How You Remind Me
Yugao
Summary: Hyuuga Neji is different people when he is under different circumstances. To her, who is he? (Very loosely based on Nickelback's How You Remind Me.)
Author's Note: This was written because I greatly appreciated your reviews for Read It Aloud. Therefore, this is dedicated to every one of the aforementioned story's readers/reviewers as well as my best friend and personal Naruto expert, Laraine, who doesn't like NejiTen (she's one of those Neji fangirls, I think… haha. Just kidding!). But she doesn't know I'm writing this, anyway…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song that inspired this, but if I did… hahaha…
"Never made it as a wise man
Couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing
Tired of living like a blind man
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me of who I really am…"
There was nothing. No sound, except the rush of wind through the trees. No sight, except the blurred images that he ran past. No emotion, except exhilaration and focused concentration. This was why Neji liked training so much – it heightened his senses and eased everything else on his mind. At that moment, nothing was more important than…
He glanced over his shoulder to his teammate, his sparring partner, his… friend, Tenten. She had paused from running for more than a moment. Her pace, too, was slower, though still remarkably fast. She gave a slight, almost inaudible huff, and for a moment her shoulders sagged slightly.
However, whatever weakness she had let slip disappeared when she caught his gaze.
Her dark eyes met his clear ones, and he stopped. She followed suit, and tucked a stray strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. "Something wrong, Neji?" she asked quietly.
He shook his head. "Let's take a break," he answered. She frowned, and he knew it. It wasn't really the type of thing he said when they trained. In fact, he barely said anything at all.
Still, she didn't complain as he led the way off the rough, beaten path to a small clearing in the woods. The walk there was quiet and wordless, but not awkward. They seemed contented enough with the sounds of dry leaves crackling beneath their feet that they said nothing to each other until they arrived.
Underneath one of the trees, she sat down and leaned back against it. He followed her, lay himself against the trunk but not too close to her. His breathing fell back to its normal rate, and he closed his eyes, trying to listen to the night's music.
Leaves rustled against each other. The night birds sang their songs. Crickets chirped. The wind whispered through the trees, between branches, and under the boughs. Moments like this took him back in time, to when he was much younger, when his soul was lighter…
"The sky must be beautiful tonight."
He opened his eyes at the sound of her voice. Her deep, pensive eyes looked upward, and his gaze followed hers. Above them, the treetops crossed, met, and parted to form a star-like shaft towards the sky, showing them only the faint, silvery-white moon and a few stars. He said nothing, and neither did she.
She surprised him in little ways, just like this, often. In the day, especially during sparring sessions, she was cheery and optimistic; in the night, she was strangely solemn, strangely reticent. But whether in the day or at night, she penetrated his soul like no one else could, got close to him when no one else would.
Who was he, in her eyes?
To the other ninja-in-training, he was Hyuuga Neji, the prodigy, the genius. Whatever mission he was sent on, he was expected to succeed. Whatever test he was made to take, he was expected to excel. He was a role model to them, someone they looked up to and wished to be someday.
To his family, especially Hinata, he was Neji-nii-san, mysterious and brooding, yet overprotective. A lone wolf that always looked out for everyone else.
To his teammates and his teacher, he was target practice, sparring partner, team strategist, and confidante all at the same time.
To the flighty young women in Konoha, he was an eligible bachelor. … Or so Tenten had always told him. He always seemed oblivious to their sly, seductive smiles or even their flirty, high-pitched laughter whenever he was around.
To strangers, he was a mystery. His pallid eyes and the mark on his forehead made him an enigma to mere passersby. To them, he was nothing but a curiosity.
But to her… who was he?
More importantly, who was she to him?
The once rhythmic chirping of the crickets roused him from his reverie. He turned to look at Tenten, who had, all this time, remained silent. She had fallen asleep against the tree, her face serene and untroubled. Moonbeams fell down from the shaft in the treetops and provided the only light.
It was moments like this that reminded him that he was not mere target practice, nor a stoic stranger to be ignored. It was she who kept showing him, day by day and without words, that he was human.
Wordlessly he scooped her up into his arms, and she was surprisingly light. With one arm he supported her back; with the other, her knees. His lips took on the slightest, most indiscernible smile as he whispered four words into the dark.
"Let's go home, Tenten."
Author's Note: Yes, we all know it was short, and that it was rather confusing. I really would like your comments… do you think you can review?