Chapter 4

Hinata was reading one of the books on the couch, enjoying the late afternoon sun. She had a relatively free day so she decided that she would spend it on her favorite past time. There was a knock and she got up immediately, opening the door, surprised to see someone unexpected.

"Oh hello, Kazuki-kun," Hinata said as she smiled at the boy and then froze in mid-smile as she saw a large gash on his arm and bruises and cuts.

"Come in, I'll fix you up," Hinata said, as she led him to the living room and made him sit down. "Training?" She asked as she examined his wounds and finding that it was not too deep.

"Yes," Kazuki said, as he looked at her hesitantly. "I was training with Mika and Minoru."

There was silence as she wrapped bandage around him, "I see." She saw that he was deep in thought and just let him alone to think it through.

"I want to master some genjutsu technique and I wanted to ask you if you can train me." She didn't say anything until she had finished.

"Sure," Hinata said. "But we're going to have to have you train first on chakra control. I can't have you almost lose control again, especially if it involves the safety of your teammates."

"Yes," he said, as he remembered the last mission when he almost lost control after he saw Hinata receive a deadly blow to the stomach. He felt a dark release of power and an overwhelming urge to kill. He felt someone else wrestle within him in attempt to take control of his body. He himself started shrinking further and further into darkness and started to feel like he was being trapped. His genjutsu was too powerful for him to fully control and was threatening to take over his own body. Hinata was aware the kind of potential he had and how powerful he could be and had to stop him first, which almost made her fall into his genjutsu. She thanked Kurenai-sensei for training her team on how to avoid falling into such powerful illusional trap, her area of expertise.

"Sorry, I just got…too angry," he stated, tonelessly, but there was a hint of apology in his voice.

Hinata sighed, "I know." An odd boy from a relatively well-known clan but she knew that his parents had died long ago and he was neglected by his uncle and aunt, who mostly left him alone as long as he did what he was told and never really gave him enough attention. She was glad that he could trust her well enough to come talk to her because most of the time, he chose to stay silent. She felt a lot of compassion for the boy.

He flipped out a kunai that she gave him out of his sleeve and put it in front of her in a fist, smirking. "I will keep my promise next time."

She gave him a small smile, "Okay." She had made him promise that he would need to resort to giving himself pain to wake himself up should he be in danger of falling completely into his own genjutsu and have his alternate self come out instead.

"Kazuki-kun!" a voice yelled out. "Where are you?"

Hinata looked at Kazuki and he looked back at her with annoyance displayed on his face. Hinata's face expression changed to amusement.

She looked at him quizzically. He shrugged, "It didn't look like they were going to stop arguing any time soon so I just…left." He looked at her, seeming to contemplate something, but she could see something familiar reflected off his eyes.

Her silvery eyes stared back at him. "Don't blame yourself," she said as she put her hands on his shoulders and stooped slightly to be eye level. "We risk our lives everyday… that's just how it is. I would do the same thing over again if I was in the same situation."

Kazuki remained motionless until he slowly nodded. He put his hand on top of her forearm that was extending to his shoulder and squeezed slightly before turning around and facing out toward the door. "Bye, sensei." There was a gentle click of the door being open and closed as he left.

She stood there so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't register that there was another click of the doorway. "Odd," Hinata mumbled by herself.

"What is?" Hinata looked up to see Neji coming in through the door. As soon as she met his eyes, she immediately looked down and could not look at him in the face, remembering the incident a week ago. He left for a mission a day after and so she had the time to think through by herself for the week. She felt her face flush slightly and heart beat faster.

"Umm…nothing much," Hinata replied, nervously, looking down. "You're early." She noted that he wasn't supposed to come back until late evening.

"Hokage-sama gave me the rest of the day off," Neji replied, noting her discomfort. He paused, awkwardly, "I…wanted to come home and…eat dinner." He silently added the word 'together' in his mind.

"Oh." Hinata shuffled into the kitchen to open up the refrigerator. "Why don't you wash up? I'll get started on dinner right away."

"It's a little early," Neji replied while he stopped next to the refrigerator, looking down at her small form.

She quickly glanced up at him. "Oh." She blushed and quickly closed the refrigerator, looking down at him. The silence lingered for a minute. "Do you…do you want to join me in the living room?" She clasped her hands in front of her. "I-I was reading a book earlier."

"Hmm," Neji said, absentmindedly, as he looked at her hands. He felt the odd need to reach out and he did so, taking her warm hand in his, which made her look up. It was the first contact that they had since a week ago.

"Okay," his lips formed the word. He turned around and pulled her to the living room with her in tow. He made her sit on the couch and then he went inside the bathroom to wash up.

Time passed and the sun was setting. While Hinata was in the kitchen with her back facing him, humming quietly, as she washed the dishes, he took the time to blatantly watch his wife, leaving the opened scroll unread. Although he would never admit it, he missed her and she was all he thought about at night during the mission. He kept thinking back to the time when they shared intimate kisses, which made him want to feel her close against him.

He was acting like a lovesick fool and he hated it, especially when he felt like he was the only one. Frustrated, he laid himself on the couch, putting his arms, crossing them on top of his head. What would it take for her to look at him and him only? His thoughts were unsettling him.

Hinata finished washing the dishes and glanced back to see Neji on the couch. She went into the bedroom, grabbed a blanket, and tiptoed to where Neji was lying down. She spread the blanket on top of him but was surprised when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist.

