Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Learning to know our souls again ❯ Chapter 1 – Thoughts ( Chapter 1 )

Learning to Know our Souls Again

- A Neji x Hinata Romance Fanfic -

By: Denisse (wolf-enzeru)

Beta Reader / Editor: Nori (angel-kamui)

 

Summary: "Our wish is to know our souls again, to notice each other, to leave behind all our fears of past events and rebuild what we lost." A series of events between Neji and Hinata will lead them to know each other again, can they follow the flow of their wishes? [Hinata x Neji]

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Naruto. *crying* I sure wish I could, but I'm only writing this story based on the characters because Masashi Kishimoto created this wonderful series first.

 

Glossary of Japanese Terms:

 

1. mochi daifuku - is a rice cake, soft round mochi stuffed with sweet filling (example: like ice cream, strawberry jelly, or red bean paste)

2. gomen nasai - sorry

3. arigato - thank you

4. sumimasen - excuse me

5. douitashimashite - you're welcome

6. hai - yes

7. iie - no

8. itadakimasu - civility exchanged before meal, something like "thank you for the meal"

9. kirei - beautiful

10. sugoi - amazing

11. sakura - cherry blossom

12. ja ne - is something like see you later or see you tomorrow

13. nani - what

14. oi - hey

15. anou - umm

16. otousan / chichiue - father

17. -sama - is a formal honorific used at the end of a name or last name for someone in a superior status or who is well respected

18. niisan - A more affectionate way of addressing an older brother, in Hinata's case, is a more affectionate way of addressing someone she cares about like an older brother

19. neesan - A more affectionate way of addressing an older brother, Naruto's usually calls every girl he meets like this, is a more affectionate way of addressing someone like an older sister

20. -kun - Used to address younger people, in Hinata's case, is for affection

21. -san - Same as -sama but less formal

22. -chan - is used at the end of a name to denote affection or to address someone smaller, like a child

 

 

Chapter 1 - Thoughts

 

The smell of sweet, green tea fills the kitchen as the young girl gently pours the warm beverage from the tea pot into two cups on a tray. After finishing with that, she carefully place two mochi daifuku at the left side of the cups, gently picks up the tray, and walks to the garden area silently, being careful to not let herself get noticed. She places the tray on the floor, gets up, and leaves quickly.

 

"Why am I doing this? Why do I have to be so silent? Is not like they'll notice me… they never do anyway… they never had…" Hinata thought.

 

Deep in her thoughts, Hinata crosses the main entrance to finds her comrades waiting patiently outside.

 

"Gomen nasai, to keep you guys waiting." Hinata says to her comrades in her usual shy tone. They begin to walk away but Hinata stops for a glances one last time at the Hyuuga mansion.

 

"I'm just a shadow in this house, unnoticed by anyone.” She thought with sadness as she leaves with her comrades.

 

o-o-o-o-o

 

During the training, Hiashi spares a glance around the yard and notices the tray with the appetizers that Hinata has left for them.

 

"Let's take a break, Neji." Hiashi orders.

 

"Hai!" Neji answers without hesitation.

 

Hiashi sits on the wooden, just to the left side of the tray and takes his cup of green tea.

 

"You should drink too." He says politely.

 

Neji sits at the right side, leaving the tray in the middle, and takes his cup of green tea as well.

 

"Itadakimasu." Neji says politely.

 

A short silence passes between them until Hiashi interrupt it.

 

"If Hinata were here, I would ask you to watch over her."

 

The words that came out from Hiashi's took Neji a little by surprise.

 

"What? Hinata-sama?" Neji thought.

 

"Watching over her will help you in your training." Hiashi says as he looks at Neji from the corner of his eyes and continues drinking his tea. Neji's eyes are focus on his tea. From the reflection; it is noticeable that he is deep in thought.

 

Hiashi finishes eating his part of the appetizers that Hinata prepared for them and gets up. He looks at Neji to see that he is yet to finish his part of the appetizers. From his expression, Hiashi knows that these words are most likely something that Neji expected to hear again.

 

"Well, Neji I think this all for today's training, I will be attending others duties."

