he was only embarrassed, Neji shrugged and left the infirmary, walking back down the halls.
"You've changed." Neji heard someone say. Temari emerged from the shadow, grinning slyly. "Giving piggy back rides? There was a girl who fell down the stairs in the beginning of the year and you could have been just as nice to give her a ride to the infirmary." Temari said.
"This case and that case are different." Neji simply said. "I don't think so. You've grown softer Neji." Temari sneered.
"What do you want from me?" Neji asked. "Oh, very good. Very well, I followed you to tell you that I'm not giving up, even if you reject me. You may not notice it, but you are quite popular as well. The girls are just too shy to say anything, but not me. I like this 'kinder' part of you as well." Temari said, turning to walk back to her own class. "See you around class rep." She said, waving proudly.
Neji gave a small sigh. He thought he had made it clear he wasn't going to waste his time with love.
The school day passed by and Neji had not seen Sasuke come back to class. Would a twisted ankle really take a full day in the infirmary? Feeling a little worried, Neji decided it wouldn't hurt to take two minutes of his time to check up on Sasuke. He opened the door to find his face nearly bumping into the breasts of Temari.
"Class rep, we have a meeting." She said, apathetic about the face that his face was nearly in her chest. Neji stood up straight and looked away. "R-right, I'm coming." He said, a little disappointed he didn't get to visit.
Neji was distracted during the meeting. He barely paid any attention to the purpose of it. Looking out the window, he only wondered if the injured ankle wasn't too serious.
"We have a school festival to raise money. Each class has to hand in a paper by the end of this week with the activities they will be doing for the festival. Here are the papers you'll need." Temari said, handing the papers out, handing one to Neji. Neji was looking elsewhere and didn't notice her at all.
"Neji!" Temari shouted. "Huh, oh thanks." Neji said, snapping back to reality and taking the paper. "Meeting is adjourned." Temari said, suspiciously looking at Neji.
Neji left the meeting, going back to class to tutor the students who failed the quiz Kakashi had given them. He didn't expect Sasuke to come, but he was hoping for it. When he opened the door, he gave a disappointed frown.
Every little idiot was in this room and he was the only sane one there. With great difficulty, Neji tutored his classmate, unable to get the math through Naruto's head. The supplementary class had ended and Neji looked at his watch; it was almost that time.
The sun began to dip and the orange light flooded the room. He was able to relax a bit after staring off into the sunlight. Once again, Sasuke came up in his mind. It was strange how he always seemed to appear in Neji's head.
"I'm just a little worried…that's all." Neji told himself, grabbing his bag and heading to the infirmary. He opened the door, finding no one to be in sight.
"May I help you?" Shizune asked, popping her head out of another room. "Yes, I just wanted to see how Uchiha was doing." Neji said. "Ah, that young man with the twisted ankle; he left not long ago." She said. "Do you know where he went?" Neji asked. "I assume it was home. School is over after all." Shizune said. Neji thought for a while. "No…" He said to himself.
He bowed and thanked the nurse, heading up the stairs and to the top of the roof. Neji felt the warm breeze and looked around. There was a ladder leading upwards to the roof above the stairway. He climbed the ladder and spotted Sasuke lying down, sleeping with a bandaged ankle.
"I thought you'd be up here. Your ankle seems better." Neji said, sitting next to Sasuke and facing the sun. Sasuke opened his eyes and faced Neji.
"What are you doing up here?" He asked. "I was just checking to see if you could walk, though that doesn't seem like a problem now." Neji said, trying to hide the fact that he was worried.
The wind blew softly again, making Neji's hair flow with the wind. Sasuke watched Neji's calm face and silky hair, feeling his face grow hotter.
Sasuke sat up and grabbed his bag. "I-I'm going home first." Sasuke said, standing up and limping to the ladder. "H-hey! Be careful!" Neji said, following him. What got into him all of a sudden? Neji thought.
The two made it back down to the ground and began to walk home. There was an odd silence between them, both unsure of what to say. Sasuke looked to the ground and broke the silence.
"I'll treat you to that café when I get better; you even took double the work for tutoring my portion of the class." Sasuke quietly said. "Oh, you're right… Alright thanks." Neji said, a little happy about the offer.
The two seemed to have been walking the same direction for a while. It wasn't long before Neji broke the silence again. "Where do you live? I'm already close to my house." He asked, hoping Sasuke wasn't just following him.
"I live a few blocks down; we live pretty close to each other. We… should walk together… whenever we get the chance." Sasuke hesitantly said. "Okay!" Neji felt a little happy he didn't have to come home alone every day. Sasuke smiled and waved goodbye as he walked home. Neji waved, then put his hand on his mouth.
Why am I so nervous when I am around him? Maybe I'm still a little worried. Neji thought to himself. When he got home, Hinata came out of the kitchen to welcome him.
"How was the meeting?" She asked. "Normal. I have a question." Neji told Hinata while going on the computer to look at the site Sasuke gave him earlier in the morning.
"Yes? What is it?" Hinata nervously asked. "What happened after Naruto came to our school? Suddenly you cared about how you looked and became shyer than you are now." Neji asked. Hinata blushed.
"Well…I bumped into him before class one day…and ever since that day I couldn't stop thinking of him…" Hinata explained.
Neji didn't like where this was going.
"D-did your heart beat fast?"
A nod.
"Did you worry about him a lot?"
Another nod.
"Did you watch over him all the time?"
One more nod.
"Why?" Neji asked. "B-because I like him…" Hinata said shyly.
Neji looked down at his feet, widening his eyes.
"Neji…did you fall in love?"
A/N: Another cliffhanger? ;D