"O-Oh," Hinata looked back at his almost translucent eyes. "I d-didn't know you were awake."

When she tried to pull her hand back, he just held on with a firm grip. She kneeled next to the couch instead. "Do you feel unwell?" Hinata put her cool hand on his forehead, trying to see if he had a fever. Neji just looked at her, unwaveringly. "I think," she hesitated, feeling worried for him because of his abnormal behavior. "You should go to sleep."

He sat up on the couch to face her. "I…missed you."

Her opal eyes looked at him in shock until a blush settled in and she looked down in embarrassment. "Oh." She gave him a small shy smile. "That's…sweet of you." There was a slight squeeze of his hand. "I missed you too."

"Really?" Neji wanted to make sure that he wasn't hearing things just because he was hoping to hear it. She gave a tiny nod. He was thrilled to say the least.

"Hanabi doesn't show it but I think she also missed you. She had no one else to tease," Hinata continued, which dragged his mood down way worse than he was feeling before. He fell silent and Hinata noticed the change as he sat there silently brooding. "Are you sure you are alright? Did something happen during your mission?"

"No, nothing happened," Neji replied, looking down at her face. Then his eyes gazed at her pearly eyes, glowing cheeks, small nose, and lastly her enticing lips. She was right here in front of him, looking up at him worriedly. There was a pause. "I just…" He sighed, looking for a right word to say. "… missed you, that's all."

She tilted her head slightly, giving him a questioning glance. Then she stood on her knees and tugged him toward her to which he willingly obliged. Her arms went around his shoulder and he sighed, burying his face in her neck, his arms wrapping around her waist to bring her closer. She patted his back soothingly. "I feel like something is bothering you, isn't there? I may not be able to help, but I can listen, if you want." Her voice reverberated through her lithe form, the warmth seeping into his body.

"I'm tired…" Neji said, suddenly. He body sagged, leaning into her, which put more weight on her.

"Let's get you to bed," Hinata said, as she tried to get up to drag him to the room.

He didn't budge and pulled Hinata back down against him wrapping his arm around her to prevent her from moving. "I'm tired of fighting it." He slowly put his forehead on hers.

Hinata took a sharp intake of breath, surprise evident in her voice. "F-Fighting what, Neji? I don't unders – "

Her sentence was cut off by his lips on hers. He sighed into her mouth, showing her just how much he missed her, pouring all his feelings into his kiss. His tongue delved into her sweet mouth and her shy response only added fuel to the fire burning within. He heard her breath hitch and he reluctantly retreated and took in the site of her ravished lips and disheveled hair. Her eyes looked to be in a trance and there was a passion flickering in her eyes.

"I'm tired of fighting," Neji replied, taking her hand and putting it on top of his heart, which was beating rapidly and her face grew scarlet but she didn't avoid his gaze. "I thought about how I wanted to come home because there was someone that I looked forward to seeing." Neji leaned in closer, their lips inches away. His voice came out lower. "Do you have any idea how much I'm affected…by you?" Neji's hand gently touched her lips, gently rubbing them with his thumb before moving his hand to her cheek, gazing at her lovingly. Her eyes started watering and she looked down, trying to keep her tears from falling. "You don't seem to believe me," Neji sighed, disappointed.

"N-No," Hinata stated, as her other unoccupied hand curled in his shoulder. "I believe you."

"Then what is it?" His eyes were full of concern and she could still feel his rapid heart beats underneath her hand. This was her husband, declaring his possible attraction for her. This was perhaps the first time that she heard anything like that. That someone was actually attracted to her. There were just too many thoughts and emotions swirling in her that she didn't know what to say.

"I-I'm…just s-shocked…I mean, uh, I-I didn't expect - " She closed her mouth before she can babble on. Sitting sideways on his laps, with his hands on her cheeks, his eyes holding a gaze concentrated solely on her, she thought it too surreal.

"You know, the reason why I'm probably affected so much by you can only be explained by love." Her heart thumped loudly at his declaration.

"Love?" She asked, incredulously. "Y-You – M-M-Me?" she sputtered, as her blush got darker and she leaned back in surprise. She would have fallen if it weren't for his arms that wrapped quickly around her waist.

"I'm pretty sure nothing else can explain it." Was that a slight flush on his cheeks? Hinata wondered, as she looked at him with her mouth open. "Fate has entwined us to one another and it was only a matter of time for me." Neji tightened his arms around her form as his head settled on her shoulder and kept her head in place by his hand in the back of her head. "I will try my best to be a good husband to you."

Tears were threatening to fall and it was blinding her vision. In his warm embrace, she could feel his honesty and sincerity with love that she has not noticed before. Was it duty or was it love on her part?

The word duty rang in her mind as she thought about Neji, always driven by duty to his clan, duty to protect her. But then he has been a faithful husband and now it was more than a duty to him to want to stay by her side whereas for her, she pushed the duty of being a wife to the back of her mind and she hasn't given much thought about having Neji as someone more important than a friend and companion. She felt…terrible.

She owed him at least this much. "I will…try to be a good wife to you as well," she whispered as she pulled back slightly. Without much thought, she leaned forward and gave a kiss and backed away to jump out of his grasp before he could react. He looked a bit stunned before his lips quirked slightly.

Neji sighed and got up to get ready for bed where he could finally sleep with her in his arms. The warmth of her lips was still vivid in his mind as he got in and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her hair.

NxHxNxH

-NightKDuet