Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Just Simple Curiosity ❯ Operation be Yourself ( Chapter 10 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: First off I’d like to thank DRAGONCOREY for the review! Na I’d also like to thank all my readers too! You’re wonderful! Now I’d like to say in my defense Neji is one of my favorite charries! Yeah I’m fixin’ to make his life a livin’ hell, sort of but trust me this is essential to my plot! ::mutters softly:: I think. And as for the space in updates I share this comp with family members so bare with me lol. But anywho all will be well eventually so bear with me and on with the next exciting edition of Just Simple Curiosity!


After she’d gotten home Aya replayed her earlier conversation that day with Neji.

She’d gotten some information about him from some of her other customers so she

knew he was a year older than her and had been top in his class just like she was.

Apparently he was pretty private too since there really wasn’t that much known about

him. Typical she thought to herself before shrugging as she figured she already knew

all she needed. He was cocky, conceited, and thought she was just gonna be cool

about being caught unawares just because he was cute. Yeah she’d admit that, he was

cute. But cute only went so far with Aya. Sighing she wondered how best to get rid of

her current problem as she got to her feet. She grabbed both her dirty clothes and

Christie’s as well as a couple baskets. Since she’d gotten the day off early because

Owagi-San had to go home to take care of some business she figured she’d get some

washing done. After she’d locked the door behind her and pocketed her key she walked

down to the river to wash, the better to be alone. As she laundered the clothes making

sure to put clean colored clothes and whites in the separate baskets she continued to

ponder her problem. Just as she was finishing up however an idea suddenly came to

her. Just be myself, she decided chuckling darkly. If Neji sees the real me he’ll back off

Aya figured. After all as a loner with only a few, select friends; a sarcastic comeback for

almost everything that could be said; and a sharp wit only those who knew her could

put up with she should be able to scare him off easily. Of course when she finally had

the answer to her problem then arose a new one. Why did she want to scare him off

exactly. He was cute, older, and cocky she thought amused as his downfalls became

his assets. Then suddenly she gave herself a mental shake. No way, she barely had

time for herself right now what with her constant training, working, and practice with her

team she reminded herself sternly. That decided it, he had to go. Nodding she used

one of her clean towels to wipe the bottom of three of the baskets before stacking them

on the others and rinsing the dirt off the towel. Making her way home she hunted

through the things in her bathroom until she found a long piece of rope. After pulling out

her wings -which she was glad barely hurt any more- she strung the rope up in her

room high off the floor. Then she hung her clothes up and settled on the bed again.

Noting the time she walked into the kitchen and began preparing dinner practicing with

her wings as she cooked so that pulling them out would not only not hurt her but would

start to become second nature to her as well. When the food was done she washed her

dishes and left the pots on the stove for Christie. Making her way back to her room she

began practicing her jutsu and after that took a shower. Once she was dressed in pjs

she went out to the livingroom sitting down in front of the tv. She became engrossed by

a very interesting Anime soon after and only waved and called to her friend when

Christie got home.

“Dinner’s on the stove,” she said “and I washed your clothes for you earlier. Their

in your room so you can hang them up later when you have time.”

“Thanks Aya,” Christie said laughing before she turned going into her room to

see about her clothes. By the time Christie was done with the clothes and had eaten

and showered Aya’s movie went off. Yawning she turned off the tv before waking back

to her room. After setting the alarm on her clock she crawled into bed and fell instantly

asleep. The rest of the week, unfortunately for Aya passed in a blur. The only good

things she had to say about it were her clothes were clean and she’d picked up a new

jutsu book. For the whole week Neji had stopped in the shop just to either say hi, bring

her a gift, or more along those weird lines. It wasn’t like she could insult him either since

she was working and had to be polite! But this was getting out of hand and she had to

make him stop. The only way to do that was to put Operation be Yourself in full force!

Ok so she had the name and she knew what she had to do but would it work. Of course

it would work she admonished herself. But did she know that for sure. When Aya

realized she was beginning a small argument with herself she gave herself a good

shake both mentally and physically. Pull yourself together Dark, she admonished. This

would be a cakewalk she promised herself as she got herself ready for bed that night.

