A/N:NEJIHINAwarning. And hurrah to sucky and extremely limited vocabulary.
Very much redundant disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, the whole of the Narutard community would be in peril. But it's not is it?
Bet
"You know what, Hinata?"
"Aa...Ano...Nani, Kiba-san?" Hinata looked questioningly at her team mate, Kiba.
"That bastard Neji's such a wimp." The brown haired boy raised a fist, as his pet dog on his head barked wildly.
"N...Nn...Nani? Neji-niisan? What did Neji-niisan do to offend you, Kiba-kun?"
"Meh. I just hate him. His looks. His skills. His personality. I just hate him to pieces!"
"Kiba, you're spouting crap again," a boy with a pair of dark sun glasses snorted.
"Urusai, Shino!" Kiba spat, "I mean, look at Neji! He thinks he's...PRETTY. Goddamnit, which guy keeps LONG HAIR!I Is he gay or what!"
"Shikamaru's got long hair."
"Uh yeah but...But...Uh...His hair isn't as long!"
Hinata looked weirdly at Kiba for a moment, before Kiba continued to rant on, "Not to mention his freakishly white pupil-less eyes! I mean...How lame is that? It's just plain ugly!"
"Rrrrright," Shino rolled his eyes...Or at least he sounded like he was going to. "Hinata has 'freakishly white pupil-less eyes' too."
"Okay FINE. Don't you care about our precious team mate almost getting killed by her beloved cousin!"
Hinata smiled a little, as if trying to ease the rivalry between her two team mates.
"Hey...Say...Akamaru! That might just work!" Kiba held his pet dog above his head, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he grinned madly.
"Nani?" Shino glared at Kiba, knowing something probably bad or stupid was about to take place soon. Leaning forward, Kiba whispered something into the young Hyuuga heir's ear. Her eyes widened a moment, as Kiba laughed at what was probably another of his lame jokes or prank. Shino raised an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off Kiba.
The doggy boy stifled his laughter and whispered into Shino's ear this time.
"Are you serious? Or have you been eating Akamaru's dog food again or sniffing his shit!"
"Dame! Don't be an ass, Aburame Shino!" Kiba scowled, "Okay, so I bet Hinata won't agree to do it!"
"Don't be stupid, Kiba.You're that eager to get Hinata killed!" Shino said, strangely sounding more amused than angry.
"Waa... Watashi!" Her voice trembled a little.
"Yosh! Erm... Right. If you do it...Uhh...Shino?"
"Huh!" Came the annoyed reply.
"Erm...Think of a reward, damnit."
"WHAT!"
"Fine, forget it...Uhh...Hinata..."
"Nnn...Nani?"
"Erm right...If you do it...We'll...Erm... Fix a date with Naruto for you!"
"'We'!" Shino pushed his glasses up his nose.
"NANI!" Her face turned a deep shade of crimson red.
"You do like Naruto, right?"
"Ano..."
"Okay, so you on?"
"...Wa...Watashi..."
"Okay! Settled then! If you lose the bet, Hinata...You...Uhh...Have to..."
"Nn...Nani?"
"Uh.I can't think of a punishment for now. Wait till Shino and I have thought of one!"
"What's this gotta do with me!" Glaring at Kiba, Shino kind of felt pity for Hinata, but Shino IS Shino after all. And well...Shino doesn't care!
Hinata had a confused look on her face as she tried her best to come up with a plan to carry out her heinous task.
Neji was alone in his bedroom. Well, he was used to it after all. Used to being alone. Loneliness wasn't all that fun. Of course, hanging out with his team, watching Lee and Gai go all ' "Gai-sensei!" "Lee!" "Gai-sensei!" "Lee!" in their seriously overly exaggerated-ness wasn't that much fun either, though he might have preferred to be out on a mission, rather the mope around. He had always wondered why such a genius like him was stuck in such a weird and strange team. Despite their weirdness, Neji could not deny that they were a strong and formidable team indeed. Maito Gai was a wonderful sensei, especially to Lee. Rock Lee was skilled and faster than the wind, in fact, Lee probably could run so fast that if he ran past you, you would be blinded by the air pressure. Ten Ten had the most accurate aim ever, with all her weapons; she packed quite a powerful punch too. But of course, she couldn't match up to Gai, Lee or Neji.
Hyuuga Neji never used to be someone to treasure what was called "friendship". Since that incident while he was young, he had always felt that no one understood the pain he felt, that no one knew of his sorrow, and how he was kept away from everything else. He used to hate them. He had wanted so badly to kill them, to revenge his father, to show that he was more than fit to take the place of the Hyuuga heir. He had hated their guts, had hated the way they trapped him like he was a bird, keeping him in his cage and not letting him fly out.
