Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Protector	By : djserani Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1759 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Everyone was assembled at the gate when Neji and Hinata arrived. Even Ino was there, but she looked rather unhappy.
“Ino?” Hinata inquired.
“Chouji isn’t too happy that I have to go again. Honestly, I’m not very happy about it, either. We’re in the middle of the wedding plans and, well…” she trailed off. “I miss him.” She sighed and pretended to study her fingernails.
Hinata gave her a moment to herself and turned toward Genma. “We’re going to try to make it to just outside of the village. Neji, Tsunade told me you are cleared for full duty. However, if we need to stop, don’t be a fool. We have a bit of time. I’d rather we rest when necessary.”
Neji nodded slightly.
“Let’s go!” Genma said as he jumped into the first tree.
Now was the time Hinata needed to start thinking through her feelings for Neji. Somewhere along the line, she realized the love she felt for him had shifted. She still couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but it was there – when they were apart, she had a very hard time concentrating on anything else. All she wanted was to see him again. When they were together, she was always aware of him. In a room full of people, she could pick out his chakra. Her ears were tuned to his voice.
His touch…she briefly closed her eyes as the remembered feeling of being in his arms the night before came back. That was definitely not the same feeling she’d had when hugging him as kids.
Oh, my…I’m in love with him. The realization stopped her in her tracks and she dropped to the ground. Only a couple of seconds later, Neji was next to her and the others paused on their branches. “Are you okay, Hinata-sama?”
“Oh! Oh, um…” she blushed bright red. “I’m fine. I’m s-sorry.” She swallowed hard, but couldn’t meet Neji’s eyes, afraid he’d see in them the truth she’d just come to. Neji touched her shoulder and Hinata closed her eyes. Get a GRIP on yourself! “I’m sorry. I just thought I saw something. It’s…nothing.” She glanced up at Neji and saw he knew that for the lie it was, but he didn’t push and she was very grateful for it.   She jumped up to the next branch and started out again.
How am I going to deal with this? He’s changed toward me, I can’t deny that. But…love? No. Neji is still around me because of his duty. Despite the things he finally accepted, he’s never gone anywhere. Hinata didn’t notice the tear the slipped down her face.

Neji watched the play of emotions across Hinata’s face. He wanted very much to comfort her, to take away the pain he saw just under the surface. She’d gotten much better at hiding things, but he knew her too well not to know at least some of what she was feeling.
He didn’t know what to say. He could only guess at what was going through her mind. He touched her shoulder to lend what strength he could. She looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I just thought I saw something. It’s…nothing.” She was lying, but he couldn’t figure out why. He moved his hand and she jumped up to a branch and took off.
He followed as closely as he could and found himself distracted by the sight of her from behind. Her hair trailed in the wind and her uniform fit her so nicely.
Good grief, man, get a hold of yourself. She’s hurting and you probably caused it.
How? He argued with his inner self. What the hell did I do?
Who said I’d actually give you any insight? I’m not here to help you. I just like poking at you and making it worse.
Baka.
Still, he didn’t know what he might have done or what he could do to fix it. He had so much to make up for with Hinata. Over the years since the Chunnin exams, he’d helped to train her, been a friend to her. He wanted to make right what he’d done, but had no idea how.
He thought Hinata had long since forgiven him for it, maybe even understood why he’d done it in the first place, though that was more than he ever expected. It was more than he deserved. He hadn’t even forgiven himself. And the worst part is, he’d done it, knowing that he cared about her.
Still do, if you want to be honest with yourself. His inner self smirked at him.
Shut up. I know I care about her. She’s the closet friend I have.
That’s not what I mean, and you know it. You love her.
Of course I do, she’s family. We’ve spent our lives together.
Are you always this thick? Neji could have sworn that the rest of their party could hear his inner self laugh at him.
Shut up. He told himself again. Apparently, he spoke out loud, though, because the object of his thoughts looked over her shoulder at him. He mentally kicked himself for speaking out loud. He sighed to himself. So what if I do? She’s going to be the Hyuuga head. If I were to try to act on it now, she’d probably think it was out of duty.
His inner dialogue trailed off. But what if… Neji looked again at Hinata. Perhaps I could make her see it’s more than duty. Perhaps if I showed her…

Hinata didn’t know what to make of Neji’s facial expressions. She’d caught a few of them since they’d taken off again, but couldn’t read him accurately. He’d always been a bit of an enigma, since his father died. But most of the time she could figure it out. This time…
The sun began to set and Genma called a halt for the night. There was a small tributary of the big river nearby, so they set up camp. Hinata took her pot and canteen to the stream to fill it and get things ready for tea.
“Are you okay?” Hinata hadn’t heard Tenten approach. She scolded herself for letting her guard down.
“Oh, I’m fine, Tenten-chan.” She smiled at the weapons mistress. “Are you okay?”
Tenten gave her a puzzled look. “Of course.”
“How are things with Lee-kun?” Hinata asked.
Tenten turned pink. “I…um… don’t know what you mean.”
Hinata chuckled quietly. “I’ve seen you with Lee. “ She finished with her water and turned to Tenten.
The lady in question sighed. “Is it that obvious?” She looked up shyly through her eyelashes.
