NxHxNxH

'The nerve of him…' Neji's temple throbbed as he thought back to the battle between him and Sasuke. They did end up having a spar…a very deadly one where he was currently sporting big gash on his back with cuts and bruises everywhere.

Sasuke stated, tauntingly. 'Originally, she was supposed to marry one of the Uchihas.' They exchanged blows after blows. 'She would have become an Uchiha had you not interfered.'

His Byakugan flickered to his opponent, annoyance in full force. 'She's a Hyuuga and will always be a Hyuuga.'

Truthfully, they would have kept going had Naruto and Lee not interfered and forcefully took them apart. He smirked. At least he made him go to the hospital to have his wounds addressed and Neji knew that hospital was one of the places that Sasuke hated to go.

Hinata gasped, looking at the battered body, wondering if he was attacked somewhere. "Neji, d-did someone?"

"I was careless," Neji replied, giving her a small reassuring smile.

Hinata hurried to pull out a sheet and laid it on the ground. "Lay down, please." Neji groaned in pain. She carefully peeled off his training shirt to see a big gash on his back. Her hand immediately started to glow green to close his wounds.

Neji stared at her in the corner of his eyes and she focused intently, the veins around her eyes clearly visible. Her blue hair was framing her face and her lips were pursed in concentration. He could slowly feel blood rising to his face. He felt the pain subsiding bit by bit as she continued to heal him.

The veins retracted and she took out her salve, applying it to his arms and back. Her fingers felt cool and calming. He would have fallen asleep if she hadn't shaken him slightly saying that he should wash up.

She handed him the rest of the salve, dumping it in his hand as he looked at her questioningly. With the heat full on her face, she pointed to his chest and stomach and he understood.

Something tickled in his chest, a strange sensation that he never really had before. His lips rose up on their own, forming a smile. He gave it back to her, folding it in her hand, shrugging. She looked up at him in confusion.

He put his head down on her shoulder and she jumped. Then his shoulder started quivering and she freaked out, wondering what had gone wrong. Until she heard a deep rumble, something between laughter and chuckle.

Then he got up and walked to the bathroom, leaving a very confused, disoriented Hinata.

When he had finished showering and stopped smiling like an idiot in the bathroom, he came back out to see that Hinata was gone and he sat in the middle of the room, waiting for her to come back. She came back seconds later with bandages in her hand, looking nervous.

"Neji, I'm going to help you with bandaging," Hinata said, as she sat down behind him. With great care and precision, she started bandaging. He caught her scent each time she leaned a little closer and could feel warmth radiating. She came around and adjusted the bandage in front and tied it on his shoulder.

She jumped as soon as something warm touched her cheek and saw that Neji's hand had come up to caress her cheek. Her eyes widened considerably.

Her heart dropped at the tender look on his face, something that she has never seen before. This was bound to be very dangerous and if she didn't move… She was going to do just that, except his other hand came up and trapped her other cheek. She could feel her face practically glowing and she was sure that her cheeks were flushed.

Neji could only hold his breath as she looked up at him shyly, her cheeks red, which shook him to his core. He could hear his heart beat loudly in his ears and he knew that he was somewhat flushing, but he didn't want to let go, feeling the soft skin of her face and her scent was just too overwhelmingly pleasant to let go.

"U-Umm…" Hinata attempted to speak as her face was brought closer and she had to place her hands on his shoulders to prevent herself from falling over on him completely. "N-Neji?"

It was madness what he was about to do but he could not stop. It didn't make any logical sense but he had stopped caring about logic as soon as her face was inches from his and her hands were slightly shaking as they grabbed onto his shoulders.

'To hell with logic…' was the last thing on his mind before her soft lips touched his, immediately stopping any kind of thoughts on his mind.

It was soft, warm, nice, and simple. It was just like her, sweet and alluring.

She, on the other hand, was just basking in the warmth of his hands and his lips. He was very gentle. When she saw uncertainty flash in his eyes before their lips met, it made her heart beat faster to know that he cared about what she felt and thought.