That day, that fight, that battle with her. He quite regretted it now. After his second fight with the blonde Kyuubi boy during the Chuunin exam, he had learnt the truth behind his own father's death.
Since young, both of them had been very close, but since that day, he grew to hate them and loathe them.
'What went wrong? Why...Why did I start to hate her? When? How? How did we drift so far apart? Even now...Even when it's over?'
"N...Nn...Neji-niisan?" A familiar voice gently roused the boy from his thoughts. Without even turning around to look at the owner of the voice, Neji could instantly make out who it was.
"Hinata-sama," he said, as if stating a fact. Finally turning around, he could see how flustered she looked. She was obviously troubling over something.
"What's wrong, Hinata-sama?"
Her face reddened again and she smiled nervously, "Nothing, Neji-niisan."
'I wonder what she's here for. She hardly speaks to me anymore...'
Neji didn't reply for a while. He just stared at her, his face stern and serious. Hinata seemed... Intimidated by him. They hadn't exactly become best of friends overnight, since the chunin exam, although the tension between them had lessened over time. Hinata still felt quite uneasy around her cousin, and the boy could tell that she was still afraid of him.
The long haired boy didn't take his cold eyes off her. She just looked back at him for a while longer.
"Neji-niisan?"
"Yes, Hinata-sama?"
"Do...Do you still hate us?" Neji took it that 'us' meant the members of the Main family.
'How can I possibly hate her? Shouldn't she be the one that hates me instead?'
"No, I don't... Not anymore, Hinata-sama," he still looked as stern as before.
"Ano...Good..." A smile on her face softened him a little.
'Haven't seen her smile for a long time already.'
"So why do you look so troubled, Hinata-sama?" He asked.
"Do...Do I?" Hinata's face reddened.
He shook his head, "Never mind, Hinata-sama."
Hinata's face was completely flushed now. The girl seemed to look more embarrassed and flustered with each word from Neji.
"Neji-niisan... Are you angry at me, for being so weak?"
"Iie, In fact, I'm quite glad. It makes me seem like I'm stronger and better than you," he said, his voice flat and monotone.
"N...Nnn...Nani!" Hinata's eyes widened with fear.
"Relax, Hinata-sama. That was meant to be a joke..."
'Maybe I went overboard with trying to loosen the tension?'
Hinata would never have thought that it was meant to be a joke, especially not the way and tone in which Neji had said it in...
Hinata gave a tiny, terrified smile. "Oh...Okay..."
"I was wondering... Shouldn't you be the one resenting me for hurting you?"
"Aa...ano... I know you didn't mean it, Neji-niisan..." She sat down next to him as he started to stare out of the window instead.
'Eight. Eight of them. Am I right?'
"How many can you sense and see?"
"How many?" A puzzled look on her face.
"The birds," he closed his eyes, "Do you sense them? Do you see them? How many are there?"
"Ano..." Peeking out of the window behind him, Hinata hesitated, "Eight." It sounded more like a question than a statement or answer.
"Eight," Opening his eyes, he whispered, "Just right."
"Nani?"
"Don't worry, Hinata-sama, I'm not testing you or anything..."
"Oh..."She sounded as if she wanted to continue her sentence, but didn't dare to.
"So?"
"Doushita?"
"What did you come for?"
"Ano..." Neji could see on her face that she was searching frantically for a reason to give him.
'Hnn.She's so...'
"I take it you wanted to chat then, Hinata-sama?" An eyebrow went up.
"Aaa...Ah...Hai..." She nodded a tiny sigh of relief.
A tiny smile appeared on Neji's lips.
'Heh. She's so clueless really. I wonder what she really came for.'
'Eek. What if Neji-niisan finds out what I really came for! He'll skin me alive... Unn... It's all Kiba-kun's fault!'
Both of the Hyuuga clan members didn't break the cold silence. Night was falling, and both watched as the birds flew back, prepared to roost in their nests.
"It's getting late, Hinata-sama..."
"Yeah..."
'Datte...I have yet to carry out my task! I can't leave yet! Or I would have lost... And knowing, Kiba-kun...He might come up with some horrible forfeit for me!'
"Are you gonna go now?"
'Don't tell me she wants to stay!'
"Ano..."
Exasperated, Neji said, "Is there something bothering you, Hinata-sama?"
"Ano...Iie..."
"Maybe you should go now, it's really late..."
"Aa...Ano..."
'No! If I leave without...'
