Lost Moments

Lost Moments

By: Lynn Metallium

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything! I’m nothing but a poor little American girl who had to spend all of her money on college and therefore even if you sued me you wouldn’t get any money anyway. So please don’t get mad and hurt me Xx;;

Song By:

Enya

Author Notes: See End

Chapter 2

How strong, how brave, how true of you

to bear the hurt I gave.

I know it tears your heart in two;

all I’ve said, all I say to you.

The wedding announcements went out the next day, much to Neji’s dismay. By the second morning, everyone was staring at him rather openly at him as he walked down the street towards the training ground to meet Lee. If he had known the day was going to start out this way he would have stayed in bed and wallowed in self pity.

“Neji! My esteemed rival! What a glorious day! How the brightness of youth shines from you today! Could it be because of your most recent conquest of a fair youthful heart?”

Neji simply stared at Lee for several moments. Once again he knew he should have stayed happily in bed this morning, especially now that he would have to listen to Lee’s so called “youthful” ranting. More like moronic.

“Lee, there is nothing glorious about my marriage,” His voice was rather flat as he stepped back across from the green spandex wearing beast, extending his arm in a motion for Lee to come at him. Lee only smiled brightly at his friend’s monotone voice; he had well grown use to this after being around the Hyuuga boy for the better part of his life. The two shared a rather odd friendship, a rivalry something to the effect of their sensei and Kakashi, although they did not take up the odd challenges and nether kept score when they fought, or so they both said. Neji knew that he was always winning, 237 to 13.

“Of course it is glorious Neji! Marriage is the pinnacle of young love! Alas if only I could gain the beating youthful heart of the lovely pink haired Sakura, I would be the happiest man in the word!” Lee continued to smile as he too took his stance before taking a leap towards the dark haired youth at a speed that for any other person would have been impossible to follow. Neji’s veins bulged about his eyes as he flung his hand out to grasp the boy’s leg, easily sending him skidding to the side to avoid his chakra being cut off by the Byakugan user, a frown placed on his face as he stared across the ground at him.

“Being married is nothing to smile about, so wipe that ridiculous grin off your face and fight me before I rub your face in the dirt to rid you of it myself,” Neji snapped, trying to keep his stance aloof. He did not wish to speak of these things now, or ever if he had that choice.

“Neji…” Lee raised his eyes as he straightened himself up to stare at the other boy before him. The spandex wearer did not understand; why would the Hyuuga boy be so miserable sounding? Becoming married was surely not as horrendous as he would have the other think, or was it? “You don’t seem to be jumping in joy over the accomplishment of obtaining sweet youthful love as I would imagine you to do.”

“I can’t even image myself jumping in joy over anything so I am not sure as to how you would imagine it,” Neji’s hands tightened into fists at his side at his bitter attempt of humor. Lee let out a laugh, although the other man’s voice had been flat, his words were certainly true. It was very unlike Neji to get excited about anything, perhaps that was all that was wrong, he was simply hiding his glee from the fuzzy browed boy.

“Ah, you speak the truth Neji! You are as excitable as a slug crawling into a pile of salt! But there is no need for you to hide your joy with me after all, you must be bursting! A secretive man like yourself, you must have much to say! Especially since you have never shared with me your love for the fair Hinata! Tell me my friend, how is that you have come to capture the heart of your most lovely cousin!”

The Hyuuga boy’s teeth grinded together at the Taijutsu user’s words, he had captured nothing other than a painful headache for attempting to refuse the marriage proposal. Why did everyone have to stick their noses into his business? Why couldn’t they just accept he was to marry Hinata and not ask any questions!

Turning his back on Lee, the white eyed boy started to walk away before the spar had even really begun. He had no urge to deal with these questions that he knew would come. How could he even begin to explain that he had no choice? That he was a tool that his uncle would use to trample all over his cousin’s heart.

“No need to be shy Neji! I know that you must love her very much, so there is no need for you to say! How magnificent your youthful union will be!”