Yeah just be your usual mean, nasty, and unsociable self and all will be well on

Sunday. Nodding to herself she climbed into bed and was instantly asleep. In the

morning she got up muttering to herself as she made her bed and got dressed for

training. As an afterthought she laid some clothes out for her date with Neji, once again

promising herself that once tonight was over she’d be rid of him. As she left her room to

go to the kitchen for breakfast she forcefully squashed the little worm of doubt that just

wouldn’t go the hell away. After cleaning the kitchen after breakfast Aya and Christie

put on their shoes and left locking the door behind them. When they were halfway to

the clearing however Aya noticed that Christie was staring at her.

“What?” She demanded in irritation.

“Nothing,” Christie said quickly averting her gaze, “it’s just that you seem on

edge. You know if you really don’t want to go out with Neji just tell him so. I’m sure he’ll

get the point.”

“Unfortunately I don’t think he understands go the hell away,” Aya muttered

looking gloomier than she had earlier.

“Want me to bite him?” Christie asked laughing. Aya looked at her then, a

shadow of her usual smirk settling on her face.

“Wouldn’t that just make my life too easy,” Aya said sarcastically. She and

Christie chuckled over the comment as they made it to the clearing.

“What’s so funny?” Naruto asked looking over at the sounds of laughter as the

two girls approached the small group already sitting there. Aya shrugged.

“Girl humor,” she said simply, looking around for their still absent Sensei.

“Wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with a certain Hyuuga, Neji would it?”

Sasuke asked grinning at Aya with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Aya looked at Sasuke

and smirked.

“Up yours Uchiha,” she said laughing softly.

“Nah that’s something you should tell Neji only change it to up mine Hyuuga,”

Sasuke said making everyone except Aya roar with laughter. Aya rolled her eyes as she

turned to watch Kakashi-Sensei walk up.

“Glad to see you’re all in high spirits this morning,” Kakashi-Sensei said grinning

happily, his one visible eye crinkled in amusement.

“Yeah we’re all having a barrel of laughs,” Aya said rolling her eyes.

Kakashi-Sensei then gave them instructions to begin their stretching, overseeing them

for lax techniques. The exercise that day was to play hide and go seek as Aya termed

it. They were to hide and Kakashi-Sensei with his ever present book would stand in the

middle of the clearing so that they could try to catch him off guard. The team worked

hard for a good four hours before Kakashi-Sensei said that they were finished for the

day. Sweaty and grimy everyone made their way back to their homes and in Aya and

Christie’s case to clean up for work. Just not my day Aya thought to herself as she

dressed for work. They hadn’t been able to lay a finger on Kakashi-Sensei though they

had made him work a little harder to stay out of their grabbing clutches. With a sigh Aya

called a good-bye to Christie before grabbing her shoes and rushing out the door. She

made it to work with seconds to spare, enough time to notice that Neji was already

there. Feeling the need to rip her hair out strand by strand Aya went to the back of the

shop and donned her apron wondering who the hell she’d pissed off to get such a

fucked up day. When she made it back behind the counter, taking over from Owagi-San

she watched with barely suppressed annoyance as Neji made his way to her.

“Can I help you sir,” she said through tightly clenched teeth.

“Of course Neji said smiling at her frustration, “I’d like to purchase this please.”

Aya took the book from Neji ringing it up, realizing with a start that this was the same

book she, herself had purchased a couple days ago.

“I have this book,” she said blankly as she bagged it and took his money.

“Really?” He asked amused. “I’m buying this as a replacement for my last one.

Got caught in that storm a week ago,” he said laughing softly. Aya shrugged, not really

caring one way or the other why he was buying the book. Once he was all finished Aya

forced a smile on her face.

“Thank You, come again,” she said before she began ignoring him. Unfortunately

Neji just wasn’t one to be ignored. He grabbed her hand kissing the back lightly. Before

Aya could smack him one for being so brazen however he had already released her

hand and backed up a step.