 

Neji snaps out of his thoughts as soon as he hears his uncle's voice

 

"H-hai" Neji answers hesitantly.

 

Hiashi turns around and begins to walk away from the training compounds, but stops for a moment.

 

"Is not a duty, or something you must obey Neji, for this time this is something, I want you to do by your own free will. In the end, this time is your choice Neji…” Hiashi says without turning around. With this lasts words, Hiashi walks away, leaving Neji with something to think about.

 

"Hinata-sama…" Neji though again as he looks at his cup of green tea. He turns slightly to see the mochi daifuku and takes it with his free hand.

 

"Hinata… she did this, just for us…? Why…?" Neji thought as he smells the food. He can taste, even without biting, the sweet, vanilla flavor coming from it. He takes a bite and not only his mouth feels the sweetness, but for some weird reason, in his heart, he also feels the sweetness of Hinata's feelings when she cooked for them. This hasn't been the first time he has felt this. Since his returned to the Main house, he have been lucky, yes lucky, to taste Hinata's cooking. And, every time he eats it, he feels the same way he is feeling right now and he can't understand why. Is this why he and Hiashi has always seen Hinata as a weak person? Just because she has a pure soul?

 

As soon as Neji finishes his appetizers, he picks up the tray and takes it to the kitchen. He leaves the tray in the sink and walks directly to his room. On his way to his room some memories hit him. He remembers something that Naruto told him at the Chuunin exams.

 

"Hinata too… She's suffered as much as you do!" Naruto screams at him.

 

"Hinata… have you suffered too?" Neji whispers to himself as he falls on his bed.

 

"You're supposed to protect her!" Naruto continues.

 

"Should I… but I have hated her before… even tried to kill her…" Neji whispers to himself again. He closes his eyes and thinks about everything; Hiashi proposal about watching over Hinata again and every time he has treated her with such hatred. "No I can't… after everything I have done… can I choose the flow of my wishes? What is it that I wish with all my heart? I don't understand… otousan…" Neji thought, feeling confused about his real wishes for the first time in a while. More thoughts about his past enter Neji's mind.

 

"She is cute, isn't she, otousan?" Neji says as he smiles to his father.

 

"Listen Neji you must protect Hinata-sama and the Hyuuga blood…" Hizashi says to Neji.

 

"Hai, otousan!" Neji answer to his father with a smile.

 

"Hinata-sama..." Neji stays there, lying on his bed, thinking about everything that has happened. The memory of his fight with Hinata at the Chuunin exams enters his mind.

 

"Forfeit now!” Neji says to Hinata with a serious look on his face. "You don't make a good shinobi… You are too kind… You wish for harmony and avoid all conflict… you agree with others and never resists…” Hinata looks away as she hears his words.

 

"Kind… yes, you are too kind…" Neji whispers as more memories continue to fill his mind.

Hinata lowers her head. There is a sad timid expression plastered on it. “I …just wanted… wanted… to change myself… do it myself.” She says with hesitation.

 

"I was cruel to you Hinata… that day I only wished for your death… when you only tried to show me that you want to change, how could I be so blind? But then… Naruto…" Neji says.

 

"Hinata stand up for yourself!" Naruto screams at Hinata, cheering her up.

 

"I saw, in that moment, how your eyes and the expression of fear on your face changed into courage. And then you stand up that day. All by yourself…"

 

"…I will no longer… run away!" Hinata activated the Byakugan and looks at Neji. A determined expression plastered on her face. "Neji-niisan, we fight."

 

The scene in Neji's mind changes and shows Hinata lying on the floor, coughing blood, there are medic nin at her side who are trying to heal her. Neji sees Naruto touch a spot on the floor that has Hinata's blood. Naruto gets up and with his fist covered in Hinata's blood he extends it to Neji and makes a promise to defeat him. Neji quietly returns to his team's side and without them noticing he looks at his bandaged hand. There is blood, Hinata's blood, covering it. And, for some reason, his eyes fill with regret and worry for what he has done.

 

"That day, I wished for your death Hinata… but no matter how much I hated you, I always felt guilty… because I discovered that, in some little ways, I still cared about you, Hinata." Neji whispers as he looks at the ceiling.