Neji nearly choked when he found the spandex man falling in step beside him. Lee’s words sparked a rage inside his heart as he stopped dead in his tracks to turn his furious milky eyes on the other who stared back, suddenly wide eyed at his friend’s obvious anger.

Suddenly Lee found himself yanked inches from the ground as Neji grasped the front of his green leotard in a tight fist. Gapping a bit at how quickly his friend had snapped, Lee started to scrabble at the strong fist that held him captive. This was no gentle fist technique that Neji held him in, this was the painful murderous fist technique of an angry Hyuuga man! The mere thought made poor Lee shake a bit as he squirmed, he knew full well that he had pushed too far somewhere although he wasn’t sure as to where. Neji was forever acting strange and it was difficult for even Lee, his long time friend to figure him out some days.

“Stop speaking about this as if you know something about it!” Neji glared down at the squirming ninja in his grasp. “It is not glorious, it is not magnificent, splendid or any other disgustingly wonderful word you can come up with. It is my duty and I will treat it as such. I do what is required of me, there is nothing more. Stop assuming there is that sick thing you call love between myself and my weakling cousin.”

Lee flinched ever so slightly at Neji’s harsh words, stumbling back as the other released him with a vicious shove, turning his back on the other in a fit of arrogance and hatred. It wasn’t really Lee’s fault he knew but it was hard for him not blame the other man, it was the more preferable choice than blaming himself for acting like a fool under the circumstances.

The dark haired ninja was being completely irrational, Lee knew, but to make him come to his senses would be nearly impossible in a situation like this. From time to time the Byakugan user reverted to his old self, the caged bird of fate. Often it could take as long as weeks before he snapped out of his moods.

“To say you do not love her would be a lie you know. I have seen you protect her from the lustful gaze of men and you watch her when you think no one is watching. I have seen you bristle more than once at the simple touch of her teammates,” Lee’s voice was rather soft but it was enough to cause Neji to stiffen in his tracks.

“My cousin is weak and so I do the duty that has been placed on me by my elders and clan. I protect her as is required, but there is no more. I cannot nor do not love her as a man loves a woman Lee. It is not my place nor is that is not my duty.”

“Soon it will be your duty Neji, to love her with all your might! That is the beautiful trap of marriage!” As soon as the words left his mouth the green beast knew it had been the wrong thing to say to the further stiffening of the dark haired Hyuuga’s shoulders.

“Yes,” Neji turned to face Lee, his face set in a harsh bitter line. “Such is the trap that is marriage. That is my life isn’t it, to forever stumble into the traps laid by selfish men and lay to rot inside the cages as freedom slips through my fingers.”

“Life doesn’t have to be a trap you know, it is what you make of it. You are still full of spring time youth Neji. You shouldn’t let others be so unfair to you…” Lee stammered slightly as he stared at the angry youth. It was hard for him to come up with something to say to the other man. He knew that their lives were very different and so he often found that the advice he had to offer was all wrong for the Hyuuga boy (even though it seemed to work very well for himself and Gai-sensei….hmm…). Yet he always tried very hard to be there when the other needed him, even if his words weren’t the best of help.

Lee suddenly noticed the white eyed boy advancing on him and he took as step back to avoid him. He wouldn’t let himself get captured by those hands again for he feared that if Neji grabbed him again he might not live to see the next day. However Neji did not grab him, he merely came inches from the other man’s face, hissing softly.

“My life is not fair, it has never been fair, nor will it ever be fair. I have no control over these things! The bird is tired of singing for selfish men and wishes to know when he will be free. When will he see the blue sky he longs for? Yet the bird will never see the sky he longs for, for he is forever at the mercy of his owners. What would you have me do Lee? Deny my uncle? Do you really think I have that choice?”

“I…well…I don’t know!” Lee’s eyes were wide as he stared up at the other boy. “You can be so vague Neji! I only know so much when it comes to your clan…”

“You and everyone else in this village, and yet they would all like to put in their two cents as to how to conduct my life as if they knew my people, my family, my clan, my uncle! Everyone tries to act like they understand. Everyone is not a Hyuuga Lee! You do not understand!”