“I’ll see you at seven Aya-Chan,” he said with a wink before he and his purchase

disappeared out the door. For a moment all Aya could do was glare at the door but then

she reminded herself he would get what was coming to him soon enough. Clinging to

that thought was all that got her through the next few hours and helped her make it

home in record time at five-fifteen. Once home Aya went straight to her room and took

a shower in a rather potent rose smelling body wash. After her bath she put on some

equally potent lotion of the same scent. All part of the plan she thought chuckling evilly

to herself. Noting the time at a few minutes after six she cleaned her nails and toe nails

before repainting them crimson. She added gold letters spelling out S-E-X-Y-! across

both hands before adding a symbol of the whole word to each of her first toenails. With

that done and the glitter top coat drying she looked at the clothes she’d picked out

earlier that day. Shrugging she checked her nails before putting on a dark crimson

thong and matching bra. Satisfied with that she tossed on a pair of skintight, dark blue

jeans, and a crimson midriff that had a picture of a devil on the front with the slogan

‘99% Demon’ and a halo on the back with the slogan ‘1% Angel.’ Perfectly fitting she

decided as she wrestled her hair on top of her head and then used a few gold and

crimson butterfly clips to pin up random curls into loops that framed her face. Once that

was finished she went into the bathroom using clear mascara for her eyelashes, and

deciding to leave her eye brows alone before lining her eyes in gold. With that done she

lined her lips in gold before using her crimson splashed lip gloss to give the

appendages some color. Once the gold and crimson eyeshadow completed the look

Aya deemed herself perfect before going back out to her room. She then began an

earnest search while every once and a while muttering I know I have it to herself. A few

minutes later she came up victorious with a small, black purse with a thin strap; and the

only one she had ever owned. Stuffing her make up inside Aya sighed wondering why

this stupid plan couldn’t have gone without a purse. Oh yeah cause it at least had to

look like a date at the beginning she reminded herself as she hunted under her bed on

all fours for her one-inch crimson heels. After putting the shoes on Aya stood going to

her jewelry box. As she locked a gold locket around her neck with a small ruby in its

center Aya reminded herself that she’d have to be very gentle with this piece. Her

mother had given it to her along with the bracelet and earrings which she put on as well,

for her tenth birthday. Ok this is it she gave herself one more boost as she sprayed rose

scented perfume on before grabbing her purse. She forced herself to smile as she

walked out of her room to sit on the couch and wait for Neji. A few minutes after she’d

gotten comfortable on the couch she heard a knock at the door. Ok Aya show time she

said to herself getting to her feet. Time to show Hyuuga-San that it’s rude to bug people

incessantly she promised as she walked over and opened the door. For a moment Aya

simply stared at Neji. She was sure there was nothing else she could have possibly

done since he looked absolutely yummy standing there in tight, dark blue jeans, a white

wife beater, and a button up, dark blue over shirt. His hair she noted looked the same

but it seemed shinier to her, begging to be touched. When Aya would have raised her

hand to touch his hair she gave herself a harsh mental slap. He is the enemy she

forcefully reminded herself while ignoring the voice that said yeah right. Damn but she

needed to get her head fixed she thought as she took his hand and called out to tell

Christie she’d be home later. After Christie had called back to have fun Aya had locked

the door behind herself and now found herself walking down the street hand-in-hand

with Neji. When she tried to retrieve her hand, feeling a little embarrassed Neji held firm

smirking at her almost incessant tugs. When she saw the smirk on his face however

Aya immediately stopped tugging on her hand. No way was she going to lose the

advantage she swore to herself. Since she couldn’t reclaim her hand and she didn’t

want to see it locked in his Aya looked up only to find them standing in front of the

restaurant that her and her team had eaten at on the day of the survival test. As the

memories of that day poured through her mind making her smile she graciously allowed

Neji to open the door for her. They then made their way to the back of the room,

following a waitress as she seated them. When Neji made to pull out her chair however

Aya waved him off with a smirk before taking a seat by herself. Let the games begin

she told herself. Neji stood staring at Aya for a moment before he shrugged walking

over to his seat. After he’d sat down they both raised their menus and ordered drinks.

“Why don’t we have an original Japanese meal tonight?” Neji said setting his

menu down with a smile. Aya brought down her menu at the mention of him ordering for

her and simply stared at him.

“Not likely,” she said before bringing her menu back up to see what she’d rather

have instead. When she figured out what she wanted she folded her menu and laid it

back on the table smirking as she saw Neji with his own opened again. When the

waitress came back over setting down their drinks Aya quickly made her order before

Neji could try to order for her.

“I’ll have the chicken,” she said smiling politely up at the waitress, “and can you

make it rare please.” The woman stared at Aya but she took the order knowing it was

not her place to criticize the customer. The waitress then turned to Neji and smiled

waiting for his order. For a moment Neji could only stare at Aya but he recovered and

ordered a bowl of Udon.