Hinata didn’t laugh at her. Her recent revelations in regard to Neji were too close to the surface. “Only to those that know you.”
Tenten sighed and plopped down on the bank of the stream next to Hinata and picked up a leaf. “I swear he thinks I’m invisible. That is, until he runs out of kunai.” She scowled at the leaf that she’d shredded
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Tenten. I’m sure he knows better than that.”
“Do you really think so?” Tenten looked up hopefully.
“Hai. Perhaps, since we have a bit of time tonight, you could pull him aside and make sure he sees you. I…well, my mind has wandered once or twice already and I just think it might help things a bit if you talk to him. Lee-kun isn’t always the most observant person, either.”
Tenten laughed at this. “Hinata, you are always so polite. And correct.” She sighed again. “Thanks.”
They walked back to camp together and Genma looked up. “Oh, good. Listen, I don’t think it would be wise to wander off alone right now. Those four may only be the beginning. If Tsunade-sama suspicions are correct, we don’t have the first idea of what we’re up against. We’ll also be taking shifts tonight. Neji, Hinata, you take the first shift. Lee and Tenten, you’ll be second. Sai and I will take the third shift.”
Ino looked up. “I can help.”
Genma just shook his head, “we can’t afford for you to be tired. If things get ugly…” he left the rest unsaid, but everyone understood.
Hinata watched as Tenten dragged Lee away from the fire. She was blushing furiously, but had a very determined look on her face. Hinata tried not to watch, but couldn’t seem to help herself when she saw Lee’s mouth drop open, then his face turn red.
“I could have told him how she felt. He’s always so one-track minded.” Neji said in my ear. I felt shivers go down my back when his breath caressed my earlobe.
“Hai” I whispered back, “every time I see her, she’s trying to get his attention. I don’t understand Lee-kun. She is a very beautiful woman.” As soon as she said it, she bit her tongue. She didn’t want to hear Neji agree. She had no claim on him and knew that he was only with her out of duty, but even so.
“She’s okay.” He chuckled when Hinata looked up at him so quickly. “She used to have a crush on me. I told her gently, but firmly that I wasn’t interested. Since then, she seems to have realized that it’s the junior Green Beast that she was much more interested in.”
Their conversation was mostly whispered and as such, they’d been sitting very close. Hinata tried not to notice the way her body was reacting to being so near to him. It had never done this before. Well, that’s not precisely true. Her inner self giggled. You just haven’t been willing to admit what was happening
Shut up, you. I don’t want to have this conversation right now.
Who said I’m going to give you what you want? You know how you feel about him. So why is it so hard to recognize that you feel that way physically? That his touch makes you want…
Shut. Up! Hinata closed her eyes and struggled to think of something else… anything else. She was saved by Genma, “Okay folks, I know it’s a bit early, but we should make an early start tomorrow. We don’t know what, if anything, we’re going to find on the other side of the village. Hinata, Neji, Lee and Tenten will relieve you in three hours.”
Neji nodded and Hinata went to the fire to pull the water pot off of it and start the tea to brew. She looked around as Sai got comfortable in his bed roll.   Next to him, but with plenty of space was Ino and Hinata could have sworn she saw the medical nin with a stuffed butterfly before it disappeared under her cover. Genma was on the opposite side of the fire from these two. Then there was Lee and Tenten. They got settled very close to each other in the space between Sai and Genma. That left the other space for her and Neji.
It didn’t look like a lot of space. Neji seemed to realize this at the same time she did. “I’ll take care of the bedrolls. You’re much better at tea than I am, anyway.”
Hinata looked over her shoulder to see their bedrolls had been pushed up against each other and a single blanket thrown over top. Neji motioned her to join him there, patting the space next to him. “Sit with me, Hinata.”
Hinata wasn’t sure if that was the best idea, considering she still hadn’t gotten her emotions under control, but she couldn’t find a reasonable excuse to refuse him, so she brought the tea and sat down next to him.
He didn’t say anything at first and for that, she was extremely grateful. They sipped their tea, lost in their own thoughts, both very aware of the other sitting so close. “We should check the perimeter.” Neji whispered so as not to disturb the others.
“Hai.” Hinata answered. She stood up and Neji took her hand. They walked quietly around the camp, both with their bloodline trait activated, carefully taking in every detail. When they were satisfied that all was quiet, they sat down again on the mat. Hinata once again turned her thoughts inward.
She was interrupted immediately, as Neji brushed the hair out of her face. Her eyes closed at his touch and she felt tremors move throughout her body. No one had ever done this to her. She had never reacted to anyone the way she reacted to him. Kiba had tried, but she’d never felt anything. Even when she found herself waking up with Naruto leaning over her from one of her fainting spells, she’d never even felt the beginnings of this.
“Neji…” she whispered, forgetting where they were for the moment.
“Shhhh…” the sound was just the faintest breath on the breeze. Neji continued to caress Hinata’s face and the trembling got worse. Her breathing quickened and she was having trouble concentrating on anything. When she felt the slightest hint of something on her cheek, her eyes flew open and she was staring into Neji’s, just a few inches from her own.
They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. “Could you two remember you’re supposed to be on watch?” Genma muttered from the bedroll next to them.
They jumped as if they’d been electrocuted and both had blushes as they turned away from each other.   The rest of their watch was spent in tense silence.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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