'Argh. What does she want! Her staying here is making me uneasy. All along, the atmosphere between us has tensed a lot more... This guilt I feel. This sorrow, this longing...Every time I see her...' Neji glanced over at her, inspecting her worried face, 'She looks so pale... So fragile... If only, I could erase that moment. That battle, that hatred between us... I want her to look at me again. Talk to me again. Be with me again. Look at me again.'
"Hinata-chan...I want to ask you something..."
"D...Dou...Doushita?"
"Do you...Do you like the Kyuubi boy?"
"Nani!" She blushed a deeper shade of red then usual.
"It's true, huh?" A wave of disappointment washed over him.
'Heh. What was the point of asking? It's quite obvious already. Any fool would have seen through her. Well, of course, except the "victim" himself. Hnn. I've never seen another moron like him. Hinata-sama's pining for him somehow... It only makes me feel emptier inside...'
"The idiot doesn't know it, huh?" The moonlight shone down gently on them, it seemed to magnify his languish.
"Ano...Hai..." She said softly, unable to hide her dejection.
"Hnn. Baka. Foolish unrequited love on your part."
'Like a certain someone I know...'
"Maybe..."
"What do you see in him, anyways?"
'What makes us so different?'
"I don't know... Naruto-kun... He's something different. He's not like me; he doesn't worry, nor fret. He doesn't get scared," Her eyes sparkled in the dim light as she spoke of her 'beloved' ," He inspires me. Naruto-kun fights for what he believes in, he doesn't cry, he isn't weak like me..."
'Am I any different?'
"I see..."
She beamed at him, as he felt his heart sink.
'Does she not know?'
"But Naruto-kun..."
"He likes someone else, I presume?"
She nodded sadly.
'I'm sorry, Hinata-sama...'
"It's that Haruno girl, is it not?"
Another depressed nod.
"Hnn. Baka."
"Nn...Neji-niisan! Don't say that of Naruto-kun!" She frowned at him.
"I didn't mean him."
'I meant myself. Such a fool... For this love...'
"Ano... Okay..." He could hear the uncertainty in her gentle voice.
"Hmm. So what do you plan to do, Hinata-sama?"
"I...I don't know..."
'I could beat Naruto to a pulp...But that would be...Like trying to force love?'
"Hnn." Neji didn't know what to say.
"It's okay, Neji-niisan," she said cheerfully, "I don't mind...I don't mind just watching him. I don't mind just standing behind him."
"Are you going to forever live in a shadow! Forever without his loving you back!"
'Even if you can live with it, I don't think I can...'
"I... I don't know..."
"Hinata-sama! Wake up now! Uzumaki Naruto likes Haruno Sakura, Sakura likes Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto..." He hated to break Hinata's heart, " Naruto, will never look at you as long as Sakura is around."
'I'm so sorry. I want you to look at me. Please. Knowing that you love him, knowing that you won't even take a glance at me...'
"Nn...Neji-niisan..." her tears glistened in the moonlight, "Neji-niisan!"
"Hinata-sama... Please don't...I didn't mean it..." He tried his best to console the girl, "Don't cry please. Please don't" He could feel his own heart shattering into many pieces, and drown in his sorrow.
'I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I really didn't. I can't help it. I can't stop myself from loving you. Loving you with all my heart. Throwing away everything else I have just for you. Doing anything, even risking my life, my dignity for you, Hinata-sama.'
Her head on his shoulder, she cried silently, her tears wetting his yukata, "Neji-niisan, I don't know. I really don't know. Maybe it's all just a joke. Should I just give up now?"
"Hinata-sama... I didn't mean it... Please don't take it to heart..." He felt something tug at the back of his head, but ignored it and continued, "I'm sorry, Hinata-sama... Please don't cry..."
'Please don't. It breaks my heart to see you like this...'
Neji felt his own face redden as her arms tightened around him.
"Neji-niisan.." She buried her face into his chest.
"Hnn!" His face flushed, as he wasn't used to...Well... He wasn't used to having people hug him. Especially not his cousin, whom he had once tried to kill before.
"Neji-niisan... I... I don't know what to do now..."
'Neither do I, Hinata-sama. I wish I had the courage to tell you...'
"I wish I had the courage to tell Naruto..." she sniffed a little, "That I... That I like him..."
'That I love you.'
Looking at her crestfallen face wet with tears, he felt a pang of guilt through him. It was his fault, for making her cry. It was his fault for yelling at her. It was his fault for loving her...
"Gomen nasai, Hinata-sama... Gomen nasai," He whispered softly, his chin resting on her head.
She pulled herself away from him, her face still tearstained, "Neji-niisan. What's the time now?" She used the long sleeve of her kimono to wipe her face dry, forcing herself to smile, "I'm alright, Neji-niisan, don't worry."