“Are you sure it is wise to eat poultry so undercooked?” Neji asked arching a

brow at Aya. She shrugged however as a grin twisted her lips.

“Well one of the better things about not being human is no disease,” Aya pointed

out earning herself a wide-eyed look from Neji.

“So what are you a demon of some kind?” He asked. As much as Aya wanted to

say yes to make sure he wouldn’t bother her again she knew it was not in her nature to

lie.

“No I’m no demon,” she said with a sigh, “I’m a preternatural hybrid.” They

paused for a moment as the waitress served their food before they picked up their

utensils. They both clasped their hands together and said Itidakimasu or thank you for

the food before Neji looked at her again.

“So what’s a preternatural hybrid?” He asked interested. Aya shrugged and used

her chopsticks to rip off a piece of chicken and slide it through the warm blood on her

plate.

“Well,” she finally said before popping the juicy piece of meat in her mouth. “It

means I have more than one species of preternatural in my vain,” Aya finally got out

after she’d eaten her meat.

“I see,” Neji said trying hard to concentrate on his Udon and not think about the

raw meat Aya was eating. “So what mixture are you?” He asked curiously.

“I’m half Archangel and half Vampire,” Aya said before taking another bite of the

deliciously bloody chicken.

“Half Vampire and half Archangel,” Neji repeated bewildered.

“Yeah my Dad’s a Vampire and my Mom’s an Archangel,” Aya explained with a

smirk before she turned her attention back to her food.

“So how did that happen, did your dad rape your mom or something and then

she happened to get pregnant and gave birth to you?” Aya stared at him for a moment

before she laughed softly despite the anger that his comment had stirred up.

“No nothing so fantastical,” she said once she’d stopped chuckling. “My parents

got married like normal people and I’m the product of their union.

“But I thought Vampires were evil,” Neji insisted in confusion. Aya only shrugged

as she took another bite of her food.

“Most are,” she said grinning, “but my dad isn’t one of them.”

“So then did their families accept this union?” Neji asked going back to his Udon.

“Not really,” Aya said with a jerky shrug, “I’m something of an unwanted oddity

among my family. But at least my parents and grandparents still love me,” Aya muttered

giving another jerky shrug.

“I’m sorry Aya-Chan,” Neji said after a moment, “I myself know how painful family

situations can be so I had no right to pry.” Aya arched a brow at him in curiosity,

forgetting for a moment that she was trying to run him off.

“What do you mean?” She asked. Neji spent the next half hour explaining his

family situation and the death of his father to her while Aya sat quietly and ate. When

he was finished Aya’s plan had completely flown out the window. After dinner she didn’t

protest when Neji suggested they take a walk through the woods. Though she did warn

him that if he tried anything less them savory she’d hand him his ass. As they walked

Neji told her more about his family.

“Seems to me like your cousin is very kind and cares for you,” Aya said when

they had been silent for a few minutes.

“Who Hinata,” Neji asked with an ached brow.

“Yeah,” Aya said with a shrug. From what I’ve seen of her and how you speak of

her she seems very nice. Very shy also but still very kind. You should build on a

relationship with her so that maybe in the future the two of you can abolish the stupidity

that has been forced upon you.” Neji arched a brow at her as they turned to walk back

to Aya’s house.

“I have been very cruel to Hinata,” he said finally as they walked through the

streets. “I doubt she would talk to me after I have shunt her so much.”

“You’re reading too much into it,” Aya said waving a hand dismissively, “perhaps

all she really wants to do is reach out to you. Anyway it can’t hurt to try.”

“No I suppose it can’t,” Neji said with a smile as they paused outside the door.

“Well thanks for a great evening,” Aya said as she turned unlocking the door.

“Maybe I’ll see you around Neji-San.”

“You most assuredly will Aya-Chan,” Neji said before he leaned forward and

kissed Aya’s cheek lightly. He walked away while Aya continued to stand in her open

door looking after him in surprise. When she recovered a few minutes later she sighed

as she went in the house and locked the door behind her. Just what the hell had she

gotten herself into she wondered and what had made her feel a connection when she

had been so close to scaring him off?


A/N: Lol so how did you like yet another adventure into my odd little head? Lol well I’d love to hear if you want more or should I just kill this. Gotta review so I can either stop or continue! I eagerly await your reviews!