 

"Neji-niisan… look… kirei!" A 3-years-old Hinata with a white kimono says as she looks at the sakura petals fall from the tree into the pound at the Main house garden.

 

"Hinata-sama… you should always wait for me…" A 4-years-old Neji say to Hinata in a serious tone as he looks into her pearl-like- eyes that are similar to his own. A light, pink shade spreads across Hinata's cheeks.

 

"Go-gomen nasai, Neji-niisan" Hinata says timidly. Neji sighs in relief. "Iie… Hinata-sama… I was just worried about you. You should never walk or run alone like that… That is why I'm here Hinata-sama." Hinata gives him a confused look and now a pink shade spreads across Neji's cheeks. He turns away but looks at Hinata out the corner of his eyes.

 

"Nani? Ne-Neji-niisan?" Hinata asks with innocent confusion.

 

"W-what I me-meant to say… is…" A strong breeze passes and makes a sakura petal fly into his open hand taking him by surprise. "Huh?" He blinks in confusion as he sees the sakura petal on his hand. Hinata goes to his side to see the petal as well.

 

"Sugoi!" Hinata says with timid smile.

While looking again at Hinata, Neji decides to put the sakura flower on her hair.

 

"What I meant to say is that I will always be by your side… always protecting you… forever Hinata…" He says with a sweet voice. Hinata's cheeks turn red as she looks at him with surprise. Neji has been the only person to treat her with tenderness in the Main house. He has always cared for her. Hinata tenderly gives Neji a kiss on his cheek.

 

"Arigato Neji-niisan!" Hinata says sweetly and timidly to him.

 

"Hinata… the truth is that… I still care about you." Neji says to himself in disbelief. He gets up from his bed and opens the door. "I need fresh air…" With that he leaves to take a walk.

 

o-o-o-o-o

 

Later that afternoon in Konoha, Hinata walks at the front of her team with Akamaru in her arms and a big smile plastered on her face. Kiba and Shino are following close behind.

 

"It seems that Hinata is very happy today." Shino says as he continues walking down the road in direction to the Hyuuga compound.

 

"Yeah, I still can't believe that Tsunade-sama gave us permission for that mission." Kiba says as he turns his sight in Shino's direction.

 

"Hai…" All three comrades arrive at the Hyuuga compound.

 

While Hinata is distracted with Akamaru, who is licking her face and tenderly playing with her, Shino and Kiba notice there is figure walking through the entrance of Hinata's house. This individual stops and looks at them. When Hinata notices that Shino and Kiba have fallen silent behind her she spares a glance at the entrance of her home. Is in that moment that she notice who is it that they are looking at. The figure at the doorway is Neji. For a second, everything around her seems to stop. Akamaru gives Hinata a concerned look and licks her cheek. Hinata blush when she knows that Akamaru is trying to making her feel confident about herself.

 

"Arigato… Akamaru." Hinata says silently to the small dog.

 

"Warf!" Akamaru barks as he wags his tail.

 

Neji looks straight at Hinata, Kiba notices and quickly moves in front of Hinata.

 

"What are you looking at!" Kiba glares at Neji. Neji smirks.

 

"Hinata's knight in shining armor…" Neji thought as he notices the shy and concerned look in Hinata's eyes.

 

"Kiba-kun…" Hinata steps in front of Kiba and gives Akamaru back.

 

"Kiba-kun, Shino-san, arigato for walking home with me." She bows to them in thanks and walks in Neji's direction.

 

"Sumimasen, Neji-niisan…" Hinata says as she passes Neji's side without looking at him.

 

"Why don't you look at me, Hinata-sama?” Neji thought as he sees Hinata getting closer to the entrance of her home. Hinata stops at the entrance and turns to look back at her team.

 

"Kiba-kun, Shino-san, ja ne! We will meet tomorrow morning at the entrance of Konoha with Na-Na-Naruto-kun." Hinata says as she waves her hand and goes inside.

 

"Oi, Hinata!" Kiba screams while trying to go after her but Shino stops him.