“Perhaps I do not understand my esteemed rival! But I try the best I can with a man who is so tight lipped about his life that it is nearly impossible for me to learn anything about him,” Lee’s eyes flickered away from the other man. It was hurtful when the other accused him of these things. He was only a man after all, he tried the best he could but his best was never enough for his rival, for his friend.

“I…” Neji fell silent as he too glanced away. He knew his words had been unnecessarily hurtful to the green beast and yet his pride held him back from saying any words of apology. After a long moment of silence, a heavy sigh escaped the Hyuuga’s mouth. He could not pretend that Lee had not tried to the best of his ability. It was not the poor spandex wearer that he was angry with after all. It was unfair of him to take out his anger on him. “A man can only give the best he can, even if it is not enough. Please excuse me Lee, I need some time now.”

“I understand, go and have your time. I will wait for you here tomorrow and if I fail to give you a fair trouncing I will do 1,000 jumping jacks!” Although the conviction was there in his voice, Lee waved him away without looking at him. Neji shook his head a bit at his friend’s words as he started to walk away. Even though things were rough between them right now, by tomorrow the wounds of the fight would be forgotten and the two would go back to normal. Well…as normal as a Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee could be that is.


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Although the young girl could feel the eyes on the back of her neck she didn’t stop working. Her hands continued to over turn the dark rich earth as she made room for a few new plants she had bought this morning. Sitting back on her haunches, Hinata raised her hand to her forehead, rubbing away the sweat that had been gathering there and leaving a streak of dirt across her face that stayed there unnoticed.
Neji had been standing behind her for some time, watching her for some reason she couldn’t place. If he wanted to speak to her about something surely he would have come to her and spoken, not attempted to hide in the shadows. Neji wasn’t that kind of person, but on the other hand Hinata was not the kind of person to ever come to someone else and demand why they insisted on staring at her. Thus the two had come to some sort of a deadlock in concerning one another, which had forced the white eyed girl to ignoring her cousin all together. Although she was aware that soon this would have to change…When they were wed it would be impossible for them to ignore one another.

A ruckus across the lawn caused the dark haired girl to finally look up from her place in the dirt. From the direction of the angry voices, Hinata suddenly recognized Kiba’s voice demanding that he be let through. Not many people were allowed into the Hyuuga compound unaccompanied by a Hyuuga clan member and so it was no wonder that the boy was getting harassed by the guards.

“Can’t you just let me through for a minute! Mah! You fool, do I look so dangerous!” Kiba’s angry voice floated out into the garden as the sound of something breaking and clattering to the ground suddenly followed. Hinata bit her lip to hold back a slight smile. The poor boy was probably having a rough time of it but she didn’t so much as move a muscle. If it was really pressing there was no doubt in her mind that the Inuzuka boy would make it past the house servants.

“’Course you look dangerous dog breath! Look at ya! I wouldn’t let you through either!” Another voice broke through the noise of the scuffle and Hinata suddenly blushed a bright red. Kiba had brought Naruto with him! Staring down at herself, the young girl suddenly felt very embarrassed, covered in dirt. No one was really supposed to see her like this.

“Oh like you’re one to talk!” Sakura’s sassy voice reached the dark haired Hyuuga’s ears as well. What in the world was Kiba doing coming to see her with so many people? Had something bad happened? A frown flickered onto the girls face, perhaps she should go to rescue them after all. She stood up, brushing some of the dirt from her pants but when she looked up she was surprised to see that the group had entered the gardens, much to the chagrin of the maid behind them, a broom in her hand.

“O-oi! Hinata! Tell this crazy old woman to step off ne!” Kiba shouted to her as soon as he spotted her standing there with a nervous look on her face, unfortunately he was suddenly smacked none too kindly on the head with the broom in the maid’s hand.

“You see here you little urchin! The mistress is not to be disturbed!”