When they broke apart, Neji wondered if he really should have done that. At the spur of the moment, he had let himself be carried away without considering his wife's feelings. But when she looked up at him, her eyes shining and no sign of contempt at his action, he relaxed a little.

Under his heated gaze, her heart beating against her rib cage was starting to become painful, putting her in overdrive. Hinata swallowed, trying to stop her stomach from fluttering and she felt dizzy.

Her heart literally dropped when he slowly brought his face closer, his forehead touching hers, in gesture of intimacy that made her blush a whole new level. She could smell his minty breath as his half-closed, glazed eyes looked deeply at her. She could feel herself shaking slightly but she could not look away. She felt like she was in a trance, feeling light-headed.

"You can tell me to stop," Neji whispered, his breath fanning across her face. Her heart hammered harder against her ribcage at his vulnerable face expression and she briefly wondered if he felt like she was feeling right now.

There was a fierce battle raging in Neji as he was torn in releasing her from his grip and pulling her against him to taste her lips again. Only his strict self-discipline and the fact that he had no desire to force her to do anything that she didn't want to do stopped him. The only thing that mattered to him was that she did not push him away. The softness of her lips and the warmth spread like wildfire.

Her eyes widened as his head tilted and slowly narrowed the gap between them. It seems to be in a slow motion as she slowly closed her eyes and their lips met for the second time. This time his left hand dropped to her waist and wrapped itself around her to pull her closer while his other hand inched its way to the back of her head, making her breath hitch.

He felt himself drown in the depth of the sweetness of her taste. He had to remind himself to slow down as he did not want to scare her. Her doubt evaporated and she just focused on the feel of his lips on hers. Time seemed to come to a halt.

She placed her hands on his chest so that she could pull back to catch her breath. He reluctantly let her retreat, trying to gauge what her reaction was, staring at her opal eyes. He waited in anticipation and nervousness as she gazed back at him, red-faced and anxious.

She was highly embarrassed, confused, and too many other emotions that were indiscernible were overwhelming her at once. But she trusted him and that was clear in her mind. She could see that there was tint of worry in his eyes but there was intenseness and heat that made her heart flutter. She felt honesty and sincerity in his expression and his actions.

Neji's thought briefly went back to what Sasuke said. 'He could have taken her away, but now he can't… not now, not ever.' He tightened his hold on her reflexively at the thought. He felt her jump.

"N-Neji, I-I-" Hinata stuttered out, doubt and nervousness clearly evident. She was going to retreat, use anything to excuse herself. Her muddled thoughts weren't helping and she wanted to sort it out.

"Hinata, do you trust me?" Neji asked, as he rested his hands on her waist. He had wanted to know and that was important to him.

Hinata bit her lips, looking back at him hesitantly, in which she tried to come up with something to say. Neji sighed, thinking maybe she couldn't yet. He turned his head to the side and loosened his hold so that she could slip out.

She felt her heart clench and she hated that she lacked courage. Her hand shot out on its own and settled on his cheek, bringing his eyes back to her. It was her chance to take and she wanted to make this work. "I…t-trust you," she said, sincerely.

She saw doubt flash in his eyes. Before her courage could completely fail her, she let her hand pull his head down in one fluid motion. Before any thoughts or doubts could enter her mind, she gently placed her lips on his, intending to give him a chaste kiss, but his hand had moved to the back of her head to hold her in place. Having her in his arms with her willingly kissing him drove him wild along with her flushed face and her rosy lips that she had on when they were catching their breaths.

Now it was his mind telling him that it was dangerous if they stayed in that position. His mind was hazy with desires to feel her softness again but he just ended up putting his head on her shoulder and whispered, "Thank you."

She was starting to affect him very much and he found his thoughts would go back to her many times during the day, distracting him from the tasks that he had to complete. As he saw her retreating form, he sighed, wondering if she would ever look at him the same way he was looking at her.

NxHxNxH

-NightKDuet