 

"Let's go Kiba." Shino says with serious tone. Kiba glares at Neji who hasn't notice since he is still looking at the entrance where Hinata has left to go inside her home.

 

"Oi, Hyuuga!" Kiba screams and Neji turns around to face Kiba, who is been held by the shoulders by Shino. "If you dare say anything mean to her, me and Akamaru here will make sure to kick your ass!" Akamaru, who is on top of Kiba's head, barks.

 

"Kiba, let's go…" Shino holds Kiba by the arms and starts to drag him away from the Hyuuga compound. "Let's not cause any troubles to Hinata." With these words, Kiba calms down and leaves with Shino.

 

After the little misunderstanding with Kiba, Neji walks inside of the house following the same path that Hinata has walked.

 

"That Inuzuka, what does he think I'm going to do to her. There is no reasons now… to…" Neji lowers his eyes and thinks for a moment about that. "There is no reasons now, there was never any reason to treat Hinata-sama the way I did… no wonder Inuzuka protects her. The only person who should have protected her, hated her for a long time… but that is what, I wanted to believe, Hinata-sama, that I hated you…" Neji's thoughts are interrupted when he hears voices coming from the kitchen.

 

"Neesan, you promised to help me prepare launch tomorrow, why can't you help me?" Hanabi says stubbornly. Hinata smiles tenderly and looks at her little sister.

 

"Hanabi-chan, look, I will still keep my promise to help you prepare launch for your team tomorrow. The only thing that will change is that I will teach you how to do it instead." Hinata starts to clean her hands while Hanabi observes her.

 

"Why can't you help me tomorrow?" Hanabi asks this time out of curiosity when she sees that Hinata is acting very happy about something and her cheeks have a slight pink shade to them. Neji hides next to the kitchen entrance so he can hear the conversation between the siblings better.

 

"Well… y-you see Hanabi-chan… tomorrow I have something very important to do." Hanabi smiles when she sees that the pink shade on Hinata's cheeks spreads. She giggles and hugs her sister.

 

"Hanabi-chan…" Hinata says with slight surprise.

 

"Whatever it is that you need to do tomorrow, I understand neesan!" Hanabi says.

 

Neji leaves the kitchen feeling intrigue about the important thing that Hinata has to do the next day.

 

"Kiba-kun, Shino-san, ja ne! We will meet tomorrow morning at the entrance of Konoha with Na-Na-Naruto-kun." Neji remembers Hinata's words of farewell to her teammates as he returns to his room. Once there he falls down on his bed feeling very tired from the day's events. He closes his eyes.

 

"Naruto… where are you guys going tomorrow? I think… this is too much thinking for one day, what's wrong with me?" Neji falls asleep with that thought in mind.

 

o-o-o-o-o

 

Night has fallen around the village and in the Hyuuga manor Neji has missed dinner. Hiashi gets concerned about Neji. He heard from the maids in the house that Neji went to room and hasn't come out since then. He hasn't eaten anything since the appetizer after their training. Hinata, who is in the kitchen drinking water, observes that her father has a concerned look on his face. She thinks about asking him what is wrong but doesn't dare to ask. Hiashi raise his sight and see Hinata looking at him, Hinata quickly lowers her head.

 

"Hinata…" Hiashi says to Hinata. She immediately looks at him.

 

"H-hai, chichiue?" Hinata answers hesitantly.

 

"Hinata, have you seen Neji?" Hiashi asks Hinata with a very serious and concerned expression, this look on his face makes Hinata nervous.

 

"A-anou, h-hai!" Hinata answers hesitantly.

 

"Did he eat anything during the afternoon?” Hiashi continues.

 

"Iie…" Hinata answers. Hiashi keeps looking at Hinata.

 

"I see… Hinata… will you please take some food to Neji's room?" Hiashi asks.

 

Hinata blushes a little at his petition. She has never been to Neji's room since he started to live in the Main house.

 

"H-hai!" With this Hinata takes the sushi plate that she reserved for Neji in case he got hungry and went looking for food. She was going to leave it in a visible place so that he could find it easily. She puts the food on a tray with some juice and green tea, picks up the tray, and leaves in the direction to Neji's room. Hiashi continues looking at Hinata until she leaves the kitchen.