Kiba let out a grunt of surprise, his hands rising quickly to protect his head from the fury that was an angry maid. It wasn’t as if he could use vicious force on someone who obviously wasn’t trained in combat, he could actually hurt the old woman! Akamaru barked furiously at the woman, as if that would help the situation at all.

Hinata covered her mouth, whether to hide her amusement or shock it was unclear as she stood there with wide eyes watching the poor dog boy getting smacked by broom.

“Oi oi! Old woman! Stop smacking him! He was dropped on his head as a baby, he’s only got so many brain cells left!” Naruto called from the side, although there was an evil grin on his face at the sight of Kiba being totally beaten by an old woman.

“Please, Makoto- It is ok!” Hinata finally managed to gather her wits around her before the old woman could knock her unfortunate friend out. “They may speak with me, please don’t hurt my friend!”

“Yeah it’s not like he can help being that way!” Naruto chimed in before Sakura struck him roughly on the head silencing him efficiently with a grumble under her breath about foolish blondes and their stupidity. Oh how Sasuke was superior….Naruto could only glare hatefully.

Makoto paused staring at the young mistress with narrowed eyes. When she had arrived home from the market she had asked Makoto that she not be disturbed but now she had suddenly changed her mind? Well…So were the ways of young ones…

“Excuse me young mistress, I will let you be then.” The older woman bowed low to the young nin, backing away from the group submissively. Kiba watched her go with dark eyes, rubbing his head all the while before sticking his tongue out the moment the old woman turned her back.

“God, I thought that old woman would be the end of me,” Kiba growled feeing rather harassed, Akamaru barked in agreement at his feet although it wasn’t like anything bad had happened to the little pup.

“Well maybe if you didn’t look like a little urchin…” Naruto mumbled under his breath, flinching away when Sakura made move to smack him good once again.

“I’m very sorry Kiba…I’m afraid I told her that I didn’t want to be disturbed, she wasn’t trying to do anything wrong,” Hinata gave her friend a sympathetic look. She was very sorry that he had gotten beaten by the broom but it truly wasn’t Makoto’s fault. The older woman had only been following orders.

“Eh…whatever,” The dog boy waved her off with one hand. His head was smarting but he had to put that aside for now, he had heard some disturbing news and he had to know the truth or he would surely go insane!

“Is everything ok? I thought you and Shino would be training…” Hinata peered at the two others that had come with her teammate but she did not see the bug loving ninja in their ranks. “Is Shino ok?”

“’Course he is…” Kiba grumbled, glaring at the young girl as if she had said something wrong, causing Hinata to shrink back a bit. “Hinata…We need to talk about some-“

“Hinata is it true you’re getting married!” Naruto suddenly blurted out before Kiba could even think of a way to ease into the conversation. Figures the blonde wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.

“You loud mouth!” Sakura snapped, smacking him upside the head causing the blonde to wail.

Hinata only stared at them with wide shocked eyes as an uncomfortable feeling spread into her stomach. How…How had they known such a thing? An uncomfortable silence fell over the group as she stared hard at them, her face blank of any sort of emotion, although she was shaking inside. No one was suppose to know. No no no… Oh god…

“Where did you hear that?” She replied finally after a moment.

“My father…he got an invitation to the wedding…” Kiba started carefully as he watched the young girl’s face. She seemed so calm but was that a tremor running down her spine? Kiba frowned… “What’s going on here Hinata? Surely it’s a mistake-“

“There is no mistake,” Hinata replied quickly without thinking. Mentally she smacked herself for replying at all. She did not wish to speak about this matter, especially in front of him…Her heart clenched hard in her chest as her eyes flickered to the blonde who was now staring back at her in shock. They all were.

“What do you mean there’s no mistake?” Sakura’s voice was low but easy to hear in the eerie silence that had fallen over the group. “Hinata, you can’t honestly be saying you are getting married to….to…”

Hinata stared at the pink haired girl, she too knew then? They all knew? How many people knew? How had this gotten out so fast…she didn’t understand. She didn’t want anyone to know these things! Wasn’t her life bad enough? Why did this have to happen now! The wedding invitations?...Had Father really sent them out so soon? Yes he was dying but…she wasn’t ready for this!