"Hinata-sama..." Neji's face was still creased with worry, "Alright...It's very late now... You better go now..."
"Hai. Oyasumi nasai, Neji-niisan."
"Oyasumi nasai." He watched as she stepped out of the house, only to open the door again and peek in.
"Ano, Neji-niisan..."
"Hn?"
"Ano...Can you come over for a while?"
Her face edged nearer to his.
'Nani!'
She swiftly turned her head to his side and whispered into his ear, "Arigatou...Neji-kun."
'Well...Neji-kun's a huge improvement...For a moment I thought-" his thoughts were interrupted as he felt something on his face.
Her lips left his cheek and both of them blushed slightly.
Hinata turned around promptly, her dark blue hair swishing across and brushing against his now completely red face.
'Was that?...What I thought it was?'
Hinata sat down on her own bed, blushing as she remembered what she had just did. Well, she had completed her 'mission'. Tomorrow, Kiba was just gonna have to eat his words.
'Maybe...Maybe Neji-kun is the one meant for me…Neji-kun. Since when have I...'
Her face reddened so much that she looked as if she would burst.
'Since I looked at him again... Since I properly stared into his eyes... Since I started to listen to him... Since I started to understand the song the caged bird sang... Since I started to love him.'
---
"Ehh. Hinata!" Kiba's yells brought Hinata to her senses. She had been sitting there waiting for Kiba and Shino to arrive, all the while staring into the sky dreamily, counting the birds that flew by.
'Nine today...'
"Ohayou, Hinata," Shino said dully.
"Ohayou, Kiba-san, Shino-san."
"Hinata, did you really do it!" Kiba bounced up and down, Akamaru barking while he was being thrown around by Kiba's actions.
Hinata nodded blushingly. Shino gave a snort of disapproval.
Reaching into her weapons pouch, she pulled something out.
Kiba's eyes widened and Shino almost gave a gasp of disbelief. I said almost.
"Is that really...!" The brown haired boy leaned forward, as his pet dog tumbled off his head and onto the ground.
"Yeah," Hinata beamed at him, "Neji-kun's hair."
"God! I didn't think you would actually do it!" Kiba burst into a fit of maniacal laughter. He suddenly stopped, "How do we know that it's really Neji's hair? For all anyone know, you might have just taken anyone's hair to pose off as Neji's!"
"Cut her some slack, dog boy. I doubt Hinata would do that. She's not that cunning."
"Aa...Ano Kiba-san. It's really Neji-kun's hair."
"Prove it. Tell us how you got it."
"Nani!"
"So you did fake it didn't you!"
"Da..Dame!" Hinata shook her head, and reluctantly recounted yesterday's events to Kiba and Shino.
When she was done, she found herself the victim of Kiba's relentless teasing and taunting.
"Haha! Hinata! I can't believe you did that!"
"Urusai, Kiba. What she does is her business."
"Urusai, Shino. What I say is MY business too."
"Ano..."
"Okay, fine Hinata. You win."
"Nnn...Nani!"
"Okay, so now we have to fix a date with Uzumaki for you."
"Nande... There's no need really..."
"Oh right, I forgot you have your Neji-kun now." Kiba grinned cheekily at her.
She blushed deeply as Shino just gave a bored yawn. He couldn't be bothered with Kiba's weird 'games'.
"Well anyways, I think Neji's still a bastard!"
Kiba was lucky that Hinata was a nice, gentle young girl who wouldn't hurt her team mates no matter what, or he would have become a bloody pulp of mush by then.
Neji sneezed, causing Ten Ten to twitch her nose and say, "Neji, they say that when you sneeze, someone is talking behind your back!"
He raised an eyebrow, "Who actually believes in this kinda stuff anymore?"
"Neji!"
"Ne, Gai-sensei?"
"Neji! You have obviously caught a terrible illness in the midst of all your youthfulness! Come, and we will train so that we can cure you of this malicious disease!"
"... Baka..." Ten Ten rolled her eyes.
"Gai-sensei is so smart!" Lee's eyes sparkled with admiration for his sensei.
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Both of them burst into tears, while hugging each other. The sun rose behind them and they stood upright, tears streaming down.
Neji gave a sigh, and walked off, leaving Ten Ten with the rest of his team. He could have sworn he felt his hair was thinner than before, as he ran his hand through his full head of hair. And he never really found out why Hinata had gone to him yesterday. Looking up at the sky, Neji smiled to himself, tallying the number of birds that flocked above.
'Eight.'
Finally! This is a ONESHOT kay. Please review! Flames are welcome, but not really wanted or needed please! Oh, and please don't flame me about it being 'incest' because it's NOT. ;; Arigatou, minna-san!