 

"I'm sure that what I said to Neji today most have come as shocking news to him… but, I think this is the only little thing I can do to help your son Hizashi… to help him gain a right place inside the Main house again and help him gain the freedom that he desire…"

 

o-o-o-o-o

 

Hinata walks silently to Neji's room. In a way, she doesn't really want to see Neji's face, at least, not yet. Even after her father fixed the feud between them at the Chuunin exam and since his arrival at the Main house, she still doesn't dare to look and talk to him directly. Hinata knows that she is not afraid of him, but instead, what she feels, is that the care and friendship between them was lost a long time ago and she doesn't know how to get it back. She doesn't even know how Neji feels about her. Hinata knows, deep in her heart, that even after everything he did to her, she has never hated him. She still cares about him and that is why she is not afraid of him. Even so, after the Chuunin exam, it has become clear to her that Neji doesn't actually hate her, but doesn't actually like her either. Hinata feels that there are no feelings for her in his being. At least that is the impression he has given to her.

 

Hinata stops in front of Neji's room. She knocks the door three times. The knocking was so soft that it took Neji a while to actually hear it. He slowly open his eyes and hears the soft knocking again.

 

"This is definitely not one of the maids…" Neji thought.

 

Hinata knocks once again but upon hearing no answer she places the tray with the food at the foot of the door.

 

"N-N-Neji-niisan…" Hinata says hesitantly and timidly as she knocks once again. Neji eyes open wide in disbelief as he looks at the closed door.

 

"Hinata-sama…?" Neji freezes in mid thought. He never imagined that Hinata will actually dare to go to his room, not after everything he did to her.

 

"I brought you… s-some f-food… I will l-leave the tray here…" Hinata continues saying hesitantly, with that she begins to leave the area. Upon hearing her footsteps, Neji quickly gets up from his bed and opens the door. He grabs Hinata's left arm softly, taking her by surprise.

 

"Hinata-sama?" Neji says with confusion.

 

Hinata turns around to face him, a little pink shade decorates her cheeks. Neji observes every expression of her face. Hinata looks at the floor feeling embarrassed, there is a shy look in her eyes.

 

"Gomen nasai…" Neji says as he tenderly release her arm and picks up the tray from the floor. Hinata turns away from him quickly to hide her embarrassment. That simple gesture from him made her heart beat like never before. That simple touch from Neji made her feel weird.

 

"Hinata-sama… arigato… for bringing me food today." Neji says.

 

"Iie, douitashimashite… N-Neji-niisan." Hinata says without looking at him. She leaves immediately, leaving Neji looking at her retreating back.

 

"Neji-niisan, why did you do that?" Hinata thought as she leaves the area. Neji, deep in thought, enters his room again.

 

"I want to know you again… Hinata. That is all what I want now, otousan. What I wish with all my heart is to learn to know Hinata again…" With this thought in mind Neji starts to eat the food Hinata has brought from him that night.

 

 

Author's Notes: This first chapter is based a little in the episode 148 of the Anime series. As you might have noticed, I used some reference of the events that happened in this episode. This first chapter is Neji centered. Eventually, more will come of Hinata and other characters as well.

This is my first fanfic, please be gentle. No flames or criticisms accepted, I will not change my way of writing because of comments, especially since I like to the let the story flow on its own every time I write.

 

Special notes: This fanfic, is very special for me because at this point of my life, I been having a very hard moments and “Learning to know our souls again” is the only thing, that really help me to relax in this moments, I don't search for more stress or depressions in my life, this is my only escape from it, that is why I says: “if you don't have anything good to say of this story just ignore and go to read others fanfics.” I think fanfiction.net was made to have fun to share with others peoples our story, not to be flame all the time, and make us feel that the stories we write are bad, beside for others authors that share the same way of thoughts , is true or not that we write for ourselves and for people who really enjoy reading. Flames and Criticisms never help to improve our stories on the contrary, they make us run away and to never like to write again. Well I share what I think and that make me feel better, for those who are starting to read “Learning to know our souls again” I hope you have a happy reading ^_^V and you like the work I'm doing.