“I’d rather not speak about these things, I must retire now,” Hinata made to step around the three to escape into the house but Kiba stepped in front of her causing the girl to come up short with a squeak of surprise.

“You aren’t going to get away without an answer!” His eyes were frighteningly hard and the dark haired Hyuuga couldn’t help but take a step back in concern.

“Hinata please, you’re being serious?” Sakura placed a hand on the shorter woman’s shoulder from behind her, causing her to jump. She was surrounded on all sides…no escape. Naruto was still staring silently at her and she felt as if her whole world had just ended. Biting down hard on her lip the girl tried to keep the tears from springing up in her eyes.

“You know the truth so why are you here bothering me like this?” Hinata wanted to plead with them, tell them to leave her alone ever so bluntly but she just could not make herself be so cold to people whom called herself her friends.

“I don’t believe that!” Kiba hissed, stepping forward again. Hinata gladly would have stepped back but there was nowhere to go but into Sakura.

“Kiba stop…you’re scaring me…” The young girl whispered softly as she stared into her friends angry face. “I don’t want to talk about this…cant you just let me go?”

“No! No I cant let you go! I want you to tell me it isn’t true Hinata! Why would you get married! To Neji! Of all people! Hinata that’s sick, he’s your cousin!”

“You don’t understand-“ Hinata started even though she could feel the tears start to spring into her eyes. It was true, how could this man, this outsider ever understand what her duty to the clan was?

“You’re right, I don’t understand! I came over here in hopes of hearing this was just a mistake, a bad dream! But now you tell me it is true and you’re ok with that!” Kiba glared down at the young girl, he could see the tears in her eyes but it only made him angrier that she was about to cry.

“I never said-“

“You didn’t have to say! You’re just going to lay down at let this happen to you? I thought you were a strong person Hinata! But you’re just weak-“

“Kiba!” Sakura cut him off with a gasp. Hinata only stared at him with a pale face, feeling a bit shocked over her best friends rage. Silently a tear streaked its way down her cheek.

“You wont even listen to me,” Her voice broke slightly when she started to speak. “This is not a choice for me!”

A sob escaped her lips as she pushed past the dog boy, she had to get away from them. She did not wish to speak about these matters especially with them. How could she ever hope to make them understand that this was her duty as a good daughter, to do what her father said? They would never understand, none of them. They did not come from clans like her own the Hyuuga clan was the only old clan like this left. Perhaps the only person who would have had an inkling of this situation ironically was the boy she had never spoken to, Uchiha Sasuke. He too had come from a clan such as hers and although it was no more, he would have some idea at the lengths that a child must go to in order to please the elders. But he had frightened her, and if she was to see him now, she still would be to frightened of him to even ask his opinion on the matter, not the stoic boy would have had anything to say to a mouse like herself.

Silently the three watched the girl make a bee-line out of the garden, her flowers forgotten unplanted. Surprisingly, Naruto hadn’t spoken a word the whole time.

“I don’t understand…” Kiba muttered hanging his head. “How can she be going through with this?”

“She said she didn’t have any choice…but…” Sakura continued to stare after the girl, even though she had long silence disappeared into the house.

“I don’t think that this is really any of your business do you?”

Sakura let out a yelp of surprise at the sound of the older Hyuuga boy’s voice in her ear. He had been so silent she hadn’t heard him coming, how shameful!

“N-Neji! Where did you come from?” The pink girl tittered with a powerful blush on her face, feeling rather foolish over her lack of ability to hear him coming.

“He was standing under the tree over there-“ Naruto offered, attempting to be helpful. The blonde had known he was there the moment they had entered the garden, surprisingly but over the years he had come rather familiar with the Hyuuga’s chakra. The dark haired boy hadn’t even been attempting to hide, so it really hadn’t been hard. Instead of being thankful though, Sakura gave him another bruise on the head in reply.

“I think it’s time for you to go-“ Neji only shot them all a disgusted look. They should have never been allowed on the grounds. He would have to have a serious chat with the guards on duty outside the gates later.

“Who do you think you are?” Kiba growled, his hand clenching to a fist. Although the two men might have gotten along at one point in time, it seemed that it was just as in the past when they could do nothing but go at one another’s throats.

“I think, that I am a Hyuuga and you are standing on my clan’s land. Thus I can do whatever I like Inuzuka.”

Kiba could only stare up at him hatefully for a moment, not trusting himself to speak. It would do no good to attack the youth under these circumstances, he was much too angry and would never be able to focus. Neji was sneaky and Kiba didn’t put it past him to put a smack down on him without so much as a sweat.

“Please Neji, will you talk to us on this matter of your marriage?” Sakura begged softly from his side. “I don’t think any of us understand what has brought this on. I did not think you…and Hinata were…”

“In love?” Neji scoffed as he finished her sentence with sneer. “If you had a single brain cell in your head Haruno you would know that there is no love between myself and my cousin.”

“Then why this marriage Neji? Why would you do this to Hinata?” Naruto demanded, it was practically the first thing he had said since he had stopped insulting Kiba.

Neji stiffened at the blonde’s words. Could people really think this was his doing? That he would ever want to ruin his cousin’s life like this? It was true what he said that there was no such love between them but he did not hate her!

“Why would you think this is my doing? Do you think that I would hate her so much as to destroy her life like this? No, I say I don’t love her, but that is not to say I don’t care for her. This is a matter that none of us have a choice in and it would be better for all if you would stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“You jerk-“ Naruto hissed, narrowing his eyes. “You’re just taking advantage of an innocent girl!”

“You will never understand, now leave!” The dark haired man gritted his teeth as he attempted to keep the anger from showing on his face but he was failing miserably. How could they ever understand this situation! It was one that none of these people would ever face. “This is a matter concerning our clan, no others. Stay out of it.”

Neji whirled around, turning his back on them as he marched stiffly away. He didn’t care if they left or not, he needed to be alone. The anger in him was crackling and raw and for a moment he wished he had not dismissed Lee so easily this morning. He could have used a good spar against the green spandex wearer right now. But he knew that the argument was still too raw between them and although Lee would shrug it off, Neji knew he had hurt the other man this morning. It would take more time before Lee was healed, he needed at least a day away from the Hyuuga man to fully recover but Neji wanted more and more to find the other man, if only to blow off some steam.

‘Lee…if you were here now, I would pound you to a pulp! …Lee…’ Neji gritted his teeth hard as he thought about the other man. He would then, seek out the fuzzy browed Taijutsu ninja. He needed this, he argued with himself, he deserved it.


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Hinata sat silently on her bed, her eyes staring straight ahead. In her hand she held the blood crusted blade from the night before. Although she had not touched it to her skin yet, it ached to be raped by the blade. Her shoulder shook with silent tears as she bit her lip so hard she could taste the coppery flow of blood in her mouth. Those people, they stared at her with such eyes of hate, such eyes of incomprehension. How could they ever be her friends? No one knew, no one understood her life! She was the only one who could see how these things really went. Not even Kiba had looked on her with understanding eyes. Only hateful vicious things had come out of his mouth while Sakura and her secret love….her…no…her nothing…he was nothing to her! They had both looked on her with eyes of sympathy and…and…
“I don’t need your pity!” She cried out into the empty air, as if those she thought of could hear her now. How brave she could be to shout out to an empty room. She could never dream of saying things like this to some ones face. Fate was cruel to her after all. How it laughed with the voice of her father behind her back and called her names. Loser, failure, no good daughter of mine!

A sob ripped from her throat as she brought the blade down on her pale marred flesh. The wounds from last night were still an angry red, yet the blade did not discriminate on what flesh it cut. Lines over lines, bleeding a bright red, dancing before her eyes. Her eyes could not leave the sight and she stared at it as the terror started to leave her heart, leaving behind a cold feeling of emptiness as she watched that ever precious Hyuuga blood flow away.

“I hate you…. I wish you would go away!” She hissed softly to the blood dripping down her elbow. Cupping her hand beneath her arm to catch the blood she stares at it with cold eyes. This was the reason she suffered so hard….Flow away then blood, be gone…

“I don’t want this life….” Her voice sounded hollow and broken to her own ears and it made her heart shudder inside her chest. “Who will save the broken marionette? Her legs are tired of dancing and head grows weary…No one sees where the marionette bandages herself at night and holds herself together by the ends of dry rotted strings that aren’t even good enough to hang herself from…”

The heavy silence that fell over the room was only broken by the sound of blood dripping onto the wooden floor.


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“Ten Ten said you were looking for me my esteemed rival!“ The sound of Lee’s voice cut into Neji’s deep thoughts and the Hyuuga boy glanced up from the tree he had been lounging under. Lee stood in front of him, legs spread and hands on hips in an utterly ridiculous stance.
“I was,” Neji replied. The fresh air in the training area and the time alone had done him some good. It was probably a lucky thing for the fuzzy browed boy that his rival was no where near as angry as he had been when he left the Hyuuga compound.

“But not anymore?” Lee raised an eyebrow, feeling a little miffed at the other boy. From the way Ten Ten had been spoken, the Hyuuga had been in some sort of horrible mood, but now he seemed almost calm.

“I am,” Neji forced himself to his feet so that he was almost nose to nose with the other boy. Suddenly he reached out and shoved the spandex wearer in the middle of his chest. Lee, unprepared stumbled back, a look of shock on his eyes. What the hell did the other boy think he was doing! A sly smile appeared on the Hyuuga boy’s usual emotionless face. It was a teasing look and Lee knew without taking a second look that the dark haired boy was baiting him!

It took less than ten minutes of scuffling between the two before Lee found himself pinned to the ground beneath the other boy, that same sly look still on his face.

“Are you still angry with me?” Lee asked softly. It was an odd thing to ask while he was being pinned down under the Hyuuga boy and it made Neji release his grip on him, sitting back on his haunches to stare at him with an unreadable look.

“No,” Neji replied just as soft, gnawed on his lower lip. It was true that he no longer felt the angry of the fight between them this morning, but he was still heated from his round with the three who had come to see Hinata and so he spoke as he rolled off the spandex boy to lay on the ground next to him, propping himself up on an elbow. “Kiba, Naruto and Sakura came to see Hinata-“

Lee turned onto his side to raise an eyebrow at his rival. How odd that he would be interested in talking to him. This was usually the part where Neji gloated in silence and sauntered off to bask in his winning for the rest of the day while Lee slunk off to train harder for the next day.

“Why did they do that?”

“To ask her about the marriage…Bastards…” Neji muttered under his breath. “They wanted to know why I was forcing this on her….”

“My rival is not the type to force any girl!” There was such an air in Lee’s voice that Neji couldn’t help but smile. Why was it that this fool of a man was the only one who had even the slightest idea of what was going on? At one point it might have disgusted him but now it only made him fell curious towards it. Silently he stared at him with milky white eyes that rather unnerved the green spandex wearer and his eyes flickered away quickly after a moment.

“Why is it that you understand the most of all?” His eyes narrowed but there was no malice in his voice as he regarded the other man.

“Because I try more than most,” Was Lee’s quick reply. “How many others attempt to understand you like I do? I’m you’re eternal rival! I must know everything there is to know about you, otherwise I would not be a good rival for you!”

Lee shot him a rather bright smile, it was almost a good guy pose but the effect was lost because he was laying on the ground. Neji rolled his eyes a bit at the speech. Lee ignored him good naturedly as he rolled back over onto his back to stare up at the clouds. The uncomfortable way they had left one another this morning had faded off into the back of his mind and now he was just content to lay here with the other in a lazy Shikamaru fashion.

Neji however was not so calm. His head was abuzz with all of the happenings of the last few months, especially today. Everyone thought so badly of him. Either he had seduced his dear innocent cousin or he was forcing her into a loveless marriage. No one could understand his point of view, that he did not want this either. Grounding his teeth together it was all he could do to hold back a scream of anger. Anger with himself for letting himself become a manipulated toy of Hiashi, anger at the world for thinking so poorly of him and not even giving him a chance to explain his feelings towards the matter, anger and frustration in general.

For several moments there was a silence around them and Lee had almost drifted off when Neji suddenly moved. Lee’s eyes flew open to find his rival suddenly right on top of him. What in the world was he…oh man…he was not going to punch him in the face or anything was he? Lee would have cringed if he wasn’t a self loving ninja who never cringed at the thought of being punched in the face (no one does that, really!).

“Lee-“ Neji’s voice was low and Lee regarded him with silent questioning suspicion. “I want…to…”

“Have a competition?” Lee filled in helpfully with a hopeful look in his eyes that the other man would agree, thus freeing him from this rather uncomfortable new position the two had acquired. Neji only glared down at him and Lee quickly silenced as the dark haired boys lips descended on his.

To say Lee was shocked wouldn’t have been really the right words to describe the Taijutsu’s feelings when his esteemed rival suddenly kissed him. He was down right floored. He didn’t even have time to think before Neji pulled back, a flush on his cheeks and confusion haunting his eyes. Lee only stared with wide eyes, a small noise escaping his mouth.

“I don’t understand this, but I want….“ Neji hissed softly. “Why….?”

Well that was a hell of a thing, Lee thought silently to himself as he continued to stare up at his rival confused as hell as to what had brought the kiss on. If Neji didn’t understand there was no way in hell he understood! By all means he should have jumped up and run away screaming in horror, ‘I was just kissed by a man! MY RIVAL KISSED MEEEEE! Oh GOD!’ Yet he hadn’t moved a muscle, in fact he didn’t even feel the urge to run away at all. Of course it could have been because he was Lee and most people assumed he was running on one full cylinder out of five, so maybe he was just slow. But no, he just felt confused…

“Neji…” It was the only thing he could say before the dark haired boy leaned down, brushing his lips against his, almost in an experiment before pulling back again. A soft blush was building on his light cheeks. “Why are you doing this….”

Neji felt something snap inside of him at the hurt sound in Lee’s voice. Why was he doing this to them? He didn’t even like men, in fact he had been crushing on Ten Ten for some time now! She was a good looking girl with an ass he wouldn’t mind having a piece of. Yet here he was now laying on top of his rival, kissing him. He just wanted…

“I need someone…” His voice was low, almost as if he was ashamed, and deep down he was. He was so weak to need someone to hold him and tell him that these things that plagued him at night were going to go away. Soon all of these problems would wash away and things would go back to the way they were before…before he had been pledged to marry his cousin.

Lee said nothing for a moment. It hurt his heart to see his rival like this, like a lost boy and maybe that was why he leaned up and kisses him full on the mouth in return. Neji kissed him back, pressing him into the ground with a sudden furry that Lee was left gasping for air when they finally broke apart.

The two stared at one another, flushed and panting. The situation was one they would have never imagined themselves in and yet here they were all the same.

“I don’t love you-“ Neji started with a soft voice, yet he was cut off by Lee pressing a finger to his lips.

“I don’t love you ether,”

“Then this…..”

“Is ok…”


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Author Notes: Eeeeh…that took me forever and I’m not even sure if it’s a worthy chapter two to the first…Lee is kind of…weird…but Lee is weird anyway! So yeah…Xx;; Never fear Hyuugacest fans, the LeeXNeji will be mostly fleeting cough I just couldn’t resist…its another fetish so SHHH!
Anyway, I hope to be moving a lot faster since it will soon be summer and I usually get more work done then believe it or not. Also Id like to note the mistake in the first chapter of Neji-nii-san, I dunno why I put neesan, I just wasn’t thinking about it XD I do that all the time. Im subject to error because I never actually proof-read it most of the time, Im just eager to post Xx;;